The Compound Effect

 

I’ve been listening to the book The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and it’s all so motivating and inspirational. As a mom, as a wife, for my job, for my fitness journey, and just living my life day to day. I’m only in the middle of chapter two and I’m realizing how much I have to work on. This part really stood out to me today and I wanted to write it down and remember it.

You know, our attitude is a choice and to be grateful is a choice. And I know a lot of people who have a lot of blessings that aren’t really grateful. I also know a lot of people who have very little and are very grateful. So it’s not what you have. It’s not possessions. It’s not where you’ve arrived positionally. I think it’s a spirit and the attitude of gratitude to me is saying there have been others in my life that have done things for me that I couldn’t have done for myself. And the way to express, I think, indebtedness to people is by being grateful to them. The person that says, “Well, I’m grateful, I’ve just never expressed it,” is not adding value to anyone.

So, that’s what I’ll be working on exclusively this week. Being grateful for all the many blessings around me. So when my kids drive me nuts. I’m going to try and be grateful. Because you know, I’m SO blessed to at least have children to drive me nuts. And when I want to complain about working out, instead I’m going to grateful that I have a healthy, working body that allows me to do so many amazing things.

 

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Oh, Hey!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged! I feel like so much has happened, I just haven’t really had the time or motivation to blog recently, but I’ll get caught up soon. We’ve had a fun July! Finn has grown/learned tons, we were in Kentucky for two weeks, we’ve started a new chapter of our lives called “TJ now has to take the car to work everyday leaving us car-less unless we take him to his new office, which is a huge pain”, but just overall enjoyed summer and all it has to offer (even on the days where Eva is whiny – we’re in a hard phase right now).

I’m still doing 21 Day Fix, which has been so great. My challengers are doing wonderfully and motivate me each day to push myself. I wasn’t very strict with nutrition while traveling, but #yolo, right? Let’s see… what else… Finn will be one in two months. So, that’s nuts. And so sad. We saw Ghostbusters and it was everything I could have ever imagined and better. I was obsessed with those movies growing up, so it was just so fun/silly/dumb-but-awesome. I got a Happy Planner and I’m obsessed with it. Buy one for yourself at Michael’s. I’ve been cooking lots of new recipes (all 21 day fix approved, as well as TJ approved), so be excited to see some meals on here! GILMORE GIRLS is coming back on November 25 and the trailer was amazing. Ahhhh can’t wait! Well, that was a huge mess of a paragraph but those are my thoughts for tonight.

Now, enjoy this photo taken by my oh-so-talented sister-in-law at Lacey Lii Photography… Finn. You are just the CUTEST, squishiest boy!

Lacey Lii Photography

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Simply Nourishment

 

Food is just food. Yeah, simple enough, I know. But it’s one thing I’ve learned doing the 21 day fix. Before, food was my reward. Food was my treat. Food was what was stopping me from reaching my health goals. It wouldn’t matter how much exercise I would do. If I ate junk, I’d feel like junk, and ultimately, I wouldn’t lose weight. So, no. Food is not a reward. Food is just food. Once you wrap your head around that, you’ll be able to break the cycle!

As I mentioned before, I’m starting a challenge group for 21 Day Fix starting on one week from Monday (so, the 27th!). It’s basically just eating clean, exercising everyday, and having a support group to push you to do your best. Want to jump in? Message me!

Message Me
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Egg Scramble

I make this egg scramble probably five times a week. I do change it up from time to time, add in different kinds of veggies, add in turkey sausage, different spices, different toppers. But overall, it’s always delicious, filling, and super fast to make… not as fast as this video, but almost.

How I make my basic egg scramble each day:
1. Chop veggies (usually 3-4 mini bell peppers, a big handful of spinach, a bunch of mushrooms, and a part of an onion)
2. Sprinkle in some seasonings (I usually use Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb or Original, garlic powder, salt and pepper)
3. Sauté them on a nonstick pan for about 8 minutes
4. Mix in two eggs (or one with some egg beaters), cook until eggs are done
5. Garnish (usually I use fresh salsa, a little shredded cheese, and occasionally avocado and cilantro)

DEVOUR and share it with Finn because he can’t get enough either!

