DAY 152 Challenge Update & No Longer a One-Armed Bandit!

Hello Journal & Friends!

I made it! Today is the end of Week 1 of The Perfect 10 Challenge. , that South Beach Steve started.

My goals:

To exercise 6 days per week. 

1. Exercise with my Richard Simmons DVD's 3 days out of each week. Yep, did that.

2. Exercise on my mini-trampoline 4 days out of each week. Yep, did that too.

3. As I get stronger, lengthen the time spent on each mini-tramp session. Yay, did that once already! :-D

 I was so excited about some progress I made this week, I couldn't WAIT for the Friday Perfect 10 update!!

Background: about 4 YEARS ago I injured first one shoulder, then the other. Very painful and limiting. Did all the usual, nothing helped. It was just going to take time. I would make progress, have set-backs, make progress, have set-backs... yadda yadda yadda. Finally after about 3 years, the right one got better, and stabilized. But the left one has been stubborn.

When it was first injured, there were times it was in a sling. I was like a one-winged bird. Then I finally didn't need the sling, but couldn't raise it up at all. Got better. Could raise it some...etc etc. Not even baby steps... more like ameba steps (do amebae take steps? or do they slither...sounds like something Fools Fitness would ponder, ha ha ha). All this time during recovery from the damaged shoulder, the muscles of the shoulder and arm got weaker and weaker. 

When I exercised to a DVD, I had to get used to doing it lopsided, or risk pain and re-injury. The big news is...this week, after YEARS,  I am no longer the one-armed bandit... I did the whole DVD routine yesterday with both arms in sync!! I am so happy, I could do cartwheels!

I am so excited to finally see this kind of progress. It is such a relief. I was urged to have shoulder surgery, but now I don't have to! I am happy happy happy!!!!!!!!

Okay, enough blathering about my shoulder. :-)

One rule in The Perfect 10 Challenge is... at each weekly update, we must tell one thing about ourself that you probably don't know. I was going to pick something funny, but something else keeps popping up. So here goes:

I was born with a birth defect. In dogs, they call it hip dsyplasia (good thing I'm not a doggie, or they would've put me to sleep). Basically, the hip socket isn't fully formed, so the ball of the bone on the upper thigh sits outside, instead of in it's little socket... cuz there is no socket. Left untreated, you are crippled, or it shoves the legbone up and the leg is shorter... either way, it hurts. To fix it, they put the baby in leg braces, with a metal bar from foot to foot, to keep the legs stretched out in a V shape, to force the legbone to grow into the hip, and finish forming the hip socket. 

Long story just to say, I wore those braces for 3 years, so didn't learn to walk til afterwards. Then it was orthopedic shoes til the 5th grade, when I had a fit at the thought of more teasing torture from other kids, and absolutely refused to wear them any longer. My Mom, blesss her, understood and relented.

So why have I been thinking about that?? I remember a post Sean Anderson  wrote, where he talked about the benefits of being overweight. It was a different perspective, all right! He was showing how to find the silver lining, that it's all in the attitude. For example, he now has more compassion for people, since he has gone through these painful experiences himself. Sorry, I looked and looked for the specific post... can't find it! (edited to add: it's Day 135, "Thank You Letter To Morbid Obesity". Thanks, Sean!)

I was applying that idea to me starting out with a painful struggle like that... and wondering if it wasn't the very thing that helped to form my character and affect me at such a young age. It was a struggle, and when we meet resistance and overcome it, we get stronger. 

Sure, there were negative affects from it that I won't go into now, but I am thinking it also gave me a benefit. I can be very determined when I want to!! Tenacious... persistent... stubborn if you will. And aimed at the right thing, these traits can be a positive force. 

I'm not talking about "self-sufficiency", where I am "all that" and don't need God. No, I am talking about a tendency to either wimp out, or choose to dig in and go forward, once I make up my mind. I just wish I had applied that to this weight thing sooner.

Well, for whatever reason, I am determined to make it this time. And to enjoy the journey along the way. Sure, there are occasional bumps in the road, that's life. But overall, I refuse to be detoured by them, but to stay on the main road, and LIVE on this road trip called life!

From Dr Phil's book: "You can create an internal dialogue that is healthy, constructive, and joyful."

My verse for today: "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

My quote for today: "Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think." --Randy Pausch