Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I sometimes (o.k. often) have to remind myself that my weight didn't come on in a week, or even a few months and it will likely take much longer than a week or a month to take it back off.  I had a lot of experiences that helped me grow emotionally over the last couple of years.  That emotional growth also led to physical growth as I ate my way through the emotional growth! 

Back in September I started exercising and changing my eating.  I decided I didn't want to weigh myself for a good long time.  I wanted the results to be astounding, jaw dropping.  I stepped on the scale one month later.  The results were astounding and jaw dropping all right!  I weighed exactly the same.  To the ounce.  I was more than devastated and I felt defeated.  I stopped exercising and stopped caring as much about what I was eating.   

After a couple of months I felt really down.  I was tired.  My clothes were getting tight.  I decided I had to face reality.  In mid-January I stepped on the scale again. I was the heaviest I have ever been (not pregnant).  I even weighed more than when I delivered two of my kids.  It was like I pulled my head out of the sand and I wanted the weight off immediately.  I started making changes again.  I started eating well and exercising again.  I decided that this needed to be a lifestyle change, not anything with a deadline.  I was just a few weeks into my new commitment to health when I got the phone call about the 100 day heart challenge.  Perfect timing.  This program is such a balanced approach to health and weight management.  Even though the challenge is only 100 days, I will learn the skills that can help me for a lifetime. I know I can't control the scale, but I can control how often and how hard I work out, how much and what foods I choose to put in my mouth, and my attitude.  The changes I'm making will be beneficial to my body, even if it takes a while for the scale to catch up with my progress. 

I know there will be set backs (like Friday night, for instance, when a complete stranger asked if I was pregnant) but I just need to realize that this is working.  I feel great.  It feels so good to work muscles that have been sleeping for a long time.  My mind feels more clear than it has in a long time.  Working out is my anti-depressant.  The foods I am eating are satisfying and delicious (and I'm learning how to work in my favorite junk foods in small quantities without binging).  So when the set backs come, I need to learn the lesson that the tortoise taught: Slow and steady wins the race.

The Bandwagon

I was wondering recently how I can make exercise and healthful eating a consistent and long term part of my life.  Not just for this week, not just for the next 100 days, but for the rest of my life.  I began to think of the things I do every single day.  The first thing that came to mind was brushing my teeth.  I brush my teeth every morning and every night.  I've done that for as long as I can remember.  I tried to imagine my life without brushing my teeth, and I couldn't.  It is a habit that I don't ever see myself getting out of. Then I started to think about the bandwagon mentality in regards to brushing my teeth.  If I skipped brushing my teeth (for whatever reason) would I wait until Monday to brush them again?  Absolutely not.  I probably wouldn't even wait until it was time for the next brushing.  I would go immediately and brush my teeth as soon as I made the realization that they were unbrushed. 

There is a crazy mind game that I go through in regards to falling off the bandwagon.  If I eat something I know I shouldn't (or eat too much of something I know I shouldn't), or if I don't exercise one day, that somehow gives me permission to keep eating what I shouldn't eat and pause the exercise until Monday, or whenever I get the motivation to start again.

The brushing teeth analogy has made me realize that while there will certainly be days that I don't feel like eating right or exercising, I don't have to stay off the bandwagon for a week, a day, or even an hour.  I can grab a handful of carrots, do a few squats or jumping jacks and get right back on. 

I will know I have succeeded when eating right and exercise are as much a part of my daily life as brushing my teeth...when I can't imagine my life without it.  When something is important to us, we do it.  Period. 

In other news, we met our trainer yesterday.  This is going to be AWESOME!!!  I can't wait to have him kick our trash twice a week. 

My Wellness Statement

A few years ago I met regularly with a group of ladies who discussed how to make healthy habits a reality.  One of the women there recommended that we each come up with a wellness statement (I don't even know if that's what it's called, but that's what I call it!).  She said that we should figure out where we want our health to be, visualize ourselves there, then come up with a statement that:

a) is in the present tense (as though you have already achieved your goals)

b) begins with the phrase "I am so happy and grateful now that..." (because gratitude and happiness are good for us and the more we feel happy and grateful the better able we are to reach our goals)

Here is my wellness statement:

"I am so happy and grateful now that I am strong, lean, and energetic and have learned to make choices that allow me to be my best self."


