Let's Go Diamond Hunting

It's come to my attention that some people do not know what the heck I am talking about, regarding Abby losing her diamonds. I worry that I have told the story so many times that folks will be bored, hearing about it again! Just in case though, here is the story again:

We have a state park in Arkansas that you can go to and hunt for real diamonds. There have been some huge ones found as well as lots of smaller ones. I like to use the analogy of going to that state park for a vacation. You go out every day and hunt for diamonds. Each little gem you find, you put into your bucket. You hope for those big diamonds too. On the last day of vacation you go out and don't find any diamonds at all. In anger, you toss the ones you had gotten before. You are so disgusted that you couldn't get that last big find on your last day of vacation. To heck with it all!!!

Now that is just silly, right? Wouldn't you keep all the diamonds you found?  Of course you would and you'd be happy you had found them and might make money from the sale of those small sparklers.

Yet how often do we start losing weight and when we hit a bump in the road, we say we should just quit. Nothing will work. Why keep trying? It doesn't matter. Oh forget it!  

We need to give ourselves credit for every pound lost, big or small, in a week or a month or a year. 
We need to give ourselves credit for every healthier choice we make. 
We need to give ourselves credit for every time we say "No, I won't quit." 
We need to give ourselves credit for every step we take to add any type of exercise into our lives. Often we forget those little earlier diamonds of success. We forget the diamonds we already found. We do not give ourselves credit for the small things.

This is why Abby has to find her diamonds. She's lost a few and is flailing around, losing a few more. She has to remember that she has LOST weight. She has to remember that she  hasn't smoked in over a year. She has to remember that she is still hanging in there and trying to find her diamonds again. 

I think she will find them. Heck, the sun has been out recently, so they are out there, sparkling away and waiting to be plucked up again.

Don't toss your little diamonds just because you didn't find the big one today. Hang on to the ones you have,  big and little. You are worth as much, and more, than diamonds.

I think Abby will find her diamonds that she misplaced. They are not lost, just misplaced. Why not come along and find some diamonds of your own!

Walk-on dear readers, walk on

Ouch

Good day to all. Abby has returned for a quick visit. She is still hurting over the loss of her dog, Ziva, but she is still here.

Abby has been struggling as much as I have. We both don't believe in ourselves these days. We're working on that.

We saw a trainer Wednesday. It was SO hard to do! I did NOT want to go and exercise that day. It did not help that the night before was St. Patrick's Day.

The trainer is an ok fella, but Abby and I are both fighting the commitment to get back into strength training. The trainer, I will call Mike, did alright with me. I still am not feeling the love of working with him, but he is ok. He is fighting against MY perfectionism issues. I don't like it when he says how HE got all this weight off all these clients. I am sure he doesn't realize that he comes across as not giving his clients any credit. I have scheduled two more sessions for next week.

Today I am SORE! If you don't know why I used the picture below, you don't know just how sore I am!

It is a start. It is all I can do right now. It is something though...and that counts!

Till next time, walk on...and find those diamonds you dropped!

New Roads Ahead

I have a lot of homework to do. Next week I will make an appointment with the Social Security office to find out what my options are. I have a complicated life situation and don't know how much money to expect when I can actually start getting Social Security. It could make a huge difference in our outlook for the future. Since I am a chronic worrier, this might alleviate some of my concerns.


I have begun hunting for my RV. We want a Class C that we can travel in and live in for extended periods of time. Since we sold our last one, we've regretted it. Shopping for a new one has been hard. There are not many around and those that are, are in sad shape, even newer ones! We won't settle for just any old rig. Thank goodness we had a lot of experiences with living and traveling in our old RV though. We really know what we want. Maybe that is why this will take a long time.

I have begun hunting for the toad too. What is a toad? Well actually it is a slang term for a vehicle that get towed behind your RV. Since our 2001 minivan needs to be replaced anyway, why not look at a vehicle that can become our tow vehicle? Since our plans are to be debt free in five years or less, now is the time to buy these things that will take time to pay off.

Wednesday I meet with the trainer. I am dubious about it...not trusting that this will be a match, but I am at least going to meet him and do a courtesy workout before committing to a long term deal. In the mean time, I have kept up my Monday/Friday workouts after yoga. I hope I am doing some good there.

That is it for now. Hope you are all happy out there and that the weather is getting better for you!
Until next time, walk-on!

