Competition Goal

Sunday, September 26, 2010

new beginnings

Friday I'm closing on my new (old) house. i can hardly wait. although it's stressful to move and with everything else that's been going on i feel like it's almost more than i can take, i also feel like this new home is going to be a whole new beginning. for me, for my family, for my finances!
YAY!
I think October is going to be the best month of the year!


Saturday, September 18, 2010

HOLY COW

I'm suppose to run a 1/2 marathon in 21 days and I AM NOT READY!!!!!!!!!!!

Once i finally pulled my head out and started to recover from my poor decisions of last month i got sick. Not just a little but A LOT! I've been hacking and coughing and struggling to breath for the past 2.5 weeks. Needless to say my half marathon training has gone right out the window. The other day i was supposed to go 8 miles and after 2 i gave up. UGH!

My goal was to beat my last time by 33 mins and finish the race in under 3 hours.
My new goal: Finish the Race!

There is a part of me that wants to bail out on the whole thing. But i just can't. You see, i spent 45 dollars on that race and that would be ONE EXPENSIVE T-SHIRT if i did bail out now. I don't even spend that much for jeans!

So, are any of you walk/running the Layton half marathon? Anyone want a slow but steady partner to do the race with? Let me know.

Until then, I've got to get my @SS training again.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

An introduction

I know I'm a little behind the times but... hey, better late than never right? So, Karilynn posted a challenge last week of introducing ourselves. So here i a little about me.
I'm 30 years old and mother to the most beautiful baby on the planet. This is my baby girl Jade. It is rare that i post pictures of her on an open blog or allow others to do so as well. i don't face book or my space so unless you're on a direct email list you probably won't see pictures like this very often. My husband Jack and i were married Aug. 19th 2007.

This is me 14 months and over 100 lbs. ago. Obviously pregnant but also WAY overweight as well. I am down 40+ pounds pre-pregnancy weight.

I was born and raised in Hooper Utah. That's north of Salt Lake City about 45 mins. and as far west as you can go without ending up in the Great Salt Lake (although i live just over the boarder so not to close to the lake). I grew up riding horses and traveling the rodeo seen with my family. They're all pretty country and i was always a little bit rock n' roll. But we all got along great!

Something a lot of people don't know about me: I am a belly dancer. I've been belly dancing for about six years now. i did take almost two years off just before i got pregnant and then during the pregnancy. i went back to dancing shortly after jade was born. I LOVE IT!!! (I'll try to add a pic but don't have one on this computer)

I work in supply as a Retail Item Manager. I love my job although it's crazy busy all the time and stresses me out a bit. There is never a day that i go to work that i don't feel like i accomplished something. That is a great way to end each day.

I've been overweight for most of my life. Although hind sight being 20/20 if i knew now what i knew then I'd have worried WAY less about my weight when i was a teenager. i would have loved my body and wore clothes to accentuate it rather than hide it!

My goal is to get to 18-20% body fat. i don't care how much i weigh at that point cause I'll be SMOKIN HOT!!!










Monday, September 6, 2010

The good, the bad and the ‘oh so ugly’ truth…

Last you heard I was gearing up for a major push in August. I lined myself up to challenge a friend who was crazy enough to do the HCG diet. Well, needless to say, I fell WAY SHORT of the goal!

Without going into too much detail I’ve had some serious speed bumps in my life as of late. Things at home have been rocky to say the least and I felt as if I’ve been spinning out of control. Part of the reason for shooting for the big challenge was an attempt to get focused and stay that way. It didn’t work.

Rather than spending the month kicking my health and fitness into high gear I spent the month drinking, smoking, not drinking water, drinking coffee like it was water and eating like crap or even worse… not eating at all. For me not eating is the worst thing I can do to my body when it comes to weight loss. My metabolism, which usually runs like a Mack truck, flips into starvation mode with such ease that I pack on the fat like a polar bear preparing for the winter. I know this about myself… it isn’t news. Yet when the going got tough I gave up on me.

