Shelli Belly

Thankful for ….
1. ……my friends that built a deck for me.  What a surprise to come home from Hawaii with a brand new deck.  My deck needed to be replaced three years ago.  I even had a tree growing up through the holes.
2. ……my friends who gave me their washer and dryer.  To have energy-efficient machines has made such a difference.
3. ……my friend that surprised me by bringing his tractor mower to hack through a months worth of grass.  With 32 straight days of rain, the grass was long.
4. …..my blogging friends.  They always have a word of encouragement and even call me on my junk thinking.
5. ……my family who drop everything to visit with me and plan special activities when I come to town.
6. ……my job that allows me to be young at heart while being creative enough to impact young learners.
7. ……my continued good health.  My knees are holding strong and  I’m able to do exercise at a steady pace.
8. ……my church that preaches the Gospel and reaches the community.
9. ……my food plan for the week.  I have the opportunity to make good choices this week.  I’m asking prayer for this area of my life.  Last week I had a stocked healthy frig and I made horrible choices.  Sooo what is different this week?  I’m taking it one choice at a time. I can’t handle a week’s worth of decisions but I have enough grace for that day’s decisions.  I sound fearful but I will seek strength through prayer.
I will give Him praise.
10. ……TODAY!

“You look tired.”

“Yep, well good morning to you too.”

What a way to start the day.  This didn’t happen to me once but three times last week.  I’ve been in my head so much this week that I guess it has really taken a toll on me. I’ve been going through the motions but not really making any progress.  So let’s scream together …. “ARGGGGG!”

So what does going through the motions look like?

1. Having a frig full of veggies and I go out for Chinese.
2. Bringing an Eat Right Meal for lunch and eating a school lunch instead.
3. Going to the office and mindlessly eating 4 mini candy bars.
4. Celebrating weight loss by pulling my pants straight out all the while knowing that these are the same pants from a year ago.  Yes they’re larger but I know I shouldn’t still be able to wear them.
5. Having two workouts with my new trainer all the while still eating horribly.
6. Coming home and eating a huge dinner for two then becoming lethargic and mindlessly watching TV until 10:30-11:00 o’clock.
6. Starting the day with every intention on having a healthy day but turning into the drive-thru at  McDonald’s for breakfast burritos.
7. Allowing the Whoa-is-me’s to take over when all the while knowing that I am truly blessed.

So I’m snapping out of it once again.  I really wish I would have tagged my posts because I know this is a requiring theme from this past year.  I have pulled myself up with my bootstraps to many times to count.  I allow myself to slide into my old patterns far to many times.  I need to change things up.

My Blogoversary is 5 days away.

09/09/09 – 10/10/10  What can happen in a little over a year?

I set out a year ago to see what I could do in a year’s time.  If I judged this journey on the scale only then I would be terribly disappointed but I have come a long way.

I need to finish off the last month of this initial goal with concentrated focus.  What better way than with a challenge.

The 09/09  to 10/10 Challenge

The Freedom Challenge and the Awesome by August Challenge helped me to focus while in Hawaii.  It is a missing routine from that time that didn’t follow me back to the real world.   I do so much better when I have a goal.   I will announce the details on Monday.  Oh and there will be a prize for US entries.

I have been eluding to the slow fade these past couple of posts. Have you noticed? I have written about my successes but my stumbles have not made it to the screen. The fade is when at allow just a little cheat here and there. You know all the rest has been great except for this little something – something I keep quiet about. Well those slow fades finally do catch up. In the past the fade picks up speed and then the successes are overcome by (Do I say it)? the cheats. So here comes the reckoning…..

If you remember I was so nervous about wasting my time in Hawaii that I didn’t allow myself to get excited about the trip. (See post) I didn’t want the time to go by and to have nothing to show for it. Shear determination led to an incredible month away of exercise and eating right. Well I should have been concerned about the time after the trip as well. I had an incredible month only to stand upon the achievement as my crowning glory but failed to really continue the success into my life back home.   So I have stalled, while at the same time resting on the success of Hawaii. This is a lifestyle with not a once in a while accomplishment to hang my hat on. The true glory is the day in day out success.

So the slow fade stops NOW.

I signed up with a trainer again for twice a week workouts and swimming on the other days. I’m very excited about this because in our meeting I felt the motivation rise up within me. That determination and accountability was key in Hawaii and it will be again in my hometown. Most of the meeting was held on the treadmill which I loved. No wasted moments. Angie spoke with me about nutrition and gave me some suggestions. Ahh I have my whole team back again: my family, cheerleaders, blogger friends, and trainer  a perfect combination.

I am so blessed.

      We’re back to school!   I love the first day with my students.  They’re so excited as 7th graders to finally be in the Middle School.  My 8th graders are walking around with a little swagger that I have to laugh at.  Everyone was in such a great mood.

      In the past the first day of school  had  been very difficult because I had to get my teaching legs back.   Well today I’m tired but not hurting.  My legs feel great!  Gee I wonder why?  I had one of my 7th graders from last year say that I looked trim.  Wow to still be obese and called trim its kinda cool.  He looked great as well.  He grew 1/2 a foot, got contacts and lost weight as well.  The changes that happen over a summer are amazing.  It’s going to be a fun year. I have high hopes.

      I will have to prep for my schedule though.  I have classes from 7:45-11:15 and then a break from 11:15-12:30.  It is really difficult to snack between classes and potty breaks are for emergencies only.  Well that mind-set will have to be changed if I want to eat healthy and drink my 64 oz. of water a day.  I’ll have to pack string cheese and fruit and lock the door during passing periods.  In the past I’d white knuckle it until lunch and until after school and then binge in the evening.  Those patterns do not define me any more.  I need to take care of myself and as my ladies from Hawaii would say “8 oz of food 6 times a day and green tea” and “Don’t quit! Its to important.“ I’ll take care of me so I can take care of my students.

