Thursday, March 11, 2010

Just a Hint

Yesterday, I hinted about several things I have been thinking about.  The ironic thing about my writing and my posts, is they make me look at myself and where I am headed.  I have written in journals for about 20 years now.  My habit is first thing in the morning with my coffee.  I still do that.  Perhaps, that is why I am able to assimilate so many things into my weight loss journey.

What got me going yesterday, was the little things.  I have thought of the little things as insignificant.  Let me explain.  I know that the little things are important but always thought the kudos came with the BIG BANG.  That is starting to change for me.  Things like OH I ate my vegetables first or I tried fish and scallops in the last couple of weeks.  That is a big step for me but I think of it as, it is what I should have been doing anyway.  Those are some of those should’s that I want to look at.  Just like exercise.  The experts say we SHOULD exercise 30 minutes a day.  Well, just because I only do 15 or 20 minutes a day, this week, doesn’t mean its not important or not good enough.  It is a step in the right direction — FOR ME!

Besides the exercise, drinking water is hard for me.  As I have mentioned in the past, I gave up my daily soda last year.  I drink water or tea.  But, my thirst factor doesn’t push me to drink so I have to motivate myself and find tricks to make me WANT water.  I have tried many things.  I have added things to my water such as orange, lemon, lime slices or a hint of mint or cucumber.   I don’t care for sparkling water which is strange because I always said I liked the soda because of the bubbles.  I guess it really was the sugar and the “pep” I got, after all.

Recently, I have found a bottled water that I LOVE! It’s called HINT.  My favorite is the cucumber.  But its hard to find.  There are two stores about 30 minutes away that carry the cucumber and the local Whole Foods had  a few flavors like pomegranate-tangerine and raspberry-lime. It’s a bit expensive to drink all the time, but it is worth the special treat once in awhile.  I ordered a case of the cucumber, from their website,  that I am splitting with a gal at work.

But the name is great.  Hint.  Drink water not sugar!  Premium essence water.  Yes, this sounds like an advertisement for their brand but I really like it.  It is like dessert.  And it made me think about the little things and how important they can be.  Using their advertising line, premium essence, I can apply that to many things in my journey.  I can add the premium essence of fun to my exercise.  I can add the premium essence of flavor to foods I thought were bland in the past.  (such as chicken).  I can add the premium essence of seasoning to my vegetables.  You get the picture.

That is the small steps.  The premium essence or just a hint of the good things to come.  I will continue to try new foods, new exercises, new flavors to keep me moving forward.  Just a hint of something is better than the full blown package sometimes.  It helps me to stay in the moment instead of the past or jumping toward the future.  What is important is TODAY.

Everyday is a gift.  That’s why the call it the present!  What hint or essence of your future can you “gift” to yourself today?