Food

My friend Linda has always told me that weight loss and getting to a "normal" size is 90% about what you eat.  

I never liked it when she would tell me this.  I would simply look for an exercise plan that could allow me extra calories or cheat days.  I mean, I would hear what she was saying, but politely decline that it would work for me.

After all, I've tried every diet on the planet.  Giving up food groups is too hard.  Tracking food is too annoying.  Counting calories makes me want to stick a fork in my eye.

So when I came across the book It Starts with Food, I was a little skeptical.   Okay, a LOT skeptical.  You don't give up one food group, but several.  S E V E R A L.  

And by several, I'm talking about 90% of what I eat.  I'm guessing Linda is giggling about now.

But here's the deal:  When I started reading the book, I wasn't intimidated by what I couldn't eat, and what I'd have to give up for 30 Days.  I was inspired by the benefits I would gain from doing getting rid of the foods that are wreaking havoc on my system.  Within the first few chapters, I was hooked.  More than anything, I want to wake up in the morning and not think about how many hours till I can crawl back in.  I would actually like to feel my age (or younger!) and not 85.

Will this be easy.   Ummm, no, but I'm actually excited about the challenge.  I'm ready for it.  And I bought more vegetables today than I did pretty much all of last year alone!  I've never really been one for taking the easy road either... just look at what I do for a living.

So, tomorrow starts the day.  The day when Linda's 90% makes the difference in my life.  Needless to say, I'm taking the week off from working out, mostly because I think I'll want to kill someone by Wednesday.  

Good news?  The Golden Globes is on TONIGHT (oh how I've missed Ricky Gervais), and I can even enjoy a glass of wine while I watch!  Can't say that tomorrow :)

Need a laugh?  I highly encourage you to watch this then.  I giggled most of the way through it... Will probably watch every day this week.

That's it from me tonight!  Wish me luck, and those are my words to live by...

Happiness is...

It feels like I've been chasing happiness for so long that I was beginning to focus on the chase and not ever realizing that it was here already.  Always looking for the next book that would ensure happiness in 5 easy steps.  Writing about it.  Blogging about it.  Watching Oprah for God's sake.

Somewhere between changing diapers and endless bottle feedings, I have started to feel like myself again.  I'm walking and writing, setting crazy-unrealistic challenges, and above all, dreaming again.  My life feels like my own again, and just like that, happiness isn't something to chase anymore.

What I've learned is that happiness is a work in progress, a never ending intention at the beginning of every day.  For me, happiness comes in and out of my life like a season, or perhaps more like a sunny day in Michigan.  It has always felt as if I only noticed it when the moment has passed.  I haven't always enjoyed it when it graced me.

Life and/or work has always gotten in the way, but now it seems to be the catalyst for my lighter demeanor as of late.  One thing I know now is that happiness is a choice, and when your brain has a moment to slow down and actually make the choice, it comes to you more clearly.

Gratitude is another reason for the mood shift.  Happiness and gratitude should go hand in hand, because where there is one you'll always find the other.  I started a 28-day gratitude challenge 10 days ago (yes, even before the November gratitude month), and have found myself moved to tears most days.

In a nutshell, I am a bumbling idiot.

But a happy and grateful bumbling idiot.

It isn't perfect yet, but I am not worried about it.  My life is unfolding as it should, and I'm not going to miss any of it any longer.

I'm thankful for the messy days, because it makes the other days (okay, my days off) seem so much easier.

I'm thankful for the lazy moments, because I deserve them.

I'm thankful for kids that make mistakes, because that is how they learn.

I'm thankful  to live in a world with Blake Shelton, Ryan Gosling, and Bradley Cooper.

Seriously.  That is a given.

So what are you grateful for?  What happened today that was great, or even so-so?  What did you do today that made someone smile?

Answer these questions every single day.  And don't stop saying thank you.

This world can be a little unforgiving, and we can be really hard on ourselves.  The best thing you can do is start every day over with a grateful heart, thanking God for whatever you can think of.

Yes... even for Zac Effron :)

Who could forget about him?

Now, that is happiness.

Challenges

What is it about the word challenge that makes me take notice?  Is anyone else like this or am I alone with my competitive, challenging nature?

Currently I have about three challenges running around in my brain trying to provoke me into making some changes in my life.  But one thing I've learned about taking on a challenge is you had better be serious about it, because after 3-4 days, the challenge becomes the enemy.  At that point you have two choices:  Get rid of the enemy by giving up the challenge  OR  seeing it through, which always leads to a life different than it was before.

That's the part that gets me.  The whole 'different life' thing.  And I know the life I have now is truly blessed, but there's another part of me that knows in my heart I would thrive if only _______ were different.

