Pieces of Pietz

  There might just be some truth to the saying, "Clean your space, clear your mind."  It's a simple logic, a cleaner home allows you to think more clearly and feel less anxious. It immediately alleviates stress and you can feel the benefits almost instantly. Of course, the act of cleaning can take a little more than just knowing you'll feel better once it's done. We have to start somewhere and when life gets busy, that's when we get overwhelmed and fall behind on tasks that quickly accumulate and weigh us down both mentally and physically. What are the benefits of keeping a clean space? 1) Clarity . Improves concentration and helps you process things with ease. It's easier to be more productive when your mind isn't churning over your to-do list that is prompted by visual cues.  Think of it this way, when you sit down at your kitchen table to do your monthly bills, if the table is cluttered, your mind is going to have a harder time focusing on balancing...

  Creating good habits when you’ve been practicing bad habits for such a long time is a real nail-biting predicament. Often, we end up replacing bad habits with other bad habits, turning our good intentions into a cycle of failed attempts to better ourselves. How can we break that vicious cycle and make some real progress to become the best version of ourselves? There is hope y’all! We’re not doomed to repeat the same mistakes for eternity, but we need to be willing to put in the work, plain and simple. Here are three easy steps to help you get started on your journey to breaking those habits that we know aren’t doing us any good… That old saying, “Put pen to paper, get the ball rolling,” is adherently true when you are planning an overhaul of your mindset. If you want to get something done, you must start at point A before point B. There’s a system in place and you only cheat yourself if you attempt to take the shortcut. DON’T CHEAT YOURSELF! Step 1. Write a list of you...

  It’s been several weeks since my last health journey update and y’all, I am pretty sure I was on the verge of a breakdown. After my aunt passed away, a host of family emergencies and personal obligations all fell into my lap at the same exact moment, making my brain swell and overload. I had to stop everything, took a day to process it, got my big girl panties on and sucked it up. I’m grateful to say everything is more even keel (at least for now) but I must admit, there is a pattern that even I can’t deny; When things feel out of my control, I let my emotions consume every other part of my life and that is my biggest downfall. That old saying, 'You are your own worst enemy' is inherently accurate. The 75 Hard Challenge proved to be more than I was ready for and after restarting three times in two weeks, it was obvious I wasn’t ready to commit. Scratch the challenge, for now, I need to work on breaking some habits that were less than stellar for helping me achieve my goal...

  Day two and I failed. At the end of day one, I had learned my aunt was in the intensive care unit after having a major heart attack. She had coded once, but they were able to revive her. The past year had been rough on her, both medically and emotionally. She had lost her husband, my Uncle Jesse, unexpectedly. Her thirty-three year old son suffered a debilitating  stroke that requires him to now be under a nurses care 24/7. His condition, while stable, hasn't improved. All of these things have weighed heavily on my aunt and our whole family. There was some talk that night that she might not pull through, all we could do was pray and leave it in God's hands. Day two started off strong. I woke up early, got in sixteen ounces of water, checked my messages and my aunt was the same, so I threw on my yoga pants and a tee shirt. My oldest daughter has become my daily walking buddy. We aim for a mile every morning and are planning to get up to two miles a day, fingers crossed. I did...

First, as always, I am not a medical professional, this and any post I share pertaining to anything medically related is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Always contact your doctor for any health concerns or medical advice, especially before starting a weight loss journey!  Have you heard about the 75 Hard Challenge going around on social sites like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube? It's a challenge that helps you rewire the way you think. For some crazy reason, I've decided to commit and start the challenge today!  The challenge is based on Andy Frisella's book, "75 Hard: A Tactical Guide to Winning the War with Yourself" and podcast. To sum it up; 75 days that you devote to abide by five simple rules and if you break any of those rules, you start over from day one. What are the five rules? 1. Stick to a diet. No cheat days and NO ALCOHOL! For me, this would be counting calories. I would need to stay at 1800 calories a day or under but never over. ...

Once upon a time, I was an athletic, competitive, healthy young woman. Today - I'm carrying around the weight of another person on my small five foot five frame. It's exhausting. There's no one particular reason that I allowed myself to get into this current condition. Several things happened over the years and before I knew it, my doctor was telling me to loose as much weight as I could to avoid needing blood pressure medication.  Five weeks ago, I embarked on a journey to recommit to improving my health. Last year, I had lost fifty pounds in six months. Then, with the additional closures caused by the pandemic and needing to stay home to help our kids with virtual schooling, the pounds packed back on quicker than a drive-thru cheeseburger is ready at the pick-up window! It was a blow to my self-esteem, again. Thinking over it as the weight steadily remained at two-hundred-eighty-eight pounds, I decided to do my own research. THERE ARE SO MANY DIETS OUT THERE!! It is insan...