Monday, July 31, 2006

Monday Morning

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.-James Baldwin

Smokey here today.... the ridge to the southeast is nearly obscured by smoke... it does seem that it is prime fire season...

We (David & I) went after a load of dog food yesterday... on the way home the western sky was a thing of beauty... subtle beauty... not the multicolor dance of the sun setting... but a beautiful design in shades of pale gray... as the sun was streaming down through layers of smoke...

Full day ahead... want to get the dog waters' all freshened before the main heat of the day ... it's only 79 degrees now... according to my weather channel link we are supposed to have thunderstorms later... may the Lord bless us with a gentle rain...

No binging... for the first time in a very long time... I'm at peace with food... when I look back... I can see patterns (that I was not aware of before) even in childhood... of being fixated on food... it's so nice to be free...

I receive a newsletter called French Women Don't Get Fat... of course they have a diet program and so on and so forth... something stuck in my mind... They were talking about enjoying food... actually enjoying the flavor... texture... not doing 5 or 6 other things while you rush through a meal... soooo... I thought... hmmmm... methinks... that's a good idea... so I've stopped working out my daily plan while snarfing breakfast... and actually focusing on breakfast and enjoying the moment... you know I'm actually enjoying my bowl of cereal...lol... or whatever I happen to be dining upon... and not driven compulsively to push as much into my mouth as fast as possible... gee what a thought... ever eat a meal or snack and not be able to remember what you ate... been there done that... not any more... :)

gotta run...

Life is a journey... enjoy the trip... Mary & the Hairballs

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Sunday Morning Rush

Good Morning... I can hardly beleive it is already 10:12... but it is... and I've started my day off late... hot hot hot yesterday... yes I know it's summer... but truthfully I'm starting to look forward to the cooler days of autumn... autumn is my favorite season... warm days and crisp cool night air...started my day out with a wonderful warm bath... cereal breakfast... and a banana for a snack... need some coffee in my system... heading to the kennel to do basic kennel chores... muck out... deworm, microchip and vaccinate...

arf... gotta run... M

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Goodmorning... keeping track... life choices...

Good Morning good morning good morning... Today is Saturday... It actually is... a good morning... had my trusty breakfast... special k yogurt almond cereal with milk, (by the way... that was a 1 cup measuring cup of cereal and 3/4 c. of milk... not a box of cereal and a gallon of milk!) and of course my coffee... actually I still had coffee in my house thermos... amazingly enough it was still warm when I poured it... truthfully I think I drink more cold coffee than hot... lol... pour a cup... get on the computer... on the phone... and usually a couple other things at the same time... and voila... cold coffee... must be a cold coffee magic wand... yeah right... couldn't be that it just cools off before I get back to it... lol...

I was reading an article this morning... it was actually about internet marketing... but it applies to just about anything... and I quote

"Begin tracking what you are doing that works... as well as what you are doing that does not work. This will keep you from making the same mistakes over and over, and you can repeat the steps that have worked in the past. As simple as this step seems... most people do not know the reason(s) to their success or failure."

It's true... keeping track makes a difference... journaling... blogging... emailing friends (keep copies of emails if that's how you are keeping track)... whatever works ...

As well as actually tracking progress... seeing what works... you can see what didn't work... because there it is... right in front of you... or what outside influences effected the results... of course our personal results are entirely up to each of us... no matter what outside infulences there may be... keeping track...journaling... whatever you choose to call it... by whatever method used... helps to keep track of what is actually happening... it took a while for my journal to not be a blame fest... blaming anyone and everyone for my own mess... on other hand... feeling guilty every time anything went wrong with anyone I knew... don't you know I should have been able to fix it... not... my journal rants are actually how I discovered I was eating emotionally... rage...guilt... depression... joy... doesn't matter... whatever emotion it is... until we own it... actually own it... as in take responsibility for it... for ourselves ... we are like rudderless boats on the ocean... or a leaf in the wind... drifting here and there... giving others control of us... the kicker is whether we actually admit we are responsible or not... we still are... we are just allowing outside influences to batter us about... using the "it's not my fault" excuse... or the so and so did this or that "excuse" ...

Used to be when something upset me... I would eat my way into oblivion... I did a lot of damage to myself doing that... or rather when I allowed someone's (anyone's) behavior or words to upset me... I went on food snarf auto destruct... blaming whoever or whatever set me off...

