Toy land

Give your kid an expensive, latest, state of the art toy for Christmas and its broken the same day. Take them to any fast food joint and get a dinky toy in the kids meal and it will never be broken or lost, even if you throw it in the trash can day after day! What is that?!

Excuses Excuses!

Oh excuses are so very easy to make. And the problem is they are so VALID! I discovered about a year ago that I never have a “normal” day. About a year ago I wanted to write a blog post called, “A Day in the Life” with pictures about what I was doing that day. So I waited, with camera in hand for a “normal” day. I promise you, literally 3 full months went by before I realized that I never have a normal day. So I just documented a random day.

Around here we might be going on vacation, or we’re in the middle of a church children’s program, or we’re all recovering from a cold, or I’m starting a new home project, or my hubby is gone doing something for the Army, etc… etc…

In other words, I’ll always start exercising/organizing/getting my life together AFTER [insert current event]. But it just doesn’t happen. Because there’s always something else just around the corner.

So I just have to deal with the madness of my life. I have to create order out of the semi-chaos that is always around me.

No more excuses!

New Beginning… again

How does one overcome the feeling of failure? I worked out so hard for so long and now am having a hard time reigniting that spark. I don’t know why. I run 3-4 days a week but that isn’t the goal I have set for myself. I feel like I am failing in all areas of life. Not just exercise.

I don’t know how to overcome this. I heard a saying that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Well, I hope that is the case. I guess I didn’t learn from the last experience I had with Finding Freedom in 90 Days. So I guess I am doomed to repeat it until I learn. I am beginning my journey with diet, exercise, and God all over again. Breaking myself down to nothing, and starting from scratch. This seemed to work before and I view that part of my life as successful. This has not been the case as of late so I will return and start again.

So, the exercise will be as follows:

P90x diet and exercise, marathon training, reading the Bible through with my girlfriend, and reading other selected works on Christianity, God, and Spirituality. I firmly believe that these things will bring about healing and growth in the three aspects of life that are most important in being grounded. Mental, physical, and spiritual stability are essential for a grounded life and acceptance of self.

I will be blogging my successes and failures on findingfreedomin90days.blogspot.com as well as here.

Wish me luck.

My Favorite Exercise Gadgets

Between children, I got healthy. I used Weight Watchers (which worked WONDERFULLY) and I walked every day. I was living across from a track where I could see my house as I walked. I got up at the crack of dawn every day and walked and lost alot of weight.

Then I got pregnant again. Then we moved. Basically, I have been uprooted but the hardest part was, I didn’t have any way to get out because I had two children and who can walk with two children and get any kind of exercise? I needed a double stroller. My mother-in-law and husband banded up to buy me this fabulous one that totally liberated me from my confinement.

But I need to get real exercise. I need to walk fast enough that I’m making my heart stronger. I want to do more than stroll around the park. That was a great place to start but I need to do more than that now. I’m working toward a goal and a leisurely walk down to the mail box is not enough to get me there.

While I was in Alamosa over the summer, we were perusing the sporting goods store and I saw exactly what I wanted. My dad bought it for me because that’s the kind of guy he is. He likes to get stuff for his girls. Anyway, it’s an awesome heart rate monitor because that’s how you know you are burning fat. That’s how you know you are getting more healthy. That’s how you know what’s going on in your body. HEART RATE! Check out this AWESOME monitor. It’s the best if you are going to track your fitness the way I do.

Excuses A-Bound

The other week, I was taking the kids to swimming at the crack of dawn and I thought, “I’m not going to be able to get any exercise today… After this, I’m going to be dead tired and my whole day is just ruined!” It was only about an hour and a half out of my morning but after taking them, sitting and watching them, getting them home, feeding them and getting all the stuff done that it takes to keep the house functioning, it was just more than I could handle to get out and walk. (Can you tell I’m a morning exerciser?) Anyway, it was an excuse. It was something that kept me from taking that time that I needed to make me healthy and a happier mom.

I had to stop. I had to think it over. I finally decided that I needed to do something. The next day, I took my shoes and heart rate monitor and after dropping the kids with their teacher, I headed off down the road from the pool. At half way through the lesson, I headed back. It was only 45 minutes but… It was GREAT! I didn’t waste time watching the kids swim (which the teachers HATE anyway) and I got my exercise and felt a ton better and was able to play with the kids when we got home.

Be creative! Find a way around the excuses!

Moving to the Music

When I really want to exercise, I like to listen to music. When I’m feeling happy, Aaron Copeland can have me prancing around the track at a nice little clip. His Hoedown music is also the best when you already feel like a beast of burden at a rodeo because you are hitched up to a stroller with your kids. The music keeps me focused and drowns out the screaming while I push the girls around the park.

Before I was married and I was deep in the drama of dating, whenever I would break up with someone or visa versa (usually visa versa…) I would put on some good old angry girl (Pink) music and run off some steam. More modern application of this would be a little Cee-Lo Green or All American Rejects. I still listen to this music when I’m having one of those downer days where I hate how far I’ve let myself sink. After a bad weigh-in or to deal with the guilt of a diet slip, I sing these songs to myself.

When I need a boost of inspiration to even get out, I listen to something like Fanfare for the Common Man or Chariots of Fire or a little Bill Conti or this fanfare – it makes me feel like a triumphant Olympian.

When I need to up my degree of difficulty after I’ve gotten a little more in shape, I listen to Andy’s cheerleading music. Check out Jock Jams. (Andy’s standing behind me with an annoyed look on his face because I totally just called him a cheerleader.) This is also great for cleaning the house. It really gets you MOVING around the house!

What do you listen to? Give me your favorite playlist!

