PMS!! - Positive Mindset Statements

• Posted by Elisa on August 27, 2008 at 4:00pm

It's the week before my monthly "visitor" and I had been craving sugar and been feeling "slumpy". No noticeable bloating or cramping, but the down side of feeling down and doubty and wanting something to "fix" it. Not that I have truly gotten off the sugar addiction I reintroduced while on vacation, but it was extra this week....the craving! I made up my mind that chocolate would not be included in this week and I haven't even bought it from the grocery store after already being there 3 times this week. Instead I realized that I was not as positive, hopeful, faithful, and as loving as I am used to. My positive mindset is my high, and helps me to encourage more positive things into my life. Healthy eating, enjoying my kids and my workouts, and wanting to spend time with and be close to my husband all are connected to my positive thinking. This morning I received an email that provided me with the right kick in the butt, and helped me to regain the joyful edge to my day. It made me realize that worrying about the details and worrying period was sucking the joy out of my living. So today I am making additional statements about myself and to myself and situation to help me to keep the ball and my life moving forward in a positive light.

I AM beautiful and God made me this way!

I love smiling at myself in the mirror and loving who I am!

I am fit and slim and enjoy my body!

I LOVE my thighs and always have. They are strong and keep me moving forward.

I am a loving individual and am very approachable.

I look absolutely fabulous in clothing and will look GREAT naked in no time!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my nutritious, supportive, and allergy-free cooking (most allergies anyway)!!!!

I love my body and how I am so in tune to it's needs and how it communicates with me.

I am encouraged that my friends look to me for advice and support (and recipes too).

I have a lot of fun with my boys and they love me for it! They also love the "challenges" I give them to do better each day and to look out for their own health and nutritional needs to suit our lifestyle.

I love doing sexy things to encourage my husband and our intimate relationship. He is encouraged to know that I think about him all day long and in almost everything I do.

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13

I get great confidence from living as healthy, as positive and as successful as I possibly can.

Now there is no amount of chocolate that can do for me what I have done through encouraging and loving myself. No craving is better than the feeling I get from taking care of me all day instead of for the moment. Now I did not go "without" as I did bake a banana bread without any added sugar and even my hubby enjoyed it (I figured bananas have enough of their own to make it work). I know that I do better with some sort of "treat" during this week, but I found a way to make it a time of connection and reflection too. Why not? Better than being all over the place in my thoughts, focus and emotions. I have really learned to embrace change with hope and faith that things will only be better on the other side. It saves me the energy of fighting against this journey called life. I won't fight the flow of where it is I want to go. I may not know exactly how my life will play out, but I know that I will approach it gladly and with my whole heart, because it is mine to live.

Tags: change, mindset, positive

SPICY!!!.....Raw and real!

• Posted by Elisa on August 22, 2008 at 11:00am

Sharing a few thoughts about my fat loss.......
I love following a plan that allows me to plug in the numbers and make checks on a list. It takes the guesswork and the excuse out of doing something which is not what I was initially trained in or fully understand. When my focus is somewhere else and my head isn't quite into my workouts and nutrition, I can use the "formula" and get it done!
I seek the knowledge and listen to the advice of professionals.
Not just any professionals, but those who are stimulated and inspired passionately by how the body really works and how the mind really thinks and they go after knowing and learning and growing and improving forever and ever, Amen.
They are in love. They know what it is to love and they share that love and passion to the benefit of all they come across. Walking billboards of success and striving to be the best in every step they take. Forever the student and not afraid to share what they know. They live it simple.....and love it large. They glow and stand out from the crowd and they don't shrink from what they were called to. No room not to be confident.
I love mixin' it up in each and every workout. Always adding the challenge and keeping my body guessing. I like to surprise myself and see the results of it as I walk by the mirror. My body loves the challenge and I love my body. Love to hear and visualize the details of how it works and know that the big things we see so plainly in life reflect in other areas down to the smallest things we don't get to see.
I love the playfulness of intervals and how you can put in the intensity and then slow it down. It's a tease in a good way and keeps a smile on my face every time I do them. It's like competing or racing against yourself and congrats goes to the winner when it's over. Nothing like patting the winner on the back after a good challenge.
I am hyped and intrigued to know that my thoughts supports my goals. That my head and mindset support the results I want to see. I'm not too stuck on how I want to do things or attached to what or how I eat that I can't easily exchange it for something else that will be more beneficial and possibly more enjoyable than what I was doing before. I love knowing that your mindset is a HUGE factor in success and then nutrition in regards to fat loss and health is so vast and impactful and that physical activity in the RIGHT way can yield major results.
So I am going to continue in this hot, passionate, playful and intimate relationship I am having with health and fitness and hope to grow, glow and expand to inspire myself to be the lifelong student and the walking example of a healthy and loving mindset to others. Be SPICY!

