Getting Fit and Healthy

This morning in my Twitter feed I came across a post from Shaklee... "Apply today for the #Shaklee180 healthy blogger program". Having been thinking about my health as of late - I applied. (Entries due by 31 Jan, sadly for women only - sorry gents!) This application is to get accepted into a program that has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prices (all including substantial gift cards to get an awesome new wardrobe for your awesome new body). The program provides "workout gear, shoes, equipment, and more." And from the looks of things, this is going to be one heck of a program!

Along with the winter time cold, I've been having more and more problems with my own body rebelling against me. I'm 25 years young, I should NOT be feeling this old! I'm a mom to a wonderful 2 year old who's ready to call it a day by 6 o'clock. I have had to start walking in the door when I get home from work, to immediately start working on dinner - otherwise it'll take an extra hour to get it to the table. Plus, after dinner my son wants to play for the next 1.5-2 hours until bed time. Then occasionally, I find myself sitting down on the couch after I get him all tucked into bed to relax, just to find myself groggily waking up in a funky position at 12:30 in the morning.

Something. Needs. To. Change!

I have been good about going for walks during the work week, 10-12 walks in the 4 weeks I've been back to work this year. I put in 2 miles each time, and it's down a very sunny street - which adds a good dose of Vitamin D, and helps to keep me warm in the San Francisco chill. But that's all I've been doing.

I look forward to this potential challenge. I'm looking forward to being able to get fit alongside countless other women. I'm looking forward to finally being able to change my body on my terms.

I stopped drinking sodas a year ago this Friday. It's been a challenge, though I will admit that on two occasions I did have some 1) a dear friend had come over, and left her drink to be thrown out - I had no other liquid in the house aside from water out of the tap, and I was thirsty. 2) I was at a kids birthday party for a family friend, and mistook the Sprite for the Water (which was empty). Not really intentional, but again I was thirsty and didn't opt to find actual water instead. Most people who follow through with no longer drinking soda find themselves shedding pounds right and left... Me... I gained 30.

I had a child and gained 10 glorious pounds after shedding off the baby weight. Things shift around, and I was happy to have only gained that much. I went back to work in an office setting over a year later and gained 10 more. Again, not that big of a deal - could have been worse. Four months after that is when I gave up the toxic mess that is soda-pop, and slowly the rest added itself on.

Now, the last time I weighed this much and lost it all I was a stressed out mess who worked too much, and slept too little. I was the 200 I am now, and over the course of 6 months I dropped down to 145. It was fantastic! But I don't know what I did to do it, and every time someone asks me - all I can do is shrug and declare that their guess is as good as mine. I wasn't working out. When I ate it was mostly fast-food. There were a LOT of unhealthy habits tied to that. Though it sure did give my confidence a massive boost!

This new opportunity would provide me the chance to actually get healthy, not just slim. Every time I talk about my want of getting fit this year, I'm always quick to qualify it with "I want to be healthy", noting that any weight shrinkage* would be a much welcomed side effect. (*= I use 'shrinkage' instead of 'loss' here because, frankly, I don't want to find it again)

While it would be nice to win one of the final prizes, or any of the claimed prizes along the way, the thing I look forward to most is the journey.

Even if I don't get accepted into this program, I'm still going to look forward to the months to come. I have a buddy to go on my work walks with - which makes them more fun. And as the sun continues to return, more opportunities will be provided to take my son outside to run around the good ol' fashioned way.

A New Year, A New Me

Two thousand and thirteen. What a number! If you're in to numerology it's a power number of 6: "all about sacrificing, caring, healing, protecting and teaching others" (Source Here). Not to mention the "13" that shows in it's short form - whatever your beliefs, that too is big. 

For me, this year will complete my Initiation into the Wildflower Tradition of CAYA Coven. It's been an amazing journey, had some ups and downs, but I've made it trough - and now the countdown begins toward Ordination.

I've set a goal to blog at least once per month, with high hopes of being able to post more than that. I'm not sure yet what that will consist of, but I'm hopeful of the journey that will soon come to pass. I'll look into writing prompts or other topics, anything that can get my mind whirling. I will welcome any suggestions as well - I make no promises to post on all that come in, but I will source those that I do.

I've been meaning to get more hands on with the Tarot as well. I have several decks, all of which I've pulled beautiful readings from. Though I strive to learn to do that without the help of books. I have amazing friends who can read the cards without a second thought, and I admire them dearly. Now's my turn to do it myself, maybe that will be part of my monthly postings... Hmm.

I wish you all luck on your adventures. May you have a Blessed year. And may you find love along the way!