Health & Wellness......MY Journey

For most of my adult life, I have battled my weight & had a very poor body image.  In our society it is in our face every single day, every where we turn that we are supposed to look a certain way & be a certain size.  Thanks to Hollywood & magazines our idea of beauty is so skewed & messed up. Thankfully, the older I get the easier it is to realize that the goal shouldn't be to be "skinny" or beautiful.  The goal should be to be healthy.  If we take care of our bodies with a proper diet & exercise we will make ourselves healthy.  Then a smaller body size & a certain kind of beauty will be ours. 

I'll be 42 in 8 months.  I'm determined to make 42 my healthiest year yet.  I have yo-yo dieted & lost & regained the same 10-15 pounds for the past 10 years.  When I got pregnant with Ava, I was bigger than I had ever been.  Thru both pregnancies, I gained very little weight.  BUT I was still bigger than I'd ever been  & I wasn't able to lose the extra weight after giving birth. 

After turning 40 almost a year & a half ago, I decided once & for all to get my health & weight under control. While I have been excited to figure this out, I have hit a few speed bumps along the way.  I've finally had success & have lost more weight this time than any other time I've attempted to lose weight.  I'm still not where I want to be, but I am well on my way & I am already a MUCH healthier version of myself.  Since last July I have lost 41.5 pounds & 8.1% body fat.  I feel like a new person.....and I've lost what equals to a small person. And now I want to share my story.  I hope you'll indulge me & follow along.  I will be doing a series of posts over the next few weeks/months.  I'd love for you to join me on this journey. 


 I will not even pretend to treat or diagnose anything.  I'm simply going to share information & tips & actions & products that have worked for me & helped me become a healthier version of myself.  I will tell you right now, there has been no magic pill, no quick fix, no "easy button."  Just a lot of work, sweat, tears, & real food.  

 
 
This first before/after picture is me in May 2015 & today.  The next picture is me in March 2016 & today.  As stated earlier, I'm not where I want to be, but I'm so much better than I was.   









They say great things happen just outside of your comfort zone.  I've never been one to share too many personal details about myself.  But I'm going to step outside of my comfort zone on this & share this journey.  I'm hoping that it will help & encourage someone else.  And I'm counting it keeping me accountable.  :)  One of my goals, aside from getting healthy, was to become a runner.  Several years ago, I completed the couch to 5k program & was just starting to understand what people mean about enjoying running.  Then I got sick & the weather turned colder.  That turned into my excuse to quit that time.  So, of course, the weight came back & I got down on myself & let it win.  I'm not going to let that happen this time. I am currently on week 5 day 2 of the Couch to 10K program. We are just coming upon my favorite time of year.  And with my recent weight loss, I'm finally enjoying running.

These cool, crisp, fall-like mornings are ideal for running. I will be sharing more details from this beginning of my journey in later posts.  I hope you'll tune in. 

Back To School...........ALREADY????

I'm sure I'm not alone, I cannot believe that it is already back to school time.  It feels like the summers just keep getting shorter & shorter.    There is a lot of excitement that goes along with going back to school.  Summer is such a carefree & laid back time.........so much freedom & fun.  But going back to school brings its own goodness.  Getting back into a routine, football season, hometown celebrations & excitement.  

Going back to school can also bring a few problems......nervousness, temporary anxiety, sharing of germs, etc...  Today I thought I'd share some natural ways of dealing with things.

Does your family have trouble getting going in the mornings?  Check out this diffuser blend. 

Two of the best ways to support your child's wellness & immunity is by using Ningxia Red & Thieves oil blend.  If you're not already using these two, please go get some NOW!!!  You can thank me later. 

The first day of school brings a lot of excitement & a lot of nervousness.  My girls love wearing their diffuser necklaces & taking oily benefits on the go with them.  Stress Away, Valor, & White Angelica are just a few of our favorites for necklaces.

Starting back to school also means getting back into having regular, early bedtimes.  If your kids are like mine, that can be hard after a summer of carefree, late nights & evenings.  Try this relaxing pillow spray & roll on some Tranquil.  These oils will most definitely promote relaxation & peaceful sleep. 

It is never too early to start thinking about teacher gifts. Lots of people start the new year by bring the teacher a back to school gift.  Whether you take a gift at the beginning of the school year or not, there are tons of oily ideas that any teacher would be thankful to receive.    

So, now you're ready..........go out have a wonderful school year!!!

Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Any Better...........

So, by this time I'm sure you've all seen the new products that Young Living released at the Convention!  But I thought I would take a few minutes to share a peak with you.  I am planning a new product launch party this weekend for my local team members.  I'm so excited to let them try the new products that I ordered.  Here is a graphic that shoes all the new products released.  My upline made these first two graphics for us to share.  These products are now available to everyone in your virtural office.  If you're not a Young Living member yet, I'd love to help you start your oil journey!

I was so excited when my products arrived.  I got my girls the dolphin diffuser.  Then I got the Thieves dish soap, Cool Azul, Ningxia Zyng, & Thieves Laundry detergent.  To say I was excited about these products would be a HUGE understatement.  But I was MOST excited about the Thieves Laundry detergent.  And I'll just have to tell ya, it did not disappoint!!  I absolutely LOVE it.  It smells of Thieves & freshness & I know there are no harmful chemicals in it.

 My girls couldn't wait to get their diffuser going.  It is really cool.  You can change the light colors & the light stays on even after it stops diffusing so it serves as a night light as well.  I love that Young Living has made products that are so kid friendly.  This has been a wonderful addition to our home. 

