Tag Archives: exercise

walking to happy

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I turned 40 in March. It’s a big mile-stone birthday for many people and your reaction to such an event really depends on who you are on the inside.

I never dreaded turning 40. I actually feel better today than I did 10 years ago. (look better, too, but that’s beside the point.)

A few years ago I started on my path of self-rediscovery. I needed to find myself again, because somehow, I’d lost a bit of the real me. I got fat, I was depressed, and mostly I was a shell of the person I used to be.

So slowly I started to shed the weight. It’s really easy to hide behind the fat. The more I exercised, the better I felt. And now, if I don’t walk at least 4 days a week for over an hour, I start to feel sad. It’s one of my favorite times of the day. Lots of thinking, contemplating, daydreaming, and sometimes a little crying will take place on my walks. I don’t hide anymore. And I don’t feel like I need to.

And frankly, I’m happy again.

What’s the point of all this? I guess maybe that the only thing we can be in control of is our own happiness. I took charge of my emotional well being. I stopped relying on others to make me happy. It’s an amazingly freeing feeling. I’m not saying that others can’t enhance your happiness but to give them full control over your emotions tends to give them control over you. Bit-by-bit you lose yourself.

Have you tried it? Have you taken control of your own happiness or are you still relying on others to do your job for you? It surprises me that my daily walks are the one thing that bring me peace. I bet there is something out there that will do the same for you.

thank you!

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I have the most generous friends in the world. Thank you so much for helping me to exceed my donation goal of $150! You guys rock.

If you still want to donate, it’s not too late. Check out My Personal Page. Maybe I’ll be the #1 fundraiser for my team 🙂 I hear there’s a prize. I love prizes…

I’ll be walking next Saturday to Save the Tatas and I’ll be sure to post lots of pics. Hey Dauphne, are we still decorating a port-o-potty?

only as old as you feel

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Most of you know, I’ve been on this weight loss journey for my entire life a while now. I’ve lost about 35 lbs and a size and a half. (Not quite 2 full sizes, which actually sucks, but I’m working on it.)

Some of my success can be attributed to my appetite–or lack there of. But the majority of my success is due to exercise.

Walking in particular.

I’ve been walking 4-6 miles a day, several days (usually 3-4) a week.

Usually I feel great, and yesterday was no exception…until suddenly it was.

It’s time for new shoes. I’m averaging 60+ (nice typo) 20+ miles a week on shoes I bought in the spring…yeah, these pups are making my dogs bark: among other things.

Yesterday, I’m in the middle of mile three, texting a friend and laughing when suddenly my hips start aching.

I was totally confused by this piercing joint pain.

“No, no,” I say. “My hips don’t hurt. Only old people have hips that hurt.”

So I ignore the pain and keep pushing forward. By mile 4, my hips are very angry.

“No, no,” I say as the piercing shoots to my lower back. “Not going to believe my hips are hurting. I still get carded at the grocery store. I’m not old enough to have hip pain.”

And that’s when my hips start to scream at me: LISTEN LADY! GOOD FOR YOU ON YOUR GREAT SKIN. THAT’S FABULOUS. BUT NO MATTER HOW YOUNG YOU THINK YOU LOOK, YOUR BODY IS STILL 40 AND YOU’RE STILL WEARING SHOES THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED AND WE’RE HURTING. SO SHUT UP WITH THE DENIAL ALREADY AND GET US SOME ADVIL!

So I climbed into my car, drove home, and listened to my hips like a good little girl. 3 Advil and 2 hours later, my hips were all better.

But I’m still too damn young to have hip pain. So tonight I’ll take my Advil before I walk…and I will be replacing my tennis shoes post haste.

a mish mash

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It’s been one of those mornings, even though I slept great last night, I’m having a hard time moving.

Could be b/c I walked for 100 1.5 hours w/ my friend Jenn last night. I needed the exercise, the stress of the past three weeks has been weighing me down.

Jenn and I usually meet between 7:30 & 7:45 at the bridge, but last night, it got really dark, really fast. I might be ready for fall weather, but I am NOT ready for fall darkness. Not yet. I like my long days dammit!

