Circumstantially, it's been a rough month for our family. We had three overlapping sicknesses. A cold, a stomach bug, and strep! I am still not entirely sure how that even happened since we barely left the house! With small children, fussy and clingy, it's hard. It's hard to take care of them, feed them, bathe them, comfort them when all you want to do it pull the cover over your head and go to sleep until you feel better. It makes the regular things like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning nearly impossible. My husband and I had a momentary pity party when the last illness rolled around and in the middle of it I realized some things. I have grown. It used to be that a curve ball like this would have thrown me completely off my routine, and there were days in there where I wasn't able to work out or I didn't eat enough but on the days I did feel good, I instinctively pushed play and did my work out. I used my time wisely and went grocery shopping when I got a chance. I made a lot of meals and when we did eat out we chose well.

When I was growing up, my family didn't have a lot of money so treats were few and far between, however, when we were sick that was when we got our fill of ginger ale, root beer, ice cream, and other comfort foods. So, in my adult life, that was the habit that I had formed. I noticed it this time. I felt the pull to run to those things and I was able to consciously make decisions without giving in to that subliminal auto-pilot. I know that probably doesn't seem like much in the light of the discouragement but seeing growth, no matter how small, is always a big thing! I am changing my life and my children's lives one step at a time. I am helping them to form good subliminal habits and I am breaking cycles in my own life. I am living a life by design. Jeff Olsen wrote, in The Slight Edge, that they best way to break a habit is to replace it with a good one. As you become increasingly aware of your tendencies, you choose to replace them with smart conscious choices that turn into habits themselves.

If you have started your health journey and you are wallowing in discouragement because all you can see are the bad habits in your life or " failed" attempts to change, that's  a good thing! You are aware! Awareness has to come before you can change! The next step will be that you become aware BEFORE you do commit the act and you get the opportunity to choose. Every healthy choice gives you more power the next time until it's on auto-pilot! Do NOT tell yourself you can't do it this or its too hard! It is hard but you CAN do it! We all have untapped greatness within us. Your past does not dictate your future. Your heritage does not dictate your future. You have the power at any moment to say that this is not how the story ends for you! 

When I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, there was a baby step out of debt called the Debt Snowball. Basically you pay minimally on all your debts but pay off the smallest one first and then you take the money you were paying on that debt and you pile it onto of the next smallest debt and so on and so forth until ALL the debt is paid off. He recommends this because we are hardwired to see results. If we don't see them, we get discouraged and quit. It's the same with your healthy journey. Maybe you need to lose 50 pounds but obviously the wont happen overnight, so set a goal of 5 pounds or even 2 pounds. Meet your goal! Celebrate it! And then set a new goal. If it's too vague, if its too far off,  it's going to be hard to stay motivated. Learn to be kind to yourself. Be looking for all the things you are doing right! Even things that are not related to your goal.  It's important to see yourself as a whole being growing and become an even better whole being! I have spent far too much of my life looking for all the things in myself that need to be "fixed" and comparing my weaknesses to other peoples strengths. Now, I am celebrating the little things, focusing on my strengths and choosing to celebrate even the smallest growth in my weak areas and I am a happier person for it! In fact, it has given me the ability to celebrate others strengths without comparing myself and I am able to encourage others without guarding my weaknesses. It's ok to need help. It's ok not to be perfect. Just keep growing! And remember that most of time growth is slow, in nature and life! As long as you are seeing changes in the right direction be patient and keep moving forward.

If you need some help, tips, or encouragement connect with me on Facebook here!

We all have those moments where we try to wear something that fit perfectly last month and we can't zip it up. It feels horrible! I know I instantly start getting irritated and berating myself, as if by making myself feel worse I can get control over this thing. It's not the way to go! We can't have perfection be the standard. Health and good eating practices have to be the standard, which is easier said than done, right? I know I gave into the calorie counting method where I could eat anything I wanted as long as I stayed under 1200 calories and kudos to me if I ate way less. So, not only was I not eating enough to feed my body, I was also stuffing it full of chemical laden, sugary non-foods that my body actually had to try and heal from their consumption. It makes me sick thinking about it. :( It also makes me sad that so many people have this faulty  thin-is-the-goal, doesn't-matter-how-we get-there attitude. We spend so much money trying to cure diseases that we could prevent simply by making changes to our nutrition.

