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May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Neil Gaiman (via singsmilelovelaugh)

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ATTENTION: TUMBLR DELETED MY FIRST RAFFLE POST. SO PLEASE REBLOG THIS ONE TO ENTER. I’m so sorry. I hope they don’t delete this one. 

Now, here we go. This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for! A huge fitblr raffle, with everything you’ve ever desired in your quest for healthy living and more! :D But it’s also a raffle. You see, I have to have surgery - to remove the excess skin from my breasts and repair the damage done to them that was caused by losing 70 pounds. The surgery costs $10,000, and no, insurance won’t pay for any of it. As a single 21 year old living in Chicago, with a full time job and trying to run my own business, I still can’t afford it. So, I decided to try and raise money and also giveaway some really awesome stuff! 

Here are the rules/regulations/how to enter: 

Must be following me. 

ONE REBLOG ONLY. Extra reblogs do not count and will not get you any extra entries! 

Check out my gofundme page here: http://www.gofundme.com/natashas-surgery

TO GET EXTRA ENTRIES: DONATE! For every dollar you donate (for some reason, the minimum is $5 and I can’t change that), you will get an extra entry! So $5 gets you 5 entries, $10 gets you 10 entries and so on! 

FOR ONE FREE EXTRA ENTRY: Share the link of my gofundme page on Facebook. The website shows me how many shares there are/who shared it, so yeah!

This applies retroactively to those who have already donated! So if you’ve already donated, you’re good to go! 

Likes do not count! 

I will ship internationally! 

The winner will be chosen randomly by random.org. 

NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DONATE TO BE ENTERED. You will get one entry by reblogging this post, so even if you don’t donate - you still have a chance!

NOTE: If this post gets deleted again, I will have to figure out another way to do this. I’m sorry in advance if that happens again :/

What all is included in the raffle? Well here you go: 

Fitness Basics Resistance Band

Fitness Basics 65cm exercise ball

Fitness Basics women’s athletic gloves

Fit N Fresh Lunch on the Go set

Fit N Fresh Smart Portion Chill containers

Fit N Fresh Vortex Hydrator

Halloween Owl themed water bottle

FitPlan (like a fitness journal)

Nike Speed Jump Rope

1 Nike “Beast” Dri-Fit T-shirt in a women’s Medium.

1 Nike “Eat My Dust” Dri-Fit T-shirt in a girl’s Large (so fits womens small/medium)

1 Nike “Just Say Yes to Endorphins” Dri-Fit T-shirt in a women’s Large

1 pair of Nike Pro compression shorts in a women’s Medium.

$50 Whole Foods gift card. 

$50 Dick’s Sporting goods gift card. 

2 boxes of organic Clif Bars in the flavor of your choice. 

2 Activate Apparel (the etsy shop) shirts OF YOUR CHOICE, IN YOUR SIZE.

1 pair of Nike Free Runs IN YOUR SIZE, in your preferred color. So whoever wins will give me their size and some color preferences, and I will buy them for you (I work at Dick’s Sporting Goods). 

1 workout outfit of your choice IN YOUR SIZE! Again, just give me your size/color/brand preferences, and I will be your personal shopper for the day! So you will get a top, bottom and sports bra.

1 customized meal/workout plan. 

I WILL BE ADDING A TON MORE PRIZES AS TIME GOES ON! 

Oh and one more thing… I will be choosing ten runner-ups to get free meal/workout plans from yours truly (I am a certified personal trainer). 

Awesome right?! This raffle ends on December 1st of 2013 OR if I reach my ultimate surgery goal, whichever comes first. 

So get to reblogging! Good luck! May the Force be with you! 

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A Vitamin Cheat sheet that let’s you know how each vitamin helps your body and what foods they are in.

[Source]

[More Infographics Here]

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Awesome article!

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Relationships

soooo I have some news...I.HAVE.A.BOYFRIEND!!!! :)

Yes, it's true.  My family can't believe it, they thought I would be single forever <--- Ya I know, how MEAN!!!  But anyway, we met at church and we have been friends for about 2 years.  Around March everything changed between the two of us, and April 27, we officially got together.  He has met with my Pastor and my dad and they both give him their blessing to pursue me for the purpose of marriage.  Yea, that is how us conservative Christians do it. :)  I love it, I feel so loved and protected and adored.  I also love that he is willing to do everything I ask in order to get to know me.  Makes me feel so precious. It's been a beautiful few weeks and I truly am sooo blessed.  He is the sweetest and I'm grateful that I potentially will be marrying my best friend.  We suit each other so well. I will keep you all posted on how things go.  We are on our 3rd pre-marriage counseling session with my Pastor, so far everything confirms that we were made for each other.

