Remembering To Love YOU

On this day of loving others, we often forget ourselves. Living a healthy life means having a healthy relationship with yourself.

So, what does self love look like? Because, as we all know, we must first love ourselves before we can go out and love others.

Photo by graur razvan ionut

Surround Yourself with Healthy, Loving, and Supportive Relationships: Find those who build you up, support you in times of need and chose to love you, no matter what may arise.  Don't waste your time on those who refuse to give and only take.

Engage in Activities That Foster A Happy Spirit: Do the things you love most and keep doing them! Try new things with an open mind and cut the things out of your day that just don't make you happy.

FailING Doesn't Mean You're A FailURE: Understand that you will mess up in life. But kicking yourself while your down only causes self-abuse. Learn from your mistakes and chose to try again.

Stop Self Hating: What you put into the world is what you'll get out of it. Listen to the things you say to yourself.  Would you ever say them to your sister or your best friend? No? So why do you accept that kind of abuse from yourself? None of us are perfect, but dwelling on those imperfections doesn't change them. A willing spirit to change for the better does.

Embrace New Opportunities & Be Willing to Take Risks: Don't get stuck in a rut. Life will offer you new challenges and opportunities to grow and learn new, incredible, life-changing things. Some of life's best memories come from those new experiences.

Trust Yourself: Self-doubt is my strong suit. Saying "I can't" before I've even tried gives into my own self-hating. Don't judge your abilities before you've truly tested them.

Celebrate the Small Things: Sometimes, at the end of the day, you just need to give yourself a "Job well done" for surviving another 8 hours at work, or for finding the motivation to try that new exercise, or for simply living another day positively. Reward yourself for doing good and celebrate the little things in life.

Love Your Body By Eating Healthy & Exercising: For me, one of the highest forms of respect for self is respecting your body.  Self harm through poisonous eating, harmful habits like smoking, and living a sedentary life is you saying "I'm not important enough to treat my body well." Do you diet & exercise because you HATE how you look and want to live up to societal standards? Or do you do it because you love yourself and you want to live a long, strong, and healthy life? Not only do positive thoughts and actions lead to a healthy, loving spirit, but keeping your body well nourished and challenged with exercise leads to a healthy, loving body.  It's the only body you have, so give it lots of respect and care.

Now, before you go out today to shower others with love & praise, remember to love, respect, and trust yourself. Sit for a minute and think about the things you like about yourself and how you can continue to foster that spirit of joy and happiness.

I Say This Out of Love (Time To FOCUS)

Summer is winding down and it's time to get back into the grind of things.  I slacked on our honeymoon/family vacation.  I gained 6 pounds in 8 days.  I say all of this mostly for me, but I know some of you need to hear it, too.  Like the title says, I say this completely out of love, because when I was gaining weight and living my terrible lifestyle, I wish someone would have said this to me.  It's about being HEALTHY. Not SKINNY.

Did you know?:
In the 1960's, approximately 18% of a family's income was spent on groceries and less than 5% on medical expenses/health care.  Today, less than 9% of income is spent on groceries and over 16% on medical expenses/health care.

It's true.  You either pay the farmer or you pay the doctor.

With that said, what are you going to do?

• Will you open your mind to the possibility that the food you're buying is quite literally poisoning you, or will you give in to the immediate satisfaction of a greasy burger?  
• Will you regain self-control and proudly tell the world that YOU control your life or will you use the excuse "I could never do that, I just love [insert food] too much"?  
• Will you rejoice, knowing that you don't have to carry around pills, schedule doctor visits, or worry about the next lab result, or will you sit back and think that paying $300+ a month on medical expenses is "normal" & that "everyone does it"? 
• Will you raise your children in a culture that embraces a healthy lifestyle so they can live long, happy, and HEALTHY lives or will you teach them that food addiction is incurable & a normal part of society? 
• Will you stop lying to yourself, saying "the food I eat isn't that bad" or will you finally admit that you lost control?

I was fat. I lost control. I was poisoning myself. But I took control, lost some of the weight (so far), and rid myself of my terrible illness.

It's possible. STOP MAKING EXCUSES.  Money is not an issue, in fact, we cut our grocery bill almost in HALF when we included more raw foods.  We were buying twice the food we needed when we bought processed.  What a waste of money. Having kids doesn't matter. In fact, that should be more of a reason to change. Convenience is only what you make it.

Love yourself & respect your body.  If you do that, everything good will follow.

Now, for some heart-wrenching facts.

Via: Medical Coding

[[Remember: When you stop focusing losing weight on being "skinny", and "pretty", and trying to be like my "smaller friends", and switch your focus to living a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE, one that you, your friends, children, and loved ones can respect, that is when you truly find the motivation to change things.  Always do things for you, but aim to be an example that you want your children/loved ones to follow so they, too, can grow up without debilitating illnesses,chronic problems, and outrageous medical bills.]]

Here's to a fresh start, and a regular schedule (thank God). Time to kick myself in the butt & get going!
-Lacey

Alive & Well

It's official.

We're in Norfolk, unpacked, and living a semi-normal, calm life.  We being Mike and I, not the dogs.  The dogs are always crazy.

Here's the rundown:

First, we got our kitchen together.  This was our first feat.

Then, our dogs cuddled.  For those who don't know them, Zoe is on the left (a beagle/jack russel terrier mix) and Rita is on the right (a lab/english setter mix).  They cuddle, wrestle, bark, and eat a lot.  Zoe is a quarter of Rita's size and she burps daily.  Rita cries like a baby when Daddy doesn't give her attention.

We love them.

Then, Mike felt the need to cuddle Zoe after work. She likes it, despite what her eyes say.

Finally, I made my first batch of pierogies ever.  Two days later, it was haluski.  The pseudo-Polish in me is coming out. Kurczewski's, you have taught me well.

We live a block away from the Elizabeth River, a mile from downtown Norfolk, and no longer 3 1/2 hours away from each other.  We're very happy about all of those, particularly the latter.

Expect regular updates and lots of pictures.  We miss you all dearly and can't wait to see many of you at the wedding in October. 

__________

Life is good.