I Have The Meanest Life Coach Ever!

Sometimes you need a friend to just tell you the truth. The hard truth. It may hurt, but sometimes you need someone to just gut check you. A friend recently said the following to me:

"You are filling your life with animals and food."

She would be the worst life coach ever (lol), but she said this with concern and love. And she is right. With thirteen pets (one is a foster up for adoption), I cannot take anymore in. And at 250 lbs, I need to get back on my road to health. I am not calling it weight loss. I am going to call it, Crystal's ambition to get up a flight of stairs without dying. Yes...that sounds accurate. 

Two months ago, I was doing the complete fitness plan. I was using My Fitness Pal to track my food diary and calories. I was going to spin class four times a week, and had started to add in some weight training. But, I was not losing weight. Not a pound. Not an inch. I was so focused on the numbers that I missed the whole point of the journey. I was bashing myself every time I chose to stay at home and cuddle my dogs instead of going to the gym. I was miserable. I was depressed. I needed to stop. 

So I did. I would not let myself count. I went to the gym only when I wanted to. I stopped an unhealthy mindset before it started. 

Now, I need to get back on track. I am setting a plan. 

First, I loved spin class. I love the music and incorporating the biking with it. If I felt good, I went really hard. If I was more tired, I could take it easy. Either way, I was working out and burning calories. 

Also, I loved weight training. My YMCA trainer has helped me to put together a weight training plan and I can go in and do all of my sets without supervision. It gives me structure and freedom, which I like. 

Second, I need to stick to a schedule that is realistic. I am not a morning person, so I should not set myself up for failure by trying to go to a morning spin class. I won't go my full potential and I will end up skipping it. Right after work is my ideal time to work. I will need to burn off some stress and I am awake, so it is when I need to go. 

Third, the calorie counting does not work for me. It makes me too obsessed with every little calorie going into my mouth. However, I can use My Fitness Pal to keep a food diary of what I am eating. If I look back and see that I am eating too much bread, I can adjust. If I see that I need more veggies, I can add them. I can also plan my meals for the week and plan ahead for good choices. 

And lastly, I am not going to weigh myself. Well at least not at first. My trainer told me to focus on how my body feels at first, how my clothes hang, and how strong I am getting. I should stay focused on them and not a number. If I am doing this right, I may not see weight loss because my body is turning fat into muscle, but after that I will see, feel and know the loss is there. 

I need this badly. Remember the Napa post where I was talking about getting back the confidence and energy of my old self. Well I think this will help. Plus, my body back in the day was like a brickhouse. I was stacked! HAHAHA

Talk later!

Crystal

I Met My Old Self in Napa Valley

Have you ever been something so long that you start to forget who you truly are? I am sure moms feel this. They have been a mom for so long that they forget what it feels like to just be a woman. Or you have been a part of a team so long that you forget how to be an individual. Well that is me now. I have been trying for so long to shape myself into a responsible adult, that I have lost my old carefree self. On a recent trip to California, I caught a glimpse of who I once was, though. 

Last month, I left my hubby for a huge two week adventure across the country. The word epic might have been thrown out a few times. Lol. I did a road trip from Atlanta to Utah (post about that coming soon), did a work retreat at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, then continued to California for a little relaxation in Sacramento before I headed to a marketing conference in Santa Monica. 

For a week, it was just me, a rental car, and lots of the state to explore. I love to drive and see the scenery speed by as I sing from the top of my lungs going down the highway. And a lot of it I saw. 

As I drove and drove, I got a weird feeling of freedom. A full week of exploring a new state that I had never really seen. It was exciting and the anticipation was running through my veins. I was lucky that I had a full weekend made longer by Memorial Day to really take in the sights of Sacramento, which was my first stop. I planned to meet one friend in the area, but other than that, I was free to do whatever. 

During the weekend, I saw Old Sacramento with its kitschy old west look, I went to UC Davis to explore for little sister who is going to college soon, and I had dinner with an old friend. It was great. I literally fell in love with the city and the cool vibe I got from being a tourist. 

And then I went to Napa...

I don't think there is a word big enough to express the love that I have for Napa. It went beyond the wineries and the beautiful scenery. My love came from a group of people I met there who I can only describe as spiritual soul mates. As I was alone on my California adventure, I decided to put on my big bow of fun and make the most of wine country. As you all probably know by now, I LOVE wine! Hell, I even have a whole section of my blog specifically about it. The intention was to do lots of wine tasting, buy lots of wines, and just enjoy some time as a single traveler. Not what happened.

What they don't tell you about Napa wine tastings is that you drink a lot of wine! Yes, they are sample pours, but when you opt for the tasting package that lets you sample ten wines, you are going to get a bit tipsy. (Probably a huge rookie move. Lol) And this was at my FIRST WINERY! Needless to say, I needed food to get me through the rest of the day. Luckily, Napa has this great downtown area where there is food, shops, and lots of tasting rooms that you can walk to, so that is where I headed. 

