2015-10-30T23:04:15-04:00

This is the "after" photo from the cover of my weight-loss book. It was taken by Marsha Kemp, owner of Marsha Kemp Photography in Tampa, FL.

“No Salads Required!” is For Sale Online!

October 30, 2015December 24, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/5 Comments

It is with great joy that I am able to announce that my brand new weight-loss book is now for sale online! The title and subtitle of the book is No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds WITHOUT Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups, or Surgery, and How YOU Can Too! and, you can currently buy the hardcover and softcover versions of the book from my publisher’s website, westbowpress.com, and also from Amazon.com. The e-book will be available soon and I also look forward to announcing when the book will be available from other stores.

This is the "before" photo from the cover of my book. I weighed 281 pounds when this was taken. — This is the “before” photo from the cover of my book. I weighed 281 pounds when this was taken.

No Salads Required! tells the story of how I lost 159 pounds in fourteen months including some of the funny moments that happened along the way. Also included is my easy to understand weight-loss program, so you can try my successful program for yourself! You will be especially happy to know that you can eat bacon, fried chicken and BBQ ribs on my program if you want to! The food part of the program includes lists of fruits, vegetables and protein foods that you can select from and design your own meals. I also have included a chapter with thirty preplanned meals to help you get started and a chapter that features some of our favorite family recipes that I ate while I was losing weight.

No Salads Required! also offers advice on exercise, asking God for help, surrounding yourself with supportive people and making weight loss a priority. I also have included a reader’s discussion guide for people who are reading this book as a group and meeting regularly to discuss it. Whether your group is a book club, a therapy group, a church group, a weight-loss support group or just some friends who enjoy reading books, I believe the questions in the guide will open the door to some thoughtful and stimulating conversations.

I also put something in my book that I think the readers of this blog will especially like! Poetry! There is a poem in every chapter as well as the introduction, the conclusion and the readers discussion guide. The reason I think all of you will enjoy these poems is that every blog post I have written that includes weight-loss poetry has been met with great enthusiasm! You will also be happy to know that I plan to include more poems in future posts.

My readers from all over the world will also be happy to know that westbowpress.com and Amazon.com both ship worldwide, so you can order my book from almost ANYWHERE you happen to live! I also have an update on the topic of where all of you are from. When my book was going to press there were people in 28 different countries that had learned about my weight-loss story. Since then, the list has grown to 35 countries! I want to thank all of you for your ongoing interest and support!

I also would like to share that my publisher has given me a goal that I hope many of you can help me reach during the next twelve months. If I sell 500 or more copies of my book through my publisher’s online bookstore, westbowpress.com, some wonderful doors may open for me that could include more stores carrying my book on their shelves and the opportunity to write more books in the future.

I also would like to invite all of you to share your thoughts on my book in the comment section of this blog and to write reviews for No Salads Required! on the websites where you buy my book. I would love to hear from each and every one of you! May you enjoy my book just as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Here I am in my exercise cloths ready to do some fitness walking.

The Hazards and Humor of Outdoor Exercise

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/8 Comments

I love outdoor fitness walking! There is nothing like putting on my sneakers and hitting the sidewalk on a regular basis! I also own a treadmill, and I enjoy using it, but there is something special about walking around my neighborhood in the fresh air, greeting neighbors and finding out if they are up to anything interesting. For example, I am always curious to see which houses are getting a new roof, who is having a garage sale and who is moving in or out. I also find it entertaining to see people doing unexpected things like washing their cars and mowing their lawns after dark. (Yes, my neighbors really do that!) I also enjoy seeing birds, dragonflies, butterflies, sunsets and my neighbor’s beautiful flower beds.

This photo of me was taken shortly before I started my weight-loss program. I weighed 281 pounds at the time.

Recently, when I was in the process of losing 159 pounds, I spent a lot of time walking around outside and I kept a journal of my experiences. Since then I have taken the amusing stories from those journals and the lessons I learned during that time and put them in to a book. The title is No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! It will be available from Amazon.com and other stores in either late summer or early fall of 2015. The book also contains a step by step description of the successful weight-loss program I designed for myself, so that my readers can try it. I hope all of you find it both inspiring and helpful.

One of the nice things about fitness walking is that you can easily do it with friends and family members. Both of my parents walked with me occasionally while I was actively losing weight, and we all really enjoyed it, because we never knew what we might see. Here is a quote from chapter two of No Salads Required! concerning those walks:

“Our neighborhood is built around two ponds and a creek, and water is a major draw to many birds of various kinds. My parents and I especially enjoyed seeing the mother ducks with their little ducklings. We would see them in the ponds and the creek and occasionally walking down the sidewalk or crossing the street. Ducks always put a smile on my face, especially when they did something funny and unexpected. For example, Mom and I noticed one male and one female Mallard duck hanging around our neighbor’s yard when we were walking by. We didn’t pay much attention to them at the time, but a few minutes later, when we walked by again, we saw a freshly laid white duck egg in the gutter right in front of our neighbor’s driveway. There was no nest or anything, just an egg! “

Of course, I also had some interesting experiences when I was walking alone. Here is a story from my book regarding one of those:

“While outdoor exercise does offer the opportunity to enjoy fresh breezes, flowers, trees, and wildlife, it does occasionally come with problems. One day a buzzard pooped in my hair and I had to stop by my house and wash it out! Fortunately, I was close to home when it happened. You can bet I put that episode in my journal!”

