January 2019 – Sweat & Sparkle

Nervous

afab5303328b4d2f4a0bb90597baf2f9 This past summer, after I started over again and was determined to get into shape once and for all, I started toying with the idea of running a half marathon. I’ve done the distance unofficially, on my own, a few times, but I want more than a Runkeeper screenshot as a memento of my accomplishment. I want the medal!

A few months ago, I pulled the trigger and registered for a half marathon. It was months away, I had plenty of time to train, what could go wrong?

Right around Thanksgiving, I fell victim to the cursed plantar fasciitis, and it ate up at least six weeks of my training. Even after that, I was running drastically reduced mileage. I didn’t get back to a normal running schedule until right before the new year.

My half marathon is this weekend. I’ve been hesitant to write about it, and I admit it’s because I figured, well, if I bomb, if I can’t finish, then at least I never mentioned it, and we will just never talk about it again!

My only goal is to finish. I won’t be smashing any records, qualifying for the Olympics, waving to you majestically from the podium, or making the cover of Runner’s World. That’s okay. All I want to do is cross the finish line (preferably running and not crawling or moaning or whimpering) and get my medal!

Ideally, I would not have missed over six weeks of training. I would have been able to do more hill training and speed training. But I covered the half marathon distance just a few weeks ago, so I know I can do it if I stick to my training. Go out easy, watch my pace, don’t get caught up in the rush and adrenaline of the crowd. Make it my run, my way. And make it to the finish line.

Now it’s supposed to be raining that morning, and I thoroughly, intensely hate running in the rain. I refuse to not do this, though, because of some water. This is something I have wanted to do for years, but I left self-doubt stop me from trying. Not this time. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, or anything else falling from the sky, so be it…I will be at the starting line!

Brrrrrr

a05484e25315e7f532fa26d24d4d7ff9 We somehow managed to wake up in the North Pole this morning. I’m not going to complain too much, though (for once), since we are at least above freezing temperatures and can still safely go outside! The forecast for the mid-west sounds surreal, like something out of that movie The Day After Tomorrow.

Above freezing or not, I still don’t relish the idea of suiting up and going running in the biting cold. So, dear old gym, let’s make a date, shall we? I will be seeing you sometime this fine evening. Mind you, I’d much rather snuggle up under a warm, cozy blanket on the couch, next to a crackling fireplace, tucked up tight against my husband since he kicks off body heat like my own personal furnace, but that will just have to wait until after my workout.

A Message for My Stepdaughters

The other night, I was flipping through a magazine and came across an article about body image. I skimmed it, don’t even remember who wrote it, but I do remember thinking how sad it is that our society disvalues women and girls so much that we need to even have a never-ending discussion about body image.

Luckily, I have a healthy dose of “I-don’t-care-what-you-think-of-me”, and although I am aware of our culture’s wish for me to look and act a certain way, I don’t pay much attention to it. But a lot of women and girls do, and it can be devastating.

It got me to thinking about my stepdaughters. I don’t want them to ever spend even one second doubting themselves or feeling anything but proud of who they are. I have a message for them, and for every woman and girl who might need this:

One: Companies make a lot of money from making you feel ugly. Think about it. How would the diet industry, cosmetics companies, hair product industry, expensive salons, skin care companies, or plastic surgeons stay in business if you were content with exactly how you are right now? There’s a huge, billion-dollar industry banking on your insecurity, and a steady cash flow is funneled into making sure you feel fat, ugly, old, flawed, unattractive, not good enough. Remember that when you see advertising, marketing, all the images thrown your way. It’s deliberate: they want you to feel “not good enough” so you buy their products to be “better”. You are being manipulated! Once you know their game, you are free not to play it.

Two: If you choose to wear make-up, please view it as fun, a way to enhance yourself, not a method of covering up, concealing, hiding, changing, etc. There’s nothing wrong with wearing make-up, or choosing not to use it. It’s up to you. But if you do use it, don’t fall into the trap of feeling like it’s a tool to cover up or change who you are or what you look like. Cosmetics companies would love for you to feel like every pore on your face is a flaw, your nose needs to be contoured into oblivion, or if your lashes don’t practically wrap around your head, there’s something wrong with you that can only be fixed with their products…see where I’m going here? Refer back to #1! If you use make-up, use it to celebrate you, highlight what you love, and flaunt what makes you uniquely you. It’s a spotlight, not a tarp.

