The Bigger Picture

For nearly the past five months, the world has been dealing with the onset of what is COVID-19.  It is a highly contagious and deadly virus that attacks the respiratory system.  It can spread from the smallest amounts of droplets getting into one’s eyes, nose, mouth, and yes even through touch.  Hundreds of thousands of people all around the world have either contracted this virus, died or have recovered from it.

It has been said that the only way to prevent contracting this deadly virus is by wearing proper protective gear, social distancing and exercising good hand hygiene.  In essence, wearing a mask and standing six feet apart when in public, and washing your hands…a lot…for twenty seconds or longer.

Moreover, the world has come to a screeching halt as a result of it.  Economies fail to thrive, mankind has been shut off from interacting with each other except those who reside with them, shelter-in-place orders are in effect all over the world, and the powers that be are in high pursuit of finding a vaccination to help fight it.  The world is in a far different place than we were just nearly 5 months ago.

While it is a lot to take in and get used to at one time, I have stilled myself, prayed and have asked God almighty, what is He saying in the midst of all the noise? I’ve asked, what is The Bigger Picture?

Since praying that prayer, I have been enlightened on some things.  If you analyze all the closures, shut-downs and just everything that means anything to mankind, it seems God wants us to take a closer look at what really matters most.

Prior to now, the world was not a very loving place to be.  It seemed everyone was for him/herself.  The government wasn’t all that willing to assist those less fortunate.  In fact, resources were being taken that should have been given…freely, and to those who need it most might I add.

The spot light is being shone on social injustices to certain classes of people.  Whereas in the past, these classes have been overlooked.

I’m trying to keep things pretty general here. But if you’ve been paying attention to the news, then you’re aware of what I am getting at.

While nearly every American has or will receive either $1,200  (with no qualifying children) or $1,700 ( including $500 per qualifying child), in an effort to provide relief from the loss of resources due to job closures during this unprecedented time. We really know the stimulus payments are to help stimulate the economy, in hopes of preventing a recession due to all of this.  This after indicating there is no money for necessary resources for the less fortunate and businesses and people alike.  Go figure!

Moreover, in the past, people have not been as compassionate and as considerate of others as we should.  Now, people all over the world are praying for the well-being of others and are showing consideration to others in ways that have not been shown in times prior.

Seems the human populace found it hard to be good samaritans, to show respect for its fellow citizens or to just be nice.  Now, people are ordered to remain apart for extended periods of time.  Leaving many with feelings of withdrawal, and feelings of longing for physical touch.  Let’s face it, on the flip side, most of us are physical beings. When it comes to interacting with the people we love, most of us are huggers and touchers.  We love a good hug. When we are engrossed in a good conversation, we tend to give a tap on the arm, shoulder or things alike to get one’s point across.  It is how most of us interact.  Having an inability to interact with our family and friends in this way gives rise to that age-old adage, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I know I miss mingling with my family, my colleagues, and friends!

In fact, in order to maintain some form of normalcy, churches, schools, businesses and other establishments have all turned to social media and technology for virtual meetings and remote learning.  Something we’ve all had to get used to.

I could go on!  But are you starting to see “The Bigger Picture?”

Seems, we need to be STILL,  put God first, become more humanitarian, obedient, more honest, show more compassion and pray more for others and not just ourselves! It really is what Jesus would do!

Heretofore, instead of being an eager beaver and wishing things would return to “normal,” as most, I’m praying and asking God to help me see what I haven’t seen before. I’m asking for clearer vision, to see things the way I SHOULD, not as I want.  I am seeking to do more of those things that I haven’t been doing more of, that He’s drawing my attention to while in crisis.  Hence, I’m asking God to help me see “The Bigger Picture” and become all I have NOT been prior to now!  I don’t believe this is judgment from God. But I do believe God is sending a positive message to mankind in light of it.  It is my prayer we get it, learn from it, press past and pass this test! We CAN do this!

However, if we are paying close attention, our vision will become clearer to what is really going on.  We will prayerfully act accordingly and make the necessary changes to “self” and contribute to the grater good of our society.