Another hazard of walking around outside beneath the blazing Florida sun is sunburn. I have tried all different kinds of sunscreens during the intense phase of my weight-loss program when I was actively losing weight and the maintenance phase of my program that I am in now. Most of them work very well, but there is one factor that can limit their effectiveness. Me! For some reason I really struggle with getting the sunscreen evenly spread on face, neck arms and I have wound up with some very painful red patches from time to time. The good news is that I am getting better at putting on sunscreen and I look forward to the day I can call myself an expert at preventing sunburn and not just an expert at using Solarcaine to treat it!

Uneven sidewalks combined with distractions can be a problem too. Early in my weight-loss program when I was just getting started with regular fitness walking in my neighborhood I was surprised by the bark of a neighbor’s dog and carelessly stepped on a part of the sidewalk that could do with some repair. The result was me falling down quite hard and skinning my knee. You can bet that only happened once! From then on I watched where I was walking no matter what else was going on.

Today, I still do lots of outdoor fitness walking as part of my ongoing program to maintain my weight and I can still honestly say that even though I have tried other forms of exercise, outdoor fitness walking is still my favorite. I especially enjoy walking around the neighborhood with one of my best friends. She lives just up the street and we make it a point to walk together whenever we can. After all, even though outdoor exercise does have a few hazards, they are definitely outweighed by the benefits!

I love fitness walking around my neighborhood. It's something I do consistently!

Consistency is the Key to Weight Loss, Exercise and a Healthy Life!

May 28, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/1 Comment

Remember that old expression, “You are what you eat?” Well, whoever came up with that was actually onto something. Now obviously a person does not turn into either an apple or a piece of pizza just because they eat a lot of them, but our good health or lack of it is greatly determined by what we eat, how we exercise and whether or not we drink enough water and get enough sleep. In fact, I think we need a new slogan for good health:

You are what you do!

My mother and I both go to the same doctor and we really appreciate every piece of advice she has given us over the years. Mom just saw her a few days ago and afterword she mentioned to me an especially helpful thing our doctor had told her:

The doctor told my mother that the key to exercise is consistency and that she would be better off doing a little bit of exercise every day than doing a whole lot of exercise on random days when she was in the mood. I actually already knew this, but it was good to be reminded of this helpful fact. Of course, if you have the strength and the time to do a whole lot of exercise on a daily basis that can be a good thing too!

This photo was taken just days before I started my weight loss program. I weighed 281 pounds.

Recently, when I was in the process of losing 159 pounds over a fourteen month period I set aside time to do my fitness walking every single day regardless of the weather, what was on TV, or whether or not it was a holiday and I have to say, that method really worked. I also committed myself to only eating food that was both tasty and good for me and following that plan faithfully really helped me shrink! Another thing my program included was the use of some all natural weight-loss and nutrition products, which did me the most good when I took them daily. Consistency counts!

I have told my whole weight-loss story along with a step by step explanation of the program I created, in my upcoming book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! This book will be available from Amazon.com and other stores in late summer or early fall of 2015. I wrote it to be both entertaining and helpful and I hope all my readers really enjoy it.

Of course, if you want to be consistent about reaching any goal you set for yourself, whether it be reaching a certain weight, writing a book, learning a new language or taking the steps toward a whole new career, you need to really believe in both yourself and the importance of what you are doing so much that you give it top priority! It’s also smart to select a path toward your goals that allow you to enjoy your journey. For example, as you can tell from the title of my book, I don’t like salads very much, so I did not want to go on a long term weight-loss program that required me to eat them every day. Fortunately, I was able to work up a menu that featured a wide variety of healthy foods I did like and that made it a lot easier to stay on track. I still eat those foods today to help me maintain my weight and I am happy to do so.

I also decided to make fitness walking my primary way to exercise, because I really do love it. However, if that doesn’t sound like fun to you than pick something else such as swimming, Zumba or daily tennis with your best friend. Just make sure it’s something you love so much that you are willing to move heaven and earth to find time to do it and I guarantee you will do it consistently no matter what!

To sum it up, the path to anywhere is made up of faithfully taking little steps every day until you find yourself at the finish line, so make sure the daily steps you are taking today are on the path that will lead to your dreams coming true.

Here I am with my hedge shears ready to do some gardening. It's great to know that working around the house also helps me stay in shape!

Household Chores Can Be a Great Workout!

