"Be happy with what you have while working for what you want." -Helen Keller

Accepting I'm human is one of my flaws.  I not so secretly hope to be flawless in everything that I do, but it's something I've been working on.  Trying to be a superhero while juggling family, friends, grad school, and workouts is a humbling experience where I quickly have had to learn that stretching myself too thin isn't good for anyone and leads to more trouble than it's worth.  I've always been the super booked and busy type of girl.  I do love staying busy and active but grad school has definitely taught me how to better manage my time to try and fit in the million and five things I have to do everyday.  My workouts have become the one part of my day where I don't feel limited because if I focus and give everything I can to the next 30 minutes to an hour I know I'll feel infinitely better and better be able to conquer the next obstacle.

In the past I've turned to sweets and treats whenever things get rough and I feel like I'm failing.  Feelings of failure are not something I accept because I know I can handle it even when I feel I can't. During finals last semester I told myself that the ice cream would help the stress.  It didn't.  I told myself that eating a cookie would make those long hours of studying not seem so bad.  Both of those things sure tasted delicious but the way I feel when I know I'm eating and treating my body right feels better.  Those sweet indulgences that I overindulged in became too much and I got into a slump.  It's a slump I feel has not only affected my fitness/weight loss journey but has a direct affect on my mood.  I know that I'm happiest when I'm eating right and balanced.  I know I can better focus on the difficulties school present whenever I'm in that same mindset.  I haven't been in that mindset and I found my mind playing that same old trick. "Come on Emily.  Just got get some mini Reese's and it won't seem as bad."  This time even though my willpower may be gone in some areas that voice was quickly shut down as I remember what I'm working so hard for.

I also struggle with accepting that this entire process is a journey.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was I.  Am I stronger than when I started? Yes! Have a made tremendous strides to better myself? Yes! Am I done yet? No! I know I'll never truly be done.  At this point I know I've lost 25 pounds and I am 15 pounds away from my "goal" weight. (I mean technically 14.8 ;))  I struggle with wanting to see results now because I've worked hard enough right? Wrong.  I know I've worked harder but nothing worth having comes easy and I still have to work harder.  Whenever I think about how far I've come I can't ever imagine going back to the person I used to be.  I couldn't imagine not doing something physical everyday or going back to eating the way I used to.  I know I'm on the right path but I know I struggle with finding the patience to know that the change is happening even if it's not as quickly as I would like.  I also struggle with patience in other areas of my life, but that's a horse of a different color.

I know that even though I'm not there yet, I am on the way and I have to keep enjoying the little things that make working so hard worth it.

Here's to pushing through and being patience for the results to come.

Emily

Mixing it up!

And tomorrow marks the last day of month 2 in P90x3! This month has been a month of being sore in all the right places and trying new things to try and spice things up a little.  Sticking to my routine is never easy especially whenever I feel like my efforts aren't going as quickly as I would like them to.  Even when it's hard I know that sticking to my routine and pushing through is the only thing that will help me get the results I'm hoping to get.  I've been experimenting with mainly eating around the same 21 day fix eating plan while finding a way to make it easy enough to incorporate into my lifestyle.  While I experimented I found two recipes that I've perfected and naturally have to share!

I have a sweet tooth.  Ice cream has been my weakness for as long as I can remember and now I can finally eat it without feeling guilty :) 

Mix one packet/scoop of Chocolate Shakeology with 1 tablespoon on almond butter, 1 1/2 cups of almond milk (I use 30 calorie unsweetened), a full banana, and 1 cup of ice in the blender.  Then put it in a separate container and freeze for 2 hours.  This makes a lot of an extremely delicious "splurge" that I don't feel the least bit guilty about! Especially whenever all I need is a little chocolate. Next time I might only try for 1/2 a banana.  It also made a delicious slushy for this afternoon that packed in protein AND chocolate.

This morning I also managed to "perfect" my version of pancakes! I put 1 banana, 2 eggs, and 1/4 cup of oatmeal in the blender and cooked it in some coconut oil spray.  The results were delicious and I couldn't image a better way to start my new tradition of pancake Saturday!

I'm excited to start off month 3 of P90x3 and see what else will happen as I keep eating right and powering through!  Even though my results aren't as fast as I would like them, how good I feel is something that absolutely cannot be replaced.  

"Your friends were talking about you"

Those were not the words I expected to hear coming from my supervisor.  I laughed knowing that my program pretty much doesn't let you have any secrets but still took the bait and replied, "Oh goodness about what?"  "Oh just about how you workout all the time and eat super healthy."  "Yeah I mean I don't workout all the time but they tend to call me crazy." "And that's a good thing.  I think they're a little jealous."

I'm still a little taken back every time I hear those kinds of statements.  Every time I take out my container of carrots or schedule social events around whatever program I'm on, my classmates tend to sigh and call me crazy.    They've gotten pretty good about not even offering me a cookie or brownie because they know I won't eat it and I'm pretty skilled at saying no.

If you would have asked me if the girl I was a year ago would pass up on any kind of sweets (especially ice cream) I would have called you crazy.  I would have thought that you were insane and the reason she works out as much as she does is so that she can eat whatever she wants.  Funny thing is, once I stopped eating the sweets and having my set exercise routine I stopped craving sweets and started craving my workouts instead.  The addition of Shakeology a few months ago gives me that chocolate kick I tend to lack everyday while providing my body with an unbelievable amount of nutrients.  Don't get me wrong, occasionally I will splurge for something sweet but every since I stopped eating those things my body pays me for eating them the next day.  It's a constant battle if I want to feel less than my best the next day to enjoy a few minutes of something delectably decadent.  The same goes for anything fried.  The feeling where I feel like the best possible me is definitely worth passing up brownies or cookies for when they want to tempt me.  Shakeology also throws in an extra energy punch that I wouldn't trade for the world.  In high school someone once said I had energy radiating from my head and that I might explode.  Funny thing is that since I started exercising the way I do and eating the way I do I found I had even more energy than back then.

I'm so thankful everyday that I've made the lifestyle change I did.  I feel stronger and better everyday.  I know that I may not be at my goals yet, but the little things I do everyday will eventually pay off and I won't be sad about it.

This marks the halfway point of week 2 in month 2 of P90x3.  I've sore and loving every second of it through the past week and a half.  The soreness has a funny way of making me want it even more.  I can't wait to see what else is in store!

Here's to rocking the rest of your week!