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Not bad for a fat girl

Category Archives: Exercise


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Makeover Week

Did you catch The Biggest Loser last night? It was makeover week. The week where the remaining contestants, some of whom have lost over 100 pounds, get a professional makeover and see themselves in a new light. Tim Gunn of Project Runway does the wardrobe, and puts in his two cents about how fabulous everyone is, and some big name hair guy oversees color and cut. imagesAt the end of it all these folks looked fantastic, and they got to show off their new looks to their happy families.

Now I have to say, this is a fine looking group of people to begin with. The network chose them carefully, and they didn’t pick anyone who wasn’t handsome or pretty, even with the extra weight. They had plenty to work with, if the casting call I attended a while back was any indication. Hundreds of people wait for hours just to be glanced at for a moment at these calls. People also submit videos of themselves pleading their cases. Yes, there are a lot of fat people willing to sweat it out in front of a national audience. These are the ones who were picked and managed to stick around long enough to make it to makeover week. Good for them. It isn’t easy.

I would love to have my own makeover week. I would love to have a  day when I grab some hot outfit off a rack in a size I haven’t seen since high school or earlier, and look in the mirror astounded. I would love some top notch stylist to study my features and hair and design a style that brings out the best in both. I would love to see a new version of the old me. But the thing is, those contestants earned that makeover day. They didn’t just stroll in with a credit card and buy it. They earned it with workout after workout, fruits and vegetables, sweat and tears. Good for them.

I hope to earn my makeover day sometime in the not so distant future. I want to feel that I deserve it too.


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Feeling Kind of Monday

Yesterday was a wonderful day off from school in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was a beautiful day in my desert southwest city, and my son, my mother, and I took full advantage of it. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch on a restaurant patio, then worked it off hiking around our Desert Botanical Gardens. medThey had both seen the Chihuly glass installation there the last time around (son was in 5th grade then, now he’s in 10th), and it was fun to see how it differed from last time.

We soaked up the sunshine and warm weather, marveled at the beauty of the glass, and logged a couple of miles of desert hiking (well, strolling anyway). We entered the huts on the grounds that showed how the ancient people lived, and we inhaled the scents of lavender and sage. We read the signs, posed for pictures, and chatted with other visitors. It was a magnificent day. All on a Monday.

That means today feels like a Monday all over again. It’s time to jump in the shower and face the work week. It’s time to teach some new vocabulary, work on the skill of summarizing text, and try once again to demystify the world of fractions. Somehow I don’t feel up to the task. I feel ill prepared, although I’ve done my lesson plans and reviewed the week’s material. I just don’t feel ready. I feel like a need another weekend. Is that bad?

I’m not getting one though, at least not for four days. Oh, Four days. Well, that doesn’t sound so bad. Yes, I can do this. I’m certain I can. Wish me luck. I’m off to fraction hell.


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An Empathy Boost and Reminder

628x471Way back when, I started this blog with a post about an inspirational young man named Ryan, whose story I watched on Extreme Weight Loss.  In a nutshell, he was in an accident and lost an arm. He lost confidence, gained weight, and ended up working with Chris Powell on the show to get healthy and fit. It’s a great, uplifting story.

The take away for me was if he can do it, so can I. Great message, but I still haven’t done it. Then again I don’t exactly have Chris Powell as my roommate, but that’s another post for another day (or maybe not).

Fast forward to my recent vacation in Hawai’i. On our cruise there was a couple that we bumped into several times. They were at least a decade older than me, and they got married in Maui on the second day of the cruise. They were a friendly, outgoing couple clearly in love with life. They did have to do some things a little differently though, because, as he said, in a match of motorcycle vs. semi, the motorcycle seldom wins. One of his legs was prosthetic and the other was horribly damaged. It was clear where large areas of tissue had been removed. Hawai’i is warm this time of year, and, like most everyone else, this gentleman wore shorts.

We went on several excursions and these folks were there with us. He used a scooter for long distances, but could walk short distances and up and down the steps of busses and vans. Yes, it took a little longer, and I imagine that there was a fair amount of frustration and even pain involved to get and out of vehicles and around to different sights, but there was always a smile and a joke.

I think the universe is trying to remind me. I saw it before. I got the message. I just haven’t acted on it. I have all my parts in reasonably good working order. These men that I admire do not. Do they let that stop them from being active and achieving goals? No. I shouldn’t either. Thanks, universe, I needed that reminder.