Simplisitc Goal Setting

This year I have so many BIG GOALS for myself and for my family. Of course health goals, but also spiritually and financially. I used to be one of these people that just went through life with no plans, no goals other than just getting through the day. I had big dreams but had no idea how to get there and didn't do anything to make it happen.

Through my weighloss journey I have learned a lot about myself and reaching small goals. Even a big goal of 60 pounds lost my first year!

What is a goal?

A goal without a plan is just a dream. Boy am I good at daydreaming! Being off in la la land won't get you anywhere though. You always have to snap back to reality at some point.

What do you want out of life? The first step is writing it down! Make it real. Please make sure that it is realistic...you don't want to set yourself up for failure. Make small, even tiny goals to start with. This is what I did in the beginning. The big goals scared me. Making a change can be scary. Baby steps are better than no steps.

Then put a deadline on your goal. For example, one of my goals for my family is that we own our own home in 2018. We currently rent and we are out growing the space daily! One of my health goals is to put on more muscle. I am focusing this year on toning up. 

So tell me, what is it going to take to get you to that goal? This is your plan. The ACTION that will help you reach your desired result. For the home goal I've got a lot of earning to do and a lot of saving to do! To put on muscle I am going to weight train 3x per week. Is it going to be hard at times? I am sure it will be. I also know that anything worth having takes work and will be worth it in the end.

Don't get to overwhelmed. Keep the process super simple in the beginning.


Recap, figure out what you want and write it down, put a deadline on it and make a plan to get there. Sounds easy enough right? Allow yourself to dream but put some action into it! Don't worry if you aren't sure how to "get there" at first, wherever THERE may be. Get creative. Think outside of the box. It may seem impossible but darling, nothing is impossible!

My Weightloss Journey...One Year Down

Life has turned me upside down the past few weeks. Our home was opened as a provisional foster home and we have two new little ones. My daughter had an appendectomy, my husband has a hiatal hernia, my husband's car broke down, the two new little have both been sick separate times, we had hiccups in getting my stepson here for Christmas break and I have been swamped with paperwork to get certified for fostering. I've definitely been humbled this month.

I've managed to stay on top of tracking my food and getting my workouts completed. I didn't lose any weight last week but I also had an unwelcomed visitor. I did splurge on Christmas Eve and Christmas more than I wanted to.

I have one more week left of this year and I want to lose ONE more pound. This would put me at 60 lbs lost for the year. Even with PCOS, that's an average of 1.15 lbs per week. Although there were plenty of weeks that I lost nothing...

I keep getting compliments and questions about my weight loss. People ask if I am at my goal weight and a lot of them seem to think I have lost enough. The reality is I still weigh 178 lbs. I am still a size 13/14. I am super happy about that but I know there is still progress to be made.

Rather than focusing on the scale, like I have my entire life, I am going concentrate on strength training. I know that to change the shape of my body I have to train with weights. This will be a learning process for me.  

This is the first year that I have not given up midway through and gained all of my weight back. What exactly did I do to lose weight? I tracked all of my food intake. I use Weight Watchers' previous points system. I made sure to keep up my intake of supplements. I love AdvoCare. I workout. True story. lol I love FitnessBlender videos on youtube.com. I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep. Easy enough, right?

I would say the two things that made the difference was giving it to God because I know I can't do it on my own and I committed to the process through affirmation statements. Have a support system if at all possible. If you don't have one at home or work you find one online. I love Instagram because you can follow real people on their fitness journey and find inspiration and motivation.

I gladly welcome others to join me on this journey to get healthy! :)  

Importance of Journaling

Some women love shoes...I love journals and notebooks! I love putting pen to paper. I have my food journal with me at all times. Only way for me to track properly. I usually have a smaller notebook about 5x7 or a smidge smaller. This way it can easily fit into my purse.

I also keep a prayer journal. I find it easier to talk to God this way. Usually if I start to pray out loud (technically in my head) next thing you know I'm over in left field off on another tangent. Writing helps me stay focused on the Lord and to show all of my gratitude...and of course pray!

I only have a few pages left in my prayer and food journals. You know what that means! I got to take a stroll down the stationary aisle. I ended up with two new journals and then two super cute composition notebooks. I couldn't decide which I liked best...so I got them all.

My prayer journal has the scripture of Psalms 118:24 on the front. "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it". In love! I usually get up about 5:30 am to start my day and this will be a great reminder to be joyful!

