As we know, the 4th of July is one of those holidays that are centered around a bunch of sun, fun, and food! Oh, how I used to dread holidays like these, especially knowing that I'd done so well on one of my countless fad diets, and the food was going to be showing up from almost every direction! No matter where I'd go or what activity I'd plan for the day, food was still the main focus; well, unless it was after 10 PM – then I would center my attention on the fireworks display, for a half hour or so – then it would be announced by someone that it was time for a campfire and S'mores! It's no wonder I could NEVER stick to a diet...

Good morning to you! Well, it looks as though we have a beautiful week in store for us... let's hope it continues throughout the holiday weekend! Yes, the holiday weekend is soon approaching; seriously, can you believe that in five days we will all be celebrating Independence Day? June surely did pass by quickly, which reminds me: "Did you achieve the goal that you set for yourself – to exercise every day?"

Welcome back to WalkyTalk after a nice, summer weekend! This morning, I have a question for you, one that my daughter happened to ask me yesterday: "Have you ever imagined what you will look like twenty years from now, in the year 2030?" It's a question that I really haven't asked myself before, so I had to think about it for a second. I guess my first thought was that I'll have more wrinkles and my hair will be a bit shorter and will contain a lot of gray! But then she explained that she didn't want me to imagine what my face would look like, but my body. Oh.

Today is going to be an absolutely FABULOUS day! Dont question why, but simply expect it! Yes, I know that you can probably name a few things that have already gone wrong today, but I'm sure that all of us can if we choose to focus on the negative. Some people I know actually try to find the negative, almost as though they are compiling a list, which they can't wait to share with someone else. These are the individuals who when asked in passing the simple question, "How are you?" won't ever answer with the positive statement: "I'm doing great!"

I just had to laugh the other day while spending time in a local clothing store. My daughter was in the fitting room while I was sitting outside waiting for her and I just happened to notice that another mother was doing the same thing. Ahh, yes... those lovely fitting rooms, we've all been "there," haven't we?

Today I want to take a moment to congratulate ALL OF YOU who have made the decision to take better care of your health by walking daily! As you now know, walking is FUN and, honestly, it's about the simplest exercise you can do that will create amazing results, don't you agree? It's awesome to know that you dont make excuses NOT to walk; you've learned to incorporate walking into your day – walking is part of your daily routine now! To me, it's simply part of my routine that I don't "think twice" about doing... just like I don't "think twice" about brushing my teeth or taking a shower.

"I love being healthy!" That is one of my favorite statements that our WalkyTalk friend Jon Stanton makes often and one that he can't say enough! Well, I can understand why – I join Jon in his celebration of the healthy life: between the two of us, we've lost almost 400 pounds and are now physically able to do so many activities that we weren't able to do when we were morbidly obese. It feels AMAZING to allow our athletic abilities to emerge after decades of wondering if those abilities even "existed."

I'd like to welcome you to WalkyTalk today – it's an amazing beginning of a brand new week and the first day of SUMMER... love it! I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, which included a Father's Day consisting of perfect temperatures and beautiful sunny skies. This morning I was looking over some photos I took with my dad yesterday and they reminded me of what a nice time we had together. We spent hours together, visiting two of our local beaches to take in a little sunshine and "a whole lot of walking!"

Okay, I really can't believe that it's Friday already! Another one of those weeks that went by too quickly... and now it's time for a fun-filled weekend, which includes Father's Day on Sunday! When I ask my dad what he wants to do or where he wants to go, I already know what his answer will be: go to the beach! And no, my dad doesn't want to go to the beach to "relax" – he wants to go to the beach to WALK!

Good morning to you! It looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day outside a PERFECT day to walk which makes me want to ask you this: Have you been making time for yourself lately, to take care of YOU? After the recent blog posts, I surely hope so! Don't forget that there are 1,440 minutes in a day... YOU deserve at least 30 of those minutes to take care of that "one & only body" that you were given, right?

Are YOU one of those individuals who despises the word "exercise"? As you nod your head "yes," I want you to know that I once despised it too! It wasn't that I didn't like the sound of the eight-letter word when someone said it – it's just that I didn't want to focus on making my body put forth any extra muscle-grueling effort to work out, lift weights, run at the gym, etc.

