Finding the Blessings in the Midst of the Madness.

 Nikki

 

Height: 5' 5 ¾” - that ¾ is important!  My daughter is 4 inches taller than me…every little bit counts!

Weight:  127

Goals: Heal from my accident, pay better attention to my nutrition, and get back into a workout routine

Motivation/Support: Faith, family, friends, and my fellow Beachbody coaches and challengers

Finding the Blessings in the Midst of the Madness

That picture above brings back such happy memories of me and my mom in our happy place.  No particular beach, just saltwater, sand, and hours riding the waves and spending time together.  This is a tradition that I’m so blessed to be carrying on with my daughter who is growing up way too quickly.  She is almost fourteen now and has had quite a rough year filled with medical issues.  So much of my time has been spent as advocate, caregiver, and shoulder to cry on.  Through it all, I’ve often gone back to a lesson that my mom taught me that I’m trying to pass along to my kids.  Always look for the blessings.  Life has been so crazy, that I’ve added ‘in the midst of the madness’.  But it’s not always easy.

I had been doing so very well with working out daily for two and half years.  Getting up and working out in the morning was as automatic as brushing my teeth.  And as essential to my being as sleep.  But, life can change without warning.  And our ability to adapt to our circumstances is what helps us to not only survive, but thrive.  I was driving to my happy place to spend time with my dad…a tradition we revived after my mom passed away many years ago.  The light turned green and I proceeded into the intersection.  I did not see the car that for whatever reason did not stop at the red light and slammed into me, pushing me into the vehicle in the other lane.  It all happened so fast.  And it was so easy to focus on what I had lost – some time in my happy place with my dad, relaxing and refueling for our crazy life; my husband’s fairly new car…why hadn’t I been driving my old van; more headaches to handle with insurance, etc.  Truth be told, I did focus on the bad at first, and still find myself drifting there.  But I’m trying very hard to focus on the blessings.  I was still relatively close to home, so my husband was able to come and get me.  While, my vehicle would have been the better one to lose, I most likely would have been hurt much worse, had I been driving it.   And if this past year has taught me anything, it’s to focus on what I can accomplish today, to ask God for strength for today’s journey, and to ask him to walk with me when the burden is too much to carry.

Yes…my workout routine is on hold right now.  My ribs are thankfully not broken, although still bruised and sore.  But I’ve learned that one of the things that I enjoyed so much about my morning workouts was time to myself, in the quiet, fueling myself for the day ahead.  And I can still enjoy that time.  So, I still rise before the sun and instead of pulling on my workout clothes, I grab a good book and my cup of coffee.  And I curl up on the couch and enjoy some time before my day and all of my responsibilities start.  And I am thankful.

“You're going the wrong way”~Planes, Trains and Automobiles..

Denise

“You're going the wrong way”~Planes, Trains and Automobiles..

