Feeling Fabulous!!!

I usually like to stick to encouraging YOU and things of that nature on my blog but today I just have to share something with you!

I am going to give you a little background first..........

I grew up being the chubby kid and much of my "issues" have stemmed from my being overweight the mojority of my life. Not that I feel defined by my weight, just that I have NEVER felt secure and comfortable with it.
 That may have been quite a contradiction.
Here's the thing.
 I was TOLD how big and clumsy I was so I believed it and it became my identity.
So even when I was not, I felt I was.
When you are living with  those old tapes playing in your head it is difficult to believe otherwise. I have come a long way from that, yet as I have aged I have found it more and more difficult to lose weight and stay at a healthy weight.
Not only that,but I have also been living with a chronic condition called Fibromyalgia (I know I have mentioned it on here before). Those symptoms can be quite painful and debilitating. So I am always striving to find a way to improve those symptoms and to rise above them.

On to the GOOD news!
I began a "nutritional re-balancing cleanse" and after 11 days I lost 16 pounds and feel FABULOUS!!!!
I am far from a "goal weight" but more importantly I feel as if I have found something that is helping me to feel good internally! My body is feeling the positive effects of cleansing out the toxins and being balanced with proper nutrients. It's truly amazing!

My husband did the program with me and he lost a whopping 21 pounds in the same amount of time! He does not have much to lose, but he was all for losing a bit and gaining some energy and good health.

I would like to share this video with you.....
If you are interested in this product when you are done, just let me know!!!!

We are not defined by how we look or how much we weigh, yet if you are like me you want to look good and feel good so you can live your best life for Christ!!! When we are at our best we are more strong and confident.

XO Love & Blessings to you!!

http://isamovie.com/whatsAgingYou.html

I LOVE New Years!!!!!

A fresh start...
A clean slate....
A new chapter.....

However you see the new year, one thing is for sure, it does us good to pause and reflect over the past. Not to dwell on and fret over the bad parts, our mistakes and blunders....but to learn and grow from them. To use them as stepping stones into the future. No lessons are wasted if we learn from them.

As we enter into the new year with an empty calendar waiting to be filled up, take time to think about what filled up the calendar last year. How much of that did you WANT? How much of it was just getting by and muddling through? How much of it was focused and deliberate?

If we don't plan and set goals we will just flounder and find ourselves at yet another threshold of a new year wondering what happened to the time! Why didn't I get anything done? Why have I not seen change and progress in my life?

I make it a practice every year to sit down with my calendar (I jot down what happens on a daily basis, just a few sentences as a synopsis) and recall all that filled my days, where I went, what I did, who I was with, that which made me happy and that which I sure would like to do without next year.
Of course much is out of our control. I sure cannot tell the US Marine Corp to quit sending my son to war! However there us much that is in our control if we really think about it. A lot depends on the choices we make.
When I am looking over my calendar I like to take stock of what took up my time and evaluate if that lines up with how I WANT my life to be filled, how I feel God has meant me to live this life.

Once again there are certain things we MUST do. Most of us have to work, and that will undoubtedly take up a large portion of your time. How you fill the rest up, is up to you.

In my case I function on limited amount of energy due to my chronic health issues. I try to carry on and act like that is not a part of my life. Yet in reality it determines a great deal. If I have used up my energies doing things that really do not matter to me then I have nothing left to give to those things that DO matter.
It is a terrible thing to find yourself void of stamina and energy when you want to spend time with your grandchildren! So, I am learning....ever so slowly....that I am not superwoman and no longer the energizer bunny my husband once dubbed me. Unfortunately try as I might I have limitations.....
I ONLY tell you this to open your eyes to YOUR OWN limitations. We ALL have them.

What are yours? Identify them. Know what they are so you know what it WILL take to be able to fulfill your desires. What saps you? What drains your energy levels?

There is an old exercise that is fun to do....Create a list of DRAINS and FILLS.
Drains being those things that sap you of energy, happiness, peace, etc. FILLS being those things that make you feel good and happy and peaceful.
That might be a good place to begin as you ponder the new year and how you WANT to spend your time and energies. Keeping a list like that handy to refer to now and then will surely help you remember what really matters and what does not. What you forgot to remember...and what you should be forgetting about....

There is definitely no better time to start than NOW....the new year, the fresh slate, the clean page......

