LETS DO THIS!!!!

So yesterday I started PINK Method. The first part is called Reset. I go through this part of the program for 14 days. Day #1 went great! My best friend came over so we could take pictures, weigh in, and take our measurements.  I had some cravings but got through it. My motivation level was pretty high. I had good energy though out the day. I capped off the night watching Alabama win the National Championship!!! ROLL TIDE! Today is day #2. I have way more energy than I normally do. Even with loosing a lot of sleep overnight with a sleepless child. I have had less cravings even with my husband eat pizza in front of me. I feel great and didn't even take a nap like I normally would. I'm excited about these little triumphs and hope that they keep coming!

PINK

If you know me or have even read the title of this blog you probably have an inkling that I kind of am obsessed with the color PINK! To me the color pink means strength, motivation, happiness, beauty, love and energy. I often wear pink scrubs at work because it motivates me to be the best I can be. If I am feeling a little down the color pink provides me with the pick-me-up I need. While shopping, the color pink always catches my eye. Honestly, I am more likely to buy something if its pink or has a pink label. It just makes me happy. Now more than ever Pink is so important in my life. While watching TV a couple weeks ago I was watching an episode of "The Doctors". The episode was all of things that are pink. So as a nurse and someone who loves pink I was drawn in to the show. The Doctors started talking about a new wellness program called "P.I.N.K. Method". I was glued to the TV as the nutritionist who wrote the plan introduced the diet portion and the 3 trainers that you work out with. She explained that P.I.N.K stands for Power Intensity Nutrition and Kardio with a K because it is FUN! As I was laying on the couch (kids were napping) I was getting motivated just watching these ladies talk about this program and how fun it was. After the show I called my best friend and told her we should look into the program. We both wanted to make the commitment this year to get healthy. We were looking for something like this and best of all its PINK. We ordered our PINK Kits, did a lot of reading about how the program works and how to be successful on it. We went out and bought all new workout clothes and other items that would make us successful. We set a start date and prepared for the hardest part, the first 14 days. We started on yesterday, January 9th. The program is about 9 weeks long and will take be right up to my birthday. I am hoping I can give myself the best 30th birthday present of all....a new body and a new life!

2012... A Look Back and a Look Forward

2012...

WOW! The years fly by faster and faster every passing year. I am hoping a lot of wonderful things will be happening in 2012. Most of them have to do with my amazing family. However, this blog is all about ME! So, what does 2012 mean to me? Well, I will tell you. The first thing that comes to my mind is that I will be turning the big 3-0 in April. When I think of turning 30 I first reflect on the last ten years and what they meant to me. I cannot believe how many changes happened in those 10 years. When I turned 20 I was attending Winona State University. I had great friends, countless sorority sisters, and a wonderful roommate. I was working on a degree that I wasn't 100% sure of. I enjoyed business,marketing, and politics but was it what I wanted to do forever? Not really. After talking with a counselor she brought it up how my face and eyes light up when I talk about helping people. I told her I always wanted to be in healthcare. Either in sports medicine or a Midwife. She really encouraged me to look further into "my dreams" and I did. I made the biggest decision of my life up to that point. I wanted to be a Nurse. I left WSU and moved home. It took a few hard years of transferring schools and trying to figure out what program I could get into. Nursing schools were in such high demand and many had  very long waiting lists. A very unexpected twist came in the summer of 2004. A school in Iowa had changed their admission requirements into their RN program. As a result many of their students no longer qualified to start the program and they were recruiting students in Minnesota. I had already received my Association in Arts degree and completed my pre-reqs for nursing.  I met with the admission counselor and was accepted on the spot! I couldn't believe it! I had 6 days to move to Iowa!!! Those next 2 and half years were full of ups and downs and in December of 2006 I graduated with my Associate Degree in Nursing. I later passed my boards and accepted a position at a hospital back home. About that time I had also discovered Facebook. Fun lil addiction that is. I was able to reconnect with a lot of people from high school and college, including my high school crush, Ian. As people say the rest is history. Over the next 5 years we dated, got married, had 2 kids, bought a house, bought a car. We both have stress filled jobs but they allow us to come home and enjoy our family without bringing our work home. Now that we are caught up on the last ten years lets talk about the present. Having my 2 children has been the greatest adventure of my life. Truth be told having kids has not been so great to my body. I have put them first and let myself go quite a bit. This is the year that all changes!!! It is 2012 I'm turning 30 and I need to get my life back! I want to be able to play with my kids for endless amounts of time. I want to not hate going shopping. I want to not be embarrassed to take a family picture or A picture for that matter. FYI, the last picture that was taken that included my lil family of 4 was taken almost 15 months ago when I was laying in a hospital bed the day after I had our son. Our daughter had a project for school recently and needed a family picture and we had to dig out an old Christmas card that included that picture. We have not taken a family picture since October 2010! I am always behind the camera, never in front of it. I want to be in front of the camera. I want to take pictures with my husband and children. Most importantly I want to be healthy!!! As a Cardiac Care nurse I see too many young people that have destroyed their health by living unhealthy lives. I REFUSE to be one of those people. My husband is a firefighter and an endurance athlete. I want to be able to keep up with him. Maybe a new hobby could be in my future???? OK so I have a goal but where do I go from here? I need something that makes sense. I need something that keeps me motivated, that is fun, and that I WANT to do. What I found I am really excited about!!! The P.I.N.K. Method is a new wellness program that uses a 3 phase exercise program plus a diet plan to transform women's bodies! More about the program itself to follow in an upcoming blog entry. My best friend, jEn, and I are starting this new journey together. I could not be more excited. Be sure to stayed tuned to what progress I make! I can not wait to see what 2012 has in store for me!!!