Good Health is Important!!

Before I got myself under control, I had no problem with eating fast food. I remember thinking, well a hamburger is just bread, beef and veggies and fries, well they are just potatoes with a little oil. Oh and soda, of course the real thing is bad, so I would have diet. How bad could this be?

Well.......It's bad!!!!!

Yesterday, my son passed out. He was fine one minute with no pain and the next thing he knew he was waking up in an ambulance with severe pain in his stomach.

He's a big guy, maybe fifty pounds over weight and he eats primarily fast food and lots of soda and its not diet.

He found out that his gall bladder is enlarged and it's due to eating high fat foods.

He's 30!!!

I've been telling him for years that he needs to change his diet. He tries for a while, but gives up because it's just not convenient to eat healthy.

Now guess what....he gets to eat bread, rice, crackers and applesauce for now until he sees a specialist. He feels like his world has fallen....and he's not sure he wants to get up!

Anyway, at this tender age of 30, he gets to dive into the world of health care to try to remedy the damage that he has done to his body.

All of this because of convenience and bad choices.

He's known for quite some time that he needs to make a lifestyle change. I figured it would take a life changing event to get him into action. Hopefully he will listen to this one and make some changes!

He's just like me and maybe many others.....we waited until something drastic happens before we made a change. So sad that we did not make our decisions before damage is done.

So....He's off to the specialist today. Hopefully he will hear that this is repairable. Hopefully he will hear that he needs to make some changes. Hopefully he will make those changes!!

Our lives are so precious. One day you are out doing what you do and the next thing you know, you're laying in a hospital bed. I rather be there from some epic accident while running or rowing or having fun, than to be there because of the foods I eat or the carelessness of my choices.

Anyway, are you waiting for your wake up call???? Or are you ready to get your health in order today?

Lets do it!!

Keep focused!

My Journey So Far....

May your journey be filled with roses!

If I had only known how much energy and time it takes to lose 125 pounds, I would have never started this journey in the first place.  Because it's just too daunting, overwhelming, time consuming, frustrating, frightening, and scary! 

All those things are true for me, but on that fateful day back on January 1, 2010 something happened...Even with my fears, I decided to give it try anyway. I was going to make some changes in my life!

How it worked for me was really quite simple and easy. I just simply broke down each thing I needed to do, on the journey and started moving towards my goals of good health and fitness! One baby step at a time!! I did not incorporate every thing that I'm doing today all at once. I just took one thing at a time and then I focused and stayed determined and kept reaching for my goals. Oh yeah....and I had a plan!

First up!

I had to decide to try!

Once that happened, then it was just about making small  healthy changes ~ EVERY DAY!

At first, I decided to take just a year to focused on my health.

Then the next thing I did was to journal my food. (All of it) Just journalling what I ate - no calories. (It was shocking and eye opening to see what I really ate each day)

At the time, I had a lot of other medical problems. Lots of them! And I decided that those little things needed to be included in my goals to great fitness! So I worked with my doctors and we got each thing taken care of. Success!!

As I started to feel better, I had more energy to do more towards reaching my goals. I started exercising. It was mostly walking on my treadmill, stairs etc. Each day I would increase my activity level, always recording my efforts in my journal. NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF STUFF ~ So important to see my progress!

As time went on and as my knowledge increased about health and fitness, I started adding new things to my daily regiment. Not only was I logging in my food in my journal, I started counting calories, then I increased my activity level, started drinking my water, started blogging my journey, I learned how to over come injuries and set backs. I just would pick myself up each time and kept pushing forward. Then as I got more confident I eliminated things that were bad for me....fast food, soda, sweets. Another important part, of the process, was I formed my "team" to help me on my way. I got a personal trainer, nutritionist, doctors, family, friends, accountability partner, blogging friends and of course the Lord to help me with all aspects of the journey. I can't do this on my own!!

The coolest thing is....I set out to only focus on my journey for 1 year. But after that one year came and I lost 50 pounds, I decided that I was not done and I wanted to keep going. So I did. I'm now in this journey for 2 and 1/2 years and I know, that I have about 2 more years to get the rest of the weight off. Seems soooooooo long, but in reality, time is going by anyway and I am in no hurry. I want to do this the slow and normal way. No surgeries, no fad diet plans or crazy stuff. It's just sensible eating (low carb/fat), exercise and focus. I'm telling you it works!!

Also, because I'm losing weight so slow, I don't have to deal with  too much loose skin. Bonus! 

I guess the bottom line is.....Losing a significant amount of weight....takes time, effort, determination and grit!! Just knowing that...really knowing that, it helps to take the pressure off. Helps make the journey more fun. The extra time, it takes to lose weight, also helped me learn why I allowed myself to get to this place, it helped me really learn how to eat healthy, how to exercise, how to recover from injuries, how to work through disappointments and frustrations and setbacks. And the more you do something, it becomes a habit. It's just what you do!!

