Thankful Tuesday

I hope Kym from http://runkymklass.blogspot.com/ doesn't mind that I stole her idea for thankful tuesday :)

I'm thankful for...

Aaron.
His hugs, especially the ones I don't expect.
When he says nice things like, "I'm so happy I get to be with you."
When he kisses me softly.
When he kisses me passionately.
When he smiles at me.
When he laughs at something I say.
When he touches my cheeks.

My dogs, Rex & Reeses.
When Rex wiggles at me and his eyes get all big.
When Reeses jumps on me and wags her tail.
When Rex curls up next to me when I'm reading a book.
When Reeses randomly decides to jump on my lap.
When they both make a little kid happy when they get to pet them.

My Job.
When I get paid :)
When everyone is out for the day.
When I get to use the computer to read blogs!

My friends.
When they make me laugh.
When they encourage me.
When they share silly things that make them happy with me.

Cycling.
When the cool breeze wipes the sweat away.
On a down hill, that isn't too steep.
When I push even if I keep thinking I can't do it.

Running.
When it suddenly doesn't hurt.

Swimming.
When the water smells like summertime in junior high school.
When I get so hungry after wards and eat a sandwich & chips.

My Family.
When we reminisce.
When they support me.
When we laugh.

I forget just how many things I'm thankful for sometimes.

Thanks for reading :)

Share the F#&*@!* Road!

What would you think if you pulled up to a school bus, the lights are flashing, the traffic stops..and then the kids are safely able to walk across the street.

Now imagine one driver gets pissed, starts honking at the kids, yelling at them, even drives by and swerves at them!!

What would you think?

A-hole right?!

I agree. But let's face it. School bus stops are inconveniencing. I certainly sit there slightly annoyed, sometimes I tap my fingers impatiently. But, in the end, I realize we all have to help each other out, keep each other safe, and the slight inconvenience I experience when waiting on those kids is not that important.

I'm not really writing about school bus stops. I really want to talk about the need for motorists to safely and considerately share the road with cyclists (just like they share it with school buses and other vehicles).

I have been commuting to work on my bike for the last week. I know that I have not encountered everything possible, but I have seen enough to feel like I am justified in writing a post about. On average I get honked at twice a day, I get swerved at once, and today I got yelled at for the first time by some guy who took the time to roll down his window and say "Hey stupid!"

The point is...

I know I might be a slight inconvenience when you have to slow down to 15mph.
I know you wish I would hug the curb so you could pass in the same lane as me.
I know you'd like to honk to say "Hey, you! I'm a car and you're not!"

But, I'm just trying to ride safely. I'm just trying to be healthy. And I have a right to be on the road because a bicycle is a vehicle too.

So please stop honking!! Please stop swerving! And if you are going to shout something at me, please come up with something more witty than "Hey Stupid!"

Instead of getting angry, why don't you smile, slow down, and give me a thumbs up. Because I'm huffing and puffing, trying to get out of your way. And it would be nice to actually get encouraged for once.

Thanks for reading and please, SHARE THE ROAD :)

(I'd like to note, that I always try to abide by the laws when I cycle and be courteous. I know that some cyclists out there do not. Please don't judge all of the rest of us by their actions.)

Hot 100 Update, Clipless Peddles, and $$$

Well, this week is almost over, like it will be in a matter of hours, and I still haven't done my Hot 100 Update. Sigh, guess I should fess up to a couple of things.

I have not done any situps.

:(

I also had to stop my 21 day challenge. Even though this wasn't a part of my Hot 100 goals, it is still a bummer. It got too expensive, and I ran out of money. Good thing is? I went to wal-mart this morning and got breakfast/lunch/dinner for this WHOLE week! And it is all pretty darn healthy :) I'm pretty excited.

One good thing that I HAVE been doing for the Hot 100 Update...My mileage!! Thus far I have traveled 72.7 miles since we started the Hot 100 Challenge! That leaves me 276.3 miles to go from Houston to New Orleans. Basically I'm between Winnie, Texas and Beaumont, LA. At this pace I might need to lengthen my goal a bit, but we'll see.

So, even though a couple of things have gone wrong, I'm feeling pretty good over all.

Today I did 33.2 of those 72.7 miles on my road bike with my new clipless peddles!! In case you don't know what clipless peddles are...well, it is kind of confusing to me, because to me they DO clip, they aren't clipless! They are peddles that allow you to clip in these special kind of shoes into. This helps with a lot of stuff, especially getting a good spin on and being able to work the whole rotation of the peddle. Not just the down stroke. With clipless peddles you can pull up too, so yeh, a lot more potential for speed.

Problem w/these peddles is when you want to stop....well, you have to unclip them by twisting your foot. This takes, well, a little getting used to. And of course, you are eventually going to fall. The sucky thing is you don't fall when you are going fast, or doing something cool. You fall when you are stopping or trying to start. And OF COURSE, I had my first fall...at a VERY BUSY intersection! With a car stopped right behind me. Lol, it was very embarrassing, as my friend Helen will tell you who was there with me. But, I got that over with. And hopefully I won't have to repeat it...although I do have a really cool scrape on my knee that makes me look like a real ruffian.

