What's your crack cocaine??

Ok, I have a slight confession....when I was on my soapbox during the last blog, saying I would win the war against fat, slugginess, non movement, etc, and I mentioned I had just stocked up on lots of healthy things....well, I forgot to mention 1 other thing that I happened to slip into my basket at Costco....

Ok, I admit it. I'm hooked, addicted. I'm a Dark Chocoloate Acai with Blueberry crack addict.
And it all seemed so innocent at first.....

It all started with those dang "powerberries" at TJ's....I bought that hook, line and sinker...those are "good" for me...dark chocolate - good, blueberries - good - so how could I go wrong?!
THEN I happened to run into this 2 pound bag of Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai with Blueberry ...OMG, it didn't take long and I was HOOKED! With every small handful of 5 or 6 (come on, give me a break, they are just little small berries!), I convinced myself of all the good properties they had...I was in denial ...until I read the back side of the bag :

Serving size 1/4 cup
Calories 180
Total Fat 7 grams
1 measley gram of fiber :(

YIKES!

So even those "exotic fruits from around the world" paired up with "healthy dark chocolate" aren't good!?!?!? -Yep - read the print - this can't be too good.....And certainly not as good as a piece of fruit or some veggies...

By the way, I have never done crack cocaine...wouldnt know it if I saw it.....even though while teaching class in NY this past year, I described to my "new" class that at dinner the evening before, my coworker knocked the bowl full of parmesan cheese off the table and it looked like a cloud of "coke dust" - where in the world do I come up with some of this?!?!? How do I have any clue what coke dust is like, or if it even exists?!

Anyway, I just had to come clean to my friends on the blog (again, I may just be talking to myself - I may be the only one reading this blog after all)....but it feels good to say it outloud

I AM A CRACK ADDICT....OOPS, I MEAN I AM A CHOCOLATE ACAI BERRY ADDICT (that sounds a bit better doesn't it!?!?)

So what's your addiction?! Come on, we all have something....My friend, Erin, at work today confessed she is a "MERB's Caramel Apple addict" - lucky for her, that is only 1 time a year addiction....

Speaking of which....when you really really like something, do you find yourself wanting to buy multiples?! As long as I'm coming clean, I will tell you I do have 1 "extra" bag of my crack cocaine in the freezer....I told myself I would buy a 2nd bag to have for all the company at Thanksgiving! HA! Hopefully the bag in the freezer won't be empty by then! I will say this was the first time I bought "multiple" bags....

But do you ever think to yourself - oh oh I better stock up - what if they run out?! Or heaven forbid, what if they stop making these!? Then what?!!

I'll tell you "then what".....then what happens is bye bye addiction :)

So now that I have gotten past
"Hi, my name is Maureen Roth and I'm addicted to Dark Chocolate Acai berries"....hopefully I can begin to wean myself off of these little bits of heaven on earth - oh oh, i'm slipping again...

Seriously, admitting is the first step, right!?

So, come on, what is your crack cocaine?! Admit it and start thinking about what it is and why you think you must have it......think about how much better you would be WITHOUT it!!!

So just for today - share your addiction with someone else and start kicking it....right out of your life! I'm not ready to dump this bag in the trash yet, but I will think twice before I open the bag again!!! And how often I open it! 1 small step at a time, that is how these changes are made people!

Hang in there and have a good night!

Fall back....did you reset your clock?? No, not the ticking clock....

Fall Backwards....yep, that is what today is all about as you find that suddenly you are arriving at church, at the gym class or at brunch 1 hour too early....

Unfortunately, babies don't get the memo, as my cousin Heather, noted on Facebook this morning....dang it anyway! But that little smile, even 1 hour earlier, still makes getting up all worthwhile!

Even if you get the memo or got the hint from the papers, friends, news, and set your clock back 1 hour, even if you did wake up on your "body clock", you could just roll over for another leisurely hour of rest or "free" sleep because the clock did indeed "fall backwards"....

I was thinking about this the other night and thought why 2am?! Why in the world did someone decide at exactly 2am, we turn back the clock? So go to bed, set your clock at 2am, and get up, turn back the clocks and go back to bed! No, I'm not falling into that trap :)....but seriously, what about those people that ARE awake at 2am.....what do they do at that point - bar is open an extra hour? The hospital staff stays on 1 more hour??? Or what if your baby decides they want to make their appearance at exactly 2am - man that would be exhausting the rest of your life explaining well I was born at 2am, but actually it was 1am......

So what does "fall backwards" really mean??!

Well, it is a bit scary actually - if you think of it in a literal sense....falling backwards, hitting my head or any brave limb of my body that tries to reach out and catch this load of weight!!! Not a pretty picture....

Today in the news, the headline read "Fall Back - did you reset your clock?"

Answer - YES, boring as I am, about 11p last night, I went around and reset all of the clocks and was so excited as I recalculated how much sleep I could catch up on...seriously, it is just 1 hour, why do I keep doing the math in my head....

Anyway, I realized that "falling backwards" while, yes it is a good thing for the extra hour of sleep, is just what I have been doing for the last few weeks.....No I haven't been turning back my clocks back every weekend, but I seriously feel like I have been FALLING BACKWARDS??????

How so, you ask?

-Not working out like I should
-Not eating like I should
-Not getting rid of the stress from everyday life and WORK!
-Not feeling great

Yep, that "falling backwards" stinks!

So now, that the clock has been reset, I need to forget about the fact that I have "fallen backwards" and get up and move FORWARD! You know winter is coming and with that comes those big old sweaters and room for lots of "hidden danger".....i.e. extra winter weight!! I am not "falling" into that trap!

So what next?
I "fell" out of bed this morning and headed off to body pump. I pushed my weight up a bit and could feel the body trembling just a bit (but will feel it a lot more tomorrow - which is always good news to me that I did what I intended to do!)

Yesterday, I stocked the fridge with apples (all cleaned now from the water/apple cider vinegar solution to get those pesticides off!!!! Seriously, I cannot eat an apple unless it is organic or cleaned that way, without about getting sick thinking of the 35 kinds of pesticides they are sprayed with!!!), organic carrots and other healthy stuff.

BTW, on a side note, Costco is really offering LOTS of "organic" choices now at very very reasonable prices!

So on this "fall backwards" day, I am moving forward! I am dusting myself off from the last 2 crazy, insane work weeks, and mindless stress eating, and endless Halloween candy, and moving FORWARD! I have alerted my body that it may not like me for the next couple weeks as I move "forward" but it will like me after that. As the body pump instructor mentioned today in class, I don't like working out, but I really like it when it is OVER...

So what are you up to? Are you falling backwards? Have you already fallen? If so, it is time to get up and move FORWARD! On this beautiful, cool, sunny day, just move yourself FORWARD into some kind of motion! It's not too late!!! Your clock has been reset, so now work on resetting your MIND and BODY!

Have a great Sunday!

What if you turned on the faucet and not 1 drop came out.....what else are you taking for granted?

-Waking up in the morning
-Having a job
-Having good health
-Opening your fridge and pantry to a buffet table of food
-Family, friends
-Our God
-Jumping in your car and driving wherever you want to go
-Saying what you want to, when you want to, how you want to

Okay, this isn't a "wish" list....this my friends is my "don't take these precious things for granted" list....

For starters, you get up each day (which in itself is worth a prayer of thanksgiving!!) and turn on the water to brush your teeth, wash your face and then GULP, jump into a nice long HOT shower....That is what we need to think and talk about...

Don't worry, I'm not EVEN suggesting you forego any of the cleansing activities....that would just be WRONG....instead, I want to share a few stats with you....

In the TRUE GREEN book, it reminds you of 100 everyday ways you can contribute to a healthier planet.....and yep, you guessed it, water is listed on several pages....why? because we don't really "get it" and we have definitely started taking the nice flow of H2O from our faucets to mean, the supply is endless - NOT! Read on please....

Showers -
How long is your shower? A family of 4, each taking a 5 minute shower 1 time a day, uses about 700 gallons of water every week! A standard showerhead, uses about 4-6 gallons of water PER MINUTE!!! If this same family of 4 used a "low slow showerhead", they would save up to 20,000 GALLONS of water , not to mention the energy used to heat that water!!! This also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 300 pounds per year! So the message here is, every MINUTE you shorten your shower, you save 4-6 GALLONS of water! Just imagine how many zillions of people are showering each day and if each one of us, cut our shower down a bit, and didn't use such HOT water, we would make a HUGE impact!!!! Next time you take a shower, just time yourself - I think you will be AMAZED at how long (and how unnecessary) your shower is! Come on, scrub a bit faster - do it for the planet!!! Cutting your shower from 10 minutes to 5 mintues, over the course of a year, would provide enough water to fill a backyard swimming pool AND saving an extra 2200 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions just from the energy used to heat the water!!!! That 's over 4200 gallons of water you can save in that simple green effort!!!

Flushing it away - Okay, my sister lives in LA, and years ago, I remember being out there and California was way ahead of the rest of us, with its conservation efforts. I remember during my visit with her she told me, the motto is "if its pee, let it be, if it's brown, flush it down" - sorry, for the graphics, but that is really what the saying was....this was their daily effort at conserving energy and water.....I know, it's a tough idea to swallow and I'm not suggesting you do that, but just be aware...toilets use the most water in the home...Over 4.8 BILLION gallons of water are flushed down toilets EVERY DAY in just the US along, that equates to 9000 gallons of water per person every year! YIKES! Between the shower and the toilets, our "per person usage" is going up quickly!!! Older toilets use more than 3 gallons of water in 1 flush, vs modern reduced flow use a little more than 1 gallon....Keep that in mind during your next "toilet shopping spree" :)

Dishwashers and dishwashing - This accounts for 15 perscent of the household water use, not to mention HUNDREDS of pounds of greenhouse gases in hot water heating! The dishwasher can use more than 10.5 gallons of water per cycle, vs a newer model uses 1/2 that. Sooooooooooooo,
only run it when it is FULL and save 10-20 gallons of water per day! If you are a hand washer, that will likely use less, UNLESS you are one of those LET THE WATER RUN NON STOP people.... Remeber this is sending 2.5 gallons of water PER MINUTE right down the drain!!! And if it is HOT, you are emitting more greenhouse gases by the minute!

