Be Strong

I will be taking a hiatus from this blog.  Let me leave you with this thought.  Try to get healthier if you are overweight, but don't obsess about it...because obsessing takes you away from the things that are really important in life.   Don't look at the scale today.  Get some kind of fun exercise and go love up your family!  Make some good memories that will carry you through storms.  Be Strong and I will work on being the same. 

It is not all physical

On Thursday I headed for the ocean.  When I got to the cottage I looked for running routes and for me the roads were too narrow,  there were not side walks for whole roads and I did not see that I would enjoy running here.  So I didn't.  In the scheme of things that is two training runs I missed.  I felt guilty...for about a minute and then I made a decision and I let it go. 

Look, having a healthy body is important.  But, being healthy mentally and not beating yourself up all the time, that is just as important.  I have read a lot of weight loss blogs in the last few weeks.  I get that they are journals of people's weight loss journey but I worry that some people are so obsessed that they forget to live.  I don't want this blog to be like that.  I write about running and losing weight in the hopes that it helps someone else to be healthier, but this is about 10 percent (maybe in training 15 percent) of my life. 

So, what do you do when you are not focused on becoming physically healthier?  You work on making your spirit healthier.  Write a letter to someone you love, make a phone call to an old friend, patch up a rift with someone you care about.  Think about people. Pray for or with people.  Laugh with your siblings.  Call your mom and dad. 

What do you need to do to make your spirit healthier?  Focus on that  today and see what happens.  Good Luck and BE STRONG.

Vacation

Vacation time folks!  I am off to the ocean and will return happily to the blog on Wednesday morning.  Enjoy!

Who owns you anyway?

Yesterday after I did my run I had a text from a friend. Turns out the partner she goes to the trainer with could not go and she wanted to know if I could go. The best thing I can tell you is that I didn't even think about if I wanted to. (OH, I WANTED TO)  I only had to worry about timing.  The timing was perfect.
I showed up for the training raring to go and I was NOT disappointed.  This friend hasn't seen me in about a month and her reaction to the way I look was authentic and awesome.  She does not read my blog so although she knows I am working on weight loss I doubt she really remembered til she saw me.  That was cool.  Then the trainer worked me like a dog and I loved every sweaty second of it.  I will admit that even when I can't do an exercise fully I love strength training.  We even got to put on gloves and punch a bag.  (my FAV).  He was very different from the trainer I used at my gym.  He kept commenting that my form was great.  I knew that was from the constructive criticisms I got from my first trainer.  Some days I felt frustrated by her "do it again that wasn't right."  But now I realize that is why I know how to use the correct form and after yesterday I am excited to think about when I might be able to start working with her again!

Note of interest:  I read a blog the other day and I actually really enjoyed it.  However, the girl has three scales line up by her bed and gets on each one when she weighs herself to make sure the number is right.  Um, that is not going to work for me and I daresay that is not a good way to work on changing your life.  Throughout our day we can take off and add up to 5 lbs at a time.  Essentially you could weight yourself every hour and see different weights.  Again, you have to take control and do what works best for you, but this is what I am going to tell you.  One of the exercises last night was to hold onto a bar with both hands.  Get off the step so I was hanging there and lift my knees 12 times.  I did it. I felt amazing. I could have been 350 lbs right then and it wouldn't have mattered to me because I was making my body meet a strength challenge and it felt awesome.  I even grunted!!!!  Don't get too obsessive about the number.  As my trainer told me when I started.  If you get obsessive about exercise it is much healthier than getting obsessive about a number on a scale.
Final note:  Friends couldn't believe I had put my weight on this blog.  That is so funny to me because I put my weight out into the world everyday.  You see me, you know generally that I am overweight.  You saw me four months ago, you generally worried I was going to keep ballooning until I exploded.  (Well, my brother shared that with me anyway, God love him.)  The number on the scale does not own me, it guides me.  It does not set my moods, it guides my workouts.  It does not choose my food, it helps me make choices.    Alright, I am going here:  If your scale makes you miserable on a daily basis....get RID OF IT.  You don't need it to know if you are losing weight.  TAKE CONTROL.
Be Strong.

Notes of Interest (It appears to be brought to you by Nike)

