Tuesday's Tip

If at first you don't succeed, try try again.

You've heard it hundreds, maybe even thousands of times but that doesn't make it any less true. Losing weight is not an easy task. If you've tried to lose weight before without success, don't view yourself as a failure. Instead, learn better weight-loss strategies, try again, and make this time different! Doing the same thing over again should give you the same result. So, if what you did before worked, do it again. If it didn't, find something else to try. It's not a game - it's your life. Make it what you want it to be...

For your information...

My blog post from yesterday has come under some scrutiny as to whom I am referencing in my story of a broken woman and her path to healing. In light of this, I have removed it. Never fear, dear readers, as I am carefully revising it and will be sharing it with you all soon.

Tuesday's Tip: Break the Cycle

Break the cycle.

Not so very long ago, in a land not so very far away, lived a sad girl who was with the wrong guy. Everyone knew it. People whispered about it behind her back. Family members called meetings and even staged mini interventions to warn her. Within the first few weeks of dating, she was crying over things he said to her yet she stayed. Within the first few months, she ended up with a baby in her belly and heavy sadness in her heart. Friends told her that she should leave and raise the baby alone. Sadly though, being pregnant and having low self esteem as well as a strict Catholic upbringing (Catholic guilt, anyone?) pretty much left her no choice but to marry him.

Once she was married, her family was bound and determined that this marriage would last. Divorce was not an option in their world. Throughout the years, she tried to make the best of it. He would tell her she was fat (even using the cruel nickname of "Bigs McLarge Huge") so she would try to work out. Instead of being supportive, he would make fun of her as she tried to run or lift weights. Every time she would try to leave, her family would rally around, saying that she wasn't a good Catholic if she couldn't make this work. And the crazy thing about that was that he didn't believe in God and continually made fun of her for doing so. 

By about the 3 year mark, she was finally broken. She started to believe every negative word that was said about her. And instead of trying to change her situation, she settled into an unhealthy lifestyle of fast food, lethargy, and fighting. She turned to food to heal the brokenness inside of her. The more she ate, the better she felt and sadly, the larger she got. It was a terrible cycle and it needed to end.

And it did. Finally. Sparing you of a lot of long drawn out details, she eventually started working at a job when she was in a power position. This, along with a Bible study she joined, were just the right combination to empower her to do something about her situation. She started believing in herself and knew what she had to do. She asked him to leave and never even considered that they would reconcile. She made her family upset with her decision. She made her son upset with her decision. She rocked everyone's world with her choice. But, it was her life and she needed to live in a world where she wasn't afraid of the next time he would get angry...a world where she didn't have to hear every terrible thing about her repeated in arguments...a world where she was surrounded by people who treated her the way she deserved to be treated.

Hit fast forward and you'll find that our sad girl is no longer sad. She is a happy, healthy Mom of three wonderful kids, has an amazing husband, loves her family, her friends, her faith and is currently writing a blog about exercise and motivation. Who would have thunk it, right?

I have friends who are caught in many forms of unhealthy cycles, and I truly wish that they would find a way to believe in themselves. Situations are not going to get better by sitting around waiting for them to do so. And sometimes, drastic action is necessary to make change. 

God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change, 

the courage to change the things I can, 

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Tuesday's Tip

Pay attention to what goes into your body.

You are what you eat. Seriously. The "health craze" has been going on for awhile now and has people making healthier choices, but... and yes, there is a "but" here... due to high demand for fruit and vegetables, many farmers have had to resort to using a cocktail of pesticides to control disease and insect attack. This is good news for their bank balances  but not good news for your health. Seems like it might be time to be informed of the advantages of organic food.

Did you know that if you consumed an average apple you would be eating over 30 pesticides, even after you have washed it? Sadly, the quality of food produced has gone down over the last 40-50 years. The fruit your grandparents consumed as children contained more nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

Trust me, once you try some organic produce and taste an apple the way it should be, and perhaps how you recall it tasting in your youth, you will never go back to mass produced fruit again.

Here are some of the many differences between organic and conventional foods:

If you think about it, how can it be okay for you to eat chemicals and not expect some form of reaction in your body? Our bodies are wonderful machines but are also delicately balanced. Any form of foreign chemical is bound to cause irritation, at the very least. All I ask is that you do a little research about what is going into your body and make an educated decision. For those who don't have time or patience for research, just look for the USDA Organic seal. Those items are required by law to be at least 95% organic.

So, what is making up YOUR body right now?