I don’t know if you are tired of reading posts about my getting in shape, but I’m getting tired of writing them. This will be my last one – at least for a very long while. I don’t want to focus on it anymore since it’s a new habit. It’s not like I focus on brushing my teeth every day even though I DO brush my teeth every day. Brushing my teeth and wellness are both just a part of my morning routine now.

It’s been about a month since I started with the updates. I’ve done well at keeping up what I’ve started. Rodney Yee and I are well on our way to a beautiful relationship. I feel taller and more in shape than I’ve been in a long time. I contribute most of that success to the yoga that I’ve been doing every morning. My posture is better and I just generally feel better when it comes to muscle tone.

This week I’ve done more walking outside since it’s been pretty in the mornings. I enjoy the stepping and it seems to break the exercise up, but there’s something to be said for getting it all done at once and having it off my mind for the rest of the day. So, I think, as long as it’s pretty outside, I will continue to walk the neighborhood while Roxie continues to pee all over the neighborhood. How DO dogs pee on demand like that? And why does my tiny dog think marking her territory all over the neighborhood is going to intimidate some HUGE dog that lives down the block? This morning we passed a man with a HUGE dog on a leash. The HUGE dog didn’t even look our way. But Roxie proceeded to bark and raise the hair on her back like she was going to have HUGO for lunch. Now, if I were little Roxie, I would have tried to get as small as possible and fly under the radar instead of ticking HUGO off. I think I need to teach Roxie a thing or two about manners or maybe she needs to teach me about self-confidence. But, that’s another post.

They say it takes 21 or 28 days or something like that to start a habit. Hopefully, I’ve started a new lifestyle habit. I almost look forward to my yoga and walking each morning now. If it’s bad weather, I’ll just try walk on the treadmill. But, no excuses to skip the walks. I still take the two days off each week. This week that was the days I was sick in bed with this flu or whatever I had. I still have the residual coughing and hoarseness, but for the most part, I feel better than ever.

I think I’ve finally made this body and wellness thing a non-issue. Have I lost a lot of weight? No. Do I care? No. I’m making strides in the right direction. Do I have my eating and portion control under complete control? No. But, again, I’m headed in the right direction. I’m still ‘doing, observing, and correcting’ and if I continue that, I will eventually get them all under control. The trick is to get a little better each week. This body didn’t get in this shape overnight and I’m not going to get it to perfection overnight either. But, as long as I’m headed in the right direction, that’s all that really matters.

So, I’m considering the body image project a success. Now, I just have to maintain what I’ve started. I have to continue building these wellness habits and focus on living!

Now that I’ve made the wellness a non-issue, it’s time to start managing my time… I’ll leave that for another post too.

I haven’t given you an update lately. I hope you assumed that no news is good news and didn’t think I had given up

I haven’t posted because I’m really trying to make this just something that I do and not make it an issue.

I’ve continued to do the yoga 5 days each week. I am REALLY enjoying the yoga once I get started. I still dread it a bit until I get started, but the degree of dread is slowly going down. I do feel better when I’m done and I think it helps me feel better all day long. I’m trying to remind myself of that when I’m laying in bed dreading getting up because I know I have to face Rodney Yee again with those sometimes impossible poses he seems to throw at me before I’ve had my coffee. Actually, I’m falling in love with him and dreading him less and less

I’ve kept up with the stepping and stairs and trying to add a little extra movement and walking in my day whenever possible. I rarely ever take the elevator when I’m at my office in Nashville and I’m up to 4 minutes on the step-ups, 7 times a day when I’m at home. I figure that’s 28 minutes a day.

I’m taking 2 days each week off of both the yoga and the steps. I think my body needs a rest occasionally and it helps me when I’m really not in the mood by saying that if I do it today, I can take a day off later in the week. I try to always take off on Sunday and then I try to schedule my other day off for my busiest day of the week when I’m going to be running all over town to meetings, so that I’m not any more pressed for time than usual.

