Hey, I’m part Irish! 🙂

There is a special for just today on Gentle Transition and Alflalfa–1 bottle of each for $55 and FREE shipping!

GO GREEN! Special

AND….

our winner of Giveaway #3 is……

MISTY!

She sure worked hard for it!  And last I knew her labor stopped, so she’s been working hard off and on to have this precious baby! I’m sure she’d appreciate prayers to have her sweet bundle in her arms soon!

Congratulations, Misty!

(And check back on Tuesday to see what Deep Discount Tuesday is!)

Years ago when I was teaching a particular phonics program, the author talked about “learning hangers”.

She explained that children file the phonics facts, much like we put hangers in a closet.  One day, it “clicks” and they can connect the fact with experience, much like hanging a coat or shirt on a hanger.   For example, they file the C hanger, the A hanger, and the T hanger.   The “light bulb” goes on and they realize those three pieces make an “outfit”–CAT!

T-Tapp is very much the same!

When we first start, we can sometimes be overwhelmed with all the form tips and cues.  It’s easy to feel if we don’t do it all “perfectly”, we won’t get results.  While there are certainly some form issues that will hinder inch loss, there is a lot of “grace” factored in! 🙂

We are after progress–not perfection!  Just as any other endeavor, including learning to read, we didn’t do it perfectly right from the start.  There is always a learning curve.  The catch is for us to be patient with ourselves–just like you would be to a close friend!  Can you imagine telling your dearest friend in the world that she had better buckle down and get something perfect the first time she did it, whether it’s homeschooling, T-Tapp, Zumba, learning a new computer program or designing a website?!  How discouraging!

Yet we seem to be very impatient and unkind to ourselves, expecting we should have learned something perfectly–the first time.

You have my permission to not be perfect! 🙂  But I do want you to make progress!

Just like those “learning hangers” for phonics (or math–remember when you could chant 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 and didn’t have a clue what it all meant?!), you’ll have T-Tapp “hangers”.

You’ll think you have “tuck buns” or “shoulders back” down, best you know.  Later you’ll hear it again, and somehow, it clicks!   Perhaps you reread the Fit and Fabulous book, or you “read” the dvd (trainer Dan Wiley–aka Dantheman–advocates that very thing in this post).  You’ve heard the expression, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears”?  Same thing here!  You’ve learned a bit of muscle activation and then your ears (and muscles) are ready for more!

It’s not that you didn’t “get it” before.  You just weren’t ready to hear it and assimilate it yet.  Much like when you chanted the alphabet song or could count to 100 with no idea what “100” actually was!   Then one day your mom or older sister helped you count 100 pennies (for maybe the 100th time!) and you got it!

Another fact placed neatly on its hanger!

We all joke about Teresa’s “remote activation system” where we just know she never said lift ribs in that exact spot before–and yet, there it is!  Our ears weren’t ready yet.  We were too busy keeping those knees bent and going out to little toe!

In T-Tapp lingo, these are called “a-ha’s”.  Or, if it’s really big, an “a-HA”! 🙂

And it can take more time than you know!

I remember at the very first clinic I went to, the trainer would pull on my fingers during the “reach/dive” in PBS.  I thought, “Ah!  I’m supposed to reach more!”

Next clinic (same trainer), she did it again.  So I thought, “Oh!  I was reaching up more than out!”

Next clinic (same trainer!), she did it again! LOL! Now, I could have asked what she was trying to get me to see, but each time I thought I understood–and I did. At my level, for that time.

At yet another clinic (yes, with the same trainer!), I GOT it!  I realized that yes, I needed to reach more, I needed to reach out instead of up, and I needed to get my arms parallel to the floor! She had said that, but I wasn’t ready to “hear it” yet!

I hope that encourages you!  That process took place over 4 clinics that were held over a period of 2 1/2 years!

NOT perfection! A progression!  🙂

When you understand that it’s not about perfection, but progress–at your pace, at your level of understanding–it is really freeing and you can be confident that when you “need” to hear a new tip/tweak–

–it will be there!

Have any neat “a-ha’s” that have stood out to you?  Please share!

Thank you for your patience for this third giveaway…..

I have a wonderful Lavender and Rose Salt Scrub this week, along with the Target POP 3 dvd–which contains three wonderful moves for the lower body!

Awesome Legs
Pretzel Twist
Diva Derriere

Salt scrubs are oh-so-good for the skin!  The ingredients are salt; sunflower, almond and apricot kernel oils; lavender essential oil; rose, lavender and yarrow flowers and rosemary.

