Pushing back at the not-so-friendly-to-the-waistline foods that leave me feeling sluggish this morning. We enjoyed massive amounts of banana bread pudding, gingerbread people, Happy Birthday Jesus cake, Almond Toffee, and even little coffee cookies that I can’t remember the name of. LOL
{BODY} Although the scale “only crept up 2 lbs”, my under belly bulge is in full effect…. and I HATE the way that feels! You know what I’m talking about, right? That uncomfortable resistance when you sit or bend over… when you can feel the “puff” at your sides push against your belt as you get dressed…. when you can tell there is more “there” than there was before.
And that’s just what I feel on the external. What about the inside? Literally and physically… I’m feeling weighed down, swollen up, and sluggish – particularly in the digestion department… and a little foggy in the brain.
Don’t get me wrong… I’ve really enjoyed my holiday time with family . But clean eating, portion control, and moderation are what help keep my sanity. My gut needs a gentle refreshing… therefore my eating does, too.
{Soul} I’m looking at the “inside Angel” too — my thoughts and feelings towards myself and situations in my life right now, my desires, the things I want for myself, my husband and my family, my relationship with Jesus. Not to mention the hard things I had to overcome in 2015 – the next season of life that I can see coming in 2016. All kinds of clutter in my mind and in my heart as I tackle to focus on what’s most important in my life…especially as I consider goals to better myself and better serve my family and those around me as I approach the 2016 New Year:
- What ultimately brings me the most joy in my everyday life?
- How does my body/soul health fit in with that joy?
- What “new things” do I want to see happen in my life in 2016?
- What am I willing and able to do about it?
Last year I made the commitment to myself that I wanted to change more than I wanted to stay the same! I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, “when did that happen?” (FYI – This was the side effect of my mindless eating and refusal to get sweaty, by the way. For years I would rather starve on lettuce leaves and apples than dare lift a dumbbell or commit to a fitness program. Add in my ruthless self criticism for where I always seemed to fail as a mom/wife/person… then double up on endless episodes of life-numbing tv shows… and I rapidly hit digits on my scale and dress size that made me feel completely uncomfortable in my clothes and any time the hubby put his hand on my tummy or around my waist if my pants weren’t sitting on my hips a certain way as to “smooth” things over… (someone out there feels me, right)? ANYWAY…
I had gotten married, had 3 kids and a house, shared a home with my in-law for the first 10 years of our marriage and then with my parents AND a brother for our first 2 years in a new state after moving for my hubby’s job, …not to mention faced the heartache of some broken relationships, and I had had to face the letting go of my former life and identity as a pastor’s assistant and ministry leader. I had previously felt completely smack dab in the middle of my life purpose when serving and working in ministry… was able to be a stay at home mom for the first two kids and bring the third child to and from the ministry’s office for her first year of life… never missing a single moment… and then we moved. And I had to find new work…. and then we decided to build a house ….
The way I wore all that stress left me more than 30 pounds overweight. I was tired, disgusted with myself, I had to analyze and crop the parts I didn’t like out of every picture taken of me or just conveniently always was the person behind the camera so I wouldn’t be in it. I felt like my body was blowing up and out all around me… and I didn’t like it one bit.
Sure, I had tried counting calories, tried pinterest WOD’s and even purchased a workout program from an online personal trainer that promised to blast fat from my belly. It worked for a time, but I was missing something.
It was my commitment to succeed that was missing!!! That mindset that…. no matter what – no matter the SEASON in which I was living — I would stay committed to succeeding.
A NOTE about seasons…
Obviously, I believe body and soul health are connected to overall life wellness and fulfillment. And I also believe our health in each area (body and soul) can look more or less different from one season of life to the next, simply because the demands on us as a person changes. In each of these seasons, we are often challenged to shift our perspectives and old way of living. Embracing the challenge, I find myself often having to shed old skins and attitudes… allowing God to develop a new strength in me for whatever He would have me do, and wherever He would have me go next with what He has given me.
