Celebrate Jen

My cousin Stepahnie has always looked up to me her whole life. This Christmas she gave the most cherished present. She wrote a beautiful letter and I posted it below.

Celebrate Jen

For so long you have put other people before yourself. To a certain point it is great to be unselfish. Because you are Jen you will always think and help others. Jen needs the same tender, generous, loving care that you would give other people.

I could sit here and name a thousand qualities that you have. You are a true selfless person. You enjoy making other people happy. When other people get hurt, you feel their pain. Then you think of how you can help them out of their situation.

When you walk into a room it starts to glow. Greeting people with a smile is not always easy, but you manage to do so.

Jen, you are a true example of doing Gods work on earth. You try to live your life everyday by helping and giving back. To you that is not work, completes you as a person.

You can still live your life like that and still celebrate Jen. If you do not focus on you, helping people will not be fulfilled anymore. For along time Jen has been on the back burner. Be selfish a little bit for yourself. I am not saying stop helping, but think of Jen first sometimes. That is why I have given you a picture of yourself, because if you forget, you can the picture and remember to "Celebrate Jen". Get back to being Jen because in case you have not figured it out yet, you are a person I have looked up to my whole life.

Anyway

In this life situations are going to arise and there are going to be times that people are not going to be nice but in the end try to keep your head held high and smile anyways with love and keep them in your heart. With Love we can do all things. Love can move mountains. Never stop loving and do it anyways.

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.Love them anyway!If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway!If you are successful, you will winfalse friends and enemies.Succeed anyway!The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.Do good anyway!Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.Be honest and frank anyway! What you spend years building may bedestroyed overnight.Build anyway!People really need help but may attack you if you help them.Help them anyway!Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.Give the world the best you’ve got anyway!
Written by: Mother Teresa

ANYWAY
(Sung by Martina McBride)

You can spend your whole life building Something from nothin'One storm can come and blow it all awayBuild it anyway

You can chase a dream That seems so out of reach And you know it might not ever come your way Dream it anyway

God is great But sometimes life ain't good And when I pray It doesn't always turn out like I think it should But I do it anyway I do it anyway

This world's gone crazyIt's hard to believe That tomorrow will be better than today Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all your heart For all the right reasons In a moment they can choose to walk away Love 'em anyway

God is great But sometimes life ain't good And when I pray It doesn't always turn out like I think it should But I do it anyway
Yea - I do it anyway
You can pour your soul out singing
A song you believe in That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang Sing it anyway
Yea, sing it anyway
Yeah, yeah!

I sing I dream I love anyway

Wake Up

Sometimes we never know what to do each day or even what we want to do with our lives. We walk around confused and not reaching for our dreams in life. Remember in order to reach for your dreams you have to strive and work hard.

If you are passionate about your dreams, you will make it through all obstacles that come in your way to try and stop you from getting to the top. Do not give up and remember this line "If you want to be somebody if you want to go somewhere you better wake up and pay attention". Keep plugging away each day and wake up and go for what you want.

Song Wake Up by Valeria Andrews

If you wanna be somebodyIf you wanna go somewhere You better wake up and pay attention Hey...So you think you've got the answers To all that lies ahead Well, in my mind I thought the same one time and I hear you spouting much talk' Bout how you ain't being lead Ain't no one telling you what to do but attitude will catch up with you and keep you from your destiny.

If you wanna be somebody If you wanna go somewhere you better wake up and pay attention When the time is now or never To make your dreams come true You gotta wake up and pay attention.I ain't buyin' no more lyin''Cause truth don't cost a thing Denyin' what's inside's too much to pay It's 'bout sweatin' without stressin'There ain't no other way You know you can't get much without much givin'Oh, expect from yourself and you'll respect yourself You control your destiny. Time to wake up, everybody Time to wake up, children Wake up, everybody(ooh...)If you wanna be somebody (wake up)Go somewhere Wake up and pay attention When the time is now or never To make your dreams come true You gotta wake up and pay attention.

