Yep....I've been struggling...HARD

Since my last post I've been struggling hard. I gave up on everything and sabotaged myself and any effort I was making to get Fab by 40. But, with the New Year - I feel new life springing forward in me. It's time to pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again.

I realized that by doing too much at one time, I hurt myself. Too much change at once doesn't work long term for me. However, small changes over longer periods of time seem to work out much better for me. So, small changes it is!

I am going to lay out some intentions for the year below that I am not going to beat myself up if I don't get to. I'm simply going to put them out there as intentions that I feel would help move me towards that Fab at 45 goal.

So, here's how I see it:

I intend to try (1) new recipe a week to move me toward eating healthier which I plan to post for you along with a review.
I intend to work on my skin - face and body - to get it into the best shape possible. This will involve trying new things which I'll share with you.
I intend to walk myself healthy and then move into other exercises that will help mold my body into the shape I want it to be. Again...sharing with you :)
I intend to drink only WATER this year - and tons of it in order to hydrate my body so it can work to repair itself from the damage I've done over the years.
I intend to meditate as often as possible to work on my inner peace and calmness.
I intend to smile and laugh every day.

I am excited to begin this renewed journey and I'm glad you can join me for it.

No list but I'm making progress!

Morning gang. I'm still stuck on my list of things to do for the 30 Day Push Challenge because I've been so busy with life. But I WILL get to it, it's just a matter of when. Guess I'll just have to PUSH myself. :) Okay...yes, that was horrible :)

This morning I woke up and turned on Chris Powell's level 1 workout. Today was a little harder than yesterday. I found my arms shaking a little when doing the push-up portion. But, I completed the whole thing and feel accomplished today! I'm on my way to my 165 goal.

I am going to incorporate a 1 mile walk into my daily routine. This should satisfy my cardio needs. So between the level 1 workout and the walking, I know it will help me burn more calories and build muscle.

Hey, remember when I tried making my own sugar scrub? I've been using it on my face and body and I'm finding that I really love it! I had always seen people using coconut oil on their bodies, but somehow I thought this was too weird to work. After trying it myself, I have to say that I won't use anything else. It's so hydrating! And...with winter coming, I will need all the hydration I can get.

Hope you guys have a great day!
~Julie

Great 15 minute workout for beginners

Hey gang. In an effort to honor my Push goal today, I went on YouTube and found a fast, easy 15 minute workout for beginners by Chris Powell. Chris is the guy from the Extreme Makeover Weightloss Edition show. He and his wife Heidi help people transform themselves in a year. Perfect! Isn't that what I'm trying to do?

So - I found this beginner video. It's his level 1 workout. It's something that he claims all his clients first use when they start their weightloss journey. So - I wanted to post it for you to give you something to start with in case you aren't sure where to start. Feeling good I did something for me today:

Stuck on my To Do List

I'm stuck creating my master list for the 30 Day Push Challenge so I'm not moving on to a new day today. For some reason I'm finding it hard to create small goals to get to my push goal: I will be 165 pounds. 

It's still overwhelming to me. I'm still roadblocked thinking about actually reaching my goal. So, today I'm going to take some time and give it a big brainstorming session to come up with tons of small and fast goals I can do each day to get me to my push goal.

I'm going to push through this and get this done. As soon as I listened to the video from yesterday's post, I knew I was going to have a challenge. It felt so scary to write down all the things that I needed to get done. I mean, I have a crap-ton of stuff to do! Writing them all down on one list is really overwhelming to me.

But, I'm going to do it. I will succeed. So, please bear with me as I muddle through and forgive me for not posting a new day today. 

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 7

Today is the end of week 1 of the free 30 Day Push Challenge by Chalene Johnson that helps you reach your goals and get it all done. If you want more information about it, you can go back and read my first post by clicking here. As usual, I'll be watching the video and giving my live commentary and thoughts. So, let's go.

Today's day is called "Today World's Collide". Okay, I'm not going to say this name leaves me all warm and fuzzy. In fact, it pretty much has my insides tied up in knots. "World's Collide" ? Kinda ominous don't ya think?

Alright....hitting play now.

Today there is no pep-talk, we're headed right into what Chalene calls the 'nuts and bolts' of creating a CCDM to do list. 

Tasks:

1. Grab a pen and paper.

2. Start brain dumping all the things you know you 'need to get to' that are stored in your brain. Go through all facets of your life from personal to work.

• 10-15 quick tasks to move you towards your PUSH goal
• Every pending project.
• Family members (dentist appointments, doctor, etc...)
• Events (upcoming birthdays, celebrations, etc...)
• Health and Fitness
• Shopping (items for home or car or business)
• Home Maintenance
• Car Maintenance
• Finances (pay off credit card, open/close bank account, etc....)
• Public Service
• Faith
• Career
• Hobbies
• Beauty
• Vacation
• Technology
• Habits/self-development

HOLY CRAP...if I wasn't overwhelmed before, I certainly am now! This is going to be a MONSTER LIST!!!! And...it's going to take some serious time to put together. Okay Julie...remember....how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time...take it one step at a time....