*there will be spoilers*
Can we talk about True Blood for a second? Okay, I’m pretty much over Bill and Sookie but that Eric (or is it Erik since he’s a viking?) I’m soooo never going to be over him. Holy Moly that man has depth. (the actor not the character…tho the character does have great complexities wh/ makes me lurve him) The scenes with he and Godric broke my heart. (and yes, I loved me some Godric, too. I really wanted them to do more with that character) And I thought the scene with Sookie and Eric was beautiful–she didn’t bug me there. And that dream with Sookie and Eric? OMGYUM. And I frankly LOVED how bad Eric can be…when he conned Sookie into sucking out the silver–that smile on his face was priceless. Bill should never have made Sookie so off-limits. We always want what we can’t have…

I totally cried like a baby when Godric was on the roof. The scene between he and Eric and the scene b/t he and Sookie really choked me up. I like how she’s connected to Eric and I really hope being connected to him will add another dimension to her. She’s still too goody-goody right now.

BTW: does anyone else wonder why the hell that dude was able to get into the house rigged with a bomb when Sookie was there? Why on earth didn’t she hear his thoughts? I mean, is she no longer a mind reader?

I’m getting a little tired of the creepy Mary Ann story line. I’m ready for that to wrap up. It’s exhausting. But I’m curious to see how they get rid of her. She’s awful. And can I just say, those solid black eyes make me sick to my stomach? ick.

I’ve not read the books, so I’m enjoying the series for what it is. I think maybe I’ll read the books once this season is over. I know they’ve taken lots of liberties with the storyline, I’m curious to see how many.

Also Mad Men is back! I can’t wait to dive in! I heart On Demand.

Any TV shows out there that have you excited?

a walk to remember (NOT the book)

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Last night I tortured forced Rader to go to the Big Dam(n) Bridge and walk with me. You’d a thought I was plucking his toenails off with tweezers. It was “THE WORST THING EVER.” As a matter of fact, after the 45 minutes (remember I usually walk an hour plus–I cut it short just for his whiny butt) we got into the car and he immediately sent me a text message.

That sucked.

Good to know, but too bad.

Anyway, while I was walking and he was whining, we passed a section of woods that nearly knocked me over with memories. I smelled wild grapes and muscadines. (BTW, my spell check doesn’t recognize the word muscadine. WTF?)

Growing up, we had a small orchard with green apple, plum, peach, pear and loads of pecan trees. And we also had wild grapes growing on the fence of our property. My neighbors grew muscadines.

The smell of that wild fruit yesterday took me back to my childhood immediately. I know memories and smell are strongly connected, but it still shocks me when I’m damn near catapulted back into the 80s.

I used to walk along the fence and pluck the honeysuckle that grew among the grapes. (fresh honeysuckle is still one of my all time favorite smells) The grapes were NEVER any good, but every year I would hope they would be. I don’t know how many sour grapes I ate trying to find the one sweet wonder. It never happened, but I never stopped trying.

(Okay, I take that back, I did finally stop trying when I was attacked by a Blue Jay. That stupid bugger wanted me dead. I had to run across 5 acres of land to escape the blue devil. Totally uncool.)

Had my first sip of homemade muscadine wine when I was a teenager. It was so sweet. And my neighbors made muscadine jelly which was fantastic. After the Blue Jay incident, I would sneak over and sit beneath the neighbors’ muscadine vines and enjoy the smell because I missed my grapes.

Do you have any old memories attached to smell? Any recent ones?

wildlife walkabout

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Last night I went for a walk with @jennchristman down by the river. Instead of just walking back and forth on the Big Dam(n)Bridge, we kept going into Burns Park along the banks of the Arkansas River. It was a gorgeous night (see sunset pic for proof) and even though it was a little humid, it wasn’t unbearable. Besides, humidity is good for the skin. Why do you think I look so hot at 40?

As we were solving the world’s problems (for example: Rachel Ray needs a new stylist in a major way, Rock of Love was totally underrated, and we should all talk like Caroline from Real Housewives of NJ) there was a rustling in the high grass over to our left.

It was a tiny little thing rustling around and at first I thought it was a puppy. As I approached the little animal, I quickly saw the shock of white down the middle of its black fur. No, this was not Rover, it was Pepe Le Pew.

“Back away slowly from the skunk. I don’t wanna take a tomato juice bath tonight.”

“Seriously? Tomato juice?”

“Yeah. I think. Or lemon. Or maybe it’s vinegar. I dunno. I just don’t wanna bathe in whatever it is you have to. Skunk Funk is not a fragrance I’m willing to try.”