So yeh, was a g

reat ride. Evan did two pretty big bridges! I was really proud of myself.

Now, the $$$ in the title of this blog in fact means money. Aaron and I sold our house, and we moved into an apartment. Not because we couldn't afford a house, but because we just wanted to have more spending $$$. And I have to tell you, this is AWESOME! And what is REALLY weird...is I am gradually losing the urge (at least so far) to overeat. I have been ordering the healthier more expensive things at restaurants, I bought expensive healthy groceries, I bought expensive workout clothes and clipless peddles! ((I do feel I should clarify that it wasn't until this last Friday that the $$$ started to roll in. The 21 Day challenge had been put on hold before that.)) Anyway, point is, I think one of the #1 reason I am obese is because I grew up poor. I'm not trying to make excuses. I could make the decision to eat less, but it is more difficult. But this weekend I turned down PANDA EXPRESS (OMG)...because, meh, I can get that any time. I have $$$. I'll go home and eat.

Yeh, like, crazy right? :)

Thanks for reading!

MS150 - 182 Days & Counting

It's almost that time again! Time for the BP MS150!! I'm very excited because this year I'm going to:

• Start Training Earlier (This Sunday in fact)
  
• Train More!
• Do as many of the recommended training rides as possible because I actually have $$$ to do them!
• Get clipless peddles...getting these tomorrow, yikes!
• Be on the St. Arnold's Brewery Team! Which I signed up for today!!!
• Meet my husband at the finish line! He didn't get to make it last year, but this year I already got a hotel so we can party it up that night!
• I'm going to LOOOONG route this year! Oh yeh baby! That's 99.56 miles the first day and 74.1 miles the second day! Totally: 173.66 miles!! (okay getting a little less excited after typing that, lol)
  

So yeh, I'm really excited!!! If you are in Texas you should totally do it toooooo!! (Hint, hint Melting Candy.)

More to come!

Recap of the 2010 BP MS 150

To Expose or Not to Expose?

Have you heard of the Exposed movement? It is where you take a picture of yourself in underwear or other revealing clothing, and you basically tag your body up with positive things. I've seen a lot of people posting these pictures up on their blogs lately. I think it is awesome, very cool, and very empowering. So, of course, I want to do it.

But there is a problem.

You are probably thinking the problem is embarrassment. It isn't that I'm embarrassed to bare it all on the internet, even though I am in many ways. I can overcome that.

The problem is; I was thinking of this picture and I was trying to think of what I could say about all these body parts, good things to say...and other than my thighs...I can't think of a single thing.

That is the problem. Not my body, but my perspective of my body. I should be able to think of good things about the parts of me. But I can't, I simply can't.

But I'm going to change that. I want to learn to love my body, mainly these parts:

My thighs
My hips
My stomach
My arms
My shoulders

And I make this promise to my blog and my readers.
On 1/1/2011 I will expose myself to the world,
and by that date I will think of reasons to love the above parts of me,
and more!

Are you ready to expose yourself?

If not..maybe you should start thinking about why.

What is Best in Life?

What is best in life?

Well, to me;

To feel the cool breeze in your face when riding a bike. Hugs in a freshly made bed, either with Aaron or my boxer :) And delicious food that comes without guilt.

I'm tired. I'm tired of thinking about weight loss. I'm tired of feeling stressed about it. My #1 goal is to enjoy life. And I just can't when I constantly feel guilty. What drives me in this desire to be skinny? Why am I obsessed with it? So much that if I fail at a diet and then I binge?

What is best in life?

Training, I like training. I like riding my bike, I like swimming, and I actually enjoy run/walking. I really do enjoy these things.

Food, I enjoy food. I enjoy healthy food more than anything. I enjoy sodas with real sugar. I like fruit and vegetables.

I like feeling healthy and feeling good about myself.

I didn't lose much weight this year. That is the simple fact of the matter. But for the first 6 months of the year I felt GREAT about myself! I felt pretty, athletic, healthy, sexy even! When did I lose sight of that I can feel that way without being skinny???

I'm not saying that I don't want to lose weight. I do. But my main motivation behind wanting to lose weight is WRONG. I want ATTENTION. This is a reoccurring theme isn't it? I am always seeking affirmation and other people's approval. Oh man, it feels SOOO good when people compliment me about losing weight. I crave it. But if no one says anything, then I give up. Or if someone else is losing more weight than I am, and they get the compliments...man, I get SO jealous. I get so jealous that I give up and binge.

Basically, this is a chart of my motivations for losing weight:

I don't want to be that person. I don't want to lose weight to get attention. I want to be the person that loses weight because they are living a lifestyle where the weight goes away on its own. A lifestyle where I'm training and not stressing and sleeping. And not binging, since I'm not constantly forcing myself to adhere to a diet and failing. And eating healthy just because that food makes me happy and makes me feel good.

I am putting on the brakes.
I can't do this anymore.
I have to stop dieting.
I have to stop trying to lose weight.

I feel like this is really against the flow of most people's mindsets. And I'm not saying those people are wrong. It works for a lot of people. But I am beginning to realize that I am a very selfish and conceited person. It is not the person I want to be in life.