Do you know just who was actually responsible for that auto destruct sequence... not the person... place... thing... computer... words ... the list goes on and on... the only person that was actually responsible for that self destructive behavior was... drum roll please... Me. Lil ole me... in all may scarfing sulking ranting glory... That realization was a really bitter pill for me to swallow... I am responsible for myself... I am responsible for my failures... for my successes... for allowing others to manipulate me... still my responsibility... why... because I have (as all of us do) that rare and wonderful gift... curious... it's a pretty nifty gift... phenomenal in it's scope... so what is it... what could it be... Free Will... no not a will that someone leaves when they die... Free Will... the ability to choose... to make our own decisons... you know that's a wonderful gift... the ability to choose... of course as with all wonderful gifts... comes the responsibility that goes with it... hmmmm... you mean we are responsible for our choices... yup... that's it... the big cherry on top of the ice cream sunday... no matter what the circumstances... yup... still responsible for our choices... but but... so and so was really nasty and because they were really nasty... I ate a gallon of chocolate fudge ripple ice cream... you mean even then... no couldn't be... has to be so and so's fault... nope... so and so may have acted like an inconsiderate horse's ass... even a huge ...huge... horse's ass... monster sized... bottom line... we are still responsible for how we react... the decisions we make... or refuse to make... you know a non decision is still a decision... on the extremely bright side... we are not responsible for how "so and so horse's ass" behaves... what he or she says... or doesn't say... how the other person or persons act... is his/her responsiblity...

Here is a head's up... this attitude... that each of us is responsible for our own lives... tends to seriously piss off people that are living their lives in the blame and excuse mode...

This lifestyle... taking responsibility for one's own actions... and realizing that I'm not responsible for other people's actions... does not mean that I don't care about other people... I do... I'm actually more able to celebrate other folk's successes... and to deal with crappy behavior... for what it is... the other person's responsiblity... and be able to love them anyway... eventhough he or she has put on their horses's ass guise... ohhhhhh yeah... I still have my horses's ass guise... still wear it on occasion... lol... I never said I wasn't human...

Life is a journey... celebrate the trip... Mary E. Robbins and the Happy Hairballs...

Friday, July 28, 2006

I Lost 2 more pounds! Yay!

Two more pounds down... lol... this is the first time I've ever endeavored to lose fat without doing some kind of "super diet" ... If you want to call them that... this weight loss is resulting from lifestyle changes... moderation in food consumption... and exercise... I'm not eliminating any particular kind of food at all... from celery to rib steak... to chocolate pie... yum by the way...lol... I am keeping a food journal... and logging how I'm feeling... today is a cereal day...too busy to cook ... well maybe supper... I have some stuffed salmon in the freezer that is looking a lot like dinner this evening... that and some salad... breakfast was cereal milk and coffee... missed my morning snack... but had some power aide when I came inside to cool off... 101 degrees in the shade right now... hotter the farther down into the hollow ...anyway... power aide has electrolytes in it... and I was cramping up so I know I'd lost too many... hot plus work = sweat... geez... anyway it was cereal for lunch and a wonderful pear and some coffee...

I've lost 4.5 pounds since July 18 2006... my goal weight is 145... I'm at 276.5 now so I have 131.5 pounds to go... one day one step at a time... good by fat... I really don't like carrying this extra weight around... geez it's like carrying another person strapped onto me... adios fat ball... ugh...
I'm doing a nifty isometric deep breathing exercise called Oxycise ... doesn't look like it's much of anything... but it's sure helping to tone ... and I'm using an elliptical... only 5 minutes at a time on that for now... my goal is to build up to an hour... by the time I can do an hour without completely wiping myself out... I should be in decent condition... I'm increasing my time on the elliptical in very small increments... tiny... little increments... at this point just a couple of minutes at a time... I've made the mistake of too much too soon before... and jacked myself up so bad that I ended up ill... this time it's do the base conditioning... so I can enjoy the rewards... hmmmmm what rewards... riding my motorcycle without having my weight screw with my balance... not to mention looking like a macy's day parade balloon on it... be able to enjoy a bicycle tour... have the endurance and strength to really enjoy it... you know instead of torturing myself on a bicycle in the name of fun... have it actually be fun... gee what a thought... I want to walk a marathon... right now that would kill me ... literally... but within a year ... maybe a bit more... maybe a couple of years... we'll see how my body develops ... frankly I don't care where I place in the race... just want someone to still be there when I come in... so I've picked out a marathon that has an ultra-marathon the same day... coming in at the same place... I should be able to finish the marathon before the last ultra gets in... the marathon I want to do is a couple thousand feed higher than where I live... so I'll need to compensate for that in training...

Walking a marathon is on my life list... so is riding a century... I was well on my way to completing both about 5 years ago... when I screwed up my electrolyte levels... nightmare from hell... muscle spasms so bad they pulled my back out of alignment and left me partially paralyzed for months... that was a painful lesson... but I'm still alive... sooooo.... here goes...lol...

Life is a journey... enjoy the trip.... Mary

'Daily Affirmation' Video