It really is a horrific monstrosity of a time we are in.  For this I am incredibly sorry.  I too am praying for all those impacted by COVID -19 as well as for our world at large.  I am praying that God would be our Balm in Gilead! That He would extend His grace and mercy and heal our nations of this awful plague! I’m a firm believer of the Word where it states, what the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good.  We will get through this. But in due time.

I see “The Bigger Picture!”  I pray you do too!

 

#covid19 #biggerpicture #mankind #socialinjustice #clearervision #humanitarian #chilvary #prayerforthenation

 

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Where Did the Time Go?

When I checked my blog posts to see when I posted last, I found it hard to believe that I had only made 2 posts for the year 2019!  How did I lose track of time in this way? I could not help but to ask this question: “Where Did the Time Go?”

I believe the last time I posted, I went on to share that I was ready to “Jump Back In!”  While I did not post after that, I did just that!  About five months later, as I entered the wonderful summer season, I delved heavily into intense cardio, walking by the beautiful Lake Michigan. I walked bridges that I had been contemplating visiting each time I passed them en route to various places.

It was absolutely wonderful!

As I stated, I spent the summer of 2019 rediscovering SELF! I decided it was time I put myself back on the agenda and began doing things that made me happy.  I often call it “self care”, “loving yourself first,” me time” and things alike.  I spend so much time being everything to my family, that I unintentionally left myself behind.

I put things that mattered most to me “on the back burner” as the saying goes.  Those walks along the lake were so therapeutic! They were good not only for building my stamina, but also for my soul, clarity, peace of mind and as I stated, for helping me to redefine the things that make “me” happy.

Here is footage from one of my last year’s walks:

It was absolutely amazing!

This brings backs wonderful memories! It makes me eager to get started once again!

Sharing this vlog makes me ask the same question again… “Where Did the Time Go?” It is nearly summer again!

Since my last vlog, so many wonderful things have happened in addition to getting “me” back on the agenda!  I started a new full time job at work, I got a clean bill of health again (I’m always grateful to God for healing me and leaving me in the land of the living!) and have a lot of new developments for the year 2020!

I am incredibly excited about what’s to come this year! I have declared 2020 to be “The Year of Cassandra!”  You are going to be amazed at the shift that is taking place in me!
Stay tuned!

I am endeavoring to keep pressing towards my goals! With the help of the Lord, every vision, dream and goal will come to fruition at the appointed time! I promise to keep “me” at the fore, to keep doing what matters most to me, on top of everything else, and most of all to keep pressing!  Next year at this time, I expect to have checked all of this year’s goals and visions off my “things to do” list and do plan to avoid asking this same question once again…Where Did the Time Go?”

Ready to Jump In Again

Since it has been nearly five months since my last structured workout, I have to say that my body is “ready to jump in again!”

Before I jump in again, I have to share this fact: healthy living really is a lifestyle and not just an endeavor to drop a few quick pounds here or there. Depending on how well or not you follow all the rules, it may not be so quick after all.

Going on hiatus either intentionally, or unintentionally, has helped me grasp the fact that undoing bad habits requires discipline and time if you are looking to do things the healthy way, inside and out.

Even if you take the quick fix and delve into the crash diet to drop those pounds speedily, you will learn, once you stop dieting and return to your old ways, the weight generally returns. Sometimes more than what you lost before.

Even if you do not return to bad habits, just the mere fact that you have ditched the diet and have returned to normal eating, the weight comes back. This happened to me. I did the Herbal Life weight management program nearly 4 years ago. I was very successful and disciplined as I mentioned before. I was able to lose 34 pounds. I went from weighing 203 pounds to 169 pounds. It was quite lovely! Here’s a picture of those efforts from that time.

Once I was no longer on the program, slowly, I began to gain it all back. And according to the scale, I have a few extra pounds in there as well.  Here is where I am today.T

While I no longer follow the weight management program, I have given myself to the plant based lifestyle. I could even do a bit better there. As lately, I’ve allowed myself to have more pasta then usual. All in all, deleting animal products from my diet has helped me to achieve my current look.

