Staying on Track
Posted: August 28, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: bitch, blog, Candess, Candess Campbell, chemical dependency, dependency, exercise, gym, healing, Hydrocodone, iwannabeaskinnybitch, one foot in front of the other, quail, skinny, skinny bitch, Staying on Course, stride, Tom Hiddleston, trainer, wake up, weight, weight loss Leave a comment“You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.”
― Tom Hiddleston
It is easy to start something and not so easy to keep at it. Often something happens that breaks your stride and you fall off. You move from feeling successful to feeling like a failure and then give up.
What if when something happens, whatever it is, it becomes a ‘wake up’ to transition?
That is what is happening to me. In this instance, I have blogged daily about my progress to health and weight loss since July 30th.
The first several days were in a word document and then posted on August 8th.
It has been over a month now and I hit my bump in the road.
Candess healing a quail that hit her windshield.
I was doing well when I had the oral surgery and was on hydrocodone. I weaned myself as soon as I could because as a chemical dependency counselor (and a woman of many hats!) I knew the risk for dependency. It has been the last couple days that I realized how much pain I was really having.
This shifted my high motivation to blog and exercise, but it also solidified that any change in my life (and yours) is not an ‘either/or’ process, but just that, a process.
The two ways I have motivated my experience have been 1) hiring a trainer (Luke) and 2) blogging my experience.
Truly, with this downward shift in my energy level and upward shift in my pain level, I am so grateful I had these who checks in place!
I have given myself a couple days to rest and took this week off from the gym. Nevertheless, I am still on track, feeling stronger (in body) and I am losing weight!
My blogging has given me the impetus toward my goals and kept me on my path. Already on course, my transition now is to blog once or more a week and focus on sharing the gems. I will increase the time I spend moving, whether it be walking, dancing, gardening, or having fun with Luke at the gym!
Thanks for reading and keeping me accountable!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
Showing up with Humor!
Posted: August 26, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: bitch, blog, Candess, Candess Campbell, Cobain, drugs, exercise, gym, happy, Health, HSN, Hydrocodone, iwannabeaskinnybitch, Kurt Cobain, memory, reality, scale, self, self-esteem, self-respect, skinny, skinny bitch, Tylenol, weight, weight loss 2 Comments“Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self esteem.”
― Kurt Cobain
Feeling happy that this blog is about health and not just weight loss and exercise or I would be in big trouble. Although the scale is going down, I have been remiss in much exercise this week.
On Friday, at the gym, Luke introduced me to a couple new exercises, which was great. Then my daughter picked me up and dropped me off at the Dentist downtown. I had a procedure that has left me loopy for a few days with the Hydrocodone.
I briefly remember being on the phone Saturday evening with HSN. I don’t generally watch HSN and now I am waiting daily to see if Rick, my letter carrier is going to ring the doorbell with a package. Hmm. . . wonder what I might have ordered?
Thankfully I am off the Hydrocodone and I don’t like it at all. I’m treating my pain with Tylenol, but not talking much.
Even with the pain, with the exception of one day, Domingo has walked me daily and most often twice a day. I’m looking forward to feeling better and being back to the gym!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
New Moon Manifestation
Posted: August 25, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: bitch, Blood, calendar, Candess, Candess Campbell, Diana, Diana Gabaldon, envision, heart, iwannabeaskinnybitch, Manifest, moon, New, New Moon, Outlook, skinny, skinny bitch, vision, vision board, Written, WRitten in my own heart's blood 4 Comments“It was the first breath of the new moon, but the whole of it was visible, a perfect ball of violet and indigo cupped in a sickle of light, luminous among the stars.”
― Diana Gabaldon, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood
Today is the New Moon. This is a great time to sit down and envision what you would like to accomplish, create or manifest in the current moon cycle.
Some people like to make a list and put it on their calendar. Others enjoy making a vision board. This can be as simple as finding a piece of cardboard and cutting out images of what you would like to create or manifest. Glue the images to the cardboard and leave this visual reminder where you will see it daily.
