Ballerunner!

Beth and I had a fantastic day today.  Slept in until 8, got ready, and went to the temple together.  That is a miracle right there:  We have so many temples, and more and more are being built.  It is such a haven of peace and rest, light, and revelation.  I LOVE to see the temple!  On the way there we (meaning mostly Beth.  She's the clever one)  coined a new phrase "Ballerunner," because I was talking about the five finger running shoes, and told Beth that some people call them toe shoes, and that I always wanted to be a ballerina!  So we decided that I get to be a ballerunner instead. :) After going to the temple we ate Cafe Rio (hooray for asking for what you want!) and then we went to a new-to-us running store, 26.2, where I bought new Vibram Five-finger Sprint shoes.  I AM IN LOVE!
After we came home I got sucked into organizing my room, and getting rid of things, and didn't make time to do essentrics or go on a longish run.  But I DID go for a mile and a quarter in the new shoes (I'll have to name them, of course.  Pooja and Priya have been there for me for a while now, and I need to name my new Vibrams too!)  Can I just say that the people behind these things were seriously inspired?  You get all the benefits of barefoot running (light, energetic, close to the earth) with none of the down-sides (no scuffed toes, or rock-induced blood blisters with these babies!).  I didn't get the warmest kind, and a few of my toes were slightly chilled, but nothing serious.  I love that people are always trying to make things better.  I think it comes from our divine nature...we are always meant to be more than we are right now.
I'm excited for this new year.  I want to be leaner, stronger, and faster.  I want to be closer to God, and more loving towards others.  And if it just so happens that I meet Prince Charming and get married, so be it!  :) Yay for 2012!
Other miracles:  Got a letter from BYU.  Yes, I have another scholarship.  That means that I only have to pay $620 for tuition, instead of $1440.  Bendiciones!!! Tender Mercies!!! Miracles.
With Mandy giving me her gorgeous bike, (I did give her $10 for it, but she wouldn't take any more!) when I take my Walmart bike back on Monday, I'll have a bike and Vibrams for the cost of my Walmart bike.   Who just gets to do that?

Today's stats:
W: 140.4 (I'll be using a new scale starting tomorrow)
E: 1.25 miles in 12-13 minutes...yes I'm slow, but I was out and moving!!, yoga
B: n/a
L: Cafe Rio:  cilantro lime rice, black beans, lettuce, cilantro, pico de gallo, and guacamole, delish!
S: bananas (probably ate 3 today) and peanut butter

The journey of a thousand miles...begins with one pedal?

Today I found out that my old beater blew a head gasket.  It would cost $1,000 to fix, and it was only $1,300 to begin with.  I don't have extra money (have to refund the deposit for my roommate who is moving out and pay tuition) so I'm not going to fix it, or buy a new car yet.  Beth and I went to Walmart this afternoon and I bought a bike.

A couple of days ago, my friend Sam posted that he no longer owns a vehicle.  Someone asked him what he's getting, and he said "Exercise and less debt."  I thought at the time that I should do something like that (knowing that my car was having problems, and wanting less debt and more exercise).  Now I get to!

I've had mixed feelings about this...I'm excited to be closer to getting out of debt (I have some on my credit card, and will have to do a short term loan for tuition, and then there's the mortgage), but even though it's been an incredibly mild winter, it is still Utah, and it's still winter.  I'm a creature of comfort, and this is outside my comfort zone!  However, I just need to take it one day at a time.  The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.  My work is only 1.5 miles away, and campus is only 1.5 miles away (in the other direction), so the farthest I'll ever have to ride is on Wednesdays when I'll go from home to school, to home, to campus and back home.  The grocery store is also less than a mile away, and if I have to go to the mall to meet with my committee chair, that's about 2 to 2.5 miles away from school or from home.  I can do this!!

AND, here's a miracle from today:  Mandy has a bike that's been sitting in her garage that she wants to give me!  So I can take the bike I bought today back to the store and use hers.  BENDICIONES!  AND this will help me reach my goal of being leaner and stronger and getting down to my ideal weight by May 8th, which will be the one year anniversary of the first day of my Eat to Live journey.  AND I've been wanting to spend more time outside and do things to help the environment, and this will help me to do both of those things.

On our way back from Mandy's house tonight, Beth rode the bike and I ran...I think we may have discovered a way that we can exercise together that will push both of us...it was great, and I had to run faster than I have for a while. (and I ran barefoot:)  LOVED it!

