"Every time you shine, I'll shine for you"

Today brought my weekly jaunt to A2 for some Whole Foods groceries and some Trader Joe's yummies. Though no beer nor wine were purchased *tears*, I splurged on some wonderful goodies. My Dear Sweet Rachel suggested golden beets, I have never tried a golden beet, but to my surprise they were delicious. I plan on taking one to work tomorrow to enjoy, since being a golden it won't stain my fingers! I also bought a chocolate bar. A really really good chocolate bar. I just wanted to have it, so, ya know, come the end of the week I could have a little bite for being such a good girl. Amazingly enough, now that I have it, I don't really want it. I am sure I will have a little bite Friday as present to myself, but I am not feigning it, like I was . Is that considered a Jedi Mind Trick? Fooling myself like that, fooling my own weaker mind? Maybe. But please, if you had grandiose plans of surprising me with some Godiva's for Valentine's day I would welcome your chocolates with open arms!

I managed to make it to the Fitness connection for some cardio and weights this afternoon thanks to their longer hours on Sundays now. In 3 weeks the 56 participants in the Tecumseh Community Weight Loss Challenge have lost over 137 pounds. That is great! It feels amazing to be one of the creative minds behind an effort that is getting people in this community healthier.

I hate to go all teenage girl on you, but...... Taylor Swift has a song out called Jump Then Fall. It is in the movie Valentine's Day due out this month. You can check it out here http://www.lala.com/#search/taylor%20swift%20jump%20then%20fall if you are not familiar with it. (lala is my favorite way of sharing music. Register, it is free, and I can share my favs with you!) Most of her songs are about heart break and what not, but I love this part of the song: "every time you smile, I smile....and every time you shine, I'll shine for you." We talk about bringing the community together with this challenge, and yeah, there is a little smack talk going on fo' sho, BUT we are all rooting for each other. I love seeing how successful everyone is, and how fantastically their journeys are going. It is the way we are all pushing each other, picking one another up along the way. The path to health and wellness can be bumpy, I am grateful I have you in my life. Thanks to all of you who keep me strong and on the right path. I appreciate you.

I had a friend tell me the other day that she was not going to go to the gym the day before. She was tired and had too much to do. She then got on facebook, (what we all do when we have too much to do, right???) and saw my foursquare update that I was at the gym. She then changed her clothes and went to work out. She said I motivated her. I hope I did! The other night I told my friend Teresa I was scared to swim so many laps; I didn't know if I could do it. She looked me dead in the eye after she left me in a locker rooms with 25 middle school girls! and said, "Jesus Ehrika, if Ashley can do it you can do it!" That was her way of saying get your ass out there and stop worrying! Noted. I think we need little nudges, sometimes perhaps big nudges from people to keep us going. Some people nudge us unintentionally, and some know that we need a little nudge. Either way, we are in this together, and "every time you shine, I'll shine for you."

Today begins a new week, let's make it a good one. Inside all of us is HOPE.

"I'm not that girl" ohh wait..... Maybe I am. (wicked)

I was that person. No wait; I was that girl. I roll my eyes because it is true, embarrassingly true. I went out to dinner hott date! and this is what I ordered.... (Let me first remind you that I am still on my body purification program.) A salad. No egg, no croutons, no cheese, and no dressing. But a lemon on the side please. Then for the main course I ordered a double order of the steamed veggies. Please and Thank You.

Yes, I can eat chicken now, but I have to admit, chicken tastes horrible to me. I have no desire to eat it. I also have no desire to eat red meat, even though I can't yet. I can't even prepare meat right now, it makes me sick. Fish on the other hand, YUM! I bought some pesto tilapia last week at Whole Foods and can only pray they have it again this week! It was amazing. The only thing my body keeps telling me it needs is a small piece of dark dark chocolate. The kind of chocolate that is expensive and dark and bitter, the kind you can only have one nibble, maybe two before it overwhelms you. That is what I need. I write need, not want. I feel like I need this chocolate. My body has completely detoxed from sugar cravings, I have no desire to eat lifesavers or tic tacs or skittles or any of the old favorites. But chocolate.....dear sweet chocolate. It's almost Valentine's Day, right? One piece of amazing chocolate is all I want....

I did not make it to the gym today, I did not have the time. I thought about going to The Christian Family Centre tonight, but decided I was too lazy. I have a book I really want to highlight though tonight, and as much as I would love to be that girl on the EFX reading her book, I can't be. I don't work like that, I think I am too competitive. My friend Jonathon burned 1,036 calories the other night at the gym, seriously. I am not sure how he did it, other than "just working out hard". What is your record for an evening (or morning) at the gym? Do you pay attention to that stuff? I have an app on my phone that tracks workouts and calories for me, so I try to use as much as possible. I like seeing what progress I have (or have not) made. Do you chart your progress? Does it help?

