New and Better Times Ahead!

I realize that is has been since March that I have been here. I apologize if I let anyone down that may have been following my blogs. I also apologize to myself for letting myself down during my journey last year. Just like my blog dropped off, so did my journey to a half marathon. I didn't end up running the half marathon, but I did run my first 10k. I did accomplish something still, but it could have been better if I stuck with it. 

So here I am again starting over with my journey....

Since December I have started half marathon training again with my friend Chandra. We are also doing a hybrid of that with P90X to get strength training in there too. We have also started a podcast called Healthy Everyday Lifestyle Podcast. We are covering all healthy lifestyle topics along with tips and tricks to lose weight. I am really excited this time with my training. I think that since I am not doing it by myself and I have the podcast (and now this blog again) to hold me accountable, I will achieve my goals. I am committed to achieving this. I know that I could have done it before so now I will get it done. I am here to hopefully show myself what I can achieve and teach others that they can achieve the same results I have. This blog is about a real person with real body issues and how she overcame them to achieve weight loss and personal goals. 

The Podcast we have been recording has covered so many things. The one we recorded tonight was about toxic relationships and overcoming them to gain control of your life again. This is one of the most important topics to cover with weight loss because so many people stop their journeys because other people are making them stop because they feel they have to. So here are the 7 ways of overcoming these relationships that we covered. I will also give a little info from my personal experience with each of these. I had to overcome a toxic relationship with my mother to be able to achieve what I have in the last couple years:

• Move on Without Them
• If you can, just tell them that you cannot be around them and stop being around them.
• Stop Pretending the Behavior is OK.
• It is NOT OK for them to make you feel like you aren't good enough. They should not make you feel guilty for improving YOUR life. 
• Speak Up
• You have to speak your mind. Tell them it is not ok. Tell them how they make you feel when they treat you badly. Bottling things up is toxic to yourself. 
• Put your foot down
• This goes along with speaking up. Once you tell them it's not ok, you need to put up boundaries or shut them out completely. Whatever you decide, you need to stick with it or they will see that and use that to control you. 
• Don't take the toxic behavior personally
• It's THEIR problem not yours. That's a huge lesson! It's hard to overcome that specific idea.
• Practice Practical Compassion
• If you must deal with the toxic person in your life, be compassionate but don't let them control you. Say things like, "I understand you feel that way, but this is how I feel...."
• Take time for yourself
• This the most important of all. It is something you must do all the time whether or not you are dealing with a toxic relationship. It helps you keep in touch with yourself as well as blow off steam. 

This is a huge lesson that took me 28 years to learn. I was always letting toxic relationships rule my life because I wanted people to like me and accept me. I was always more worried about them than myself and I suffered. Once I realized that and changed my point of view, I saw myself flourish. I became the person I wanted to be and am now able to physically do more things because my mental state isn't holding me back. When you free your mind, there are no limits to what you can do. I keep saying that my journey has been more of a mental fight than a physical one. Fighting my mind and how I perceive myself is the hardest thing to do. 

Here are the links to my FB, Twitter, and Podcast:

Me:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/angela.barnets

Twitter: @thapeachyone

Podcast:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/healthy.everyday.lifestyle.podcast

Twitter:  @HELPPodcast

RSS Feed:  http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthyEverydayLifestylePodcast

iTunes:  Search for Healthy Everyday Lifestyle Podcast

Chandra and I have made this journey our #1 priority so I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you. I hope that you will be there for me as well as allow me to share this with you. You will hold me accountable and I can do the same for you. Please also comment and share your experience with me! Let me know how you are doing and if you have any suggestions on what you want us to cover in our blogs and/or on the podcast please share.

Peace for tonight,

xoxo