Another thing.....What worked in the beginning does not always work as you go along, I have had to tweak and modify my plan all along the way, which takes the monotony out of the journey. Keeps it fresh and interesting.

Now the new thing that I'm working on is. I have always wondered why I can give 100% to my employer, but when it comes to me, I would always let myself down. I mean I go to work even if I don't feel well or if I'm bored, sad, happy, well fed, over fed, tired, excited etc etc.... But when it comes to me and my personal needs, I will let all of those things (feelings) derail me from my goals. I could never understand why I do this....well what I've come up with is......I never ever ever put any type of emotion or feeling into whether I go to work or not. It's just what I do. My feelings don't interfere with whether I get there or not. I just do it!! I mean, if I treated my employer like I treat myself, I would be fired! For sure!!

I realize that I put EMOTION & FEELINGS into other things that are important to me and my health. Such as, I put emotion on to my food...I look at my food, like it's my best friend. I put my emotions first when deciding if I want to go to the gym or not. I allow my feelings to stop me from doing the right thing. If I'm too tired or sore, or bored or whatever, I will not go or do the right thing. Instead of just remembering that there is no feeling about going to the gym or doing the right thing. It's just what I do.....Every day!

You see once you start the journey, you will discover all kinds of cool and amazing stuff out about yourself. Not only stuff like I was talking about above, but also, you will find out how strong you really are. I cannot believe the things I can do now. Before I started my journey, I felt like I was 3 minutes away from being bed bound. I just could not move my body. Now I can run and walk for miles, squat, stand for long periods of time, I can jump rope, do jumping jacks, lunge, water ski, surf, roller skate, bike, garden.....and the list goes on and on!! Not only that, but I'm strong now. I used to fall a lot, because I was just not strong enough to stop myself from falling down. I mean I have a 3 inch scar on my arm from when I fell onto a glass bowl! I just did not have the strength to stop myself. Now I catch myself all the time. Think what that will do to help myself when I get older!! No broken bones for this gal!!

Other benefits......Normal cholesterol, lower blood pressure, no diabetes and on and on!

So even though the journey is hard, sometimes frustrating and long suffering, it's the best decision I've ever made. Because you know what? I'm worth it and so are you!!

So that's my story. The journey's not over, it's on-going and I will press on and reach my goals!

How about you...Are you willing to try?

Keep focused!!

Lost my way...

I'm in the weirdest funk that I've ever been on this journey. While I'm not doing EVERYTHING I KNOW I NEED TO DO....yet still maintaining my weight loss...I find myself kind of lost and unsure where and what I need to be doing. Still eating healthy, for the most part. I'm drinking water, barely journaling my food, exercising, running mostly, but just the bare minimum to be able to run my race on the 21st of the month.Obviously I'm not blogging like I should....I'm not even reading anything, well anything that would be helpful for my weight loss and fitness journey.

I know those who have been with me, all this time, are wondering what I'm up to.

Just like when I look at someone and see potential all over them. I want to say, and sometimes I do, that if they would just focus, just do what they need to do, and be consistent, then they will be the person they were designed to be.

I'm sure my loved ones are thinking the same thing for me......If only she would get this done......

Things have changed, my employer is no longer paying for my trainer. Though the trainer costs are reasonable, I still am not able to pay for it. Since I lost my trainer, I've not lifted weights. I'm taking a row class, which takes 2 nights away. It's exercise, so that's good, it's just different and out of my ordinary schedule. I've been super busy at work and even had to work late many days. That throws me off and makes me tired. Wah wah wah.....There's so much more going on. Lets just say, right now, I have a serious lack of motivation, time and money. Nuf said!

Anyway......even though I have all of these woes. It does not and should not matter. That even though...whatever it is...I still have other options and things I can do, for my weight loss and fitness journey, until my schedule is normal again.

My problem....really.....is lack of motivation!!!

Until I read a post from Choosing Joy. Do you know her? If not, I recommend you get to know her. Talk about Nuggets of Truth. She's got them and she unloaded a truckload of truth today. Her post titled "If you want to be great, act great" spoke to me in ways, that even I don't quite understand. Let me just tell you....That it fired me up!

And it's true. I have the power to change my attitude right this very minute. Ten minutes ago, I felt defeated and frankly, I felt like a big fat loser...not in a great weight loss way, but just a loser in this journey.

Now because of this post, I'm reaching to be great....not just thinking about it. But I'm going after it!

You can to!! Do you want to be great? Act great!!

Keep focused!

Don't ever quit!!

Sometimes things happen or your circumstances change and it makes it harder to press on with your journey. These things can make the journey too hard, too frustrating, to discouraging....making you just want to give up!

I would encourage you not to do that.

Because sometimes things are not what they seem!!

When I ran my last 8k, I truly felt like I could go no faster. I tried soooo hard to stay with the fast pack and they just blasted past me. For so long I was running by myself and with nothing other than the pavement to think about, I started thinking about why I'm doing this?

