Recipe - Red, White, and Blue Strawberry Shortcake

I originally had this chicken recipe I wanted to post, but it didn't turn out the way I expected. Chances are, because we all know I'm not the most experienced chef, it's probably something I did. There are a couple minor tweaks I'm going to make and try it again in a couple weeks, but I didn't want to post it until I attempted it again to make sure it would be better! :)

But, I did want to post something, and I came across this yummy looking dessert that would be great for 4th of July! It's simple, and even though I haven't tried it yet, I'm pretty sure it will be delicious and I feel safe posting it before I try it!

The recipe is from Allrecipes.com and you can click here to go directly to the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

Random Thought To Ponder

Every day we have to make decisions that affect our lives. For the most part, our daily decisions are not that difficult or need much thought. However, from time to time we do have those moments in life that one decision can majorly impact our life. A lot of times we are not sure if the outcome will be what we are expecting or totally throw our life in a whirlwind. When I face these hard decisions, I'm typically receiving advice from many people who feel they know what's best for me. For me personally, this tends to make it harder and I'm more likely to stress out.

I've been struggling to stay positive and also concerned with the lack of weight-loss. I mentioned having a lot of stuff going on personally as well. I was recently promoted to a new supervisor position and I'm still transitioning into those duties. Overall my job is going very well. I'm enjoying this new opportunity and learning a lot. In regards to the weight-loss, my trainer and I have talked about it many times. It really does come down to intensifying my cardio, avoiding as much stress as possible, and getting sleep. But, there's been more to what's going on and I haven't really said anything until today.

I had lunch with a friend today and enjoyed being able to relax and just talk. I mentioned to her some of the things that were really bothering me and she suggested I talk with my trainer. I have two amazing guys I work with regularly, Mike my main trainer and Steven who gets the pleasure of dealing with my whining once a week! :) What is great about these guys, besides they kick my ass every session, is they truly care about me as a person and my results. I know I can always depend on them to be my biggest motivators at the fitness center. Even when I'm not there, I know I can count on them if I need to talk or even just vent. Tonight, my trainer didn't have a client after me, so I took the opportunity to sit down with him and talk. And even though I have decisions I will have to make that won't be easy, and I will be getting advice from many people, I know in the end I have to do what's best for me. 

After talking with my trainer tonight, I knew regardless of the decisions I end up making, I'll have someone supporting me no matter what. I came across this quote tonight, and it couldn't have been at a better time, because it reminded me how important it is to not let all the advice I get from every direction divert me from what I need to do for myself. It's like the quote says, other people don't have to deal with the results of my decisions, and if I want to be happy in life I'm making decisions for me and no one else!

Weigh-In Wednesday

So, I basically did nothing this week. I lost less than a half a pound, but I was just happy I didn't gain. I've been made fully aware my cardio needs to be modified, and I was advised on what I need to do to change it up to be more effective. I know I had a lot going on this week, but I really need to get back on track.

I really haven't had a specific goal lately; but tonight my trainer "suggested" one for me. Basically when I say "suggested", that can be translated to that he told me the weight I needed to be by October 1st; which means I need to lose 37 pounds by that date. And because I had no justification of why this is not a reasonable goal, it basically comes down to the fact I really have to start focusing and doing everything I can to hit this goal. Will it be easy? NOT AT ALL!!!!!! But, is it realistic? Yes, it's very reasonable and possible. And I know if I set my mind to it and focus I will hit this goal just as I have met many goals in the past.

Motivational Quote - The 3 C's Of Life

Life really is all about the choices we make in life! Sometimes we'll make good choices, and sometimes we make bad ones. The important thing is we learn from our choices and move forward.

Weekly Recipe - Pineapple Chicken Tenders

It's no secret I eat a lot of chicken, and this recipe looks really delicious! Click here to go to All Recipes site to get this simple recipe.

Weigh-In Wednesday

The past couple weeks haven't been all that great on the scale. I've gained a total of two pounds in the last two weeks. It seems I keep going up and down with these same two pounds. 

Yeah, I've got a lot going on. I've recently been promoted at work, so there are extra responsibilities along with learning a new line of business. I told my trainer tonight I'm just to a point where I don't even care anymore, which probably isn't the best attitude. But, like I mentioned to him, it's not that I'm going to quit trying or give up, but I'm going to quit trying so hard. Sometimes I think I try so hard to make sure I do everything perfectly, that I end up stressing out, which doesn't help any. 

We chatted a bit about everything, and of course he mentioned intensifying my cardio. And then we discussed my food journal. I document so much, and try so hard to be within a specific calorie intake, that I end up over analyzing my nutrition (which causes more stress). So, after further discussion, decided I'm still going to log what I eat, but not worry about noting the calories. We both know I make healthy choices. So, I'm going to just focus on each day and just make sure I get my meals/snacks in, and the calories should fall into place. 

I'm not sure really what to do sometimes, but one thing I know for sure is I can NEVER give up! So, whatever your personal struggles are with your health and fitness journey, just keep at it! Because no matter how difficult it may seem, it WILL get better!

Breathe. Smile. Peace.

Today was a long day, and still making a transition into a new job position, I needed this reminder.

A friend posted this picture with this thought for the day:

"One deep breath is all it takes to find the peace within. One smile is all it takes to share this peace with others."

BREATHE.  SMILE.  PEACE.

Motivational Quote

Respecting yourself doesn't mean you're selfish, it means you are making the best decisions that will better your life and you as a person. Sometimes these decisions can be very difficult, but in the end it's you that has to live with the choices you make. So, why not make decisions that will benefit you the most?

Do It For Yourself

Don't worry about what others think; make sure everything you do is for yourself and not anyone else!