LOL - the next portion of the video is titled 'after the storm'. She isn't kidding :)  

Here are the next steps:

1. Go through the entire list and circle all the things that need to be done THIS WEEK. Put these on their own list.

2. Star every item that must be done TODAY. Put these on their own list.

3. Anything else that must get done within 7 days goes on a list marked THIS WEEK.

4. Everything else goes on a list you title SOON. Put these on their own list.

5. Go back to TODAY and add 2-3 quick tasks that relate to your PUSH goal.

6. Revisit the TODAY list and determine if every task on the list MUST be done today.

She assures me that this will be the longest assignment there is in the 30 Day Push Challenge and that moving forward, I'll only need to spend about 10 minutes a day with this list: adding new items, moving items from list to list and then adding your 2-3 quick push goal tasks.

I'm told again that it's important only to include items on the TODAY list that MUST get done today and that I can actually get to today else there are drastic negative consequences. Yep, I can see that. Just be realistic about what you can really get done in a day and do the important things first.

Okay...so I'm not going to be able to show my entire list here - that would be crazy long! But, I do have a plan of how I'm going to attack this. I'm going to put my list onto a spreadsheet in my google drive folder. This way, I have access to this both at work and at home. I'll have one page for TODAY, one for THIS WEEK and one for SOON. Makes sense to me.

So, looks like I have a ton of work to get done so, I'll TTYL.

~Julie

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 6

It's now Day 6 of Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push Challenge to organize your life and achieve your goals. If you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, you can read back to my first post and sign yourself up. It's 100% free - you aren't obligated to buy anything - just information that can change lives. As usual, I'll be watching the video and giving live commentary about what I'm thinking as well as doing the exercises on the blog so I can keep a record of them all in one place. 

Today is CCDM To Do List day. A note before I being. Chalene is wearing a rather large, white flower in her hair that somehow, I find extremely distracting. On that note...I'll begin the video.

CCDM = Carefully Crafted and Diligently Maintained (To Do List).

Something about the 'diligently maintained' part has me feeling apprehensive. There are many times that I've started things and not finished them. So that fear is cropping up as I feel anxious about beginning this project. Chalene says that this list is going to help move me towards my PUSH goal and keep me less stressed so I will trust that.

She just brought up a good point - typically 'To Do' lists haven't worked for me in the past because I usually put a ton of things on there that I never get all the way through. This failure to complete the list always leaves me feeling like a failure. This is probably where my anxiety is coming from when it comes to making a list like this - the fear of failing again.

The first important thing she wants me to know is that I MUST read the instructions all the way through. If I don't want to read them, she has recorded them in her audio series Car Smart that I can buy if I want. But, I think I should be able to read them just fine.

Ah...she wants me to keep my to do list on my phone. Here's problem #1 for me - I don't have a smart phone (yet). I only have a little 'pay-as-you-go' phone for emergencies. While she says that it can be done without a phone - using a phone makes it easier somehow. Ugh...maybe it's time to have another talk with my husband about getting phones for the family :)

LOL - now she's kinda insulting me a little because I'm one of 'those people' who have a cell phone but keeps it in the car in the glove box for emergencies :) She says that if you are a pen and paper person, God Bless You...but it's not as good.

Wow...she's really SERIOUS about this whole cell phone thing...she's begging and giving a message to whomever is in charge of the cellphone bill. Okay girl....I get it....you want us to put the to do list on the phone. But I don't have one...so can we move on?

Okay...today's homework:

1. Read through the instructions & know the 5 steps to creating a CCDM to do list.

2. Get a small notebook you can keep with you at all times

3. Review your PUSH goal.

Holy crap - she's making a push for the smartphone again at the end of the video!!!! Okay, I know I need this, but right now it's not in our financial cards. Once it is, you can bet that I'll have one. But for now, a small notebook & pen will have to do.

Okay...moving on :)

Here are the 5 steps to creating the CCDM to do list:

1. Make your to do list at the same time every day.

2. Make your to do list in the same place every day.

3. Keep your list with you at all times.

4. Add 2 or 3 small steps that will move you forward on your list every day.

5. Review and revisit the list.

Well, that's it. So I'm going to go read the instructions (which is just the 5 steps but in longer format) and get ready for tomorrow.

~Julie

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 5

Good morning and welcome. Today is day 5 of the 30 Day Push Challenge. I've got my video cued up and I'm ready to give a play by play of what I'm seeing (and thinking). If you aren't sure what the 30 Day Push Challenge is, you can go back and read my first post on this and get more information.

So....here we go.

The title of today's video is Important Person Promise. Hmmm...I bet this has something to do with accountability - it's something that Chalene has talked about earlier. Hitting play....

Chalene starts off talking about the most important thing that we can give to someone; that is our promise. Most of us are people pleasers and will keep our word to others, only to break it time and again to ourselves. So, I am supposed to use this to my advantage and tell someone about my PUSH goal.

Not just any person...but to someone who is will impact deeply - someone who it will mean a great deal to. 

Okay...here's my first problem with that. Over and over I've told my husband about my desire to lose weight and weight a specific amount. And...over and over again I've broken that promise to myself and to him. So, I'm not sure the people pleasing thing is going to work for me.....

Ah...now she hit home for me a little. She mentioned not only husbands, but kids. Telling my kids something and not following through would be devastating to me. These could be my people. But there's a huge fear. What makes this time different than any other time I've tried to lose weight before? What if I tell them and then I fail again?

All questions I need to consider before deciding to tell them.

