Wondering Where to Begin With Clean Eating?

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Sharing Your Experiences With a Positive Twist

Everywhere I go I get asked what I did to my leg (obviously!)  It seems many people have a story of an injury or even an injury related to mine.  They love sharing the details and talking with me but what I have noticed is they make no attempt to give me hope or even try to put a positive spin on the story.  I get things like "oh I was never the same again.  I have to burn all the nerve endings off in my leg which is hard because then if I cut myself I don't know it."  WTF?  What?  Really?  I also had someone tell me that they were "very active like me and worked out all the time but then their knee was never the same again."  They could not lunge or squat or do any of these movements and "it ruined me forever."  Wow.  Talk about knocking the wind out of you.

Good grief!  I am not by any means saying every day is unicorns and rainbows.  Quite the contrary.  BUT  when I get asked about my progress or my injury, I do always try to put a positive ending or spin on it.  I have found so many more positives in this situation than negatives it's not a hard thing to do. It's all about mindset, as most everything in life is.

I started PT yesterday and although it is quite unpleasant, I can see the changes in my leg and know that every day I am one day closer to walking!!  That is all it takes for me to get through the pain.

We all love "real" but make sure you are not sucking the hope out of someone when you give them your story.   Give them something...  Right? That's what I try to do as well when I share with you. It takes me a couple of days to write my blogs to make sure of this.  Another great life lesson for me. 

Cheers to a fantastic Wednesday!

How Hot is Too Hot??

Do you know the signs of heat exhaustion?  That is the subject of this week's newsletter!

Need Help Choosing Sunblock?

This weeks newsletter is for you!  Check it out here!

Feeling the Love! Or Not...

It's a funny thing how situations show us so much about ourselves and other people too. A quote I always think of is "Want to know who you real friends are? Start your own business and ask them to support you." Seriously one of the most true statements out there. People constantly post what car they drive, purse they carry, drink they drink, etc. all promoting large corporations and strangers. Ask them to try a free sample  of a product you sell or heaven forbid purchase something and post about it or tell others about it and you will usually get a much different response! The first question is usually "can I get it at your discount?" What? Really? Does Coke sell you their drinks at their cost? No. They don't.

Being in direct sales for a long time, I know this reality far too well. Those you think will absolutely support you and your new business are usually the ones to provide the least support. Sad but true. I have found something very similar with being injured. Those I thought would check in on me during this time are actually the ones I have heard from the least, if at all! Staying positive for myself and my family and putting everything I have into getting better consumes my day most days. I unfortunately don't have much to give right now to others. And this has made me discover who is my friend for what I can give to them and do for them and who is not. It's also brought people into my life I never imagined would check in with me like they do. What a huge blessing.

Sad but true for the most part. I think some of us grow and change and don't realize everyone around us is not doing the same. Situations like this bring all that to the forefront. Most of us are on a journey to bring the most peace, love and happiness into our lives as possible. Some people not only love but thrive on drama and talking about it endlessly. Things become very clear when you have nothing to give. 

I am beyond grateful for all the universe allows me to see and will certainly use that moving forward as I decide where and with whom to spend my time, energy and love. I encourage all of you to do the same - go where you are loved.  This, yet another amazing lesson brought by a dog walk gone so wrong!

Kicking Off Memorial Day With a Yummy Shrimp Boil

I don't know about you but one of my favorite ways to kick off a long weekend is with a seafood boil. Unfortunately our last burner bit the dust so we started out our Saturday shopping for a new one! It has been about 10 years since our last burner purchase so the thing we immediately noticed while putting this one together was all of the extra parts that our old one did not have. It seems there are several more legs, supports and protectors to keep it from turning over. It took twice as long to put together and we joked about just how many lawsuits had lead to all of this!! Finally together though, we cooked our feast!

Red Potatoes, onion, corn on the cob, crab legs, shrimp and scallops!  (Put in the pan in that order for even cooking.) Super yummy for sure! 

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! 

Gym Bag Monday - Post Workout Recovery

In my gym bag this week I am featuring one of my post work out favorites. If any of you have ever followed a Stoppani program you know one of the post work out tricks is 30 gummy bears or pixie sticks.  If you haven't followed one of his programs you may wonder what this is all about. 

In short, during workout you deplete muscle glycogen so one of the first things you want to do post work out is replenish that glycogen with a fast digesting carbohydrate. I used gummy bears for this for quite a while but realized eating candy seemed to mess with my mindset and I felt the need to eat off plan more than usual. This may not happen to everyone but was a problem for me. 

Enter Post Jym fast absorbing carbs. I can achieve the same result by throwing this in my post work out shake but I don't affect my mindset in doing it. Perfect for someone like me. You can check out Stoppani supplements on bodybuilding.com. I love all of them that I have tried. They are clean and actually have all the ingredients listed on the label which is rare! 

Cheers to a fit week!