One more move.....

    Well for any of you who do follow me on here, basically Mom. I am moving on to a different blog site on the advice from Courtney which I talked about earlier. My blog can be found at http://healthyhappyhotmess.wordpress.com/ Hope to see you there! Adios!

Great Advice

     I have mentioned here that I am really wanting to get into more and better blogging. To succeed and basically get on the right path for that, I decided to email an author of a blog I really like. I emailed Courtney of the Sweet Tooth Sweet Life blog. I found her blog a couple months again and I am an addict. She is so down to earth and seems to really have found a balance in her life despite struggles with her body. She is very inspiration and she had very positive advice to give.
      The advice that Courtney told me was to go for it if this was my passion and just put it out there. Which I have that step down, I have started, I just don't have a good pattern of posting down yet. That is one of my "to-do's". She also suggested opening social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter. I opened a Twitter account today and I have this on my Facebook as well! So I have some steps done...makes me feel a bit more confident. One thing I don't do enough on that she suggested was pictures. So I told Jeremy today that I wanted, needed and was going to take more pictures for my blog. I think he thinks I am a little nutty but I don't care! He married me!!
     I will have to work on my Twitter account a bit to figure out how to use, but at least I have an account now! As for the pictures, I am going to get on that! I have my super phone as I like to call it and obviously a camera so no reason not too!
     Soon, it is on to the weekend. Tonight Jeremy and I are having a little BBQ with our friend (and my co-worker) Casey. We are going to have a few cocktails and some delicious food cooked by Jeremy. Tomorrow is a much needed hair appointment followed by a good friend's 30th birthday celebration at the wineries nearby! Lots to look forward to this weekend and to me it seems like a lot of "Kodak" (blog) moments.

Quitting

     Well I quit today. Nothing drastic, just Weight Watchers. While I have enjoyed using it and it has helped enlighten me to certain eating patterns and habits of mine I decided today that enough was enough and I was over it. So, I cancelled my account. Is it weird I kind of have a free feeling??
     One of the reasons I quit WW today was that I have started reading a book called Integrative Nutrition that has some really good, solid advice on nutrition and makes excellent points through and through about food and the effect is has on our body. It's realistic and some of the viewpoints in it remind me of the Intuitive Eating book I read.  I really am enjoying reading it and am actually letting what the author is saying sink into my (sometimes closed) mind.
     Even though I did quit WW I am tracking my food because I have been having some stomach issues lately and also the Integrative Nutrition book recommends doing so for awhile to see how foods make you FEEL. Not just feel physically, but how it energizes you or mellow you out. You may think this sounds a little off the wall but it does make sense and I am doing it for both those purposes. No calorie counting or points calculating though. I really am making an attempt to listen to my body and hunger cues. It makes sense.
     On the new weight lifting program front. I am liking it! The workouts for this program, New Rules of Lifting for Women, are shorter than the workouts I was doing for the LiveFit Trainer. They are also spaced out to only 3 days a week which I like better because the other two days I can get a decent run in. When I started on this on Monday I didn't think these workouts would make me very sore because I had been following the LiveFit program but I was wrong! I have definitely felt the workout in my butt and hamstrings!! I look forward to continuing and becoming stronger!
     Today is my Dad's 58th birthday so the whole family is going out to a nice dinner and maybe after dinner cocktails to celebrate! Looking forward to celebrating my fabulous Father! He's the best I could ask for! Then tomorrow is Friday finally so something else to look forward to....WEEKEND!

Total Meltdown...Aisle One

     It started out innocent enough, a trip to Old Navy to pick up a few new duds. It ended with me in the car crying over my body. Yes, I had a meltdown because a pair of shorts didn't fit me right. And I refused to go up a size.  I know this seems so absurd, and it is now that I look back, but at the time it triggered something and I went straight into meltdown mode. Thank goodness I have a very understanding and patient (love you) husband who sat with me through it all and talked sense in to me. He really is rather rational at times, when it doesn't come to Cardinals baseball. After the meltdown and the talking I did realize I was being a little more than unreasonable and I tried to snap out of it.
     Even though it took a meltdown I did come to see a bit of  silver lining in this episode. When I was mid-meltdown Jeremy brought up HOW unhealthy I was a few years back when the clothes hung off me and that I don't need to go back there and I know I don't. But it's a struggle not to fall into that. It is. But I realize that I do feel better since I have started treating myself better and that keeps me from falling back into patterns. But I also realize I do give into some old habits most days, and if I can realize that I need to snap out of it. I can. The Old Navy meltdown made me realize not only how silly I was being at the time, but also how I really can treat myself better and be better to myself inside and out to avoid future meltdowns. So, I guess there was a silver lining to this episode shall we call it.
     So "episode" aside, the weekend was fun. We got to watch the Cardinals WHOOP the Cubs and had great seats!! Today was errand running, house straightening and movie watching day. Productive and relaxing which was needed. With all that behind me now I can look forward to really treating myself better. I am even starting my new weight lifting program tomorrow, so stay tuned for those updates and my progress post meltdown!

