Declutter to Destress

Circumstances have brought my family into the path of change and onward to a new city. We are very grateful for God's very apparent signs and direction. I am also grateful for the forced decluttering. This will be our third time moving in four years and although I should be bitter and stressed (which I am a little bit), I am very blessed for the opportunity to go through all our belonging and to throw out the stuff we don't need. This becomes much easier the more times a person moves, you realize the important things are the people, and not the items, in our life. 

I just went through my daughter's room and put a lot of her clothes into a box to give to family members. It made me sad to think of her not fitting into her cute little Elmo shirt anymore and thought maybe, just maybe, I should hold onto her cute little booties... but for what? She may have a little girl someday but do I really think that a pair of cute pink booties are going to create a magical moment of happiness? Reality tells me that I'd forget I had them and someone would find them in a box after I (hopefully) make it to heaven one day! No, instead I'd rather give them to my sister or cousin or friend that would get use from them in the near future. That will bring much more satisfaction and take up much less room in my home.

I also find that decluttering helps my mind. When I organize, clean, and get rid of things it relieves a burden that I did not know I was carrying. It's so therapeutic, like letting go over past frustrations and build up of emotions while briefly reliving happy thoughts of moments past. Those memories stay with me forever and I do not  need an old t-shirt, pair of shoes, purse or trinket to remind me of them.

Of course there are things that I could never part with, my journals, pictures, some of the boy's school work (but not a lot) but all of those things need to be organized and easily obtainable and not hidden under layers of unnecessary waste. 

This can also be applied to our lives/ minds, we need to declutter our minds from what's the newest show on T.V., who's the best dressed celebrity, what newest diet should I be focusing on, or who just created drama on fb. We need to remind ourselves of our priorities. My priorities are my faith and my family, these priorities were what helped us to make our final decision to move. You can have the best job but if you aren't able to keep centered on  your faith and spend quality time with your family, it may not be the "best" job. What are your priorities? Have you spent time on the things that truly matter?

I'm appreciative of the next few weeks where I will, again, be decluttering and refocusing my priorities. God has provided us with a wonderful new opportunity and I will remain focused on Him to get through this crazy time!

Follow Your Heart

I truly believe that following your instinct is synonymous with letting God lead. Many times I have doubted myself and let insecurities dictate my actions. Not today! Last night I visualized how I wanted today to play out, what time I wanted to wake, what things I would get done, working out and prepping food for the week. This morning I have followed through with my plans. I took my measurements and my before picture and I bought the food I need to start the 21 Day Fix Extreme tomorrow. I have written down the week in my planner; boys' baseball & soccer schedules, workouts, meals, lesson plans, etc. It's all there and I'm not naive enough to believe that I'll complete everything with 100% follow through, however, I do know that having it planned out and everything easily accessible is one HUGE step in reaching my goals. I cannot express to you how elated I am to dive into this week and give it 110% (yes, I know that's not mathematically possible). 

This week will not come without challenges, some of which I cannot express. I have to trust that God's plan will be revealed and decisions, although difficult, can and will be made. Knowing this takes a heavy weight off my shoulders. I will push myself, do my absolute best in ALL things this week, exuding self confidence and, hopefully, motivating others to be the best they can be as well!

Let's give this week our best! Happy Sunday!

Insane and Hypocritical or Human?

This is going to be a quickie...I feel like a HUGE hypocrite and tad bit insane! I have been doing the same thing over and over; I work hard to motivate others online, in person, and in my classes, but I CANNOT motivate myself?!? How the heck does that happen? I also have been hitting the ground running in the morning, falling a tad off track by mid afternoon, and completely fall off the wagon by 7p.m. How hypocritical is that?! Here I am telling others that they can do it, to eat healthy, try their best, etc. and I can't get the scale to budge because I can't keep my lips closed the later it gets in the day!

So what do I do? Well I'm trying to make lots of positive changes in my life. There has been a lot of prayers lifted up for God's will to be revealed. Nutrition wise, my husband and I have been taking control and cooking more meals (not just reheating). I have also reintroduced shakeology into my diet to get more of the protein and nutrients that I'm lacking, especially with my amount of exercising. I also decided that, in order to pay for my shakes, I would also become a coach. Don't worry, I'm not going to start pushing anything on all my friends... I'm just going to add a link every now and then in case anyone is interested! (Interested?) :)

I also wanted to add that we had a great retreat today at work and talked a lot about holiness and having loving responses. This was a great reminder that I also need to have a loving response to myself. If God made me in his image, than these little hiccups and bumps in the road are nothing to fret about. I will continually pick myself up, dust myself off, learn from the experiences and grow into a better person!

