Sprained ankle a blessing???

Since the beginning of the year, one major focus of mine is exercise and nutrition.  Well on December 28, 2016 I was at Sky Zone with my family and sprained my ankle pretty good.  I wanted to do a flip into the foam pit only to panic right when I decided to go for it.  I came down on the edge of the trampoline instead of on the trampoline and rolled my ankle as I fell into the foam pit.  It hurt soooo bad I wanted to cry.  It is already difficult to get out of the foam pit with an unsprained ankle.  I thought I was going to have to get help to get out.  But I pushed through the pain (and didn't cry) and got out by myself because I didn't want to make a scene from my stupidity.

So needless to say, I am like, "just great" in a negative tone.  2016 wanted to make sure the year ended on a crappy note as well.  I was so looking forward to getting back into a healthy lifestyle routine again after the holidays.  It is amazing how when you eat so much "crap" you feel like crap.  And now I can't even exercise because I can barely even walk.  So of course I wanted to have a pity party with myself.

Well I ended up finding out not long after that the sprained ankle was kind of blessing on my part.  That is because while I was gung-ho about working out and I was dying to do the newest Beachbody workout Core De Force, one of my weaknesses is meal planning.  It stresses me out for some reason.  I like the quote, "fail to plan, plan to fail."  I think the sprained ankle happened because it forced me to really focus on one of my goals which is to meal plan like a pro!  :-)   That way with better meal planning comes better nutrition.

I have tons of recipes but I guess it just overwhelms me.  I have really been liking the recipes on Skinnytaste.com that I went ahead and bought both of the cookbooks.  Between these cookbooks and the Shred 10 (that I will go more into detail in the next post),  I have made some progress.

Also couldn't have made it to this point without my BFF.  I asked if she wanted to be accountability partners.  We ended up inviting a couple of others and we started our own little accountability group on Facebook.  First, she posted this 30-day ab challenge with sit-ups, planks, crunches, and leg lifts that she found.  I am like okay I can at least do this ab challenge with my sprained ankle.  Well then I started to get bored with that but I still pushed through and did most of the days.  But then she encouraged me to do water aerobics or get on bike at the YMCA.  I did do a couple of deep water aerobic classes and they were fun but I just prefer to workout at home.

By this point my ankle was getting better so I thought I would try out some low-impact workouts on my Beachbody on Demand (BOD) account.  Especially since starting this year Beachbody offered every single program on BOD for one low price.  It was $100 for every program (even new ones that come out this year) for the whole year!!  I was ecstatic because you cannot get a gym membership for that low for the entire year!  And I like having a variety of programs because I get bored easily.

So I did some Country Heat and Hip Hop Abs workouts to start.  Until I decided that my ankle can handle T25 and Core De Force with some modifications.  So that is what I am doing now.  I am alternating days with T25 and Core De Force with modifications.  I still don't do a whole lot of jumping yet.  I am loving Core De Force, it is so fun.  It is a mixed-martial arts kind of program.  I never thought I would like kickboxing, martial arts, etc but it is a good way to exert out any frustration.  :-)

So that is where I am at now exercise wise.  Stay tuned for the next post to go more into detail on the Shred 10 and working on my goal to meal plan like a pro.

My New Normal

My new normal started this week for possibly the next 18 to 24 months.  I am now wearing invisible aligners to straighten my teeth.  So far it sucks.  I had already watched You Tube videos on other people's experiences so I kind of knew what to expect.  But regardless it sucks.  But I know I will eventually get used to it and will all be worth it.

Well for starters you cannot eat with them in.  They are on sooo tight that it literally takes me like 10 minutes to get them off so I can eat.  It is torture trying to get them out.  My teeth start throbbing while trying to get them out.  Although maybe this is a good thing because then I can't snack all the time.  :-)   Because right now I only want to take them out if I have to.  I have to wear them for 20 to 22 hours a day.  Only take them out to eat, drink (except water), and brush my teeth.  I have to brush my teeth and floss after every meal.  That is so food doesn't get trapped inside the aligners and discoloring them or get cavities, etc.

I think the reason why they are so hard to get out is because the dentist had to put on an "engager" (or attachment) on one tooth in the front.  It is basically a little dot of dental composite material.  Some teeth are shaped or positioned in a way that makes it hard for an aligner to grab onto.  So this way the aligner has something to attach or "engage" with.  I will end up getting more of those little bastards, I mean engagers during the course of my treatment plan.  The engagers feel weird when I am eating because I keep thinking I have food stuck on my tooth.