May 26, 2015May 26, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/Leave a comment

Not all exercise has to be done in the gym! In fact, many people all over the world rely on doing everyday tasks by hand as a method of both getting things done and staying in shape. Actually, for most of human history nothing ever got done unless somebody did it by hand! This was a particularly good deal for people whose jobs required physical labor, because not only did they get health benefits and a sense of accomplishment from their hard work, they also got a paycheck!

Now, I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with exercising at the gym, playing sports or doing all the other things people do to stay in shape today. Nor do I think those of us who are lucky enough to live in countries with computers, running water, dishwashers and all manner of other modern conveniences should stop using them. However, it’s good to point out that even if you can’t afford a gym membership or a personal trainer you can burn a great many calories all around the house!

This picture was taken a few months prior to the start of my weight-loss program. I weighed 281 pounds at that time.

When I recently lost 159 pounds in 14 months, I supplemented my daily fitness walking with weekly lawn mowing, as well as other yard work, and I am glad that I did! It added variety to my fitness routine and also saved our family the expense of hiring a lawn service. (You can read all about my successful weight-loss program in my upcoming book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! You will be able to order this book from Amazon.com and other stores in either late summer or early fall of 2015.)

During the last couple days, I have been working on a few home maintenance projects. Some were pretty simple like climbing a ladder and changing light bulbs, but others took a bit more effort. The one that was both the most rewarding and exhausting was redecorating part of our front yard with chips of sparkling white marble. Between weeding and raking the area where the rock pieces needed to go, carrying the heavy bags to their destinations, and distributing the rock so it would look attractive, I burned a lot of calories and had sore muscles the next day to prove it!

Fitday.com has an article called “Calories Burned Doing Household Chores” that I really enjoyed. I found it both encouraging and inspiring when I realized that whether I spent a day inside scrubbing the bathtub, making beds, vacuuming, and dusting or outside mowing grass, raking leaves, and weeding I would be burning as many calories as I would if I had chosen to spend my time working out in other ways. For example, the article states, “making beds for 30 minutes burns 130 calories, the same number you’d use if you jogged on a treadmill or flat terrain for 15 minutes.”[1]

The article also compared 90 minutes of vacuuming with 15 minutes of kick boxing and 30 minutes of weeding with 15 minutes of weight training. [2] What I liked best was what the author said about leaf raking: “Raking leaves for 30 minutes burns 225 calories. The resistance offered by the leaves makes this chore a type of weight training. Raking leaves tones all the major muscle groups in your body.”[3] I have always hated raking leaves, but this quote put this chore into a whole new perspective! The next time the two big oak trees in my front yard drop leaves all over the place, I am going to go out and deal with them with a smile on my face. At least I will be getting a good workout!

[1] Fitday.com “Calories Burned Doing Household Chores” http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/calories-burned-doing-household-chores.html (accessed 5/25/15)

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid.

I love sitting at my computer and writing weight-loss poetry!

The Weight-Loss Poet Shares the Fun Side of Fitness

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/6 Comments

Losing weight does not have to be boring and neither does reading about it! That’s one of the reasons I like to write weight-loss poetry. It’s great to take a subject that has traditionally been written about in a rather drab, dry way and insert some entertainment into it!

This picture was taken prior to the start of my weight-loss program. As you can see, I spent way too much time on the couch! I weighed about 281 pounds at that time.

In my upcoming weight-loss book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! I have included seventeen poems just for the fun of it! I put in some humor too! Of course, I also have included a step by step explanation of my weight-loss program, suggested meals, and all sorts of practical advice on how to reach your weight-loss goals. I really worked hard to make the book so much fun to read that people will enjoy it whether they need to lose weight or not!

The book will be available from Amazon.com and other stores in late summer or early fall of 2015, but in the meantime I have decided to occasionally include some special weight-loss poems in my blog that my readers will only get to see here, and today is one of those days! In light of my mission to make fitness much more fun I have written a poem on that very topic just for you. Here it is:

Fitness Can Be Fun

There really used to be a time

When I could not believe

That fitness could be any fun

It looked like pain to me!

But, one day I discovered

An exercise I liked.

I took up fitness walking

And it changed my life!

For one thing it was easy

Just one step, then another

It’s a great way to start shrinking,

As I soon discovered.

I just did it every day

Mile after mile

And the more the weight came off

The more it made me smile!

Then, just for variety

I started lifting weights.

That helped tone some muscles

And I thought that was great.

Then one day I decided

To explore somewhere new,

So Mom and I burned calories,

Walking all around the zoo.

Now I also have a treadmill

And a fitness bike I use

While listening to music

So I can stay amused.

I think the secret to getting fit each day

Is to pick exercise you like,

So it feels more like play.

It’s also nice to have someone

To work out with you.

It’s great for your body

And for your friendship too!

This photo was taken by my father on May 18, 2015. It feels great to be at a healthy weight! I wish I had started working toward it sooner!

There is No Perfect Time to Begin a Weight-Loss Program! Start Yours Today!

