Take a Walk With Me

This has been the week of many walks!

Daily actually!

I have also done another 1 mile jog.

This time it took me 11 minutes but in my defense is was 90 degrees out and didn’t have my faithful dog with me. ( I was afraid the heat would be too much for him yesterday morning! )

Last night I walked the 6 mile section with some neighbors and cousins.

I wish I had pics!

Yes, it was hot!

Yes, I loved it!

Remember I like the heat!

At least so far. :)

Today I took Buddy on a walk/jog.

Interval walking is suppossed to be so good for your heart plus I hear it helps get rid of belly fat.

Any Guesses why I do it! HA

I walk 3mins and then jog 2mins unless I get distracted.

This was supposed to be a self pic of me.

I took it on my phone.

That must be the reason I look older and fatter.

Here is my energetic dog Bud. He always starts out strong.

Although he is easily distracted!

Obviously so am I. Here is a pic of a pretty weed!

Whew! Bud made it to the creek for swim #1.

*Note At this point we are only 1/2 mile away from home.

He is feeling rejuvenated from his swim so he is the spec running along the road. I took this pic just to show you how beautiful it is.

Green Fields

Blue sky

White clouds

Gotta love summers in Indiana.

Another cool weed

Buddy is starting to drag behind, also a close up of my finger. :)

 

This is actually swim #3 in the ditch closest to

home.

Home again! This is what Tim does for exercise.

Pressure washing the planter.

OH and before I forget today is my niece Kristen’s Birthday!

Happy Birthday Kris. Sorry I forgot to send a card!!

Amy, Tiff and Kris! Aren’t they too cute!

Enjoy your day and maybe take a walk!

Loving the warm weather

 

I am finally warm!

After months of being cold.

I am warm

When I weighed 300+ pounds I was always hot.

It did not take much to work up a sweat.

But after I lost a bunch of weight my body chemistry must have changed.

Because now I struggle with really cold feet and hands.

Also It takes a lot longer to sweat.

Now if I was skinny I could understand this but I still have plenty of fat on these bones to keep me warm.

So I have come up with the body chemistry theory.

Maybe my body is just confused!

So I am loving the heat.

I like to just sit in the warm rays of the sun and literally soak it up.

I am trying to save it up for those 0 degree days we will undoubtedly have this winter.

The grass and fields our green, The sky is blue with big white marshmallow clouds, and the sun is warm on my skin.

Makes me just want to praise the Lord!

And of course if I get to hot I can always go back inside to the air conditioning where again my feet will freeze.

Choices, Choices it is nice to have them!

On another little note you should visit Sarah at Flying Kites  here. She has a cute little story about Pavlov’s theory.

I think this must apply to me.

Now if only I can only figure out the trigger that makes me want to open my mouth and stick food in it! :)

Have a great day staying warm or cool!

Just remember to drink lots of water!

Suz

I’m so sad!!

 

This is all that’s left of my favorite treat…

A Giant Weight Watchers chocolate ice cream bar.

Big Sigh….

They go away so fast.

It was only 7 minutes ago that I was taking it out of the freezer and now it is gone.

Oh so sad for me because really If I stick to my points schedule I can’t have anything to eat till after 3:00 which is a whole hour away.

I guess it is time for me to go for a walk or at least get outside!

Away from the kitchen, Away from food, and away from the temptations

Wow!

I feel much better now!

It’s always good to have a plan. :)

Oh and I am not really sad, well at least not for long.

But really it is a little depressing to realize what you just ate, and how it is already gone yet you still want more.

Sometimes you just have to wait awhile and let your brain catch up with your stomach…

or would that be your stomach catching up with your brain.

no matter you know what I mean.

On another note I finally attained that 10 minute mile.

actually it was a 9.59 mile but hey who is counting!

I found the perfect jogging incentive…

My dog buddy!

He loves to go on walks with me so I decided…

Hey I’ll try a jog.

He loved it!

He ran just a little ahead of me for most of the way.

Then at the very end he started to get tired.

So then I would just hear the steady pant and the clicking of his paws behind me.

So I really did have a dog chasing me!

Although what I actually thought was

I’M WINNING!

And I did!

So are you impressed?

I just beat my 11 year old dog who has arthritis in the 1 mile jog!

Quite an accomplishment!

(My 15 year old son pointed this out to me when I triumphantly told him “I beat Buddy”)

Kids keep you humble at all ages.

Hey thanks for listening, now I only have to wait 50 minutes till I can eat something. :)

SUZ

Never say Never!

 

It is so easy to say I will never do that!

Oh but be careful because those words will come back to haunt you.

I thought I would never take food with me to church to eat during church lunch.

But I do.

It saves me a lot of points and on the weekend I need all the help I can get.

Yesterday I went to my sister-in-laws VBS lunch stand.

She was serving coney dogs, nachos meat and cheese, hotdogs, and a delicious assortment of cookies.

I did something I thought I would never do.

I took my own fat free hotdog in a piece of light bread.

Now lets do the math.

1 normal hot dog 3 pts. + 1 normal hotdog bun 2pts.=5pts

or

1 fat free hot dog 1pt + 1 piece of light bread 1/2 pt. =1.5 pts.

