Time to shake things up!

Donna

Happy Memorial Day!  As a United States Navy veteran, I feel beyond blessed that I am able to pursue my dreams and aspirations, as many service members will not ever have that opportunity.  Let’s remember those who have gone before us while serving this great nation and never forget the sacrifice that they made.  On this day, we remember you!!

So while you’re eating that hotdog….wait no!! Put that hot dog down!! I have great news to report. I have officially lost 5 lbs!!  Woohoo, celebrating small victories!!  My inner hater may say 5 lbs in 5 weeks is not the best number since The Biggest Loser contestants can lose that in one day, but I gained 1 lb of muscle mass and have gone down not 1, but 2 belt buckle notches!! Oh yes, the pants are getting looser. This has been an awesome week.  Lawson had his last baseball game of another great season, which we celebrated with an end of season bowling party and played a parents vs kids kickball game (highly recommend, so much fun).  I LOVE my baseball family and will miss not seeing them every day. 

As far as my fitness goals…I talked with a nutritionist this week and gained some great insight to the composition of my body.  This has sparked me to make some big changes.  Up until now I’ve been hyper focused on losing weight by increasing my cardio.  I’m proud of the progress I’ve made with running and the hours I’ve clocked on the pavement, but I think I’m killing myself for little results.  Running has without a doubt helped get my ball rolling with weight loss, but I am pulling back on cardio.  I will still run 1-2 times a week because I really do enjoy it…but I’m refocusing my time at the gym to something I feel may be more beneficial, weight training.  With this new plan comes a new focus on food.  I have researched and formulated a decent food plan that I can follow which increases my protein intake by a significant amount. 

I started this journey 6 weeks ago very strong.  The past few weeks I’ve had some setbacks that I believe have hindered my progress.  I’ve encountered some emotional obstacles and I’ve done my best to juggle  scheduling conflicts.  Now that baseball season is over and school is finishing this week, I feel re-energized to put the focus back on me.  Another big stress that I haven’t mentioned is that my husband and I are planning to build a house.  We finally closed on the land this week, but had been in contract for almost 2 months.  The stress of negotiating and budgeting to finance this project has affected me without a doubt.  So that is done!  No sports, no school, land is ours….I feel free of stress. Life is good!

So who’s with me?!  I am excited, motivated, and ready to pursue this next level of self-fulfillment.  Here’s to a week of chicken, salmon, steak and lots of green veggies!!!

Goals:The Difficult Ones!

 

Chanon

 We are each as unique as a flower. This one is so precious. 

We all have that one area of our life that seems to come so naturally to us.  The area in which our gifts are so prevalent.  One of these areas for me is the gift of encouragement. It seems to come so easy for me to talk someone up, to encourage them, to celebrate them.   But what happens when our gift seems broken?  When we can encourage everyone around us and yet can't seem to encourage ourselves?  
For me, I never really had this issue of self doubt or lack of self encouragement.  That is until I decided once and for all that I am going to make my health a priority. I am going to be " Fit by Forty", "reduce all my numbers", "win this fight."   For some reason this area, this area is the opposite of my gift. It's just not a natural thing that I love.  It's not easy to self encourage or self motivate.   
Quite frankly I've needed others to push me, pull me, encourage me and make me remember why this is so important.  I haven't found that inner beast yet... The one that looks in the mirror and says oh yes I love this journey.   I have not given up hope on it... I know somewhere deep in there she lives.  I have resolved to this decision- until the inner beast appears, I will decide daily to make these choices.  You see some people just have this natural gift to be fit, live fit, speak fit, embrace fit.  Others like me have to fight to decide to want it bad enough to decide to live it.   I am on day 8 toward that 21 days to make a habit of exercising.   I have drug my but to the gym and gave my heart a work out 3 times this week.  I have met a goal and started on a journey to create this habit.   I have longed to be the gal whose gift is fitness,  but have realized my gifts are exactly as they should be.    We all have days that ours feel broken, we all have days to throw ourselves a pity party, and we all have days that this journey is strictly about a decision and not about our inner beast. What is important is that after those days... We pick ourselves up, look in the mirror and decide to see the inner beast even if she doesn't come naturally.
Never give up and never let a bad day or a bad meal define your journey.   