Shhhhh

Do you remember growing up and someone was always telling you to shhhhh or to be quiet or to just shut up? Did you ever listen? Sometimes in life we want to do what we feel is correct and never just be quiet enough to listen. You never know someone may have some great advice that you may miss because you are choosing not too listen and too always do things your away. So remember that silence is sometimes is the best answer.

There is a famous quote that states "Never miss a good chance to shut up".

Hustle and Bustle

This time of the year is crazy anyway. We feel like we can not breathe and nothing is getting done and we are eating everything out of sight. Stop!!! Please make it stop. Well my friends that is the Hustle and Bustle of everyday life.

As a society we spend so much time running around trying to get things done and we end up not getting anything done because we take on so much in our already busy life. Then when we feel we are stretched to the bursting seams of capacity that is when we finally look and say let's slow down.

When we are so stressed that is when we start shoveling food in and not exercising to release the inner demons and we keep going and gorging.

Oh lets stop with the hustle and bustle and be thankful for what we have and enjoy each day and take care of your temple. If you feel your life is in Hustle and Bustle mode focus on positive energy and take a deep breathe in and relax.

Move Forward

When you go through rough times in your life and you think your world is coming to an end and you do not think you can move forward and everything has stopped and is going in slow motion and you just think I want to quit trying. What do you do? Do you stop or do you move forward?

There are so many times in our lives and no matter what we go through we feel like just giving up and not moving forward. We want to stop and feel sorry for ourselves because that is our security and we feel it would be to hard to stand up and move forward.

Life deals us many obstacles and I am here to encourage people whoever reads my blogs to stand up and move forward. Pick up your pieces, believe in yourself, and know you are the best and move on. Never ever give up on yourself and yourself value because once you have done that you have lost all respect for you. Once you lose respect for yourself how do expect other to respect you?

I do not come on here to preach but to share my life happenings to try and help others. It is all about getting through life together and not going against one another. So know matter how hard you think it is going to be, let me tell you stand up and move forward. Do not give up.

No matter what you are going through you may feel that you will never be able to pick up the pieces to move on let me leave you with this thought.

Have faith in yourself and know that you are a great person and know matter what you are going through now and what you have been through hold on to your heart and never let yourself go.

Move forward and do not give up!!!!!

Share Your Life Experience

Do you ever look at what has happened in your life and wonder if someone can benefit from the experience of what you have gone through? We go through life experiences everyday for a reason and a purpose.

Life deals us multiple situations that we can either grow from or doing nothing with. Sometimes we want to be humble or not share with others, not realizing that we may be helping another person that might need a little pick me up. Never give up on the fact that you may have an experience that you have been through and someone else could benefit from it just by you sharing. I feel we live in a society that we feel we can not share our story or life experience due to the fact people may think that we are bragging or trying to make them look bad. I did not really realize this until this year. If I share my story more about my weight loss battle it may help someone else that may be experiencing the same issue.

It is time as a society to work together and not work against each other. The experiences that we go through I feel are meant to be shared to help other people. So why not start sharing your life experiences now. Embrace what has happened to you in your life and start sharing.

CowBoy Up

Are you wondering why I am titling this segment

"CowBoy Up"? The urban definition of CowBoy up is when things are getting tough you have to get back up, dust yourself off and keep trying. Life can buckus off course sometimes but it is our responsability to get back up dust ourselves off and keep going. Whatever issues you are having remember CowBoy up put a smile on dust off and continue off into the sunset. Live your life to the fullest.

Chris Ledoux CowBoy Up Lyrics:

Ramblin fever took him, when he was 21 tonight's rodeo is over, but the fight had just begun he was pounded into the ground, while chasin after his dream he ain't one to laying down and livin in misery you gotta cowboy up, dust yourself off get back in the saddle give it one more try sweat and blood it takes all you got cause the road to heaven is a hell of a ride the tough get goin when the goin gets rough cause they know they gotta cowboy up he stopped at a roadside bar to have him a beer or two he was laying it on the jukebox when he saw her across the room he asked her for a dance cause he had a case of love at first sight but he didnt take it personal when she said your not my type you just cowboy up, dust yourself off get back in the saddle give it one more try sweat and blood it takes all you got cause the road to heaven is a hell of a ride the tough get goin when the goin gets rough cause they know they gotta cowboy up From business suits to cowboy boots it hurts when you get thrown but if your gonna be the best you can you gotta get back onyou cowboy up, dust yourself off get back in the saddle give it one more try sweat and blood it takes all you got cause the road to heaven is a hell of a ride the tough get goin when the goin gets rough cause they know they got to cowboy up dust your self off get back in the saddle give it one more try sweat and blood it takes all you got cause the road to heaven is a hell of a ride the tough get goin when the goin gets rough cause they know they gotta cowboy up