I really feel that all this is working. At least mentally. I think my clothes are feeling a little looser and generally I feel that I’m at least doing SOMETHING for my body. I’m doing better at waiting until I’m hungry, cutting down on the portions and stopping when I’m full. Marna’s emails have been invaluable in keeping my mind focused on what I’m supposed to be doing when it comes to my eating.

Yesterday, I bought a treadmill. I will write another post about the reasoning behind that. I’m still trying to decide if I’ll put a walk/run in my schedule or if I’ll keep doing the stepping. I could always do both! ha! Yeah right.

Now, for the bad news. Every since I started this, I’ve had a minor cough. It started with a sinus thing going on or allergies or something. And then it turned into a tickle in the back of my throat. I didn’t feel bad, just coughed and cleared my throat constantly. My family FINALLY talked me into going to the doctor last week.

I had to get on the scales for the first time in a very long time. I guessed my weight almost perfectly. I wasn’t happy with it, but I HAVE to think that it’s better than it was a month ago. Who knows? Who cares? I feel better, that’s what matters. And I know I’m headed in the right direction.

The doctor put me on antibiotics – said it was just sinus drainage and I should get better soon. Yesterday after a grueling battle with treadmill (I wasn’t working out, I was putting it together), I started feeling horrible. I felt like I had the flu – body aches, chills, cold symptoms, fever, etc. The sinus drainage and coughing got worse and produced a sore throat. I felt HORRIBLE!

This morning I got up expecting to feel absolutely miserable, but I feel good! I don’t feel 100% and my cough is worse, I have laryngitis and a sore throat, but I am not miserable! I don’t feel the flu symptoms anymore, just the same tickle in my throat, only worse. I sound like one of my teen boys did when their voices were changing, but that’s ok! I’m just glad I don’t feel worse. I know it HAS to be all these vitamins, exercise and antibiotics. I think my body is just getting rid of all the yukky toxins my body has probably had for a very long time. I know in a couple of days I’m going to feel better than ever!!

They say it’s always darkest before the dawn. I see the beginnings of a beautiful dawn I think I’m getting through the darkness and the habits are being formed for a more healthy lifestyle. My new habits will keep my body where it needs to be so that I can focus more on the fun stuff!

I’ve lost count of how many days or weeks it’s been since I started my quest to get in shape. That’s a good thing.

I’ve kept up with the yoga once or twice a day at least five days each week. And I’m up to 4 minutes of stepping at a time. I walk for 30 minutes around the neighborhood when I have time and when my tongue is not hanging out from running from one appointment to the next.

I’m taking the stairs when I can and I’m parking further away from places so that I have to walk further.

Yesterday I started taking a whole food multi-vitamin. I’m focusing on vibrant health and more energy. I’ve taken most of the thinking out of it… it’s just something I do.

It must be working because I think I had a brilliant idea today. Some of the folks I’ve shared it with think I’ve lost my mind. They may be right, but I think it’s brilliant. I think it was an inspired thought and now I’m going to take inspired action.

It’s definitely given me more energy. When you are passionate about something and excited about what the future holds for you, the energy seems to appear!

Or maybe it’s just the vitamins.

Stay tuned… I’ll be sharing my great idea soon!

We finally have blue skies, so a walk is in order as soon as I get through with this post.

Yesterday, I set my alarm for every 70 minutes. When it went off I would go up and down the basement stairs for 3 minutes. I hope to work up to longer, but for now, 3 minutes is plenty long. If I can just learn to go down without falling down, I’ll enjoy it more. Actually, I didn’t fall, I just started to fall but caught myself with my forearm. Concrete block walls do not feel good to bare skin. I’ve started holding more to the rail. I just have to work out the bugs to this whole exercise thing

I actually enjoyed the short bursts of exercise better than making time for a full 30 minute walk to the DVD since it was raining. I didn’t always hit it every 70 minutes because I was deep in concentration or on the phone or chatting with my boss, but I didn’t miss many trips up and down the stairs. I probably hit it 4 or 5 times. That totals up to about 12-15 minutes of going up and the down the stairs. Not bad. I certainly couldn’t have done it for 15 minutes straight.