      On Thursdays and Mondays I will have my trainer sessions. I’m really looking forward to this time of focussed intensity.  I’ve been walking and playing tennis but I really need a trainer for that extra support.  I will also start swimming on MWF.

So I have a plan for this school year.

New routines and new permissions for myself.

Today was my first official teacher work day.  I say official because I have already donated some time in order to get my classroom set up.  I call it sanity time. If I already have a few things arranged then I can sit for hours and hours in PowerPoint purgatory during Inservice with a mind that is at ease. The best part of this District-wide Inservice was seeing teachers that I had not seen in months or least a year.

So after sitting all day I headed to the gym for my first kick boxing class.  It was very difficult to head inside for the class because today was the first time I have seen the sun in 6 days.  This is nothing compared to those who have been here all summer.  The Kenai Peninsula has had 33 days of consecutive rain. We broke a 30-year-old record.  It’ll still stand because it poured this morning.   So you could imagine that to head into the gym was difficult when all you wanted to do was stand in the sun and go mow the lawn.  I knew I had to have an intense workout because I have not been stretching myself like I did in Hawaii.  So I headed in for my first class.  It was a very positive experience.  I enjoyed the slow pace and then the quick jabs that followed.  Some of the kicks were out of my league but I was able to adapt and I know I’ll improve each time.  In an hours time I was back outside and these were my friends that I met.

 I did have a bit of a battle with my mind about the typical thought “To exercise or not to exercise? That is the question.”  So I’m proud that I made a great choice.  I also had a good day of eating.  It wasn’t perfect because I enjoyed a cookie but all the rest was good.  I’m proud that I didn’t just scrap the whole day because of  a small cookie.   

“By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.” –Spurgeon

I loved Loretta’s quote today. I thought it really fit the slow and steady progress that we all must make each day.  Choice by choice.

WoW I can’t believe how long it has been since I had a new post.  I have so much to share.    Since leaving Hawaii I have had some real amazing experiences from watching the most beautiful nieces in a ballet recital, to freezing on a beach in California in July, to meeting Ali Vincent, the first female Biggest Loser, to picking over 200 peaches of the 1000 harvested from one tree, to accepting a new weight loss challenge from my my mom but, I’m getting ahead of myself.

First I wanted to clarify that I have not been Online in weeks because of the slowest Internet connection to man and not because of a guilty conscious.  My mother is still on a dial-up system.  I try loading a page and after 5 minutes the computer stalls or AOL kicks me off and I hear “Goodbye!”  I’m working on my mom to solve this digital divide a.s.a.p.  I’m thinking a Smart phone would be fun because then we could text.

When I got to Newport Beach I couldn’t stop breathing in that salt air.  There’s something about the cool of the evening and the smell of a Californian beach.  I know I was on the Hawaiian beaches all summer but California is home.

Remember how I was worried about heading back to normal after a month of incredible change?  Well it was a slow fade.  It was easy at first to continue but time progresses and days wear on and your resolve fades if it is not tended to.

I was jazzed when I first got back to my normal.  I started off by taking my mom to the pool for some Water Aerobics.  I showed her everything I learned from Tina in Hawaii.  I even called out “Eight more!” a few times.  Mom did great.  The next day mom lamented that she couldn’t understand why her arms were hurting.  I had to remind her that she worked out the day before.  She couldn’t believe it.

I then had the opportunity to meet Ali Vincent.  She had been on a Famous Footwear Mind Body and Sole tour.  It was incredible to meet her.  For the few short minutes that we spoke I was struck by our common journey.  I shared what she taught me when I read her book.   That I also had been collecting excuses instead of experiences. (See blog post).  It was great then to share with her the actions that I had taken since.  Choices right?   My mother was very impressed by her and her mother.  Yes Betty Sue is still a little spitfire.  She lost 70 on the show and another 40 since.  Betty Sue shared her experiences on the  Biggest Loser Ranch and made everyone feel very comfortable.  My mother was impressed.  She couldn’t believe how much they could lose in 6 months.  I explained that they were working out for 6 hours straight but that didn’t curve her curiosity.  Mom then read Ali’s book, “Believe It Be It,” that weekend.  There was a growing desire in my mom to change and make better choices.  I on the other hand was slowly fading.  See when you live in Alaska you just don’t have the same restaurant options like you have down south.  (Hmmm rolled tacos, carne asada burritos, Snap out of it)!  I was changed by my experience in Hawaii but that conversation in my head started to get louder and louder. I heard,  ”While you’re here you should have….” Then the conversation turned to “When I get back I will …..” The good news is that I was not completely out of control. I also recognized what I was doing a whole lot sooner than in the past.  That’s huge progress.

Like I said my mom was very curious about Ali’s success story and the road she has taken to change her life.  Mom also appreciated Betty Sue’s success.  Throughout the stay she would talk about different things that she learned from the book.   Things were different between us.  We were on the same page.  In the past I was always defensive with her whenever the subject of weight was brought up but not this time.  I can’t put a finger on what makes this time so different.  So when mom decided to suggest a challenge. I was all over it.  I even put a dollar amount on it.  We began to set the parameters and the competition was on.  At first we joshed about the result but in the end mom summed it up in one sentence that was a huge trigger.  She said that this time she was so hopeful because “We’re doing it together.”  That was all I needed to hear from her after all these years.  I felt my heart melt. Why can’t we do this together?       TOGETHER we’ll be even stronger.

So the Mother/Daughter Challenge has begun.
August – February
We’ll see what we can lose together.