Washing machines - The average washing machine produces nearly 200 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year, but if you choose HOT water, it gets worse! Over 80 percent of the energy used to wash clothes comes from HEATING the water and a hot water wash generates 5 TIMES MORE in greenhosue gases than a cold wash! Choose cold and save 6.5 pounds in emissions FOR EVERY WASH! Be careful when adding your detergent also - for each 3.5 ounces of detergent, 3 pounds of greenhouse gases are generated!!! So remember, don't wash your clothes because you just didn't hang them up and you don't feel like it (come on, how many of you can relate to this!!) make sure they need washing and then only wash with a full load! I have switched to cold washes 98 percent of the time - and it works just fine! And hats off if you can do the line dry and save on the dryer!!

Water bottles - I know I have talked about this before, but sorry, I am very passionate about this one.....I too got caught up in the INSANE "bottled water" frenzy that caught on several years back! OMG, if we would just stop and think about it, it is insane. Especially considering the fact that many of the bottled waters have been tested and are NO DIFFERENT than our tap water! Buy a nice stainless steel water bottle - you will LOVE it and take it everywhere! Your beverage stays hot or cold for hours!!!! Remember, plastic comes from petroleum, a limited resource (like WATER!) and it takes over 1.5 MILLION BARRELS of oil each year, just to cover America's demand for bottled water!!! Converting this oil to gasoline equates to fueling 500,000 station wagons on coast to coast road trips!!!!! YIKES!!! Come on peeps, we can do this!!! I won't even tell you how many bottles are not recycled and could stretch across the globe and back as they litter our landfills and will be there long after we are "pushing up daisies" as they say :)

So, are you thirsty yet?! Hopefully there is still some water left, to quench your thirst!!!

So just for today, think about what you take for granted?!?!? And think about what you can do to make our planet a little better, a little less "gassy"......

Remember, we need to drink a lot of water every day, so save some from your showers, toilets, washing machines etc - so you can have your 8-10 glasses in your stainless steel mug :). Yikes, I just read that and want to reiterate, I'm not suggesting you drink from the toilet!

Here's to an H2O toast to our planet!

Have a great Sunday!

I'm not going to tell you again....oops, I mean, I'm not going to tell ME again...

Yesterday was 1 of my old friend's birthday - 57 years old....by "old friend" I don't mean old either...come on peeps, give me a break, 50 is the new 40 and I'm going by that standard, so we aren't old yet.... Anyway, she has been fighting the weight battle for too long and we always try to "encourage" her whether she wants it or not. You know how we are, we WANT help, but then when we get it, we really don't want it so much. On Friday night, when you are eating and drinking, it is easy to talk about what you are going to do come Monday morning!!! Until Monday morning comes....

Anyway, her work has a "weight challenge" and I mean a BIG weight challenge - big contest with big prizes, etc - and I was trying to remind my friend, that she could WIN the whole thing! She lost 9 pounds at the first weigh in, without tremendous effort (she won't like hearing that) and this thing goes to JANUARY! HElllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooo
January is 2.5 months away!!! She could not only win the contest, but more importantly, win back her healthy life!!! After all, I did say, we are YOUNG,but we aren't getting any younger...and we are like cars at the 50,000 mile check up....parts start needing tune ups and replacements :).

So as she sat there with a beer, I was the cheerleader in her FACE, saying, YOU CAN DO THIS, this is your opportunity, you can change your life!!! Because clearly winning the prize would be great, but the biggest prize would be her new life as a healthy person. I have known this girl since we were in highschool - she WAS the jock, the petite but strong and healthy girl! I want that back so bad for her. But SHE has to want it back too. Most importantly, SHE has to be the one saying "I CAN DO THIS" and we aren't quite there yet......But I do understand why...it's tough - it is a HUGE decision and takes a tremendous amount of effort, courage and determination...I KNOW she can do it and will be praying that she realizes that. Because as Karen told me on the blog recently, and I love this...."NOTHING tastes as good as "Healthy" feels!!!" LOVE THAT ONE!

As I sat chanting "YOU CAN DO THIS" to my friend last night, I realized that I was not only reminding HER but also ME....I was thinking about it on my early drive to Body Pump this morning (I had to say YOU CAN DO THIS to me about 7a as I pulled the old body out of bed on Saturday to go subject it to pain :)).....

Remember that saying that "everything we ever needed to know about life we learned in kindergarten" - well I agree that we have learned so much from infancy on, but for some reason, we have to hear it over and over and over....seems the first 5000 times, just haven't sunk in....let me give you a few examples....

-I'm going to floss daily (RIGHT! That doesn't happen....then when I do, why am I surprised that I get a little bleeding?!?! Helloooooooooooooooooooo, 50,000 mile check up time, floss em while you got em!!!)

-I'm going to set the alarm early so I have more time in the morning ............No thank you, I would prefer to get up everyday and run like a gazelle through the house, trying to get the dogs fed, out, pilled, me showered, teeth brushed (can floss at night :)), and out the door with lunch in hand in time for my conference call.....

-I'm not eating BLANK ANYMORE! Or drinking BLANK ANYMORE? Yes, you are probably laughing at this one, because I'm sure you can relate.....sometimes, I find myself saying that as my spoon is dipping into the bowl :( and then when it is gone, I think, why in the heck did I eat that?!

-I'm not going to procrastinate.....heck I do that with my blog all the time, waiting for the perfect "inspirational" story to pop in my head....sorry, folks, you know that hasn't happened!!! But procrastination just leads to so much stress in our lives.....

-Here's a good one....I'm not going to "judge people" or gossip - Geez, despite your best efforts, this is tough.....so if I do either of them, I'm going to just try to talk with Buster and Charlotte about this (my dogs :)), because let's face it, we shouldn't judge ANYONE except yourself! And gossip is empty energy that is painful and goes nowhere!!!

-I'm going to declutter - Yikes this is painful to even say outloud...although I do continue to chip away at this....even if I get it to 1 room, then I can make myself take 15 minutes a day to work on 1 area.....

So, all of those things, that you find yourself telling yourself OVER and OVER and OVER, what are they!?!?! Come on, share them with the rest of us!? Getting it out there in print is step number 1, plus it reminds us of all the things that we all do and need to face and conquer!!!

So just for today, think of 3 things that you tell yourself over and over and over, for the last "only God knows how many years", and write them down, say them outloud and find a plan to face them head on....we just can't keep using our energy up on recurring issues :)

Enjoy this magnificent weekend...and remember YOU CAN DO THIS (you have to fill in the "THIS" part!)

You have IT...then you lost IT and try to get IT back!!!

Like ding dongs to a Hostess addict.......or dog hair to my ultra suede couch....some things just need each other......some things just stick together.....kind of like IT when you find IT.....

What is IT, you ask?

IT is that drive, commitment, unyielding and unwielding power of powers that you somehow mysteriously FIND and while it remains with you, you are invincible......

-You can fight off chips and ice cream with an easy NO WAY
-You can work through 5 workouts a week with no resistance from the "non exercising other personality in your person"
-You can stay dedicated and on the right track without someone watching your plate for you and asking "do you REALLY want that?"
-You can get on the scale each day, week or month knowing that the number is going down, down, down (without having to say a novena before you get on!)
-You can pass up those "stashes" of danger you have lurking in your house...in the freezer or in the diningroom hutch, without batting an eye..
-You live it, breathe it and LOVE it, WHY!? Because you feel so dang good!!!

BUT

Then as quickly and powerfully as it came, it disappears with a flash of an eye.....you barely remember what IT looked like, sounded like or felt like.....

-The sugar devils start hounding you and filling your thoughts with all kinds of dangerous sugar drugs.....you know what they are
-The exercise fairy is beaten up by the many couch potatoes that lure you to the tube with the remote in hand and put you in a "clicker frenzy" while you sit there instead of heading to the gym
-The waffle top comes back and wraps around your middle so as you sit and type you can feel it falling over onto the rim of your pants, what a lovely feeling that is.....
-You keep looking for IT over and over and can hardly remember what IT looked like, felt like or sounded like....

Do you know what I mean!?!?!

Well, there is 1 more stage to IT and that is.....

I found IT, I lost IT, I found IT, I lost IT, the kind of hide and seek IT mania, I call it.....

-You wake up in the morning, raring to go....only to be taken under by the kind looking, but sneaky pumpkin bread on the counter, calling your name
-You recover from the p bread and just say no to anything for the next few hours and head out for some running
-You try to run, you really do, but you find yourself about 1 tank short of oxygen, so you huff and puff as best you can, even though you really are thinking about the couch potatoes again, but you keep on moving....and feel good when the sweat starts dripping....
-You come home with good intentions as you dig out the fish and veggies for dinner
-You hear the ice cream calling and you justify it because you did some huffing and puffing and also had fish for dinner
-You plan a weekend full of exercise...

Ah yes, the found IT, lost IT syndrome.....you still know what IT is, you still see IT and you definitely don't want to lose IT....but yet there are those times IT slips away.....

So back in January, I started this LAT (Lose a Ton) challenge and managed to drop 30 pounds....
I don't want those pounds back, although I know a few have creeped back on.....I'm fighting it and don't want to lose and don't intend to! I just need to get IT totally back under control. Thank goodness I haven't lost IT totally. I just periodically lose IT and have to find my way back home.

So where do I go from here? It is all up to ME! I am the fool making the decisions, good or bad. I may be blaming this on my imaginary IT figure.....and what a powerful imaginary figure IT is - ha, but the reality is that IT is all in my own brain!!! Mind over matter....we have talked about this before....like when my brain had to tell my feet to keep moving....it was totally up to my brain, not my feet, but I had to realize that too. Just like I have to realize IT now....IT is in my own mind, and up to me to keep IT going!!!

So just for today and for this weekend, I am going to have a long talk with my old friend, IT. What have I got to lose, besides hopefully a few more pounds!!!

Hope you have IT under control!!! Enjoy your weekend!

Let's Get Chemicaled.....(sung to the tune of "Let's get physical")...

"What does she have in her mouth"....watch it, she will choke on that......boil that plug, it just fell on the floor....don't let her play with that, she will put it in her mouth and swallow it"..... and on and on, go the sayings of watchful parents over their babies and toddlers....as part of parental caretaking 101, the primary task is to ensure that only "good & approved" things can go into their little children's mouths....

Then, we grow up....and that means, we have our own "mouth patrol and control"...that is, if we like it, if we want it, we eat it! We certainly know what is GOOD for us, don't we?!? Just in case we don't, we can read the fine print on the outside of the package.....because that is the truth, right??!?! Well, i'm afraid to tell you...............well, let's just start from scratch.....

The truth is...there are chemicals, toxins, carcinogens, volatile organic compounds (vocs), everywhere....let's just step back for a minute and go through our day and see what we put in our mouths and on our bodies that we THINK is GOOD for us?!?!

