Honest Motivation

The weekend went by fast. I had Wyatt all to myself. Dad and Charlie had gone to scout camp for the weekend. Saturday we spent the day hiking and birding. This is the first time I had taken him with me when I went with friends. I have taken him for quick trips alone or with Charlie, but never for a longer, actual birding trip. He was fantastic! 5 year olds are funny like that. Sometimes that can be Dennis the Menaces, but then other times perfect angels. Today he was in angel mode. We had a delightful time and I had some great photos too. I went with my friends Darrell and Dawn, they are delights in my life as well. They are 2 of many friends that make me laugh. Always fun too! Laughing is the best!

I was glad that Saturday had been a day for rest from working out because Sunday was Dragon Boat Practice. What is a dragon boat you ask? Well it is a long boat that looks similar to a canoe that holds 21 people. There is a steersman, a flag catcher, a drummer, and 18 paddlers. "We don't row. We paddle!" That was Marybeth's favorite thing to say when someone said it wrong. Last year at the race, the Paddlin' for MB team won it all! We were unstoppable because we were doing it for Marybeth. She had started the Dragon Boat team 3 years prior and I had been fortunate enough to be on her team that first year. Last year while she was battling her cancer, she was unable to be on the boat with us, but she was there. She was so proud of us winning and it showed in her smile and her tears. She won't be here with us this year to watch us, but we know she is watching over us. She will be proud whether we bring home another medal or not. Of course her smile will be bigger if we do!!! Sunday's practice felt good. We had only 9 people show up to practice, but we moved that boat and were able to get the new comers acquainted with the boat, the rules, and the correct way to paddle.

These amazing photos were taken by my photographer friend Debbie Miller. She is fantastic and captured a very special moment when she took this photo of our team with Marybeth. We did it for her. It was all for Marybeth! It is amazing how many times I think of her. I think of her when I see something funny, I think of her when I look at old photos, and when I am just driving home from work. Most of the time I think of her when I am unhappy, ready to give up, or some other emotion that makes me stop and think, MB didn't quit and neither will I! She is a strong motivator in a lot of people's lives. She has always been supportive, and I miss her very much. I am glad she is still a part of our lives. There are many of us that would agree.

Here is a link to see some of Debbie's photography.



I love her flickr photos. She is such a great Nature Photographer!


Monday Monday Monday! Oh how I loathe thee! Want to know why? Well it is not because I work from 4:45am until noon, it is not because I get to walk/run with Josh in the afternoon, it is that darned weigh-in meeting! I know that I shouldn't be taking the weekends off, but reality is, it happens. I don't have to work, so I don't pack my food for the day into a handy dandy lunchbox. So I eat a little bit differently. I take a day off from exercising too. Let's do weigh-in on Friday mornings?! ok?! The weigh-in, no matter the day, really should show me results, but not so much at this time. I am going to count on my last weigh in next week to show some results plus my waist measurement should show some big time results. I am not kidding when I say that my waist measured in the first night at 49 inches. That my friends, is a very round belly! I know it is smaller and I can't wait to see how much! I am not even going to look before next Monday. I am going to keep it a surprise!

Walking and Running with Josh is an ongoing challenge of mine. It is hard work. I try very hard, but I still feel like I give up too quickly. How do these people run for miles? I can't even do one mile! In the last week, I have had two very good friends ask me why I am running. I think what they mean is, are you sure you want to run because it could be bad for your body because not everyone is meant to run and you don't HAVE to run. I too used to believe this. My answer to their question was, I am running because I can. I am running because I want to. I am running because I know from experience now, that each time I go out and do it, it gets easier to do. Ok, that is a lie. It doesn't get easier, I am just able to go longer and recover quicker. Monday Josh and I started at my house and went down to Rotary Park. They have a nice large path around the lake which I am sure is larger than 1/2 mile around. I did 2 minute walks and 1.5 minute jogs. At times I only did 1 minute jogs, but for the most part, Josh thinks that we ran more minutes total. I felt like I didn't do as well as last week with him, but when I thought about it, I still felt like I did a good job. He was very supportive during our routine. He told me lots of nice things about people being proud of me for doing this, and how people would be proud of me that I decided to go around that lake, not only once but twice before heading home. I totally agree with him. The amount of praise I am getting from friends and family is OUTSTANDING! I am loving the feedback and it keeps me going. I also have people message me in secret. They either tell me about what they are doing, or going to do, or just little words of encouragement to me. The thing that stands out the most is when people say that it is motivating and honest. Well that is AWESOME to hear! I love that I am motivating and honest. I think that may be some of the greatest traits to radiate, don't you think?!