Today, my pastor, Randy Cochran, said something that resonated with my spirit and the direction of this blog post (I had saved a draft before leaving for church, and was eager to get back to it after hearing his message). He said:
“To step into a new season requires strength…”
Webster’s dictionary defines STRENGTH as:
: the quality or state of being physically strong
: the ability to resist being moved or broken by a force
: the quality that allows someone to deal with problems in a determined and effective way
Knowing that a season is described as a “period of time” or the “right time” for something significant to happen, thinking of our need for a new kind of inner and outer STRENGTH going into the new SEASON {the new year, the next “new thing” coming – whether good or bad}… would make sense. Whether or not we choose it, our next season is coming… shouldn’t we make ourselves ready, as best we can? Shouldn’t we ask Him where we should exert all of our energy and focus in the new year {our next season}
See, previously I always gave EXCUSES for every new season of my life and why I wouldn’t workout, why I wouldn’t eat right, why I wouldn’t spend time in the Word and why I wouldn’t spend time developing my inner me.
I foolishly lived as though neglecting all these areas didn’t matter. But wow… it so did. And I wore the effects of that neglect all over my body. I revealed it more and more with every empty container of ice cream I threw away in secret, with every size tag I cut out of my bigger pants, and with every event I skipped so that I wouldn’t have to dress up and feel like the everyone was staring in disbelief at how obviously heavier I had gotten.
I was always hiding… hiding food, hiding me, hiding the never-ending crash diets and fat burning pills…
I decided that the way I had been doing things needed to change! I was going to need NEW STRENGTH FOR MY NEW SEASON, though, because I was DETERMINED not to allow myself to go back to my old way of eating and being.
We didn’t have a lot of extra money when I made this decision, but I spoke to my husband, looked at how it could fit with our monthly budget, and made it happen. I joined an online health and fitness accountability group with my coach called the “Fall Into Fitness” and I chose PiYo as my workout! I saved my before pictures and measurements, eventually invested in Shakeology, and just committed to each day of the program! Here I was, still so new to fitness and sweating daily LOL…. and making it happen in my living room or small office space…. sometimes while neighborhood kids played loudly upstairs and sometimes after their bedtime. I gritted my teeth and cried through frustrating moments of failure and I rejoiced through tears when I noticed small successes happening over time! Change was hard and I had not done anything requiring physical exertion since high school dance classes!!
Through each challenge group experience I committed to, I learned how to completely change my eating habits, I started understanding what clean eating was and how to fuel my body for energy and not for emotional comfort or stress-eating. I started exercising not just my body but my self-control over all that I put in my mouth as well as my thoughts towards my body. I starting drinking Shakeology which much to my surprise was a GAME CHANGER for me and saved me in more ways than one. I was putting healthy inside my body and was seeing healthy show up on the outside of my body! I had clearer skin, stronger nails, healthier hair, less chocolate cravings and more energy! I wasn’t just getting my old body back… I was seeing a new body and experiencing a new life that I had never thought possible for ME and my body type before!! It is such a great feeling to see this new kind of STRENGTH and success show up after putting in the work!
After 60 days I was down 15 lbs and then I went on to lose a total of 35 lbs and gaining all kinds of new definition (and even started seeing my abs for the first time ever) by working out at home in my office or living room space on my laptop or tv to other Beachbody workouts {21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme, P90 and P90X3, TurboFire, T25, Insanity Max 30, etc…} and clean eating with my fix portion control containers.
I felt compelled to share what was helping me be successful (finally) with weightloss and eating and working out… with all my friends and every mama who, like me, felt like she was losing herself AND her waistline with every passing season of life!
So that is how this blog got started and when I became a coach.
Now, my mission is to help other women just like you who want to so much change your life from the inside, out — you WANT be healthy and you WANT to be fit – but you need solutions that will actually help you FOLLOW THROUGH and actually GET THERE.
1. A proven successful Fitness Program to follow
I mean, in my challenge groups, we talk meal planning, and we talk faith, we talk food and we talk workouts… we talk about where we missed it and where we got it right day in, day out — month to month — for as long as you stay committed to making your change happen!! Why shouldn’t we have something to launch ourselves into our new year, our new season??!! Something with the attitude of STRENGTH, POWER, RESILIENCE… of persevering despite circumstances and when things get hard — refusing to go backwards but to always move forward towards the new and exciting and stronger, better version of ourselves — mentally, physically, and in every role we play in life? Wife, mom, friend, coach, confidante??