Let's back up a bit and start with a good nights rest - right?! Well....not so much.....

11pm - Time for bed - climb into that nice mattress full of polyurethane foam and particleboard containing formaldehyde (YEP YOU READ THAT RIGHT, YOU AREN"T DEAD YET, BUT ARE ALREADY GETTING SOME EMBALMING FLUID TO GET YOU READY!).....and if you have the bonus of "fire retardant" in your mattress, then you get some bonus chemicals such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) which accumulate in humans and may promote things such as breast cancer in woman and interfere with brain development in children. Some states have banned certain forms of PBDEs.....

Cold??? Next, cover yourself up with some nice sheets and if they aren't "organic", they are likely sprayed with 1.25 pounds of pesticides - YIKES! INTERESTING UNBELIEVABLE TIDBIT HERE - conventionally grown cotton uses 25 percent of the world's insecticides and 10 percent of all pesticides, which of course are carcinogens (i.e. cancer causing!) - PLUS BONUS, regular cotton sheets are also usually treated with formaldehyde (YEP MORE EMBALMING FLUID! So that is why they don't wrinkle~?~) which is also a carcinogen and can cause throat irritation and headaches among other things! So SWEET DREAMS...............go to sleep!!!

7A - Alarm clock rings - jump up and head to the shower......How about cutting your shower a little short...did you know that the average faucet runs through 3 gallons of water PER MINUTE!
So if you leave the water running, just while you are brushing your teeth for 2 minutes, 2 x day, that is 12 gallons a day, 4380 gallons per year. Beyond the whole "conserving water" piece, just think about all that water that literally had to be "treated" to just go back down the drain and the energy that took! 4380 gallons of water equates to 25 pounds of CO2 into the environment and that is just YOU brushing your TEETH! Turn off the water while you brush!!! You can only imagine how many gallons are going down the drain during our leisurely showers!!! How about shaving your legs before you shower, or turning off the shower, while you soap up!? I didn't say this was going to be easy....or fun.....

So on to your shower.....
get your shower gel or soap, shampoo, conditioner and lather up....oops wait a minute - more chemicals.....
Most body care products are produced in a lab and have harmful chemicals including 1) Phthalates (found in deodorants, baby wipes :(, baby powders :(, liquid soad, sunscreen, lotions, referenced only in the ingredient list as "other" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Scientists have shown they are probably carcinogens as well as "endocrine disruptors" which means"gender bender chemicals that make girls develop earlier and reduce testosterone levels in boys!!! Because of commercial "trade secrets", there is no need to list "phthalates" on the labels :( VERY SAD INDEED;
2) Next look for "parabens" which are chemicals found in most soaps and shampoos made commercially; whether they are shown as "methyl, prophy or butyl" they are endocrine disruptors;
3) Lastly, look for DEA, which is a wetting, thickening and foaming agent used in shampoos (including baby wash :(, liquid hand soaps, shaving products, deodorants....this group of chemicals interfered with normal brain development in baby mice when applied to the skin of pregnant mice based on a study at the UNC at Chapel hill - OMG!!!!!! Plus, bonus, DEA can react with other ingredients in a formula, whether on the store shelf or in your cabinet, to form extremely potent carcinogen called NITROSODIETHANOLAMINE (NDEA) which is readily absorbed through the skin and linked with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancers!!!

Basically, try to avoid buying products with ingredients that end in the letters "eth", "oleth", "laureth", "ceteareth", PEG, "polyethylene" and "polyethylene glycol" or "polyoxyethylene" or "oxynol".......Even some of the "natural" and "organic" products have this stuff in them....Best idea is to use trusted info from organizations such as the Environment Working Group (EWG) online database of personal care items (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/)...

Fragrance?? Buy things with the fewest ingredients listed, that are fragrance free or even make some of your own!!! Even toothpaste isn't free from these things!!!!

8a - Time to put on your makeup - yikes - what is in all this stuff we are putting right near our eyes and on our face!?!?! And what about your nails - do they need some polish!???
Avoid these 5 ingredients in makeup:
-formaldehyde
-parabens
-phthalates
-petroleum (adds moisture to skim, listed as "mineral oil" p"paraffin" or "propylene glycol" - besides petroleum being a "nonrenewable resource" i.e. limited quantity, this ingredient adds to "clogged pores" - just what we want - petroleum loaded up in our pores!

Buy things "unscented" when possible, as the word "fragrance", innocent as it appears, indicates there may be formaldehye, phthalates or parabens present! Man, lots of sneakiness going on!!!
-toluene

Lipsticks are the worst :( - and that is bad because over your lifetime you eat pounds of lipstick! Estimated 4 to 9 pounds per person! They are often petroleum based and contain formaldehyde in the form of preservatives....but there are good ones out there.....i.e. lavera.com (haven't tried it yet, but plan on it!) and also Burtsbees!

Eye makeup - watch out for the lead (usually listed as lead acetate) because it is a "neurotoxin"..

I actually read (and someone from Holland on my recent trip to Curacao confirmed this!) that some makeup/perfume companies actually put certain things in their products for AMERICA that are actually BANNED in Europe!!! So they make up 1 "batch" for America and the other "batch" for Europe! That was shocking and made me sick!

Next up - time to get dressed! Opt for "organic cotton" when possible! Why? As mentioned above, conventional cotton crops use the most pesticide-intensive farming process in the world! Consider this - 3 percent of the world's farmland is used to grow cotton but 24 percent of all the insecticides IN THE WORLD as well as 11 percent of all the pesticides are required (which then permeate the air, damage the soil and seep into our water supply - YUCK!!!!!!!)
This translates to every POUND of cotton (which is about what it takes to make 1 shirt) is sprayed with 1/3 of a POUND OF PESTICIDES!!!! Smell your shirt now!? And if you have gone to the cleaners, they have added even more chemicals to your shirt! Really amazing that the cotton doesn't just disintegrate, isn't it!?!? And that material is right next to your skin - makes your skin crawl a bit doesn't it!?!?

So each cute little cotton tee, has about 1/3 of a cup of chemicals, including cancer causing agents! If you would have just bought organic cotton, there are no pesticides or chemicals used!
Wool isn't much better! Linen actually is made from the flax plant and doesn't get near the chemicals as cotton. And workout gear?! Well, most workout gear is made from nylon and polyester which are manufactured from petrochemicals, the creation of which releases nitrous oxide into the environment :(....Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 310 (YES 310!!!) times stronger and worse than carbon dioxide!!!

Good news - you can actually find lots of workout apparel made from ecofriendly fabrics, such as bamboo - believe it or not!!! Check out bepresent.com or patagonia.com..

Once dressed, time for a nice cup of coffee (never actually touch the stuff, never have, but most of my friends and husband do!!! So here's the dirt on coffee.........

Sorry to add 1 more thing to stir the pot, but coffee is 1 of the most chemically treated food crops ON THE PLANET!!! It is sprayed with 1) pesticides 2)grown with chemical fertilizers, 3) herbicides 4) fungicides......all those "cides" can't be good! Most coffee is imported from countries that use chemicals that are BANNED IN THE US! Yikes, bottoms up peeps!

And then there is the whole thing about coffee used to be grown in the shade of tropical forests, which provided habitat for over 150 species of birds and wildlife....but now we want faster, cheaper, so forests are cleared and coffee grown in full sun...no problem, right? WRONG!! What's the problem? Negative impact on the environment, and wildlife, when the birds are removed, more pests come in which equals, you guessed it, more chemicals!!!

So what to do?! Look for "shade grown" coffee - it's on the package! They use significantly fewer chemicals.....better yet, choose organic! BTW, Starbucks buys "certified fair trade coffee"!

Okay, enough for 1 day.....but just pointing out that while our bodies are STRONG, come on, we need to give them a break from SOME of these chemicals........I'm not suggesting you throw out everything in your medicine and food pantry! That isn't green either - use up what you have! However, every little change you make, makes an impact!!!

And speaking of "green"....not only are plants pretty, they also help ELIMINATE TOXINS in your home, such as formaldehyde, toluene, xylene and others.....for example
1. gerber daises - reduce formaldehye levels
2. chrysanthemums - reduce benzene and trichloroethylene levels
3. orchids - reduce xylene and toluene levels
4. english ivy - reduces benzene levels
5. bamboo reduces formaldehyde levels

So just for today.....what's 1 little thing you can do to start making this world a bit greener and YOU a bit less CHEMICALLY INDUCED!?!? GO FOR THE GREEN!

This little piggy went to the market......

Okay, how many times do you suppose you have read that nursery rhyme??? As a child, my sweet mom read it to me, as well as some of my siblings I'm sure...why not? I was the baby of the family so everyone likes to remind me that I was spoiled rotten.....
Then as a mom, I read it to my 2 sweet darlings....and now I have 2 precious granddaughters that I can read it to (okay, maybe via skype some of the time, but I guarantee you, I will be reading it to them!)

But I must say, I never really realized how SMART that piggy was? Why - you ask? Well, I have been going to the market (Ferguson Farmer's Market on Florissant road - AWESOME) on Saturday mornings every possible week I can and I am LOVING IT!

Why, you ask?! Well, besides the fact that it is just plain FUN, you can even pull your red wagon (there on loan for your shopping and to get your purchases out to your car!) and wheel it around to all the vendors and load up on all kinds of FRESH, UNSPRAYED food as well as cute little booths with jewelry and all kinds of stuff...Plus they always have some kind of fun entertainment going on...the 1st week we went they were shearing sheep! Yes, you read that right, that was pretty neat to see! Usually there are some fun musicians playing while you shop and you can even pull up a picnic bench and order an hot, fresh omlette! (Doug usually does this while I wheel around the wagon!) It is just a real "event" and one you shouldn't miss!

So you know I told you I have been reading up on some "green books"...and although I already knew "pesticides" were not good, the more I read, the more I realize that "not good" is seriously not strong enough! Why, you ask? Well, I'm glad to share.....

An interesting comment in 1 of the books talks about someone babysitting at the writer's house and telling her family how all of the food in the house is organic and "so weird"....well I can remember when the term "organic" kind of made me tilt my head and scrunch up my eyes and nose and wonder - hmmmmmmmmmmmm - what is that all about!? That has been many years ago, but now just wish I would have paid more attention a long time ago.....

