I don't quit; I just start again

Yeah, it's been pretty quiet from this quarter lately. I made some bad choices and allowed stress to steal my commitment to exercise and healthy eating. It's pretty silly, I know. But I think we all do the same thing over and over throughout our lives. I remember a period of time when I walked up to Ayers School every morning, stretching at the bars, exercising my arms as I walked the track. Then, there was the year-long routine with Mike at the gym. When we moved to TN, I worked out about three times a week and walked regularly. But each routine was broken by change and stress and, essentially, I quit.

Every time I start up again, I swear that I will NEVER stop. I hate the start-up pain. My muscles and my stomach both complain when I begin to do the right things for them. But, pretty soon, they come into line. Maybe I just need to grab myself by the neck when I'm tempted to "quit" and keep moving, even after a day or two off.

I get a daily email from No Excuses Workout, which I joined awhile back. Here's today's note:

" 90% of Failure is from Quitting!
Most of the time when people start an exercise program, they are probably very close to starting to be successful when they quit.

There are many reasons why people quit and fail in their attempt to lose weight and/or get fit. But I think the #1 reason is the person’s attitude. If you stay positive, be realistic about your results, roll with the punches (things often go wrong), focus on your long-term goals and take it one day at a time, then you are going to be successful!

But if you are negative (everything is a big deal) and keep beating yourself up about workouts you missed, weight you did not lose, overeating, etc., then you are setting yourself up for failure.

You deserve to feel good about yourself, to have tons of energy and to be health! So focus on having a positive attitude and the next time the little voice in your head tries to drag you down and talk you into failing, fight back by focusing on staying positive and know that 90% of Failure is from Quitting! Never give up and keep fighting – You are worth it! " Jonathan Roche

Jonathan does sell a program, which I didn't buy, but his encouraging words very often hit the mark for me. Here's the website: http://www.noexcusesworkouts.com/
Now, I'm off to get started again.

legs, thighs... the whole darn bird

Last night i saw a pretty good new show on fx, justified. And honestly my favorite thing about the show (other than the always perfectly gorgeous timothy olyphant) was, for sure, the main actress - and to be more specific - her legs.

They were normal legs! They were not hollywood sticks or shapely perfection. She had average legs, kind of thicker and short. It kind of make my day.

I am so over women belittling themselves, especially their legs. I am tired of my friends being afraid to wear, or even own, a bathing suit for fear that someone will see their body. And i am definitely done with hearing specifically from friends about how terrible their legs are, how fat their thighs are, and how unpresentable they are in anything shorter than pants.

Here's hoping that a cool tv show with a good-looking, normal woman with normal legs plus as much positivity we can send around the sisterhood of women things can change.

In an interview with Anne Lamott in last month's Body and Soul she completed the sentence 'if i could say anything to myself 20 years ago':

"The single least important thing in life is how your thighs look."

Hear hear!

Laugh out Loud Thursday!

I miss this comic! Cathy is so the Bridget Jones of the comic world... love her!

cyclical living

(I liked the last blog title, as it is now part of my job at work to create monthly fun events - i think i'm totally going to steal laugh out loud thursday!)
:)

So this moodybooty has been attempting some more aggressive fitness routines in hopes of some more dramatic (heck lets just say some more actual) weight loss. And its working! A year of working out has been no match for a month of working out while eating properly. Go figure.

While on this journey i have noticed one very important thing - life is cyclical. And a happy life (i think) is one that acknowledges and embraces this fact. I am perfectly okay with knowing that i'm losing weight now and that in a month or two i probably won't be. And then to continue that thought on to knowing that after the dry spell i can probably start losing weight again. Without this mentality i'm not sure i could have continued my commitment to health. Sometimes health seems fickle - you're doing everything right and the pounds still don't come off. Or you don't do everything right and things are still okay. The body is a strange animal. Or, i readily admit, i just don't understand it! ;)

So right now i'm able to successfully eat small portions, stop eating by 8pm, and work out at least 5 times a week - and the pounds are coming off... if only life were always this good.
--middle sis

Laugh out Loud Thursday!

Only one more day 'til I can say..."Happy Friday!"

-the little sister, em

Get your Fat Devil on...

Found a new delish recipe for an appetizer or a light dinner on MarksDailyApple (my favorite paleo/primal site). It is SO GOOD and more importantly EASY that I've had it twice in less than a week! So per the request of the eldest sister here is the recipe and some photos from my meal last night.

Ingredients:

2 hardboiled eggs

1/2 avocado

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Peel eggs and separate yolk from whites as you would to make deviled eggs (get it... fat devils...). Put yolks into bowl with 1/2 avocado and add hot sauce, lime juice and salt and pepper.

Mash together with fork until it begins to resemble guacamole. Scoop into empty egg whites and serve. Great with taco salad and some coconut milk!

Ps. I know mine don't look as good as the image up top, but A. I had to entice you with something that looked as good as they taste and B. they were much better than they look. Deeeeelish!!!

Happy Tuesday!

- em, the little sister

I needed it...

Happy Thursday! Just one more day to go!
-em