Are YOU happy with YOUR success?

     What is success?  When asked what makes a person successful many start to list money, career, family, homes, cars.....blah blah blah!   BLAH?  So many people strive for those things THEIR ENTIRE LIVES only to fall short, or at least they never get ALL that they want so they feel like a failure. What an awful way to live your life.
Now don't get me wrong, sure it's nice to be financially independent, have a beautiful home & family and some nice wheels, but something I have learned over the years is, You can't be happy with a lot until you are happy with a little.

     This is not a new comparison, that thought process has proved true for years (and I mean years) even in the bible, "faithful in little....faithful in much".   So why do I ask if you are happy with your success?  Because TODAY I reached a milestone, a small one in my long journey BUT none the less a milestone and I am HAPPY.  I am over the moon with excitement and I want to share it with the world!
     For so many years I would always look at the big picture, 120+ lbs to loose "ugh".  I've only lost 10 lbs "ugh".  So my pants zip now "ugh"  GET THE IDEA!
      
     I didn't appreciate the hard work I had done because I kept looking at all I still had to do and that is the WRONG way to do this.  We cannot keep doing this to ourselves.  Getting healthy and losing weight will not happen overnight but it WILL happen.  Each day has to be a triumph.  What did that penguin in Happy Feet say, "give it a Try & follow with a great big UMPH" (or something like that) You have to appreciate your small victories EVERY DAY in order to REACH the big ones.  I wish someone had really explained that to me or just took the time to help me celebrate them. And NOT celebrate them with food, just be happy in the moment.  Realize that 2 weeks ago you could not zip those pants and today you are wearing them out. That is HUGE, don't you think so? 

Now here is the kicker, tell me 

Would you be happy for ME if I told you that?  Would You?

SO WHY ARE YOU NOT HAPPY FOR YOURSELF???

(think about that for a minute)

We will encourage, rejoice, compliment, congratulate & celebrate our friends smallest accomplishments but then 'poopoo' on our own.  How mean are we to ourselves? Getting healthy & loosing weight is a kind & loving thing to do for your body. So why would you not Celebrate & Congratulate yourself for ANY step or accomplishment you have?  WHY???

So here is my Compliment to me, "I am so proud of you Donna, today you have lost 20.6 lbs since Oct. 7 and in those 5 1/2 weeks you even went on a week cruise, you stuck to it, made good choices, gave it your all and SUCCEEDED in getting healthier. You are beautiful & loving and I know you will keep it going by taking care of this body you have been given. I AM PROUD OF YOU and you DESERVE every bit of this."

Today is November 14, I want all of you to sit back and think about at least 1 good thing you did since Nov. 1, go back further if you need to, then take out a piece of paper and write down how PROUD you are of yourself, just like I did above. Address it to yourself like I did and put it on your bathroom mirror (I will to) and every day we will look at it and be PROUD of ourselves for the previous day and strive to do something healthy for this new day to come.

Have a beautiful day everyone, 

you are all amazing & strong and are fighting just like I am. 

Let's do this together and get a jump start on 2015 and make 

it the Year of Transformations!

It's time for something new ............. Getting Clean

     So often when you hear this term you may think of an addict overcoming their addiction, drugs or alcohol are the first that may come to mind but you usually don't think of someone extremely overweight.  Since last year when I started this blog I learned a lot about "Eating Clean" but not from drugs or alcohol...from food.

     What do I mean, "Eating Clean".  I have been on all the diets, you name it I've given it a try and 1 of my most successful times (5 yrs ago) I supplemented my diet with protein shakes & bars.  But as you can see here I am back in the same predicament.  Now when I think of doing that again I have this conflict in my head. What is causing this conflict??? The knowledge I have acquired about Clean Eating is butting heads with using processed foods to get healthy.

     I really am at a point now that I want to be healthy. I want to FEEL GOOD!  I am tired of the aches and pains that come from the weight.  Thinking about another 'diet' and focusing on my size & the number on the scale stresses me out. 

     Now when I think about eating healthy, cleaning out my body, feeding my cells, feeding my body, suddenly I feel positive. I feel excited about taking care of me.   Who cares what the scale says, if I know my body is being cared for from the inside that seems to relieve the stress of worrying what I look like on the outside.  (but guess what, when you take care of the inside, the outside follows)  

So what do I do, I need to be informed. I need to educate myself.

I need to make a commitment to MYSELF to take care of ME!

I'm on a path to something better for ME & I can't wait to see how much better I feel. No more 'almosts' or 'do-overs', my health is on the line.  Being able to WALK is on the line and I'm not ready at 41 yrs old to give up!

My 25lb Milestone Reward - Pretty Toesies

Even thought I hit my milestone of 25 pounds down on Tuesday, with my busy schedule and waiting on funds, today (Saturday) is when I got to get it done.

Yep, my reward was a pedicure.  Now I know there are those of out there who have this done monthly or more often BUT I have not had one in almost 2 years (since before our last vacation).  Money is tight, we have to watch our spending and things like this are just not a regular option for me anymore. So this was a special treat for me and I was looking forward to it.  I have a regular place that I used to go to all the time, it's call "The Nail Place" (yes, see the picture, I am not making it up) and I like them because their prices are fair and the facility is clean.
So here are some pictures of my fun little event and I brought along my sweet little Destiny to join in the fun (don't worry, no pedi for her, a simply toe polish is only $4 for little girls) and she was so cute sitting in the big chair like mommy!

All it all it was a relaxing time.  I enjoyed the pampering and it felt so good to have my feet & legs rubbed especially after all the working out.

My next goal is the 40 lb mark, 15 more lbs to go, hmmm I wonder what my next reward will be???

What I do know is this:  my journey for this next 15lbs will be done with pretty red toesies!