"i am not eating that unhealthy tidbit...."

"...but I'll feed it to my family."


Oh this annoys me to no end. So often I hear adults on personal weight loss journeys talk about the junk foods that that are rebuking in their quest for better health. This is wonderful, but unfortunately this is often followed by, "My kids will eat it." It upsets me that people would be so concerned with their own weight and health, but find it perfectly acceptable for their children to eat unhealthy stuff in their own houses. Do not get me wrong, I understand that kids will often buy and consume unhealthy items when at school or when hanging out with their friends, but their deep seated habits are formed at home.

Though I have had my struggles with food and healthy choices. I am grateful that my family of origin made healthier foods and behaviors a staple in our house. I was always the kid with whole wheat bread for my jelly and banana sandwiches and skim milk was introduced early on. Going to fast food restaurants was a rare event. To this day, I could not imagine buying white bread (even "enriched" - what a joke) and gag at the thought of whole milk. Today, the only thing that I choose to put cow's milk in is coffee. My whole grain cereal gets nice cold rice milk.

My parents have been into fitness for as long as I remember. Jogging, yoga, weight training and sports were a given in my household. My brother and I were encouraged to go play outside and run around on any (and every) nice day...and we did and we loved it! We now have so many fun and fond memories thanks to this.

Our parents' positive influence is helping us well into our adult years. My brother, who is a few years older than me, still plays ice hockey and softball (on multiple leagues, no less) and I have reignited my inner yogini and fitness nut. I shop for whole foods and find joy in healthy eating now. All of these healthy habits were established and reinforced in the family. Heck, my father still weight lifts and plays golf, mom hits her weekly yoga class and walks most days.

I thank the Universe every day for the family I have. Hey, Universe! Thank you for giving me parents that were not "health hypocrites."

image from health in motion

grranimals!

Now that I am at day 174 of my daily yoga practice (but who's counting?) I have not only gained flexibility, increased strength and calmed my mind...I have also created an animal. Grrrrrrrowl!

So what is this creature within? A mad-passion-for-fitness animal. (Where the heck did this come from????) I just got me a new pilates DVD and gathered up some old VHS tapes (at least they're not Beta) from my folks house. Hip Hop Body Shop, Balletcize, Tai Bo...Bellydancing (good thing I'm not afraid to look silly) and I am gitty as a school girl...an athletic school girl, that is.










Now, maybe some martial arts...

i found her

She was hiding in my soul all along! I have reunited with my inner athlete! She's been hiding in the shadows since high school, lo those many years ago, watching and waiting for just the right time to spring forth into the forefront.
As a youngster and in my teens, I was immersed in sports and play. My childhood was full of energy and running, playing outside, biking around the neighborhood with hoards of neighborhood kids creating new games and playing old fashioned stick ball. I loved being the only girl in little league and ice hockey. I was thrilled to be running around the soccer field. Volleyball was fun times. Softball allowed me to see classmates in the summer while being active. Field hockey taught me knew skills. I loved learning new things and even took up ballet at 16 years of age. Luckily, my parents provided me with all I needed to pursue these endeavors, financially and emotionally. I loved all of it and this athletic part of myself, but time and life changed and I lost touch with this integral core me.

These past couple of days I have re-experience this inner athletic passion. I have no understanding as to how or why now, but it is there and it is real. I assume it is just the right time for her to be here. Mind you, I will not be running any marathons...yet, but I am embracing this passion and I wish to utilize it to excel in my fitness level and athletics. Most importantly, I am using this to re-embrace myself for she and I are one in the same.

ah, go take a hike!

And indeed I plan to. This upcoming week is all about recharging, self-care and creativity. I took the week off from work because, well frankly, I am just plain exhausted! Tuckered out, if you will.

The plan is to take some yoga classes, lace up the inline skates and hit the pavement, tie up the hikers for some trails and tune up the bike for a spin. There is always ice skating or maybe even a few more jogs. Do you see a theme here? Physical activities that I love!

Creativity will come in by creating some art or new jewelry pieces. I picked up new colored pencils I need to break in and have some wire I want to play with.

I wonder if I have time to pick up a book and read?

Oooo! Prepping the ground and planning the garden...getting my hands dirty with earth sounds divine!

I feel eager and excited to dive in to some serious self-care. I am all about resting, creating and living. Anyone care to join me?

everyone needs a little iron in their diets

12.365
Originally uploaded by misslissa13

And I'll be pumping some at the gym.

I love working out at a gym, so we joined one yesterday. Though I have been out of touch with it in recent years, part of who i am
is an athlete...an out of practice athlete, but an athlete none the less. Half a lifetime ago, I played many sports: ice hockey, field hockey, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, something that resembled ballet, skiing and even street games (hockey, stick ball, kickball, etc.).

Recently, I have inconsistently participated in hiking, walking, jogging, yoga and weightlifting.

