Well hello 2016, nice to see you! I am pumped for this year and what it has in store for our family, our business and myself. Last year was a great year; Dan and I got married, we had the joy of going on two vacations, Dan started a business as a mobile personal trainer, we started a boot camp in our home-town, we are involved in church ministry and so much more.

I have truly learned that life is a ride and God has been teaching me to fully trust Him in all areas as we walk this journey we call “life” as a family. We have some big decisions to make over the next couple of years that will change the course of our lives. We continually pray that God will reveal His will to us and we have learned to embrace the unknown, fully trusting God. I have found such peace in relinquishing full control and letting God take us to a place where trust is without borders.
 
This Journal Blog has been harder to write as my fitness journey has been consistent and really, non-eventful. Although non-eventful, I have had such a peace about my weight (officially having lost 80 LBS), the scale is never looming, and our healthy lifestyle has just gone on. Since October 2015 I have lost 1LB, just one but this is the first time in my fitness journey that it has not stressed me out. I can see my body changing so much and my strength level has increased tremendously. I am loving life and the scale has no power over me. I know that with my healthy eating and my commitment to train 5 days a week, my body will continue to change, I will get stronger and my overall health will improve. Eventually my body will say, I am happy at this weight and life will go on!
 
Dan and I listen to Darren Daily who is a great motivational speaker and a successful entrepreneur. The other day he spoke on creating non-negotiables in your life. This got the wheels turning in my mind. What are my non-negotiables? How do I even figure out what they would be? Where do I even start? As I pondered this concept over the next week I figured out, I needed non-negotiables in many areas of life, not just overall. I broke them down into family, fitness and faith. Here are my non-negotiable:

Family
Phones are off between 3pm and 5pm every day
Every Friday night is family night
We pray at each meal
We pray with our daughter at bed time
 
Fitness
I will hit the gym 5 times a week
I will keep a log of my times at the gym
I will attend Ashfit bootcamps
I will not eat chips, chocolate and cookies
I will do at least 30min cardio after weight training
 
Faith
I will spend time with God every morning
We will attend church every Sunday
We will attend Life Groups every Sunday
We will pray together as a couple every night
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Some of these were easy to come up with, others took some times and others I did not want to write down at all, like the cookies, chips and chocolate. All of these, I don’t want to give up but know that if they are a non-negotiable then when I am at a party and there are chips I will not be tempted as they are a non-negotiable. I encourage you to take some time to ponder how you would break down the different aspects of your life and from there determine your non-negotiables.
 
I have set some new goals, not just in fitness but also in other aspects of my life. I truly believe that if you set a goal and write it down it is likely to happen. With accomplishing goals there always comes new dreams and this I find exciting. Life is truly a ride, so I have learned; you never know what is around the next corner. I have really learned to put my full trust in God because the thought of not knowing what is coming around the corner can be very overwhelming and can paralyze me with fear.
 
I have been asked to speak at a women’s event at my church in front of 100ish women as we enjoy breakfast on a Saturday morning. This is a scary opportunity for me but there is also an aspect to it that is very exciting. It is scary because I have to speak on a major hurt in my life and talk about some dirty things but it is also exciting because I get to share what God has done in my life, how He has drawn me closer to Him and ultimately how He has redeemed my story.
 
Without stepping out in faith and making the conscious effort to make changes in your life, you will never see yourself grow. Get out of that comfort zone and watch what happens. I really encourage you that if you are “bent” in certain areas of your life that you take time to recognize them and make changes necessary to redirect the course of your life that will ultimately take you down a different path. Make a choice to say, no more will I live like this, I am going to make a change and there is no better time than right now. You may feel lazy, undisciplined, of lack self control but these are all areas that can be changed. Own it, own whatever aspect of your life that you don’t like and get pissed about it, get angry at it and change it. Use the negative emotion of anger to initiate change in your life. You may be bent but you are NOT broken!

​Tiffany Ashmeade

Photo shoot with Terry Ratcliff (My dad)!!!