Motivational Monday

Motivational Monday: Because it doesn't have to be the hardest day of the week.

I'm enjoying today, I really am. Last week I ran 2 miles in 26 minutes which is my fastest time, and then when we did our bake sale for class this past week we reached our goal of $200. That felt really good. We had to work super hard, but it all went well. :)

If I've learned anything, it's that you win a lot more often when you keep on trying. I'm so grateful for the help of those people in my life who have inspired me to keep working at it.

I hope your Monday is a fabulous one!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Motivational Monday

Who says geeks can't be fit? This is enough motivation for me to run any day. :)

Whoot!! Today has been fabulous! Why do you ask? Many little victories for a morning when I don't have to go anywhere.

• I was out of bed before 10 a.m. (9:30 to be precise)
• I exercised for an hour with 40 minutes of cardio! 
• My laundry is in the dryer
• I'm set for the bake sale this weekend
• And I've found a fabulous recipe for a chocolate fruit dip that I think is my new favorite dessert!

Overall, a very productive day so far.

-Shayla

SLENDER

I'll Never Go Back

I've been struggling on and off the past couple weeks as I've been trying to learn how to deal with stress in school. It's hard sometimes, working through the late night studies, trying to stay awake and fighting food cravings at the same time. Often I don't succeed and then I get grumpy and a little depressed about not being "strong".

But then Thursday after a particularly hard fall in my eating goals, it hit me. Even though I wasn't doing so well now, I was still light-years ahead of the way of life that I followed even six months ago. That compared to then, my failures now are few and little. Then it hit me: I've weighed 193 pounds. I will never weigh that much again. I've weighed 175 pounds. Never again. And I am bound and determined that by the end of April I'll say "I've weighed 165 pounds. Never again."

Every pound I lose, every ice cream I don't eat, every time I try to be true to helping my body be healthy, I win. Gaining ground is rough, but so is gaining weight. I'd rather gain ground. And it's all worth it, because I've promised myself that I'll never go back. Not ever.

You got this folks!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Warmer Weather

Well folks it's a beautiful time to be in Rexburg Idaho...it's almost 60 degrees, the sun is out and everyone is running! It's so much fun to see all these people getting out and exercising. It's pretty inspiring to me.

I'm always like:

Other Runners:                                                           Me:

Every time I see somebody running up the hill to the temple I mentally think: You can do this! Whoot! Go! I know what it's like to be that runner, and as someone who generally sticks to treadmills, kudos out to all those who make the effort to go brave the bumps campus has to offer.

So remember. There are times when you're out there running and you feel like everyone is watching you...and then you feel super self-conscious because you're sweaty and gross, and just a little too aware about the sweat-lines. But more often than not, people see you and are cheering you on! They know it's hard, and they're impressed that you're doing it. No judging.

Good work exercisers! Keep working, and just because you have a slow day, that doesn't mean you have to give up on the rest of the week!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Motivational Monday

So when we talk about being healthy and getting in shape there's always a lot of emphasis on the importance of exercising and eating healthily. Now these are key elements, don't get me wrong, but it's also important to be happy. When you're happy it's easier to work out, it's easier to take care of yourself. 

Something I love doing is singing, and last night I went with a couple friends and we sang Peter, Paul and Mary songs for hours....my geek heart was content. It's the next morning but I still feel happy because of it, and even though I have a ton I need to do today, I feel like I can do it!

So keep plugging on with whatever makes you happy. If it's music, sing it! If it's a book, read it! If  it's running, pound it out! We can't let our crazy lives rob us of the simple things that makes life enjoyable. 

And now, for today's (mostly unrelated) Motivational Meme:

I don't know what it is, but this makes me laugh every time I see this...

Have a fabulous day folks!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Motivational Monday

So February was an interesting month...filled with homework, grandparent visiting and lifestyle-committing. I've been running, biking, riding an elliptical (ellipticizing?) and working on my goal to weigh 158lbs by the beginning of April. I feel like I'm on track to doing it! Today I got on the scale pre-breakfast/eating/drinking and found that I'm down to 163 lbs!! This means:

1. That I've lost 30 lbs in 9 months
2. I'm only 5 lbs away from reaching my goal! I'm almost there!

So needless to say, I'm feeling good on a Monday!

When I reach my goal I'm going outfit shopping.

-Shayla
 

Defeating Your Dragons

Here's a post from my business blog. Though it's specifically written towards that audience the principles apply here as well. 

There are a lot of things that make being a entrepreneur difficult. The main challenge that I want to discuss today, is our dragons (our personal terrors), and how we can turn them from this:

To this:

What are our dragons? Quite simply, they are anything within our natures that hold us back. For some it's greed, for others it's pride. We all have little things that we need to improve. 

And if you think you can get away with just ignoring this fearsome beast here's a little quote for you. "If you refuse to face this dragon, it will keep turning up in the oddest of places, at the worst of times" (A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey, Jeff Sandefer). You know that old pair of jeans you love? And you just can't get rid of them? Well compare them to this little "problem" you have. Now say these jeans have gotten pretty worn, and you've realized that along the seam it's starting to wear. But you keep wearing the jeans. You know it's there, you know it's a weakness. But you love those jeans! Then one fateful day something happens (you eat one too many eclairs, try to jump a fence, raid a jail. etc,) and they rip, right down the seams, and if that's not bad enough, with your luck you finally got that date with Jimmy Breaker like you wanted. Talk about the worst of times...

So before we get to that date we need to get rid of the jeans. And that means we need to go through the closet. 

There are three steps:

1. Take some quality think time for yourself. If you aren't comfortable sitting without yourself in the silence, it's probably about time for you to have a chat with yourself. Be kind but firm, bring paper and pen. While it may be rough initially, you'll feel relieved once it's done. 

2. Create a plan. Write out goals. Your plans should be specific and meaningful. You want these to work, so create them with that end in mind (so you're going to have to be honest with yourself). 

3. Keep going. We need to keep going and working at it. There's nothing that we can do perfectly from the get go. So you're going to fall down on your face a couple times, and you're going to have to stand back up. But you will win when you stand up one more time than you've fallen down. 

Keep up your hard work, and don't give up! Turn your Smaugs into Puffs, and your ratty jeans into Liz Claibornes. You've got this.  

But enough of me, what are some things that you used to defeat your dragons? 

- Shayla