I love that movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, it's one of my all time favorites and my very favorite part of the movie is when Steve Martin and John Candy were driving down the highway on the wrong side and the couple in the other car were yelling out to them “you're going the wrong way”. It's a scene I think of often and it makes me laugh every time. Today I told myself out of know where, “you're going the wrong way”, it instantly made me laugh and I had to shake my head, I am going to wrong way. What I've been going through in the last two weeks is no laughing matter which is a Lymes disease relapse. It came on slow and then wham, slammed me to the ground. I was down for two solid days barely able to move except to move a fork to my mouth of everything comfort food. I was fatigued beyond what I could handle and in pain from head to toe. I'd been feeling the fatigued coming and the pain but had not experience the crushing blow so quickly with a relapse before. I was diagnosed with Lymes disease over four years ago. After months of pain and not being able to function normally the blood work finally came back with an answer. Desperate for relief I tried seven weeks of traditional antibiotics and felt  even worse than I had been before, so I  turned back to my holistic way of dealing with ailments. Within 8 months I was feeling almost back to normal and have been hyper diligent to keep my chronic Lymes under control. This last nine weeks has brought on a lot of stress! Stress kills! I believe that with all my heart but, that didn't stop me from letting it consume me. Stress is also a key factor in getting a relapse. As soon as I started feeling it coming I started on my regiment but keeping to my healthier way of eating went out the window at the same time. I was so tired, my brain would not work properly, pain took over and here came the carbs including sugar. My holistic tinctures and herbs started kicking in on Saturday and I could finally think straight, my chiropractor worked wonders and I started coming back to life as I knew it but the dread of possibly being at least 10 lbs heavier was not a happy thought. So here I am with this mess trying to organize it  all and putting everything back into its place. A good thing that came out if it is that I'm making a strong effort to ease up and find humor instead of stress. I'm looking through a new pair of eyes at the blessings instead of the stress. I was overwhelmed at the huge undertaking of our yard renovation and going way over budget but the blessing is that we have a absolutely gorgeous yard after 9 weeks of very hard work and saved probably $40,000 dollars in labor not to mention family and friends coming through in an amazing way.  I was holding in stress about being able to pull together a wedding in our yard for my son and future DIL with all the mess of renovations in front of us but the reality of it is that our son is getting married and, getting married to someone that we adore and it is all a precious blessing to be celebrated.

 And, if that's not enough, we added refinancing our home to the mix…getting a lower interest rate…blessing. Then I was forced to see the blessing of eating like there was no tomorrow and feeling like I ruined the journey that I worked so hard for, those blessings are in what I've learned and what I take away from this when I hit these road blocks in the future. Also, that finding the humor in things is a happy place that can replace a lot of undo stress. “You're going the wrong way”…it doesn't have to be negative when you see the lessons learned in it.

As I get back on track I am thankful for second chances. What I'm seeing in front of me is good times with family and friends, feeling healthy, managing stress for a more positive outlook, eating well to be well, seeing my son getting married, enjoying my precious grandchildren, never taking family and friends for granted and being ok if on rare occasions “you're going the wrong way” is a short stint in my crazy life.

As for my weight: 196.4, up 2 lbs but it could have been oh so worse!!!!

For health reasons I am starting a cleanse on October 17^th for 10 days. Being and feeling healthy is of the utmost importance to me and everything that follows should fall into place. I leave these last few weeks of ill health and bad choices behind and look forward to what these next few weeks and beyond have to hold.

Tiger update: Kevin joined me in this weight loss journey on May 1^st, one week after I started. He has not swayed once, not even a tiny bit, from his high protein and greens diet and eating small healthy portions. In addition, he's got a great workout in our back yard helping with the renovations with my dad and son for the last nine weeks. This all has added up to him losing over fifty lbs. so far and 7 lbs. away from his goal weight. He's dropped two pant sizes and looks great. I have to admit that I like adding his success since mine is not so impressive. Lol

Peace and joy,

Panda

Busy and Stressed!

Amy

Have you ever been so busy and stressed that you are just in survival mode? Well that's how I feel right now. I am taking it day by day and sometimes minute by minute. I have been so busy the last 2 weeks that I have to check my calendar several times a day just to remember where I am supposed to be at that moment. I feel like I am just running back and forth here and there all day long. A lot of days I am dropping one kid off somewhere and going to get the next kid for their activity. Thankfully things are getting a little easier since my oldest daughter got a car so I don't have to take her everywhere anymore. But things are very busy still. I always say my youngest daughter Savannah is like a full time job. When people ask me what I do for a living I always say Savannah. Lol I love her very much but boy does she keep me busy with all her doctors appointments and therapy appointments and school and activities. The past few weeks with her have been filled with lots of doctors appointments.  More then usual. This is our life and I know that but it doesn't mean it's always easy. I just feel like my stress level is through the roof.

So how does all this translate when it comes to dieting, exercise, and trying to be healthy. It translates in to me completely falling off the wagon. Me and my well being have completely gone to the way side. When you are just trying to survive it's hard to think about working on yourself. I have been eating horrible, and haven't exercised at all. I'm not proud of it but I am doing the best I can right now to be a good mom and sometimes that means I don't have time for myself. It's all I can do to get to bed time. Right now that is my absolute favorite time of the day. Sad but true. I keep looking at my upcoming weeks and they are as busy as the last. But I know it won't last forever so for now I am just holding on for dear life and trying to enjoy the ride.  