I am healthy inside and out. And I still have a ways to go before getting back down to 169 pounds. But I feel healthy. According to my blood work, my numbers are within normal range. So I think I’m getting something right! 🙂 Discipline pays off!;)

Now that my hiatus is over, as I stated, I’m ready to “jump in again”. I miss my walks and can not wait to get going again.

I am grateful that even though I was not walking, I still got in squats, and kept my mindset on living a healthy lifestyle which is key.

If you are going to change your ways, and undo bad habits, you have to shift your thinking from “weight loss” to “healthy living”. This will propel you into making healthier meal choices, staying hydrated and overall doing what is best for you to maintain good health. I believe once you achieve good internal health, those pounds will begin to shed.

So “I’m jumping back in!” I’m picking up where I left off and can’t wait to start my walks again! I still and will forever have a love for fitness! I will forever endeavor to be “physically fit and holistically free.”

As I, I admonish you, get those walks in and strive to “be deliberate…be fitandfree”!

#anglinfitandfree2019 #healthyliving #walking #cardio #HIIT #healthyheart #stamina #strengthtraining #jumpinagain #bedeliberatebefitandfree #physicallyfitandholisticallyfree

I’m A Survivor!

If you know me, you know that I am adamant about being physically fit and holistically free. You are aware that I am serious about my health and that I absolutely love fitness.

To that end, I try my best to keep my appointments and get my yearly routine screenings, mammograms, paps and things alike. Since your health can change with out you knowing, I like staying on top of  it, keeping my routine appointments. If something were going to go wrong, it were better to know as early as possible. As the saying goes, “early detection is key” if there is anything to detect.

On November 4, 2017, I did what I always do. I kept my appointment to have my yearly mammogram.  As far as I could tell, all was going well as usual. I felt good about my exam. And had no need to worry about abnormal results. I even took to youtube just after having my mammogram with the the following message encouraging my subscribers to stay on top of routine screenings to ensure good health is maintained. Here’s what I said:

While I was hopeful that my results were normal as usual, to my surprise they in fact were abnormal. I thought okay, I will report again to my doctor for a repeat mammogram. After awaiting those results, I would find they were abnormal as well. After getting “abnormal” results a second time,  I begun getting quite scared, nervous and a host of other adjectives that describe the fear that begun to arise as I was afraid I might have breast cancer.

Upon receiving the second abnormal results, I had to undergo a biopsy to ascertain what the microcalcifications were that kept showing up in my test results. December 4, 2017, I received a call from my physician asking if I had time to talk about the results. My heart sank in my chest as I knew this could not be good. As the doctor continued on, he informed me that my results were malignant and that I had Ductile Carncinoma in Situ which was what he called stage zero breast cancer. It was an early stage of breast cancer that they caught in its very early stages. The doctor encouraged me to research the type of cancer I had and encouraged me to see the surgeon for a consultation as soon as I could. I did just that.

When I met with my surgeon to discuss my options and which surgery would be best for my situation, we came up with an aggressive plan for my treatment. And I do mean aggressive.

My plan included several tests, breast conserving surgery in which was called a lumpectomy and several rounds of radiation therapy once I healed from my surgery.

I will not share details from the experience as it was quite surreal. It caused me to know God in a way that I had not  known Him before. I had to totally trust the Lord to handle this situation as it was totally out of my control. I did everything the doctors told me to do. I had every test I had to have. Then finally had my surgery January 11, 2018. All the events leading up to that big day were all firsts for me. It was totally a scary situation. But the more I prayed the more the Lord urged, “according to your faith, be it unto you.” I prayed and cried. Cried and prayed. Prayed and cried. Then cried and prayed some more. All while leaning on the Word of God to help get me through one of the most difficult times of my life. I felt incredibly helpless as there was absolutely nothing I could do to change the situation. I had to totally rely on my faith in God and the expertise of my doctors to get me through this.

Even though it was extremely difficult to take, God had and was with me the entire time.  The way He ministered to me during that time was simply amazing! Let me explain that the type of cancer I had “Ductile Carcinoma In Situ is a type of cancer that is confined inside of the ducts. It could not spread outside of the ducts so it was not an aggressive cancer. However, there was a small bit of cancer that was outside of the ducts that was more aggressive than what was confined inside my ducts. The doctors were concerned that this would spread. I was told the more aggressive cancer outside of the ducts was not happy under the microscope. I was so nervous! The more nervous I became, the more I prayed, cried and leaned on the Lord to help me. I was so hurt that something as this would happen to me given how healthy I had been.

