December 9, 2008

GOALS: revisited

Today my business partner and I had a meeting with a banker, accountant and real estate agent to help us step in the right direction for developing a business plan. The meeting was a success and we came away with tons of ideas and thoughts buzzing through our heads. After we were done with the meeting, we organized our thoughts and re-established our goals and came up with smaller, stepping-stone type goals to help us achieve the OVERALL goal of owning a business. It's a messy process so staying organized is key.

After all this, I hit the gym and continued to mull over my thoughts and I came up with the idea that accomplishing my goal to get healthy is like going through the process of setting up a business. Instead of a Chiropractic office, my HEALTH is the business. I set long term goals to achieve, such as my long term goal of losing 20 pounds. Then, in order to achieve the big goals, I set smaller goals to help me achieve the bigger goals. So, since this blog is all about holding myself accountable, I've decided to share with you one of my smaller goals for this month.

ACCOUNTABILITY CHECK!!!
This month, my goal is to get to the gym 4 times per week until Christmas. On December 23-24, I'll let you know if I achieve this goal.

Do you have any short term goals you'd like to be held accountable for before Christmas?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONG OF THE RUN: "Womanizer" by Brittany Spears (gotta give the girl props, it's got a good beat to run to.)

December 3, 2008

New Motivation

My clinic hours are Mondays and Fridays all day and this last Monday, I was doing what I do best ... treating patients. Like any other job, it can sometimes be monotonous; the typical headache patient, the weekend warrior with low back problems, but on Monday I had a patient that made an impression on me.

My doc warned me before she came in that she was going to be in a wheel chair so we'd need to use a different room than we normally use. (This isn't anything new, we usually see at least 1 patient who is in a wheel chair per week.) Then she told me that this patient had ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

When she told me this, I suddenly became very nervous to be treating her because ALS is a disease in which there is no cure. People with ALS are young (40's), their minds stay intact but as the disease progresses, their nerves that supply the body information in order to function, die. They are essentially prisoners in their own body until their heart and lungs stop functioning. Typically, all of the people who come to see us, have an ideal in mind that we are going to help them get better. Usually when I leave the room I say, "well, I hope you feel better soon!" Not in this case.

A year ago, this particular patient was diagnosed with ALS and today (Monday) she could barely talk. You could see in her eyes how sad, frustrated, depressed and terrified she was. All I could think about was how we sometimes take life for granted. She would do ANYTHING to rid herself of her ALS ... but she can't. She rely's on someone else to do EVERYTHING for her even though, she mentally knows she was once able to do it all by herself less than a year ago.

And here I am ... taking for granted the oportunity to be a health person, skipping a work out here or there, complaining about how hard it is to get up and GO. If she could have the oportunity to work out again or get up and GO again, she would do it in a heart beat. What seems like MINOR and combersom details to me, she would jump at the chance to do just once more.

So ... it's been on my mind and I've been trying to do better about taking for granted my ability to work out. I forget sometimes that I'm lucky to be capable of what I can do because others aren't quite so blessed.

~Mama Beal

November 26, 2008

Pants

Continueing with the subject of body image, I would like to talk about a pair of pants I bought about 3 months ago.

I purchased a pair of tight fitting running pants about 3 months ago and have YET to wear them out of the house. (Don't worry Jason, they were only a few bucks so it wasn't a huge waste of money.) I see people at the gym wearing the EXACT same pants but for some reason, I can't bring myself to wear them. I'm slowly gaining the confidence to wear them but, not yet. They'll have to sit in my drawer for a few more weeks. I'll let everyone know when I wear them for the first time.

Anyone else out there ever had clothing they've purchased and never worn? I'm sure I'm not the only one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONG OF THE RUN: (I didn't have a favorite song of the run, I think I need to reload my Ipod.)

November 23, 2008

For years, it has been undisputed that the media of society has placed HUGE amounts of stress on all females to achieve a certain physique. Before I got pregnant, I had come to terms with the fact that these high expectations of society are unobtainable and, even if they were obtainable, my short and stocky genes are not going to help me. But that's okay! I had accepted it.

