weight – a hippie with a minivan

A new year…

The holidays are over and a new year is beginning.

On the 31st of December, my grandmother died.

(Willa with her great-grandmother)

She was 92 and had Alzheimer’s and though she could still remember some, she was declining. At Christmas, she got the flu and a lung infection. My father got sick at the same time and as he already has lung disease, he went into the hospital within days of getting sick. My grandmother got better but then became sick again and died two days later.

The same day she died I went to a friend’s for a new years party. I felt conflicted but it was exactly what I needed. We had a great evening and great conversations into the night. I met new people and made new friendships with people I already knew. We slept over and continued our conversations until we left mid afternoon. With my grandmother’s death I felt the need to visit my dad and my other grandmother who was bringing in the new year with a few other family members. Spending new years with my family is something I haven’t done in years but I headed to Montreal with an open mind. It turned out to be a very nice visit with my uncles, aunt, my cousin and my mom. And, of course, my grandmother was so happy to have the family there.

We got home and spend the next two days relaxing and just having family time and doing some basic cleaning.

Simon went back to work today and the kids are playing and I just went over our budget and then entered my breakfast in my food log and I have a feeling this is going to be a good year.

We are still planning on putting the house up for sale this year and slowly our decluttering efforts are changing the way our house looks and runs. During the holidays I decluttered our room. Now, all the clothes I have are ones that fit and that I will and do wear. Doing the closet left enough space for us to move Simon’s dresser into the closet which meant that we could move Wilhelmina’s bed into our room. Not only does it make the room more functional but even if we have one more piece of furniture in the room, it actually looks bigger and even less cluttered.

I don’t make resolutions with the new year but something has clicked in the last few days. Though I have recording our expenses and “budgeting” for years, I realized I was making mistakes. But now, I recognize those mistakes… and when you know better, you do better. With a new view on finances and a big goals for the year I am starting the year off fresh and with plans and I am feeling inspired.

Ankles and Kettlebells….

This morning I woke up and I realized that I didn’t limp out of bed…

My left ankle is finally on the mends … though it is still a bit painful to the touch, when I move it a certain way, or when I am on the stairs, the pain is pretty much gone.. My right ankle was at this stage last week and is pretty much completely better, so I am guessing that in a week I should be pain free…

I am not sure that I am going to go back to running any time soon, though it is something that I still want to do one day… I did go swimming soon after I got hurt, and I love being in the water… but the amount of time it takes (go/swim/come back) just doesn’t fit into our routine very easily and it means that I have to have supper ready on time, but can’t eat with the family…

2 weeks ago, I was reading on a forum and read about Kettlebells, it peaked my interest and I read more, and read more, and then asked questions and then decided to try it out… Though my ankle was hurting when I walked , working out with the Kettlebell did’t hurt at all… and what an amazing workout! I have been doing 20 minutes every few days doing various exercises including swings.. By the end of that 20 min my heart rate is way up, I am breathing harder and my legs are feeling a bit jittery… but I feel great! I feel sore the day after, but it is a good sore and it actually surprised me that I did feel sore because though I felt it was a workout, it wasn’t too hard and it was fun..

I have to say… I am sold!

I had found a 10 lb Kettlebell at Zellers which is great to start but I had the feeling that I would be outgrowing it soon, especially for certain excersises, so I found some on sale at treadmillfactory.ca with decent shipping prices and while I was at it I also picked up a mini-trampoline that was on special as it is something I know that we will all have fun doing…

20-30 min a few times a week is so easy to fit into our family routine…

Here are some great links:

How to do the two handed swing:

This blog is a great resource and inspiration (she used to be 120 lbs heavier and is now a Kettlebell trainer)… http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/… she shares workouts and videos etc…

I did it!

No, not the hair again 🙂

On Tuesday I went out for my first try at running. I downloaded the Podcast Podrunner put it on my ipod and went out… I didn’t really have many expectations

I don’t have the right gear, I didn’t have anywhere near good shoes but I did have have a great bra… for well-endowed women as they say on the site…

So it started, 5 min walk, 60 sec run, 90 sec walk, 60 sec run etc…. for 30 min… It was hard, but then it wasn’t, but then it was… and then I gave up and then I started again and then it was done and I felt great. I didn’t really feel any aches or pains from it which is great except for my feet. As I said, I didn’t have the right shoes for running at all.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, or know me, you know that I am a barefooter. I loathe covering my feet and if I am going to run I plan on doing it barefoot later on. However, it is still winter, and there is snow and ice and slush on the ground and it is not very comfortable at the moment for walking barefoot for extended periods of time…

I have been coveting the Vibram Fivefinger shoes for a few years now since I first heard of them and finally decided to get my first pair. I got the kids in the car and drove to MEC and fell in love with them the moment I tried them on…

Aren’t they ~~amphibiously weird?~~ great!

I went out for my second run tonight and choose a slightly different route. It was easier, it was harder, I wanted to give up, then I didn’t, then I paused the podcast because I wasn’t going up that hill running, then I started again and felt great…

I am feeling the burn a bit more already but I also pushed myself harder today. I absolutely loved running in the Vibrams, they let you feel the ground as if you were running barefoot with all of the advantage that a shoe may provide. I am looking forward to seeing where this running thing will take me….

1 stone…

I have to say, I don’t really know the Imperial metric system that well, but as of this morning my weight is down 14lbs which happens to be 1 stone. I guess it is just satisfying to say that amount…

I am now more than half way to my first goal of losing 10% of my highest weight…

What am I doing?

Eating what I normally eat in smaller portions, journalling and doing a bit more housework…

It’s working… and my house is cleaner…

I want to start swimming again… I need to start again… I just need the motivation to leave the house and do it.

When the roads are a bit dryer I would really like to start C25K… I am not sure what attracts me to running but it something that I would really love to do.

Where do you get the motivation to get out there and get active?

Little steps

I wrote something in the comments of the last post that I would like to expand on… “I am ready for some changes in my life and the easiest place to start is with myself.”

I have some big plans for the future. We would like to sell the house and move. Maybe back to Montreal, ideally, out of province. However, it is hard to leave the stability we have now and take the plunge into the unknown. The more I think about it, the more I want it, but because we are not ready yet, it just becomes depressing to think of what could be. I am one of those people that when I want something, I want it now, and when I can’t get it I feel discouraged and live in a standstill… living in wait of something, instead of living in the moment.

I realize though, I can’t control big changes like this. Our Mortgage is up next year, if we sell now, we would have a penalty to pay which we can’t afford. Simon has a a stable job, which he hates, and we hate that he has to do something he hates each day, but it is a steady income that is hard to leave behind. One day we will be ready, but it isn’t at this moment. I need to accept that. Not that I will not change our dream and work towards it, but I realize that it takes little steps.

I may not be able to control the big picture at the moment, but I can control small changes, changes within myself, external and internal. A haircut, may be just a haircut, but it also a symbol for me that I am ready. I have dropped 10lbs in the last 2 months and I plan on losing a whole lot more. I no longer feel attachment to most of the stuff in my house and I just feel like getting back into that active mode of decluttering I was in a few years ago and getting rid of as much as I can that we don’t use or need.

I might want the big change now, but I am accepting that it might take longer then I wish. But, the little changes, I can control them. The little changes I make now can only make us more ready for the future and in the meantime I will not feel at a standstill, I will be able to keep moving ahead and hope that our big dreams will be realized sooner than later.