May 19, 2015May 19, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/1 Comment

Over the years I have heard numerous reasons why people are waiting to start a weight-loss program and some of the most creative ones were mine! I was obese for 32 years before I lost 159 pounds in fourteen months and now I wonder why I waited so long! I love being at a healthy weight!

Of course, there will always be difficulties to overcome when you are starting a weight-loss program. Life is never free of problems no matter what you are involved in! The answer is to work your way through them and to keep losing weight anyway!

This is my mother, Gail, on the left, my sister, Cherie, in the center and me on the right. This was taken just a few months before I started losing weight. I weighed about 281 pounds.

I think the saddest part about putting off taking the first step on a weight-loss journey is that you are also putting off the joy of reaching your goal weight. In my case, I also made my goal a lot harder to reach because during all the years I was putting off getting started I was also getting bigger! By the time I began losing weight, I was five foot two inches tall with hips that measured 5 feet around! I realize now that I waited far longer than necessary and if I could live my life over again, I would certainly would have taken my first steps a lot sooner. However, I do know the main reason I was waiting and even though it was more of an excuse than a reason, I know I am not the only person who has used it. Here it is:

My main reason for putting off starting a weight-loss program was that I was worrying about all the foods and relaxing activities I would have to either give up or put on the back burner in order to lose weight instead of considering the wonderful prospect of having a whole new figure and the exciting opportunities that would come with one. The good news is that once I did make weight loss my priority and started some good habits, I actually found my weight-loss journey to be a very pleasant one. I also have been successful at maintaining my new figure. All I really needed to do was just get started and keep going in the right direction!

I have shared my whole weight-loss story, including complete information about the successful program I designed for myself in an upcoming book entitled No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! It will be available from Amazon.com and other stores at the end of summer or early fall of 2015. The following is an excerpt from chapter 5:

“I also have learned that you can’t wait for the “perfect time” to start a weight-loss program, to exercise, or to work toward any goal for that matter. Start where you are, make a list of what you can do toward that goal at the moment, and then figure out what steps you can take toward that goal in the near and distant future. This will be an ongoing list, but the most important items on it are the things you can start immediately.”

Of course, once you get going on your program, you also have to stick with it faithfully no matter what distractions or challenges pop up. I did a lot of fitness walking in my neighborhood while I was losing weight and that led to some interesting discussions with my friends who watched me walk by their houses every day. Here is another quote from that same chapter of No Salads Required!:

“When I was walking around my neighborhood, my neighbors would often ask why I was walking when it was so hot, cold, rainy, or “too nice a day to exercise.” I would always laugh and say, “If I waited for the perfect time, I would never lose any weight at all.” I realized at the beginning of my weight-loss plan that if I was going to be serious about losing all the weight, I would have to commit to eating right and exercising every day no matter what else was going on. On Easter Sunday, I took my mom and sister with me to do some walking around the neighborhood after dinner and one of my neighbors said, “Wow! You even walk on Easter?”

I said, “You bet! I do this every day!”

I do want to mention here that I did also attend church on that Easter Sunday I was referring to in the book, just like I do every week, I enjoyed a wonderful Easter dinner with my family, and ate some delicious hard boiled Easter eggs. I did not give up on all happiness in order to lose weight, I just made my weight-loss journey part of an ongoing happy experience!

So what do you think needs to happen before you are going to be ready to lose weight? Are you waiting to finish college? Are you waiting to get married? Are you waiting for your kids to grow up? Are you waiting for retirement? Are you waiting for all the problems in the world to be resolved? Never mind all that! Start losing weight today and become the person you want to be. Then, when you reach those various stages in life you will be thinner and enjoy them more! As for solving all the problems in the world, well, weight loss won’t do much about that, but at least you will feel better while you are dealing with them. So take that first step on your journey today! An exciting future awaits!

Here Is am in my fitness clothes ready to walk around my neighborhood.

Ten Tips on How to Exercise on Your Own Terms and Enjoy It

May 14, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/4 Comments

Almost everyone knows that doing regular exercise will help you lose weight, feel better and maintain a healthy figure. Unfortunately however, a lot of people either don’t exercise at all or exercise so seldom that they are unable to reap any benefits. The good news is that once you change your approach to exercise and do a little strategic planning, you can get to the point where you love exercise and wouldn’t want to miss it.

In my upcoming weight-loss book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! I explain all about the importance of choosing the right exercise program and making it both helpful and enjoyable. My book will be available to order from Amazon.com and other retailers in late summer or early fall of 2015.

As you can tell from my book’s subtitle, I did not do a single sit-up while I was losing weight, because they made me nauseous, but that does not mean that I didn’t exercise at all. Quite the opposite! I actually devoted quite a bit of time to exercise and I still do today, but I have learned to do it on my own terms and that makes a big difference in my willingness to do it. I also got quite a bit of exercise experience during my fourteen months of intensive weight loss and learned several things by trial and error that I would have liked to have known from day one.

