Stay down

• Posted by Elisa on November 20, 2008 at 10:30am

What another beautiful morning! Filled with glass shattering screeches and I bathed my son after his splishity splashity 30 seconds of fame in an unflushed toilet (MWAHAHAHAHA...the joy of being a mom) and a dance-a-thon in the kitchen with my oldest son.

When I visit my page, I sometimes bust a move as the music plays. It's what I workout to and do my intervals to (chorus High, verse Low.....). I do my stretches and cool down to Keisha Cole, Mary, and Alicia and then get my inspiration (compare to the moment in the movie "Gone in 60 seconds" where they began their night with their song) and reminder of who I am from the song by Linkin Park.

But today I wanted to share in the lyrics from Mary J. Blige's "Stay Down". The chorus stuck out to me as being a call to persevere through struggles and being that we have all been through them, I thought I would share......

Chorus:

Stay down. (We're almost to the very best part)
Stay down. (You'll always be the pride in my heart)
Stay down. (We too can pass the test)
Stay down. (Yeah, we gotta lot of work)
Stay down. (I know it ain't been the best but it certainly ain't been the worst)
Stay down. (The drama will not last forever)
Stay down. (We'll beat it long as we're together)
One day we'll look back on this. (Yeah)
We'll be like "Remember this"? (Remember this)
And it's gonna make us smile. (Make us smile)
Cause in the end we stayed down..........

Bridge:
Understand you are the one on my heart.
(And I'm holding yours so we can't live apart)
When things stop making sense we'll figure it out.
(I walked into this and I don't wanna walk out no, no)
(Everything ain't gonna be how we like)
(And what is worth keeping if it didn't take a fight?)
(Your healing is in me and my healing is in you)
(So get your mind right cause this is what we're gonna do)

Stay committed, persevere , continue to take action, and together we can get through.


Elisa

In time for the holidays.....

• Posted by Elisa on November 19, 2008 at 3:09pm

Along with a few other picks, I think this is the closest I have shopped to regular price in 20 years heheh. And that was my treat =D. Will model the goods (some of them heheh) for you ladies in the New Year (won't need the sweaters in Jamaica heheh).

Can I kick it? Yes I can.....Can we do it? Yes we can....Pt.2

• Posted by Elisa on November 16, 2008 at 3:00am

I like who I am. I may not be pleased with all that I do, but I choose to keep refining myself so that I can like what I do and continue to enjoy the decisions I make and the person I am.

If you haven't used the goal setting resource available on this site or in the beginning of the FYM e-book, then I recommend to make good use it. I have many goals in life that are not only focused on health, fitness, and nutrition. I also strive to grow as a parent (it never really ends), to grow in my relationships with my husband, friends, and family. And I want to share my artwork, writings and life with others. However, I have felt that I lack focus and direction (LOL and finances) to achieve success in a couple areas of my life. I have continued accountability from my church family (and God) for parenting and marriage (as well as personal spiritual growth). SO I needed to find the outside eye, that could look at what I have to offer (my talents and passions) and help mold it into something that not only gets shared on a larger scale than inside my home, but can benefit me and my family as well. I got an email in my inbox for a free consultation and I filled it out. Why not? What do I have to lose? I received a call and preliminary interview and was approved for going on to the next level of interview. They encouraged that I have my husband involved in the decision making process and I fully agreed. So I sent him the assignment we were to prepare beforehand and then discussed what my situation and intent was AND that he was booked to be present for the interview. He wasn't taking it seriously or giving it much thought (and we have been at this point before) and I thought many successful woman made it without the support of their spouse (or their spouse at all as many ended up divorced....), so my nudge for his presence involved a bit of sharp elbow and pierced lip (wasn't leaving him out of my dreams.....to death do us part =D).

We got the call the next morning after a quick rush to finish the assignment and a little more elbow, and it was HUGE! The impact from that interview has made waves for a brighter future. How did it turn out? Well, coaching isn't cheap and my finances aren't at the level at which would help fund my possibility for being coached by Jack Canfield and associates HAHAH (I aimed big =D), but if it wasn't for my minor bank account,I would have been a great candidate for coaching, or as I later referred to it, swimming with the big fish. So I may be a little fish right now, but my appetite is huge and I am a good swimmer ;D.

