"True success requires sacrifice..."

That statement could not be more true.  Day in and day out, I listen to people talk about how hard they have tried to succeed with their weight loss or muscle gain.  Somehow, Brian and I have are viewed as local "gurus" and are approached each and every day with questions about nutrition, work outs, medical ailments, you name it, we have been asked.  I am not complaining, and neither is he, but that is a heavy burden to carry around and a lot of that burden is put on his shoulders.  Both of us have sacrificed a huge part of our personal lives to make our store successful, it was the only thing we possessed then (AND NOW) to invest into our dream.  5 years later we still struggle to keep the store alive and growing but have realized that we both need to focus on getting the part of our lives we gave up back.
2013 was difficult for the two of us.  There were many things we had to push through and overcome.  I struggled with getting back onto a regular schedule with working out, and as I mentioned in another post, it took me a whole YEAR to do that.  When I think about it though, I sacrificed almost 3 years of my workout routine...so it really wasn't that long to get back on track.  Now that I have a better workout regime, I am focusing on my food and water intake..  That has been 3 months of changing things around, little bits at a time.  For some reason the food was a little bit easier to change than the exercise.  I still struggle with my food, but I am sticking to the plan even if I mess up.
Everyday I wake up around 5:15 AM and have made it a routine of drinking at least 16 oz of water before I eat my breakfast.  By the time I leave for the gym, I have drank close to 32 oz of water and have eaten 460 calories.  During my workout, I try to drink another 20 oz of water and then drink my post workout shake.  After my workout, before I head off to work, I try to drink another 20 oz of water (or close to it).  So, 5 hours after waking up I have consumed a total of 70 oz of water and about 600 calories.  At the end of the day, I have usually drank a little over a gallon of water and eaten about 2000 calories.  I have been able to make better food choices throughout the day because I am not feeling "hungry".  One of my biggest problems over the past few years has been fluid intake, which contributed to my eating habits.  I would mistake my thirst for "hunger".  I feel so much better, my skin looks better AND I am able to lose the inches I have been trying for so long to get rid of.
2014 started out as another struggle for us at the store, but no matter what, we keep pushing forward.  Brian is now trying to focus on himself and I am here to support him.  Now that my mindset is better and I have a positive outlook on our future, I can be the support that he has been for me over the past few years.  Hopefully this year all some of the sacrifices we have made will provide us with new and better opportunities to strengthen our relationship, further our knowledge and grow our business in ways we never would have imagined.  I have stopped focusing on what I have given up to work toward what we both want.

"Don't dream it, be it."