I like to make a list and put in it in my Outlook Calendar on the day of the New Moon, the Full Moon, and then the next New Moon. That way I can look and see where I am in my process of creation.
Where I live the Full Moon is on October 8th and the next New Moon is October 24th.
Here is my personal list for this monthly cycle. I like to keep it to three main items.
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Take weekends off from work and play and nest.
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Organize my garage
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Increase my cardio to make sure my heart rate increases.
A vision board can encompass an expanded time, like a whole season or a year.
Enjoy!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
Speaking to the Voyeurs
Posted: August 23, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: alcohol, bitch, blogs, caffeine, Candess, Candess Campbell, chat room, depression, Facebook, feelings, friend, intelligence, john keats, journal, luxury, skinny, skinny bitch, Therapy, trouble, voyeurs 4 CommentsDo you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles
is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
― John Keats, Letters of John Keats
One day a friend of mine shared with me that she was on Facebook. Really I said? I never see you post. Then she shared that she doesn’t post, she just watches what everyone else is doing. What a concept. I am a compulsive poster, blogger, and teacher and it never occurred to me that there would be those voyeurs out there.
Today is for the voyeurs. Wherever you are on your path, let’s do this together.
Many of us eat or drink too much caffeine or alcohol as a way of self-medicating for depression. So often we use these substances to stuff our feelings. It is so important to FEEL YOUR FEELINGS. You can share with friends, family, on blogs or chat rooms, or in your journal.
To begin though, I’d like to share with you a Depression Self-test. This can help you understand the symptoms of depression and see where you are in your life. Of course, if you find that you are depressed, I strongly suggest you find a local therapist to help you. I see therapy as a luxury we all can benefit from.
http://energymedicinedna.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Depression.pdf
I’ll talk more about this in another blog, but several times I have witnessed clients elevate their mood by changing their diet. A simple start is to add foods into your diet that are alive! Summer is a great time to do this!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
On the Hunt for Sugar!
Posted: August 22, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: brain, brain scans, Candess, Candess Campbell, cocaine, cookies, fat, iwannabeaskinnybitch, Japanese, Michael Moss, neurological, organize, Salt, Salt Sugar Fat, skinny, skinny bitch, study, sugar, weight 10 Comments“Some of the largest companies are now using brain scans to study how we react neurologically to certain foods, especially to sugar. They’ve discovered that the brain lights up for sugar the same way it does for cocaine.”
― Michael Moss, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
Getting rid of extra weight is easy to envision when I am in my organizing mood. After all, I clean out my car, closet, and cupboards and cleanse my body.
This weekend I am cleaning out the food in my house that is inedible. This can be food with outdated labels, nuts that snuck out of the package and homesteaded in the corner of my cupboard and the sushi candy given to me by my Japanese exchange students.
Mostly though, I am on the hunt for sugar. Actually, I probably won’t find much. I have been careful to keep sugary foods out of my house, although I have been know to visit a neighbor begging for cookies.
Cleaning my fridge and my cupboards is symbolic to cleaning out my digestive system. Being aware of the food choices I have at hand will help me to make better choices. I will be more conscious, more aware of what I put in my mouth.
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
Sentence Stems
Posted: August 21, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: 12 Weeks, 12 weeks to self healing, 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: The Gift of Pain, alcohol, Candess, Candess Campbell, candesscampbell.com, choices, client, consuming, feelings, food, journaling, muscle, relationship, self, Self-aware, sentence, sentence stems, stems, stress 3 Comments“A sad feeling can last a few minutes, and then you return to joy once you feel the pure feeling and let it go. Much as you would flex a muscle and let it go, you can feel the feeling and just let it go.”
