Friday Favorites!!! Work Edition!!!!

Not going to lie sometimes following you heart is the right thing, but you still have struggles. So today I want to share WHY I left my job to become a full-time blogger and health coach.

1)  I have time to do the things I need to. If I need a doctors appointment I don't need anyone's permission to do so. And if I need a nap or to sleep in I can because I am my own boss.

2) T25 my workout soul-mate with my Trainer who again is my trainer soul-mate. In 25 minutes I get in my workout and I am set for the day!

3) I get to do cool things like MEET my soul-mate trainer, and get to travel to amazing places.

4) Helping people through health and fitness. When the decision was made that I wanted to coach, I knew I wanted to do it because losing my mother to health related issues, and teaching others that it was preventable and that I have the tools to help them. When I reach out to friends and family with my job I do it from a place of love, and a way to honor my mothers memory!

Did I mention I got to meet this guy? 

If you are ready to start on a journey to a healthier life please click here to visit my site and shop around for something that is right for you!!!!

Friday Favorites

I love Friday's!! Because I get to share with you my favorite things!!
First up my Erin Condren calendars and notebook!!!! you can look at the selection here
I have one to plan out for the week and one for my business. The week desk planner is AHmazing!

Next my shoe cabinets from IKEA! Love but I Need more. they hold 6 pairs each, I push that though. its more like 7 or 8 pairs!

 Next is my headboard from Overstock.com I LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEE it!

 Then there are some of my finds from Canton Trade days in Texas and my dream boards!!! And what room of mine is complete with out some Pinup. 

 Lastly is my Pan Am Bag I got from Mod cloth It is large enough to carry all my work stuff and always gets a "where did you get that?'' comment.

Tasty Tuesday! Asian Garlic Talapia

 What you need!
EVO
half a red onion
jasmine rice 1/4 of a cup per filet
Soy sauce 1/2 tsp per filet
Talapia
Aluminum Foil
garlic ginger seasoning Which can be found here

 Put seasoning, EVO, Onion, and soy sauce on the filet and create a pouch with the foil. cook rice.

 Preheat oven to 400 and bake for 15 min
 Take out of foil and enjoy!

First day, New me

From a young age we are taught education, and the value of working. Forget your dreams is what society is telling us. But what if we didn't follow the norm here. What if we do follow our passions. Furthermore how do we find our passion. 

From darkness we can find light. Some just know what they want and what passion drives them. But not me. I just floated through life for my first 28 years. I was stuck. Then from the darkest part of my life BAM ! I saw my purpose. What I was supposed to learn from it and how to help others.

I love a quote from Robin Williams " You are only given one spark of madness, and you shouldn't waste it." 

Now that spark is a huge flame. 

Another quote I LOVE is "Sometimes taking a leap of faith, means building your wings on the way down." That is what I am doing, and believing that you don't need the safety net or a comfort zone.

Is it scary? HELL YES. But I have to keep faith. 

Having the desire to help others live, and I mean LIVE a healthy life, is my way of honoring my mother. I want my story the one of a now motherless daughter, to inspire someone to change, to tell diabetes to excuse my french, f-off , to suck it. To show them that they matter not only to their children but to themselves. 

So in my new life, what is my definition of success? One, is that even if I have helped one person, I have done my purpose. Two success means never giving up, and for many years I would quit, or give up. I would start that weight loss or that hobby and quit. But not now. This is my life and I am choosing to live it un-apologetically. I know this means that some things or people will grow apart from me, and that's okay.  

So if you want a change or want to LIVE a  life Un-apologetically and have freedom Click the tab bars above whichever on suits you. or click the links below

http://mylifeasadowell.blogspot.com/goals

http://mylifeasadowell.blogspot.com/p/building-self-confidence.html

http://mylifeasadowell.blogspot.com/p/join-the-dowell-fitness-team.html

Mental Monday: Finally I choose what was right for me

This past Thursday I made a decision with my husband. It was one that was ultimately my choice. I put in notice with my job that I was leaving.

February 14, ironic. is my last day.

Sometimes the best choice is the one where the biggest risk is taken. This is a big one. I know where I want my life to be, and mentally working full-time in a job you hate is not good for you.

Everyday I would get home and be worn out mentally. It was making my choice to be healthy put in to question. And I like to workout and eat healthy. But I felt myself slipping down my old path almost every moment. All it would take would be one word and I could drink a soda or eat a bowl of pasta that would make me sick. I could easily been over 200 pounds again.

So what am I going to do? I am pursuing my business Dowell Fitness, a BeachBody business. I have always thought when I would see others succeed in this company and say that couldn't be me. And then one day I thought why not me.

