I know how you feel, I feel like I am missing out too.  It would be too much of my monthly income right now and I have no extra after my expenses.  Oh well, when we get to try it out it will be perfected.  It is just not meant to happen right now.

Congratulations on being responsible with your money and in making difficult choices.  I will give you a pat on the butt (as Scott says - Hopefully no offense taken).  If you are dedicated, you will find a way, but it doesn’t have to be now.... It could be in 6 months or 6 years.  Or you could be just as dedicated to your self and self improvement and choose another way entirely. 

You guys will get the benefit of the Mastermind program well before January.  Everything that Scott does is dedicated to make MTM better and to provide more value to all of his members.  While the Mastermind group may get some of the ideas first, I guarantee that they will be tweaked and refined and will end up in one of the podcasts.  Lots of us in the mastermind program will still be sharing ideas on the forums - so you have more and more resources at your disposal. 

You’re right - you will get the cumulative knowledge of the first mastermind group, plus Mastermind is just going to get better so if you join sometime in the future, you may be getting the best deal of all.  Hang in there and keep moving.  Mastermind or not, we’re all still one big community.

Hi Emmi,

Wow, I’m so impressed with all your achievements! Planning a wedding especially, you have to be majorly organised to be able to do that! I might have to ask you for advice when it’s my turn in a couple of years

I’m missing out on the mastermind stuff too, can’t wait til I finish university and start making money so I can pay for it! But what I think we should remember is that - like Paula said - all the members who ARE on the mastermind programme will be able to help us out on the forums with their new knowledge!

Good luck with everything and can’t wait to read more!

Nienke

paula9717 - 09 July 2008 12:49 AM

Congratulations on being responsible with your money and in making difficult choices.  I will give you a pat on the butt (as Scott says - Hopefully no offense taken).  If you are dedicated, you will find a way, but it doesn’t have to be now.... It could be in 6 months or 6 years.  Or you could be just as dedicated to your self and self improvement and choose another way entirely. 

You guys will get the benefit of the Mastermind program well before January.  Everything that Scott does is dedicated to make MTM better and to provide more value to all of his members.  While the Mastermind group may get some of the ideas first, I guarantee that they will be tweaked and refined and will end up in one of the podcasts.  Lots of us in the mastermind program will still be sharing ideas on the forums - so you have more and more resources at your disposal. 

You’re right - you will get the cumulative knowledge of the first mastermind group, plus Mastermind is just going to get better so if you join sometime in the future, you may be getting the best deal of all.  Hang in there and keep moving.  Mastermind or not, we’re all still one big community.

Thanks, Paula. As usual your wisdom is vast. Maybe I was a bit harsh in my past rant but it was how I felt at the time. I look forward to the knowledge I can gain from those of you who can afford the program. Then by the time I can afford to join, you’ll all have all the kinks worked out. Right? 

Nienke - 09 July 2008 08:59 PM

Hi Emmi,

Wow, I’m so impressed with all your achievements! Planning a wedding especially, you have to be majorly organised to be able to do that! I might have to ask you for advice when it’s my turn in a couple of years

I’m missing out on the mastermind stuff too, can’t wait til I finish university and start making money so I can pay for it! But what I think we should remember is that - like Paula said - all the members who ARE on the mastermind programme will be able to help us out on the forums with their new knowledge!

Good luck with everything and can’t wait to read more!

Nienke

Hi Nienke. Welcome to my thread! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’ll be happy to give you advice when your time comes. Planning a wedding is a huge task but it is fun. At the same time I can’t wait for it to be done, too, so that I can focus on other things. I’ll keep you all posted.

Emmi

I’m really glad that you are going to stay with the MTM community.  Nienke says it very well - Your achievements are inspirational to many of us.  Juggling multiple jobs, planning a wedding ...  and more important is your commitment to your friends and the people in your life.  I’m very proud of all you have done and all you are still going to be doing.  Keep up the great work.

What’s in Emmi’s Head?
44 More Days!

