Why am I doing this?

I started reading Jackie Warner's "This is Why You're Fat (and How to Get Thin Forver)" tonight.

I didn't even make it past the first 3 pages because it got me starting to think about why I'm on a weight loss journey. 2010 brought a couple things that got me thinking.

#1 - my mom had a heart attack in May. She had to have a stent put in. She's doing very well now, but it was a wake up call, in addition to a diagnosis of high blood pressure (which she's had for a long time) and diabetes (which was a new thing).

#2 - I started going to a new doctor and had a blood test done. My cholesterol was 239 - borderline high, but closer to too high. This was in September - and I started working out and trying to be healthy, until I came down with pneumonia, which delayed things for a couple months while I tried to get back to normal.

So, when I had the opportunity to start over in 2011, I actually started looking at what I was eating (a lot of fast food in the car; lots of eating out). When I got the results of that blood test, I asked for 6 months to get my cholesterol down by myself. I knew I could do this if I made it a priority.

So, here I am on this journey - so far, so good. I've been watching what I take in for food by keeping a food journal - not so much to be a calorie counter, but to see what types of foods I'm eating. What can I eat in the car instead of fast food? I've been taking granola bars and snack mixes with nuts, fruit and dark chocolate (yum). I've switched out potato chips and dips for chips and salsa. Whole grains are now in almost everything I've purchased. Ice cream has been replaced with yogurt...etc.

I don't have to work out 7 days a week. I take a break when I want one, but realize if i haven't worked out the day before, I have to the next day. Now I'm trying to find new things to do to add to yoga and the exercise bike.

I feel much better, and I'm looking forward to the results of all of this. I feel like 2011 is off to such a great start!

Not a bad start

I weighed in for the end of week 4 on Saturday. Since January 1st, I've lost 2 pounds. Not a huge amount, but it's something. I've been working on switching things out in my cabinets - ice cream for yogurt, lower calories foods, more fresh foods...and I haven't been eating out nearly as much. I've also been working out regularly, only missing some days during the month (but not a majority!), so that's been going well.

I'm trying to figure out how to take this to the next level. But, I also am content with where I'm at and where I'm trying to go at this point. Slow and steady wins the race. My first small goal is to lose 10 pounds, and I'm 20% there already.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me!

23 stories?!

I made quite the decision today. I decided to attempt to raise $500 in order to rappel down the Boji Tower - which is 23 stories!

Money raised goes to the Team Lansing Foundation. I've really taken a liking to Lansing in the 5+ years I've lived here, and I wanted to push myself to do something I wouldn't normally do - climb down a 23 story building!

Please consider donating ANY amount of money at my webpage, www.teamlansing.dojiggy.com/aclock - I will NOT be able to make the rappel unless I raise the $500 minimum donation. I must raise this amount by March 30th to make the rappel. This is your chance to help me to do something crazy!

Good Night, and Good Luck

In the week following Keith Olbermann's departure from MSNBC, I find myself doing a bit of soul searching. The big issue of the moment is that I'm contemplating how people work together. How new people work with more seasoned people; how those that don't agree on certain points overcome those hurdles; what happens when people take things personally that really only have to do with policies or requirements?

It's an interesting process. I consider these things as I begin to watch the State of the Union address - a speech that will be given in a different Washington, D.C. One that I hope will bring people together, not tear them apart.

I feel honored to have worked in the Michigan Legislature for 5 years - the opportunity to see the times when people refused to work together; the times when people came together to get something accomplished; the times when the minorities on other side were shut out because they didn't have the same opinion as the majority.

I want to offer a reminder to everyone - no one is going to agree with everything someone else says. You don't have to. What we need to remember is that we NEED to keep things civil. We cannot accomplish anything worthwhile while tearing others down. I believe that we are capable of disagreeing without making personal attacks. I've seen all too often when people resort to personal attacks on good people.

After President Obama's speech last week, Senator John McCain wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post.

Below is what really hit me -

"Our political discourse should be more civil than it currently is, and we all, myself included, bear some responsibility for it not being so. It probably asks too much of human nature to expect any of us to be restrained at all times by persistent modesty and empathy from committing rhetorical excesses that exaggerate our differences and ignore our similarities. But I do not think it is beyond our ability and virtue to refrain from substituting character assassination for spirited and respectful debate."

I ask everyone, no matter what we are debating, to make it civil.

And frustration sets in...

I'm irritated today. There are lots of little reasons - some perceived by me, some from other people and a general annoyance with everything.

So, I resort to my blog. #1 - because it gets stuff out of my brain and I can hope to stop letting it fester. #2 - because it doesn't really seem like anyone I know has been reading my blog lately. #3 - because over the last few days, I feel like I've jacked up stuff with the people I would normally talk to and vent frustrations.

There's always that one person that I would normally head to and vent, but lately it seems like there's too much going on for them to be there for me.

Oh well, c'est la vie. It's just you and me, blog...oh, and the dog. LOL.

Baby pachyderms!

Yeah, I really couldn't think of another title for this blog other than a reference from the movie "The Love Guru". This isn't the first time I've used a refereance from a movie - and I think most of the hits my blog gets are from my post called "You're like a miniature Buddha covered in hair."

At this point, I've sent out 11 thank you/encouragement notes, and I have a few more to do. I'm even going to have to buy more stamps soon - and more cards!!!

But that brings me to something that happened today. I got a message that a comment was made to another person about how I've matured over the last few years. Most people would probably be flattered by this - I know I have and I've learned a lot along the way. But of course, my first thought was "are you trying to say that I was immature and didn't know anything a few years ago?" And while I'm working on changing my thought processes, and many of them have been better recently, I still had that nagging in the back of my mind. I know that I don't take criticism or compliments in the best way. Sometimes, I just don't know what to say or how to take it. I've always read into things. Trying to break that habit is NOT easy.

I guess in someways, I don't know why it made me emotional, but I'm trying to take it at face value and not read into it...easier said than done...lol.

I actually have been feeling like I'm in a good place right now. It's definitely not where I want to end up in life overall (yes, I would like a job, please), but I feel like I'm making some sort of progress. I don't know where I'll end up, but I'm not particularly concerned with that right now, as long as I'm happy with what I'm doing.

Week 2...

Today was the 2nd check in of the year. As of today, I have lost a total of 1.8lbs and this past week was 1lb. I'm looking to 10lbs. as a first small goal.

I've been having some pain this week in my back and abdoment, so that slowed me down a bit with working out, but I'm thinking I'll be heading to the doctor next week to see what might be up - speculation thinks it might be kidney stones. But, we'll see.

There have been a couple of days where I feel like I've just been eating so much - but still keeping track of what I'm eating. I have been trying to change WHAT I'm eating - if I'm going to eat the calories, I want to eat whole grains and more things that are good for me.

I also started writing thank you/encouragement notes this week. I'm up to 7 at this point - this was started by reading a book called "365 Thank Yous" by John Kralik. I started writing notes last year - mostly because I think it shows that you spent time thinking about something or that the person you're sending it to is important. I hope that by taking the time to send notes, others will do the same.

2011 is a year of reinvention for me. I know there's nothing I can't do (even when at times I want to give up).