Thank You Emily

For those who don’t remember, back in November I wrote a post about how it is okay to ask for help and rely on others to make us better whether it is physically, mentally, spiritually, or in another form.

In my post I introduced you all to Emily, my wellness coach. Well, I am sad to say that this weekend marks the 6 month ending to my program with her.

It’s pretty funny looking back at my journey with Emily and how SCARED I initially was. Emily first 

approached me on June 6, 2013. She asked me if I wanted to participate and be her guinea pig. I was interested and said sure. She emailed me all of her information..and I never responded. She followed up with an email on June 30. I never responded. As I’ve told everyone before, it was at the end of August 2013 when I realized I needed to get my life together and I knew I needed help – I NEEDED Emily. So on August 29, 2013, I finally reached out to Emily and I have never made a better decision in my life.

Over the last 180 days, Emily has been my mentor and leader in helping me create a healthier lifestyle. We’ve made bi-monthly trips to see each other (often at the Starbucks or Whole Foods) for hour session. If we couldn’t meet in person we would have sessions via Skype or FaceTime. Each week Emily would educate me on food – the good, the bad, the ugly. I would go into the ugly but that’s a whole other blog post. Handout after handout I was learning about food and what my body really NEEDS, compared to what my body WANTS. Emily has taught me how to love myself, how to prioritize aspects of my life and how to look at my WHOLE self – physically, socially, financially, relationships. Our health and wellness is made of SO MANY components, not just what you eat or how much you work out. Your “ life circle” has to be balanced, you need to be centered.

Emily helped me transform into a better person – helping me grow as an individual and showing me new explorations through exercise and food. She had me try “weird” foods I would have never EVER tried before and now LOVE! She gave me INSANE physical challenges that I CRUSHED and others I didn’t. But I was always up the challenge.

In the pictures below you can clearly see the physical changes that have taken place since joining Team Emily, but for those who see me on a daily bases, I think my attitude and positive mind set is off the charts, something I was missing for a veryyyy long time. Do any of you agree?

Thank you Emily for all that you have done. I could not be where I am today if it wasn’t for you! To everyone else, stop waiting and saying one day – start today!

xox

P.S..- For those who mock us individuals who post "transformation" pictures, you clearly need to get over yourself. People are allowed to be proud and show accomplishments for what they have achieved. If you don't care to see, then unfriend me/block me, whatever. But it takes A LOT of guts to expose your flaws to hundreds of people. To this day I hesitate pushing the publish button but if I'm helping at least one other person, it was worth it. 

Month-by-Month 

Holy face difference! 

April Showers Bring...

I love April for many reasons:

• The weather starts to turn.
• We get those occasional OVER seasonal temperatures where you can get away with wearing only a t-shirt and jeans.
• I don’t have to run on the treadmill anymore – I can FINALLY hit the streets. 
• It’s the first time of the year where we get to see some greens and gorgeous flowers starting to perk up from a dreadful winter. 
• April always makes me think about my Loyola girls and how we were finishing up spring season and that meant the end of the semester was quickly approaching.

But my all-time favorite thing about April – it’s my birthday month which means one thing: FREE BIRTHDAY COUPONS AND CASH!!!

Starting on April 1st the snail mail and email just blow up – some things pointless, some things awesome.  I get to use them whenever throughout the entire month – enough time to strategically plan purchases for items that are already on sale PLUS my birthday bonus. #winning

For instance, it’s only April 3 and so far I’ve gotten love from: Loft | Lens Crafters | Victoria Secret | The Rally House | McGillin's Olde Ale House

I’m anxiously awaiting my free Dairy Queen treat -- you guys would be SOOOO proud, in seven months I have only had two scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone ONE TIME in Savannah. NO ICE CREAM, WHATTTT?! A lot different than when I was crushing the 12 scooper at Friendly’s! Any other birthday favors from stores will be an added bonus to my mouth.

So cheers to April -- I hope everyone has a great month, you deserve it!

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH -- I Applaud You, CVS

I've been seeing a lot of posts online lately that have given me the urge to write a blog post based on its contents. I've been pushing it off, saying I don't have enough time. Well enough is enough, I need to stop being lazy and bring my writing side back out. I've been in hiding way to long!!

So on this icy, snowy, horrible day I'm getting back at it. 

I saw this post on Facebook this morning and something trigged inside me that I knew I had to do a quick post. 

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) announced today that it will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at its more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores across the U.S. by October 1, 2014, making CVS/pharmacy the first national pharmacy chain to take this step in support of the health and well-being of its patients and customers.

CVS- I applaud you on many levels for this:

It's great to see that a chain that supports health is taking positive steps in not supplying items that kill nearly 443,000 individuals every year. Hopefully after seeing success from your chain, others like Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc. will follow in your footsteps. Way to go CVS...as always, I'll continue to be a dedicated customer.