I then had to have an MRI. I was so grateful to God for healing the more aggressive cancer as when the doctors reviewed the results of my MRI, I was informed that the aggressive cancer that was outside of the ducts was gone! I cried and nearly lost my composure as the Lord healed me of the aggressive cancer. He allowed my surgeon to heal me through providing surgery to remove the tiny lump.

After undergoing surgery, later I received my prognosis report and I was so grateful that my prognosis was good! My doctor was successful in removing the lump. She also removed a large amount of tissue to ensure the cancer would not return. Once I healed I had to undergo radiation therapy.

When I tell you God took care of me along with my doctors and radiation oncology techs, please believe me! During radiation, all of my graphs were good every time! And by every time, I mean each and every one of my 31 treatments!

I will not go into all the many details , and I do mean many details and events leading up to during, after and around my diagnosis, surgery and treatment. But I will share I am happy to say that I am Cancer free! I am a Ductile Carinoma In Situ Stage Zero breast cancer Survivor! I had my yearly mammogram this past November 4, 2018 and I was all clear! Which the Lord assured me long before I arrived for the follow up mammogram.

When I saw my breast on the screen and it was “all clear” as was explained to me by the radiologist, just as the Lord assured me, and just as the doctor confirmed, I cried tears of great joy! I apologized to the doctor for my emotions and assured him I was happy! He replied  “no, it’s okay. This is great news!” Great news to say the least!

I thank God for the University of Chicago Medicine, each and every one of my doctors for taking such excellent care of me and for God for giving me the faith and assurance that He was with me through it all. I gained an even closer relationship with my God, my Savior. I got to know him personally as a healer! Going through this ordeal gave me the assurance that “with God, nothing shall be impossible!” I always knew that, but I experienced the scripture coming alive for me during what was, the scariest time in my life.

I will share this photo of my completing radiation therapy. You got to ring the bell on the last day of treatment letting every one know that treatment had ended! I was so happy! That God brought me through it!

I will forever thank God for blessing, healing and bringing me through this difficult time in my life. I thank God that I’m A Survivor! I also wish to thank those persons whom I confided in at that time and the many many prayer warriors who held and covered me in prayer. I felt your prayers through it all! I love each of you and you know who you are!

#breastcancer #survingDCIS #mammogram #routinetesting #imasurvivor

At the Gym

Since my last blog post, I informed you that I was getting back in the swing of things with the fitness aspect of my healthy living lifestyle. I am happy to say that I have added a couple of new things to my regimen.

I bought a gym membership at our local park district and now, I get fit  “At the Gym!” I am loving it! Since so many machines are available to me I make use of the elliptical, stationary bike and of course, the treadmill. I spend time pedaling the elliptical. Which is pretty intense. It really gets the muscles moving! I’ve only gotten up to 15 minutes on it. But it is an excellent workout.

I also started in on getting some miles on the bike. Which works more muscles than I thought. While I get in more miles at a faster pace, I am working my lower section. The amount of sweat generated from pedaling with a heart rate ranging between 120-129 is absurd! But I’ll take it!

While the treadmill is not new to my regimen, walking with inclines is. The steepest incline I have achieved is 8.0 at a speed of between 3.2 and 3.7. It really is an interesting twist. And it gets the job done! I am already seeing results from those efforts.

While “At the Gym,” I also get in mild strength training for my pectoral and biceps muscles. That saddle bag area is stubborn. But I am pressing!

I am heading to the gym this morning. As thus far this week, I have not been. Have to keep “moving my meat” as one of my youtube subscribers says.

The next thing I added to my regimen is a roadmaster bike. I have gone bike riding with my youngest son and I have to say, I really enjoy the challenge. Again, biking inclines is tough. But I’m always up for a challenge.  A quality workout is achieved as a result.

Overall, I am pleased with my progress since joining the gym! It was a smart move to shake things up a bit. Especially, since I have not been walking with Leslie. I will return to Leslie, but I needed a more rigorous walk work out. And walking with inclines gives me just that.

