When the body speaks!

Day 3 of 40

Today I started my Spring semester at George Mason University.  I started by walking from the Patriot Center parking lot to my office, an easy 13 minute walk while the winds seemed to cut slits into my cheeks.  Getting in my office and immediately printing off syllabi, I was off to this class the to that then to the other.  I proudly announced to my students that I was in my 20th year of teaching, I scrambled from class to class, met 40 Quantitative Methods students, 93 Calculus II students and 15 Discrete Math II students.   It was very busy but a very good day and well by 4pm my knees were screaming and my left heal was throbbing not to mention the toe that was so unhappily in weather appropriate Timberlands all day.  So it was a good work day but clearly my body was letting me know I'd been off a month and a day too long.  So I hobbled back down to my car at the Patriot Center, this time it took me more than 13 minutes and then I headed home.  I was in just after 7pm in time for  yet another thing I had to do at 8pm, finally after that getting kids to bed for school tomorrow.  So here it is after 10pm and I definitely feel I'm way past my bedtime but I have yet to workout today.  I know I said I would and I'm not making any excuses, I am merely adjusting and counting today as my rest day.  Tomorrow I will exercise before I start my crazy day, so with that said time to call it a night!

Listening to my body,

Lynnell

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas Edison

Slow and Steady Wins the Race...

Day 2 of 40

When I start something new, I am excited, pumped up and focussed.  I want to get on the scale after two days and see 20 pounds dropped, LOL (don't laugh at me, just with me).  The reality is that is UNREALISTIC and if somehow I could pull that rabbit out of the hat, those pounds would come back with a vengeance three fold.  For me in my journey, "slow and steady wins the race".  Consistent working out and good food choices pay off high dividends over a long period of time.  So though I'm on Day 2 and I have worked out today and am keeping true to the goals of the 40 Day Quest, the winners circle is at the end on Day 40 when I can look back and see, feel and revel in the cumulative results of the daily accomplishments of the journey.  The finish line is far off but I'm focussed on getting there as I navigate the terrain, I'll get there "One Day At A Time".  (SN: Why that song was one of my grandmother's favorites becomes clearer and clearer to me each day.)

I must highlight that today I received TWO surprises, I am blessed to be surrounded by such loving, caring and giving people that thought I deserved their thoughtfulness.  It's one thing to receive a gift but it's another when the thought behind it is as unique, thoughtful and perfect for you.  Thanks to them both I am feeling extraordinary!

So Day 2 was a very good day, it's my last day of my 21 day detox and tomorrow I'll keep moving slow and stayed to win the race being conscious of what I eat and looking forward to working out.

Feeling special,

Lynnell

"We must be willing to relinquish the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell

"The only way to enjoy anything in life is to earn it first." - Ginger Rogers

40 Days and 40 Nights, Starting NOW!

Day 1 of 40

After going to church with my aunt yesterday, I was inspired to start a 40 Day Quest.  As the next 40 days unfold I will share more about the Quest but today I will disclose two of the goals during the quest:

1. Blogging/Posting everyday for the next 40 Days.  I will either write a blog post here or on a fitness group on Facebook. 
2. Exercise every day with rest days every 7th day. 

So let the Quest begin, here is my post for Day 1 and I've already worked out today ;-).  

I started the year out with a 21-Day detox, I have been staying away from meat and dairy and taking Renu Herbs Detox Trio.  With just a couple more days left, I feel great and this 40 Day Quest is prefect timing.  

Stay tuned more to come,

Lynnell

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

(so appropriate especially since today is MLK Holiday)

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light" -Aristotle Onassis

I will admit, I LOVE Thanksgiving!

So this is confession time, thanks to my Catholic up bringing, I'm heading into a virutal confessional tonight.  Lord have mercy, where this post will go, only You know... (Note To All:  I'm convinced my need to exploit my most intimate feelings is thanks to Sister Mary Catherine the third and Father John and the Pope too, but nonetheless here goes)

So I know that the historical context upon which Thanksgiving is based between the Pilgrims and the NATIVE AMERICANS can be a hot topic.  This post isn't to address that but to admit, I love Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday.  Family and friends gathering together to STOP the rat race and enjoy a meal just means so much more to me than the over commercialized Christmas.  The fact that Black Friday has now overshadowed Thanksgiving with most stores openning on Thanksgiving Day with doorbusters that either took people away from family and friends to shop or in some cases skipped the family dinner all together, well it has me feeling some kind of way.  Nonetheless, yesterday I found myself realizing that just last year I was eating Vegan and didn't partake in the traditional meal. While this year though I ate turkey, I found my plate only included turkey, ham, green beans and cabbage.  I skipped the guilty pleasures of stuffing, gravy, mac n cheese and mashed potatoes, etc.  My favorite part was just being in my grandparents' homestead again with my mother's side of the family.  I found myself hanging out in the kitchen talking with my aunt.  I left feeling satisfied and connected to my mother (Bernice Johnson 1941-1994) and the many Thanksgivings we spent there.  Yes I love Thanksgiving, but not for the meal, but for the family and the love.

So here it's been months since my last post, but it hasn't been months since I've had something to share, believe me.  But let me bring you up to speed on where I am now on this journey and give my supporters a reason to support and my haters a reason to hate.

