Working On My Fitness

"I be working on my fitness!" 

To begin this week I will begin stating the immortal words of Fergie..."I be working on my fitness!"

       Well, I have been in progress of my journey to a healthier me since last summer ('10) and I am now beginning to see the results and the progress of my endurance. I thought I would quit several times and go back to the one meal per day diet because, of course, I thought it was the best way to lose weight. I actually learned it is the worst way to lose weight and it caused my body to react in a negative way. It caused my body to think it was starving, hence, creating a starvation mode...as a result...instead of weight loss...weight gain occurs. So that is something to think about!

Back to fitness...

Since it has been extremely cold lately I have opted for the Wii in my home when I am tired of the Wii I opt for my stereo turn it on and "Just Dance." I love to dance, I don't care if my dance moves are  dated circa 1990s, I just love to move, dancing alone and not a care in the world. Something I have thought about is taking a Zumba class, I know, I am so behind on the Zumba trend, but I thought it was all hype when it first began. It looks fun and I love to dance and learn African, Caribbean, and Latino dances, so that is at least 2 of the 3 for me. I am still researching gyms and actually have begun to take a self-guided tour through some of the facilities in my town but I have not found any to my liking, I sure wished a Curves or a Ladies gym with weight machines or resistance machines were here...there is a town that is an hour away from me that has them but driving an hour one way and another hour the other way...gas is now 3.03 where I live and I am not happy about driving 1 hour one way and using gas. 

So...for the time being.. Wii it is!

I love to go walking or jogging at our local high school track but this winter has been cold and to me harsh because I am a cold natured and I need warmth!

I long for spring like weather, at least weather I can walk in without freezing my hands, face, and my eyes. Burrrr!!!!! 

Eating well...
 I eat 3 portioned sized homemade meals per day, watching my intake of sugars, fats, and preservatives. I eat 2 snacks and usually some think like dried fruits, fresh fruits, nuts, trail mix, and non-butter or sugar popcorn. I substitute meat at least twice the week by eating "Boca Burgers or Boca Chikin."
I am not the type of person who likes sweets or alcohol so that is not a problem. I take sweets by spells, I may go 3-6 months and not have a craving for anything sweet, usually if someone in the office or at church has  cake, I will eat one small piece but that is it for me. I usually crave fresh fruits, fruits such as strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, bananas, pineapples, and cranberries. I love watermelon, cantaloupe, and dew melon, and these fruits crave my appetite for a sweet tooth if it ever desires though. Salad is another favorite that I indulge in with a Raspberry vinaigrette dressing, I said good-bye to my favorite comfort food...a.k.a...Ranch Dressing a year ago but I allow my self 1 small fingerprint sized cheat minute of Ranch Dressing at least once in a month's time. On rare occasions, I will have 1/2 a glass of Merlot wine with my dinner but like I said that is a rare occasion. I usually drink 100% grape juice, apple juice, or Cranberry, Cranberry/Blueberry juice from Great Value or Ocean's Spray.  I drink plenty of water, so much I think I may float away or swim like a fish, lol, but we all know water is the source of life and it is good for our bodies! I eliminated bread because I am not much of a bread person, although, if I am at a formal dinner, I will indulge in a roll.
I have added a lot of veggies both fresh and frozen to my diet, eliminating canned vegetables due to their high sodium. I have learned how to make vegetarian chili w/o beans and it is so good! If you want the recipe please email me!!:

Until next time!!!!
Peace, Love yourself, and always know you are beautiful!


Beautifully Human

1 month...1 new look...update

Over the past month, I have dedicated my time to acting upon my promise of a physical fit and not creating another new year's resolution that cannot anchor a boat. I see it as change, as a woman who is on a mission and why not begin a mission with prayer?

Prayer does change things and if it were not so, God's word would return void, and those of us who are true believers, well, there is no no need to dispute it. God is real! ;-)

The best thing about the past month is actually studying the word of God more and allowing him to soothe me and to teach me his way. I learned to trust in him more as I began to watch what I ate and portioned my food appropriately. I began to seek God more in my prayer walk and as a result of eating more veggies, cutting all sugars and other harmful preservatives and etc out of my diet for a month...I actually lost 10lbs and for that I am grateful!!! :-) God is such a good God! I have lost 2 dress sizes and 1 size in my slacks and jeans that was a wonderful relief!

Beautifully Human

Stop the Talking and Walk the Walk!

Okay...

It has been a while since my last post and I must admit that I lost all faith and hope...I slacked off everything and decided not to look for a new gym and that I could continue to eat once the day and be fine with that.

Lord knows...I was so wrong! What was wrong with me and why did I allow myself to think in such a way???

It seems that when trouble comes to knock at our door we tend to give up and God is steady telling us to wait upon him and be of good courage. Instead of waiting...I ran and slacked off.