Checking, Chicken, Chucking,

I'm a rabbit not a chicken

Checking: Yes, I am still here! I've been pondering a lot. I've also been snowed in a lot. I hear I am in fine company there! This week, we are finally getting back to, what passes for, normal here. I DID see a trainer and joined the community center. I did it! I have an appointment, next week, to workout for the first time with this new-to-me trainer. I am dubious, but I AM going to give this a try.

Chicken: I am chickening out. Well, that isn't really true. I am questioning everything and I am having trouble believing in myself. I doubt I can get back on a better track. I fear I am going to gain all the weight back. I haven't been able to get a handle on any of this. But...I am NOT giving up.

Chucking: I have been fervently working on sorting and purging the house. I have my studio 99% done. I have sold or donated a huge amount of stuff. It feels so freeing. Since the first of the year we've painted and carpeted two rooms. Both of those rooms have been emptied and purged as well. I like my house a lot more now!

Off the beaten path: I am toying with the idea of taking steps towards our future retirement. I might bore you with some of the details. Right now I am hunting for information on a specific RV and all the details I need to know before getting one. I blame a blogger called RV Sue. I love reading her blog! She's of my generation and travels the countryside with her two dogs. I want to do this too!

That is all the latest. Spring is coming. Really, it is!

Walk-on

Photo shoot

This is my yoga class from this past summer. It has increased in student numbers by about 20+ since then. I'd like to think it is because I am a better teacher than I was! hahahaha

Remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

That is me, bottom row, second from the left.

No yoga tomorrow...we are iced in for the second weekend in a row. What a crazy winter it has been for everyone!
Till spring time, consider, Walking-on!

Cha-cha-cha-changes

"Well upholstered" . . . that is the female version of fluffy. 

I heard this term a month or so ago and finally have gotten around to sharing it! I am neglecting my blog as much as I am neglecting myself these days! I had a legitimate reason for the ten days I was too sick to leave the house. I got off to a slow start last week, finally getting back to yoga class on Wednesday and teaching yoga on Friday. I was so sore. It amazes and aggravates me at how fast muscles weaken!

I was going to get back on track this week too, but then we had this silly ice storm slow things down. I hope to make it to yoga class tomorrow. On Friday, I hope the snow holds off until after that class has happened too. I am supposed to go sign up for a membership in the community center's gym. I like their weight room better than the one at the senior center. The senior center has pneumatic weight machines. The community center has the more common weight machines with the brick shaped weight. My plans are to do yoga and then then follow that with strength training, two days a week. Those will be the changes I will make. Yup. Those are them.

There isn't much else to report these days. I am happy. I am doing ok, and could do better. Life is ok. It could be so much worse! Sorry this is such a lame posting! Hope you will all keep walking on!

A Different Type of Exercise

Lately my exercising has been in working to get two rooms redone in our house. Painting, hauling, bending, stooping, all with a nasty cold, has me exhausted each night!

Husband's Office

 Our dining room is full of 'stuff' from the emptied office.

 I can't wait to get this all organized again!!!

  This is the only shot I could find of our bedroom before we painted and carpeted it:

 Note the orange 1960's carpeting!

This is an after photo of the same room:

 It is a mess because all our renfaire garb is on the bed. Normally it is all stored in the closet in my husband's office. I will try to get a nicer photo, once everything is done, done. hahahaha

I might not be out walking, but at least I am not sitting! Till next time though, walk-on, y'all!

Positively

The weather has been as good here has it has been as bad in the Northeast this week. It finally got to me and I went for my first walk since Ziva left. I won't lie, it hurt. However, it also felt good to get out in the sunshine. I am still amazed at how safe she made me feel, when walking with her. I randomly look at web sites like PetFinder to imagine another dog in my life. Then I just think that it is too soon and that I should wait until my two little dogs are gone. Ack...I don't know which way I will go. But at least I DID go for a walk.

A few days ago I received a card from a blog reader 

that I happen to know in real life: 

She knows I go to yoga classes a lot. She noted that I had met my goal of no smoking for all of 2014 and wanted to send kudos to me for having done so. What a sweet thing to do! It actually helped me to not try one cigarette, just to see if I still hated the stench. So I remain smoke-free. Thank you Brenda! You're a peach!

I am focusing my energies on purging the house. It is daunting. I am getting exercise by all the hauling and moving and stooping and lifting and carrying and tossing and and and just everything! It has been exhausting but oh so rewarding! The less 'stuff' to worry about, the less worry there is!

That's my theory and I am sticking to it. Till next time, walk-on!

Waltzing Matilda

Around January 12th, I blew all my goals/resolutions out of the water! I did it in style. I did it. I did not do the real goal setting work that needs to be done to insure successful goal achievement! Bad me. Bad, bad, bad!