I started out ok. Digging in trying to stay on top... But then I stopped. For a few weeks I just ignored the fact that I was letting the month slip away with no regard to my health or well being. I found every opportunity and excuse to party and make bad choices all in a failed attempt to control something. I smoked because no one could stop me from doing it; I ate like shit because I was kidding myself that ‘I chose’ what I put in my mouth. I acted like a stupid, rebellious teenager. It was as I sat barfing my guts out in the bushes outside a house party this realization hit me like a freight train: I’m 30 years old! I have a daughter and a husband. I don’t want to go backwards!

Once I allowed myself consciously to realize what I was doing I spent a few days trying to make sense of it. I made lists of demands for myself, my husband and others around me. I lined up my life like a well prepared outline and then tried to force it into some kind of order. When that didn’t work I planned exit strategies that would get me to the end as quickly as possible, all of which were negative and geared entirely out of self destruction. Preparing myself mentally and physically to end my marriage, my position in my church, my place in my family… my everything!

Then suddenly………………….. It hit me………… WTF am I doing?

Why is it that when the shit hits the fan the ease and comfort of slipping into old patterns/habits jumps back into focus and feels like the best possible solution? I turned to some friends and family but I only gave them half truths and part of the story. Without all of the details outlined in my head they had no idea how to help. My husband, scared and completely confused, stood by me and tried to be supportive and understanding but again without all of the information he was at a loss.

I had a doctor’s appointment to get tested for exercise induced asthma (which it turns out I do have) and in a moment of weakness or brilliance or maybe both, I caved and spilled my guts to him. He made arrangements for me to see a counselor the following day and THANK GOD because I finally feel like I’m pulling myself back together again.

In my first few appointments with him my counselor just let me rattle on and on. Rather than focusing on my husband, family or whatever I decided the session would be entirely about me. I laid it all out there; the good, the bad and the ‘oh so ugly’ truth! I told him again and again, “I’m going flipping crazy! I need help!” He kept asking me why I was crazy. I’d tell him this scenario or that and with each end he’d say, “So, why do you think that’s crazy?” I wanted to yell or scream WHY DON’T YOU TELL ME? WHY THE HELL ELSE DO YOU THINK I’M HERE? I even entertained the idea of punching him in the face a time or two. But over and over he’d ask, what I was thinking and why I thought I was crazy or why I thought what I was thinking was crazy. Anyway, I was almost certain that by the end of the sessions I’d be crazy for sure.


Then the other day, he sat forward in his chair and said, “Now, do you want to know what I think?” I was like YES!!! THANK YOU!!! And he told me, “Everything you just said is complete and total bull shit!” I almost fell out of my chair. First, how could a cute little old man use such language (lol) and second… how dare he? I was floored. So much so in fact, that I shut up, sat back and at a complete loss of words opened myself up to hear what he had to say. He cut me to the quick in an instant and it was exactly what I needed him to do. He then used my silence as an opportunity to give me some insight into everything I had just said.

He told me I was a powerful, motivated, hard working, independent woman. I was fully capable of taking charge of my life and my situation. My executive mind decided that something in my life needed to change and in an effort to force the situation I made a list of “tangible things” that I could influence. The biggest mistake I made was focusing on all of the really negative and self-destructive tangible things for me. Here’s the problem with that and the reason I was going crazy; the reason I was completely bonkers in my head.

There was nothing wrong with my life, my circumstances or my tangible existence. What really had me messed up was that my heart was broken! With all that was happening I was an emotional wreck but rather than face that reality, rather than opening up my heart and being transparent about the whole thing I shut it down. Paralyzed by fear and the thought of hurting even more, I closed myself off to everyone and everything that was good in my life and ran to all of the things that were bad. I participated in a bunch of unhealthy activity while avoiding the healthy all together. I avoided those people I knew could reach into me and force the doors of my heart open. Even worse I ripped to shreds the ones who had the misfortune of being in my presence and making the attempt. (Sorry to ALL of you!)


I’ve been hiding from my future because I was hurt and afraid. I was focusing on the negative tangible aspects of my life because I was punishing myself for being too cowardly to face the truth. I’m sure it is only by the grace of God that I didn’t do something completely insane.
So there you go. Without to many details or dragging anyone under the bus, this is me being transparent. That’s where I’ve been and where I am now. I’m a wreck. But, I’m back. I come with no great promises for success or dedications or motivation. No crazy challenges in tow or deep commitment to anyone other than myself.

I’m back. That’s a start!