Hope

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." -Hebrews 6:19

"In Christ alone, my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm."  -In Christ Alone

"But those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint."  -Isaiah 40:31

 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." -Hebrews 10:23

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words 

And never stops, at all "  - Emily Dickinson

"My hope is in you Lord,

 all the day long, I wont be shaken by drought or storm

A peace that passes understanding is my song

And I sing, my hope is in you Lord."  -Aaron Shust, My Hope is in You

Today we say goodbye to another member of our family. We 

will celebrate the life of Uncle Brad and reminisce. We will 

also grieve the loss of him here with us. I think that is the 

hardest part in loosing someone you love, how life keeps 

going and you have to figure out howto adjust. It's so 

interesting how some of the simplest things you shared with 

someone can be the biggest things you miss. 

Hope is what anchors us and keeps us going. Hope in Christ,

is what gives us strength and comforts us. Hope that one day 

there will be a huge family reunion in Heaven and that this

is not a final goodbye, just a see you soon. 

Helmschick, Beachbody Coach

I have reached the next step of my journey and I am excited to announce that I have become a Beachbody Coach.It is amazing and exciting to see not just how this journey has shaped me, but the impact it is having on others. I have found the courage, faith, and strength, to take even more baby steps. I am helping others with healthier recipes and shopping tips! I am ecstatic and energized to now provide: challenge groups, accountability, and encouragement to help support others!

It is with great joy that I reveal my first Challenge Group!

Are you looking for Spooktacular fun with fitness? Just after Halloween and right before Thanksgiving, I am offering a free Challenge group for 5 to 8 people that lasts 21 days using Beachbody’s 21dayfix Program! Treat yourself to accountability, encouragement, and healthier recipes! All you need is the 21dayfix program, a set of light and heavy weights, and a yoga mat.Challenge starts November 1st!

Follow me onhttps://www.facebook.com/helmschickliveitwell for more details! Feel free to private message me there also or contact me by email Helmschick@gmail.com

Getting Chiseled and finding my Hammer strength!

How about a quick Hammer and Chisel Update!

Day 29 - Total Body Chisel, Ab Chisel, 30 min walk, Yoga Retreat Week 2 Day 1

Day 30- Hammer Glutes, Hammer Abs, Yoga Retreat Week 2 Day 2, 25 min Swim, 

Day 31- Chisel Balance, 35 min walk, 10,000 plus steps!

Day 32- Yoga Retreat Week 2 Day 3, Yoga Retreat Week 1 Yoga Abs, Yoga Retreat Week 1 Day 5 

Day 33- ISO Speed Hammer, Yoga Retreat Week 1 Day 2, Upper Fix

Day 34- Rest Day

Day 35- Chisel Endurance, Total Body Hammer, Yoga Retreat AM Yoga, Yoga Retreat Yoga Abs

Day 36- Chisel Agility, 15 min glute Chisel

Day 37- Active rest day- Yoga Retreat Week 2 Day 4 and Day 5

Day 38- Hammer Conditioning, Hammer Abs, 40 min walk

Day 39- Rest Day- Yoga Retreat Yoga Abs

Day 40- Chisel Cardio, 15 mins of Yoga, Country Heat: Country Swing

Day 41- Hammer Power, Yoga Retreat AM Yoga and Abs Yoga

Day 42- Chisel Balance, Ab Chisel, Yoga Retreat AM Yoga

Day 43- Hammer Strength, Yoga Retreat Week 2 Day 6

Now that I have filled you in! I can only try to explain how amazing this experience has been for me! I can't believe that I am doing a program like this! I love how it is helping shape me in more ways than one. I am building muscles and getting stronger. I am getting better at, and stronger with my pushups. I am building the strength for better balance and moving up from a few modified versions of  some of the exercises. (I did split jump squats on the floor this week! 20 on one side 19 on the other!) My form is getting better and my confidence is building. I am on my last two weeks of the program, but I will probably continue in it for another month.( I really want to get that chin up bar and see what I can accomplish with that as well!) 

Master's Hammer and Chisel

A  few months ago as I was determining what fitness program I would tackle next, I started reading a book called Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst. You see I was contemplating 21 day fix Extreme or Master's Hammer and Chisel. In Unglued, there is a chapter where she talks about the Master's Chisel. She compares us to a block of marble and God using his chisel to shape us. Once I read this chapter I knew for sure that I was ready to tackle the Master's program. Not only do I want God to chisel and shape my character, but I also want to chisel and shape my muscles. This whole fitness journey that started just over a year ago has been so rewarding on so many levels. I learned so much from 21dayfix and lost almost 30 lbs. So, I have been very excited to see where this new program takes me. Today marks one month of hard work with Master's Hammer and Chisel. It is been tough but so much fun and I can't believe how far I've come! I am doing some exercises that I never thought I would be. Now there are still some modifications I make and I don't have a chin up bar yet so I have been doing a few different exercises with dumbbells until I can get one. I still have another month to go with this program so hopefully I will have a chin up bar before the program is over. If not, then by the time I do the next round!

This is Week 4 of Master's Hammer and Chisel recap and any extras I did.