The following are some tips that I hope will help you both start a successful exercise program and also enjoy it:

Choose an exercise you like! This may sound obvious, but it’s amazing how many people choose an exercise program based on the latest fashion in fitness instead of choosing something they feel happy doing. In my case, fitness walking was perfect for me. I loved it! Walking was especially advantageous for me because I already know how to do it and it was gentle on my extremely heavy, out of shape body. I was 5 foot two inches tall and weighed 281 pounds at the beginning of my weight-loss program and I wanted to be careful not to hurt myself. I started out walking quite slowly at first, but as the weeks went by and I got leaner and stronger I was able to speed up and cover more ground in less time
This photo of me was taken shortly before I started my weight-loss program. I weighed 281 pounds at the time.
Schedule exercise into your day. All of us do some scheduling every day to make sure we don’t miss out on doing things that are important to us like going to work, lunch with friends, and appointments with a doctor or dentist. Exercise should be no different. Give it the priority it deserves and select a time to do it. I have a part time job with a schedule that is different every day and changes from week to week, so taking some time to plan exercise into my day takes some effort, but I find the benefits of exercise to be well worth it.
Stick to your program no matter what else happens. My father once told me that he had heard or read some statistics that showed that most people who start an exercise program abandon it during the first eight weeks. This does not have to happen to you! Taking care of yourself is extremely important, because we all only get one body in this life and it’s better to take care of it now than to wish you had in the future.
Dress for the occasion. Wearing exercise clothing makes a great fashion statement and helps you prove to yourself that you are serious about what you are doing, but there is also another good reason to wear fitness attire. Many fitness clothing items are made from fabrics designed to make exercise more comfortable and easier to do! I particularly like the way walking and running shoes are made today. It’s true that some shoes with advanced technology incorporated into their design cost a bit more than the ordinary shoes, but I still encourage you to try some on. You may find they are well worth the money.
Bring a few things with you. When I do outdoor fitness walking I usually bring a small tote bag containing a bottle of water, a small notebook and a pen to record how much exercise I am doing, sunglasses, lip balm, sunscreen, my keys and my phone. If I am going out in the evening I bring a bright battery operated lantern so that I can be easily seen as the sun is going down. If I am exercising alone, I sometimes also bring a small portable stereo with headphones so that I can listen to music or the radio as I walk.
Have a talk with your doctor. It’s always a good idea to have a visit with your doctor before starting a new fitness program, especially if you have a history of health problems such a heart condition, diabetes, or various injuries that need to be taken into account when making decisions concerning exercise. If you have problems that are especially troublesome you may want to ask your doctor to refer you to a physical therapist. There are all kinds of creative techniques for exercise that a therapist would know that you may have never thought of, but would help you immensely.
Consider joining a gym. Joining a gym can be a very cost effective way to try out and use a wide variety of fitness equipment for one monthly or annual fee. Gyms also offer the benefit of getting away from distractions so you can focus on exercising for a set period of time. Some gyms even offer trial memberships at a very reasonable cost so you can see how you like what they are offering before signing on the dotted line. This is perfect for both beginners and people who may not be new to exercise, but are new to exercising at a gym and are not sure if they will like it.
Be sure to also ask if your gym offers classes that might interest you. Many gyms offer a wide variety of classes such as water aerobics, Pilates, Zumba, and even classes set up like a military boot camp complete with an instructor who yells at you and pushes you to do more than you ever thought possible. (I would sooner die than sign up for a class like that, but a lot of gyms offer them so some people must find them helpful.) Recently I saw a news story on TV about a gym that offered a class where the participants were doing various exercises on little trampolines while following an instructor and listening to music. It looked like a whole lot of fun. If my gym ever offers a class like that I plan to be the first member to sign up!
Consider hiring a personal trainer. I realize that using the services of personal trainer on a regular basis might be too costly for many of my readers, but many trainers offer the option of hiring them for just one or two sessions to help you set up an exercise routine that you can do on your own once you have learned it. They also are a wonderful resource for suggestions on types of exercise activities that would be suitable for your fitness level and personal interests.
Dust off your treadmill or other fitness equipment you already have and get back on it. Many people already own one or more pieces of fitness equipment that they have never actually used or have stopped using for one reason or another. The good news is that it’s not too late start using it now. I don’t know what brought on your decision to stop using it before, but I do have a suggestion for this time. Be sure to plan for some entertainment! I have a both a treadmill and an exercise bike in my house, and I can tell you from personal experience that using exercise equipment without entertainment is really boring! I love listening to music or the radio while I walk on the treadmill or ride the bike, because it occupies my imagination and helps me stay on the machine as long as I need to be there. I also know people who like to watch TV or use their smartphones to keep their minds occupied while they bike, walk, run or whatever they are doing on their fitness equipment. Just choose the method that works for you and get going!