Then, I had a baby and I regressed in my acceptance of my appearance. My body had changed from pre-pregnancy to post-pregnancy and the worry about my body image came rushing back to me ten-fold. Let me explain.

The skin of my stomach will never be the same after splitting and stretching to carry a 9 pound baby. It's a gross explanation but the skin is, by far, not as taut as it used to be and there's definitely stretch marks. You'll never catch me in a cute little two-piece swim suite again, I'll never change T-shirts comfortably at a soccer field again, the sun will never see my stomach and neither will anyone in public AGAIN. I hide it from the world and yet, it's something that's constantly on my mind at home, at school, everywhere I go. Have these physical scars have left me mentally scarred for life? I hope not.

It was extremely difficult to decide to post this fear publicly but, no more hiding. I've heard that the first step to overcoming your fear is to accept it and maybe by posting this, I can begin the process of acceptance. Maybe, one day, I'll be strong enough to let people see it but not today. Baby steps!

~Mama Beal





November 20, 2008

Too Much Testosterone!!!

When I got to the club today, I realized I'd forgotten my ipod. Typically, there's music on and you can always 'read' the TV screens when you're on the tred-mill so you have something to preoccupy yourself with. But, when I went downstairs, I didn't have my ipod to desensitize my brain from all the testosterone and puffy chests in the free-weights area. You could almost cut the testosterone filled air with a knife. In fact, there was so much testosterone that I became annoyed and had to finish my work out early. You ladies know what I'm talking about. Those guys that hang out in the gym for hours on end, beating their chests, getting as close as they can to you without it being socially awkward. Staring at you while you stretch or walk around the building. GROSS!!!

For instance, everyone knows that if someone is lifting free weights and there's only 1 person on the mats, it's proper gym etiquette that you move as far away from the other lifter as possible. A guy, about my age-maybe younger, came and stood on the mat section RIGHT NEXT TO ME! Hmmmm ... awkward. Then, while I was doing my lifts and watching my form in the mirror, I noticed at least 2 other guys in the background watching me in the mirror. Um, hello, but last time I checked, just because you're INDIRECTLY staring at a woman through a MIRROR doesn't make it any better than directly staring at her.

I guess there are certain FEMALE gym rats that might take that as a compliment, but seriously, I think I need a T-shirt that says;

I'm married
I have a kid
I'm here to work out
Leave me alone

I need to shower to get all the testosterone off my skin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONG OF THE RUN: Let it Rock by Lil' Wayne and Kevin Rudolf

(This one's for Jason and Dave Bargmann :) )

November 18, 2008

Sigh of Relief!

My main focus these past few weeks has not been getting back in shape but instead, it has been studying and preparing for my LAST SET OF BOARD EXAMS!!!

Some of you may or may not know how stressful these exams are so I will preface you with the stress I've been enduring the past month. There are 4 sets of exams we take in order to be come licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic. 3 written and 1 hands on. All 4 exams are taken intermittently while you're still participating in school because they are separate entities from each other. Parts 1-2 are weighted against everyone throughout the united states so you are essentially competing against everyone else taking the exam. Part 3, you are required to get at least 75% to pass and part 4 is essentially everything you've ever learned and applied physically to a patient. So, part 4 is COMPLETELY different than 1-3.

Part 4 is a true indicator of your ability to be a DOCTOR. You can't just guess, you can't fake your way through it, the answer isn't given to you in multiple choice form ... Thus, it's very hard to study for and it's crucial to perform well.

After you've completed 25 hands on stations and 20 x-ray diagnosis, you're sequestered in a room (for 5 hours) until all the students in the US have completed their exams. Ugh! Essentially, I was in high-stress-exam mode from the hours of 6:30 am to 4:15 pm. When I finally got home, my body hurt from all the clenching, shaking, standing, gripping, sweating, shivering.

All in all, it went well and I am SO glad, I'll never have to spend another $1040.00 to do that again. I can now redirect my focus back to working out.

