Wednesday, March 5, 2014

So much to say!

What a day! I'm always so relieved on days when I'm able to get what I like to call, "a crap-load" of homework done! For those of you who may not know what a crap-load is...well allow me to define it as an overly excessive amount of _________ *you fill in the blank*! (urban dictionary helped me define that actually) 

In the middle of my school work I got a call from my mom...haha I answered and she said, "it's okay you don't have to come pick me up!" (those are always great first words to hear from my mother) She had gone on a walk and she had only planned on going a couple miles but managed to make it much farther than she had thought she would go (on the lovely bike path that goes from her house all the way up to Tramway)! She needed help trying to get her 'cardio trainer' app that I had installed on her phone to work so that she could calculate how many miles she logged! Unfortunately she wasn't able to get it to work, but because I used to scale that trail I know she was just short of 4 miles!!! After she got home she called me and told me I was never going to believe what happened on her way back! Humoring her I told her to tell me...she RAN!!! :D Mom ran the length of one trail (probably about 0.1-0.2 miles...I can't remember right now how far it is) and then she ran about half of another trail (again probably about 0.1-0.2 miles)!! She said she didn't know what overcame her but she had the urge to run..and so she did!!!

I can't tell you how exciting that is to hear. I truly believe we're all created or meant to run. That doesn't mean we are all meant to run at 7mph but there's something very freeing about letting go of all your doubts, worries, fears, and the "I cant's" and just allowing your body to run. It doesn't matter if you can only make it 5 seconds...you ran! Way to go mom! 

After completing homework I tried to come up with an excuse to not go workout, grumbled, and after I was done throwing my fit I laced up my shoes and hit the gym. I couldn't let my mom show me up now could I? 5.2 miles was on the books today so I got to it. This run was very difficult for me. I just never really got in a groove, the music Pandora played for me was awful, I eventually ripped the headphones out of my ears (you know it's bad when I would rather listen to my feet pounding the belt than listening to some jams to get me going!!). When I hit 5.2 miles I thought, "well I'm almost to 6 miles...so why not!" And I ended up going 6.1 miles in 80 minutes. To keep myself motivated and the run interesting I did quite a few intervals where I run for one minute at either 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, or 7.0. So my overall time does not reflect the internal struggle I was facing. However, when I got home my body had a temper tantrum to throw of it's own. I guess that's what I get for making it do what it wasn't feeling like doing. I started to get pale (super unusual for my normal beet-red-post-workout-face), super nauseated, and light headed...I tried to eat a clementine hoping it would help me feel better, but couldn't even get half down before feeling like I was gonna blow! So I literally laid on my kitchen floor with a blanket wrapped around me and fell asleep for about an hour!

When I woke up I was still too nauseated to be able to eat anything so I sat on my couch and caught up on some social media, pinterest, and a TV show...you know...all the important things! ;) Finally I was able to eat something! I think the cause of my nausea and light-headedness was lack of electrolytes/fluid replacement. I seriously drenched my shirt in sweat (if I wasn't so sick I would've taken a picture). I normally sweat a lot, but this was very excessive...so I'm willing to bet that was the cause of my turmoil! Regardless of it all I did it and I survived!

Okay, so I have a couple more things I want to share that have been on my mind...and I work the next three nights so I don't know when I will be able to write again so this post will give you something to ponder until I get a chance to write again!! 

So I've actually had several friends this past week asking me what they should do to get on the weight loss band wagon...something I haven't shared before is what I did before I really started to lose weight. So I will share now! :D I went to google and looked up "calorie maintenance calculator" so that I could see about how many calories I was consuming on a daily basis to stay at the weight I was at! At my heaviest I was consuming about 3,000 calories a day! In November when I really decided to make a change I was consuming about 2,700 calories daily! So that meant even if I cut my calories to 1,800-2,000 calories I would be losing weight each week (without exercise)! I truly think this is one of the most eye opening things I could've done to really understand where I was at. I took a look at where I was at. How can you make a change when you don't even know where you're starting?! So I would highly encourage those of you who are thinking of trying to lose weight to go to handy dandy GOOGLE and find a website that will give you a rough estimate of how many calories you're consuming each day to stay at the weight you're at!

Okay last topic I promise!! So a few weeks ago I talked about really loving yourself in the here and now regardless of what the scale says, regardless or what others tell you, and despite the fact that some people throw their trash out the window at you! Yesterday I experienced an overwhelming amount of joy and an exceeding amount of love for myself! You know we're not perfect and life (and satan) really have a way of trying to point out our flaws and how short we fall to societies idea of what beauty is. I'm so glad I don't look to society to define me and what I should be to be considered beautiful. Each day I am learning new ways to love myself and appreciate what my body is able to do. You see your body is your best friend, not your enemy. I wish I could help everyone see the beauty that is within them and that wants to be let out and it wants to shine and scream at the world, "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY...I AM BEAUTIFUL!" I say this not just for women but for men as well. We all feel the pressure that society places on us for what is considered beautiful...I'm so thankful that God does not agree with society and what they say defines or makes us beautiful! I love that He sees our beauty even when we don't! 1 Peter 3:4 says, "You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God" So different from our beauty being defined by a certain weight, the clothes we wear, the car we drive, and the way our skin glistens in the sun light!!

So here is the picture of me sitting in silence, loving myself, and overwhelmed with the joy and peace that only comes from Jesus Christ who has shown me the beauty within me!


So stop wasting time...love yourself here and now...because we are all beautiful, strong, and    courageous and worth being loved! 

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