The Real Results/Victories

My biggest, ugliest frog (read “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy) has always been working out, or taking care of myself. I’ve never been a priority for myself and so it was always hard to even want to think about exercising or being active. I just never thought it import. I just figured I’d be a big Tongan girl like I’m “supposed” to be. Until recently.

I’ve tried different weightloss programs, different exercise programs, and I’m also married to a health enthusiast (health nut really). So I know about what I should and should not eat. I know what exercises are great for whole body work outs. We have weights at home, We even have a bar and kettle bells. We own Insanity and P90x. We have an infrared sauna, an inversion table, and a whole body vibrational machine. We used to juice all the time. And basically I have every possible resource I need to be “fit”,

But I just refused. I flat out decided to be fat. I’ve been working out the Limiting Beliefs’s that were surrounding all of this. A lot of it was refusing to take responsibility for my body. A lot of it was anger and resentment towards my body. And Limitless TRULY helped me overcome a lot of that.

Last month I decided to loose 20lbs as my Limitless Leap. I didn’t loose a single lb. BUT, I gained a whole new appreciation, love, respect, and perspective of my holy temple. I changed within.

And because of that… my body is changing.

Now, I haven’t lost any weight. Like none at all. I lost 10lbs in 2 weeks in October and that’s been it. But… my body composition is shifting.

Once I gained the new belief in December, because of my Leap, I’ve had at least 1 person ask me EACH WEEK if I have lost weight. Even my HUSBAND, (who’s best compliment towards me is “you look less swollen”, I’ll tell you about that another time), noticed that my body is changing.

And I realized that the scale is the worst measurement for health! It truly is. It isn’t measuring the pants size I’ve gone down. It isn’t measuring the definition in my massive legs. It isn’t measuring my “less swollen” face. And ultimately, it hasn’t measured the love and gratitude that I have for my body.

So as you go through your Limiting Beliefs’s and change your mindset and perspective, I hope you recognize the “non-scale victories”. Maybe you didn’t achieve your goal that you set out to achieve, but you gained something else. Maybe you feel like you’ve gotten no where, but in reality your true path is being laid out before you.

Don’t give up! If I gave up because I “didn’t loose weight”, I would have failed to see the REAL change and the REAL victories. I can loose weight easily. I’ve done it before. But learning to love my body and appreciate it and really take care of it was the REAL task at hand.

I love working out. I’m eating better. I feel ALIVE. And although the scale says I haven’t changed, I know the REAL results.

So keep working on the Limiting Beliefs’s and take a step back to appreciate your “non-scale victories”!

 

(PS. if you want to learn more of how to get rid of Limiting Belief’s, visit the contact me page and LMK!)

2015 “Renew”

A friend of mine chooses a word as her theme for the year. I adopted this tradition a few years ago. My word for 2015 was RENEW.

I love this word. It is defined as:

“resume (an activity) after an interruption.” [Thank you Google.]

My soul has been renewed. I “resumed” to my usual state. I feel like Heilala again. I feel WHOLE.

I feel like this world is filled with expectations and standards and should haves and could haves and what ifs and keyboard warriors. We live in an ever changing, continually evolving, trend following, explain-your-life-in-a-hashtag, world. Everyone is so opinionated and offended and it’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of it all. For a few years, I was there too.

It’s hard being a young mom. (I am not so young anymore, but it was hard.) I am 26 years old and I have a 7, 5, and 4 year old. They are as crazy as they come. I live in a mostly white neighborhood (or state). I’m not like the other moms. I don’t dress up and look cute all the time. I don’t do cute little crafts with my kids. I don’t go and have brunch with the girls. I don’t take pictures of every cute darling moment. You can hear me from down the road if the windows are open. And yes, I will go bat sh*t crazy if you touch my child. And for the longest time I thought I was a “bad” mom because I didn’t “fit” the mold.

But there isn’t a mold. That’s the thing.

We create these stories that define our lives when in reality… We CREATE our reality. And it wasn’t until I embraced all that I am, that I realized I’m perfectly perfect for my children. For my husband. For my community. For my God. For my country. I fit the mold because the mold is MINE to create. And with this knowledge… this knowledge that I was born with but forgot, I have come full circle to the girl I once was; to become the woman I will be.

You see it isn’t about creating the perfect body. It isn’t about creating the right career and following the perfect path laid out before you.

It’s about accepting who YOU are and deciding where you WANT TO BE.

It’s about recognizing the beauty within you that no one else can offer but you. 

It’s about embracing the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, whatever it is in your past, your present, and learning to create a better future.

