For the Record.

Happy Monday friends! I know I don’t have a set “Series” in place, but I’m attempting to keep Mondays very health/diet related. Not that I might not throw any others in throughout the week, but I know Mondays are the days most people focus on “starting their diet” or “starting to excersize” right? So, here I am with keeping with my goal with being On Purpose on Mondays with health oriented topics.

2 things here to note: 1. VERY good info for losing weight. 2. MY FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY! EVER! EVER! FIRST ONE! So let’s go thru this…

Point one. I thought I’d share with you one of my all time favorite keys to successful weight loss/dieting/food intake, whatever you wanna call it. I did this back in 1999, and I swear to you, if I hadn’t done so, I don’t think I would’ve had the success as quickly as I did.

Meet my journals. My daily food logs. I’ve kept them from a LOOOOOOONG time ago. Why? Who knows. Maybe inspiration. Maybe if I fall off the wagon and pick myself up again for food ideas. Maybe as a momento in a chapter of my life. Long ago, after I got married, I got pleasantly plump, and being vertically challenged isn’t pretty when you’re pleasantly plump. So pre-babies, I decided I had NO reason to be that way. No excuses, so I did something about it. I went to Weight Watchers (WW) lost almost 40 lbs, then went to work for them as a leader to inspire and coach others to be healthy and lose weight. Then…. I got pregnant! All along, I kept what I had learned and taught to others for 6 years in practicing what I preached. So this journal I thank WW for teaching me to do.

So why a food journal? Well, if you know you’re going to have to WRITE everything you put in your mouth, do you think you’d have as many candy corn every time you walk by the candy dish? I didn’t think so! So it really helps you PLAN, KEEP TRACK OF, BE MINDFUL OF what you eat. Makes sense, right? And if you’re On Purpose doing that on a daily basis, then you most likely won’t lose track of your focus, which in turn, will help you achieve your goals. Correct? I feel this is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT KEY to successful weight loss. Period. If you don’t track what you’re doing, how do you know if you’re doing something right or wrong? And if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is helping you keep focus and keep a plan of action on track.

Here are a few printable journals you can use if you’re a paper person….

via

And if you’re not a paper person, (I am! I have tried SO many apps, but I need the paper thing, sorry you techies out there!), then how about Lose It , Spark People, Livestrong, or even NutritionData.com (I talked about that site here). The point is RECORD what you eat, whether you’re counting calories, protein, carbs, points, keep track of it somehow. I PROMISE it is key to your success!

Now… for part 2… THE GIVEAWAY!

Some of you might not find this very sexy, and that’s ok. I will have other sexier giveaways! But this is very near and dear to my heart, so I thought I’d give this FIRST! After all, the name of my blog is “The OP Life” meaning On Purpose. Doesn’t get more purposeful than this, right?

This AWESOME food and fitness journal. Now if you’re not a paper person, STILL enter to win! Having it on your desk will be a reminder of what your goals are! So…. if you love charts, tables, graphs, details, this is a ROCKSTAR of a book! Take a peek inside….

How to enter?

1. PIN an image either from this post OR from any other post on my HEALTH category and COMMENT on my blog in the comments section what you pinned.

2. SHARE my post from today or your favorite post from my HEALTH category onto your FACEBOOK and COMMENT on my blog in the comments section what you shared.

3. RETWEET the “#Giveaway #dietminder on www.theoplife.com @irenegianos enter to win!” and COMMENT below that you tweeted.

Each comment down below on my blog gets you an entry, so don’t forget to COMMENT BELOW in my comments section what you Pinned, Shared on FB, or Tweeted with your peeps! Drawing will be Wednesday night and winner will be announced on Thursday morning.

If you want one of these awesome little books and can’t wait, here you go!

I am kinda SUPER excited about this you guys! It is my first giveaway, it’s SUPER meaningful to me, and OH I can’t wait to give you guys lots more GREAT stuff you can wear, adorn your home with, and just AWESOME goodies!

Ok! Remember me all day as you pass by those candy corn! ha!