On a side note: He thinks I'm beautiful and my weight has never been an issue for him.  Although he is very supportive of me trying to make changes and he wants me to be healthy.  I appreciate the support so much.  I just wish I didn't have a weight issue to deal with at this time.  He loves to take pictures of me and I keep thinking to myself wow, if only I had lost the weight already, I would dread this so much.  The 12 lbs I have lost recently have made a big difference in the picture taking but I wish I had lost the remaining 30 already...grrrr.  I really really wish I never allowed myself to gain all this weight.  Anyway, lets the end rant and just say I'm very happy.  You do reap what you sow, so now I'm just dealing with the consequences of letting go and being irresponsible with my body. That is the truth.  But the silver lining is that I can change everything!  and I am... how I look and feel is all up to ME and MY CHOICES.  My current motto is : Eat Clean and Work Hard!  The results will come naturally!! Do you ya'll out in internet world have any motto's you use to keep yourself motivated?

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Today in New York City

It feels like a OVEN!!!! grrr....

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Losing weight is fun but a challenge

I have been quiet for a while, yes not the most consistent blogger.  Lots has happened :) 

I have started the Daniel Fast to retrain my brain and taste buds to eat veggies and fruit and enjoy it.  It's been great!  I actually have started to enjoy veggies.

Due to my birthday and a few celebrations, I have broken my fast a few times, which is a bit discouraging but I am getting stronger in my battle with food.  I can say no to desert (sometimes, not consistently yet).  I chose nutrient rich, healthy food over fried, greasy, food everyday.  :)

I do need to get over my all or nothing mentality.  If I accidentally break my fast (eat almond milk that isn't unsweetened) I tend to give up on the whole day and eat whatever I want.  I am learning to still make smart choices just because it feels better.

I have lost 12 lbs.  :)  Finally broke out of the 180's, I'm now 175.7, this is the lowest I have been in 2.5 years! :)  So I am super happy!  Each week I am losing, so this is great. The Goal is to reach 165 by July 22.  I have a month to lose 10 lbs.  Which is very doable.

I have gone to the gym 3 times a week consistently for about 2 months.  I am trying to up that to 4 times a week!  Now that choir is off for the summer, my Monday nights are free, so that will be my 4th gym night.  I still can't get myself to go to the gym on the weekends because it's so out of the way, and I'm usually busy. 

I realized why I haven't lost weight in all this time that I have been trying.  You really HAVE TO WATCH WHAT YOU EAT, on the Daniel fast you don't eat meat, dairy, processed things, sugar, etc...and it's still so easy to rack up over 1500 calories a day!!!!! I'm trying to eat around 1300-1400 calories a day and it's so easy to go over. 

It's definitely a challenge to eat healthy, especially if you get used to eating this Highly processed sugary American Diet.  Farmers market all the way. :)

Not that I don't mess up and eat something wrong at times, but I give myself grace to bounce back and then eat something light the rest of the day.  But I do note to myself that my progress would be better if I ate perfectly. 

Weigh Ins:

May 1 - 185

May 15 - 180

June 1 - 178.1

June 15 - 175.7

Pray for my strength to keep this going. :)  I'm finally losing weight and it feels GREAT! I'm really proud of myself.  Out of fear, I keep trying to prepare for the hard days and asking myself:  How do I prepare myself for those days I lose motivation?

#weight loss

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All healthy fitness blogs reblog this , I'm going on a following spree tonight.

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HBO: Weight of the Nation

Thanks to @roadto224 for letting us know that HBO has put their series on YouTube! I’ve just finished watching Episode 1.  Things that it made my brain do:

MUST make my kid earn that TV/video game time, even though it means work for me

A small amount of weight loss (4% yeah!) is better than none at all or a gain!

Americans must separate the term VALUE (meal) from GOOD (for you)

Watch them here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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This is very very sobering!!

Oh my god…. this is making me speechless……

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Will people who are trying to get fit the healthy way please reblog or like this?

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so true!

Often, out of our greatest rejection comes our greatest direction. See Genesis 50:20.

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Saturday will be day 7 for me....I can make it, I can make it, LORD  help me I WILL make it! :)

It takes 7 days to change your palate! Remember this when trying new foods and switching to clean eating!

#clean eating

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