Saturday, March 20, 2010

DAY 223 New Spring Challenge! Wanna Join??


Hi Journal & Friends,





Yesterday, instead of burying my feelings beneath layers of food, I chose to acknowledge them and try to deal with them. In the past, I would have numbed them with LOTS of mac n cheese. But without the anesthesia, they sure seemed raw and intense to me!

I received so many wonderful comments, with encouraging words and lots of great ideas and suggestions. Thank you all so much, it meant a lot to me.

One idea stood out, head and shoulders above all the rest: exercise as a way to boost metabolism and weight loss. For the last couple of weeks it seems that everywhere I turn, I keep bumping into that idea... over and over and over.


I had my thyroid tested a couple of weeks ago, and the nurse called yesterday to tell me it was fine... it was not the cause of my sluggish weight loss, not to change my meds. This nurse is a tiny thing, but has always been very nice to me.

We talked awhile, and I made a surprising discovery: she was always made fun of in high school for being overweight, and to this day, in her forties, she has to watch what she eats every single day! 

She said sometimes the body resists letting go of the weight, and needs "adjustment" time. And that exercise can help speed things up. 

There is was, again!


Then she mentioned something that struck me: the body will let go of the weight once it is convinced it is not being deprived, and that it is getting all the nutrition it needs.

Now... I had been so focused on the mental part of this journey, because it IS important and was always my downfall in the past. So I was working at not feeling deprived "emotionally". You know, allowing favorite treats each day... having my yummy flavored coffee... that sort of thing, all within my calorie budget.

It never dawned on me if I didn't get rich enough nutrition while trying to lose weight, that is would be difficult to lose the pounds.

Well, all that is as good a theory as any I've heard yet! It even makes sense to me. I don't feel resistant to the idea at all. In fact, it's just the opposite. It make a LOT of sense to me.

So, I made myself a new plan, just in time for Spring. Today, Saturday, March 20th, is the official First Day of Spring here in the U.S. And the first day of Summer is officially June 21st. That is a span of 13 weeks.

I'm calling it my Spring Challenge, and my mascot is Tigger, springing around on his bouncy tail!


  • My daring goal: to exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY for the whole 13 weeks. :-O

  • Don't worry, I'm not nutso. I actually am building in balance, moderation. There will be "light" days, and regular days, and double days! I plan to be flexible, and work it around my schedule. But I will do SOMETHING every day, and will count it a bonus day when I do TWO routines in one day. I  will make a game of it, sort of competing with myself, and have fun with it. I might even belly-dance once or twice! ha ha

  • Oh, and just to show you how masochistic I really am... LOL... I will also have a GREEN SMOOTHIE every single day for the challenge. Wow, that was actually harder to commit to than the exercise!!!! I wonder what THAT says about my eating habits!

  • I will check in every Saturday, since I am starting on a Saturday.

  • I will tell one thing each week that I like about myself (thank you Mary, for that one). I already know that one will be a challenge... I am embarrassed just to type that!

  • And in addition to the health benefits, I will put some money away each of the 13 weeks, and at the end, when I have made my two goals (13 straight weeks of Exercise and Greenies) I will buy myself something totally fun! I haven't decided what yet... probably connected with either my art or exercise toys. 

There you have it: my Spring Challenge

1. Every day for the next 13 weeks, do some kind of Exercise.
2. Every day for the next 13 weeks, drink a Greenie.
3. Check in every Saturday.
4. Tell one thing each week that I like about myself.
5. Save up to buy myself a fun Reward at the end.


By the way, if anyone else would like to join me... you can choose your own goals (behaviors, not a number on the scale!), check-in day, and reward. And tell one thing about yourself that you like each week. And feel free to swipe a copy of Tigger, too.

Mary, at Wistful Nebulae, has generously offered a prize to someone that stuck it out to the end! We will have a random drawing of anyone still alive an' kicking (perfection NOT required, just participation!!!) and she will send the winner an exercise DVD. How cool is that!!! (Mary said the DVD's are coded for U.S. and Canada)

If you are interested, I'd appreciate it if you mentioned it on your blog, since I didn't give much/any notice on this. It was sort of a last minute thing... sorry about that! Feel free to check in here on Saturdays and leave a link to your update (whatever day it is) so we can cheer each other on.

