It's Okay to Be Cliche

I've never really been one for making New Year's resolutions. Not that I have anything against anyone who does make them. It's just that for me, personally, they seem rather pointless. And they mostly fail. Because January 1st isn't any more magical than any other day, and if you're going to decide to make a change in your life you can do it at any time. No need to wait for a new calendar.

Don't get me wrong. I do like the beginning of a new year. I like the excitement, and the possibilities just waiting to fill up that nice new calendar. For a little while, at least, everything seems fresh and new. So I totally get the hype. I just usually don't do anything about it.

But yesterday when I woke up with somewhat more than normal energy, I was excited to attack the day. (It probably had a little something to do with the kids having spent the previous night at my mom's, which meant that I actually got to sleep past 5. It was awesome.) And as I started making my mental to-do list for the day, I realized that I really felt like working out.

And then I started thinking about how long it had been since I had actually done that with any regularity, and realized that it was longer than I would like to admit. So I decided to take advantage of the quiet house (thanks, Grandma!) and have some healthy me-time. And I was feeling really good about that decision... until I remembered that it was January 1st.

And it all just felt so cliche. How many people swore to anyone who would listen that they were going to start exercising this year? And how many of those people are going to actually do it for a few days, and then go back to parking their buts on the couch because exercise is too much work, and TV is more entertaining? Did I really want to risk looking like one of those people?

It actually took me a little while to convince myself to go ahead and work out anyway, despite the risk of looking cliche. (Sadly, I'm not making that up. I seriously considered waiting a few days just to avoid looking like someone who had made a New Year's resolution.) But in the end, I decided that my desire to exercise and feel good was more important than my desire to avoid looking cliche.

Of course now this means that I will actually have to keep exercising regularly, just to prove that it wasn't just a resolution that will be broken in a few days. So I guess the timing was pretty good after all. :)

My Trick for Staying Motivated

Exercising is not necessarily something that comes to me naturally. Having lived for so many years with several conditions that cause sever chronic pain, it is often very difficult for me to move at all, let alone move enough to call it exercise.

But in recent years, as I've worked to take more control over my life and my conditions, I've made a serious effort to find things that I can do to help me get in shape. And I've developed a great relationship with my elliptical machine.

As with any relationship, though, you run the risk of having things get stale. You have to try to find ways to keep things interesting. And you have to find ways to keep yourself motivated to stay with it. So over the summer, as the temptation to "just take the day off" became an almost daily struggle, I had to find a way to keep myself from giving in (and giving up on something that I had worked so hard to build.)

Because you know how easy it is to talk yourself out of doing something that takes hard work. No arm-twisting needed. Just a flimsy excuse will do.

So I came up with a trick to help me ignore the voice of my sweat pants. As soon as I get up in the morning, I change out of my jammies and into my gym clothes. That way I know that as soon as I'm done getting the kids fed (and taking care of all the other morning responsibilities) I will go and work out.

This works for two reasons. 1) Gym clothes don't lie, and there's no hiding those bulging reminders of why I need to work out. And 2) If I start trying to weasel out of exercise, I remind myself that I'm already dressed for it, so I may as well do it. (It sounds silly, I know, but it works.)


Unplanned side note:
As I sat down with my coffee this morning, I had another unexpected reminder of why staying motivated to exercise is necessary and important. I wasn't feeling all that great today (the weather has been aggravating the pain quite a bit lately) so I chose a coffee mug that would make me smile. Because any little reason to smile helps.

I love this mug, and it does always make me smile. The only thing is, I usually hold my mug with my left hand, which means that this is the part that I see:

So there's another motivator. Get up and get exercising before I'm so "stuffed with fluff" that my big butt won't even fit through the door. :)

LML Monday - Juicing, School Carnivals & The Walking Dead

It's Monday once again, my friends. And as always that means it's time to reflect on the things that made us happy over the past week. And of course now is also the perfect time to set the tone for a great week to come! 

