I Wanna Play.

I started playing softball (well, actually T-ball first) at about age 6.

That would be a picture of me my first year playing on a team.

I've never lost the itch for playing.

I want to play real bad.

Does anyone need a player?  

Co-ed or womens?

I no longer wear elastic jeans, so no worries.

Picasso Who?

Do you see this incredible drawing?

This morning Morgan was sitting at the kitchen table "drawing" with Owen because she likes to think she's big stuff.

Let us all recall she is exactly 2 1/2 today.

Suddenly she yells, "DADDY SHANE!!!  I DRAW A PICTURE OF YOU!!!!!"

Shane went to look and I could hear him say, "Hey, that's really good."

I went to check it out and I couldn't believe it.

She really had drawn him....eyes, nose, hair, lips (that look quite kissable) and two little lines coming off the head as legs.

Even a squarish head. :)

At age 3 Livy drew her first recognizable person and it had nothin' on this creation of Morgan's.

And Livy is quite the artist.

So maybe I've got a little Picasso on my hands.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Frustration

I've been trying to run 2 miles under 14 minutes for a little while now.  

A few weeks ago I was nearly there.  

I had run 2 miles in 14:07 and I knew the next time I ran I would, and could, do it.

Then I got the flu.

A really bad, stay in bed, ache in every part of your body, miserable, flu.

For about a week and a half I was out of commission.

Grrrrrr.

I hate setbacks.

But setbacks are a part of training....they are a part of life.

I've realized that how we deal with setbacks is what sets us apart.

We all have them....so what do we do with them?

So I've been pushing to get back to my goal and this morning I had decided today was the day.

I did a 39 minute bike before my run, so I was already feeling a little tired, but I wasn't going to let that be an excuse.

"Today's the day."  I told myself.

I set the treadmill to 8.5, knowing I would have to push the last minute a little harder to reach  my goal.

At about 11 minutes I thought I was going to puke.

But I kept pushing.

"What's 3 minutes?" I kept telling myself.  "That's nothing."

I hit 13 minutes and knew I needed to go up to about 9.0mph to make it, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.  So I went up to 8.8.

I was watching my distance slowly creep up but not fast enough.

I bumped the speed up even more...all the while resisting the urge to puke.

"30 seconds, I can do this.  That's the length of a commercial.  I can do this!"

I bumped the speed up to 10mph for the last 8 seconds.

As soon as I saw 14 minutes hit the clock I slammed on the stop button.

I thought I had done it.

Then my eyes moved to the left and I saw it.....  1.98 miles.

Aghhhhhhhhh!!!!

Disappointment set in. (still fighting the urge to puke).

It's rough to not meet a goal.

But when I came home today I told Shane even though I was disappointed I knew I had made big  improvements.

And next time, I WILL do it.

Once you go Mac, you never go back!

I've been a bad blogger as of late because my computer was on the fritz.

To do anything on the computer I've had to go to Allyson's or to my parents house.

It's been a pain.

Not to mention, I haven't had a printer that works in over a year.

So, Shane and I made a little purchase on Saturday.

It's this.

It really is a thing of beauty.

I'm so sick of HP and all their crappy products that last about 5 minutes.

We were about to get another HP computer, but after adding up all the things we needed to get with it, it was almost as much as the Mac that comes with everything.

We tossed it to the side and grabbed the Mac.

It's so simple.

It's so pretty.

It's so compact.

Apple, I love you. 

Challenge #8

Double duty this week.

For challenge #8 we are going to re-visit eating to 80%.  

I know a lot of people had a hard time with this challenge because it's hard to tell exactly where you are at.  So let's practice it again.

Pay very close attention to how you feel while you are eating and slow down so your body has time to tell you.

The main idea is, never eat to the point of fullness.  If you feel full, you've gone too far.  If you feel sort of sick, you've gone WAY too far.

Always leave a few bites on your plate.  If you feel really hungry later you can always eat a little more.  Have some grapes or an apple.  But err on the side of hunger.

If you can master this one principle, weight loss will come easily to you.

ALSO....the 2nd part of the challenge is to do a 5 mile walk or run at some point this week.  

You CAN do it!  Prove to yourself that you can.  Even if it takes you 2 hours, just keep plugging away.

80% and 5 miles.  

Got it? :)

Challenge #7

Okay, you've known this challenge had to be coming....

Challenge #7 is no sugar for the week.

This doesn't mean anything that has sugar in it, just anything that would fall in the "sweets" category on the food guide pyramid. ie. cookies, cake, candy, ice cream, etc.

You know what I'm talking about.

Often when we are told we can't have something we sort of freak out and then we think we want it even more.

Many times food, particualarly food that is bad for us, has gotten a little out of whack in our minds.

If we can't have it we have a little panic attack.

We may even have this rush of fear go through us when we realize we "can't" have it.

Part of the exercise this week is to take control of that "fear". To make sure you aren't emotionally ruled by food.

When somebody offers you a cookie and you realize you "can't" have it, think about the way you feel.

Are you panicked?

Are you sad?

Are you frustrated?

Are you angry?

Whatever the feeling is, accept it for what it is and then put it in the appropriate place.

Realize you are making the choice because you want something else more than that cookie.

