Loving Yourself Enough?!

It's not easy!

In the last 24 hours I've had two experience that I couldn't let go without discussing my thoughts with you all.

My first experince:
As many ladies know, Victoria Secrets began their semi annual sale.  I love their yoga pants and if I can get them for 1/2 price, I'm there.  Well as I thumbing through the sale items, I found a cute red hoodie for $19.  SCORE!  These hoodies aren't cheap so it was a MUST HAVE item to purchase.  Much chit chat was going on while I was ringing up, the store was quite busy, then I hear a lady behind me say, "That is so cute, I wish they made those in 'My Size'".  As I turned around I saw a bigger set woman standing their holding a bunch of fragrances.  I said oh, they do, they just go really fast!  She rolled her eyes at me and said, "Well you see, I guess we have a different belief system because I believe not EVERYONE is a size 7."  I smiled and agreed, but left a little the store with words that I wish I had the guts to say.

And the second.  This morning when I was in the locker room at the gym, I had just finished with yoga and was putting my suit on to sit in the steam room.  There was an over weight girl in her upper teens or lower twentys sitting there staring at the floor.  She seemed upset, but I just kept minding my business.  She continued to just stare at the floor as if she was about to cry and then I noticed her friend come running around the corner from the restroom.  The girl said, "What's wrong?!"  She just responded with, "nothing".  Finally after much probing from the friend, she said that she was mad because she had started working out on Monday and hadn't lost a pound.

Ahhh Ha! I KNEW THAT FEELING!  I could see it in her eyes.  The desire to stand infront of the mirror and love who was looking back, but instead, she was almost in tears.

Fam, I have to say, being fit can't be about a 1 time workout or fitting into a certain shirt.  Being fit is about a lifestyle change.  Like I mentioned last time, you can't expect to drop 80 pounds because you ate one salad and ran 2 miles on the tread mill.  Don't get me wrong, it's good, BUT IT'S ONLY A START.  Being fit is changing your way of living and thinking.  How you feel is a reflection of how you eat.

And because his post on facebook relates... The Kings of Hard Core Truth: Preston Allen gets the award for straight truth today->

"I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, wanna lose weight, why can't I? ...Sugar is one of the main culprits! Sugar is the first drug. Avoid it like drugs...avoid white sugar, white bread, white flour, milk (Does Not feed the body good or just not the best). Use almond milk or rice milk,. Avoid all soda, event the natural stuff. If you really, really really, wanna lose weight, YOU MUST MAKE AND COMMIT TO POSTITIVE, SUPPORTIVE FOOD, SNACK, & SUPPLEMENT SUPPORT. Supporting the liver will digest fat more apporpriately. Taking 'speed' and drinking diet anything will KEEP YOU FAT AND ADDICTED TO SUGAR!!! JUST SAY NO TO SUGAR!!"

BeBlessed

A

Are You Dedicated?!

Dedication... What is it?
The definition is to devote wholly and earnestly, as to some person or purpose.

Wholly... It's everything within you that lives that is totally devoted to one thing.  As this year begins, I have to give you my thoughts going into the new year.  This past year has been crazy for me in what I have accomplished.  Running a half marathon, continuing onward to lose weight (down 90lbs), Nike Woman's spotlight, featured several times for Complete Nutrition and honored at their even in October.  Lastly, I did something for myself as well as a way to give back by becoming a Group Ride instructor through Body Training Systems.  It's been an amazing year, but the word DEDICATED is the one that I have held onto and will sweep into 2012 with.

I wasn't able to accomplish anything without my mindset being dedicated to my goal for bettering myself.  As you look upon this new year, don't look at it as a shopping trip.  So many of us look at magazines and wish we looked and had this or that.  Instead, DO IT FOR YOU.  Chose to be healthy for you and your family.  Do it for those who care for you.  Back when I started on my journey, my biggest frustration was that I wanted QUICK & DRASTIC results.  I wanted to go to the gym once, eat 1 salad, look in the mirror and say "LOOK AT ME!"  Ehh WRONG!  Your health and fitness is a day to day, hour by hour process of setting your mind right.  You believe more of what you tell yourself than what others do, so start telling yourself you CAN and WILL.

For me, training is changing.  My goal used to be spend as much time doing cardio and burning 3,000 calories.  As Preston, a trainer I speak with frequently, has told me... Now with all my weight loss, I need to feed my body differently.  I'm adding more protein and veggies. 

BUT MY BIGGEST LESSON learned was when Preston said, "I need you to be as dedicated to your eating as you are your workouts".  It's true, I'll never skip a workout, but I will skip meals.  I have taken those words to heart and have taken more time to really plan and prepare my meals.  This only sets me up for success.

 

HOWEVER, I have to apply this to my walk with Christ.  I'm so able to get up at 4:30am for workouts, but I can't get up 30 minutes earlier to spend some time in prayer with God.  I give Him 5 min of time on my way to work or when an issue comes up.  Huge conviction to realize that I've put my fitness in front of the one who loves me the most.  I've taken a step back to realize that I'm nothing without the one who created me and I need to give Him more of my time in a day than what I've been giving Him.

