Thursday, November 22, 2012

So Thankful

Clearly this blogging thing is something I'm having a hard time getting back into, however, as my life starts to establish more of a routine and I get settled, I know I'll be able to get back into this consistently  I have so many plans and so many things I wanna share with you all that I hope can inspire you!

At the encouragement of a dear friend, I decided I'll try to post everyday for a bit just to get used to the habit of blogging again. I truly miss it and I have a lot to share! So what better a day to post than Thanksgiving Day!

It is absolutely necessary that we count our blessings and remain thankful every single day of our lives but a lot of us end up making a habit of taking things for granted, I'm totally guilty of that! I guess I am thankful for Thanksgiving Day where we are all forced to stop and think about our blessings. I truly believe that even in our hardships or when we feel hopeless, that there is always something to be thankful for starting with the fact that Christ died for us. :-)

Throughout the day I will be posting things I am soooo grateful for through Instagram (@okie_melina), here are a few of those:

My family

My Faith

My baby

My home

I thought I'd also share something I wrote in my journal today when I did my bible study:

"Through my current trials in my divorce and heartbreak, God has brought so much good in my life that has left me in awe of Him like how can anyone say he doesn't exist? I have found comfort in being with my family and extended family that I didn't have before. I found an amazing church home that challenges me and allows me to grow. I have met a best friend (a sister in Christ) I have been praying for who has become my support and partner in going through this new growth in my faith. I found a job doing what I wanted to do that has good people to work with and a good company to back it, and to have found employment so quickly in this economy, just so many blessings that show me that I am meant to be here."

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance  perseverance, character; and character, hope.  ~ Romans 5:3-4

Praise Him, that I can be thankful!

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

2-Week "Just Move" Challenge

When it comes to fitness the best way to keep up with a plan is to plan ahead for the pitfalls. With the holidays coming and family making tons of food or going out of town, it is easy to fall off your routine. Once that happens, it's even harder to get back on.

I am finding that now that I am a certified personal trainer, I stopped working out. It wasn't because I got the title but because of the timing of my life. I was able to make working out a part of my life on a daily basis without thinking about it for a whole year. I could have planned ahead for going out of town or for the holidays, but I didn't plan for divorce and moving and having to work to find employment and start up my dreams of running my own business.

I guess what I'm trying to show is that nobody is perfect. Not even someone who wants to make it a profession can be perfect with workouts. Are you struggling to keep up a routine or get back to a routine after falling off it like me? You aren't alone!

For me though, it isn't because I don't like it or don't have time or don't want to. It is because I got into a different routine that didn't include working out. Break one routine to get to another and you find yourself frustrated. However, I know that my routine of getting up, having a small breakfast, not eating all day, not exercising and then having a big dinner is only killing everything I worked hard for in the past year. I also know that it is dangerously close to gaining weight back.

So how do we bust our current bad habits to form the new good ones and make those a part of our routine? Well everyone responds differently to stimulus and change, but I'll share how I'm going to do it. It's the beginning of November! I should make this my month to get my routine back with or without a gym! I'm gonna call my strategy the "Just Move" Challenge!



Short cardio session boost (2 weeks) -
I'm going to (starting today) go for a 30 minute run everyday this week. I won't worry about weights, I won't worry about my diet, I'm just going to get my body back to moving. If I worry about anything else, I'm likely to stress about it. I do this for fun, so baby steps!
Next week (week 2) I'm going to alternate a 30 min run with a Bodyrock.tv session each day. Again just moving and then adding challenge. Like I said before, I'm not going to worry about anything else but just to get the cardio done.

Bring back the weight (2 weeks) -
The metal kind that is! After the 2 weeks of getting moving, I'll get back to my alternating of working out the upper body and lower body with cardio workouts. I wrote about that plan when I reviewed a booty workout that I wanted to try. I'll spend the last two weeks of November making that part of my routine again. (Assuming I haven't been hired anywhere and get a gym membership by then) Either way, I'm doing the cardio, adding my weight training but not changing anything of my diet just yet. Like I said, I just don't want to stress. (Of course this doesn't mean I'm going to eat like a pig!) 


This will bring us into December! I'm hoping by then workout is a part of my routine again on a daily basis and then I'm going to hone down on dropping my new bad eating habits I developed after my separation from my husband. :-/

Anyone in the same boat as me needing to develop or get back into a routine? How 'bout try my "just move" strategy with me! In fact, I challenge you to join me ;-)

Be sure to Like The STRONG Life on Facebook and let me know if you plan to join in! Let's keep tabs on each other. :-)

Monday, November 5, 2012

Fighting Off Fear



Will I be able to pay my loans, my car, my phone? Will I be healthy enough to make it during my time without health insurance? Will I get a job I enjoy and make enough money to stand on my own two feet and truly be independent? Will I ever find love that lasts? Will I be alone? Will I be able to really hear God and make the right decisions that bring Him glory?

There is nothing like going through a life changing event to make you feel overwhelmed in fears. But, even in our happy times, we fear that it is all too good to be true.

These are thoughts that rob us of joy and the ability to live in peace. We've all heard that. It is harder to live it. It is WAY harder to live it. But it is possible when you do one simple thing. Give it to God.

