Thirty (30) pounds of excess weight, feeling fat and ugly, and your doctor sharing that you have health issues lurking all point to one thing.  It’s time to stop the excuses, buckle down and get serious about a weight loss & fitness program.

That was me in the spring of 2008.  I was so mad at myself, the health and wellness nut, who knew better.  But it took the doctor telling me to drop 10 pounds for me to actually do anything about it.  I dreaded it all at first but once I got started and engaged the right mindset it was awesome and the pounds melted off!

You can read the whole story with before and after pictures here => Weigh More Than A Diet

Three years later, spring of 2011, I found myself 10-15 pounds overweight with a loss of some of my beautiful muscle mass that occurred in this last year.  What happened?  Well, life.

There is no doubt that my body is changing given my age.  That’s ok because I can work with that as long as I apply what I know.  But, the fat gain and muscle loss was all emotionally based.  Life does happen and sometimes we think we have “it” under control when we really don’t.  One thing I have noticed in this past year is that very thing and it has taken honest moments and particular situations to grab my attention.

I am in a very different situation from 3 years ago.  I have more emotional cleansing to do on a regular bases in order to help me maintain my focus and not get lost in the emotional situations and even binges that sometimes occur.

With that I am so very thankful for the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge that has been mentioned here at The Wonder Woman Challenge before.  I have partnered with a great team of people with the same goal of achieving and maintaining a healthy body.  I really need the community support system this go around.  Plus, it just makes it much more fun!

Remember this above picture? ↑ I use it all the time online even here on my “about” page.  It was taken August, 2009.  See those shorts?

I could not fit into them ↑ as of two months ago (June, 2011)!  You can see that I couldn’t come close to buttoning and zipping them!  I actually look pregnant there .. yoiy! .. just what every woman wants to look like!  Riiight!  So, I set a very simple 90 day goal because simple was all I could do at that time.  I wanted to be able to wear those shorts again!

Because of the 90 Day Challenge, ↓ 47 days later I could wear them!

I am certainly not done because I am not as toned as I was in the 2009 picture but I am well on my way.  I am in the process of gaining my beautiful muscle tone back with the remainder of my current challenge.

And, while I am finishing up this challenge I am thinking about what my next 90 Day Challenge goal will be.  Any ideas?

One thing I am seriously considering is using the money that I am saving on my grocery budget from my  90 Day Challenge to put in a “slush fund” for fun, pampering, self-nurture activities.  Wouldn’t that be a blast?  Oooh!  I can see it now!  I can make a cute little love jar (or some kind of container) to slip up to $2.00 a day in and at the end of the month?  Wow … do I hear Massage therapy? Manicures? Pedicures? Shopping therapy? Girls night out?  Hmmmmm …..

Thoughts and ideas please!!

Breakthrough.  The next level.  Busting through the ceiling. Metamorphosis.

February was an interesting month looking back.  I had to look at my posts and reflect on my past week to begin to put some clarity to it.

February was definitely dedicated to creating.  We started with a fun way to creatively express love to ourselves through Love Notes With A Twist, which by the way I will have a follow up post to that soon.  We started a 90 Day Weight Loss & Fitness Challenge to begin to create health and wellness.  And we created artistically making our love containers and Valentines for our loved ones.  I even threw in soap making.

Plus, February was my birthday month!

All sounds fun and exciting, doesn’t it?  Then why did the last week of the month end up being a very difficult, emotionally raw week for me?

As I look over the month, I admit to you that my personal Love Notes With A Twist has not gone well, but I am determined to pull it out of the tank.  I thoroughly enjoyed the artistic creativity with the Valentines and the soap making which both gave me a huge charge.  And, the 90 Day Challenge is giving me a sense of hope & excitement to get my health & fitness level back up to where it belongs. However, and here is part of the rub,  that requires change on many levels.

With change, in this case personal growth, comes struggle.  We have to really want something in order to endure what’s hard to breakthrough the self-imposed wall, ceiling, padding, etc. to get to that next level.

In order for the beautiful butterfly to emerge from it’s cocoon, it must first become uncomfortable and then break its way out.  The butterfly must do all the work itself because any help will cause it to die, so I have been told.