My goal this week is to try to get Atleast one part of my health back in order. Baby steps right?  If anyone has any suggestions of how I can squeeze myself into my busy life feel free to let me know. Lol

The Eye of the Tiger

Libby

I was in the zone.  I remembered why I loved running so much. The zone is hard to explain but when you experience it, you know it. I do know it has something to do with endorphin and feeling high...it is pretty good.  My husband and I ran a 5k on Saturday morning, you may have heard me talk about it, the Philly Rock 'n Roll 5k.  It started out as a half-marathon but my husband got hurt mid-training and I was not as committed as I needed to be in order to be ready.  We made a decision to downgrade to the 5k.  It wasn't disappointing at all, we went the expo on Friday and got to check out all of the latest running trends and gear.  Celebrated all of the cool, free swag we received, and we pre-registered for the 2017 rock'n roll half marathon next year.  We also got a free t-shirt, that was a pretty big motivator.  Although we were not disappointed at our decision not to run the half this year, we still want to finish what we started..together.

Sweet Socks!

 Pre-Race...Check out the Photo Bomb!

This 5k was different for me.  I have run many local and destination runs all of different distances.  Normally I run alone with my music and my thoughts.  I always have my sister with me but she is such a good runner, I insist that she run at her pace.  My husband and I ran this 5k together the entire time.  I warned him ahead of time, I do not talk during running because I have to save my breath for breathing.  I also listen to my music for motivation.  If you want to stay with me you have to go at my pace, if you want to run faster, it is totally fine, but I run at my pace, period.  I know I am a diva runner.  He agreed to all demands.  We experienced the water table together, the relief of the mile 2 marker, the trickery of  people saying the finish line is right there..it's not, and crossing the finish line together.  As I kept myself from throwing up I realized at this point, he was my partner in ALL things. This was the one thing in 12 years he was adamant that he would never participate in.  He said, "I will never pay to run."  I am not sure what changed his mind, but at that moment that high beat out my runners high.  Then we had the usual post-race water and banana...yum.  Oh yeah and we got some sweeeet medals.

The only other big thing that I have to tell you is my diet.  I stayed in Philly all weekend and I am on the very strict Whole30 diet.  I am so sad to report, that I, did NOT cheat.  It was hard, I never ever ever ever have showed this much resolve and dedication on a vacation.  My husband and I were very annoying to every waiter and restaurant we went to.  We combed menus before hand to find accepted food options, we said we could have no dairy, sugar or gluten. The waiter was like...ummm, ok.. (eye roll).
Awkward.  We made it a game and it was not hard to do once we had the right mind set.  It is all about wanting something more and not stopping until you get it. I guess you could say we embodied the spirit of "Rocky".  Get it? Rocky..Philadelphia.

Finishing Last is OK!

Maggie

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 150 

Goals: To build muscle, do the perfect handstand, compete in my first Crossfit competition, and start a Fit Mom support group. 

Motivation/support:  My husband, kids,coaches and friends. 

Finishing last is ok.

Today at Crossfit I really struggled with the workout.  I don't know why, but I had no energy.  It was tough for me and usually, it isn't.   Don't get me wrong, Crossfit is a tough sport. It pushes you and challenges you.  That's one of the reason I love it.  Well, today, it sure did.  About haft way through the workout, I was exhausted.  I felt like I was moving is slow motion.   

I started to get frustrated with my body.  Then I got angry at myself.  Why would I do that to myself?  Why would I quit on myself and body.  This is what I needed today. To be pushed and to remember to always finish.   I quickly got rid of those negative thoughts and pushed on.  "I can do this!".  With the help of my coach and training partner on each side of me cheering me on, I was able to complete the workout. 