It’s about “resuming” to your former state of perfection. For as a child you were made PERFECT. And the world told you who you were. The world defined you by their rules. The world tried to mold you into who it thought you were…

And here’s my invitation to you sweet friend…. DEFINE YOURSELF. Create your OWN mold.

CHOOSE WHO YOU WANT TO BE AND LIVE AS IF YOU WERE THAT PERSON TODAY.

How would they speak to others?

What kinds of words would they use?

Where would they go?

Who would they see?

What thoughts would they have?

What books would they read?

What movies would they watch?

What kind of people would they surround themselves with?

And I don’t mean for you to go buy a Mercedes Benz and spend all your money clubbing. No. It is a state of being not acting. It isn’t an action. Don’t go and do things. Be that person in your place. Ask yourself “what would they do, if I were them and they were in my shoes?” Literally be. And be still for a moment and embrace it. Let the universe recognize that is who you are. And the universe will conspire to change the world around you.

My theme for 2016 is ALIGN. I am aligning myself with my highest self, with my God, with my purpose, with my birthright. I have decided to accept the greatness within me and hold myself to that standard. I will allow 2016 to be my greatest year yet, because I am in the greatest place I could be. I am me.  And the beauty about that is that I am the only person who knows what that looks like. I get to define myself as I truly am.

I hope your year ends with love, joy, and family. And I hope your 2016 begins with greatness, fulfillment, and unconditional love.

Happy New Year!

Non-Scale Victory

I haven’t been doing too well these last few days. I went to an all day seminar and I had 3 sick kids at home, including an almost sick husband. That meant I didn’t have time to prep food and I was spending all my free time tending to my little sick babies who are extremely needy. (Including the needy hubby, who just wanted to spend time with me. Bless his amazing big heart.)

So I was basically afraid that this week I would be back at square one. I would have loss all the progress I made and that I would basically be starting all over again.

But I was so wrong! I woke up this morning and wanted to try on some pants I absolutely ignore because I can BARELY fit them over my rear end. To my pleasant surprise, they fit! Yay!! I was so glad because there is extra room in these bad boys! And as much as I’d love to take a picture to show you, I’ve got blood all over my bathroom because of a bloody nose. I will have to post a picture later.

My point is, sometimes you feel or think like nothings working, but in reality, it is! It’s okay to mess up a bit and maybe go off track, but what you do to get back on makes the difference.

If you feel like you are stuck, try some old clothes on. Try one of your “goal” pants. (I know everyone has a pair of those.) Recognize the little things.

I saw this amazing picture and thought I’d share it with y’all:

I saw it on Wild Workouts and Wellness and wanted to share it with y’all!

There are so many more victories than the ones you see on the scale. Remember it is about making life changes and not just ‘loosing weight’. You’re more than just the number on the scale!

So enjoy those victories and celebrate them 🙂

Xoxox

-Lala

Day 17: I’m so over this.

Yesterday was an extremely difficult day for me. I was out of whack and I was really sad all day. This meant I just wanted CHOCOLATE. I didn’t have any yesterday but today I gave in. And it made me feel worse. I’m sad but I’m going to get back in full force!

I seriously want to be over this buuuuuut I still have 13 days left to do and I plan on completing this Whole30. Even if I messed up.

This describes my feelings perfectly:

  
But after my pity party I’ll be okay. Just in case you don’t know why I’m so sad, you can read about it on my Aunty Lala blog.

But what do you do when you feel like this? Shift movement. State your current state AND YELL IT, so for me it’d be “I’m so over this!” And do 5 jumping jacks, or burpees, or some type of movement. Then move on. 

If that doesn’t work, go inside. Ask yourself why do you feel this way and keep asking Why. The more you ask the more you have to answer and you may find out something about yourself. 

So 13 more days. You know, it’s not even that bad. I’ve gotten so used to it, I automatically make eggs in the morning, something green for lunch and meat and potatoes for dinner. And I’m totally fine with it. I only really want something when I’m Hungry (or starving, my body understands starving), angry,lonely or tired. Most addicts would call this HALT (for me it’s SALT since my body only understands starving). This is when people have triggers or are susceptible to messing up. (Yes, I am addicted to chocolate and sugar, I admit.) Now that I understand that, making sure I never feel that way is what my goal is. 

I’ve been doing okay, I feel good, I look better and I feel so proud of myself. I am really happy with how things are going, even with my mishaps. I am more aware of my food. I cook more often. I think about what I’m feeding my kids. It’s great. And I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks hold!

Until then,

LALA

WINS of WEEK 1

We are on day 9 today, and the 2nd day of Week 2.

