I've come to a realization

Written in 2011:

***Warning, Post of Self Discovery***


I came to a realization last night after a day of some self pity:

I am so afraid of failure that I've already failed!



One of my goals this year was to continue my journey toward a healthier life and weight loss.  Though I have made several positive changes, my weight loss has become stagnant.  I feel better then I ever have, I have more energy, I enjoy working out, but because my weight hasn't reflected those changes I feel I've failed. 


I also feel like I am setting myself up for failure.  I'll make some bad food choices, then in my head think:

"Well, I've already messed up today, may as well go all out the rest of the day." 

That is not the kind of thinking I should have.  I should instead forgive myself for that mistake of the day, and continue on the path I've set for myself.

I'm always going to have days where temptation will overtake me.  But if I set my environment up to where I can't fail, then I'll find that success that I need.


Update February 2012:

I wrote that little tidbit last year around October when I'd been struggling with where I was or wasn't going.  Since the first of the year I've been more involved in finding out why I haven't been losing the weight.  I have finally figured it out, and though I'm still tweaking, I'm excited where this year will take me.

I'm so grateful for the help and support I have from my friends and family.  I know without their love and encouragement I would have failed and given up on myself a long time ago.

I'm happy to announce that since the first of the year I've lost 9 pounds!!  I still have my days where I have the pity party and eat whatever is in sight, but I'm learning that those foods which are bad for me are poison I don't want invading my body.  I hope to find some healthy alternatives to my "bad" foods and will post those recipes I find them.  I hope you have found your driving force to a happier and healthier life.  If not, please feel free to use my journey as a stepping point and know I'm always there to lend a helping hand.

Back to the Basics

I am in no means a person who wants to be Au Natural.  But since starting my journey to good health last year, I've been studying and reading a lot of labels.  Not only food, but the products I use everyday.

I've already started making my own laundry detergent, and I LOVE it!  So quick and easy to make, and it really does work without all of the fillers commercial detergent have.

The next step is making my own lotion.  I have combination skin.  My face gets really oily, but my hands and the rest of me gets really dry.  Probably because I shower in too hot of water...but I digress.  

Most lotions contain chemicals which could cause more harm then good to your skin.  

I found this book while searching for homemade lotion recipes

I can't wait to get my dry, cracked little hands on this book.  Perhaps some birthday gifts in the making???

Do you have any homemade beauty secrets?

2011 and What's in Store

Been a while since I posted...I know call me a slacker.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I wish to accomplish this new year.  For the past few years, especially in the scrapbooking community, there has been a real frenzy going about summing up your year in one word.  I decided to have one for 2011:  Changes.  Here are some of them I plan to make or continue making this year:

Lose Weight: I've already started with that one in 2010.  I plan to continue my journey with BeachBody programs like P90X, and soon to be INSANITY!!  With those tools at my disposal..I can't go wrong.

Source

Get Organized: This being my year for changes, I'm going to take the tools necessary and get my house organized.  That means, purging things that aren't needed, used, or have been sitting forever in boxes or in other "storage" areas.  One closet, space, and room at a time!


Be more Creative: I hope to find the time to hone in on some other creative skills I may or may not have.  I would love to get my sewing machine out more and make clothes for Melody.  Perhaps even some awesome gifts for others. Ultimately would be a fabulous "Puff Quilt" following the tutorial at HoneyBear Lane.  Maybe even have a homemade Christmas next year with all the gifts given being made from me!

Find Time for Romance:  Loney and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary in May. Being parents you don't really have the time or energy to spend time with each other, remembering why you fell in love in the first place.  That will change this year.  We will have more "US" time even when things might be a little crazy.  Date night once a month, and maybe a weekend or two away from the kiddos sometime during the year.  There's some awesome ideas here at The Dating Divas.

Connect with Friends:  I love the fact that in this day and age I'm able to find old friends and make new ones.  Places like Facebook are a lifesaver for a mom at home with her kiddos.  I hope to be able to meet some of the online friends I've made at Faithsisters.com even those I've connected with from BeachBody.

I think that should be a good start to strive for this year.  Making even small changes will make this year the best yet!

What are your goals?

P90X Results

Well, it's been just over a week since I started my second round of P90X.  So I thought I would post my pictures from the first 90 days so you can see my progress.  I lost a total of 16 inches during the whole 90 days.  Not quite up to what I lost with Power 90, but combine them both and I've lost a total of 33.5 inches since April.  Not too shabby I'd say.  I have dropped from a size 22 pants (could fit into a tight 20 with the right cut) to a size 15/16.  I haven't been that size in nearly 11 years.

I can see some subtleties which is better then nothing at all I suppose.  I'm not giving up though.  I've worked too hard to do that. This new round of P90X is the lean version.  With more cardio I'm hoping to lose more, since I won't be buffing up my muscles as much.  Not that it's a bad thing.  Just need to get some more inches off. Wanna see my progress since starting in April?  I know you wanna!!  Here you go:

I feel amazing, and what's more, as I'm making a difference in my life I'm also inspiring others.  I signed up as a BeachBody coach because I want to help others in their journey.  You're not alone.  I never thought I would make this kind of change in my life, and BeachBody has played a huge part in that...so why not pay it forward. Even though I still have a ways to go, I'm on the right track.  Nothing can stop me now.

Bring It!

Well, I finished my 90 days of Power 90! When I first started, I was out of breath, could hardly do 10 jumping jacks, push ups were almost nonexistent, and I thought I was going to die. Well, now I hardly get out of breath, I'm able to do jumping jacks, I've done nearly 45 push ups in one workout, and though I still feel like dying I feel soo much better then I did when I started.

Here's my Before and After the 90 days:


This is me 20 pounds lighter and a total of 17 3/4 inches off my body. How amazing is that?!? Although I would have liked bigger results, I'm extremely happy with them anyway.

Now onto the next chapter on my journey towards a healthy life. P90X!! Amy, Bradd, Diana and I began this program on August 2nd. We are now 3 days in, and loving every minute of it. I hope to bring bigger and better results with P90X as it lives up to it's extreme name. I hope you are inspired by my feeling of accomplishment, because if I can do P90X...I can do ANYTHING!!