Never Give Up on You

Somedays do you feel like just giving up on yourself and everybody else? When we face difficult situations in our lifes or we have a trial that we deal with everyday, it is so easy just to give up on you and everybody else. It is hard when somebody gives up on you and looses their faith in you but I feel it is even harder when you give up on yourself and loose your self value as a person. This can happen in every aspect of life but this can really happen when you have an addiction. This addiction can be anything. When dealing with food addictions and realizing you are food addict and dealing with self image issues it is so easy just to walk way from yourself and give up on you. When this happens you feel worthless and no longer a being in existance. People can come and go out of your life and situations happen that is just called everyday life but when you give up on yourself you have chosen to loose who and what you are. No matter what we face in this life it is extremely important to NEVER GIVE UP. I am sure everybody preaches this everyday and people do not want to hear the same thing but in reality it is true if you give up on YOU what do YOU have left. When you wake in the morning look at yourself in the mirror and say no matter what happens today Ia m going to be ok and I am not going to let it defeat me. Have faith in yourself and love you for you. Instead of giving and using food to comfort you get up and stand in front a mirror and say I love me and go and do something for yourself that will make you feel better about you. It does not matter what other people think about you. If you can not have enough respect for yourself then other people will not respect you as well. Respecting yourself comes from within. Love you and never give up. Go to that mirror and look at you and embrace what you see.

Losing Yourself

You may be asking yourself what does Losing yourself mean? This is a question I have tossed around many times in my head and still I do not quite understand this thought myself but I am starting to. When you start shedding layers of weight most people take that comment as ounces, inches, pounds, etc. but you must also consider shedding layers could mean loosing heavy baggage that has been weighing on your mind and heart for years. That title could mean multiple things but I feel one thing, there is a similarity. You can lose excess weight and also lose who you are as a person as well. There are many times in this life we may feel in order to fit in with others, especially being overweight we have to please everyone. This is not the case, you have to learn to please yourself first and embrace who and what you are. Never loose who you are in order to please something or someone else. It is so easy to get caught up in the situations of this world and start going against what you believe, who believe, and what dreams you wnat to accomplish in order to make someone else happy instead of making you happy. Is it wrong to care for others? Absoluetly not but when you start caring so much about other people and other things and no longer value your own heart or opinion, then there is a problem. When you lose yourself and self value and no longer respect who you are as a person, then there is another problem. There are so many senarios to "Losing Your Self". Yes it is possible to shed unwanted pounds and extra garbage and not lose who you are as a person. You have to embrace the person you are today and know the person you want to become if you feel there are any changes to be made, but you have to be the one to change. No one can change you or fix you. So whatever avenue you are facing rather it be losing weight, remember not to loose yourself as a person in whatever you choose as a path in this life.