 

Today... The New Year... I began at church.  I went to hear a message about how much I'm loved and it's just what I needed.  I'm starting my year with a healthy soul and that is to overflow into everything else I do.

 

Mistakes have been made, but I'm not held to that.  I'm moving forward into 2012 working on my relationship with Christ, my health, family, friends, coworkers, and you all.  Thank you for an awesome 2011, but HELLOOO 2012. 

 

 

Psss... Let's get this GirlsGoneStrong2012 Campaign going... Muscles Look GOOD on the ladies!  Wear em' like an accessory! ;)

You know that one person you constantly see walking in or out of the gym, but never talk to much?  Then, there is just that 'one' time you talk and you have a conversation like your best friends?

That happened to me today and I know it was God touching me.  I was just blessed by her words of wisdom.  It's funny how God uses people...

After a crazy week of working, I was excited to finally have a day off (Christmas Day) and I wasn't overly excited about returning to the retail world Monday morning.  It was one of those days where guilt of what I had ate the day before setting in and a feeling of hopelessness setting in.  "Ugh, will I ever have a flat stomach?"  I had lifted earlier in the AM and went back to teach Group Ride.  As I walked into the gym and compared my body to all the other thin women in the gym, I let my head droop and walked in to teach class.  Barely anyone showed up, but I didn't let that take away from the fact that those who did show up, wanted a good workout.  We got our sweat on and as I walked back into the locker room, I said hello to a woman I always see.

She looked right at me and said, "I have some serious work to do today".  I laughed and said, "tell me about it"!  Her response was not what I was expecting.  She was like, "You look great! Why do you need to work so hard?"  "Um, look at my belly!" I responded!  Her response wasn't what I had expected.  "You have great curves.... and your legs are to die for!  I wish I could have your legs!"  I was taken back...

The rest of her words really made me take a step back.  She said, girl, you need to love your curves.  Your beautiful.  You keep focusing on the one small thing that you fix about yourself instead of loving yourself.  You keep thinking that your not beautiful because of _____________.  Don't do that!  Love yourself and your body will love you.

Humm... It's true.  I look at every little blimish like it's my biggest fault instead of my so many other qualities I have.  I let the the fact that I don't have a flat stomach be my value when in reality, my value and worth come from only Christ.  I will always have something that needs fixed.  I can't oder a perfect body or wish my body perfect.  All I can do is care for the body I have and love it just like I love others.  As I think about it, I think I show more love to others than I do myself.  I need to work on loving me, and that can only come from more time spent with God, who IS love. 

This week has just begun, but lesson has been learned.  I'm always moving forward and making progress. 
I encourage you this week to be open to loving and caring for you.  When you focus on God and you, your other relationships and actions will fall into place.

Be Blessed
A













As Christmas nears, weather gets colder, snow begins to fall, the mood is set.  Set for gathering around friends and family.  People make goodies, we make goodies, and we share them with those we love.  For me, my favorite treat is any kind of roasted, glazed, or candy coated nut.  This season though, I'm doing all I can to resist the temptation and it's easier because I have a trainer I'm logging and sending him everything I eat.



After several e-mails with him though, I have to confess I haven't been doing my body justice.  I have been doing cardio, cardio, cardio and no weights.  I want and desire so badly to get the last bit of weight around my belly off, that I thought cardio was the only way to get it off.  However, I just found myself becoming more irritable and hungry.  Some days I wouldn't let myself leave the gym unless I had burned up to 2500 calories. Teaching spin class, 1 hour of running, and then intervals on the elliptical would take a over two hours and I was doing this 3-4 times a week.  I was beating myself up trying so badly to get the results I desired.  The reality is, I was being counter productive.  There is something in my mind that won't let a number on the scale go (even though I haven't stepped on one in a month). 



90lbs down



So, this week, I've changed my training.  I have added weight training back into my week and more protein into my diet.  And going back into the gym, I realized how week I had allowed my muscles to get.  Now, I'm being held accountable for what I'm eating and doing in the gym and I have to say it's refreshing.  It's refreshing to be able to hear feedback and someone to boldly tell me where I have gone wrong, but also HOW to change it.

Same goes for you.  I must first ask if you are only making excuses? In whatever you desire to achieve, are you putting out effort?  No, then your only failing yourself.  If you are putting your attempts into action, but your not getting the results you want- It's time to take a step back, evaluate, and maybe even as for some help.  It's such a humbling experience to ask for help, but trust me, it's always worth it. 



4 Years AGO!



Do something for yourself.  If you haven't started making choices to better yourself, give yourself one of the best Christmas presents- Faith in God and Faith in Self.

Know that you can take the next step to a better you.  However, it first starts in your mind.  You have to tell yourself you will and can.  I love the quote "A year from now you would have wished you started today".  It's the exact truth.  So do you and do you boldly!

-BeBlessed
A

You Got This!

