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Happy Life!

By on January 3, 2012 in blogging, family, holiday

Wow, can it be that I might actually start posting on a semi-regular basis again?!  Truth be told, I’ve missed this.  It’s totally selfish, but I love writing my blog.  It helps me process my thoughts and feelings.  And it helps me connect with all of you, which might not sound selfish, but really is because I get so much out of the community of people in this health/fitness/weight loss blogging world.  So no promises, but I think I might be back more often now, so long as nothing goes totally crazy in my life.  I’m even *gasp* starting to comment on blogs again – though rest assured, I’ve been reading all along!   You all have kept me company (thank God for iPhones!) during late night feedings since this baby was born, whether you knew it or not!

How were the holidays for everyone?  We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with my family.  If you know us, you know that “just us” is still a handful – my parents, my sister and her family of 6 (her, her husband, and FOUR kids ages 1.5 to 16!), my brother, me, hubs, and Alana.  So even a “quiet” family Christmas is loud and chaotic at time, which I absolutely love.  We had a traditional Lebanese meal (kibbee for those of you who are familiar) and broke in the new Kinect my parents bought for my sister’s family.

New Years?  Well, the way we spent our New Year’s Eve is perhaps a testament to our new lives.  We were asleep until about 11:58, when my phone blowing up with “Happy New Year!” texts woke us up ever so briefly.  Then I went back to sleep after kissing my hubs and wishing him (and a sleeping Alana) a Happy New Year and hubs got up to play video games all night.  (Yes, we are just about as opposite as can be!)  And really?  It didn’t feel weird or sad or like anything was missing to not stay up partying until midnight to ring in the new year.  It felt just right to do it the way we did.

Another thing that feels just right is that I’ve not had the usually irresistible compulsion need  to scurry around figuring out what my resolutions are this year.  I’ve never been huge on resolutions.  Let me rephrase that; I don’t really feel strongly about them one way or the other.  I think they are a great tool for some people, a stumbling block for others, or something to which you might be completely ambivalent, like me.

I do, however, think it’s useful many times each year to revisit your goals and vision for your life, and that’s something I’ve been thinking about over the last several weeks.  For me, as fun as the holidays are, they also make me a little introspective as I think about my “year in review”…which naturally leads me to think of the coming year.  Broken down into months, weeks, days, hours, and choices.

So look for a post about that soon.  Where I’m headed this week/month/year.  I am not 100% sure what it will look like yet, but I do know some of what I’m committing to THIS week/month.

How about you?  Are you a resolution person?  Or perhaps you took the holidays/New Year as an opportunity to brush off your goals and update a bit?  Please to share!

Gratuitous baby pic:

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Welcome to 2011!

By on January 1, 2011 in goals, holiday, hope/inspiration, plan, planning, R2P4

Welcome to 2011, friends!

I hope whatever you did last night, you were safe and with your loved ones.  I heard about people who slept right through it; who went running to bring in the New Year on the pavement; who spend the evening with family and friends at home or out on the town.

However you chose to celebrate, I hope you are happy.

And if you are not happy, may I suggest that 2011 can be your year?  The year in which instead of making empty resolutions which fizzle out by February…you set goals and make a concrete plan for how to reach those goals, and then execute that plan?  The year in which you actually begin to achieve some of your goals, and make your own dreams come true?

I said something on Twitter the other day that resonated with me and a few other people: the difference between a resolution and a goal is having a PLAN.  It’s so easy to think about what we want, but the truth is that unless we sit down and put together a realistic plan that allows us to follow-through on that thing we want…well, chances are we’ll spend next New Year’s Eve thinking about the same things we want, and setting the same resolutions for 2012.

Here’s the deal: 2011 is going to pass one way or the other.  And in one year, you will arrive at the last day of 2011 and you will look back at this year.  You have the choice now to determine how you will feel and what you will see when you do that look-back.  So what will you choose?

I choose health.
I choose to do some hard work mentally & emotionally.
I choose to keep working to become the best me I can be.
I choose to run in several events that scare the bejebus out of me.
I choose to keep battling to lose this weight and keep it off because I AM WORTH IT.
I choose to be open and transparent here with myself and all of you…because it makes me better.
I choose LIFE.

So 2011?  BRING. IT. ON.  I am ready!

Are you ready?  What are your plans for 2011?  What is your PLAN to achieve your GOALS for this coming year?

You’ll here more about some of my plans over the next few weeks.  I can’t wait to share!