I’m feeling it today! My calves and thighs are really sore! But, I’ve still hit the stairs a couple of times today already. I may not hit them as much today since I’m so sore and since it’s so pretty outside. I’d rather take time to take Roxie for a walk outside today. I’ve decided to take tomorrow off from everything. I think my body deserves a rest.

I’ve continued to do the yoga in the morning and sometimes at night depending on how tired I am. If I’m watching TV from bed at night and almost asleep, it’s hard to motivate myself enough to get up and do the Yoga. My kids and I sometimes enjoy piling up in or around the bed in the recliners to watch tv together at night. It’s not often that we find something to watch that we all enjoy, but occasionally, I watch something that I’m not that crazy about just to watch it with them. We Moms make a lot of sacrifices for our kids such as ‘Plan Nine From Outer Space’ (I think that’s what it was called). Hard to even think about yoga after something like that.

After a week of yoga once or twice a day, I can really tell a difference. I feel like I walk a little taller. I feel like my muscles are a little more flexible and stronger. I’m still sore in spots – today, I’m feeling it in my lower back. But, it feels good. It’s just sore enough to let me know that I did something right I think the yoga has helped me relax, even on the nights I don’t do it before bed – or maybe it’s just being more active in general. I’ve slept really well this week.

I’m working hard on waiting until I’m really hungry to eat. The harder part for me is learning to quit when I’m full. I tend to keep stuffing it in as long as there is anything within reach. I know I have to eat more consciously instead of becoming a vacuum cleaner while I’m focusing on the conversation at the table. I’m also learning not to beat myself up after I do miss the mark and overeat. If I just get a little better each time, eventually, I’ll be where I want to be. If I beat myself up afterwards, it makes me want to just quit. Instead, I congratulate myself for not eating quite as much as the time before (whether I did or not).

I’ve learned that I should do, observe, correct without any emotion. This is not with just eating, but with anything I’m trying to master. I first do whatever it is I’m trying to get better at. Then I observe how I did without emotion. Did I miss the mark? Did I get close to where I want to be? Did I do part of it wrong and get the other part right? I evaluate my attempt this time. And then I make corrections. What can I do differently next time to make it work even better? What did I do right that I should continue to do next time? You get the idea. By taking the emotion out and just doing it, observing how well I did, and then correcting, I tend to get a little better each time. That’s much better than beating myself up about it.

That’s where I’m at. I think it is becoming more of a lifestyle and something that I just do. I don’t put a lot of emotion into it. I don’t think about it a lot, I just do the exercise when the alarm goes off. If I’m in the middle of something, I do it as soon as I get a chance. I automatically set my alarm again as soon as it goes off. That way I won’t forget.

Speaking of alarms, there it goes again! I better get out there and get walking before all the spooks come out tonight!

Happy Halloween!

Today, I feel like crap! Remind me why I’m doing this???

Ok, I think most of my problem is allergies or sinus from all the rain or something like that, but it certainly makes the exercise and diet look very UNinteresting. My head hurts. I’m tired. I just want to stay in bed. But, the good news is that my muscles aren’t so sore today. I did yoga morning and night and I walked to the Walk Away the Pounds DVD yesterday and I was feeling pretty good when I went to bed last night. But, this morning, I feel like crap!

I did get up and do the AM Yoga this morning and I admit, I felt better after doing it. It really does help to calm my mind and stretch when I first get up in the mornings.

Actually, I don’t do it when I first get up. I get a massage first. I have a massage chair like you see at the mall and that’s my first stop after the bathroom each morning. I wonder what I did before my massage chair? It certainly helps me wake up in the mornings and relax at night. Well worth the money. I want to get one of these next

See? That’s why I’m fat. I enjoy sitting and doing those kinds of things more than I enjoy getting up and moving around. But, I’ve decided that I can enjoy them both. The relaxing will be SO much better when my body is physically tired from the activity.