I used to think of a year in terms of school. August through May was a year and the other three months, well, they were a bonus for surviving August through May.

However, since graduating and entering the work world, my mindset has begun to change. I look at this year as coming to a close as December arrives, and start thinking of where I was this time last year.

This time last year, I had started training with my personal trainer, Eva Shurts at her gym she had just opened up. I would travel with her to teach classes out of our area and think up new workouts that kicked some major butt. I also began training for the Oklahoma City Remembrance Half Marathon. I look back at all the things I was prepping myself for during this time and am quite proud of what I was able to accomplish because of my mindset. This year has been amazing for me as I was featured as Nike Women’s Spotlight in January 2011, PR-ed my ½ marathon time by 30 minutes, was featured in Oxygen’s August 2011 women’s magazine, became a certified Group Ride fitness instructor through Body Training Systems, and was honored as Complete Nutrition’s Success Story of the year by using their products and having such great success with them.

BUT WHERE WOULD I HAVE BEEN IF I WOULD OF LET MY PAST SET THE TONE FOR MY FUTURE?

NOWHERE!

I like this blurp from Joyce Meyers, “We may look at other people and think they never have to go through anything difficult, but we all go through different things.  Some people have gone through devastating things that nobody knows anything about.  Some people have learned the art of suffering silently.  They know only God can help them, so they don’t bother telling everyone they meet what they are going through”.

This is so true for me.  When I’m working either at the gym or retail, I have people say to me “you don’t know what it’s like to be my size”.  Or my personal favorite, “your tiny, you don’t have trouble finding your sizes”.  CORRECTION… I DO! I once was 226 lbs.  But those who didn’t know the old Alison don’t know the old me.  They don’t know the surgeries I went through when I was younger.  They don’t know the several funerals of close friends and family members I’ve experienced at a young age.  People just look at me and assume, “she doesn’t understand”.

I’m here to tell you, I DO.  Maybe I haven’t experienced the exact pain you are currently going through, but I’ve had my own struggle. 

The biggest struggle I’ve had to overcome, MYSELF.  My mindset and your mindset will hold us back from so many things if we allow it to.  I continue to stretch my limits by doing things I once told myself I could never do. 

For you, it might be lacing up the shoes and going for a walk.  For another, it could be choosing to eat healthier.  It could be getting up earlier to get the workout, prayer, or devotion time in with God.  It could be setting aside the computer and text messages to just enjoy your family.  Whatever it maybe, YOU’RE THE ONE that has to choose to make the conscious effort.

When I look in the mirror, I’m able to see the scars I have from my surgies, but those are physical.  Don’t allow something like a scar from your past ruin your future.  God is in control, He knows what he is doing, you have to take a step out and trust Him.

BeBlessed and always remember -> You got this!

A

My recent video with Complete Nutrition -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q4dD8i_0644

Our Potential

How many of us really think about our potential with God in our lives?  I’ll be the first to admit, I try to live my life daily without him, only because it’s my human nature to think “I don’t need help, I can do this on my OWN”.  HOWEVER, when things don’t go MY way (MY PLAN), I’m mad and holler God’s way to help me fix what I tried to control.  Why?

Society!

Society tells us that life should be easy.  That we shouldn’t have to work at anything.  That it’s all about us and our happiness.  But what I realize is it isn’t all about ‘US’.  It’s about others. 

Through my weight loss, I’ve had the opportunity to share my experiences and even inspire others.  BUT, I wouldn’t have gotten where I am now, without my past of being severely obese and fighting through each workout to better myself.  No, working out isn’t easy! Eating right isn’t easy.  And yes, I’d love to go grab a frozen pizza and chow down, hit up Sonic or Dairy Queen, or go eat whatever I want at a huge buffet.  But, I also know what is important to me.  My health.  I have to exercise self-control. 

We need to realize that within us, we all have potential.  Potential to do something great and inspire someone else.  I will say it till I’m blue in the face-> encourage, encourage, encourage others.  Take a step outside of yourself and realize there are others out there that have just as much potential.  It just needs to be tapped into.  You might not be good at this one specific thing, but what about what you are good at?  That’s a gift from God!  Now just because it’s a gift, doesn’t mean there isn’t some refining that needs to go on.  TOUGH TIMES HAPPEN. 

And… Just like a piece coal, it had to go through much pressure and heat before it became a beautiful diamond.  Same goes for us!

To really develop ourselves in whatever it may be-> running, eating right, reading, homework, lifting, something specific at your job… it takes practice, pressure, and patience!

AND à GOD!

“But Jesus looked at them and said. With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.”  Matthew 19:26

For me this last week’s success is working on taking the focus off myself to really develop my full potential.

For you, take a step back.  Are you going through the motions because you’re afraid to push yourself?  I’m here to tell you about the POTENTIAL that is within you, BUT your POTENTIAL needs ACTION to be developed.  Figure out what and where your potential is.  Write out a plan to challenge yourself and get started!

BeBlessed

A