 Ningxia Zyng..............where do I start?  If you haven't tried this yet, you really do not know what you're missing!!  It reminds me of Clearly Canadian back in the day.  But it is so much better for you!!  Enriched with essential oils & natural energy boosters.  It is delightfully refreshing & a great pick-me-up to get thru the daily grind.  And if that's not good enough, try it with some fruit infusion.....Oh, my.  It is delish!!!

 I hope you've enjoyed this sneak peak at some of the new products.  I'd love to hear which products are your favorite.

Lists & Goals & Dreams

For as long as I can remember I've been a list maker.  I'm one of those people who will make a to do list just so I can mark stuff off my list.  Over the years I've grown to really depend on my lists & this is how I function.  I remember in junior high school I used to love to buy those little 2 year planners!!!  I loved to have a clean, blank one & start filling it in with all my stuff!!  At a very early age I would always keep a little planner & notebook with me.  When I didn't have them easily accessible I would grab another notebook or piece of paper.  As I got older, I really started depending on my planner.  Now, I always get excited when it is time to buy a new planner.  I have another post planned about some of my favorite things & my favorite planner is one of the things I plan to share! So, stay tuned for that!!

I've always heard it said,  "A goal without a plan is just a wish."  The list maker in me LOVES this quote.  So, it made my day when Elizabeth started talking about the #1Step group that we started at the beginning of August!!  She had this fabulous calendar for us & everything.  The purpose of this group is to encourage & help us to realize that by making 1 healthy choice a day we can reach our health & wellness goals.    It felt so good to fill in my goals & get ready to tackle them for the month.  Now at the end of the month, I wanted to share with you some things I did to help me reach these goals that I set.

One of my favorite things to do is to fix my super healthy smoothie.  I usually have this for breakfast after my run or walk.  I use kefir, frozen fruit, YL Ningxia Red, MultiGreens, Power Meal, Ningxia Nitro, & essential oils.  This keeps me full & helps detox my body of yuckiness.  It also fuels my body with all kinds of goodness to tackle the rest of my day.

Young Living has so many products that help me reach my goals.  I use these products daily.  Have you tried the Slique bars?  They are so yummy. A very tasty way to snack.  With Young Living, because of their Seed To Seal guarantee, you can know that you are putting the best into your body.  

It also helps me to do my essential oil capsules each day.  I use lemon, peppermint, grapefruit, ocotea, & cinnamon bark.  I take these twice daily (morning & evening).  Then I also use Slique Essence & take it around lunch time.  This combination of oils keeps me feeling motivated & energized & it helps me not feel bloated.  I'm also able to crush sugar cravings.  Another thing that helps me is to flavor my water.  I do not enjoy drinking water.  But thanks to YL, my water is better than ever. The citrus oils are so yummy in water.  That makes me drink more water.  And we all know that's good for you!! 

Young Living also provides me with some amazing products to help me with my exercise goals.  I've been using the Couch to 10K app to get into running.  On the days that I don't run, I walk 3 miles.  Since school has started back, I always stop at the track after I drop the girls off.  This has made it possible for me to get at least 5 days of exercise in a week.  I start by putting En-R-Gee on my feet & Peppermint & Panaway on my knees.  On days when the air is thick, I apply RC to my chest.  Then on the way to track I have a Nitro!!

At convention a couple of weeks ago, YL introduced an amazing new sports gel, Cool Azul.  WOW!!  It is wonderful for soothing sore, tired muslces!!

Thanks to these steps, I've been able to really tackle some of goals for August.  Just last week I was able to jog for a full 28 minutes!!!  This is huge for me!!  I also, in those 28 minutes had to run this incline pictured below 6 times!!  And I did it...........WITHOUT STOPPING!!!  At the end of my run that day, Kool & the Gang were singing "Celebration" on my playlist.  I felt that was appropriate!! Another goal I've tackled this month is to lose weight......I've been able to lose 10 pounds!  I have a lot more to go, but I love being able to move these marbles over & see my progress!!!

I hope you're joining me in the #1Step group.  I'm looking forward to finishing the month strong.  And I just got word a few days ago that we have a September calendar ready to go.  So, tell me, what goals have you reached this month?  Who's in for September?

Back To School!!!

Who can believe that it is already time for back to school!?!?  After homeschooling last year & having a wonderfully fabulous year, we have decided to put our girls back in school this year.  So I'm right there with you all in the back to school rush to get ready.  We all know that school starting in the fall requires lots of shopping.........new clothes, new shoes, pencils, paper, bookbags, crayons, etc.  Today we're going to talk about other things that are necessary when going back to school.  

You all know that I'm all about Young Living Essential Oils.  Did you realize that there are so many amazing YL products that are needed for a super healthy & well school year!!! 

There are several essential oils that can enhance your child's learning & make the school year better!!

Young Living also has a whole line of KidScents that are especially made for kids, prediluted & ready to help with a wide array of issues!!  And now they're available in a kit AND individually!!!  I'd love to hear how you use these!!!  

We all know how incredible Thieves is, right?  Well, did you know there is a Premium Starter Kit with Thieves??  So many awesome products!  I just recently placed my monthly order & have all things Thieves headed our way!!  We will not start the school year without being prepared with Thieves!!  Don't you agree??

And let's not forget all the teachers & grown ups going back to school!!  We have a lot of must have products for you too!!!  Check out our work survival kit recommendations!!!  

So, tell me, what all do you have ready to go for Back to School???