My Beautiful Daughter at her 5th Grade Graduation

Grace for the days when it's just not easy.  Be Well!

• Chanon 

This is getting harder!

 Michelle

 

 

Starting weight:  210lbs beginning of February
Current Weight:  164.4lbs
Height:  5'5"

GOALS:  My Goal is to lose 60lbs!! Gain strength and endurance!!
Motivation and Support:  Myself, my husband, and my family and friends.  Watching and hearing about others on their own journeys to getting healthier and stronger give me great encouragement.

This is totally  getting harder!!  The weight is coming off slower with ALOT MORE WORK!!  What once worked does not make me feel like I worked hard enough!!  I love the feeling of a good workout and now I have to do more or longer to get that satisfaction!!
I am happy to say I expanded my running to outside finally since the rain took a break!!  My first run was 3.5 miles, with my 14 year old son.  (he was super supportive, as he ran alot of my pace and he can do timed miles in 5-6 minute range)  The next 2 days I was very sore and had to take a break from running, I found muscles I did not know I had.  :(  Then I took a slower 2 mile run outside with my 8 year old son.  I was super impressed with him, he loves an athletic challenge and begs to run with me alot!!  Now that I have been outside my love hate relationship with the treadmill, has definitely turned to hate lol.  I have no desire to use the treadmill currently.  I am eager to get the opportunities to get outside.  Just this week I did my first 5 mile run ever (with my 20 year old daughter) in 53 minutes flat!!  It felt great, and I cant wait to do it again and push harder for a faster time next time.  On a side note I can now do 5 miles in the time it took me to do 3 miles when I started on the treadmill back in February!! Yay me for gaining strength and endurance!!  :)

 

 

I also am going to be honest, I have had several cheats over the past two weeks.  From a little ice cream, to a couple extra snacks, and one time I ate a WHOLE sub!  And boy did it taste good and was so worth it! (I think lol)  And no I did not have a Mt Dew yet through this whole process since January, and for that I am proud of myself.  I am back on track and ready to move forward with smart healthy carb choices that have got me where I am today.
One of the biggest positive gains I have benefited from is mental health!!  My mind body and soul are much clearer and relaxed!!  It is amazing how much more content I am.  Enjoying more of the everyday simple things that would have once overwhelmed me or created major anxiety.

As successful as my journey has been I am just excited to reach my goal and just be able to maintain.  Here's to hoping soon is the final countdown!! (meaning 10 lbs left to goal haha)  I can do it, I will do it, and so can you!!

Routine.

Denise

 

 

HEIGHT:: 5’8”

STARTING Weight on 4-25-16 : 208

TODAY’S Weight: not getting on that evil thing until 7-25-16: I lied!

GOALS:  Fit comfy into any size 12, no muffin top and with a tight shirt!

Establish playtime on a daily basis that helps me achieve a strong body. Break old habits!

MOTIVATION and SUPPORT:  My husband, my family, my friends and my Lord.

 

 

Panda Log: 05.36.2016

 

I get up every work day with the exact same routine. My eternal alarm clock goes off around 6 AM even though my actual clock says 6:30. This is because I can't get up before 7, which is what my clock says by time I snooze more and then get up, but it is really 6:30. It's a crazy mind game but it works for me. I then put the pups out, drink two glasses of water, make coffee, make my breakfast, lunch and smoothie, brush my teeth, get ready and leave for work. I've been doing this same routine for years. So, a light bulb goes off, I'll try to incorporate my exercise into my routine and see if I can make it routine also. This is what I've come up with so far, I added small bits of exercise to my daily routine like doing one set of my four arm lifts before I brushed my teeth, seven lunges to the bathroom , 30-40 squats while I brushed my teeth, 7 lunges back to my room, a second set of arms, lunges to and from bathroom again, the last set of arms after I do my makeup then last set of lunges. Every other day I rotate arm lifts for core like three sets each of planks, crunches, bridges and leg lifts.  I'm still trying to incorporate cardio into this routine. For now, I'm getting a sweat on and it's all about baby steps. I feel that this routine approach can work for me and feel great mentally for the rest of the day that I've already got a workout in. My five year old grandson was here over the weekend, he is the most fun kind of workout there is. It rained so we played superheroes…for 8 hours straight!  All of his toys are in his room upstairs plus a small toy box in the living room and he is not satisfied just playing with some of his toys, he wants to play with all of them. I probably went up and down our stairs 50 times. I didn't mind a bit! I love his creativeness and imagination and soak it all in when he's over.

