30 by 30

Greetings! Well I wanted to write to track my progress and to share a couple of things that have really helped me on my journey.

My motto for this journey has been 30 by 30. As stated earlier I will be 30 this December and my weight loss goal is 30 lbs, thus the 30 by 30. I started this endeavor in February so my goal for each month is 3 lbs. When I think of it this way, small increments, it helps me not feel overwhelmed. It frees me from the pressure of the big numbers and the stress of making sure that I loose a certain amount every day or week. This has also helps me to live my life realistically. I know that even if I try as hard as I can to eat perfect, life happens! Surprise fellowships at church with only cake, chips and soda, or the piece of cake after our lunch date. I find that I don't beat myself up because the stress of time and numbers are gone. When I would beat myself up mentally for messing up it would add to the pressure of failure and make me want to quit. I haven't been experience that and I feel this is so important because I want this to be a permanent change. I can happily report that for the first month I successfully met my 3 pound goal and I am doing good for this month, yah! Small victory! 

When I decided to become healthy I really started reflecting on what went wrong last time and what I could do to change this time around. First thing that really needed to change was my mental attitude. I kept thinking 'as soon as I get to my goal I can stop', this is so wrong and I know that now. I heard it a thousand times, "this has to be a lifestyle change, not just a diet",  but it didn't internalize. As I was eating healthy and exercising, I was mentally ticking off pounds and watching the clock waiting till I could resume my old habits. The thing that has really helped me combat this is to remember I'm doing this not to loose weight but become healthy. That has really changed the way I look at things. There is a certain pin floating around pinterest that has really helped me see this correctly, it's this 

FITNESS MOTIVATION 

It's not so much the skinny/fat image but the vegetables vs. junk food image. If all I'm consuming is junk then that is all my body will be made up of. My cells on their most basic level will be functioning improperly because they aren't getting the fuel that they need. I want my body to be strong and healthy. This picture just really helped to get a mental picture of that.  

Another area that I really had a wrong prospective in was my 'cheat' days/meals. I know that this also was a product of an improper view of what I was doing. When I craved something I would tell myself "this is just a 'cheat' food" and eat it. But it slowly started to stretch into all my meals and mindsets. The thought that if it's a cheat meal then it doesn't go against me, like cheating at a test, nobody will see it, it is something to ignore or overlook. The thing that has helped me is I tell myself "every bite counts". There aren't any cheat meals, yes I can have that chocolate BUT IT STILL COUNTS and I need to remember that in the big picture. Adapting these seemly simple things have helped me tremendously to stay on track. 

I'm still working on getting my garden started. In the states we have the motivation of seasons but here it's the same year round, while it's nice, it doesn't help. The melting of snow and the dissipation of cold temperatures force you outdoors, here its a constant. So it's still on my list.  

America Samoa

I just wanted to share a little bit of our new home with you.
 When we tell people that we live in American Samoa, people say, "Wow! Now where is that?" SO it is possible that you had the same reaction. Let me give you a little geography lesson. American Samoa is a small (let me stress small) Island in the South Pacific. We are situated the right of Fiji (Fiji is just the right and North of New Zealand and Australia) and about 2000 miles south of Guam and Hawaii, if they were two points on a triangle we would be the tip. The longitude is 13 degrees south of the equator, parallel with the souther part of Peru, if you were judging by South America just how far South we are. (I'm trying to get landmarks that most people would recognize).

It is a very beautiful and wonderful place to live. Here is a beach close to our house. 

  Samoan people are so loving and welcoming, every where we drive we get smiles and waves. I know that this is mostly because we are Palagi (pronounced paalangi) or white so that draws attention but they are such loving people. When we drive through the different villages around the Island I feel like we are living in a modern Mayberry. There are always people sitting outside talking or groups of people playing volleyball. Most people walk, ride in the back of trucks or take the bus so there is always a throng of humanity taking to the streets. After coming from the states where you barley know your neighbor, especially where we were from (a military town where your neighbors change every 6 months) it is so refreshing! 

 So because this a 'getting myself healthier blog' I will share some of my struggles I've ran into while I've been here. One of the biggest difficulty that I've found is getting fresh produce. 90% of the food that is on the Island is imported from other nations. We get a 'boat', more like a freighter once a month and its important to time your shopping around these deliveries, if not forget produce! Even if you time it right a lot of the veggies are going bad at the time of purchase. The other difficulty I've ran into is the prices! Because food is imported the prices are exorbitant! If you want grapes you will pay $12 for a small package, a head of lettuce will go for $7. This makes eating healthy very expensive, I do believe that's why there is such a obesity epidemic here. The junk food is cheap; white bread, chips, white rice, hot dogs and ramen noodles seem to be the staple of most people because they are affordable, especially when you are supporting a family of 6-10 people on a $4.65 a hr. The prices don't equal out to the pay, but that would be another blog. Local produce is very limited, but there is some. There is a big population of Chinese people and they have big gardens which they harvest and sell to the stores but its very hit and miss, when you find them its like finding treasure! 

SO in order to combat these difficulties, my next endeavor is to plant a garden. The rainy season is over and I cleared it with my landlord yesterday! Wish me luck! I'll post pictures of the progress! Also I'll try to post more about the Island and what's been going on in our life!