I need some me time---

 Let me tell you about a fantabulous woman:) My grandmother, the world's biggest most caring person is known for taking care of everybody and even their grandmother, lol. In fact, the running joke is that when you came home,  you didn't know who was going to be in the house taking residence on the sofa...as my grandmother would often take in family members, people off the street, etc.

Growing up, I saw my grandmother take care of countless people and even heard of her caretaking days pre-Tekeah (you know, before i was born). So keeping that same line of caretaking, my first job out of grad school was a social worker with therapeutic foster care kids...needless to say, I was taking care of other people's childen, and everything in between. I knew their date of births, their last dental, physical, vision, etc. ..all that and then some. I learned as a social worker that when working with people and their lives, something is always going on as people's lives never stop. I mean they never stop!! I also learned during my almost 6 year tenure as a social worker that I created a dangerous pattern of putting others before me.

This pattern left me, sadly overweight, depressed, and unhappy. I can't eat lunch because I "had to do" others people's stuff.  I seemed to always say yes when I should have said no.  As I've transitioned to healthy living, I've realized my worth, my value, and how important it is for me to make time for me and also for me to say no when it is at the expense of my happiness or my mental health wellfare.   Think about this...out of 24 hours in the day, what time have you made for yourself? I know for some you have kids, you have work , you have this....but let me tell you this...because you have all these things YOU MUST plan your ME TIME. You are that important to plan time for you....even if its reading 5 pages of a must read book while using the bathroom (away from the kids, lol,etc). Create that me-time happiness for you---you are that important--and its essential to healthy living:)

Share how you created your "ME" Time space:

I'll start, there is a certain meeting I go to on Saturday mornings, when I could work those days (make some extra money for some future planning lol)...but that time is my time! It keeps me balanced...and unless I'm out of town! I'm there with bells on:)...cuz its my time!

HOw Bad Do You Really Want It!-Losing Weight Ain't for the Faint of Heart!

Just this week I was talking with some of my friends over tea and desserts (shout out to Kenny Wesley for an awesome experience at the O street Mansion) about how today's society with the help of technology robs us of problem solving, patience, and hard work.

What do I mean? Think about this...remember when you were in school and we actually had to physically go to the library to gather information for your research projects and piece the project together. Ahh...the good old times lol.  Now, at the click on an internet button you can get full reports and it takes the hard work, patience, and problem solving, out of research papers.

How about when you would go to K-mart or Walmart and pick out a bike from amongst the models. Then when you rung it up, it came in a box with parts. LOL!  We don't want the parts, we just want the bike. In essence, we don't want to work to put it together, we just want the instant gratification of riding the bike.

In this day in time,  with the advances in technology, I feel like we are unsconciously wired up for the click of the button, instant gratification process and we don't even realize it. Even in transitioning to healthy living and achieving weight loss, a lot of us give up quickly because the process takes tooooo long. We want the weight off now!! Hence, the familiar, I want to lose 20lbs by this month! We don't want to do the work but want the results quickly.  I've definitely been there.  I tried weight pills, the shot (I got sick as a dog), no carb diets, etc.  I wanted it the quick way....and it never worked.  I liken skipping instructions and the process as a person putting together that model bike (looks like the bike), but you realized you have an entire bag of screws left.  The bike is good for a while, but it eventually goes to pieces. LOL!

This tid bit here, healthy weight loss is better  when it comes off slowly  because its more likely to stay off. So lets not skip the process, but rather enjoy it and learn about ourselves. I want to be a model bike with no screws loose so I can endure this ride:)

Don't Quit....:)

Remember, the transition may be slow, the weight loss may be slow, but in the end, it all adds up:)

Post your comments:)

Inspirations!! ---Finding your Inspiration!

What do you see when you see this woman?
How old would you say that she is?

This picture communicates so much for me. I remember hearing about this woman some time ago....I think when I read about her,she was featured in a Jet magazine. Her name is Ernestine Shepherd and the last time I checked, she is 74 years old. That's right I said it!! 74 years old! She is soooo fly and she inspires me so much!! She speaks to my dreams and lets me now anything is possible in spite of age, gender, time, whatever!!

You see this month, I have have been studying in preparation for taking my upcoming test to be a certified group exercise instructor. In my preparation, I ran across information that is pretty common, the benefits of exercise and aerobic exercise.  Some of the benefits: longer life expectancy, better psychological functioning (did you know that working out can help you with PMS and moodiness...I should know lol), lower blood pressure, flexibility, less risk of disease, lean muscle, loss of weight, loss of fat, better bones (geez I forgot the term for that lol), etc.  Needless to say, exercise has a lot of benefits. So okay I got  that...but I thought how can I make the picture of the benefits of healthy living more vivid. You see, when I process information, I like to associate the context with things to help me recall the information. So my association with the benefits of healthy living is a 74 year old fly woman named Ernestine Shepherd.

She makes the information so real and attainable for me. Her motto is determined, dedicated, disciplined, to be fit. Wow!!