Scrubs like this are also great for getting smells off your hands–such as onion or garlic.  Or stinky goat buck smell!  (According to my daughters!)

To enter this giveaway:

1. Blog it!  Facebook it!  Tweet it! E-mail it! Text it! Or, you could just tell a friend by phone or snail mail–the old fashioned way!   You may comment and tell me what all you did or do a separate comment for each, and you may do this DAILY! (Each separate thing counts as an entry.)

2.  Leave a comment telling why you’d like to have this giveaway–again, I want you to tell me why YOU are WORTH it!  🙂   (Back to those positive statements!)  If you need help getting started, you could say, “I want to work on my lower body, and I want to have that salt scrub for fabulous skin! (or unstinky hands!)”

3. If you haven’t already, go to my Be Youthful ‘n Fit facebook page and “like” it, or “share” it (or a post from it).  If you have already, ask/bribe/cajole/beg your friends and family (and the dog, if he/she has his/her own account!) to like it, too! 🙂

4. I want you to keep a “positive statement” log.  The prettier the better!  Find or print off some pretty stationery (or something bold and bright, if that’s more your style!), and each day write down at least one positive statement about yourself.  Can be in any area–physical, spiritual, abilities…..but if it’s the “truth” to counter a lie you struggle with, that would be all the better!  You can even post your positive statement here, too, but I want you to write it down so you have it to look at daily.  If you do this every single day, let me know, and all your entries will count as DOUBLE!

As you can tell, I’m serious about speaking the truth to and about ourselves!

This giveaway will run from today until midnight next Thursday.  I’ll announce the winner next Friday!

Have fun!  And remember–YOU are WORTH it!

I apologize for not posting the new giveaway or anything else here lately!

 

I had a few projects to finish, and then had two daughters not feeling well.  Got them into the doctor today and one has an issue from hitting the back of her head a few weeks ago and the other has something viral going on–glad neither one is serious!

 

So my goals, Lord willin’ an’ the creek don’t rise, 🙂 are to get the giveaway posted tomorrow and hopefully a post about motivation later in the day!

 

Thanks for your patience and flexibility!  (That is my middle name! LOL!)

 

Life happens and I didn’t get my stuff together for a “photo shoot” today–so that is #1 on my agenda tomorrow!  I’ll post the giveaway hopefully by noon and it will still go for a week!

 

You’ll love it, so stop back by!

 

 

Our winner for the second Giveaway is:

Polly!

Congratulations, Polly!  I’m sure you can use some “pampering” after your husband’s serious accident!  HUGS!

 

It’s so hard to choose just one winner–I wanted to give you ALL one!  I used Random.org so I wouldn’t have to agonize!  😀

 

 

But don’t forget—there is yet one more Giveaway!  (Unless I just keep having so much fun…I might do another one! 😉 )

 

 

I’ll hopefully post later today about the third Giveaway–stay tuned! 😉

 

I promised last week I’d talk about some of the lies that have been uprooted out of my life.

 

If you read my Transformation page, I start out asking some questions.   Mainly, when is the last time you felt beautiful?

 

For most of us, that wasn’t recently.

 

Why?

 

Because we believe lies.   That to be beautiful, you need to be a certain size.  Or your nose has to look like this.  Or your skin should be flawless.  Or your hair should be that color.  And curly.  Or not.

 

And there are deeper “layers”.

 

We tell ourselves we are “dumb”, we can’t “get it”, we’re not “crafty”, creative, coordinated, smart, lovely….you name it, we can put ourselves down!

 

Would you say any of that to your dearest friend?

 

“Jane, I just want to tell you that you are really dumb. You are never going to get it.  You are so plain and if you don’t lose 3 sizes, you’re just nobody.”

 

Shocking, right?!

 

You would never, ever even say that to your worst enemy, if you’re like most of us!  Yet we tell ourselves these kinds of things every day.  And we think it’s okay.

 

The Bible has an interesting proverb:

 

The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”  ~Proverbs 26:22

 

I truly believe that is real, and not just poetic language!  Ever heard the term, “She swallowed a lie”?

 

When we tell ourselves these lies, they literally become a part of who we are. They shape our decisions and opinions.  They can lead to envy, discontent, fear, and they can paralyze us, keep us in  bondage so we can’t be free–free to be who we really are.  Who we were created to be.

 

And when we try so hard to live up to an ideal that is not real, it keeps us from contributing our unique gifts to the world.

 

The world is poorer for it!