– Candess M. Campbell – 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: Transforming Pain through Energy Medicine
I sat with a client recently who’s working on developing a practice of journaling in order to deepen her relationship with herself. She laughs when she is saying something painful and tends to be disconnected from her feelings. She seems to be incongruent. I’ve given her some sentence stems to use. Sentence stems are beginnings of sentences to use to begin a free-writing session. I create these sentence stems specific to the issues that have been buried. This particular client uses alcohol, shopping, and staying busy as a way of not getting connected to herself; not becoming self-aware.
I’ve journaled over 30 years of my life and it has been an incredible experience of growth, insight, creativity and humor. You would be surprised at what surfaces in a 20-minute timed writing.
In the process of working with a Sentence Stem, you set the timer for 20 minutes, or 10 if 20 seems to long to start with. You use a fast writing pen and keep writing. Whatever comes to your mind you write, even if you have several lines of “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to say.” Generally, you will start by being chatty, then go into resistance, “I don’t know what to say” or “I don’t like this,” and then you deepen into the underlying issue. You may notice that you touch on something and then change to writing your grocery list, but at least you know where to return to access the underlying issue or feelings.
Often when we overeat or over drink, or eat at the wrong time, we are covering up feelings. If not feelings directly, we may be over-consuming to manage the stress from all the activity we do to bury the feelings.
In my book 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: Transforming Pain through Energy Medicine, I write a whole chapter entitled Feel your Feelings.
Today, before you make a choice to eat or drink something you know is not healthy, give yourself 20 minutes to journal first. Notice how you feel afterwards and see if it changes your need for the food or drink.
Here are a few sentence stems to start with.
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If I listened to my body, I would . . .
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What I desire most in my life is . . .
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If I were fit/healthy, I would . . .
Comment below and let me know how you did!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
What do I Weigh?
Posted: August 20, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA | Tags: alcohol intake, bitch, Candess, Candess Campbell, Domingo, Health, hormones, Ireland, iwannabeaskinnybitch, Japan, journal, Luke, moon time, motivate, salt intake, self-talk, skinny, skinny bitch, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison, water retention, weigh, weight, women, Workshop 5 Comments“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
Everyone I talk to and everything I read says “do not weight yourself everyday.” Well, you know what? I weigh myself every day. If I didn’t I think I’d weigh a ton. My eating doesn’t always correspond with my weight gain and it helps me to have a regulator. Weight can fluctuate from day to day depending on several factors such as alcohol intake, salt intake, water retention, hormones, the moon time for women and on and on.
I have kept a record of my weight in a notebook, off and on since September 2006. It motivates me to shift my eating and increase exercise. I understand that weight fluctuates. Weighing myself is a symbol, a way to chart, and a measurable goal. I don’t want to take my measurements daily. The scale is great feedback.
As I look back over my daily weight chart, I see that my lowest recorded weight was on November 19, 2008. I wonder what was happening then. I’ll have to go back through my journal. That was the year I traveled to Japan and also Ireland to facilitate workshops. It was a fun year.
When I told Luke, my trainer that I weigh myself daily, he shared it would be a good idea to compare my weight from one day of the week to the next. I thought this was brilliant. So this Wednesday morning I weighed myself and compared to last Wednesday. I am down three pounds! Now, Domingo is ready to walk me and then I’m off to the gym to see Luke!
Weigh or not, you can find the measureable feedback you need to keep yourself on track.
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
In another blog I’ll talk about loving self-talk. This is critical to a healthy shift in your weight.
Accountability
Posted: August 19, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA | Tags: accountability, aerobics, bike, bitch, blog, Candess, Candess Campbell, candesscampbell.com, committed, crave, Domingo, Energy, energy clearing, Energy Medicine, Energy Medicine DNA, exercise, iwannabeaskinnybitch, Mahfuzul, motivation, skinny, skinny bitch, Spokane, Spokane River 2 Comments“I decided to take an aerobics class. I bent… twisted… gyrated… jumped up and down… and perspired for a half an hour. But by the time I got my tights on…. the class was over!” – Anonymous
Several years ago I wanted to begin exercising again by riding my recumbent bike for 30 minutes a day. For motivation I called my friend Cheyenne and told her my goal. For every day that week that I didn’t ride my bike, I would pay her $50. She was delighted to help. Did I ride every day that week? Of course!
