Come along with me..

How much can one really talk about themselves? Some people love to brag or boast, mostly because their life is either depressing and not gratifying (hence all the " I love my life" Facebook statuses one day..next day "FML SMH why me blah blah") or some people really do love their lives, because they chose to make their life the way they want it. They take responsibility for their life. They set goals and achieve them. They want and they get because of their actions. Here's my choices:

I have been blessed, not because of a stroke of luck, but because of what I have done in my life. I traveled to Hawaii in 2010 by myself after feeling in a real rut of life and fell in love with everything the island had to offer. Of course it was beautiful but there was much more that had my attention. It had so much to offer: life. A real true healthy, happy, life. I could literally visualize myself setting up a place to live and finding a job, becoming friends with the local people, volunteering anyway I could to give back to the community, and living happily. I truly felt in my heart that this is where I belonged. I was in the ocean one day looking at the land thinking this is possible. Life gives you options and choices and ways to do things, if you have nothing to hold you down. At the time, I was in a lease in NJ and bounded by car payments, bills, in between jobs, had no family around me, surrounded by negative people mostly in whom I lived with during that time. It was a bummer. I started thinking of ways to make it happen.

I was only there for a couple days before I knew I wanted to apply to start teaching in Hawaii. I went home from the most life awakening vacation, back to where I knew I didn't belong. It was hard to re-enter a life that was hard and surrounded by negativity. I began to express my interest in moving here when people would literally laugh at me. Some would say, "That's a far fetched dream." or "Ya, with what money?" These comments confirmed my belief in that I was more then this. I knew it wasn't going to happen right away but through hard work, goals and determination, it was going to happen.

Through a ton of moves, selling almost everything I owned, sleeping on floors in peoples kitchen in transition of moving because I had no where to go (true story), staying at a new place for only 1 month (Thanks Jess), making friendships, breaking friendships, having no one to having everyone, I moved to Texas. GOTCHA!  Thought I was going to say I moved to Hawaii right away, didn't you? No. Remember, hard work pays off. Nothing happens overnight. Back to Texas. I moved there for a year to live cheaper, save money, and experience a different setting. I had the most amazing year, teaching for a great school and forming new friendships. Yes, everything is bigger in Texas. Including my butt that grew over time as well as my hips. They have fast food and places to eat every single mile, no joke. Mmm.. Cracker Barrell, ok, back on track. I lived there and loved it. While I lived there I read a ton about juicing and decided I would experiment it for 30 days. Straight 30 days of juicing. I lost 25 lbs in just 30 days because I supercharged my body with nutrients.  I felt great but it was really hard. I think this is great for a detox but not for a lifestyle. I learned that after I gained the weight right back and then some.

After a year of living in Texas, Josiah, my boyfriend, was about to get out of the Navy. This was a huge decision on where we wanted to live together. My first thought : HAWAII. We discussed all the possibilities and how to's. He got a call he got offered a job in Maui, for a fitness manager and trainer at the gym. He was to leave in April. I had a teaching job I truly loved and I knew I couldn't leave my kids in April when they would be done with school in June. I knew he was going to have to go without me until I could meet up with him in June. Another setback but I knew I had to do this. Was it hard? Yes. I had to go 3 months without seeing my boyfriend. He moved to Maui to start his new career as I stayed behind.

I finished up school and went to NJ to visit my friends. It was so refreshing to see everyone I loved so much. I knew I was going to miss them but I was so grateful they were so supportive of my new journey to Hawaii.

As I sat at the airport at Newark thinking, I am moving to Maui. I sold everything I have. I shipped necessities. I have clothes, bathroom stuff, girl stuff, my dvds and books. I am literally moving to Maui with a suitcase. My dreams are coming true. I got the sense of going away again to college. Your starting with a clean slate. You can be however you want and make new friends. Start a new job or see new things. This is it. I stepped on the plane, set for my new journey. Through all the trials and tribulations, it came down to this point. I sat, smiled and finally my mind was at ease.

Nothing comes easy. Shedding pounds is included in that for sure. A weight lost journey always has a story behind it. My story: I ate the wrong things. The end. I have been eating clean for a month when I took a week to binge on the wrong foods and got very sick. My defense was down and I was out of life for 8 days. I started this blog to hold myself accountable to eating well and sharing my story with everyone out there who needs help and doesn't know how to do it. My first advice is preparation and time. You got time to go to a fast food place, you got time to cook. Put down the fork and come dig in with clean eating with me. I will not say your going to loose weight overnight, it will be easy or you wont have weak times but I will say that you will feel great, loose weight, ad look better. You skin will shin, you'll drop pounds and your body will heal from the inside out.

Through this blog I will cite the recipes I use from my favorite bloggers, post pictures of my meals, daily workouts and post life rants as well.

I really hope you'll check back every now and again and maybe cook a recipe or two.

Aloha and Mahalo!!