The Pressure

Thought I would share a poem I read a few days ago from Tara Sophia Mohr of wise living. It hit me hard when I read it and haven't stopped thinking about it. It holds many truths. Makes me re-evaluate my focus on a daily basis.

The poem is below:

the pressure to have an arm that looks like that
and legs that look like that
and a belly like that

pressure to tone this to that
to be a size this
weigh that

How many days have you lost?
How many murders of yourself?

How many times have you
clamped down because of it,
quieted the moon because of it,
or didn’t ask the sun to dance?

She mourned this one morning,
and wondered,
what would it be like, without the pressure?

-Tara Sophia Mohr

Remodel before and afters: phase 1

We are having our kitchen remodeled in the coming weeks and I am so very excited about this process. While the contractor was here giving us our quote for the kitchen re-do, the longer he stayed, the more stuff my husband kept adding to his list. So yesterday, nothing happened in our kitchen, but our front doors were replaced. And seriously, this girl couldn't be happier.

The original doors were from 1974.... eek!

The screen door was just as atrocious...but not from 1974. At least 1994.

You can't see it in this picture, but the bottom had a huge gapping space between the threshold and the bottom of the door. It was big. Small animals could have entered through there. My daughter enjoyed throwing crap through there when the weather was nice enough to have the door open that had an enormous hole in it!


and the after pictures....

And the screen door...

Next phase is the kitchen... that should start next week and I'm really ready for that. Pictures to follow!

Ready, Set....

Started the first full day of the Visalus shakes and I'm off to a good start. I tried a shake this past weekend and yesterday and they were very good. Found several sites that have tons of recipes for making the shakes delicious.

Anyhow, the shake I had this morning was barf-a-roni which normally would be my automatic excuse to NOT continue on the program. I'm a rationalize-er... let me tell you. But, I held my nose and drank the crap. It was just a poor recipe, and I realized that. I'm disgressing here. So, I'm also trying to track my food I eat. I brought lots of fruits and veggies to work and I'm snacking on those foods all day.

Here's the truth for the day: It's all about balance. The days I ate poorly or just horrendously must be balance with days in which I exercise and eat right.

It's all in symmetry. Replace the bad days with the good days. The M&Ms with carrot sticks. The pizza slices with watermelon slices. I'm trying here... just want to be healthier!

Rationalize-er

Need this reality check. I'm a chronic rationalize-er, if that's a word. Since deciding to do the ViSalus 90 Day Challenge, I've had to do alot of reading on how to do the program and lose the weight. And I've come across a site I like. It speaks my language, man.

Excerpt: "To re-cap: we are aiming to consume what our body needs daily so that it has enough energy to burn fat and function properly."

Well, duh. I know that, but chose to ignore it. I ignored it because I rationalize that I like to cook. That I like to eat. That I'm a southern girl and that's just what we are: fluffy. Not so!

I was venting to a friend yesterday that I worry about getting on a diet because I tend to obsess and she remarked that you have to obsess in order to lose weight. I've been taking the negative side this weight loss thing and defeating myself before I even started... so why should I try to lose weight?

I've been thin nearly all my life with some exceptions, mainly after children and during high times of stress. I enjoyed being thin. So I'm ready to enjoy my life again. It has to be. I have a crap ton of old clothes in my attic that need me. I need to be able to tell my husband it's time to get those down.

Ok, enough already. Let's do this!

Feeling Challenged

So, here's the low down. I'm going to start the ViSalus 90 Day Challenge. Why? Because I have not lost the baby weight after I had Sloane. I need to. Now. And stop procrastinating.

I checked my BMI this morning and it was horrific. Like, beyond horrific, it was disturbing. I need to lose 30lbs. And my problem is Weight Watchers works, eating less works, but I want to not have to worry about planning a meal, counting calories or fussing over those details. I want to drink my nutrition and be able to be less stressed about what I'm eating.

I'm a student, mom to a toddler and teenager and work full time. I don't need anymore stress. I just need to lose weight!

Let's see how I do... I don't get my product for another week or so... so until then I'm exercising and cutting back on what I eat. Here we go!

Not a baby anymore

A friend of mine is having a bay girl in May. That said and with the husband's encouragement, I'm giving her Sloane's baby clothes. Seriously, it sounds very easy to do. Pack all the baby clothes and give them to this new mom. Ha, yea right.

After discovering the tiniest diaper I had ever seen in one of the boxes, I got a little weepy. It was a newborn diaper and it was the size of one of her cheeks now. *sigh*

anyhow, moving on and giving all those boxes of clothes to a mom who needs them. Lord knows I have no reason to hold on to them, other than silly sentimental reasons.

Pale is Pretty!

Something weighing heavy in my mind and heart is the biopsy I'm going to have done April 2 for a questionable mole on my leg.

I've had two spots removed from my forehead that proved to be basal cell carcinoma. Aka cancer.

The picture is of my forehead about a week ago where the second spot was removed. The first spot to the right is one inch in width that was removed with more of an event.

Ladies wear your sunscreen every day under your make up. I was in a tanning bed three times in my life, had a few sunburns as a child and I got skin cancer. Protect yourself! There's no excuse!

Ok. That's my public service announcement for now. Passing along some love!