Chalene wants me to make my PUSH goal public knowledge whether that be Facebook, Twitter or even a note on the fridge for all to see. Okay....this may be doable. But...as always....Chalene has parameters to follow:

1. List the person (or persons) that this goal is going to have the most impact on:  Husband and Kids.

2. Write down the name of a person who's opinion really matters to you:  my best friend.

3. Contact them within 24 hours and tell them of your promise

That's it for today. So....I'm creating a note and putting it on the fridge that is going to say "Fabulous at 45 - I will weight 165 pounds". I am also Facebooking my best friend and telling her my PUSH goal too. This will satisfy today's requirements for homework. 

It's all coming together...slowly but surely. Tomorrow's video is titled the CCMD To Do List. Sounds like this is the day I've been waiting for...a plan of action that sets everything into motion.

Bye for now...

~Julie

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 4

Morning everyone. Today is day 4 of my 30 Day Push Challenge. Not sure what that is? Check out my original post, and if you feel inclined, join in!

Okay, so today we are going to find the push goal that I was questioning yesterday. Thank goodness :)  As usual, I'll be commenting as I watch the video and giving you my thoughts.

Chalene opens up the video talking about how today is 'secret sauce'. LOL - okay..this one made me chuckle...and she has my attention :) Ah...the secret sauce is the thing that is going to make all of the 10 crazy-cool goals I planned yesterday possible. Okay Chalene....I'm hooked :)

Okay..so the secret to achieving all 10 goals in the span of a year is dependent upon which of those 10 goals on your list you focus on. This is what the push goal is. It's typically not the goal that is most important to you. It's the one goal on the list that makes all the other goals possible.

Ah...now this is coming together. The push goal is the one goal on the list that, just by focusing on it, that you achieve the other goals automatically. I see now.

Now...on to how you determine which of your goals is your 'PUSH' goal. Starting with the first goal, read it and then ask yourself how many of the other goals does accomplishing this goal make possible? Then, through the process of elimination - you will find that goal that makes all the others (or at least 4-5 goals) possible.

Once I know what the PUSH goal is, I'll focus on it and it will make all the other's possible. Cool - let's go! Homework time and yes, there's another .pdf. I love how organized this lady is by the way.

So, here is my list of 10 goals from yesterday:

TOP 10 GOALS

** 1) I weight 165 pounds.
2) I have zero credit card debt.
3) I have a date night alone with my husband outside the house once a week every month.
4) I wear a size 12 jeans.
5) I have a new size 12 little black dress with strappy heels I wear for our Anniversary in November.
6) I will take a vacation with my husband and kids to Florida to go to Disney and Universal.
* 7) I will have a BMI of at least 24 which puts me into the average range.
8) I will contribute 5% to my 401K at work.
* 9) I will have normal cholesterol, blood pressure and normal A1C levels at my annual Dr appointment.
10) I will run a 5K race.

The instructions say that I am supposed to put one star next to (2) of the goals that make the others easier to achieve and then two stars next to the PUSH goal which makes all the others possible (or at least 4-5 goals possible).

 Okay, so for me my PUSH goal is to weight 165 pounds. It makes wearing a size 12 jeans possible. It makes wearing a size 12 little black dress possible. It makes the BMI goal possible. It makes the Dr. appointment goal possible. And, it makes the 5K race possible. There are 4 other goals on the list that it doesn't truly affect - but that is okay. These are just personal goals that I need to commit to and achieve through determination and choice.

What is it going to feel like to achieve this goal?

Wow - this one overwhelms me just thinking about it. To finally reach 165 after almost 20 years of not being there would be amazing! Waking up each morning and looking in the mirror and seeing the body I always dreamed of...surreal.

I can just see myself walking into my closet and being able to choose from tons of beautiful clothes that I love because they look good on me. There are tons of colors and styles, all that fit my frame perfectly and make me feel sexy and confident. I wear things that get me noticed, in a good way and I love the way I feel in them.

I can see my life being 165. Waking up and working out and enjoying the process. Having a healthy breakfast and packing my lunches for the day as I head off to my job. At my job, I'm given more responsibility because of the new found confidence I have so my responsibilities are greater along with my income level. I arrive early and stay late so that my employer sees how dedicated I am.

I take long walks with the dog who has come to love the fact that I'm 165 now. Walking with her outside really keeps me grounded and connected with nature. The husband and I walk together too. In fact, he is fit too because I focused my efforts on my one goal. He loves to take walks with me and we spend time holding hands and really reconnecting.

I am an active Mom who loves to run around with her kids. I regularly run 5K races with my kids and love teaching them how to be active and happy. For the first time, I'm at peace..I'm excited about my life and what it will bring and I'm happy...truly happy. I have boundless energy so housekeeping is easy - my house is clean and organized and I love being in it!

My doctor always tells me how impressed he is that I don't have to be on any medicines that control blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol. He tells me that even though all my brothers and sisters have diabetes, I do not and THAT is a big deal. I look forward to going to my annual appointments and hearing how good I'm doing.

Wow...that was a fun trip into what it will be like when I get to 165. Tomorrow is another video and another assignment. So, until then - have a great day.

~Julie

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 3

Hi and welcome. It's 377 days until I'm 45 - so let's get moving! Today is day 3 of my 30 Day Push Challenge and it looks like today's subject matter is selecting your top 10 goals. This is what I've been waiting for! As usual, I'll be watching the video and commenting as I go. Should you want to catch up and join in on the challenge, you can read all about it here on Day 1.

