Weigh-in Wednesday: Friday

07/27/2011

I weighed in on Wednesday, but this is the first time I have had a chance to sit down and write. What a week I tell ya! I’m getting ready for BlogHer next week and it has been a touch of chaos in my office. What is BlogHer you ask? Just about one of the coolest conferences ever for us bloggers – look for my blog post about it in a couple days. I am so freaking excited to go, and it doesn’t hurt that it is in San Diego! Ordered new cute blogging business cards, a twitter nametag, and have a new blog skin about to be pushed out. Whew, what a week!

I bet you are wondering if I have kept up my yoga routine? I have!!! I went to yoga 5 of the last 7 days and to make up for the 2 days I missed, I did double ups. Yes, you read that right – 3 hours of yoga for 2 days! It was intense. This Yoga Core class that Blissful Yoga has seriously was one of the toughest things I have ever done. My abs still hurt and the class was on Monday! For all of those that think yoga is just about light stretching has not gone to these intense classes before. I’m so excited that Filtrete is sponsoring Waterfront Yoga at BlogHer and that I am able to attend! We have Matthew Reyes, celebrity trainer to stars Reese Witherspoon and Brooke Shields, to lead us through our Sun Salutations – yay!

I don’t know about you, but when I am super stressed I can get very crabby. I’m actually slightly depressed right now and just can’t shake it. Feels like everything I try to do I keep coming up against roadblocks. Normally, I push through them and all is good. But every now and then, I just need to walk away and regroup. I’m really looking forward to some mind-clearing walks on the beach… 5 days away and counting.

Weight Loss

Lost 2 pounds – Was ecstatic to see this.

What I Did Right This Week:

• Eating fresh strawberries and apples for snacks
• Ate a lot of spinach. An insane amount.
• Did Yoga 5 days, 7 classes total
• Went on a 4-mile training walk
• Meditated each morning
• Drank a lot of tea – enjoying Earl Grey Tea at the moment

What I Did Wrong This Week:

• Drank Pepsi 4x. It’s like crack.
• Had some yummy ice cream
• Didn’t eat enough lean proteins

Goals For This Week:

• Do 7 more days of the 40-Day Yoga Challenge at Blissful Yoga
• Cook at home 3x
• Be in the moment when I eat and workout
• Workout 2x, walk 20 miles, yoga 7x
• Meditate every morning

My intention for last week was Good Thoughts. I actually did this! I checked myself and every time I thought something negative about someone, I thought back to my intention and then wondered if something else could be going on in their lives to do whatever it was that they were doing. I empathized more! It is hard to do for sure, but try it. Think good thoughts about people even when they are in the process of annoying you. Spread the love!

My intention for this week is Structure. I have a lot to accomplish in the next few days so I must focus and structure my time accordingly. I do like some structure to my day and need to see how to use this tool correctly. I’m also working on structure in my professional life – more guidelines written down, best practices used, and good ways to improve how I communicate. What has the most structure in your life or is it a little 4-letter word to you?

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Weigh-in Wednesday: Headway

07/20/2011

I know I was supposed to write last week, but I just couldn’t. I had gained 5 pounds in a week! I honestly tried not to break down when I stepped on that scale. I’ve lost 3 of those pounds this last week, but I am still so heavy. It is so noticeable right now that I am having a hard time mustering up the courage to go out in public. Since I went off the water pill 6 weeks ago, I have gained 15 pounds!! The weight is most noticeable in my waist and on top of my quads. It physically hurts to be carrying this extra weight. My back is in excruciating pain almost daily and my feet are swollen – and no – I am not pregnant. Right now I am very self-conscious and for the first time, feel people judge me when they look at me.

I’ve made some very important changes though in the last 7 days. I signed up for the 40-Day Yoga Challenge at Blissful Yoga. It is a commitment to do yoga every single day for 40 days. I signed up 4 days late, so I have to do some doubles to catch up with the rest of the yogis. I tried this challenge back in February, and if you remember, I severely hurt my low back while inverted on the yoga wall. My body is stronger now from hiking, but I am so very scared of injuring myself that I do a lot of poses with modifications until I get my yoga legs back. I could really tell where I was carrying the extra weight because when I was in certain poses, I could actually feel a fat roll in the way of me getting deeper in the pose. OMG I was mortified. No one else knew this. But I did.

The second big thing I did was start training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day that is in November. I have to get up to walking 20 miles in a day. I’ve done it twice before, so I am confident I will get there again. My bff has committed to walking with me every Saturday morning at the crack of dawn. We did this the last 2 times I did this walk, and it was a bit of déjà vu to be back on that course when we hadn’t been on it in 2 years (I took last year off). I was scared to walk 4 miles right out of the gate, but Lisa wasn’t swayed when I tried to cut the walk short. Honestly, I needed that. I need to walk an additional 2-3x a week to stay on course. I was happy when 3 more women joined Team Booblicious – all of them are Women Circle Network (WCN) women too.

