2022 BE List

 2022 BE List

52 Week On The Move Hike Challenge (Oola Family, Oola Friends, Oola Fitness, Oola Fun)

BE Healthier- Eat Right and Move More (Oola Fitness, Oola Fun, Oola Family)

BE Creative- Draw & Paint Dot Mandala Mediation, make earings (Oola Fun, Oola Faith)

ArtsyBE.com- create income, sell something on etsy, teach a class (Oola Field, Oola Finance)

21 Week On The Move Kayak Challenge (Oola Fitness, Oola Fun, Oola Family, Oola Friends)

Woodstock-Hike Overlook Mountain (Oola Fun, Oola Fitness, Oola Family, Oola Friends)

Van Camping-Build out bed, Van Camp 4 times (Oola Fun, Oola Family)

Our Home- Finish Painting Moulding in hallway and stairway, Hang up pictures, Paint Our Bedroom, New bedding & Window coverings, Paint Amy's room, Paint Bathroom, New storm doors front and back, Paint front porch & ceiling, Paint garage, Paint Kitchen, cabinets and floor, New living room furniture, Driveway (Oola Family, Oola Fitness)

(F's of Oola Review, Live a life balanced in 7 key areas:Faith, Family, Friends, Fun, Fitnes, Field, Finance)

Ups and Downs

Ups and Downs of dieting.  Yuck I really don't like that "D" word, dieting.  I am not on a diet.  I have made a lifestyle change and I really do like it.  As they say it looks easier than it is.  It's hard to change your lifestyle, but I know it will be so worth it.  I can't believe I have been doing this for 60 days.  I have lost 15 lbs.  But the last 3-4 lbs keep going on again and off again.  So after a week of being on the run with the family every day I am getting back on track this week.  I have a goal to get more off before my physical next week.  I'm not going to let these ups and downs of dieting bring me down.

Punching Out the Fat & Willpower

For the first time in my life I am loving exercise and have willpower.  The 6 weeks of my Girl Fight Fit class has come to an end.  However due to 2 snow cancellations they have agreed to add another week onto my session. I completed the 14 day Oola Tea Detox. I chose to continue drinking the Detox Tea every morning a 1/2 hour before I eat breakfast and Energy Tea in the afternoon.  I haven't had a cup of coffee since Feb 11th.  I am down 11 lbs. and am feeling so much better.  I don't drink a gallon of water a day anymore.  I needed to stop spending the whole day in the bathroom. I am drinking around 3/4 of a gallon.

I love the idea of punching away the fat.  All of my anger and anxiety has been linked to my weight, my whole life. So while I'm doing my kickboxing classes I imagine that I'm punching the fat away.  I have never liked exercise.  I get anxiety going to the gym and exercising in front of people feeling like they are watching and judging me.  I hate the treadmill, both walking and running. The first day I went to Girl Fight Fit my heart was racing.  But punching and kicking a bag, and doing the circuit of floor exercises, I LOVE.   The first night was really hard, so were the 2nd and 3rd.  After that my anxiety was gone. Looking around the room I saw women of all ages and sizes. I new I was not alone and my anxiety went down every day a little bit the first few times until it was gone.  Last week the instructor complimented, saying that my form has improved and that I'm doing so good, she sees the improvement.  That made me feel great.

I add either a drop of Slique Essence or Grapefruit Vitality essential oil both from Young Living to my water.  It's quite yummy, which helps when you are drinking a lot of water.

I am still eating doing the 80/20 plan.  I eat healthy, counting calories with the my fitness pal app 6 out of 7 days and then I cheat one day a week.  I really haven't kept myself from my cravings, I just examine the choices, serving size and calories before I eat something.

I continue wearing my fitness affirmation bracelet to remind me that "I AM FIT, healthy, disciplined and strong." Loving my pink boxing gloves.

Noticing Changes

So, I'm starting week 3 of my transformation.  I have been going to Girl Fight Fitness 2 nights a week.  I have been having my Oola Detox Tea every morning, drinking a gallon of water a day and having an Oola Energy Tea in the afternoon.  I am half way thru my Detox.  I am feeling so much better.  I have less swelling in my ankles.  My hands aren't going tingly as they were before, and I feel less bloated.  I have lost 7 1/2 lbs.  The worst thing about this is that I go to the bathroom all the time.  But I'm ok with that if I'm flushing out all the bad stuff.  I'm thinking of ordering more Oola Detox and Energy Tea and continuing on longer.  I'm so afraid that if I stop and go back to coffee I will gain the weight right back.  I don't want that, I want it to keep coming off.  Today's affirmation from Oola, "I AM mentally ready for physical change."  That's so true.  I am ready.

Making Changes

I'm not sure what it was that finally clicked.  But I have made some long over due changes in my life.  I need to focus on Fitness. That includes, exercise and eating right.

