Motivation to ReCLAIM My Life

I found this motivational photo on Pinterest from a post by Skinny Bitch and it really struck right to the heart of my renewed initiative to lose the weight I lost last year and have since put back on…

I’ve printed it out and taped it to my bathroom mirror. I intend to read this every day and to keep the focus on my choices throughout the day.

I’m also going back on my juice fest because I felt great getting all those nutrients and it kicked all the cravings. Those damn cravings! I’m back in the thrall of them – burgers, pizza, pasta dishes, ice cream… everything chocolate!

The veggie garden is in full swing, so there’s a lot of variety very conveniently located. I have absolutely NO excuses not to do this.

Another area I’ve been slacking off in is my exercise. Last year I dedicated myself to doing the Beachbody Power 90. Well into that, with juicing, my energy levels soared and I added the C25K program. My weight loss started slowing down, but the inches were melting off, so who cares about pounds!

I started a walking group called the Foothills Mile Markers that meets every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday morning for two reasons. One, to help keep me motivated and accountable and two, to share what I’ve learned about nutrition and fitness to help others. Oh yeah, I forgot the third reason: TO HAVE FUN!

So, Tony Horton, once again, its you and me, bay-bee. Gonna be pushing PLAY when I get back from my walk to do the Sweat Circuit and Ab Ripper. I’ll do the Sculpt Circuit Tuesday, Thursday & Saturdays.

Please, God, I want to lose this extra weight, and I know how to do that, feels like You & I have done it a hundred times. But more than that, please help me to finally make the deep personal transformation to keep it off and make it a non-issue for the rest of my life. I pledge to help others every step of the way.

 

 

2nd 60 – Day 24 – Push Ups

Gotta share this – I’m about to burst! Today, while doing my Power 90 Sculpt circuit this morning, I did the pushups on my toes !!!! This is big stuff!

When I began this journey, my idea of a good push up was either a fine brassiere  or ice cream treat  rather than a fitness move.

At first I could only do 5 regular in part one, 5 wide in part two and in part three you are supposed to do 10 wide, 10 close and 10 regular. Well, I did 5 wide, just sort of hunched my shoulders down 5 times for the close ones and then 5 regular.

After 64 days consistently following the P90 program, I could do 15 in each of part one & two and 10 of each style in part three. Although the close ones are still not pretty in form, I think they would still be classified as push ups…

So this morning, I just got the thought to do them from my toes. What a difference! Rather than feeling like all the power is in my shoulders and triceps, you can REALLY feel it in the abs/core area.

I have to admit, I’m back to doing 5 reps but that’s okay because now I know I’ll work up to the max if I just keep doing it.

Later in the morning, I took Shelby to Harmon Field for Day2Week5 of the C25K program. Warm up walk, jog 8 minutes (that’s eight minutes? Yes, I said eight minutes – I know, right?) walk 5, jog 8. It was tough but I did it (yea!)

My mind swung like a pendulum between feeling amazing that I was able to jog not uncomfortably for the prescribed time, then I found I was psyching myself out – thinking about Day 3 coming up on Friday – warm up walk for 5 minutes then jog for 20 minutes (!!).  Thinking I’ll never be able to do that. Then thinking, “Heck yes I can – I didn’t think I could do any of this!”  If I survive, I’ll tell ya all about it.

2nd 60 – Day 14 – Inches Not Pounds

Today, Sunday, is Progress Day.

Weighed in after staying off the scale most of the week. Imagine my dismay when I saw I was down only 1# – down is good, of course, but it is still one pound more than when I finished the juicing. And I still haven’t cracked that 30# goal.

However, getting that off my chest, I’m so steadily down in inches (yippee!) I can go into my closet and wear any damn thing I want. I can go to my jeans cabinet and pullout any pair I want. I can be picky because its not just what I can fit my fat ass into, its what do I feel like wearing and how does it show me off to best advantage?

So what’s up with the weight?  Something wrong with my scale? How can I lose that many inches and not be shedding pounds, too?

Of course, I started Googling and came across this photo & info and this is the first time I’ve really understood the fat vs muscle thing.

A person weighing 150 with 19% body fat is going to be much slimmer than a same height person weighing 150 with 35% body fat who will be more lumpy and dumpy.

The weight will come off in time as I continue eating mostly fruits & veggies and exercising. I am going to come up with another word for exercising, because the word exercise still has connotations of exertion, and duty, not joyful movement. I’ll think on that as Herb & I hike the Triple Fall and High Falls in Pisgah Nat’l forest today.

2nd 60 – Day 7 – Enjoy the Ride!

It’s Sunday afternoon; a full week since the end of my 60 day juice fest.I’ve been weighing myself every day, so you can imagine my surprise when I weighed myself last Monday and the scale said I’d gained 2#s. Okay, no need to panic… until I weighed myself the next day and I’d gained 4#s !!!!!

Now, I did have Herb make me a homemade pizza – homemade 100%whole wheat crust, homegrown mushroom sauce and veggies and mozzarella cheese. I only had 2 slices where before I started my juice-fest it would have been 3-4 slices easily! But 2 slices of pizza = 2#s??? I ate nothing but fresh fruit & salad the next day, no cheese burgers or any meat or cheese for that matter = 4#s??? I don’t get it.

Then I was talking with my friend Ann. She said, “Are you really making healthy choices?” and I said, “Yes.”  “Then put it out of your mind.” (She’s a wise one!) Ann reminded me of a bit from Dr. Dean Black’s Releasing Your Healing Powers lecture about how people that can get in their own way being too preoccupied with what they are eating and why – if they are coming from a place of  fear rather than fulfillment and joy.

