Monday, September 5, 2011

Love yourself.

That’s a great hairstyle on you.”
“I HATE my hair; I wish I had long hair like yours.”

“You look great!”
“UGH…. I need to lose xx pounds.”

“Wow, you look really pretty today.”
“Seriously? You must be blind.”

Why is it that we can’t accept compliments?  I have the HARDEST time “believing” them.  Not sure why…pretty ridiculous actually. It shouldn’t be that hard to say “Thank you”.  I have learned while working with others that accepting compliments and positive messages about ourselves is difficult for sooooooo many of us. Instead of graciously accepting the compliment as the verbal gift it is, we hesitate to receive them or deflect or outright reject them.

WHY? Why do we find it so easy to disregard a compliment while taking every mean or critical thing said about us to heart?  We treat ourselves in a way we would never *dream* of treating another person... a stranger, much less a friend. The mental putdowns when we look in the mirror or shop for clothes or get on the scale do not do us any good. Really. Why not be kind and compassionate to ourselves? Simply put, we can’t give what we don’t have. It’s difficult to be genuinely nice to others when we are not nice to ourselves. And it’s difficult to be nice to ourselves when we don’t feel good about ourselves. If this sounds simple, harsh, complex, or like a lot of work, it is. Working on yourself and cultivating your own self-esteem is a lot of work. It’s a full-time job. We will never receive our final certificate of graduation and be told it’s time to stop working on our self-esteem. We will never arrive at a point in life when we make the announcement, “I have plenty of happiness and self-esteem. No more, thank you.” (and why would we ever want to get to that point anyway?)

Eventually, actions become habits, and habits become part of our personality, which builds character and turns us into the type of person we were always meant to be, filled with blissful happiness and purpose. Yes, we should be kind to others. Absolutely, we should not make assumptions about ANYONE we see. And if we do, we should keep our mouths shut. Compassion doesn't cost a thing. It is FREE.  But shouldn't this extend to our self-talk, too? Why is it ok for us to look in the mirror and say, "I'm so FAT! I hate the way I look!" or to look at the scale, stuck on a plateau, and say to ourselves, "I am SUCH a failure! I can't do anything right." Isn't compassion even *more* necessary when dealing with the person we are closest to: ourselves? There is a fine line between enabling and encouraging. If we look at ourselves and say "Oh, it's ok if I don't lose weight. I will do it next week, I am not THAT fat" and use that as an excuse to keep on eating junk and doing nothing to reach the goals we set regarding our weight and health, THAT is enabling. It is putting our heads in the sand so we can eat burgers and milkshakes and still pretend we are happy with ourselves and everything is okay. But if we look at our behavior and say, "Okay, I am proud of what I have done so far but I do need to work harder," that is encouraging. It is a tough thing to learn: loving ones' self without accepting and settling for the things we truly do want to change.

Receiving a compliment is kind of like receiving a hug. When we allow ourselves to absorb positive messages, we might have to change the way we think about ourselves (this is a GOOD thing btw). When we receive a compliment, the appropriate response is to accept the comment for the well-intentioned gesture it truly is with a simple “Thank you.” The compliment-giver may just be right-(no matter what you tell yourself).

We can change our bodies and our lives without beating ourselves up emotionally. It is time to push ourselves, without insulting ourselves.  Try to do better, without discounting the efforts we’ve made already. Look for change while loving the YOU that YOU are *right now.* GOAL: Give yourself some tender loving care this week. You deserve it and so do I.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Day 1

Well, my first workout is DONE!  It took me only about 30 min to complete. I sooooo want to add in another set (4 instead of 3) and incorporate cardio, but I am going to follow this plan… She (Jamie Eason) is one of the best in the business and I trust her and this process.  I am sure the workouts will become more and more challenging as the phases progress. For now, I will work on increasing the resistance. I am a stickler about form though.  I will never sacrifice form for added weight.  My strength has decreased SO much. L  I guess being pregnant and being put on partial bed rest at 6 months will do that. Wow… That means I haven’t worked out in almost a year…. Eeks.  Oh well, I know muscle has memory and over time with consistent efforts, my strength will come back J Crossing fingers…………………………….

