"I didn’t know my own strength
And I crashed down, and I tumbled
But I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
I didn’t know my own strength
Survived my darkest hour
My faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up
Hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn’t know my own strength"

Song: "I Didn't Know My Own Strength"
Link: http://usershare.net/ag6qql9v1aoh
Artist: Whitney Houston
Album: I Look To You

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Have you ever just wanted to give up? Just throw in the towel and call it a day? Go back to living a life of mediocrity and complacency? Eat what you want and just throw caution to the wind? I'll be honest. It's crossed my mind a couple of times, if only briefly. But then I remember what that life was: high blood pressure, waking up and going to sleep with headaches, always feeling tired, having no energy, but wow--at least I was full!

My mission is humble: inspire people to get active and healthy and remain that way. People may get sick and tired of me harping on fitness and nutrition, but I do it for your benefit honestly. Most people brush the importance of such a healthy lifestyle off until the doctor walks in and tells you that you have a blockage or there's nothing he can do to save your life or that you're gonna have to change something and do things differently. It's then that most people want to get serious about a change in lifestyle.

I harp on this because I don't want you to have to get put on high blood pressure medication. I don't want you to have to have open heart surgery. I don't want you be put on diabetic medication. I don't want you to have to get put on medication for high cholesterol. And I don't want you to read this and think to yourself that these things can't happen to you because they can! It only takes one doctor's visit to realize you're not as healthy as you thought. Yes, fitness and nutrition is a lifestyle and sometimes it can be a chore (hey, I'm not going to lie to you) but the benefits far outweigh the cost! And it's not a chore every day! And I always remember that anything worth having and enjoying is worth working for!

Point blank: you'll NEVER know your own strength if you don't test it! Yes, you will crash down! Yes, you will tumble! But you will not crumble! You can do this You'll get through all the pain with determination and resilence and you'll come to realize that you didn't know your own strength! BUt in order to find your own strength, you gotta rise and do something. You can't do this to appease your doctor. You can't do this to please your spouse. You can't do this for your kids. You have to want to do this for YOU! You have to realize you're worth it! You don't know your own strength.

Here are a few baby steps:

1. Do sit–ups and push–ups while you are watching TV tonight.
2. When you can, walk. Take the long way around to something.
3. Make an exercise plan for next week and write it on your calendar. If you don't schedule it, something else will take that time! (Thanks Chalene!)
4. Start with 10 minutes of exercise at a time. Then look for ways to add more.
5. Going to the grocery? Look for low fat/sodium, reduced fat/sodium items. Most people can't taste the difference. And while you're at it, take the hand-held basket instead of a cart if you're only going in for a few items.
6. Build physical activity into your routine chores. Rake the yard, wash the car, or do energetic housework. That way you do what you need to do around the house and move around too.
7. Make family time physically active. Plan a weekend hike through a park, a family softball game, or an evening walk around the block.
8. Train for a charity event. You can work to help others while you work out, and you're more likely to workout if you do it with others!
9. Start slowly. If you are starting a new physical activity program, go slow at the start. Even if you are doing an activity that you once did well, start up again slowly to lower your risk of injury or burnout.
10. Choose an activity that you can stick with, like walking. Just put one foot in front of the other. Use the time you spend walking to relax, talk with a friend or family member, or just enjoy the scenery.

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HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR LIFE BACK INTO YOUR HANDS? TELL ME ABOUT LIKE THE AWESOME PEOPLE BELOW!

1. Larry Armstead DID SOMETHING™. - P90X, P90X Plus, One on One With Tony Horton, ChaLEAN Extreme, and Turbo Jam.
2. Craig Snook DID SOMETHING! Power90, P90X, P90X+, ChaLEAN Extreme, & Slim in 6. Went from 210 lbs.to 168 lbs., and got off narcotic pain meds!
3. Tommy Mygrant DID SOMETHING!! P90X, X+. ONE ON ONE, Chalean Extreme, 17 months later lost 110 lbs. Blood pressure down from 155/95 to 110/65, Cholesterol down from 240 to 140.. NO PILLS, JUST WORKING OUT AND EATING RIGHT!! Lives ARE CHANGING!!!
4. Tracie Lehman DID SOMETHING! Power90, P90X, Slim in 6, ChaLEAN Extreme, & P90X+. Went from 36% body fat to 24% body fat and blood pressure from 138/98 to 104/72 in a year. I AM a work in progress and I'm never stopping!
5. Kathy Ensign did something! Chalean Exteme, P90X and Turbojam on the way!! Work in progress...
6. Stacie Bojanowski DID SOMETHING™. - Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, P90X, ChaLEAN Extreme, One on One with Tony Horton.
7. Rena DiGonis DID SOMETHING™. - Turbo Jam and ChaLEAN Extreme.
8. Shevaun Williams did something! turbo jam,chalean extreme,hip hop abs and now P90X,healthy clean eating and exercise gives me energy! it IS the fountain of youth!!!!!!!!...i will not be the fat girl ever again!!!
9. Cindi R. Cramer DID SOMETHING! Turbo Jam and Pilates! Great Article, Motivate and Inspire!
10. Larry Armstead Sr. DID SOMETHING! Kathy Smith: Project YOU!
11. Chiquita Armstead DID SOMETHING! Kathy Smith: Project YOU!
12. YOUR NAME HERE.

About six weeks ago, I started my parent's on Kathy Smith's: Project YOU! for people with type two diabetes. I'll talk more about that awesome program at a later time (suffice it to say that my parents are no longer on diabetes medication because exercise and nutrition has become their new "medication"), but about 3 weeks into the program, my mother said, after getting on the scale:

"Screw it! I'm p*ssed off! How can he (my dad) drop that much weight and I'm just hovering?! I GIVE UP!!!"

After talking her off that ledge, it dawned on me: there is no quick fix or no instantaneous result from working out and eating healthily. THe weight you're trying to lose didn't magically pack on you overnight--it came with a series of less than stellar choices, and only an equally intense series of more than stellar choices will reverse it!

Whether you're working out to lose vanity pounds or just to be a healthier you, you cannot give up! If you're looking to BEGIN working out and eating correctly, you can procrastinate tomorrow--START TODAY!!! You only have one life and one body, and what you do with it is ENTIRELY up to you!

Whether you're hovering like my mom was (who, by the way, is looking quite slim these days), struggling to get those last 10 or so pounds off, or just looking to get started, try these helpful hints:

If you're looking to begin getting active....

1. Begin by parking further out when you go to stores, and walk briskly to the doors. (If you can do the same at home, do it!)
2. Stay on your feet as much as you can throughout the day. And as you walk, walk quickly. You'll born more calories and you're doing some extremely mild cardio at the same time.
3. When you can take the stairs, do so and forego the elevator.
4. Eat breakfast! Get SOMETHING in your body in the morning within the hour that you awaken.
5. Take a walk around your neighborhood for 30 minutes daily or talk to a workout aficionado who can help you decide what home workout program would be best for your lifestyle.

If you're looking to lose those last stubborn pounds...

1. Add an extra cardio day to your workout weekly and try to stay within 85% of your maximum heart rate throughout the workout.
2. Drink at least 80 ounces of water daily. If you workout intensely and sweat a lot, remember to replinish your body with the water you lose in sweat.
3. Say no-no to the alcohol. Alcohol is LOADED with empty (read: good for nothing) calories.
4. Decrease your sodium intake to 1,000 mg. daily or less. That means actively monitoring what you put in your body.
5. Decrease or cut out processed foods altogether (e.g., frozen dinners, white bread).