Tomorrow, Fitness Connection. Join me. I'm thinking 1 or 2. You bring the water, I'll bring the conversation. Chances are I'm the funny one in our relationship.

Inside all of us is HOPE.

Time is of Value.

I went to Dunham's today and bought some goggles, I don't think I could swim again without some. I placed them in my swim bag as to remember them Monday night. Monday night swimming might be my new favorite thing, seriously, I totally love it!

Today is one of those days where I really want to work out, but I don't know if it will happen. I am booked with kids (mine and others), leaving my only feasible option to work out late tonight, like 7:30 or maybe even 8. As tempting as it is to just stay home and go to bed, I think I have to work out because I can't tomorrow, and who knows about Sunday. The downside of living in a small town is the gym I go to, the only gym in town does not have a day care, is only open for a few hours on Saturdays, and a few hours on Sundays. I feel limited in that respect. Granted, it is not like I had any great elaborate plans for a Friday night, but still, sleep counts as great plans, right??

Those of you with small children, how do you find the time to work out? Better yet, those of you who are SAHM's (stay at home mom's) how do you find the time to work out? My best days are when I just add time for a work out into my work day. Benefiting of course from the fact that the gym in right below my office and I can take 'the secret stairs' down to the gym. But I think that goes with the mind set that I feel a responsibility to be fit for my job. I feel as though I can't talk about health and wellness and not be healthy and well myself. Makes sense, right?

The hardest part is not the actual working out, the hardest part is finding the time to get there. I was talking with a lady today and she said her husband would get upset with her for driving 20 min to work out. He said she was gone for too long. I am so glad that that is not one of my problems... for SO many reasons. It does, however, prove my point; weather it be children or spouses, time is so valuable. Everyone wants a piece of you, working out at the gym means you have to give yourself a piece of you. That is not always easy, is it?

Enjoy your Friday night, I will see many of you tomorrow for pictures at the REC. Look pretty, smile big. Feel free to bring me a snack when it is your photo time. Fresh veggies, maybe a fruit? Lentils? I will probably see a handful of you tonight at the gym. Remember when we used to meet up at bars for beer? Now we meet up at the Fitness Connection for some light gossiping, EFX-ing, and perhaps a stimulating conversation that DOESN'T include the words, booger, poop, or butt. Maybe......

Inside all of us is HOPE.

I blogged 2 days ago about balance, and I know we understand how hard it is to balance. But this kid sure makes it look easy, doesn't he? This is Kyle, he works for me at the Rec. He is one of the many reason I love my job, I love working with these high school students. They keep things in perspective.

I worked out at the Fitness Connection this morning. I did my cardio and then some light lifting, and lots and lots of stretching. I have been sticking with the EFX machine and the concept rower for a while now, so I should really look into switching things up. I need to spend more time running, but I must be honest, I HATE running on the treadmill. I feel like an elephant, and sound like a heard of them. I know, I just need to get over myself and run. I keep trying to convince myself that the running will increase once the weather gets warmer.... In truth it has to or I will never survive running 5k's and then doing my first ever triathlon. In the spirit of the Tri, I also need to spend more time on the bikes, but I am a creature of habit. Breaking the habit of the EFX and the concept rower will be tough, so maybe I just add some bike time into my work out? Maybe.

Spending so much time on the EFX has done away with what little fannie I had. I am at the point with my work outs where I am about to need new shorts. I spend half my time pulling up my shorts as I EFX my way to health and wellness. Of all the places I wanted to drop inches, my fannie was the least of my worries. It will all even out in the end, right? That's what I keep telling myself. So I guess I will visit come College websites and order some new gym shorts. I might as well start with Dartmouth since I have already have my T.

"I like your Dartmouth shirt, who do you know that went there?" "My friend Meredith did her undergrad there." "Meredith Grey? From Grey's Anatomy?" "Yeah, uhh huh."

If I was braver I would use this blog to chronicle my weight loss and weight gain, and inches, and all the nitty gritty stuff. While researching other blogs before I began this I noticed that is what a lot of bloggers do. I'm not there yet. Maybe some day, maybe in a private conversation I will share those things. Maybe. BUT, if you would like to share your success and setback, do tell. We all can relate. I might start a photo journal of some things that are coming along nicely for me. Nooo, not my fannie, though that would be an interesting photo journal. My biceps and triceps are developing nicely, as are my legs. The best photos would probably be of what is not coming along as I had hoped, but again, it is that stuff that I am not yet brave enough to share.