I’m still endeavoring to be physically fit and holistically free!

Here’s a video of me getting in a mile “At the Gym” last week.

#bedeliberatebefitandfree #walking #healthyliving #cardio #heart #strengthtraining #incline #bicycling

 

 

 

Its Been a While

It was never my intention to allow so much time to elapse between blog posts. I know. It has Been a While. Since that time, so much has happened. I experienced a health challenge that brought me to a screeching halt and forced me to give major attention solely to the matter at hand. One test led to another, and another and then surgery. The whole ordeal took quite an emotional toll on me.  Hence, the lengthy delay between blog posts. I’m not quite prepared to share the experience with the world as yet. However, I do thank those who knew and held me in prayer.  I am incredibly grateful to God for blessing and bringing healing to me! He is awesome and so amazing! And trust me, testimony time is coming!

Since the rest of life was pretty much at a months-long stand still, I am just now getting back on track with the fitness aspect of my healthy living lifestyle. Since around April 2018, it has been challenging securing consistent walk workouts weekly. Some weeks are better than others.

While my routine is not quite back on track, I am still pressing and will continue my endeavors to be deliberately physically fit and holistically free! I could not work out as much during my down time. But I held true to my vegetarian lifestyle. It is definitely paying off.

It is amazing how life can happen and offset every thing you’ve worked so hard to achieve in the world of health and wellness.

Moreover, I thank God again for bringing me to this point.

I’m in the rebuilding phase of the fitness aspect of my healthy living lifestyle. So bare with me as I work my way up to a healthy number of weekly workouts. It has been challenging to keep up the pace. However, I am confident I will achieve once again, 3-4 workouts per week.

Although Its Been a While, hang in there with me. You

will see more consistency from me now that things are back on Track” Pun intended. 🙂

Keep pressing! Be deliberate…Be fitandfree!

#healthandwellness #healthylifestyle #fitandfree

 

 

Tell Me, Have You Seen Her?

If you have been following my weight loss and fitness journey for a while then you are aware that my all time favorite motto is “physically fit and holistically free”! While I am adhering to being “holistically free”, lately I’ve not been as “physically fit”. Which inspired this blog post…“Tell Me, Have You Seen Her?”

Having said that, I’ll start this blog by answering the question. Typically, on any given week, you can find me walking to Leslie Sansone, engaging in squats, walking outdoors and essentially engaging in getting “physically fit” as I indicated. But for the past 3 months, I’ve gone on an unintentional fitness hiatus. And I must say, I feel horrific!

Since I’ve had a wonderful life change that has been in the making for quite some time now, a change that has been incredibly awesome, yet definitely exhausting, I’m finding myself feeling physically challenged and my workouts have been drastically reduced. I re-entered the work force on a part-time basis after nearly 10 years. I have the privilege of overseeing more than 600 students throughout the day at my children’s school. While I love it, I am finding myself feeling physically exhausted at the end of the day. Which pushes working out to the back burner. While getting my workouts in is at the fore of my  mind, I can’t seem to pull myself together enough to actually get them in. I’m working on finding a balance so that I can make a fitness come back.

Just prior to starting work again, my workouts were starting to dwindle to maybe 1 or 2 per week. This is totally off course for I. Typically, I get it in at least 3-4 times per week. Now, I am barely getting in a few squats and some leg lifts and walking in place. My once firmed and toned body, has now returned for the most part to atrophy. My muscles feel stiff, I do not feel as agile as I once felt and I no longer feel as physically fit! Did I already say how horrific I feel? I have been asking myself, “Have You Seen Her?”

The “Her” I am referring to is the physically active, athletic me”! It seems that person has vanished! I am not totally gone, but I have definitely slowed down to a crawl!

I  still have an active and fitness mindset, I am just making a mild readjustment. Which I am thinking is a good topic  to explore for my next blog post.

Bare with me family as I make my fitness comeback. I am still in the game, I am still on my healthy lifestyle journey.  I just have to bounce back on the fitness side. which I am planning to do starting today!