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Giving Yourself Grace

21day

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot recently. A lot of times we talk about how we need to give ourselves a break, give ourselves some grace now and again. I definitely think that’s true, heck, I wrote all about it a couple months ago in my anxiety triggers post. But then again, I also think at times that can lead us to settling. Being toooo easy on ourselves, if you will, can also be debilitating. So, if you give yourself TOO MUCH grace, you’re doing yourself an inservice. And if you give yourself TOO LITTLE, you’re also doing yourself an inservice.

Where’s the balance?

A couple months ago, TJ and I were eating dinner and talking about our health, diet, weight, etc, which pretty much has been the constant conversation piece since January as both of us have been trying to get healthier. I told him that I was done. I’d try and eat healthy when I could, but I deserved treats because sometimes life is hard. And chocolate is delicious. It’s just too time consuming to worry about it all the time. I told him I was going to be content where I was and just move on. He said he understood, considering how often I had been talking about it, he probably was relieved.

The next day, literally the next morning when I was trying to find an outfit for the day, I was in tears over how nothing was fitting me like it used to. How I had a huge closet of cute clothes, yet nothing fit like I wanted. TJ asked why I was in tears, I gave him the rundown (as if he had never heard it before). He asked what happened to how I felt last night? I couldn’t say I was going to be content, but then cry when all of my clothes weren’t fitting.

That was a wake-up moment for me. I either was going to settle where I was right then and there. But if so, I couldn’t cry anymore about my clothes not fitting. I couldn’t look in the mirror anymore and think I wasn’t good enough. My other choice was to do it. Stop making excuses each day. Stop giving myself TOO much grace. Stick to a plan consistently and lose the weight. It’s not magic, it’s science, but it’s hard.

To put it simply, I could either do this hard thing or not.

Well, that was two months ago and I’m incredibly proud of how far I’ve come and I’m glad I didn’t settle. Yes, I still occasionally give myself grace. If I sometimes sneak a little cookie or miss a workout, I move on and try harder but it doesn’t derail me. I just do better the next day or even the next hour!

We can do hard things, we’ve just got to push ourselves!

I’m starting a challenge group for 21 Day Fix starting in two weeks from tomorrow (so, the 27th!). It’s basically just eating clean,  exercising everyday, and having a support group to push you to do your best… let me know if you want in. Email me here.

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21 Day Fix: End of Round 1

I mentioned a bit back that I was doing 21 Day Fix this month. I’ve been trying to lose weight since the baby and I’ve had some success but would gain it back eventually because I didn’t really have a plan, nor was I working out. But I had seen my good friend Lelia from back home and how healthy she had become through 21 Day Fix so I thought I would give it a try. She made us think of why we wanted to do it. At first, I said that I wanted to fit into my clothes. I was sick of looking at my closet with tons of cute clothes but nothing that fit me right anymore. She said that was good but to dig even further. I thought about it for a couple days, made a couple drafts but then came up with this. I posted it on my fridge and made a copy for my car so I would see it whenever I was tempted to eat something I shouldn’t.

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This is really personal, obviously. But now at the end of the round, I’m ready to share it! When I wrote this, I was still really struggling with being happy everyday. I found myself having a hard time dealing with my anxiety and not appreciating each day with my family. I would look in the mirror and have terrible self-talk. That’s what I want out of this. That’s why I want to lose the weight. I want to be able to relax, have more energy, be healthy, feel better about myself, so I can be there and be the happy mom for my kids and for my husband.

Lelia also had me make a mood board of inspirational pictures to help me have a virtual goal. I chose pictures from when I felt happy, energetic, athletic, and at my fittest. I do think it’s important to note that, just because you’re skinny, doesn’t mean your healthy! Skinny is not my goal…. healthy and fit is my goal!

moodboard

Well, it’s the end of the 21 days tomorrow and as of this morning I am down 8.5 pounds and feel terrific. I worked out every single day, which has given me something to be proud about personally! I drank at least 80 ounces of water each day, usually more. Ate clean and healthy food every single day. Rarely snacked after dinner (that was the biggest amazement for me because usually I would gorge in front of the TV at night!). And the biggest surprise… I found myself so happy each day. Somehow I had more energy. I was able to play outside with Eva much more and not get tired as quickly. TJ and I got along so well this month and I found that I only had two anxiety moments, which I was able to recognize and try and move past (news flash: it always is triggered by being late!). So, 8.5 pounds, more energy, more muscle and strength (I don’t have to modify on the workouts nearly as much as when I started)! It’s been so great I’ve decided to do it another month! I was going to call it good, but I’m still not where I want to be physically, so I’m gonna keep at it!

