Positively Weightless

Routines are a part of pretty much everyone's lives. Some people can stick to them very well while others not so much. If you follow my blog, you will probably remember a few posts I did at the beginning of the year all about my new plan and new routine in order to get back on track with eating right and exercising. This post, however, is not going to be a lecture about sticking to a routine or anything along those lines. Quite the opposite really.

When I lost my job my entire routine went up in smoke. Part of that was because of not having a job, but most of it was my fault of course. My entire new routine at the beginning of 2017 was based off of my work schedule. I planned meals around work. I planned my gym schedule around going to work. That obviously didn't continue once I didn't have a job during the day to go to anymore. I couldn't revolve my healthy routine around a job anymore. I will admit in the three months I was unemployed my weight did go up just slightly (honestly not enough to worry about), but that was because I got lazy in my routine. My first week unemployed I tried to create a new routine for myself but quickly found that wasn't working. I very quickly fell right out of that one as well.

My point in bringing this all up is to say that it is perfectly okay to fall off a routine. If you find yourself falling off of your weight loss, diet, exercise (whatever it may be you are building around) routine, that is perfectly okay. You are only human right? The most important part is to recognize when you do and get back on it or something similar that works for you. Sometimes it is an easy fix, sometimes it isn't.

Now that I am working again (at a job I am really liking so far! I honestly didn't think I would feel so comfortable around so many new people so fast but I have a wonderful support system) I can get back on a similar if not the same routine I was on before. I already started planning meals again. This does still need a little work but I am getting there. There is also a branch of my gym literally in a plaza right behind my job. It is probably less than a 2 minute drive away. I will be able to work out on days I set after work again since the gym is in such a convenient location. I am going to do my very best to get right back on the same routine I was on before.

Sometimes it isn't this easy though. If you fall off your routine for a much bigger reason-then you really should revaluate it. Maybe you tried working out too many days a week and fell out of your routine from exhaustion. Maybe you stopped eating healthy and planning meals because you were being too strict and depriving yourself, causing you to binge. Once you recognize the problem it should be fairly easy to readjust.

My whole point in this post is to say that falling out of a routine is perfectly normal. I would imagine everyone does it from time to time. The most important part is getting right back up and getting back at it as soon as you can!

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As promised I wanted my next post to finally be my next book review. Quite honestly there couldn't have been a better time in my life to read this, and I am so excited to share my thoughts!

Oola for Women: How to Balance the 7 Key Areas of Life to Have Less Stress, More Purpose, and Reveal the Greatness Within You is the sequel book (in a sense) to the first book I reviewed, Oola Find Balance in an Unbalanced World by Dave Braun (the OolaSeeker) and Troy Amdahl (the OolaGuru), however, Oola for Women is a little different. Instead of Braun and Amdahl being the sole authors, this book is made up of stories from forty two women. These women are fans who wrote in to share their stories, business women who have worked with them, or even family members of the Oola guys. I found this to be incredibly touching but also it made for an interesting read with the constant change in styles of writing and perspective (I know, I know my English major is showing here). Before I get too much into my thoughts here, let me just write up a quick summary.

The book's main purpose is to aid the reader with how to reach a perfectly balanced life through the 7 F's of Oola: Fun, Fitness, Field, Finance, Family, Faith, and Friends. The basic meaning of Oola in a nutshell is having these 7 F's perfectly balanced in your life. Yes, this is the same summary from my review of the first book, and that is because both books have the same basic purpose, however, this book is aimed directly towards women. Sharing how the 7 F's of Oola fit into women's lives more specifically. This book breaks down every F of Oola, the Oola accelerators, the Oola blockers, and concludes with a helpful plan to help the reader start their journey to their Oola life.

