Cause and Effect

When I started eating healthy and exercising, I noticed my body was changing. I was changing not only physically and mentally. Something else too, my skin was healthier, my hair was healthier and I felt more rested and more alert even though I would often workout until I was at my limits. I was able to be optomistic easily and felt less stressed. My outlook on life was a lot more positive than it had ever been before.

Now, that I haven't worked out much in the last two months (yes, it's been that long). I'm not eating as healthy as I was. I still make good choices but not great choices. I give into junk, cravings, eating out and other forms of diet sabatoge with little to no resistance. I'm going through a lot of personal stress right now and I can tell, my body is reacting to it. My skin is breaking out, my hair looks less shinny and healthy. I get cranky, moody and reach breaking points faster. I often feel overwhelmed and I turn to food.

See how quickly old habbits and coping mechanisims can come back? The one thing that is not back is the weight but I can easily see how my excuses and behavior can cause a slipper slope and the weight would follow.

Another thing I noticed, in JanuaryI missed my mom's monthly bible study. I completely forgot about it. Coincidence, I think not. Every month, I enjoy bible study it gives me a new perspective and a way to rejuvenate.

Tomorrow is the February bible study. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym too. Many of my gym friends have let me know, I've sulked long enough and that even though I can't do everything I can do somethings. Maybe that is the kick in the pants that I need...

Ch-Cha- Changes!

You know your body better than anyone else. Every imperfection, blemish, line, wrinkle, pump or beauty mark. You are your body's inspector; you are your body's worst critic. You know your strengths and weakness. You know how to push yourself to your physical and mental limits like no other. No one, knows your body like you.


The other night, I was sitting on the sofa and I stretched my arm. I reached up above my head with one arm,bending at the elbow and used my other arm to grab a hold of my elbow to stretch. It was this moment when I touched something, unrecognizable. I felt similar, yet different. It was soft and small. Confused, I looked up to see where exactly my hand had landed.

It was my elbow! The back of my arm! So much smaller than even I had known or expected! The skin around my elbow is normally fairly dry, ashy and rough like sandpaper. It's smooth, soft and healthy feeling. I spent a good 10 minutes or so analyzing the feel of my arms. It's such a weird feeling to not to even recognize your own body. The body you know better than anyone else.

What's even more weird is this is the second time it's happened to me in the last two weeks. I had a similar situation happen to me last time I did yoga. It was when I was stretching my calf and my hands fit completely around. I was so surprised and happy that I had to tell my friend Zumara, right then! I was giddy.

Body changes are amazing and feel oh so great! Even if it's my own body I'm not as familiar with as I thought. :)

First Swim

Some thing funny has been going on with me lately - I keep getting light headed, or faint feeling while I'm working out. It's happened a number of times in the last week or two. I haven't changed up my routine really. I don't feel as if I'm pushing myself any harder. I'm not really sure what's going on. I wonder if it could be allergy related? There are a lot of pollens in the air right now. Or is it diet related and perhaps I'm not eating enough of the right things? Or something else?

After about 45 minutes of weights at the gym, I started to feel it again. Bad so I went to the locker room and relaxed for a few minutes until the feeling went away. Then I came back and finished up my weights. I ended up doing about an hours worth of weight training. I didn't do any cardio at the gym.

The girls wanted to swim today and our pool is finally ready. We had to drain it and it's been refilling over the last couple of days. Mariyn has been so ready to swim so I figured I'd get my cardio in that way. Plus my next 5K is coming up on Sunday; I don't want to run too much before then. I let the girls play in the pool while I swam laps. At first I decided I would swim 10 laps. I've never been much of a swimmer. Don't get me wrong, I love the water but I've never been properly trained on technique. After I completed the first 10 laps, I decided on 10 more. Then 10 more. I'm not sure how long I spent swimming laps as I was constantly interrupted by the kids. You know them swimming in my path or saying watch me do this and well, just general parental supervision. ;-)

I ended up doing 10 laps free style, 10 laps back stroke, and 10 laps free style. My pool is 40feet. So I swam that distance 30 times. 40 x 30 = 120 feet. 120 feet = 365.76 meters. Which is pretty close to a 1/4 a mile and pretty darn close to the 400 meters I will need to swim for the triathlon in September! Not bad for my first time but there is plenty of room for improvement! I need to get a swim cap, goggles and ear plugs they would be helpful in my training.

After that, I swam with the girls and enjoyed the sunshine.

You are what you eat:

Breakfast: Protein and banana

Lunch: Chicken Salsa Salad

Dinner: Chinese Food - Mongolian Beef w/ Rice.

Snacks: Strawberries, Kiwi, Cherries, 1 spoon of peanut butter & 1 bite of ice cream.