No, I’m not talking about the 80s song by the synth-pop band Animotion (dating myself AGAIN). I’m talking about becoming fixated, absorbed, and fanatical about something. In this case, Kingsford, author of “Brain-powered Weight Loss,” calls it a “healthy obsession.” Basically, it means that “you no longer struggle” to be financially fit. You thrive on it! Now, this does not mean that you won’t make any mistakes; sure, you will. But you now have the tools to get back on the path when you stray. You don’t beat yourself up. You see how far you’ve come and use that to help you shape your future. You are in control of your finances and your life from here on out. I remember listening to The Dave Ramsey Show once where Dave told the caller that when you are at the place where you have your home paid for, the grass in the backyard feels different under your feet. Now, I owned a townhome, so, technically, I did not own the grass. BUT I CAN tell you that once I paid off that mortgage, I ch...

Stress does weird things to us. Even if we don’t feel “stressed out,” our bodies manifest tension, and it will find a way to get out (and will try to take your credit card with it). But I think that most of you would agree with me that if we had a heads up before a specific stressful event were to occur that we could probably minimize the effects that it could have on us. Why? Because we would have time to formulate a plan of how we would respond to said stressful event. So, what constitutes a potential stressful situation? Anything that might increase the risk of you acting in opposition to your plan. Kingsford describes “a high-risk situation can be any occasion that has the ability to cause you to behave in ways that are not in line with your…goals.” She also says, “The way to outsmart a high-risk situation is to face it with your mental machinery fully loaded.” How do you do that? Well, you will need to have a plan ready to implement when the situation arises. I suggest you sta...

When I was expecting my oldest child, I gained a lot of weight. If I wasn’t stuffing my face, I felt nauseous, and I don’t like to feel nauseous. After my daughter was born, I joined a national weight watching group (bet you can guess the name) and attended weekly meetings where I could track my weight-loss progress and receive encouragement to continue. I also followed their weight-loss plan which included watching what I ate and how much. I did pretty well, and eventually all my pregnancy pounds came off. But sticking to the program wasn’t always easy. There were always yummy little temptations around (people at work would bring in CHOCOLATE with NUTS, for heaven’s sake!) and on occasion, I would give in and eat some. I might shake my head at myself for doing so but then I would go right back to my eating plan and not let my slip throw me off my path entirely. I only experienced a lapse in my plan.   Had I utterly abandoned my mission of healthy eating and continued to binge ...

I did something earlier this year that I have wanted to do for a long time–I purchased my own firearm. I’m not a total greenhorn when it comes to handling a gun, but I’m not super confident either. So, I did what any brand new, responsible gun owner would do, and I registered for a pistol-shooting basics class. One of the things we learned was how to aim at our target (I said BASICS). And ya know what? For a novice shooter, I’m not a bad shot. In Kingsford’s book “Brain-powered Weight Loss,” Step 8, she says “If you don’t aim for a target, you will never hit anything.” That statement is so simple that one might be tempted to overlook it. She suggests making goals, SMART goals. Please pardon me if I have discussed SMART goals in the past, but they are very important and bear repeating. SMART is an acronym for: ·          Specific–this is pretty self-explanatory ·          Measurable–use actual figures, ...