 

 

Cutting out wheat has been great for my system and how I'm  feeling in my gut. Besides a couple of power bars I've done really well in this area. The negative side to eating this way is my energy level is low. I had to add foods that didn't contain wheat but had a positive energy effect on me. After doing some homework I decided to add some non-wheat whole grains like Saba noodles, quinoa, brown rice and potatoes here and there, just enough that my energy level is higher. I was missing my sushi too so I made a low carb version at home. I cut up dry scallops and sushi grade tuna that I bought from our new fresh fish market (I'm super excited about this market!!), cut avocado and cucumber, added everything into a bowl with a spoon of mayo and salt, spooned some into a seaweed wrapper and folded it cone shaped, dipped those babies in soy sauce with wasabi and It was delicious and totally satisfied my sushi craving. I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE MY SPIRALER!! Spiraled zucchini is my new pasta with anything pasta goes with, like my husbands amazing pasta sauce.

 

 

The first three weeks of this journey I went without snacks but that's not sustainable, I need snacks! Quinoa chips by Simply have the perfect crunch, taste great and are wheat free, my favorite are the cheddar cheese. I also bought gluten free crackers so I had something to put butter on, by now we all know I love my butter!! I only crave it about once a week and now I have the perfect healthy option to put it on.

 

I'm still working on my wine calories but I've definitely cut back. It's a toughie! Being empty nesters, it's easy to have a cocktail for any reason from a hard day at work to the mere fact that it's a nice day out. It's definitely not the worst dilemma to be in! Those calories add up though and truth be told, it makes me less productive in other areas of my life when I put happy hour first.

 

I'm not going to lie, I weighed myself, it was not pretty! So here I am not weighing myself again and reminding myself that that number does not define me. I don't know if I’m alone in this feeling or not, I do not aspire to be thin, I just don't! So the number needs to become obsolete to me. I do desire to be fit and healthy though. I'm going to admit that I like being a full figured women, I'm happier this way than when I'm thin. It's a crazy notion to so many so I don't admit this, but here I am, announcing it to whoever reads this. What I don't enjoy is being out of shape. That is what this journey is to me, getting in shape at size 14 and if my body wants to go down to a 12, great! But I do not strive to be a size 8 or feel like I'm less then if I'm not a size 8. There it is folks!

 

Peace,

Panda

 

 

 

 

JUST KEEP SWIMMING, JUST KEEP SWIMMING!!!

Amy

 Weight: Still 230lbs 
Goals: Drink a gallon of water a day and get on the treadmill for At least 30 minutes every day.

 I had a very busy week as usual and I am finding it very hard to fit my new healthier life into my very busy schedule.  Every week I look at my schedule to see what I have coming up and every week my schedule is completely full. And the hard thing with that is even when I do have time to be honest I am so tired that  when I do have a free moment I really just want to sit on my butt and do absolutely nothing. Still struggling to take those free moments now and fill them with exercise.

 The best days I had with exercising were one day when my blog buddies asked how exercising was going and I again had done nothing that day but since they asked me I didn't want to lie to them and say I had so I found a quick and easy thing to do and did it. Well I say quick and easy but for me it really wasn't.  It should have been quick and easy but I am so out of shape it was hard for me. Boy was that a wake up call. On paper it looked easy but when you are 230 lbs some things are not so easy.  Also to those of you who don't know me well I have had 4 ankle surgeries and a knee surgery. In my last ankle surgery they took bone from my knee to correct the problem which did correct the ankle problem but now I have knee issues. I really didn't think it bothered me that much until I did that exercise.  Even something as simple as a jumping jack was hard and hurt. But that is no excuse. I can get on a treadmill or on our exercise bike and do that without pain. I also told Sydney when she gets out of school I want to her to go do some water aerobics with me at the gym. Truthfully I don't want to go alone because typically it's a bunch of old people that do it and I don't want to be the youngest one there. I know that sounds stupid but it's the truth. Lol I also one day got to school early to pick Savannah up and instead of playing on my phone I opted to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill. I was pretty proud of myself for that. In the past I would have chosen the phone.