Chalene starts out in her beautiful home with her beautiful self again and tells me that we are going to be doing some crazy cool stuff today. We will be aligning our goals for the year with our key priority.

What!? Wow...it's like she jumped into my brain and read my mind. This is EXACTLY what I wanted to get out of this challenge. Totally excited now.

Ah...just learned a little something. We've all set goals before and we've all not reached them...right? Chalene seems to say that it's because they didn't line up with our key priority. Because they were out of balance, they were not as important to us. Interesting....moving on....

So today we're setting 10 goals either on a piece of paper or on the .pdf that she is going to provide. I'm probably going to just use the .pdf but write down my answers here to hold me accountable. Okay, she says there are a couple of habits she wants me to get into:

NEW HABITS:
1. Create my list of 10 goals every week WITHOUT looking at past goal lists.
2. Assign a specific day of the week and time of day you will create this list.

Okay, I'm a little confused now...aren't we creating 10 goals for the year? Chalene goes on to talk about the reason why you shouldn't look at a past weeks list when you are creating your new list. You want each goal list to be a reflection of what is truly on your heart at that moment. She says that you'll find that some goals keep showing up over and over again while others will begin to drop off. Those that drop off typically aren't aligned with your key priority. Okay...got it.

Okay...here are the rules for the goals:

1) They should be crazy-cool...like nearly impossible, but possible. Things that give you a little apprehension in your gut but a big smile when thinking about achieving.
2) Re-read your goals and ask yourself is this going to take me away from and/or is in conflict with my key priority?

Ah, this is making sense now. So, first I'm supposed to just write 10 crazy goals that get me all excited and then I need to press them against my key priority statement and see if they mesh or not. If it's indifferent, you can keep it. However, if it's something that will hurt or take you away from your key priority statement, you should re-consider it.

3) Write the goals as if you had already accomplished them. 

Now THIS is something that I totally agree with her on. Whenever I live my life as if I'm already where I want to be, it seems like everything falls into place to get me there faster. This was a good step.

4) All the goals must have 'measure'.

Essentially she's saying all the goals need to have a specific action and a specific time frame they need to be completed in. Setting random goals with no measurable results only leaves you guessing as to whether or not you've achieved it. It's the difference between saying, "I will to love weight" versus "I will lose 10 pounds in the next 4 weeks." See what I mean? The second statement is something that has a definite ending point - so you know whether or not you've achieved it.

She says the more specifically you write your goals, the more chance there is that you will accomplish them.

If you get stuck and can't think of any more, then go to the list and pick one of those areas where you scored yourself lower and write a goal for that area.

One last thing...she wants at least one of the goals to be a financial goal. Make sure the goal improves your financial situation somehow. Okay....that sounds like a plan to me!

That is the end of the video. Now I'm downloading the .pdf and below you'll see what I come up with.

Looking at the goal worksheet I see there are 10 spots to write down my goals. But at the top of the paper in a square there is something called a "push goal". She didn't talk about that in today's video - so I'm hoping that is something we'll discuss tomorrow.

TOP 10 GOALS

1) I weight 165 pounds.
2) I have zero credit card debt.
3) I have a date night alone with my husband outside the house once a week every month.
4) I wear a size 12 jeans.
5) I have a new size 12 little black dress with strappy heels I wear for our Anniversary in November.
6) I will take a vacation with my husband and kids to Florida to go to Disney and Universal.
7) I will have a BMI of at least 24 which puts me into the average range.
8) I will contribute 5% to my 401K at work.
9) I will have normal cholesterol, bloodpressure and normal A1C levels at my annual Dr appointment.
10) I will run a 5K race.

I found it really hard to come up with 10 goals for some reason. I'm hoping that doing this every week is going to make this process easier, but we'll see. So, now that I have them I need to put them up against my key priority statement. The ones that are in alignment are 1, 4, 5, 7, 9 & 10. Number 2 is my financial goal she asked to come up with that helps our financial situation. Number 3 is one of my lower-scoring life areas that needs improving. Number 8, although it's financial, is really about feeling secure for me so I'm keeping that one. But number 6...that is one that is indifferent to my key priority statement. It doesn't take away from it in any way. So, I'll keep that too.

Awesome, I have my list of 10 goals for the year now! I'm excited to learn what this 'Push' goal thing is.

See you tomorrow,
~Julie

Fab at 45 Goal #1 - Lose 165 pounds

Today's challenge day really forced me to think about how I'm going to honor my Priority Clarity Statement. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, here's a link to the post for Challenge Day 2. If I am truly going to put my physical health first, it's going to take some consistent, focused effort on my part in order to turn my dreams of Fab at 45 into a reality.

So onward we go to my first goal for my Fabulous at 45 challenge. As it stands now, I weight about 291 pounds. My goal that I will hit by the time I'm 45 is to weigh 165 pounds. That's 126 pounds that I'm going to need to lose in 378 days. That's roughly .333 pounds every day or 2.31 pounds a week. The awesome thing about this goal is that it's totally doable! But like I said before, it's going to take consistent, focused effort to achieve that.

If you have noticed I added a countdown clock to the right hand column of the blog to serve as both a reminder for everyone and a motivator for me as to just how long I have in order to achieve the Fabulous at 45 goals I'm setting for myself. It's also a great way for me to remain accountable to myself, which is my goal.