Now that I have the basic summary out of the way, let's move on to my thoughts. Quite honestly I wasn't planning on reading this one right away. Not because I wasn't eager to read it or anything along those lines, but because I have a few other books I want to review for my page. One of my first weeks at home after losing my job, I saw it laying on my nightstand and something was just telling me to pick it up and start reading. Something just told me that this book would comfort me in a time that I was feeling a bit lost and scared for the future. I was absolutely right. Within the introduction a passage stuck out to me so much, and really helped put things into perspective for me. The OolaSeeker tells a story of how the OolaGuru helped him through a tough time in his life. He tells the OolaSeeker a story of how a car is built with the exact design it needs to in order to properly keep your eyes on the road. A small rearview mirror to briefly look behind you, but not for too long. A large windshield to look ahead and see the broad picture in front of you. You need to check the rearview mirror occasionally, but your main attention should be on the road ahead (pg. 19). The OolaSeeker's response to this really stuck with me:

"In that moment, I learned that my life is the same way. I do need to look at my past, but only briefly from time to time, and only to learn from it. The majority of my time should be spent looking forward, planning where I am going" (Pages 19-20).

I have mentioned many times that it is not good to dwell on the past and that we should grow from it, but still move on. So many people let the past directly affect their futures. That is no way to live and I think this section of the book specifically gets that point across.

The book also includes a workbook (as does the

first) and even includes this fun

OolaWoman Goal/dream sticker!

As I mentioned, I wasn't originally planning on reading this book just yet, but something inside of me told me to pick it up that day and there was a reason for that. I am sitting home right now on my very last week of unemployment. I start my new job on Monday and just finished this book last night. I think it is pretty funny that I started this book on my first week and then finished it during my last week of my unemployment journey. I read this book at a somewhat slow pace, and that was by no means because it didn't hold my attention. I simply paced myself because I needed the therapy it offered. Hearing about the stories of real life women going through similar, and even worse problems in their lives, yet they all still pushed through was so incredibly inspiring to me.

Just like with the first book, I laughed, I cried, I smiled... so many emotional stories are contained within the pages of this book. Some I could relate to personally, while others I couldn't, but still felt so inspired by the strength of the authors. I was even really surprised to see someone I know through my Young Living essential group mentioned directly in the book (I thought that was so cool Kate, Tony, Madison, and Alex so I had to give you guys a shoutout)!

This book was a very easy read and as I mentioned, it completely held my attention. I would definitely recommend it to anyone going through a struggle in their life seeking wisdom and encouragement. I honestly wouldn't even just recommend this one to women. I think men would get just as much out of these inspiring stories as women will. I am so inspired (as I was with the first book) to start working my way up to an Oola life, and kick some butt at my new job in the process.

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Positivity is pretty much what this blog page here has evolved into over the past few years, and with very good reason. I purposely waited until today to post my next entry, because I thought I would have some good news to share and it turns out I was absolutely right. It is official, my job search is finally over. I accepted a position today that exceeds my expectations and am absolutely thrilled about it. I am not starting for a few more weeks, but am so eager to get back to work and move onto this exciting new chapter in my book of life. This inspired me to write today's entry.

Driving home from my interview where I was told I got the job, a million things ran through my mind, but the most astounding one to me was how funny life works. This job opportunity came up because a friend I unfortunately lost touch with a bit over the years (but was very close with not too long ago) reached out to me because she saw something on a social media site I posted mentioning I was job hunting. It just so happened that the job was exactly what I was looking for right when I was looking for it. That is the most amazing part to me. If the timing of anything that has happened in the last few months had been even slightly different, this opportunity may have never came up.

Life fits together just like a puzzle. Trust me, over the past few months since I found out I was losing my job to now there have been plenty of times that it certainly didn’t feel that way. There were plenty of mornings that I woke up with a not so positive attitude because it just felt like everything was crashing down around me and my future seemed so uncertain. I fought through that and the positive days outweighed the negative ones. I got through and now my future's looking brighter than ever.

I luckily have a huge support system between my family and friends, and I know some are not as fortunate. I am thankful for that every single day. I know I am very blessed in my life even on days it may not feel like it. The most important thing in life is to fight through the bad because then the good is even sweeter in the end. Nothing lasts forever. Yes, sometimes this means good things in life come to an end, but more than not it means the bad things will pass. Fight through the storm to get to the sunshine. I know I have said this one before but… The sun may set in paradise, but it always rises again in the morning.

