These got me...

If you follow me on Twitter you know I share a range of things I don't constantly write about here.

Those 140 characters are an amazing way to stay short, sweet and focused.

I am always looking for ways to challenge myself, test my fearlessness and learn something new about myself and the world I live in, in general.
I don't want to label myself as all things stress free and not practice it more often than not.

I am always looking for fun ways to workout, eat better, have fun in the kitchen and improve myself.

Several weeks ago two things caught my attention, Katie Couric and her #fedupchallange and a Plank challenge at #30dayfitness.

I took Katie Couric's challenge and stopped eating all processed sugars for ten days. I started reading more of my food labels and noticed that practically all we eat has some form of sugar and let's not get into all the salt OMG!
For ten days I ate nothing but fresh fruits, lots of greens, drank lots of water, snacked on a variety of nuts. I drank strawberry and mint flavored water when I felt urge for a candy. To my surprise I did a lot better than I imagined especially since I have been eating candy every day of my life since I can remember. After the ten days I found I really didn't need or even missed having sweets everyday. I treated myself the weekend after to a Ben&Jerry Red Velvet Cake Ice cream and I only ate a few half spoonfuls.

My second challenge and one I am still doing is my 30 days of Planks. My daughter did this a while back and when I saw her I thought she was nuts. It looked painful but I was proud she stuck it out and she was very happy with her results for Prom time lol.
So when I surfed the web few weeks back and ran into this I said why not. I do some form of planking in Yoga, how hard can it really be (forgetting I had seen my daughter last year)?
OMG!! I am barely up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds and I am in tears!! Yes I started at 20 seconds and have come this far but I have to end my 30 days at 5 minutes!!

I don't care for rigorous workouts, I don't enjoy sweating in that form and I don't like the feel of must do exercise to get into "shape". I don't care for diets or restricting myself from anything especially if I feel forced.
What I have come to admire and respect is the commitment it requires for one to get themselves to place in their lives where they are content with who and what they are fully.

As I have shared before I practice Yoga and Meditation, I walk for about 2 hours several times a week around my neighborhood park and that is my routine, that is my workout. I am content with that.
I eat a variety of things, I eat in moderation but I never deprive myself or feel guilty about anything I eat. I used key word...moderation.

I don't do before and after pictures, I gauge how far I have come by how my skin feels and how content I feel when I take a deep breath. I make sure to thank myself for trying, every day is a new day a new baby step.

I looked at myself in the mirror the other night after my planks and saw stretch marks in my belly area. Nothing grotesque, nothing alarming but for a brief second I was like "oh". I am grateful that my skin tone is such it actually is lighter than most women and people have in general. It was the "oh" moment that made me write this because after that moment I smiled and got very teary eyed.

I looked around my home and saw the reason behind those marks, the love of my life, my pride and joy, my daughter. These got me, those tiny marks on my belly bought me to motherhood. To a journey that no words can really express but my smile can tell you stories. To a life that I wish for all, which is a life of gratitude, peace and kindness. So to these got me...thank you!!

Lets find something we can stick with, something we can enjoy and we can benefit from at the same time. We must stop looking at these magazines, models and celebrities and wishing we were them. Unless you go under the knife or work as hard as they do, you will not look that way. It requires hard work and commitment to achieve anything in life.

How committed are you? What will it take for you to be content? What do you do to achieve a stress free life?

30dayfitnesschallenges.com
fedupmovie.com

These got me...