Anyone else crop out their bodies?

I’m surprised by how many people really enjoy this next section of my weight-loss journey. I always try to be honest with myself and with you.

Weight Loss

Gained 2 pounds – Insert sad face here.

What I Did Right This Week:

• Eating fresh strawberries, watermelons, and apples for snacks
• Making all my meals from scratch so there are no extra ingredients in there
• Trying to eat mostly organic and locally sourced foods
• Did Yoga 7 days in a row!
• Went on a 4-mile training walk
• Meditated each morning
• Drank a lot of tea – enjoying Earl Grey Tea at the moment

What I Did Wrong This Week:

• Drank Pepsi 3x. I’m addicted to it when I am having a bad day.
• Ate a piece of cake at NAWBO
• Broke down and had a scoop of ice cream after a client yelled at me.
• Didn’t eat enough lean proteins

Goals For This Week:

• Do a 1-Day Apple-Water Detox Diet (I’ve been eating an apple a day, but didn’t do the Detox yet)
• Do 7 more days of the 40-Day Yoga Challenge at Blissful Yoga
• Cook at home 3x and make healthy meals on Sunday – didn’t do this last week
• Be in the moment when I eat and workout
• Workout 2x, walk 20 miles, yoga 7x
• Meditate every morning

My intention for last week was One Day. I took one day at a time, tried not to worry about the future too much. I had lots of work and continually adding to the pipeline. Had a great time with friends. Went and saw Christopher Titus too – excellent show btw. When I concentrate on just one day at a time, things seem to even out for me. So for this week, that is what did.

My intention for this week is Good Thoughts. We all have those people in our lives that we don’t necessarily get along with. Most of us sometimes get caught up in a little gossip from time-to-time too.  But have we ever sat down and really thought about how our words positively or negatively affect others? Words are powerful things. This week, I will only think good thoughts about people and only see their good side. Can I do it? Can you?

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Christopher Titus: Stand Up Comic and a Stand Up Man

If you would have asked me 2 days ago who Christopher Titus was, I would have stared at you blankly because I had no clue. Today, the morning after his comedy show at Stand Up Live, I can’t get him or his words out of my mind. He surely did what he set out to do – to make me think. Job well done.

I’m a Twitter whore and started sending tweets back and forth with friends to see who was going to see @TitusNation at @StandUpLive. Now @StandUpLive was quick to jump in on my conversation to persuade us to come down for the show – and I do love when brands do this – but then when there were issues with their venue that I posted on Twitter, it was crickets. #fail

It’s the middle of summer in Phoenix – it’s hot and muggy even after 9:00 at night. One thing I give Stand Up Live props for was passing out Otter Pops to everyone in line. I got there at 8:00pm for a 9:15 show because I had heard from other tweeps about the difficulty in getting seated at this venue. It was past 9:40 before we were finally sat down at the venue! What would have been nice is if they would have passed out water or allowed people to come inside when Haboob 2.0 took over downtown Phoenix. There were a few chairs inside that some older people sat in as they looked visually distressed – more chairs would have gone a long way. None of my tweets to @StandUpLive went answered. None.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a Direct Message from @TitusNation this morning that said:

Sorry about the wait my bad- Titus

I was already sold on him from such a remarkable show, but to reach out and apologize, makes Christopher Titus a Stand Up Man in my books. Thank you for taking the time to listen to your fans. You have definitely made me a fan for life.

I went to his show looking for some good belly laughs. I have had a couple rough weeks and needed some mindless humor. Well, I didn’t get that. I heard humor that made me think, made me cringe, even made me cry a little from how truly raw it was. I knew nothing about this man before tonight, and now, I want to know so much more. I’ve even downloaded all his podcasts this morning! Here are a couple things he said that made me seriously raise an eyebrow.

He did this bit on Casey Anthony and how her defense was paid for. I had no idea that ABC News paid $200,000 towards her defense! Do you know who owns ABC News? DISNEY! Now that’s some serious irony for you! My jaw dropped over that little nugget of information.

One of my other favorite bits was his recollection of what has happened over the last decade and how we as Americans need to step up. I totally agree! The last 10 years have been downright awful and unless we as a society say ‘No More’ this crap is going to just keep continuing. Doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Republican, those monikers just divide us, we need to stand up and be heard and realize that if we don’t change our mindset then we can never find the true solutions.

I was just talking to my girlfriends about how it takes a village to raise a child and laughed hysterically when Titus did a rant on it. So Titus children be forewarned – if I see you messing up and your dad isn’t there to give you his mean Dad Glare – then I will flick your ear hard or thump you on your head (he gave me his permission ) Too bad I don’t have kids for others to help me out! It’s hard to raise a child, we need to help each other, not stand by and watch a child screw up when their parent’s back is turned. Great ideas Titus! Help one another and we help ourselves.