UPDATE:  I gave up my gym memebership for several reasons but I didn't give up on fitness.  I gained some pounds back after loosing my routine with the gym but each day I was trying to figure out a way to get back in the saddle.  I started a couch to 5k program in late August only to have it sidetrack by my daughter's hospital stay and work travel schedule.  Don't worry the hospital stay was short and all is well and I'm thankful for every trip ($$$) but life was happening faster than I could keep up.  I became a distributor for Plexus Slim since it was a product that was working well for me, I even have my own website:  www.inthepinknaturally.com.  Then I started searching for an in-home workout program.  At the same time that I was researching, I was contacted by a friend, Joyce who is a Team Beachbody coach.  After getting her recommendation, I decided to take another challenge with Les Mills Combat by Beachbody.  I hadn't heard of it before but when she inboxed me on facebook, she said she knew from our days in the gym together this was the right program for me.  So 6 days ago I took my Before pics and measurements and today I completed Day 5 of 60 of the Les Mills Combat program.  Having a DVD set with workout calendar will help temedously when I'm travelling.  All I have to do is push play, which I did today.  Now I know I'm at the beginning of the 60 day journey but as I told Joyce, the flatter my tummy gets, the shorter and tighter my News Year's Eve dress will be, LOL.  I'm joking of course ;-)  I feel amazing already with getting back into the saddle again.  Don't count me out yet, I still have some things to accomplish and I've not given up on my dreams if nothing else I'm dreaming in not just color but dolby stereo too.

Back in the saddle and loving life,
Lynnell

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.  If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." -- Oprah Winfrey

"Appreication can change a day, even change a life.  Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary."  -- Margaret Cousins

Just Celebrated An Amazing 45th Birthday

I had an amazing 45th Birthday on Thursday, September 19, 2013.  I referenced this birthday in a previous post,  called it my "forty-fine" birthday.  I had made plans over a year ago that when I got to this one I would have dropped the 100 pounds.  Well life happened, I had some ups and downs but on my birthday I still felt "forty-fine". Some people even told me I definitely looked "forty-fine", lol.  See like many others, my weight loss journey has being affected by significant personal challenges which I had been struggling with for several years but earlier this year, I finally faced and addressed a major one.  In my January 13, 2013 blog post, I concluded as usual with a few quotes and this was one of them: 

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.” ― Harvey Fierstein

I'm so thankful after having a great 45th Birthday, that I had to repost the quote and simply add, who I am is who I am but more importantly, who I am NOT is the victim anymore! 

Knowing I'm blessed and highly favored,
Lynnell

Still I Rise

 by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

New Beginning

I was in my kitchen a couple days ago trying to tidy up and a thought hit me, it was simply, "I am starting a new."  The weird thing is I had this feeling without consciously deciding to embark on a "New Beginning."  I hadn't decided to try a new exercise regime or diet change.  I hadn't decided I would start the week with a new anything.  Yet and still, as I swept the kitchen floor I felt I was embarking on a "New Beginning"  I had no plan or even a purpose for this path, I just knew and know I'm on it.  So being the mathematician I am, I started trying to analyze this clear indication that my feelings and emotions had delivered to my brain.  Searching the recent events in my life, I tried to pinpoint if this feeling was a result of the beginning of my new semester, another successful training trip, my hair getting done, the start of my birthday month, the new outfit I found on clearance or even the friend that told me in our last conversation to have a nice life and that it was in deed our last conversation. Though all these things seemed like they could be the culprit, none of them had occurred within the couple days of my sweeping the kitchen floor. So that's when the revelation hit me that all new beginnings aren't necessarily attributed to some on-purpose-decision to start a new or even an unexpected life in event.  But in fact that, the overwhelming feeling I got was because I had embarked on a New Beginning that chose me verses me choosing it.  Where the path leads and how it relates to my personal and professional goals I have no idea but am excited to make those connections as they unfold.

Moving forward in anticipation,
Lynnell

“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” 
― Carl Bard

“[T]hat old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” 
― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

“Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.” 
― L. Frank Baum

Reset now...Ready, Set, Go

This morning I reported to the July session of the Cardio Combat Class with a hearty greeting from the instructor Keith, who bellowed "the Champ is here!"  Everyone I hadn't seen for months asked me how I was all referring to me as "champ".  I couldn't have written a better beginning to my day if I tried.  (and as quiet as it's kept, I love to write, Shhhh!) It was a tough HARD AS HELL class and I almost pp'd also know as puked and passed out.  Fortunately I did neither but what better way to start out the month than challenging yourself off the break?  I have't been in the gym consistently in months and the times I've been I haven't pushed my self that hard.  I'm already looking forward to Wednesday.  I came home and posted the following on my fb page:

It's July 1, I'm looking for a few folks to enlist into my accountability team. Yes, YOU! Half of 2013 is over, I'm stepping it up to finish 2013 with my goal of losing 50 more pounds or equivalent body change still in my sight. Like my status if I can count on you to keep me accountable. Some of you already know you're enlisted. Looking for more!

Already several people have liked my status and one of my fb friends invited me into a private 30 day challenge group.  I logged everything I ate today on My Fitness Pal as well.  I feel I started the day off right.  So what better way to celebrate that small success than my secret space, the blog that was created to capture my journey as it unfolds.   2013 started 6 months ago but I'm going to make my mark in it right now.

Let's Do This,

Lynnell

"The distance between who I am and who I want to be is separated by only by my actions and words" - Unknown

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.  The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. " - Joseph Campbell

"Everyday begins like a blank chalkboard, on which each one of us can write the poem of our present and our dreams for the future" - Ricky Martin