I have to remind myself that life is really about balance. I’ve learned that I can’t have the mountains without the valleys. I don’t appreciate the light without the dark. And I don’t appreciate the sun without the rain. The good is so much better after I’ve experienced the bad. And usually, to the degree that I’ve experienced the valley, the dark, the bad is the degree to which I experience the mountain, the light and the good.

So better days are coming. Of that, I am sure. I do know that this will not be easy and it will probably get harder before it gets to be fun or exciting or rewarding. This feeling I’m having today and probably tomorrow and the next day are the reasons that so many people give up on getting in shape. It’s certainly the reason I’ve given up on exercise and diet in the past. This part is no fun! But, it will be worth it. I’m focusing on the rewards of tomorrow instead of the pain of today.

Even though I don’t feel so great physically, I’m still excited about the challenge. My determination is even greater than before. I keep thinking what a waste it would be if I experienced this pain and then gave up before I reached the goal! What if tomorrow is the day that I start to see results? What if I give up just a few minutes too soon?

I don’t do scales. I gave them up a long time ago. I really don’t care how much I weigh. And I began to realize that generally the scales only made me feel worse. I am not a number. And that number that judges me when I get on the scale doesn’t define who I am. What’s important is how I feel. I can tell by the size and feel of my clothes whether I’m moving in the right direction toward my goals and dreams when it comes to my body. I finally figured out that it’s not my jeans that are shrinking

Today Marna reminded me to only eat when I’m hungry. I knew that! She did a great job motivating me to focus on that again. I am so glad that I signed up for her program. It’s something that I’ve planned to do and wanted to do for a long time, but I wasn’t ready to focus that hard on my body. I had better things to do… or so I thought.

Focusing on my body is not fun for me. I can think of a million other things that I would rather be doing. Making my blog about health and fitness was not in my grand scheme of things. But, when I started trying to figure out where I should start to help others be successful in their business, I had to face the facts. The thing that has helped me make changes in my life in the past has been to gain more self-confidence and more self-control by taking control of my body through focusing on wellness.

I heard something the other day that’s really stuck with me. If I get cold, I don’t focus on the cool air. I don’t focus on how to make the cold air stop or worry about how it got cold in the first place. I focus on the heat. I do whatever needs to be done to get warmer air flowing around me again.

When I get sick or fat or unhealthy, I shouldn’t focus on that illness or thing that is going wrong in my life. I shouldn’t look for the reasons it’s there or fight it and judge it and begrudge it. I should focus on wellness and how to get that flowing in my life again. I should focus on what I want – not what I don’t want.

What I really want is to feel good. Even though the thought of exercise or action does not make me feel good, the results of exercise DO make me feel good. I’m learning to look at the bigger picture and to focus on long-term results as opposed to short-term actions.

I also know that once I turn that corner to feeling better about myself, that will build momentum. Just feeling better will give me more energy and excitement which automatically cause me to be more active and energetic. Once I get that energy flowing through me again, good things start to happen. The good things give me even more energy and excitement. Those are the things I want in my life.

Today I can focus on the pain I have and still do the exercises or I can focus on the future I know I have and do the exercises. Either way, I’ll do the exercises. But, which way will cause the exercises to bring me the most benefit? I CHOOSE to focus on the bright future ahead and the more fit body I will have because I KNOW focusing on that will give me much more energy and enthusiasm while I exercise.

It really is all a matter of the mind. Or mind over matter. Or mind over body.

Ok, now I’m going to take this slim, healthy body to the showers and get ready for the rest of my day. I’m feeling stronger, taller, and more fit already.

What’s changed since the beginning of this post? Just my attitude. I have talked myself into having a GREAT day. Hopefully, I’ve helped your day a little too