 So now to explain my title this week. One of the many things I did this week is go to my son's field day at school. I sat there all day and watched the events.  They ran as one of the races a 400 meter race. Many of the children struggled to finish a race that long. I wondered as I watched them why did they volunteer for something so hard and I felt sorry for them as they struggled to finish. They had this announcer that when they kids would have a hard time finishing she would keep saying "just keep running, just keep running" and it worked they would keep running and finish! So I figured out that even though it is hard and I don't want to do it some days I need to....JUST KEEP SWIMMING, JUST KEEP SWIMMING!!!

Just try and keep me down..

Donna

This has been a rough week emotionally for me.  I had 2 sick kids with the stomach bug and then I got hit with the bug myself.  I’m still not feeling 100% so my entire diet and exercise schedule has been shaken up a bit.  I don’t believe I have lost any weight this week, but I’m not worrying about the numbers so much due to the circumstances.  I wanted to share with you something else that happened to me which really altered my emotional state.  I’ve been so focused and driven with my journey to a healthier lifestyle that I may have neglected one area of my life.  I was forced to take off all the different hats that I wear and reevaluate my priorities.  It was brought to my attention that I was deficient with certain reports at work.  This really hit me hard because I take great pride in my job.  I truly had no idea that upper management had an issue with how I was handling things.  I am a supervisor for the IT division at a law enforcement agency.  As many supervisors know, this is a hard position to juggle.  I am in the field and deal closely with commissioned personnel as well as my team of field technicians.  Upper management sits in an office 200 miles away not truly knowing what we do in the field.  They base their knowledge of our work off of statistics, reports and numbers.  I was notified via email that I have become delinquent in certain areas and I think it hit me so hard because the person who delivered this information to me did it in a very impersonal way.  I thought my relationship was more valuable with them and would’ve appreciated a phone call as opposed to a late night email.  This communication really took the wind out of my sails.  I had no idea that my work was being perceived as delinquent and/or deficient.  As I mentioned, I laid everything on the table and really tried to look at the big picture.  Naturally if I am not meeting certain criteria as a supervisor, then I have to re-shift my focus at work and cater to upper management.  As a supervisor though, you’re only as good as the team underneath you, so this will be a challenge to balance both the needs of upper management and maintain a strong team that considers me relatable, approachable and available.  As with any challenge, I am motivated to make this happen.  I will make this happen!!  My family is everything to me.  They are what drives me.  I will not allow this set back at work to throw me off my game.  I am better than that.  Here’s to a better week with no work drama and no stomach bugs!

Struggle: Love the Downs..Hold on for the Ups

I’ve got the steering wheel today; it’s going to be a little bumpy. I am Miguel, husband to Fit and Fun Mama, Libby. 

Weight loss and fitness..hmmm..The title pretty much sums up this area in my life, struggles and victories, ups and downs, peaks and valleys; all those clichés which really mean when I focus on weight loss it happens. When I don’t it shows; in this blog the ladies talk about the realities of what happens when you don’t have the food to exercise ratio in proper balance and how they go through this journey of change. I’d like to move to giving grace and enjoying the ride. Why enjoy the ride; one simple word: Character.

Webster definition of character is “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual; your disposition, temperament and make-up.” So why this word and why now? I believe a lot of self reflection is needed with any big change in your life; for most there is an area or 2 that require self-reflection and major change to achieve success. For some weight-loss, exercising, physical fitness are God-given talents (we all have gifts in areas that come easy); they are great at it but their struggles are in other areas: career, marriage, parenting, money, etc.  No one has perfected all of these for good reason: we're not perfect. I’ve been renewing my walk with Jesus over the past few months; I’ve studied, prayed and questioned what is God’s purpose for struggles. The short answer is: Character.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5

How do we become inspirations to other people if we don’t experience these struggles ourselves; would Driven even be a blog of all of the bloggers are 2% body fat and spend 3-5 hours a day working-out. One of the things that makes Driven a great read for me is “the struggle is real”; these ladies put it out there; the success, the failure, the joy and the pains. Struggles build character; not just your character but also the character of the support system around; the people in the trenches with you. My weight loss struggle melds me to some of the most important people in my life: my brother-in-law and my wife. Bro-in-law (broham) is the fitness dude; he’s always there to start me up again anytime I get serious on this training thing; no judgments and no negativity just glad to see you in the gym again. Because of my struggle and his support, that’s my right hand man. The great thing about life is it works the other way around to; our struggles bring us together. It’s a lot of words to say this: “Without our struggles, if everything was perfect why would we need each other; what then builds character?” Struggles make you vulnerable, Vulnerability makes you real to people. Being real is the only way you defeat and succeed. Perseverance and hope come from having struggles; you find your friends, family and support system there. To be honest any relationship without true vulnerability is superficial.

