Life's Checklist

The greatest gift of all in a Christian's life is God's Grace. We are taught from the beginning that it is the one gift above all gifts that can't be bought or traded. It is only given, freely in love by the life and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As 2011 ends and 2012 begins I am also reminded that God not only gave His Son for us, but he gives us daily renewal and continually offers us the chance to be all that we were created to be. I imagine, in my goofy way of thinking, that there is a banner of each of us born that sports our name and lists all that we will be and become in our lifetime. Each triumph and feat accomplished to be checked off when completed. Only, I see my banner as having only a few things checked off and a long unaccomplished list. So that is my goal for the year 2012! I am going to worry less and live more. I am going to quit trying to lose weight and focus on getting healthy. I found something that works for me and I am going to begin the new year with two healthy meal replacement shakes from ViSalus and work to cook healthy, exciting meals for my family at night. I am also going to find time to have more fun. I have spent so much of my life caring for others and neglecting myself that sometimes it feels as if I am losing myself. I plan to make this new year a time of renewal! Part of that process is going to revolve around my business with ViSalus Sciences. This amazing opportunity is listed on my "banner" and I am going to get a check mark for growing my business in a way that opens up a whole new life for me and my family. We are headed for great health and prosperity in 2012.

Time Flies...

Yeah, I saw the date of my last post too. Let me start by telling my faithful seven followers that I wasn't in some terrible accident that prevented me from sticking to my plans or blogging. What could have been so important you say? Just life. That's all. Just life. In a nutshell, the last four months... Here goes. First of all, I had no business buying a business. That makes me laugh just to say it with the exception of all the lost money. But it's only money, right? Never mind. Slender You is closed. Yes, my precious baby that I put so much heart into just couldn't make it. Then school started back and well I don't want to sound like a cry baby, but I have two classes of twenty-two, yes forty-four in all four year olds by myself. Not an aide in sight! Yeah. Tell me! But the bright side of things is that I was introduced to something that is changing my life one day at a time. I started this amazing journey called the 90 Day Challenge. Now at first, I thought, no way. I am done with quick fixes that put the weight right back on. But I did a little research and found that by replacing my breakfast and lunch with a shake (more on this later) that I could focus on the rest of my plan to regain my health and lose weight. So I tried it and was hooked. It was easy, fast, and doable. Now you guys know that I have done Medifast before. I hated it. It was a very rigid plan with horrible tasting shakes and bars. There was no life left to live. I couldn't socialize, go to family dinners, eat out and so on. Not the same. I am so thankful that someone had the heart to introduce me to Vi-Shape Shake mix. It has been so easy to lose 25 pounds! Yep. Count em'! Twenty-Five boxes of butter if you will (just to put it in perspective for you visual folks.) I have not had one "diet" meal in two and a half months. Just sensible healthy food. And yes that includes dessert. Back to the shakes. The girl who introduced me to them said they tasted like cake mix. I was thinking...she takes drugs. You know you would think it to. But, she doesn't and they do!!!!!!!!!!! OMG! They are wonderful. I am going to be including some of my favorite recipes on my new fb page, Challenge 2012.

Breaking through the layers

Trying to change the way you handle your body at the age of forty-four is a difficult thing. For years I just tried to get by with the diet of the month or take the five year old's approach to things, if I don't look at the weight then it's not really there. Ever since I decided to really change things for the better, it has been like shedding layers. Just like looking at an onion, I know that once I peel the outer layers off and get down a row or two the vegetable itself will be worth using. I could leave all those layers in tact, peel and all and toss it in the pan, but the result wouldn't be worth anything. However, by taking the time to remove the flimsy outer skin along with the roots and first tough layers, I can go beyond what I see at first glance. If I want that onion to be at it's best, I have to do two things. I have to cut it, which is likely to bring tears. The second thing I must do so that the onion will be at it's best is to make it sweat. This totally mirrors what I am trying to do with my life. Exercise is not something I enjoy at all. Until I opened Slender You of Burleson and started using the toning tables, I couldn't walk five minutes on the treadmill. I definitely felt like crying! Today when I did my session on the tables, I did two extra tables. I didn't want to stop! I felt like that sweating onion in the pan, but I know that every time I get on the tables or on the treadmill it's like pulling off another "layer" and that feels good. It may take a long time to get where I want to be, but I am shedding old ways and acquiring new and better habits along the way.

No Excuses!