A couple of notes of interest today:
Yesterday I went on about a trillion fitness/weight loss blogs to see how I can make mine better.  I enjoyed all of them and all of them were WAY different from this one. Some have about a trillion (my fav number) pictures for comparison. They were cool to see. Some talk about every bite of food that goes into their mouths ad nauseum ( I am not positive what ad nausuem means but I really wanted to use it and I think it fits here).  So, um if you are not interested in obsessing about what YOU are eating every single day why do you care what I am eating every single day.  *takes dramatic sip of water*  Some of them talk about the benefits of shakes or certain training programs.  All of them have one thing in common. They help people working on fitness/weight loss know they are not alone.  That is good.  Beyond that people losing weight (myself included) can really only help motivate.  And somedays that will work for you and somedays it won't.  I just want you to know that I don't think there is any ONE way to do this thing.  The only thing I do know is eventually you have to JUST DO IT.  (Thank you, Nike.)
Last night I didn't want to run.  I did NOT go in the a.m like I was supposed to...too tired.  When does an excuse work?  When it is real.  No worries or guilt, I would do it at six.  Around 3 I knew I did not want to do it so I used that old trick all gurus tell you about...putting your workout clothes on so you are already part way there.  Now I was just an unmotivated runner in work out clothes.  Hmmm.  Then when I got home from mom duties, hubby and daugher are home and I didn't want to go. I wanted to hang with them. When making  decision that has the potential to make you feel guilty- rip the bandaid off. I debated and then traded in my rest day Friday for a rest day yesterday.  That means I couldn't do that today.  That means I guilted myself into the run this morning.  It was the happiest thing I have done for myself in quite awhile.  Why do we brush our teeth? Oh sure we know all the reasons we should brush our teeth, but we do it mostly because it is a habit.  The reality I have in 4 months is I am not going to always find motivation. It is an illusive thing, but I have made a commitment to me and I am going to just do it.  (oh, thanks again, Nike)
How was the run?  4.5 miles.  Most of it great, part of sucked.  I conquered a killer hill one way but walked part of it coming home.  I stopped to pet a dog and the owner not realizing I was out for a run (not sure why) turned around and started walking with me.  It was probably only .2 miles but I got a little worried about my slowing heart rate and my slowing speed.  And then I remembered that part of being healthy is being a happy human and this woman and her dog were really cool.  We parted ways and I started my run again.  By now, it was sweaty hot. ICK.  I just kept repeating slow and steady.  I treated myself to a look at the scale. I had sweated out 5 lbs.  I am 4 lbs away from being under 200.  Of course, the truth is that as I sip my water that scale will go right back up again.  That reality is okay with me.  4 months ago I wasn't sure I would stop the scale from hitting 240.  I am thrilled.  
Be Well.

Quick note

On Monday night I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. so the voice won when I didn't feel like doing the 4.5 yesterday.  No problem, I have a rest day in my training plan so Friday's rest became Tuesday's rest.  I forced guilt aside.  This morning, however, I know if I want to get a 4.5 in today I have to go in the next ten minutes.  I cannot use my health blog as an excuse not to be healthy.  So we interrupt this blog for a solid run!!! I will post more after the run when my voice says I will have something valid to say because I will have done what I tell my readers I am doing.  Holy God, does that even make sense?  See, I need a RUN!  Be Strong.

And if you are all really lucky, I will post a sweaty after run pic for you! Tune in.

Take Control- you decide

I want to thank reader/friend Erica for her suggestion to readers about just eating half of something you really want.  It was a good reminder to me as I begin this blog that one size does not fit all.  Eating half for me of like a chicken breast?  Yes, I can do that. Although chicken breast is good for me so I don't have to do that. Eating half of a pringles can?  Absolutely can't happen for me. A can has no chance of survival in my home through one full day.  That is whether I am alone at home or not.  No chance.  Ask my sister-in- law. She has witnessed the way I chow down the pringles.  It ain't pretty and it ain't healthy, but it's real and it's me.  My only chance against a pringles can is not to have one near me.  Now, I know somebody who can keep an entire can of pringles  for weeks without finishing, but can't keep ice-cream in her freezer to safe her life.  HA, sucker....I can keep ice-cream for weeks in the freezer.  (Well, if you take my daughter out of the equation.)  You see? There is just no one size fits all. Which is why I told you what I eat because people were asking, but I don't think you will get there by copying what I eat bite for bite....although I am flattered if you want to try.  Just coffee so far..I can see a banana staring at me from the bowl. 
The point I am trying to make is there is no one size fits all in the health world, but its a trillion dollar business because we look to others instead of ourselves.  So- losing weight scientifically means you have to have a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound.  You need to take in a certain amount of calories less than what you take in right now and the more you exercise the faster your body will change.  Its really up to you.
Yesterday, one of the trainers at the gym told our spin class about a strength training diet she and her boyfriend are doing.  Together they go through a pound of bacon a day and three basic foods are bacon, steak and butter.  HELLO DISGUSTING.  But, it is working and their goal is very specific based on hard core weight and strength training.  And- they don't think it is disgusting so it works for them.  Jillian Michaels put out on her facebook page yesterday that it is best to do your workouts at the same time everyday.  Best?  What the hell does that mean?  My workout is ineffective if I don't do it at the same time?  Because I don't, because I can't and I don't need to be any kind of fitness guru to know if I stop working out because I think it won't benefit me because I can't do them at the same time, there is no benefit at all.  I think Jillian Michaels is great, but I am sick of people telling me how to do it. I am too old for that.  Take control of your life. 
I have a constructive critic out there who wants me to shorten my posts and I am REALLY trying, but just two more examples- I promise!  I read my Good Housekeeping magazine and they focused on one woman who lost weight.  She said something about giving up carbs and that yes, she was miserable for awhile but it was worth it in the end?  It was?  Cause, I only have a certain amount of time with this life and spending weeks miserable to see the scale move...so, not worth it for me.  I lost 29 pounds in 3 months, oh by the way I hit 30 pounds today and tomorrow marks four months so 30 pounds in four months and the only misery was how frigging out of shape I was in the begining with my workouts.  Last night I KILLED spin class.  Oh- I digress. 
My last example is the running on the treadmill versus running in the world.  I prefer running in the world. I like getting somewhere. I like nobody around me.  I am not sure if the right words are I can't get out of my own head in the gym or if it is more correct to say I can't get into my own head at the gym.  I have very close friends who are the exact opposite and can only enjoy a run on a treadmill.  All kinds of runner can argue the various benefits/nonbenefits of both.  But as far as losing weight and getting healthy- take damn control and do what you love and what works for you, and I daresay, at whatever time of day works best for you.  Yes, I went there!  Be Strong.