Perspective...

I had a “bad” day yesterday. You know those days where it seems like everyone is out to get you and every email/call you receive seems laced in disdain?

It was a looooong day and I was all set to text husband a detailed diatribe about how rude people are and how I’d like to judo chop those who don’t say thank you.

I decided instead of sending this whiny text, that I would do one of my favorite after work rituals:

Look up random songs on YouTube to see if I come across any gems or anything that fits my mood that day (I still have yet to find a song called “Mondays are evil & rude people suck”).

I happened to stumble across a song by Barlowgirl called “I Believe in Love”. In the video, the group explains how they came up with the lyrics for the song and what inspired them to begin with – a quote. Intrigued, I searched further into the quote that they mentioned and found it on several websites about the Holocaust.

This quote was found scratched on a concentration camp wall and it hit me like a ton of bricks when I read it:

I believe in the sun even when it’s not shining.

I believe in love even when I don’t feel it.

I believe in God even when He is silent.

Hello Perspective.

I’m constantly reminding myself to focus on that word and that is exactly what this quote forced me to do.

That quote was precisely what I was supposed to stumble across yesterday.

Now here’s the part where I provide you with an awkward/slightly entertaining visual of how I imagine this all happened…so bear with me:

When I pray I ask God to walk by my side and to guide me each day. I’m prone to daydreaming and random ideas, so naturally a mental image of us literally walking side by side comes to mind * Side Note: I am also an inherently clumsy girl and I imagine walking next to God that I would still retain this embarassing quality.

So picture this: Me and God just strolling along, while I vent to him about how awful my Monday was, when all of a sudden I stumble and fall on my face.

God’s response: “Walk much?” (Before helping me back on my feet)

Why try to create such a cartoonish visual you ask? Because I realized that I didn’t just “stumble” into those words on my own yesterday, God directed me to them. I tripped right into the quote that he wanted me to read to bring everything back into perspective and to help me back on my feet.

So did I really have a "bad" day? Nope...I had a frustrating day and everyone has them. Lesson Learned: Get up, brush yourself off and be thankful that your day was full of challenges instead of devastation.

Oh lovely Perspective:

It’s like falling on your face…blaming the ground…and then realizing that you tripped over your own feet.

Love,

Elyse

If I have to take this journey…then you’re all coming with me

Inspired by the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” and the beginning of our most recent “Biggest Loser” style competition among friends…today is Day 1 of heading in a better direction.

In the documentary, Joe completes a 60 day fresh juice fast and not only loses 100+ pounds but is able to eliminate all of the medications that he was dependent on. He calls it a "Reboot".

The film was inspiring and of course I turned to AJ and immediately proclaimed that I will be juice fasting…to which he laughed…understandably.  
Upon AJ’s suggestion (I'm guessing he gave this suggestion for his sanity and for mine) I decided not to go on a 100% juice fast but rather incorporate the juicing into my meals each day.

I have to imagine that a cup of fruit and vegetable juice trumps chips and salsa as a nutritional snack any day…though I am already am having chip withdrawals.

The recent addition of a juicer to our household brought me one step closer along with a lengthy trip to the grocery store where I actually had to pay attention to the signs in the produce section (Quite honestly thought Kale was a sea creature/plant until yesterday).

Today’s Juice: Green Lemonade

1 Green Apple
3 handfuls Spinach, 1.5 cup
6-8 Kale leaves, 2 cups
1/2 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
1/2 Lemon

Calories: 210
Protein: 10 g
Fiber: 1 g

Before:

After:

Let me first say…it blows my mind that all of that food can be condensed into less than a full cup of juice. Let me also just say…it would be quite the investment of both time and money to juice your meals 4 – 6 times a day. Yikes.

The juice was interesting...I imagine had I given it to husband he would likely have made a gagging noise and asked why I would ever do that to him.

Tomorrow I’ll try another recipe and perhaps I’ll stumble across an even better one. Regardless, it was a great way to get tons of veggies/nutrients into my system and it was a good snack option.

Oh and of course I can’t forget to explain the “Biggest Loser” Competition.
The Cliff’s Notes Version: Matt, AJ and Elyse (every man/woman for him/herself)…Who can lose the highest percentage of weight by Christmas (near there).

We all weighed in this weekend and I’m not sure if I’ve just been playing too much Wii Fit but I’m almost positive that our regular bathroom scale audibly gasped when I stepped on it. Inanimate objects can be so cruel.

If you feel like exploring some of the Reboot juice recipes: http://jointhereboot.com/reboot-program/recipes/juice-recipes/

There are also recipes for smoothies, soups, salads and other healthy foods on the site as well.
Let me know if you try any of them!

Love,

Elyse