52 Weeks....to the Real Me

Day 5 - Biggest Loser 30-day JumpStart

It's important to have people who will support you and not sabotage you when you are trying to become a new person. I have been trying to decide who I can trust and who -- even though they may be well intentioned-- don't quite respond correctly. I have a small group of friends at work that will be encouraging and helpful during the school year... although sadly three of them may not be there next year =( . I have very few actual friends in this area.. one to be exact. And I don't want to hold him to anything as he and his girlfriend just moved in together and he's trying to adjust to a new "instant" family. But I'm hoping I'll still be able to count on him to help me with more social side of my transformation. He helps me "get out there" and live. =)


My ideal team would include another individual who has been an unending stream of support -- even in the worst times possible-- when I was successfully losing weight in the past. Unfortunately, I think things are still a bit awkward for us and I don't think he can be as helpful as he was before. I don't blame him... and I do still hear his words of encouragement in my head and I can't wait to show him how much I've accomplished. (**although if he happens to read this and thinks he can help -- I'm all ears =) **)

I suppose some obvious choices for team members would be my parents. -- especially since I'm living with them-- but I don't know if they are in the right "place" to be supports for me. They don't seem to know what the right things to say are and tend to push my buttons easily. Dad is trying to figure things out for himself -- and I'm trying to be supportive for him. I would love for us to be a team of 3 tackling being healthy... but Mom doesn't have the same excitement and energy for it that I do, and that Dad is trying to have. She wants us to eat healthy but doesn't want to take the time to learn about what TRULY healthy is. (just because it doesn't have trans fats doesn't mean it's good for you...) I'm trying. I bring healthy food into the house... and it gets eaten (which is good) it just gets frustrating when it's NOT there, when I want to eat it.

So where does that leave me? Considering the following people for my "team":

• Melissa -- who is embarking on her own weight loss journey (in New York)
• Ben - who has been hugely successful on his journey (in California)
• Michelle - if she can, she just had a baby, and I'm sure will be quite busy (in California)

I guess that should be my first real quest... find some locals to join my team =) I have found that finding people who truly understand is the problem.
Day 5 Exercise -
Just as I was about to head out.. the rain poured. So I waited. At least that meant when I went, I had the park to myself. =) It was a pleasant jaunt, thinking about all kinds of things... religion, nature, life, journeys, rain.
Tiger Woods came on my iPod and told me I went my fastest mile, but I don't think that's possible. I'll have to investigate that further. I'll post my graph as soon as I get it uploaded.

Monday 1 - What Matters Most

Tasks
1. Stop and Think -- make a list of what matters most.
2. Create a list of how you spend your time.
3. Organize the list by priority
4. Rearrange your schedule to match your priorities
5. Don't waste time.

For starters - #5 will be my hardest -- I've realized I waste a lot of time, I don't mean to, I have the best of intentions, but nevertheless I waste a lot of time.

Task 1: What matters to me. What would I like to spend my time on.

• I would love to spend time with family and friends, doing fun things, not just sitting around watching tv.
• I would like to do what I need to to be a successful teacher
• I would like to spend more time doing volunteer work - I miss Circle K
• I want to take more pictures -- for fun... of things I like -- go hiking to exotic places to take pictures, catch that great lightning bolt, etc.
• I want to spent time working out, golfing, getting fit, etc.
  

Task 2: How I spend my time now... Well that is hard to say. My schedule just changed drastically since my college class ended and school is wrapping up. But a typical week this past semester looked like this:

• Time spent at work(school): 41 hours
• Time spent in my car: 12 hours
• Time spent in class: 6 hours
• Time spent sleeping: 42 hours
• Time spent on work -- outside of work: 10 hours
• Time spent watching tv -- and nothing else*: 2 hours (*I usually work on stuff on the computer while watching tv)
• Time spent with family and friends: <10>

Task 3: Organize my list by priority. This will be tough. Right now I guess my top priority would be my health and getting that in its proper place so that I can do all the rest of the things for a LONG time.

In order:

• Workout, golf, etc
• Time with family, friends
• Volunteer Work
• Career
• Hobbies -- including photography, hiking, skating, scrapbooking

Task 4: Re-arrange life to match priorities.
As I said, since classes ended I have some time to re-arrange things, however classes start again June 15. At that time, due to my desire to pursue my other goals later this summer, I need to have classes at a top priority. Right now I will say that I am leaving school as soon as I can, I'm making sure I workout and blog about it. I'm making sure I do my "Mondays" and I'm going to try to figure out how to work the rest in. I won't have much free time in June and July.

Task 5: Don't waste time. This is a toughy but I'll work on it. =) for the record, I don't consider blogging a waste of time. I have found that I do better with health concerns (losing weight, eating better, working out) if I blog about them.