Running at 7600 Feet

My fitness journey began about a year ago in order to train for a 4-mile run.  I have always been an athlete, but as a college student I did a poor job maintaining my fitness level.  While serving as a student missionary I reached my all-time fitness low and even sustained a shoulder injury that I believed would lend me helpless in reaching future fitness goals.  Since then, I have adopted a healthier diet, completed two rounds of physical therapy for my shoulder, and have started to rebuild my muscle back.  I completed a 4-mile placing 3rd in my age category and 10th in the overall women’s category and then dropped rank in a half-marathon placing 109th in my age category.  My goal is to not only improve my fitness level and live an active life, but to be healthy in all aspects of my life.

Being a science-minded person, I believe my blog will be more fact based.  I admire the differences in Callie, Casey, and I.  The dynamics and contrast of our thinking and writing should make this blog an interesting journey.

I’ve been in Alamosa, CO for a little less than two days and am still adjusting to the new elevation, 7600 feet.  As an athlete I embrace the challenge of the elevation difference.  However, it really wears me out!  Today I ran/walked with Callie for about an hour.  Towards the end of the route, Abby, who was sharing a double Bob stroller with Cate, decided she had to pee and she had to go soon!  So I took off sprinting as fast as I could.  I sprinted for about 1/3 mile to get back to Don and Sue’s place. The good news is Abby made it to the potty.  I, however, have been suffering the effects of the altitude.  My lungs were burning, I could taste a metallic taste in my mouth, and I’m still wheezing 1 hr later.  It’s great training but slow recovery.

The Beat in my Head

You know how you always say, “I’ll start getting my life together once (insert: vacation, school, VBS, child teething, etc…) is done.” Well maybe you don’t say that… but I do! I was thinking about what the beat is in my head and to be perfectly honest, I don’t have one.

When I was in college I always had a beat in my head. No matter what I was doing I was always a singer. I sang, out loud mind you, all the time. Many times I didn’t even realize that I was doing it. My roommate called me a walking jukebox because almost no matter what she said I had a song to go along with it. Since my kids came along it seems that nothing in my life is ordered anymore. My house isn’t ordered and my schedule is anything but ordered. I’m lucky if I remember all the stuff I need to do before I go to bed. And I have lost that beat in my head.

I want it back.

That’s part of what this blog is about for me. I need something to keep me focused. To help me as I get my butt off the couch and away from the TV to create some order in my life. Exercise, eating healthier, these things are all really related to order aren’t they?

So this is my goal. To start annoying people again by singing, “Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that KitKat Bar.” Every time someone says, “Give me a break!” again. Because, yes, I was that annoying. But it was because I had a song in my heart… and a beat in my head.

I am El Kanon, The Fattest Man in the World!

My dad always used to say that he wanted to become El Kanon, the fattest man in the world. I tried that motto on for size and didn’t like how it fit. So here is El Kanon reinvented.

I began my journey with exercise about six months ago (I worked out intermittently throughout college). I was obese at 234 pounds and standing a towering 5’8″ and hated what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I decided it was time to get serious, time to grow up, time to mature. I did a workout program called P90x and mixed in a cardio routine (running) to train for a 10k race. I changed my diet and followed strictly a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. I did this for 90 days and set a goal. My goal was to reach 180 pounds. At the time I was 234 pounds. I got very close to my goal but did not reach it in the 90 days. I reached 185 pounds. Once the 90 days were up I went to work for the summer in South Carolina and have only recently returned home and begun to train again. I am running 6 days a week and training for a warrior dash.

I will never stop working out. I have to set little goals for myself such as the completion of the warrior dash. The completion of my half marathon. After that I would like to finish a triathlon, iron man sprint, marathon, and eventually a full iron man.

About 2 months ago I finished my 10k race, the Boulder Boulder. I finished in 57:59:57. It was my fastest 10k and was the biggest accomplishment I have had due to exercise yet.

Making goals and sticking to them shows maturity, growth, perseverance, and strength. Not only will others have respect for you, you will have respect for yourself. My mantra has become “Never, Never, Never Give up!”

But that’s just me. I am El Kanon, the man who never gives up.

A New Path

I’ve been thinking this week about how I can improve my overall health. When I agreed to do this blog I knew that this is a good time for me to begin to make changes in my life. My son is 4 months old now and the healing process that must happen after birth is mostly over. He is no longer a newborn and thus, a bit easier to deal with now. But what changes am I going to make? I have decided to begin by making some goals for myself.

Goal #1: Watch less TV

I have been watching altogether too much TV. When I was pregnant with my son I was so tired in the evenings. My husband and I got Netflix in the last year and I now have access to hundreds of movies and TV shows anytime I want. I can literally sit down and watch 7 seasons of Monk one episode at a time all day long. I admit that I have had a few low moments  when I have done this, but mostly I watch shows when my daughter is napping and after she goes to bed at night. But that equals about 3 hours a day of TV. Not healthy. So I am officially making a commitment to only watch the movies/TV shows that come through the mail from Netflix every four or five days. (Unless I’m on vacation).

Goal #2: Exercise 4 times a week

Since I have never really done any kind of consistent exercise I feel like 4 times a week is a good place to start. I am still working on this one because I don’t really know what kind of exercise I’m going to do. I’m not a huge fan of running, although I’m willing to do it some. I have some exercise videos I can do in my living room, and I can try to change it up by trying other forms of exercise too. I’m going camping this weekend so maybe I can go hiking or something with my kids.

Goal #3: Eat healthier

I can start by lowering my sugar intake and not eating after 7:00 at night. I got in the terrible habit of eating late at night when I was pregnant and it’s a hard habit to break! I don’t want to lower my caloric intake while I’m breastfeeding but just breastfeeding itself will help me continue to lose this baby weight.

Well that’s a place to start anyway. Small steps toward better overall health!