November 13, 2008

Boards On The Brain

I have been absolutely TERRIBLE about working out and eating healthy this past week. BOARDS are tomorrow (dun dun DUAH!!!) and Saturday and I've been studying at least 4 hours per day for the last week, sometimes even more. Along with these study habits comes bad "stress" habits as I've explained in the past ... M&M's, Caribou Mocha's, Chips, Popcorn ... if it's quick, easy and edible, it goes in the mouth when I'm studying. Despite eating crap for the past few weeks, I'm proud to say that last week, I officially reached 155 lbs. WooHOO!!! (however, I did gain 2 pounds back over this last week, at least I those will be easy to lose after the exams are done.)

This got me thinking ... 155 ... I might actually be the weight I have stated on my drivers license. I don't think I've EVER been the stated weight on my drivers license.

See, if you don't follow, here's the deal. I have NEVER put my true weight on my drivers license. I've always knocked off at least 5-10 pounds. The way I look at it is, if I were to be kidnapped, it would be more useful for the government to have a weight on my driver's license that was the weight that I LOOKED instead of my actual weight (besides, if I'm going to show a bartender my drivers license, I don't want it to say my actual weight.) I know, I know, it's messed up to think this way but I'm sure I'm not the only one. Right? Anyone ... c'mon, there's gotta be other people who do this too!

Anyways, I had to look at my drivers license to recall what I'd put as my weight. As it turns out, the last time I changed my drivers license was when we moved into our new house and I can remember looking at that yellow slip of paper you're supposed to fill out and debating if I should put my actual or "tweeked" weight on there. I hesitated and then irritatedly put my TRUE weight as 165. At the time, I can remember how hard it was to do that but, it's kind of fun now since I weigh 10 pounds less! SWEET!!!

Well, wish me luck on my boards tomorrow. Think positive thoughts ... PRAY that I have mental clarity while taking the test.

~Mama Beal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SONG OF THE RUN: Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" by Alien Ant Farm

November 4, 2008

Run and Vote, It's YOUR Responsibility!

I realized (a few days ago) that I haven't written a blog in a while. "I wonder why Julie hasn't blogged in a while" you might ask yourself? Well, I've been a bad, bad person about working out lately. My LAST SET of Boards is in 2 weeks and I have been trying to study as much as possible for them without having my study time impinge on my family time and as it turns out, working out gets kicked aside if there's sick children, studying, school, interning, etc.

I know, excuses, excuses ... I shouldn't make up excuses because no matter how much you justify it, the outcome is still the same ... I only worked out 2 times last week and I haven't been to the gym in a while. So, after almost falling off the horse, I hoisted myself back up onto the saddle today.

While leaving the parking lot of my voting location today (PS, get out and vote) I measured a new route with the speedometer in the car. I wanted to circulate my run around the voting area because you could sense the urgency and the energy coming from the hustle and bustle of the voting location. I was feeding off the energy it was putting out. After voting I proudly diplayed my "I Voted" sticker on my running shirt and left the house in the direction of the voting location. I didn't make it all the way there but I could see the intersection in the distance. From every direction cars were filing into the already packed parking lot. AMAZING!!! What a great feeling to see everyone being so politically active. It made me think about how minimal my life problems are. My BOARDS are insignificant compared to the political movements about the war or our economic crisis. A thought came to me that, I have the right to freedom, I have the right to health care, and I have the right to vote but only I am responsible for these things just like I am the only one responsible for the outcomes of my daily choice to exercise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FAVORITE SONG OF THE RUN: 'Breath in and Breath out' By Mat Kearney

Breath in and breath out
Tell me all of your doubt
And everybody bleeds this way, just the same

We push and pull
And we fall down sometimes
I'm not letting go, you hold the other line

There is a light, in your eyes, in your eyes ...

October 28, 2008

Obligations

Today I got a phone call from the daycare provider (around noon) saying that Abby had a fever and I had to come pick her up. For those of you who don't have children, this is not a fun phone call to receive. All the things you planned on doing and all the activites you're in the middle of automatically get put on hold. So, planning to work out was one of the many things that got put on hold. This is hard for me to accept because there's a limited list of things I do for myself and exercise is one of them. Basically everything else in life is tailored to be for Abby in some way, shape or form. Don't get me wrong, as you remember, she's one of my main motivating factors to achieve success in everything I do; it's difficult when our activites of daily living come to a hault and it's unknown when everything will be back up and running (no pun intended).

