This morning, running with Kaia Fitness, I did not have a good book downloaded on my iphone and I was in-between groups of girls I could have chatted with. What to do while running?
Apparently I cannot do one thing at a time, such as simply running. Multitasking is one of my geniuses but also one of my many achilles. My friends at Viking Clinical Research say I have not floundered since I was in-utero. Which is not true.
There were orange groves on my left, vineyards on my right and in front coming out of the morning frost floated eight hot air balloons. Seriously gorgeous.
I decided to call my Missouri-brother and say, Happy Sabbath. Of course, when he picked up he said, “I hope you’re running Sana, cuz if you aren’t…?” I told him I was running.
To the fridge and he said, “That’s good, cuz it means you’re out of bed.”
Well connecting with him was fun, despite his snark. And now with you.
Happy Sabbath, friends. Please tell us today what you are doing to be a friend to yourself? Speak out! We need to hear you. Keep on.
Dr. Q
I am eating clean food, I am walking and swimming. I am reading the Bible, and your blog. I am living in the moment, showing up being present and listening. I am choosing not to take things personal. I am learning to look at others as big frail ego’s just like me and trying to be compassionate and caring not judgmental (this goes for myself too). I am going to read my book, watch a movie, and have self care.
this was so incredibly sweet col. thank u.
seeing others w their humanity in tact is magical. when i stop doing that, i have to get more real w myself. keep on.
Watching my awsome granddaughter play an awsome three games of volleyball. Taking care of myself can’t get better than that!!
indeed! kids and volleyball. i’m glad to hear this.
I was also running, a gorgeous 15km trek on a trail that took me past parks and lakes and wildlife and beautiful scenery. Almost forgot I was in my own city a few times. It was AMAZING 🙂
wow. i can imagine. 15km sounds rigorous too. keep on.
A little gopher hunting in our yard, with my dog, then kicked it beside the pool with a good book, soaking up the sun and watching my dog romp and play and cool off in the pool
when i first read this, i thought u meant you kicked the gopher 😉 tee hee. this sounds delightful. keep on.
After reading it , again, it does sound like I kicked the gopher in the pool 🙂
But no, they occasionally manage to find it on their own (YES!)
We’re eating clean, mostly vegetarian food. No coffee. Limited sugar. Bill is down to 154.5 (he started on his journey about a year and a half before I did). I weigh myself daily, and yesterday weighed in at 121.4 pounds. I have lost a little over 40 pounds this year (I made a lifestyle change on June 1, 2012). Running has changed my life: I made a new personal best distance of 6.3 miles yesterday morning. We also bike and lift weights. Other than that, we play and work hard and are keeping in tune with Nature by raising new chickens and tending our veggie and herb gardens. Feels good to be in control and fit!
Wowowowo! sarah! this is such fun to share w u. thank u for telling us. congratulations to you and your family. what a team. inspiring to us all. What’s the hardest part of doing this on the long term vs short?
i need hope so hearing this helps me! i eat mostly vegetarian, clean food, workout several days a week, swim, etc. and have gained 10 pounds. sigh . . . God has a plan. I am strong, healthy, agile, with tons of energy, my dr. loves all my “numbers” and i sleep great at night, despite hot flashes. so i am going to go with that. thank you for sharing. i needed the hope.
That’s a really, really good question. At first, the hardest part was mourning part of my old lifestyle. I knew I was giving up some things—not just certain foods, but certain hobbies and ways of being (i.e. sleeping as late as the children and not exercising, baking, a coffee culture, social eating, and making excuses). My best friend put it to me this way: “You cannot be a SAHM who bakes as a hobby and not expect to gain weight.” Boom.
It was also hard to get into the mindset of daily weighings and—gasp—being accountable. I had to learn calories for various foods and proper portioning. Not a lot of food it felt like at first…but after a few months, a surprising amount of food if I chose to eat veggies and to eat clean.
The hardest part mid-way through was a distancing of a person close to me who is very, very much into the food culture and who knows that she is overweight. We used to be into food and overweight together. The distance partly comes from this person and partly from me. Food used to be a major shared interest…and now it isn’t. Now I think we wonder what we both still have in common… But I view food as being like a drug, at least for me. It is fine in medicinal doses, but it is like being a recovering addict in many ways. I’ve had to switch cultures, to keep my mind on the right track. This person isn’t ready to make this journey. I don’t judge that: she’s just not ready. I try not to take our mutual distancing personally, and we’re still friendly.
Right now, I am struggling to switch my mindset from “losing weight” to “maintaining weight.” In some ways, it is easier for me to be in a “losing weight” mindset than it is to be in a “maintaining weight” mindset…if that makes sense. Long term, I am scared of losing control over myself again. There is part of me that knows I won’t, because I have educated myself now about food and calories. The documentary Forks Over Knives has been huge for me, as well. But part of me knows the potential is there for a relapse, and I live with that every time I come downstairs to do dishes and feel the tug of my past late-night snacking habit.
The challenge long term is also to keep goals ahead of me. I do best when I have something to work for. I met my weight goal, but now what? I have been thinking about focusing on strength now, and performance. I have to stay hungry for achievement, versus being hungry for food.
How about you? What have you found to be the biggest challenges long and short term?
sarah, what a lovely reply. I’m going to put this out there for us all. thank you!
Running,diet, working outside, organizing, reducing stress.
Rich. Thank u M