Don't be overwhelmed. When I got started I made small changes at first because it seemed overwhelming! I looked around and basically realized I was doing EVERYTHING wrong! I made changes I felt like I could easy change first like switching from Country Crock ( I know! the worst but I loved it!) to organic butter, and then moved onto harder ones like removing all beverages including juices out of my house so I would drink water. It's ok to move forward slowly but you have to keep moving!

Here are some tips to get started:

1.Start Today! Not tomorrow, not Monday, not next week. It doesn't matter if you ate donuts for breakfast, start by choosing a healthy lunch, putting it off will never make it happen!

2.Drink Water!  You would be amazed if you totaled the calories that you drank everyday, so replace those beverages with water which your body needs anyway. Make it easy on yourself, have it ready, put fruit in it, but make it what you drink primarily. I had to be really strict on this for awhile until it became a habit. I preplanned to order it restaurants and I removed everything else form my home. It was rough at first but in the end I created a great habit which my body desperately needed! 

3. Meal Plan. I hate it. I seriously hate it, but you have to do it. When I get busy and that slips, my nutrition slips. If you need help with this please message me! I will give you tools ( for free!) that will help you do this effectively.

4. Eat your vegetables. You aren't a child. Just do it!

5.Track your meals! I use the 21 Day Fix and their container system now but before that I used My Fitness Pal. Whatever you choose to use, record it! It's very motivating not to sneak food when you know you have to record it!

6. Exercise. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. I workout 30 minutes a day using very simple videos. Nothing crazy! Commit to at least 30 minutes 3 days a week. If you need help choosing a program that is right for you, message me! I will help you! I also run challenge groups to hold people accountable if you need that, we would love for you to join us!

7. Don't let a bad day turn into a bad week or a bad week turn into a bad month. Remember, it's progress not perfection! We are ALL going to have a bad day, have a weak moment, or even choose to get off course for a special dinner or outing, don't let it cause you to throw in the towel or to listen to that inner voice that tells you failed. You only fail if you stop trying.  So WHEN this happens, and it will happen, see tip number 1! ;)

8. Track your progress weekly. Weigh yourself but also take pictures. There are times I feel like I am making NO progress and then I take my current pictures and compare them to when I started and I am blown away by how much my body has changed. We see ourselves everyday and sometimes its hard to see the changes

9. Know your "Why". Losing weight or getting fit isn't enough of a why.  My why is long term. I want to be healthy in my retirement years to have adventures, be there for my kids and  grand kids, I want to live with dignity, and with my families health issues, I am going to need to take responsibility for that. It's not just going to happen. Maybe yours is more simple, like fitting into a certain dress by a certain date, but give your self goals. Make a dream board, or post inspirational quotes that will help you in moments of weakness. Arm yourself with tools to help you in the hard moments. Have vision for what you want and make a plan on how you will get there!

10. Never Give up! This is not a diet, this is a lifestyle change. It's going to take work, you will stumble, get back up!  Even just the smallest of life changes will lead to great change if you keep it up! In The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy makes an analogy of three friends, one who changes nothing in his life, one who makes a few small positive changes( like switching from mayo to mustard and walking half a mile everyday), and one who makes small negative changes( having a daily alcoholic beverage and watching more TV). In 6 months there was not any noticeable difference but in 31 months the first friend had made no change, the second friends had lost 33.5 pounds and the last friend had gained 33.5 pounds. Don't underestimate the power of what you are doing here! 