I am still on my Weight Loss journey and as always inspired by my mother and her legacy, to fight and believe in yourself. But now I am motivated on a professional level. I feel that if I can help one person or one family from going through what my mother did, that is what being successful means to me.

Mental Monday: working a full time job and being bipolar

Not going in to much detail but last week was a hard week for my professional life. As I have now reached my 30's I am finding it much harder to work than when I was first diagnosed. So this is a quick mental Monday post. Because I have to get up and go to work tomorrow. But sometime tough delicious have to be made. If you work it has to be the right environment but right now it just isn't. For the first time in 3 years I broke down and thought that I should be committed. I hate hospital stays. It is so depressing and I don't know how I would grow in that environment to become stable. Tough choices are on the horizon for me and my husband.

But on the bright sis he loves me no matter what!

Mental Monday: Trust

In life we all have trust issues. But in MY case of being bipolar, it is much more difficult to make friends and trust them.

This post will be a release for me, it is something that has been with me for a so long.

I know in life it really is difficult to trust people. But as a person living with mental illness I find it ten times more difficult.

My story of trust is dark and not something that I can let go of, yet.

With this illness you find who your true friends are, and that can be difficult. You put all your trust into someone only to have knives put in your back.


Over the last six years of my life I have lost many friends, some have gone quietly, others have ripped my heart out of my chest and led me in to deep depression. It made me question everything about my life. I felt so alone, and I was in the situation of having to be around them, I for lack of a better word was treated like SHIT. Mostly I stayed quiet, and cried when no one was looking. I had serious thoughts of self harm, not many people knew that, my confidant, my right arm, my wing man, treated me like dog shit, and it was an everyday thing. And I wanted to not exist. It felt like a bad divorce. And sometimes it felt like a funeral of what was some of the best times of my life. Even to this day I still cant look at some of my wedding photos without wanting to cry or punch something.

So how can we do it, trust others?

It is a leap of faith, and most of the time you build your wings on the way down.

The people that stuck around, that believed in me, I love them. Even if I rarely see them, due to many things, life, distance, or I will admit my own reclusive nature that keeps me away. But I love them!

Goals Part One: The Dress

Most of the time we struggle with our weight loss, and one thing I have learned is that motivation leaves, a lot. So if you are determined to lose the weight that is what keeps you going. I have a clear picture in my mind about weight loss.

I have been planning 2 photo sessions. One is with my husband, for our anniversary. The second is a real Pinup Photo-shoot.

So let me focus on the first photo-shoot.

So to give myself a little motivation for my weight loss journey, I bit the bullet and bought me a dress I had been eyeing for about two years. It is the Monica dress from Pinup Girl Clothing. It is off white and fabulous. You can see it in all its glory Here

I cannot properly express how happy/terrified this dress makes me feel! It really is tiny. I bought a medium, a size I haven't been since I met my husband! But I have made the choice to suck it up and get it done. 

If you are ready for that first step in living a healthy life please don't hesitate to contact me here

Or visit my achieve your goals page  here. 

XOXO 

Erin

Self Confidence, Enough is Enough.

Things that are always running through my mind.
1) I want pasta, but if I eat that I cannot fit in to those jeans, Oh who am I kidding? I will never be good enough to wear them
2) I don't look pretty enough next to her.
3) nothing I ever do is good enough.

This list can go on FOREVER!

And it is so exhausting for anyone to feel that way.

Enough with the enough's

You are enough! I am enough, we all are enough.

So lets all be confident in who we are at this moment, and who we will become when we stop to realize, we are all beautiful.

Lets stop using labels to define each other.
No more Skinny, no more curvy, manly looking,  no more overweight, no more just no more.

What if we all just started working to become better in our overall life?
Lets use the language that lifts us up!
Getting healthy, getting fit, growing mentally, Love the way this makes me feel, I am enough.

So here I go, this is me, and I am working on getting healthy, growing mentally and I am enough.
This is where I am in my journey. I own it and am proud of how far I have come!

 I would Love for anyone who wants to join me on this journey or wants help with theirs to leave a comment below or head here to send me an email!

Mental Monday: finding out your triggers/stresses/warnings

One thing I am still working on in my mental health journey and wellness journey is to recognize my triggers. For those not familiar, triggers in hindsight are warnings that a manic or depressive episode is coming.

This is something that has taken so much of my time to finding a balance in my life.  So what is the first step in figuring out what your triggers are. I hated this in the early stages of my journey, but mood charting is amazing. For me the more detailed charts were the best. I recommend one that has a slot for Meds, food, water. And then the times of the day to chart your moods. The best one I have found is here at DBSA

Sometimes finding out your triggers can be painful. It's hard to admit but family is a trigger.  It's hard when everyone thinks they know you, or certain people push your buttons for their own personal game. Also my former job at times was an added amount of stress on my health.