We want personal growth but just when we are about to experience the breakthrough that we have been waiting for for so long is when the tension is at its greatest point.  We have a choice.  We can back off and lessen the tension to put us back into our comfort zone, or we can stay the course, push through the tension, and bust out of our cocoon allowing the beautiful butterfly to takes its rightful place in this world.

Sometimes we can find ourselves in that place of metamorphic tension and not totally understand where it is taking us.  I find myself in that place now.  The cocoon has become very uncomfortable but where will I be when I bust out of this shell?

As a result I have been asking myself, what IS MY rightful place in this world?  What is MY truth?  What is MY truthful pathway?

And I ask you … What is YOURS?

Whatever our breakthrough truth is for each of us, it is ours to own, embrace, and thrive in with amazing joy and peace!  Let’s not sink back into our comfort zones, but instead step up to the plate to endure this metamorphic tension so that we can joyfully grace our world with the beauty that is intended for us.

The world is waiting for each of us to take our own rightful place, and when we do there will be a hush of amazement!  Can you hear it?  Can you feel it?  Go for it!

The Luminous Green Butterfly image is from Fantastic at picable.com

The following was my facebook status update from this morning:

Sometimes our brains can run amok with too many thoughts & ideas that end up paralyzing us … especially during a time when we really need to be moving forward. Go do something different to change your energy like going for a walk. Let it all go for the time being and allow God, who is a God of order, to bring peace & clarity to you.

I posted that because I was so very stuck!  My brain was in a loop that was not allowing me to move forward and be productive… at all!  My stress level kept rising and fear was setting in … fear about all kinds of stuff.  You know how that goes.

I knew that I needed to do something to change things up … to change my energy as I say.  I needed to let go of everything so that I could not only feel at peace but also have clarity on what I needed to do next.

In other words, I needed to create a positive flow of energy once again.

Do you ever find yourself in a state like that?

My cat, Isabelle, often joins me on the porch. Today she watched me bounce. Do you see her in the corner on the table?

This is what I did:

1. EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique.  This is such an easy thing to do.  I have never taken a class nor have I gone to a practitioner.  What I know I learned from personal research.  I become very open as I tap and allow “whatever” to bubble up and then tap it away.  For more information about EFT you can go to:  http://www.eftuniverse.com/

1. Rebound – A rebounder is a mini trampoline that is fabulous!  It is important to purchase a quality rebounder as to not cause injury to yourself.  I bounced the day away!  Well, not really … I bounced for about 25 minutes.  The health benefits both physically and emotionally is enormous.

For that 25 minutes I worked every singe cell in my body and        made my lymph system very happy because it needs to be stimulated to keep it from becoming stagnant.  Rebounding is perfect for that!

I also rebounded out on my side porch as you can see from the picture so I was also able to be out in nature … an added bonus.

Between the EFT and Rebounding, my stress level has dropped significantly.  I am feeling a positive flow of energy that has opened me up to both giving and receiving in a way that has been playing out all day.

Whether it is rebounding, taking a walk, riding your bike, dancing, etc there are plenty of things that you can do that will help you bounce through your day.

What activities do you do that help you move forward when you are feeling stuck?  Please take a minute and share with us in the comment section below.

Here’s to bouncing!!

Shileen

Ok, girlfriends … I’m just keepin’ it real! =)

So the other day, Tuesday to be exact, I put out the following update on twitter and facebook:

“B4 u indulge in an emotionl food binge stop & ask yrself what u need in th moment. It’s not food. Then honor yourself w the real need.”

This concept has really served me well over the years. I do use it a lot. However, in being real with you, I do go through periods of time when the whole idea of “stop and think before you eat” is totally out the window. Case in point … last night! This is what happened …

I had to stop at the store on my way home from work. As soon as my foot stepped inside the door a battle began in my mind about buying a bag of chocolate. No, it couldn’t be a small chocolate bar! It had to be a whole bag!

As I shopped I was winning the battle. Nope, don’t need the chocolate, but by the end of the shop I had convinced myself that I could get the bag of chocolate and eat it responsibly … meaning just a couple here and there.

