Welcome to AA

I hesitate to write this because I really don't want to jinx anything, but I have been running lately. On the treadmill, in intervals, walk 2 minutes run 2 minutes, for 30 minutes total. Sounds lame but let me tell you why this is a big deal. I am fat. Not just overweight but borderline morbidly obese. Seriously. That is where I fall on all the charts. When I step on the Wii fit board it goes "oh!" like it is surprised. When it weighs me the music may as well be a death march. "dun duh dundun dun dun". Oh and I hate running. We have a long history and I have always hated it.

It's ok. I know it. I am tired of it. Hence the running.

I can blame it on the 4 babies, but there is a lot more to it than that. I have basically had a sedentary life style for most of my life. I did exercise sporadically through out, but never enough to make a huge difference. I would lose 10 or 15 pounds at a time then slowly put it back on with 5 or 10 more. Exercise was never a huge part of my life and never encouraged as such either.

I danced when I was young. We moved when I was 8 and so I never really started again.

I played soccer for 5 years. I was the goalie because I was too lazy to run all over the field.

I started running track once but never made it to a meet because I found out I hated running and it really hurt my knees. (I have since been to a podiatrist and found out the problem is in my feet not my knees, so now it does not hurt. Not that way anyway.)

I have big boobs. Not conducive to running.

I bought a good sports bra, I got orthodox, I bought new shoes, I have a gym membership. So now I run. I am a runner. I have done it enough times to say I am one. Not a fast one and not long distance, but a runner just the same.

I run because it is the best way I know how to lose weight. Have you ever seen a fat runner? Besides at the gym? You do it enough for a long enough time and you are bound to become thin. I figure it may take me a year, but eventually I will run all the fat off. I don't want to be 40 and fat. I figure I better start now.

How nice will that be? I will know one day. I will keep you posted on my running.

p.s. secretly I have always wanted to be a runner...I just pretended I didn't.

Free for All

I love to read. I have mentioned that before. My friend Sandi told me about a site where I could get free books in exchange for reviewing them on my blog. You can sign up on their site here if you are interested in some free reading material too.



So here goes my first installment.



What's Age Got To Do with It? Living your healthiest and happiest life

by Robin McGraw



Ever wonder how some women look like they have never aged, no matter how long it has been since you last saw them? I do, and I want to know their secrets! In this book on how to take care of yourself, inside and out, Robyn McGraw does just that: gives us all the inside secrets to how she stays young looking and fit despite the ticking of the clock. One of my favorite sections is on watching what you eat. Not just for weight loss but for total health. Eating with a purpose in mind of getting those essential nutrients that will help you maintain the youthful skin, healthy muscles and energy needed to continue to feel young as we mature.



I am in my mid thirties and have to admit I was a little annoyed about this book at first. I didn't want to read it, but the information is vital to women my age, even if at first glance it does not seem so. Most of the routines McGraw has formed over the years, she started when she was very young. Using her advice in my life now will help me have the results I want 20 or 30 years from now. I only wish I had had this book to guide me 10 years ago. I recommend not only reading this book, but keeping if as a reference guide for the lifestyle changes I want to make. I did read it straight through, but it may not be necessary to understand what each section is teaching.



One of the most comforting things I discovered when reading this book; no one is perfect and it is not going to take thousands of dollars to make you look and feel better. But we have to start making changes and taking time for ourselves. Most of the suggestions McGraw gives are simple routine changes we can make in our everyday life. If change is what you are looking for, McGraw will help you understand a few ways you can make those changes. Do it for yourself and for you future.

A few things to say...

First off I want to say Happy Birthday and Happy Baptism Day to my nephew...Yogs. We celebrated his special day last night and it was great. How lucky is he to have them all on the same day? By the way, he is Ally's "twin" and Luke's best friend. He only lives a quick 45 minutes away so we see him lots.

Second I want to tell you about my new goal. I have a "pile" of boxes in the boys room that needs to be organized, re boxed (in my handy Rubbermaid's I bought) and a new home found for them. So that is what I will be working on this week. I am a little nervous about completing this one in a week, but I am not going to give myself more time or I will procrastinate it for another 2 1/2 years. Wish me luck. The pile is high and the task is daunting.