The great thing is...

When we fall of the saddle, we can get up and dust ourselves off and start again. 

For now, I am going to re-evaluate some things and I will report back to you all and let you know how that goes. I have decided that I need to take a short break to re-gather my thinking and to find a successful and achievable route to my success for good health both mentally and yes physically.

Some of the things I am thinking about is for a future use to help me get into a "physically fit mode" is to contact a nutritionist...a physical fitness trainer... and stick with their plan... If I don't like it...Tough Love! It is do it now or never and like the young people say...GO Hard or Go HOME!

It is time for me to STOP talking and actually WALK the Walk!

Beautifully Human

The "GYM" Research Begins

Eat healthy to maintain!!!!

I was off work today and I plugged my ipod up to my stereo and I danced for 30 minutes. It was fun and I felt like a little girl again, just me, our furchild, our cat Amber, and God. I did not pay attention to the fact that my dance moves out circa 1990s but who is watching and who cares? It is for fitness and being healthier. I am not sure if I want to work out at a co-ed gym or Curves because I have done both and I liked Curves better, just more expensive to me. The Co-ed gyms are something else sometimes, the guys are having a testosterone match of who can lift the most and the girls are either watching,, trying to impress a guy, or working on their fitness while guy watching. LOL I am not into any of those since I have a great husband, I need a place that has easy access and no pressure to be thin before I step into the gym. I love to work out with my husband but our schedules vary and it is hard to work out with a man because their needs are so different than ours as women. 

The curves here in my town closed down so there are 3 gyms left and 1 is called Ladies Fitness but they only offer dance classes, Aerobics, and I think that is all there… folks. I need to combine strength training and Cardio for it to be effective for me. I am researching the gyms in my area since it is only a 10 minute drive, but I guess I may need to drive 45minutes -to-an hour to work out there as well, Errr, Ugh, Yuk.

Beautifully Human

The Beginning of a New Journey

Learning to be happy and physically fit!

      

Learning to be happy and physically fit!

         I must admit this is scary for me, I have embarked upon a journey of fitness before and I have always successful but that was easy for me. I was a high school student, who was actively pursuing running, drill team (dance), hip-hop and jazz dance, and among all of this, I was used to exercising twice per day in order to keep up with my activities and I loved it! Somewhere along the road, I feel off that journey into an abyss and I am not sure why I stopped, in a way, I actually do...

          I let the hurtful words of what other people once said to me place a hold on me and each hurtful word became an anchor to root and ground me into an abyss, I never understand why my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother used to say words have no power, unless you allow them to. So for years I allowed hurtful words to destroy me one by one, day by day, night by night until I looked into the mirror 17 years later and did not recognize the reflection that stared back at me. The girl I used to know was fearless...no fear, no mercy when it came to physical fitness and that girl could jump high without a trampoline. The woman I see today...looks happy but has a lot of sadness she is learning to forgive and learning to let go and let God have it all. The woman today is not as fearless when it comes to physical fitness, but she knows the fearless girl is inside of her waiting to bust out and take her reign back. She is waiting for that fearless girl to come and relieve her of the madness she has created physically. 

          Physical Fitness has been something I used to always take pride in because it was my pleasure, my joy, and my release from the pain that I endured while a teen and adult. As I look into the mirror today, I am sad because running was a release of energy for me, a release that lead to freedom to feel as though I was flying, not running, but yes, flying high as the sky. I could run fast too, yes, running was my favorite physical activity and now, I am ready to actively pursue it and take it back as my love.

           Gone are the words that I once heard as a teen and young adult by my peers, gone are the days that I hoped to run again, and gone are the days of wishing, wanting, waiting, and praying. Today, I must ensure that I am healthy because none will or can do it for me but the woman in the mirror...ME.

So as I quote Michael Jackson..."I am looking at the woman in the mirror, I am asking her to change her ways..." I think of my habits and how they are not healthy...I thought eating once a day would manage my weight, I thought Yo-Yo dieting would manage my weight and I thought Jenny Craig would help me manage my weight but no one told me that in order for the weight to come off and stay off...You need to change your emotional being first and then you may work on the physical being.

          To introduce my journey, I will embark upon a new physical fitness that is a change in exercise, diet, and fitness and it will not be an instant change nor in a year, it took the past 10 years to see this and I know this 10 year old change will not go away instantly, it will gradually and the gradual change is what I wish to prepare and embark upon. So I welcome you to come take this journey with me...

           In conclusion, I say welcome to all of those who I have invited to travel this journey with me, we will embark together upon unchartered waters but with God first, he will make a way for me. I ask that you all be prayerful and support me with positive words and positive love and energy. Please do not leave negative words nor leave any advice, although I know advice is sometimes great to have, but for now I am in the beginning and all I am in need of at this time is positive love and energy. Thank you!

Beautifully Human