In an effort to make that 165 a reality, I've just picked up Chalene Johnson's PiYo Workout videos. It's a workout based entirely on yoga where you use your own body weight to get more flexible. I'm pretty excited about getting more flexible. Years ago I used to be able to do the splits and stretch my legs directly over my head while standing. No, I wasn't an exotic dancer ;)  I was a figure skater and being flexible was an important factor to prevent from getting hurt. But over the years I've lost that flexibility so I'm pretty excited to start getting it back again.

I'll update you on my progress with this, but so far just watching the videos is getting me excited to take on this challenge! There are a total of 11 different workouts that come with this plan plus some additional nutrition information and other stuff. Also, there's a workout calendar that tells you exactly when to do what video. Although it starts on a Monday, I'm going to be starting on a Wednesday with the first video: Align: The Fundamentals.

The Align video is an introduction to PiYo and goes through the different moves to show proper form and technique. What I like about it is that there is one person on each workout who is doing the 'modified' workout. This is for those who are just starting out or who feel that they need to ease into things. Yup..that's me.

So think about me tomorrow morning when I'm aligning :)

~Julie

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 2

Hello everyone, today is day 2 of my Chalene Johnson 30 Day Push Challenge to organize my life and prioritize my goals so I can really be Fabulous at 45. If you need to go back, here's a link to Day 1.

Today's topic is how to determine priorities. Before even watching any videos, I find myself overwhelmed by this question. Determining priorities has never been my strong suit. So being told that this is what we are doing today is exciting, but also a little scary to me. Anyways, I'm going to watch the video and comment as I go.

First off, can I say how beautiful Chalene is? OMG, this woman is stunning! And...her home is to die for. I can see where this girl gets her fashion sense - she has two books on the table I'd love to get! The Channel book and the book called American Fashion. Sorry....okay....back to the topic :)

She starts out the video recapping what was done yesterday, giving a score to the 10 main areas of your life. She then makes a good point. Society hard-wires us to make certain things a priority in our lives such as money, for example. But, these hard-wired priorities typically are in conflict with what our true priorities are. Thus, why we did the exercise on day 1 - to determine what our true priorities are.

The first thing Chalene wants to talk about is Foundation. She asks us to pull out the list...so here is mine:

Physical Health = 2
Emotional Health = 4
Environment = 5
Financial = 4
Leisure/Fun = 8
Friends/Family = 7
Significant other = 3
Purpose/Career = 5
Personal Growth = 3
Spiritual Growth = 6

She goes on to say that the area you scored the lowest is typically an area that is important to you. The area you scored the highest is typically the area that you are satisfied with and/or don't feel you need to improve. When I look at my list, I see my lowest scores came in physical health, personal growth and significant other. And, it's true. These are the areas that are important to me, where I don't feel like I'm giving my best. Conversely, My highest areas such as leisure/fun and friends/family, I feel pretty good about where they are at. So far, so good.

Today we are supposed to identify our "KEY" priority and our "INTRINSIC" priority.

Intrinsic priorities are those that come naturally easy to you and feels like it's just a part of who you are. It's something that when you wake up first thing in the morning, it's on your mind. You spend the right amount of time there and she says it's something you probably scored pretty high on.

Looking at my scores, I would say my intrinsic priority is leisure/fun. Not just because it's what I scored the highest on, but because that is what comes naturally to me. Playing games on my computer, watching tv shows and movies...it's something that feels a part of me...that I devote time to - that comes naturally. Now here's my boggle - I know that I spend WAY too much time here. I also know that because of that, it's hurting my other priorities that I know I should be putting my efforts into. Okay...let me listen on to the video now...

Ah...now it's coming together. Because I spend way too much time in my intrinsic priority, I'm taking away from my KEY priority; or the thing that means the most. She says it's typically the category you scored yourself lowest in. So, for me...that would be my physical health. It's most important to me, but I've been spending so much time being leisurely...I haven't given it the focus it truly deserves. Which is why my life feels so out of focus. Same could be said for my significant other and personal growth categories too.

Your KEY priority changes as your life changes. It's the current area of your life that is 'out of balance'. And...it's where I need to put my attention -- not for the rest of my life, but until it comes back into balance. It's also an area where she says you typically need accountability - because it doesn't come natural to you. That makes sense to me. When you have major life changes - that's when I'll need to come back and do this exercise again because my key priority will most likely have changed.

Okay...we're at the homework part of the video. There is a .pdf worksheet that she wants me to work on. Because it's easier for me, I'm going to just write it out here on the blog.

My INTRINSIC priority is: Leisure/ Fun

My KEY priority is: Physical Health

1) I have chosen this area of my life as my Key Priority because:   it's the area that I scored the lowest so I know I'm the most dis-satisfied with it. It's also an area that is causing me anxiety right now because of my family risk of diabetes and heart disease.

2) I will honor my Key Priority by vowing to do my best always:  to keep my health in the forefront of my mind when it comes to food choices.

3) The following action(s) would be inconsistent with my commitment to my Key Priority:  being lazy, eating fast foods all the time, not working out, not taking vitamins, not hydrating myself.

4) To honor my Key Priority I will limit:  the amount of leisure time I take every day.

5) To live my life according to my Key Priority, I need to make the following changes:  I need to put myself first and spend time each morning working out. I also need to spend time to plan my meals and prepare them in advance and plan for what to do in emergency situations.

6) Combining your answers to the previous questions, create your Priority Clarity Statement below. Be as detailed as possible.

