Hello there :) Hope your morning is going faaaabulous.
More rainbow sorbet swirls for breakfast…
In this juice: 1 carrot, 1 large beet, 1/2 lemon.
I wanted greens in my juice too! It is Operation use up the spinach week after all. I find that spinach doesn’t juice very well (or maybe I am not doing it right?), so I decided to take the juice from above and throw it into the blender with spinach. I also threw in a banana for sweetness and some Amazing Grass protein powder!
Ta-da!
It was all fun and games until I saw how many dishes I had to wash… *faints*
I’m thinking tomorrow is a vegan overnight oats kinda day. ;)
I had this juice along with a delicious apple smothered in a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter.
If I should ever create my final meal, apple and chunky peanut butter shall be on it.
Negative Comments From Others: Do They Light A Fire Inside You?
Some of you were asking about Eric’s Kick the Coke Habit challenge. He is doing really well and has not had Coke despite craving it like a mad man. He is now buying 100% pure orange juice and mango juice as a substitute when he craves something sweet. He is also drinking a lot more black tea for his caffeine kick. I am so impressed!
He has been getting his share of teasing at work though! Eric and the guys were in Subway yesterday and after Eric ordered water (instead of his usual Coke) his coworker said, ‘This is the last straw!!!!’ ;) It doesn’t phase Eric because he can dish it out like the rest of them and he knows the joking relationship that him and his coworkers have. It is not done in a mean spirit at all.
Last year he switched from meat subs to ordering all veggie subs (*swoon*) and did he ever get razzed for that, but he stuck with it! He is not the type of person who caves to peer pressure, so I have no doubt that the comments will only make him more dedicated to seeing his goal through.
He really appreciates your comments and support and could not get over how many of you wanted to try this challenge with him. Whether it is pop, diet pop, or artificial sweeteners that you want to kick, having a support system is very helpful!
Eric’s experience made me think about comments from coworkers that I used to get. I used to get a lot of teasing about the way I ate (I was a vegetarian at the time). One of my coworkers used to tell everyone in the office, ‘All she eats is lettuce and bird food.’ (while he ate McDonalds every single morning for breakfast!). Another coworker said, ‘Soon your body will become so weak you will have to start eating meat again.’
It is never a dull moment in the workplace when you have all kinds of personalities driving each other nuts everyday… ;)
Sometimes comments like this would annoy me and sometimes I could brush them off. It really just depended on the day and how much stress I was encountering with my job and to-do list. If it was a bad day (which it usually was), I was more likely to let the comments sting, but if I was feeling great, I could laugh it off or retort with my own witty comeback.
Negative comments that I have received in my life have only made me more determined to stick to my goals. Once I had a ridiculous comment from someone who said my bakery would never succeed so I might as well go back to a miserable desk job- at least that paid well.
Negativity lights a fire inside me to be successful with my goals. If someone tells me I can’t do something, I will see to it that I prove them wrong. Everything is possible when you commit to a goal.
Comments from others can light the ‘I’ll show you’ fire. I think that fire has been lit inside Eric because he wants to prove to everyone that he can do this.
What about you- Have you ever received negative comments that have only lit your fire to succeed? Do you have any strategies for dealing with negative people in your life?
On that note, I am off to train my first Glo Bakery Employee this afternoon! :mrgreen: Cya later!
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Avoid destructive thinking. Improper negative thoughts sink people. A ship can sail around the world many, many times, but just let enough water get into the ship and it will sink. Just so with the human mind. Let enough negative thoughts or improper thoughts get into the human mind and the person sinks just like a ship. ~Alfred A Montapert
If you do ordinary things, you get ordinary results. And there are tons of “ordinary” people out there who will tell you you’re going the wrong way! What helps is is to take a look at the fruit on the tree. Look at their life, results, etc…is that what I want to be? If not, why should I let their criticism get to me? I know where their advice will take me, and thats not where I want to go!
I really like that analogy of fruit on the tree :)
Angela, first off, LOVE your blog!! I’m new to it, but I’m following!
Second, yes, comments of that nature do light that “prove ’em wrong” fire!!! However, I’ve recently noticed that the ones that do NOT light that fire are the comments that are negative in a different way. “You would look so much better if you stood up straighter.” was a comment I saw on someone else’s blog. This was in response to a post that included before pictures.
I LOVE being able to prove people wrong…and my favorite person to prove wrong is MYSELF. :D I did this recently by running my first 5K. My parents and husband were floored, but I was more floored than anyone.
Here’s to lighting some fires!
as much as i hate being around negativity, it really does light a fire in me! at first i’ll get down and then i develop the “i’ll show them!” attitude. i love that i can turn it into something motivational!
Oh my gosh, I used to get those comments all the time at my old job. Everyone else ate crap greasy nasty food, and I would show up to work with healthy ‘junk’ salads. They would call me anorexic. So annoying. Then, they would try to guess my weight, and they would usually be about 20-25 lbs lower than what my actual weight was. People that say stuff like that now to me about how much I train. I just realized that they are jealous of my will and dedication. Thanks for the motivational post!
I have the type of mindset that will rail against somebody telling me I can’t do something. It fuels me. This is a good and bad thing. If I use it on myself it can backfire.
I cannot stand when people comment on the way I eat! Just the other day, my friend said “you must get so bored”, in response to how I eat. Little does she know that I cook a new, exciting and delicious meals every single day!! Just because there is no meat in my food, doesn’t mean it’s boring! I wish people would keep in mind that there are actually more non-meat options in the grocery store than meat options!