Last week was rough. I slipped a few times, and wasn’t as strict as I should have been.

But there were a few wins.

WIN 1: I FEEL better. I awake with a flat stomach and I look better than before! I know I’ve lost a few pounds. I can just feel it! I’m not as groggy and cranky as I usually am. I am more aware of myself and my presence. I also feel like my insides are doing better. Not struggling with my food. So I feel amazing! Not quite as energetic as I’d like. I think that may be due to my sleeping schedule. We’re working on that. And I am not used to drinking water, so we’re working on that as well. Overall, I feel so much better than this time last week!

WIN 2: I learned from my mistakes. I know better, so I will do better. I will do better this week than last week. I know it and I will accomplish it. I messed up do to lack of preparation and I know how to better prepare myself this week for what happened last week. History always repeats itself and we are always in a cycle, it’s just hard to recognize it that way. If you’re always “last-minute”, then you may want to sort your prioritize and mark those “last-minute” emergencies and “must do” because you are always doing them. And I guarantee that you can always plan for them, even if they are on the fly. You just KNOW it’s going to happen, so just prepare for it.

WIN 3: This isn’t my own win, but it was too good not to share. My dad is diabetic, or borderline diabetic. He has been taking small steps to improve his health and to prevent any future problems. I convinced my mom to help him join our group. He agreed (surprisingly) and he has been going strong! His blood sugar levels were 40 less than normal! That is a HUGE improvement! In just a week of clean eating, he has made THAT much of a change. I seriously cannot wait to see what his results are the next week.

I can’t top that last win. Go daddy! You are the best!! And I am so proud of you. Here’s my pops with my baby sister and mom:

I am seriously so proud of the steps he’s taken to make this change and improve his health. Daddy you are the best example I could ever ask for! You are the win for Week 1!!

We are making changes in our lives and the improvements, big and small, are so worth it! I am so excited to see what the rest of these 30 days hold!

You can make these changes too! I will be doing a 15 day cleanse/clean eating before Thanksgiving next month. Comment below if you would like to join!

Until next time,

Heilala

Two Key Principles for Success in the Whole 30

We are on Day 2 of the Whole 30! Woo hoo!

Yesterday was hard. I will admit. Sunday’s are always the hardest for me. I am typically snacking all day, and people ALWAYS bring treats to church. It was a little rough because I almost ate everything. On top of that, I was tired and didn’t get to eat much. I woke up right before my meeting and had to rush to the chapel. Then I came home and had to rush to get my kids ready, get myself ready, eat something, get my stuff ready for church, it was hard!

What a did learn are two key principles of success in the Whole 30.

1. Preparation is key. I know this principle, but it is always good to recognize it as it appears. I know this in my head, but do I apply it?? No. Not always. This was apparent as I didn’t eat breakfast until almost noon. I didn’t have my clothes set, my things set for my meeting and basically I had nothing ready for my day. I even got home after church and didn’t know what I was going to make. It could have been the ultimate fail. But luckily for me, I have a goal, a purpose, and a group to support. I am completing the Whole 30. There are NO exceptions. I just am. This is my goal. I am doing this to change my eating habits, and to look better. I want to feel better about myself. I want my body to feel good. And I want to look good. This is my purpose. Beginning this Whole 30 group was the best thing for me. It keeps me accountable!
2. The Power of Accountability. I had a coach who always told me, “do you do what you say you are going to do?” It never struck me how important this was until my son asked my husband the other day “how come you and mommy don’t always do what you say you’re gonna do?” OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES. When you do not do what you say you are going to do, you are not holding yourself accountable for those actions. You just brush it off your shoulders as if it were nothing. I will have to write a whole blog post about this on my Aunty Lala blog but I’ll just leave this short message here. You MUST be your word. The more and more you break it, the less likely you will follow through with your plan. Without execution? There is no result. No result equals less actions. It becomes a vicious cycle of “I’ll do it tomorrow”. The point is: nothing gets done. This group is the best thing for me, because they are holding me accountable. Since I am heading the group, that is an even bigger responsibility to make a change. And I intend on reaching my goals. We are checking in, and checking up on each other. We are asking questions and giving advice. We have to pay up if we do not meet certain expectations. We are holding each other accountable.

My plan is to apply these two principles to the rest of the 28 days of this program (today is already here, I cannot prep for today). I am going to post my plan a little later and show you that I am my word.

Next issue to tackle? EXERCISE. I am requiring my group to exercise 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. And how many times do I exercise? Like never. Lol. This is a tall order. And it’ll be fun to see how I can incorporate this into our challenge!

