Hey Ho!
Hiya! Just thought I'd pop in for a quick hello. I'm also diggin' in my archives for a past blog or two to get you through your Thursday!
Here's one that was posted last year February...I was in week 4 of my Couch to 5K Program, and had just gotten blog of the week. Happy reading!---
"Blog of the week. Wow. Thanks again guys, what an honor. I always get self-conscious when this happens (not that it happens with any regularity...sheesh, could I sound any more conceited???) because, well, I don't really know why. So I'll try not to be self-conscious. Ok then.
I'm sitting here drinking my "Lady Grey" tea, which I absolutely love. It's like Earl Grey but with a few more hints of Citrus. Twinnings makes a great Lady Grey tea. In fact, they may be the only ones who make it. I buy it at Cost Plus World Market, and then put one packet of splenda and 1/2 tsp half and half in it. Yummers. I also saw it online at a United Kingdom Foods Import website called jollygrub. Lots of fun stuff on that website, just made myself an order. If you are a tea drinker of the English bent, you would love the following teas: PG Tips (Whole Foods carries these), Typhoo, these are two good quality general black English teas. Sort of the same idea as "red table wine". All-purpose, good taste, hearty, pleasant. Did I mention I love tea? Just the process of putting the electric kettle on (I'm too impatient anymore for the stove-top kettle), letting it steep, preparing it, and taking time to sit and drink it. Wow. It's like a little retreat every time I do it.
I went to Bible School in England at a place called Capernwray Bible School, and we used to have tea breaks every day between second and third hour. I mean, come on, we were in England! You had to have tea! They would have the mail out by then, so everyone would race up to the Castle (the school is located on a large estate with a large estate house) to see if they had any mail. The kitchen staff, God bless 'em, would wheel out the carts of tea (with milk...you have to have milk or cream with tea....) and the leftover pieces of toast from breakfast, covered in cold butter...I really learned to appreciate toast with cold butter when I was in England, better to spread the Marmite on...yum!
Anyway, when I came back from England I had developed a penchant for a good English Tea. Americans ditched the tea as the national beverage in favor of coffee during the Revolutionary War, when they dumped all the tea into the harbor and declared it the "Boston Tea Party" as a revolt against paying taxes on everything (including tea) and as a statement of rejection for all things English. Now, don't get me wrong, I love coffee too...just about as much as tea...but we Americans have never really gotten back to drinking tea the "English way". That's ok. It's my little ritual and I love it. What does this have to do with anything? It doesn't. I'm just blathering on about good memories.
This weekend was a great weekend for me, exercise-wise. I did a session of week 4 on the "Couch Potato to 5K in 9 Weeks" program on Saturday, and then ran a little extra afterwards. Then on Sunday I went to do another session of week 4, and my IPoD had erased week 4! I have no idea why. So, I did a session of week 5. It kicked my bu**. The first day of week 5 had me running for 5 minutes at a time, 3 times in a row with 3 minute breaks in between. I was so excited when I got through it that I went ahead and ran all the way home, which was a 16 minute stretch. A little over a mile. I RAN A MILE! WITHOUT STOPPING! I can't tell you how long it has been since I have done that...I think atleast 13 years. It felt GOOD! No, it felt GREAT! I was wiped out when I got home, because my total routine of doing the podcast and then running my own way lasts about an hour.
I wanted to push myself, because session 3 of week 5 has you running for 20 minutes I think....and I wanted to see if I had it in me. I think I will have it in me when I actually have to do it. I need a day off, though, which is what they recommend anyway.
Weight wise, I should just stop weighing altogether. I was up another pound. So, that's 2 up from Friday total. I know why I went up the first day, it was those 4 southbeach diet bars. (Curses!!!) But today...I don't know. Maybe still residual gain from the Friday night screw-up, maybe building muscle (some of my run is WAY uphill), I just don't know. My clothes aren't fitting any tighter, in fact they are looser, so I'm not going to stress about it. At least I'm going to TRY not to stress about it.
So much of my life is marked by weight....I can recite to you how much I weighed at pretty much any point in my journey....
4th grade: 101 lbs
4th grade after weight watchers: 88 lbs
12th grade: 134
12th grade after diet center: 104
College: 115-120
Bible School: 125-164
Returning from Bible School, age 21: 164
Wedding, age 22: 122
2 years after wedding, age 24: 150
4 years after wedding, age 25: 175
9 years after wedding, age 30: 239
10 years after wedding, age 32, after body for life: 177
14 years after wedding, age 36: 266.5
15 years after wedding, after 6 1/2 months Medifast: 175
Wow. It's amazing how much weight and my weight problem has been a part of who I am. What happens when I don't have a weight "problem" anymore? It's kind of scary, the same way someone who won't leave their abusive husband thinks life without him would be. Kind of scary, but it's what they need to do. Most of them don't do it, and stay in that relationship because it's predictable. It's what they know. (I don't have an abusive husband, don't get me wrong) But I wonder if we stay in an abusive relationship with our bodies for the same reason. It's what we know. It helps feed our sense of "lack of self worth". So we stay here. Demoralized. Thinking we can't change, and even if we did, so what?
Well, I'm here to say that it is a load of crock. We can change. We need to change. If we don't change we are accepting the abuse we are putting ourselves through. Who does that? Who abuses themselves? We need to stop, and many of us through MF have found hope to stop. Being kind to ourselves is foreign to us, and some of us are learning how to do that, being dragged kicking and screaming. What? A massage at a spa? Me? YES, YOU! YOU are worth it. I am worth it. What? Take time for ME? YES! Take time for you. I do that by drinking tea. As often as I feel like it. In fact, I'm going to make myself another Cuppa'.