My Priority Clarity Statement:  

My KEY priority is my physical health - inside and out. I have chosen this area of my life because I am completely dis-satisfied with it. I also feel extreme anxiety because of my age and my risk factors for diabetes and heart disease. I will honor my Key priority by vowing to do my best to always keep my health in the forefront of my mind when it comes to making food choices. Being lazy, eating fast food all the time, not working out, not taking vitamins and not keeping myself hydrated would be inconsistent with my Key priority. To honor my Key priority I will limit the amount of leisure time I take a day. I will put myself first, spend time each day to workout, plan my meals and prepare them in advance. I also need to have a plan for emergency situations where food I make isn't possible to consume. 

Phew! Well that's all for today. I now have some clarity about where my focus needs to be and what  need to do in order to get there. Tomorrow I'm sure will bring more insight, so bye for now.

~Julie

30 Day Push Challenge - Day 1

Morning gang, it's Monday and I'm excited to get started on my 30 Day Push Challenge with Chalene Johnson. If you missed my post on that, you can go back and read it here. You get to sign up for the challenge and watch a welcome video from Chalene that I found lit a fire under me. She's just so upbeat and perky!

Here's a link to the challenge for you if you need to sign up:  30 Day Push Challenge

Anyways, it's day 1 of the Challenge and I pulled up the first video and watched Chalene talk about her back-story and how she needed to create a system that was going to help her get organized and get it all done. She talked about how this system she perfected and how she turns her goals into reality.

This is a video based program so Chalane says you can expect one video every day during the 30 day time period. She says that we're developing a new habit and the most important part about creating this new habit is the feeling that you put behind it. She wants me to get excited about it so that not only do you create the habit, but that you crave the feeling behind it.

I never looked at it this way before but it makes sense. If you are excited about something, you tend to follow through with something more than if you are just doing the job because it's what you are supposed to do. Okay...I'll get excited about it :)

Looks like I get a video lesson a day - perfect! Baby steps...

She wants me to spend 10 minutes a day on the videos and homework and says that in this small amount of time per day, I can change my life. Okay...I'm game!

Oh, and it looks like she wants me to get a partner or group of people who I can be accountable to. Research shows that when you have even just one person in life that you can be accountable to, that success rates skyrocket. So, I'll not only be accountable to you here, but I'm also using her community online to hold myself accountable as well.

Okay, onward to Assignment 1!

Here's the homework for Day 1:
Your first assignment is to take a look at these 10 areas of our life and rate each on a scale of 1-10. 10 being very satisfied, and 1 being dissatisfied. Jot down each of these areas, give them a score, and hold on to this list because i will help you determine where you need to focus.

• Physical Health
• Emotional Health
• Environment
• Financial
• Leisure/Fun
• Friends/Family
• Significant other
• Purpose/Career
• Personal Growth
• Spiritual Growth

She encourages people not to give this much thought and to write down the first number that pops in your head because it's usually the correct one. So, here's what I came up with:

Physical Health = 2
Emotional Health = 4
Environment = 5
Financial = 4
Leisure/Fun = 8
Friends/Family = 7
Significant other = 3
Purpose/Career = 5
Personal Growth = 3
Spiritual Growth = 6

I found I was the most dissatisfied with my physical health, relationship with my significant other and my personal growth. Looks like I'm most satisfied with my leisure/fun and friends/family. Interesting...I will say that my physical health and the way I feel about myself rules the roost when it comes to all areas of my life. If I'm not feeling well because of my size or how I feel I look, everything else in my life suffers. With this list, I'm able to see just what areas suffer the most.

So, I've completed my day 1 homework and it's time to get up and get ready for the day. Feeling accomplished for getting it done first thing in the morning and not waiting until later when excuses and derail me.

If you are taking this challenge with me, feel free to post a comment below and let me know how your list turned out today. I'll be your accountability partner :)

~Julie

Homemade coconut sugar scrub experiment

I've been going online and searching for things that are going to help me to improve the tone and texture of my skin. I've learned about tons of pharmaceutical solutions like alpha hydroxy and retinol, but the price tag associated with these are more than I have to spend right now. So, I decided to try a more holistic and natural route to start off with.

There is a large community of bloggers online who believe in the almost magical properties of coconut oil. I guess it's not just for cooking anymore. People are using it in body moisturizers, lip balms and even bug repellents. One website I found gave 101 uses for coconut. It really opened my eyes to just how versatile this oil really is!

We went out grocery shopping today and bought all kinds of goodies I'll talk more about tomorrow. But for now, I want to talk about this huge tub of coconut oil I got. 

My husband is a great guy. And, after 16 years of marriage, he's pretty much gotten used to my quirky self. So when I wanted to put this huge tub of coconut oil in the cart, to his credit he didn't question me about it. This is one of the reasons I love him so much - he totally gets me.

Anyways, I got this huge tub home and went online for some ideas of what to do with it. After a little Pinterest searching I found a ton of recipes for a sugar scrub using coconut oil. If you aren't familiar with sugar scrubs, they are mixtures of sugar and an oil medium like coconut or olive oil. You rub this mixture on your skin and it exfoliates and moisturizes the skin all at the same time. So, I set off to make my own sugar scrub.

Coconut Sugar Scrub

2 T. Coconut Oil

1 cup sugar

Two simple ingredients - that's all. You can mix in things like Vitamin E oil and essential oils to give your scrub a scent, but for now I'm just sticking with the two ingredients.

