Awesome August Challenge

Today is the first day of Healthy Loser Gal’s Awesome August Challenge. I’ve decided to fine tune a few healthy habits I’ve been working on for the past few months. One of the things I need to focus on is consistency.

1. Prayer and meditation. While I do this on a regular basis, I want to schedule dedicated time for my spiritual practice.

2. Exercise. I want to continue working out for at least 45 minutes, burning at least 400 calories per session five days a week.

3. Hydration. This is a HUGE challenge for me. I am going to drink at least 64 oz. of water each day.

4. Sleep. I am very hesitant about putting this one in writing. However, it needs to be addressed. I am not getting adequate sleep. I’m going to take a tiny step here and commit to going to bed by 10:30 pm, Monday – Friday.

5. Play. There is a HUGE opportunity in this area of my life. I work between 40 – 70 hours a week. While I had made some improvements, I need to be more consistent. I will make sure I schedule a play date each week.

Okay, I've marked my calendar to post an update next Monday.  Let’s do this!

Happy Hanukkah!

I was reading a great article about Hanukkah on belief.net. Although I am not Jewish, I am a student of all world religions and believe in worship God, Spirit, the Divine through many avenues. So, I’ve been lighting a candle each night and setting aside some time for reflection.

In this article, the Rabbi discusses how everyone is invited to celebrate how we can find light in the darkest times of our lives. As I read, I thought about my journey back to wholeness. My favorite part of the article was about making time to play. This is one area in my life I need to work on improving. I work too much!

I sent my friend Beth a musical dreidel that lights up for Hanukkah. As we grow old, I realize how we are beginning to send each other toys over the holidays. I guess we both realize how much we need to nurture our inner child. I remember a few months ago Crystal and I went to a healing circle. The leader told me she sensed I needed to take more time to play to release some energy.

As I think about my 2010 goals, I definitely need to include more play on my list.

Affirmations

As you can probably tell, I'm a firm believer in all things spiritual. I am also a firm believer in all things that are life-affirming. With that said, I wanted to share some of the affirmations I do during my circuit training. I posted this affirmations months ago and decided to revisit them this week:

• I am a perfect example of health and fitness


• My fitness routine is enjoyable, energetic and easy.


• My daily fitness routine gives me excellent results.


• During my workout routine, I feel healthier and healthier by the minute.


• I enjoy exercising and my fitness routine gives me unfathomable results.


• My physical fitness clearly shows that I have a fitness regimen.


• It is obvious that I enjoy working out daily.


• My body is firm, healthy and metabolically fast.


• My metabolism speeds up by the minute during my fitness routine.


• I have a fast metabolism, a healthy spirit and friendly personality.

Happy Easter!

Easter is my favorite holiday. This is the first year I haven't had any jelly beans during Easter. I can't wait to get these braces removed.

I walked in Piedmont Park today. This is where my next 5K event will be held. It was nice to walk in a different venue today. The words for today have been reflection and renewal. It's pretty fitting not only due to the Spring season and Easter holiday, but also due to my spiritual and fitness journey.

I do a lot of reflection on my walks and in this blogs. I also do a lot of renewal of my spirit, my outlook on life and my body.

I think the best part of my walk today was being able to see how strong my body is becoming, how my endurance is increasing. This brings a great big smile to my face.

Now, if I could just get my eating under control.

Yesterday while cleaning off my bed, I found a piece of paper that has my measurements dated 4/13/08. This was a few days after I purchased my weight set. I am taking my measurements tomorrow to see how much progress I have made in a year.

Gotta Have Faith

My event is about a month away. I am sooo nervous. I've tried not giving into these thoughts. It's not working. So, I decided to just watch the thoughts and let them pass through my mind. Hopefully, they will dissipate into the nothingness from which they came.

I can do this!

I am going to pass that finish line.

Each and every day I get out there and walk is a good testimony of my faith in my ability to do this.

All is well in my world.

Piece of Cake

I had an enjoyable 40-min. walk today. I noticed the difference in my body. I am definitely reaping the benefits of the stretching and strength training I've been doing. Today I felt totally whole-mind, body, and spirit. Everything was in sync. It was a beautiful feeling. It is a beautiful feeling.

Today I've walk the farthest I've ever been on my fitness journey--both literally and figuratively.

Three Questions

I was cleaning off my desk and came across three questions I wrote down while watching Oprah one day last month. I don’t watch Oprah on a regular basis. However, this show was about developing healthy eating habits and an overall healthy lifestyle. She encouraged the audience to start a journal. As a starting point, she tossed out a number of questions. I wrote down three of them to tackle in this blog at a later date. Well, here goes:

Why are you overweight?

This one is pretty simple. I’m overweight because I eat too much and I was not very active. My main challenges are portion control and exercise. These areas are my daily focus.

I was not making the right food choices. I was not eating healthy meals. My idea of breakfast was no breakfast. I would drink a couple cups of coffee and call it a day. When I did eat breakfast, it was something sweet. I also had a bad habit a snacking all day. Chips, chips, and more chips…and buttered popcorn. I also have thing cake, cupcakes, and cookies.

