Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Official Now

I'm so excited that I'm officially a Weight Watchers leader. I did my Basic Leadership training course over four days this past week. It was so intense and brought to light quite a few personal issues I still have myself. I'm a constant Picasso, ever evolving.

It brought me to think about what happens to us when we finally think we have "reached the top" the pinnacle of our efforts. I ran across this quote that said "When you reach the top, keep climbing". Isn't this true, we shouldn't stop we shouldn't just say, Oh well I'm done guess there is nothing more to do.

Constantly challenging ourselves both physically and mentally will help us continue this lifestyle with all the fervor and vigor that we had when we started. Do you remember that feeling, excited about how you would get through the next day, so happy with the weight or inches you lost or the great decision you made about forgoing some unhealthy choice.

Now that we are physically able to be more active we should be searching for things to do. How about enter a race, walk or run, ride a bike, take a hike that you never could have before. Just live in the new found moment and body that you have.

Keep climbing and when you think you have reached the top, look higher.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Impossible Dream

From the musical “Man of LaMancha” comes the timeless song the Impossible Dream. Here is a link to the words if you don’t know them or need a refresher. http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/O'Toole/impossibledream-lyrics.htm

In the lyrics we here of someone reaching out and perhaps never obtaining their final quest in life, they continue on that even if they don’t they will still leave this world being a better person for having at least tried.

Goals and dreams are so important and trying to writing them out on paper for us to look at and review even more important. Once we have them on paper we can look at them, make a plan on how to obtain them and go forth with conviction as we execute that plan. Sometimes those goals become or so we think impossible. It might be to an unforeseen event or a distressing time in our life. We cannot just give up on those goals during those tough times; we have to change our action plan instead.

In our health, weight loss and fitness journey we will have many dreams and many obstacles that try and get in the way. We must not let those obstacles keep up from continuing to strive for our “Impossible Dream”
Take a moment to write your Impossible Dream and when something comes up that seems it will keep you from obtaining it, how will you change your action steps so that you can still get there?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Willy Wonka and Veruca

I loved, no I love this movie. Gene Wilder in probably the best role ever and really what person doesn’t really love chocolate and all the wonderful things that he had in his factory from the stream to the Oompa Loompas?

One character in the movie, Veruca Salt, the young lady who wanted everything I can relate to. Miss Veruca wanted everything. She wanted the golden ticket, the golden egg and the golden goose and all NOW (whiny voice)

In our weight loss and fitness journey we are all a little bit like Miss Veruca. We want everything and we want it now. We don’t want to wait; we don’t really even want to know how to get to the end. We just know that we want it now.

Unfortunately, changing our habits and thoughts doesn’t happen overnight and because it doesn’t we are forced to wait and even when we do change our thoughts and habits sometimes we have to wait because our bodies aren’t ready yet. They are so accustomed to being at a certain weight or activity level that they just aren’t quite sure if we are serious about this new food and extra activity. Therefore, it (our body) just waits, waiting to make sure that it is good and ready to start shedding some of that unwanted and unneeded fat.

We need this time during the waiting. It is imperative that during the waiting we continue to practice and hone the skills that we have learned or are learning so that they become a solid foundation, embedded in our being, never to be lost or not used in the future. So the next time, you starting thinking that you want all of this “now”, think of Miss Veruca.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

A new ending.

I work with a personal trainer. I love it and she has several clients. Many of these clients are new in their weight loss and fitness journey and I’m amazed as I read their stories at how many times people have started and stopped or cycled back and forth with the desire to lose weight and become fit. Every month, every occasion and sometimes everyday wanting to just start over.

It is sad to think that sometimes we have to repeat and repeat things over and over and then finally one day something strikes as poignant and we just know that this will be the one that will finally make us stick to our guns and get to the end, wherever that might be.

A quote by Carl Bard says: “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending”.

Isn’t it great to know that today can be the day of a new ending? It doesn’t matter what we did in the past and you know, we really shouldn’t want to start from scratch because then that means we have to have all the bumps and scraps all over again.
Think about today being the first day of a new ending like the alternate endings from a movie. Play them in your head, see your self and thinner, fitter and stronger.

Monday, October 8, 2007

An oops turns into an Ahh

I had an oops about Tuesday. I stepped on that darn scale. I didn't lose any weight from the week before and my training said to wait until Wednesday and see if perhaps some of the fluid retention from running was gone.
Oh, that was bad advice. What did I do, after a long run and a hard w/o. I stepped on that scale. Really, now what was I expecting, duh. Of course, it read that it was up and why shouldn't it have been.
The next day after speaking with my friend, Tammi. Good and faithful Tammi. She told me to promise her that I wouldn't get on that scale until Monday. Now, I won't break a promise to her so I said. I promise, with the most sincere little girl scout smile I could muster up. In the back of my head I'm thinking. What did I just promise?
Well I finished my week with great eating and another fantastic 8 mile run. Tammi and I shaved on 7 minutes from the last week and finished it in 86 minutes. Whoo, hoo for us!
I have a WW staff meeting yesterday and it required us to weigh. So, I got on the scale and was so surprised when I was given a little piece of paper that read 151.8. I about fell down. That was 3.2 lbs down. Yippee.
So, although I had to get on the scale earlier than Monday I figure that was okay. This morning I didn't weigh and will stay off that thing for another week.
I'm curious, has anyone else tried this yet and how does it work for you?

Monday, October 1, 2007

Accomplishment number 1

Well, as I promised, I didn't step on that scale until this morning. I'm happy to report that I've stayed the same. I guess it proves to me that if I'm eating right and exercising then the scale doesn't need to confirm to me that I've done exactly that.
I took my measurements for the month of September and I was down 1.25. I know it doesn't seem like much but when you have less to lose then the inches come off slower as well as the weight.
I also needed to buy new clothes so Friday I went to do some shopping and was quite pleased that I fit into a size six pair of jeans. It is amamzing that at 155 I can slip on a size 6. The more I do this the easier it is to release the scale and just count on how I'm feeling. I'm feeling strong, fit and empowered.
Yesterday I ran 8 miles in preparation for my half marathon in Vegas on December 2. If that doesn't make me feel strong and fit I'm not sure what will. I finished it in 1 hour and 32 minutes. Not too shabby for a person who just started running in June.
My goal this week will again be to not step on that scale until Monday morning. I'm playing around a bit with my calories to see if I can drop a few more pounds and I don't want to discourage myself when it isn't needed.
If you are chained to your scale and believe that it makes or breaks you try giving it up for a week and see what happens. You may be surprised.