The "yes you can" composition notebook will be my goals notebook. I am starting to write my goals in 12 week increments. As I accomplish goals and find things that aren't working I will need to update them. Three months seems like a great time to re-evaluate. 

The "anything is possible" composition notebook is just for funsies right now.  Who knows. I am sure I can assign a purpose to it.

I pulled a muscle in my left quad so I have been taking it easy today. I happen to have an appointment scheduled with a massage therapist tomorrow but I don't know if that will help? I will talk to her bout it. This is the first time I have had a pulled quad. lol Other than magnesium oil and a bit of heat I'm not sure what to do with it.

While I rest up I am going to start writing in my notebooks. Making my goals super official. To achieve your dreams you must turn them into goals. Then turn your goals into affirmations. Writing time!

Progress of 24 Day Challenge {Day10}

I meant to post a few days ago...then the weekend happened! We went rollerskating Friday night after work, I had a training on Saturday followed by a baby shower and then we visited with my momma for most of today for our birthday, which is tomorrow.

I completed my 10 Herbal Cleanse on Wednesday 10/12/2016. I weighed in on Thursday morning and my scale read 188.0. That's a total of  4.2 lbs from 10/3. I didn't really feel like the scale represented the true progress of the cleanse because Aunt Flo had visited me earlier in the week.

 

My typical weigh-in time is always Friday mornings. I went ahead and got on the scale Friday as well and it read 186.2!!! So I feel this is my more accurate results of the cleanse even though there was one extra day added to the total.

For those of you that don't know, I have PCOS and I typically get multiple warning signs when my visitor is coming. This time I had no clue. There were no crazy cravings, no mood swings and no cramping except a little on the first day. It was kinda awesome. I am usually always miserable a few days before and even after.

I have not taken measurements. I will save that for the end of the 24 Day Challenge that will end on 10/26/2016. I can tell you that my clothes are fitting looser...especially my pants!

Now I am on to the Max Phase and I am excited to build up my core nutrition and continuing to work towards my goals. Stay tuned for the final results!

Progress of 24 Day Challenge {Day 5}

I am super excited about my progress with the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge!!! I started on Monday 10/3/16. I had been stuck at 192.2 throughout September. Between our move and the kiddos back in school my stress levels where crazy high and with PCOS that just makes matters worse. I am happy I was able to maintain and not actually gain during September.

However, I know that I needed to step things up if I wanted to keep progressing towards my goals. My next goal is to get to 180. See where I started here.

  

I weighed in on Friday 10/7. That's 4 full days of my 10 day cleanse phase of the challenge. I have already lost 3.6 lbs!!! I've never been on a cleanse that was this easy before! I actually get to eat real food and I am not in the bathroom 27/4. I work full time and it hasn't interfered with my job. I feel pretty amazing too. I will tell ya around day three I was a little irritable. I vented to a friend and got over it and by Thursday morning I was feeling great.

 

I feel better than I have in a long time. I eat 6-7 times a day. I count Weight Watcher points to stay on track with my calorie intake. I know all too well how quickly calories can get out of control! I do follow the Herbal Cleanse precisely with the exception that I have added an extra dosage of OmegaPlex daily.

I will post an update after my full 10 Days of the cleanse and then my weight and measurements after the 24 days! So stay tuned!  

Making New Weight Loss Goals

So something wonderful happened a few days ago! I’ve been so busy with the weekend that I haven’t had a chance to post. I’ve been working towards this for what seems like FOREVER! I weighed in on Friday and I hit one of my goals! I weighed in at 199.2 lbs! I can’t stop smiling!!! I am officially in ONEderland!!! Now to stay there! 

I splurged this weekend and bought a new pair of workout shoes! They are AMAZING!!! I couldn’t wait to workout so I could wear them. My feet are grateful.  

So now what? I realized I need to set more goals. When I first started on this journey I weighed 237 lbs. My goal was to get below 200 lbs. and it seemed so far off. Six months later here we are. My next goal will be 180 lbs. When I married my husband in 2007 I weighed 184 lbs. 

Let’s do this! Happy and healthy. I’m taking life one day at a time, being present in each moment and consciously making good choices. 

 (This picture taken by my 12 year old camera boy right after my ONEderland weigh in on 6/24/16)

HERE is where my online journey began...