I did put a little coney sauce on it and I did have a cookie, and I did taste some chips and cheese.

So I guess it was a good thing I took my own hot dog. :)

Something I would NEVER do!

It is a good thing I like fat free hotdogs.

Last night I made brats. Each brat has 290 calories and a whopping 25 grams of fat. 8 pts.

OUCH!

I love brats!

But I just can’t afford that many points.

For now, for me it is just not worth it.

But hey, A fat free hot dog with peppers and onions and a little BBQ sauce is just as good ( I know mind games ).

It works for me and I can have 2 and if I am really feeling wild I may add a little fat free cheese. woo who!

Have I mentioned 3 years ago I probably didn’t realize you could buy fat free hot dogs and even if I had known…

I…. would NEVER buy them. :)

Never say Never!

Mind Games

 

As many of you may have figured out by now I am constantly playing little mind games with myself.

Today is a prime example of the kind of mind games I play to motivate myself.

After the 2 mile goal run I decided that since I really don’t like running I thought I would start out slow and just see where this running thing would go.

So for now I have elected to run 1 mile a week and try to improve my time then move on to a little more distance when I am satisfied with my time.

The 1st time when I ran the 2 miles I averaged about 12 minutes a mile.

Last week I did the mile in about 11 and 1/2 minutes.

Today I ran it in 10 and 1/2 minutes.

So little by little I am improving. Yeah!

Oh and by the way I do exercise more than a mile a week. :)
I actually try for 30 minutes a day.

Okay so back to my theme of the day Mind games.

As I was coming to the last 3/10 of the mile I knew I needed to pick up the pace because I really wanted to complete the mile in 10 minutes.

So I thought to myself I will just pretend there is a bear chasing me…

So in my mind I am arguing with myself…

There are no bears in Indiana…

Okay so there is a dog chasing me…

reasonable enough…

Although I picked this road because  there are no dogs and I really don’t like the idea of dogs chasing me.

Hmmm… I know instead of something chasing me I will run toward something….

Like my family cheering me on Although you don’t know my family they would probably be teasing me and I really am not in the mood for teasing today.

Okay how about one of my children is in danger and I am running to save them but what if I don’t get to them on time… I can’t have that.

Finally the perfect goal…

I am running to Jesus and the final finish line and ultimate goal…. Heaven!

And there is my Dad! Waiting for me and cheering me on!

Just the thought of this turned me into a crying, jogging, emotional wreck. In a good way of course!

So if anyone was out in the country today and passed a crying, jogging 40ish woman in red capris and a grey T-shirt with JETS on it.. That was me and I am alright.

I was just playing mind games with myself.

Didn’t Work!

Although I finally get what my Elementary Principal was talking about at all those Track Meets.

He always would say everyone who crossed the finish line was a winner.

I was like Okay then how come only the first 6 places  get ribbons.

But now I really get it when we cross that final finish line we will all be winners just as long as we finish the race.

I can get really Philosophical in 3/10 of a mile can’t I?

Actually it took me about 4/10 of a mile on the walk back to finally get a hold of myself.

Oh and by the way when I got home and told this story to my family and of course started tearing up again they thought it was hilarious and had me repeat to each new family member who came home. ( thus the reason them cheering me on got booted from my mind game) Really they are great!!

Although I finally refused to tell it after the 3rd time.

And yes I teared up just typing this out!

So maybe the next time I am out jogging to get that 10 minute mile I will just picture a giant Ice Cream cone at the end.

Oh wait,

That won’t work I am trying to lose weight! :)

On Being Stubborn

 

There are times in our lives when it is OK to be stubborn…

Yesterday was one of them.

I decided it was time to run/jog the 2 miles that I set as my goal.

This was spurred on some by my friend who announced over the weekend that she did it.

WOW! The pressure!

I had it in my mind that It was too much for me.

I am not in good enough shape.

I hate really dislike  running.

I do not look good running.

I am scared I really can’t do it.

Yep, the last one was the kicker.

I was scared to fail.

So I had my son drive me exactly 2 miles down the road and leave me out with just my kleenex and my daughters shuffle and off he went honking all the way by. ( I would have done the same to him) :)

I started my run with fierce determination. I had decided this was going to happen.

Step by Step, pant by pant I went half mile down, then a mile, then 1 mile and a half. I could see my house I was going to make it!

Then it hit the side ache.

So I breathed deeper put on a upbeat song and kept running. ( maybe just a bit slower but I never walked ) a few telephone poles later the pain lessoned and I knew I would make it.

I had too!

I didn’t want to do it again!!  :)

I made it!

Sweet Victory!

I didn’t break any records

I am sure some power walker could probably beat my time.

But I did it!

So sometimes I guess it is OK to be stubborn!!

I have to say it was easier to run towards home then to run away and turn around.

The whole time I was running I kept looking ahead to catch a glimpse of home.

And I kept thinking I need to be this stubborn in my pursuit of my heavenly home. I need to keep my eyes on the prize and step by step, pant by pant I will make it.

It is so much easier to run towards home than away. It is so much easier to run to Jesus then away!

Maybe I will become a runner yet!