My statement is kind of long, but it encompassed all of my goals.  Others' statements were as short as "I am so happy and grateful now that I can run a 5k...or "now that my favorite jeans fit".


I have found myself re-visiting and repeating my statement as I have re-dedicated myself to a life of health.  It helps me realize that there is a strong, lean, energetic woman living inside of me and that doing the things that will bring her out is definitely worth it!

Pitfall #2: The Stash

Another pitfall of mine is stashing treats in a secret location.  I used to be really bad at this (or really good at it depending on how you look at it).  You know those package of mini candy bars (usually 8 per package, and they are only $1)?  I used to get a variety of candy bars and put them in my secret location (usually in a drawer in my bedroom because no one looks there...especially for food).  Then I would sneak a candy bar or two whenever I felt like it.  So...no more stashes.  If I feel the need to have something sweet, I can bring it out for the world to see.  After all, something sweet divided among my family of 7 is a lot less detrimental than that same amount of something sweet for just me. 

Special Occasions

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  A special occasion.  I have been thinking about what constitutes a special occasion.  When there's not a holiday there are birthdays, church functions, baby showers, etc. (the list goes on), and then there are the made up special occasions...I lost 3 pounds, I made it through a very busy week, etc. and I deserve a treat.  Beginning this challenge has made me look at some of the pitfalls in my thinking.  Special occasions happens to be one of them.  So...from now on I will not look for special occasions to find a reason to sabatoge my progress.  Instead, I will look forward to the special occasion when I fit into the next size down, have energy to run around at the park with my kids or not be embarrassed or worried when I get a notification that somebody has tagged a photo of me on facebook...THAT list can go on and on too!  Here's to many special occasions in the future!

The Journey Begins

A few weeks ago my friend Ali sent me a link to apply for the 100 day heart challenge.  I filled out the form and clicked "send".  I didn't expect to hear back, but I DID!  I was so excited!

As part of the challenge, I had to have a doctor sign a release form.  It's been a while since I had my last physical, so I went to the Dr. the day before the challenge began.  Everything came back fine...including a positive pregnancy test (I already suspected I was pregnant, so I had taken an early detection test two days earlier that also came back positive).  I wondered if this would affect my ability to participate, but the Dr. said all pregnant women should be eating right and exercising, so he was all for it.

Friday morning, in the spirit of full disclosure, I informed Janet of the positive pregnancy test.  She said the same thing my Dr. did, so I just thought I would do my best, but not have a goal of dropping a lot of weight.  I told a couple of other people, and I'm sure a few others overheard.  I normally don't share news this early (especially with my history of miscarriages), but because the news came the day before the challenge started, I was just trying to figure out how to do this challenge well and grow a baby at the same time.

As it turns out, Saturday morning brought cramping and bleeding and I spent the weekend miscarrying.  I only knew I was pregnant for three days, and I am grateful to have this challenge to focus on. So...hopefully my belly (and other things) will be shrinking instead of growing.  I am more determined than ever to give it my all!  I worked out this morning.  It may have been too much too soon, but I figured since it was a very early miscarriage, it wouldn't hurt.  I did just fine and am excited to keep on going.

Just a couple of highlights from the weigh-in Friday morning:

I do not like to watch myself on video or hear myself speak on camera, but since I had signed a form that said I would be willing to be video taped, I knew I couldn't avoid the camera man.  He interviewed me and Darin not long after we arrived (at 7 am).  He was asking why we wanted to participate in this challenge.  Darin gave a perfectly good response, then the camera man turned to me.  I said something about healthy habits in our home, mentioned that we had 5 kids, then I started to say, "...and I thought it would be really fun to do it together"...and then I realized that I had just said that we had 5 kids and saying "fun to do it together" might make people chuckle so I tried to recover (not so gracefully) and said, "I thought it would be really fun to do it...to do the challenge together". Awesome.

As we sat down to eat breakfast, another participant said, "Spotting the trainers in the room is like playing the Sesame Street game 'One of these things is not like the others'."  She apologized profusely, thinking that we were offended.  We were too busy laughing to be offended.  Can I just say that meeting the other participants made me even more excited to participate.  They are all great, and I can't wait to get to know them better and go on this journey of wellness with them.

I am also very grateful to have so many talented and fun people heading this thing up.  I can't wait to learn all that they have to teach!