Features

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Perspective on Perfect

A reblog from Heidi Powell that really hit home for me :)

I am (still) Perfect…

POSTED ON APRIL 23, 2014
heidi separator
In speaking to a group of new friends, I had the opportunity to share my thoughts on “perfection”. It made me think of this post, one of the earliest posts I ever wrote for my blog, that really hit home with so many people when I shared it. Enjoy!
Thank goodness for makeup artists! - http://heidipowell.net/227
Thank goodness for makeup artists!
I am Perfect.
Perfectly imperfect, that is.
I use the word “ perfect ” a lot, and oftentimes had people remind me that nothing is perfect. I totally disagree. I believe that everyone and every thing is perfect and beautiful in its imperfect state of being. Think about that for one second – imagine that just maybe your imperfections actually make you perfect. Don’t you just love the freedom that thought gives you? Well, time to realize the reality of the thought and let go of our self-judgments and negative self-talk. It’s time to embrace our imperfections.
Now I’m not saying to throw caution to the wind and go indulge in a gallon of super chunky triple chocolate fudgy goo. I’m saying that it’s okay to mess up, and it’s okay to have faults. For those of you that don’t, I’m sorry. These faults, trials, imperfections and stumbles are our some of our greatest blessings – they’re our ‘springboards’ to becoming the strongest person we can possibly be!
#HeidiPowell #ClipExtensions #IAmPerfect #PerfectlyImperfect - http://heidipowell.net/227
Hair piece! A necessary evil for me!
So why do we so often find ourselves ‘masking up’ for the day before we go out in public? Why do we all feel the need to pretend to be something we are not? Why are we so scared of who we really are? Every time we put on that mask we feel beautiful and invincible. We put on a show of perfection for our friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances…everyone. We’re not true to them, but most importantly we are not true to ourselves. We are a fraud.
Ever feel that way? I sure have, and I still find myself there at times. I have to remind myself of a lesson I learned from my late father: true beauty comes from being honest and authentic.
You’re scared. I hear you. It’s not easy to peek out from behind that mask and share our difficulties and challenges with the world. But trust me, it’s worth it! The freedom that comes with being vulnerable, open, and real is unlike anything else. It’s the most liberating thing I’ve ever experienced, and without a doubt it has become one of the most powerful tools in my arsenal.
“Heidi, this is easy for you to say. You don’t have imperfections like I do.” FALSE! The camera is deceiving and shallow.
My perfectly imperfect feet - bunions and all! - http://heidipowell.net/227
My perfectly imperfect feet – bunions and all!
Behold, a Top 10 list of only some of my many imperfections:
  1. I have bunions.
  2. My nostrils flare to the size of a nickel when I laugh (those of you who know me know EXACTLY what I’m talking about!)
  3. My hair might be beautiful…but only because I clip in extensions (and that’s not the only enhanced part of me).
  4. I am a control freak (I’m working on it – so darn hard though, and not sure I’m making much improvement).
  5. I have food issues too.
  6. One of my eyes is lazy when I smile and I am SO self-conscious about it.
  7. Chris is my soul mate and best friend, and so often we post pictures of when things are fun and rosy, but we, like every other couple, have challenges and differences that we’re always working on.
  8. I am tempted 99.9% of the time to cheat during my workouts.
  9. No matter how hard I work on my abs, I will always have a belly button that could be mistaken for a nose.
  10. I don’t wake up looking camera-ready.  Thank goodness for hair and makeup artists!
Waking Up Au Natural! - http://heidipowell.net/227
Waking Up Au Natural!
So many more, but there’s not enough room in this blog.
So, how do you find this place of peace with yourself as you are?
Rule 62 – DON’T TAKE YOURSELF SO DAMN SERIOUSLY (thanks again, Dad).
Don’t be scared or embarrassed. You’re in a safe place and it’s time for a heart to heart conversation with the most important person in your life – YOU! Dig deep and allow yourself to see those imperfections. Try seeing the beauty in your flaws (yes, that bump on your nose makes you YOU!). Realize the lessons and strength that your imperfections have given you. And most importantly, don’t worry about what other people think. One of my favorite sayings is, “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
Now go be your perfectly imperfect self  :-).

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Time Management to Reduce Stress

I am a nonstop, workaholic, go from sun up to sun down and beyond kind of girl.  That being said...everyone needs a break eventually.  That's how I roll.  I go really hard for a long time and then I'm done.  I can't make myself do anything.  My body (especially my brain) needs a break.  I wonder if other people feel like this as well?  I'm sure I'm not the only one.  

