Remember back to my post Monday morning? Those lamentations of not feeling like myself? Well, here we are on Thursday afternoon and things have not really changed. I have been in funky town all this week. And not the groovy “won’t you take me to Funky Tooown!” funky town of my disco-dancing mother either. The I’m-in-a-funk-please-get-me-out funky town. Frankly, I have had enough!

I needed a little bitch slap out of my Negative Nancy attitude and I knew this post topic would do just the trick. A reality check to help snap me out of the funk and back to the real Tina. If I want to feel like myself again, I need to look at what that means and do something about it. Time to put up or shut up, folks!

In order to get back to feeling like myself, I need to know what the even means. What makes me my “best self”? Well, here goes nothing!

I Have Faith: Well ain’t this little exercise already an eye opener. Guess who has slacked on the prayer time this week? *raises hand* Note to self: Whine a little less. Pray a little more. I even picked up a new Bible study book today at the library to help out!

I Treat My Body With Respect: Typically this means working out regularly and being careful about the foods I choose to eat. Well, with a killer headache this entire week I have managed one workout and threw up following it. My appetite has ranged from wanting no food to craving hefty chicken salad sandwiches. Very different from the norm and it made me feel unlike myself. But now, after thinking about it, I’m still like myself because I’m giving my body the rest it asks for and honoring my cravings. I’m still choosing to respect my body, albeit it in a different manner. That’s still being myself. Huh. What do you know?

I Enjoy Loving Others: With not physically feeling my best, I haven’t had as much energy as I like for playing with Makenzie & Braedon, talking to friends & family, or reading blogs and supporting you all. Who am I?!?! I think this is the biggest way I feel out of sorts. So, my sister is coming over for dinner tonight. Peter and I had an impromptu picnic lunch date with the kids today. I got to chat with a good friend. I’m feeling reconnected already! And it really does help me feel more like me.

I Have Passion and Work Hard At It: I must admit I feel pretty good about the commitment I have given to my blog writing recently and studying for personal training. But it’s also okay to take a little mental break. This exercise helped me realize I have been feeling a little guilty this week for not studying as much. I will let that go riiiigggghhhhtttt….NOW! Gone! 🙂

Acting Humble & Grateful: It’s funny how when I don’t focus so much on “me, me, me” and what I do and what I have, things feel more right with the world. The whole negative mindset of “poor pitiful me” leaves me sinking further and further into a black hole because appreciating life is something I feel so strongly about. Um. Wow. Feeling down and out only makes me feel less and less like myself so I feel even more down and out. What a vicious self-fulfilling prophecy!

photo here only because I stumbled across it somewhere and busted out laughing

Sooooo….this whole “my best self” idea has given me more of a reality check than I bargained for. Good thing I suppose. I feel a tina bit more like myself already. Ha! Sign I’m feeling better = lame-o puns. Anyone else in need of a good slap back to reality? Apparently I do a pretty decent job.

• What is something that makes you your best self?
• How do you snap yourself out of a funk?

I have recently been tagged to share my 7 Links! I figure quite a few of you have seen this type of post going around and I eagerly wanted to participate. Thanks to Gabriela, Callie, Jenn, Heather, and Laura for tagging me! <— and I feel like I’m missing someone…eep!

Basically, I share a link for each of the 7 categories and then tag another 5 bloggers to participate. I’m game! Hope you enjoy my 7 links. 🙂

Most Beautiful

Exposed: It took a lot to post a picture of myself in a bikini at eight months pregnant. To this day, I think this post expresses the main message I hope to deliver through this blog more eloquently than any other I have shared. It humbles me and inspires me all in one.

Most Popular

I Had A Baby Last Night: By far my most popular post. The post boomed after I shared it and even crashed my site for a bit. I guess you all wanted to see my video of brand new Baby B. And now he’s crawling!!!! Time goes too fast.

Most Controversial

I’ve Got Something To Say!: I don’t avoid controversial topics.  I will happily trod into the dark conversation zones from which others may shy away. This post isn’t really one of those. This post did, however, stem from a few controversial comments and emails I had received regarding how quickly I got back to blogging and working out regularly after Braedon’s birth.

I had received two separate emails with the following statements: “don’t you think its a little selfish to spend time blogging with a new baby?” and “you say take care of our bodies, but then you don’t do that yourself after JUST GIVING BIRTH!!”. It still surprises me I received such statements, but it also solidifies my belief in the importance of doing things for ourselves and letting negativity roll off your back. Whenever I think controversy on my blog, I remember how I felt typing this post in response to such comments.

Most Helpful

How I Overcame Binge Eating: I get more emails about my binge eating journey than any other topic. I loved putting all those thoughts into a cohesive post to hopefully continue reaching out to those struggling and help others see they are not alone.

Surprisingly Successful

What 2147 Calories Looks Like: I had NO clue this post would get the attention it has. In all honesty, I worried the post would seem like a cop out since the bulk of it simply listed out my meals and their calories. I went with it, though, and am so glad I did. It got some great discussion going!

Not Enough Success

How I Create Strength Training Plans: I don’t really like saying any post didn’t have enough success. Having a place to talk incessantly and you all here to support that makes every post a huge success by my standards. However, if I had to choose, I would say my post where I laid out step-by-step ways to come up with a strength training plan. It took a fair amount of effort to create and I thought it was very helpful, but it seemed to get lost in the shuffle of other posts.

Post You’re Most Proud Of

Hard To Write: The post where I laid out my secret dreams for all to read was a pretty proud moment. My nerves raced as I hit publish, but I immediately felt so freed sharing my hopes. It helped motivate me to now take steps to see them happen.

That was fun! And now to tag some other blog friends! I hate picking off the top of my head, so I randomly went to one of my super old posts and picked a few of you great friends that have been around for a lonnngggg time. Muah!

• Heather @ Where’s The Beach
• Katie @ Dashing Dish
• Courtney @ Pancakes & Postcards
• Nicole @ Making Good Choices
• Jess @ Eat Drink Breathe Sweat

Questions of the Afternoon: When did you start reading FFF? And how did you find my little space on the ‘net? I’m simply a curious cat after digging through old posts and trying to remember who all has been here for how long. 1 year or 1 day - you all mean the world!