She lets me know that anything is possible, but it goes back to our decisions and the actions that accompany them.
I have a little picture of  Ms. Ernestine Shepherd, printed to keep me on task to let me know that this is what I am working towards. My decision is not temporary but a commitment to living a fulfilling a rewarding life. I encourage you to identify something to inspire you to stay on track as there will come days when our feelings will try to lead us astray. Lets face it, woman can be a bit more emotional then men. So what will you do! Get you a picture, a sticker, something, to encourage you, to motivate you.....remember those days will come. So find your inspiration:) And the funny thing is, that as you find yours, you will also become someone else's inspiration:)  Just think, someone just might have a picture of you:) tee hee!! Lets get it! Post your comments:)




 

2 Write or Not 2 Write-- that is the question?!!

Its amazing the very power that's in such a little thing as writing. Not long ago I reviewed my planner's over the past several years. You see in the beginning of each planner, I put down the goals to accomplish for that calendar year. I found that the things that I took the time to write down are the things that I accomplished.

Some of them stayed on there from year to year, but eventually were accomplished non the less.

Let me share a personal side bar. In 2008, I made a list of the things that I wanted in my future mate:)....like no smoking, family oriented, saved, speak in tongues, job, etc. Wouldn't you know that this year I crossed off the last item of my future mate list.....in fact, that's what made me go back and look at some of the others things I've written. I realized that the very things I had written, I accomplished them.

I say all this to say that it is proven that the things we write down, we accomplish. We can use this in many areas and I do. Like as it concerns my eating and exercise, I set goals at the end of each week for the beginning of the next week. So on Sunday, I'll set goals like: eat 2-3 veggies a day, drink more water, exercise 3 days a week. etc . Sometimes throughout the week, I feel like I have forgotten them, but when I go back to look at them I realize that I have accomplished them. Subconsciously, I think your mind programs them in...lol.

Challenge of the week: set 2 or 3 goals for the week and then come back and review them. What goals have you set this week! Let me know your thoughts! Post your comments.

*Rolls Eyes* Not today!!

I must say today was a rather long day. I don't know if it was the weather  (very dreary beginning of fall day mixed with cloudiness and rain sprinkles) or what it was, but today I didn't work out this morning. Yes, I said it, I missed my window of time for my work out in the morning. So I went on through my day saying...I'mma work out when I get home. So now, I'm home and you know what....I really don't feel like it. I really just feel like curling up with the Cowboys blanket ( the winning team) and going to sleep.

But just like I challenge others when the going gets rough...I'mma put myself on a challenge. I will work out today, and not go on what I feel, because its what I do. I can't be tossed to and fro like leaves in the wind just because the season is changing (fall is here) or because of my feelings. Its so easy to give way to your feelings though...especially when your a woman...we have extra emotions lol.

I'll be honest with you, I'm probably one of the  most emotional people ever lol. In fact, the major aspect of my job is that I get paid to feel and to empathize and to understand people's feelings (I'm a therapist:). What I realize though is that your emotions can you get you in trouble if they aren't managed properly. You can end up in unhealthy situations because of your emotions: mentally, socially, and physically.  So how do you work on this?!!

YOU TRAIN YOURSELF!!! TRAIN YOURSELF TO NOT BE MOVED BY YOUR EMOTIONS!

So even today, when I don't feel like working out because I'm tired and I want to quickly go to my cowboys blanket. I work out. This is something small, but if you can achieve this small feat than you can use this in other avenues of your life like with your job, kids, mate, etc (when your asked something you don't feel like doing). I don't know about you but I'm determined to be empowered so the transition to living a healthy life style is like a piece of cake  (ha ha no pun intended). So I'm off to the treadmill...with the goal of getting past 10 minutes:) Lets do this!

Challenge of the week: Select one area, could be  exercise, work, school...and complete the task even when you don't "feel" like it! Let me know your thoughts and feelings:) Post comments!

NEW Blog B.E!!

I'm just an average person (not really average lol) who found herself battling this same issue for years---> the issue of the yo-yo diet. Since I can remember, I 've never been skinny and I've always had an ample supply of butt (buttocks for the prim and proper lol) for myself and for others. So since high school, I have done that tug of war with the scale.

I was 130 lbs leaving high school, 145 lbs my sophomore year in college (Lets go Pitt!), 145-150 lbs thru my grad school years up until the age of 28. Then I reached my highest weight ever at 162 lbs at the young age of 29!!! For me, the 162 lbs and the emerging double chin was enough for  me. Don't get me wrong, I was still cute but I had come to terms that I was the weight of my grandmother when she was 62 years old at the tender age of 29. I didn't like the direction I was headed in. Most of all, I didn't like that I had failed at being consistent and that often times I would quit....I'd go for a while...be good...avoid eating sweets...exercise for a month...and then when I didn't see the results fast enough..I QUIT!! I went back to what I was doing before and this cycle repeated forever!!

 Many of us have been in that situation, so I figured  I would write about my journey and the things I learned along the way in hopes that maybe it would help or inspire others to be empowered to take charge of their own journey.  You see, my favorite flower is a sunflower and what I like about sunflowers is that you can add a little dye to the water and it'll change the color of the sunflower:) (thats how we get the reds, the blues, the purples, etc)....so pretty....so thats the goal here...add a little change here and there and witness the beautiful difference of becoming your own unique sunflower:)