Day 9 of P5: Thoughts on becoming "less ugly", um..."more pretty?" Also...What sort of prize would you want in a giveaway...and Oh, yeah, that's right, it's supposed to be a CHALLENGE and HARD! And a V-Day pic I turned into Profie Pic...

Tanita-san says I'm 221.8. 

Small downtick. Good. Lagging this week, but hope another whoose is a-coming.

Beautiful day today in Miami. Thoughts of beauty have been swirling in my brain in tones of aqua, lavender, and minty green. :) A scosh of raspberry pink here and there for delight.

I think because I've gotten so many compliments the last few days--from strangers, neighbors, and family--that I'm thinking, "Okay, I guess I'm less ugly."

See, that's how my brain wants to work. So, I tried to do an auto-correct:

"Okay, I'm looking nicer. Enjoy it!"

I have a hard time thinking of myself as anything but homely or averge or plan or, on bad days, just plain butt ugly. I've never been the "pretty" sister. I wasn't the pretty teen. Even my best male friends would tag me as "average". Only those besotted with my charms would venture a compliment about my looks.

I'm not one of the pretty people. Never have been. Though I was cute at times as a kid. I got the pics to prove it. I wasn't a beautiful bride--hubby would dissent here--and I'm not a beautiful middle-aged woman.

I have a hard time sometimes with compliments. I have to stop, unfreeze my brain, and learn to say thank you when someone says, "Wow, you're looking great!" or "You really look good!"

I have to learn to be gracious and less self-critical.

I've seen women who are not standard-beauty  beautiful who consider themselves beautiful, act beautiful, and convince many people they are in fact beautiful. I could learn a thing or two from them. Just act like you are, and people may well start to see that, too.

Well, at nearly 51, I should try something different, yes?

Been thinking I'd like to do a giveaway. I did one on my previous blog...and never did one here. I don't get stuff from sponsors, so I'd pay for it myself.

I have had a lot of insight and value from certain books, and I thought maybe give one of those away. But maybe I should ask:

If you could get something in a contest (and no, I'm not talking cash or a huge prize, cause I ain't Bill Gates here), something modest but useful to your weight loss journey, what would it be?

What's your first choice, and what's your second one?

1. Book
2. Exercise DVD
3. Some exercise item (a fitness circle, a toning ball set, resistance bands)
4. Some low cal or "healthy" food item
5. Inspirational/Motivational audio tape
6. A weight loss reward item: like lipstick or nail polish or a commemorative bead bracelet
7. Some mystery prize you won't know what it is until you get it
8. A gift certificate to Amazon to pick your own "health enhancing" item or weight loss reward

And do you prefer giveaways with some task (write a 25 word blurb about what works best to motivate you, a limerick, an essay, a photo, etc) or one where  you just add your comment with email?

Just wondering as I plan for one for this blog.

Got a cute motivating email from our Fearless Leader. Reminds us we're supposed to be, er, suffering? Um, no, "challenged." Yeah, that's it.

Well, anyone doing the exercises knows it's a challenge. (Really, I'm not the only one dying from the strength ones, right?) And some days, 1200 calories are tough, some days not so much. So, the level of "challenge" varies. But it's supposed to be hard. It's not the Phase 5 DDDY Picnic. It's the Phase 5 CHALLENGE!

Am I challenging myself enough? Well....that's a thing to ponder. How much am I pushing this to do the best I can. Don't wanna waste the opportunities, right? And, hell, there's a killer set of prizes!

So, those are my thoughts today....and now I'm off to workout: Be well. Be very well. Be good to yourself. Call yourself beautiful...and maybe believe it.

Oh, and here's a V-Day pic. I put on a lip gloss I bought last summer for Xmas, but saved for V-Day. Very red! My shoes and purse were red. My top black lace. Hubby said it was sexy. Good. He's the only one I was out to wow:

Red V-Day Lips!