Day 4 - Biggest Loser 30-Day JumpStart

The list they are referring to is all the reasons why I'm losing weight. It is supposed to be a motivational tool to get me moving in the beginning and keep me going when times get tough. I've made these lists several times before. But here we go.

• To be healthier
• To have more energy -- to do all the things I want to do
  
• To be a healthy parent in the future
• To be able to wear whatever I want
• To become the picture I have in my head.
• To be able to run a 5k race successfully

Exercise Day 4-
YAY no pain! The bottoms of my feet didn't bother me at all! I had a few other muscles complaining, but nothing that hindered my speed. I walked an extra 5 minutes "out" meaning I had an extra ten minutes coming "in" after my 30 minutes was up. It was a good workout! I even saw three deer.

*I think I will be skipping "semi-charmed life" from now on -- that's the dip in the graph.

Day 3 - Biggest Loser 30-Day Jumpstart

Today's advice focuses on minimizing your schedule, foregoing some extras in the interest of devoting more time to getting healthy. It just so happens that in my life right now, this is the PERFECT time for this to happen.
Monday night, my college classes ended. I'm taking summer classes but that doesn't start until June 15 -- which is after my 30 day jumpstart will be over. The only things I HAVE to do between now and then are going to school (work) - which ends June 1.
Wow... that's really all that's REQUIRED. The rest of my time is free for whatever I want to do. My schedule could not be more free. =)

I guess I have no room for excuses now. This also relates to the goal of Monday 1. I need to use my time better, I tend to waste a lot of it.

Exercise Day 3 -

I am often confused by my outings. Today according to my devices (bodybugg) I worked harder than yesterday -- but I didn't go as far. Hmm. The bottoms of my feet still hurt, I can't wait until they don't so that I can push myself even further. It's amazing to me how I can walk almost as far as I was going when I had running intermixed, which tells me I was walking way too slow between running segments. I like this new training idea and I hope it works. If I can get consistent and even to the point of "walking" 3k easily, then I can add the running in and keep the walking segments at the faster pace.

Day 2 - Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start
Who am I doing this for? Of course the correct answer is ME. But there are others too. I am mostly doing it for me -- but the rest of the world deserves to see the TRUE me. The ME I was meant to be. One of my favorite quotes is "It's never too late to be who you might have been." by George Elliot. It's my time now. It's time for ME to make myself into who I want to be, who I was meant to be.
To remind me of why I want to do this, I have a photo marking my place in my Biggest Loser book.
The photo is of me and two of my nephews from a few years ago.

It reminds me of several of the reasons I need to make this transformation.

• It reminds me of the person I NEVER want to be again -- a number on the scale that I will never see again.
• It reminds me that I have let many important relationships slide away and that they need to be rekindled and nurtured.
• The boys are also a reminder of the children I hope to have someday, a reason to be as healthy as possible, so I can be the best parent possible.

Exercise Day 2-
Today was a great walk. I had tons of energy, my feet didn't bother me near as much and my legs only hurt a little. I chose a different song list. This one was much more upbeat than yesterday. The beat of the music kept me moving even faster. I went 2.94 km today. (I used my "new upbeat workout" playlist)

Day 1 of Biggest Loser 30- Day Jump Start

This is the beginning program I am using -- of course adapting it as I go. They have instructions for some exercises.
My goal is to walk "as fast as possible" for 30 minutes then doing the exercises that they recommend. When I get to the days that are just "weight training" I will be doing both cardio and weights. My intent is that by the end of the 30 days I can maintain at least a slow jog for the whole 30 minutes. I'm keeping track of how far I go in each 30 minutes so that I can see that I'm going faster .. building into a run.
Each night I plan to blog about the "topic" of the day and how I will adapt it.

Make Up Your Mind Now
I've decided that I'm starting for the last time. I have a different view of things this time. I'm not in a hurry. I have set a goal for NEXT MAY. A whole 52 weeks away and I'm going to set reasonable weekly goals - 1.375lbs - so I will not get frustrated. I'm going to tackle things ONE day, ONE week at a time. I will succeed. I have complete and total confidence that I will be successful and quitting is not an option. I have races to look forward to, new outfits to buy, more confidence to show, and bright future ahead.
Weight loss is only part of this process to become the ME I WANT TO BE. I want to make friends, I want to go out and have fun, I want to be the best Aunt (to my best friend's kids) I can be, I want to re-learn the piano, I want to become a great photographer, I want to become an awesome golfer, I want to compete in a 5k, ....

Exercise Day 1
Today I went walking down in the park. My goal was to walk as fast as I could for the entire 30 minutes. My legs were achy and my feet were bothering me. I didn't seem to have as much energy as I had hoped I would have. But I did it. I ended up going 2.90 km. I guess that's a good place to start... it can only get better from here.