I think one of the best things to understand about exercise is that it is a good habit that can be started at any age! I didn’t start my current exercise program until I was in my forties and I know people who were much older than that when they started exercising and they still reaped many benefits. Of course, if I could go back in a time and start my fitness program sooner I certainly would do it, but since that is not an option I just do my best one day at a time at the age I am. You can do that too! I wish you the best of success.

This photo is of me my and my father. He likes to say that I pursue my weight-loss goals like Olympic Athletes pursue gold medals!

Weight Loss: Do You Want It So Much You Can Taste It?

May 5, 2015May 15, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/Leave a comment

This photo is of my mother and me prior to me starting my weight-loss program. I weighed about 281 pounds here.

When people find out that I have recently lost 159 pounds in fourteen months they often ask how I was able to stick to my program so successfully. They usually are also very surprised when I tell them about my method, because it had very little to do with will power and everything to do with setting goals and priorities.

The following is a quote from chapter five of my upcoming book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! which will be available from Amazon.com and other stores in late summer or early fall of 2015 :

“The secret to following any dream is to make it a priority. My father was right when he said that I pursued my dream to lose weight like Olympic athletes pursue gold medals. For the first time in my life, I wanted to have all the benefits of slenderness more than the things I would have to give up in order to have them. I knew that if I lost enough weight I would be able to wear prettier clothes, find a better job, and maybe even get married someday, and I wanted all these things with a passion big enough to move heaven and earth to make those dreams possible.

One of the things people often say when they hear about my weight loss is ‘Wow! You must have a lot of will power.’ I smile when they say this, because actually will power is only a small part of it. Walking away from wrong foods and filling your refrigerator and cupboards with the right foods has a lot more to do with focusing on what you want most than resisting what you are not supposed to have. I found that the more I imagined how I would look as a thin person and the things I wanted to do when I reached that goal, the easier it was to eat the right things.”

I should also mention here that this same passion motivated me to exercise every single day no matter what! I loved the process of reshaping myself! It was extremely exciting and I really did want to reach my goal much more than I wanted anything else. I was also very curious to see how I would look as a thin person. The last time I was thin I was in the 1980s when I was in high school, so I had no idea how I would look as a mature adult with a nice figure. Watching myself shrink was really fascinating and I have to say I really do like how my figure has turned out, but it has taken some time to get used to being “the new me.”

This is my mother and me holding up the size 4X pants that I no longer wear. Notice how much we look alike!

I particularly like the fact that I look a great deal like my mom and a lot of people commented on the resemblance shortly after I reached my weight-loss goal. At that time Mom and I were wearing our hair in almost the same style, which made our resemblance even more striking. One day when I was exercising at the gym, I was using free weights and was looking in a mirror with the idea of checking my form when for a split second I found myself looking at this short, slim brunette and asking “What’s Mom doing here?” Then I realized I was looking at me! I only remember that happening once, but it was an unforgettable moment!

Even now when I am maintaining my weight, I find good habits and setting priorities to still be really important. I have worked so hard to get my new figure, the last thing in the world I want to do is lose it! I still like high-calorie foods, but not enough to undo all my hard work, so I very seldom eat them.

Now for those of you who still believe will power is the best way to lose weight, I will confess that I have experimented with diets based on will power in the past, but they never worked for me. Every time I saw something I should not eat, but desperately wanted, I would try to pull myself away from the “bad food” and persuade myself not to eat it. That never lasted very long! You see what I used to think of as “will power” could better be described as “won’t power.” I would say to myself, “I won’t eat this and I won’t eat that even though I desperately want to and really don’t know why I am putting myself through all this misery.”

Of course, Sooner or later I would end up eating whatever it was I wanted to eat. You see, if you don’t have big dreams and exciting goals to work toward, all a “will power” plan works out to be is a deprivation program and who wants to feel deprived? I can tell you, I didn’t! That’s one of the reasons I stayed overweight for thirty-two years! It wasn’t until I came up with an entirely new approach that I was finally successful in making my weight-loss dreams come true.

So are you ready to try a new approach to weight loss? All you need to start is a pen, some paper and your wild imagination! Just try the following steps and you will be well on your way:

Imagine “the new you” when you reach your weight-loss goal. What size do you want to wear? How will you look? Who will be surprised and amazed when they see you at your new size? Let your imagination soar and write down a full description of yourself as you wish to be.
List some things you want to do when you reach your new size. They can be as simple as going to a restaurant and sitting comfortably in a booth or as expensive as flying around the world without the need for a seatbelt extender or to buy more than one airplane seat. Something I really enjoy being able to do now that am thinner is to trim my own toenails easily. I also like being able to bend over comfortably and tie my own shoes.
List the new opportunities that might be available if you lost weight. Some examples include new career options, a happier love life and the energy to learn something you always wanted to try such as ballroom dancing, skiing or tennis.
Once you have fully visualized the new life that you could have available to you as a thin person, calculate how much weight you would really need to lose in order to get there. Don’t be afraid even if the result is a big number! Remember I lost 159 pounds! Just figure out what your weight-loss goal would be and write it down.
Now write down how very much you want to achieve your goal! Do you desire it so much that you want to taste success more than any food that would keep you from reaching it? If you do, you have already taken the first step. Just keep going that direction and you will eventually wind up where you want to be!