I miss my workouts! More importantly, my body misses my workouts! This could explain why I am so exhausted by the end of the day. Getting in at least 30 minutes of cardio daily helps! Getting in 3 miles 3-4 times per week are even better! Which is what I will strive to return to.

Since my body is out of practice, I will start with 2 miles to get my body used to cardio again, as well as High Intensity Interval Training. Leslie Sansone walking is good for that, which is where I will return, to begin again!

As I stated, I’ve  been on an unintentional hiatus, but I’m making a comeback. You will see “Her” again!

Oh, and one last thing, while I haven’t been as engaged in my usual workouts, I am still doing a wonderful job maintaining my vegetarian lifestyle! That’s going really well! At least that has remained consistent! Stay tuned for my come back and my next blog post on “RE-Adjusting!

#walking #fitness #lifechanges #lifehappens #breaks #bounceback #fitandfree #underfitnessreconstruction #stillanflinfitandfree #agility #atrophy

UNDER RECONSTRUCTION!!!!!!

It Really Does Happen In the Kitchen

Since the start of my weight loss journey I delved deep into walking as part of my efforts to get my weight down from 224 pounds to 160 pounds. Initially, I walked, but I did not have a handle on portion control at meal times.

While I committed myself to a healthy walking regimen, I soon learned that all the working out in the world would not help you lose weight if you did not get how much you ate under control. I had to learn even though I was eating healthy, I still had to control how much food I put on my plate and actually consumed.

As that ah ha moment occurred, I began making changes to the amount of food I served myself. I quickly found the old saying “Bad habits die hard” to be true. I also found, you absolutely can achieve this goal if you really want to by simply, just doing it! I did!

Once I got portion control, under control, I further learned that losing weight really “Does Happen In the Kitchen”.

You can walk a thousand miles every week, but if you never control what and how much you eat, then it will be as I always say, as milking the cow and kicking the bucket over.

I’m no nutritionist, but I can advise from my experience, to focus on whole foods, more fruit and vegetables, and if you can, get those animal products from your diet. You really do not need them for protein. Since protein comes from plants and appear in everything you eat, you can totally do without them.

Since I am a witness of weight loss happening in the kitchen, I can encourage you to get in their, learn how, and make it happen for you as well!

 

#weightloss #healthyeating #cleaneating #plantbaseddiet #wholefoods #80/20rule #walking #diet #exercise #vegetarian #plantbasedlifestyle

 

 

Water Moves

Making unhealthy bad food choices and not getting in the proper mix of vitamins and minerals can lead to feelings of bloated-ness and eventually to constipation. To get rid of the problem, some physicians may suggest that you ingest stool softeners or other medications that are known to loosen bowels and cause a steady flow of elimination.

While I am not in the business of discrediting physicians, I am in the business of finding healthier, more natural alternatives to bring healing to the body. With that in mind, I have noticed that in lieu of using medications to ignite a healthy elimination of stool, a simple warm glass of water typically helps move things along and gets the job done!

Every morning, I start my day off with at least 16 ounces of warm water. While I did not begin my water regimen in hopes of eliminating waste, but to jump start my daily hydration intake, I noticed shortly after consuming the warm water, it resulted in a healthy elimination of waste. Too much information? I know! But on my journey of being fitandfree, I endeavor to keep you informed  of healthy alternatives and tips that work.

As always, since I am in no way a nutritionist or doctor, and by far am not instructing you to discontinue any medications prescribed by your physician,  always consult your physician before making any changes to your regimen, I am suggesting trying natural remedies that really do work. And warm water to help move waste through your intestines is one that works!

Don’t take my word for it. Go ahead and give it a try! When the good Lord awakens you in the morning, start your day right by having a warm glass of water. Water really does Move things along.

This blog is probably too much information to take in for today. But if we’re going to be as transparent as can be on this journey, sharing the good, the bad and the ugly is key.

 

#water #hydration #elimination  #waste #healthydigestion #flowingfreely #naturalalternatives #healthy #h20

When Change Occurs

On any given day, you will find me engaging in kick-backs, side steps, knee lifts, walking side-to-side and getting in a mile, or two, or three with my walking coach Leslie Sansone. My regimen typically consists of  a healthy 3-4 workouts. Sometimes 5 workouts per week, walking with Leslie, or by the beautiful Lake Michigan. However, if you’ve read my latest posts, then you are aware of the shift in my workouts from ‘structured,” to “unstructured.”

