Do you choose to…


I do not know who said this, but it certainly relates to the topic of this blog.  I read and review nutritional information, fitness information, and motivational/psychological information everyday in effort to be as knowledgeable as I can about what works and what doesn’t in the quest for healthy living and weight loss.  The thing is….I can know everything and feed it to anyone interested, but the question is what do YOU want to do with it?  I want to WALK IT!!


Becky Pandolfo is a working Mom who has a wealth of experience with many diet and fitness programs.  Her insight and information has helped countless individuals attain their weight loss and fitness goals.  She plants her flag on a small corner of the web called  Go Slim  where newsletters flow and other insightful articles whisper on the digital winds.

Looking Good Is Feeling Good

I am the mother of two kids, and for 15 years of marriage, I rarely spent any money on myself.  Instead, I bought clothes and toys for the kids and new items for the house.  Buying things for myself seemed selfish.  Little did I realize that this selfless act was actually hurting me because not only was I neglecting how I looked fashion-wise, I was letting myself go physically.  So, you have to be a little bit selfish and a little bit vain, if you want to stay on top of the way you look and ultimately the way you feel.

Rewarding myself throughout my weight loss journey, and even now as I maintain my weight, I feel is one of the things that helps me stay on course. How many times do you reward yourself with food?  Probably a lot.  Most people who are overweight grew up with food being used as a reward. Food can sometimes be used to fill emotional voids such as to soothe anxiety, cure loneliness or boredom, or make you feel better when you are sad.  To get away from bad habits like these, it is good to keep your focus on other things.  Not that you want to become super vain, but attention paid on how you look will help keep your mind set on the goal.

If you have not lost a lot of weight yet, maybe you are not ready to buy new clothes.  If that is the case, why not try going for a new hairstyle.  Also, a new pair of shoes or some new accessories, like jewelry, can be your best friend.  You will be surprised on how splurging on these things will make you feel pretty. When you feel pretty, or handsome or cool (or manly for the guys), you will be less likely to chow down that candy bar.  Feeling like you look good changes your whole outlook for the day just as the opposite is true.

Sometimes I think we need to be selfish in order to be the best we can be for others. Let me give an example. I feel it is a little selfish to spend time at the gym rather than time with the kids. In the long run though, it makes me a better Mom. I am more healthy and fit so I will live longer and be able to keep up with my kids now and with their kids later!  I also have less stress when I workout regularly.  Now that the kids are older I also feel I am instilling better habits in them.  I try to get them involved too!  Every Monday is DVD workout day with my son and he picks the workout.  He likes the Jillian Michael and P90X workouts. It is fun; sometimes we get a little bit silly, and it is great that he is getting some exercise at the same time.

So, set some small goals, figure out what rewards will keep you motivated, and don’t feel guilty about spending some time and money on yourself.  Trust me, it’s a very good investment.  Remember, YOU are your best friend and YOU have to take care and love yourself FIRST before you can give love to others!



Emotional Eating

This week has been a doozy.  I mean totally off the charts for feeling like an emotional mess.  The last time I felt like this was during and after my divorce.  It was a few years after my divorce that I realized that I had been out of control in the food department, and the reason for it was because I was using food to calm myself when I was anxious or upset, to feel better when I was sad, and to occupy myself when I was lonely or bored.  I weighed over 50 pounds more than my current weight and I was miserable.  I didn’t feel good to begin with and I felt even worse when I looked in the mirror.  I knew I had to take control over this aspect of my life.  It probably was the only thing that I could take control of!

I began by increasing my activity, keeping track of the food I ate with the Weight Watchers plan, and taking a weight loss supplement to jump-start my progress.  It did not take long to lose the first 25 pounds.  Believe it or not, it was fairly easy!  The best part was that as I was losing more and more weight, I was increasing my physical activity to the point where I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer.  Without realizing it, I had replaced the food I was consuming to combat my emotions with exercise. I started feeling really good about myself, and I am sure the workouts released all those good endorphins!

The thing is emotional eating can really be a problem.  Most everyone knows what they could and should do to lose weight, but to actually be able to do it is another thing, and I think a lot of that can be blamed on our emotions.  Once we tackle that, we can be successful at making a change in our lifestyle to become a healthier and more physically fit person.