Okay, I need to get back to my lists and those calendars that are begging to be written in! I think I will schedule in some time for pursuing some of my goals for the new year. How about you!?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May God bless you and keep you all the days of your life!!
XO
Sherry

Our Natural Resources

Time-Energy-Money
Our natural resources in life.

These are the things that we are constantly seeking.
There never seems to be enough of any of them.

If you are like me when you were younger you never thought that ENERGY would be one of them.
I mean, I would wake up with plenty of energy and I could go and do all day long...no problem. Get a good nites sleep (and that was not always a "long" nites sleep since I am a night owl) and wake up feeling ready to face the new day.

As for TIME well, there was plenty of that too, or so it seemed for the most part.
It seemed as if we had all of life to do the things we wanted to do. But as we all know, those days draw in closer and closer the older we get.

Then there is MONEY. Although I have never been in a place where I did not have to be careful, watch my money, budget, etc. I am thankful we have always had what we needed. There were tough times, but God always provided.

Here's the thing.....

With money you work hard and at the end of the pay period you get paid and you are "replenished".

With energy you get a good nites sleep and you are restored....ready to begin again.

With time you get a new 24 hours each and every day...no one has more than another, this is one place we are all equal.

Once I found myself living with a chronic condition that depleted my energy I began to see that , unfortunately, the resource of ENERGY does not necessarily replenish itself with those good nites sleep.
Also as life goes on we find that pay day does not always do the trick in replenishing our money because we have debt. When those pay days come along we do not get 100% of it to "replenish" our pocket books any longer.
As for time.......well, no matter that technology is super duper fabulous we are still finding ourselves with less and less time. In fact it may be BECAUSE we have such super duper technology that we ARE so busy and our time seems to disappear at a rapid rate.

Why am I bringing this subject up???
Because I have come to the conclusion that the time has come that we CHOOSE how to spend OUR time, money, energy....all our resources. Which also includes our God given talents and abilities....for the very things GOD put us on this earth to do.

He did not make us all the same, we are all needed for different reasons/purposes.


What happens to most of us is we spend our lives doing what we are asked to do, what is demanded of us and never get to the things we want/need/desire. It is a huge waste of God's resources! He put those abilities and talents in us when He created us...they are there for good reason.

I recently read a quote that says it well..........

"Success depends on getting good at saying no without feeling guilty. You cannot get ahead with your own goals if you are always saying yes to someone else's projects. You can only get ahead with your desired lifestyle if you are focused on the things that will produce the lifestyle."

This is not to be mistaken for responsiblity! If you have a family to tend to, that is what you have already CHOSEN. Your responsibilities shall always come FIRST!

It's time to BE who GOD created YOU to BE and DO what HE has created YOU to DO!!!!!
SO....let me challenge you to go out and use your resources wisely. We all know you only have so much of each to go around......spend them well! Make HIM proud!!!!

Fibromyalgia...What Do You Know About It??

It is in honor of National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day that I am writing this post.

I was diagnosed with this chronic condition eight years ago. It was not an easy diagnosis, fibromyalgia symptoms resemble many other conditions, including some that are fatal. I did not know whether to be relieved when I got my diagnosis, first because I still felt so miserable and there was no true remedy and secondly because I had NO idea what fibromyalgia was.

Initially I was prescribed seven different medications. It did not take long for me to find that route only a miserable path of possibly covering some symptoms yet causing others. It was bewildering to say the least.

My personal symptoms have varied through the years from vertigo, extreme muscle fatigue, aches and pains that are widespread and could be in any place in my body at any point in time from the tips of my toes, the bottom of my feet, to the aching of my hands to the consistent headaches that become quite debilitating at times. I struggle with much of what you are about to read about in the excerpts I am going to include from an article I read just today.

I have taken many routes on this journey. Some days are much easier than others but there is not one single day that is not fogged over by the awful symptoms to some degree.

Many of you have no idea what I am even talking about...

what is this fibromyalgia you might be asking.

First of all, I am by far no medical expert, I can only speak from my own experience and share that which I know....which is all I ever try to do.

I came across an article here....http://www.faithfamilyfibro.com/

I want to share it here with you because it is the best I have ever read. I love the way these writers have explained it. (I only hope I am not crossing any lines using someone elses writing). That being said....here we go....

