I Walked in Spain Tonight

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain
or something like that.
My Norditrak allows me to choose tracks and you virtually walk them - visually seeing the streets on screen and the elevation on the treadmill goes with the terrain.
I cuss hills.
Its okay - I still do them.
Last night it was Hawaii and the night before - The Netherlands.
I also still watch my NetFlix - headphones in my ears and the TV next to me is on House hunters.
Its a ADHD dream come true - keeps me focused on everything but how my body feels walking - unless the incline is 9 or more - then I cuss.
I have maintained a good regiment and 12 pounds are gone, off my body - I am not cheering just yet, I am silently rejoicing- this is poundage I lost before, hopefully - to never see again and that is why I am documenting it.
To remind myself, I am walking the world and eating well to be healthy and lighter.
Its all good.

I came here for a purpose. I am walking it - you can't stop me.

Life Change is in Order

Well after talking to a natropathic doctor, the resolution is to cut out all forms of sugar - I am losing weight extremely slowly - a pound a month on a low caloric diet - but it is not working for me and I need to get down quicker for the sake of my diabetic issues and the core body issue I have.
So Sugar free
No more fried foods
Corn and Potatoes are gone
Breads - outta here
wheat and rice - Done for!
This is going to take a whole change - bigger than the year and a half that I was gluten free. But at this point in my life I am more than willing to do this.

I will be missing out on some of my favorite foods ( I will find new favorites)  but I miss my health even greater.
I can do this and stay with it.


Goals:
I hope to become an encourager for others who need to change their lifestyle and an example that it can be done.
I want to appreciate my body and I want to change the way I feel.
I got this!

Wired in and in Step!

So - my desk job is a killer - I was sitting far to much in a day.
I requested the Fit Bit Flex for my birthday - and now I am addicted.
I love that it calls me to the carpet when I check in on my phone ap and see just a few steps - I am now rethinking my day.
I used to work all day, come home - hop on the treadmill and hate it because I had to walk for so long to reach my goal and my legs would ache and I would be bored.
After all, I am a high energy ADD gal.
But recently, I have rethought my plan of action. I no longer sit and watch TV, I watch Netflix on my Kindle. I earn the right to do this by walking on the treadmill - and I am killing the 10K a day with the Fit Bit!
I am counting calories on My Fitness Pal and stepping my weight off. Its working and I am enjoying it.
I also don't do it all at once, like I once did which left me irritated, sore and burned out.
. I hop on in the morning for 20 minutes, while I check my phone messages, text etc for work, at lunch I come home, grab a light lunch, load up Netflix and walk away another 20 to 30 minutes.
Then come home and hit it one last time.
I am finally enjoying it.
I also am very competitive - so I join competitions on the Fit Bit and then think of how to add more steps to my day. Park farther away when running errands, walk an extra 5 or 10 minutes on the treadmill - etc. It has me off the couch and on my feet and walking because I want t get ahead f some one else - or maybe another is catching up to me.
THIS is my gig. The device that I enjoy. I have made it a game, something that is part of my daily routine and a tool to earn the right to watch and catch up on my shows.
I am addicted!
For my oldest, her motivation is Zumba Classes- for Another swimming and biking, one of my gal pals loves Cross fit and recently a friend has found hiking their love.
What ever it is - find it and do it. It WILL be hard at first but over time - it works!
Be Motivated!

Happy Anniversary My Sweet Matthew!

So I have this great life - with this very funny and loving guy and yet I am over weight.
That really doesn't make sense.
I will make sense out of it though. I surely will.
Because I want my time to be healthy and I want to live well with this Goofy Great Guy. Or as he would say - My GGG.
I need to start making sense of my intake - and the ambition of getting off my butt - desk jobs will be the end of me one day - I am going to get the fitbit to help me be in motion more. I need something that reminds me or I can get glued to a chair for hours.
So the deal is - One year from now I want to visit this Blog here and not be afraid to have a full picture of us placed here, because there will be less of me.
He has never measured my self worth in pounds. That means a lot.
Thank you for being an inspiration to my life Matthew!
Next year - less of me!

Lessons from a Rotten Pear

I got through my first clean eating day.
Some may think that is funny - but for me - the hard part is not licking a spoon or eating an extra bite.
Even when I was losing like crazy last year I privileged myself by a 'foodie gift'. A cookie because I was a good girl that week, but not placed in my caloric budget.
This morning I grabbed a pear for my mid-morning snack.
I sliced that beautiful sweet luscious fruit with a small knife to find a very grey mattery icky inside. UGH!
Going to the back door of my office I tossed it out to the birds, sat down and sulked at the loss of my 'fix' but then I thought about it a little more.
This is more than a body fix for me - this is not a chance to gloat over another, or to feel better than anyone else. This is not going to be ego boosting in a negative way - this change of life is going to be just that - a change of life. I know some people don't get that.
I want to be just as sweet, real and generous inside as the outside. This is an internal growth as well as an external.
Because - we will know each other by our fruit. Yeah?


 

Catching the Moment

So - I am being called to the carpet. I am ADHD about my eating habits and it is funny how I get called back to the carpet time and time again. (Thank you God for not giving up on me as often as I do myself) So I had slid off my eating pattern again - letting tiny excuses running loose in my head.
Well one of my jobs is to collect information from nutritionists, doctors, fitness and food gurus etc..and lately I have thought to myself, I have enough information in my head and within my power to excel at one of these positions and yet here I am years down the road, still over weight with a pocketful of health issues (less than before) and excuses.
My internal voice said "Karen - Do you want to be an inspiration or do you want to be a statistic?" Hello! Well?
As I thought to myself - 'no kidding, it is time to wake up' - I began to wonder if I have the power within me to go completely clean eating. As I engaged in this dialogue I opened the Strawberry Festival page to find me, stuffing a nacho in between my lips, on camera - front and center.
At first I was furious with the photographer. What?! Why?! Then I realized I have no one to blame but myself. I cannot hide the fact that I had chosen wrong. So I owned it. And I now am the sole owner of my what, ifs, buts, and wonder..and am owning full blame. Each and every day counts,
So this horrifying bad picture of me stuffing a nacho between my lips is going to go up on my blog, and I am going to make it my aha! moment.
I am using it as my first stepping stone down a path of determination, a no-short-cut-no-excuses path!