I know my job search is tiny in comparison to some people’s problems in life, but everyone has their own battles to fight every day no matter how big or small. What is most important is fighting through them and getting to the light at the end of the tunnel. I am amazed at how amazing life truly is. How everything happens for a reason. How events in life are timed out so perfectly that they fit together exactly as they should.

Keeping a positive attitude is so important when going through anything. Back when I was job hunting right out of college, I was probably at the lowest point in my life emotionally. I was not positive the way I am today. It took me about nine months after I graduated to find work, this time around it was only about two and a half. Yes I did have experience this time around and I know that helped, but my positive attitude and outlook on life, I am willing to bet, had a huge impact as well.

Now that I have touched on a bunch of past entries and stuck in a bunch of cliches here, I will come to a close with this entry. I just wanted to share my good news, and show how my growth throughout this time has helped me. I wanted to have my next book review up by now, and I promise it is going to be my next post. I am so close to finishing up the book for reviewing but have been so distracted lately. Next post I promise!

As always, thank you for reading!

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I woke up today feeling extra happy and positive. I really have no reason why, but I decided that this week is going to be a good one and I am going to keep a positive attitude during the week. You never know what could happen right? Because of this I decided to write a new entry tonight; I figured I was in just the right mindset for it.

I wanted to take some time today to write about silver linings and blessings in disguise. I could easily write two separate posts about these, but I feel like they are related and should be mentioned together. Taking a completely negative part of your life or a negative event that occurs and making a positive out of it is probably one of the biggest favors you can pay yourself. Negative things happen all the time but how we choose to deal with them is most important.

Blessings in disguise come to us all the time. I would be willing to say a huge percent of the bad things that happen to us are blessings in disguise. Maybe a friend or significant other leaving our lives, losing a job, etc. this event happened for a reason. Most likely you are better off and in the long run will be a happier person because of it. One door closes as another one opens. Most likely someone or something is leaving your life to make room for something even greater. I know I have mentioned this on my page before, but I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. It is quite possible that we will never fully know the reason, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.

I have been planning on writing a post about silver linings for quite some time now. I would say it was right when I lost my job that I started really thinking about silver linings. Silver linings are in a way our way of creating our own “blessing in disguise.” To use a personal example, I hate that I am still job hunting and am still unemployed. It is funny how when we are working we always want more free time...I now have it and am quite frankly going insane. You can only job search for so long every day. I have used this free time, however, to make silver linings for myself. I have spent a lot of more time with a friend I never used to see as often as I do now, I have had a lot of more time to write and stick to my blog posting schedule, I have been trying to organize and decorate my room (as mentioned before) to better suit my needs. These are all things I never made the time to do before. If anything, this big life change has taught me to stop putting my dreams, relationships, and fun on the back burner. A job and income is necessary in life, but that doesn't mean you should put everything else on hold.

See how these two topics intertwine with one another? They both are ways of turning a negative into a positive. With the right mindset there is no such thing as a bad day, just an obstacle to jump over. I have days of course where I do not always have a positive attitude. It is hard to stay that way especially if things just keep crashing down around you. Quite honestly this has been a very long and tiring year. Take a day or two to whine and mope around when something bad happened. I know I sure do from time to time, but make sure you get back up right after and start making those silver linings and finding the blessings in disguise.

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I wanted to take my next post here and write about something that has been pretty relevant in my journey to get healthier in the present. Emotions and food do not seem like two things that really go together but the truth is, they are both affected by the other. I recently really took the time to think about how my emotions are affected by my eating habits, but also how my emotions affect my eating habits. I wanted to write a post about it to hopefully help someone else come to the same realization and just share my thoughts on it.

You had a bad day at work so you stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some ice cream. Think about how often that probably happens. I know some people are not emotional eaters, but many are. I am probably one of the worst cases. You think you made it through such a stressful horrible day that you deserve a reward. Or I know pretty much everyone eats pizza and chocolate (or something along those lines) when they are going through a breakup. See how much and how easy it is to let our emotions lead us to bad choices in our diets?