 The rest of the class finished 3 minutes before me. The old me would be upset because I didn't come in first.  I would of spent the whole day punishing myself with negativity.  The new me today was proud, amazed, and happy!  I finished it and I earned it!!  So what that I came in last.    I earned that finish line and I am damn proud of that.

It's important that I continue to remind myself that it's all about the journey.  We shouldn't compare ourselves with others.  We should celebrate our victories and others too.  No matter how big or small.  Life is a journey and it's ok to come in last. Remember to enjoy the process.  That's the fun part.  

SatisfACTION!

Libby

Cori and I getting all patriotic

Last week was all about taking action.  I identified specific goals. I was honest about obstacles, my fault or not. I also was fair to myself and discussed the progress I had made in all of my goal areas. I also asked you last week to be my accountability partner.  My sister responded and said, heck yes and maybe some of you said this in your head while you were reading it.  I mentioned a few areas that I felt were going well.  They were my new eating lifestyle Paleo with a kickoff of the Whole30.  The second item on my agenda was to walk my puppies at least twice this week.  Let's get on with it so I can let you in on what happened during my week.

My Whole30 experiment is going GREAT! I have not cheated at all.  The program is basically eating anything that is a fruit, vegetable, proteins.  There are no certain foods that are not allowed in these areas, they are all allowed.  There are cooking fats allowed such as olive oil, coconut oil, a few others. You are not allowed to eat anything that you can not pronounce and no dairy or whole grains.  Oh and NO sugar in any form, even sugar alternative.  The one thing that sold me on this program was you can drink coffee.  I take my coffee with half and half and stevia.  I can not have either.  I had coffee black on day 1.  I texted my husband and said, "black coffee sucks, I quit".  I found out that I could use almond milk and I am loving that and not missing the sweetness at all.  In order to find almond milk with no sugar, even unsweetened almond milk, I had to get it in the organic section at Giant.  You really have to read your labels, for instance, the almond butter I purchased had almonds, salt, and cane sugar, why?  There are some really great snacks that I came across such as Larabars.  They are good even if you aren't living the Paleo lifestyle.  If you are interested in more information on the Whole30 you can check out this website: Whole30 Right Here!!  A little FYI, my husband said he started last Tuesday but he cheats all the time, and he says, "oh no, I didn't know."  Right, you didn't know!

I walked the puppies twice this week.  The first time it was just the pups and I.  We went to a local park near us that has a walking/biking path and a creek.  We went on Friday and Sunday.  It was so hot on Friday their tongues were hanging down to the ground.  We went to the creek and they were a little wary but they got into it. The second time it was the whole family.  We were more prepared, I brought a huge water cooler, treats, and poop bags.  The dogs were awesome.  The kids were not.  We said they could go in the creek and look for tadpoles.  I said, "do not go near that big tube".  Second time around the track, I yelled, "where are you guys"?  They said,  "We are right here!"   I said, "sounds like you are near the tube."  The kids said, "Oh yeah, we are."  I walk back in those trees and there they are standing in stagnant water, where I quote, "the tadpoles are way more over here".   I don't think I heard correctly did they say...flesh eating amoebas are way more over here?.  A little mom freak out happened, that's all.  Stinkers. 

We never really walked the dogs before this because we have an electric fence and they have about an acre to run around on.  The walking though is extremely therapeutic for me and them, it brings us closer...AWWWW.  My Teddy and Cori.

Teddy is the Yellow and Cori is the Brown Lab

Monday my husband I are going to check out Power Train, a gym in East York.  This week I will focus on keeping the new eating lifestyle, Whole30, maintain the dog walking and fit in 3 days of exercise. Wish me luck!

Matched vs. Mismatched Socks

Libby

I was organizing my clothing drawers and I thought, what is stopping me from achieving my goals?  Some people just say I am going to "run 3 times a week" or "I want to drink 64oz of water a day" and maybe even "I vow to never have an odd sock!"  I am just not this person, not so much lately anyway, I feel scattered, brain scattered, priority scattered...have you been there?  Don't get me wrong I have accomplished really cool things in my 39 years, I am talking about lately.  The last few months, I am missing that commitment, shall I dare say drive, to push through the UGH!  The UGH factor is a huge hurdle that I keep standing in front of, running up to it, even jumping over it and falling flat on my face.  

