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.

Honoring the Fallen

My heart has been heavy these last few days. As some of you may know, I live just outside of Prescott where the Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters were from. I know this story has impacted our nation, but it has especially affected me because it is so close to home. One of our best friends is a firefighter and although I am thankful to say he was not up here when tragedy struck, it still shook me to know he 'could' have been.

Source: via Heroes Memorial Fund

My husband knew one of the firefighters and I have many friends who knew or went to school with some of those men. And even though I personally did not know them, I am deeply saddened by their sacrifice. I have been very distracted this week, so I haven't gotten the posts up I had planned. I cannot seem to escape all that is going on here. My personal Facebook page is flooded with outpourings of support and heart-wrenching stories about the families. Our local news is filled with images of the fire and the men's faces.

I will be the first to admit I am not very religious, but this whole tragedy has humbled me and I have been praying. 

Praying for the wives, children, parents, families, girlfriends, and friends of the firefighters to find strength.
Praying for the lone survivor of the Hotshot crew to find peace about losing his 'brothers'.

Praying for rain to come and the winds to calm so the remaining firefighters can safely contain the fire.

Praying for the 250 families that lost their homes to this fire.

Praying for our state of Arizona during this scary wildfire season.

Praying for the families of firefighters everywhere that were so vividly reminded about how dangerous the job of these men and women can be.

I am blessed and grateful to live in a community that is able to come together in a time of tragedy and show such a great outpouring of love to honor the brave men that died on Sunday. Last night our community had a candlelight vigil to honor the fallen men. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but thousands of people from the community banded together to show support for the families and honor those brave men.

Thank you for allowing me to share my heart with you. Words cannot really express all the things I am feeling. On my personal Facebook page last night I shared that I would love to give each and every one of the wives, children, girlfriends, parents, brothers, and sisters of those brave men a huge hug.

We honor those 19 men for their courage, bravery, and selflessness in order to keep the rest of us safe.