If you missed my take on LML, you can find it here. If you missed the explanation of LML Monday, you can catch up here.

Juicing
Not surprisingly, I spent a great deal of time last week experimenting with my new Kitchen Ninja system. The ice cream was pretty good, and kind of fun to make. The kids love the fruit smoothies as an after-school snack. And the fruit/yogurt/flax breakfast smoothies are a great way to start the day.

But my absolute favorite thing (and the reason that I most wanted the machine in the first place) is the juicing.  I love being able to toss a bunch of whole vegetables into the pitcher and get a super-nutritious and (usually) very tasty meal out of it.

The best one I made this week was spinach, celery, cucumber, and pear. It made a really pretty green color (which made my daughter wrinkle her nose in a very cute expression of disgust) and had a nice refreshing flavor (since mostly all you can taste is the pear and cucumber.) I wasn't sure about adding the celery (because you know how I feel about it) but as I had hoped, I couldn't even taste it. Yea! :)

School Carnivals
My son's school had their annual Fall Festival on Friday. They had a pretty impressive assortment of carnival games (so the kids got to win lots of prizes and candy) and a ridiculous number of inflatables (bounce houses, slides, etc.) The junior high kids even turned their building into a "haunted house," which was really cute. The kids had a blast, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well the whole carnival was put together. We all had a really great time.

The Walking Dead

This is one of the few shows that my husband and I both watch, so Sunday night is The Walking Dead night at our house. Sure, the show is kind of ridiculous sometimes... but in a good way. And like most people, I still can't stand Lori and Carl. But Daryl is still awesome, and the more hard core Rick gets the more I love him.

Public service announcement: If you ever have some time to kill, and want a good laugh, head over to The Dork Side on Facebook and check out their Walking Dead photo album. The whole page is great, but if you're a Walking Dead fan there are many great laughs to be had in that album.


Ok. I shared mine - now it's your turn! Please feel free to leave me a comment and share some of your recent LML moments. Focus on the happy thoughts, and let's all have a great week!

And if you're a blogger and would like to get in on the LML fun, feel free to grab the code and join the blog hop! Your post doesn't specifically have to use the "LML" label (although you're welcome to use it if you'd like.) But if you have any kind of happy, positive Monday message that you'd like to share you're welcome to join. The more happy vibes, the better the Monday!

E is for Elliptical

In last week's post I talked about one of my favorite words, so for this week's ABC Wednesday I decided to talk about one of my favorite things: my Precor EFX 5.21. Or, in layman's terms, my elliptical machine.

I've struggled with my weight for most of my life. And the times that I wasn't struggling were mostly the times when I just kind of gave up and decided to be okay with being fat. (Not my most brilliant moments, granted. But it was just the way it was sometimes.)

But this past year I've been making great strides (pardon the pun) in my quest to live a healthier life. I'm thrilled to say that I've lost 50 pounds so far - and it feels great! And I've done it all with the simple "eat less, move more" approach.

Simple concept, yes. But that's not to say that it's easy. It's probably the most difficult of all of the great weight loss techniques, because there's no quick fix, no pill to take, and no easy way out. It actually requires a lot of willpower, and a lot of hard work.

And exercise is an even trickier concept when you suffer from chronic pain, as I do. You have to be very careful to find ways to move your body without hurting yourself, and that's often a frustrating challenge. Frustrating, and often tedious and slow, but not impossible.

My elliptical and I were not immediately the best of friends. The first time I got on it, I lasted about five minutes (and thought I was going to die.) It was sad. But I was determined, so I kept at it with the understanding that it would take time. And it did. But the results have been fantastic.

There are still days when my back hurts too much to work out, and there are days when I can work out, but have to do it very slowly and gently to avoid too much pain. But those days are fewer and fewer as time goes on. And now, as I spend 45 minutes to an hour with it at least five days a week, I can see just how far I've come.

I still have a ways to go. But thanks to some healthier eating habits, and many many hours on my elliptical, I'm getting there. :)