Thanks to Dayne, at Coach Your Mind,  I am finally asking the right question. Instead of moaning about what IS, about what I can't do.... I am now asking: what CAN I do to help myself??

Mary, at Wistful Nebulae,  told me my focus was wrong... and that I needed an attitude adjustment. Oh, she was so right!! After my check-up-from-the-neck-up, I feel so much better and motivated to DO something, rather than sit around feeling sorry for myself. To focus on the things I am doing right. Thank you, my Friend Mary.


From Dr Phil's book: "Get off your duff and get moving."

My verse for today: "May the Lord bless us and keep us and cause His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us... and give us peace."

My quote for today: "Just because an animal is large, it doesn't mean he doesn't want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo." --Winnie the Pooh

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta
=^..^=



19 comments:

M Pax said...

You're welcome, Loretta. I will announce your challenge on Chronicles later on today. [About to go off to critique group.

I will join your challenge. Yes, me. The nonjoiner. No, I will not be winning my own prize. :)

I will list my goals on Chronicles and then will report here to you every Saturday ... since Chronicles will not be around much longer. :D

You're more than welcome. If I can encourage anyone to keep going and feel re-energized, well then it's been a very good year. Go. Go. Go.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Loretta! I loved this post and heard just the confirmation and encouragement that I needed. :D

For a couple of months, I've been thinking that I needed to amp up my nutrition. I resisted because I have really, really improved the quality of my food over my usual fare.

I was determined that when I started to count calories again that I WOULD NOT do my fat girl routine and eat whatever I craved as long as it fit my cal count.

And I haven't! I've added fruit and some vegies. I put together my plateau busting food plan...

So, I thought I had sacrificed enuf. sigh. But, over the last two weeks several people have mentioned that I may need to look at my fat consumption (sigh, sigh, sigh) and I've been convicted about adding more veggies.

I added more vegies.

So, Loretta my love, that leaves the FAT. You know how it goes when one tends to do low-carb--that often means high fat. It's been a long-standing habit. Groooaaannnn. But, as of today, I'm cutting the fat down to healthy amts. aaarrrgghhhh!

I did tell you in your last post that Jesus would give us instructions on what we needed to do, didn't I?! I wish I had added that we would LIKE it.

so, I am joining your challenge. I'll post my goals--this is already toooo long. sorry.

Wahoo SPRING CHALLENGE!! Here we come!

Deb

Anonymous said...

Okay, girlfriend. My challenge post is up on my blog! :D I'm so excited! Although, I'm not entirely sure how to eat veggies without butter... Is that possible, you think? Really?
huh. lol Deb

http://debwillbethin.blogspot.com

Debi said...

Loretta,

I love the fat cat picture. It's hilarious and so reminds me of ME. Stretching or even getting myself on the floor is the hardest thing for me.
I love too that your doing a spring challenge. I think its a wonderful idea.
How true it is about proper nutrition and our body's ability to figure us out. It's a fine tuned machine when we treat it as it should be...but oh how we tend to forget when we would rather have something other than veggies!
So glad I read this post. Your an inspiration!
Debi
Second Journey

Scarlet Simple said...

I think a challenge is a great idea! I have to think about my points though, I'll try and have one up tomorrow night!

Christine said...

okay, thought I left a comment..but guess I didn't.
hugs to you loretta...glad you are feeling better.
Looks like a great challenge..unfortunately I am going my own way for the next few months in a kind of solo bootcamp.
Love the idea though.
Rooting for you as always.

Retta said...

Thanks everyone, and welcome to the challenge for those of you who joined!

CHRIS: No problemo... I know you already had a plan in place to meet your goals later this year. You are on your way, and doing great. Maybe next time... oh, wait... by then, you will be a skinny minny! ha ha ha, good for you. :-)

Loretta
=^..^=

foolsfitness said...

Count me in on the spring challenge!

Maybe this will get me out of my funk and back on track. I know your idea of the tigger mascot for “spring” but my own has to be Eeyore.