“I’ve never seen one live. I mean seriously, they’re all dead and stinking up the roadways.”

“I’ve never seen one not in a zoo.”

After 45 minutes, we turn around and go back toward the bridge. Our conversation has moved toward more serious topics like the pros and cons of saving some calories for booze instead of cutting out booze all together, Jazzercise is still alive and kicking, weight training and the hot dudes who offer to ‘spot you,’ and how to get rid of the world of all mean people. (We have a plan, so if you’re mean, get ready.)

That’s when the attack started. Out of nowhere these stupid giant horseflies started dive-bombing us. One hit me in the ear and I’m pretty sure I have hearing loss as a result. They quickly left me alone though and started chasing Jenn. I guess she smells sweeter than me because they were all about her. There were three of them, all were huge, at least an inch long, and landing on her back and buzzing her head. Finally I told her to hand me her awesome ROCK OF LOVE baseball hat and let me swat them. I defended her honor. I was her white knight. I’m officially the butch in our friendship. That’s okay with me. I’m the cutest butch ever.

“I hate nature.”

“No you don’t.”

“I totally hate nature.”

“Shut up.”

“Tell me you hate nature, too.”

“Nope. I love it. I could pitch a tent right here, and pee in the woods.”

“You totally are the butch.”

About five minutes later, there was another rustling and a group of folks was gathered around a tree. I thought maybe it was an Opossum but no. It was an armadillo.

“I really hate nature.”

“Seriously! We’ve seen two animals LIVE that
usually we only see dead. That’s awesome.”

“Nature sucks.”

Our walk was an hour and a half long and apparently sponsored by Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.<–and if you don’t get that reference, I’m too old or you’re too young. I’m going with the latter.

ack!

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I didn’t blog yesterday! WTF, dude? My only excuse is that I didn’t get much sleep the night before and just flat out forgot. My bad.

I really wish I had something enlightened to share with you today, or a good story, but not really.

This week is British Soccer camp week. Those of you who are regular readers of my blog, know what a fan of British Soccer Camp I am… For the 1st time in 4 years we’re not hosting any coaches–which is a good thing, because when we do host, I tend to NEVER sleep. The lads are always entertaining. (and very easy on the eyes)

I hit the gym and the track yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. Did circuit room, abs, and walked 4 miles in about 45 minutes. I’m sore today. Feeling it big time. But I’m glad I went. I’m gonna blog over at Fat Chicks Running this afternoon about my time on the walking track. It’s pretty funny. I’m apparently a ‘rule breaker.’ I know–you’re shocked!

Ian has been in Dallas for a week watching his cousin play some kick ass soccer in a National Tournament. Taylor’s team is now in the finals. Am hoping to get some pics soon to post for ya soon.

That’s about all that’s going on here. Nothing witty or snappy today. I’m just too tired. Maybe I’ll be able to muster up funny for tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

What’s going on this week with you guys?

Monday, Monday, Monday

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I’m blogging at Fictionistas today about 10 things I wish I’d known when I was younger…

Today’s agenda: Getting my sparkle back on at the gym, meeting Arkansas Cyndi at Starbucks for some writing, cooking dinner, and chatting with friends.

Oxford was great. Had a super weekend with old friends. Enjoyed myself tremendously and was actually a little nostalgic.

How was your weekend? Accomplish anything? Do anything fun?

The MONTH OF MEL: day11

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This has been the best MONTH OF MEL! ever! Why?

Because as of this morning I’m -22 lbs. That’s right, bitches. -22! I’ll blog more about that over at Fat Chicks Running later today, but suffice it to say, I’m stoked. I had a goal to lose another 12 lbs by my birthday week and now I only have 3 to go….can she do it? Oh yes she can.

You know what this means? I get to buy a new reward CD! I’ve bought 3 reward CDs so far. (I buy one for every -5lbs)

So far I’ve purchased

  • Staind: Illusion of Progress
  • Bon Jovi: Have a Nice Day
  • Seether: One Cold Night
All have been excellent. Now I have to decide what my next CD will be. I’m considering

  • Breaking Benjamin: Phobia
  • Three Days Grace: One X
  • Saving Abel: 18 Days
  • 3 Doors Down: Seventeen Days

Any suggestions?

Yay me!!!!