Inside all of us is HOPE.

Lentils, I curse you. But I kind of love you. But I hate you.

When I got home from work last night I was starving. Before I even took my scarf off I started a pot of lentils. Before I could even change my clothes this happened to my pot of lentils.
The pot cracked all the way around, spilling half cooked french lentils all over my stove. Starving, I cleaned up my mess, doing the math in my head that to prepare another pot was not going to happen because it had gotten so late. In turn, I settled for a plate of raw spinach that I ate pretending each leaf was a potato chip. Dinner served. (protein shake and other veggies included)

I made lentils for breakfast. Breakfast of champions. For those of you wondering why I didn't just have a bowl of cereal or some other reasonable easy fix for dinner or even breakfast for those of us to eat dinner at 8 pm when we get home from work I am doing a body purification program. I am limited as to what I put in my body, and also limited to the amount of exercise my body can handle. So, lentils are my staple. Yeay Lentils!

As for now my obliques are still sore from swimming Monday night. That is a good thing I guess. I never realized how much I under-utilized those muscles. Other than that I am not hurting today anyplace else. I plan on going to The Fitness Connection at 3 when I get out of work for a mild to moderate work out, not enough time for weights today, so perhaps tomorrow I will re-introduce them into my work out plan. I finally feel as though my body is getting enough protein to repair the muscle tears from light lifting.

How are you with getting enough protein in your diet? Are you supplementing with shakes? I think eating healthier would much easier if I had a personal chef. Take last night for instance, if I had a chef to cook my lentils they would have been ready when I got home and I could have avoided the grouchiness that followed the Great Lentil Spill of '10. Did I say grouchiness? You bet I did. I was hungry. Lesson learned though, lentils are cooked in my refrigerator waiting to be warmed up with some fresh veggies for a post work out treat this afternoon. Yum!

I was able to squeeze in a few minutes this morning to see my Chiropractor for an adjustment. I am trying to get adjusted 2 times a week right now as my body is going through all of these changes. Today, all in all, I feel amazing. My energy is high, my mood is pleasant, I am ready for anything.

I am please with the traffic this blog has generated over the course of ONE day. I had 81 hits yesterday, an inbox flooded with comments, and lots of positive responses. Perhaps a few negative ones, but who listens to the negative anyways? Adding a comment to the bottom of the page is very easy, but it is your choice. I understand not all of us like to put our business out there...... E-mail me, inbox me, or leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Together we can do great things.

Inside all of us is HOPE.

I am a Notoriously Bad Blogger

In the past it was true, I have been a notoriously bad blogger, but the past is behind me. I making improvements in all aspects of my life so maybe, just maybe, this is my chance to be a better blogger. Be patient with me.

My journey to better health and wellness took off a while ago, and as tempting as it might be to give you a long back story, I am not going to do that. Let's face it, you don't care, and I don't have the energy to fill you in. Basically it boils down to this; I needed to make changes, and dove in head first. I have not looked back since; I am moving forward instead.

But as we all know some of us know this all too well there are many struggles that come in the aspects of health and wellness. Today I am struggling with balance. Trying to find the time to work, workout, spend time with my family and friends, and house work (but mostly the laundry in that category).

In the name of BALANCE: (you can click on anything I have attached a link to to gather more information)

Today I tried something different. Because my schedule was so scrambled, with absolutely no time to work out while either 1. school was in session or 2. someone was home to watch the children, I went to the Christian Family Centre to workout. I had a free pass and then paid $4 for 2 hours of babysitting for my 4 year old. I spent my first 15 minutes using the WAVE technology. It was wonderful and helped with some of the shoulder soreness I was experiencing from swimming last night. I then did 20 min of light cardio on the TRUE machine. The TRUE is comparable to the EFX at the Fitness Connection. My workout was wonderful, but the entire time I worried about the small boy I left in the day care. He looked at me and almost cried, and then said, "Do I have to?" I told him if he didn't like it, he wouldn't have to come back, but that he need to give it a shot. So after 35 minutes, no weights today, I went to pick him up. He was playing Wii Boxing having the time of his life. Of course he was. I worried for nothing.

The balancing act continues, it always does. I do feel as though I conquered it, for at least today I am the master of my domain. Who knows what struggle tomorrow brings, but as long as I don't give up and keep working hard I know I will end up in the right place.

How do you balance it all? Where are your short comings?

Inside all of us is HOPE.