Baby Steps

"How do you eat an elephant?
  One bite at a time."
                          ~Really old joke

"The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step."
                                                                              ~Lao Tzu


Today, I received a Motivational Memo from ThisTimeIMeanIt.com, a website that I use to help me reach new goals, and one I sometimes cross-post my blogs to.  It was entitled, "Keep Moving" and spoke to the concept of making small changes to move forward, as opposed to large, sweeping changes that are sometimes too difficult to adhere to.
You can read it HERE:   http://thistimeimeanit.com/category/motivation-2/
This was a concept I learned early on in my (latest) quest to lose a large amount of weight.  Yes, like many of you, I tried and failed MANY times before I finally succeeded.  More on that another time...

In my inaugural post on this blog, I discussed my initial visit to the nutritionist.  This post addresses the follow-up.  Because after I learned that I had some mistakes to correct, I had to learn how to correct them.  The nutritionist discussed this in terms of making small changes to what I was doing - changes that I felt I was able to make and stick to.  She even let me pick them myself.  I chose to make one change to WHEN I ate, one change to WHAT I ate, and one change to the amount of physical activity I was getting.

WHEN I ate:  I used to eat all the time except in the morning, but I had read that it was good to eat within 2 hours of waking, and to stop eating at least 2 hours before sleeping.  I really felt with some focus, I could make this a habit and stick to it.  Check.

WHAT I ate:  I love to eat, so I decided that cutting out certain foods, any foods in fact, was not something I was comfortable I could do.  Instead, I decided to allow myself to eat anything I wanted, the only limitation being that I could only have one portion of it.  Second change; no seconds.  Check.

HOW often I got off the couch:  As I mentioned in the last post, I love to be outside, so I decided to make it a goal to get outside everyday for 30 minutes.  Whether it was taking a walk, doing yard work, or gardening, I had to get out of the house for 30 minutes a day.  Check.

Now, the changes each person makes must be personal to HIM/HER.  All I knew was that as I read these changes out to the nutritionist, I felt that I could really do these things - felt it in my bones.  They were simple, but not easy.  No change is ever easy, because it hasn't become a habit yet.  But, I focused all my energy on doing these things consistently, daily, and soon, they did become habitual.  In fact, in the first 5 months of my new life, I'd lost 27 pounds.  But most importantly, by making these small changes and sticking to them, I became confident in my ability to effect real changes in my life.  After the first 30-45 days, I was already searching for other changes I could make to my nutritional/activity habits, and felt confident that as long as I focused on what was immediately in front of me, I could make any change into a habit.  That's major, right?

Allow me to demonstrate how major it was for me, by posting a 'before' picture for you, my friends:

Yes, that's me at pretty near my heaviest weight.  Obviously I had a lot of work ahead of me, but by making small changes, baby steps, I've come a looooooooong way.

Where will your baby steps take you?  As far as you want them to.  Now get to steppin'.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

First, allow me to apologize for not posting for over two weeks!  No excuses, just a new goal to post at least two times per week.  Now for this week's post...

"He who laughs, lasts!"
           ~Mary Pettibone Poole


"I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!"
            ~Louise Bogan


I began running about 2 1/2 years ago.  I never, ever thought of myself as a runner.  I walked everyday, and I loved it.  An online friend turned me on to fast walking and I got fantastic results from it.  It was low impact and easy and fun to do, so that was my exercise of choice.  Then, one day as I was walking my six-mile course, something snapped like an over-stretched rubber band.  I'd torn a hip flexor muscle and it hurt - a lot.  The short of it is, walking was never the same again.  It hurt, and that sucked all the fun out of it.  In addition, before the injury, I noticed that I had to walk further and further to work up a sweat and get my heart rate up.  I was already walking for 75 minutes a day, and didn't know how I was going to keep carving more and more time out for my walks.  I started looking around for something else to do.  Someone suggested running, and my first thought was, "Only masochists run."

After all, running is painful, and it's really, really hard.  Why would anyone do it unless they are being chased by large, carnivorous animals?  But as I continued to search for a new activity to replace walking, I kept coming back around to running.  I loved my bicycle, but the bike path in this town is fairly short so I was bored with the scenery already, and taking to the streets means taking your life in your hands (please, motorists, be kind to cyclists).  Aerobics?  Please.  Workout tapes and treadmills and ellipticals were out, because I longed to be outdoors and quickly got bored with them.  And suddenly I asked myself, "Just what are you afraid of?"  I immediately came up with a list: I was afraid of injury, of how much pain I'd be in from the impact on my joints, the burning in my lungs, the cramps in my side (I clearly remembered these from gym classes past), the blisters on my feet.  And then, once the list of fears was out there, I decided that none of them was really so terrible, and I was intrigued by the challenge of it.  I was determined not to let fear dictate what I would and wouldn't attempt.  So, I strapped on some shoes and decided to run a mile.