Tags: inspired, love, passion

Beginning of week 6........review and refocus.

• Posted by Elisa on August 18, 2008 at 6:50pm

No workout for me today. I did my warm up and my bod wasn't with me. I felt off and opted out. I thought I might try, seeing as I have been sick, but didn't want to "wimp out" just because of being "phlegmy". After the day I have had so far though, I know I will prep for my workout on Wednesday.

It has been somewhat difficult coming back into our home with the "not so fresh" air and feel completely drained of energy. But the advantage being that I am no longer alone in my ventures to move forward and to move out. My hubby has been supportive, focused and, involved with the process of us moving to a new home. He is doing well and after being sought after while we were on vacation, he has a new walk and renewed confidence in his ability and no longer sees himself as stuck quite in the way he did before. It is a great start for the exciting and uncertain times ahead of us. But even with is support, I have to decide for myself how badly I want to reach my goals and continue on this journey to becoming a Fitter Yummy Mummy, but also proud of the thoughts, decisions, and choices I make. I want to be fully confident that I represent the lifestyle I have chosen.....to be healthy and fit mentally, emotionally, spiritually AND physically.


As I reach the half way point with the STC, I know I have to kick it up a notch as the vacation was a slight stall in the progress I had been seeing beforehand (maybe a step back, but I gave it A thought and that was enough.....moving on forward =D). My focus has definitely shifted, but it is possible to do it all with the right amounts of focus and balance (not always all at the same time, but maybe in the same week). I would like to maintain my focus on fighting the belly fat while improving on my relationships, and looking for a new home as well as trying to keep within range to the school my son will be attending......oh yeah! Getting my son ready for school! I hope that we will be blessed with a home that is within the busing range for the school I have chosen for my son as he really enjoys his teacher, but health and safety does need to come first.

So what to focus on? Calories in (make sure I am eating regular....protein and produce at each "scheduled" meal). Cut the sugar (kinda sugared it up while on vacation). Manage stress as times of rapid and constant change can be taxing, especially with children. Set priorities and stay positive (again, as my children are very aware of the changes we are experiencing, they have been more difficult and "needy" and I want to make sure I don't lose it......no coritisol, no cortisol). Stop "feeding" the belly fat (keep reading info and stay educated and exposed to the info that will inspire me to remain consistent with my goals). Stay in the loop......after being around emotional, and unbridled eating behaviours, I want to make sure I surround myself with those that support the way that I want to eat as I do know I am affected by who I choose to surround myself with. And "be the change I want to see!" I am going to own it as it is what I want. To have a lean, tight midsection, and enjoy the shape and health that I am in for life.....where what I want becomes my habits and thus my lifestyle. Keep moving forward.

Tags: back, goals, on, refocus, track

Last day at my in-laws.....what I have learned away from my home

• Posted by Elisa on August 15, 2008 at 6:53am

Hello there ladies!!!

This has been quite the trip I must say. Currently posting this via dial-up at my in-laws almost 6am in the morning off their new computer (seems everytime we come out my hubby gets to update their system......maybe they can get high-speed soon hahaha). We have enjoyed fully the company of friends and family over this past 2 weeks and this has been our shortest vacation together (I think we may try to do for longer next time, depending on where we go). We enjoyed hanging out and renting movies, driving all over the place and seeing the sights, a barbeque with the two sides of his family, a housewarming at a BeAUTIFUL home (certainly put things into perspective for us), an all-day excursion to Canada's Wonderland (and jumping on the Behemoth first with the hubby.......I'll remember the experience eventually), and last but not least food.