Day 22: Master's Chisel Balance and 10 min Chisel Abs

             35 min walk 

Day 23: Rest Day

             Day 6 3Week Yoga Retreat and I repeated Day 5

Day 24: Max Hammer Strength

              40 min walk

Day 25: Chisel Cardio

              Day 7 3Week Yoga Retreat Take 10- AM

Day 26: ISO Speed Hammer and 10 min Chisel Abs and 15 min Glute Hammer

Day 27: Chisel Agility 

              Day 7 3Week Yoga Retreat Take 10-AM

              Day 7  Abs Yoga

Day 28: Hammer Power and Ab Hammer

              Day 7 3Week Yoga Retreat Take 10-AM

              Day 7 Yoga Abs

              Day 7 Yoga PM

Live It Well

"Life is short, I want to live it well, one life, one story to tell."  -Switchfoot

What do you do when you are unhappy with where or who you are? You are grumpy, uncomfortable, lazy, sad, tired, depressed, and just going through the motions. This was me almost a year ago. I was tired of having hives and not knowing why. I was grieving the loss of my Grandma and Uncle, but trying to find the joy in everyday life. All of this made me grumpy and lazy. I didn't like my attitude and I didn't like where I was and who I was becoming. I didn't want my kids to look back on their childhood and remember a grumpy uncomfortable mother.

I changed. I dedicated myself to eating better to see if the hives would lessen and I started 21 day fix. I decided that I was determined to live a better, happier, healthier life. It has been one exciting adventure. I found that with a lot of prayer, determination, dedication, consistency, and healthier choices one step at a time, can get you places you never thought you would be. I still get hives, but those days are so incredibly fewer. I went from having hives every single day to a couple of times a month. I did a Whole 30 and learned a lot about food and how I respond to it (emotionally as well). Right, now I am doing a program that years ago I would never have even given a second look. I am working on sculpting muscles and abs. What? Yes. So much yes. Master's Hammer and Chisel.

My motto right now is Live It Well. I want to Live It Well in all aspects of  my life. Mind, body, heart, and soul, I want to live it well. I want to find the balance with my food, with prayer, with exercise, and spending time with my family. Living it well, gives me a better attitude, more energy, and helps me find my joy, releasing my anxieties.

Live It Well,

Helmschick --out

Summer

Yay, for Summer! Yay, maybe not so much for the heat Texas can bring, but yay, for the kids being home and the time we get to spend together! Yay for sleeping in and staying up later! Although, I'm getting kind of old for the latter. Yay for family adventures and grilling good food! Yay for swimming pools, flip-flops, suntans, and coconut oil! Okay you probably get it now, YAY! Summer time brings the idea of relaxing, having fun, soaking up the sun, and breathing life in. Summer brings a sort of vacation from the regular hustle and bustle of things for me and the family. Summer brings the YAY!

Honest with "You"

It's been a little while since my last post. The last one was about taking that initial step. Just start. Doesn't matter where you are, just start there. This is still true. However maybe you have to give yourself a pep talk. We all tick differently. For some of us the battle starts in the mind and might psyche us out of our dreams or goals. I'm not saying it's always a bad thing.

Sometimes you just need to take a break. Are you, your own worst enemy? Do you give up before you even take a step in faith? Maybe you have started and you have your doubts or you have hit a bump in the road? Don't give up! Persevere. Believe. Take a step in faith or continue on your path. Do not be so hard on yourself.(Unless you need to give yourself a swift kick in the right direction.) Take a deep breath. Let it go and Let it be. Be honest with yourself, this is where you start.

Start

“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”              St. Francis Assisi

I posted this quote somewhere a few months ago. I thought it went well with my baby steps process. For some, like me, (I can get overwhelmed easily) taking small steps is easier than leaps of faith. It really can also depend on what is going on in life at that moment. During stressful times of my life, I had to take some of the smallest baby steps ever. If I could just hold it together and focus on the good and the positive, I could take the day, one hour at a time. (Anybody remember, What About Bob, and how Bob would say baby steps about everything he was doing?!)

Last year because of my hive problem, I started looking for things I could do to try to solve the mystery. The doctors didn’t have any real answers for me other then, here try this shot. Well, yes the shot worked, but I didn't want to just mask the problem or risk a greater one. Long story short, I ended up reading about the Whole 30. Thirty days of eating whole foods and cutting out processed ones, along with other problematic foods. It gives your body and gut a reset. I ended up doing just that. It changed me more than I first realized. First, it reduced my hives considerably. Second, it changed some of my tastes. Some junk foods no longer taste as good or are even attractive to me anymore. During that time I also did a 21 Day Fix exercise program and continued to stick with it after the 21 days. Since then, I have maintained the weight I lost and felt happier, healthier, and have had a overall better outlook.

Now, I am about to embark on a Whole 90. I am going to apply the Whole 30 rules and concepts for 90 consecutive days and exercise at least five times a week for thirty minutes a day. I am excited to see what the results are. Now I hopefully will be able to understand or see patterns with my hives and maybe even eliminate them. I am also hoping to end up with a flatter tummy and more muscle tone from exercising. This for me is one of those “impossibles” or what I would have before seen as impossible. All I’ve done was start and then graduated to what is possible.

  

-helmschick