Apply these to your life, whether it is towards a goal, being an example, at work, at school, whatever it is. Search the crevices in your life that you may be letting things slip through. You will move mountains!

Keep on keepin on, and until next time,

Heilala

One Day Til Go Time!

Tomorrow is my last day of preparation before the Whole 30. I am so excited!

I can’t even express how excited I am for this!

Yet, I still have blocks and old stories and things that pop up. I am still human.

I am fighting my ability to make the whole 30 days. Last time it was a flop. I did make it to the 15th day mark. I did not commit the whole 30 days. I have committed to the whole 30 days, and I KNOW that I can make it. I have to keep the voices down this time. I have to remind myself this piece of advice:

Since I have the “Yoncé” part down, I just need to BE! (So punny!)

My other fears are starting to trickle in and you know what that means? Do the work!

That means I need to work on breaking down the barriers and BE who I need to BE in order to make this goal happen! I can be Heilala “the quitter” or be Heilala “the Tongan Beyoncé”. (That title is taken, but I can be runner-up.) Regardless, I have to be the persona I need to be in order to accomplish these goals. And that is exactly what I plan on doing!

We have until tomorrow to sign up. Email me at auntylalahelp@gmail.com if you’d like to join!

See you on Sunday! (Or tomorrow if I have time to write.)

xoxo

-Lala

Hungry For Change

Doing the Whole30 again, I gave myself (and those joining me), 6 days to prep. You have to mentally prepare yourself and physically prepare your house. But before I have the group members start that, I want them to understand food. I’m having them watch Hungry For Change.

  

I love this movie! I love that the main message is to take care of your body, you watch what you put in it. Like a well oiled car. You’re not going to put vegetable oil in it. It will ruin the car completely! If you have a more expensive car, you can’t even put regular gas in it. It’s because it runs on higher quality product. Your car will run based off of what you put in it. If you want it to run smoothly for a long time, you will take care of it and give it what it needs.

Your body is the exact same way. You put in higher quality products, like organic, in its natural form, foods, and you will get higher quality results. Whether this is clear skin, higher energy levels, fully functioning immune system, or whatever. If you are putting crap food in your body, guess what you’ll get? Crap results. Simple as that.

It’s such an easy concept but feels so complex because our world has become obsessed with calories, and the right “foods” and diets and exercise. Yes, they all have their place and time. The reality is that we are conditioned to be addicted to our food. And we’re okay with that. Until we become “hungry for change”. 

This is where I am at. I am ready. My husband showed me a picture of myself and I was appalled… I have gained so much weight. I shared this on my Instagram:

  
I am just getting heavier and heavier. I am so ashamed! But recognizing where you are is the first step. Yes, I am here. Yes, I’ve accepted my reality. Now I am ready to move on.

I have been wanting to try this again for a while but the time didn’t seem quite right. Now I feel it is of the most importance to do this now. And that is exactly what I’m doing.

I’ve got my why figured out. I know where I’m coming from. I know why I’m doing this. I know what the goal is. And now I must be willing to pay the price. The price for me is the Whole30 and exercising each day. This is a HUGE sacrifice for me.

I took pride in being a skinny mini but eating like a whale. I took pride in never having to work out. But I was so out of shape! Now I recognize that it isn’t about being skinny. It’s about energy, living well, being present, and preparing my body to be able to live to at least 126. When I get there, we will re-evaluate. (This is because my husband is planning on being at least 130.)

I am ready for change. 

I am ready to live live WHOLE.

I am ready to live life as Heilala Garcia. 

Are you hungry for change???? Join me on our Whole30 experience! Email me at auntylalahelp@gmail.com. We start this Suday! 

I am excited for this change and thank you for joining me! Even if it just reading my blog 🙂

Xoxo

-Lala

Here We Go Again!

The last Whole30 I did, I lasted 15 days. Once Mother’s Day hit, I was done. My problem was that I didn’t commit. Days before, I was fighting with myself. I told myself “we’ll see”. We all know that basically means “I’M DONE.”

I’ve gotten smarter. I’ve picked a month that has no holidays (until the last day), no weddings, no big plans, and it’s right before a big trip. I absolutely need to lose weight for this trip. It is an absolute MUST. There is not try.

I have also done some recruiting. So far, I have 5 people in on this. A few others may join. We may be up to 8 and even 10 by the end of the week. We start Saturday and each day I am having everyone prep. My email goes out today and we have 5 steps before beginning. Each one doesn’t necessarily take a day. They can complete it all in a few hours. The point is to get their mind committed. “What the mind can conceive, it can achieve.”

