We’re working hard to slim down before RWA Nationals in July through healthy eating, exercise, sharing information, and accountability. Join us any time along the way, introduce yourself and post goals, or just contribute to the conversation! We’re here to share!
I'm going short and sweet this week! I seem to be facing any number or setbacks...admin appreciation week at work (with food coming out the wazoo -- I wasn't horrible, but I wasn't perfect either), illness, revisions and release week, and trying to get my teenager out of the house for a trip. BUT I'm finally moving downward again, woohoo!!! AND my exercise is finally on track too. Though I need to take a page out of Ella Sheridan's book. She's doing incredible.
Sorry this is so short! Release week is kicking my tail. :) But I want us all to have a place to check in, report progress, or your own setbacks and how you are facing them. The halfway point is coming up sooner than we can imagine. Yikes!!!
Challenge: Where are you at for Week 5? What changes have you made to your plan/eating/exercise?
We’re working hard to slim down before RWA Nationals in July through healthy eating, exercise, sharing information, and accountability. Join us any time along the way, introduce yourself and post goals, or just contribute to the conversation! We’re here to share!
Today I have the privilege of hosting my own sister, Ella Sheridan, as she shares some motivation from her own journey!
Don't Wish For It; Work For It.
Over the past few months, this has become my mantra. I’ve spent a lot of the last thirty or so years wishing my weight was something it wasn’t, wishing my body was different, wishing everything I wanted wasn’t so hard. And you know what? Wishing got me exactly what I put into it: almost nothing.
About two years ago, I tore my rotator cuff in my right shoulder during karate training. It was an accident brought on totally by me, not my partner (I turned the wrong way during a throw). I went to the doctor, went through physical therapy, but the injury never truly healed. Finally, last November, my husband and I decided enough was enough and I went back to the orthopedist, who scheduled me for surgery. The week before Christmas, I was under the knife with a minimum four-month recovery period ahead of me.
Yeah, not an easy task.
Here’s the thing: shoulders rotate more than any joint in the body. Can you imagine how hard it is to function when that rotation is now severely limited by ultratight screws, ties, and anchors? Very hard. I was unable to do any cardio exercise for around two months because the jarring hurt so badly, but I came out of therapy three times a week sweating like a dog and crying because it hurt so horribly just to stretch. I had to do it, though; there was no other choice, not if I wanted to heal and heal right.
As time went on, the therapists and I noticed something that frustrated us both. I couldn’t relax enough to let them take me from mostly healed to completely healed. I didn’t trust them enough not to hurt me beyond what I could bear, and so they could only push me so far. (Honestly, they told me just about every session that they’d never had a patient with such horrible trust issues, lol.) To get beyond where they could take me, I had to do it; if I ever wanted full function of my shoulder again, I had to be the one to push myself, not them. Considering I’m a black-belt karate instructor and need full function to continue teaching, wishing and not working was not an option.
So I did the work.
Every day, my shoulder gets stronger. It might be months before I have complete rotational ability again, but I will get there. And it might be months before I arrive at a good, stable, healthy weight for me, but I will get there. I’m now willing to do the work, not just wish the work was done and I looked the way I want to. We all have to be willing to do the work to be healthy, happy writers. That means overcoming obstacles, sacrificing what we need to sacrifice, refusing to accept our own excuses, and committing to long-term diligence, not just this day or this week or this month.
We have. To do. The work.
Will I ever be skinny? No. Will that wish I had as a teenager of being like all the other thin girls who never have to worry about what they eat ever come true? No. But I can and will be healthy. I can and will be the best I can be in the body God gave me. I can and will…if I do the work.
Challenge: Where could you put more effort into your workouts? Eating habits? Stress relief? Share with us today!
We’re working hard to slim down before RWA Nationals in July through healthy eating, exercise, sharing information, and accountability. Join us any time along the way, introduce yourself and post goals, or just contribute to the conversation! We’re here to share!
I usually find that about Week 3 I start to run out of motivation – that surge of energy that keeps me on track with various levels of enthusiasm. Usually because results can be hard to come by with my health issues.
Sine I’m no motivational guru (I need more advice than I can give on this topic), I’ve searched the web for interesting sites and strategies we can all utilize to keep us moving forward.
The Healthy Writer Blog www.healthywriter.com
Calorie Counter www.calorieking.com
Healthy Living Articles www.dailydietmotivation.com
Shape Magazine www.shape.com
Prevention Magazine www.prevention.com
Kaizen Blog (links to diet posts) http://smallstepstobigchange.com/?cat=284
Trackers:
www.sparkpeople.com
www.mynetdiary.com
Don't forget searches on YouTube and Pinterest for diet motivation, exercises, and healthy cooking.
CHALLENGE: Where do you find your motivation? What keeps you moving forward?
Share Your Progress! (even if the #s haven’t changed, we still have lots to celebrate)
Dani
We’re working hard to slim down before RWA Nationals in July through healthy eating, exercise, sharing information, and accountability. Join us any time along the way, introduce yourself and post goals, or just contribute to the conversation! We’re here to share!
The biggest challenge in getting healthy, for me, is Mindset. It’s too easy to tell myself, Well, this once it won’t hurt to… One little cookie won’t make that much of a difference… Missing exercise just this once isn’t a big deal… But I feed myself these excuses again and again.
I let myself get away with things I shouldn’t because I won’t tell myself “No. You can’t have that (or that much).” My internal dialogue needs some serious adjusting.
I don’t think switching to all negative self-talk and beating myself up will help, but a gentle reminder of what I have to gain through self-restraint or continuing to work hard would go a long way towards changing my outlook and helping me confront temptation head on.
So I’m making a list of reminders to guide me until I can maintain a different internal dialogue. It needs to become second nature. So here are some ideas for more positive internal dialogue:
Food:
“Eating that will not make you feel better.”
“Your health is extremely important. Is eating this going to help you reach your health goals?”
The occasional “Not having that cake (cookies, etc) won’t kill you,” probably wouldn’t hurt either.
Exercise:
“Remember how good it feels to workout on the elliptical?”
“Exercising will help your body regulate your insulin and sugar better.”
“Moving will lift your mood.”
“Remember how the story ideas flow when you work out and crank up the music?”
General
“Being here for my family is more important than this moment.”
“I can write better and longer when I feel better physically.”
CHALLENGE: What are some positive internal thoughts that would help us reach our goals?
Share Your Progress! (even if the #s haven’t changed, we still have lots to celebrate)
Dani