a moment to refocusonlife ~ dented

Hey everyone!

Today, I drove to to Wilson and Raleigh for work. When I'm driving, I like to look around. I like to look at the other drivers, the cars on the road, the houses and neighborhoods beside the road. Yes, I know I'm a stalker, but when you drive as much as I do, you have to entertain yourself, right?

a dent to fix: gray beard hair. 

Last night, I went to a meditation class (bear with me, I will pull this together, I promise). It was fantastic. I am REALLY trying to learn to control my stress levels thru journaling and meditation. My functional medicine Doctor prescribed both as part of my regimen. The journaling, I've got. The meditation, not so much. But, last night, I got it. I think I actually entered a meditative state.

Driving, in my opinion, can be very stress-relieving, or it can be very stress-inducing. It's all about your mental state. So, today, I tried to pull out the mediation from last night while I was driving. I think I actually achieved some meditation while driving. Safe? I hope, but I'm not sure (I didn't go to sleep though!) When I remember disengaging the meditative state, the first thought I had was, "dang, look at all those cars with dents".

Who drives around with a big, ugly dent in their car? Not me! If Mark dents one of our cars, we have to fix it immediately! I started applying that to my body. Being overweight in my past was like a big dent on the exterior of the car I spend all my life in...
So, even though I'm not anywhere near blemish free at this point, I feel that I have made huge progress toward fixing the major dents in my exterior.

With those exterior dents fixed, or at least patched, now it truly is time to focus on the interior. Some days, I feel like I'm just taking all these "candy wrappers", "papers", and junk and slinging them in the floor of my interior. For instance, I was sick for about 10 days (I'm just now feeling better...thankfully), but during those 10 days, for some reason I felt the need to have some caffeine free diet Sundrop. I fed my body poison, so I littered the floor of my interior.

So, more and more, I'm going to focus on the interior. What does that look like? I don't know, but I'm working on that...and hopefully it'll help with my motivation which I have struggled with greatly as well.

Take an inventory. Look at the biggest issues, break them down to smaller issues. Check for the big dents. Fix those. Then move to the small dents while you're working on cleaning the interior.

Who the hell knows if this even makes any sense? Let me know your thoughts.

a moment to refocusonlife ~ motivation

If you've been following along, you may have noticed my lack of postings as of late. There are so many factors that have contributed, but the overall reason had been on simple thing: lack of motivation. 

I've had trouble trying to come up with motivational snipets when I have zero motivation for myself. So, I've been trying to figure out the motivation behind my lack of motivation...

The end of school came along and threw a wrench into my schedule. If you know me, you know that I thrive on a schedule. Secondly, we went to Mexico and everything I've preached about for months went into the Maya Riviera. I ate a large quantity of food (remember that I have no will power at a buffet). Alcohol was flowing freely--perhaps I had a Mojito (a single Mojito, yep, that's my story). 

Once we came home from Mexico, we were preparing to help Becky move to Florida. I don't know about you, but long hours in the car lead to endless snacking and not enough activity. 

During that trip, I became sick. I have a summer cold or some jazz still today. I drank a few diet drinks -- exercising my action by saying I was so sluggish that I needed caffeine. 

Let me just tell you, it's all BS. I've just been excusing myself and kidding myself. Well, enough already! 

What the hell is wrong with me? Somebody please help me find my Mojo! 

I know it's still out there...I just gotta find it. So, the rest of this weekend, I'm going to flip rocks, open closets, look in the hampers, but by god, I'm going to find that mojo! 

Weekly Meal Plan - Week of June 8, 2014

Hey Everyone! Here's our meal plan for this week:

Sunday: Grilled Chicken/Salad/Green Beans.

Monday: Low-Carb Beefed Up Meatloaf--YUM! My favorite! We'll pair it with some brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes.

Tuesday: I have meetings. Christian has been begging for Hamburger Helper. I'm giving in and letting them have it while I'm gone! I would have Mark switch the pasta for whole wheat, but the kids do not care for it...so I'm giving them tonight!

Wednesday: Lauren requested Chicken Enchiladas. I'm going to make her help me cook this one! We'll see how it goes. Mark and Christian will not eat these enchiladas, so I'll just cook them some chicken separately.

Thursday: Pork Chop Day! We'll pair it with Asparagus and Green Beans probably.

Friday: Mark's Grandma Cleo is turning 90! Today we celebrate her at his parent's house.

Saturday: Lauren is going to a friend's house for a party. The rest of us will probably go to Mark's Parents for more time with his Grandma and extended family since they only come here from Indiana once or twice a year.

Sunday: Father's Day. Let's rock it out. We'll cook for my Dad...but I'm not sure what yet.

Have a great week everyone!