 

I’m going to share some of my “lies” that have been uprooted recently.  I can’t hit everybody’s 😉 but I can give you an idea of what was down deep in there–to where I hardly had recognized them.  They had become a part of me!

 

At the end of December, I had a barrage of thoughts/feelings hit me.  I had been fighting off being sick, trying to prepare for certifications, my adrenals weren’t very happy….and my stamina was not good.

 

I started nearly panicking that maybe I would not be able to certify!

 

Here are the lies that assaulted me:

 

“You’ve wasted all that money!  You never finish anything!  You’re not athletic–you’ve always been weak physically–who told you you could do this?!   You’re not going to have the stamina to do this!  You’re going to crash your adrenals again–and then where will you be?  You’re not ready to certify–you can’t even get all the way through TWO!  You’re not smart enough to do this!  You’ll miss spotting someone and they’ll get hurt–then you’ll feel badly!  You won’t be able to really help others with this in person!  No one will pay you for this!”

 

Shocking the garbage that can surface–especially when we are physically or emotionally fighting off sickness or other issues!

 

I realized pretty quickly that if I gave way to all these thoughts, they would be self-fulfilling,  because we can’t succeed where we doubt ourselves!

 

I knew I needed to combat the lies with truth. 

 

Lies sap our energy, our creativity…we’re spending so much mental energy either combatting them or entertaining them we have no energy for anything else.  And yes, this can sap our physical energy and stamina as well!

 

So, what are truths to combat the lies that were hitting me?

 

“You’ve wasted all that money!”

Even if I didn’t certify, the money I spent on mentoring and training was well spent!  I learned a lot that was helpful to me, whether I ever became a trainer or not.

 

“You never finish anything!”

Of course that is a blanket statement that is a lie.  I finish things!  My life might not be all neat and tidy, tying up all loose ends, but I also don’t leave “everything” undone!

 

“You’re not athletic–you’ve always been weak physically–who told you you could do this?!”

No, I’m not very athletic–all the better to help others who also aren’t but want an exercise program that works!

True, I’ve been weaker physically due to many issues, but that will make me a more understanding trainer!

Who told me?  Me!  My wonderful husband, my mom, many friends and Tappers on the forums.  Teresa herself.  And God! 🙂

 

 

“You’re not going to have the stamina to do this!”

I may not have the stamina to do all I want to do, but I can pace myself to do what I need to do!

 

“You’re going to crash your adrenals again–and then where will you be?”

I am not doing foolish things to crash again–I will rest and if it means I can’t go to certifications until next year, then that has to be okay.

 

“You’re not ready to certify–you can’t even get all the way through TWO!”

Getting through TWO in one day is not the goal!  I am ready to certify–I might not be able to do all of TWO, but Teresa will pick what moves I need to do. I won’t be doing each and every move anyway!

 

“You’re not smart enough to do this!”

I have studied and mentored, and I do know my stuff!

 

“You’ll miss spotting someone and they’ll get hurt–then you’ll feel badly!”  

My ability to spot will only improve with practice.  I’m not going to do anything that would compromise someone’s safety!

 

“You won’t be able to really help others with this in person!”  

I already had by that point, and I have even more since!

 

“No one will pay you for this!”

If they see the worth, they will.  (And they have!)

 

Where did these things come from?  I believe it’s an undercurrent that we hear in our heads–sometimes it may come, sadly, from our homes while we were growing up.  Other times it was unkind classmates and “friends”.   We look for affirmation in so many ways, often from people close to us, that we love and want to please.  When they, perhaps in their own pain, choose to say unkind things or not give us that affirmation, we flounder.  We blame ourselves.  Or we become another link in this negative chain and put down those looking to us for affirmation.

 

It’s time to stop this vicious cycle!

 

Remember, we each have a unique gift to offer this world–but if we’re bound up with trying to be like someone else, believing that we’re not “good enough” because we don’t “measure up” in some way, we’ll never tap into the God-given gifts that only we can contribute to society.

 

It’s time to stop “swallowing the lie” and speak the truth–

 

That we are beautiful, each in our own way, that we are worthy of affirmation, and that yes, we CAN do whatever it is we’re called to do!

 

We all enjoy and are inspired by stories of those with physical handicaps who overcome great odds–to play piano beautifully with only a few fingers, run marathons with artificial legs, paint beautiful paintings with a paintbrush in a mouth—so why is it we don’t think we can overcome the emotional/mental/spiritual “handicaps” that threaten to undo us?