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3 Christmas Gifts

By on December 26, 2010 in body, eating, family, food, gratitude, holiday, hunger, mindfulness, R2P4, working out

Good morning, friends!  I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and were able to spend time with your nearest and dearest yesterday.  I had a fantastic day with my family.  It occurred to me as we were sitting around the dinner table last night – just the 11 of us – that our “small” family Christmas might be more than many people can take!  It was loud and crazy and there were kids yelling, a baby crying (not often, though), too many butts in the kitchen, a maze of toys and small pieces to step over in just about every room…and it was perfect!  When you picture my family, start with the family from My Big Fat Greek Wedding…switch the ethnicity from Greek to Lebanese…tone down the crazy by about 50%…and you’ll have a decent idea of what my family is like.

3 Christmas Gifts

Even in the midst of that chaos, I continued to think about some of what I’ve been chewing on lately (pun intended).  And I re-realized (yes, I’m that girl who has to learn the same lesson over and over again…sue me) a few things that made me feel pretty darn silly.  In a good way.  These three realizations are a gift to me, for the reasons outlined below.  I’m sharing them with you in the hopes that maybe something in here will be a gift to you.

Realization #1: I am okay.  I am okay now.  I will be okay in the future.  This doesn’t mean that I will not struggle, stumble, fall, or trip multiple times in life (heck, multiple times per day!).  But one thing being with my family makes me realize?  I’m so blessed.  I’m loved.  I’m not alone.  No matter what I go through in life, I have a whole bunch of people in my corner who would do anything to help me succeed.  What more can I ask?

Realization #2: My body craves exercise.  My plan was to get in a hard cardio workout on Christmas Eve, but one thing (staying up late the night before) led to another (sleeping in) led to another (packing my gym clothes but going to my sister’s house with the intention of stopping at the gym on my way home instead of on the way there), and my workout didn’t happen.  I let it not happen.  And you know what my body told me?  Cut that shit crap out.  My body craves movement now in a way I never realized before, and when I go more than one day without it?  I hear about it.  Harder to sleep.  Back starts to ache.  So, note to self…unless extraordinary circumstances exist, the workout has to be my #1 priority.

Realization #3: This is probably the most important one.  My body is satisfied with far less food than my mind. Maybe this is a no-brainer for y’all, but I think I’m learning this lesson in multiple ways over time.  I realized this last night as I was still feeling full from dinner when I got home at 11:30 p.m.  Granted, we ate late, but this was a mini-revelation for me!  I had eaten over 3 hours before and I was not yet hungry!  And what’s more, I had only eaten one plate of food!  Which was at least half vegetables! 

This body of mine, it is wise.  And it has known ever since I lost this most recent chunk of weight that I don’t need as much food to nourish my body.  My mind?  Not so much.  Lagging behind the body a bit.   Rebelling against what it views as “restriction” and “deprivation” in terms of reduced food intake.  But even though it was kind of a “duh!” moment, it is also so encouraging me to re-learn this lesson.  Because all I have to do is learn to pay more attention to my body than to my brain.  Learning to be mindful of what I am eating and why will be hard, but ever so worth it, because my body knows what it needs…all I have to do is listen.

So along with the new watch and the gift of cash from my parents and the wonderful hand-made ornaments and drawings I received from my family, I am also treating these reminders as gifts, too.  I am encouraged, my friends.  I know what to do.  I know I am capable.  I know the struggle is not over.  But I know now more than ever that I can succeed.  You can, too!

How was your Christmas?  Did the holiday help you remember or realize new things about yourself?

Comments { 14 }

Relaxation

By on December 8, 2010 in eating, emotional stuff, food, holiday, hunger, R2P4

Hey y’all!  It feels like forever since I’ve posted (it’s only been since Thursday), and I haven’t been able to comment on your posts all that much, either.  I am reading your blogs, though, so know that I am supporting you even if I haven’t had the time to say so “out loud!”

Our Christmas party was Saturday and it was fantastic!  We had a great time, and I think our guests did, too.  Plus, now our house is all festive with Christmas decorations, which we will enjoy until the end of the month.  Speaking of Christmas, can you believe it’s only 16 days away??  We aren’t going crazy with buying gifts this year and we’re staying home for Christmas with my family, so I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks.  Plus we’re going to Arizona for New Years with Hubs’ family…here’s hoping for 70 degree weather!

On to my topic for today.  I was talking with a friend recently about one of the reasons I overeat.  It’s no secret that I’ve been struggling to stick to healthy and mindful eating lately, but I have been confused as to why!  It’s not “emotional eating” in the way that I usually think of it – I’m not stuffing down a negative emotion I’m trying to avoid.  Aside from being maybe a little stressed (as signaled by the back spasms I suffered regularly before/during finals all through law school and which chose to make their reappearance this week!), life is good.  Hubs and I are in a good place.  Our jobs are secure.  My workouts are great (and are essential for warding off my back pain, usually).

So why the need to eat?  All I can think of is that one way I have used food in the past is to relax.  I mean total, pure, utter relaxation – the kind where you don’t think about anything other than just zoning out in the moment.  And while I realize this is a close relative of the “eating-to-numb-out” side of emotional eating, it feels different, you know?  Because I’m not eating to *stuff* one emotion, but to *produce* another – relaxation.

