Survivial Archives

A Happy Grouch?

Is it possible to be a happy grouch? Not certain about this one…

Had a very bad evening today…just felt so many cravings and was hungry and very grouchy … To top it all off, I gave in to a few too many cravings which then made me feel weighed down and even more grouchy and lazy too! ?

With the encouragement of a friend, I forced myself to do a 20 min cardio workout then tried really hard to smile for the camera. I do admit feeling a wee bit better after exercising, but still feeling bloated and so grouchy! Grr…

Not sure if I am still recovering from my cruise vacation, or if it is life challenges getting me down…but sure hope that a good night sleep will get rid of how I feel. Tomorrow is a new day, right? ?

Give me some positive encouragement in the comments to lift me up please! ?

#lifechallenges #difficultpeople #stress #therealworld #AthleticGrandma #FitnessGal1969 #theplateisfull

Smile to have a better day

If every morning could feel this way… It would be awesome 🙂

The baby woke up happy, my spinach and egg omelet cooked perfectly, my coffee got made, my lunch got packed, and everything done in a relatively relaxed manner, and even got out of the door on time today 🙂

It is always nice to have a great smiling start to the day! When you start with happy and positive… It tends to carry you in that manner (and attract the same thing back to you) through the day, which is awesome 🙂

Smiling has been shown to increase happy chemicals and positive feelings on the inside. Not only this, but the people around you will generally be more positive if you are… It truly does rub off on others and makes for an even better day for you! ??

So, take a few moments to really SMILE to yourself and to others today! ?

Bunged up and Bloated..what’s the answer?

Oh man…after 7 days of vacation (5 on a cruise) and all restaurant meals with much higher fat and sodium than I am used to…I feel like a big bloated puff-ball whose GI system is a little on the backed up side.

For those of you familiar with the fluid retention grading system, I literally have 3+ Pitting Edema to my knees and it feels like my feet are under pressure when I try to walk!

Holidays are awesome and relaxing, but I sure am looking forward to getting home to my own healthy clean meals and to my grandson!!! ??. (Not looking forward to the snow though!)

Have you ever had it this way? A stretch of time with a LOT of high calorie, fat and salt foods and end up having a hard time transitioning back to “normal” healthy portioned-control eating after this? When I get home, I am going to do a very healthy 3-day cleanse which will give me a system reset and hopeful help to get me back on track!! I will keep you posted about my experience with this one! ???

#holidaybloat #cruisehadlotsoffood #3daycleanse #cruiseoasisofseas #fitnessgal1969 #AthleticGrandma #fun #itwasworthit #needtogetbacktonormal #NP #coachinglife

Frog Burpees on the Caribbean

Now THIS is something I have never done before! Frog Burpees with Tony Horton as I am sailing through the Caribbean seas!!

These are tough to do and doesn’t take long to get out of breath! Once I completed this workout today, I was feeling incredibly good!
HEY, even if you are super busy or on vacation, who can’t fit a 22 minute workout into their day?

Once I get back to Manitoba, I will be setting up a free clean eating bootcamp then will be starting both a boot camp and 21 day support and challenge groups on Mar 28th! Are you interested in joining me!? Comment below or message me privately if you want in!!

Like my shirt says…”Don’t quit…if it hurts it is working!!” It’s so true! Don’t give up on yourself! It’s hard to change from our old ways but getting OUT of that rut is fun and rewarding!

Mondays are NOT awesome, are they?

I am happy that it is Monday today ?. What? Happy that it’s Monday?

Mondays to me signify new beginnings, fresh start, beginning of new plans and I tell myself ” ok, it’s time to hit the new week with some new energy!”

Mondays can seem overwhelming when thinking of the week head, but remember, you can also see it as a clean slate. It is a good time to make new goals and learn from last week’s mistakes. Take advantage of the extra energy you (hopefully) saved from the weekend and use it towards making your fresh start the best it can be.

Many people, including me, use the weekend to restock the house with fresh foods, get the laundry done and feel well-prepared for the upcoming week! I use time on Sunday to prepare healthy food and figure out on paper how my week will play out. I figure out what workouts I will do, cook the primary proteins for our meals…to be prepared. This helps me to start the week excited and on a more positive note.

How do you feel about Mondays? Do you see them is a pain in the butt, or do you picture Mondays as potential for something new… an impetus for a new goal… maybe some fabulous new idea that you want to implement?

Yes, I know Mondays typically have a bad rap… In the sense that we hear the old complaints. “..oh here we go again start of a long week” …” oh my gosh I still have five more days to go before the end of the week…” …”Its Monday…” (with a droopy face) is the common response to a “Good morning, how are you this morning?” But… if you think about these complaints, it is truly a negative way to start your week.

Mondays really do have the potential to be the most awesome day of the week for many reasons. What are some ideas that you have about how to start Mondays in a positive way? How can you help others to feel more positive on Mondays?

I hope you do have a great day and a positive week… And I look forward to hearing your creative ideas about how to make yours and others’ Mondays awesome in the comments below!! 🙂

Chronic Stress is Toxic to our Body

STRESS affects not only our health but also our weight loss efforts

The stress itself, at least in small doses, isn’t bad. It’s normal and needs to be dealt with. But, when it’s chronic as it often is, it can be detrimental to your efforts.

When that fight or flight response kicks in your body surges with hormones – at first adrenaline to keep you moving and later cortisol to store energy for future use and keep you ready to act. Constant stress means constant release of cortisol which, over time, can result in insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome (incl diabetes). In short, too much stress makes your body less efficient at processing sugars as they are absorbed into your body and you gain weight. (Cortisol is toxic as you will see below)

Even if you don’t pack on pounds, high levels of stress make it VERY hard to lose weight as your body clings to it.

So, stress is an issue we need to deal with.

Too much stress has a ton of other negative side effects too, all of which can in turn make it harder to lose weight. You sleep less, are hungry later at night, use food to release stress (due to the brain chemical link and dopamine release of eating rich and fatty foods) and more.

Excessive chronic stress can cause a person to gain weight or prevents weight loss… its the truth.

What ideas or tips do you have that would help others to manage stress? What techniques do you use that you find effective?

Start a Gratitude Journal

One amazingly powerful way to become the kind of person who naturally attracts more happiness, better health, deeper relationships and more overall success into their lives, is to be the kind of person who is grateful for everything that is going on in your life RIGHT NOW.

Remember, life is about the JOURNEY not the DESTINATION.

Grateful people are happier, it’s so easy to always be looking for the next goal to achieve, or to say sweeping statements like “I’ll be happy when….”, but it takes a special kind of inspirational person to be grateful for where their life is right NOW… no matter what challenges are occurring.

One of the best ways to train your subconscious mind to exude gratefulness on an ongoing basis is to simply spend 3 minutes a day keeping a gratitude journal.

3 minutes a day to personal power and a lifetime of happiness. That’s it, it doesn’t take long, but you’ll be amazed after only 21 days or more just how great your life will become, how strongly you’ll vibrate success and happiness, how others will naturally see you as an inspirational kind of person…

…And how you’ll just naturally notice all the good things going on as your subconscious will be looking for them all the time throughout the day.

So… With that in mind… What are you grateful for? Please enter your thoughts below, I’d like to turn this into a BIG gratefulness list full of many Gratitude Journal Ideas for others to look at and read and be inspired.

I will start: I’m grateful for being able to afford a healthy diet, without worry about where the next meal will come from. I’m grateful for my family and that we are all healthy.

What are you grateful for? Please comment below! Read others posts too and be inspired!