I can’t believe it. Only 44 more days until the big wedding day. All the invitations have been sent and everyone is starting to receive them.
44 more days and I’ll no longer be a single woman.
44 more days and I’ll have a new name.
44 more days and I get to experience the biggest party I have ever planned in my entire life!
44 more days.... just barely a month and a half.

..........45 more days and I’ll finally be able to relax and I’ll deserve it.

My dress alteration appointment is this Saturday. I’m a bit nervous about it. I haven’t lost as much weight as I would have liked and probably put a couple pounds back on but my dress will fit and it will be beautiful. I haven’t been able to get in exercise as regularly as I used to. There’s just been too much going on, so many parties and showers, planning, packing, trying to find homes for all my gifts in my new home. It’s exhausting! The best thing I can do right now is to just exercise when I can and watch what I eat. I’m not going to stress out about this. I have enough stuff to stress about. I’ll have plenty of time after the wedding and honeymoon to get back into the routine I used to hold. Yeah, just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas LOL. All I know is that this year has just flown by. I have been anticipating my wedding day ever since I was a little girl and here it is. Being just shy of 40 I thought that maybe I’d be single forever. Who waits this long to get married for the first time? Ughhh 40! I just reminded myself of that. That will happen right at the end of the year! Yikes! {{{{deep breaths, calming down now.....}}}}} Whew!

I just wanted to give a brief update as to how I’m doing. I haven’t been around much but I do check in periodically here at MTM. I hope all of you are well and I’ll be sure to post some pictures when I have them.
Meanwhile you can check my Flickr site or Facebook page and see my latest shower pics and my latest trip.
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8584721@N03/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=607635888

Whoa, it’s been quite a while since I’ve visited this old journal.

What’s In Emmi’s Head?

Summary
As the year draws to it’s close I feel it’s a good time to look back at 2008 and see what I have accomplished and what I need to continue to work on.
One thing I need to get back to is consistency. I used to be such a stickler when it came to working out and eating right and somehow that drive and willpower seems to have become unraveled more and more as major life events kept getting in the way. It has become too easy to say “Oh, I’ll go to the gym tomorrow.” “Oh I don’t feel so good.” “Gee, all my friends are meeting after work again this week.” This excuse making has to stop now! I have worked this hard to do just what? Quit? Quit when I was so close to reaching my goal? I don’t even know what the scale says anymore. Honestly, I’m afraid to look! I avoided my doctor’s appointment last week because I didn’t want to get yelled at. What happened to my drive?

So what have I accomplished? I guess the only thing I did right this year was plan my awesome wedding. I have no regrets about that. Everything went without a hitch and now I am with my husband forever like I always wanted.
So what do I have to work on? Let’s see.... EVERYTHING!!! I’m so ashamed about my lack of motivation. How did I get so lazy that way? I don’t want to say I’m completely lazy as I am still busier than heck but I really let my health fall to the wayside. I’m so behind on my podcasts. I never used to do that. Something is missing.... and I need to find that something before it’s too late.

For some reason this always seems to happen to me. I get completely immersed in a project - jewelry making, candle making, painting, exercising and do nothing but focus on my hobby, buy the tools and live and breath it. Then suddenly I just stop. Is it boredom? Am I burned out? Why do I keep doing this? Quitting the other hobbies is no big deal but really slacking on exercise is. In order to keep my diabetes under control it is imperative for me to watch what I eat and exercise regularly for the rest of my life! I know this and yet I stop anyways. I know what I need to do. I just have to do it.

So, I am asking all of you for some help here, please. Please, help me get my groove back. Anything you can think of, advice, whatever, I’m all ears!

What’s In Emmi’s Head?
Goal revision time!

