The Fresh 20 and 100 Happy Days

Lots of things have been going on since the last post a month ago . . .

I have signed up for a new challenge at the gym . . .
I have struggled with motivation . . .
I became an aunt twice in less than a month . . . 
I have signed up for the Fresh 20 website . . .
I committed to 100 happy days . . .

Lets touch on the challenge at the gym, which ties in with the lack of motivation. The challenge is not something new to me. I have participated many times before, but only really being successful once. It was the one time when I had a plan in place for my work outs, running and eating that things fell into place. This time I have a plan in place with the eating and a plan in place with the running/lifting, it is just making myself follow those plans. I feel like part of the problem is the weather we are dealing with. I can handle the snow and I can handle the cold, I cannot handle the bitter cold and below zero temperatures that we have been having this winter. If it hits 25 degrees outside I make myself run outside because it is at least a change of scenery. I have the clothes for 20+ degrees to run outside so this has become somewhat enjoyable. I usually cannot run outside as far, but I do get some miles in as slow and as ugly as they may seem, they still count. 

I have learned over the past month that we all have good days and okay days and bad days related to anything going on in our life. Its okay to have those types of days, but it is also important to learn from those days. Lack of motivation has been the hardest thing for me ever. I can eat right, I can run, and I can lift, but for me to do so every day is where I struggle. I need to turn that external energy internally to figure out how to stay motivated. For my eating, I signed up for a new website (www.TheFresh20.com) which supplies weekly meal plans that contain 5 dinner recipes for four people plus the prep instructions, grocery list and nutritional values of each meal and side dish. My cousin is using this website with the vegetarian option, but I decided to go with the gluten free option. My biggest issue with eating gluten free is that I run out of meal ideas and eating the same thing over and over again tends to get boring. The nice thing with each recipe being for four people is that I can pick and choose a little bit more what I want to try and what I can't eat. Not only did I get a year of meal plans once a week, but I have the archives which is three additional years worth of recipes. This could be great and will supply me with so many meal options that I will never get bored with food again. For my lifting, I have my trainer three days a week that is constantly changing things up and I swear every workout is harder than the one before. For my cross-training . . . well, more to come on that later.

In the past month, I have become an aunt to two new nephews. These boys are going to be so much fun as they grow up together and cause problems for their parents together. It is so fun to see the differences and similarities in them.

James Roger (J.R) born January 30th at 12:21 am

This is Clark Roscoe who was born January 11th at 12:21 pm

Even when these two were born, the information was almost adentical from the time to the size. They will be trouble as they grow up, but it will be awesome to watch from the sidelines and spoil them as often as I want while giving them back to their parents when necessary.

Earlier this week I saw a post on facebook from a friend with a picture and the subject line of: "Can You Be Happy for 100 Days in a Row?" Never in the past would I have thought about this and if it was possible. After seeing my therapist earlier this week and having the task of focusing on all outcomes, no matter how small or if they are good or bad, I felt like this was 100% something I should take part in. The hard part of this challenge is that it is not a gratuity thing, it is a happiness thing . .. meaning it is not about things you are grateful for but rather about things or moments that make you happy. It doesn't change my feelings about participating though. I think having that reminder to focus on something that has brought you happiness even for a moment helps us to realize that there is good in the world and even during the shittiest times, there are good, caring people out there. Everyone has been dealt something crappy in their life. It is because of these times or moments or years even that we are the people we are today. I would not give up any bad thing that has happened because thru each of those things, I learned who my real friends are and I learned who I was and I am stronger because of it all. I saw this picture the other day and it is so true on various levels.

This picture says it all. We have all had things happen in our lives, some people talk about them, some people post them all over Facebook or another type of social media and some people keep it all inside. I have known people who do all of the above. I used to keep everything inside until one friend made me start talking about me and if something had happened how to deal with it. I learned that I don't want the attention from social media and I am not one to focus solely on myself, but that it is okay to talk about yourself and your problems every once in awhile. It helps to deal with the underlying issue and come up with a plan of attack to heal and move forward. Sometimes the pain never fully goes away and that is okay to as long as we can learn to use that pain as motivation to become a better person. When we first meet someone, as humans sometime we will compare ourselves to that person. Everyone has a story, and not every part of that story is something that is shared. For me, I constantly have to remind myself to be me and my life is like no one else's and even if someone has dealt with the same type of event, it is usually not the same exact thing. Even when someone hurts us, intentionally or not, we need to remember that they might not know any better and rather than focusing on harming them back or wishing harm to them, our energy is so much better spent if we focus on making ourselves better. 

#100happydays Day 1 for me was that I am physically and mentally able to run on a treadmill. To have the leg strength to run and to allow my body to move in such a way that I can clear my thoughts and I can have that time to think about myself and how to make me a better me is something that not every one is capable of. Sometimes we take the little things in life for granted, but it is usually those little things that are what keeps us moving forward. As long as I believe in myself and really believe that I am capable of accomplishing something, I will do great things in my life.