Merry Christmas 2014

 From my family to yours, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! No matter what you are celebrating this holiday season, I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends.

This year has been amazing. I am so thankful to all of you for being here to support me. I would not be where I am today without all of you. I plan to take a little break from blogging from now until the new year so I can focus on my children and my family. I can't wait to see what the new year will bring!

So, until then, have a blessed holiday season!

Love, 
Laura

 

100 Happy Days

For the next 100 days, I am challenging myself to find something to be happy about every single day. It doesn't sound hard, but for a person who has suffered from depression off and on her entire adult life, sometimes focusing on the negative comes more easily than focusing on the positive. 

My word for the year is 'happy', so when I learned about the 100 happy days challenge, I knew this would be a perfect exercise for me to truly meet my goal this year!

I have seen the #100happydays hashtag over and over again. I was curious about it, so I did a little more research. It is a movement that was created by Dmitry Golubnichy. He was feeling like he was in a slump. He challenged himself to find something happy in his day, every day, for 100 days. He chose to post on social media to keep himself accountable. As more and more people saw what he was doing, they wanted to join in, thus 100happydays.com was born.

Once I read about it, I knew this was something that would be beneficial for me. For anyone who has suffered from depression, you know it can be challenging to find the good around you. You can know that you have a great marriage, sweet, healthy children, a roof over your head, you are doing the jobs you love - being a mom and sharing your creativity with others - and yet you still can't seem to see it. Even when it is right there staring you in the face. 

So, for the next 100 days, I will be sharing my 100 happy moments. One for each day. I would love for you to follow along, or even join in. Simply post on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, using the hashtag #100happydays.  

I can only see good things coming from this challenge. We all have so much to be grateful for. Even when times are hard, there can always be a small light in the dark.

You can sign up for the challenge here: 100happydays.com

Update: 60 Day Weight Loss Challenge

Today is the anniversary of my mom's death. My mom passed away from breast cancer at age 36. I was only 8 years old when she died. I have been thinking about her today and the challenges she faced in fighting cancer. And thinking about her young death makes me think of my own mortality. I want to be around for a long time for my husband and children.

I have to admit, I haven't been doing the greatest job of taking care of myself lately. I was doing really well last year. Do you remember when I wrote about doing a weight loss challenge? One of the main reasons I joined the challenge last year was because of my mom. Her weight fluctuated off and on for as long as I could remember. I am sure that it played some role in her cancer. I am turning 35 this year and I am increasingly concerned about my health considering my mom's history.

I was by no means obese, but the extra weight had started creeping back on after I stopped nursing my youngest daughter. I knew what I needed to do to get healthy, but I needed the extra push to get motivated. I can be competitive and I am certainly a perfectionist. So, having a point-based system and a team that I didn't want to let down was perfect for me to succeed.

I ended up losing 16 pounds and 10.5 inches overall.

 

After the challenge ended, I thought for sure I would be able to keep up with the challenge requirements on my own. Unfortunately, with dealing with depression and being busy for the holidays I started to gain a few pounds back after the challenge was over.

I joined the maintenance challenge over the holiday season which kept the pounds off but, I wasn't as committed to that challenge, as the first one. After it was over, a couple more pounds crept back on. I wish I could say that I was still losing weight but I am not.

So, for the next few weeks, I am going to try to do what I was doing before when I was in the first challenge. If I can't stay motivated on my own, I will be joining the challenge again in April. It is important for me to stay at a healthy weight. Not only for me but to set a good example for my kids.

Two of the tools that are really helpful to me are the MyFitnessPal app and the MapMyFitness app. With My Fitness Pal, you can track what you eat, how much you are exercising, and how much water you are drinking. I use Map My Fitness on my phone with the GPS when I walk to track my progress. And now, you can link the apps together to have your exercise imported into My Fitness Pal from Map My Fitness.

I know what I need to do. I just wish it wasn't so hard to stay on track. Even when I know how much better I feel when I eat right and exercise, it doesn't come easy for me. I am an emotional eater. And battling depression has made it difficult to stay on track with making good choices, both with eating right and getting in the amount of exercise I need.

For more information: 60 Day {Body, Mind, Spirit} Challenge

What tips do you have for getting and staying healthy?

Happy Birthday, Mom! {#62}

My mom would have turned 62 today. As I get older, even that age seems young to me, and already she has been gone for over 25 years! The thought of that - that she passed away just after her 36th birthday really hits me in the gut, as I am turning 35 this year. She was only one year older than me when she passed away from breast cancer.

I can't think about it too much or it just makes me too sad. Some days are harder than others. Birthdays and anniversaries definitely bring up a lot of emotions for me. I wish she could have been here for my daughter's birthday party this weekend. I wish she could be here to talk to me about all the things moms are supposed to talk to their daughters about.

I often find myself wondering if my mom did things like me when she was a mom. Or if she was clumsy like I am. We look just alike but I also wonder what other traits we share.

It makes me sad to say I don't really remember much about her. Don't get me wrong, I have memories of her, but I can't hear the way she talks, I can't imagine the way she laughs, I can't remember her mannerisms. This breaks my heart.

Now that I am a mom, I know how much of my heart and soul I have invested in my kids. I was only 8 when she passed away. (My kids are 7 and 4.) I think about how my husband and I are their whole worlds and I remember having that same feeling about my mom. So it seems strange to me I can't remember more about her.

I have a completely different perspective on her struggles and her life now that I am a mom myself. I hope she is having a fun birthday up there in heaven. I know she is smiling down on me, my brothers, and our children.

I love you, Mom! ♥

Weight Loss Journey

I can't believe I am going to show all of you these pictures, but I am really proud of the work I have been doing! At the end of June, I started a 60-day {body, mind, spirit} challenge run by the lovely April. After seeing her amazing transformation from doing a previous 60-day challenge, I was sold!

Basically, there are teams of 4 competing. Our competition includes 38 teams. We each paid $25 to be a part of the challenge, so there is some big prize money up for grabs! You earn points by doing positive things - eating right, exercising, doing random acts of kindness, etc. The reason this challenge appealed to me is because it was a total body challenge. We don't just focus on weight loss, but rather a new, healthier lifestyle!

The best part? After four weeks my team is number one for points, which means we 'could' win $1000 for our team! All the girls on my team have been doing so great!

I am down 9.8 pounds and 6.5 inches! That is just crazy to me! I can't wait to see where I am at in four more weeks at the end of the challenge.

I have been using the My Fitness Pal app to keep a diary of my food and exercise daily. I have tried using this app before with little success. Now that I am being held accountable for what I am supposed to be eating and exercising 6 days a week, it is much more motivating. I think my failure with the app before was I was trying to continue eating poorly and not exercising much and I just couldn't stay under my calorie goal. Now, there are days when I have to eat extra to get enough calories for the day.

This challenge has been hard at times, but it is totally doable! No crazy limitations or anything. Competing with a team has been great. We are all supporting each other to do better each week.