Is it more expensive? Yes, sometimes it is, but if you go to the farmer's market, it is quite reasonable and that runs from May-Oct! Just remember to ASK and even if it doesn't say "organic" still ask if or what they "spray"...many small farms can't afford "organic certification" but they do not use the chemical pesticides on their crops.....and I have found that some of my "local farms" DO spray with pesticides - VERY DISAPPOINTING!

I think Chapter 1 in Supernatural Home summed it up perfectly....."imagine picking a fruit or vegetable from your garden, spraying it with bug spray , and then eating it! That's exactly what we do each day with store-bought non-organic produce even if we wash it."YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That should make all of us a bit queasy!

"Organic" means grown without pesticides, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, fungicides or herbicides! OMG, you mean ALL that stuff can be on my "non organic" fruit and vegetables! That answer, I'm afraid is a big fat YES! Organic foods are minimally processed with no artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Unfortunately for us, chemicals in pesticides are ODORLESS, TASTELESS and INVISIBLE so the only way you know a food is grown without pesticides is to buy organic.... Sorry, but it gets a little worse...

For example, those red delicious NON ORGANIC strawberries (yes, I have bought them many times also.....) look and taste delicious BUT
-the red color is enhanced by a "fungicide" whatever the HECK that is!
-they are "infused" with methyl bromide, a gas injected by the tractor into the soil (OMG, that just sounds ILLEGAL!)
And that my friends, (fungicides and methyl bromide) do not wash off! How many times have you bought those strawberries, brought them home and ran them under the water before you started cutting and eating them!!! Me too :(

Then we have the fruits/veggies that FLY in from other countries (so besides the fact that in some countries ANYTHING goes in terms of pesticides), we have now wasted all that energy getting the dang fruits/veggies here! And the pesticides got a free ride into the USA too!

And PESTICIDES - REALLY!?! When I think about this, I'm embarrassed to think that it has taken me so long on this.....seriously, I'm OKAY with someone spraying CRAP on my food, this CRAP they are spraying is KILLING bugs, but I'm okay with that!? OMG, when you think about that it is quite unsettling....

When I had breast cancer in 1999/2000, I went to the LIvingston Clinic in San Diego to beef up my immune system between my surgery and before my radiation started (another scary decision I made!) There among other things, the diet was very clean and we were told to try to buy organic whenever possible, but if not possible, take all of your fruits and vegetables and put them in a sink full of water (now suggesting filtered water - if you don't have a BRITA pitcher, get one, it is better than nothing and affordable!) adding 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar (I buy Braggs organic - not expensive) - let the fruit/veggies sit for 5 minutes or so, then rinse with cold water. Obviously for some fruits (i.e. strawberries ) don't do this until you are ready to eat them. But for others, you can do it as soon as you get them home and just let them dry well before putting them in the fridge. You will be surprised how apples become "not so shiny" once they are in the vinegar water and rinsed off. But that is a good thing - as apples can have up to 50 (YES 50) kinds of pesticides sprayed on them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could go on and on....I know organic can be more expensive, so another good thing to consider is to buy local....save the energy of shipping our food all across the country! But eat organic and local when possible -

The books I have been reading list the 12 fruits and veggies that you should buy organic. The list is based on studies by the Consumers Union and Environmental Working Group who have done analysis on the amounts and level of toxicity of the pesticide residues found in conventionally grown food samples by the USDA and the FDA....The reality is that in a "single dose", the "safety limits" (I.e. how much pesticide can you eat BEFORE your belly hurts?!?!?! or who knows what else happens!!) weren't "exceeded" however, most contain MULTIPLE PESTICIDE RESIDUES!!! i.e. 30 different pesticides on strawberries, 50 on apples...need I go on?

So the 12 fruits/veggies to definitely buy organic are:
-peaches
-grapes
-sweet bell peppers
-apples
-strawberries
-potatoes
-pears
-raspberries
-tomatoes
-green beans
-spinach
-cantalope

Wow, do you know HOW many many spinach salads with strawberries and raspberries I eat!!! YIKES! And we think we are eating so healthy and we are if we are CLEANING it well or buying organic. Trader Joes is another great place to buy things like organic spinach - very affordable there.

I'm sure you want to know the 10 "nonorganic" fruits/veggies with the fewest traces of pesticides too:
-onions
-frozen peas
-frozen corn
-asparagus
-cabbage
-avocados
-mangoes
-kiwis
-bananas
-pineapples

Another suggestion for cleaning the "conventional" fruit/veggies is something called "veggie wash" but it can be a bit pricey. And don't forget - you still need to wash the organic stuff too!

For those "eye rollers" out there, a few more interesting "organic facts to leave you with....

-If the entire planet did "organic farming", it would equate to taking 1.5 BILLION cars off the road!
-You can increase your antioxidant intake by 30 PERCENT by choosing organic - WOW!!!!!!!!
(Remember the antioxidants power off the "free radicals" that try to mess with your cells and when cells are compromised, things like cancer, disease, set in....Ok, I'm not a scientist, or biologist or doctor, but that is "my version"...you can get a medical book for the fancy version!)
and drumroll....LAST interesting fact...THIS ONE REALLY BOTHERS ME AND I HOPE IT BOTHERS YOU TOO!
-The average child in America is exposed to 5 pesticides DAILY in food and drinking water!!!
FEED YOUR BABIES REAL FOOD, not all this FAKE stuff in boxes and in dairy/frozen cases that are giving us "false hope" on what it really is!!! Read the ingredients...if it has more than 5 and if you can't pronounce them, do you REALLY want your children eating them! i.e. Goldfish are cute, but come on, what exactly are we expecting out of them!?

Lastly, I'm not suggesting that you forego all the good CRAP that we are all addicted to and have come to know and love, what I am suggesting is that you LOOK at what you are eating, make a conscious effort to eat some REAL food and CLEAN it somehow before you eat it! We can't or shouldn't change everything at once, but we can make those little changes along the way that will help not only our health, but also the health of our poor little planet! So come on peeps, head to the Market and have fun!

Until next time, what are your plans for your next meal!?!?

Kermit says, "It's not easy being green".....do you agree?

Ok, folks - in my last blog, I mentioned I was back and excited to share some things with you.....well it all started a LONG time ago, when I first learned about recycling and quickly realized this was something I believed in and was in for the long haul "for my grandkids" is what I believe I thought at the time, since I felt like surely we had plenty of what we needed for "now".... but like everyone else, sometimes I got a little lazy.....then the "bottled water" craze hit (SERIOUSLY - WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THAT!?) and while we all thought we needed our own "plastic bottle full of water", little did we realize that we are just polluting this world even more...and fast forward a bit, here I am....

My oldest daughter Emily was visiting from Abu Dhabi this summer and happened to pick up a book called "SUPERNATURAL HOME" at the library....well it happened to be 1 of those books that you are so in awe of, that you READ ALOUD TO EVERYONE IN THE ROOM whether they want to hear or not....while some were not so excited by the time she read the 15th excerpt out of the book, I was FASCINATED! So excited that when she left, I rechecked the book out of the library along with 2 others....Turns out the author of SUPERNATURAL HOME had quite an amazing health revelation and actually spent some time at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego - a place that my sister just happens to treat herself to for her birthday every year to unwind, recharge and just get healthier; anyway, the author of this book had amazing results at this health clinic......as she said "I discovered that the body is a self- healing organism if we just get out of its way and don't gunk it up with bad food and stress"...boy, she has that right!

So what is green about that?! Well it isn't just what you put in your PIE HOLE that you have to worry about! Global warming, remember that catch phrase, well it is real and all around us, and everything we do impacts it.....these are all the little things I can't wait to share. I don't think I realize the impact that I, singly, have on this big planet of ours, or that I, singly, can really make a difference in so many daily decisions that I make, the way I think, eat, breathe, drive, buy, etc.

Kermit the frog, sings, "it's not easy being green". He wasn't talking about our environment, but I am. There are a million ways you can be "green". And even if you aren't ready to go all the way, you can at least start to make a BIG difference today.....how?? That is what I can't wait to tell you, but of course I can't tell you everyone in 1 blog, I'll have to space them out a bit...but just to wet your appetite - just think about a few of these things for starters...

Let's just start with bottled water....
-8 out of 10 plastic water bottles used in the US end up in the dump! We consume so many bottles of water that we use about 1.5 tons of plastic in AMERICA;
-Studies show that even though we started drinking this water because we thought it was better, safer, etc, often the tests on bottled water show significant chemical or bacterial contamination! WHAT AND I"M PAYING FOR THAT?!?!?!
-Or that it isn't any different than your TAP water! If the bottle says "form a municipal source" or "from a community water system" it is coming from the tap!
-The bottle of water sitting on a shelf in the store is likely to now contain a chemical called antimony, a potential carcinogen that leaches from the plastic! PLASTIC is a whole other subject and scary one at that....don't worry, I'll cover that later....
-BPA (bisphenol-A) is often found in plastic and is a chemical that acts like estrogen when it enters the body and can get into the body by leaching out of hard plastic bottles as they age, or are heated (in microwaves or diswashers) - what about those long truck rides those cases of bottled water makes or how long they sit in the hot warehouses!? And estrogen?!?! HELLOOOOOOOOO - I had "estrogen receptor positive cancer" - don't need anything that looks or acts like estrogen, but believe me, there are many things we use everyday that come into our body that act like estrogen...more on that later too!
-Research from our MIZZOU professor, Frederick vom Saal, who taught Biology there, and happens to be a leading BPA research scientist, said that in lab studies with animals, BPA changed their behavior, decreased sperm count, stimulated prostate cancer and caused symptoms of attention defict hyperactivity disorder! YIKES! No bottled water for me please!
And I haven't even covered the greenhouse gas effect of all the fossil fuel to get this bottled water to the stores all over the country!
OKAY, HAVE YOU PUT THE DANG WATER BOTTLE DOWN YET?! Come on, how about this - instead of buying your next case of bottled water, go out and get a stainless steel water bottle that you can not only use over and over, it will keep your drink HOT or COLD and you can avoid all the nastiness outlined above! And Kermit will be sooooooooo happy that you are green!
-Remember this whole blog is about taking care of ourselves AND our planet and that all starts with little old GREEN YOU!
-Don't worry - i have lots more to share.....just be happy you aren't here with me, listening to me as I read these things outloud and just shake my head....
Until tomorrow, fill up your water bottle and just say NO to those plastic bottles!

I'm back! Did anyone miss me?!