The first time I did it, I hated it.  It took me longer to jog than to fast-walk a mile!  And I was hot and sweaty, my feet hurt, and I felt really out of shape - huffing and puffing down the bike bath like a 100 year-old steam engine.  It took me a while to even attempt it again.  But boredom and a plateau in my weight loss got me pounding the pavement.  When I re-visited running I did it with a goal in mind - a friend had invited me to run a 5K for charity - that's 3.12 miles.  I felt it was do-able with a little training, so I set out to train.  I had 12 weeks, and was determined to do it.  I got myself an iPod, some proper running gear - including cheap, new shoes; I caution you against this.  If you are seriously considering becoming a runner, make shoes your first priority, not your last.  Anyway, in 12 weeks, I learned to love running.  The first 2-3 minutes are miserable, but then your body warms up and gets used to the pace, and you're off!  With my favorite music in my ears, and the endorphins coursing through my veins, I am never happier than when I'm running and I'm in 'the Zone.'  It's bliss.  The only thing to top it is running in a new locale and taking in spectacular scenery.

Me B4 Race Time

#130!

Which brings me to what I've been up to lately. I ran in the Presidio10, a 10 K race for the Ashlyn Dyer Foundation, on Sunday, the 17th.  The race is in San Francisco.  You run along Chrissy field, across the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  It was only my second race at this distance, although I run farther in my weekly long-run.  But the course was hilly - there were even stairs! - and I was proud that I finished under my goal time.  It was stunningly beautiful, and I loved every minute of my 62-minute run.  No, I'm not the fastest out there - not even close.  I'm not in the best shape, I don't have the best gear, I don't really even look like a runner.  Do I care?  Not a lick, because I bet you I was the only person out there who smiled from the beginning of that race to the end of it.  I had fun, I mean I really enjoyed myself.  And if you're going to exercise everyday for the rest of your life, as I plan on doing, shouldn't you at least enjoy it?  Now go out there, and find your joy.

Running Across The Bridge

Almost Finished!

Just Don't Quit

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."  -Conrad Hilton

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~ Japanese Proverb

I'm in a weird place today, but it was time for a new post so, here I am.   I don't feel like I am in a position to give advice to anyone this morning, so I'm reminding myself of some advice I have taken in the past and by blogging about it, I'm sharing it with you.  Here it is - are you ready?  Just don't quit.

Every one of us has days like this, days when what was possible yesterday seems out of reach today.  We mess up, we make mistakes, we fail utterly.  So?  After such days, it would be easy to just throw in the proverbial towel and forget about all the promises we've made to ourselves about how things will be different, how we won't give up no matter what, how this time will be the time we achieve what we set out to accomplish.  But with long-term goals like losing a lot of weight, or living a healthier lifestyle, the truth is that every day is a starting point.  Maybe you feel, like I do today, that there are 10 times in a day when you have to start over.  That can be daunting and frustrating, but it's also an opportunity.  Just as one successful day of eating right and getting lots of exercise won't translate into losing 100 pounds, neither does one day of eating too much or skipping your workout mean that you've blown all the hard work you've done in the past.  All you have to do is succeed more times than you fail.  All you have to do is stand up one more time than you fall, and you win.

The only time you lose, is when you quit.

Well, I don't know about you, but I've worked WAY too hard to quit now.  So I'm going to stand up, and if I fall again, I'm going to stand up again.  I might cross the finish line last, but damn it, I'm going to cross that line.  Are you in?

Now go out and make it a great day, but if that's not possible, get through today and hope that tomorrow will be a better one.  Because that is always possible and that is what is great about life.

Motivation

"People often say that motivation doesn't last.  Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily." - Zig Ziglar

When people hear my story, the first question is inevitably, "How did you do it?"  But, that's not what people really want to know.  They want to know how I kept at it without quitting.  I'll delve more deeply into many of the pitfalls and pratfalls I've suffered along the way, and how I moved beyond them, in other posts.  For today, I'll say that one of the important things I've learned in my quest to lose 140 pounds, which I began 5 years ago this month, is that one needs motivation.  Such a small word for such a vital thing, isn't it?  It's fairy glamour - it's a wisp of golden smoke, at times impossible to perceive, let alone to grasp.  But I have to have it, or I toil in vain.  Period.  I've gained and lost motivation 1000 times over the last 60 months.  But it's what I work hardest for.  With it comes the attainment of my goals.  Without it, I can hold onto the accomplishments of the past, but I don't move forward, I don't accomplish the all-important MORE.

I've also learned that what motivates me can change every day - sometimes every moment.  Am I capricious?  Am I fickle?  I don't see myself that way, but... here's what happened today. 

It's officially spring where I am.  I went out this morning at 5:45 to hit the gym and I could FEEL it - the temperature was a modest 50 degrees, and the air was calm and still.  The sun had begun its ascent and dawn was approaching - earlier than it has in months.  Again I felt it more than saw it.  And I suddenly had a new goal.  With spring comes sleeveless apparel.  So, in the quest for what I call 'tank-top arms' I decided that I need to do some push-ups and set out to do 100 today before I sleep.  I've done two sets of 25 push-ups so  far as I write this; I'm half-way there.  What will motivate me tomorrow?  I'll let you know as soon as I do.

What motivates you?  Whatever it may be, catch it and hold it for as long as you can, because while you have it in you, you have work to do.  Isn't that divine?  When it dissipates - and it will - hunt for the next patch of glamour, and you will know how to proceed.  Just a little advice to you from me.  Make it a great day.