Repeat after me: “I can do this” over and over again in your head like a broken record. Anything in your life is possible! You just need to do it. Motivate yourself! Believe in yourself! Pick yourself up after you fall and keep moving!

I have to remind myself of this everyday and every minute that I can do anything! Too many years have been spent saying and thinking: “You can’t do this.” Go away, you negative Nelly. And looked what happened when I listened to that voice: I gained over 100lbs from binge eating and addiction to soda, I suffered chronic and horrible depression and anxiety. I slept all day long and refuse to get up out of bed. But no more!

I’ve made the brave decision to move forward instead of backwards and starting swimming in the right direction this time. Starting a blog has been life changing. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner? Cue the negative Nelly! And it didn’t know the first thing about blogging in general and thought no one would read this. I started getting my work schedule to a regular and established one. That’s a little tough, but running a business does have a lot of responsibilities. I got my sleep under control by sticking to a regular bedtime and waking up at a regular time every morning: 8am. I started changing up my diet by eating better foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, high fibers, low carbs and drinking only water, tea, and coffee. And I’m power walking everyday for the past week. I’ve lost 1lb since last week. 10lbs lost since July. A victory for me! But many more to go in the next coming months. And I’ve logged more than 16-18 miles since last Tuesday. Wow!

Three months ago, I was the virtual opposite. My outlook was so bad. But see what happens when you take action and make changes in your life by simplifying!?!?!?! I realized that I was looking at the wrong direction in life and needed a fresh perspective. I’m working on a lot of things and I’m feeling so much better!

• Eating smarter
  • Eating should always be fun and shouldn’t be viewed as a task like cooking from scratch.
  • Simplify cooking by using simple healthy ingredients and dress them up with some pizzazz. My salads are basic. I pick my greens and then add my personal favorites. It’s that easy. I don’t follow a lot of cookbooks because I don’t like prepping, chopping, mincing or searching the grocery store for this and that.
  • Eating all three meals a day and stop eating by 7-8pm.
  • Intermittent fasting is something that I do during the evening hours because I will get the old hunger pains and stomach growls because I will be watching a movie or doing something else.
  • I cut my calorie count back from 2000 to 1500. Cutting back 500 calories with the advice of my primary doctor is smart. I tend to graze on food during the day and stop once I reach 1500 calories. Then it’s fasting for the rest of the evening. This is hard at first, but gets easier.
  • Since I’m consuming a lot of fiber and water, my digestive system is saying “Thank You”. I’m constantly running to the bathroom because of fiber and water consumption. That’s a good sign! We’re doing something right! No more constipation or feeling of a tight brick in our tummy.
• Power walking
  • I’m quite the power walker. I will walk 2-3 miles a day around my neighborhood. I estimate that it’s about 6-7 full laps around the neighborhood that equals my 2-3 miles range.
  • Everyday I change-up my walks and go in different directions. One trek that I love is on a slight incline and has a huge park area with a huge track. I will do laps around that track many times.
  • My newest purchase aka early birthday gift is a Fitbit Versa Watch. If you’re familiar with it, it does it all. It counts your steps, calories burned, what you’ve eaten, your goals, your menstrual cycle (OK? Didn’t really need to know that! Nor do I care about my fertile days because I’m not planning on having kids), and it even lets you play music. Again, why didn’t I think of that? Because I didn’t.
• Introducing some weights to the mix
  • I’ve been looking and browsing all over to add some dumbbells to my workouts. I’ve been looking at getting 3lb dumbbells to help get the upper body moving. I do lift weights at work. Remember I can lift boxes up to 30lbs without panting heavily.
  • It’s best to start slow and not over exert yourself.
  • I also look at the various options when it comes to fitness centers and exercise programs. I would start with yoga or a lower energy exercise and work my way up to higher intensity.
• Sleeping better
  • I’ve been pretty good at sleeping better and more soundly.
  • Since caffeine and soda are completely out of the diet, I’m able to fall asleep easier and get my night’s rest.
  • I’m slowly going to pull away from melatonin and not rely too much on it. Because I take one pill every night.
• Stressing less and staying busy
  • Deep breathing techniques work wonders. Inhale and exhale. Do this multiple times.
  • Stay busy and keep your mind going. On an off day, go to do something. Read a book, watch a movie, meet a friend or whatever floats your boat.
  • Cleaning out the house is another thing that I’m doing.
• Creating my own online store with Shopify
  • Speaking of that, I’m cleaning out all of my collectibles and handcrafted latch hook artwork that I made during college. They’re all in great condition after three moves (one move from WI and two moves in TX) and survived the hurricane.

I wake up everyday with a new perspective and a purpose because I am making a difference and doing something with my life instead of just sitting on the sidelines. I thought walking was going to be a one day thing, but it’s now a part of my routine. I get up, shower, eat breakfast and then head out for a walk. Then I will head to work or if I’m off, I will do something else. All in all, its major victory for me. Many victories for me.

I realize that walking isn’t hard or isn’t viewed as a chore. Walking is soothing and quite the helper when it comes to losing weight. Walking for at least 2-3 miles or more a day actually helps burn calories, builds up your muscles and gets your body in motion. I enjoy put on my tennis shoes, putting on my earphones, my comfy clothes, and my watch and just go. In the beginning of the walk, I take the walk slowly and then accelerate it. Then slow it back down a little and let me catch my breath. After a small 15-20 second break, it’s back to walking at my normal pace and bumping it up to a faster pace. All in moderation!

There are times were I will say: “Is it over yet? I don’t know how much more I can take?” But I ignore that voice and keep moving. After walking for a week, I’m sore and have blisters. I have a nice one on both of my inner thighs. Ouch! That happens when the skin rubs together and becomes irritated. And I just got a blister on my left ankle because I wore short socks instead of regular socks. Oops. But with blisters aside, my legs are still sore. It’s called staying active and getting those muscles working! That will also subside.

My walks are always fun ones. Typically, everyday I’m not the only one outside getting exercise and will greet fellow neighbors on the way. I’ve had pretty of encounters with neighbor’s pets. On a walk today and yesterday, there was a Rottweiler chained to the tree with a water bowl and he barked and growled as I passed by. He scared me the first day because I had my music up full blast and his bark was louder than my music. That got the heart pumping more and got me to power walker a lot more faster. He was doing his job of guarding the house and helping me move my butt a little faster. I saw one cat and two small dogs that followed me throughout my walks. They were nice little helpers motivating me to keep moving. Yesterday, I had to take two separate walks because the first time I went out, I felt a disturbance in the force. When you are eating healthier including eating more fiber and you’re out walking, guess what happens? You need to run to the bathroom. I was a good 2 blocks away from home, but I made it. And I had to replenish the fluids that were lost during that bathroom excursion. Then when I felt better, I got out there and finished it up.

My advice for all trying to lose weight, stay healthy, and are trying to keep their mental and overall health in check: Take it day by day. Motivate yourself. Believe that you can do it. And set and reach those goals. The sky is the limit!

This is what happens when you fall and don’t get up! You get failure. I’ve been there!