Ok, so I have been a bit "in and out" the last few months....but I am BACK! Why?! For a few reasons...
-I miss blogging - I never ever realized how much I love doing this! This blogging is therapy not to mention loads of fun!
-I have so much that I want to share, I have been learning so much lately about so many things...(have I peaked your interest yet???) ....but the reality is when I'm blogging, no one really has to listen to me or read it...heck I'll never know, unless you mention you read it! So, I get to say it and I don't have to worry about whether or not anyone is really out there! (But seriously, I hope someone is reading this....at least a little bit :))
-We have goals to get to....come on, we are not QUITE where we want to be, are we?! Whatever your goals and my goals are, we need to keep pushing towards them - that takes a lot of time, energy and SUPPORT! Helllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooo....just consider this the 1-800- support line...

So what's new with me?

The good news is that I'm holding my own....I did notice I have picked up about 3 pounds from my goal weight, so I'm getting those back off, before all of their "friends and neighbors" try to hop back on as well...........been there, done that, DON'T WANT THEM BACK! So I have been refocusing on workouts and diet,.....never really lost my focus, just lost a bit of the TIME I had devoted previously. Working out 5 or 6 days a week is just about impossible, from a time standpoint, but trying to make the most out of the workout time I do carve out....

I think that I need to get back to my "trotting" a/k/a jogging.....I have been away from it for a bit - mostly due to excessive heat as I don't find the treadmill particularly appealing and have been caught up in all the fun classes (Body Pump - LOVE IT, Drills that make you sweat - LOVE IT thanks to my coworker Melinda, who kicks my butt every week at that class!) and those are just a few of the great classes at Club Fitness! But I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow and if the heat isn't totally oppressive as it is right now, I'm going to try a little trotting and get back into it...I think the running, jogging or whatever you want to call it, really helped me kickstart my metabolism more than anything else has done in the last 15 years! Believe me, I haven't ever felt the "runner's high" that I read about or heard about...ha, I'm far from that! But I will tell you that when you are done, and you are sweating, you feel good!

I reached out to my fellow LOSE A TON (LAT) ladies last week in hopes of getting us all back together......some are right on track and others are struggling.....so really want to see if we can get together periodically and work out.......it really is about SUPPORT and MIND SET.....you really need both, SUPPORT for those tough days and MIND SET to get yourself started....

So, I'm BACK.......My MIND SET is ready to go......I have my SUPPORT system fired up....
What about YOU!? Are you where you want to be? Do you need a little kick start? Are you ready to get back INTO IT!? After all, the holidays are coming up next - do we really want to go INTO the holidays with the extra weight or should we do something NOW to get rid of it and be ready for that tempting time of year, with a healthier, happier mind set and body!!?!?!

Hope you are BACK too!!! I've some some amazing things to share......

Until next time, find your MIND SET and get ready to roll...

Day 193 - My how time flies..........

I am so caught up between my crazy job with a huge GO LIVE going on, and finding time to spend with my kids visiting from the MIddle East, that I find myself coming and going...... For so long this blog was just part of a routine, just like the gym and my healthy diet.....but lately...well, not so routine...

Good news and there is ALWAYS good news, just have to dig a bit deeper at times, is that my weight has not returned! HOWEVER, my diet has not been the same lately nor has my workout routine.

Tonight, while still at work at 7pm, my friend Jennifer called me for some "inspiration" to get ready for a "highschool reunion" occurring later this fall. My first thought was, WOW, she thinks I can INSPIRE her, now that is INSPIRING TO ME! And it made me think about the impact we have on each other's thoughts and lives......Sometimes what won't work for me at the moment is working just perfectly for someone else....like when you are in that "workout/weight loss mode" or that "clean out/declutter" mode or that "get all my to do's done", you know what I'm talking about?! How on earth can 1 minute find you so totally motivated and the next sitting like a slug?

I still say it is mind over matter. YOU make the decision and although the first so many steps may be like dragging a 50 pound bag of dog poop over your shoulder up a big hill, once you get halfway up, you can't believe you have made it this far with this smelly bag and by the time you get to the top of the hill, not only are you thrilled for your accomplishment, you don't even smell the dog poop anymore!??! Seriously, what the heck am I saying here!? I can tell that I am suffering from too many hours at work with not enough rest, but whatever, I'm on a roll here, so will keep typing this nonsense...

If we could just REMEMBER and more importantly BELIEVE that the capability lies totally within our 2 little hands (and feet and body and brain) - that's it!! In a nutshell!! The power is totally within YOU! And YOU can make it happen starting right NOW! All you have to do is START! And if day 1 isn't perfect, then make some improvements on Day 2, followed by more determination for Day 3 and so on...pretty soon SOME of it will seem so simple to you and you will start seeing the results....at that point, the results will drive bigger and better results to continue.....just like a snowball that starts small and as it rolls downhill, it gets bigger and bigger with more momentum (except of course in this case, we are striving for smaller and smaller with more momentum :)!)

So Jennifer, thanks for YOUR inspiration in reminding me it is time to start training for my 10K! I made the 5K and thought the 1/2 Marathon was a bit too big of a step next....so I plan to start training for a 10K......Not sure WHEN it will happen, but I plan to start looking around to see when the next one is available and engage my coach, Kelly to guide through some training.....
During that training, I will have the opportunity to kickstart my healthy eating again and get back to some gym time....AFTER of course my babies leave St. Louis.

Until then, I plan on exercising WITH them by walking with them, running after them and rocking them!

And Jennifer, in case you are reading this, I was serious about what really worked for me...I think that interval training/running was really responsible for the metabolism change that has occurred! After years of a sluggish metabolism, something has changed and I'm sure it is related to my diet/workout routine over the last 7 months. wow, what a gift that has been!

So, just for today, dig out a routine and get started.....whether it is just adding 6-8 glasses of water to your daily diet, or walking up the steps at work or parking at the furthest spot on the lot when you go shopping or park at work...whatever the case, make some change in your routine starting today! Make it a change that will INSPIRE you to make those healthy life changes you have been talking and dreaming about for far too long! It will be the best routine you ever started!

I have missed my blog - feels good already to be back to my "routine" -

Day 160 - Where in the heck did the last 20 days go....

Wow, I have really missed blogging the last almost 3 weeks....Not sure if anyone is even still reading this or not, but it sure is good therapy for me.

I have been smothered in work for the last month and will continue through the end of June.
I have been back and forth to NY a few times and leave again tomorrow until late Friday night.
NY sounds fun and I'm sure it is, if you aren't working 15 hours a day! But hopefully this week will be a bit lighter than the last one there....and I truly am grateful for the job, even if it is killing me right now - ha!

So how am I doing?
Well, handling the stress okay.
Still working out....eating is going pretty well, except for the last week so need to get back on track with that
Weight is the same - that is the best part! My metabolism seems to have stepped up with the weight loss and apparently some muscle gain - ALLELUIA! What was DEAD is coming ALIVE :)!

I have been trying to get together with my "LOSE A TON" challenge friends, but seems we are all pretty busy....some of the girls have babies, others have new jobs, vacations, etc...but I did get to catch up with Diane, the LOSE A TON winner today. She and I hit it off from the very beginning of the contest. We were the "senior" players and from the start, we wanted to represent the "seniors" well :)! And she did, she WON the whole dang thing! However, shortly after the end of the contest, she hurt her back so bad, she couldn't do anything for several weeks.....she was on steroids and gained some weight back but is already getting it off again!

We talked today about how we want this time to be "different" from the other times....And we both think it is....How so?

Well, for 1 thing, we are WATCHING it....that is, checking in on the old scale and if the number goes up, we take some action....
We are supporting each other.....this isn't easy and we know we will have some weight gain here and there and falling off the wagon....so when 1 is down, the other can pick you up!
When we were in the contest, we were strict with our diet and working out daily.....
Now, we are no longer working out daily and our diet is not so strict.....
Today we talked about the need to find the balance between BEFORE and AFTER.....

So we talked about setting up some definite times to meet up and work out together as a group - keep the momentum going as a LOSE A TON team....You see, we not only lost weight together, we bonded :)......

So for this week, I will eat better, work out more and try to enjoy NY while I'm working up there! And then hurry home for next weekend - my siblings will be in town for my brother in law's 60th birthday extravaganza party followed by the arrival of my kids and grandbabies from Abu Dhabi! But tomorrow, I get to watch my daughter Kelly, who already graduated with her Masters in OT, now graduate as a soon to be licensed Massage Therapist! Today I watched her as a "wedding singer" at my church....boy, that girl does it all!!! So proud of her!

So just for today, do something to make you proud of YOU! What's it going to be?! Wedding singing, mountain climbing, bungee jumping or just some healthy living!? You make the call and you hold yourself to it!

Until next time, hang in there! The effort is worth the results!

Day 130 - 38.18

Ok, so that number doesn't represent a Bible verse or a chapter in any book I'm reading...hmmmm....just what is that number and what does it mean?

To me, it means BUCKET LIST, as in.....I ticked off 1 of my items :)

No, it doesn't represent that I ate 38.18 ding dongs, or walked 38.18 miles (YIKES! Not adding that to my bucket list!) Okay, enough with the games.....it represents.....(sorry, I may need a drumroll here, as this is pretty exciting to me....)

MY 5K TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Hannah Isabel says, I DEED IT! or I DID IT!!!

I spent the last week in NY working....whew and it was a lot of working, that is for sure!
But I kept up the running, trying to push a bit harder each day as I knew this weekend I was signed up for not 1, but 2 (AM I CRAZY???? YES!!!!) 5K's!

So on Friday, my friend, Brenda and I ran along the Hudson River up through Battery Park...although we weren't sure, I thought it seemed pretty close to 3 miles.......or at least hoped so to prepare for this weekend....

On Saturday, Kelly, Jenny (one of my "non biological" daughters :)) and I (along with my sister, and nieces, Allison and Molly) ran in the Ferguson "LIVE WELL" 5K.....

Kelly and Jenny were kind enough to pace their running with mine....and together we crossed the finish line at, you guessed it: 38 minutes, 18 seconds... running the whole time! WOW, what an accomplishment from someone that couldn't run up my hill most of my life! The weather was cool and didn't rain after all, so it worked out great!

Then again this morning, Kelly and I headed to Forest Park for the GIRLS ON THE RUN 5k....Kelly is a coach for this great organization, which empowers young girls, among other things, with their health.....Unlike Ferguson, which had a nice size crowd of about 800 participants, there had to be a couple thousand here! Kelly, Carrie (another "non biological daughter" - I adore my daughter's friends!) and I ran together on this one....we tried to run with the girls at the school where Kelly is coaching but with the HUGE crowd, it was impossible, plus they were with their parents, etc....