Thursday is the new Monday

     Holy Smokes! Whattaday! Glad that tomorrow is Friday, it can't get here soon enough. After the day I have had, my co-worker and I decided that yes, in fact Thursday is like the new Monday. Thursday's have been crazy here the past few weeks.
     Well, I haven't been on here as much as I would like and diving into the projects I want because work has been crazy (see above) and I am pooped at night. But I did take another step in the right direction today. I signed up for a free trial of the NASM certification for personal training to see if I really do like it. This urge to just do it (just like Nike says!) just won't go away and I think that is a sign. I don't think my husband thinks I am serious, guess I just have to prove it.
      As far as my experiment with weightlifting is going, it's still going really well. I do in fact really like this! I finally finished the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. So I am going to start that program next week. While I do like the Livefit trainer, I like the idea in NROL of just 3 shorter weight workouts a bit. Of course I am tweaking it to me in that I will still do cardio/run on days I don't lift and as a warm up to lifting. But they do say in the book to just test out what is best for you! As far as the nutrition front goes, I am drawing advice and ideas from the book I finished, a few of the blogs I read and my own preference and intuitive eating skills I am trying to really develop....finally.
      So things are still moving forward, I just need to stay on it! I may have a little more of a chance to work on things this weekend as it is the first weekend in about three weeks the Dunham duo won't be out of town! But we WILL be attending a baseball game as the St. Louis Cardinals will be playing the (ew) Chicago Cubs! GO BIRDS!

A little experiment

     I am letting everyone in on a multi-faceted experiment I am performing on myself. As I have mentioned before, I have dabbled with the idea of getting my personal training certificate. Well that idea has just stuck with me and I am becoming more and more interested. But, before I dive head first in and sign up for all the material and certification class, I decided to do a little experimentation. I decided to "train" myself. Well, with the help of Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer. I started this workout routine a couple months ago but gave up, like I typically do with most weight training plans. But this time I knew it was time to commit and try it. So, I made a commitment to myself, and my ideas of future endeavors in training, and dove in.
      The workouts are all online and I print them out each week. I decided to tweak the program a bit. I added cardio each day and an additional abdominal workout day when the workouts and time allowed. It turns out I love this. I really love trying the new exercises and challenging myself. The workouts are challenging in fact my leg workout has kept my thighs burning since Monday!! So needless to say, this part of the experiment is going well and I plan to continue.
      The next part of my experiment is that I am reading a very informative book, The New Rules of Lifting for Women. It is very insightful and I have learned all the damage I was doing to my metabolism by eating too little and working out TOO much. Funny how it takes SO long for ones eyes to be opened. Well, they were. So I am reading this book and taking the nutritional advice in the book combined with ideas from some fabulous blogs I follow and information I already know and am finally committing to changing my eating habits. I mean it won't be over night, but I can promise you I am definitely stepping in the right direction. If I want to not only see results from my new (hard) training as well as possibly one day have a career with something fitness related, I have to get ducks in a row!
     This experiment is really sparking a fire in me. I also received some encouragement from my nutritionist this week. Another eye opening moment if you will. We were discussing my past eating habits and focus on food. She mentioned that I often mentioned not being settled in a career path and perhaps that is why I focused on my body and food. DING DING DING. I did know this in a way, but there it was staring me in the face. Yup, that is why I am so hard on myself, not happy in other areas of my life, so focus on things I control. Maybe I should be a therapist!! Anyway, after emailing with my nutritionist and with experiment in full swing I decided if I want to make a change in my life/career I am the only one who can do it.
      So, I know it won't be instant but I do feel I have a goal and a path. Another thing along this path I want to do is create a better blog. I admire so many of the health/food/fitness bloggers that I read, like Peanut Butter Fingers, Sweet Tooth Sweet Life and many others. I would love to create something along those lines. The only way I am going to do it is to start. So, baby steps. I am reading these blogs that I admire and taking notes. Hopefully this will lead to  making changes sooner rather than later to this blog to make it a better, more fun, exactly what I want blog.
     So that is it for this Hump Day. Experimentation and encouragement! I haven't shared these ideas out loud yet so I guess there they are for the world to see! We will see how this goes!!
     

Eleven Year Streak...over

     Yesterday was America's birthday. Happy Birthday America! We celebrated at the Dunham household with some pool time with me, Jer, Mom and Dad and all the pups. We had a barbecue. A barbecue that ended an eleven year streak of me not eating red meat. For the first time since I bet my Dad eleven years ago that a person COULD live without red meat in their diet, I tried it again. Just a small piece of a kabob. It wasn't THAT bad to be honest, wasn't that good either. But I did it. I am opening up the idea of adding it back in my diet. Of course I made Jeremy's eyes roll when I said I would eat a steak....if it was filet Mignon! ha!!
     I posted my taste test on Facebook and got some funny responses. But I also got a text form a friend that has been with me through all of my struggles with food and it really made me feel good. She told me she saw the post and she was so proud of me.If you are reading this you know who you are...and thank you.
      See, to be honest the eleven year streak wasn't SOLELY to prove my father wrong, although that was most of it, it turned into a distorted thought. I began to think it was bad for you and too fattening and such, and that's why I shouldn't eat it, why I couldn't eat it. But, since I am now giving up all of those beliefs and forcing myself to try new things and give up my habits and beliefs, so goes the ideas over red meat. It will not make me fat. I know PLENTY of healthy, thin, in shape, women (and men) who eat it on a semi-regular basis! So I let it go..and while I am not saying I am eating it all the time, it's not on the forbidden list anymore.
     Another thing that I am giving up is my control over making my own dinner. I tend to get into "food ruts" and cook the same thing over and over. But, this was brought to my attention on Tuesday night by my husband and turned into a (heated) discussion about how I used to let him cook for me. I did and I liked it. But again, I got sucked into the trap of distorted thoughts and behaviors with food. So after much (heated) discussion I told him I would give up (most) of my control and let him cook. All that I asked was that he cook rather healthy (or at least put options there) and that he would let me suggest some recipes to try. He agreed on both accounts and now it's my turn to cooperate and I will.....
     So, that is the progress made so far this week since my last email declaring war against these thoughts and behaviors and my attempt to get better. soon. I think it's pretty good progress for one week if I do say so myself! Today is my Friday so everyone have a fabulous weekend! We will be spending time with Jeremy's parents in Bloomington....who knows what other progress I will make!