eight!

Well, my trip was fantastic! I came back wearing a size eight!! Can you believe it????

Here is the lowdown on my eating while I was there. I won't post everything I ate like a turkey post as it would be a week's worth of food! But, I stuck with the program with only a few bobbles when they changed the schedule and it messed up my timing, but not too bad! The only naughty thing I ate was half a piece of carrot cake (no icing). I took protein bars, string cheese, applesauce, wheat crackers, and salmon for my snacks. The cafeteria was only open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so I needed my own food for in between. They served plenty of program food, and it was easy to stay on track.

Workouts while away...I did upper body on Monday and was soooo sore on Tues. and Thurs. I ran on the treadmill on Tuesday, but was crunched for time, 4 HIITs. I had planned lower body for after class on Wed., but they changed my schedule, and that got canned. No lower body. Ran on the treadmill again on Thurs., crunched for time, but managed "one more" for you! Friday, I went shopping instead of doing upper body! OOPS!

Came home on a free day, saturday. Yesterday, I ran on the treadmill and did "one more" than humanly possible. Did lower body today in the gym...hamstring curls, straightleg lifts, leg presses, and frog jumps. Hope to feel it tomorrow! This is my last week of challenge number 1, and I am calling it "Highpoint Week." I'm striving for good, strong high points!

I came away from the class with new determination and inspiration for Kaegan! It was super! I don't know how much you know about what we do with him, but the idea is to spend as many hours a day as possible in his playroom with him. There are some specific techniques, but I won't get into all of that. It can get hard to keep up the excitement about going into his playroom every single day, and I confess, I'd really slacked off. The program was begun by a mom and dad who determined to help their son feel their love, if nothing else. His mom would ask herself every day, "Do I want to go into the playroom today?" She decided to always give herself a choice and if ever her answer was "no" to let herself off the hook. So every day she asked herself this question with full intention of answering honestly. Every day, the answer was "Yes, I want my son to feel my presence and love. Yes, I want to give my son everything I know and have to inspire him to expand his world. Yes."

She spoke one afternoon in the class I just returned from. She equated it with exercise. You give yourself a choice. Do I want to or not? Then you trully let yourself choose your answer. My answer is "Yes, I want to feel good. Yes, I want to strengthen my body. Yes, I want to be healthy. Yes."

I met lots of other parents with like-minded determination, and that is like what we have here with our blogs! A like-minded determination! Don't we all have a lot on our plates? Still, we determine to do those things that are of most importance to us! Hurray for us!

"The Donkey"

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw. As every shovel of dirt hit his back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off.
The Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!