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