Jan. 6 - Snow Day and Meal Preparation

There was 4 inches of snow in DC today, so I got plenty of exercise shoveling the snow from the walk way.  I took some great photos of my breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was so hurt when the photos didn't come out on my old phone. My new phone came today, so I can do much better at sharing my prepared meals.

I spent about 2 hours creating little baggies of my fruit and greens for morning smoothies.  Also, I chopped alot of the vegetables I will use for dinner this week. I'm trying to make things easier for me to prepare dinner after a long day at EDC Creations Media.  Sigh! 

Breakfast - 8:30 am:   Chex cereal, almond milk, banana and strawberries.

Snack - 9:30 am:  Homemade salsa and gluten free tortilla chips and cranberry juice.

Lunch - 1:15 pm:  Chicken salad, blackberries, gluten free tortilla chips and gherkin pickles. Tea.

Dinner - 7: 42 pm:  Blackened swai fish, baked potato, green beans, yellow squash. Tea

This image brought so much inspiration to me today and I wanted to share it with you too! 

Jan. 5 - The Journey Begins with Coach Brittani D. Williams

I started day one of my transformation off with guided meditation, a walk around my neighborhood and a very simple breakfast.  Lunch was salsa and a few gluten free tortilla chips. Dinner included backed salmon, green beans and rice. I'm looking forward to this journey and all that it brings good or bad. 

Here is a link to the recipe I used to cook the salmon: http://www.oprah.com/food/Seared-Salmon-with-Green-Bean-Salad-and-Balsamic-Vinaigrette-Recipe

Coach Brittani D. Williams wants me to answer these questions to get the program started.  I'm going to answer them all now, because my work schedule this week is unbelievable. 


01/05: What is your why? 
I have extremely high blood pressure, so I must lose some of this weight. My family is filled with horror stories of the results of high BP. I turn 50 in August and I want to be a healthy, fit 50 and not sick.  I have ONE child, she is 19 and I want to be there for her as she starts her journey to adulthood.




01/06: Why is this time different? Are you really making a LIFESTYLE CHANGE? The purpose of my company is to assist in healthier lifestyles not temporary diets.
Yes, this is a lifestyle change for me!  I have already given up adding salt to my food and I'm trying to go totally gluten free.  I have Crohn's Disease, which led to me having 4 major surgeries on my intestines. I can go through the hardship of this debilitating disease by not eating well.  I want to go back to a healthier life, the life I had 6 years ago.  I realize that I must get out more;  exercise more and work behind this computer less!



01/07: How do you plan to stay on track?
I created this blog so that I can keep track of my journey with notes, photos, inspiration and  video.  I have a daily journal that I will write down the times and amounts of things I eat.  I also downloaded MyFitnessPal to my new phone to look up calorie content and the amounts of sodium in foods.

Empowerment: The Four Agreement

For the last 5 years I have been trying to live by THE FOUR AGREEMENTS.  It's challenging to say the least, but one of the agreements let's you start each day over, if you don't meet your expectations. I want to share the agreements with you and I will continue to work on this as well. You can read more about them and find out how to start the full practice in your life by going to this link:  http://www.toltecspirit.com

Living the Four Agreements: A life changing Journey

In the bestselling book The Four Agreements written by don Miguel Ruiz  gives four principles to practice in order to create love and happiness in your life. Adopting and committing to these agreements is simple. Actually living and keeping these Four Agreements can  be one of the hardest things  you will ever do. It can also be one of the most life changing things you will ever do.

As you practice living these four practices your life will dramatically change. In the beginning these new habits will be challenging and you will lapse countless times. With practice these agreements become integrated into your being and every area of your life and become easy habits to keep.


The Four Agreements are:

1. Be Impeccable with your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

New Beginnings

I saw this really interesting post on Sophia A. Nelson's Instagram page and I want to use it to motivate me on this new journey.  The image is below and here is her message:   Each new day is a gift. Yesterday is gone. You must be intentional about your attitude each morning! It's a new year! It's a new you! It's a new life!

I'm going to keep this message in mind as I start my journey!  What are your thoughts when you read this?