For those of you who have been visiting over the many years, you know I’ve had an up and down battle with my weight. Sigh. It’s disheartening at times, but with my daughter’s wedding in a few months and a desire to get healthier in order to stay healthier, I am once again committing to changing my lifestyle. I hope you’ll help me out by sharing your stories and by following as each Monday I share my success and/or my troubles with that week’s goal. My overall goal is to lose 35 pounds by November 1, the big day when my baby gets married. My weekly goal is to lose one pound by eating healthier and being active. Here is a picture of me today as well as a photo of some cute workout clothes my sister got me for my birthday! Can’t wait to exercise in them! Thanks, sis!
#TuesdayTip – Exploring Your Other Creative Sides
Being a writer is not only a solitary life at times, it’s a sedentary life. Plus, putting words on paper doesn’t have an immediate sense of satisfaction at completing something, mainly because it often takes weeks or months for your work-in-progress to be completed. For that reason, I take time to explore my other creative sides which provide that burst of “I got this done!”
Sometimes it’s making SWAG for you guys, like bookmarks or necklaces. Other times it’s about building something, like this tree hall I just finished this weekend! I had been shopping around and most of the tree halls were $300 plus and I have to confess to having a very big frugal streak (my husband calls it cheap, but I prefer frugal).
Since I had wood lying around and also a door that was no longer in use I thought: How hard would it be to turn this into a hall tree?
Well, after three weekends it turned out that it wasn’t so hard. Scrap wood, the door, some pipes and spray paint I had lying around, hooks that were on sale at Hobby Lobby, a door knob, and some gloss white paint and voila! Upcycled hall tree. Total out of pocket cost about $40. Yep, $40 and not $300. I’d say that worked out well and I got to exercise that other creative muscle in my body.
#MotivationMonday – Always Look Forward
I know I’m as guilty of it as most – looking backward. Wondering “What if” I did this instead of that? Lamenting what might have been instead of enjoying the present and looking forward to the future. If you have to look back, put a positive spin on it and think of what you’ve managed to survive. A health or financial crisis. The death of a loved one or a marriage. Those hardships made you stronger so that you can face the future with hopefully more optimism! So hang in there! The best is yet to come!
#MotivationMonday – Per Aspera Ad Astra
You’re probably thinking “Aren’t Monday mornings hard enough without you tossing Latin at me?” LOL! Yes, they are tough and so are so many things in life. Lately it seems a challenge to just keep on going and yet, if you didn’t what would you accomplish? So this morning I told myself to find something motivating and came across that phrase: Per aspera ad astra. In English: Through Hardship to the Stars.
So when you’re feeling down, just keep that in mind. After the challenge comes the reward.
Mondays are for Fresh Starts #MotivationMonday
There is an old joke that goes like this:
- Question: When do most diets start?
Answer: Tomorrow.
LOL! The truth of it is we often set aside things which challenge us in some way. Whether its changing our eating habits, exercising more, starting a new book (like me), ending a fight, standing up for oneself . . .
It’s not uncommon to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow” or “Come Monday, I’ll get started”.
So it’s Monday and it’s a day for fresh starts. Take a deep breath and set aside those fears. Think positive about what you’re about to undertake and just give it a shot. You’ll never know if you can succeed until you take that first sometimes scary step.
