My Progress
Friday, January 28, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thanks Patrick
I kept hearing about some guy named Patrick in different blogs and after a few weeks I found him here - http//responsibility199.blogspot.com/?max-results=100 (sorry I don't know how to do the fancy links everyone is doing...) I am sure everyone already knows him but if not...check it out.
Today is shout out day on his blog so I am taking his suggestion and giving a link to a few people that really inspire me. This is hard - everyone here inspires me.
Lesley resonates with me because she struggles and still keeps going...just like I try to do
http//sheddingthiscocoon.blogspot.com/
I think Allan's blog was one of the first I started following, I read everyday and have a love/hate/love relationship with his no nonsense style. Kind of like the Nun in 6th grade who was known for being tough and scary, yet looking back I learned more from her than anyone else
http//almostgastricbypass2.blogspot.com/
Julie and Jess who are into Triathlon like me :-)
http://www.tri-thatshowiroll.com/
http://http//youjusthavetotri.blogspot.com/
There are many more but this going and finding links thing is very time consuming and I have to get ready for work :-O
Today is shout out day on his blog so I am taking his suggestion and giving a link to a few people that really inspire me. This is hard - everyone here inspires me.
Lesley resonates with me because she struggles and still keeps going...just like I try to do
http//sheddingthiscocoon.blogspot.com/
I think Allan's blog was one of the first I started following, I read everyday and have a love/hate/love relationship with his no nonsense style. Kind of like the Nun in 6th grade who was known for being tough and scary, yet looking back I learned more from her than anyone else
http//almostgastricbypass2.blogspot.com/
Julie and Jess who are into Triathlon like me :-)
http://www.tri-thatshowiroll.com/
http://http//youjusthavetotri.blogspot.com/
There are many more but this going and finding links thing is very time consuming and I have to get ready for work :-O
I have a friend...
...who is struggling right now. She had back surgery last October and it was a pretty serious one and she knew it would take her out of working out for up to six months. Last month, just as she was beginning to feel more like herself again and was cleared for walking; she was dealt another blow finding out she needed a hysterectomy. That second surgery was completed last Monday and for a procedure that is supposed to take about 2 hours - took over 5 hours. She lost a lot of blood and is dealing with low iron and the normal recuperation for two recent surgeries. Hmmm is there a normal for two surgeries???
She is strong and is hanging in and looking forward to being able to get back to her life ASAP but in the mean time it made me think. Yesterday I had a tough workout, it felt harder than usual and I think I was whining a little too about how hard it was. It dawned on me this morning as I thinking of my friend how lucky I am to be "able" to workout and continue down my road toward a healthier life.
I plan to remind myself of this everyday!
1. I am physically able to get up and MOVE
2. I have the tools and ability to workout today, don't waste that opportunity
3. There are many out there for whom it might be too late, they are no longer mobile
4. Why would I waste this chance?
That is my plan for today to remember the gift of being able to walk, and move, and even grateful for the ability to get my butt kicked!
Have a great day everyone and get out and move your body while you still can!
She is strong and is hanging in and looking forward to being able to get back to her life ASAP but in the mean time it made me think. Yesterday I had a tough workout, it felt harder than usual and I think I was whining a little too about how hard it was. It dawned on me this morning as I thinking of my friend how lucky I am to be "able" to workout and continue down my road toward a healthier life.
I plan to remind myself of this everyday!
1. I am physically able to get up and MOVE
2. I have the tools and ability to workout today, don't waste that opportunity
3. There are many out there for whom it might be too late, they are no longer mobile
4. Why would I waste this chance?
That is my plan for today to remember the gift of being able to walk, and move, and even grateful for the ability to get my butt kicked!
Have a great day everyone and get out and move your body while you still can!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Ugh...
Stumbling today with food choices...must get back on track!
This is exactly why I called it war in my last post; seems like the battles keep going back and forth, sometimes I win, sometimes not.
But the war - in the end I must win.
This is exactly why I called it war in my last post; seems like the battles keep going back and forth, sometimes I win, sometimes not.
But the war - in the end I must win.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
My Pearl Harbor ... and the subsequent war ...
