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Thursday, August 21, 2014

the mountain.

You know sometimes I love to put things into perspective, to help each of us see our capabilities...I want to inspire and convince you that change is always worth it so here we go:


When we think about change- losing weight, gaining strength, getting healthy or whatever health and fitness goals we may have, we probably realize that it's going to take work, sacrifice and determination but are we TRULY prepared?
The mountain.
I heard it on Extreme Weight Loss and it's SO true.

If we stand back and look at the mountain from a distance (our weight loss, our health issues, etc)
it'll seem TOO big.  TOO much to conquer.  TOO hard.  
But if we don't look "up" and just start climbing, chipping away at it and slowly making our way forward then it might not seem as big.  
If we lose focus and momentum instead of turning around and climbing back down to the "bottom" we should stop, take a few breaths, see how far we've come and continue moving UP!

Too often in my past and with people that I help on their journey, they will look at the mountain, feel intimidated and inferior because their mountain seems bigger than those around them.  Instead of motivating them to keep climbing, they'll look up, see fear and climb back down because down is EASY.  Trouble is if we slowly work our way up only to come tumbling down we've not helped ourselves AT ALL, we've only created more problems with failure within ourselves and in our minds.  
Truth is, our mountains are ALL different.
We may not see where others struggle or what they hide.  We may not realize that their mountain contains just as many obstacles as our own.  
The key is to never lose sight of the CLIMB.
Sounds silly but we must keep climbing.  Even when we wanna stumble down and give up.  We can't because it will only bring us to the place we've been before, the place that felt alone and helpless.  The place that was intimidated and full of fear.  

GET UP AND KEEP CLIMBING!  
I'd climb a million times over to beat feeling the way I felt for so long.  
My mountain has no peak and no end...if it did, I'd slowly work my way back down and I will NEVER do that.  I REFUSE.  


A big part of my journey, my "climb" is my children.  I want to create awareness of their bodies, their heart and their minds.  I want them to see that exercise and healthy foods play into EVERY aspect of our lives.  I want them to see that it is SO important to treat our bodies right...to take care of them.  


Another huge "climb" for me is my foods.  
I love to over eat.  
I am an emotional eater and that doesn't just mean when I'm sad.  I want to eat when I'm bored, angry, happy, sad, stressed...you name it, I wanna eat through it!  Eeeek!  
It's a DAILY struggle and "climb" for me to fight temptation when I'm going through an emotion and for me to constantly remind myself that FOOD IS ONLY FOOD.  Whew this one is rough for me, DAILY.  There isn't a day that goes by that this doesn't try and defeat me.  It's tough but I am reminded that it's a far better struggle than the ones I used to feel when I was helpless and afraid to change yet miserable in my own body.  Not a good place to be for any of us.  
To avoid defeat, I keep things simple and I'm always changing things up to avoid boredom with my eats.  

Trader Joes multi grain pancake topped with PB and some berries was one of my pre-workout breakfast items the other day!  
I make these and freeze for easy grab and go options for myself and the kiddos :)


Turkey Burritos:
Ground turkey, one can Mexicorn, can black beans and a little cheese on top.  Brown meat with beans and Mexicorn then layer Ole high fiber/low carb burritos with meat mixture, roll up and top with a little cheese.  Serve on lettuce leaves with a spoon of my Greek ranch on top! (I keep this made and handy each week for veggie dipping, etc) 
My husband's version just added salsa, which I can't stand but he LOVES it!  
YOU CAN NEVER GO WRONG WITH OATS!  1/2 cup cooked oats prepared with berries and cinnamon.  You can add a few banana slices and cinnamon, pumpkin puree and cinnamon...ANYTHING!!!!  

Sometimes just sitting and talking about our struggles and ideas to make healthy living easier makes the journey that much easier to handle.  After our workouts we talk, share struggles and triumphs together as a group.  Bounce ideas off one another until we reach successes each week!


Having that support makes the "climb" that much easier.  Your mountain won't be the same as the people around you and it SHOULDN'T BE.  We should want to have our own story to tell.  Our story can help those around us in ways that we may not realize at the time.  Keep climbing UP instead of only looking up and feeling defeating time and time again.  You'll continue on the path that you're on and chances are, it's not where you 100% want or need to be.  I'm always a work in progress, slipping up or kicking butt...BUT I keep on keepin on!  Ha, if that even makes sense...and YOU SHOULD TOO!!!!

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