Today's stats:
W: 141.4 (a bag of chips and 2 containers of hummus will do that to you!)
E: essentrics a/a, walk to Mandy's/run back from Mandy's, pm yoga
B: banana
L: salad: spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, palta, chili
D: several bananas, 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter

Forever Strong

Per my father's recommendation, I watched the movie Forever Strong today. There were some great things in there that I need to record to remember in the future:

When are you going to first string yourself?

Need to run it out.

It's not about them, it's about you. It's about being the best you can be.

Champions in life

You spend a whole lot of time in the gym. You work your hardest with a complete commitment to do your best. You eat smart, get enough sleep, and you work your tail off and someday, someday you can have a body like mine.

Learning to listen, that takes a lot of discipline---Listen right.

Kia Kaha: Forever Strong

I keep talking about how I'm excited to do essentrics, how I need to run, etc, but I'm not putting things in place to do that. I haven't been doing my best. I haven't been listening to God, or to my body...I've been blocking them out through overexposure to media and lack of consciously tuning in. One of my friends from AZ had a goal this year to recognize and record miracles every day. I want to do that. I renamed my blog accordingly. Here's to a new start, a new day, a day of recognizing and participating in miracles.

Today's stats:

W: 139.4

E: 2 mile jog/walk, pm yoga

B: n/a

L: smoothie and a banana

S: banana

D: 2 packages of hummus and a bag of corn chips

Need more sleep!

So after all that weighing in at home and at Edwards' and hoping that their scale was right...M and F's was closer:) but it's all good. It'll come off as I start exercising again, and quit eating such large portions. One thing I need to work on is getting regular, consistent sleep. Last night I got about 4 hours...not the best. In Lean and Free, Dana says that sometimes when someone is doing everything else right and the pounds aren't coming off, it's because their body is too stressed by the lack of sleep, and that when they start getting enough sleep, the weight just comes off. Need to try that!

Today's stats:

W: 139.4

E: yoga

B: banana

L: spinach, tomatoes, 2 palta, chili, cilantro, 2 clementine oranges

D: Rice and Bindhi Aloo

Sticking up for me!

I'm getting better at knowing what I want and asking for it. Tonight Beth and I went to Denny's for dinner on the way home to Utah from our fabulous Christmas break with family. Did you know that there are maybe three things on that menu that can be remotely construed as Eat to Live worthy? And all of them required adjustments. I ended up getting a veggie burger with salsa and avocado, and a side of veggies. I was impressed with the veggies...some restaurants have just the limp frozen veggies. These were fresh and good. And the burger was one of the best veggie burgers I've had. I have yet to ask someone at a restaurant to try again with my order when they don't get it right (salad without dressing or cheese really shouldn't be that difficult people!), but I'm so glad when people listen! As Beth said, I'm worth it!

Today's stats:

W: 139 (M and F's scale)

E: yoga...so excited to exercise tomorrow!

B: green smoothie

L: ? probably bread, peanut butter and honey. I also ate some plain popcorn and some fruit.

D: banana, veggie burger with lettuce, palta and pico de gallo.

Ready for Reality?

I'm eating more than I need, but still pretty good-for-me foods, and am excited to EXERCISE tomorrow! I brought my essentrics dvd home but lack of schedule, and tight quarters in our little house make it difficult to do. Reality is coming back (or rather Beth and I are returning to reality) tomorrow night...Not sure if I'm ready for the homework part of it. Pretty sure I can't wait for the exercise part of it!

Today's stats:
W: 138 (M and F's scale), 132 according to Edwards'!
E: yoga
B: green smoothie
S: nuts, lots and lots of them
L/D: dal, rice, bread, peanut butter, honey, beets, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, lots of crackers.

Merry Christmas!

I LOVE Christmas, and especially loved being able to go to church on Christmas day. I think the best part was watching the kids in my family's ward...one of my reasons for trying to be healthier is so that I can be a better Mother when that time comes. I'm praying for help to be able to give the gift of eating to live to my Heavenly Father and my Savior as a demonstration of gratitude for all they have given and give to me.

Today's stats:
W: 137 (M and F's scale)
E: yoga
B: green smoothie
L/D: rolls, peanut butter, dal, brown rice, lettuce, sweet potato, beets, bananas, orange, lots of nuts.