So for fitness, I joined a gym.  It's not the traditional type of gym.  It's called Girl Fight Fitness and it's a kickboxing gym for women.  With the help of a good friend who agreed to join with me I have gone to 3 classes, tonight will be my 4th.  For the first time ever I like exercising.   I am not a small woman.  And I have faced my biggest number and am making a change.  It is very hard for me to say the number but I have said it to 3 people, so I can move forward.  I HATE THE NUMBER.  I have decided that I am going to "punch" the fat out at kickboxing.  I'm not going to lie it's not easy.  But it's not walking on a treadmill, which I totally hate.  Some of the floor exercises are very hard for me and I have to made adjustments.  PUSH-UPS UGH, my arms shake and my knees hurt, but I'm doing them.  At home I have been using an exercise stability ball instead of doing some of the things on the floor, hoping to work up to or down to the floor.  But it's killing my knees.  

Last night I got the ultimate motivation from someone at Girl Fight.  I don't even know her name.  But after we were done she came over to me and told me I was doing awesome and not to give up.  She said she knows how hard it is but to keep doing it. Then she told me that 4 years ago she was 217 pounds heavier.  I hugged her and told her she rocked. It was very emotional for me and I had tears in my eyes.  

For eating right, I'm doing a combination of things. First I stopped eating after 9pm.  That was really hard.  Having oh so good but bad snacks while watching TV is very hard to quit.  I started using the my fitness pal app on my phone, logging everything I eat.  I'm doing an 80/20 plan that gives me a 20% cheat.  That boils down to 4 meals or 1 day of cheating per week.  And this week I added doing a coffee detox with Oola Tea.  Cutting out coffee for 14 days and switching to tea, and drinking a gallon of water every day.  OMG it's a lot of water.  Talk about trips to the bathroom, it seems like right after I go I have to go again.  But it's all good.  I have not had any headaches which I was nervous about getting.  But I have been biting my nails bad, I don't know why.  To help with the cravings I have been putting a drop of grapefruit essential oil by Young Living in my water.  It smells good and tastes good.  Today my new oil came it's called Slique Essence.  It's a blend of Citrus and herbs to help support digestion and weight management.  I'm hoping that it helps with cravings.  You taste the citrus but you smell the mint.  

I'm hoping that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew by trying too many things at once.  We shall see how it goes.

Time for Change - Time for Me

"Taking care of yourself is not selfish, it's selfless.  A better you is more capable to serve others." Live Oola

This is something that is very hard to me to do.  I take care of everyone and everything else before I take care of me.  It's time for a change.  It's time for me.  Sometimes it takes things going on in other peoples lives to put things into perspective for your own life.  That is happening right now.  Someone I know has just been diagnosed with cancer.  If something like that happened to me have I done all that I was supposed to do with my life...Have I lived my purpose?

All I ever wanted to be was a wife and mother, being an art teacher was my back up plan.  So for 19 years I have focused on my children.  They are needing me less and less now that they are 19, 16 and almost 12.  Knowing that and knowing that I want to be there for their children someday and to travel the country with Ken when they are all out of the house, I need to focus on me now and get in shape.  "To be in  your children's memories tomorrow, you need to be in their lives today." Live Oola

I know that what has held me back is being so busy doing things for everyone else that I don't have time for me, and then at the end of the day I'm so tired that I don't want to do anything.  But most of all it's fear.  Fear of being judged by others and fear of failing. About 5 years ago I was exercising with a personal trainer.  I don't like exercising in front of other people, or in front of mirrors.  I feel like I am being judged and I HATE going on the treadmill.  But when I was working out with the personal trainer I felt comfortable.  Until one day he forgot and scheduled an open circuit at my time slot.  That day I had my first anxiety attack.  It was awful.  My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, I was sweating, crying and couldn't catch my breath.  The way I felt in that moment stopped me from exercising, until now.  For the past year I have been wanting to try something new, a kickboxing class for women, but fear and financial reasons stopped me from joining.  Well last week I did it.  I went to my first class.  OMG it was hard.  It wasn't a kickboxing class, it was a kettle bell class.  I am so grateful to my good friend for coming with me and being my security blanket.  I am looking forward to going trying kickboxing.  I have now gone to 3 classes and have exercised at home twice. 

The other thing that has given me the motivation I need is Oola.  I have been reading "Oola: Find Balance in an Unbalanced World," and following OolaLife on Facebook.  Watching their Facebook live's and getting motivation and direction.  I love the quotes they post on FB and on Pinterest.  Year after year things stay the same and I have become content with that, that's not good.  There is one thing that kept changing and that's a number.  I don't want to say the number out loud or even type it because I don't like it.  But I have come to a point that I have to change it.  I don't want to be afraid any more.  I don't want to stand on the sidelines watching, I want to participate.  This change is not going to be easy, no thing worth it is.  I am finally ready to start.

"Don't fear failure. Fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today." Live Oola

"Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start being excited about what could go right." Live Oola

5 D's of Dieting

Post never posted #2...posted today

Breakfast with the Today Show, I love it.  Today they talked about the 5 D's of Dieting.
Delay
(if you are hungry wait a few minutes and see if you are still hungry before you eat something)
Distract
(do something else instead of snacking)
Distance
(walk away from the food, stay out of the kitchen when you aren't cooking)
Determine
(set a goal)
Decide
(make up your mind to eat better and do it)

Post never posted... is posted today. I'm back, better late than never.