In my defense there are some genetics involved.  I had a personality assessment done by a doctor and it said I am a person of low energy.  This means I like to lounge and drink coffee in the morning, pitter-patter around the house, in short I have to get revved up to do any activity that requires effort. 

Organizing clothes escaped me for many years and then I found a system that worked.  I must keep it simple.  Pants, shirts, pjs, underthings each have their own drawer, Socks all get thrown, unmatched, in a huge sock bin, and semi-nice to really nice clothes get hung up (shoved in wherever I can find room.)    This is all I can handle for clothing organization.  I figured if I can finally accomplish this, aren't I capable of clearing this mental blockage? The answer is yes.  As Dr. Phil says, "it is time to get real honest about this." 

1. What do I REALLY want to achieve?
My Goals are very simple:
To have a consistent, regular exercise regimen that I do like clockwork
To plan healthy meals for my family one week in advance and do this as a lifestyle
To walk my dogs 2 days a week without thinking about it
To train with my kids for a 5K, tell them and follow through with our plan

2. What is REALLY standing in my way?
A very frustrated ME
My lack of planning
No commitment to the above
Most of the time I don't remember I want to make this a priority
No time management

3. What, if any progress have I made to overcome this obstacle? This is not a new thing for me in this area of my life. I have always struggled with this and laundry.  
I switched back from a flip phone to a smart phone, great experiment but not recommended for a life long commitment.  The smart phone allows me to log all of my appointments, that is an improvement.  I walked my dogs once in a week and a half and I plan on doing it tomorrow, that is better than none. I am working hard on the healthy meal planning, this an imperative for my daughter's health and getting her blood pressure down.  My husband and I are doing the Whole 30 and I am super duper grumpy:sugar withdrawals.  Meals and eating are going extremely well, vacations are the killer and I need to strategize for the next one.  So the last one, the family 5K will be the hardest. This one will have the most resistance from the other participants, I will be heading up all of the running outings, and how do I bribe inexpensively without candy?  

This was our last 5K all together it will be a year ago in November.

Oh, I almost forgot about exercising 3 times a week like clockwork. This is the dragon of them all, it will be the hardest to slay.  I have to find the right time, the right mindset, the right partner (basically someone that makes me do it.) and oh my goodness...enough with the excuses I just have to do it.  I will update you on my progress on all of this on my next blog.  Will you be my accountability partner?

I have to be quite sincere about this next statement, blogging has saved me a lot of money on therapy bills.  Tonight I realized that I have to keep my plans and daily routines simple to follow them and be consistent, just like my drawers.  They will stay very organized for quite a while, everything in its place. It will get a little messy and out of sorts so I have to revisit occasionally to get things back in their rightful order; but shirts always go in the shirt drawer.  
As far as the laundry goes, I need an actual therapist to solve that problem.  
  

Truth!

Denise

HEIGHT:: 5’8”

STARTING Weight on 4-25-16 : 208

TODAY’S Weight: 194

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.

TRUTH!

PANDA LOG 09.08.2016

Sometimes there is a time in life, even at age 48, that you come to terms with your truth. I’ve had to do this lately and it has not been easy. Things of the past have had to be dealt with and it has been bittersweet. There is something that seems easier about running away from deep emotions but sooner or later they come back and bite you in the ass. I've been more honest with these feelings in the last week than I've ever been in my lifetime. It's not an easy road but I pray that it's the road that leads to great recovery. I pray that I can be strong, stay true to honest feelings and finally be free of the things that has had me on the run. What this means to my emotional eating is somewhat of a roller coaster. Some days I barely eat and some days I pig out. As I stand firm in living the rest of my life in complete honesty I also have to stand firm in not letting emotions control my eating patterns. I’m not there! Yesterday I ate three fudge covered vanilla ice cream bars and today I barely ate a thing. So here I am at over four months into my weight loss journey and dealing with issues that I’ve ran away from for a long time.. Over eating has always connected itself to my deep issues and that is something that I want to change once and for all.

