Weeds... Last weekend was beautiful so I spent a good amount of time cleaning up my backyard pulling the same weeds I had attacked 3 months ago... which got me thinking. Weeds, unless you tackle them at roots, will just come back. It struck me that this is so similar with our fitness and weight loss goals. We attack our goals with the best of intentions, doing our programs adjusting what we eat and getting in our cardio so why do so many of us struggle with the up down of weight loss? It seems many of us never look deeper at the issues behind our struggles. Our relationship with food and with ourselves over our body image lies so much deeper than just eating more broccoli... this is not the fix for most of us. Food for many means happiness and love. Think about it... we celebrate almost everything with food. Baby showers, going away parties, engagements, last day of school, and you see the line of kids entering the 7-11 for the slurpee fix after a great day at the ball park. Many of us when we are feeling down turn to food to lift our spirits but ultimately we wake up feeling even worse about ourselves and the shape we are in. When we are trying to "do better" we will make healthier choices for ourselves but feed those around us everything but. What is with that?

We all have "weeds" in our lives so perhaps its time we all stop placing all the blame on outside influences for our weight and health issues and start looking within. Be honest with yourself and your relationship with food and exercise. If you can identify the root then slowly you can kill it. Change your thoughts and change your life.... You can change how you think and feel about food and how you think and feel about yourself. It won't happen over night but it will happen.

Look at all the pieces to why you aren't achieving your goals and what is holding you back. The key to success is in you if you are willing to go past the weeds, dig deep and start attacking the roots.

Enjoy the journey of self exploration and allow the beauty inside you to shine through.

L

I recently took a trip down the Oregon coast and was amazed at the beauty that was around every corner. From the endless white sand beaches, the thundering waves and the desert like surroundings of the sand dunes in Florence this trip has given me memories that will last a life time.

I will say that doing a road trip and staying in various hotels, with various amentities did cause challenges for this fitness gal. We are incredibly fortunate to live in such a healthy environment. BC, primarily Vancouver and surrounding areas, offers endless choices for those of us who choose to eat healthy and live a fit lifestyle. I can't say the same for the United States. I was horrified at the realization that just hours away our close neighbors to the south can be in such a crisis with living healthy. I was surrounded by overweight adults but even more upsetting was the volume of overweight children. Restaurants did offer healthier options but honestly I was always disappointed with how the choices tasted... and hell if it doesn't taste good who would want to eat it? No wonder millions of people daily choose chicken wings over a wilted spinach salad topped with chicken breast that tastes like rubber. Not to mention the price tag attached to these options. I can understand why families would choose the unhealthy, tasty (by somes oppinions) and better priced meals. Unfortunately the true cost of these choices can't be measured by the size of your wallet... the true cost shows on the bodies and in the health status of all these individuals.

So in the end we opted for the "safeway" diet. Meaning we hit the grocery store daily and always checked into rooms that offered us fridges and a small area to prep for the day. Yes, this was alot more work but we felt better for it and our money went alot further and our food tasted GOOD!

So use this as an example... if you want to live healthy, eat healthy and feel great putting in the effort and taking the time is well worth the cost.

-L