This weeks meeting was OUTSTANDING! My friend Jamie was the speaker and she was sharing with us ways to maintain. I learned some things. These things were not things that she told us, rather things she pulled out of us because how to maintain is an individual thing. If you lose weight or change your habits, you come to realize what things were working to do this and get results and what things were not working. Examples of things that don't work for me would be: Going out to eat (because I eat too much), working out at night (because I dislike it and love working out in the morning), and exercising by myself (because I need to be challenged and I won't do that myself). After you figure out what didn't work, you try to not repeat that. You live, learn, and don't forget what didn't work so you don't make those mistakes again if you happen to be back on this road again. She was funny and motivational. She has always been an awesome inspiration to me and has always been there for me whenever I have had any question about nutrition or pretty much anything! Did I mention that she is AWESOME?! At the end we made a list for ourselves to answer the question, "What will I do?" This question is what will I do to maintain? or when this program is over?

Here is my list, and of course I will share it with you so that you can help me keep it up!

1. Work out each and every day in some way, even if it is just going for a walk or playing with my kids at the park instead of watching them play.
2. Leave unhealthy food at the store.
3. Plan my meals ahead of time so I don't give up and eat out, or get too hungry and binge, or each something that is not a healthy option.
4. Get a healthy recipe book or magazine.
5. Stay away from anything with a drive-thru and eventually not go there for my children either.
6. Stay off of soda and keep drinking the water.

Oh, and the weigh-in... Well, if you go back to my original weigh in which was 262 point something (I rounded to 265 at the first week of the program and this blog because that is what I had been until I weighed in on this scale), well I lost one pound. Oh my, I feel like it is never going to start going down. I don't know where the other couple of pounds went that I lost to begin with, but they came back. I was discouraged, but I know I am doing it correctly. I am making a lifestyle change. I am changing my life for the better. I am living for my children and also will raise my children so they too can be healthy and raise their children healthy. I know this weigh-in is just for this challenge part of the program and I feel so much better now than I have in the last 5 years. I can do this and I will. And when the scale starts agreeing with me, I am going to be a happy camper. Maybe even throw a party!

Ahhhh, finally Tuesday! Tuesdays are my favorite. I go spin, I play wallyball, then I go home and eat and then I go to work. Fabulous. Yes, fabulous unless you wake up and realize you have so much stuff to get done and so much cleaning to do before you leave the house at 3pm that you start to panic. I then started bargaining with myself. Just go for one hour. Go to spin with Frances and then you can come home and finish. The problem is that I was on a roll, and had momentum. I was kicking butt and getting things done! I did what all woman do or wish they could do when they can't make a decision, I called my mom. Of course she was at work and I knew it, but I called her anyway. She called me right back and I was so happy. We talked quickly and she told me that it was ok to stay home. It would be a better decision for me for my health. Sometimes it is more about your mental health than the physical. She also told me that my body may need a rest day, and this may be the day. She told me I wouldn't be at home sitting around either, I had things to do and I would be doing them. She is the best! I decided to call Frances to let her know I wasn't going to make it. I started the conversation out with, "I have something to tell you and I will probably will start crying when I tell you, so please forgive me." I did too! I cried when I told her I wouldn't be there. I cried because I was sad that I couldn't go, I was angry because I let all these things at home pile up, and I also felt embarrassed that I was skipping a workout. I then told her I would come the next day and do the cycling class in early morning. She was so supportive. She told me all the same things my mom said and more! I got off the phone and cried more, but then I had the best day ever! I made my house clean and pretty in a matter of hours. I ate awesome healthy things and even experimented a little bit with blending my own plain yogurt to make it tasty, and made a spinach and mushroom quesadilla! I went outside and did some things in the garden. I played with Wyatt and the dog. I even went out to the store and looked at flowers and veggies to plant. Work was normal and when I got home at 8:30pm, I was all about eating something which was not on the schedule. I made the decision long ago that eating that late was not allowed. I almost gave in and made myself something good so I wouldn't snack on something bad when I saw that the neighbors were outside around their campfire. So I decided to do what we were taught with the emotional eating lesson, make a list of things to do so when you realize that you are not that hungry but you keep thinking about food, so you can do something to get away from the food thoughts. Well I did just that, and went and sat at the neighbors fire with them so I wouldn't think about eating. It worked and it was wonderful and such a good end to the day!