Have a great day y'all! Keep on Medifastin'!"
Here's one that was posted last year February...I was in week 4 of my Couch to 5K Program, and had just gotten blog of the week. Happy reading!---
"Blog of the week. Wow. Thanks again guys, what an honor. I always get self-conscious when this happens (not that it happens with any regularity...sheesh, could I sound any more conceited???) because, well, I don't really know why. So I'll try not to be self-conscious. Ok then.
I'm sitting here drinking my "Lady Grey" tea, which I absolutely love. It's like Earl Grey but with a few more hints of Citrus. Twinnings makes a great Lady Grey tea. In fact, they may be the only ones who make it. I buy it at Cost Plus World Market, and then put one packet of splenda and 1/2 tsp half and half in it. Yummers. I also saw it online at a United Kingdom Foods Import website called jollygrub. Lots of fun stuff on that website, just made myself an order. If you are a tea drinker of the English bent, you would love the following teas: PG Tips (Whole Foods carries these), Typhoo, these are two good quality general black English teas. Sort of the same idea as "red table wine". All-purpose, good taste, hearty, pleasant. Did I mention I love tea? Just the process of putting the electric kettle on (I'm too impatient anymore for the stove-top kettle), letting it steep, preparing it, and taking time to sit and drink it. Wow. It's like a little retreat every time I do it.
I went to Bible School in England at a place called Capernwray Bible School, and we used to have tea breaks every day between second and third hour. I mean, come on, we were in England! You had to have tea! They would have the mail out by then, so everyone would race up to the Castle (the school is located on a large estate with a large estate house) to see if they had any mail. The kitchen staff, God bless 'em, would wheel out the carts of tea (with milk...you have to have milk or cream with tea....) and the leftover pieces of toast from breakfast, covered in cold butter...I really learned to appreciate toast with cold butter when I was in England, better to spread the Marmite on...yum!
Anyway, when I came back from England I had developed a penchant for a good English Tea. Americans ditched the tea as the national beverage in favor of coffee during the Revolutionary War, when they dumped all the tea into the harbor and declared it the "Boston Tea Party" as a revolt against paying taxes on everything (including tea) and as a statement of rejection for all things English. Now, don't get me wrong, I love coffee too...just about as much as tea...but we Americans have never really gotten back to drinking tea the "English way". That's ok. It's my little ritual and I love it. What does this have to do with anything? It doesn't. I'm just blathering on about good memories.
This weekend was a great weekend for me, exercise-wise. I did a session of week 4 on the "Couch Potato to 5K in 9 Weeks" program on Saturday, and then ran a little extra afterwards. Then on Sunday I went to do another session of week 4, and my IPoD had erased week 4! I have no idea why. So, I did a session of week 5. It kicked my bu**. The first day of week 5 had me running for 5 minutes at a time, 3 times in a row with 3 minute breaks in between. I was so excited when I got through it that I went ahead and ran all the way home, which was a 16 minute stretch. A little over a mile. I RAN A MILE! WITHOUT STOPPING! I can't tell you how long it has been since I have done that...I think atleast 13 years. It felt GOOD! No, it felt GREAT! I was wiped out when I got home, because my total routine of doing the podcast and then running my own way lasts about an hour.
I wanted to push myself, because session 3 of week 5 has you running for 20 minutes I think....and I wanted to see if I had it in me. I think I will have it in me when I actually have to do it. I need a day off, though, which is what they recommend anyway.
Weight wise, I should just stop weighing altogether. I was up another pound. So, that's 2 up from Friday total. I know why I went up the first day, it was those 4 southbeach diet bars. (Curses!!!) But today...I don't know. Maybe still residual gain from the Friday night screw-up, maybe building muscle (some of my run is WAY uphill), I just don't know. My clothes aren't fitting any tighter, in fact they are looser, so I'm not going to stress about it. At least I'm going to TRY not to stress about it.
So much of my life is marked by weight....I can recite to you how much I weighed at pretty much any point in my journey....
4th grade: 101 lbs
4th grade after weight watchers: 88 lbs
12th grade: 134
12th grade after diet center: 104
College: 115-120
Bible School: 125-164
Returning from Bible School, age 21: 164
Wedding, age 22: 122
2 years after wedding, age 24: 150
4 years after wedding, age 25: 175
9 years after wedding, age 30: 239
10 years after wedding, age 32, after body for life: 177
14 years after wedding, age 36: 266.5
15 years after wedding, after 6 1/2 months Medifast: 175
Wow. It's amazing how much weight and my weight problem has been a part of who I am. What happens when I don't have a weight "problem" anymore? It's kind of scary, the same way someone who won't leave their abusive husband thinks life without him would be. Kind of scary, but it's what they need to do. Most of them don't do it, and stay in that relationship because it's predictable. It's what they know. (I don't have an abusive husband, don't get me wrong) But I wonder if we stay in an abusive relationship with our bodies for the same reason. It's what we know. It helps feed our sense of "lack of self worth". So we stay here. Demoralized. Thinking we can't change, and even if we did, so what?
Well, I'm here to say that it is a load of crock. We can change. We need to change. If we don't change we are accepting the abuse we are putting ourselves through. Who does that? Who abuses themselves? We need to stop, and many of us through MF have found hope to stop. Being kind to ourselves is foreign to us, and some of us are learning how to do that, being dragged kicking and screaming. What? A massage at a spa? Me? YES, YOU! YOU are worth it. I am worth it. What? Take time for ME? YES! Take time for you. I do that by drinking tea. As often as I feel like it. In fact, I'm going to make myself another Cuppa'.
Have a great day y'all! Keep on Medifastin'!"
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