With our New Year’s Faith & Fitness accountability group… I’m calling to our newest challenge a time to develop that inner and outer strength for our new seasons in life — it’s a NEW Body+Soul STRONGER Challenge with that fierce UNSTOPPABLE, UNDAUNTED and “no matter what I WILL succeed” attitude!
This challenge is — A declaration that THIS is YOUR time to PUSH BACK at what’s been holding you down or holding you off and PUSH YOURSELF to just going for it — ALL IN!! Because we want to finally follow through to see the changes we desire most- – and we want them to STICK! We want to stop the crazy of on again off again resolutions and instead see ourselves propel rapidly towards our New Year goals with tenacity and spirit that will make others wonder what we are doing DIFFERENT with ourselves this year??!!
STRONGER in Body, Mind, WILL power, eating and thinking habits…
SO WE actually ACHIEVE what we set out to conquer this New Year!
A new season of living your life fit, from the inside, out…
Starting with a pre-season plan and prep week on January 4th and streaming workouts online or by DVD starting on January 11th. This group is a CLOSED (private) online support and accountability group where I will help to match you up with the fitness program that meets your needs and your lifestyle BEST. Each challenger (that’s you) will be replacing 1 meal a day with Shakeology for 21-30 days. My goal as your coach is to teach you how to make clean(er) healthier eating a lifestyle change instead of just a fad/crash diet. I will teach you how to fuel your body for ENERGY instead of emotional comfort or cravings, and I will share my personal meal plans, recipes, snack ideas, restaurant/eating out tips and more with you. Each day you will log in to the group to find a tip from me and a faith-based devotional post, weekly videos around accomplishing goals and creating new habits for the life you most desire, accountability from me and others in the group and motivation to keep going when you would otherwise not feel like it. And I’ll be sharing my personal struggles and practical everyday solutions, as well!
This is going to be a select chosen group of motivated people who are READY to change!!! Not just “interested” in getting fit…. but READY to get fit, prove yourself stronger than last year, and realize the changes you want most that you can maintain for life! If you invest in the small cost of one of the programs, I will see you through to the end of your chosen programfor FREE.
YES, I truly am your free coach – and friend – in “faith, food & fitness” for this BODY+SOUL STRONGER New Year Challenge ;-). I’m declaring it YOUR TIME for change! YOUR SEASON for new strength!! YOUR YEAR to be UNSTOPPABLE!!
THE PLAN for the BODY+SOUL STRONGER includes:
2. You will commit to both a Beachbody Fitness program of your choice and Shakeology HD (OR Performance Stack HD) for at least 21-30 days of our challenge group (we will talk about your needs/wants to help you choose the right combo for YOU).
3. You will participate in the daily devotionals and accountability check-ins of the group. Just 5 minutes a day — you can so do that!
4. You have a great desire and willingness to CHANGE and trade in some of your old, unsuccessful eating, thinking, and being habits for new, proven, successful ones — to learn how to start the change you actually WANT for your life!!
Honestly, I was skeptical as to whether or not Shakeology would be all it was cracked up to be… everything I had read online pointed to all the health and nutrition benefits to support my desire for health and fitness… but, what if I was wrong? Well, at least I knew there was a 30 day money back guarantee. And then there was the fact that every at-home fitness DVD or online program I had tried before never actually got me to where I wanted to be… how would this be different?? I saw those infomercials and I definitely thought that they were special cases of people who lived in a bubble – not real life mamas and wives like me. I decided to give it a try, to follow the nutrition plan, the workout schedule and FOLLOW THE PLAN in every detail I possibly could (sure, I messed up sometimes — not perfect). BUT guess what happened? Much to my surprise it actually worked and better than I had ever hoped for! Better yet — I was able to do it from home and still get the results.
This is absolutely me sharing what’s worked so well for me with YOU…. Because it feels absolutely AMAZING to realize you’re stronger, better, and healthier for the changes YOU made happen. That You MADE A PLAN and then YOU FOLLOWED THROUGH with it to see the results you set out to achieve in the beginning for yourself.
YOU CAN DO THIS, MAMA — will you PUSH with me in 2016??
Apply now for the BODY+SOUL STRONGER Challenge for YOUR new year!
Angel Ballance 