Money is also a huge trigger for me no matter how much or little I have. 

My best advice to anyone going through the ups and downs of mental illness is to just for 30 days try mood charting. If you need support from someone I can be that shoulder for you to lean on. We can do it together.  Just leave a comment or hit the contact me tab located at the top of the screen, or click here!

Have a healthy Monday!

XOXO Erin

Spread The Wealth with self-confidence

Everyday we get the chance to find out who we are. But what if you don't know what to look for? How do You become confidant?

Here is a break down of what I'm doing right now.

1) Finding My Passion

2) Positive Self Talk

3) Working Out

4) Giving Back

5) Finding My Routine

6) RED LIPSTICK

7) Learning Something New Everyday

8) Applying What I Learned To My life

9) Change My Perspective 

10) Spread The Wealth!

So this post took on a different way of spreading the wealth. At first I was going to tell you how to help others with what you know. But then what happened is what happened below.

I wanted to do this post as a way to let my loved ones and anyone I know how much they inspire me!

Everyday I see posts and glimpses into their lives, or interact with them some how.

They come from all walks of life and all have amazing stories about life, love, and loss. I won't mention them by name but they will read this post and know.

I see strength in all of them. From people who have lost children to siblings to parents. And that taught me how to grieve and be strong. Some of the strongest people I have seen crumble and helped to try to make it better. There are people who have overcome physical difficulties and proven how strong a person can be if they just have faith in themselves. And that taught me how to become strong and proud in a physical sense. Or the people who started the same weight loss journey and thank me because they started, they inspire me! 

These people keep me motivated when I feel like giving up. Or when I'm too sad and don't want to do anything other than cry because I can't talk to the one person who made any situation make sense. 

One thing I can say about where my life is right now is no matter what just keep going. Everyday every workout, every smile I make, every time I say I love you, every breath, is for and because my mom loved me. 

Xoxo

Erin

Mental Monday: Fitness Can Lead To Stability

The stigma placed on mental health is one that needs to be broken. It's time we start thinking about ourselves and how we live with our illness instead of reducing ourselves to our mental illness. We need to change our way of thinking.

I remember a time when I let my illness be my whole identity. I was consumed with it. And didn't like the person I was becoming. Medications and poor eating led to significant weight gain. Losing 2 family members and the stress that comes along with hospitals and things of that nature made me stop my workouts. I chose to stop, it was how I decided to react to the situation.

I know what made me stop, and I know what made me start again. My story, my illness, were no longer going to define me. It wasn't how I wanted my story to go. I wanted to make myself better, to inspire others in similar situations. And I remember the conversation with my husband, he didn't want to live another minute without trying to be better health wise. 

So in January of 2014 we mad our way to the gym like more than half of the population. It was for real, not easy. I was At my heaviest as was my husband. But we pressed on. I remember when things started to change, I felt better mentally, more than physically. Exercise was helping to stabilize my mood. The science is there so I won't get in to that other than this:  

That is what made the push of becoming a coach. I wanted others who suffer from mental illness or the loss of a loved one from diabetes to know, that in this crazy life there is someone just like them.

If you are ready to start learning how fitness and nutrition can help I am here to help

Red Lipstick and Self-confidence

Everyday we get the chance to find out who we are. But what if you don't know what to look for? How do You become confidant?

Here is a break down of what I'm doing right now.

1) Finding My Passion

2) Positive Self Talk

3) Working Out

4) Giving Back

5) Finding My Routine

6) RED LIPSTICK

7) Learning Something New Everyday

8) Applying What I Learned To My life

9) Change My Perspective 

10) Spread The Wealth! 

So Obviously this post is about my favorite obsessions in the universe! But stick with me here, I know that not every person is going to wear red lipstick. So let me explain, so you can find something that is your red lipstick.

I haven't always loved red lipstick, as a child it was always associated with clowns. But I found something I love, and that is the pinup culture, and man do they wear the red lipstick!!! I started following many bloggers and models and I learned a something, any one can wear it! Off to Sephora I went. 

I was excited and petrified at the same time! But let me tell you how it makes me feel. I felt like wonder woman, seeing it on I felt like a badass. I didn't care what others thought because I don't need anyones approval to feel good! I walk a little taller, and with a purpose. It was life changing! on a side note red hair makes me feel alomst the same way!

So I want you to find your red lipstick! it can be anything you want it to be cause it is your self-confidence we are talking about! From baking to Blogging Pinup to Steampunk what ever it is own it and relish in it everyday! 

If you missed the first 5 posts of this series you can find them here