Last week we learned an amazing process. We all know our character is preceded by our habits. Our habits are preceded by our actions. Our actions are preceded by our thoughts. And what precede’s our thoughts?? INFLUENCE. What we see, hear, take in and observe, influences what we think! I want these group members to begin influencing themselves with HEALTH. VITALITY. LIFE. ABUNDANCE. This is where I failed. I let my last few days get the best of me.

This time I know what to face and what I am going against. I KNOW I can do this. Beach body here I come! Here’s to prepping for #Whole30Oct2015!

Day 12

I am on Day 12 today! Yay!!

I am so proud of myself. Honestly, starting this, I didn’t think I could do it. I thought I’d get to Day 3, then quit. But here I am at Day 12 and approaching the half way mark! Woohoo!

Tuesday, Day 10, was a big deal for me. We went to an all you can eat buffet and I had chicken, a potato and salad with some fruits. That was it! I didn’t have the mashed potatoes and gravy, their amazing scones with honey butter and their coffee cake and black berries that my cousin said was amazing. I had my food and drank water. The first time EVER for me. And I felt really proud of myself.
This second week has been harder but it’s because I haven’t been cooking like last week. The first week I made awesome meals with pictures of every single one. This week, I’m eating whatever. Whatever is Whole30 compliant but no pretty pictures or vibrant colors. Just chicken, vegetables, and fruit. And some salmon.

It’s been hard because I went back to work and we’ve had full days and yet, I’ve kept up with my diet. 

My husband says I look “less swollen” which is interpreted as to “thinner” and that is by FAR, the best compliment he’s ever given me. If you know my Joshua, you know that’s a HUGE compliment. 

I can’t believe I’m almost half way there. And I know this is the hard part. 

I’m kind of slow. It takes me a while to process things and really come to terms with reality. The first week was great because I was still in the “I can’t believe I agreed to do this phase”. This week is the “I can’t believe I am STILL doing this phase”. Next week will be the “why am I doing this again” phase and I know the last week is “YES I HAVE DONE THIS” phase. That’s how my brain works. Lol.

The biggest thing I’d have to say to those who are wanting to try this out is:

1. DECIDE. Like they say on the whole30 website, if you are going out to eat, decide what you are eating and stick with that choice. 

If you are going to do this, DECIDE to do it and then DO IT. Don’t “think” about it. Don’t “try” to do it. JUST DO IT. Eat fruits, vegetables and meat. Simple as that. No being on the fence. Once you choose your side you STAY on that side.

2. Have snacks readily available. I snack a lot. So having fruits and vegetables I can just smack on instead of reaching for the mnms in my pantry, was really helpful. Because I knew I was doing it out of habit, I stopped myself and ate some grapes instead. Or had a celery or a carrot. You have to go against the grain (no pun intended) and actively choose good snacks. Having them readily available makes it easier to do so.

3. Have a “treat”. I honestly could not do this without mangos. Mangos are my “treat”. When I have an amazing day where I’m proud of myself, I go to have one. We don’t buy them often but I have been buying them recently and when I want cake or sugar or bread I just grab one and I become lost in it’s amazing flavors. Especially when I get a REALLY GOOD ONE, then it’s like heaven in my mouth and I forget about the sweets. 

And I don’t do this to “treat myself”. I do this to curb my cravings for sugar. It will probably become watermelon next week. But this week and last it was mangos for me. 

4. Have a support system. I made friends on social media. I have a friend who is supporting me. My family thinks it’s great. I have lots of friends who have done it and are rooting for me. It’s awesome because they all help me in keeping my goal. And I love them for it!

5. Remember why you are doing this. I constantly remind myself that I can have the cake, the breads, the hot chocolate, all of that, as soon as I’m done with the 30 days. I’m not going to go crazy and eat them all at once, but I will find my balance. And reminding myself helps me get out of that “scarcity” mentality I’ve grown up with. Being the runt in a family of giants, I had to have my share or it’d be gone. And I can’t do that while there’s an abundance. I just have to remind myself that there’s enough and that there will be enough tomorrow. I don’t have to have it all now I can enjoy it every once in a while. And that’s helping me change my relationship with food, which is my ultimate why.

Now these aren’t from the Whole30 program developers but are tips that have helped me these past few days. I know I’m not pro, but I am DOING IT. I’m not just saying these because they sound good, this is exactly what is helping me NOW. Real time. And I hope you can share with me what’s been helping you.

Day 12 is here and I’m going to own it! And very day after just like the 11 Days before.

Here’s to living Whole!