Motivational Quote

There comes a time when what seemed impossible becomes easy. For me, I'm doing things in my workouts that I never thought I would be able to do. And it seems as I progress, my trainers will start to increase my weights or incorporate something new, and I will still question them. They have more confidence in my ability than I have in myself. I really try to not say "I can't" do something. One, it typically gets me extra burpees or tire flips; but mainly because I know if I think positive and focus I'll be able to accomplish anything they ask of me. I've been training with them for over two years and they have never asked me to do anything I haven't been able to do. Health and fitness really is all mental; because if you stay positive, focused, and believe you can do it, then you will!

10 tips to stay mentally healthy

Being healthy is more than just working out and eating right, it's about being mentally and emotionally healthy as well. I came across this site, "Better Health Channel" that has great tips on how to stay mentally healthy. Click here to go to the site.

Weekend Workout

Getting a little extra activity in on the weekends doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. My goal each week is to challenge you to take just 10 to 15 minutes and get a mini workout in. I will keep the workouts around four or five exercises and keep the number of reps moderate. 

The challenge is to complete as many rounds of the below exercises as possible within a certain amount of time. Even if it's just 10 minutes, that's better than nothing.

40 Jumping Jacks

30 Crunches

20 Squats

10 Push-Ups

If you have questions on how a specific exercise is done, or if there is something you need to modify, please feel free to shoot me message or an e-mail. Or, you can also search YouTube where you will find multiple professionals who will demonstrate the exercises along with ways to modify them.

Weekly Recipe - Luau Pork

The Luau Pork was really delicious! I actually made this a few weeks ago, but never posted it. The link is http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Luau-Pork-5529.html

Workout Humor

This is exactly how I feel about leg days!!!!! And for some reason I feel one coming up soon!

Weigh-In Wednesday

This week I lost 1.2 pounds. I was really hoping to lose 2, but considering I was on vacation all last week I'm good with that! There really isn't much more I could have done. I'm sure there were a couple lower calorie days, but I did manage to get six days of cardio in. Well, onto a new week! Hopefully next week I'll be able to hit a new goal!

The Five W's Of Life

Regardless of what changes you need to make in life to become an overall healthier person, make sure it's for you! Don't be afraid of changes that can make your life better. When you are faced with a challenge, don't give up when it becomes difficult or you don't succeed the first time; get back up and keep going forward. In life we will eventually make a choice we will regret, but the important thing is to not dwell on it. Learn from your choice and move on. It's natural, especially when something isn't going right, we want to try to find out why; but, there are times when there is no explanation and the best thing to do is accept reality and keep an open and positive mind.

I'M ALIVE!!!!!!

It's been a few weeks since I've been on here and there really is no excuse except I've been slacking. I've been in that "I just don't feel like it mood". I've been a little burnt out, but also the past couple weeks I have been struggling with some personal stuff. This past week I've been on vacation and had a lot of time to reflect and think about many things, including the purpose of my blog. I started out with the purpose of the blog is to become healthier, but something I forgot is health is more than just eating right and working out. We also have our emotional and mental health that we must keep healthy as well. And thinking back, I didn't start eating healthy and working out until after I became mentally and emotionally healthier.

If you read my bio, you would know that before I started making changes in my diet and fitness, I actually focused on my mental health, which in turn lead me to a better emotional state. And as I pondered on this, I realized there are probably many people who are in the same situation and only focusing on eating right and working out may not be what they need right now.

My blog is still titled "Becoming Healthier With Sherrie", but instead of one bite one rep at a time, I changed it to "Becoming healthier and staying healthy". I talked with some people on ideas I've been having and what I want to do to move forward. Because not only is this blog important to me, I've received so much great feedback from others who are benefiting from it, that I want to continue to be able to inspire others to make the changes they need to make in order to live a healthier life.

So, on that note....one of the things someone mentioned was having to many motivations actually can be discouraging. Their comment was, people tend to start feeling too much pressure, along with getting bored because things tend to start to sound repetitive. And I ALWAYS welcome feedback, so feel free to always shoot me messages if you have an opinion or suggestion. 

These are the following changes and plans I have in mind to move forward:

• Instead of a daily motivational, I figured it's important to kick off the week right so I will have a motivational quote Monday's to get your week going in the right direction.
• And, for me anyway, it's still important to have "Weigh-in Wednesday". I've been doing that each week, just like I said slacking on posting. This Wednesday I'm hoping to meet a new goal. If I can lose 1 pound I'll be back to the lowest I've been since starting two years ago, but if I can lose 2 pounds I'll be the lowest I've been in YEARS!
• Weekly recipe will still be posted. One of the things I received multiple comments on was, instead of posting them on Monday nights, to post them Thursday or Friday night. The purpose, is many people do their grocery shopping and meal planning on the weekend. They feel if it's posted towards the end of the week they would have the recipe for that weekend instead of having to wait all week. So, per that request, I will start posting the weekly recipe on Thursday.
• Weekend challenge is something I never really started, but would like to get it going. I have a new app that gives me random workouts and I will be posting those on Fridays to challenge you and myself to get some extra activity in each weekend.

These will be the four regular posts I will have, but continue to look for other posts randomly. They could be my thoughts on something that I want to share, or even stories or links from other sites/blogs that may benefit someone else. And also, keep in mind, even though a big part of becoming healthier is focused on eating properly and working out; I'll also be sharing things to help and keep us mentally and emotionally healthy as well.

I was feeling kind of bad about not being on here for so long, and not only felt I let myself down, but others as well. I know there have been many people who have made comments that this blog has helped them stay focused and that means a lot to me knowing others are being helped by my experience. But, then I realized, this is a perfect example of how this health/fitness journey can be hard and that I too will slack and have setbacks.

You all are amazing and the support I get from you all truly does mean a lot!