Thursday, August 11, 2011

Change is Good

So today has been one month of my new exercise regime.  I am up to running a mile and a half now.  Slow and steady wins the race in the weight loss department though, I'm losing about a pound a week.  BUT, that I am actually able to run that far without dying is a great achievement.  There have been other changes in my life as well.  I am proud to announce (I should be ashamed) that after 28 years, I have quit watching The Young and the Restless. Its been a month now and I am amazed at how little the tv is on now-a-days.  Also, another habit (one which was not taught to me by my parents) is my Diet Coke issue.  You will be pleased to know that I have cut back greatly on my intake.  I was drinking 1-3, 42 oz cups a day.  It started as  a financial thing.  One day Bob and I were sitting at Wendy's waiting to pay for our DC's and he was holding the 17 quarters in his hand.  He said "Wow, that's a lot of quarters and we're trading them in for 2 cups of colored water."  So, we decided that we would quit buying them unless we were out to dinner or at the movies (we DO have a well stocked vending machine in our backyard you know).  I do still drink it without guilt, but I have cut back.

As for the rest of my life, things are changing there too.  Bob and I had Wood Design for 8 years.  The last 2 years were rough.  So, in February we closed and Bob took a job as the plant manager for another larger cabinet shop.  To say that the owner was the "Boss from You Know Where" is an understatement.  It was a relief in a way when he was let go on July 12.  Three weeks later he started at Barbosa Cabinets (he worked there from 99-02).  He's handling commercial sales in mid to high rise buildings in the Bay area.  It's a new direction for him , but if anyone can do it he can.

Sometimes in life we change of our own accord and others times we're forced into change. It's all in how we handle it.  I'm thankful that I have my wonderful husband and family to be there and support me when life changes.

Friday, July 29, 2011

So it Begins...

This is the time for brutal honesty. Not only with all of you, but with myself, about myself.  I've had an awesome life.  I have a wonderful family that loves and encourages me in everything I do. Yes, our family has had its typical ups and downs but for the most part it has been great.  I however have spent the last 24 years battling my weight problem.  Like millions of other overweight people, I have tried who knows how many different diet plans. I have found the most success with Weight Watchers.  I first joined in 1990 after my second child and lost 30 lbs to reach Lifetime and got down to within 5 lbs of high school weight.  Over the next 5 years however, we started our own business and I had another baby.  Ever since then it has been a constant roller coaster, up and down and back and forth to WW. In August of 2007 I went back to WW AGAIN and over the next 2 years lost 60 lbs. Then life hit, our business started tanking due to the economy, Samuel and Katrina got married, Kara graduated, Trevor came home, you know, every excuse in the book.  Now two years later I find myself having put back on 45 lbs. But, I still have a wonderful marriage and awesome kids. If my weight is the worst thing I have to deal with after surviving the last two years, I can do it.

So, on July 11 I started on the road to a healthier me.  I figured I "know" everything there is to know about losing weight, I just have to do it.  I have finally been willing to accept somethings that I need to make as permanent changes in my life.  #1 I really have to get serious about exercise for long term.  I somehow have to make it a habit for the rest of my life.  I truly HATE exercise, I've often quoted Garfield and said "I might as well exercise, I'm in a bad mood anyway." So on July 11th, I started running. this is something I have never done in my life.  In school I was always in that group of kids bringing up the end and walking in the mile.  Don't think I'm breaking any land speed records, because I can walk faster than my slow jog, BUT I am doing it.  I started at a half mile, which you may laugh at,but after 3 days I up'd it to 3/4 and then the next week to 1 mile.  The first time I ran down the street after finishing the mile was a bit emotional because it was the first time in my life I had done so without walking.  Today was 6 times of running the mile and it is pathetically slow but I've managed to trim 2 minutes off my time.  I have also been doing about 50 minutes of floor and ball.  Now you need to also understand, I am not doing this totally of my own volition.  Kara is home for the summer and has taken on the role of my personal trainer or my "exercise Nazi".  She has mapped out my fitness plan for the next year with running increases every 2 weeks.  She's awesome even though I don't always "like" her in the moment.  #2 After years of WW I've decided to take a new approach to weight loss.  Changing things in my daily life that I can live with forever.  Spray butter, GONE! Lite tortillas, GONE! Fat-free cheese and Shiretake noodles, GONE! These were foods I associated with "dieting" and I did not like them.  In turn I'm choosing to control real foods that I eat.  I'm also incorporating other changes in my eating habits that I know I can live with.  It's been almost 3 weeks and I'm already seeing results.  So, I plan on using this blog to chronicle this journey I have begun.  I hope to share my ups and down and hopefully you guys can shares yours as well.  I feel that FINALLY I am on the road to a new and healthier me.

Monday, March 7, 2011

My Life in the Now

I spent the weekend with my wonderful daughter down in Irvine.  We shopped til we literally dropped, we ate (too much), we watched movies and we laughed (a lot). For whatever reason, while I was down there, I decided I wanted to start blogging. I'm not really sure why but here it goes.

So, I find myself in this new place in life, an empty nester. To understand where I am today I need to back up almost 25 years. WOW! June 17, 1986 I graduated from Serra High School in San Diego, CA.  Two days later we moved to the big old town of Fredonia, AZ. My dad was being sent to Japan for a year, so mom and the kids would live there while he was gone. I was to spend the summer there until going to BYU in the fall. I took a job from the paper babysitting for the summer. On July, 9th my dad left for Japan. On July 12 the family I was sitting for set me up with their cousin Robert.  The rest, as they say, is history. Just nine months after we wed along came Samuel.  So, to make a long story, short after 23+ years of child rearing my husband and I are actually getting to spend more time together, which after all, is the reason we got married in the first place.

I love being a mom and wife! I love doing things for my family. I have spent the last 23+ years running between baseball, basketball, football, track, cross country, gymnastics, ballet, piano, choir and who knows how many church obligations. After so many years of running, now there isn't so much running. So, I find myself searching for my new role in life. How do I stay busy and be productive while at the same time enjoy this new freedom? I want to accomplish things and be involved without being over scheduled and dragged down. I want freedom to do what I want to do; to take off to go see my kids, to play with my granddaughter when she arrives, to go visit my parents, and to take off with my husband, but I still want to have pupose and meaning to my life. I am attempting to find balance.

So, why the blog? Not sure yet.  I am hoping to share memories and things I've learned while at the same time share my current ups, downs, and ah ha moments.