Today was an important day for me to work out. I hate to say it but I've gained back the last two pounds that I lost. I am, once again, 160 lbs. From birthday cakes to study food, my diet has been terrible. Today was going to be the day that I got back on track with my diet and back outside running. I guess that's part of the territory of being a mom. When it ultimately comes down to it, you will always help someone else before you help yourself.

Hopfully tomorrow brings health, happiness and a renewed course of action.
~Mama Beal

October 23, 2008

Change is Good

Because I can’t stand it when people make up a huge list of excuses, I’ll make this long story short.

I played in a soccer game on Monday and was somewhat injured so I didn’t run for the past few days. I’ve also been battling some sort of stomach virus so it’s been hard to eat or drink a whole lot recently.

Thus, when I left for my run today, I wasn’t sure how far I’d make it. A little bit after a mile, my legs started to feel really heavy and I knew I wasn’t going to make the complete loop. (How FRUSTRATING! You work so hard and something so minor can make you feel like you’ve been pushed back 10 steps.)

Anyways, as I slowed my run to a walk, I tried to come up with some reasoning as to why today’s run was so difficult vs. last weeks runs. My mind started to get upset with my body because I mentally wasn’t tired; it was my body that was giving up on me today.

As I kept thinking, I could tell I was starting to spiral down a negative path and I was reminded of a quote from a speaker I heard at school today. He said, “You are the same person as you were yesterday except for the conscious changes you make in this world today.” As I dragged my feet through the fall leaves, I pondered this idea, ‘how can I change this situation … how can I make this situation better? I don’t want to be the same person after this run as I was when I started it, the whole point of exercising is to change!’ Maybe I wasn’t going to fully complete this loop today but I was suddenly determined to change my attitude. Instead of jogging the last ½ mile, I changed my speed. I sprinted/jogged/walked the last ½ mile, and although I didn’t physically complete this "jog," I did overcome a potentially poor mental attitude. Change is good! Change is definitely HARD, but it’s also good.

What did you do to change yourself today?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONG OF THE RUN: The White Stripes - Blue Orchid

October 18, 2008

Short Term Motivation

In the beginning, the ideals of your long term goals are what motivate a person to start the process of working out. But, there comes a point when those long term goals begin to fade and become more boring to envision. For instance, the whole idea of losing weight doesn't seem to feel quite worth the effort and time anymore, becoming tone and fit doesn't seem to be worth all the time you spend in your stinky workout clothes. But, the Doctor aspect of me knows how important it is to my health more than anything else. Unfortunately, having an improvement in your health isn't always visible so, I've decided that in order for me to achieve my goals, I need to search for more short term motivation while I'm working out. Here is a list of short term motivation that I find when I'm running.

1. I look at the people driving past me in their cars and imagine that their thoughts are cheering me on. Occasionally I'll get a honk, that's always flattering.

2. I run through the forest on purpose because I'm afraid and fear is a good motivator to keep going.

3. When I see fellow runners outside, I ALWAYS say hello to them because it reminds me that I'm not the only one struggling to finish my work out. If they say something back that means we've made a connection.

4. I set visible goals for myself using land marks along the side of the road such as a tree or lamp post or stop sign and challenge myself to go 1/2 a block further.

5. I make up rules for myself, such as, if there's a car in my vicinity's, I HAVE to be running because I don't want the people in the car to think I've only been walking.

If you have other motivators, let me know, I am always looking for things to keep me going and keep me motivated to run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDUCATION:

Last time I ran, I rolled my ankle so here's some tips on what to do if you have a minor injury.

RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression Elevation. This rule should be used for injuries within the first 72 hours of when it first occurred. DO NOT use heat right after an initial injury occurs. Heat increases swelling in the area which will make the injury worse. Although the heat feels good, do not use heat it usually causes more harm than good.

