Gardenia - Mandy Moore

Love this song

Well I put so much thought into getting ready
Now I know that was the best part

It's so easy to get caught up in what I'm regretting
Forget what I got from a wounded heart

I'm the one who likes Gardenia
I'm the one who likes to make love on the floor
I don't want to hang up the phone yet
It's been good getting to know me more

I've been seeing all my old friends in the city
Walking alone in Central Park

Doing all the things that I've neglected
Traded 'em all in to be in your arms

I'm the one who likes Gardenia
I'm the one who likes to make love on the floor
I don't want to hang up the phone yet
It's been good getting to know me more

Well I hear my own voice
Sounds so silly
Keep on telling my story all around

Everything I lost seems so different
Well this is how everybody gets found

I'm the one who likes Gardenia
Oh
I'm the one who likes to make love on the floor
And I don't want to hang up the phone yet
It's been good getting to know me more

...2 months later

"The only constant in life is CHANGE"

It has been a rough but very great 2 months, it is very true when people say that you need the lowest lows in life to appreciate the highs and that MY FRIENDS is what I have learned. It does not matter how bad you think you have it, there is always someone who has it worse and honestly as long as you take life's challenges as opportunities you will always have the upper hand!

I have learned to count my blessings and be grateful for all those things we take for granted, like health, my beautiful daughter, great friends and even the happiness of those loved ones who have chosen to no longer be around. I learned how to accept and live with the decision of others even if I didn't agree or liked them and have come to terms with the fact that I am not perfect and making mistakes is OK.

I think of these experiences as a big awakening; it has changed who I am and what is important for me. I have learned that material things do not define ME or what SUCCESS in life means to me. I think of myself as a new person who became more mature and learned to appreciate life's blessings in disguise. 

I am happy and in peace and approach every day grateful and humble, because I know that tomorrow is not a given, so I am just happy to wake up every day and have another day to live.

‎"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around." ~ Willie Nelson

I have Beiber fever

I can't tell you how happy I am to have a little 5 y.o. girl with a crush on Justin Beiber, because otherwise I would have never watched Never Say Never. Yesterday I dragged myself to the movie theater to take Sophia to see the Biebs who she claims to be her "boyfriend". Well I am very happy I did... Not only it was priceless to see Sophia's melting face throughout the entire 3D experience, but boy what an empowering movie!

I definitely sub estimated the power of the Biebs! His story was great and shows how hard work and determination always pays off, sometimes sooner than later. It also shows what a positive family and support system can do to kids and how encouraging our children can do wonders for them.

I personally grew up with old school parents that were everything but supportive and call themselves "Realistic" and even though I appreciate everything they've done for me I wish they would have been more supportive in what my interests and dreams were. On the positive side, what that taught me was the kind of parent I wanted to be. That's why I look forward to supporting every single talent and dream that my little girl might have... She will always know that she is perfect, because God never gives birth to anything less than that!

My new motto!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. 

Success leads to happiness!

This has been a very successful week when it comes to diet and exercise. So far I have 4 workouts in and its only Saturday morning, so I still have 2 to go! I have by now lost 5 lbs this week and again the week is not over. What a difference it makes when you are actually seeing the results right away and best of all, the numbers on that scale going down.

I do have to say that I have been very strict when it comes to what I put in my mouth and I have been counting my calories. I have been keeping a food log on My Daily Plate as well as logging my workouts. Another thing that has really helped was switching gyms, my previous gym was 1/2 hour away from our place in the city and after almost 2 hours of commute it wasn't very appealing to me to drive another 1/2 hour to go workout after a stressful day at the office.

My new gym is a super cute neighborhood gym that is only 5 minutes away from home and yesterday I was able to get my little one and meet D at home with his little one by 6:15. We were at the gym in less than 10 minutes and we were able to get our cardio in come back home and feed the kiddos all before 8:15 pm, this would have never been possible before.

I am looking forward to jumping in the scale every morning and that is a first! I can't wait to next week's workouts and even better... next week's results =)

That's it for now!

XOXO
CM

And the Boot Camp started

I have always been curious about boot camps and how effective they are, well I started a Wedding Boot Camp today with Unicuss Fitness and let me tell you, they kicked my butt today. I can barely feel my arms right now which is pretty amazing as I couldn't do much when it came to push ups, I guess whatever I did which in this case was as much as I was able to do was enough to make my arms really really sore.

It was 45 minutes of exercises that switched every 45 seconds, the longest 45 seconds of my life! I feel so out of shape right now and can't believe how weak my upper body and abs are. I guess it is a good thing I didn't pass out on my first class although I did feel like I was going to barf several times, lol!

To kick it up a notch I am doing a GREEN CLEANSE this week, which means that my diet will consist of only vegetables and fruits. This should help me detox from my not so good eating habits and making it a habit to add a good portion of vegetables to my regular diet. 

After this cleanse I will add grains like lentils and beans to my diet as well as white meat and fish trying to stay away from red meat and some of my favorite carbs like pasta, rice, bread, etc. 

I will probably post before and after pics at the one month, two month and three month marks and keep you updated on weight loss, inches, etc. I can't wait to see the results and the changes that my body will go through, looking forward to a tighter and smaller body!

That's it for now!

CM

In the dumps

So I have been in the dumps lately, it's been a month since the last time I ran. I figured I signed up for the marathon to have fun and I was miserable every run, so I guess I just gave up. Being 20 lbs over my ideal weight has really affected my running, not only I was back on square one but I was really feeling it in my joints and mood.

I decided to quit, at least until I got rid of some of the weight but the weight is not coming off. I feel I am going to have to eat lettuce for the rest of my life to be able to get and remain on my happy weight and I am not sure if I am willing to pay the price. I am a food lover and having to stay away from the food I love is definitely a NO NO!

Also in September my wedding dress designer is coming from Venezuela to measure me and I am no where near to my wedding weight, they can always take in but 20 lb is a lot. I've seen the change in my body, stomach and hips are out of control so I have to start doing something NOW!

For my b-day, Dave gave me 3 months of the "wedding boot camp" that I wanted so I am actually looking forward to that, I am going to take before and after pictures (which I won't post until the after) and we are competing to see who loses more weight on the month of September. Dave is supposed to lose 2 lbs for every 1 lbs that I lose ;)

This week will be tough, boot camp starts at 6 am so there will be many early mornings which I will have to get used to. One cool thing? My friend "M" joined to so I guess we'll be pulling each other out of bed to make sure that we complete every single workout!

I am also starting a green cleanse this week so I will keep you posted on how that goes, my diet has been awful lately so I am looking forward to healthy eating on top of my new exercise routine.

That's it for now!

=)