I have been reading a lot of posts lately about staying focused and motivated…
I by no means have it figured out! It still takes me by surprise when after several good days of eating and not thinking about food too much, I suddenly will feel overwhelmed by a strong desire to pick up a box of donuts or cookies and simply inhale them. It finally dawned on me just last year that this feeling wasn’t a simple craving, I know the difference now because I distinctly feel like inhaling not eating. It is this feeling of wanting to fill myself up with food as fast as possible, I know it when it hits now but it does not make it easier to deal with; it is very much one day at a time, no it is more like one minute at a time! The good news is that these moments of weakness do seem to be getting shorter and the time in between these tsunami’s of compulsive eating is getting longer – so I know I am on the right track. In fact as of this morning I am one pound away from another milestone of 60 pounds gone! The really weird thing is that you would think when I hit a new low it would boost me and ensure that I am strong (at least for today); but it seems to be the opposite, I have to be very wary today because it is usually when these cravings are the strongest. Fat me trying to sabotage healthy me? Who knows. I just know to be CAREFUL today!!!
I was also thinking recently of my ‘aha moment’ or my personal Pearl Harbor … that moment when something hits you out of nowhere, suddenly waking you out of a nice morning sleep and slams you face first into the reality of what is really going on in your life.
My Pearl Harbor was over a year and a half ago when my Mom called to tell me that my Aunt Diane had died in her sleep of a heart attack that night. Now you need to know that my Mom is the oldest of 8 kids and Diane is the second youngest making her…FIVE years older than me. Gone at 48 with no notice, warning, or chance to say goodbye. I was already on my journey to get healthy by then, I had been competing in Triathlon for two years and had lost about 30 pounds at this time but this shook me to my core. Heart disease runs in our family and I was so worried this would happen to her – she was very overweight and still smoking! Even though I worried I never really believed it would happen so soon. It scared me, for weeks I feared tonight would be the night I would never wake up. I realized the impact of these daily ‘little choices’ I was making, that every sugary, fatty, processed piece of food I put into my mouth had an effect on my life span! Not even just how long I am here but the quality of that life was at stake. Did I want to be a type II diabetic like my mom who is on the maximum dose allowed for blood pressure and about 10 other drugs she must take daily to simply stay alive?
My answer was “no frickin thank you”; I want to be active, healthy, and enjoying life right to the end.
I would love to say that at that moment it totally clicked and as I realized the impact of these bad foods, I never put another piece of garbage into my body again…but that would be a lie. I still fall, but I get up every single time and keep moving forward! I know how to do it, it is simple easy math…you have to know how much is going in and how much is going out. I used to think “I deserve a day of not thinking and just eating what I want” so I would and then honestly not understand why I gained weight that week. I would think it isn’t fair I was perfect for 6 days and only ‘bad’ for 1! Guess what folks…it isn’t fair…it just is. I can eat a whole box of Crunch & Munch in my car on the way to lunch…that is 1050 calories. It adds up, at an alarming rate!
The good news is that you can win! I believe that with every fiber of my being, it is why I keep going, falling, getting up, and going again. If I stop I fail – if I keep getting up I win!
So that is my rambling for the day…I am hoping if I write this down it will help stave off the bad thoughts in my own head that will inevitably try to derail me, whispering how great something sugary and full of fat would feel right now. I wrote feel instead of taste on purpose because I know it has nothing to do with taste or hunger.
One last thing – my reminder that this is about HEALTH and not looks. I have been going to a Women’s health fair for the last 4 years and above are my results! It was slow, it didn’t happen overnight – it took years – but look it works! That is what keeps me going!
I was pre-diabetic and very close to needing blood pressure and cholesterol medications – now everything is the healthy ranges!
I by no means have it figured out! It still takes me by surprise when after several good days of eating and not thinking about food too much, I suddenly will feel overwhelmed by a strong desire to pick up a box of donuts or cookies and simply inhale them. It finally dawned on me just last year that this feeling wasn’t a simple craving, I know the difference now because I distinctly feel like inhaling not eating. It is this feeling of wanting to fill myself up with food as fast as possible, I know it when it hits now but it does not make it easier to deal with; it is very much one day at a time, no it is more like one minute at a time! The good news is that these moments of weakness do seem to be getting shorter and the time in between these tsunami’s of compulsive eating is getting longer – so I know I am on the right track. In fact as of this morning I am one pound away from another milestone of 60 pounds gone! The really weird thing is that you would think when I hit a new low it would boost me and ensure that I am strong (at least for today); but it seems to be the opposite, I have to be very wary today because it is usually when these cravings are the strongest. Fat me trying to sabotage healthy me? Who knows. I just know to be CAREFUL today!!!