Last week I made a new goal, getting under 195, I'm 194. To be honest I'm not ready to celebrate because I don't trust myself that I won't gain back all the weight I've lost. This is a true worry for me. I am not trusting myself to be strong and move forward but,  I feel I don't have a choice. If I go back, I lose. I lose my ground, I lose my focus, I lose so much.  So my next goal is to maintain my weight but maybe more importantly to maintain staying honest to myself and my worth.

At the end of the day with a life of turmoil, joy and everything in between all I desire is easy. I desire to live in strength, honesty and fun. Life is to short to not live it to the fullest. Now that I have all areas in my life to the most honest point that I can have them I feel that things can only get better, right?

In the midst of all the craziness, I've still moved my body somewhat on a daily basis. Have you moved today? ~Driven.

Peace,

Panda

Fear.

Maggie

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 150
Goals: To build muscle, do the perfect handstand, compete in my first Crossfit competition, and start a Fit Mom support group.
Motivation/support:  My husband, kids,coaches and friends.

Fear

Once you have been overweight you have that constant fear that you will gain it all back.  I know this feeling very well.  10 years ago I was 70 pounds overweight.  I gave myself a year to lose all the weight.  I did it and it was a tough.  I remember talking to myself at night and saying that "No you shouldn't go down stairs and make a batch of cookies".  In the past I was a secret eater.  I would get so excited when I was alone and I could eat.  I would fantasize about all the yummy food that I would consume.  My weakness was brownie mix.  I would consume a whole box of brownie mix.  When I think about it now it makes me feel horrible and sad.  How could I allow myself to eat that way?   Why did I do it?   I realized it was because it was the only thing I had control of.  Well that changed when I discovered how exercising can be fun.  I started taking dance classes and loved them all.  I started to notice the changes in my body.  I liked what I saw.  This was my new control.  I could now be in control of my body and health.  I didn't want to ruin what I achieved by eating all the wrong foods. I worked hard during that workout and I'm not going to waste it on brownies.   I realized that I am in control and I loved it.

Today my family I all eat healthy and exercise.  I feel pride in that fact.  I never want my children to be secret eaters because it a very sad and lonely way to live.

I still do struggle with food addictions . I have my moments and I have to remind my self that I have come along way.  I have that fear that I will gain it all back and I am ok with having that fear.  It's the fear that keeps me on the right path for myself and my family.

Time Keeps Ticking Away!

Chanon

Time Keeps Ticking Away

I can hardly believe that it is September already. The kids have transitioned back into their school routines and our schedules have filled quickly.   We have gone from the Lazy days of summer to running non stop every night of the week.   This brings me joy and also some challenges. The joy is in watching our children enjoy the activities they like to do.  The challenges are usually what's for dinner and will I be able to make time to exercise?

I am happy to report that no one has gone starving, however I have only made time to exercise once in two weeks.  I am hoping to implement more scheduled exercising once we have the routine and car pooling down for our fall schedules.   

I am slowly chipping away at those next 30lbs.  I have struggled a bit with some old habits that came creeping back into my life, but have recognized them and put an immediate alternative in place.  

( I may have drank a few Diet Sodas in the past couple of weeks...and that is a slippery slope with me, I drink one... Then another.... Next thing I am stopping to grab a diet soda without even thinking about it)

The funny thing about time is it never slows down.  It doesn't have a pause button when we are having an emotional break down or when we slip into old habits.   I have set my goals with a timeline in place and I need to keep on ticking just like the clock!   Tomorrow I will tackle a trail I have been wanting to hike all summer. 

Until next time, Stay Driven, and move toward conquering your goals. 

