How I Went From “If I Get Around To It” to “Just Do It!!!!”

I was born and raised a couch potato.  Growing up, while my family enjoyed the outdoors and nature, it was all from a spectator point of view, never an active one. 

And really that is quite understandable!  With a congenital muscle weakness which targets the arms and legs running rampant throughout most branches of my family tree, making it difficult to walk stairs and even hills, going out for touch football or a game of frisbee was never going to be my family’s recreational activity of choice. 

Now that I am in my 40s, I clearly understand why my grandfather moved his family from the hilly, stair-filled, icy and sometimes treacherous (for us) north to the much easier to navigate warm flatlands of South Florida!

But I am striving to push forward and get through some of those challenges! 

In the last seven months I have made health changes to my life that I never imagined, the biggest one being becoming a vegetarian!  I still am shocked that I was able to do that…somehow a simple mind shift stuck with me and I have no desire for meat or junk food anymore. 

Part of this mind shift I know is due to the cocoon of healthy living I have been able to surround myself in.   Between the blogs I hang out on, the real-life people I am associating with, the organic produce I order, and the changes I have made in our household, it has become so much a part of my every day life that many times I forget everybody doesn’t have this healthy lifestyle…until I go out in to the real world that is!

A few weeks ago I had a blogger meetup with four other healthy living bloggers who live here in South Florida.  Out of the five of us there, I was the oldest, heaviest, and clearly the most out of shape.  I have made incredible changes in my diet, but sitting with these girls it sure didn’t look like it!While everybody there made healthy eating a priority, two of the girls, Amanda and Melissa, are avid runners and they had some running tales to share with us.   Honestly, listening to them I really WANTED to be a runner too!  But there I was…not doing anything at all!

When I got home I went to explore some of their blogs a bit…I had never been to Amanda’s blog before, and for some reason, reading her story about how she got started running really motivated me and something clicked inside my head…albeit something really small, but at least it was a something, right? 

I wanted to love moving my body as much as she enjoyed moving hers!

During the same week I followed my usual internet routine of reading the health blogs to keep my motivated, and as usual I went to one of my favorite’s Oh She Glows, along with Amanda’s blog, Run To The Finish. 

While reading about Angela’s day at OSG, she spoke about what a busy day she was having…12 or so hours of baking, paperwork, and more…AND all of a sudden I saw how even in the midst of all that she had to do, SHE STILL MADE SURE SHE MADE TIME FOR A SERIOUS WORKOUT!

I couldn’t believe it…for me being busy was a sure excuse to not have to work out!  And here she was still making sure she got to it with an absolutely full day of being on her feet either ahead of her or behind her!

And as I thought about it I realized that all of the healthy bloggers out there who really were fit and thin did the same thing.

And the big ole’ lightbulb in my head turn to a brilliant, glaring, shine in your eyes so bright that you can’t ignore it kind of on. 

EXERCISE WAS A PRIORITY IN THEIR LIVES!

And all of a sudden I got it!  To somebody like me and most people I know, exercise is something you fit in if you have the time.  IF YOU HAVE THE TIME.  And guess what…most of the time with going here, going there, doing this and that…you (I) DON’T HAVE THE TIME…so it just gets dropped of the list.

But it became so beautifully clear to me at that moment that all of these gorgeous, young, healthy ladies I have been motivated by view physical activity as one of those things in your day that falls into the “MUST DO” category with those things you have to do during that that are not optional!

You know, you MUST shower, MUST get dressed, MUST eat, MUST get the kids to school on time, MUST get your work done, MUST pick the kids up from school, MUST breathe…and you MUST give your body some physical activity…..get the picture?

I sure did!  You may think I am a big dummy…but really, I had never looked at physical activity in that light before. 

And the other lightbulb that came on was how even these ladies had their moments when the did not want to get up and run or workout…but they still did, because it is important to their overall wellbeing!  It was a MUST Do! 

So since that giant lightbulb started glaring at me I have been making sure I am making it a priority, and for me, with my muscle condition, really it is a priority…one of quality of life in my future as a matter of fact.

I have set my goals and for the first time in I don’t know how many years I have been following through and ENJOYING it too!  ME!  Enjoying exercise!

My goals had to start with what I am able to do…I will never be a marathon runner, I am not sure it is possible, but I can walk (and I am grateful for that), and I do know I can strengthen my legs somewhat, hopefully slowing down the progression and severity of the disease.