Suddenly you are empowered by your choice rather than victimized.

Remember, it is important to recognize the way you are feeling and allow the feeling, but then analyze it and give it an appropriate place.

Unless we are on the brink of starvation, which I'm pretty sure none of us are, we shouldn't really be feeling fear or panic if we can't have a cookie.

Take control emotionally and the physical control will follow.

No sugar.

One week.

Own your body.

Punk'd?

When we first moved to Arizona in August Shane went through any number of trials.

Most of his trials involved sickness and the DMV. (that blasted DMV!)

I'll spare you all the details and stories....just know that it was a lot!

It was almost as if the world was conspiring against him, trying to break him.

Luckily, it didn't work. I've got a strong man here. :)

Even though there were a lot of really hard things that happened during this time, there were also a few that are quite comical in retrospect. (we can laugh now, right Shane?)

We were talking the other day and I was reminded of one of these experiences.

When we first got here Shane didn't have a car, just his motorcycle.

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle in AZ in the middle of August?

Needless to say Shane didn't want to wear his full helmet with face shield, so he wore his little helmet with no face or eye cover.

So one day Shane is on his motorcycle and a cop pulls up beside him and yells at him for not having "protective eyewear" on. He then instructs Shane to pull over to this empty lot on the side of the road.

Shane dutifully pulls over and waits.

He's wondering if he's gonna get a ticket or what.

Still waiting.

Looking around.

Still waiting.

Finally, after about 10 minutes he wonders why he is still waiting and takes off.

What was that all about?

I told him I think that the cop and his friends were watching him from across the street to see how long he would wait there.

He totally got punk'd.

Challenge #6

The challenge this week is to journal EVERYTHING you eat.

It is much easier to do as you go. It will be more accurate and less time consuming than trying to remember at the end of the day.

Just keep a little notebook in the kitchen or in your purse and write down everything you eat and drink.

Then at the end of the day total up your calories. You can use tools like http://www.calorieking.com/ that are very easy to use in finding your calorie counts.

When you know you only have a certain amount of calories each day hopefully you will make better choices as to where those calories come from.

We all want to be able to just "guesstimate" what we are eating, and you will be able to eventually, but you need to learn what a serving size looks like and how many calories are in the things you are eating. It is an educational process that we all need to go through before we can eat through a guesstimate process.

Remember that serving sizes are essential to pay attention to. You will need to measure out your food. Our society has serioulsy skewed our perception of what a serving size is. We have to retrain our brain to see food portions differently.

If you are shooting for weight loss try to keep your calories around 1200 a day. If you are exercising intensely you can up that to about 1500 calories a day.

Some tips to help with hunger and cravings are:

1. Drink more water.

2. Eat a piece of fruit like a banana or apple to stave off hunger.

3. Eat a handful of chocolate chips to curb your sweet tooth.

4. Allow yourself to eat a small serving of what it is you are craving, but get the serving size ready before you start to eat and then put the rest away.

5. Drink a glass of chocolate milk.

Remember to write down everything--food and drink.

Come on, it's only for one week.

You can do it. :)

Motivation-- Where Have You Gone?

I'm a pretty motivated person.

I get up at 5:10 every morning and workout.

I come home, shower, get ready, get the kids ready and our day has begun.

Everyone is dressed and fed by 7:30 or 8 am.

Most days.

For some reason today was not one of those days.

I got up at 5:10 just like normal, but when I came home from my swim workout my allergies wouldn't let up (I think I'm allergic to cholorine) so my getting ready "process" was halted.

We still got Livy off to the bus just in time, but Owen and Morgan look like this:

That clock behind Owen says 11:45.

He is still in his jammies.

PBS Kids has had our business since 8am.

The idea of getting them dressed and ready, picking up the house or running the errands I need to run is a little overwhelming right now.

The only thing I'm feeling motivated to do is punch Barney in his big, purple dinosaur face.

She's Bringing Sexy Back

Watch out Timberlake 'cause she's bringing sexy back.

For some reason Morgan took off her jammies this morning and had to have her boots on first thing.

Then she completely forgot about the need for clothes.

Underpants and boots....that's the life.

Challenge #5

The Challenge this week is:

Eat only until you are 80% full. Then stop.

This theory comes from the Okinawans who were once the longest-lived people on earth. They practiced a principle they called “Hara Hachi Bu”: which means eat until you are 80 percent full.

Most of us are in the habit of eating until we are full or worse, making sure we finish everything on our plate and then we are past full.

Why would we eat until make ourselves sick?

Do you feel good when you do this?

When you eat until you are full or past full you feel sluggish and tired. If you will stop just before that you will feel light and energetic.

You will get to eat again...it's not the last meal of your life.

Start paying attention to your body and how it communicates with you. You will start to realize you've been ignoring some pretty important messages it's been trying to send you.

Don't eat out of obligation.

Don't eat so as not to "waste" food. How much more money will you spend in trying to get off the extra weight? Just save the food for later or throw it away. Your hips and your heart will thank you. :)

This New York Times article has a lot of really great information on nutritionism and how our Western Diet has come to be. It's long, but well worth the read if you get the chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

80% full then stop.

It's time to listen to your body.