FAVORITE SONG OF THE RUN: "Let it Out" by Starrfadu
part of the lyrics, "do you want to lay your head on my shoulders ... I don't mind if you cry."

October 15, 2008

Several Things


I couldn't find just one topic to blog about today, I had so many different thing swirling around in my head while I ran today so ... here it a little insite into my mind while I'm running. It might be random so if you're confused, it's alright, sometimes I confuse myself with all these swirling thoughts.

As some of you have noticed, I recently changed the backround of my blog. I found it under the 'Inspire' tab. It suits the blog perfectly since my hope is to inspire my readers.

I have gotten over the hump. I have weighted 158 lbs for the past 2 days. YEAH!!! For about the last 2 weeks I've stayed at 160 and not an ounce less but now, I've been consistantly 2 lbs lighter. As people lose weight, we tend to plateau because our bodies adapt to the exercise we do. That's why it's important to consistantly keep working out even when we feel like we aren't losing any weight. Eventually, the pounds will start to drop.

It was laundry day the other day and I needed to find some pants to wear to clinic except all the usual pants I wear to clinic were dirty so I pulled out a pair of my semi-skinny dress paints and to my suprise, they fit! EXCELLENT! It's like going shopping in your own closet.

I almost didn't go for a run today simply because I have so much on my mind so here it comes ... I have a midterm for school tomorrow, I'm starting to draft my business plan and I underestimated how long a business plan actually is (30 pages!!!), I'm meeting with a realtor tomorrow to help us sign a lease for a business space (eek, this is scary!), I should be studying for my last BOARDS exam and I've barely started yet, I get the results of my previous BOARDS exam on the 21st, Jason's birthday is today (happy birthday my jay), and the last thing on my list of things I should do is exercise. But, I went anyways and I'm glad I did.

Let's hope with all this added stress, I can keep off the weight I've lost. This will be a huge challenge because I'm definately a stress eater.

Ugh, sorry to unload but, like I said above, welcome to my whirling-swirling thoughts while I was running today. I also thought I should add a picture so here are my running shoes.
FAVORITE SONG OF THE RUN: Lucifer don of the Morning, Jay-Z
I know what you're all thinking, I'm a white girl from the 'burbs ... I gotta say, it's got a GREAT beat. :)

October 14, 2008

Put on your Big Girl Pants

Today was a challenge to say the least. It was not a battle of physical achievement but more like a tug-of-war between my body and mind. I'm sure all you my fellow readers have had moments like these.

It started off by my mind throwing a fit in my head. I did NOT want to run today.
"NO NO NO, I won't do it! It's too cold, I don't have the right work out clothes, I can't find the right sports bra, if I work out now I'm going to have to shower later ... I just don't want to, not today, maybe tomorrow." The list went on and on in my head. (Sound familiar? I'm pretty sure this is Stage 2!!! Gasp!!! What a horrible regression this would be!)

Mentally kicking and screaming, my legs drug me up the stairs. I mentally took off my toddler pants and put on my BIG GIRL pants, physically put on my sweaty sports bra, grabbed the Ipod and walked out the door. Ugh! I was still mentally not ready to do this today. But, my legs started walking. They walked to the end of the driveway where a decision had to be made. Left (the three mile route), or right (the two mile route). Of course my mind is saying "go right!!!"

My legs took me left. My mind is moaning and saying, "I can't BELIEVE we went left. What were you thinking?" But, my legs kept on running.

Finally we came to another cross in the road. This time I could go left (and run through the woods which is flat and shorter) or I could go straight (and run the last mile UPHILL!) Of course, "take a left!!!" my mind was telling me but ...

My legs too me straight. "Good greif, who's making the decision here? I give up!" My mind finally gave into my legs and for the rest of the run ALL UPHILL, I didn't hear a peep from my mind and my legs carried me all the way home.

But, I will say, once we were home, I thought to myself, "Thank God we're home. While it was no fun at the time, I'm glad I went." Kind of ironic, I know.