 

Yesterday, I baked a double batch of Turkey Meatloaf muffins. I kept some in the fridge and froze the rest.  I had a ton of extra chicken I baked on Thursday so I won’t have to cook that again for a couple days.  Regarding the diet since I am still nursing, I will have to add more calories in to the regimen.  All will be clean foods of course.  Too bad I can’t add in a few trips to Uswirl, eh? Mmmmm….  Tonight my family and I are going to the fair…. What a day to start this on, eh?  True test of my dedication for sure.  ;)  Another challenge?  I am driving to Idaho Falls on Thursday for my sister in law’s baby shower.  My weaknesses are sweets and carbs….  Pretty normal, right?  Especially for a woman….  The fair, a road trip, and a baby shower all in a week should hold a lot of opportunities for me to be strong-mentally and physically.  On a side note…My son’s Birthday is in September and you can bet your biscuits I will be eating a cupcake that day.  Just a warning.  

 

Off to bed… I am one tired mama…  Sweet dreams and cheers to another kick ass day tomorrow.

Xoxo

 

PS- I realize this is a lame post… I wrote it in about 5 min increments throughout the day.  One of those days….

PPS- I was awesome at the fair and stayed far, far away from the yumminess. ;)

 

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Here Goes Nothing!

...EMBRACE THE JOURNEY PRECEDING YOUR GOALS….

So here I am…. Not quite sure how to start this whole thing… I am sitting in front of the computer (slouching mind you), hair piled on top of my head, donning my usual outfit- Victoria Secret Boyfriend Sweats (oversized of course), and a tank.  What happened to me?  Did I mention I haven’t even showered yet?  Don’t get me wrong.  I love the sweats-highly recommend them actually.  But seriously…  I DON’T need to be wearing them every single day…  Wait.  Where was I going with this?  Oh yeah… Since becoming a mom, I admittedly have let myself go. I KNOW I am not the only mom out there who has exchanged her super cute platform wedges for a pair of converse/flips/Uggs/slippers…replaced her designer purse with a huge diaper bag….or her super sleek straight hair for an everyday disheveled ponytail..lost her pre baby body only to find a little extra junk in the truck. Why do we do this?  I guess time is a major issue and the fact that we, as moms, put kids and husbands before ourselves…

So this brings me to my own personal journey and the reason for this blog. It's time for me to make a change. Time to re-energize and invigorate.  I've decided to make a new challenge for myself... my own personal and selfish goal.  For the next 12 weeks, I will be tackling Jamie Eason's 12-week LiveFIT Transformation program. (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html). I will be celebrating my ups and venting my downs.  I will let you all into my little world.. Good days and bad days.  I will be 100% honest and an open book on this blog. I will also be sharing tips, recipes, and little tricks that work for me regarding her program.  I hope to even have a few of you (or more!) participate in this 12 week transformation along with me (and the 1000’s of others around the world also doing it!). Are you ready to make a change?  Let’s do this together.

The program: Essentially, Jamie (Eason) lays out a three phase program (each 4 weeks long) to help anyone and everyone wishing to build muscle, lose fat, etc. The training splits are easy to follow and spelled out EVERY WEEK (how cool?!?!).  The diet is simple and will help us get on track with clean-eating by food-prepping and portioning six small (clean) meals per day for muscle growth and fat-loss. And the best part... IT'S FREE. My plan is to start this Monday (8/22/11).  I will spend tomorrow preparing meals, grocery shopping, organizing my workout journal, etc.

I hope to inspire women (and men!) out there who have misplaced a part of themselves and want it back, or those that have lost a very important quality we all should be striving for-BALANCE.  The balance game is not easy-especially with a family and/or a stressful job.  As Mothers, our hearts are drawn to the needs and wants of our children and by their nature they will take as much as we have and then some. Through this process, we must protect pieces of us as individuals, along with our marriages and relationships.  Being a Mom is quite the juggling act.  I believe Moms have the most powerful and influential job in the universe.  However, a Mom is no good to her family if she is not filled up herself (same goes for a Dad). What can we give if our tanks are on low or empty?  We must take time to fill up so we can pour out more. Whatever it is that we need, we must make sure we set aside time in our day to “fill our tanks”…

What do you think? Interested in joining me and thousands of others? Let me know if you want to do the challenge. It will be fun and motivating to check in periodically and hold each other accountable! 

…I am ready to embrace this journey…

Disclaimer:  I am by no means an English major, so I am pre-apologizing for any incorrect grammar, etc in this and/or future postings