Wow!  It has been such a long time since I have blogged!  Life seemed to have caught up with me!  I have to say my life has changed so much from the beginning of this entire process close to 6 months ago.  There has definitely been some high and low points I have encountered but I do realize the changes I have made because of this makeover have made me a different person!  There are times recently when I have felt very healthy (both mentally and physically) and there are also times when I have felt unhealthy.  There was also a time when I felt so strong and committed.  One huge thing I have realized is that the work never stops.  I don’t know if I should necessarily call it work, maybe effort instead.  I know now that making my life the life that I want takes a conscious effort on my part not just for a few months but the rest of my life.  There are definitely going to be times I am going to fall, but I need to get up and head in the right direction.  I can’t forget the goals I have set and the importance of reaching them.  At certain times in the last few months, I have become less committed to the things that are important in leading a happy and healthy life.  Funny thing happens at these times though, something shifts and makes me realize what I am missing.  I think one of the most important things I have not forgotten is to always count the blessings in my life.  There are so many!  Even things that when they were occurring I did not think they were a blessing but quite the opposite, have become just that.  I am truly thankful for all the amazing blessings in my life.  I have learned to be grateful and always trust that my life is always going to be an ongoing learning experience and that I need to take as much as I can from each day and look forward to the next!

Life is getting back to normal!  Things got a little crazy for me for awhile.  I am feeling really good about the things happening in my life.  I have been very busy but am happy about this.  I am not feeling overwhelmed as I probably would have a few months ago.  I feel like I am taking things in stride.  The only thing that I am regretting right now is I am still not getting to the gym everyday.  With so much going on, I am still learning how to juggle what needs to be done and my personal time.  I hope to become more consistent with making the right decision in this aspect.  As I said, feeling pretty good and on my way back to a more regular schedule at the gym!

It has been a couple weeks since I have took the time to sit down and write.  I have jotted some things down here and there, but not really took the time to write down all the things that have been on my mind.  So much has been going on in the last couple of weeks.  I finally feel like I am able to sit down, relax, and take it all in.  We moved a couple of weeks ago and that really threw my life, schedule, and family in a tailspin.  As I have said before, I was not ready for the move.  In the process of moving, I became ill.  Obviously, this made it difficult to get everything done that I have wanted to.  I felt like my life was literally on hold.  I am finally feeling like I am moving forward again.  Sadly, I have not been able to go to the gym and do the workouts I became so used to.  Due to the fact that I was fighting being sick for the last couple of weeks, I had no energy.  As hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to put the time in I wanted working out.  It became very discouraging.  I promised myself I would not let life’s obstacles stop me from taking care of myself, but here I was, doing exactly that.  After talking to David about this, I realized I was beating myself up about this. I was causing myself even more stress.  I had to realize things in life happen, you do what you can and move on.  If I didn’t work out the week I was ill and moving, what was that going to change?  In one week, was that going to take away the weight I had lost over 3 months?  Was that going to change how I feel about myself, the positive strides I have been making in my life?  I realized it was not.  There are times when things happen and you have to adapt.  Beating myself up over a temporary lack of time on my part or my health not being up to par temporarily was getting me nowhere.  The advice given to me was to get done what needed to get done, get myself better, and getting going!  It was actually quite simple after I thought about it.  The routine of taking care of me everyday is what gets me through the times when I may not be able to fully do just that.  I hope to soon be back to my routine and leave the craziness of the last couple weeks behind me!

We moved today.  It was somewhat of an unexpected move.  We knew we were doing it, but didn’t expect it to be so soon.  I was extremely unprepared.  I am not sure if I was in denial, being lazy, or just did not have the time, but I wasn’t ready.  I definitely think it was a combination of all three.  I notice how I react when I become overwhelmed.  It is almost as though I don’t know where to start so I procrastinate.  I get no closer to reaching my goal.  What I am actually asking myself right now is—did I actually set a goal?  In this case, no.  Now I am starting to see (something that I already know), is that if I haven’t even established what I want my end result to be, how do I expect to get there?  At least in this case, I did not really set a goal or create action steps to achieve it.  In most cases where I have not reached the end result I was after, I never really chose to clearly define what needed to be done and how I was going to get there.  The consequences of this became the fact that I was not ready for the physically and emotionally draining event of moving.  I made it much harder on my self than it truly had to be.  Every day I continue to learn.  I continue to learn how I create either what I am content with in my life or what I truly need to change.