When you lose, don't lose the lesson

Emotions

Do you ever wake somedays and ask yourself why me? Why do I have to be the one that goes through difficult situations. Snap, poof, back to reality. Quit feeling sorry for yourself pick up the pieces and move along and smile. This is how I feel somedays but I remind myself that things happen in our lives for a reson and our past is what creates who we are today. Yes, being overweight for years took a toll on my self esteem but finally this year I have learned to embrace my body and love me for whom and what I am. Everyday, I struggle with emotions of feeling bad about myself and then I want to turn to food and that is even after I had gastric bypass (we have to remember our brain was not operated on) but then the light bulb comes on and I snap out of my mood and realize to be thankful for who I am and to continue to strive for what I want in life. We are going to face obstacles every single day, that is going to try and fade our dreams but we also are the ones that can break through obstacles and continue to reach high and go after what we want. My world has been rocked most of my life and I bounce back and I have a network of friends that always have been my cheerleader. It is important to have a strong support system in whatever we do in life. My world was just rocked again a couple of months ago and what a rush it has been. This time when it was rocked I did not think that I was going to be able to move on but here I am again. I am picking up my pieces and continuing to strive forward. I do not want to be left behind in this life or do I want to result back to using food as my security. So I am facing my demons head on and fool force ahead and there is nothing going to stop me from reaching my dream in life. That is why I am calling this segament EMOTIONS. As indivduals we are full of emotions and it is how we express those emotions that make a difference in our lifes. I am choosing to take my emotions to help others. I feel I have been placed on this earth not to problem solve for people but to be there for people to help them out when they fall. Not only blogging is going to help me but I feel it may be able to help someone and to let them know that there are others that go through the same thing every single day. It is all about Mind, Body, and Soul. Rather you are spiritual or not, I feel everyhting goes back to your soul. So let's live this life and work at it together and not apart. Lets not rely on food or other addictions to find our happiness. Our happiness comes from within and if you cannot be happy and love yourself, you will not be able to love someone or what we have been given in this life. I was driving home today looking at the leaves and kept thinking to myself man it is cold but then it dawned on me sometimes we are like leaves that fall off of the tree and we are crumpled and then we blow away feeling sorry for us and then once the dust as blown off we are a new soul that has been lifted and molded in something beautiful. Strive to Be The Best of Who You Are!!

Stepping Out Of The Layers

Some people may ask what do you mean Stepping Out Of The Layers??

Growing up I was a heavy toddler, little girl, teenager, adult and until one day my heart could not take the pain anymore and I woke up and decided I am tired of being overweight and I am ready to start stepping out of these extra layers. Many thoughts went thru my confused head. I had tried so many things to loose but did I really try or set my heart to it? Finaly I felt the only option that I did not even consider was slapping me in the face. That option was Gastric Bypass surgery. I tried so hard to fight with my heart and mind because I did not want to have surgery to help me loose weight. I considered myself defeated because I had to have a doctor create a pouch in order to loose weight. (PLEASE) I can do this on my own I thought. Well obviously not or I would have already done something about it. So here I was at 29 years of age comtemplating having surgery. I started gathering and researching information regarding this popular surgery and decided to set up an appointment for a review session. After I had a consultation with my primary doctor he referred me to Dr. Peter Muscarella at Ohio State University. I remembered the day I had my appointment and feeling very ashamed of you and what I was. When I walked into that very cold room and waited for my new soon to be surgeon not sure at that point to come in I had horrifying thoughts racing thru my head. When the door flung open and in walked a guy who looked younger than me the first thought in my head was there is no way I am going to let someone younger than me operate on me. After he shook my hand and we started talking I felt comfortable around him. Sitting there I listened to his speech and what this surgery could do for me. He handed me more information and his words to me was this will change your life. Well after those words I finished my appointment and decided it was time for my life to change and I was ready. It was like the gates opened and I was ready to be set free. Free from the layers. I went home and continued to research and thought I am going to go to one of the gastric bypass support meetings to see what other peole are saying. When I arrived and sat through the meeting I felt at ease knowing I was not the only one going through this. Well after that meeting I made a phone call to start the process in order to have the surgery. On October 31, 2001 I walked in at 555 pounds to the OSU Medical surgery and my life changed that day and continues to change. The surgery has changed my life but just because you have surgery does not mean there is not any hard work or dedication that comes long with the process. Seven years later I lost a total of 338 pounds. I had put on 60 of those pounds in the past years but now have lost the 60 pounds that was gained and my goal this year is to loose the rest and continue to maintain... but with that said I could not be happier. I am changed person. I created this blog because I want to help people with weight issues. I am a walking billboard that proves yes it can be done but yes you can go the opposite direction and put the weight back on. People should relaize that being healthy is working at it every single day. Being overweight is an epidemic and I hope sharing my story may help someone else. It is scary but keep pushing forward and know that there are people out there that truly care and I am one of them.