Moral of the story, if you're having trouble getting out of the house to work out, PUT YOUR BIG GIRL PANTS ON AND JUST DO IT! You'll thank yourself when your done.

FAVORITE SONG OF THE RUN: Flogging Molly, Within a Mile of Home
This song came on while I was running that last mile uphill.

October 12, 2008

Education

While I was running today, I was trying to think of something to write about so, I am going to write a few educational points about the mental thought process behind making a life change to exercise.

Being an Exercise Science major, we had to take an Exercise Psychology course and I found this particular topic intriguing.

Technically speaking, to make exercise part of a life change, it needs to eventually become a habit. Thus, the psychology behind making this life change is based on the theoretical model of "the stages of change" which will eventually create a habit out of exercising.

Stage 1 : Pre-contemplation; this stage includes people who say, "Absolutely not ... No way I'm going to do that ... or, I can't because ..." I used to be in this stage, I remember telling myself, I can't because I don't have time. This happens to be the most commonly used excuse in stage 1.

Stage 2 : Contemplation; this stage is when someone is thinking about taking action. They know they need to do something, but they're not sure they want to start today. I was in this stage for a LONG TIME! This typically tends to be one of the longer stages of the 5.

Stage 3 : Preparation; this stage is when a person has attempted to make a change. This is a volatile stage because it's easy to revert back to stage 2. This was one of the most difficult stages. For me, it was a mental block that I had to get over. It's really easy to say, "this isn't working, maybe I'll try again next week." I mentally had to shut off that part of my brain and JUST DO IT!

Stage 4 : Action; this stage is when a person finally feels successful. This stage is supposed to last up to 6 months. I think I reached this stage when I lost the first 10 lbs. But, I am currently still in this stage because it's only been about 3 months. (I'm 1/2 way to stage 5.)

Stage 5 : Maintenance; this stage occurs after 6 months of stage 4. This is considered the least potential stage for relapse and exercise has finally become a habit. THIS IS WHERE I WANT TO BE! All in good time.

When I look at this model, it becomes so obvious as to why so many American's fail at weight loss and staying physically fit. There are so many opportunities to fall off the wagon. But, this time I will prevail! (I know, a little Gladiator-esk ... :P ) Feel free to leave comments and tell me which stage you think you're currently in.

Still runnin' strong!
~Mama Beal

October 9, 2008

Thoughts!

Typically when I sit down to write my blog, it's immediately after I've finished my run for the day. But, on Tuesday, I tried something different. Instead of running and then and with sweaty hands, pounding my thoughts into the keyboard of my laptop, I decided to write a blog before my run. To my surprise, I was more motivated and inspired before my run than I've ever been. Why? Well, right before I left, I happened to look one more time at my blog and 3 people had left amazing comments!! At that point, I was reminded that although I am running for myself, I am also running for everyone that reads my blog. The entire time I ran, I thought about the people who I am so proud to be running for.

I ran for my cousin who is going through the same situation as I am with weight issues and being a mom of 2! Keep on Keepin' on Barbara!!!

I ran for my friend Janet who lives in Brooklyn (so far away) who has decided to get back into the gym! WooHoo!! Janet, you ROCK, keep up the good work!

I ran for my friends Kendra and Margaret who just recently walked more than 60 miles for the breast cancer "walk for the cure." What an amazing feat to accomplish!

I ran for my mom who has been going to the gym religiously for the past few years 4-5 times a week. She's 50 something and hasn't given up that workout routine for years!!! That's awesome!

I ran for everyone who checks this blog, especially the women! These days it's hard to stay fit, it's hard to take time for yourself to get back in shape but WE CAN DO IT!!! It's HARD but it's not IMPOSSIBLE.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I can't tell you how encouraging it feels to be inspiring people while I am motivating myself to be a better person. I'm proud of myself but most of all, I am SO proud of my readers.

~Mama Beal

October 7, 2008

Goal Setting

Recently, my cousin has been keeping a blog and her last post was about a friend (mother of 2) who completed a marathon for the first time in her life. My cousin was moved by her accomplishment and she has decided to set a goal for herself for the next year. After reading this post, I remembered cheering on one of my friends, Dave Bargmann, who was running the twin cities marathon about a year ago. I remember looking at him in Aw and thinking to myself, 'that's amazing, I wish I could accomplish something like that.'