Would I like to 30lbs lighter; sure. Would I like to run a 5K in 22 minutes; yep. Will I buckle down and get started; probably..:). In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the ride with my broham, wife, family and friends. The struggle is real because it needs to be; it’s His plan.

Readers of Driven; embrace your struggles and love the challenge to work past them. Stop beating yourself up; patience and love are fruits of the spirit. It starts in you first. It’s God’s plan to put the right people, resources and thoughts in your path to achieve success and bring others along with you. Good luck on achieving your goals ladies and gentlemen and love your character-building journey!!

Honbear Out!!

New Habits are Hard to Make!

Chanon

I am looking forward to reporting that all of my healthy eating and fitness goals are now habits. 
I surely hope I will be able to do that prior to our 60 day commitment to Driven.  This isn't the week to report complete success in all these areas....
I have created new healthy habits with beverages and food choices. I don't even have to think about that anymore... Water... Unsweetened tea... Coffee... Veggies, veggies, Fruit!   ( checking in on the numbers down 1lb this week... Total of 20 so far..40 more to go)

The exercise goal hasn't become a habit yet.... And quite honestly I can't even say I am on day 7 of the 21 it takes to create a new habit.  Today is day 1 of 21 that I will take to create this new habit for myself. I know it can be fun, I am looking forward to it, I have the gym membership, and today I am claiming to be Driven. With no excuses in this area!!!  I've said before accountability can be a good thing.... And for me it will be the push behind what creates my drive in this area.   I need to take this goal and make it a habit.... And never turn back!!! Last week I thought that would be easier than it turned out to be... I had choices to make throughout the week and In the time I had available to go to the gym, I chose to rest. This week I will choose to start toward my new habit!!!!If you are a person whom I see on a normal basis- feel free to Check in on my progress and don't let me make excuses.... I need to make my body work out at least 3 times this week, the next week and every week after that! I need this to be my habit!!! 



These are my feet.... 

I don't want them being the only body part I enjoy seeing pictures of.  In order for that to happen, they need to be moving more than they are still! 
Here's to being Driven. To creating new habits!! 



Blessings for a week full of fresh goals and successes. Remember to extend yourself Grace when you hit bumps in the road. 

Chanon 

Wild Ponies!

Denise

HEIGHT:: 5’8”

STARTING Weight on 4-25-16 : 208

TODAY’S Weight: not getting on that evil thing until 7-25-16

GOALS:  Fit comfy into any size 12, no muffin top and with a tight shirt!

Establish playtime on a daily basis that helps me achieve a strong body. Break old habits!

MOTIVATION and SUPPORT:  My husband, my family, my friends and my Lord.

Panda Log: 05.19.2016

We set off on our bikes from the beach and were all ready for the adventures ahead of us, immediately my muscles started to scream from the 10 mile trail ride from the day before. Within a minute I'm thinking,  “why am I doing this, I could be drinking a mimosa and laying on the beach!” As I reluctantly  peddled through the pain it didn't occur to me that I was slowly losing myself into the cool beach breeze that was rustling through the tree tops and enjoying the slight salty smell the air. The wild ponies were to the left of us eating grass with their colt paying us no attention at all.   We took every trail off the main trail with new wild life welcoming us at each turn, the black snake that stopped to hiss at us while crossing over the sandy road as we passed by it and the brilliantly colored birds that flew all around us while I  listened to the rest of the creatures each sing their special songs. I hadn't had a second thought of my legs that were on fire and my muscles burning from when we first headed out. As we rode up the sandy  bank returning to our starting point I couldn't believe that two hours had passed. I'm not sure how many miles we rode due to not charging our phone that had the tracker on it but, it had to exceed the 10 miles we rode the day before. The workout was good and I was feeling pretty good about heading back to our sweet little cottage to finally have mimosas and lay on the beach. 