Wow!  My life keeps changing by the moment.  I am so overwhelmed right now.  I feel like I am using every bit of energy I have just to stay above water.  When we returned home from Christmas, my entire family including me, got sick.  It seems like no one had been ill for such a long time and over the last month we have seemed to have caught everything out there.  The weird thing is, that with all this stuff to do, I seem to keep getting the flu back.  I feel good one day, bad the next.  So much to do!  Why won’t my body cooperate!

It’s New Years Day! I am on a plane flying back to Florida. So busy, but memorable! I have mixed emotions about 2007. It turned out to be wonderful yet it had its disappointments. Many good things happened to my family, but also a few unforeseen tragedies. Winning the makeover was, of course, incredible. It was life changing for both me and my family. I definitely feel like I am a different person than I was four months ago. That is a good thing! If I would have continued to live the way I was, I am not sure where I was heading. I have definitely struggled with some things, certain things I still am. I realize how the things I have learned and tried to practice in my life are helping me. I am definitely more equipped to handle bumps in the road. Believe me, the last month there has been plenty of bumps. Craters, actually. Most of the time I handle them differently now. I have to say, sometimes I don’t. Being a healthier person takes practice. I am still trying. I’ll get there. I just know now that life can be looked at in two ways. Something to just get through (which is how I used to look at it), or something you want to enjoy and want to experience more of. My experiences in 2007 have shown me that I am defintely going to shoot for the second choice!

We have been so busy visiting and doing other things.   I feel like I have been constantly running.  Well, so far I have been able to work out only once.  I am disappointed.  I planned to work out almost every day while I was here.  Circumstances have made it difficult.  I am making sure to watch what I eat and to take care of myself.  I can see how easy it is to get back into old habits.  Although I am having such a wonderful time, I notice how different I feel when I am not able to workout.  I feel much more tired.  I am much more easily stressed.  I realize exercise is such a stress reliever for me and I feel it physically and emotionally when I am not doing it.  Regardless of how many more workouts I get while I am out of town, I will be back in the gym as soon as I get back.  Wouldn’t want it any other way!

Christmas Day!  What a beautiful day!  Our flight did not arrive until midnight on Christmas Eve!  What an adventure!  The kids were so excited so it was fun to see them full of anticipation.  My family was so happy for me.  They really made me feel proud of what I had accomplished.  My own grandfather didn’t even recognize me!  The kids opened their gifts.  It turned out to be such a wonderful Christmas!  Special people in my life helped it to turn out beautifully in ways I was not expecting.  What a special Christmas this has truly been! 

It’s Christmas Eve!  We are visiting family.  We actually are flying home right now.  I am so happy to get home and see family.  Most of my relatives I have not seen since the summer.  It is going to be wonderful to get to spend some time with family and friends.  This will be quite a test for me.  Hopefully, I will have the time to workout and do the things I have gotten in the routine of doing.  I know we will be quite busy.  We’ll see what happens! 

In retrospect, when I think about things I thought would be affected by this life changing experience, friendships were not at the top of the list.  What I came to realize is my changes, in turn, changed the dynamics of some of the relationships in my life.  Through looking at myself, I began to analyze my relationships and began to see their role in my life.  In the last couple of months, I have watched people walk into my life and walk out of my life.  As David mentioned early on, a life changing process like what I have done can change relationships.  It can affect your marriage and now I see how it can affect your friendships.  I have come to realize how important certain people are in my life.  Their positive attitude and support at all times in my life has been a vital part of every day and of this experience.  I can only hope that I can help them and be there for them the way they have been there for me.  I have become so aware of how important it is to surround yourself with people that truly care and that you care about.  I have seen how these people have been a blessing in my life and I hold their friendship very close to my heart.