Find your passion and make it happen!

While checking Facebook, a Facebook post from former The Biggest Loser (TBL) contestant Shay Sorrells popped up in my feed about Jillian Michaels leaving the show for the third time. I used to be ridiculously addicted to TBL and I admit that I still watch it when it airs, but it is far from my favorite show nowadays. Where I used to find it very motivating, now I find it completely the opposite. And where I used to feel like it was a show that advocated good health, I now feel completely the opposite, especially with the previous season that aired. It did get me curious on how some of my favorite former TBL contestants were doing. I decided to look them up on Facebook. I found Abby Rike and then sisters Hannah Curlee, and Olivia Ward. I was just scrolling down to find some pictures or other sorts of inspiration when I found a post that Olivia had written. Since it seemed a little out of place (no picture, just a bit of text) I stopped and decided to read it. I am so glad I did! Here's what it said:

"If you think Bootcamps are bad...then don't do them. If you think spinning is bad....then don't do it. If you think Crossfit is bad...then don't do it. If you feel the need to tear other people down for THEIR choices in fitness because it WORKS for them...please dear Lord DON'T DO IT!! Everyone is different and every practice is different that is why one might work for you and the other won't. There are risks in any type of intense physical activity choose what is best for you...because the most dangerous is eating cheetos on the couch and doing nothing. Rant over."

After last nights blog was kind of depressing and very ranty, and my posts are sporadic at most, (although I do hope to get better at posting!) when I read that, felt like I had to speak about it. Mostly because I didn't want to leave my previously whiny blog pays to be the first thing that people see if they happen to come across this page.  Also, because I really could relate to it. If you're just reading this blog for the first time and this is the first post you're reading, hi! My weight loss is mostly in thanks to a video game called Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR. Sounds crazy, huh, a video game for working out! Not on the Wii, not on the Kinect (although they do have DDR games for Wii) but on the good ol' PS2, a system that is waaay old! Now that we've touched base on that, let me get to while I could relate to this.

I've had people say some pretty nasty things about my playing DDR. As started in a previous blog post, one person's opinion of my playing DDR eventually lead me to quitting. And then after a year or so, I realized that it was ridiculous to quit the one thing that I not only enjoyed, but worked for me. While unconventional, DDR works for me! Who or what gives someone the right to belittle what works for you? Do you look silly when doing something that works for you? So what. It works for you. Do it proudly. Is DDR a video game? Yes. But I dance proudly because it works for me. If you think DDR is bad, then by all means, play the game. If you think dancing around your bedroom is bad, then don't. If you think the treadmill is ridiculous, then don't buy one and avoid them. With that said, don't knock on what works for me. First off, because your words will just bounce off. They will not register in my brain, and you'd be wasting your breath. Secondly, because another thing I learned is the best person to listen to is myself - and you know what I say? GET UP AND DANCE!

Find what works for you, and do it. Who cares what kind of physical activity you engage in if it works for you? Find your passion and make it happen! In the end, you and your good health (and awesome body) will have the last laugh. :)

Rough day

Days like today are kind of rough. I got up for a hair appointment and when I came home, I decided to make pancakes for me and my dad. Who doesn't like pancakes?! Well, as much as I like them, I definitely don't like how they like to stick to my thighs. I don't like how addictive they are! But it's not just the pancakes. Today I was addicted to snacking. It doesn't help that we have three different kinds of ice cream in the freezer, snacks left out on the kitchen table, dip in the fridge...  and as if that wasn't enough, it's 2am and I still haven't had a work out for today! I'm writing in this blog instead. And it's been a while since I've updated in here, so that is really saying something. Oh, no.

So yeah. Days like today are rough. Sometimes it's rough living here. My brother is over weight and and I don't want to make him sound bad because he is truly a great person, but he is a stereotypical overweight person, and a picky eater to boot. I worry about him. He gives a new definition to big and tall at 6'2" and 350+ pounds. Long John Silvers had a deal today where participating restaurants were giving out free food, and that is all he's been talking about. I enjoy a meal out as much as the next person, I'm human. But ugh. Quit talking about it. In addition to him going on and on about Long John's, he also brought up ordering pizza, compared two different pizza parlors, mentioned how long it's been since we got a pizza... ugh. I am sick of hearing about food! The last two years, one thing I've learned that while food is something you can enjoy, it's mainly for fuel. I've enjoyed learning new recipes to make food delicious and also extremely healthy. I love playing around with spices to make my favorite dishes that I don't feel guilty eating. Unfortunately, no one here really seems to understand that, or at least today I feel like they don't understand, and that is frustrating. It would be nice to be able to sit and eat whatever I want; not measure out 1/8 cup of salad dressing for my salad, or weigh my porkchop before I eat it, or take a handful chips and measure it out, but I can't do that. I can't do it if I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The hardest part in my journey has been maintaining a healthy lifestyle in a home where I'm surrounded by awful choices, and little support. Even something as small as, "Please put the chips in the cabinet so I don't see them." seems like a big chore.

I'm not sure what works for me. Some days I can do it fine, but then days like today are the difficult ones. A lot of it most likely has to do with my schedule being off kilter thanks to the hair appointment, and my workout schedule being off since it's the weekend (during the week I have a window of when I can workout without bothering anyone; but on the weekend I can work out whenever) but ugh. Today has been rough.

Most of the times I will admit that I have found this journey to be fairly easy and very rewarding, but then every once in a while a bad day creeps. Please excuse this rant. I'm only human. We are all only human.

Have a good day!

I've been Mademoiselle M.I.A lately

Many times I've thought of writing a new entry in here and just kind of waved it off. It's not that I planned to start a blog only write a few entries and then give it up. That's far from it, in fact, and I hope to get back on track. I doubt I have many readers (yet, at least!) but if anyone was reading faithfully, sorry about the delay in this post!

I will tell you what kind of got me off the blogging bandwagon last year: the holidays. The 2013 Holiday Season was great, but let me tell you, I struggled. I always hear about people struggling during the holidays with all the Thanksgiving feasts, the Christmas cookies and candies, but usually I can just sneak through because I'm not a huge fan of sweets. I didn't feel like I struggled at all in 2012 during the holidays. That was the first six months of my healthy journey though, and I still had a lot of weight to lose at that time. I don't remember plateauing at all. Maybe I did, but I think I would remember. Maybe also, since I was heavier, and had more calories to play with, it didn't stress me out as much. This year though, not only did I hardly lose a single pound between the beginning of November until the first couple weeks of January, but I found it difficult to sneak past all the unhealthy and snacky foods. I also got sick in the beginning of November, and while I didn't completely fall off the bandwagon, I ended up cutting out the 30 minute strength training part of my workouts. My workout is one hour of cardio, and 30 minutes of strength training and abwork. I still am working on adding that back to my workout, over six months later.

With the plateauing, not losing much weight, and really struggling with healthy choices made even the thought of writing in my blog very hypocritical. Even thinking about writing a new blog entry was upsetting. The struggles I faced over the holidays really got my year off to a frustrating start, and there were times that I truly felt like I was at the end of my journey, but I was very unhappy where my end seemed to be.

I am very pleased that I have broken the plateau that I was stuck on earlier in the year and that has helped a lot. My total weight loss is ninety pounds, which makes fifteen pounds down from the start of the year! I am feeling motivated and ready to blog again, and share what has worked with me. The biggest thing I need to remember is just to give it time, and not get upset. It will all eventually be all right.