So for the past few weeks I make sure I walk 4-5/7 days.  I am walking a minimum of 2 miles each day with an overall goal to walk 300 miles this year.   I have also set a goal to at least be able to jog a mile.  YES!  A whole mile!!  Of course as it stands at this moment, that one mile for me might as well be 26.2! 

On April 29 I will be walking the Mercedes Benz Corporate 5K!  Maybe not a big deal for you marathoners…but it is for me and I am really excited about that!  One day I hope I can run one…but for now I am thrilled that I can walk one…and keep it in an hour too!

I have already seen progress in my speed and endurance.   In two weeks I have gone from a 22 minute mile and shaky legs after the first mile (hoping I won’t fall down out there in the park!) to a 19 minute mile today…and I pushed through to 3.5 miles.  AND…for the first time on my walk today (hee hee) I wasn’t the slowest one out there!  Yep..there was one lady I could keep ahead of!  HEY…that is progress for somebody that has always been a turtle!!!!

Already I see that I will need to be adding some kind of stretching routine and strength training routine to the walking, not that easy when most routines have floor exercises and as of yet I am still not able to get up from the floor by myself.

But I am learning about that…how to proceed and I know I will succeed in there too!

I am not sure of all the how’s, what’s, and why’s of all of the changes, understandings, and motivations I have been lucky enough to experience lately…but as a thank you to Angela, Amanda, Melissa, Karilynn, and some of the other bloggers who, even they have no clue, have played a major role in motivating me, I hope over the next year to be able to pay it forward by showing what I can do and motivating some other couch potatoes to get off of the couch and move!

Really…if I can do it, anybody can!!!

A Tale Of The Scale

Because I am losing, the scale and I have actually been getting along quite well lately!   I am usually kind excited to see what good ole scale has to say to me many mornings.

But last month was a little frustrating…I was eating well, but hovering!  Grrrr!!!  I just couldn’t blast through the floor of 171 pounds!  I had a seriously vicious cycle going…up three or four pounds, down 1, down another, down again…the up…then down…then…I am sure you get this picture!

And then one morning, about three weeks ago, I hopped on the scale AND I WAS DOWN 7 POUNDS!  SEVEN!  Was this right?  Was something wrong with the scale?  How could this be? 

I really really really wanted it to be right of course!  I was kind of excited!!!  But I was a little afraid to give in to that excitement in case it was a fluke…this was SEVEN pounds! 

I stepped off the scale…then stepped back on.  SAME THING!  So good so far!  I tried one more time, off and then back on…I was still down!

Now I was feeling pretty good!  FabPreteen came downstairs and I hustled her over to the scale for a second consultation from an independent physical specimen….yes, I made her weigh herself!

SHE had not lost seven pounds!  She was still in the ballpark of where she had been…good for me…that meant my weight loss was a good possibility here! 

Now finally I allowed myself to be excited…and because I was so light, I floated through the day on cloud nine!!!

OH YEAH!

And then that evening, FabHubs said to me out of the blue, “Hey…did you weigh yourself this morning?  I was down about six pounds!”

Well with those words I immediately crashed back to earth!  Uh-Oh…was something wrong with the scale after all? 

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

So FabHubs, changed the battery and calibrated it…and made sure it was flat, and did all the technical things necessary to make sure the scale was doing its job the way it is supposed to.

And guess what…hee hee!  I am getting thinner!!!!

(Ummm…so is he apparently….I am the one who needs to lose weight and it is still dropping off of him faster than it is me!  MEN!)

Since that roller coaster of a day the scale and I have become really tight…it is my friend at the moment! 

Yes, it is showing better and better numbers each week…and while I know many of the competitors are blowing me away in weight loss…..I am looking forward to my Losing To Win weigh-in this month. 

Losing Balance In A Hectic Week

Since last Saturday, this week has been very unusual food-wise to say the least. 

My nutrition has definitely been off, although I have still managed to keep what I have eaten on the healthy side and thankfully not succumbed to the dark side, as my kids love to call junk food now.

With my kids gone and a light work load, I saved all of my Christmas shopping  and running around until this week.

I would leave the house and not end up back until almost 11 p.m.!

And believe me, then I sure didn’t feel like cooking!  And I have found that healthy eating habits require a certain amount of planning and preparation so when hungry and it is late, it is very easy to turn to the dark side!