I remember watching a Joyce Meyer broadcast this week when she said how she wouldn't even go to her husband about anything if she wanted a different response because she knew he'd always say, "Cast your cares."

Cast your cares.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you ~ 1 Peter 5:7

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall ~ Psalm 55:22

I guess I can be in panic mode sometimes but I do trust that the lord is doing work on my behalf. I am currently on the job hunt but I am actually not nervous or worried because I know the right job that I'm supposed to have will be there.

I always struggled with letting go and letting God, it is a scary thing to let go and trust, but who better to do that with than God? I really don't have a choice right now than to wait and see what happens but I'm not going to be in angst over it! Lords knows getting over a broken heart is enough, I don't need anymore in my mind when God's got this! I choose to hold my head up high and cast my cares!

Now here is my challenge for you. Ask God right now to take your worries away. It's that simple, you ask and he takes them! Now BELIEVE that he's taking care of it. When any little worry comes to your mind, shoo it out by telling yourself, that God is taking care of it. Keep doing that even if you don't believe it, because you will find that you will believe it!

Be sure to Like The STRONG Life on Facebook to find more inspiration and fitness fun stuff!


Friday, November 2, 2012

Brain Dump

It seems that life is trying its hardest to keep me away from the things I love to do including blogging! I am in the midst of a struggle to get my life back on track and to be able to stand on my own two feet. I go day to day and it seems things keep happening unexpectedly to challenge me through the day. Right now time is ticking for when my divorce is final and I feel like I am in panic mode. However, while I am in panic, I am also at peace knowing that God is with me through this struggle. I feel good KNOWING that God will absolutely provide.

I have begun the process of starting my personal training business beginning with the business plan and registering my business name, (hopefully next week!) At the same time I have a applied to a handful of gyms in my area and I will just wait patiently for a phone call. I will not worry. I will simply wait.

I want to make blogging my regular thing again and I am constantly reminded how we all have gifts that we should use to serve others. I don't think I'm a New York Times Bestselling author (though I swear if I landed a Real Housewives gig I could out-write Teresa Guidice, am I right? LOL) I do know that I've always loved writing and blogging is my outlet.

I have been reading a great book, Living on the Edge by Chip Ingram, and just got done with a chapter that talked about authentic community and how it occurs first with the real you through authenticity and purity. "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9


"For authentic community and genuine love to occur between two followers of Christ, we need to take off our masks. We need to stop projecting what we think others will like, and start being open and honest, and appropriately vulnerable." -Chip Ingram, Living on the Edge


I am thinking that I ended up reading that chapter today when I was also missing blogging at the same time to be a message from God to be open and get to blogging again! I am in a stage in my life that is crucial because I could easily fall, or I can grow and become the strongest person I ever could dream of becoming. I have no idea which will happen but I am striving for the latter. I have been in the midst of many struggles, emotional, physical, mental, etc. and I feel like I need to stop hiding that and just share it all. Maybe someone out there can be inspired!

When I went to a Joyce Meyer conference event in Tampa just last week, I remember her saying that if we want to do something big, start a ministry, or do something that makes a difference, that we need to start with ourselves. To live as close to Christ as possible because we need to strive to be ambassadors of Christ. That how we live and who we are might be the only evidence of Christ to someone who wants to know Him! That was huge for me to hear and knowing that we each carry such a responsibility to serve our God by serving each other, I really want to do my part! I think it begins with my writing in this blog for me...

I have been brainstorming a lot of article ideas I'd like to write for this blog. I am going to focus still on fitness and clean living, but at the moment I may have a lot more to say on the inspirational, mental health side of being STRONG. So be patient with me if I seem disorganized in my posting schedule for a while. I'm not gonna stress about it. I think I'll just share what is on my heart at a given moment. Though I do have a struggle with exercise now that I don't have a gym yet! So I'll be trying to get creative and share those experiences with those of you who also don't have a gym and have to workout at home. It can be done!

All in all, I feel loved and blessed and then I feel lonely and abandoned. I guess those are natural feelings of any divorcee. . .

I don't want to feel like a screw up with anything to hide so I am going to make myself blog more often! I hope you get something out of it!

So here are some topics I am working on:

  • Independence
  • Promises
  • Feeling Fake
  • Fighting off Fear
  • Living Day by Day
  • Trusting God
  • The Body Struggle
  • Being a Friend
  • Assumptions
  • Little Things
  • Working Out for a Feeling
  • Fighting the Bumps
  • One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
  • Feeling Worthy
  • Where is Home?
  • Signs in the Right Direction
  • Repeat it Until You Become It


There are lots more I can ramble about but I think by glancing over those topic ideas you can see an overview of all the things/feelings I am going through at this moment. My life feels like a roller coaster that I really want to get off of but it never stops. However, I am filled with so much hope and faith and that is what gets me through day by day. So there won't be regular schedule here for a while, it will probably be more of a brain dump! I also want to give tips or little challenges you can use to apply to your life. I hope anything I share helps you or makes you appreciate life better :-)

I just celebrated my 27th birthday! I ready to make this next year of my life a great one!
Like The STRONG Life on Facebook to keep up with new posts and to find more inspiration that I come across and share with you! Oh yeah, and now that I'm a certified personal trainer feel free to take advantage and ask me fitness related questions if you like! :-)
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