This one had a few more hills than yesterday, especially the 1/8 mile hill at about the 2.5 mile marker but we plowed through and finished again without walking! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was breathless in St. Louis (get it, sleepless in Seattle!?) when I crossed the finish line!

As I sit here typing and counting up the miles I have run this week, I am shocked and thrilled....no, I don't want to be a marathon runner or even run every day....but I do want to continue to work hard to stay in shape and run along the way! This journey is truly a testimony to what you can do if you put your mind (and your feet!) to it! Believe me, it wasn't EASY to get started but worth every ache and pain (I'll remind myself of that when I can't move in the morning....)

This getting healthy journey is awesome.....I have never felt so good in my entire life....but my true message is....to those reading this that have been in this place for a long time AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, kudos to you.....wish you would have hit me over the head a long time ago.....but I know now that no matter what you did or said, it had to be ME MAKING THE DECISION TO GET IT DONE....

For those still "on the couch" or "on the fence" still choosing ding dongs (and I understand, because I like them too :)) over workouts.....WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! Ding dongs will never be completely off the market for you.....but the opportunity to get in shape before life hits you with another challenge because of your weight and inactive lifestyle may slip away....don't let that happen....

So just for today, make a decision FOR you instead of AGAINST you......Just change 1 thing this week towards a healthier lifestyle...but the trick is, once you change it, you can't go back! So if your decision is to start drinking more water, don't do it 1 day and then stop......Ok, clock is ticking, what's it going to be?!

On another note, I said I would weigh in every couple of weeks and I did......I was a bit afraid as when I was in NY, I wasn't quite as clean as last visit.....but I did workout every day except 1 and also made sure I did get in some healthy eating.....so the scale was kind and actually went down a bit :)

158.2 pounds.....
Now, just figuring out how to keep it there....
Have a wonderful week!

Day 122 - Keep on moving......

Well, I did it! Today I only had a little bit of time to fit in some "running" (or trotting as I call it)....Kelly and Charlotte said they would come along....I took off first as Kelly was getting ready and said she would meet me at the top of the hill (on our street) with Charlotte....

I took off, walking past the first 3 houses, just to get my heart pumping and then started the "trot"....and went to 7 Pines Drive and back WITHOUT STOPPING! YAHOO! My first "non stop" 2 mile run :)....

2 miles may be "peanuts" to most people, but I'm telling you, before this whole LOSE A TON thing, I barely could walk the dang 2 miles.....now I can TROT them - haha!

This just reminds me what I have "relearned" through this whole experience. YOU can do what YOU put your mind to....Kelly and I were talking about that earlier today...what a difference from a year ago, where I am right now with my physical strength and endurance... I have a long way to go, but have come a long way!

I'm just continually amazed at where the strength REALLY comes from.....that little thing sitting on top of your shoulders.....as I mentioned in our last airing on SHOW ME ST. LOUIS......If you can get your mind to do it, your feet will follow!!!

Had a great evening with some old friends.....It's so surreal when I see people I haven't seen for a while and they are so surprised to see the weight I have lost.....I'm kind of used to this weight now and actually, although I'm proud of what I have accomplished, still see that I have work left to do! But for those that have been used to seeing me padded with another 30 plus pounds on for many years, they are now calling me "skinny".....

SKINNY!?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? I haven't heard that word associated with me for 100 years! Unless someone asked me if I wanted a "skinny cow" ice cream treat or something like that!? Although I am FAR from skinny, I must admit when someone uses that word, it does bring a smile to my face, almost a laugh, as SKINNY and MAUREEN have never been much of a pair.....

So tomorrow is Mother's Day - I'm so thankful that I'm a Mother to 2 such amazing young, beautiful women! And GRANDmother to 2 such amazing, young beautiful babies!!! How blessed can 1 person get! Although they are now in Heaven, I also had 2 amazing beautiful women to look up to - 1 was my mom, Marie - and the other was my mother in law- Mary.....2 ladies that I adored and respected and couldn't have asked for better role models!!!

I head to NY tomorrow for 6 days for work....It will be a very busy hectic schedule for sure...but I will enjoy the adventure.....

Just for now, enjoy your adventure, whatever it may be this week! But most of all, CHERISH your mom if you are BLESSED enough to still have her physically in your life....for those of us whose mothers have passed on, CHERISH the beautiful memories of your MOM....Happy Mother's day and God bless and keep all mothers wise and strong and full of the love they so freely give away!!!

Day 116 - 159 pounds!

What next?!!?!?!?!?!

Friday's final airing was wonderful......Diane, 57 years young, WON it all! Thanks for winning it for the "seniors in the contest", Diane!!! Kathleen came in 2nd and Taira in 3rd....all amazing, wonderful women and now friends! I'm so happy for them and for all of us, as we gave it our all and are now in a new healthier place!

Out of the "at home contestants", I came in 3rd, behind Becky and Cassie...man, I was only 1 percentage away from 2nd place....I'll attribute that to my dang broken foot, but still quite happy and proud of my 30 pound weight loss! But it's not over?!?!!? Many of us said that on Friday...

So what next!? How do we keep it going.....

After the show, a few of us went to have a celebration drink (and 1 person had a celebration dessert - not me, believe it or not - ha!) with JC, the cute, sweet head trainer throughout this competition.
It was great sitting around, celebrating our hard work and laughing and sharing....but the 1 theme that continued to come out, was THIS IS NOT OVER! All 5 of the contestants there all said the same thing, we have more weight to lose and we are not stopping!

I have thought a lot about this and wondered how can I make THIS TIME different from other times when I have lost weight and eventually gained it back....

Well, 1 painful way, that I have decided is that I will continue this BLOG, and post my weight every 2 weeks, just like the other weigh ins...that will help keep me in check....so if it goes down, YAY, and if it goes UP, then time to stop and figure it out........With all my friends doing the weight loss thing, I figured, I can get gets of advice when it goes up....you know, I'm not just writing this blog to GIVE advice, but rather to SHARE what works and what doesn't....to SHARE the ups and the downs.....

It was a very busy 1st week back from vacation....I was off Monday, but cancelled my vacation day on Tuesday and after about three 12hour work days, Friday finally came....My dear friend found out her boyfriend is in stage 4 cancer, so prayers for George please.....so instead of gym time this week, I found myself working late and then heading out to dinner with my friend while she was in town...I wouldn't have had it any other way, she is so dear and definitely didn't want her to go back to the hotel and be alone.....Friday was the show and celebration so by Saturday, I knew I needed to HIT IT HARD! But instead on Saturday, I headed back into the office and spent the entire day there...by 615p, I left the office and went to the grocery store and came home....thinking oh oh, this isn't the way to keep the weight off!

So this morning, I got up and got moving.....first Buster, my 10 year old overweight pup, and I took just a short trip down the street and back...that's as far as he can go....Next up was Charlotte, my "granddog" that would run until the "cows come home" whatever that means....you get where I'm going....

So I told Charlotte, okay, girl, make me sweat on this one....so off we went up the hill, a few houses and we started the run.....about half way into my usual 2 mile walk, I decided to mix it up a bit and push myself harder, especially knowing I hadn't done much this week, so I changed the course and off we went.....By the time we got home, we had done 4 miles.....and I figured out that I had run 2.9 of those 4 miles and walked the other 1.1 mile -WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that is what I'm talking about.......It feels GOOD!

Along the way today while walking, I met Becky, with her 2 sweet labs and for those that know me, it isn't hard to believe that we stopped and talked for probably 30 minutes.....all because we were letting our dogs say "hello" first - ha! Becky and I hit it off, and the conversation flowed from 1 subject to the next....she is an extremely smart, talented young woman, who, like so many others, is unemployed right now, but looking for work..in the meantime, she has gotten her 2 sweet labs certified for "touch therapy" at the Siteman Cancer Center....funny how 1 disappointment in life (getting laid off) can lead to 1 of the MOST REWARDING THINGS SHE HAS EVER DONE IN HER LIFE!

Made me think alot about this today....and I came to the conclusion....that life throws you a lot of curves, you all know what I'm talking about...those challenges that knock you down, scare you, take the wind out of your sail......what I truly understand now, is that it isn't the CHANGES in life that make you who you are, it is YOUR RESPONSE to those CHANGES in life that really shape your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just for today, think about that the next time that life throws you a big old curve ball........how will you RESPOND?! How will your life be forever CHANGED!?! It's all up to you on how you want to RESPOND and CHANGE your life.................Thanks for taking this journey with me....hope you can continue......would love to hear from you...what is working, what isn't and what we should do next!?!

Have a great Sunday.....I already have and it's only half over!!

Day 113 - How on earth did the "Finale" get here so quickly?!?!

Only 1 day left before the big finale....wow, seems impossible to believe that this day is here already....but there were times, you remember, when the sweat was dripping off my brow, as I barely kept my balance on the half ball (still can't remember the names of some of this equipment - ha!) or when the trainer would say "10 more" when I was seriously ready to lay down on the dirty gym floor due to lack of oxygen and energy....and now, NOW I"M NOT READY FOR THIS DAY TO BE HERE :(

Happy?! Yes, very much so.....I'm down 30 pounds from January 7th
Proud of myself?! Yes, very much so...as Hannah Isabel would say "I deed it!" although I still want to get another 7 pounds or so off....
Scared?! Yes, very much so.....as hard as it was to lose it, it is even harder to keep it off!!!!
Fat, fat go away, don't come again another day........................

It's so easy when you are IN THE ZONE, but what happens if I happen to drive OUT OF THE ZONE?! Then what? I talk to my friends at work and hear their struggles and recognize every one of them as struggles from my past, that I don't want as a struggle in my future....

So what is the answer?!
Keep on moving
Eat healthy, treat yourself here and there, but "live" in the zone with your diet
Keep the stress OUT of your life

It was about a year ago, when I started gaining my weight back that I had previously lost on Weight watchers...we had gone on a trip to Greece with the family and while I did great on the trip, I got back to my job and TONS OF STRESS at work....seriously, I don't know what happened next...but within a month or 2, I had gained 25 pounds back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sad part was that I wasn't really overeating....but I was experiencing lots of stress at work and lots of long hours and those 2 things added up to lots of desk sitting and weight gain!
I was so frustrated and miserable....and it seemed like no matter what I did, I couldn't get in "the zone".....then in December, along came the LOSE A TON opportunity....and the rest of the story, you know!

