Surviving the snow storm

28 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

Hello, yes, I survived the snow storm.  The one with the heaviest wettest snow I have ever shoveled in my life and I have lived in Wisconsin a lonnngggg time.  And boy, oh boy, did I ever shovel.

No need to go to the gym yesterday.  Two hours of hard shoveling and I think I burned at least 50 or 56 thousand calories.

I felt entitled to a cold diet soda break.  Even though I gave up diet soda and haven’t had any for over a week.

I poured that smooth elixer in a glass and drank a few pulls.  Poured the rest of the can down the drain.  It really didn’t taste all that great and I really didn’t want any more.

I count that a huge victory in the “changing behaviours” department.

On the other hand, my other hand found the chocolate chips in the baking cabinet and while one hand didn’t know what the other hand was doing, I shoveled a few handfuls of chocolate chips down the old gullet.

That’s called insanity!

Oh well, that’s my life right now.

Off to yoga to stretch out and relax all those snow shoveling muscles and to mediate about the chocolate chip shoveling incident.

Have a blessed day!

 

So Easy

26 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

So easy to get sidetracked.  So easy to get lazy.  So easy to grab a handful of this and that and not write it down.  So easy to eat in a hurry.  So easy to not even bother tasting and enjoying.  So easy to eat distracted.  So easy to say, oh bother, why bother?

I am sosoo like Winnie the Pooh:  Oh bother!  Give me the honey jar!

So hard to change patterns.  So hard to pay attention.  So hard to overcome inertia.  So hard to stick to it, every day.

So that’s one reason I’m writing this post.  To force myself to pay attention.  To stay on track.  To write things down.  To slow down.  To bother with it all.  Yes, it is a bother.  But the alternative is a bother too.

If I don’t at least try to stay healthy, I will eventually have to bother with illness and disability as I grow older.  If I don’t bother to strengthen the feeble knees and legs and arms and core, I will lose muscle and strength and become a burden.  I have to at least try to bother.

So today I am bothering with me.  I am choosing “easy does it”.  Nike says “Just do it”.   “Just do it” is not all that easy.  “Easy does it” is softer, but still does it.

The wisdom of scriptures says to be a doer of the word and not just a hearer.  Doing things today.  So easy.  One moment at a time.

Blessings!

First workout with a personal trainer

23 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

Okay, so I survived my first workout yesterday.  This morning however, I feel like I’m walking in a fun house.  My legs are sooooo wobbly.  There are some muscles in these old legs of mine that haven’t been used for awhile.  I could tip over at any moment.  In spite of this, I am going to attempt a yoga class this morning.

Speaking of personal trainers, I think I have a nice one.  He’s very encouraging and he didn’t laugh at my attempts on the big rolly-polly exercise ball when I thought I would go flying across the room!  I give him points for that.

He kept asking me if I was doing okay, if I needed a short break, or if I needed water.  Makes me wonder if I looked like I was dying.  I lied and lied and told him I was just fine.  I have a few shreds of pride, after all.

Call me crazy.

I had a protein shake yesterday made with fresh pineapple and carrots.  It was quite delicious.  It would be refreshing on a hot humid summer day.  Yesterday it was in the twenties and snowing and windy, so the cold drink was followed by two cups of hot tea with honey.

It’s gonna take me awhile to figure all this out.  In the meantime, I may act a little crazy from time to time.  Bear with me, people!

More changes this week

22 Feb 2013 1 Comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Yeah for protein shakes!  I bought my very first canister of protein powder, french vanilla flavor.  Mixed it with milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1 cup of raspberries.  Eh, it was okay.  I might have NOT followed any recipe and just added too much unsweetened cocoa powder.  Don’t recommend it.  I’ll try again.  Less cocoa, no raspberries.

In the process of trying to eat more protein, I’m realizing how many carbs I want to eat!  I hope I don’t get tooo crabby.

On the positive side, I haven’t had any diet soda for 3 days and I don’t really miss it.  I never thought I would be able to make it through a day without it.  Then two weeks ago I read an article in AARP magazine that made me think I should quit the diet soda habit.  A recent study found that diet soda drinkers increased their risk of diabeties by 30% or something crazy like that.  So I started weaning off of it.  And now I think I’m done.

I started brewing my own iced tea and making flavored waters with lemons and cucumbers and such.  I’m getting enough caffeine with coffee and tea, so no withdrawl headaches.  And I have lots of handy hydration that is way more satisfying than diet soda.

(also no more embarassing burping)

What’s next for this old gal?  Maybe I can give up real cheese!  Someday.  Not yet!

Trying Something New

21 Feb 2013 2 Comments

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

So, I have decided to try something new.

February 20, 2013

I am taking another step in my journey through life, trying to live my life fully inhabited.  It seems to come so natural, the tendency to live unconsciously.  I need a jolt every now and then to bring back the awe and wonder that LIFE is, and dive deep into it.

So I have taken the next deep plunge into getting my body in shape for where my soul and spirit want to go.  Its a team ride, this ride through life.  All parts of me have to be willing to take the ride.  My body is holding me back.  It has been for a long time.  Let’s just say I’ve had a bad decade.

The good news is that its never too late to get on the ride.  And the body has willing traveling companions:  the soul and the spirit and the mind.

So hop on board the  fitness train.  Take this journey with me.  We’ll have some laughs, we’ll have some insights, we’ll shed some tears and hopefully lots of pounds of unwanted body fat.

I joined a fitness center.

I know, I’ve allowed myself to be talked into the deluxe package.  I’ve allowed myself to be talked into sessions with a personal trainer.  I know I’m probably being taken for a ride.

Cynicism is what I do best.  Along with beating myself up with guilt.

On the other hand, this could possibly be the smartest thing I’ve done for myself in a very long time.  I hope I survive the guilt of spending money on myself for what seems to be a gamble.

I need to see it as an investment in my health and well being.  I need to stop listening to the other messages in my head.  The little gnomes that hobble around on knarled feet and cackle that this is just something else I will fail at.

I hope to honestly record my ups and downs along this journey to a better, more fully inhabited life.  You may be inspired.  You may laugh.

I may be on just a lonely quest, just one desperate woman trying to find some hope and success in an area where failure and disappointment have been my only nurishment thus far.

Today I had a fitness assessment.

I met with my new “friend” : the personal trainer and nutrition consultant.  He’s a cute young thing.  He shall remain anonymous.  He seems every excited to help me transform.  He thinks I should track calories and eat more protein.  Sounds reasonable.  He also said I should switch to fat-free cheese.  I told him that’s like drinking non-alcholic beer:  WHAT’s the point!!???  Geez, I’m from Wisconsin.  We eat REAL CHEESE here!

I’ll try.  I’m not as excited as he is.  He obviously doesn’t have the decade of baggage of failure and the numerous decades of fighting extra poundage that I do.  It’s really and literally weighing me down.

I am, however, the kind of person that with even a shred of encouragement, can bounce up to optimistic quickly.

I’m hoping for a high protein kind of day!