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New Challenges: Hit with a Surprise

Aug 16th, 2011 by

“You wanna learn to box sometime?”

It’s like one of those moments when you turn to look to see if someone is behind you. He couldn’t possibly be talking to me. I was about 14 weeks into my plan and seeing some of the benefits of my new-found determination. I was sticking to my basic elliptical for 25-30 minutes and doing some machines, ab work, and free weights. Kind of a creature of habit. Kind of scared to try new things. Hmm. . . .

“Yeah, I would!”

Where’d that come from? Fourteen weeks ago I would have said, “No, I couldn’t possibly do that, “ but now I had actually said I would try something new.

“Okay, the next time you are in and I don’t have any clients, I’ll teach you.”

Ben was one of our trainers at Miracles; I figured he was just being nice, and I quickly hoped that maybe he would forget the whole thing. The next time that I went in I tried not to make eye contact. Maybe he will forget.

“Hey, you ready to box tonight?” Nope, didn’t forget. I was going to have to go through with it. I really did want to, but I was afraid of looking stupid. Afraid to fail.

“Okay, but this is not a personal training session. This is just boxing. And we have to go behind the wall where no one can see.“

Little did I know that I was in for a surprise. Ben taught me the first couple of hits, your basic 1-2. He coached me on my stance and how to hold my hands up. He taught me how to jab and push through. It was 10 minutes, but dude, I was hooked.

Boxing?!   Me?!  Yep, I found out that I liked to hit things; I loved the smack of the glove on the target. I loved the way the gloves felt on my hands; I even bought my own shiny blue pair. I started boxing about 3 times a week. I found myself boxing to Rihanna at home; the kids were running around with their little hands boxing in the air. I was boxing to my reflection in my double oven. What would Martha Stewart say about that?! We started learning harder sequences and different punches and eventually added some kicks. The 25-30 minutes went way too fast. I wasn’t perfect at it, but it was fun.

It was the ideal combination of a well-trained, educated trainer, whose personality and encouragement were perfect for me, and an exercise that I had no idea that I loved. I truly felt blessed to have such a surprise at that point in my journey. I needed something to break the monotony. I needed something to challenge me. I needed something to get me out of my shell. I needed something to teach me about courage, confidence, and change (see Aha Moment series – part 5).

Ben has moved on from Miracles to new challenges, but I will always be grateful for that time that he let me beat him up on a regular basis. : ) And as I wait for a new boxing partner to come along or come back, I’m thinking about getting a boxing bag for the garage . . .

 

 

Posted in Boxing, New Challenges | 3 Comments »

Our Garden: Patience Rewards

Aug 12th, 2011 by

About two weeks ago my 7-year-old proudly picked our first “big beef” tomato off the vine.  It was quite an honor.  My 5 kiddos have been watching our garden consistently since beginning of May when we planted the first seedlings.   I hear at least twice a day, “I’m going out to check the garden, Mom!”  It has become a valuable exercise in patience for them.  Now they are seeing some of the rewards:  fresh veggies, a sense of accomplishment, knowledge about plants, and an appreciation for the simple things.

As I held our first “big” tomato in my hands, the creation of our new little garden made me think of the journey I have been on the last 6 months.  Our garden started with an idea, an informal plan, and some research and advice.  It took a lot of sweat and time to get it ready for planting.  I have to make time for it almost every day, watering it and checking for disease.  The grandest part is that we get to see the results of our patience and care:  zucchini, little juliet tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, green peper, basil, and more “big” tomatoes!

In parallel, my journey to a healthier me has been quite the same.  I had an “aha moment” of change, I created a plan of action for myself, and I asked for advice and help.  I have to keep up with what I am putting in my body, and I have to be willing to sweat and work hard almost every day.

I have to be willing to be patient.  Not one of my best qualities!  I have not always been the best at waiting for results over these past months and have even gotten frustrated along the way.  But eventually I got back on my feet and started plugging away again.  Working hard to see results in the end.  And I am seeing results; I am reaping some reward for my sweat: better muscle tone, weight-loss, a sense of accomplishment, and some me-time!

So as I see my little ones running out the backdoor in excitment to check the harvest, I hope I can be reminded that it’s worth it to be patient.  It’s worth hard work to reap a harvest.