So this time, I'm going to put into practice what I learned.....you see when I did lose 30 pounds on Weight watchers before, that was great, BUT, I wasn't exercising the way I did this time....
Man, this time I WORKED for this weight loss....It still seemed to come off more slowly than I would have liked, but it did come off but with lots of sweat and exercise and healthy eating! I feel healthier than I have in years.....

So, tomorrow, during the LIVE finale on SHOW ME ST. LOUIS on Channel 5 @ 3pm, I'm going to think about that moment, how great I feel, how happy and healthy I am, and try to lock that memory in......Let's feel great about where we are and what we have accomplished! It was never easy, but boy was it worth it!

And to the 3 finalists, my good pals, Diane, Kathleen and Taira and all the rest of the LOSE A TON group- you girls are ROCK STARS!

We did it girls! We made it to the end! But the "end" is just really the beginning....the beginning of a new and healthier way to live and live longer!!

So just for today, remember the "end" is not the "end", but rather it represents a whole new beginning.....what is your new beginning!?

Day 110 - Diet tip #99....Share with Hannah :)...Just in time for the FINAL weigh in...ready or not!?

After spending 6 short, but glorious days with the kids and granddaughters in Abu Dhabi, I'm home......As with every adventure, I learned a few things on the trip...

1) Diet tip #99 - If you want to stay on your diet, just share with Hannah Isabel, my adorable 3 year old granddaughter....If it is anything good, she will keep the big "half" and give you the small half - ha! A child after my own heart and thank you Hannah for helping Grandma stay on her diet the whole trip!

2) Walking/running in Abu Dhabi is not only a great cardio workout, your sweat glands work in overdrive as well! I'm pretty certain that all of those toxins you sweat out of your body are lying on the sidewalk somewhere between Emily and Luis's beautiful villa and the corniche.....as that is the stretch I journeyed over each day in Abu Dhabi....I'm sure there were many "locals" wondering who was that strange American woman, running in that get up, with water bottle in tow, and sweating like crazy! Hope it did burn some of those calories!!!!

3) Time spent with your family is PRICELESS! No, this isn't a NEW revelation, just definitely worth repeating.....Hannah Isabel, at 3, is smart, funny and adorable....Eva Marie is so precious and just starting to try to coo....to cute for words! I love my children and grandchildren and thank the good Lord above for the tremendous blessing I received with Emily, Kelly, Luis, Hannah and Eva!!! (and Doug to :), but I was focusing on "kids" right now...)
and Buster and Charlotte too of course, those 4 legged kids are priceless as well! And they were as glad to see us as we were to see them!

4) 15 1/2 hour flights are hard on the body and that was just from Dubai to Atlanta! Man, coach class is not the best sleeping arrangement, no matter how you sit in the seat! But did manage to get in some cat naps and took a long stretch halfway through the flight..Also caught a few movies.....Best part was making it from "door to door" in only about 20 hours, instead of the usual 24 plus!

5) Spending 6 days in Abu Dhabi did not give us enough time to fully get on "their time", so hoping the switch back to "our" time will be fairly easy.....After a few cat naps on the plane last night, I have been up since arriving in Atlanta at 6am today....but I can feel bedtime coming very soon....

6) Camels and sand storms are ALIVE and WELL in UAE! I got a first hand look at both of them....still tasting the sand in my mouth....got some great camel pixs too!

Day 110 came much quicker than I thought it would...tomorrow is FINAL WEIGH IN~ I seriously have NO idea how much weight I have lost....I was doing well before I left but hoping to lose a few more pounds before our final weigh in....hoping some of that sweating in Abu Dhabi paid off...but will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it did or not....I know that I am very proud of my accomplishments on this journey....I'm not done yet, regardless of the "final weigh in" tomorrow....this is a journey, not a race.....so I will keep going to get to my goal weight and also to my "fitness" goal...Hoping to do a 5K in a few weeks....Plus I "pitched" the idea of a LOSE A TON reunion show the end of the year to the Producer...As hard as losing the weight is, it is even harder to keep it off....hoping a "reunion show" will keep us all in check and give us the opportunity to get to a good weight and maintain it for a while until we can really grab hold of our new body and new weight....

Until tomorrow, think about what your plan is to not only attain your goal, whatever it may be, but to MAINTAIN your goal as well......Off to bed....filming at 830a in the morning at the weigh in....will likely air something on SHOW ME ST. LOUIS on Wednesday....all I know for sure is the FINALE is LIVE on this Friday, April 30th on the 3pm, Channel 5, SHOW ME ST. LOUIS show...be there or be square :).....via DVR of course!

Day 102 - Changing MY world, 1 bowl and trot at a time...

Ok, so what the heck do I mean with that title?! I know, sometimes my titles are a bit strange to say the least, but I have to pull you in with something!? Although I'm not sure if anyone (other than my family who has to - ha!) is still reading this blog, after all, it is over 100 days now!!!

So, I learned something big this weekend......even though I was extremely disappointed that I'm NOT in Abu Dhabi yet, playing with Hannah and Eva (and Luis and Em too of course!), I did make the most of a few unexpected days off at home....

My dear friend Terry, just went through breast cancer surgery and is doing AWESOME! But she is amazing, so not a surprise to see her incredible determination go full steam ahead with this journey! So I thought this was a perfect opportunity to make her a meal now instead of waiting until I returned from my trip....she just had surgery this past week...so this is leading in to my DISCOVERY....

1. Did you know that you can make TEXAS CAKE without LICKING the bowl, before you put it in the dishwasher?! Bigger surprise, you can put the icing bowl IN the dishwasher WITHOUT licking that too!? I wouldn't have believed it either, but I experienced it this weekend......I guess you could say I BEAT THE BOWL AND BEATERS! LOL! Now many of you are thinking this is absurd, but for those SWEET ADDICTS and BAKERS, you KNOW exactly what I'm talking about.... I must say CUTTING the cake was a little bit tougher, but I had just a small taste, will have to conquer that part later....I sent all the cake somewhere so I did get it out of the house, but doesn't it figure, Kelly took a plateful to the Trivia game night last night and this morning, some of that dang cake was staring back at me when I woke up today...but I just said NO to that plate and went on to the next discovery....

2. Did you know that you can RUN when you are "walking your dog"? Yesterday, Kelly, aka Jillian from Biggest Loser, went on the 2 mile walk with Charlotte and me.....I wanted her to "inspire" me to move a bit faster on my walk.....as we started climbing the hill to the top of our street (honestly, when did Mount Everest move to St. Louis?!?), she turned to me and said, "let's go mom".....YIKES! GO WHERE?! Up this mountain?! With me and what vehicle? My 2 legs?
Those old wobbly things? Ok, let's go.....
Well, RUNNING may be a bit strong, I like to call it TROTTING......envision the Clydesdales...without all the leg fur.....Off we went, trotting up the hill, me gasping for air...
Ever since my radiation, hills are KILLERS! But I just kept trying the breathe in through your nose and slowly exhale out your mouth....and it WORKED!

But that little snot, when we got to the top of Mount Everest (actually Burlewood Drive), I was ready to walk, but nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, she said, come on, let's keep GOING.
WHAT?! Are you KIDDING ME?! Going where.....to an oxygen park?!

But you know how the roles change and all of the sudden our kids are telling us what to do...
well off I kept going, trotting and puffing and breathing.....to the next subdivision where the Drill Seargeant allowed me to stop trotting and walk a nice brisk pace....We kept alternating between trotting and walking until we finished our 2 miles....

ALLELUIA! 56 years and I'm trotting....I don't care if apparently I am a "slow learner" (that is what they say when you don't do something at the "right age" but eventually get there), I am there!

This morning, I did it AGAIN just to make sure I wasn't dreaming this whole TROTTING business....Charlotte and I (the drill seargeant had another something to go to...) took off and did the 2 miles....trotting and walking all the way....who knows, I may end up liking this after all..

So leaving this afternoon for Dubai and some time with the kids...can't wait....

Until tomorrow, try out one of those "trots" yourself......and just say NO to any bowls that come your way!!!! Enjoy this beautiful Sunday...I will...all the way to Dubai!!!

Day 100 - So what does the Iceland Volcano, dormant for about the last 200 years, have to do with me, you ask!?

No, I'm not relating myself to an exploding volcano, although sometimes, I like to think my planks are pretty explosive.............NOT! :)

So last time we "talked", I was taking a quick 4 hour nap (2am-6am) before heading off to see my children ACROSS EUROPE to the Middle East (that should give you a good hint of where this is heading, or in this case, DIDN'T HEAD :(....

Yesterday morning, up and moving early, last minute things thrown into the suitcase, bags all accounted for (and spreadsheets done to help me remember all the contents, since 3 of the 5 bags are full of "surprises" for Hannah and Eva :)....and a few for Em and Luis too of course!
Kelly is up to take us to the airport...tearful goodbyes at Lambert as she wishes she were going to, she misses these babies too, especially not having gotten to even touched sweet little Eva yet in person, and Em and Luis too of course ..

SIDE NOTE:
Grandparents have a bad habit of FOCUSING on the babies; it's NOT that we forget about our wonderful children, in this case, Em and Luis...but come on...these little perfect babies, just can't get enough of them....you know the picture....at the airport...there they are, 4 of them waiting and off the plane we come and we RUN...................and go right for Hannah and Eva, as Em and Luis stand smiling from ear to ear.....so proud of their amazingly perfect little creations...
But that doesn't mean they don't give us a little trouble, since we went right for the kids and as the tears of joy flow, say, hellllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooo, we are glad to see you guys too - lol! It is "just the way it is in grandparenthood"....you young folks will find that out soon enough :).....we learned that when our kids were young from our parents - ha!

Anyway, back to yesterday's "adventure"....................

So we head into the airport, with our wonderful skycap assistance, bags piled high, me with my purse, the size of Texas, and my laptop, Doug with his carryon (you remember the one, with enough food to serve the whole plane?), and his bag of "reading material"...do you have the "Griswald image" yet, you should! Check in goes well, 4 bags checked and off we head to the gate....long long lines, everyone wants to travel today it seems... we make our first "airport friends", a cute couple from Edwardsville, a bit older than us (believe it or not!) who are heading to Barcelona on a Mediterranean cruise (birthday compliments of their 4 sons - NO PRESSURE kids :)!).....they are on our flight from stl to JFK also...

Security always poses a fun adventure for my "fake knee" husband....so after the normal pat down and bag search, we are heading to the gate, where we make a few last minute phone calls to the credit card company and bank just to confirm, YES we ARE going to be spending money in the MIddle EAst, so don't hold us back please!