I just read the post so my Sat has to be a bit of walking. Actually it *was* about fitness as I was looking for pannier bags for my new bicycle. I hit 4 places, and the only remotely close thing they wanted was 80 dollars!!! I guess I’ll have to go on line. I hate to avoid shopping local… but I digress.

I’ve been pondering better nutritional choices lately too… my current food choices of Chimichungas and granola bars leave some major gaps. I should mention there has been a book out for ages… “the fit or fat target diet” by Covert Bailey. He draws a circles in circles ( a target) and moves food toward the center as it gets more “bang” for the caloric buck… like butter would be out at the edge… steak would be moving toward the center, and tuna in water would be near the center. His target seems generally focused around fat content in foods, but to some extent nutritional quality naturally falls toward fruits and veg rather than butter anyway. I may be able to hunt down another chart to show more nutrient dense per calorie choices in time. (to do my part)

Normally I tend to avoid the “challenges” because I struggle with the idea that what happens after they stop and I want my fitness to be long term… but as a “spring” forward and to set a few short term goals I’m on board this time.

At Foolsfitness Eeyore will bring up the rear in the spring challenge!!!- Alan

foolsfitness said...

I just posted your challenge over at my foolsfitness.blogspot.com

along with my Eeyore version of the spring challenge art that I just put together. Does this mean I'm going to have to buy vegtables... I'm not even sure if I spelled "vegtables" right, never mind actually eating them!!!

Well I'm considering doing a charity bicycle ride in the early summer and this is a good tool to start gearing me up for it (oooh bad pun huh?)

At Foolsfitness we got to go to the supermarket and start trying to scout out other aisles than the chips, soda, and frozen food ones.- Alan

Retta said...

Ha ha ha ha... I KNEW it! I knew that whenever Foolsfitness is around, you never know WHAT to expect!

We at Tigger's Spring Challenge will be looking over our shoulder, keeping an eye out for Eeyore bouncing along!

Loretta
=^..^=

Kelli Campbell said...

you are doing great ..i may join it..im kinda shy when i have to say something nice about me..hehe..but i am doing the exercises everyday! and you will be wonderful..loveya,kelli

LeFebvre Momma said...

This is GREAT. I have to be a bridesmaid on June 19th - so its perfect timing... My weightloss blog is newlefebvremomma.blogspot.com

that TOPS lady said...

Count me in for the spring challenge! I am posting my goals on my blog today. Thanks for coming up with this!

Hollie said...

Count me in! I am going to start a little late (April 5), but if that's ok I am in it to win it!

Shelli Belly said...

Hi Loretta, I really like your goals. So we'll be on a similar road together.

Spring Challenge ~
1. I will pray and listen to the Word and/or read the Bible everyday.
2. I will exercise 6 days a week.
3. I will have a Green Smoothie 5 days a week.
4. I will not buy food from a window.
5. I will put money in my Sink Fund for something special.

Pretty simple but I need to be more diligent with the little things.

I'll post my updates on Mondays if that is alright.

Charge>>>>>>

Maranda said...

Loretta,
I would love to join your challenge if its not to late. I'll post my goals on my blog this afternoon. Thank you

Retta said...

MIRANDA: Absolutely! The more the merrier. I tried to visit your blog, but when I clicked on your name I got a Profile not available page. So, if you'd like, you can email me, or leave a link to your blog, so we can all encourage each other.

I'll be posting a list Friday of all the participants, and I would love to include your info. :-)
Welcome!
Loretta
=^..^=

Maranda said...

Loretta, Sorry about that, I'm still new to blogging. But here is my blog where I posted about the challenge today http://glimpesofmyjourneythrulife.blogspot.com/2010/04/it-been-long-couple-weeks.html. Thanks you

Retta said...

MARANDA: Thanks, I found your site! I wanted to leave you a comment to welcome you to the challenge. You have some wonderful, doable goals. But your blog won't allow me to leave a comment. I click on the Leave a Comment link, and nothing happens, just a blank space, no comment box. You might check your settings?? And also to make it so others can visit your blog, if that is what you are comfortable with.

And I also wanted to tell you we have another TOPS member in the challenge! Here is her site, in case you didn't know:
http://capellaflavordrops.com/flavordrops.aspx

Loretta
=^..^=

Related Posts with Thumbnails