Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Back from Vacation



And guess what...I didn’t gain a pound!  

Okay, so maybe that’s not such a big feat for most people, but most people don’t spend a week at The Ranch with the Parkers and the Newberry’s who, despite their svelte appearances, can consume more alcohol in a 24 hour period than anyone else I’ve ever met.  Most people don't have The Spicy Chicken grilling up Texas-sized steaks or have Dave's onion rings to contend with.  And most people don't vacation with Beer Fairies that magically fill up not just their cup – but entire refrigerators - as they sleep.  

Then again, most people don't ride mechanical bulls...or swim through streams, dams, waterfalls and rivers...or climb trees to jump into ponds...or kiss camels, play with Zedonks or hunt hogs on their vacation...


On the other hand, most people didn't allow themselves to become 40 pounds overweight over the past 10 years, either.  So what it comes down to is that it doesn't matter what most people do on their vacations because most people aren't me.  What matters is what I did on my vacation - and I'm happy to say I maintained!    

So I'm back home now.  The first workout after vacation was hellish, to put it mildly, but it also felt really good to be moving my body again.  Then again, it's only been 24 hours and it usually takes about 48 for the pain to really set in...

This is actually last year's bull ride - I didn't allow pics this year!
That's M jumping out of the tree into the pond!  

My good friend, Mr. Camel


Saturday, June 19, 2010

That's My Girl

So the scheduling issues have continued but we’re working our way through them by being creative.  Thursday, for example, the girls came to class with me.  Sounds crazy, but they actually really enjoyed watching (so much so they begged to come with me this morning!)

Due to my own weight issues I’ve spent more time than the average mom attempting to ensure my girls have a healthy body image.  I’ll admit it’s probably been overkill, but I want so badly for them to not have to deal with what I have.  It was revealed to me a few weeks ago, when Maggie confided in me that a girl in school had called her fat (which she isn't, btw), that my messages - no matter how insane I may sound - are actually getting through to them.  

After we talked about it a little she walked away and hopped in the shower.  A few moments later, however, she stuck her head out and said “Being happy, healthy and a good person is more important than being skinny, Mom.”  I almost cried!





Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Summa – summa – summa-time

It occurred to me this week – after summer had started – that it’s going to get a little more complicated to accomplish everything.  I’m used to having my days to myself  - every one of them containing a workout or run, plus a 30-45 minute walk with the dogs.  So, guess what I am having to do to get this done?  Get up EARLY!  Initially even the thought of this was unbearable to me.  I love sleeping – and now that I’m exercising consistently and eating well I’m actually doing it (sleeping, that is) so the thought of having to get up earlier didn’t make me happy.

But then I remembered something Hyam had said to me somewhere along the way about  "needing to figure out how much I wanted to commit to this".  If I wanted to only give 50%, drink beers every Friday night and come up with excuses not to workout I could do that, but...I wasn’t going to get results

Wait…you mean I have to actually try at this??? I have to admit, most of my life things have come pretty easy for me.  When I was "thin and beautiful" in my teens and 20’s I didn’t actually work at it very hard.  When I ate I didn’t eat very well – when I drank I drank a lot  - and when I exercised I usually just did it for fun – not necessarily for fitness.  So this whole effort thing is kind of throwing me for a loop.  But it’s why I started this in the first place so it’s probably time it infiltrated my entire life – not just the 55 minutes I’m in class.

So, I pulled my sorry butt out of bed the next morning at 6AM to take the dogs for a run.  It wasn't easy and I may have whined a little, but here's the cool part -  at 7:00, when the girls got up, I was already done with my cardio for that day – BEFORE  7AM! – and I felt awesome! And as an added bonus the dogs, who have been spending a lot of time at home alone since summer started, were a lot happier too!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Little Mountains

Sorry for the brief hiatus. Truthfully I took the first few days off because I got hurt and was feeling sort of discouraged.  While I realize this is part of the process, I didn't want to get on here and sound all whiny and downtrodden.  A few more days passed then and I found it difficult to get back on here because, well, I'm definitely not Charlottesville's Biggest Loser...YET.

I haven't weighed myself on Hyam's scale, which is the one I'm "officially" going off of, but if my scale is anywhere near right I've managed to lose all of 5 pounds in the month that I've been doing this.  So my "number" is 35 right now. Kind of discouraging, huh?  I'll admit that I feel that way from time to time.  Fortunately I've got Hyam and my other fabulous friends lifting me up when I need it, as well as telling me to get off my ass when I need to hear that (and trust me, I need to hear it!).  


On Tuesday Hyam suggested that instead of thinking about all of the things that I'm NOT doing it might be better to "build little mountains" for myself of the things that I AM doing.  I like the thought of bragging on myself a little so here we go...


Gone is the "I'm on vacation" excuse for overeating on the weekend. Eliminated is the eating in the middle of the night (I'm doing this crazy thing called sleeping at night instead). Soda is almost completely a thing of the past (save a Coke Zero once and awhile).  And though my lazy eating still has a long way to go to be considered a "significant change" I'm definitely more cognizant of what I'm putting in my body than I've ever been. The alcohol? Let's just say it's down, but not out.


The lesson from all of this is that things are moving in the right direction even if it's not in classic "Biggest Loser" style.  There are some days when I bring it in a big way - and feel like nothing in the world can get in my way.  Then, however, something does and it's easy to flop backwards.  But the little mountains are getting bigger every day - and eventually will become big ones, I know it.


And while we're on the subject of mountains and peaks...the only thing on my body that seems to be shrinking are my boobs. Go figure.

Food as Fuel


I wrote this post a few weeks ago but accidentally never published it.  It's still as relevant as it was then - if not more.

Do you think about what you eat?  I mean, really think about it?  Think about what that food can do and will do for your body?  I don't - or didn't until now.  

I've had a love-hate relationship with food as long as I can remember.  I love to eat - but I hate myself after.  Even when I don't indulge I feel guilty about it. My weight has consumed me most of my life I struggle with seeing food as a positive when it comes to my body. This, despite the fact that I could recite the definition of a calorie in my sleep - 'heat value of energy or fuel value of food' (see Dad, I told you I'd use my Biology degree eventually!). I've never been able to relate this textbook definition to my real life.


I've always just thought of food it as fueling my problem - not solving it.As far as I have come in the past 10 years I still have a long way to go.  In the few weeks that I've been working on changing my lifestyle I've made quite a few revelations about my views and habits - and how those things are going to need to change. For instance less than 10 minutes into the my first workout it became very clear that starving myself to make the numbers on the scale go down wasn't going to work this time. You literally cannot do a workout like I've been doing if you don't put good food - good fuel - into your body. 

So alert the Fire Department because as soon as I finish this post I'm placing my order on Retail Relay to ensure I have healthy, fresh, local food in the house and digging into my "Clean Eating" magazine to learn some healthy, energy-rich meals for myself.  Don't laugh - I can cook...or at least I hope I can!