Let me start by saying I am a very blessed woman and I thank God for letting me see 25 years and pray for many more so know there is much jest in this blog post but some issues I want to outline underneath the joking. Here are a few pictures of my 25th birthday including my two indulgences all weekend my all time favorite food from home you from VA will understand my "Ukrops Rainbow Cookie" obsession, and the dippied chocolate fruits were one of my gifts from my husband :)
While I say my quarter life crisis comes from many realizations such as that most of my nights are spent having friends over or watching red box movies and are no longer spend out with girlfriends or my man at the club; I do have to say I am quite happy and content with my life. With my husband in the military sometimes it is often hard for me to feel like I can up and persue any dream or job I would like because more times than not as soon as I get my feet planated we are up and on the move again. With all of these facts and the added two young children who always need to be fed, changed, dressed, or played with sometimes I tend to lose "me." This is one reason I started this blog and the main reason I find my strength and out let in fitness.
I know with me personally the older I get the more I feel like I am losing control bit by bit. Normally it is small things like my butt sagging way more than it did five years ago, or the fact that my oldest doesn't need mommy around as much anymore because she is 2 going on 20 :) The truth is I feel like mommy's and wives and even women and general we give most of our days taking care of our children, spouses, family members, and everyone but ourselves that sometimes we end up "lost."
That being said I want to encourage each of you to find the time to be "you." I used to hate running but have found a new love for it in the past year because for that 30 minutes I am fierce and I am running for a reason. I am doing it for me, to feel good, to be healthy, to have more energy. Yes it sucks at times and I have days where it is the last thing I want to do but i have learned a few things that help me out, hopefully they will help you too :)
1. When you are running, kickboxing, doing yoga, whatever it may be, don't just think about it..BE that person. Take on the mind set and own it. Believing it is half of the problem, so who cares what anyone else may think of what you look like doing it, try to remember this is for YOU.
2. Your body didn't get the way it was over night and it certainly isn't going to change that quickly. Embrace who you are and the flawas you have work on one thing at a time. What bothers you the most? Your thighs?, awaesome start your cardio and resistance training targeting that specific muscle group and add these extra exercises to your normal routine. once you start seeing your improvment there bump up the weight by 5lbs or add another rotation. Each extra minute counts for something and will eventually turn into two extra minutes and so on.
3. Focus on your goals not everyone elses. One thing that always stands out to me when I read it "Do not compare yourself to others, but to the person in the mirror you saw yesterday, to the person you see in the mirror today." Each day is a fresh start and a chance to take an extra step in your fitness goals. Nine times out of ten the perfect women you see in magazines have been airbrushed, are on God knows how many supplements, and remember get paid to work out and be half naked in front of a camera. You are a normal woman with an every day lifestyle so don't beat yourself up for that.
4.Reminders of your past can help you push towards your future. I am quite honestly the most unorganaized human being out there. I hate writing stuff down and comparing notes and data. For that reason alone I don't track my every rep and weight, nor do I write down my progress in inches and weight always. What I do is base my progress on my past. What I mean by this is i keep old pictures, and I keep old clothes when I feel like skipping a work out or chowing down on the candy hidden at the top of the shelf, I take a glance at my "fat" jeans or look through some old pictures with my not so flattering pudge hanging out and remember how far I have come. There is no reason to get lazy now.
So in conclusion, while i put my change away in my botox piggy bank I want you guys to know that aging is going to happen to all of us, the days where we feel we have no purpose but to clean diapers and cook dinner will happen, and the days where we hate what we see in the mirror will happen also. The beauty in all of this is that we are human. We are women who have strength enough that we take care of everyone and still have to find the time to take care of our self. While I beat myself up over eating sweets, and drinking wine to celebrate yet another year of my metabolism dropping and my skin sagging, I have to remember it is another year I am blessed to be with my family, friends, and to see God's work done in my life. That being said stay strong and focused even in this hot weather guys the reward always out weighs the sacrifice :) God Bless and stay cool out there!! xoxo - Amanda
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