It's been nearly a year since I blogged and so much has happened it will take weeks to catch up. In the meantime, I wanted to clear my head about something I've been wrestling with: my weight and my finances. For the past three years I have gotten so much of my life together: I finally passed the bar exam!!!! Returned to Graduate School and got married to the man of dreams. It has been a great time, the kids are getting bigger and smarter and I feel great about my life. However, I still don't feel that I have a handle on my weight or my finances. I'm not at my largest size, neither am I at my smallest. I'm in a weight that has been comfortable for me, but my body is not comfortable. I have backaches, headaches, I'm tired a lot and walking across campus is a strain. As a result, I have been trying to do something about it. I guess that's been the problem: I've been trying but not doing. I remember one time at Landmark Forum when the leader said there's no such thing as "trying:" you either do it or you don't. So today is the day I am doing something.
The issues I am facing are thus:
1) Discipline
2) Consistency
3) Joy in the process
4) Healthy Role Models
5) Small rewards for small success
I didn't grow up playing sports, or playing much in the backyard. Exercise comes hard to me. I joke that after slavery, I'm still tired. All that free labor, I just want to chill. But I have to work on my body in order to have a body that will benefit me for the future. Just like anything else, it will be a habit if you just do it consistently. That is point two: exercise sometimes hurts, and due to our pain avoidance once I have experienced pain, my goal is to avoid the source of that pain. So, I have often exercised one day gotten all excited over it and never done it again. Finding joy in the process means doing exercises that are fun. I bought my kids a Wii over Christmas break and I have been playing tennis, baseball and bowling. I also got Dance Revolution which is a good workout too. Now, if I could just get consistent with using all the tools I've invested in- I'd get somewhere. Having healthy role models means having people around that reinforce the need to make healthy choices on a daily basis. It means seeing people like Taishya Adams, Kim Davis and Ashley Koff who have transformed their bodies and taken control of their lives in amazing ways. It is obvious how much eating live foods affects your mind, body and soul. There is a glow and a radiance that comes from feeding yourself the foods that contribute to life and not death.
Finally, I've decided to reward myself for my effort. Every week that I work out consistently, I will put away $10 and I have asked my husband to contribute $10. This money will go towards my new clothes that I will buy for my birthday. It is 30 days away and if I can work on these things for the next 30 days I can take control of my weight forever!
The issues I am facing are thus:
1) Discipline
2) Consistency
3) Joy in the process
4) Healthy Role Models
5) Small rewards for small success
I didn't grow up playing sports, or playing much in the backyard. Exercise comes hard to me. I joke that after slavery, I'm still tired. All that free labor, I just want to chill. But I have to work on my body in order to have a body that will benefit me for the future. Just like anything else, it will be a habit if you just do it consistently. That is point two: exercise sometimes hurts, and due to our pain avoidance once I have experienced pain, my goal is to avoid the source of that pain. So, I have often exercised one day gotten all excited over it and never done it again. Finding joy in the process means doing exercises that are fun. I bought my kids a Wii over Christmas break and I have been playing tennis, baseball and bowling. I also got Dance Revolution which is a good workout too. Now, if I could just get consistent with using all the tools I've invested in- I'd get somewhere. Having healthy role models means having people around that reinforce the need to make healthy choices on a daily basis. It means seeing people like Taishya Adams, Kim Davis and Ashley Koff who have transformed their bodies and taken control of their lives in amazing ways. It is obvious how much eating live foods affects your mind, body and soul. There is a glow and a radiance that comes from feeding yourself the foods that contribute to life and not death.
Finally, I've decided to reward myself for my effort. Every week that I work out consistently, I will put away $10 and I have asked my husband to contribute $10. This money will go towards my new clothes that I will buy for my birthday. It is 30 days away and if I can work on these things for the next 30 days I can take control of my weight forever!