 

 

 

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Plan of Action series (Part 3) – Can a Girl Get a Little Help Here?

Aug 10th, 2011 by

It’s not easy for me to ask for help. It’s not easy to admit that I need help. If my husband is reading this, he is nodding his head violently. But-the good news is that I knew that I needed help with my fitness overhaul. I enlisted some family and friends.

First, I shared my “aha” moment with my husband Dan. He didn’t say, “Again?” He took me seriously. I picked his brain for ideas. Thankfully I happened to be married to a pretty knowledgeable guy on the subject. Dan has taught me a lot over the years, many times with me kicking and whining my way through it! This time I was ready to listen. Dan was committed to my plan as well and ready to support me. That meant he was carving out time for me to go to the gym (and many nights got stuck with supper clean-up when I headed out!). Ok, support system foundation, check!

Next, I moved on to family. I called my brother and sister-in-law and asked specifically if they could support me and pray for me. I am really close to my family, and they knew some of my struggles. I felt sort of guilty asking for something for myself, but I knew that their encouraging words would help me and would also keep me accountable.  I think telling people made it like I had to do it. Over the next months I would give my parents and my siblings updates, and they would be encouraging just like I suspected. Another layer of support, check!

Finally, I am blessed with a great group of girlfriends that I really trust. We are all about the same age, give or take a few years, and we are in the same stage of life. We’ve had many of the same successes and struggles. At the beginning of the year, it seemed like many of us had had our own “aha” moments, and this became another area to share. We began talking about planks and trainers and healthy snacks. We even unconsciously cut out chocolate from our monthly get-togethers! Oh my! Something really was brewing!! A mountain climber demonstration may have even broken out a time or two! We jokingly said that we would kick 40’s butt and that we wouldn’t go into our forties lightly. To have my family behind me was extremely important, but to know that these women who I love like sisters were going through the same thing and supporting me was such a bonus. Friend support, check!

So, yes, this girl did get a little help. It wasn’t like I sat down and wrote out a formal plan of action. I didn’t create a spreadsheet or document it in my iphone. I just communicated with the people that are in my life, and I got help. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

Now if I could just do the same for the laundry . . .

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Plan of Action series (Part 2) – Move More!

Aug 8th, 2011 by

So I had a plan of action brewing in my head: food, exercise, support. I had activated the food part of the plan, now it was on to fitness. I had been working out at Miracles since it opened in 2007, but I hadn’t really seen the results that I wanted. I would go stretches of working out 3 days a week, and then taking a few weeks or months off. With bouts of working part-time, pregnancies, children, and running a home, it wasn’t always easy to take time for myself.

After talking to my husband Dan about it, I realized that I wasn’t working out enough, and I probably needed to up my intensity. So I decided that I needed some kind of activity in my day every day whether that meant going to the gym, taking a walk, working out at home, etc. I knew that I needed to show myself that I could do it.

For the first 4 weeks, I worked out every day, mostly at the gym and a couple times at home. I began to see some of my weaknesses rear their ugly heads:

I didn’t want to go to the gym; there was a good show on HGTV.

I didn’t feel like going; the kids had worn me out that day.

I didn’t want to get up that early; I deserved to sleep.

I’m doing all this work; it probably won’t help anyway.

Other people lose weight, not me. (UGH!!)

I had to fight these negative thoughts and patterns! The commitment and goal that I had made to work out everyday helped me overcome those excuses. I had to make myself get up, get my shoes on, and get out the door. I was learning to persevere again. (I also tested Dan on this. I would say, “I don’t feel like going tonight, “ and he would say, “Then take the night off, “ and I would yell, “You’re not supposed to say that! You have to tell me to go!”)

After the first few weeks I gave myself a break and worked out about 5 days a week. It got easier, and I actually felt good once it was done. There were times, of course, that if I had to be on the elliptical one more minute, I would scream (!!!), but it felt good once the 20 or 30 minutes was up. It also felt good to look back at the week and see that I had kept my commitment, that I had met my goal. A sense of accomplishment. I was going more, so would I see the results? More about that later . . .