I was also thinking recently of my ‘aha moment’ or my personal Pearl Harbor … that moment when something hits you out of nowhere, suddenly waking you out of a nice morning sleep and slams you face first into the reality of what is really going on in your life.
My Pearl Harbor was over a year and a half ago when my Mom called to tell me that my Aunt Diane had died in her sleep of a heart attack that night. Now you need to know that my Mom is the oldest of 8 kids and Diane is the second youngest making her…FIVE years older than me. Gone at 48 with no notice, warning, or chance to say goodbye. I was already on my journey to get healthy by then, I had been competing in Triathlon for two years and had lost about 30 pounds at this time but this shook me to my core. Heart disease runs in our family and I was so worried this would happen to her – she was very overweight and still smoking! Even though I worried I never really believed it would happen so soon. It scared me, for weeks I feared tonight would be the night I would never wake up. I realized the impact of these daily ‘little choices’ I was making, that every sugary, fatty, processed piece of food I put into my mouth had an effect on my life span! Not even just how long I am here but the quality of that life was at stake. Did I want to be a type II diabetic like my mom who is on the maximum dose allowed for blood pressure and about 10 other drugs she must take daily to simply stay alive?
My answer was “no frickin thank you”; I want to be active, healthy, and enjoying life right to the end.
I would love to say that at that moment it totally clicked and as I realized the impact of these bad foods, I never put another piece of garbage into my body again…but that would be a lie. I still fall, but I get up every single time and keep moving forward! I know how to do it, it is simple easy math…you have to know how much is going in and how much is going out. I used to think “I deserve a day of not thinking and just eating what I want” so I would and then honestly not understand why I gained weight that week. I would think it isn’t fair I was perfect for 6 days and only ‘bad’ for 1! Guess what folks…it isn’t fair…it just is. I can eat a whole box of Crunch & Munch in my car on the way to lunch…that is 1050 calories. It adds up, at an alarming rate!
The good news is that you can win! I believe that with every fiber of my being, it is why I keep going, falling, getting up, and going again. If I stop I fail – if I keep getting up I win!
So that is my rambling for the day…I am hoping if I write this down it will help stave off the bad thoughts in my own head that will inevitably try to derail me, whispering how great something sugary and full of fat would feel right now. I wrote feel instead of taste on purpose because I know it has nothing to do with taste or hunger.
One last thing – my reminder that this is about HEALTH and not looks. I have been going to a Women’s health fair for the last 4 years and above are my results! It was slow, it didn’t happen overnight – it took years – but look it works! That is what keeps me going!
I was pre-diabetic and very close to needing blood pressure and cholesterol medications – now everything is the healthy ranges!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
It is done!
Well I did it finally; yesterday I registered for the STP.
Training has really already begun, I've been spinning a lot more lately and my husband is taking my bike in for a tune up next week so I can get out on the road!
204 miles in two days...enough said!
Training has really already begun, I've been spinning a lot more lately and my husband is taking my bike in for a tune up next week so I can get out on the road!
204 miles in two days...enough said!
Friday, January 14, 2011
What we bring with us...
Not even sure what brought it up, but I was telling my husband about my southern Grandmother and that one of my best memories of her was this saying "pretty is as pretty does". She was a true lady who never wore slacks until she was well into her 70's...can you believe that? My other Grandma raised 8 kids (my Grandfather died at 40) and she did it on her own! It was the mid-sixties and my Grandma had to deal with being a young widow, go out and get a job, and take care of 8 children between the ages of 20 and 4 months old! My Mom and Dad's wedding was two weeks after his death - can you imagine getting married that soon after suddenly losing your Father? That whole story and time is amazing to me...
I have always liked to think (or hope) that maybe I have two qualities thanks to them. From my southern Grandma, I would choose her grace; I love the idea of being a lady no matter what life throws at you - to handle it all with grace and dignity would be awesome. This one is probably pretty obvious given her story, but from my maternal Grandma I like to think I have her strength. That ability to take on life and deal with whatever is thrown your way, no complaining or whining...just doing it and living life.
Two women with great influence on me have created who I am today.
I have always liked to think (or hope) that maybe I have two qualities thanks to them. From my southern Grandma, I would choose her grace; I love the idea of being a lady no matter what life throws at you - to handle it all with grace and dignity would be awesome. This one is probably pretty obvious given her story, but from my maternal Grandma I like to think I have her strength. That ability to take on life and deal with whatever is thrown your way, no complaining or whining...just doing it and living life.
Two women with great influence on me have created who I am today.
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