I opened up my coconut oil and was surprised to see it was in solid form much like Crisco shortening is. After some reading I learned that it only liquefies when it's heated. So at room temperature it remains a solid that has the consistency of a body butter. Good to know! Also it has no scent to it. I don't know what I expected, maybe some tropical, Almond Joy type of overpowering smell. But when I held it up to my nose and took a good sniff, there was no smell what-so-ever.

I grabbed a fork and began to cut the coconut oil into the sugar. It took about 2-3 minutes to get it all worked in together. Then I grabbed a small Tupperware container to store my sugar scrub in and headed for my bathroom to give it a whirl.

I decided to try it on my hands first. I scooped out a little of the sugar scrub and bean to rub it into my hands; making sure I worked it into my cuticles. It felt grainy, like you were rubbing sand over your hands. It didn't hurt, but after a few minutes of scrubbing, I did feel the skin begin to get a little sensitive. So I rinsed off my hands.

One of the first things I noticed while rinsing my hands was the oil barrier that repelled the water I used to remove the sugar scrub. But what really shocked me what what happened after I dried my hands. I ran my fingers across the tops of them and couldn't believe how smooth and soft they were! Confession time...I spent the next 10-15 minutes just feeling my hands. I couldn't help myself - I must have looked so creepy :) If you are at all familiar with Mary Kay's magic hands treatment it felt exactly like that when it was done. So amazingly awesome!

Not only did the scrub exfoliate my hands, but it left them moisturized and totally as smooth and soft as a baby's bottom. So I thought that if it did such a great job on my hands, why not my feet and face? I have to say the results are remarkable. Rough, dry skin on my heels has been sloughed away and my face feels smooth and moisturized. Next I'm going to try it all over my body - or at least all the parts of my body that I can reach right now. It should help to get rid of that old, dead skin and keep the new skin moisturized.

The scrub didn't leave my skin feeling oily at all. At first you could feel the oil as you rubbed the skin, but after a minute or two, the oil completely soaked in and all you were left with was smooth, luxurious skin.

I won't be using this daily because I think it would be too harsh on the skin. However, I think 1-2 times a week should help keep my skin looking fresh and feeling amazing. Plus the bonus that the cost is minimal is probably one of the best benefits of all. I'll definitely be making this again and again!

Baby steps towards that fabulous new me

I wanted to give you guys an update as to how I did with my water drinking yesterday. Well, it wasn't exactly the result I wanted. Things at work yesterday were really hectic and I was just too busy to pay attention to how much water I was drinking.

The good news...today is another day to try again. I'm going to try to get in 5 bottles of water today. I'm taking baby steps and working my way up to the full 8 bottles a day that I'm supposed to be drinking.

Speaking of baby steps...

There's an old saying....how do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time...

If you think about it, it makes sense...not that anyone would really WANT to eat an elephant...but I digress. Tackling a task a little at a time is a really smart way to achieve a goal. So, that is what I'm going to do.

I've really been inspired by Chalene Johnson. Chalene is a fitness expert who created workout programs like TurboFire and Chalene Extreme. They are sold on the same website as the Insanity videos. She is also a gifted motivational speaker. I really like her style, she's a no-nonsense type of person who don't take excuses and helps people to push past their own limitations to achieve their dreams.

She has this 30 day challenge website which teaches people step-by-step how to become more organized and how to get more done in a day: The 30 Day Push Challenge. This challenge is based on her book called PUSH. I haven't read the book, but I'm sure it just goes into more detail about her organizing methods. But this website is a 30 day challenge for anyone who wants to take small bites out of the elephant in an effort to eat the whole thing.

I have been thinking about all the goals I wrote on my first post. Looking back at it, I feel totally overwhelmed by how many things I feel need to be changed in order for me to feel fabulous by the time I'm 45. Seriously, there are a TON of goals on that list...how the heck am I going to achieve them all without a plan?

The need for a plan reminded me of Chalene's 30 Day Push Challenge.

In a nutshell, this challenge gets you to write out your goals...even your craziest dreams...and then you prioritize them in order of importance. Once you have them written, you then come up with all the individual things that need to be done in order to achieve the big goal. Then, you tackle the little goals day by day which all add up and help you achieve your BIG goal. Make sense?

One problem that I have with the challenge is that she really encourages you to have a smartphone. I just have a pay-as-you-go phone (yes...I know...I need to get into the current century, right?). So, my phone doesn't have the aps that she suggests in order to really get the full effect of the program.

But, you can do it without a phone - it just requires you to keep lists...written lists. Also, I've figured out a way to use Google Calendar to help with these goals too because most of the day I'm on a computer with an internet connection. So this will serve as my 'smartphone'.

I'm going to take this 30 day challenge and log my progress here. I'm also going to talk with my husband about starting to do video logs. I've never done it before, but there's a first for everything, right? Only problem is that I need to get a web cam. Maybe I can swing getting one today.

Not going to lie, putting myself on video and posting it for the world to see isn't something that I'm totally comfortable with. But, I know that going outside my comfort zone is exactly what I'm going to need to do in order to reach my goals.

I'm really tired of being afraid. Let's change that - today.

Hope you have a great Saturday! See you tomorrow (hopefully you'll see me!).

~Julie

I need to drink how much water????

