Do you like you?

Put your make-up on

Get your nails done

Curl your hair

Run the extra mile

Keep it slim so they like you, do they like you?

Get your sexy on

Don't be shy, girl

Take it off

This is what you want, to belong, so they like you

Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to, give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try,

Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards

You don't have to choose, buy it all, so they like you

Do they like you?

Wait a second,

Why, should you care, what they think of you

When you're all alone, by yourself, do you like you?

Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to, give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to bend until you break

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try

Take your make-up off

Let your hair down

Take a breath

Look into the mirror, at yourself

Don't you like you?

'Cause I like you

So often we are wrapped in what others see and think of us. It consumes us. We look in the mirror and find every single thing that we don't like about ourselves. We had bags under our eyes, we don't like our hair, we need to lose just a little more weight. We are constantly tearing ourselves apart. We are trying to conform to what we think society expects of us. We aren't thin enough, we aren't pretty enough. Something is always wrong. But wait a second. Hold the phone. Step back. Take a look into the mirror at yourself. Do you like you? Why shouldn't you like you. You are exactly where you are suppose to be. You might not understand the reason. It might be hard to understand. Sometimes it sucks. Work is stressful, family is busy and trying to fit in time for yourself and friends sometimes feels impossible. Stop hating your body. Start loving it. Work hard at improving what you have. Work hard at loving what you already do have. Love yourself first so that others can love you.

Take a step back. look at yourself, don't just like yourself… Love yourself- AHK.

THAT Feeling

You know THAT feeling. THAT feeling you get when you pushed yourself harder than you thought you could, did things that you didn't think you could do, got THAT motivation back and had someone BELIEVE that you could do it.
THAT happened yesterday. 1 year ago today I was in a friends wedding, following a horrid night of food poisoning, but it was also my lowest weight I have been at in my weight loss.
Yesterday I attended a Zumba and a bootcamp class. It probably was the hardest class I have ever done and it motivated me so much. I want THAT feeling back. I want THAT feeling of sweat upon sweat (as Adriane put it), I want to have THAT felling of every muscle in my body hurting. It is an AMAZING feeling.
I definitely fell off the wagon in the last 6 months or so, but being in that room with such amazing people, who push each other and support each other motivated me. After class I felt amazing, sore and tired but amazing. A, I LOVE you for challenging me, pushing me, motivating me, kicking my ass and making a difference. I HATE you for challenging me, kicking my ass, and making me wake up in pain the next day. But it's the LOVE/HATE relationship that keeps me coming back for more. That keeps me wanting more and more for myself. I am beyond happy at where I have ended up. It was a rough road to get there, but I have found where I am happiest to be pushed and to work hard. Thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself, for seeing in me what I couldn't see. Like I said yesterday, YOU motivate me and make me want to work hard and get back on track. PLEASE continue to be on me and call me out when I need it. <3

You're Right

This says it all. 

You can do it. 

You are worth it. 

You will push yourself harder than you thought you could.

You will fall.

You will get back up.

Slow progress is still process and better than no progress.

You will find strength.

You will find happiness.

Think positive- don't allow the negative thoughts to creep in.

You will find friends.

You will find support.

This is the time YOU will succeed. 

small goals

When you are 100+pound over weight (or even less), you want to loose weight and you want to loose it fast. You don't want it to take forever. When you start out you can't say I want to loose 100 pounds. If you do that, you will get frustrated easily. Instead make small goals. I made myself a scrapbook that had my goals. I started at 335 pounds

Goal .5 (not even goal 1) loose 15 pounds. When I hit that, I found pictures of me during that time and put them on that page.

Goal 1, hit 299, again I took pictures and put them on that page.

Goal 1.5, loose 50 pounds,

Goal 2, hit 275 pounds…

It continues with goals and halfway marks all the way to goal 7. Hit 170 pounds. The last time I was that weight was in 6 grade. I still have a ways to go, and its been a while since I have been able to put pictures in the book, but I will get back there. I want to get back there.

So my advice? Set small goals and crush them. Take pride in reaching those goals and make more goals for yourself. You'll get there.

Remember where you came from

Last night at my zumba class a friend gave me this sign. 

She said: I have one and now you do too. You'll have to let me know where you put it.

I got home and got to my room. There is only one place it could go. Right above my goal pants and my original workout clothes. They are the true sign of where I am going and where I have come from. It sits next to a sign that says: follow your heart. Both are great reminders of things that you need to do everyday. Follow your heart. Do what you love, what feels right. Grab ahold of life and don't let go. When you get where you want to be remember where you came from and how you got there and then… set a new destination.

The Scale

There is a constant battle that we face. The number on the scale. We are constantly focused on reaching a certain number, what society says someone your age and your height should be to be healthy. What the scale doesn't tell you?
It doesn't tell you that you are stronger than you were.
That you are gaining muscle.
That your clothes fit better, are looser, or even too big.
That you feel better.
That you're happier.
That you've made friends.
That you look forward to being drenched in sweat.
That you laugh through the pain.
That you have learned to love yourself and your body.
That you can do things that you could do before.
That others are noticing all those things and so much more.
That you are inspiring others to take back control in their life.

The scale? It tells you your relationship with gravity.

Often times we are so focused on that number that we forget to remember what the scale doesn't tell you.

P.E

P.E, Gym, Physical Education. Whatever you call it. I disliked it. With a passion. I remember in elementary school trying to get out of doing all the fitness tests. Pull ups? Really? You want me to pull my self up? It only got worse the older {and heavier} I got. In middle school we had to run the mile 2 times a semester. The perfectionist in me couldn't be absent. Its kind of like when someone is picking teams. You don't want to be the last person picked, and in this case I didn't want to be the last person to cross that line. The embarrassment of having everyone else done and me still going was horrible. I didn't want to run and have people look at me, but walking was almost just as bad.
Then in high school, every Friday was the mile run. What more-if you wanted to get an A on it you had to run it in less than 15 mins. That wasn't happening. My freshman year I had a brand new teacher. I'm not sure if he felt pity or me or not but he gave me the choice to do some extra credit and I did it of course. My second year I had Mr. Leblanc. I remember approaching him before school started. I respected him very much and I remember looking at him and saying: "I won't be able to run a mile in less than 15 minuets, but I promise you I will always try my hardest on everything." He looked at me and said, "I know," and I did. Each time we had to run, I ran a little bit more and he noticed and would tell me how proud he was of me. I remember the first time I made it all the way around the track without stopping. I'm not sure who was more excited me or him. I did what I had to do to survive. To get the grade I wanted and as soon as the semester was over, there was no more running.
This all went through my mind as I was running on the treadmill. It would be so easy to give up. To not run anymore, to just walk or do nothing at all, to fall into old habits, or I could keep pushing, keep going and achieve my goals. I can't take back those years in high school, but I can decided what my future holds. I am so lucky to have people in my life that know what I want and help me meet my goals.