So, after that loooong winded thought process I'll conclude like this.

If you are reading this, tell me, What is Best in Life?

Assert Yourself and Day 2 Recap

The Biggest Loser and I have a love/hate relationship. I ended up watching it last night, and got thoroughly annoyed by Jillian being so pissed at the girls for coming in last on weigh ins. Why don't they ever address the facts about the difference between men and women's weight loss? Why don't they display the height of the contestants or explain BMI? Or that muscle weighs more than fat, or that the first week the contestants probably lose a lot of water weight...sigh, it gets a little irritating. Because, while it is inspiring in many ways, it could also be discouraging to someone who is trying to lose weight outside of the show.

Well, there was one thing I did like about the show last night. And that was the message of, "If you want it, ask for it." Basically, assert yourself! So many people don't want to cause problems, they don't want to cause controversy, so much so that they become living breathing door mats! There is a time and a place to put others needs before yours, but there is also a time and a place to put your needs before others.

On the Biggest Loser last night there was this guy named Aaron, and he didn't do so good on the weigh in. He seemed like a very chill easy going guy, but he also appeared to be uninspired. He ended up being in the bottom half of the contestants and would have to do one last challenge, and would potentially be going home. Unless, he could convince this one guy that he deserved immunity. Aaron waited and waited, and didn't talk to the Immunity Guy. All the other contestants were crying and telling Immunity Guy why they deserved to stay on the show. Then they showed a clip of a workout where the trainer Bob was screaming at them, "If you want something, just reach out and take it!" (Or something along those lines.)

That is when the light bulb went off in Aaron's head. After the workout he went and talked to Immunity Guy about how he really did want to stay on the show. And guess who got immunity? That's right, Aaron. So, yay! Let's all shed a few happy tears, and then think about what you and I can learn from this story.

We are not always going to get 'Immunity'. Sometimes life doesn't work out. But you should still reach out and take what you want/need/deserve. Sometimes this is just something you do. Like me going buying that food for the 21 Day Challenge, or if I really want some new bike gear, if I just take the plunge and spend the money. Sometimes I feel like I have to justify these purchases, especially in my relationship with Aaron. But what I need to realize is that it is okay to have give AND take. He doesn't mind, he wants me to have the things I desire and need. Why do I always feel like I have to give, give, give? And don't think for one second that I'm sitting here saying that I am selfless. I am nothing of the sort. I am selfish, because the reason I give, give, give? I want to be a martyr. I want people to praise me and think I'm selfless. It is a dark truth about myself, and I am a bit ashamed of it. But, all I can do is learn from this.

Then there's the asking part of being assertive. Sometimes you have to ask or tell someone what you want. This is hard for me because I fear conflict, again probably because I want to impress everyone with my wonderful 'glue' skills (meaning, the way I am commonly referred to as the 'glue' in relationships.) I'm sick of this too. I WANT things, so I'm going to ASK for them. I know me better than anyone else, so why do I feel I need to wait for something to figure out what I want/need/deserve? That is the most ineffective way to get anything! So ask for things and tell people what you want! I am really digging this 21 day challenge. The food is pretty good and it is so simple. Plus a nutritionist from Fit Foods emails me every day with encouragement and to see how I'm doing. They have also been asking for my weight every day...At first I was like, "Okay, didn't know I was supposed to report that EVERY day." I've had problems with focusing on my weight before and becoming obsessed with the numbers. I don't want to do that anymore. So I realized their was a simple solution. I am going to ASK if it is okay if I only weigh in once, maybe twice, a week. I am going to TELL the nutritionist (who is super nice btw) that I have a problem with getting fixated on numbers and it sometimes derails me if they aren't looking as good as they should. And finally, this is the part that takes real balls on my part, I am going to suggest that they make this an option in the future, especially for their clients who have my kind of history with obesity.

All of these concepts seem so simple once I write them down, but they are a real struggle for me. So, if anyone reads this :) I CHALLENGE YOU! ASSERT YOURSELF!

Now for my 21 Day Challenge Recap for Tuesday. It went pretty good. I did have my 1 cheat meal for lunch because I promised my bro-n-law we'd go out to eat. I kept it light though w/chicken, rice, and soup. Other that that, the meal plan was as follows:

Breakfast - Good Morning Breakfast (ground turkey, cheese, rice, etc.)


Snack - Chicken & Fruit Bowl
(sorry for got to take a picture)

Snack - 3 Chocolate Almond Patties


Dinner - Ninja Tenderloin. (Tenderloin and spinach)


I aboslutely loved everything on the menu, except the 2 Chocolate Almond Patties. You can imagine the excitement when I saw Chocolate Almond Patties on the menu for yesterday! But they turned out to be rather bland brownie kind of things. No biggie, I just expected something different. I guess I should have known chocolate and diet don't go well together.

The really bad news? I didn't exercise yesterday and I don't think I will be able to today. I'm not trying to make excuses, but we are moving this Thursday so I have been swamped. I plan on making up for yesterday and today by exercising this weekend. Oh well, can't dwell on what can't be helped. I'll just have to follow my meal plan to a T :)

Thanks for reading and have a great day!