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, FabHubs and I ended up sort of scrounging around the fridge and digging out leftovers….no real meals were eaten, and more importantly, not much fresh fruits and veggies were being eaten!

This stressed me physically, because now my body does crave the fresh fruits and veggies regularly, but it is also stressed me mentally because the produce box from last week was sitting…and sitting produce quickly turns to rotting produce!  I have not been able to eat enough from it yet.

By Tuesday I had had enough of this and I did a little planning in advance, by making a large pot of brown rice to keep in the fridge.  I figured if the rice only had to be reheated, the rest of the meals would come together quickly.

But Tuesday night again we ended up out late.   By 10:30 (p.m.) I was ravenous!  I had only eaten an oatmeal breakfast and a homemade juice before I left the house.

My mom didn’t want to eat…and when FabHubs met up with me after work, the little sneaker had already eaten something!

I finally dragged FabHubs to this little Asian restaurant in the mall to get something to go for me.  He is not a fan of Asian food and I am a big fan…so I took this opportunity to enjoy some….even if I was kind of irritable by this point.

They had bubble tea…which I have never had!  So I ordered one to sip on while I waited.  I ordered an eggplant stirfry (I looooooveee eggplant…and FabHubs doesn’t, so another opportunity taken).  This turned out to be an appetizer, so I had to order a side of brown rice to go with it.

I tore right into it in the car…I was so hungry I  forgot to pull out my camera first!  So the pictures of my pretty much demolish meal came once I got home!

I love those little purple eggplants too!  I have never bought them…I always get the big one.

Here is my bubble tea!  For my first one I just went with the plain simple tea.  I enjoyed it…between the bubble tea and scarfing down my dinner I ended up being so full I left over a bunch of bubbles!

LOL…Cookie is waiting for me to hurry up so we can go to bed!

After I ate all that I WAS SORRY!  It tasted good…but I was too full and uncomfortable!  I don’t like to eat late at night and that is just what I did.

I went from being uncomfortably hungry to uncomfortably full. 

I know I need to practice better balance sometimes….but sometimes things just get a little too chaotic and it gets difficult!

Have you been keeping balance in your life this holiday season? 

Have you put any special practices in place to make sure you stay balanced?

Eating Out Of The Box

No, not the cardboard box or the drive-through box….but The Produce Box of course! 

For almost two months now I have been getting a weekly box of organic produce.  And as of last week, I am the new coordinator for the produce box in my neighborhood.  This means the driver pulls up his delivery trunk every Monday and the whole shebang comes to me in huge boxes.  I then have to sort it for all those “subscribers” in my neck of the woods to come pick it up from me.   All this hard work is now rewarded by my box being heavily discounted….sort of bartering for our food now.

Subscribing to a wholesale organic co-op has presented us with many delights as well as many challenges over the past two months.

Starting with the delights, we love the fruit!  The fruit seems to be fresher and so much sweeter….it has flavor!  As I was working yesterday, I kept smelling the enormous pineapple we had received in last week’s box and I knew it was sending out its message that it was finally ready for us to eat it….immediately.  

So afraid of it not making it through the night, last night for dessert I peeled and cut up this huge pineapple (did I tell you this was one of the biggest pineapples I have ever seen!  The kids have been marveling over its size all week….it takes little things in our household I tell you)

OMG…it was incredible!!!  Sweet and slurpy….the juice was running down the kids’ chins with every bite….everyone was fighting for more.   The other fruit is no different….grapes, bananas, apples, berries…everything I get is so sweet!  The grapes are amazing!  Crisp and crunchy….far better than what I usually get in the grocery store.  And I have no guilt over the pesticides or whether I washed it enough. 

Another plus is the opportunity to try new things.  We don’t have a choice in our box…we get what we get (and we don’t get upset….LOL.. sorry…I reverted back to kids’ preschool days!).   We had never even heard of kiwi berries but boy now do we love them!   We had heard of purple and gold cauliflower but I had never bought them….but they were in the box on different weeks and so we tried them. 

But because of all of the produce, every week we are in a race against the week! 

First obstacle is to get everything eaten that might go bad…before it goes bad!  Surprisingly I have had to throw out very little over the two months….one head of escarole, one head of arugula, and one tangerine…even that upset me.  Not just the waste of food…but I wanted to try them!  Sometimes though I just run out of time and ideas. 