I walk into a Mexican restaurant to get my nosh on. I sit down at the bar and destiny stepped in after that. As I sit down, the lady beside me gives me a very enthusiastic "Hello." As a person who travels alone, I am always up for a good conversation with a stranger, so I greet her back. We start a lively conversation and soon we are joined by her husband. Within an hour, we are best friends. We are laughing and talking about our lives. We are wrapping up and getting ready to pay when the woman invites me to join them to another restaurant with a rooftop bar. I am game, so I tag along. 

Over the course of the next NINE HOURS, our trio expands to a group of seven. All strangers, from all parts of the country, with different backgrounds, and all different ages. And we are all head over heels in love with each other. We took our party from the bar, to a tapas restaurant, to the streets of Napa, to another bar. We talked, laughed, and shared our lives with each other for the whole day. And it was the best time of my life. 

I called hubby as I was driving back to my Airbnb and told him that I had not felt that good in years. I felt like myself again in a matter of hours. I let myself be Crystal. Funny, spontaneous, energetic, and carefree. Somehow I lost that woman years ago. I missed her. She was fun. She was the person who I wanted to show the world. That old Crystal was my hero. She was not afraid of new situations. She was always the first person to meet strangers and suggest new ideas. Where had she gone? 

I left Napa that night with a new determination to let that Crystal shine more. I also left with connections to seven people who I am so happy to have met. I believe that everyone you meet has been destined by God. Whether in Napa or in their hometowns, I want to see them again so we can have another great day together. 

Here are a few pics of my wonderful day in Napa Valley. 

Old Sacramento or the Wild Wild West?

UC Davis - Home of the Aggies

Vinoce Vineyards 

A very blurry pic of four of my Napa Valley friends

Talk later!

Crystal

Why The Name Change?

So you probably have noticed the blog name change. Why the change you may ask?

Well for one, no one understood what "Brain Meet Circle" meant. After some explanation, they understood, but it was not something that would catch. Hey, I tried to be witty with the name. Everyone is entitled to fail at least once. Lol.

The new blog name came to me after a wonderful trip to California recently. (Story of that coming tomorrow.) During this wonderful trip, I realized that every time I was going somewhere new or a place where I would feel out of place or felt like I wanted to have fun, I would grab my black scarf and make it into a big bow.

Me in the Big Bow of Fun!

Many of my friends will tell you that the bow has appeared many times. At events, at parties, on social media. The big bow has even received a nickname by my friend, Chrissy. It is now Sally. HA! People love the bow! Or maybe they love me in the bow!

This simple fashion statement, that most likely is hiding a bad hair day, has become like my superman cape. My protective vest. My security blanket. When I wear the bow, I feel like I have more fun. I meet more people. I smile bigger than I was before. The bow makes me seen and it really makes people want to meet the girl with the huge Minnie Mouse bow. Or that is what I think. Lol.

After thinking about all of this, I knew that I wanted my blog to be named this. I want the courage that I feel while wearing the bow to leak onto this blog. I want my words to open up new worlds and help me meet people. I want people to see the name of my blog and think, who is this girl who has the audacity to wear a big, silly bow and enjoy life.

So I hope you like it. I have also changed my associated social media to this name, so please, PLEASE follow me in these places as well.

Facebook - www.facebook.com/BigBowFun
Twitter - @BigBowFun

Ok, that is all.

Talk later!
Crystal

Why Fear Has Kept Me Away

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." -H.P. Lovecraft

As you can tell, I have been away for a long while. It has not been intentional. I really have had some great things that I have done over the last six months that I could have written about. There have been times when I opened up this blog and started writing, only to delete every word and close my laptop. Or most likely, go back to Pinterest. Lol. 

I have stayed away for one reason. Fear. I can't really describe this weird fear I have of writing about my life. Talk to me and you will know that I truly am an open book. I love talking to people in person and telling them about my hubby and dogs. Something about writing it down, though, while trying to be witty and funny and relevant scares me. 

Especially in a world where there are so many blogs. People more fascinating than me taking to the web to discuss their views on the world. Who am I amongst all of them? If you ask me about myself, I would say that my life is pretty boring. I don't leave the house most days. I talk to my dogs entirely too much for a sane person. And I mostly live life via reality shows, the travel channel, and whatever I view on the internet. What can I offer the world? That question has led to this crippling writer's block...hell, it has led to a life block. 

Call it my mid-30s life crisis, but that one simple question has led me to a point where I am literally crippled and don't know what or where to go. "What can I offer?" I literally could end my blog post there as some existential question that can never be answered. Over the last six months as my life has seemed to get more and more stale to me, that is all that has swam in my mind. 

Have I found an answer? No. Not even close, but along the way, I have at least figured out some things. The first is that I truly need to keep writing. I have been afraid to really get real and dark on this blog because truthfully, that is not what the original intent was supposed to be. I wanted to be like one of my Pinterest boards. A mix of all things cool and fun. However, maybe my voice is meant to express this stage that I am in. This crazy mixed up time in my thirties where I find out who I am and what my purpose is. 

So here I go...hope you enjoy. But don't worry, I will try and throw in some of the cool and fun in too. :-)

Talk later!
Crystal