Thank you Christopher Titus for a great show! I’m kind of glad I didn’t know anything about you before walking into your show. It allowed me to be in the moment and listen to what you said with an unbiased point of view. You asked if what you said had made us think and then to act on it – most definitely! Thank you for that. Sometimes, I need a little perspective and through your comedy, you gave me that. Honestly, can’t wait to see you again and am looking forward to your weekly podcasts and talking to you on the ‘ol Twitter.

At the end, I wanted a picture of you for my blog. Well you saw me trying to get a pic and asked if any came out and I said ‘Nope’. You then took my camera, handed it some guy and took a pic with me because you said that would be better. How right you were! Thank you for the comedy, but really, thank you for being a stand up kind of guy. You are a rare breed.

Follow Christopher Titus:

Twitter: @TitusNation
Facebook: The Real Christopher Titus
Podcasts: iTunes
Website: ChristopherTitus.com

Follow me:

Twitter: @dragonflytweet
Facebook: Orange Dragonfly Editing

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Back to the Gym!

I had to write a special blog post, separate from Weigh-in Wednesday, because I finally talked myself into going to the gym today. I made a deal with myself that if I woke up and my back wasn’t spasming, then I would go. My reward: Getting a mani/pedi this weekend. And boy do my toes need it!

I stayed on the treadmill for 12 minutes, and ran 7 of those minutes at 4.8 mph. I didn’t think I would be able to run at all and was pleasantly surprised to be able to run in 3 minute intervals. So I didn’t start back at ground zero, because before (in December) I couldn’t even run for a minute. When I stopped working out about 2 months ago, I was up to running a full mile at around 12 minutes. I’m ok with this starting point.

Gym in my apt isn’t half bad!

Today was legs and I did 70 squats and all the lovely leg machines. Could barely do 10 lunges as my quads were screaming. I did one stretch that pulled my left hip pretty badly and it angered the low back spasming I had going on last night. Sigh. Took some Ibuprofen when I got home and will stretch it throughout the day.

Tomorrow I am going on my 1st training walk for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. My training guide says I should be at 7 miles already, we shall see. Not sure if I can walk out the day and push out 7 miles, but maybe I can. Taking bets – what do you think?

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Weigh-in Wednesday: Meh

07/06/2011

Wow give The Universe props and it comes and takes the rug out from under you. It’s only been 6 days into July and this month blows. Not going into details, but suffice it to say that I have been knocked down. Again. Sometimes I wonder how much crap can one person take? I’ve had just about every horrible thing that can happen to a person, happen to me. And I’m only 37! This does not bode well for my future. Or it can be the exact opposite – since I’ve dealt with all the bad stuff, good stuff might be on the horizon. Meh.

I did enjoy some good times with friends though – they helped me feel that I am not completely insane. I also know that even though I keep getting pitched curve balls, I come back swinging, and that I don’t have it half as bad as others. I do have perspective mind you. I really just want a stretch of time where things are normal, no extreme highs, nor extreme lows… just living a content life. Does that even exist?

Thank you for the coupons I received this last week by the way! I went to the grocery store on the 4th to see if I could match my coupons to their amazing sales. I wanted to spend less than $50 – I ended up spending $60 and saved $74!! I couldn’t believe it. I put stuff back if it wasn’t on sale and if I didn’t have a coupon for it. I have my first bag of items ready to take to the food bank this weekend. Can’t wait to do this more often! Send me your coupons and I will put them to good use! Seriously – send them to me!

Went to Social Media Day on 6/30 and had a blast. Here is the pic of me and @SustainableKen. If you can, please click on the picture, Like the Page, then Like this photo. The Photo with the most Likes receives a $1000 Gift Basket!! Help a girl out and see if we can turn this frown upside down?

Weight Loss:

Gained 2 pounds – Not surprised.

What I Did Right This Week:

• Restocked my fridge with lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish
• Took apple cider vinegar capsules daily
• Meditated each morning
• Drank tea – enjoying Earl Grey Tea at the moment

What I Did Wrong This Week:

• Drank Pepsi everyday. It is my crutch when I am upset.
• Ate lots of BBQ
• Didn’t work out at all – not once
• Not drinking enough water
• Haven’t kept my word that I would start training for the 3-Day. Still. I know.

Goals For This Week:

• Do a 2-Day Apple-Water Detox Diet
• Signup for the 40-Day Yoga Challenge at Blissful Yoga
• Cook at home 3x and make healthy meals on Sunday
• Be in the moment when I eat and workout
• Workout 2x, walk 15 miles, yoga 3x
• Meditate every morning

My intention for last week was The Universe. Not sure what went wrong here. I’m pretty shaken. Maybe it’s telling me not to say thank you. I don’t know, I’m at a loss.

My intention for this week is One Day. I’m back to taking one day at a time. Right now, it’s more like one hour at a time. I have lots of work, which is great, and continually adding to the pipeline. Personally, things are going well too. It’s just those big things that come out of nowhere to knock you on your ass. Those I could do without. When I concentrate on just one day at a time, things seem to even out for me. So for this week, that is what I shall do.

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