I was out of bed at the crack of 9:30 and in the pool this morning! I did my water exercises and running for an hour before I got ready for work. I felt so good just knowing that I took time for myself and did something beneficial for my body. This summer has been a slow change in attitude for me. I have come to realize that I won't be here forever and the time I am here on this Earth needs to be of quality. I visit my sister at a nursing home almost every night and watch a lady who appears to be in her early sixties scoot her overweight body in an oxygen toting wheelchair going from coffee pot to coffee pot asking every nurses aide she sees to get her "something." Now this really saddens me that this woman is in this shape at such a young age. I wish that she had turned the "ship" around when she had the chance. I have always made excuses to myself as to why I continued to gain weight, or why I couldn't exercise, but I am done with that. No more excuses! It is up to me and no one else. I have to take the helm of my "ship" and turn it around before I end up like the lady in the wheelchair. So far this month, I have lost about 6 pounds and 7 1/2 inches. ! I refuse to let this ship sink or stray too far off course.

Who's plan, really?

Every now and then when I am flipping channels I will stumble on one of Joel Osteen's sermons and every time I do, I am amazed at how he has the ability to lift me up and remind me that God has so much more in store for me. I have a tendency to get so wrapped up in just "getting life done" that I forget to to slow down and ask my God "OnStar" system if I am going the right way. I would probably make way fewer mistakes if I just took the time to ask directions instead of just setting out by the seat of my pants which is how things usually happen these days. I imagine God sitting there just shaking his head saying, "Really Holli, Really?" But then, because he is my God, he takes my hand like one of my little Pre-K students and says, "Because you are my child and because my love for you is so strong, let's try this another time. Another way." Ever since I decided to open Slender You of Burleson, I have had moments of --Oh crud! What have I done? What was I thinking? And the big one, you're fat. Who's going to exercise at a fat girl's place. Then I stumbled on one of Osteen's sermons that reminded me that just maybe It has been God's plan all along that I open this place. Maybe that's why I have experienced so many hip surgeries and life changing issues. Could those events in my life have really been preparing me to be able to completely empathize with women who can't exercise the way that young people can. Maybe those events happened to give me courage to seek out others who need the help that I need. Maybe that's why I was born when my parent's were older. So I would have an opportunity to help them in their later years when life gets hard and it's tougher to get around. Maybe that's why my baby sister, Joey was unable to speak, so that I could learn to communicate with others when there aren't even words. I have no idea what His plan for me is, I just know that I am doing something that I never even imagined doing and I am helping people that I never imagined helping. Maybe, just maybe it has been in God's plan all along.

Magazine Madness

It never fails. As I stand in the check-out line at the grocery store, I am drawn in by the covers of my two favorite magazines. They always sport headlines about the newest and best way to lose weight and of course, I buy them every time. They are always "researched" plans and usually have Dr.'s names attached to them promoting their wondrous diet book that holds all the answers to the question, "How do I lose this weight?" And every single time, I put the two magazines in my basket just in case this is the week that they publish the "real secret." The thing about it that drives me crazy is that I read the articles and plans and usually think they sound pretty good, but I never try any of them. I think the reason that I don't every try them isn't that deep down I know what I have known my whole life and that is that unless I am going to get some real exercise then I am wasting my time no matter what I choose to do. I wish I could sue those magazine publishers who lure those of us like me out there who spend our hard earned money week after week on the hopes and dreams that they snag us with. If I had every penny that I ever spent on a way to lose weight, a diet book, a diet product, or a magazine touting the newest " weight loss secret" I would surely have about $50,000.00 in the bank! I would probably be slim and fit as well. What should I do? I really like those two magazines, but if I buy them then I am just letting them lure me back to the "what if, zone" and that is not where I want to be. I am sticking with advice from Jillian Michaels who said, "If it doesn't grow out of the ground or have a mother, then don't eat it!" Do you suppose there is an M&M tree somewhere? I'm just asking???????????????????

Anyone got the time?

According to my great-nephew, Caleb, the time for our "swim date" was O:30, yep that's right, as in OHHHH thirty! He described it as the time the sun barely breaks at dawn. Well, I got up just a little later, around 9:00 and put on my swimsuit and sunscreen to get ready to hit the pool for a little water exercise and some fun before the sun when I noticed something. My suit slipped on easier. It wasn't sticking out quite so much. Could all of my little changes be adding up to something positive. Oh well, I didn't think too much about it until I walked in to Slender You today only to hear my associate, Christy tell me that I was looking "good" and asking if I had lost weight. Hum??????????? Could it be that the few real changes that I have made have really gotten me off to a new life so effortlessly? I really haven't done any real structural changes so to speak just small adjustments. For example, I have been eating at subway more than usual. I have been using the Slender You toning tables and walking a couple of times a week. I have been eating a healthy cereal combination every morning and have been slacking off the sweets. Not skipping them altogether, just not every time I turn around. And I have been making time to get in the pool every couple of days. Still drinking water. Could all these little things, when done together, produce results without feeling deprived and defeated? Only time will tell!