One thing I have learned about myself this year is that I never truly relax... like, ever.  I am always thinking about what I should be doing, what I haven't done, what I ate, what I spent, and what it's going to cost me, mentally and physically.

My.  Brain.  Never.  Stops.

And it's exhausting.  So sometimes, I think I the challenge is more of a way for my mind to relax in some sort of twisted structure (think Bikram yoga).  So is the challenge helping me grow or just a mental way of weeding out the unnecessary wants?  Is my mind working overtime so I can try and find a way to relax?

Your guess is as good as mine.

All I know is that challenges are hard.
They test you.
Sometimes they piss you off.
Other times you find yourself proud.
Always, even if you don't finish, you will be changed in some way.

Make a challenge to yourself this summer.  It doesn't have to be big or life changing.  Just something that you've been thinking about for a while.

Set a date.
Write the goal.
Take the challenge.

To be continued....

Summer Reading

The absolute BEST part about summer isn't the warm weather, grilling out, or even the frozen margaritas (well, maybe not)... it's about the reading.  More than anything it's about having more time to read.

The homework is done, exams taken, and now they are trying to figure out every which way to not be B O R E D, but that doesn't bother me much, because I know at the end of the day, quite literally, I get to read.  There's not much on TV lately, so why not pick up a book?

This year I'm even going to try and read one book a week.  I know, I know, I can't even relax without setting goals already, but this is just my way of not getting hooked on shows that I could care less about.... just as soon as The Voice is over.  If you're like me, it's all too easy to plop in front of the TV and watch hours of mindless "reality" television.  So, yes, it's kinda like having homework all summer, but it just happens to be the best homework ever.


And to boot, I'm not going to spend a dime on any of the books.  These are all books I either have laying around, borrowed, or downloaded and just haven't gotten to yet.  I figured our summer schedule at the rink is 11 weeks, so I have chosen 11 books that will get me through to the first week of school.  Stop cringing, we're not even close to that yet.

Here's my Summer Reading List (not in any particular order):

1. Inferno by Dan Brown:  Love the last three... can't see how this one will be any different.
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon:  Heard from many reliable sources it's fabulous.
3. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach:  Must read one baseball book in honor of my mom.
4. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton:  Downloaded for Pittsburgh and never read.
5. All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue:  Well because it's summer... and I'm a girl... and I loved her first book.
6. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman:  Started a couple times and kept putting down for something lighter.
7. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness:  C'mon already.  I just have to finish this one already.
8. The Shortest Way Home by Juliette Fay:  Love her other stuff.
9. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh:  Came highly recommended by someone who has fabulous taste.
10. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown:  Love her, love her, love her.  Isn't that enough?  Plus I want to dare greatly myself.
11. Untitled by Mo Parisian:  I have a date in mine when it will be done, so it will be nice to read (and fix) in its entirety.  Hopefully I can come up with a title by then too :)

So that's it.  As soon as I hit publish, I am on the hook for reading all of these books.  Every Sunday I will review what I read and put in my two cents on here.  I am going to start with The Language of Flowers, because I hate keeping books that aren't mine for too long!

What about you this summer?  What will you be reading?

Happy Monday!  And looky there.... it's just in time for The Voice!

March Madness

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.  ~ Tony Robbins

Uh oh, you're thinking.  Surely you must know where I'm going with this quote, and if you think we need some drastic changes to make differences in our lives, you'd be right.

Damn, I hate it when you're always right.

In a day and a half, the beautiful month of March will be upon us.  I love March for many reasons...

My mom's birthday is in March.
Spring-like weather usually begins in March.
Hockey season ends, and that usually means that work becomes way quieter.
Lacrosse begins.


This year it's also going to be my own personal March Madness to kick my butt into gear and out of this funk.  I am going to create my own 30 Day Challenge for different areas of my life, because I've been wasting way too much time lately boo-hooing about life and not enough time doing.  Pick one and do along with me, won't you?

Mo's March Madness 30 Day Challenge

1.  Write 1000 words every. single. day.  I'm already 20K into my book, and figure this will actually take me near the end, and well, who can quit at the end?  Not me.

2.  30 Day Photo Challenge:  Now that we all have our fancy new apps, this will be a fun way to see our world.  This one is actually not even a challenge... just something fun to do everyday!

3.  Health:  On Friday I'll be walking into Court One and making a commitment to myself and my health.  Yes, I should've done it a month ago, but sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake.  Anyways, I will be participating in some sort of exercise Monday-Saturday with Sundays off for 30 Days.

Is this crazy?  Yes.

Do I need something so extreme or I'll die from boredom or self-loathing?  YES.

I am so sick and tired of complaining about myself and decided I just need a kick in the pants.