My husband went off after the call was over. It was AWESOME!! He jumped right on the problem solving wagon and started breaking down what I wanted to do into little bitty pieces. He put in his input and just kept running at the mouth about how to make it possible. LOL it made me realize that we can really come out of ourselves into the different levels of our relationship. He was not talking to me as a loving husband, but as a friend that I had bounced an idea off of him. I had to grit my teeth and sort through what was being said in order to take away, without bias to tone and presentation, to get to the info I needed to hear and wanted to hear. Again, HUGE impact that call was. My goal achievement has broken through it's plateau and is on the move again, but to maintain the forward momentum, I need to keep my eyes open at ways I can grow more and do better and get input from those who have achieved success around me.

So the call is going out to anyone who has ideas to share as I am a sponge for info now (got an ocean theme going on....can you tell I am excited about my upcoming trip??) as I am hungry for continuing on full steam ahead, gobbling up success and living out my dream as best I can. This process of finding the resources on how to meet your specific goals or looking for the right kind of support may help to spur many on to action......so let's get the comments and mind juices flowing!


Elisa

Living the metaphor

• Posted by Elisa on November 12, 2008 at 11:46pm

I struggled today. Struggled to have energy and strength....I am not well and not sure what is ailing me. My chest has been hurting me and it is quite painful. And I thank God for the reminder to do as I want to do in the moments I do have as I am not guaranteed the next.

After sharing at a women's midweek service this evening I spoke with one of my friends and asked how she was doing with her fitness journey. She used the phrase "I can't get the food part down." And I shared with her this thought.......everything we do in life is a metaphor for our relationship with God. She then went over all that she had said in our conversation about fitness and saw the connection to our walk with God. She then said to me "Why didn't you just say that to me in the beginning!" (she had come to me to help her with her weight loss goals).......Then I said "I guess you have to live the metaphor to understand it."

Living my life as a Christian has given me great joy and revelation. I can see so many connections in everything we do in life and how it relates to my ultimate goal. And the metaphor of our weight/fat loss journeys are included as well. How many of us were "slim" before and didn't appreciate it? Or didn't even work for it? Or ate whatever we wanted and were still slim? And then when it was "gone", we are now fighting to get it back. The fight is the living part and that's what is great about this journey. Now we are gaining knowledge and wisdom through experience and association, and we are growing on the inside and glowing on the outside. Regardless of where you think you are at in your goals, you have already succeeded in growing as a woman, because you are living the metaphor.....walking the journey.
So look for those connections in your life....through parenting or marriage, through your relationships with co-workers or family and see how you can learn from what doesn't work to make what you want to work in your life a success!


Elisa

The DRAMA of taking before photos

• Posted by Elisa on November 7, 2008 at 4:30pm

Ok, before you leave a comment LOL.....even I have issues with posting the before photos. HAHAH I signed up on Monday or Tuesday to join the Holiday Challenge and I was typing my before stats and goals (and admiring Samaria's beautiful smile) when I realized I had to take before photos. So I was thinking my hubby could take pics again, but since the last ones turned out so well (<== Sarcasm ...=D) I decided to do it myself.....well me and the timer on the camera. This time I decided I would actually put on my face first (thanks for the inspiration Mary) and I tried playing around with alternate outfits which all fit loose.....so I put back on the same outfit I posed in before. Also, since I took QUITE the time off and had quite the unsupportive party with coming off the ED, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, and Halloween (Ok ok ....no more zucchini spice bread or pumpkin spice cake hahah....oooo and I forgot about the apple crisp.....well maybe just one more apple cranberry crisp LOL),....let's just say I have a lil extra to account for. I finally had the outfit on, the face on and I took the pics and the camera dies HAHAHA. LOL and with the office packed up, I couldn't get the pics off of the thing. SO I had to grab the other camera and try again. And since this other camera had less time to set up I had to take extra shots as I got caught....fixing my shorts, then fixing my hair. It was too funny, but they are up and I am in! Here we go!