Right now, I am really struggling with time management and it's causing me a LOT of stress.  I feel completely overwhelmed and I am trying to find a way to sort it all out.  Everyone is busy with (insert your activities here).  For me, I work 40 hours training for one job (soon I will be on my own and will have more flexibility), commute 1/2 hour each way to do that, own my own separate business with my DH (which is time and space consuming) and am in the middle of a healthy lifestyle overhaul (also very time consuming with my obsessive nature).  That being said I love my life. I have a wonderful partner with the patience of a saint who would do anything to support me.  I am successful in business.  I have a great family.  So, I guess my point with that is that I am blessed and I know it.  That doesn't change the fact that I am beside myself with trying to balance all of my endeavors and maintain some semblance of sanity.

It just feels like there are not enough hours in the day.  We are taking steps to streamline some of these things because I am in lock up.  I can't function well under this level of constant stress and I take it out on the one I love the most.  That just isn't fair and is completely unacceptable to me.  So we adjust.

I used to smoke.  I've mentioned this before.  It was my stress reliever.  Considering I no longer have vices, I really need to come up with a better way to deal with stress.  I think the only way around this is to have a plan.  The first step in my plan is to eliminate and consolidate.  That goes in all areas of my life.

The relevant piece here is how it relates to my healthy lifestyle.  I have taken that WAY beyond what is necessary and it's time to cut back.  I feel like I am CONSTANTLY doing something related to my weight loss/health improvement program. Between tracking, planning, logging, measuring, eating, avoiding eating, working out, blogging, reviewing forums and networking -- I don't feel like there is any time to do anything else. I'm not saying that this level of intensity hasn't been beneficial but I am at a point where I need to scale it down a bit. I still have another 60 - 70 pounds to go so I have to maintain some of it but I need to cut back.  So, I eliminated 1 of my 3 blogs.  All it had was a recap of all the other blogs and tracking that I do.  I have most everything in My Fitness Pal.  I also am not going to update my Daily Burn Tracker.  I have plenty of trackers as it is.  

Another part of this is my workouts.  Typically, I get up early in the morning so that I can get my workout in before my work day starts.  There are times when I simply don't.  Those are the days that are especially difficult since I then have to take time away from my DH and our business to get my workout in.  He knows and I know that it's important to achieve these goals but it feels like such a burden.  I guess if it were easy then everyone would do it.  With the obesity level today, that's clearly not the case.

I am hoping that I can streamline some more things in my life so that I can spend less time stressing and more time enjoying.  That's a hard one but...I'm still fighting.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The 3 Keys to my success this year

I was thinking about what has led to my success this year.  I broke it down to 3 things.

1) Keaira LaShae - I have mentioned her before but honestly - I couldn't do it without her.  I am constantly challenged, encouraged and motivated to better myself.

2) Diet Bet - I am competitive by nature and this only fuels it!  Not to mention that there is a social aspect that just makes it fun.  I won my first Diet Bet (Chris Powell Challenge) and am working on a 6 month transformer challenge now.

3) My Fitness Pal - I have used other trackers before and loved them.  MFP is built to cover all of the variables.  It also has a social component that is highly enjoyable and motivational.  I like to help people and this gives me a chance to share what I have learned as well.

Every person is different...from motivation to calories to workouts.  You absolutely need to do what works for you.  1 of the lessons that I learned this year was that I need to feed my body.  I was trying to eat 1,200 calories with a 200+ pound body.  That wasn't enough.  I am now consistently eating 1,600 and still dropping the same amount of weight.  I was introduced to Carb Cycling this year as well.  It has made a huge difference in my relationship with food.  I also learned the value of limiting sodium.  I feel better.  The only way to find out what works for you and what doesn't is by tracking.  I really cannot stress that enough.

I will admit that doing all of these things can be time consuming and is not always the easiest thing to maintain.  We are all busy.  Our responsibilities may be different, but we all have things that we need to focus on outside of ourselves.  On the flip side, I have to take care of me or there won't be anyone to do what I do.  It's a choice.  I choose to get healthy.  I have struggled my whole life with my weight and I will continue to be aware of it forever.  I have achieved significant results and am confident that I have a handle on my goals.  I am not saying it's easy - because it's not.  But it's certainly a lot more manageable if you have a plan.  Keep that in mind as you continue on your journey and achieve your goals.