What have I done? Well, I have cut WAY back on the wine, quite successfully, I might add. I am actually very proud of myself on that front. I also DID inquire about a trainer. I can't swing $25 an hour though, so that isn't going to work. And I have purposely stayed more active, but I have not been timing it to be sure I am doing at least ten minutes at a time. 

I changed my eating habits, going back to something that is more comfortable for me, to deal with, yet is quite effective. It works as a lifestyle change, not a diet, but I am not ready to share it with you yet. This is me, figuring out what my personal maintenance plan will be. I am enthusiastic about the results so far, and about this being what my new lifestyle will evolve to.

I am hoping to not get the winter blues. I often do suffer from it, usually about February. I think it coincides with the lack of sunlight exposure. I try to remember to step outside at least a little bit, each day, so I can keep the blues from becoming overwhelming.

Moving forward I am looking to a new year that is full of answers to what my life will be like, going into the future.

  

I shall keep you posted on my progress!

Recently a documentary has been making the rounds in our area. "Forks Over Knives" discusses the benefits of a plant based diet. If you see the movie, be sure to see some of the comments or reviews about it too. One review that I especially like is found at Raw Food SOS.

That's the latest from these parts. Oh, wait! You might want to know why the title of this posting is "Waltzing Matilda"! This refers to a breathing technique that I have had some success with for de-stressing and for falling back asleep when I wake up at zero-dark-thirty in the mornings. Like the Waltz step, the breathing technique goes 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Breath in for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold for a count of four. It takes a little practice to get the timing smooth and correct for your personal lung capacity, but it really works well!

Now, that is it for today. Hope you are all Walking-On!

Set Goals, Not Resolutions

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I set goals. The more specific you make your goals, the better your chances are to achieve them.
Last year I had two goals. One was to walk a minimum of ten minutes per day. The other was to not smoke any cigarettes. I achieved both!
This year I am going to set three goals:
*The first goal is to do a minimum of ten minutes of any type of exercise or extra activity, per day. I don't want to be restricted to just walking.
*The second goal is to see if I can find a strength trainer that I can afford. I will do this by first contacting a gym that I know I can afford and see if there are any trainers that are available near the times I am looking for.
*The third goal will be the hardest. I will not buy wine this year. I am not saying I won't drink wine, but I will not personally buy any. This will help me to cut down a LOT. I am abusing it and if I don't get a handle on it, it will mess up how my meds work. It could also lead to full fledged alcoholism. I don't want to go there.

I am excited about the new year. There is something about new beginnings and fresh starts that appeals to me. I've been working hard in my studio to purge junk, sort, organize, and make it pretty. It was cluttered. It was overweight, so I am putting it on a diet. ha ha ha

Yoga class is tomorrow, then I will work in my studio again. I have four boxes to go through before I will give myself a break and actually do some sewing therapy! Till next time, walk-on!

Wrapping Things Up

Hello all my neglected blog readers! It's turned out to be quite the roller-coaster ride of a month here.
First the bad stuff. As many of you know, I lost my beloved Ziva a few weeks ago. Abby is in mourning too. In time we both know that we will be able to move on. For now Abby and I are not going for walks out on the trail. It just doesn't feel right. It is ok though, to mourn. We are still getting our exercise walking done. Sometimes we walk in the house, out in the back yard, or at the Center. Someday there will be another dog to walk with. For now though, we are adjusting as best we can. Thankfully, Ziva's passing has been the only negative in my life, over these past few months.
In other news, the results are now in, regarding the wine experiment!
10-14-14 I started with a waist measurement of 43"- 45".
11-14-14 One week of cutting my wine consumption in half or less I had not changed. I was still at 43"- 45".
12-14-14 Two weeks later there was a big drop to 41"-43".
These results are not conclusive but it seems to encourage my resolve to back off on the wine even more. In fact it will be one of my New Year's goals.

I have just two days left to make the full year's commitment of walking ten minutes per day. I am going to change that next year as well. I am going to do a minimum of ten minutes per day (or more) of any on purpose exercise. This will be goal number two for the new year.

We had a nice holiday last week and are looking forward to the new year. I am contemplating trying to find a trainer that I can afford. I did so very well with that one, three years ago. I will at least make that be goal number three. I can just try to find one. . . you know, make the effort to at least TRY! hahaha.

Here's to your health and well lived life in 2015! I am SURE it will be a better year for me and I hope it will be a better one for you all too.
Have a great new year and walk on, dear readers, walk on.