Post never posted... is posted today. I'm back, better late than never.

Can't believe it's Jan 4, 2013!! Thinking back to when I was in elementary school and we talked about the future... What would life be like in the 2000's? Those were the days of the Jeston's we all thought we would have flying cars and time machines by now. Where is my flying car? And how come we haven't figured out how to make time pause and stop for a moment. Moments turn into minutes, Minutes turn into Hours, Hours turn into Days and Months and Years. Treasure every moment you have with your family and loved ones. Make every moment matter this year.

Today is Sept. 6, 2017 but it's, "DAY 1 of the rest of my life."  It's the first day of Middle school for my youngest. I really can't believe how fast time has flown by.  Back in June as the school year was coming to an end I decided to "retire" from substitute teaching and PTA. I decided that come September I would focus on me.  Which is something I haven't done in a long time.  When I say "focus on me" it sounds selfish but it's not.  A quote I recently read and love it,  I'm going to keep reading it to help me not feel guilty about taking care of me.  "Taking care of yourself is not selfish, it's SELFLESS.  A better you is more capable to help serve others." --unknown

My new theme song to get me motivated is "Day One" by Matthew West.  Love this song and I'm adding it to my playlist for walking, the video is perfect for me.  Here is the link to the video,
 "Day One" by Matthew West
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq2Tp3asLU8

Over the past 15 years of parenting children in elementary school my calendar has been over packed full of everything for them, many day ones.  I love my kids and wouldn't change the path I took the last 15 years but I'm ready for the real me to return.

So for today, my day one, my focus is drinking more water.  I started my water challenge again, trying to drink a gallon of water a day.  I also decided to start my blog again. When I logged in and saw a few posts in my drafts I decided what the heck lets start from there.  I read them and still feel the same, so I am still going to post them.  I also see everyone 1st day of school posts and thought of taking a picture of myself to remember my "Day 1"

Plan for BEing a Healthier Me

Borrowing some words from the late Michael Jackson,
"I'm looking at the man" GIRL
"In the Mirror.  I'm asking him" HER
"To make a change, no message could BE any clearer.  If you want to make the world a better place, you gotta look at yourself and make a change."

I NEED TO TAKE AS GOOD OF CARE OF MY BODY AS I DO MY TOES.

NO MORE CUTE PEDICURE FOR A WHILE.

TIME FOR THE NAKED TRUTH WITH MYSELF AND TIME FOR NAKED TOES.

Everyone puts off starting a diet 'til Monday, I have put it off 'til Amy started school.  Well the count down is on.  She starts in 2 weeks.  Until then I'm getting my mind ready to start the BIGGEST, MOST IMPORTANT JOB OF MY LIFE, ME!

BE ME - BE HEALTHY 

NO MORE EXCUSES

Making a plan for me that will work:  This is a start.

#1 Boot Camp 2 days a week

#2 Supper Food Smoothies for Breakfast ( Everyday Food )

#3 Sassy Water (Flat Belly Diet)

#4  Apple a Day
#5 Eat REAL Food!

#6 When I think of something write it down don't wait or the thought will be gone. 
#7 No more BLT's, Bites, Licks & Tastes (Weight Watchers meeting)
#8 REMEMBER IT'S NOT A COMPETITION - IT'S FOR ME!

BEing Healthy Take 2

<Oops!  Let's try again, I can't believe I didn't catch that.  I know why spell check didn't because tan is a word, just not the word I wanted.  So, I'm re-posting this for myself.  I'm not perfect but I'm trying to BE better.>

What is really in my head right now is skinny, but I know I will never BE Skinny.  So I just want to BE Smaller tan than I am today and in doing so BEcome healthier doing it. 
This is going to BE my first step to BEing ME.

I'm going to try journal what I eat for a while.  I'm going to do this right along with my other journal so they BEcome one.

BE Healthy - Eat Healthy

Slept late because of the crazy cat in heat outside my window last night. OMG!  It kept me up for hours.

Usual morning cup of coffee while watching the Today Show with a mini bagel egg and Canadian bacon sandwich.

On the Today Show - BIG NEWS US Troops leaving Iraq.  I hope that means my brother Lars won't have to go now.  While watching my friend Kelly called.  We met her and her boys at Sassafras park.  Then to Walmart for a few things.  Had a healthy lunch, grilled chicken tacos.  Then to Kelly's for the kids to play in their "Water Park."  She has a small pool and water slide.  The kids had so much fun!  I'm glad we went.  It's important to take the time to ENJOY your FRIENDS!  She brought out chips for the kids and fresh strawberries and pineapple for snacks.  JUST SAY NO TO CHIPS- and I did! 
Dinner tonight at my parents to celebrate my Aunt Anne's 75th birthday.  Grilled London Broil,  potatoes, corn and salad with a glass of red wine.  Red wine is good for your health!  So I'm trying to drink it.  Strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert.  YUMMY!!!

"We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said,
that the only way to have a friend is to BE one."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt