Motivation Monday: Fresh eyes

The hubby and I recently adopted our neighbor's kitten, which has been such an immediate blessing in our lives. After making the most difficult decision to remove my brother from life support and saying goodbye to Nick's grandpa, we decided we needed happiness. Period.

Enter, Matilda - a delicate, demure, dainty tabby who now has a permanent piece of my heart. The addition to our family has already lifted my spirits. And this little fur ball has made me think; what if I viewed the world through kittens' eyes? Might be kinda nice, huh?

So, here's a reminder to see your life through fresh eyes...

• Be innocent and open to explore new adventures, things, smells, foods, and places.
• Cuddle everything and everyone. Just love.
• Play, play and play. Enjoy the little pleasures in life.
• Sleep. Relax. Be in the moment.
• Adapt to changes, a new life and different people.
• Take in nature - smells, chirping birds, luscious trees, flowers. Allow yourself to embrace the great outdoors and get lost in it.
• Have no fear. Chase the tail of the rather large senior cat that hisses every time you walk in a room, eat, drink, yawn, stretch or wink. Or, for my human readers - stand up to your own 'human' version of a bully.
• Don't take yourself too seriously. Allow yourself time to learn. And don't worry if you fall off the couch, fall asleep in the litter box or step in the water dish while trying to eat your cat food.
• Never give up. Keep chasing that tail.

Love you lil' Matilda! Thank you for your reminder to enjoy life more.

Motivation Monday: Fit App

I am tired of not fitting into most of my cute, trendy clothes and deleting every picture taken of me; so, I decided to take action. After not stepping on a scale in over a year, I was frightened by the number blinking at me. With that said, it provided an innate sense of competition with myself, and finally put some fire under my belly...literally.

While I'm active daily - working out everyday for at least 30-minutes - my food intake (or rather snack consumption) is out of control. Working a desk job, I tend to nibble all...day...long.

But today I downloaded a handy, dandy tool: My Fitness Pal. It's free, user friendly and a great motivator to be more conscious of my food intake.

To lose the weight and reach my target goal - preferably by my 33rd birthday in Vegas - I am restricted to about 1300 calories a day. Some of you might think "no problem" but for a girl who loves her glass of red at dinner, bread and cheez-its, this will be a challenge. But with this app I feel like I have a partner in the process. Wish me luck!

*Today I consumed 1573 calories, burned 234 and netted 1339. On this rate, I'll lose 7 pounds by June 6!