This trip would be classified as a step back to make 2 steps forward. At this time I would like to thank God for my wonderful allergies (and giving them to my children as well) as a form of protection from the huge amounts of unsupportive food options in the world. WOW~! As my hubby would describe "GROSS!". Amen to NOT being able to ingest gluten. I have no idea of the percentage I ate at and was more in survival mode as preparation was not always possible being that plans were made spontaneously, but it was still pretty good. As well, our friends were not forewarned of our allergies and that turned out to be a blessing. I didn't have to deal with the potential of them not quite getting it right with what to buy and they got to ask questions in regards to what we do eat on a regular basis. We got to eat oatmeal, veggies, salads, yogurt......I got to eat chicken and veggies for breakfast a few times and in all that set an example for others in how we eat, but also that eating healthy and for our dietary concerns is not difficult at all.....quite simple actually. Also I got to plug the club and FYM all over the place being that I was "almost unrecognizable" as described by his family.....(HAHAHA ......I am the ONLY Black woman in the family, so it's kind of a joke, but it was still funny and cute to hear it). The first thing my father-in-law did was slap my belly and say that I lost all the baby fat. It was SO worth the trip out here just for that moment LOL. My MIL took a little time to get use to me again (longer than I expected) and I kept my word about not discussing exercise with her and it went well. My hubby however is SO ready to do the ED and to start exercising, stretching, whatever it takes to get back to and BEYOND the level of health we were ate before we came out. He kept "mentioning" that there was a lot of "crap" available to eat. And again, THAT is worth the whole trip......to have my hubby realize and want to make the change as he was again reminded about how he feels when he eats "crap" for food.
So how did me and the boys eat? Well the first weekend we had caribbean food from a favorite restaurant of my friends (it was good food) and then the next day went out to a buffet restaurant.......UGH!!!!......then followed by Nigerian food GALORE! My hubby was full from the buffet, but I was glad I made a little room to try out the food...YUM!! I will definitely make plans for a dinner date with my friend when we get back to Edmonton. Then we reached the countryside and hotdogs and marshmallows over the new fire pit was what was planned for dinner. So I made a trip into town with my sis-in-law and picked out the hotdogs with the least ingredients and that we could eat. I also grabbed sweet potatoes and other veggies to make roasted potatoes to go on the fire. That lasted a few days. After that, it was a blur of dining out and walking with almonds and fruit everywhere. I did bake lemon currant muffins for the family BBQ and "milled" my own fllour of quinoa, red quinoa, amaranth, chia seeds, and flax seeds and used honey, banana and of course, the currants as the sweeteners. I used olive oil instead of butter as called for in the recipe and my family liked it. And this week I made oatmeal raisin cookies with a similar mix and they helped us through the rest of the week. And for Canada's wonderland I bought baby carrots, snap peas, and cheesesticks and brought water, muffins, and almonds and was I EVER grateful. There is nothing that resembles healthy food there except water and juice. DEFINITELY going to send them a letter regarding that. We shared some ice cream with the kids and other than that, me and the kids ate what I brought (hubby had a hotdog and orange juice too).
My workouts were pretty good until this week and I got sick. Today is a workout day and I won't be doing one until I get back........my MIL shuffled some stuff yesterday and dusted and I am all clogged up. I missed Wednesday's workout too, so hopefully I will be good to go when I get back. I have been measuring to check if the crap took any hold on my mid section, but it's been good. I can still fit in the clothing I packed hahah.
So it has been a great trip of encouragement and I am excited and ready for ALL the changes we will be going back to. This trip marked the end of one way of lving and the beginning to the next phase in our lives (son starting school, mvoing, many decisions to make and bag full of goodies). The treadmill is on and we better be ready to run.....our feet land on the road to our new journey in 2 days! See you when I get back!

Tags: family, survival, vacation