Tag Archives: positivity

Having an Attitude of Gratitude (or What I’m Thankful For)

Posted on November 8, 2012 | Comments Off on Having an Attitude of Gratitude (or What I’m Thankful For)

On Facebook and twitter this month, people are posting one thing every day that they are grateful or thankful for. As much as I would love to put something online every day for 30 days, it’s already the 8th and I’ve never remembered to do it until after the day was over.

So instead, here’s a bunch of things that I’m grateful/thankful for in one lump post.

I’m grateful to have such an amazing family. We have 4 generations on my mom’s side and I’ll get to see almost everyone at Thanksgiving this year (this picture is from last year).

I’m grateful for having such amazing friends who love me no matter what size I am. And they are all so supportive of me in all of my endeavors.

I’m thankful that I’m able to do these things.

I’m thankful that my meals don’t look like this anymore.

I’m super thankful that I can find shoes that don’t hurt my body (these are from Easy Spirit).

I’m thankful that I’ve been able to share a passion project of mine with the world.

I’m so grateful that I have amazing agents who literally have stuck with me thick and thin and get me fun auditions and jobs (this was a PSA I did last year).

And I’m unbelievably grateful and thankful that I live somewhere so beautiful and can enjoy moments in life like this.

What are you thankful and grateful for?

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff, Shopping

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Nerves vs. Excitement (or How to Think Positively)

Posted on October 4, 2012 | Comments Off on Nerves vs. Excitement (or How to Think Positively)

In my acting class on Tuesday night, I heard some advice that I’ve heard previously. But for some reason this was the time that the advice really stuck with me.

Nerves are just excitement that is labeled negatively.

This advice come from Jack Plotnick (you can read the whole story that goes along with that advice here).

This advice is perfect for my acting career. I don’t always get nervous for auditions. When the part seems so far away from who I am or what I look like, I don’t worry at all. But when the part I’m reading for sounds just like me and I fit the physical description perfectly, I’m usually a bundle of nerves.

But this advice also works out perfectly for the weight loss journey that I’m on right now. I’m so nervous if this will work this time. Ever other time I’ve lost 100 pounds (and there have been a few times), I’ve done it on some crazy diet plan like the Zone food delivery or on the RFO plan. But this time, I’m doing it the right way. I’m exercising more and being careful what I eat.

One thing that I’ve kept with me from my RFO days is how to figure out how many calories you need to be at any weight. The standard is 10 calories for every pound. So if you want to weigh 130 pounds, you have to have an average of 1300 calories a day. You can eat more if you burn calories exercising, but your daily average is 10 calories per pound.  But within the RFO program, there was a way to figure out our exact numbers. And I only get to have 9.3 calories per pound.

I’m not at the calories right now that I would have to be at to maintain the weight that I hope to be at. That seems a bit too low for me now. So I’m slowly working my way down to that. Once the number of calories I eat every day seems to be ok, I’ll drop my number by 50 calories.

I’m incredibly nervous that I’m never going to like this again:

But now I am going to think how excited I’m going to be when I get closer to my goal. I’m going to be excited to put on clothes that used to fit that now live in a storage bag under my bed. I’m excited to see what the future has in store for me.

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Posted in Acting, Food, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Being My Authentic Self (or Ignoring All The Outside Voices)

Posted on October 3, 2012 | Comments Off on Being My Authentic Self (or Ignoring All The Outside Voices)

Yesterday, I was working at an interview for Inside Acting Podcast (I’m their production coordinator). I can’t share who was interviewed yet, but this person said some things that really stuck with me. And it wasn’t just what they said that affected me, it was the fact that over the past few days, I’ve heard this so many times.

What they said was that the most important thing to do is to always be true to yourself and be authentic. And to ignore what everyone else might be saying. As long as you are authentic, it doesn’t matter what other people think about yourself.

I first heard this after I wrote this post. People had told me that the girl who called me fat was an idiot (that’s actually one of the nicer words used to describe that person) and that I shouldn’t listen to other people’s opinions of me.

My opinion of myself is most important. The problem comes when my opinion of myself isn’t the most positive.

Since starting this blog, I’ve lost about 10 pounds. That should be amazing. I should be so happy.

But I’m not.

The first problem comes from something that shouldn’t matter. I’m used to getting so much positive reinforcement about my weight loss from other people. People say how good I look and ask me how much I’ve lost. But then when I maintain that weight, the compliments stop coming. And this is where I’ve lost focus in the past. I shouldn’t worry about other people commenting on the change in my body. Yet, I’m still a little peeved that nobody has mentioned anything to me yet (and I’m not fishing for compliments).

I’m also not happy because it doesn’t feel like I’ve lost enough. In the past, when I’ve been on crazy diets, 10 pounds could drop in a week. When you watch “The Biggest Loser”, losing under 10 pounds is a week is a huge disappointment. I need to get myself out of the mindset that losing 1-2 pounds a week is a bad thing.

I’m working really hard at getting all the outside voices out (and my own negative voice out). I’m trying to focus my energy on being true to myself and being the best Jen that I can be.

It sounds so cheesy, but I think it’s exactly what I need.

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Posted in Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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