It's 5:45 in the morning and I'm sitting here with my 16 year old waking up and getting ready for another day of High School. He's sitting next to me eating pizza rolls.

HUH?  Pizza Rolls for BREAKFAST????

Yep. Pizza rolls at 5:45 in the morning. Oh to have the metabolism of a teenager again!

Truth be told, they smell pretty amazing. He stood up to go get ready for school and left these little pockets of deliciousness sitting next to me. UGH..... I feel like one of those cartoon characters who inhales the amazing smell of something good and floats up; wafting towards the smell with my eyes closed in bliss.

Nope...not gonna eat them.

Today I'm going to concentrate on changing just one thing in my life - drinking water.

From everything I've ever read, keeping the body hydrated is probably one of the most important things you can do for your body. Not only does it help you to feel fuller-longer, but it also helps your body flush out all the toxins and bad stuff. 

Someone once explained it this way to me.

Your body is fully re-created every 7 years. Yes, every 7 years every cell in your body is new: from your liver to your brain. So, what does a cell need to be at it's best?

You guessed it...H20.

Now here is the thing that really got me thinking. Your cells are going to re-create themselves using whatever they have at their disposal. They don't just wait until they have everything they need...they will recreate themselves whether they have enough nutrients and water or not. 

So, you literally are what you eat and drink. Water helps cells work at their optimum level.

This is one of the reasons that your skin gets better the more water you drink. 

So, because this is one of the most important things I can do for my body, I've decided to switch to drinking just plain, old water. 

I'm reading a book Called Choose More, Lose More for Life by Chris Powell. He's that guy on Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition. In this book Chris talks about the need to drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water a day. 

HUH? So for me that would be a whopping 146.5 ounces of water a day! That is (9) 16.9 oz bottles of water every day. Holy crap....9 bottles of water a day? 

Yes, 9 bottles a day. 

But, I'm not quiet there yet. My goal for today is just to drink more. Maybe 1 bottle every 2 hours while I'm at work. That would be 4 bottles which is better than nothing, right?

I am going to continue reading the book today and learn more about carb cycling which is how Chris helps his clients to shed a ton of weight, quickly. Sounds like something that would help me get to my weight goal of 165.

Now it's off to get ready for work so I'll talk with you tomorrow morning (or as the mood strikes me today).

~Julie

Hello and Welcome!

I want to thank you for coming by and reading about my journey about being fabulous when I turn 45. Let me tell you a little about myself.


My name is Julie. I'm 43 years old and I have lived in northern Illinois all my life. I'm married; have been for 17 years to a man who's 2 years younger than me. Which is something he reminds me of every year when my birthday rolls around. I have 2 wonderful boys aged 16 and 8 and a 3 year old chocolate lab named Bella.


The first thing you need to know about me is that I don't like myself and typically eat my problems away. I'm 5'11" and weight 293. I gained the weight back when I was pregnant with our first child over 16 years ago. Between depression and low/no self-esteem, I kept the weight on and have yo-yo'ed back and forth between 300 and 250 pounds ever since.


The second thing you need to know about me is that there are going to be times when I don't post a blog for a few days or weeks. As a blogger friend of mind said ... these are the times when I am struggling. I know this...so I am letting you know this in advance so you don't worry.


My intention for this blog is to record my personal thoughts, feelings, struggles and victories with you. I'm doing this for a few reasons. One, I want to be able to look back and see how far I've come - and two, I am hoping that someone out there gets some inspiration from my journey. It's my way of paying it forward so more people can do the same.


My goal? To be fabulous by the time my 45th birthday rolls around.


I'll be giving myself a LIFE makeover: mind, body and beauty.


Goals for my body:
I want to lose 128 pounds and hit my goal of 165.
I want to find new ways to eat healthier and still love the food I'm eating.
I want to be able to fit into beautiful clothes and reward myself with a fabulous new wardrobe.
I want to find ways to drink more water to hydrate myself.
I want to take vitamins to help support my changing body.


Goals for my beauty:
I want to grow out my hair and find a color and style that suits my badass beautiful self.
I want to give myself a skin makeover and change it's tone and texture.
I want to find makeup that doesn't make me look like Bozo the clown, but make me look stunning.
I want my skin to have that healthy glow.
I want my nails to be polished and taken care of.


Goals for my mind:
I want to love myself and really mean it.
I want to look in the mirror and be proud of who I see standing there - regardless of how I look.
I want to stop being so angry all the time and find peace.
I want to change my thoughts from negative to positive.
I want to improve my relationships with my husband and kids.
I want to feel confident in myself and live a truly authentic life.


Lots of goals, right? Yeah...I know. Just writing them down feels so overwhelming. I can hear the inner voice inside my head telling me how I'll never achieve them...how I'll start this project - just like I've done hundreds of times in the past...and the results will be the same. I'll fail again.


But there is something else inside me that really wants this so badly that it hurts. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach - it's a burning excitement that bubbles up when I just consider reaching one of these goals. It only lasts a few moments, but it's there.


I can do this.


My intention with this blog is to record my journey and be 100% totally honest about it - whether it's something I'm proud of or something I'm not. It's in the journey that I know I'm going to grow and achieve my dream of being fabulous at 45!


My birthday is October 7th - and this year I'll be turning 44. So, I'm going to begin my journey right away - moving myself forward so that come my birthday, things should be flowing. I've got a long road ahead of me - thanks for joining me on the journey.


~Julie