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Anna from The Weight Lost Diaries has tagged me to answer a few questions.  She in turn was tagged by Michelle from Those Last 75 Pounds in an on-going chain that prompts some thinking on the individual writer’s part and some learning about others on the reader’s part.

I found it really interesting to just read other people’s responses and the questions they prompted for their tag – it all helps us complete the picture of who we are in this journey to find out underlying reasons for why we carry weight. Remembering things we love …. reinforcing things we need to get a handle on.

Here are Anna’s questions:

1. How does blogging help or hinder your weight loss efforts?

Blogging helps me be a bit more accountable, especially when I’ve teamed up with someone like Anna, and we check in regularly.  That sounds like I’m too weak-willed to do it on my own and maybe I am at this point in time, but I think it’s got more to do with helping me not get caught up in my day to day chaotic life and forgetting about me.  I also get such inspiration from reading about how other people are going, their successes and challenges and how they get through. I love that people are so supportive of each other in this blogging world and that support and inspiration is at our fingertips when we’re feeling a bit at sea.

The hinder side is minor, but blogging and reading blogs does take time and I’ve learned that I need to manage my time better to fit it all in – eating properly rather than on the run, exercising, family stuff and me time.

2.  What is the biggest change you’ve made since starting on this weight loss path?

Because of a Candida condition, the biggest thing for me has been to change my eating to a low carb / high protein diet.  Not that I don’t break it, but I’m more conscious of having good sources of protein at each meal, rather than heading for bulky things like breads, rice etc.  It has allowed me to not have that dramatic 3pm energy slump and that’s been a huge difference – not reaching for the chocolate / biscuits / cakes for a quick hit.

3.  Do you feel confident you will meet your goal weight?

There are times when I think that I’ll never get there, but overall, although it will take time, I will get to my goal weight.  The thing I’ve shown myself over the last few months is that I can maintain a weight, plus or minus a little bit.  So, even though it’s been a bit of an annoying plateau, it’s showed me that when I hit goal, I should be in great shape to stay there.

4.  What if anything are you giving yourself as a reward, if anything, when you reach goal?

I actually hadn’t thought like that until you asked the question.  Don’t know if that’s weird or not, but it just felt like being slim, energetic and full of life was the reward in itself.  But, if I was going to treat myself and money, baby sitting or time was not an issue, I would love to go to France and travel through some of the lesser visited regions, soaking up the feeling of being able to travel comfortably and feel like I fit in!

Now it’s time to pass this on ….. here are the questions:

1.  What would you say to someone just starting out on a weight loss journey?

2.  What is your passion?  The thing that you absolutely love doing, that is not necessarily, but can be,  related to your job or role in a family?

3.  If money and time (or any other obstacles) were not an issue, how would you spend a week (or even a weekend) that you had to yourself (and who would you spend it with, if anyone)?

4.  What has been your most satisfying moment so far on this journey?

I pose these questions to the following beautiful people:

Lucy from Diminishing Lucy

Big Mama from Big Mama and The Bristol Project

Shelley at My Journey to Fit

Andrea at Revealing the Real Me

Have fun with this and get to it when you can if you decide to continue it – no pressure!  Any other people reading this, feel free to answer in the comments section or put a post on your blog and link back.

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Were you a ‘fat’ kid, or did it just grow on you as you moved through adulthood?

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Well, as many of you know, I’m writing a book that compiles the collective wisdom that has worked for us in our journey to slim, happy and healthy bodies.  It’s target audience was not necessarily fellow bloggers, but those people who don’t have the wonderful support of this online community, and therefore aren’t exposed to the thinking and experiences of other fellow journeyers.

If you want to read more about that go to Do You Want To Be In a Book?

Now for the teen bit….

I was meditating the other morning and got a clear message to use some of the profits from the sale of the book to fund a website to help overweight kids.

It was one of those moments of absolute clarity …. the website would share the stuff that we’ve learnt, plus have a forum for them to talk about their issues with each other and with those of us who’ve been there and want to share.  The forum would be moderated and would need to have the support of a psychologist.

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That’s what I got.  But here’s the amazing part.

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What I next did was to get up and go for my morning walk with the dog.  As we got down to the oval one of the guys who lives around the corner was down with his dog.  While the 2 lunatic dogs bounded around, we talked and walked as we usually do.

I asked Wayne how his kids were going, who I hadn’t seen around for ages (teens who are combining school, work and social lives).

He told me how concerned he was about Ben’s weight (I’ve changed the names here) and the fact that Ben just  wasn’t in the space to do something about it.  Wayne has lost 10 Kg in the last couple of months and is trying to set a good example, without pushing Ben, making it an issue and alienating him.

So, I told him about my book and the website idea for kids that came in my meditation.

He thought it was fantastic and would be something that Ben would go for because he could do it in relative privacy and it was there as he needed it.

And so, in my usual way of reading my world and its guidance, I took meeting Wayne this morning and talking about teen weight issues as confirmation that I’m on the right track.

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Tell me, what do you all think about the plan to set up a charity for overweight teens, specifically a website with support forum, using a percentage of the book profits?

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What sorts of things should we include / exclude?

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Are there any brilliant ideas out there to add to the mix?