On our way back we stopped at a local fish market for some fresh Chincoteague oysters and  bought some fresh grouper and a tuna steak for dinner. We sat at one of the thatched umbrella covered bars along the beach with our special dinner to celebrate 30 years of marriage. To our surprise, a chilled bottle of champagne on ice along with two beautifully stemmed glasses was presented to us by the wonderful people at Snug Harbor resort. It was a magical night and all was right in the world at that moment.

Ok, enough with the novel! Lol

Seeing the Wild Ponies on Chincoteage Island was on my bucket list and my wonderful husband set up the trip and made it happen. This is the first trip in our 30 years together that we choose health over being gluttonous pigs. All of our meals were healthy clean choices. We hit nature trails,  rode around Chincoteage island and clocked in over 20 miles. I’m so proud!

Over three weeks has passed since I started this journey and I've eaten a clean healthy diet and have not had any grains,  junk food or processed sugar since I stared. I’m learning to feed my body when I need fuel and not eat just because I'm excited or whatever emotion I'm feeling. This trip was a test and I passed with flying colors, but I won't get ahead of myself because I know that I have to take each step one at a time. The next step is to add consistent exercise. I started a squat challenge yesterday and also four weight lifting moves for my arms. My goal is to walk, bike or kangoo at least three times a week throughout my 30 day squat challenge as well.  I have decided that I am not getting on my evil scale until July 25^th. This will be the first time since about age 13 that I'm not letting that number define me. I'm nervous! It's a scary move but I’m sticking to it! Even though I do not know how much I weigh at this point I'm seeing and feeling a change in my body. My bras are fitting better and I'm able to wear a couple of my favorites as of a week ago that I haven't worn in a few years and my clothes are loser. I can't wait to see what my body does in the next three weeks now that I’ve added exercise.

Last but not least, I have to face the music, WINE CALORIES DO COUNT! My plan is to cut back in this next week, one week at a time…baby steps. Wish me luck!

Peace,

Panda

NO EXCUSES!

Amy 

Current Weight: 230 lbs  (3lbs lost)

Victories for the week: Still no soda! Lost some weight and did pretty good with my diet.

Struggles for the week: Exercising and drinking water

All I keep thinking at the end of each week is what is wrong with me. I think I am committed but then before I know it the week is over and I haven't accomplished what I wanted to for the week. I try to be realistic and tell myself that baby steps are ok and that any progress is good but in all reality I know I am just trying to make myself feel better about failing. What is wrong with me? Why can't I conquer this? Why does this horrible lifestyle I have created have such a hold on me?

With the diet portion of things I am very proud of myself. I have been continuing to eat breakfast everyday and try to drink plenty of water and best of all I think I have finally really kicked the soda habit. I actually don't even miss it anymore. Also a very big accomplishment I had this week was doing the right thing when I went out to eat twice. I love to eat out at restaurants and anyone who knows me knows I eat the same thing at each restaurant I go to and none of it was good. I went to Ruby Tuesday this week with my mother in law and I normally would get a cheeseburger and fries and a coke. Well this time I got fish, a salad, and grilled zucchini. Oh and instead of the soda I got water. And you know what it was really good. And then I went to the Texas Roadhouse with my friend too. That really was hard for me. I normally get a steak and ribs with bacon cheese fries and a soda. Well this time I opted for grilled shrimp with mixed vegetables and a salad. And I drank water. That was really hard for me but in the end I enjoyed the healthier dinner as much as the one that was bad for me and the bonus was I felt better after it.

But as good as I have been doing I still have not done anything with exercising.  I don't know why I am struggling so much with this. Maybe because I don't know where to start. I make the excuse that I am too tired or I'll do it later but later never comes. And here I have let another week go by with no exercise.  I really have no excuse.  I have a gym membership and I have a gym in my home that my daughter uses everyday so why don't I?  Why can't I get this right? If anyone has some suggestions to how I can ease into this and get on the right path please help me. I know in the end though I have to be the one to do it. No one can do it for me. I wish their was a magic pill to make this all go away but I have spent years conditioning my brain to think like this so I should realize that it is not going to change over night. I just have to keep plugging along and try harder next week. Hopefully I will get in right this week.

Wish me luck! 
Amy