You Can't Believe Anything These Days!

Recently one of the members of our weight loss support group brought in these measuring spoons. So what's the deal about them? Well, they are BOTH stamped as being one teaspoon. That is correct, each one is called a teaspoon!!!

I don't have much else to say for today. It has not been a very good week here. All will be well, eventually though.

For now, I just need to keep on walking on! I hope you do too.

Happy Thanksgiving...a few days late

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Do you see our turkey on the meat and cheese plate below:

Good food, good friends, good weather, good times. Isn't that the way it is supposed to be? I think so.
Walk-on!

Day Seven - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

Exercise: Nice walk and then leaf raking.
I am grateful that my husband did the lion's share of the yard work today. We have nine mature oak trees and the leaves were thick! He was out there for HOURS!!! I am also grateful that my son did his science fair experiment today. Finally, I am grateful for the fantastic weather (well the wind was a bit much for leaf work!!!) and the leftover turkey hash we are having for supper made for an easy cooking day for me and it will be yummy!

From a week ago, I went out to the trail and they put rocks across the opening to the street to keep vehicles out. I wondered if they moved the two downed trees too.

They HAD!!! We walked all the way to the other end with no more trees blocking the path. At the other end they also put rocks up to keep vehicles out. It was wonderful to have the trail back!

Even Ziva approved.

She liked the rocks and even got up onto one of them.

Such a proud puppy!

To fulfill the Happy Thanks-I-Can-Move-Giving Challenge we need to donate stuff for a good cause. I have four full bags of clothing and household items that I no longer need. We will deliver them tomorrow morning!

It's been a fun challenge. I would do one like this again! ‪#‎TGChallenge‬
I hope you are all Walking-On and keeping your belts from having to be let out a few notches!

Day Six - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

24 hours ago our first company arrived for Thanksgiving. We had great foods and wonderful conversations. We played several games of Farkle, a dice game. The day did not start well though. Ziva bit one of our smaller dogs, Tipsy, and drew blood. This morning I took him to the vet and he should be alright. We have antibiotics and pain meds for him. Poor little guy. :(

Exercise: A soul cleansing walk, even though I am dead tired today!
I am grateful for my youngest son today, as he turns 14! Happy Birthday kiddo!

Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge. It has been a fun distraction as well as a fun challenge. Thank you Roni, for organizing this all!
#TGChallenge

Day Five - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

What a day! I am copping to having my exercise be all the walking I did today, in house. From the time I finished my second cup of coffee till after the last of the guests left, I only sat long enough to eat! lol
I am grateful for the company because it recalled years gone by of when my Mom did the Thanksgiving Feast. I have tears from the memories. They are good tears though. :)

Will walk-on a bit extra in the morning. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Day Four - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

Exercise: Yoga and a walk.
Grateful: I am grateful for all the students that showed up at the yoga class I taught this morning. They loved the special practice we had and told me so. It is nice to get positive feedback.

I am grateful for the students in my healthy living class who showed up. The three of us had a great time and talked about how we were going to celebrate the holidays.

I am grateful for the two strong young men who helped me by bringing boxes down from the attic and ran to the store for more pie crusts and vacuumed and so much more. It made a huge to-do list a huge done-it list.

Walk-on and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!!!

Day Three - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

Exercise: 30 minute walk outside.
Grateful for: this gorgeous day! The sun is shining, it is a bit cool, the sky is blue, and the walk was invigorating! I am also grateful that I have all the Thanksgiving feast ingredients in the house so I can start baking and making stuff tomorrow!

Day Two - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

Exercise was Yoga today.
My grateful posting was: Day 2: I am grateful for a bright sunny day, a great yoga practice this morning, and that my little dog wasn't badly hurt by my stupid big dog this morning. #TGChallenge.

Day One - The Happy Thanks-I-Can-MOVE-Giving Challenge

I did my 30 minutes of 'on purpose' exercise today. I started with a short walk and added exercises that I plan on developing as the new year comes in. It involves squats, sit-ups on the ball, side steps with stretchy band, leg lifts on the ball, arm curls and more. When it is only 20-30 minutes, it really is easy to add such easy exercises!

My grateful posting on FaceBook this morning was: Day 1: I am grateful that I have a nice warm house on a rainy day, with family around, and time to work in my studio without guilt!
‪#‎TGChallenge‬

I am working on several bags to donate to charity later this week. I love this challenge! See you tomorrow!

Walk-on and Happy Thanksgiving week!