You can do this! If need help or would like to surround yourself with people pursuing their health and fitness, you can follow me on Facebook to connect or to receive more tips and ideas--> click here

I love this image but I am always hesitant to use it because it seems insensitive to people that struggle, but the truth is we ALL struggle! I am both of those people, even though I am thin on the outside at this point in my life, I struggle with desires to eat whatever I want, do whatever I feel like doing. I am full of excuses all the time and have to talk myself down because my mentality for SO long was that being thin was the goal. I bought into the lies of our culture. I thought I could eat and drink whatever I wanted as long as I looked a certain way, so I literally starved myself. I starved myself by not eating enough food and I starved myself by eating food that had NO nutritional value. I looked acceptable to the world and found my worth in that, but I was a ticking time bomb. If I had kept that up, I would have been perfect candidate for cancer, diabetes, or any other number of diseases because my body was too busy fighting off all the crap I was putting into it. The point is NOT pursue a perfect body, the point to pursue health and wellness and let your body heal itself. The point is to not pump your body full of sugar that feeds disease, chemicals that your body can't digest, and fill it full of nutrients that give it the power to do its job. When you do that, your body responds and the result is your body is its true form, it's best form. That is a byproduct of the good decisions, but the point is to BE healthy. I have known so many people that have walked through preventable disease and I will tell you, in the moment that they receive the news, they would do anything to go back and make better decisions! We can't keep up a life where the point is trying to look good all the time. That's not enough of a "why" to keep us going. Eventually, we will want the ice cream, french fries, ( name your junk food) more than we want to look good. When the point is your health and quality of life, that is much greater vision! So today, be the person you will wish you were! For tips support and encouragement follow me on Facebook! :) ​https://www.facebook.com/AubreyKReel?ref=hl

I was sitting the cafe at Target doling out cake pops and and chatting with my girls, where two tables over sat two middle aged women deep in conversation. I was doing my best not to eavesdrop but in a small space it was hard not to hear what they were saying. It was a conversation about love and betrayal. Both of them had eyes brimming with tears, and her friend reached across the table to hold her hand and whisper her apologies and share in her suffering. The woman took the hand with a half smile and said something that stuck with me, " The truth is I stayed. I stayed longer than I should have, and that I cannot blame that on anyone but myself."

It struck me because there is power in those words. I stayed. It means I take responsibility for my role in this outcome. It means I refuse to be a victim. It means that I acknowledge that I made choices about how I let people treat me. It means I don't find my worth in someone else's opinion of me. It means I choose to dust myself off and move on. It means I reject bitterness and choose acceptance and joy.

In my 36 years, I have witnessed a lot of pain. I have seen people walk through adultery, betrayal, families falling apart, church splits and chronic illness. I've see friends and family members overlooked for jobs and/or promotions that they deeply deserved.  I have seen tragedy happen to the same family over and over and over again, and yet often its the ones in the most pain that have the best outlook on life and from whom I have learned the most about joy.

I have walked through painful circumstances myself, and so I am acutely aware of the choice. The choice to blame others and/or circumstances or to take responsibility for the part I played in the outcome. I have been lied to but I chose to believe. I have been hurt but I let myself be vulnerable. I have been overlooked but I let myself be taken for granted. There is a fine line between trusting and being gullible, loving and idolizing, being a friend and being a doormat. And yes, there is a learning curve. You will be hurt in this life, there is no getting around that which is why it is so important to own your mistakes. If it's always someone else's fault, you forfeit the power that you do have. The power to change and grow into a person that recognizes and rejects being treated that way in the future.

I know there are true victims, people that had no choice in the matter, but often they are much quicker to forgive and reject being a victim their whole lives. Someone chose to victimize them but they don't have to choose to BE a victim. 

I have seen bitterness destroy marriages, friendships, and lives more than any offense or crime. Bitterness is a living thing that grows and takes over every area of your life if you let it.  You can't control other people, or circumstances around you but you CAN choose to respond to those circumstances instead of simply react. Be willing to take action in your life. Design your life and sculpt your character. Being willing, like that wise woman, to say, " I stayed and I take responsibility for that."