So, how do you  know if emotional eating is something that you struggle with?  Well, some of the clues are:
1.  The feeling that you need to eat comes on very suddenly….you have to have those cookies, chips, ice cream (insert any fatty, salty, or sweet food).

2. You continue to eat even after you feel full to the point where you are uncomfortable.

3. Eating is helping you to keep your mind off whatever it is that you are feeling such as anxiety, boredom, sadness, etc.

4. You are eating to reward yourself.

If you see yourself as being an emotional eater there are some things that you can do.  First, take a pause.  When you feel that craving come on, take a moment and think about why you are wanting whatever it is.  Think about how you feel and identify what emotion you are feeling and whether you are really hungry.  If not, try to wait 5 or 10 minutes before you will allow yourself whatever it is you are wanting.  By waiting, you may be able to combat the craving, or at least get it under control.  Once you have identified a pattern of what feelings trigger your emotional eating you will be more able to fight it.

Find an alternative activity rather than eating to help you feel better.  Like I said, I had replaced eating with going to the gym and doing a step aerobics class or doing some weight training. I felt so good about myself for the progress I had made, not just with my weight, but with my level of fitness, that I did not want to eat a bunch of junk food.  I do feel it is a scary thing for an inactive person to think about completing a vigorous workout.  You have to start small.  Take a walk, and add time each week to your walk until you ready to take the next step.  Maybe a few increments of jogging, or a workout DVD, or maybe even joining a gym.   Being physically active will most definitely help you manage emotional eating.

If you are wanting to eat because you are bored, try reading a book, calling a friend, and if you are spiritual… spend some time in prayer, or find some other activity to occupy your mind.  A busy mind and body does not eat just to eat.

Finally, remember that your body is your temple.  You want to take care of it so it will last you and you can do all the things that you might enjoy with nothing holding you back.  There is nothing worse that feeling like you cannot do something.  Do not let fear….fear of anything including failure, hold you back!  As always, start small.  Every new tool you add to your new healthy living lifestyle will get you one step closer to where you want to be.  Remember, you may not be where you want to be but at least you are not where you were!!!  That is always my mantra and I keep trying and pushing myself to new limits.


Becky Pandolfo is a working Mom who has a wealth of experience with many diet and fitness programs.  Her insight and information has helped countless individuals attain their weight loss and fitness goals.  For more information on her and the products she recommends visit:

Keeping it real:)

So, I was recently reminded that weight loss and healthy living is not just about looking good…it is about being healthy, preventing disease, and feeling good.   I cannot agree with this more.  Looking good is really just the icing on the cake because obviously, if we had to choose between looking good and being healthy we would all choose good health! 

Lucky for us, these two things are not opposed.  We can have our cake and eat it too…or wait, we can have our fruits and veggies, and eat them too:) 

I felt like it was time for a progress update…since I started my blog on 5/1/2013 I have lost about 3 pounds.  I have been down as much as 4, but I keep bouncing back and forth.   I am trying not to be too focused on the scale, and instead focus on how I feel, how my clothes fit, and I did take some new measurements.   I am definitely feeling less bloated and I feel thinner which I attribute to the increase in healthy foods and increased water intake which always keeps things in balance:) 

As for workouts, I want to do better.  I fit in a work out  4 days last week for about an hour each time.  In order to reach my goal, I think I will need to get at least 5 days in, and 6 days would be better.  Also, I am increasing weight training and not spending all my time doing cardio.  I am not very experienced with weight training and the best weight workouts I have done were in a group class called Body Combat, but since that is not available to me anymore, I am trying to put together my own program and may employ the help of a local trainer.  I am also using the websites Livestrong and Hasfit for workout advice.   Through this blog, I have also discovered other blogs that have great information that with their permission I would love to share! 

I am continuing to use Knockout which is available on my website at www.GoSlimFL .com and it is helping with food cravings and appetite as well.

I hope you are joining me on this weight loss and healthy living journey!  Keep a notebook with your personal stats as it will help to keep you motivated and on track.  Remember, even making a small change is better than making no change at all!!    We will get there with perseverance and determination.