So I now I really work to manage my produce….making sure all the really perishable produce is eaten first and the hard rootier type stuff (apples, pears, pumpkins, hard winter squashes, potatoes) are used second.  

The second obstacle is to eat as much as we can before the next week’s delivery!  Or we will be overrun…with more things to go bad and no room in the fridge to store! 

And so the produce box has encouraged a hugely plant-based diet with huge salads and multiple side dishes dominating our meals.  The government says 5 a day?  Ha Ha!  I think in this house we are running 12-15 a day easy!

Healthwise we are on a definite roll here…and our tastebuds and foodie senses have been blessed (some of us more happily than others of course…I won’t mention my veggie scrooges…FabHubs and FabPreteen).

But boy am I challenged at times!

We have never been huge convenience food people as far as boxed and prepackaged items are concerned.  But I always had a few boxed backups available in the pantry for those days we are on the run….and I guess most days we are running.  Between homework and scouts and other activities our schedule is jam-packed.

But unless I am going to feed everyone baked potatoes and salad every night, I am struggling sometimes to come up with fast easy meals, that are healthy and using the produce.

I scour the internet for new ideas whenever we get a new box.  I am desperately trying to avoid the same-old, same-old, day in, day out, while also trying to appeal to all of the different idiosyncrasies and tastebuds in my house.  Gone are the easy days of throwing a chicken breast on the Foreman, steaming some broccoli, and cooking some rice and that would be fine for everyone. 

Now I have recipe research to do and tons of veggies to peel, chop, and cook.  And that takes time.   Sometimes a lot of time.   Sometimes too much time!  I can easily see why working mommies forgo the homecooked meals and veggies and turn to the cardboard box….or the drive-through box.  It is taking work to keep my family and me healthy and it is very hard to just throw something together.  

Something else that has also changed is the menu planning.  On good weeks I would sit and plan a menu and then shop for the week.   On not so good weeks I would figure out what’s for dinner based on what was in the fridge/freeze/pantry.  Now our meals are almost completely based on what came in the box this week or what I have left that needs to be used up!

Many nights I am really struggling to avoid the eye-rolls at dinner, and make it fast, healthy, delicious, interesting………and meatless.  That has been a huge challenge.  The family has been raised with meat being the center of the meal and the veggies being the sides.  And I get a lot of, “That’s It?” comments for dinner.  

Some of you have complimented my cooking….but while I have always been able to follow a recipe, over the past almost eight years I have done pretty much NONE of the cooking in this household!  Yep….my highly carnivorous, supermetabolistic FabHubs has always been the main cook around here….cooking of course delicious, very high-fat foods to support HIS superman metabolism.   So  now that we are cooking healthy…he is at a loss and, well, just doesn’t do much cooking anymore!

And being the tough, independent person that I am, I quickly realized that if I want my family and me to eat like this, I would have to go back to the kitchen myself.

I am proud of myself how adept I am becoming at learning how to adapt good recipes I find to whatever veggies and spices we have on hand.  Most of what you see me cook has started out as a recipe I found somewhere…but after cooking the same recipes over and over, somehow I have learned how to use a recipe’s basic framework, and give it some major renovations and adaptations in order to use up whatever came in my box that week….or last week….or sometimes even the week before. 

And so I am surprised how getting this produce box has really opened up my ability to cook (although we still eat a lot of roasted balsamic veggies as an old standby!) and is stretching my abilities past the same old cooking box I had gotten myself into.

Yes, I am having some very frustrating cooking nights these days….and I don’t feel like my cooking is much of a hit with the family these days.  This can be somewhat depressing really!  But I know this too shall pass….and just as I have adapted, in the future they will too!

So based on the fact that I have 2 pounds of fresh green beans from last week’s box that need to be used up, several pounds of sweet potatoes that have piled up over the past few weeks (I am not sure what is wrong with my people…I seem to be the only one that loves or even likes them!), and finally, that the family does like curry….tonight’s menu (provided I have time!!)  will be an adaptation of this sweet potato curry recipe. 

I will let you know how it goes!

Today I Am Glowing!

I just can’t believe it!  I am sooo excited!  When I logged into my email this morning I received this comment on my blog:

Oh She Glows has left a new comment on your post "English Muffin Recipe":
Check out my blog tonight...have a surprise for you!