Slow and Steady

Some days can be tougher than others. Maybe you have a special event or cave into stress eating. Sometimes when I have come to a fork in the road of progress, I need to recall my journey and find more visual goals. I needed a boost in confidence today so I went and found my before picture, it was a great reminder that I CAN do this and that my journey has not been an overnight success story but a journey that has its bumps and steep climbs. This journey is so much more rewarding when I get to do it with others. I'm grateful for my fitness groups on fb that hold me accountable and motivate me as well as my classes at the Y where I know I have friends that anticipate that I'll be there (and the classes in which I have to teach).

I am proud of myself for heading back to Weight Watchers this Saturday after a very long hiatus and for making the commitment to myself to healthier choices; including leading others into making healthier choices. Not only am I committed to my dietbets that I'm involved in, I also have a new outfit that I'm going to fit into before the summer begins. I have been recording on myfitnesspal but will also be trying a new program, 21 Day Fix Extreme to boost my progress. I'm going to start back up with my running so that I can also run my first half marathon this summer... oofda, that sounds like a lot! I guess my first goal this week will be to sit down and plan all this out on a calendar. :)

Have a great week everyone!

March 2013 and March 2014

April 2015

Goal Outfit

I'd rather say I did it than I gave up!

Sick children and insomnia have me up quite early this morning. What better to do with myself than blog about some of my other ideas for getting myself (and others) on track?

1) Take a before picture and measurements

2) Measure and record all your food, I love Weight Watchers and their program (there is a monthly cost) or myfitnesspal.com which is a free, both of which sync up with multiple fitness trackers.

3) Invest in a fitness tracker. There are numerous trackers out there including fitbit, garmin, nike, jawbone, etc.

4) Find a support system. As mentioned in number 2, Weight Watchers is an excellent program and worth the investment for weekly weigh ins, meetings and encouragement, as well as a leader and members to give you support. If that doesn't work for you, find a friend(s) that is also looking for a healthier lifestyle and hold each other accountable. Text each other to check in for the day, workouts and food journals, healthy choices, encouragement, etc.

5) Schedule a time to workout. If new to working out, start with 3 times a week and build up to 5 times a week. If you're uncomfortable with going to classes, start with walking or doing basic aerobics in your home. There are plenty of free aerobic videos online (one example is fitness blender) or you can purchase one. When you've worked in cardio add in weight lifting. Contrary to popular belief, weight lifting does not make you look like the Hulk but does help to increase your metabolism, burning more calories.

6) Drink LOTS of water! Keep your body hydrated and it will return the favor by giving you more energy and digesting your food more efficiently.

Those are my tips for the day! Happy midweek everyone! :)

Steppin' Up the Game!

This week begins a new start in the journey for a healthier me. I have had more than enough time "off" and although I am still solidly in a place that I love where I'm at... I don't like the way I feel since I've been making poor eating decisions. The good news is that I made the commitment to a few things that will create the pathway needed to successfully implement healthier living habits.

The first is a subscription to emeals which puts healthy and affordable meals at my fingertips, literally. I can access not only the recipes but also the grocery lists on my phone. I will also be posting about those recipes and meals and letting you know if it's a worthy investment and if I'm up to the challenge of spending more time in the kitchen!

The second is starting my own group of awesome ladies working for a common goal, creating healthier selves. I will focus time each day on motivating these great women (if you'd also like to join please comment below or contact me on fb) for four weeks toward a goal of losing 4% of their body weight. I'm very excited to get everything up and running, especially the new diet bet aspect. Money and friends with common goals are always great motivators.

The third is joining a separate group on diet bet that is a long term transformation group. It runs for 6 months with monthly weigh ins, goals, and prizes but with a long term goal of losing 10% of my body weight. I'm combining that with my recent measurements and  before picture and getting my body fat % this week as well.

I know that seeing results and having not only short term but also long term goals with a support system in place will ensure the motivation and success I am needing. Happy Sunday everyone!

Why doesn't our body come with an owner's manual?

I'm still having a big issue with writer's block, this sentence alone took me five six days to write. The past six or so weeks have been a roller coaster with out of whack hormones and stress induced depression. Every morning I wake up with determination to get back on track with my healthy eating and by mid afternoon it goes down hill very quickly. If only our bodies would come with an owner's manual to help combat these tough times.

Honestly, I'm amazed that I've only gained about 8 pounds back over the past month. Not that I'm proud of that but, with the amount of unhealthy food I've consumed, I should have put on 20lbs.  I've had countless doctor's appointments and think that I'm on the path to recovery. The problem is I'm not there yet and I need to overcome the urges I have to eat junk food in order to create an imaginary happiness.

Where do I go from here?

1) Continue teaching classes at the Y and start back up with running
2) Begin regularly blogging and journaling about my progress to hold myself accountable
3) Faithfully record my food and exercise on Myfitnesspal as well as in the accountability group I'm in on FB
4) Redo body measurements, find out my body fat %, and take a "before" picture
5) Daily meditation to help reduce stress
6) Begin every day with prayer, reevaluating my goals/ looking over my vision board
7) Pray for strength, will power, and faith & knowledge that God is in charge and that I must trust in Him!