I love all the people I’ve gotten to know on social media.  Whether it’s here from the blog, Facebook, Instagram.  You have to check out my friend Jane’s YouTube Channel.  She’s down nearly 40 pounds I think, but she’s got a bubbly personality and she makes me laugh, and she’ll drop the f bomb sometimes, so that’s always a plus in my book Smile with tongue out

You may think I am on social media all the time, but I really only check it out on the train ride to and from work, and then maybe 10 or 15 minutes at night before I go to bed.  So there are plenty of Instagram stories I miss just because I am not on there all the time.  In any event, I am watching Jane’s story on my train ride home last night.  Usually you can hear one of her boys asking for her in the background, which is funny.  But then she started talking about what a crazy week she had, and I was thinking she was going to talk about being tempted at a BBQ, or maybe having one or two drinks more than she planned.  But sadly, her husband had a stroke.  She’d just gotten back from her WW meeting, and he was in the shower and he called her name, and when she went into the bathroom, he was having trouble talking, was numb on one side of his body, and began vomiting. 

911 was called, he was taken to ICU where they gave him a drug that stopped the stroke from continuing.  I had no idea that the “window” for treating someone with a stroke is 3 hours before irreparable brain damage  is done.  Luckily they treated him in time, and after four days in the hospital he’s home.  Once the shock of that “what if” sunk in, they finally realized some things.  1.  Life is being happy.  Happy with yourself where you are, happy with where you want to go in life, and happy with what you have, right now.  2.  Life is short.  Her husband worked a full time job that he hated and worked a part time job that he loved.  They realized that they need to figure out how to make the part time job be full time.  And they called this epiphany their “stroke of enlightenment.”

“100 days of why.”  That is one of the Weight Watchers mottos.  Here are some of the “why’s”of people on Connect:

  • to feel comfortable in my clothes
  • to be able to wear a dress
  • so that having emotions doesn’t mean I have to eat something to deal with them
  • so that my family will get in the habit of being active
  • because I am determined to succeed this time, no matter how long it takes
  • I want to be able to ride an airplane without paying for two seats

Even though I read these 100 days of why on Connect, I’ve never written out my why.  Obviously it’s to get to a healthy weight, which makes managing my diabetes better, but that’s obvious.  Over the weekend I spent hours watching inspirational videos of how people overcame amazing things to build the life that they wanted.  At the recommendation of another WW I follow on Instagram, I downloaded this book on my Kindle and started reading it on my way home.

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This guy was in a serious car accident at the age of 20, just when his life was skyrocketing to success as a top salesman.  He spent months recovering, and even wrote his first book about it, Taking Life Head On – it reached Amazon’s #7 on the best sellers list in 2006.  Then, the unthinkable thing happened, his publisher fled the country with 100% of his royalties, never to be heard of again.  His parents were pissed.  He wasn’t.  “If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from my car accident, it’s that there is no point in dwelling on or feeling bad about the aspects of our lives that we can’t change.  So I didn’t.  I’ve also learned that, by focusing on what we can learn from our challenges and how we use them to add value to the lives of others, we can turn any adversity into an advantage.

It was an aha moment for me.  In the beginning of the year when I was focused and had drive – not motivation, because that comes and goes – but the consistency of tracking all my points (including wine! er, wait, I didn’t have any wine the first two months of the year!) getting my steps in, exercising, etc. did the weight start to go – both physically and mentally.  I felt I could inspire others to do the same because I was taking the necessary steps in changing my own life, and in the process, hopefully motivating some of you to get off the couch, or try a new recipe – whatever.  But once I started to falter a bit, and that focus I had drifted me off course, I became silent.  I hardly cheer anyone on because I feel like I am not worthy to give you praise if I can’t do what I need to do to get to my goal.

I am not sure any of this is making sense, but that last sentence of that quote “to add value to the lives of others” suddenly brought me back to my WHY!!  To inspire others – whether it’s a recipe at a time, or starting Insanity, whatever.  And if I keep THAT as my focus – the reason I am tracking my points, and walking at lunch and making healthy recipes, is to add value to the lives of others, it was my stroke of enlightenment on how to not only get back that drive I had at the beginning of the year, but CONTINUE until I am at my goal.  Which, by the way, is only a mere 28 pounds.  My goal is to get there by December 31.  That’s only 5.6 pounds a month from August until the end of the year.

It’s as if my whole mindset has changed, and I am excited to continue this journey of life “to add value to the lives of others.”

Curious to see where you guys get your inspiration from?  Is it books, friends, family, youtube videos?!  Feel free to send me any links in the comments below. Open-mouthed smile

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My eats were on point yesterday.  I even measured and counted my coffee creamer (ahem, which is something that hasn’t happened in a while – 4 smart points by the way just for that, but it’s worth it).

Breakfast was a picky plate.  Both my bosses were out yesterday so I got to take advantage of the view from my one bosses office.  Walmart had these 5 ounce mini containers of cottage cheese – perfect! (3).  With a hard boiled egg (2) 2 ounces of deli ham (1) and fresh fruit, breakfast was 6 points.

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My sister had an eye doctor appointment, so I visited at her office for a little bit on my walk.  It was still only 72 degrees at lunch.  Love.  I made Gimme Some Oven’s chicken enchilada soup.  Although kept the chicken out when I made it so the kadults could eat it, because it is vegan otherwise.  The base of the soup is only 1 points per two cups, I added 1/3 cup black beans (2), 1/2 cup corn (2) and 2 ounces of rotisserie chicken (1) to my bowl to figure out the points, then added a bit of cheese on top (1) for a 7 point lunch.  I can eat soup 365 days a year, no problem.

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I started Insanity over since I lost my groove over vacation.  I did the Fit Test yesterday and I had to laugh because the last fit test exercise is holding a plank and doing oblique crunches on both sides – Roman thought it would be funny to crawl under my while I was in the plank position, and Rummy came over and started to lick the sweat off my neck.

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I was just starting to make dinner when Jacob texted me and said “what are you making for dinner, I can’t do this vegan thing anymore.”  I have to give him props – he did a completely plant based diet for nearly a week.  When I sent him a picture of beef, he sent me a picture of someone crying with happiness.

I made a quick bone broth mushroom sauce to pour over the steaks.  Once the steaks were cooked in my cast iron skillet, I took 1 cup of beef bone broth (which you can buy at Walmart!) and mixed in 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 1 teaspoon of chopped dried rosemary, salt and pepper to taste.  In the pan I added a cup of sliced mushrooms, scraping all the bits on the bottom of the pan, then after a minute added the bone broth mixture and cooked the sauce for another 4-5 minutes, until the mushrooms were cooked through and sauce thickened.  It was only 2 points for the whole cup, so my portion added 1 smart point.  I ate 5 ounces of the beef, and am having the rest for breakfast this morning with an egg white spinach omelet.   On the side were more homemade fries, and dinner came in at 11 points.  #trackinglikeaboss!

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I got up early because a plumber was supposed to come over and check out one of my sump pumps.  Tony bought a new sump pump a month before he died, but I never got around to having someone install it.  I’ve watched YouTube videos on how to install it, but electricity and water makes me nervous, so I’ll leave it to a professional.  He hasn’t shown up yet, but at least I finished my blog post before I even got on the train this morning.  And my food is all packed and ready to go.  It’s only 60 degrees right now . . .loving it!

Make it a great day!