November is here!!!

 Here we are in November already... time is just flying by!

How are you doing with your health journey? What are your victories? Your struggles? 

As you know, I've been really struggling with my MINDSET... 

I joined a 21 Day Challenge and it really focuses on MINDSET, along with the other stuff, but the main focus is the mindset. I SO NEED THIS!  I started on Monday and have been really digging in. I would recommend doing this challenge from InnerAlpha Fitness... www.inneralphachallenge.com   AnnMarie is amazing and does NOT beat around the bush! :D

So, if you are interested - I would check that out and see how your mindset, nutrition, and movement can change within 21 days and beyond!

Holidays are approaching...

 As this month has been flying by, I have to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming holidays on a couple of different levels...

1.  Emotionally - being a single Mama is hard when funds are limited and want to be able to give your child(ren) nice things or things that they would enjoy on Christmas, but the money is JUST NOT THERE.

2. Physically and Mentally - desiring to stay on your meal plan, as you have GOALS TO CRUSH, but the food prepared is just so delicious that it's hard to NOT give in to temptation. I have to keep my goals in the forefront and realize that IF I go off plan, that prolongs my end goal - to be healthy and lose this fat, once and for all. I can enjoy the holidays, without going "off plan" and bringing my meals with me. I am there to enjoy the company - the people in my life - not be worried about what food is being served or missing out on the holiday.

3. Spiritually - I do NOT want to further damage the body that God has created - I've done enough of that already and for so long - I don't want to do it anymore. This is HIS temple and I need to love and respect it.

It amazes me how everything is interconnected - mind, body, soul/spirit - that if ONE of these is off kilter, it throws everything else off.

What do you plan to do for the holidays? How are you preparing to still achieve your goals?

Comment below as I am on this journey with you... 

FALL IS HERE!!!!

 Can you believe that Fall is here y'all!?!?!?  The cooler weather is a definite welcomed change compared to the humidity that this past summer brought!

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted, due to having wrist surgery early September! What an ordeal, but we are slowly getting back into the swing of things.

I seemed to have fallen into this funk for a couple of months now and I'm fighting like crazy to get out of it, so I can slay this health/fitness journey! I know that there are going to be good/bad/ugly days, but seems like it's gone on long enough!

New Perspective. New Month. New Attitude. New Mindset! I have goals that I'm needing to crush and I feel like the longer I procrastinate, the harder it's going to be to get on stage and compete... how bad do I want this? Time to show myself and my Coach how bad I want it...

Random Thoughts in Sept...

 I have been struggling with fear...

These are thoughts I just needed to get down on "paper"...

👉Have you ever said to yourself:

“I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“I’m not good enough.”

“What was I thinking when I thought I could do this?”

If you have, you are in pretty good company. These statements are rooted in a fear of failure. And failure is a looming fear for most of us. Fear of failure is the belief that I need to perform well, succeed at everything, and never show weakness, or something bad will happen.

I struggle with this regarding my weight loss journey and journey to compete on the bodybuilding stage…. Fear of Failure. That I’ll never get there…

What if we believed failure was full of new insights, wisdom, and knowledge? What if we could see that failure filled us with humility, gratitude, and even a little grit from the battle?

And most importantly, what if we believed God doesn’t see our failures, but sees our future and holds it all in his hands?

But God….

👉Trusting God is a process. As we get to know him, to know who he is, his heart, and his nature, we find that he is wholly trustworthy. We build a history with God that is strong enough to stand against every scheme and plot of the enemy. Then when the storms of life come we are securely anchored in truth.

👉The enemy wants us to believe the lie that we can’t trust God, and he uses our past hurts and disappointments to cloud our view of God and convince us that we can’t rely on him. He is going to try to get us to see God in the way that will wound us the most.

He wants us to blame God for anything that goes wrong in our lives.

He wants us to bury and deny we ever have an issue trusting God.

By sowing these seeds of mistrust, he attacks our peace and happiness from every angle and steals the security and acceptance we enjoy in Christ. He does anything and everything he can to keep us from trusting in God.

Our job is to be aware of the enemy’s tactics and see them for what they really are: lies. Then we need to battle against the lies with truth. The truth is that we know God is trustworthy, present with us, and deeply loving towards us.

We CAN trust Him with EVERYTHING!!!

August Update

 This month is quickly passing us by!!!

I can't believe that I'm going to be 51 in a matter of a week! HOLY MOLY CANOLI!!! 

I think that I'm finally out of my mental funk and getting my MOJO back to stay on plan, workout, and do better overall! Since this mindshift change, I've lost 8 lbs and 3.5" overall in 2 weeks time!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!