Weekly Meal Plan ~ Week of June 1, 2014

Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday: Grilled Chicken Legs/Green Beans (yummy)!

Monday: Turkey Piccata/Brussel Sprouts/Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday: I have meetings, Mark and the kids are going to have Spaghetti because we haven't done any pasta while I've been on Gluten Free.

Wednesday: Pee Wee Pizza's for the family/Salad for me.

Thursday: Grilled Ham Steaks/Salad/Sautéed Veggies.

Friday: Dinner out...we have a show in Charlotte. Excited!

Saturday: It's Fridge Clean out day! We'll eat leftovers.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

a moment to refocusonlife ~ just believe

Hey everyone! Life has a way of getting in the way of things, doesn't it? I've been meaning to write this entry for over a week now...but alas, here it is!

On May 17th, I participated in the Warrior Dash #warriornation! Up until the VERY second I started running, I was scared out of mind. I wasn't scared of the potential that I might not be able to finish. I wasn't scared of the obstacles. I was scared of something much more obvious...

Mud puppies May 17, 2014

I was scared of running! 

My heart was beating out of my chest as we lined up at the start line. I mean, I was terrified that I would run a few hundred feet and be walking the entire course after that initial burst. But that wasn't the case! Until my feet started moving, I was not sure how I would do. But then the strangest thing happened: I was having fun. 

I was running, no one was chasing me, there were no tigers, no rabid dogs, absolutely nothing was chasing me and I was running! It was exhilarating! 

Then, out of the blue, I had ran for an entire mile without so much as a slight distress. We had passed a couple obstacles and I was still moving. I was confused. I was even able to carry on a conversation with Charlotte and Mark. Maybe I wasn't exerting enough effort? 

Then, another strange thing happened, I passed a very physically fit man that I had admired at the start line. That gave me even more hope. I was thoroughly confused at this point. 

All of this to state, I was afraid of running. Someone had suggested that I run the ALFA Hike for Hope 5k back in April. I literally laughed at that suggestion. I was fearful that I could not finish, so no way would I even attempt. 

It was all in my head. I was mentally blocking myself from enjoying something that it appears I may actually like! I wonder how often I've done this in my life? 

I am now registered for a timed 5k in July. The Athletic Quilt Streetlight 5k scheduled for 7/12/14. I'm not sure what kind of time I will post. I'm not sure I care. All I know is that, by gosh, I enjoyed the heck out of running and I'm excited about the possibilities! 

Big, huge thank you's go out to my #warriornation peeps. I love you, Mark and Charlotte (and you too Spectator Lisa)! You all rocked it out with me thru thick (mud) and thin (beer). 

See ya on the flip side. Don't forget to take a minute to refocusonlife...you might find something you've been blocking yourself from enjoying! 

Weekly Meal Plan - Week of May 25, 2014

Hi Everyone!
Sorry for the late blog post!

Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday: Patio Party @ Friend's House. We had grilled burgers and hot dogs.

Monday: Pork Chops, Green Beans, Sautéed Spinach. We used the grill and the pork chops were amazing!

Tuesday: Grilled Steaks. I found a beautiful Ribeye. Kind of excited! We'll pair with a salad. Two of the crew doesn't like steaks, so I will probably grill them a burger!

Wednesday: Proscuitto Stuffed Chicken Thighs. Yum! One of our favorites. I'm on a roll with the grill...we might even do them on the grill!

Thursday: I have an ALFA meeting. Mark is going to make the kids our homemade Tacos.

Friday/Saturday: I'm working all weekend. We'll be eating out.

How many people would like to see my weekly workout plan? Just gauging interest........

Weekly Meal Plan - Week of May 18, 2014

Hi Everyone!

Whew! What a busy weekend! I barely had a minute to think, but I've got the plan in place! Here it goes:

Sunday: Grilled Ham Steak, Corn on the cob, Sautéed Green Beans, Zucchini/Mushroom Sauté.

My first "Chopped" Competition Plate from last week.
Fun times! 

Monday: I have meetings all evening. The family is going to have pizza. Enjoy y'all!

Tuesday: It's Lasagna Day! Half will be using Eggplant as a replacement for noodles. The other half will be a combo of Eggplant and Noodles (per Lauren's Request). We'll have a salad as well.

Wednesday: Kielbasa, Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Potato Fries. Mark likes Mac and Cheese with his Kielbasa, so I'll probably make him and Lauren some.

Thursday: Pampered Chef Party for Lauren and I! Mark will be winging it... Good luck with that!

Friday: We're going to see Les Mis on Friday. It starts late, so we'll grab a quick dinner somewhere before--I'm thinking Hatch! Love that joint! They know how to rock out some Brussels Sprouts.

Saturday: Salads for lunch. Dinner plans with friends.