The flight from STLJFK is a miniature plane, at least that is what the seats felt like. a 70 seater that most men bumped their head on as they entered the plane....but who cares, i'm going to see Hannah and Eva and Em and Luis, it's well worth it!!! We take off and I close my eyes for a little nap, man that 4 hour nap last night is catching up with me....

Once at JFK, I'm getting excited, 1 flight down, 2 to go....we bumble off the plane, all our carryon gear in tow, and come face to face with the airline screen and notice large RED letters on the 350p flight JFK to AMSTERDAM.................CANCELLED......
Although we are scheduled to leave JFK to AMSTERDAM at 630p, that set off an alarm...between Doug and I, we have over 54 years of airline experience...international flights just don't CANCEL, like a domestic flight would....too hard for airlines to "reposition" their planes.. So we head over to a nice DL gentlemen who proceeds to tell us about the........
VOLCANIC ASH issue, but doesn't seem too alarmed, it's just the 350p flight cancelled, not YOURS! RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long story a bit shorter....here's a play by play of the next 6 hours at JFK...
-By the time, we get to the next terminal, our flight is CANCELLED
-We head to DL ticket counter, which of course if BULGING with other happy passengers and the DL agent tells us to CALL the 800 number listed on the screens "we don't rebook people here" WHAT!!?!?!? ARE YOU SERIOUS???!~
-We are starving by now, so we head to grab something while I dial up the 800 number .....
within 2 minutes, the automated answer has DISCONNECTED me, no, not because there was ASH on the line, it was because "they are experiencing a high volume of calls, can you please call back later"! SERIOUSLY, HAVE I ENTERED THE ASHY TWILIGHT ZONE?!!!
-We call our dear friend Brenda, who works for Delta and seriously was probably happier than ANYONE when our flight actually left today, as she was free of our questions for the next 10 days...OR SO SHE THOUGHT! We just wanted her ideas on what to do next.....she gave us another number to dial but in the meantime, I had already redialed the 800 number and immediately asked, via the voice response unit, for REPRESENTATIVE...btw, that is KEY when you are calling anyway, don't go through all the prompts, just ask right upfront for REPRESENTATIVE and it bypasses a bit...
-After no less than an hour plus on the phone with Yolanda and lots of going back and forth (they seriously just told us to stay at JFK until Sunday and they could get us out!!! Of course the $300/night hotels were on us!), we had a plan: They would fly us back to ST. Louis that evening and rebooked us on Sunday (which was the first available flight) but instead of Abu Dhabi, we would fly St. Louis to Atlanta nonstop to Dubai...Dubai is 60 miles away from Abu Dhabi, but it apparently somehow bypasses the "ash", still not clear about that part...maybe the "southern route", don't know....but the catch was (and there is always a catch)...we would have to go back to the ticket counter as they couldn't make the changes in the reservation but would document it well...
-Back to the ticket counter and literally after 2 hours with Latoya (our new best friend at Delta!), she had booked us back to St. Louis last night, and booked us to leave on Sunday afternoon now from St. Louis to Dubai via Atlanta.....by this time, I was not feeling well for some reason, hot and a little nauseous (must be from all the ash)....so they had a chair for me....Doug thanked Latoya with a big tip! and off we went to catch our bus back to terminal 2 for our flight back to St. Louis
-We nearly missed our flight as the guy driving the bus to terminal 2 decided to take an "extended break" from driving, but thankfully we made it! And had an awesome flight attendant, who after listening to our story, insisted she give us some "drinks", which Doug graciously took her up on....I stuck with my water...

We were back in St. Louis by 930p last night after a LONG TRIP to JFK airport, although our 4 checked bags are stuck in the ash somewhere, supposedly (at least that is what DL baggage center said) should be back in St. Louis by 1pm today.......

We called Emily with the sad news....
1. We are NOT on the way as planned, although we did a "practice flight" today
2. We are still coming but now our trip is cut down to 7 days :(, plus we need a ride from Dubai!

But there is always good news, which we can't forget....
1. We are SAFE, a little older from the experience but safe - ha!
2. We had another opportunity today to build the virtue of "patience" (not sure how good the build went ha!)
3. We are rebooked on Sunday....although we really were pushing for flights today, apparently they are still not going, so hopefully by Sunday we will be heading out....AGAIN!

Life never gets boring, does it!? Ok, off for some exercise...much needed after all that sitting yesterday!!!

Just for today, find your reasons to be thankful....you can find them...somewhere buried under ash....
And prayers for all those affected by that and the China earthquake..no shortage of things to pray for, that's for sure!

Day 98 - And off we go.............

As I sit here at 120am....just about finished packing for Abu Dhabi....I'm tired from a long day, but excited about what happens next....heading to see the kids TODAY......YAY!

Had a early start today at the office by 615am....I had high hopes of getting in there early, getting my stuff done and getting out by 4p or so...about 630p I left the office, went to do the nail thing and eyebrows etc (OUCH that hurts!) and was home by 830p.

Then the dreaded PACKING began...I had started a bit of packing yesterday but for some reason I get frozen when I start packing...I tend to just keep staring at all the stuff that needs to go INTO the bag, instead of just picking the stuff up and putting it INTO the bag...when we go see the kids, I bring so much stuff for them, that I have to make "baggage content lists" for each bag just in case the bags get lost....You know how it is when the kids are so far away and literally you only see them a couple times a year..you have to fit in all the holidays you missed plus all the cute little things you have picked up over the last several months..and pretty soon the bags are bulging with stuff! And now there are 2 beautiful babies to spoil, plus Luis and Emily, so that equals a lot of STUFF! Doug and I manage to squeeze our clothes into as small of a space as possible...

The carry on is the IMPORTANT bag....If we need to, we will be able to provide the ENTIRE airplane their choice of PEEPS, granola bars, M&M minibags (for Emily's 1st graders), Fannie MAY (for the kids NOT me!!!), Thai lime cashews (Luis LOVES lime!), Lime chips (what can I say, I LOVE my son in law), cadbury eggs (and love EMILY too!)....and that isn't even the entire list! There are also some flatbread crackers and individual bags of tuna - 24 hours of flying, I can't rely on airline food being too healthy!!!

Moving off the subject of food......

I watched the LOSE A TON today and it is down to 4 ON AIR contestants, Diane, Taira, Kathleen and Monica. They have all been amazing and look fantastic! Unfortunately, 1 more has to go home on Friday and it will be down to the "final 3"....so excited for them at what they have accomplished on this journey! I can't wait to join them the end of the month at our final "blindfolded" weigh in on the 27th, which I understand we will then be LIVE on the SHOW ME ST> LOUIS show on Friday, April 30th....more on that later...

Between the LOSE A TON today and AMERICAN IDOL tonight and DANCING WITH THE STARS last night, they all have some type of "eliminations"...they are all painful to watch and some even make you cry! But they all also make you feel so proud of those that are being eliminated, for what they have accomplished!

So just a little over 2 weeks to go in my LOSE A TON journey - wow it has been lots of hard work and sweat and a few tears, but so incredibly wonderful......I feel great and have never really felt deprived at all, but more energized than ever (except for right now - ha!)

So heading to bed to catch a few hours before the alarm goes off at 630a....5 hours from now...
So until tomorrow, which is already actually today, think about YOUR journey these last 98 days...how have you changed?! We are not done yet, so keep it up...WE CAN DO THIS, I will be..........in Abu Dhabi!!! (and I understand I will be SWEATING :)!)

Day 94 - GO St. Louis!!!!!! Congrats to Kelly, Allison and the rest of the rock stars today!!!

Happy Sunday to everyone....weather is perfect.....sun is shining, Spring is here and the flowers are blooming....

Just got home from cheering on my daughter Kelly, niece Allison and all of their friends, on their 1/2 Marathon at GO! St. Louis downtown today.. WOW, what an accomplishment! Over 23,000 runners today...

As we stood there at the 13 mile marker, we cheered the runners on....runners of every shape, size and age..It was phenomenal to see the diversity in the runners, reminding us all that it just takes YOU to make it happen...

There was a "juggler" that had juggled the entire 13.1 miles! There was a beautiful lady in a wheelchair, being pushed by possibly her daughter...both smiling and proud of where they were and what they were doing....I read in the paper about a handsome 20 year old young man, diagnosed with Autism, who was also running..

It was a beautiful day, surrounded by support and love, energy and determination.....all either there to run or there to support..just the way life should be..cheering people on whether you know them or not, supporting others that need it when they need it...

As 1 young woman struggled past us at the 13 mile mark, it was clear to see she was having a hard time with the last tenth of a mile, but she was pushing her way to the finish line...at first I thought perhaps she had pulled a muscle, but my sister thought she was about to go down and sure enough, as we looked to our right, 15 feet away, she suddenly fell to the ground... Immediately, the runners at her side, STOPPED in the last 10th of the mile of THEIR race and went to her aid, but found that even with 2, they couldn't get her back up...luckily some of the volunteers and spectators on the sidelines jumped in and within minutes, she was whisked away in an ambulance...

I thought to myself, omg, she made it to over 13 miles and literally went down in the last 10th of a mile...
Life can be like that sometimes as we know, especially on this journey we are taking...we give it our ALL, try hard to FINISH, but sometimes go DOWN right before the end in spite of our best efforts.... I said a prayer for that girl, wherever she is now, I'm praying that some water and rest brought her back to full health again....

My daughter Kelly, had her own challenges on the race today as she was approaching mile 12 (mile 11 to 12 had been totally uphill), and really pushing it...she started throwing up.....although she said she did get some strange looks from those runners ahead as she started dry heaving and kept running, but eventually had to stop to throw up, poor thing! But then got right back in the race again and had a great finish....still waiting for her final time..

So the message today is FINISH, however you can, WHENEVER you can, just make it to YOUR finish line! After years of "finish what's on your plate, children in China are starving" (I never really did understand what those leftover vegetables on my plate had to do with them, as I knew we weren't sending them to China!), "finish what you start", "last one to finish is a rotten egg" (that was painful one as a child!)....we should have learned that lesson by now...

Today was just a reminder of how important it is to do just that FINISH! But my message isn't about being the FIRST to finish, but rather just to FINISH... and being proud of finishing...,..

Just for today, what are you going to finish!? I have so many things left to finish, let's see where should I start.....the dishes, the laundry, the blog, the powerpoints for work, packing for my trip to Abu Dhabi this week......and oh yeah, my LOSE A TON contest.....down to the last few weeks...I guarantee you I'm going to FINISH that!!!

Have a great Sunday...and with that, I just FINISHED the blog for today :) - YAY!