Elisa

Yes we CAN!!

• Posted by Elisa on November 6, 2008 at 11:28am

WOW! What an awesome week! What hope and change for the future, what promotion of unity, what strength of heart, what intense passion and struggle realized .....WOW!

Congratulations to all the success that each of us have accomplished and thanks to everyone who voted for me and to all who provided their wonderful support to help me through and the other women here as well. As this group of wonderful women sought to encourage others in need, it left no room for not doing the same and including myself in the process.

We aren't done yet as we know life is still going and I hope that this celebratory time will encourage more confidence, more commitment, more positive thinking, more support and more love to go around.

Let us ALL seek to do better and love more and leave fear behind and walk forward into bright futures full of success. It does take work, but with many hands and hearts to help, we CAN do anything.

Again, I thank God for such a wonderful example to live by and continue to strive for. Thanks for letting me live out love and life to the fullest.

Keep it UP!!

P.S. Thanks Holly for taking the first step and sharing this journey with us. Much love and gratitude to you.

P.P.S.
I guess I really should get some undergarments in my size heheh.....no excuse now!

Ok Ok.....Time to GET back on track

• Posted by Elisa on November 2, 2008 at 7:00am

LOL, so if my waning health wasn't motivating enough, or that it's the first crank week I haven't fully "cranked" it (crank week is that time of the month for me), we just finished booking a Christmas vacation to Jamaica (mainly as a working vacation to help repair damage after the passing of the hurricane) and my hubby is determined to be on the beach at least a couple times while we are down there.

SO, with Halloween and birthday splurges coming to an end, it IS time to regain my focus and continue with doing the full workouts and eating supportively.
Now since my computer was packed up a month ago and my office stuff, I have been without the trusty FYM e-book at ready access since we are operating from our laptop atm (the spacebar on this thing is frustrating to say the least....). But I have been doing squats and pushups, planks and side planks with leg lifts and lots of walking. SO I have managed to maintain, but in the end, it's not what I am happy with. Being that my bosom has gone off to another dimension, it makes no sense not to strive for a flat tummy to balance my figure out. LOL the idea of having a gut and no chest is so NOT feminine, that I am motivated by the potential of that image alone! UGH!!

I am choosing to make use of the resources here on ClubFYM to do my work outs. I was doing the holiday workout to the max before I got the e-book and I know I can enjoy it again. I will keep looking for my little book that has the workouts printed out, but I won't use it as an excuse not to be working out.

Bodyweight circuits would be best to get both strength training and intervals in and get me into the habit of what I will be doing while in Jamaica....I'll be there with my boys and my dad for 3 weeks (My hubby, sister and mom will join us a week later). We are working on a plan of action to accommodate our dietary restrictions as there is no guarantee that we will be able to have what we need on hand to eat when we get there.

My goals? To keep it up. Knowing that I continue to keep working at being healthy, feeling and looking good.
How am I going to do it? Work out 3 times a week using resistance training and intervals. Eat supportive, live food at every meal, and drink at least 5 pints of water a day.
What are my obstacles? LOL, in the end, it's just life. Sometimes you don't get sleep, sometimes you are faced with having to shift your priorities, sometimes you will be tempted to have more of something than you intended, it is ok. How will I deal with these obstacles? I will choose to remember "ME" in the process. And choose to love ME enough to give myself some time to enjoy a vigorous workout for about 15 minutes and enjoy eating food that will give me energy and help me to enjoy the rest of my life around me. When am I going to start? NOW! It is always now! LOL it's a trick question I think. Do I not need a glass of water in the next hour or so? Do I not need to remember me as I go through life? Aren't obstacles always present? Am I not setting into action my thoughts by getting them down in a plan.......The answer is ALWAYS NOW hahah. And how will I reward myself? Enjoying life and living it fully each day (and shopping for new pants and a couple holiday items......of COURSE!)

Here we go!


Elisa