Enjoy Where You Are Now

 I do! I am happy where I am right now. I feel really good!

 I sent these pictures to my friend Jamie to see what she thought about my new tankini that I got for my birthday. I asked her if she thought I could actually wear this at a pool or beach right now and she said "Yes you are ready to wear it right now!" I said " A few more pounds to go and then I will wear it." I guess we all are our own worst critics.

  

 I have never really worn a two piece or a bikini. Oh wait, yes I did when I was about 6 and I was very chubby with two long ponytails. My bikini was green I think. There is a picture of me somewhere in Mississippi on the beach in my green bikini. I'll have to find that picture. Anyway, I'm not really very comfortable wearing one these days. I feel like I look fine in it, but I would prefer to feel very comfortable in it. I don't want to look down and see my belly jiggle or my thighs clappin. I also don't have the prettiest or thinnest legs in the world! Our family didn't get the lovely legs gene, but that's okay! ( I will just make them be as strong and solid as possible :-)) Anyway, it may seem silly, but that's just me! I know that nobody else cares and plenty of women of all sizes wear two piece bathing suits.
 My friend said to enjoy how I am right now and just wear it because we don't even know if there will be a tomorrow! That's true and I agree! Although I still want to work towards my goals and not just settle. I know I have come very far and that I look just fine, but I never want to have it in my head to stop now or settle with where I am just because it's good enough. As long as my goals are reasonable and I am working towards them in a balanced, healthy way then I will continue to do what I do. Why not?  We can always be better, work harder, and have new goals whether big or small. I think if we become too content or settled it would be easy to slip in the wrong direction, no longer move forward or improve in some way or another.

 For me working out and eating right are things that make me feel good mentally and physically. If I stop doing that I feel yucky real quick. I am used to it and I like it! I love the challenge and I love learning more and more about health and fitness. I love the mental aspect as much as the physical. It's not something that I will be done with when I reach a certain weight or clothing size. It's just the way I want to live my life. My friend Jamie is right, though. We should just enjoy the way we are right now and be proud that we work hard to be healthy people!

There is a lady at our gym named Abby who is 80 something years old. She is there every day! She goes to Zumba, Spin, Yoga, Turbo kick and who knows what else! I want to be like that when I am her age. Every time I see her there I think of how I want to be like her!  So awesome!

I know everyone has different goals and desires. Not everyone loves going to a gym or working out hard. Maybe your goal is just to stay as healthy as you can,  become more flexible,  take a walk every day, kick a bad habit, or choose healthier foods. Maybe you have very ambitious goals, like wanting to complete a Triathlon ( not me) or win a bodybuilding competition ( not me).  Any goal, even simple or small goals help keep you going and working towards something. It always feels good to achieve or conquer. It just makes us become better versions of ourselves! We should also not be too hard on ourselves. Everyone has hard days and times you just don't care or feel like doing good, but no big deal! Tomorrow is a new day!

Some of my goals right now are things like losing that little bit of belly fat covering up those ab muscles I work so hard on, building more muscle all over, getting my ACE personal trainer certification, and going back to school in the Fall to get my degree in Sport Management, Wellness, and Fitness. Oh yeah and watching my portions! Even though I choose healthy foods, I tend to want to eat too much of them sometimes. I'm looking forward to doing all of these things!

I have to tell you about this cool free app I found for my iphone. It's called Fooducate and it's pretty fun, handy, and informative especially if you aren't familiar with what foods are good or bad for you. It has a scanner that you use to scan the upc on a food or drink package. It grades the item and tells you what bad ingredients are in it or why it's a good choice. You'll want to go around scanning everything :-)

Try it, you'll have fun with it!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I am staying at Big Cedar Lodge for a night or two in Branson with my son Gabriel. We are driving my grandma home and she lives about 45 minutes from there. It's always a beautiful place to go! Hope you all have a great rest of the week and most important of all.......