So I’ve quit weighing myself every morning. I know I am eating in a healthy manner and I’m going to continue to learn about food and delicious ways to prepare veggies & fruits. And I’m consistent with both my Power 90 and C25K exercising. My proof is if I have the energy and inclination to get out there and enjoy my life in balance.

Last night I watched Fat Sick & Nearly Dead again, this time with Herb.

I was a little put out that those guys experienced such huge weight loss (80#s in 60 days – I didn’t even make it to 30!!) But they had a lot more to lose that I did, too.

Oh and btw, my weight was up from last week, but only by 2 and not 4#s and I was down in inches overall – not bad, not bad.

So that’s today’s lesson – I’ll listen to my own body – it loves me and will do what is right for itself in its own time if I let it. So I’m gonna make the best choices I know and enjoy the ride!

2nd 60 – Day 6 Sunny Afternoon

I’m lovin’ life today, finished with week 2 of C25K and between that Power 90, I’m thrilled with the changes I’m seeing and feeling in my body.

I’m an Education Committee volunteer for the Pacolet Area Conservancy. This morning, a group of us got together to clear the  parking area and trails of  the Weaverbarton Shuford Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary. I was part of the original group that broke the trails and helped get that land under easment, writing an article about the history of the Weaverbarton Dairy and the Shuford family for our local paper. That article actually was picked up by AP (wow!) But I digress, the point is I was fit and able to do this trail work with ease.

After the trail work and some conversation, PAC’s Land Protection Specialist and Naturalist Interpretor, Pam had a load of cherry wood and I filled the back of my Honda CRV with as much as my tires would carry. I brought it home for Herb to use in his meat smoker. We loaded up the little trailer to take it in back of the barn and stack it with the hickory wood.

After all that – I went into the garden and picked a peck of banana and purple bell peppers.

Peeled 3 heads garlic from the herb garden and gathered the thyme. Cleaned and prepped the peppers for roasting  to make a roasted pepper soup. And now I’m sitting at the computer, blogging about my day and I’ve got a huge cat-ate-the-canary grin on my face because I feel great. Three months ago, I’d have not been able to any one of these things without serious lower back pain, much less all of them in succession, on the same day!

The peppers are roasting with garlic and the broth is simmering with fennel. The house smells incredible and I am happy – what a great day!

2nd 60 – Day 3 – Singing in the Rain!

Hahahahahaha!

Weeeeeee –  Its been raining cats & dogs all day, but I finally said I’m going out to do my day2 week 2 C25K program!

(me? run? in the rain? srsly?)

YES!

This is not me, but only because Shelby can't use the camera!

I  googled running in the rain tips and learned to wear good thick socks to avoid chafing and to wear a good brimmed hat to keep the rain off my face. Other than that, the experts said, hey you’re gonna get wet, enjoy it! So I got my best thick hiking socks and my oiled FoxFire cowboy hat (the best hat for wet/foul weather, ever!) and out I went.

Just as Shelby & I got to Harmon Field, the sun came out! We took off and got the whole program done. What a sense of accomplishment!

This morning, Herb wanted to juice some more watermelons, so I made up a good batch of my juice so he could take the juicer with him (not juicing watermelons in MY kitchen – ha!) I juiced the carrots first to get that pulp to try out a carrot cracker recipe. After juicing the rest of my veggies: kale, beet (root & greens), celery, cuke, parsley, apple, lemon & ginger; I saved that pulp and made a veggie chili for lunch. That chili was sooo good to chow down on after getting back from my run!

Day 55 – More Bad News About GMO Foods

 

First let me say the first day of C25K was a bit brutal and so far, so is day 2! I took a couple aspirin before going to bed and slept well. This morning doing the Power90 sweat circuit was a grunt, all the leg work requiring me to raise my knees (a lot!) was almost like going back to the first few days of the program. But that’s good, yes, because that means its really shaken things up.

I drank a big glass of juice (romaine, parsley, cuke, celery, yellow & purple bell peppers, carrots, onion, lemon and ginger) when I got home. So amazing, as I was drinking it felt like  all that goodness  was being soaked up by all my cells like little sponges. I could “feel” it refreshing my muscles! And I’m finishing that juice up right now for breakfast after my morning workout.

Now to the bad news:

In 2008, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for an immediate moratorium on all genetically modified foods. Here’s an excerpt:

With the precautionary principle in mind, because GM foods have not been properly tested for human consumption, and because there is ample evidence of probable harm, the AAEM asks:

• Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.

• Physicians to consider the possible role of GM foods in the disease processes of the patients they treat and to document any changes in patient health when changing from GM food to non-GM food.

• Our members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health.

• For a moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term independent safety testing, and labeling of GM foods, which is necessary for the health and safety of consumers

Here’s the full article. Now more than 2-years later, our Government still allows GMO foods to further permeate and dominate our crop production. Yet in July 2011, after a 20-years struggle, the US reversed its position and voted with the global CODEX to allow gmo foods to be labeled.

Samuel Ochieng, President Emeritus of Consumers International and CEO of the Kenyan Consumer Information Network said:

“While the agreement falls short of the consumer movement’s long-held demand for endorsement of mandatory GM food labelling, this is still a significant milestone for consumer rights. This guidance is extremely good news for the worlds’ consumers who want to know what is in the foods on their plates”.

I love edamame, I buy the big bags of 2-serving packets from Sam’s Club freezer section. I’ve got 1.5 bags in my freezer now awaiting my juice fest to be over. Now, after what I’ve read about GMO soy causing infertility and a host of other problems, I’m throwing it out.

I found a somewhat local (SC) farm called Wanamakers that sells a couple different varieties of organic edamame. I’m going to get some!