After all this reminiscing, I have realized I haven't shared my personal goals with my fellow bloggers.

My goals are not quite as hard core as running a marathon but they are measurable. My ultimate goal is to lose 20 lbs before my 10 year high school reunion in 2011. '2011!!! that's so far off!!!' you might say. Well, it may be a long time off but I have taken into account potential bumps in the road such as having another child before my reunion. Now, I haven't decided if I want to have another kid due to how difficult it was for me to have the first one but, I don't want to completely rule out the possibility. So, losing 20 lbs from the weight I'm at right now and potentially gaining 30 more and then losing it again ... that's going to take a lot of work.

Another purpose of this blog is to hold myself accountable so, the only way to do this is to tell you all exactly what I weigh and my progress hereafter.

When I ended my undergraduate degree I weighed 135 lbs
When Abby turned 1 year old, I weighed 170 lbs.
Today, 2 months later, I weigh 160 lbs.
My goal is to lose another 20 lbs to be 140 lbs.

This was really hard for me to post because I typically don't even like to tell my husband how much I weigh but ... this blog is about putting it all out there so ... now I am accountable.

October 3, 2008

For the LOVE of PETE!

Alright, I have a chip on my shoulder right now.

The rules about asking a women if they are pregnant are as follows:

MEN-I'm sure you all know this but I must re-iterate; it is never okay to assume that a woman is pregnant! It is also never okay to ask a woman if they are pregnant! I'm sure if you are male, you already know this.

WOMEN-It is also not okay for women to assume that another female is pregnant!!! It is also never okay for another woman to ask if someone is pregnant based on their first appearance of a woman!!!

It seems to me that most men have had it beaten into their head about how UN-politically correct it is to assume a female is pregnant. Females, on the other hand, most of us KNOW BETTER!!! But there are a select bunch of females (about 10 percent of the female population) who assume that because they have a uterus, they can make these assumptions. (if you can't tell by my tone of writing, I'm just a LITTLE peeved!!!).

Today, a patient ASSUMED, I was pregnant by first impressions based upon my appearance.

'oh, Julie, it's only one person. Don't let it bother you ... water under the bridge.' you might say to me to comfort my hurt feelings. BUT NO!!! This is not the first time, in fact, this is at least the 4th time someone has said that to me!!! FOR THE LOVE OF PETE PEOPLE!!! This is truthfully, the most horrible thing you can say to someone who is NOT pregnant!!! To make matters worse, once you've opened your mouth and said something, there's absolutely NOTHING you can say to cover your ass after you've said it ... nothing to make it better because instead of being a glowing pregnant woman, now you're just a greasy pott-bellied woman. AWESOME!! (insert here a picture of me giving you two thumbs up).

I've tried to shake this off in the past and tell myself, 'it's no big deal ... whatever ... who cares." BUT 4 TIMES!!! And it's all happened a YEAR after I've had a child. AAARGH!!!

So ... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ... for the LOVE of PETE, both men and women, do not assume anything about a woman's reproductive life and refer to the rules above if you're confused.

On that note, I'm going to go for a run with my pott-belly flappin' in the wind!

Have a fabulous day and if your day is not going well, just be thankful that nobody thought you were pregnant today.

September 30, 2008

Sinusitis

So, it has been a few days since I've run, approximately 3 days unfortunately so I knew I had to do something today. But, it seems I have gotten sick. A few days ago I started getting dizzy intermittently but didn't think much of it. Yesterday every time I bent over, my head started throbbing and today I feel like CRAP. So, I've diagnosed myself with sinusitis (Latin for swelling of the sinuses.)

So, although I've been sick, it's been weighing on me that if I don't continue to run, I'll lose my endurance so I had to do something today. It wasn't much but, medicated and feverish, I grabbed the dog and for 10 minutes, every step I took my head pounded down the trail. That's about all I could take ... how pathetic!

