The Strength: Motivation Monday

Monday, October 3, 2011

Motivation Monday

Meet my friend Lori Carpenter!

"As Oprah likes to say, 'have you had an aha moment?' Well I did but it was more like a WHOA-HO! moment!

I knew over the years I had gained some weight. Then I had kids and put on more weight, but not much, right? W-R-O-N-G!! Not only had I gained weight, but between the cookies, cakes, comfort food, bread-oh lordy the delicious bread (I can smell it now) I had become obese. GULP-OBESE-ME???

Yes, me, shoving my face full of all the foods that, honestly, now I do not even like. But not only the type of food, but the portions of that food as well, was WAY more than I needed.

So as I saw pictures of my triple chins, surpassed the double shin and went straight to the triple. Kinda like skipping the double dog dare and going straight to the triple dog dare, I got my big ol' jiggly butt to Weight Watchers and joined Tammy's kickboxing class.

It started to work, I lost 25 lbs within a year-yeah! But wait...I am still in the overweight category! ;(

Started working out a little more, got a little more weight off but, ahh, I could not get down where I wanted to be. Then I took a weight loss class that Tammy was teaching, and that was awesome! I learned that it is so vital to watch what you put in your body as well as how much you put in your body. I lost 12 pounds in 10 weeks! Now I'm rockin it!

Until I forget all that I learned of what Tammy taught me and I slip back into old habits.

Finally, I said, enough is enough! I so not want to be obese, I do not want high blood pressure, I do not want diabetes. So I pull out all of my 'Tammy recipes', work out with a great blend of cardio and weight training. Now I am seeing the difference.

The most important thing I did though, was cut out all processed foods. Not only do I look better, but holy cow, I feel amazing!

I am proud to say this coming May I am turning 40 and have never felt so good. Even better than when I was in my teens. So here is my weight in numbers so you can all see if YOU decide to make a change, YOU CAN DO IT!! Five years ago i started out at 184 pounds and today I am 131 pounds. That is 53 pounds gone to never come back! You can do if I can do it! Do it for YOU because you are worth it!
Lori Carpenter

1 comment:

Jennifer JuniperOctober 5, 2011 at 2:48 PM
Hey Lori and I turn 40 in the same month! Woo hoo! I can't see the after photo - but let me tell you, she looks nothing like this now!
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Motivational Quotes

You must act as if it is impossible to fail.
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself!
Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, your probably right!
If you are sick of starting over, you have to stop quitting
You won't fail if you're not perfect, you'll fail if you're not committed to improving yourself slightly each day.
We can reverse years of damage to our bodies by deciding to raise our standards for ourselves, then living differently. Old wounds heal, injuries repair, and the whole system improves with just a few changes in what we put into our bodies and how we move them.
Failure is not fatal; failing to change will be."
Food for Thought: The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Strengthen Your Desire! Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
Success is not a race, be patient.
It's not about how good you are, but how bad you want it!
Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go..."
"Never trade what you want the most for what you want at the moment"
"Success is not a place that we aspire to, it is a process in which we live by. Often the only ingredient being the ability to not quit"
Be specific in what you want, and use specific words. Empower yourself, and become the person you dream about
That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased."
The odds of hitting a target go up dramatically when you aim at it." ~Mal Pancoast
At the beginning of any task, more than anything else, your attitude will affect it's successful outcome.
Do or do not. There is no try.~Yoda
Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means, effort, pain, difficulty.
Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear."
There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps."
Start doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you'll be doing the impossible!
"My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today."
People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily. Zig Ziglar
"Clear your mind of can't." ~Dr. Samuel Johnson
"Any experience can be transformed into something of value. Everything depends on the way you look at things. You cannot have the success without the failures.
What are stumbling blocks and defeat before you, can be stepping stones to victory if you remain determined.
Listen closely: the only time it's too late to change yourself is when you're dead. Until then, you're simply making excuses or lying to yourself.
If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got!
"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently". ~Henry Ford
What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. ~ John Ruskin
Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." ~Ralph Marston
One definition of insanity is: Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.
"If we defend our habits, we have no intentions of quitting them."
Your past does not equal, nor does it dictate, your future
Do you choose to simply know the path, or do you choose to walk it?
Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down...
When one approach is not working to reach the desired goal, that's not a reason to abandon the goal. Instead, it is time to devise another approach."------Ralph Marston
Discipline is remembering what you want.
Knowing is not enough, you must apply.
Make the decision, then do something - no matter how small - toward accomplishing what you want.
Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. ~Wendy Wasserstein
Food for Thought: The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Strengthen Your Desire! Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.