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10 Things I Hate but I Know are Good for Me

Aug 5th, 2011 by

1. Yearly Physical
2. Shots
3. Jump squats
4. Walking Lunges
5. the Elliptical
6. Calling in pizza orders (Don’t ask!)
7. Flossing
8. Apologizing
9. Not going back for seconds (except for every once in awhile)
10. PLANKS!!

p.s. They are some things that I hate, and I don’t care if they’re good for me (mountain climbers!), and I’m okay with that (and the trainer I’m working with has to be okay with that, too). I am willing to try things, but if it turns out to be something that I really, really dread, then it hinders my exercise program, and I cut it out. I do think it is important to keep an open mind and revisit those things I don’t like. Maybe someday I will like mountain climbers (and then pigs will fly!).

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Posted in Lists | 3 Comments »

Plan of Action series (Part 1) – Not the Food!

Aug 2nd, 2011 by

All right, I had had this “aha” moment, but was I really going to do something about it? In the past I had experienced some of these micro-moments, and my plan of action would last for a couple of weeks (or days!). I wanted change this time; I wanted this to work! So I informally devised a plan of action in my head: I needed to change the way I was eating, I needed to exercise, and I needed support.

First, my eating. Ugh, not the food. I seriously thought that I fed my family well and that we ate healthy (for the most part). I had tried things in the past like cutting out sweets, not eating fast food, etc. None of it had worked. I’m sure I overcompensated in other areas or just didn’t stick with it long enough.

Remember it was January, so weight-loss commercials seemed to be on 24/7 non-stop. The one that really stood out to me was Jennifer Hudson promoting Weight Watchers (facebook helped me, now American Idol?!). I was thinking to myself, “If she can do it, so can I!”

So the next day I got on Weight Watcher’s site. I clicked around a little bit and . . . I hesitated, I procrastinated, I questioned. Then I realized that I had to make a commitment; I had to do it on my own with my own plan of action. My mouse was hovering over the “Join” button, and I finally clicked. I was committed (and if I spend money on something believe me I’m committed!). I started the on-line program that afternoon, plugging my points in and adjusting my meals that week. I knew it was a first step of many, but I was confident that I could do it for the obligatory 3-month time period.

I learned over the next few weeks that I had been eating too much. My portions were too big. I went back for seconds too often. I viewed food as a celebration (and too much qualified as celebrating). I also realized that before I had not been willing to give things up in order to lose weight.

My husband Dan tells a story of a good friend not wanting to give up Coke because he loved it so much. Dan suggested that he drink Diet Coke.

“I hate Diet Coke, “ he answered.

Dan then told him, “You have to hate being fat more than you hate Diet Coke.”

This is where I finally was. I wanted to be healthy more than I wanted 3 cookies. I wanted muscle tone back more than I wanted a second helping of pasta. I wanted to be strong again more than I wanted the gyros at Christo’s (so hard!), and I wanted myself back more than I wanted food to rule my life. It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been a slow process that’s worth it. Jennifer Hudson’s Weight Watchers commercials are still on consistently, and it is a reminder to me that if Jennifer Hudson can do it, so can I.

Who inspires you? What are you willing to hate more than being overweight or out of shape? What can help you with your eating? Isn’t it time to celebrate you instead of food?

Posted in Plan of Action series | 4 Comments »

Aha Moment series (Part 5) – Facebook and Courage, really?

Jul 31st, 2011 by

 

Let’s continue our “cool down,” and I’ll continue my story. So I have told you about two factors so far that have contributed to a change in me: my belief system and my Dad. Another one was facebook (is there anything not affected by facebook these days?!!). At the beginning of the year one of my friends posted about New Year’s resolutions. She suggested that instead of conjuring up several resolutions (that one would eventually break), why not come up with one word that would be the theme of one’s year? This post spoke to me. I already had stirrings of a change, and then this was the perfect suggestion for me.

What would my word be? Honestly, the first word that came to mind was “Me!” I realized that I had forgotten about me! Then almost immediately after came the word “confidence” and then two more- “courage” and “change.” Confidence, Courage, and Change. Those 3 words became my theme for 2011 (along with the more selfish and less acceptable from a mom, “ME!”). I was determined to put some time into myself, which meant working out, eating right, and not feeling guilty about it. I realized that I needed to do that to get my health back and to be the mom and wife that I wanted to be and in the end be the example that I wanted my children to have.