Note: Never once did I ask myself why I wanted (or needed) the chocolate.

Just keepin’ it real!! ….

So, I get home and throw the bag of chocolate on the counter … and there it stares at me as I am talking on the phone with my girlfriend hashing out life stuff … kicking up emotions. Get the picture?? =)

I stare back at the bag of chocolate and think to myself I’m just going to have 2 or 3 … while deep in conversation with my girlfriend. The three chocolates go down smooth … and fast … and oh so yummy!

Our conversation goes on for quite some time … I continue to pop the little chocolates into my mouth, mindlessly. By the time I hung up the phone I had eaten at least three-fourths of the bag!!! I am not kidding!!! A big UGH!!

Needless to say, I felt gross! I couldn’t even go to bed because of how gross I felt. What the heck was I thinking???

Remember … I’m just keepin’ it real!! =)

That’s just it! I wasn’t thinking at all!! … At least not in the moment. It hit me soon after this binge that I had just posted about thinking before you eat. Oh great! What kind of role model am I! lol

Well … a real one! None of us are perfect, especially me, and even more so now that I know for a fact I have hit “the change of life”! Oh yea! I am in menopause! Gasp!! =D

It is now the morning after my chocolate binge and I am still feeling it! That’s ok. The best thing I can do now is to forgive myself, let it go, and move on to a better day of healthful eating and exercise.

To end this “just keepin’ it real” story with you, I want to share a hysterical video (it’s short)  that another girlfriend posted on my facebook wall after seeing my “think before you eat” status. I just saw it this morning. Sooooo funny! Enjoy!

Oh … and, feel free to share your own story below in the comment section. Please … don’t let me stand-alone here in “just keepin’ it real”!! =)

Have you recently or have you ever taken an inventory of how you feel … emotionally, physically, and even spiritually?  How good do you really feel?  How much joy do you experience?  In this podcast you will learn just how all of these things impact the immune system and what you can do to improve your immune system through all three areas … body, mind, and spirit.

What if you could make some simple changes over the next 6 months that could radically impact you life?  Keep this question in mind as you listen and at the end let me know how I can help you.

Click the link below to listen …

How Your Immune System Heals & Repairs

In this podcast we continue talking about how to heal anger and hidden hurts.  Remember, emotions manifest in physical challenges trying to get our attention and can be reversed.   Shileen goes into more detail about how self-nurture helps us in the every day and especially helps us when we are working through issues and coaching.  Georgie then demonstrates with the help of a volunteer a very powerful coaching session.

To listen click the link below:

Healing Hidden Hurts Part 2

Today’s podcast is about how to heal anger and hidden hurts  – emotions manifest in physical challenges trying to get our attention and can be reversed.  We are beautifully and wonderfully made and now is the time to heal and be set free!  (Remember we shut down emotionally way before it comes out in a physical form.)

To listen click the link below:

Healing Hidden Hurts Part 1

Spring is finally here.  That alone is enough to make my spirit jump with joy.  This is, no doubt, a gorgeous time of the year as nature comes alive with new birth.

With spring comes spring-cleaning.  We all seem to naturally want to clean things out, freshen things up, and make our homes sparkle after a long winter, at least to

some degree.  Making things beautiful inside and out, we want our homes to be fresh and new just like outside in nature.

Spring is a time to come alive.  To come alive is exhilarating … especially if you have not been in that state for a while whether from a long hard winter in nature or from life’s hard knocks.

Below is a facebook status update from my girlfriend that I would like for you to ponder …

Spring has come to Pennsylvania. As I was clearing away dead leaves and debris in my flowerbeds, I was reminded that now is a prefect time to do the same within ourselves. ~ BI

No matter what emotional state you might find yourself in and for whatever reason, how can this beautiful season of spring, spring you forward into a higher exhilarated state of being alive?

As you become still and ponder my girlfriend’s thought, what debris in your own life do you need to clear away?  There is fresh soil under the dead leaves and debris.  What might you find after you have cleared it out?  How alive might it make you feel once it is all gone?  What’s the first step you need to take towards making it happen?

Spring is a time to come alive … Go for it!!!