"Fibromyalgia is a complex condition that's difficult to understand, especially if you don't have a medical degree. Because it involves the brain and nervous system, fibromyalgia can have an impact on virtually every part of the body. If you're trying to understand this condition in someone you know, it can be incredibly confusing. When a lot of people see a bizarre collection of fluctuating symptoms that don't show up in medical tests, they decide fibromyalgia must be a psychological problem. A host of scientific evidence, however, proves that it's a very real physical condition."
Following is the greatest analogy to help you understand more....(from the same article)

"Imagine you are planning a party and expecting about 20 guests. Three or four friends told you they'd come early to help you out. But they don't show, and instead of 20 guests, you get 100. You re overwhelmed. That's whats happening with pain signals in someone who has fibromyalgia. the cells send too many pain messages (party guests), up to five times as many as in a healthy person. That can turn mild pressure or even an itch into pain. When those pain signals reach the brain, they're processed by something called serotonin. People with fibromyalgia, however, don't have enough serotonin (the friends who didn't show up to help), leaving the brain overwhelmed. This is why people with fibro have pain in tissues that show no sign of damage. Its not imagined pain; it's misinterpreted sensation that the brain turns into actual pain. Other substances in the patients brain amplify a host of other signals - essentially, "turning up the volume" of everything. That can include light, noise, and odor on top of pain. and it can further over load the brain. This can lead to confusion, fear, anxiety and panic attacks. Most people with a chronic illness are always sick. The effects on the body of cancer, a virus, or a degenerative disease are fairly constant. It's understandably confusing to see someone with fibro be unable to do something on Monday, yet perfectly capable of it on Wednesday. Look at it this way: Every ones hormones fluctuate, and even things like weight and blood pressure can rise and fall during the course of a day, week or month. All of the systems and substances in the body work that way, rising and falling in response to different situations. Research shows conclusively that fibro involves abnormal levels of multiple hormones and other substances. Because those things all go up and down, sometimes one or more are in the normal zone and other times they are not. The more things that are out of the zone, the worse they feel."

Understanding Stress & Fibromyalgia
"Some people think fibromyalgia patient are incapable of dealing with stress, because a stressful situation will generally make symptoms worse. The important thing to understand is that we respond to stress both emotionally and physically. A physical response, in everyone, includes a rush of adrenaline and other hormones that help kick your body into overdrive so you can deal with what's happening. People with fibro don't have enough of those hormones, which makes stress very heard on their bodies and can trigger symptoms. Also, when we talk about "stress" we usually mean the emotional kind, which can come from your job, a busy schedule, or personal conflict. A lot of things actually cause physical stress, such as illness, lack of sleep, nutritional deficiencies and injuries. Physical stress can have the same effect as emotional stress.

Understanding the Fatigue of Fibro
Think of a time when you were not just tired, but really exhausted. Maybe you were up all night studying for a test. Maybe you were up multiple times to feed a baby or take care of a sick child. Maybe it was the flu or strep throat. Imagine being exhausted like that all day while you are trying to work, take care of kids, clean the house, cook dinner, etc. For most people, one or two good night's sleep would take that feeling away. With fibro, though, comes sleep disorders that make a good nights sleep a rarity. A person with fibro can have anywhere from one to all the following sleep disorders: Insomnia, Inability to reach or stay in a deep sleep, Sleep apnea, Restless leg syndrome, periodic limb movements.

Fibro in a nutshell.....

A lot of illnesses involve one part of the body, or one system.

Fibromyalgia, however, involves the entire body and throws all kinds of things out of whack.

As bizarre and confusing as the varied symptoms may be, they're tied to very real physical causes. Fibro can take someone who is educated, ambitious, hardworking and tireless, and rob them of their ability to work, clean house, exercise, think clearly and even feel awake or healthy. It's NOT psychological "burn out" or depression. It is NOT laziness. It is NOT whining or malingering. It IS the result of widespread dysfunction in the body and the brain that's hard to understand, difficult to treat ,and, so far, impossible to cure. The hardest thing for patients, however, is having to live with it.

Having the support and understanding of people in their lives can make it a lot easier."

This article helped me understand so much better and I have this condition!! It helps me to realize that a lot of what I feel is "typical and normal" if there is such a thing in this fibro world. This chronic condition has rocked my world and caused me to grieve over the way things once were. The energy, stamina, and ambition that used to be a big part of my life.

I share this with you so you will understand better, not only me, but anyone you know who has this crazy thing called Fibromyalgia.

XO Love and Blessings to you!