Confidence, Courage, Change. What would your word or words be? What do you want your theme to be for the rest of the year?

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It’s the Simple Things – A Daughter

Jul 31st, 2011 by

Today my daughter and I headed out the door together to walk to a birthday party around the block.  I took her little 6-year-old hand in mine and felt thankful, soaking in the sun and strolling together.  She is my only girl.  She is the pink among all the blue!

She looked up at me and said, “I like doing things with you, Mommy.”

I said, “I like doing things with you, too.”  And after a pause I said, “I’m glad we have each other.”

She looked up at me, “We have to stick together, right?”

“Right, ” I answered.  “Forever.”

She said, “Yep, forever.”

These kinds of moments mean so much to me.  You see, my daughter was brought to me from around the globe.   I stand and wonder at what an awesome gift she is to me, and I’m so thankful that she was part of the plan for my life!

Posted in The Simple Things | 4 Comments »

Aha Moment series (Part 4) – Family Shocker

Jul 29th, 2011 by

Ok, I have been telling you about my “aha” moment. Besides my belief system, other factors contributed to it. One of those is my Dad. In November the phone rang and Dan, my husband, answered it. I could tell by the conversation that it was my Dad, and I could tell that it was something serious. When Dan got off the phone (it was very strange that my Dad had not asked to talk to me), I could tell by his face that he had something serious to tell me. My Dad had been having some strange chest pain for a few months and had (finally) gone in for a stress test. He failed it miserably, and the doctor wanted him to have additional tests right away.

This news put my family in somewhat of a tail-spin. My Dad is the patriarch of the family: the jokester, the nurturer, the one that is always healthy and strong. But he’s also the one who can eat 5 hot dogs while grilling and then eat 3 more when we sit down at the table! The 5 outside “didn’t count,” he’d say, because they didn’t have a bun. He’s also the guy that pulled through McDonald’s and ordered 2 McChicken sandwiches on the way home from his heart tests! His “last supper.” AGH! And all the while, he looked healthy and not overweight.

The next set of tests revealed severe blockage and that he literally was a “heart attack waiting to happen.” My siblings and I all came in from out of town and tried to be there to support him and my Mom. To see my Dad lying there with tubes and a cut-open chest changed me. I didn’t want that to ever happen to me or anyone I loved again, and I wanted to support him and my Mom the best way that I could. That included changing my diet. I didn’t really eat that bad in the first place (I am married to “Dr. Dan,” remember?), but I knew that I could make changes: less red meat, less sugar, less cholesterol, smaller portions, more exercise, etc. So on January 4, 2011, some of the diet changes had already taken place, not perfectly, but slowly. I don’t think that my Dad’s surgery alone could have changed me, but it definitely affected me, and all of the factors came together in that moment and began a change.

P.S. I am happy to report that my Dad is doing well and had an excellent recovery.  He has given up eating hot dogs that don’t count!  We are thankful that it went so well and thankful for him.

Posted in Aha Moment Series | 1 Comment »

Aha Moment series (Part 3) – Am I Worth It?

Jul 29th, 2011 by

I have been struggling with my weight (and my self-esteem) for awhile now. After my 2nd son was born, I lost all my baby weight and 25 more pounds. I was working out regularly and taking walks every night with my family on top of that. I felt good. Then we moved here, and the compilation of great friends, good food (a little too much dessert with those great friends), grad school, and family added about 30 pounds on me. On January 4, 2011, I looked down and realized how ridiculous I had become. I wasn’t even sad anymore; it was hilarious to me (maddening)! I was ready to do something; I was DONE!

Several things attributed to this “aha” moment.  The biggest one was my belief that I was more than my weight and my outward appearance. It was my belief that I was unique and had a purpose. I realized that those beliefs were being crowded out by my own negative images of myself and by images of what the world wanted me to be. My weight had become a stronghold on my life. In that “aha” moment, I realized I needed to slay that stronghold in order to move on. My exhausted resignation turned to absolute determination. I wanted to be the person I was intended to be; I didn’t want to have regrets. I started to realize again that I was worth it.

Are there things keeping you from being the person that you are intended to be? What is holding you back? Or what has helped you change? More factors helped me in this journey, and I look forward to sharing them with you in the posts to come!

Posted in Aha Moment Series | 6 Comments »

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