This photo of my mother and I was taken by my father this month. I like to refer to my parents as "my two best friends". They are my biggest fans and supporters.

Tips on Providing Support to a Loved One Who Is on a Weight-loss Journey

May 1, 2015May 5, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/3 Comments

Losing weight is one of the most popular topics on the planet today. It seems like almost everybody is thinking about it, talking about it, reading about it, blogging about it and tweeting about it, but very few people are actually successfully doing it.

Do you know somebody who both needs to lose weight and has a desire to do it, but can’t quite make any program that they try work? Maybe they need some help and maybe you are just the person to provide it! Now, I know some of you reading this are saying, “But what can I do? I am not a doctor, or a nutritionist or a personal trainer! What could I possibly do to help?” Actually, there are numerous things that can be done to assist a loved one on their weight-loss journey that do not require special training or a college degree! This is especially true if the person who is working toward reaching a weight-loss goal lives with you!

This photo of my father and me was taken before I began my weight-loss program. I weighed about 281 pounds at that time.

I recently lost 159 pounds during a fourteen month period and one of the things that really contributed to my success was the ongoing help of my family and friends during the whole journey and even beyond that, as I have been working to maintain my weight.

Here are some things you can do that would definitely be appreciated:

Start a support group. This group can be comprised of friends, family or both. My parents and I formed a support group the day I began my program and we still support each other now! The best part about supporting each other is that everyone wins. Not only did I lose weight, but they did too!
Listen to the person who is on a weight-loss program and discuss what is going one in their lives. Many people eat as a form of comfort and in order to stop doing that they need to develop relationships with people they can confide in, discuss positive solutions to problems and also just have fun!
Volunteer to help your loved one with some of their daily chores such as house cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking for them so they can have time to exercise. You don’t have to help them every single day to be appreciated. Just do what you can!
If the person who is working at losing weight has children, you can really do a great deal to assist them by helping with child care. Many parents, especially single mothers find a starting an exercise program practically impossible because of the needs of their kids. You can volunteer to care for the children yourself so the parent can go to the gym alone or you can pay for a babysitter so they can go to the gym with you. Either way, this can be extremely helpful!
Speaking of gyms, you can also help pay for your loved one’s membership if they are facing financial difficulties. If they want to go to the same gym that you do, ask about what it would cost to add the person trying to lose weight to your membership. Sometimes you can get a discount this way.
Help your rapidly shrinking loved one with acquiring new clothes! One of the biggest challenges during a weight-loss program, especially a successful one is figuring out what you are going to wear when you are changing sizes so often. Buying new clothing all the time can be really expensive and before you know it, whatever you just bought is already too big! One of the really wonderful things my Mom and several ladies I know from church did was to clean out their closets and give me free gently used clothes in the size I was wearing at the time. They took turns doing this as the need arose and I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for that! Not only did they save me a tremendous amount of money, but I was also reminded how much I was loved and supported every time I opened my closet! I especially appreciated help with acquiring exercise cloths. It was nice to feel well dressed while I was working out!
If the person you are supporting lives with you, volunteer to keep tempting foods that they are trying to abstain from like ice cream out of the house while they are actively trying to lose weight. This does not mean that you can’t sneak out for an ice-cream cone or other sweet treat at a restaurant when they are not with you. Just don’t wave the tempting foods under their nose!
If you really want to be a hero, volunteer to follow the same food plan your loved one on the weight-loss program is following! This is especially effective if you are living together, because you will find it’s easier to shop and cook meals when everyone in your house is eating the same things and also your loved one will feel really cared for and supported. This works just as well whether you are following a pre-planned program from a weight-loss book or designing you own program. In my case, I designed my own weight-loss program and then wrote a book about it after my program was successful. The title of the book is No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! and it will be available to order from Amazon.com and other places in either late summer or early fall of 2015.
Gather your support group together at least once a week to discuss how your weight-loss program is going and what you can do to help each other. If you are all following a program from the same weight-loss book, it might be helpful to discuss one chapter of the book every week. This not only will give you something interesting to discuss, but it will help you keep motivated to stay on the program and to read the whole book! Some weight-loss books, including mine have a discussion guide in the back designed to stimulate thoughtful conversations about the information the book covers. These talks can be both and helpful and entertaining!
Think of your own ways to help! The ideas I have listed here are just the tip of the iceberg! Use your creativity and extend your hand of help in whatever way is needed! If you are not sure what the person needs, ask them! You are not only offering love and support by doing so, you could also be helping to save their life!

This photo was taken just a few days ago. I love being at a healthy weight and I am willing to work hard to stay there!