My lifestyle is pretty sedentary. I engage in activities that do not require much physical movement – surfing the Internet, reading, scrapbooking, birdwatching. My hobbies do not require much physical assertion.

The bottom line is that I didn’t care about my weight. I really did not care about my weight because I didn’t see the connection between being obese and being unhealthy. Now that I understand the connection, I want to make the change. I want to be a healthy person.

Why do you want to lose weight?

My number one reason for wanting to lose weight is my health. I want to be healthy. I want to feel good. I want energy and vitality.

I also have a spiritual desire to honor God by taking care of my body.

I must admit there are overwhelming vanity reasons I want to lose weight. The older I get, the more I’m beginning to care about my appearance. Not only do I want to feel good. I want to look good, too.

What are you hungry for?

I am hungry for life. I want life and life more abundantly—all that this encompasses. I want wholeness. For me, this means a sharp mind, a strong body, and a peaceful spirit.

Namaste.

Mind Over Matter

You have no idea what your body is capable of doing.

This is the message I got loud and clear while meditating last night.

My mind is the thing that comes up with all the limitations. With proper nutrition and training, I will and can complete this race (pun intended). I will embrace the present and stop worrying about the future. Tomorrow is not promised. All I have is today.

I remember how irritated I would get with my mother when we’d ask her if we could do something and she was respond:

If the Lord is willing….

-Mom, can we go to the park tomorrow?
-If the Lord’s willing….

I hated that answer! Are we going to the park or not? She would be so amused.
She would smile and say, you don’t even know if we’ll be here tomorrow. I guess
there are some who would think this a morbid thing to say to your children. Lol! My parents kept it real with us. They were always pretty direct with us. No sugarcoating in my family. Lol!

When you think about it, she was right. Tomorrow is not promised. All we have is today. My mother knew how to live in the now. All we have is the present. She was teaching me not to worry about the future and just live and enjoy the present moment. I’m still working on this lesson. There are times my mind is all over the place sometimes when I walk:

Am I going to make it? Do I look stupid?
Am I walking fast enough? Am I walking too slow?
How long have I been walking? Am I going to be the
last person to finish the race? Am I going to be the
only person walking?

Blah, blah, blah…. In the meantime, I am not enjoying the Presence, enjoying the fresh air,
enjoying the sights and sounds, enjoying the smiling faces that greet me, enjoying doing something loving for myself.

In this moment, the words of the Scriptures come to me:

Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief!

My body has Divine Intelligence

I love affirmations. I work with them from time to time. A few years after my hysterectomy I taped the following Louise Hay affirmation to my monitor. Since I started my training, I’ve been repeating it out loud:

In the infinity of life where I am,

all is perfect, whole and complete,

I recognize my body as a good friend,

Each cell in my body has Divine Intelligence,

I listen to what it tells me, and know that its advice is valid,

I am always safe, and Divinely protected and guided,

I choose to be healthy and free,

All is well in my world.

Well, yesterday I listened to my body after it told me to focus on the Mountain Pose. This seemed rather simple. When you think about it, the Mountain Pose is the foundation of most poses. So, my training will improve if I focus on the foundation or core of my body. Well, I discovered that the mountain pose was a bit more challenging than I thought.

First of all, I spend way too much time on my butt in front of a computer. As a matter of fact, I should call my program, Computer to 5k. Lol! Over half of my waking day is spent sitting in front of a computer. So, simply standing still for some time was challenging. I could feel the tension in my shoulders, thighs, and lower back. I had trouble keeping my breath deep and even. I worked on variations of the Mountain Pose for 30 minutes yesterday. I feel a little soreness this morning so obvious I used some muscles that need strengthening. I worked on the Mountain Pose first thing this morning and I plan to do this every day next week. Check out some of the benefits of the Mountain Pose:

Improves posture
Firms thighs, knees, and ankles
Relieves sciatica
Firms abs and buttocks
Improves balance

I am grateful for the advice.

Week Two Playlist

I’ve read that there’s a science to choosing an effective workout list. Since I purchased an iPod, I have to admit I enjoy working out to music. I’ve been reviewing workout playlists, but I really can’t get into all that BPM (Beats Per Minute) stuff.

I’ve been told my playlist is all over the place—gospel, rap. Lol! For the most part, Gospel music is my thing. I love Gospel. For the most part, I choose Gospel songs because it is what I like. Being someone who believes in multi-tasking, I figure I can worship and workout at the same time. Come to think of it, there are many who consider physical exercise and working out a spiritual practice. I’m beginning to feel the same way.

I choose my songs, first, based on the motivational messages I receive from them, and then the beat. My process may not be the textbook process but it works for me. I have to admit I’m digging the hip hop and rap songs I’m finding on others’playlists. They’re ostentatious, all about ego and self-confidence; it’s exactly what I need when working out.

My Week Two Playlist is as follows:

Golden – Jill Scott
Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake
Stronger – Myron Butler & Levi
How do you want it – Tupac
Keep Your Head – Kirk Franklin
First Love – Kirk Franklin

Let’s do this!