First I felt surprised and honored that Angela was writing on my little blog!  And then I wondered what she was going to write about English Muffins…after all, this was on my English Muffin page.

So I clicked on through and read today’s post and was astounded to find out that I won all this!

Among all of the fantastic, organic new treats our tastebuds are in for over here…I am really excited that she is putting some of her own Glo Bars in there!  I have wanted so much to try those for a while now.  YAY!

I can’t believe it!!! I know…I said that before…but I have never won a blog giveaway before…and my comment was waaaaaayyyyy down the list too!

Now if you have never read Beautiful Angela’s blog, Oh She Glows  before, it is so worth taking some time to go through it and make sure you read her story.   I only found her a couple of months ago…but since then it is one of the three or four blogs I check religiously, daily…sometimes several times a day!

She has been a great motivator for me to transition myself and my family to this healthy lifestyle and I have learned a lot from her.  Her writing is very real and down to earth, and even though I am a 45-year-old mom with three kids, not a 20-something, she is one of the few younger healthy living bloggers I feel I can relate to.   She has taken healthy living to a different level, an overall balanced level, and includes a lot of inspiration not just for taking care of yourself physically, but mentally as well.  She shares from the heart and shows she is human…and how hard work and passion can lead to great success.

And…for all of you who always comment how awful my yummy Amazing Grass drinks look…they come from Angela!  Yep…the inspiration for adding spinach came from her Green Monster website.

Thanks Angela!  You made my day!!!

The Good News and The Bad News

BLECH! Durn weigh-in results!!!

The Good News is that I didn't gain weight. (that is if you don't count my little cheat hop on the scale on Friday morning where I had been down from Monday by 2 pounds and if you did, would have made me have gained 2 pounds!...but nope, it is not official and I am not counting it!)

But The Bad News is that I didn't lose weight.

That's right....as of today I am EXACTLY THE SAME AS LAST MONDAY'S WEIGH-IN. UGH!!!!

I was active, I was down in LBs, I was mostly good....how could a little bit of dump cake make me go up? AARRGGGHH!

Anyway...despite all appearances attitude is still good. Physically I am feeling great and I think that is what is driving me. I am back in full force today.

I have noticed a trend in my weight loss though. It seems that I stay the same for two weigh-ins in a row, gain a pound of discouragement (and weight) the next week, and then BAM, drop 2-3 pounds in the next weigh-in for about an overall, long-term average of one-pound per week (not exact math here).

And this isn't a precise pattern....but it is always pretty similar. A few weeks of plateau, an up...and then a big drop. Don't know why. But I sure am expecting that drop next week!

Hello Scale...you better watch out!

WHAT!!!!!!!

Remember yesterday I told you about my sneek peek weigh-in...and that I was down 2 pounds and excited about today's official weigh-in? I thought for sure I would be down another pound. FOR SURE! No doubts at all!

So with GREAT EXCITEMENT I hopped on that scale this morning and WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! I am UP 1 pound from last week's WI.

UP 1 POUND! How did that happen??????

Since I had lots of activity and stayed within points, I am sure it is some fluke of lots of sodium or water weight or something or other. Motivation is still strong and I am sure that these pounds will melt off next week.

So today I will stick to program, take pictures, and log my measurements.

I will also do our menu plan for the week and shop....very important!

And maybe even post my menu for the day!

The Night Before

Okay...I am READY!

Weight Watchers...here I come again.

It is the night before I begin and I am actually kind of excited. I am a lifetime member, reaching goal weight and maintenance when my daughter was born 12 years ago.

Divorce and re-marriage, kids in school and activities...constantly on the run with no time to myself. Over the years I have let myself go and the pounds have crept on.

At this stage of my life I am 45, fat, and frumpy. I am looking at middle age and I want to be fit and fabulous again.

I want to feel good as well, with energy to get things done instead of feeling blah and exhausted all of the time.

I signed up about four weeks ago but with so much going on, trips out of town, kids to drive around town, I just couldn't motivate myself to get started. I started one day half-heartedly, but was so hungry I never really got it off the ground.

So here we go again. I have pored over dozens of WW blogger postings the last few days....dug deep into the WW forums and guides...and FINALLY....put my menu plan for the week together. Not only that, I carried out the most important step of actually shopping for the foods on that plan!

With all that in mind I am ready to begin...looking forward to pounds lost, and energy and self-confidence gained.