Chanon 

Health is a Journey

Naomi

Height: 5’10
Weight: 181
Goals: Tone, gain lean muscle, do a strict pull up
Motivation/Support:  Family, workout partner


Health is a Journey

I was asked if I would be willing to write a guest blog. Since all of you reading this must be finding yourself at some point of your health journey, I've decided to share mine. 
During my early twenties I was on a diet roller coaster. I wanted to be skinny (which is not really possible when you are tall with larger body frame). I went on all sorts of diets - the cabbage soup diet, shakes, eating very few calories per day - you name it! Thinking about it now makes me cringe! I was always a few pounds overweight. But then came pregnancy and children. I was never able to shed the extra weight and lack of exercise did not help my situation. 
Sometimes we need a wake up call to pull us onto a different path. Mine was the loss of my brother who was a victim of a car highjacking. Two weeks before my brother passed away, my sister was diagnosed with cancer and lost that battle two years later. Losing them both motivated me to change my lifestyle. My goal wasn't just to lose weight or be skinny as it was when I was younger, but instead to be healthy and strong. They were my motivation when I started this journey almost eight years ago, and they still are today. 
I decided to run a 5K. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my workout partner and dear friend Gina. Together we trained for the race. I still don't know how I made it through the course, up and down the hills, but I did. 

My journey started! Gina and I ran other 5K races, joined a gym and started working out on a regular basis. Many times I just wanted to hit the snooze button, but I knew she was waiting for me. A year later, we ran the same race again. The photos will tell the story of the difference one year made.

Three years into my journey, in 2011, Gina and I decided to try CrossFit and we both were hooked. I became stronger. I never would have thought I could climb a rope in my 40's! 

I became a CrossFit Level 1 instructor.Now I was able to coach and make a difference not only in my own life, but also others. 
During summer of 2013, I felt really good in my own skin. It wasn’t about being skinny anymore, but about being strong and toned. My life at the time had a set routine and schedule. I was able to exercise regularly, be active, and eat healthy.  My journey was on a roll! 

Then, that comfort zone and steady routine were shaken up with an international move. We were relocating from Europe to the USA. I was looking forward to pick up where I left off after the transition. It took much longer than expected, but after a delayed shipment of our household goods, appliances that needed to be repaired, school adjustments, I felt sort of settled. Now it was time for me to pick up my health routine again. I decided to do a health coach certification and share my passion for healthy living with others. Just when I was ready to dive into this new venture, I had to put it on hold in order to assist a family member who needed care. My schedule had no set routine. Even though I was eating fairly healthy, I would often just grab a protein bar for lunch on the run. A protein bar is not a bad thing, but it certainly isn't a meal. Dark chocolate may have anti-oxidants, but I was eating way too much! This past summer was busier than I anticipated hosting guests and doing different part time jobs. Over the course of eighteen months I went from working out five times a week and eating clean 90% of the time, to working out two, maybe three times a week and eating clean about 70%.  

Now, here we are, Labor Day weekend, school started, and for me a time to get back to where I was feeling really good. My friend Maggie joined the gym where I workout and coach once a week. Having her there has been really good for me.  I realize I am a person who need a workout buddy who I can be accountable to. Gina started my journey with me and now Maggie is continuing with me. The two of us decided to eat really clean for 30 days to reset ourselves after the summer. Just knowing that I am not in it alone encourages me.  

I see healthy living as a journey. Some of us have a goal to lose a certain amount of weight, or improve certain athletic skills, run a faster mile etc. But what happens when you reach that goal? Do you just stop? No! Instead we set new goals. It might be going from a 5K race to a 10K, or eventually a half and full marathon. It might be going from a size 16 to 14 to 12. It could be to drink an extra glass of water tomorrow. We always have to set a new goal to strive towards. Sometimes our journey get bumpy and we have set backs. Most importantly, just keep moving forward no matter how small your goals may be. Some of us are at the beginning of our health journey, some like me, are getting back on track, some may have to dive right in because of serious health issues. No matter where you find yourself at this time - it is your life, your journey, and you can choose to make a difference in your health!