With the weights and cardio, I always do well on consistency
when i belong to a fitness center. This one we joined rocks and it's super low cost. The downside is, they do not offer classes, but they do have group training times so you can learn more about the machines and designing general or targeted training and nutrition plans.

Today's agenda: Do some cleaning, go to work, and then Groovy and I are heading over to the gym for some cardio work instead of TV watching.

Improved motivation, health and self esteem...here I come!

self examination

self study II
Originally uploaded by misslissa13

As I get healthier, stronger and lose weight, I am amazed how my body is changing. More specifically, I am amazed that I have been exercising without using excuses to skip workouts. I feel better, physically and mentally.

Now it is time to make myself uncomfortable by slowly examining myself, every perfect flaw and all. Of course, it is safe to start with the parts I like and then ease into the other parts, but this is one way I am working towards making myself whole and continuing to improve myself.

run, melissa, run

The workouts are certainly getting easier, the "morning after ouchies", not so ouchie anymore. Now I would like to find some good, safe places to jog. There does not seem to be any tracks within walking distance and the sidewalks/roads are not the best. I suppose I can drive somewhere, but I do love the convenience of stepping out my front door and beginning my workout immediately. I would also like to find a 10k on LI to use as motivation. Back in Colorado I was training myself for the Bolder Boulder, but became really sick a month before it and had to stop running. Prior to that, I was amazed at how my body adapted to training and how much I actually enjoyed running. I have that itch again, to run. There is some sense of accomplishment with increased distances run and a means to clear my and ground myself mind while doing it.

this is good for me???

In my never-ending journey to get and stay healthy and fit, I started lifting weights again. Monday and Wednesday, I hit the gym and did two full-body workouts. I have not done any hardcore weight workouts in a long time, preferring less strenuous, but healthy activities such as yoga, walking and biking. Gauging by the way my body is responding to lifting I NEED the resistance training.

Oh yes, I hurt and will probably be rather sore tomorrow (damn you weak calf muscles!!) however, it is a good kind of hurt. The kind that says, "You did a good job and you are getting strong again". For that, I cannot complain. I feel good in my soreness, and proud of myself for lifting again.

Oh, and by "gym" I don't mean "fitness center". Lucky for me, my parents have a full gym in their basement and even a hot tub to soak sore muscles. My father joked, "The gym is free but the spa will cost ten bucks." To which I responded by showing up last night with a membership card clearly stating that the spa is included with my membership. Silly father, you forget you raised a kid with a snarky sense of humor and an ability to cleverly get around roadblocks. Woot Woot! .......now where's the Icy-Hot?

health improvement

A few blogs ago, I had listed some of the things I might write about. Perusing that list I had the realization that many of those topics overlap or are linked together. Tonight, I feel like discussing health improvement, with perhaps a smattering of motivation and goals, a peppering of patterns of behavior, and, maybe...just maybe a dash of my Naropa studies.

Some of the things that I do/have done:

• Stopped eating most meat about 7 years ago (beef, chicken, pork, etc.) with the exception of seafood. (I call myself "the bad vegetarian") This change was rather easy, except apparently for other people who seem to have difficulty understanding why I gave up eating meat. I shrug it off because it really does not make any difference in their lives if I choose not to eat something.


• Cut back on dairy. My naturopath suggested that I cut dairy out of my diet for the two weeks of the month, but I would like to cut back even more.
  
• Lost thirty pounds. Okay, I'm not yet at my goal weight, but I have maintained this initial loss for four months.


• Getting regular acupuncture. I love it!


• Exercise. This is something I do for a while, get lazy for a while, get motivated all out, slack off......
  
• Worked on my mental health. Letting go of past hurts and losses, bringing positive people into my life, helping others, loving always, and utilizing mindfulness.


• Expanding my mind through learning, writing, art and reading.

I try to improve my health in little ways here and there, and my motivation and habits certainly ebb and flow. Currently, I find myself in a major ebb and am looking for a jolt of motivation. I find my biggest killer of motivation is being tired, which I am right now. Trying something new is one way I add fuel to the fire under my ass.

• I am considering trying a (mostly) raw foods diet for a time to see how my body reacts to it. Perhaps I will switch to a mostly vegan diet first.


• Finding a 5K or a 10K to train for, preferably for a fund raiser to sweeten the motivational honey pot.


• Find a second part-time job at a health center, dance or yoga studio.


• Find a training partner. Greg is a great exercise partner, but our work schedule aren't always conducive to fitting it in everyday together.


• Getting back to drinking lots of water daily.


• Start tracking my food intake again and cutting calories.


• Getting full night sleep every night.


• Taking a class (dance, tai chi, yoga) regularly.

I know how great I feel when I am consistent with healthy habits, and that should be motivation enough. I'm open to ideas, suggestions and your stories, but until then, I'm going to wash up and head to bed for that full night sleep. :)