~ Changing to a healthier lifestyle can get overwhelming. Hopefully having information and inspiration in one place will make it easier for you to get started or to continue on your journey. Here's to many tomorrows! ~
Ready, Set, Go!
July 30, 2011
As excited as I am, it’s hard for me to share about this - I know that to the majority of Americans, me losing weight or inches isn't something they would write home about. From the outside, it would seem that being a 40-something mother of 4, I should have been content with weighing 139 lbs. and landing at a size 8. But the truth was, I literally couldn’t run a quarter of a block without my airways closing up. I couldn’t lift anything without my arms burning and screaming. My arms and my butt kept jiggling way past the time the rest of my body stopped moving. My knees were thick, and my calves and ankles were melding into one appendage. The clincher was when my 12-year old son almost beat me at wrestling. That sounds silly, but until the boy is bigger than me, there is no way that I can let him win! Many people live with this body scenario every day of their lives, some to greater extremes, some with added chronic illness - so again, I understand that at my weight and size it wasn't something the majority of Americans would write home about. But I knew that if I did not do something at this time, I would be at a point of hard recovery and facing the beginning of rest of my life with baggage that I wasn't meant to and probably wouldn't be able to carry.
My very first wake up call came about 5 years ago. We were vacationing in the Outer Banks. There was a shore break, which made getting into the ocean treacherous for anyone, especially children. My son, about 7 at the time, wanted to go out so we held hands tightly and made our way out, fighting the surf to the other side. What I didn’t know going into the water, was that just past the break, the ocean floor dropped down to about 5-1/2 to 6 feet deep. Once we got past the break, neither of us could touch and the waves were still coming in. It was less than 5 minutes, and I didn’t have the stamina or the physical strength to keep us both safe. As I tried to push him back to the shore line, the surf pounded us forward while the tide pulled us back out. I couldn’t get footing, and we both kept falling and going under. I wasn’t strong enough, muscularly or cardiovascularly, to get us in. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I could barely hold him above water and had it not been for a friend on the beach seeing our trouble and pulling my son and I out from the shore side, I am not sure how we would have made it in. I was terrified and ashamed that I couldn’t protect my son because I was physically too weak. I will never forget that day, that feeling of helplessness and vulnerability.
July 30, 2011
As excited as I am, it’s hard for me to share about this - I know that to the majority of Americans, me losing weight or inches isn't something they would write home about. From the outside, it would seem that being a 40-something mother of 4, I should have been content with weighing 139 lbs. and landing at a size 8. But the truth was, I literally couldn’t run a quarter of a block without my airways closing up. I couldn’t lift anything without my arms burning and screaming. My arms and my butt kept jiggling way past the time the rest of my body stopped moving. My knees were thick, and my calves and ankles were melding into one appendage. The clincher was when my 12-year old son almost beat me at wrestling. That sounds silly, but until the boy is bigger than me, there is no way that I can let him win! Many people live with this body scenario every day of their lives, some to greater extremes, some with added chronic illness - so again, I understand that at my weight and size it wasn't something the majority of Americans would write home about. But I knew that if I did not do something at this time, I would be at a point of hard recovery and facing the beginning of rest of my life with baggage that I wasn't meant to and probably wouldn't be able to carry.
My very first wake up call came about 5 years ago. We were vacationing in the Outer Banks. There was a shore break, which made getting into the ocean treacherous for anyone, especially children. My son, about 7 at the time, wanted to go out so we held hands tightly and made our way out, fighting the surf to the other side. What I didn’t know going into the water, was that just past the break, the ocean floor dropped down to about 5-1/2 to 6 feet deep. Once we got past the break, neither of us could touch and the waves were still coming in. It was less than 5 minutes, and I didn’t have the stamina or the physical strength to keep us both safe. As I tried to push him back to the shore line, the surf pounded us forward while the tide pulled us back out. I couldn’t get footing, and we both kept falling and going under. I wasn’t strong enough, muscularly or cardiovascularly, to get us in. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I could barely hold him above water and had it not been for a friend on the beach seeing our trouble and pulling my son and I out from the shore side, I am not sure how we would have made it in. I was terrified and ashamed that I couldn’t protect my son because I was physically too weak. I will never forget that day, that feeling of helplessness and vulnerability.
In the years that followed, I began and started "diets" and “work outs” so many times – Somersizing, Tae Bo, biking, walking… Loved them all, all great and gave results, but all were lost in the inconsistency of my attitude and my overall health. But this year is a new year. Today is a new day. It’s been 5 months now, and I’ve lost 8 lbs, over 20 inches, and went down a size. I’ve gained strength, self-confidence, flexibility, and even freedom.
I’m excited to share about this journey. I've come to realize it isn't just about looking good or feeling good. It isn't a comparison game. It isn't about size. It's about health. It's about enabling our bodies to work like the machines God created them to be. It's about playing with my kids and living long enough to play with my grandkids. It's about having the energy and focus to make it through each day. It's exciting to look in the mirror and see the changes and to feel myself getting stronger. It's amazing! I want everyone to know that feeling.
I hope that maybe someone will be inspired or that someone will realize they aren’t alone in the fight for their health, or someone will make the decision that today is their day too.
You are stronger than you think ~ Let’s do this!
Goals: Shoot and Score
August 26, 2011
We need goals in every area of our lives. It gives us direction and keeps us moving forward. It's important to set goals that are attainable, but at the same time stretch you to the next level. Goals should be flexible, but never open to excuses. Below are my fitness goals. As I reach them, I'll mark them off and add new ones.
My fitness goals:
1. Run one mile on the treadmill. (August 2011: Check)
1a. Run 1.5 miles on the treadmill. (August 2011: Check)
1b. Run 2 miles on the treadmill. (December 2011: Check)
1c. Run 2.5 miles on the treadmill.
1d. Run 3.1 miles on the treadmill. That's a 5k y'all!
1b. Run 2 miles on the treadmill. (December 2011: Check)
1c. Run 2.5 miles on the treadmill.
1d. Run 3.1 miles on the treadmill. That's a 5k y'all!
2. Run one mile outside. (June 2012: Check)
3. Run one circuit at my kids’ school by April 2013
4. Get my bike fixed. (plus bonus: rode 11.8 miles.) (September 2011: Check)
5. Start riding in the mornings before work.
6. Add in one long ride each week.
4. Get my bike fixed. (plus bonus: rode 11.8 miles.) (September 2011: Check)
5. Start riding in the mornings before work.
6. Add in one long ride each week.
7. Run a 5k in the spring/summer of 2013 (well, I ran the mud run in Sept. 2012... 5K in spring 2013)
Alot of people will fix their sights hard on their goal and train specific. For example, someone may want to run a 5k, so they are training by running or doing walking/running intervals. My plan is to go about my workouts "business as usual", and then test out the waters on my goals. My #1 overall goal is good health, to the best of my ability. The rest are just sweet rewards!
~ "The person who really wants to do something finds a way. The others find excuses." ~
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