Third the girls are loving piano lessons! I am so excited and so are they. I hope it stays fun for them. Any tips on that? Ally played through Emma's entire book last week. It has become a privilege to get to practice piano. I certainly don't remember it being like this when I was young, but maybe I didn't love it as much as they do. hmmm...

Fourth speaking of the girls, they both perform this Friday night at the IF JV game. You are all invited! They will be doing some of their competition dances that they are getting ready. So cute and fun! The costumes this year are awesome! Good job Gertie!

Fifth I went to the gym 3 times last week. Yea ME! Today was crazy so I didn't make it, but I will go tomorrow. On the first day I thought I was going to die. By the third day it was not so bad and the timer went off before I was dying to stop.

My Not A Diet

Let's face it. Diets are crap. They are no fun and the only thing I do when I am on one is wish for the day I will be "done". But we are never done because as soon as we quit we put on more weight and then we have to start the whole thing over again. It sucks.



So here is my plan.



I am working out. My goal is 3 times a week but I am pushing for more. I gotta make working in that dumb day care worth my time! Did I ever tell you how much I hate to baby sit? Another day perhaps.



I am watching what I eat. Tonight at 10:30 when I really wanted Alfredo sauce and 5 bread sticks, I ate a salad. Yes I ate a bread stick too, but it filled me up and saved me like 800 calories. The key to this: I am going to eat what I want so I don't fell deprived. I am just not going to eat as much of it as often as I usually do.



I am not making this a goal or a resolution or a deadline type deal in any way, shape or form. That is just setting me up for failure, which I am not good with.



What I am doing is making it my habit. Our country is full of fat people. I don't want to be one of them anymore. I don't want my kids to become one of them either. It is pretty much certain if we continue doing what we are doing that we will stay fat.



I have no distinct weight in mind or time limit on when I will get there. When I can feel confident in my skin and run around with my kids without aching or getting winded I will know I am there.



I am not unrealistic about the body I want. I have stretch marks in crazy places. I have lots of spider veins. I even am starting to wrinkle in places... mostly from smiling. My boobs are sagging..but I did breast feed 4 babies. I know who I am. I would just like to not have excess fat underneath it all anymore. I can change that part. So I am going to.



I am a work in progress and I will never be "done". The moment I think I am is the moment I start to go the opposite direction I want to go.

Resolve this

So how did you do on your resolutions last year? I did not do so well.

The thing about resolutions is you have to be reminding yourself about them all the time to make them a realistic goal. I do not do that and really could not remember more than 2 before I went back to the list I made.

I know I wanted to lose a bunch of weight...which I did, but gained back when LA Weight Loss went bankrupt or whatever happened to make them close all the centers with no notice to us.

TheVisiting Teaching was going GREAT, until they dissolved our ward and put us in a new one, with new companions and new people to visit.

The house decluttering I did pretty well at. We have less then a dozen boxes of random things stacked in the boys room now...mostly baby clothes. Then Christmas came and added back into the piles of stuff.

The dishes were sporadic at best. More done than not on most days, but I did start a job and am not home all the time anymore.

Keeping in touch is becoming easier with facebook, but still not where I want it to be--especially with my sister in laws.

I did not run in the race. I have not been running hardly at all.

So there are my excuses. I know it is a new start, but how realistic are resolutions? Are we setting ourselves up for a February Failure by creating these goal for ourselves that we really have no intention of accomplishing?

The gym was packed this morning...how long will that last really? I think a short term goal is a better way to work on something. At least for me it is. So here is my short term goal.

*Clean out the front room by putting all the decorations from Christmas away, in storage, and get the new piano set up.

Knowing me, this could take a month. So my deadline is Friday. I will return and report when I am done and set a new goal at that time. Who wants to join my 1 resolution at a time? Set a goal for yourself you know you can accomplish in under a month, a week preferably. Then when you achieve it, you will have that much more confidence to set and reach another one!

Good luck!