Of course I'll check in here to let you know how it's going, and I sincerely hope you decide to challenge yourself in some way.  It doesn't have to be big... just something that will get you outside your thoughts.


Happy Wednesday!

10 Moments

I know that most people would want to forget this week if they were in my shoes.  Spending time in and out of the hospital, not once, not twice, but three times would send anyone over the edge.

I've had to live on that edge in the past couple weeks.

However, in my challenge to stay in the moment, I have tried to take snapshots of all of it.  Good, bad, and ugly.  Lot's of ugly.  And my goal wasn't just to remember the good stuff.  That's easy to do... I want to remember it all.

Here are the 10 Moments I won't forget this week.

1. Listening to Blake yell on xBox tonight.  Clearly he is feeling better, and hasn't asked for any medicine.  Only food.  Lot's and lot's of food.
2. Coming home last night and watching TV with Evan.  He was chatty, and together we watched Pawn Stars and marveled at how crazy some people are.
3. Group texting through the good and bad times.  Together we got through ER visits, vomiting, diarrhea, and even a faker.  Good and bad news is better when you can share it with friends.
4. Waking up at 4 am this morning and catching up on a week's worth of Young and Restless because I can't sleep.  It was mindless perfection and exactly what I needed.
5. Calling my sister-in-law yesterday, crying, and having her calm me down.  She was working yesterday and was having the Dr.s in her hospital help figure out what to do with Blake.  She was the one who told me to ask for steroids.
6. Having Jeff visit yesterday and bring Blake a card.  He is more like family than many in my family.  I hope he knows this some day.
7. Watching the news all day today, praying for the people in Connecticut.  Tragedies, as horrible as they are, bring us closer to those we love.  Sad but true.  I can't imagine what that community is going through, and my heart is breaking for them.
8. Downloading three books onto the Nook with a giftcard.  Free books are the best.
9. Taking gifts for our adopted families from the rink.  It is always the best feeling driving away from there knowing that people are going to have a better Christmas because of what we did.
10. Having Blake look at me today as he sat in his hospital bed and say, "Thank you for taking care of me this week, mom."  I think he totally gets how difficult it was for us, and my heart melted once again.  Amazing kid in so many ways.

Just because we're present doesn't mean every moment has to be perfect or even happy.  Every experience will change you and force you to grow, and that is ultimately what it's all about.  Sometimes we learn the most from the bad times, and then we can appreciate the all the good that really is in our lives everyday and we just don't see it.

If you could pick just one moment from the past week to remember, what would it be?

Enjoy the weekend :)

Octoberfest

Well, my friends, it's been a month.

Drum roll please... and I'm down 7 pounds.

To me it's not really enough, however it is 7 lbs less than month.  There have been so many ups and downs in the past month I can't even count.  Needless to say, losing weight is quite possibly the hardest thing for me to take on, and I'm just getting started.

Daunting to say the least.

But today is a new month, and now that I kinda have a idea of how to get through a day under 1700 calories, and I'm just wanting to celebrate for some reason.  A month is longer than I thought I'd make, and certainly longer than I've done in the past few years. So I don't lose it as fast as I thought (why I thought that I'll never know), I really don't care.  It's about getting through each day and feeling better than the last.

And today, I feel pretty good.  So good, in fact, I wanted to add more goals to this month.  Now that the food part handled, I'm going to add in the exercise.  I know I'm not in the worst shape since I've been pretty faithful to my spin class, but I could use a little consistency.  Trying to keep food in control and add the exercise is when it gets really tricky, but I also think this is where the real difference lies when losing weight.  For the past few years, I've tried one or the other, but not both.

God, I love a challenge :)

Call me crazy, but this is actually starting to get interesting to me.

Have a great day!  

Challenges

Who doesn't love a good challenge?  I like to think that I do, but when push comes to shove, I'm not sure I'm ever really up for completing them.  To face a challenge, especially life changing ones, a person needs to arm themselves for a battle and believe they will succeed in the end.

Well, it seems that I have taken on a challenge today.  I didn't wake up thinking I wanted to take the next six months to work on losing weight, but here we are.  And yes I am.

If there was one area in my life that I have continually disappointed myself in, it's my health.  I think I can count on one hand the amount of times I worked out in 2011, so this year with my spin obsession, I literally thought the weight would just fall off.

Well, it didn't.

And I realize that at my age and with my circumstances in life, I need a plan and a goal.  A different plan other that winging it, I suppose.

So, I have my armor in tact, my plan in place (at least for this month), and a goal in mind that is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely).  Yes, my company's seminars have come in handy through the years.

And I'm putting it all out there for you to see.

If I can inspire just one person to take a six month challenge (okay, another person) I'll be happy.

Prepare for battle, my friends. It's a marathon, and we will finish it together.