I do have some soreness and pain but taking Advil seem to help with that.  The dentist actually had to grind a little off two of my teeth in the back to make a 3mm gap.  So that way the front teeth can move toward the back. This whole process so far is interesting how they do it all.  They scanned my teeth with some machine instead of doing a mold of my teeth.  It takes 3D images of my teeth and can determine each step how the teeth will shift and make all of the sets of aligners.  I wear each set of aligners for 2 to 3 weeks.  So I left the dentist wearing set one and they gave me set 2 to take home.  Then I go back in to get sets 3 and 4 and so forth.

Two things that I was expecting however has not been much of a problem thus far.  I was expecting my gums to be super sore but so far they are doing okay.  It is my teeth that are more sore or a dull achy pain.  The other one was more saliva or at least if I do it is not bothering me at this time.

Even though this process sucks at the moment I am excited to see how this all ends up.  And I seriously hope it gets easier to take them out to eat or I might just starve myself.  :-)   Anyone else out there who has done this?  I would love to hear from you.

The Fullness of God

Last week a friend lost their 10-year old boy.  I cannot even imagine.  Despite this huge loss I am so inspired by the parents of this boy.  I like what the father put on Facebook.  To summarize he said he was so thankful for his family, friends, and community coming together and being so giving and caring to them.  He said he will miss his son everyday but he hopes to be a better person from here on.  But what really spoke to me was when he said he wants to be more outgoing and give back to people as much as they gave him.  And to spend more time with your family and love them.  I completely feel the same way.

Last week I also started reading Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst.  The book is about living loved when you feel less than, left out, and lonely.  I feel like this book can sort of tie into the above paragraph.  Gosh, I don't even know where to start.  But bear with me while I attempt to tie it together.

There is a chapter on feeling alone in a crowded room.  I always thought the problem is that I am not outgoing enough or it is the people not paying attention and trying to include the shy people.  But we cannot put unrealistic expectations on other people.  She then goes on to talk about that we have to walk into the room prepared with the fullness of God and look for ways to bless others.  

Ephesians 3:18-19 says, "may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 

Are you going to be a grasper of God's love or a grabber for people's love in order to satisfy the longing of being loved?  The problem is that when we rely on other people's love then we start to believe the lies of the flesh.  When something happens we will assign thoughts to others that they may have never actually thought in the first place.  And then we feel rejected and uninvited.  The fullness of God comes to us when we abide, delight, and dwell in Him.  "The more fully we invite God in, the less we will feel uninvited by others."  

So how this sort of relates is that just how the father above stated that he wants to be more outgoing and be more giving (and so do I); I can't be more outgoing if I want to run and hide from a lonely, crowded room.  I am hoping this book will help me too with that.  

WELCOME! 2017 WILL BE MY YEAR!

I have always considered myself to be hardworking, organized, detailed oriented, have my "crap" together, etc.  But all of that changed when I had my son, quit my job, and became a stay at home mom.  I cannot seem to get my "crap" together for the life of me.  Most days I am lazy, unmotivated, don't want to leave my house, tired, and depressed.  Of course I want to note that in no way do I regret any of this.  Just wish that I would have been out of this "funk" by now.

In addition to all of that then insert the year 2016. I have never said that any year is the worst year of my life until last year.  Between the above (going on 4 years and still stuck in a rut), my very first dog died, the presidential election, a ton of big celebrities dying, and people going through hard times, it just felt like life sucked.  There was so much negativity going on in the world and in my life and it just left me in a "funk" that I could not get out of.

I vowed to myself that 2017 is going to be better even though there is still going to be bad things that happen.  People are always going through some hard time or another.  I am going to find hope and joy in my life.  I am going to fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes again, be more positive, have more energy, and be happy.  It is time to quit making excuses, quit not finishing things I have started, quit saying life is too hard.  It is time to stop feeling sorry for myself and fight for what I want.  This year is totally going to be dedicated to bettering myself in all aspects of my life and being happier and healthier.

My Inspiration

I am happy to report that so far the last 2 months I have already made some progress.  I am just taking it a day at a time.  That is all we can do right?  I will go into more detail in other posts of what I have been doing.  But so far I did a 10 Day Shred and lost 5 pounds.  My BFF and I decided to start our own little accountability group with a couple of people.  I joined Crystal Paine's (from Money Saving Mom) 15 Days to a Healthier You course.  The course started in January and I am still only on day 6 but that is okay.  I will go more into detail on the days in the course as I go through them.  Lastly, I joined an online book club/discussion on The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

I am excited about what the rest of the year will bring for me.  I hope you will join me on my journey to strive for a better, happier, and healthier lifestyle.  And to find Hope and Joy in life.