Holidays

Everyone knows it is hard to behave during the Holidays. Some things that help me are: not letting myself get too hungry, especially before being exposed to "naughty" foods, choosing the healthiest options at parties, not having treats at my house, staying on my exercise plan no matter what, and of course logging every bite into Fitnesspal.

Today Was Supposed to Be Great

My newest goal is to start each day by believing it will "be a great day." Then at the end of the day, I am to review all the good things that happened. I have to admit that it was mostly a good day. I got the kitchen back to normal after a Halloween Party. I got all of my blankets "vacuum packed" so they take up less space. I made it to the gym, Yay!! I spent an hour with my husband at work and we went out to a short film Halloween festival. It was interesting, if not super fun. The downside to my day was that my youngest son wrote me an in depth letter explaining his belief system. Since it is not at all what I have taught him his whole life, I find it a bit disappointing and I even feel defeated. Of my five children, only two have fully endorsed the things I taught them when they were young.

Anyway on the fitness and nutrition front, I have been eating a bit poorly for about 2 weeks. I am a fanatic about entering every single thing into FitnessPal so I am accountable. It doesn't look good when you have to actually look at the graphs of each day and week. I can't wait for the bad days to drop off. All in all, it didn't impact my physique much. Since I have gained more muscle, I can get away with more "cheating," but I spend calories like money. You can pay the price for a great body or make excuses. I'm not saying my body is the best or greatest, but it's pretty darn satisfying for a person my age to have done this well. If I could recommend two things to make success a reality, they would be Myfitnesspal and clean recipes on Bodybuilding.com. Take a look.

Late Night at the Gym

I don't usually recommend waiting until late in the day to go to the gym, but yesterday got away from me so I ended up there at 9 pm. I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I did. It was actually kind of peaceful. Not too crowded, kind of a quiet crowd, not to mention that I saw new faces I don't usually see when I go earlier in the day. Not bad at all.

The other day I saw one of my acquaintances at the gym working out. She has been posting that she joined a coached group, called Team Heugly. I think they do a good job, but I gave her a whole workout plan a few months ago. I guess she didn't love it or got tired of it. Anyway, we'll see what she does with this. People, in general seem to neglect the nutrition part. Working out is great, but you don't get what you want unless you eat right too. I know because I worked out hard for years and years, but my body never changed because I used it as a license to eat whatever I wanted to.

How did this happen?

Wow!! Facing bankruptcy and divorce all at the same time. I guess it happens to people, but it shouldn't happen all at once. I have been pretty conservative in my lifetime, saving money, not going in debt, and not over spending. The problem happened when I thought I could open a business. It could have been a very nice little business, but I picked the wrong partners. They took over and pushed me out. I can't really blame them for the whole failure; I needed to be more assertive and make some demands. Come to think of it, that could be the root cause of my failed relationship. I'm always trying to be nice and failing to stand up for myself. I am a pleaser for sure. What a bomb!!

I'm glad I have my passion for exercise to help me through this. I also have strong faith in my Savior. This life will seem like a small dot on an infinite line when it is over. I just have to make it through with some honor and dignity.

Have I ever posted "before" and "after" pictures? I can't believe it's me. I did it the hard way, strict exercise and nutrition. I'm never going back.  I absolutely love being smaller and of course healthy and fit.

I came across this new product called Unicity Balance (haven't ever tried it yet). I absolutely HATE multi-level marketing, but the product is "legit." People are losing weight on this product and as a health care professional, I have studied and researched it and I understand how it works. I just want to sell it to help people. I really don't buy into all the hype about making a "million" bucks. Anyway check it out. The way it works doesn't just help with weight control. It's mainly soluble fiber with some phytosterols. It essentially lowers the glycemic index of the foods you eat by slowing absorption and lowers your bad lipids while increasing your good lipids. It lowers cholesterol overall.  I want to try it to see if it will lower my cholesterol. Even though I eat pretty well, my cholesterol is on the high side (a function of genetics).

Stressful Times; Working Through It

Not such a good week, but going to the gym can be good therapy. Besides not going won't help at all. I have a great, new work out for myself. Since I usually dread leg day, I have written a plan that breaks them up like Quads and Biceps or Glutes and Shoulders. I do 15 minutes of cardio to warm up, then do 4 exercises for one of the muscle groups I'm working. When I finish those 4 exercises, I do 15 more minutes of cardio and then the 4 exercises for the other muscle group. I like breaking it up this way. Sometimes 30 minutes of cardio is too long if done all at once. Anyway, I will follow this plan for about 3 weeks before switching it up again. By the way, FitnessPal has added a pedometer to the App that keeps track of your steps all day if you have your phone with you. It automatically subtracts the calories burned from total. Love, love it!!

Another Win

I'm at work late at night and the staff is ordering pizza and eating ice cream later. Oh how I want some, but I chose to go to my call room instead. I conquered the carb monster tonight.

How do I stay motivated to eat right and exercise every day?

There is a lot of advice and recommendations touted to help one stay motivated, but honestly I simply go to Walmart and look around. I vow never to let myself become like some of the people I see there. I'm not judging them, but I believe there are some who accept mediocrity. Maybe they don't believe it is possible to make better choices or their life circumstances are so difficult that they are stuck in a bad place. Whatever the reason, I am motivated by them to eat better, exercise on a regular basis and work hard to achieve all of my goals.