How is everyone doing?? How is your journey going?

Goals.... Mindset... Achieve!

 This month I have been learning so much about myself on this health journey...

It all comes to mindset - changing the negative to positive - not listening to the voice that is not of God saying that I can't do it - I'm not worth the effort - I'll never be able to compete in bikini bodybuilding competitions... 

But this is what I've learned through my quiet times with Jesus:

• I need to reprogram my mind and release myself from captivity. This is how I unleash my full potential and free myself up to then help other people rise to do the same.

• The solution is twofold but straightforward. First, identify Christ’s thoughts on a matter, and secondly, align your own thinking under the rule of His truth
• God looks at your future, while the enemy tries to keep you in your past.
• God says, “You can, in spite of what has been done!” The enemy says, “You can’t, because of what you have done!” God will never define you by your past issues, but the enemy will try to confine you by them. Whether it is the good, bad, or ugly that dominates your life up until now, it is Satan’s goal to keep you chained there.
• Never let my yesterday keep me from my tomorrow. Learn from yesterday, but don’t live in it. My victory comes through learning and then applying what I’ve learned. Becoming who God wants me to be starts with my thoughts.

So, it's all in the mindset - believing that I CAN do this! I WILL do this! Every time a negative or defeating thought comes to my mind, defeat it with God's Word and promises that He gives me.

I encourage you to do the same... you can follow my journey on YouTube or Instagram... 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVkJm2rMCunA3GkIodCt-gQ

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sassy_classy_fat2fitness

Happy July!

 WOW!!! It's July already and the 4th is just a few days away!!!

I'm so sorry for not keeping up with my blog - it's been a little crazy! 

I will post pics of my progress since April - it's been stressful and emotionally hard for a couple of months!

Daddy's Alzheimer's has progressed pretty quickly - he still knows who we are, but I can see where it's just the beginning of that happening. My aunt passed away, a week before that - had to put our beloved dog down. Mama is struggling physically and is emotionally/mentally spent in caring for Daddy, who can be pretty demanding and exhausting in his confusion. 

So, needless to say, it's been a little rough.

BUT - we press on and continue our journey!  

How are you doing on your journey to health??

How can I encourage you?

Top picture is when I started with my Coach - Melanie Martin, IFBB Pro 6.1.20. I had already lost about 60 lbs on my own, but was stagnate for a couple of months and needed help to break that. I was 286 in that picture.  The bottom picture was taken 6.28.21 at my last check-ins - I am 260. Even though the weight is good, I'm shocked by the inches and the change in my body composition! YES! We are on the right track to eventually get to competition stage in body building - bikini or wellness division - not sure yet.

Beginning new things....

 Here it is towards the end of April and WHAT a month!!! I have been stretched emotionally and mentally these past, oh... 6 weeks, but it has created GROWTH! I have started writing my book, created a logo (the last picture posted below), and started my YouTube channel (please subscribe/like/share):  

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVkJm2rMCunA3GkIodCt-gQ

Somehow, I injured myself 6 weeks ago to the point that it was hard to sleep, walk, sit, let alone workout. I was able to get some walking in, but not enough to really feel like I got my heart rate up by any means. 

Yesterday was the 1st day I was able to get back to "work" and it felt soooooo guuuuuuuuuud!!! Am I sore? Absolutely! Am still in recovery from my injury? Absolutely! Am I glad I worked out? Absolutely!!! 

The growth came from having to be "still". It mentally pushed me to make sure that I stayed on my nutrition plan - which I have to say I did NOT do for a good 2 weeks. By eating like that - of course, I gained weight and I couldn't be mad at it or even frustrated. I KNEW what I was doing while I was doing it - so...that's the consequence for those choices. So I'm 1/2 way through a new meal plan and have been sticking pretty close to it - a WHOLE LOT better than the previous 2 weeks! 

All this to say - I don't have to be "perfect" on my plan, water intake, and working out... I am learning to be mentally tough...growing emotionally and mentally....glowing from the inside out... 

It's a process... I have to trust it.... will you?

April is here! O...M...G!!!

 I can't believe that it's April already!

I do have to apologize for not blogging for the month of March, basically... I have been injured these past 2 weeks with back/side spasms and REALLY tight muscles. But that is NOT an excuse why I can't keep everyone up to date.

So far, I'm doing better on the nutrition front and STAYING on plan ... wish I was able to workout in partnership with the nutrition to see MAJOR gains these past 2 weeks... I still lost 7 lbs, but the inches didn't really move... 

I'm trying not to get into a funk of not being able to workout - will do yoga and major stretching to keep things moving and not stiffen up too badly.

How are y'all doing? Comment below! let me hear from you!