Well, I'm going to put myself back into the supine position (laying on my back) and watch some more Matlock, Nash Bridges and pop some more vitamin C and Pseudafed. Ugh ... I guess I'll have to chalk this day up to a loss. Ya can't win them all.

September 29, 2008

Motivation!!!

So, typically before or during my run I need to motivate myself to either start or finish my run. Motivation is the only way I can get myself out there to continue doing what I'm doing and so I constantly remind myself of the reason's that I run. I thought I'd share them with you and if you have other's I'd love to hear them so that I can think about them while I'm running.

My motivations include, but are not limited to ...
1. Health-my health history includes heart disease and high cholesterol and I want to avoid these at all costs!
2. Physical fitness-everyone likes to look good and exercising allows your brain to perceive yourself as more physically attractive. Not to mention, it's nice when others think you're physically attractive. I also still have a baby bump and it's one of my goals to get rid of it completely.
3. Abby-I want to be able to romp around with Abby when she gets older, I also want to be that cool mom that still kicks ass on the soccer and lacrosse field.
4. Although it usually sucks while you're doing it, I ALWAYS feel better after I'm done.
5. My back pain goes away if I consistently run.
6. Practice what you preach-I need to be a good example for my future patients, having an overweight doctor tell an overweight patient they need to exercise would be an oxymoron.

That's all for now. Add comments if you have other motivators, I'd love to hear them.

September 26, 2008

In the Beginning ...

So, I thought I'd start from the beginning ...

In the beginning God made man ... and then God made woman and it was the woman's responsibility to have children. Unfortunately, these days, having a baby isn't as easy as it used to be. Due to the abundances of food we eat, the lack of activity our daily jobs entail and the everyday stress in our lives, it's not easy to have a child naturally these days. Thus, I had a C-section that put me out of commission for a LONG time. They say it takes about 6 months to recover from a natural birth and about a year to recover from a C-section because it's major surgery, and believe it or not, the professionals were absolutely right! It wasn't until 2 months ago that I actually felt like I could start getting back in shape.

I started working out a few months and I could honestly only run about the distance of a football field and back. Pretty pathetic for a high school and college athlete. I was so upset with myself for "letting myself go" but I realized this was not something to be upset about but a changing point in my life when I decided that who I saw in the mirror was not who I pictured in my head. So, over the past two months I have trained enough to been able to run non-stop 2 miles. I also run a 3 mile course but I had never completed it UNTIL TODAY!!!

Today, I set out a goal for myself that I was going complete a full 3 mile loop. I've tried before and my mind has always gotten the best of me. Before when I've set out to run, my mind tells me, 'just do what you can and anything beyond that is good enough.' This has always set me up for failure because I was complacent with just doing 'good enough.' Today, I told the "id" part of my brain to SHUT UP for once and let me do what I've set out to do because today I WILL finish and if I don't, it's NOT good enough for me. SUCCESS!

So while I was running, I set up my shuffle and at about 2 miles, my id was almost getting the better of me telling me to stop and walk for a bit, a little Jay-Z came on ... "thank God for granting me this moment of clarity ..." I realize this song is probably about being a gangster and overcoming racism etc but ... it was as if God was speaking to me through my shuffle, suppressing my id and encouraging me to RUN ON! And so I did ... I overcame my mind, I overcame the 2 mile hump, and I have conquered the 3 mile mark. Thank God for granting me THAT moment of clarity.

September 23, 2008

Starting from the beginning!

Who: Julie (Mama Beal)
What: Starting my own blog
Where: at http://mamabeal.blogspot.com
Why: to inspire others and hold myself accountable
When: weekly or more often than weekly

So, ladies and gentlemen, since my daughter turned 1 year old, I've been exercising, trying to finally lose those last few baby pounds. After a very difficult C-section and a full 1 year recovery, now is my chance to get back in shape. So, I've been running 3-4 times a week a few miles each time. This blog is going to keep me in check and accountable for my hard work and I also hope to inspire people while documenting my thoughts and experiences I have.

Enjoy!

~Mama Beal