STRONG

Well Hello 2016!!!  Two weeks late! LOL  Gotta love it...

I finally started feeling human this past weekend thank goodness!  I've been deathly sick since right after Christmas and let me tell you I am SO over it!  This week has been spent getting caught up on housework (three boys left to their own devices...let your imagination go with that one) and getting ready for our new Bible study group that started yesterday.

This crud is sticking around for awhile apparently as I am still not feeling super great so I am listening to my body and taking things moment by moment.  It's my head that is the worst.  I can deal with a cough and body aches but I've been battling some sick migraines and those pretty much render me powerless.  Not the best start to the year but like my MIL said maybe I'm getting all the sickness out of the way at the beginning of the year.  How's that for a positive spin?

Every year I choose a word to focus on for that year.  This year I chose STRONG and I chose this word for several reasons.

Stronger In My Faith

First and foremost I want to become stronger in my faith. My belief in my Lord, Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life and its time to get stronger in that belief.  Even though I've been a believer since I was 16 I have not always lived my life that way.  When our family joined Crossroads in 2014 I rededicated myself to my faith and have grown since that time but I want more.  I want to be in the Word more.  I want to be able to witness more and give more of myself.  I want power behind my prayers.  I just want more.

I am tired of feeling ashamed of what I believe because of some Christians giving that title a bad rap or being labeled a "goodie goodie."  For me, it's not about that.  It's about living my life for a higher purpose.  I know people are going to judge me but let them judge.  If they're not going to judge me about my faith then those same people will find something else to judge me for so whatever.  I want to live my life where I can reach people without words and let my life be a testimony of what I believe.

Stronger In MySelf

With my faith getting stronger I want to become stronger in who I am as a person.  I have an extremely low self-esteem and have spent the majority of my life as a people pleaser and not being true to who I was born to be.  In doing that I have lost who I am and quite honestly feel lost as a person.  I care so much about what other people think of me that it shadows my true self.

My goal is to get out of this people-pleaser mentality and be true to myself.  I also want to discover more about who I am and what I like.  There are those things that I definitely know are Christi but there are some areas that are gray and I want to bring those gray areas to light.  I'm excited to discover more of my loves and passions and hope that the journey will help me realize the path I want to pursue as far as a career.  I have some thoughts but I'm not 100% sure and I want to KNOW my purpose.

Physically Stronger

Then there is the strength I want to physically find.  I am SO ready to get this fat off me for good and pursue one of my known passions: bodybuilding.  I've always been fascinated with people that can transform their bodies just by moving more, lifting more weights, and eating healthier.  It's one of the few things in life that YOU have control over and I am ready to take that control back!

I finished up my Flavilicious challenge and needed a new plan so I went on bodybuilding.com while I was down and found a new program called Dymatize Transformed and I thought perfect!  I've missed a few workouts since I started due to the busyness this week but I think it's a great way to start 2016!  

I really want to focus more on gaining muscle and increasing my PR's and not just on losing weight though I know that'll be an added bonus. ;)

My in-laws purchased a 24 Day Challenge for me from Advocare and I started that on Monday along with thousands of others around the world for their All-In challenge.  If I wouldn't have had these supplements this week I don't think I would've functioned as well as I have!  I think Advocare is going to definitely play a part in my gains this year.

I cannot WAIT to see where this year takes me and my family!