Not Going Through This Again!

I started my 50 pound weight loss journey on March 11, 2011.  To date I have lost 12 pounds.  I am on Weight Watchers, I work out 4 days a week and I take nutritional supplements  – AM Slim/PM Trim.  I have PCOS which makes it harder to lose weight.  Despite all of that,  I feel like I should be further along.  The bright side is that I am consistently losing 1 to 2 pounds per week.  This is hard work!  I don’t want anyone to think that this is easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Here’s what I know for sure . . . I WILL NOT go through this again!  I am not giving up.  I’m going to stay on this path to lose my remaining 38 pounds.  There is no way I could stop now, regain weight and try again.  Been there . . . done that.  So, even though this is the hardest thing I have had to commit to, I am not giving up because I AM NOT GOING THROUGH THIS AGAIN!  That is my motivation.

What’s your motivation?

The journey starts at 203 lbs

I couldn’t believe it when I got on the scale and it read 203.  Well, I guess I should have believed it.  I put the food in my mouth!  The crazy thing is that I weighed the exact same weight when I was 9 months pregnant. . .  omg. Talk about a wake up call.  I knew this moment would come.  When I would say THAT’S IT!  It’s time to get this weight under control.  It didn’t come when my doctor told me that I had high cholesterol or when I had gestational diabetes.  Nah, none of those things did it for me.  203 was the knock up-side the head that I needed.

So, I joined Weight Watchers (which I love, love, love) and started working out 5 days a week.  That was 30 days a go and I’m still going strong.  I am down 7.5 lbs.  That doesn’t seem like a lot, but my Weight Watchers online weight tracker told me that I was losing too much, too fast.  Huh? Oh well, go figure.

How’s your weight loss journey going?

For Jennifer Hudson – I Remember Me (new album)

(Editor’s note: this was a request from Jennifer Hudson on twitter to use all of her songs in a paragraph.  This was my lame attempt. . .LOL)

Hello Angel,

Where You At?! I’ve been missing you! I’ve got to talk to you, because I am Feeling Good today. I truly Believe that this is the first day of the best days of my life. You know, I finally got my swagger back! Once upon a time, I used to say to myself, No One Gonna Love You, but not anymore. I’m looking good and I am Feeling Good. I’m not sweating the small stuff anymore, because I Got This! I had to tell myself that,  to get me to where I am today. So, don’t beat yourself up by asking, Why Is It So Hard?! Because it’s not. It’s really simple when you put yourself first. Because, baby I Remember Me! I’m a fighter. I’m a trooper. Always have been.  I know you thought that I was Gone, because you haven’t heard from me in a while, but I’m Still Here. Still kicking it. Still keeping it real. So, when you get this, text me. Ok?

New Album – I Remember Me available March 22!  Pre-Order today!

Help me get back on track!

My intentions were so great! I knew what I wanted to happen in January. Organize my house, blog more often, build my business, lose weight, blah, blah, blah. I have not done ANY of those things. Well, I have begun working out, so I guess that is a plus and I am doing my first blog in a very long time. So, I guess I am 20% there, but I feel so off.

Has anyone else fallen off track? What tips do you have? I really want to get it together!

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It’s okay to screw up

Here is the lesson that I learned tonight on my “Something to Sleep On” call is that it’s okay to mess up. If you are grinding it everyday with the best intentions, it’s okay to screw up.

The best mom in the world did not become the best mom in the world by not messing up. Claire Huxtable did not become the best TV Mom in the world without making some mistakes. Just get up and dust yourself off. Every mogul in the world did not get to be who they are by being perfect. I loooove Oprah. But Oprah did not become Oprah by being perfect. Trust, that she made some mistakes along the way. But the one thing that she did NOT do was quit.

So, screwing up is okay. Just don’t quit.

Something To Sleep On is held Mon- Thursday @ 10pm EST. 219-509-8222 PIN 11110#. Call in if you need something to give you a lift.

Do you deserve to be on my team?

If you are an entrepreneur, these tips are for you. It doesn’t matter if you have a traditional business, home base business, multi-level marketing, network marketing, use these tips to build your organization. Not everyone deserves to be on your team. Choose wisely.