I'm not fast enough to keep up and I'm slower than snot!! I could not see how my training was helping me when I can't make this body do what I want. And then when I came in and checked my time, I saw that I had an 18 minute mile, I really struggled with why I'm doing this. This race had the worse time ever!!! (I mean I could walk faster than that!!)

I struggled all day to hold back tears!! I so wanted to fall off of my running plan. I mean why keep training, why keep pushing my body to exhaustion, why waste my time anymore on something when all I'm doing is going backwards? So frustrating!!

I had to sit with this for a couple of days, until the race final results came in.

So I'm sitting on the edge of my seat and I open the website and found that I came in at 13 minutes per mile. NOT 18 miles per mile!!

I think that's one of my best, if not the best race time ever!!!!

I knew I was working hard, for me, and I knew I could not give any more. To work that hard and think I came in at the worst time ever was tough, but to come in with the best time ever is so encouraging!!

So here's the thing......Even if I did have the worse time ever.....That is no reason to quit!! Even if my circumstances change, things get harder, more frustrating...whatever....That is no reason to quit!!

Do you allow your circumstances or situations to bump you off of your plan? If you are tempted....don't do it. Because a Blessing is just around the corner!! Keep fighting!! Keep pushing!!! And never EVER GIVE UP!!
Keep focused!!!

Workin' it together!!

How cool is this. So this morning I'm on my treadmill running my fastest 5k ever ~ 13.68 minutes per mile. Wow that blasts out my 18 minute mile on  my last 8k!! Hey I'm working this thing and I want to get faster. Looks like I can do it!! So fun!!

Anyway, I'm running along and in comes my handsome hubby all decked out in his bike gear. He's been riding his bike to work every day!! Such a stud!

He's working towards riding the Seattle to Portland event next year and I'm working towards the Run Like Hell 1/2 Marathon in October.

So fun getting fit together!!

How about you? What are you working towards?

Focus on your goals!!!

Row Class

Oh my goodness. I loved my class!! It was even better than I had ever imagined!! The boathouse was easy to find and they had free parking (Which is great because these are things that I worry about. Dumb huh?). Anyway, the evening was perfect weather wise. Unfortunately, we spent most of our time in the boathouse learning stuff. We got the run down on the boat parts and how they work. I never realized how long they are. In the water, it's hard to tell that they are 40 feet long. We learned how to row on an Erg Rowing Machine. I have to be honest, I was a little worried about my back. Was not too sure I could do this without pain. Well guess what? With proper training, I did it without any back pain at all. We ergged (rowed on the machine) for about 20 minutes without stopping. I was able to keep up and could have done it for a lot longer. The coach even told me that I was a natural. Well what do you know about that!?!?! So much fun!

The we learned how to take the boat off the rack and we carried it down to the water.

This is not us, but this is what we did.

Now, this thing weighs 250 pounds and we are carrying it on our shoulders. There were 8 of us in the class. We had to go down the parking lot...down a steep ramp and across the dock. It was a pretty good distance. I tell you, 2 years ago, I could have never done this! Then we got to get in....You have to keep one foot on the boat and one foot on the dock and squat down and some how get your butt on the seat. And you do it all at the same time. All 8 of us. We did it without anyone falling in! I have to say, I did not look pretty, but I got it done!! We did not get to row because by this time, our class was over.

Can't wait for Wednesday's class, we are going out on the water!!!

How about you, are you pushing yourself?

Keep focused!!

Results

Well I did OK at the Race for the Cure 8k race. I don't have the official results yet, but I think I came in at 88 minutes. Ack that is so slow!! That's almost an 18 minute mile. Now here's where I might get lucky. We started late and I don't know how accurate their clocks are. I'm waiting for my chip time to come in. Hopefully it's better!

You know thousands and thousands of people attend the Race for the Cure. And while the bulk of these people participate in the walk, there were a good number of people who did the chipped run. I mean it was the smallest group of people I've ever started a race with. And it seems that these were a pretty serious bunch of runners. I would say there were only a handful of walkers. So I started out in the middle of the pack, just hoping that I could keep up. Very quickly most of the runner blasted past me and soon I was by myself. Just behind the fast runners and just ahead of the walkers.

I have to tell you, I was so beating myself up! Really frustrated to be where I was. I really had to work at keeping my attitude in check and decided that even though I'm slow, I'm doing it. I was there, pounding the pavement, making it happen!!

The other frustrating thing was, when you fall out of the fast pack, you get stuck with the traffic. Police officers won't hold the traffic back for one runner. So I had to wait for a while. That is so frustrating! I mean this is a timed event. The police woman, said, Sorry....Looks like you need a rest anyway. OUCH!! That was mean....and I did not need a rest! Obviously she's never competed in an event like this. She did not know that time is important!! The last mile was a slight incline the whole way. But I made it without stopping!!

It was a really fun event! They had a lot of vendors and tons of giveaway things. I felt like a little kid...so excited to get a free pen! Geez!

Tonight I'm off to my first row class! Can't wait!!

How are you doing...Are you making stuff happen?

Keep focused!