Since Sunday is the last day and I start the next round on Monday, I’m letting today be my cheat day! We were going to go to Cheesecake Factory for our anniversary, but TJ is sick so that will be postponed for another day. Instead, I’m taking Eva to the movies and I’m getting popcorn (as long as I get my workout in first!). I don’t miss much food after the 21 Day Fix, but movie theater kettle corn will ALWAYS be my biggest temptation.

Here’s to a healthy and active life! Having trouble with anxiety in your life? Try to exercise. I know, it sounds miserable, and there are days when I still don’t want to do it. But the accomplishment you feel after doing it is so worth it and so good for your mental health!

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Thursday Three

  1. We got VidAngel a couple weeks ago and it’s awesome. As you may know, it edits movies and TV shows for you after you purchase them, then you sell it back. So, it only costs $1-2 a movie. We’ve gotten to watch a lot of movies we’ve wanted to see but never did because of their rating. (Gone Girl, Revenant, Slumdog Millionaire!) But also, gotten to watch regular movies (as in, not an R 😉 ) without having to go to Redbox. They have a HUGE selection of movies, as much as Redbox, plus more. And wayyyyy more than Netflix. Netflix is the worst with new movies. So, get VidAngel. There’s an app on my AppleTV and Amazon Fire Stick for it, so I’m sure you can find it on your system too.
  2. We’ve got family pictures coming up this weekend! Today I’ve got to figure out what we are going to wear. The kids are mostly done, but trying to coordinate with them (and the extended family) and then like what I’ve picked out for myself is another matter.
  3. I’ve had a couple people ask me how I make my roasted veggies, so I threw together a quick video. We’ve been eating fish and veggies for at least two or three meals a week around here recently, and it’s been great for weight loss. The tilapia I have here is frozen from Smith’s and you just open it up and stick it in frozen so there’s no thawing, no thinking ahead, great for a last minute meal! So easy. We’ve also gotten fresh cod and salmon from Smith’s (they do the same at Kroger). You tell them what seasonings you want or ask them for their suggestions (tell them to not add butter, it doesn’t need it), and the bag they give it to you in, you put directly in the oven. Also, incredibly easy. I get easily freaked out when preparing fish, so up until now, I hadn’t cooked it much. But you really should give it a try! Easy, healthy dinner in 20 minutes!

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Baby Steps

One of my all-time favorite movies is What About Bob. If you haven’t watched it before, why are we even friends? JK-but really… go watch it right now. Dr. Marvin, Dr. Leo Marvin, has the brilliant advice to take baby steps in your life. It’s a really comedic scene, but in all reality, it’s such great advice. It randomly came into my mind last week when I was dealing with something, and I keep thinking about it. When we are having a hard time, dealing with anxiety, or just simply don’t want to do something (e.g. work out, eat healthy, wake up early, etc), think of it in baby steps. We can do anything for one minute. So start with that minute. Do what you’ve gotta do, then do it again the next minute. Minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, you can get through it. Baby steps. Baby step around the room… baby step out the office……. I’m sailing………. I’m a sailor! Okay, I’ll stop with the quotes now. But I will finish the post with a photo of me at Halloween when I was Bob!

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Spring Break Video

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Home Movies

If you recall, one of my resolutions this year was to take more videos and then organize all of them. I’ve been doing well taking more videos, but still hadn’t done anything with them. Well, I finally took the plunge and am going through all of them!

It’s been quite the process. I first organized all of my videos into different folders, divided by year. Then highlighted them by month. Each month (or season if there aren’t many), I compile them into an iMovie and then upload them onto YouTube once complete so I have an online version just in case anything were to happen to my external hard drive. I eventually want to burn all of them onto DVDs, but that will be a project for a later month. I’m almost done with 2015 and it feels so good! Plus, it has been really fun to see how much Eva has changed, even within a year! I’m so glad I’m making myself do this because I love watching old home movies of mine and TJ’s childhood, and I didn’t want all the videos I take just to go into a crazy mess, deep on my computer, never to be seen again!

I’m sure you all want to watch hours of footage of me and my family, so I’ve created a new page for the videos up on my menu. JK-I know you probably don’t. But I did want to keep them organized for my own sake!

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