Hello again and welcome back! As I stated in yesterday's post, I would like to explain "how" I changed my life... going from a morbidly obese woman to a "normal" sized individual, something I had strived to do for over twenty-five long years of my life. Now remember, I am a typical, average woman... a mother of three who lives in a small town in Michigan. I'm no different than anyone else reading this, I am an ordinary person. I'm here to help you realize that if I can lose all my excess weight, so can you!

Welcome to WalkyTalk and my daily blog! For those of you who haven't met me yet, let me tell you a little about myself: I'm an average person, a married mother of three who lives in a small town in southwestern Michigan. I was once obese, okay... morbidly obese, which isn't something that I'm proud of. For twenty-five years I dealt with my weight, trying almost every diet "known to mankind" so I could be thin and look good. The diets never worked; in fact, I gained weight instead throughout the years, resulting in a size 24 body that tipped the scales at close to the 300-lb. mark.

It's time for another beautiful weekend! Can you believe it is Friday already? I'm sure many of you already have plans for the next couple days, some that include a day of fun in the sun at a local beach, maybe even along the shores of Lake Michigan! I truly love taking a walk along the shoreline and then conquering a few of the big dunes... which obviously are much easier for me to climb now that I don't carry over 160 extra pounds on my body!

Good morning! Okay, it's about time to say goodbye to the rain as far as I'm concerned. I've stayed inside for the past couple days and I'm ready to enjoy some June sunshine again! In fact, I'm ready to enjoy more than that; as you may know the strawberries are at their peak right now here in Michigan and I'd love to go pick a few quarts!

Yo-yo dieting. I can honestly say that I have yet to talk to an overweight individual who hasn't dealt with this issue at least once in their past. Yes, even the celebrities deal with yo-yo dieting... and it leaves many of us wondering to ourselves: If these rich, powerful individuals, with their personal trainers and private chefs, can't win the weight war, what chance do I have? Well, I'm here to tell you that you DO have a chance!

Would you lose weight if your employer promised you more money? I ask this because I've been noticing this question on some Internet sites lately. It seems that more and more companies are enticing their employees into wellness programs with the promise of financial rewards. I don't think its a bad idea... not a bad idea at all!

Good morning and welcome to a brand new week! I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend? I surely did, especially Saturday as I spent most of my day in Brighton, Michigan, for the ADA Tour de Cure. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with numerous individuals who wanted to share stories of their personal weight-loss success with me, along with others who needed a little motivation to continue their journey towards better health!

Good morning! It's unreal how quickly this week flew by, but understandable since it was a short workweek. I'm not complaining a bit since I've been looking forward to this Saturday, June 5th, for quite some time. Why? Well, because I will be visiting the town of Brighton where thousands of cyclists will be pedaling toward a cure for a deadly disease: DIABETES.

I wonder how many of you think that you sit too much at work, often feeling as though you are glued to that office chair "all day long." I've been there myself. When working full time in an office years ago, I remember that I could almost feel my "back end" widen more and more as the day progressed. By the end of the workday, I'd be so happy to get out of that chair – only to get right back into a new sitting position for the ride home in my car. Sit, sit, sit... it felt like that's how I spent the majority of my day – and that was BEFORE technology made our lives even easier!

If you read yesterday's post, you'll recall that I covered "boosting your metabolism" to help take away the weekend-holiday overeating guilt! It's funny, but I can't help but remember how I felt about my own metabolism when trying to figure out why I had a weight issue for more than two decades of my life. It was so easy to blame any weight gain on having a slow metabolism, not that I did – but I assumed that I must since I felt like no matter how little I'd eat, I just could not lose weight! And it only caused me to believe it more when I would watch my thin friends scarf down pizza and ice cream daily and never gain an ounce!

Good morning and Happy June! Wasn't it a nice holiday weekend? I sure loved it! The weather was almost perfect, for two days anyways; and even though it rained on Memorial Day, it was still nice to have the day off of work to enjoy some time with family and friends.