As Time Goes By: Tips on Maintaining Your New Figure Once You Have It

April 28, 2015May 5, 2015/Shelley A Sonnenberg/2 Comments

I recently lost 159 pounds in fourteen months and I have to say it’s great to have a new figure! I feel great, have lots of energy and can wear clothing styles and sizes that I could have only dreamed of wearing just a couple years ago. I started what I call the “intense phase” of my weight-loss program in January of 2013 and completed it in February of 2014. From then I have been in what I refer to as the “maintenance phase.”

Maintaining a new figure once you get one can be especially challenging, because unlike the original period of time when a person is actively losing weight, which usually has a start date and an end date, maintaining your new figure is supposed to last a lifetime! Of course this means that the newly slim person needs to figure out how to live through all of life’s ups and downs and still remained reasonably disciplined where food and exercise is concerned. So far I have done pretty well, but my journey has already had several bumps in the road and if I know anything about life I can only guess that there are more up ahead.

The good news is that there are also plenty of days in life when things are going reasonably well and if I just stick to the good habits I put in place when I was actively losing the weight I should be able keep most of the weight off all the time and also re-lose any pounds I temporarily pick up due to a problem like an illness or injury that keeps me from exercising for a short while. I did have a couple of such situations already in the last few months and I am happy to say that I am feeling fit and fine and am back to my exercise program full blast.

Another type of problem that arises from time to time on a maintenance program is the temptation to overeat due to emotionally charged events that can arise in one’s life. I find the best way to deal with these things is to turn to God, friends and family instead of the refrigerator! One of the nice things about modern technology is that almost everyone we know can be reached by phone or social media even if they are physically far away. There are few things as comforting as talking to somebody who loves you and is willing to stand by you no matter what problems you are facing! Sometimes I still catch myself eating when I should be praying or phoning somebody, but I have gotten a whole lot better in this department and it’s my goal to someday master that completely!

Social eating can also be really challenging when a person is trying to maintain a figure because sooner or later almost everyone finds themselves at a wedding, birthday party or holiday event where cake and other special foods are being served and it’s both pleasant and polite to eat some of it. Do you want my advice on how to handle that situation? I say, “Go to the event, eat the food and enjoy yourself!” Of course I would also suggest that you use some common sense about how much you eat of everything, but if the only time you eat high-calorie items is when you attend a special event like a wedding you probably are not going to gain so much weight that you can’t easily re-lose it once the day is over. Of course, if you are a busy and successful professional wedding planner and eat wedding cake at every wedding you plan for somebody, you may run into some difficulties, but for everyone else the occasional sweet treat at a special event is nothing to worry about.

I have also learned that exercising regularly is extremely helpful when it comes to keeping the weight off. Now, I understand that every person reading this has their own situation to consider, but in my case I have found that if I don’t schedule doing an exercise I enjoy almost every day, I am going to start gaining weight again. I am 5’2” with very tiny bones and my natural metabolism is extremely slow. In order to kick my body into high enough gear to stay in shape I need to exercise at least a couple hours most days. On the other hand, I have a couple friends who very seldom exercise and they never gain an ounce. This does not seem fair, but it’s the way it is! Someday when I get to heaven I hope to ask God about why he made people so different in this regard, but for the time being I find it better to stop wondering about things like that and just get moving!

Fortunately, I have discovered there are several exercises I really enjoy. My favorite is fitness walking. I do it with a friend whenever I can, but I also walk alone outside or on my treadmill. There is also an exercise bike in our house that I have just started riding on a regular basis and I enjoy using that too. My secret for enjoying both of those machines is that I never get on either one without bringing along my little CD player that also has a radio in it. I love playing music while I exercise, because it not only makes the time go by fast, but it also can inspire me to exercise more enthusiastically. This is especially true when I am on the exercise bike. Fast music really helps me move my feet!

I also have a gym membership and I enjoy going down to the gym and lifting weights once in a while. My goal is to go down there a little more, but I am still figuring out how to work that into my busy schedule. When I figure that out I will tell you all about it in a future post! Meanwhile, I am happy to say that it looks like “the new me” is here to stay!

I have found the whole process of transformation from my initial weight-loss to my current maintenance program to be much more fun than I ever thought possible during the 32 years that I struggled with obesity. I wish I had started this program a whole lot sooner! Of course, one of the reasons I have been having such a good time was that I designed my own weight-loss plan with the intent of enjoying it. This was especially important during the first thirteen months when I was losing the weight initially. I ate only healthy foods that I wanted to eat and did only exercise that I liked to do. I share my whole program in my upcoming book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds Without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! This book contains my personal story, lists of recommended foods, 30 suggested meal combinations, insights on how to succeed, poetry just for fun and much more! You will be able to order this book from Amazon.com and other stores starting in either late August or early September of 2015.

Shelley A. Sonnenberg

Author who has lost 159 pounds and written a book about it!

Tag: fitness