Over the past two months, there has been a significant CHANGE in my overall regimen. It has gone from me getting it in consistently and intensely, to almost completely sedentary. Which is a no-no when it comes to how energetic I feel throughout my day.

Initially, I could not understand why I was going from feeling agile, strong and healthy, to feelings of aching joints and muscles slowly slipping into atrophy. My mind was telling me to “get that workout in.” But based on the incidents that continued to occur, my body was clearly saying “you need to rest.”

With all the sudden breaks in my fitness regimen, I turned my attention and analysis to the only obvious question that would yield clarity to my ambiguity. That question is “why is my regimen CHANGING?

I began examining why the sudden change in my body and stamina were occurring, when in the recent past, I felt so vibrant, agile, flexible and strong. The realization I ascertained was an eye-opening life lesson that will forever be stored in my psyche’s wall of wisdom.

I have been on a weight loss journey, and now, a lifestyle change for the past 5 years. When I commenced my journey, I weighed 224 pounds, was grossly out of shape and had MUCH to lose. Hard work and intensity were my plight if I were ever going to achieve my weight loss goal of 160 pounds and good health. Having that mindset, I prepared myself mentally for the road that lay ahead, dug right in and begun the path on the journey that would lead me to good health and wellness. I began walking and working out. My workouts were often and greatly Intense. I walked a lot. And I walked often! I put A LOT of HARD work into getting my weight under control. As again, I had much to lose. I am incredibly proud of my efforts.  As I was able to get down from 224 pounds to 169 pounds. Sounds impressive?! Yes! But it was not easy. It took time, hard work and dedication. But I did it! I was not only successful with losing weight, but also achieving good health. After so long, I went to my doctor, had my blood work done and all of the results of every test, were well within normal ranges. You can only imagine how happy and proud I was to see that my hard work and diligence paid off. This is just an excerpt of my story. You can refer to my first blog post to read my whole story on how I got in that state, and how I achieved a doable weight and more importantly good health. I am living up to my motto living “physically fit and holistically free!”

Now that you know a little history on my journey, you will understand my contemplation and analysis on CHANGE as referenced in this blog post.

When I first begun my weight loss journey, I had much to lose and so I HAD to put in a lot of HARD work. Even after I was successful in my efforts, I continued on that same path. Putting in a lot of HARD work and intensity. Due to injuries that were naturally happening to me for no apparent reason, I was forced to take a look at the CHANGE that WAS OCCURRING in my regimen.  I learned I no longer needed to work out as intensely as I did when I started my weight loss journey. Before, I had to work out at that pace and intensity because I had much to lose.  Now, since I have been successful in getting my weight down and in good health, I only need to exercise to maintain the results I have achieved.  I learned that I still need “Diligence” to maintain. But I could fall back a bit on the “Intensity.” Right now, I need to walk to maintain my healthy heart and engage in enough activity that would maintain my weight. Even if it is only for 30 minutes a day. Sometimes, when we are not focused and in tune to the simple life’s lessons we are to learn, God has a way of intervening to ensure we get it. I’d better pay closer attention. 🙂

I thank God for being concerned about me, providing wisdom and teaching me balance on how to stay in shape and good health. I couldn’t see that I needed to change my regimen, reduce the intensity and get in a more maintenance work out mode versus putting so much unnecessary stress on my body that it no longer required. Since I did not see that I needed to fall back, and redirect my efforts, He allowed nature to happen so that I could take a step back and see the Change I needed to implement on my own, that He allowed to occur naturally. I thank God for giving me wisdom. Too much of a good thing, can be bad for you. Even exercising out of place.

Change is necessary!

WHEN CHANGE OCCURS, take a step back, assess why it is happening and welcome it. It is only working for your benefit. I am grateful that I am gaining a lot of wisdom,  on health and wellness. But I am even more ecstatic, that I am being committed to maintaining a life of being “fitandfree!”