Once I understood how motivated I was by that agreement, I used it with clients. When they were stuck and not obtaining their goals, I made this offer. They would clearly outline their goals and I would assist them by having them write a $50 check to the charity of their choice. I’d keep the check and if they didn’t reach their goal, I’d put it in the mail to their charity. I’d even provide the stamp. Just thinking of writing a check (money talks) motivated them to complete the goal. Accountability works.
What motivated me to write this blog, and a case in point, is that I am transcribing this blog on my iPhone while I’m walking Domingo along the Spokane river. After spending this morning on Skype with Mahfuzul making changes on my website and creating coupon codes to give away a free CD download to my list, I really wanted to stay in my office and get the email out!
Domingo at the Spokane River
Because I have a training session with Luke, my athletic trainer tomorrow morning, I was motivated to “step away from the computer” and take a 45 minute walk in between clients. (Oh, I just found a quarter in the dirt!)
My work is fun and I love it, but I’ll have plenty of time to get back to work later. Right now I’m building my commitment to movement and exercise until my body craves it as much as my mind loves to work.
It helps to be accountable!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
If you want to receive the coupon for the free download of my 12 Minute Energy Clearing CD, you can sign up on my website at http://candesscampbell.com.
I’ll set the email to go out on Friday August 22nd.
Deadlines
Posted: August 18, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA | Tags: activities, bitch, Candess, Candess Campbell, Chinese, Chinese herbs, Deadlines, Diana Scharf, dreams, family, friend, goals, hungry, iPhone, iwannabeaskinnybitch, skinny, skinny bitch, success Leave a comment“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” ― Diana Scharf
This is the first post that actually talks about weight. The focus of this blog is moving into health and fitness which includes for me, weight loss.
Although a soft deadline, I had family coming for a BBQ on Sunday, so Saturday I needed to mow my lawn. I waited until it cooled off outside to pull out my little push mower and mow. This lead to cleaning the shed and then pruning the ivy and 90 minutes later my face I was dripping from the heat. Since I was cleansing with Chinese herbs, my face had been breaking out and I planned to go to the gym for a steam. Working in the yard and clearing my skin was much better. This deadline to get my yard ready for guests had great benefits!
Since, I needed to cool off before I showered, I checked my iPhone. There was an emergency call from a client. The returned call turned out to an hour session. Just as I ended the call, a dear friend called who I had not talked to for awhile. (Mind you – I rarely talk on the phone unless I’m walking and talking.) We spent close to an hour catching up! Afterward, it was time for dinner, but when I looked at the clock, it was really closer to time for bed. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really hungry, even though I hadn’t eaten since noon. My head over rid my habit and I showered and went to bed.
The next morning when I weighed myself, the scale moved down a set of numbers and I was delighted!
So what I learned is this.
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Set deadlines around activities that include movement. (Not just deadlines that require my laptop!)
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At least in the late afternoon/evening, if my blood sugar drops, it won’t put me into a feeding frenzy. It’s okay not to eat if I am not hungry.
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Distract myself in the evenings and break patterns that include eating.
Share any of your success tips!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
Compromise
Posted: August 16, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA | Tags: 12 Weeks, 12 weeks to self healing, 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: The Gift of Pain, adrenal fatigue, adrenals, Ayn Rand, bitch, Candess, Candess Campbell, coffee, compromise, Florence, Italian coffee, Italy, iwannabeaskinnybitch, skinny, skinny bitch, Venice, veranda 8 Comments“I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, the almost, the just-about, the in-between.” ― Ayn Rand
Several years ago when I was struggling with adrenal fatigue my boyfriend and I were planning a trip to Italy. Venice was on my bucket list, but he insisted on Florence. Since he was flying us first class I was not going to argue.
Venice, Italy
candesscampbell 