Here’s what I wrote in April 2008. Let’s see how I did.
1. Go to the gym 5-6 days a week. If I can’t go after work I must get my a$$ up in the morning. Didn’t do so hot here. Since my wedding in October I’ve gone to the gym maybe 3 times. 
2. Continue journaling my food. I have kept up with this, religiously, but I’m eating too much and it’s not okay even if I am jotting everything down in an honest fashion. Again, not so good here. I’ll write stuff down religiously for a week and then stop for no good reason. I did start back up January 1st so that’s a plus.
3. Stop driving by the bar on my way home to see who’s there. If I know a friend is in there I’ve been stopping in.  Usually it’s on the way to the gym and after a couple beers I no longer want to go work out. I really got to stay away from that bar!
4. Stop making excuses. The only thing that is keeping me from reaching my goals is me. That’s all there is too it. Yup
5. Wear my pedometer everyday. After reviewing my last 100 days thread I saw that I was moving much more when I had it on. So what if I look like a geek. At least I’ll be a slimmer geek. I guess I really didn’t want to look like a geek.
6. No more smoking, ever. I should know better, sober or straight. I’ve quit several more times again since April. I hope it really sticks this time. Smoking is part of why I stopped going to the gym as often as before. I’m coughing! 
7. Listen to Scott everyday. I’ve gotten quite behind. I did better when I heard “the voice” everyday. Now that I can download my programs a week in advance, there is really no excuse not to.  Boy, I have a lot of catching up to do.
The verdict? FAIL!

New year, fresh start right? I must get my click back. I know what I need to do and I have to do it, period. I’ve gained back some weight. I don’t know how much but it’s enough that I have to put some of my favorite outfits aside until I can fit back into them. Still afraid to step on the scale. I saw some pictures of me from over Christmas and it’s so obvious. I look fatter.  Even my husband said something to me the other day.   

So new patterns:
1. Quit smoking. Started this morning. So far so good. Chewing gum like crazy.
2. Step on the scale and face the music. I’ll do that in the morning and then regularly from then on.
3. Hit the gym!!! Want to wear my cute clothes again real soon and have to buy new smaller ones! Going to the gym tonight. For some reason I’m feeling anxious about it. I miss my old gym near my old house. I’m still not used to this facility. I can’t wait for my contract to be up so that I can find a new place that has a pool and newer equipment, even if it’s further from my home than this gym and even if it’s a few more dollars a month.
4. Keep journaling my food in my notebook and my thoughts right here even if no one responds.
5. Post my progress everyday on MTM. I miss my peeps here and so many of them I no longer see. Where did everyone go?
6. Keep up with the MTM programs. Even though I am no longer a premium member I have enough programs banked that I’ll be set for awhile. I may have to reconsider returning to my premium status. Funds are so tight right now tho.
7. I’ll reconsider the pedometer. Maybe I’ll just wear it at the gym for now. I have to figure out what’s wrong with my nice Omron. It keeps resetting itself. My other one is bulky but it works.
8. Participate is some of the offered classes at the gym. It’s part of my package and I don’t take advantage of it. Frankly it’s because I don’t want to break into a coughing fit in the middle of a class.
9. Try to maintain a more upbeat, positive attitude. I’ve been depressed lately. Maybe some regular exercise will help me out of this funk.
10. Start doing my homework again.

Well that’s a wrap. It feels good to write down what I want to do. Hopefully with my will and support from people here I will get back into my routine once and for all.
Happy New Year everyone.

We might not always respond, but we’re always reading!

The good news is that you know how to succeed, the bad news is you know how grueling it can be to succeed. But you definitely have what it takes, so go get what you want!

Bree

Emmi

It’s not failure, it’s just part of the learning process.  You find out what works and what doesn’t, so you can do things differently the next time around.  Overall, I see success, you aren’t quiting, you’re still here, and you know what you need to keep doing.  Homework is critical - I think you recognize that.  If you don’t decide what’s important, life will just sweep you along and eventually you will wonder where you are and how you got there.

-- Where Am I and what am i doing in this handbasket ? 

We’re still here and still reading.  I’ve been on facebook lately also - so give me a shout if you need some support.

Emmi, I missed your journal post because I’ve had my own drama going on (sort of) but I have missed your posts. Somehow I had wondered if your wedding was the driving force behind your motivation and once that happened, you lost your motivation.

It seems like what you’ve listed as #1 is there for a reason, especially considering what you say in #8 of what you want for new patterns.

And for me, moving is a great antidote for depression.

So what is your plan for tomorrow????