52 Weeks....to the Real Me

Day 12- Biggest Loser 30-Day Jumpstart

Taking Risks. Apparently today I'm more interested in yesterday's advice - both what it was and what I THOUGHT it was going to be about. Rather than being about emotions I thought "get comfortable with being uncomfortable" was going to have some advice about pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. Trying new things. Daring yourself to do what you thought you couldn't.

I've been roller skating nearly my whole life. My first pair of skates were Strawberry Shortcake. I even took lessons. I have a great video of me dancing on skates.. if I'm brave enough, and I can find it, maybe I'll post it. (don't ask about the face paint - I have NO idea!) Anyway, in Middle School I started skating every Sunday and then we started going on Friday nights. I even got speed skates. I continued to go occasionally in high school. I even tried ice skating a little, but I was never as fond of that, it always hurt my ankles more. After a several year hiatus from skating Luke and I started going occasionally. As times moved ahead Roller blading became popular so I bought myself a pair of blades, probably about 7 years ago. I never wore them.
Luke tried to teach me to skate in them once - but the security guard at the park informed us we were not allowed to roller blade there (it was privately owned park). So I've never roller bladed.

I've seen people gliding away in the park as I've been on my walks and decided today that I would give it a try. As I put the blades on I realized I was fearful. Sure I could use speed skates (in fact just the other week I got to remember how good I was on them when we took our students skating) but blades are different. The brake is only on ONE and it's in the BACK. In the past I've always just opted to NOT DO what I was afraid of. But THE NEW ME, says NO, you can do this and you WILL be good at it. So desperately trying to overcome my fear, I skated a little on the carpeted front porch (that now has a banister railing for me to hold on to) then I cut through the house out to our back driveway that is smoother and has things to hold on to -- like garbage cans and my dad's truck. On my way there, dad intercepted me to read an email and then wanted to know where my helmet was. (I know WHY I should wear one -- but again I've been skating my whole life. I very rarely fall - in fact I can't remember the last time I fell ROLLER skating (ice skating is a different story - high school).But as I mentioned this is a FEAR I'm trying to overcome and his concern came across as not only a doubting of my abilities (even though I somewhat share them) but also a reminder of the dangers involved with this (concrete is apparently worse to fall on than wood). It almost made me decided to quit right there. What if I did get hurt? What if I did fall? Would that jeopardize everything? Would I be permanently injured? I yelled at the voices in my head to SHUT UP. I AM capable of this and I will be fine. So I did several laps on the driveway. Clinging to things to stop. I'm slowly getting the hang of this. Stopping will be the hardest thing for me. But I reminded myself that I could turn (I held on just in case as I moved my feet) I'm trying to convince myself that I'm just as comfortable on these wheels as my regular ones. I found a few new muscles! And my blades left deep impressions where my legs were not used to skates being. But all in all... I am proud of myself and I WILL go practice more, and by the end of summer I WILL be skating like the breeze down the trail in the park (it's paved)

So I'm pushing myself. YAY.

The Dreaded Plateau - For real.
The important thing about plateaus is to "not take them personally" it's just your body reacting to less calories and that you should keep working. Continue you same schedule and weight loss will kick in again... but be warned it may take awhile.
(I will keep all this in mind for when I hit my plateau -- but I'm not there yet!)

Day 12 Exercise-
Dad and I went for a walk around the block (2 of them actually) Then I headed to the park for my 30 minute walk. According to my iPod Dad and I went 2.22 km and then I went 3.44km. However I forgot to calibrate my new sensor so I'm sure I didn't go nearly as far since my steps are much smaller than the average person. So tomorrow I'll head to the track so I can calibrate my iPod. I think I did go close to 3km though, I was pushing hard.

Tonight I'm watching Flash of Genius with my parents.