 

The fact is, we can overcome!  We may have obstacles (lack of money, physical weakness, others not believing in us), but we can overcome them.  My faith is a big part of who I am, and I find great encouragement and strength there to help me overcome the lies so I can become what I believe God created me to be.  I’m also blessed with supportive family.

 

It’s important to find some like-minded, positive friends who will be honest with you, but also who will not let you berate or beat yourself up.  As in my earlier example, you wouldn’t say those things to your closest friend–why say them to yourself? They don’t encourage or motivate–so stop giving them authority in your life!

 

This even goes for our physical features–for example, instead of saying how fat your belly is and it will never budge, think of how that belly digests your food and perhaps has given you your children.  Instead of lamenting your “thunder thighs”, be grateful for those legs being strong to get you where you need to go by walking.

 

Some of this may seem “odd”, but I truly believe we cannot go on saying ugly, totally negative things about ourselves and not have it affect us physically.

 

After my mom died, I struggled with consistency.  Even after I decided to become a trainer, I still struggled.   Nine months to the day of her death, I finally “gave up” fighting God over His timing in taking her Home.  From that point on, my ability to be consistent returned.  Coincidence?

 

Then in August of last year, I felt I needed to deal with some areas in my spiritual life, stemming from a miscarriage I had had nearly 22 years ago!  I thought everything was dealt with, but there was a tiny piece of my heart I “walled off”, so to speak.  I dealt with it, and from that point on I can look back and see a major reshaping of my midsection area.  Another coincidence?

 

I don’t think so!

 

If we “hold onto” things–be it grief, anger, bitterness, hurts….I truly believe our bodies will also “hang onto” things–be it health issues, excess pudge, etc.  I’ve watched my own body respond physically to dealing with things emotionally and spiritually.

 

As I’ve said before, we are three dimensional beings, and we can’t only focus on what we’re eating and what exercise we are doing, and ignore the other, and think it won’t affect us.

 

It does.

 

I encourage you to face your lies head-on.  You don’t need to overanalyze this–if you are willing, they will surface.  Just be ready, no matter how intensely the lies clamor for your attention–be ready with truth.  Write it down if you must!   Ask a friend to hold you accountable and call you on it when you are saying things you would never say to a friend.

 

And get ready—

 

for FREEDOM!

 

 

 

 Photo Credit

This week, the giveaway is the Target POP (Points of Perfection) for LadyBugs!   LadyBugs is a great move to help with hormones!  Always warm up with Organs in Place first.

 

I used to do the LadyBug move nightly and it really does help PMS and other hormonal issues!  My dear friend Bev also found it helpful (not sure if she’s still doing them nightly or not–maybe she’ll comment and share!).

 

LadyBugs is also good for the rib-to-hip area–where we tend to “spread like a ladybug” during the perimenopausal and menopausal years!

 

I’ve also included a homemade sugar scrub!  Full of good-for-your-skin ingredients–brown sugar, evaporated cane juice, turbinado sugar, sweet almond and sunflower oils, vanilla extract–with touches of jasmine and ylang ylang essential oils.  One of my favorite combinations!

 

 

Here’s what the sugar scrub looks like inside (it’s fuller than this–I didn’t think to take a pic before I tied the bow on, so this is another jar with the “leftovers”!)

 

Interested?! 🙂

To enter the giveaway:

1. Blog it!  Facebook it!  Tweet it! E-mail it!  Or, just tell a friend somehow, someway.   You may comment and tell me what all you did or do a separate comment for each, and you may do this DAILY!

2.  Leave a comment telling why you’d like to have this giveaway–basically I want you to tell me why YOU are WORTH it! 🙂 (Back to those positive statements!)  If you need help getting started, you could say, “I want to help balance my hormones and work on my lower body, and I’d love the sugar scrub to pamper myself!” (Yes, you have permission to use that or a variation!)

3. If you haven’t already, go to my Be Youthful ‘n Fit facebook page and “like” it, or “share” it (or a post from it).

4. What is your biggest challenge with T-Tapp? Schedule, understanding the workout, a particular move, losing form, etc.  Share in a comment.

This giveaway will run from today until midnight next Wednesday.  I’ll announce the winner next Thursday AND announce the next giveaway!  Yes, I have one more up my sleeve!

Have fun!  And remember–YOU are WORTH it!

{{{HUGS!}}}

I didn’t get the new giveaway posted yet–sorry for the delay!   I need to get something done for it and didn’t have all components until later last night.  Will get that finished and post it later this morning!  🙂