A coworker came up to me and asked if I’m trying to lose weight because I drink water. I am very thin, so the question sort of offended me! Do people really think that the only reason to drink water is to lose weight? I told her that I sweat a lot when I work out so I needed to replenish my body. Pretty gross response…maybe she won’t be so nosy next time ;)
Oh my. Here I am again. 8 minutes before I need to leave for work. Still in my robe with my hair in a towel. Reading your blog and eating my overnight oats. What am I going to do with myself?
I made carrot cake overnight oats again. They are delicious. :)
I have dealt with negative comments in regards to both my eating habits and my fitness goals. My coworkers are constantly commenting on how “good” I eat and making statements to the effect that I should “cheat and eat a cupcake”. The comments were even more frequent during my pregnancy.
I have also faced negativity in terms of my fitness goals. And I can say for certain that they lit a fire in me. For example, two years ago I had a few friends to laugh at me when I said that I was training to run a 5K. One “friend” even went so far as to say “Kim, you know you aren’t athletic, right?”. Their comments lit a fire in me that pushed to me to train hard, and to finish the 5K even after I had steroids shots in my left knee (due to inflammation). When I crossed the finish line (knee brace and all), I turned to my the boyfriend (now husband) and said “I wish — was here to see just how much of an athlete I become.”
I totally identify with you. My husband’s family always makes fun of how I eat. I really do eat a lot, but when all they serve is unhealthy food, I generally pick around and don’t eat much. I get the “you never eat” thing all the time. Now that my husband is trying to eat healthy he’s getting it too. I don’t get why people can’t be happy when you eat a certain way to be healthy. So I won’t eat that fast-food meal. It doesn’t mean I starve myself daily. It means there are certain foods I know aren’t good for my body!
I still get comments from my husband’s family. They tell him they are worried about me because I didn’t have In’N Out hamburgers with them for lunch. He explains to them that I am a vegetarian and that I do eat, just not a hamburger place. I get the “bird food” comment, but I take it with pride now. I don’t make a big deal about what I eat, so I am not sure why it is any concern of others.
Sadly, most of the negative comments I receive are actually from my own husband! I’ll be honest, it does sting a bit, but I also know that he razzes me because my healthy habits serve to highlight his not-so healthy habbits and it’s hard to get upset when I know the root of his negativity is insecurity. I’ve stopped bugging him to join me at the gym, or guilt him into the small size ice cream, but when I make dinner I make healthy options for the both of us. It’s all I can do, since I know that he needs to make the decision to get healthy on his own and my imput only makes him more resistant. I do wish he didn’t shoulder his guilt onto me, but I also know that he loves me and is proud of me (he’s good at dealing out compliments too, it just depends on the day I guess!). He’ll come around one of these days. :)
I had a conversation with my father the other day that drove me crazy. I was telling him about different idea of what to do with my life: become a chef or become a teacher, and to both, he said, “but only about 1% of people make it those jobs and they never get any credit!” So I just said back, “So you mean, I shouldn’t pursure something I love just because I might fail?” I was about in tears, because this was my dad saying this. I love my dad! And then he told me that parents only say things like that, because they themselves are scared to pursue those things. It is safer for him and my mom to stay at a mediocre job, than to actually go after “dream jobs”.
So now I am on a missing to prove that I can be happy at what I do. I am trying to generate passion in my research right now, but if I can’t, then it is on to dreaming big and being brave.
Glad to see you’re able to hire some needed help for the bakery!
I get really angry when people say I can’t do things and want to prove them wrong. I have to say though, I have never been more satisfied than when I’ve proven MYSELF wrong.
Great reminder to take something negative and learn from it and use it for something positive. I get comments from coworkers regarding my eating as well. While they mean no harm and think they’re being funny, sometimes it really gets old. Good for you for turning the negative into a positive!
I’m glad to hear Eric is doing well with his goals!
I think anytime you go against the norm, there’s someone, somewhere that’s going to refute you. This might come across really mean…but I just see it as ignorance. If someone wants to tell me that I’m wrong or weird for being vegan…well then poor you for not being educated. <– that does sound really stuck-up lol but it helps me deal with negativity in my head :D
This was a wonderful post! I usually don’t let get negativity get to me unless it’s from someone whose opinion I value. Then it’s hard!
i think when we’re younger we tend to internalize negative comments. when we’re older and grown into our skin it usually goes the opposite way. we should always get fired up when someone tries to diminish our flame!
xo
Oh my gosh, your post really struck a chord with me today. I left a job that made me miserable to start my own company. My boss was really awful and basically told me I would fail. I’m so proud to say that next week is my one year anniversary! I still have a long way to go but I’ve never looked back. Thanks for reminding me of those negative comments to reignite that fire in me!
By the way, I’m about to make my first Green Monster. Cheers to healthy living and going after our dreams!
I’m the same! If someone tells me I “can’t” do something, I’ll do it to spite them! And although I haven’t received any negative feedback since becoming a vegetarian or from when I started to live a healthier life, I knew that the people around me were hesitant to say anything for the first little while because, in the past, I never stuck with ANYTHING! I always quit when it got too difficult. Now, a few years later, I’m getting comments like “I don’t know where you get your determination”! And now knowing that I CAN stick with something and see it through, I know that negative comments won’t affect me as much.
And as far as the person who said your bakery wouldn’t work? Guess who’s laughing now! :D Beethoven’s music teacher also said that he would amount to nothing as a musician and one of Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was stupid. Go figure…
Ah…wishing I were your bakery employee :)
Congrats to Eric. I think negative comments about anything to me do bother me…but I have to shrug them off. Its not right to judge others.
I like how you are so respectful and open to others choices. Your husband and many of your readers are not vegan, but there is still a mutual adoration. That is nice.