As I have mentioned many times, I am currently looking for a job and still avidly applying and interviewing for positions. I am doing my best to stay positive but there are days I get extremely frustrated, discouraged, and mad about being in this current situation. Quite honestly I have been eating horribly up until this week. Now part of that truthfully is because I am on such a tight budget since I have such a small income now that I haven’t been spending too much on healthy food because let’s face it, eating healthy isn’t always the most affordable thing to do. So I really have been just eating what is already in the house and that really hasn’t been too healthy. I also haven’t been making the best choices because of being upset about my current situation… see what I am getting at here?

On the other hand, I personally have noticed that eating poorly has also had an impact on my emotions. I just haven’t completely been my positive happy self. I by no means mean I have been sulking around or laying in bed all day depressed, but I do notice a difference in myself when I am making poor choices in my diet. It honestly is a vicious cycle. Once I start eating not so great food I almost set myself up to do it again.

All of this is, of course, just how I have noticed emotions and food affecting each other in my personal life. I by no means and saying that everyone is like this. But I figured I would share my observations since I am noticing these changes in my emotions and food choices recently. Now, I don’t think it is necessarily a horrible thing to treat yourself to one of your guilty pleasure foods if you have had a bad day, however, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, You Had a Bad Day, it should be something done sparingly. If you are going through a breakup or something, sure have a day where you sulk and eat pizza, but pick yourself up the next day and don’t allow yourself to be sucked into the cycle like I have lately.

This year has been probably one of the most stressful I can remember in a long time for me. That is no excuse for not making progress and getting healthier, although I have allowed that to happen. To me though, it was a lesson that life does not always go according to plan. You never anticipate being told you are losing your job. You never anticipate a sudden death in the family. Life throws us curveballs and we need to do what we can to roll with the punches. I have learned to take each day at a time. I will not beat myself up over a lack of progress, but I will take a note to work on letting food and emotions intertwine in my life. My biggest piece of advice is to try and observe if emotions and food intertwine in your life, and do what you can to help yourself overcome it.

On a side note: I already have my next recipe planned out and bought all the ingredients. I will probably make this a double post week! :-)

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I have already once before wrote on my page here about Change and changes, but I wanted to do somewhat of a sequel to that post. Instead of just changes in general, however, I wanted to address the changes we purposely make in our lives in order to better ourselves or even something we know will have a positive impact on our lives.

Anyone reading this who knew me as a teenager is going to remember probably quite well what my bedroom looked like in those times. Posters literally covering every inch of my walls. Well up until a few days ago it still looked like that. I decided that since I have this free time right now as I am still avidly searching for a job, I would use my time for something productive and for something I have always thought I was too busy to do. So I started taking down all the posters and every single little staple I put them up with (I am really cursing my teenage self for that one). It has not only been something to take up my time after I job hunt for the day, but also something I felt was a good positive change to make for myself. Your bedroom should be a place of peace and calmness… well I finally felt that hundreds of pairs of eyes on posters really wasn’t the definition of calm. I am making this change to something that has been the same in my life for all these years, because I think it will have a positive impact on my mood and emotions. Finally having a calm place to relax and rest.

Another positive change one can make in their life is to cut out negative people. I am not really speaking from current experience on this one, but this topic was mentioned in a book I am currently reading (and planning on reviewing for my page here). Someone negative in your life will have a negative impact on you. They are toxic and will always bring you down in some way, shape, or form. The funny part is, you probably won’t even realize they are effecting you in this way unless you really take the time to consider it and figure it out. Don’t be afraid to recognize this and make a change for the better.

In my original post about change, I talked about how change in life is inevitable, which it is. Seasons are always changing, technology is always changing, the weather is always changing (although I wish it would change more here lately and stop raining). Those are changes we cannot aide or stall, but there are so many changes in our lives that we chose to make. We have the power to make anything in our life more positive and to cut out the things that may be preventing that. There are so many ways to change your life for the better, the only thing left to do it make them.

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