Three: There is WAY more to you than just your looks. Our society would like women to only care what they look like, as if the rest of us doesn’t matter. The packaging is everything; the person is irrelevant. How can you not be angered by that? Don’t buy that crap. You are smart, funny, full of ideas, brimming with talents. Don’t ever lose sight of what you can DO, what you are capable of, what you THINK. How you look is just a tiny piece of what makes you, you. Don’t insult yourself by forgetting the rest, and don’t indulge our Neanderthal society by allowing it to reduce you to one dimension. You’re more than that. Embrace all of it.

I certainly hope I contribute something positive to my stepdaughters’ growth, self-esteem, and how they think about themselves. I have tried my best to never frame my weight loss journey as something negative. I don’t call myself or my body names, don’t whine about being fat, don’t act like there is anything shameful or wrong about where I am now or where I started.

I would be lying if I said looking good is not a reason that I am working so hard to lose weight, but it’s not the only reason. Being overweight and out of shape is not healthy, and it’s not the best version of me that I can be. My goal is to be strong, fit, healthy, and bad-ass! I don’t see a point to striving to look like this model, or that actress, or anyone else. If she looks good and is happy, then wonderful. I want to look like me, just stronger, fitter.

Women and girls are not valued as they should be in our society: as human beings, as people, as intelligent and capable individuals. It needs to change. The worst part is, women and girls disrespect themselves so much each day, wanting to look like someone else, picking apart their appearances, wanting the stamp of approval from a society full of people who munch on Tide pods, for crying out loud. Just stop! Take a look around you, ladies. The world is full of idiots. Don’t take direction, commands, judgment, or mandates from a society this clueless and out of whack.

Back to my stepdaughters, and to anyone else who needs to hear this: I would say, you are not the ones who need to change. You are most certainly not the ones who are not good enough. We live in a society that truly does not deserve you, exactly the way you are. Don’t ever doubt that, and don’t ever doubt yourselves. Celebrate who you are. Embrace everything about you that makes you, you. Hold your head up high, be yourself. Show the world just who it is reckoning with, and take this world by storm.

Fitness Challenge: Let’s Go!

new-week-new-goals-spotebi-workout-motivation Our fitness challenge is officially underway! I kicked it off yesterday with a good weight training workout, and my arms, in particular, are feeling it today. I’m excited that several of you are joining me. Thank you! Let’s push each other and see just what we can accomplish over the next 30 days or so.

I am going to consider most of last week a break, and that break is now over. Back to work! I am about 18 pounds from my goal weight, and I am most definitely not going to screw up now and ruin this. I still worked out most days last week, but I took too many days off for no good reason, and my eating was terrible. I know better, and I can do better. Much better.

Over the weekend, I had to retire two more pairs of jeans. My husband and my stepson threatened to start calling me “homey” if I kept wearing them, because they sagged so much. I’ve also been informed that some of my workout pants are way too big, but I really like them, so I will wear them until they fall right off my body…hopefully that doesn’t happen at the gym, though!

My goal for this week: inspirational-quote-motivational-print-light-grey-wall-hanging-motivational-wall-decor-fitness-motivation-gym-decor-art.jpg_640x640

New Fitness Challenge!

Did you know that 80% of people fail at their New Year’s resolutions by the second week of February? Or that losing weight is the #1 resolution that people make?

I’m not sharing this with you to depress you on this fine Friday morning, or to wow you with my random facts and impressive statistics-spitting. Just trying to convince you to join me in a challenge to keep our momentum and motivation going well into this new year!

I have struggled this past week, between the funeral and then worrying about the kids. I sure could use an extra dose of motivation. I searched online for a weight loss challenge, but nothing stood out to me as particularly interesting, so I figured: why not start my own?

I don’t have the time (or patience) for a lot of tracking and logging on top of what I am already doing, and I already know that if I have to count points or do a bunch of math every night, I won’t do it very long. So I want to keep it simple and something that can work for all of us.

How’s this? Starting on Sunday, January 27, we will set a goal of how many exercise minutes we will accomplish over the next 30 days (until February 28…okay, that’s more than 30 days, but I didn’t want to end a few days before the end of the month!) So, for example, if you want to work out for 30 minutes a day, four days a week, your goal would be 480 minutes by February 28.

Let’s see…I want to aim for 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week. That would be about 1080 minutes by February 28.

This way, the challenge is personalized to what you can do, what you want to accomplish, how much you want to challenge yourself.

Anyone want to join me? A fellow blogger had the idea of joining the challenge by writing on her blog about it, but I also thought we might want a central place to virtually meet up, like a Facebook group. I can create the group if anyone is interested, and I will post a link for anyone who would like to meet up there for accountability, tracking, questions, motivation, griping, whatever you need over the next thirty-ish days!