How do you know when you’ve found the right person?

You want people that:

1. make things happen
2. seize the opportunity (full speed ahead)
3. have the ability to influence others
4. add value to YOU and to YOUR team and to YOUR company.
5. can attract other leaders
6. can equip other people – give them the tools to be successful – get them plugged in. get ‘em in, keep ‘em in
7. can provide an inspiring idea (positive people)
8. have positive attitudes. See glass half full
9. Live up to commitments. If they said they are gonna do XYZ, they do XYZ
10. Have loyalty. They believe in you and I believe in them

Find 5 people that fit into these 10 categories. You may have to go through a ton of folks before you get that 5. But these five people will take you to success beyond your wildest imagination!

Do you have toxic people in your life?

Each night I participate in an inspirational call, called “Something To Sleep On”. The call is lead by my mentor and her purpose in the call is to revive each person that calls in from a long day of living life, building businesses, taking care of families, etc. Tonight’s topic was “Avoiding Toxic People“. Toxic people are your friends or family or co-workers that are either always negative or always depressed and down. Toxic people can also hurt you, because hurt people, hurt people.

Sometimes you have to prune yourself of these types of people because they will bring you down. Don’t go to lunch with them, don’t have playdates or Girl’s Night Out. As a matter of fact, place the acronym DNA next to their name in your cell phones. DNA stands for Do Not Answer. This is not meant to be mean, but it is your way of protecting your zone. Don’t allow anything or anyone negative in your zone. Toxic people do not have a right to have a front row seat in your life.

Taking care of me!

You know, I do a lot. Everyday, I put it in! It often seems like my work is never done. From the time my eyes pop open in the morning, until the time I close my pretty brown eyes, I am grinding for my children, for my household, for my husband, for my job, for my dog, for my church, for my sorority, for my friends, for my . . . Whew… That’s too much.

What happened to me? I forgot to take care of me. Never again.

From this day forward, I solemnly promise:

I will schedule time for me
I will work out on a daily basis
I will make sure my hair and nails are done
I will treat myself to some Cold Stone Creamery (every once in a while)
I will take care of me.

Signed me.

6 Ways to Treat Allergies

It is that time of year again. Although, here in NC, it seems that the pollen is triple what it normally is. I mean can literally see it flying in the air. I’ve never been able to do that in past years.

I found a very interesting article on US News.com on ways that you can fight allergies. I personally don’t like taking heavy meds, but perhaps you might find some relief in this article. Take a look.

Let me know if you have any remedies!

Do You Want To Be “ABS”olutely Tight?

I don’t know about you but I’m looking for a way to lose my baby pouch.  I’ve been doing P90x and it’s a beast but I found some additional workouts on Real Women’s Fitness.com that you may find very helpful. Click on the link for the full article.

• Hanging Knee RaiseThe hanging knee raise is one of my favorites and is the best exercise for the lower abs by far. Your legs are quite heavy objects and using your abs to lift them up and then to do a reverse crunch is an excellent method of targetting and punishing the lower abs.The hanging knee raise should be done slowly whilst hanging from a chin up bar. You should never swing your legs in place but instead the motion should be controlled and your abs should be tensed throughout the whole ROM.
• Decline CrunchesIf you have a decline sit up board at your gym you should use it every time you train your abs. Doing a sit up or a crunch on a decline board is one of the best ways to make your abs do a little bit more work and it is a very effective exercise for building midsection strength and power.
• Bicycle CrunchesThe idea is to mix both the lower and the upper abs in one exercise. You fully extend out one leg while the other is bent and you touch your opposite elbow to the bent leg as if you are doing a twisting crunch. Then you repeat for the other side without taking any rest or dropping your torso back down so the whole time you are doing them your upper body is in a crunch position. It’s tough.
• Fitness Ball CrunchesFitness ball crunches take the pressure off of your back and target your abs so well that the other muscles that usually come in to play during a crunch are left alone. This is a great thing for people who are struggling to get the movements right or who have a big waist and want to minimize the amount it gets worked so as to avoid it getting bigger.
• SprintingIt is a mixture of the faster weight loss and the massive amounts of horemones that are released when the fast running is done. Also, the art of running is quite beneficial to the abs.