It’s all the same in the end, though, when I am using food for a purpose other than to nourish my body and bring pleasure (reasonably) to my palate.  And I think it’s just as important to understand the un-dramatic reasons we overeat as the more dramatic/emotional reasons!

It ain’t exciting, but that’s where my mind is lately.  And realizing that helped me have a really healthy day yesterday, which felt amazing!  And my workouts are kicking arse, which I love.  Every day I notice a muscle I haven’t noticed before, or realize that I’m doing something I could never do before.  Little things, really – but they are so encouraging!  So that’s what’s going on with me.  Figuring out another reason I overeat.  Making a commitment to choosing other methods of relaxation now that I am aware of this tendency.  Enjoying life otherwise.  Knowing that it’s okay to struggle.  It doesn’t make me a bad person and it doesn’t mean I’m going to gain all of my weight back.  In a strange way that I hadn’t really anticipated…living in the struggle is teaching me how to love myself no matter what.  Is that weird?

So, your turn.  What’s up with you?  How are you enjoying (or coping with, as the case may be!) the holiday season?  Are you coasting along without effort (love those days/weeks!) or having a bit of a hard time?  How can we all band together and help each other through the rough times?

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Countdown to Christmas Challenge

By on December 2, 2010 in challenge, consistency/commitment, holiday, R2P4, working out

First off, if you haven’t had a chance to read my post on self-discipline and you have a moment, check it out.  The comments and some conversations I’ve been having with myself (yes, in my head, you gotta problem with that?) are making me think a lot more about that topic.  So there will be more to come on that in the near future!

Countdown to Christmas Challenge

Moving right along, it’s time to recap my week last two weeks for the Countdown to Christmas challenge hosted by Scale Warfare and Bella!

You may remember the rules:

1. Choose a specific, realistic goal that you can achieve by December 31st.
2. Post weekly updates (you choose the day) about your progress.
3. Add the challenge button to your blog post/sidebar.
4. Decide on a gift (reward) that you’ll give yourself when you meet your goal.

The first week of the challenge, I set my goal, which as a refresher is:

  • My goal: commit to and follow-through on four structured workouts/week from now until the end of the year.  I have some travel time coming up, along with the normal scheduling challenges that we all face during the holidays!  So my goal is to make at least four structured workouts (and by structured, I mean “official” and not just a walk – trainer, weight lifting, running, gym, something) a priority in my schedule no matter what.
  • I will post updates about my progress on the challenge on Thursdays each week.

Week before last, I added a couple more goals:

  • Be in bed by 10pm Sunday through Thursday nights.
  • Get up no later than 6:30 Monday through Friday mornings.
  • No snacking on the couch – the only eating allowed is a planned, pre-plated meal.
  • Shut my pie hole by 8:30 p.m. every night – no more eating!

As you all know (unless you are both living in a cave and have your head stuck in a hole), last week was Thanksgiving.  What you may not know is that two other circumstances combined to throw me for a loop – I got sick and Seattle got hit with a snowstorm of epic proportions (okay so it was 4 inches, bite me), making driving anywhere difficult.  Not because of the roads, but because Seattle drivers don’t know how to drive in snow so they create more of a hazard than the snow in the first place!  (Sorry I’m not sorry…you know it’s true!)

So the last two weeks I completed a sum total of…drumroll please…4 workouts.  Yep, you read that right – my weekly goal is 4 workouts, but I only fit in 4 workouts over the last two weeks.  So not what I had hoped to report!  But I am not beating myself up over it; instead I am working on getting back into my workout groove.  I’m confident that next week I’ll report a minimum of 4 workouts completed from today until next Wednesday.

The holiday, time off work, and being sick also threw my sleeping schedule off completely.  So I’m back to struggling to get up at 6 or 6:30 a.m.  Today Kim even gave me an awesome early morning wake up call…and I promptly rolled over and went back to sleep until 7:40 a.m.  This all ties back to the self-discipline post from yesterday, and what I’m trying to figure out is if getting up early is an important goal for me right now.  I think it is, but I am going to be doing some thinking and writing over the next few days so I can be sure I’m doing it because I want this to be my goal, instead of because I’m trying to jump on a bandwagon that’s not really important for me to be on.  So, as I said, more to come later.

And since I am all about the silver lining, I will share that despite my crazy sleep schedule, being sick, a holiday, an unexpected week off work, and being off my game workout-wise…and despite not having my scale to weigh myself in the mornings (something I generally do, it works for me) – I made mostly healthy choices and maintained my weight over the last two weeks.  I count that as a win!

How was your Thanksgiving?  How are you doing with your workout goals this week?

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