Living in the Present

My life is a journey, not a destination. This weight loss journey that I am on is just one of the MANY things I'm doing with my life. I've said it so many times before in prior posts, "although, this weight loss journey is very important to me, I don't want it to consume me, there's so much more to me than just this - as encompassing as it is!!" From the very beginning it has been important to me that I do not miss out on life as I attempt to get healthy. I'm at a good place (very good place) in my life and now is the right time for me to be on this journey but at the same time, I am also enjoying life as I go along! I certainly will not let life just pass me by!!! I don't want to put anything on hold so that I achieve these goals. Because if I was to do that, what would I do when I achieved those goals? Where would I start? I'd be lost!!!

Don't get me wrong, I realize that I will have to make some major changes to my lifestyle, particularly with regards to my nutrition and physical activity and committment to this (and I HAVE) and I will continue to make those sacrifices BUT I won't sacrifice living.....I am enjoying my life, my family and my friends and my work, even as I go through this journey!! It's great! No regrets. I certainly don't want to look back in 7-8 months time, having reached my goals and be miserable due to the things I've missed out on!! What brought these thoughts on, you may ask? Well I'll tell you.

I bumped into one of my old friends today; haven't seen her in about 2 years! She was so pleasantly surprised when she saw the change in my physical appearance...she complimented me over and over and wanted to know what I was doing. We grabbed a seat and I proceeded to fill her in about the whole journey/blog experience. It was really nice. We were having such a good time. Anyway, we started talking about old times. I asked how her sister was and it's then that the mood of our conversation changed. "Oh crap", I thought to myself...."something's wrong, I hope her sister is okay!"

She then started filling me in that her sister (who was always a bigger girl, like me) had lost all of the weight!! She did it using the South Beach Diet and running (she ran 5K's, 10K's and was even training for a half marathon). "WOW", I exclaimed, "that's amazing". "So why so glum", I asked. Well she continued to fill me in.

In her words, her sister had become so obsessed with losing the weight that it was all she did, spoke of and lived. She cut off ties with many of her friends and even some family members. She stopped attending functions etc. This was all that she was about, losing the weight. Anyway, in a nut shell, this went on for about 9 months or so. It has been a little over year since her sister lost the weight and has now been battling depression. She even attempted suicide ...she said that she felt that after she lost the weight, it's almost like there was nothing else and at first it wasn't so bad but she just slipped further and further into depression. she's currently on medication and showing signs of things getting better.

I was truly stunned to hear all of this. I realize that this may be an extreme case (or maybe not, I don't know) but I just found it so sad. This is exactly what I don't want to happen to me and I don't think it would with me because I love life and people (especially my family and friends) and although I want to lose this weight, I really want to lose this weight, I DO NOT want to cut off my friends and family to do it. This does take a lot of time, effort, dedication, sacrifices and resources and I can see how it can get the best of you but I do not intend to let it!! I'm trying to get fit so that I can ENJOY LIVING even more than I currently do.

I always think back to a comment one of my new Facebook friends sent me, "Joania, if your head is right, your ass will follow!" It really is all about finding that balance and if you don't, you might get lost in the end, as was the case with my friend's sister.

Sorry for such a downer post but I really think it's important that I shared this with all of you, especially those of you on this journey with me or on journeys of your own and even those thinking of starting a journey. Stay true to who you are and live in the moment, enjoy the small accomplishments no matter what. I don't know, I'm no expert but it just makes sense to me that this weight loss thing (and everything else for that matter) should be about balance. I mean we all make mistakes but it's that big picture that matters in the end. Your overall accomplishment, right???

I would really love to hear your thoughts on this one, please feel free to post comments!

Thanks.

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

ST PATTY'S DAY - Shake Your Shamrock!!

So, unfortunately, my girlfriend JB had to cancel and could not make it to Edmonton for St.Patty's Day!! Although I was disappointed that she wouldn't be there, I decided that I was going to celebrate anyway, I WAS GOING TO SHAKE MY SHAMROCK!!! I LOVE St. Patty's Day, so why not?

This journey is important to me and I am committed to it and reaching my goals but I also do not want life to pass me by this year because of it!! So, I decided to enjoy my St. Patty's Day....I wasn't "bad" the entire day - just that evening!! I have ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS!! I did promise to be honest with you guys throughout this journey so here it is!! :)

I woke up that morning, worked out, had a healthy breakfast and went off to work for the day. I made sure that I had a healthy lunch as well (shrimp and veggies). After work, I went back to the hotel, threw on my Irish green shirt and green underwear and went to a pub (Sherlock Holmes) with my colleagues. This pub was awesome...they provided all the "green accessories" (Hats, t-shirts, stickers, shot glasses, beer bong, beads, etc., etc.) It was wonderful. I ordered a green beer and got started on the evening!! My friend JB and I celebrated together via text messages, so we kind of felt like we did not break tradition - we did in a sense, celebrate together!!

Let the festivities begin.....

Green Hat....CHECK!!

Green Beer Bong......CHECK!! (It never left my side :)

Green Beer......CHECK times 2!!

Green Beads....CHECK!!!

A few beers (green and other) later, this is me loving St. Patty's Day...

I must admit, it didn't take much to get me to the point of "feeling good"... stop drinking for 3 months and you too can turn into a cheap drunk!!
Please note that Green Stickers were added (hey, what's St. Patty's Day without green shamrock stickers?)...

I really did have a fabulous time. I held up WAY better than I thought I would, all things considered.



MORE HONESTY....

My food and drinks for that evening consisted of the following:

• lots and lots of green beer (my bong held about two bottles/glasses when filled to the brim)
• lots of non-coloured beer
• shooters
• chicken wings
• sweet potato fries
• and water

The next morning, about 6:15 am, I opened my eyes, rubbed them a bit, slowly and carefully sat up in bed and waited......waited somemore......NOTHING!! The room wasn't spinning, my head wasn't fuzzy, my stomach (and contents) were fine....I could not believe how great I felt...NO HANGOVER!!! This is the first post St.Patty's Day morning in years that I haven't been hungover. Could not believe it. The only thing I did differently was this journey and no McDonalds after drinking....so my conclusion is, and this is big news here, "Being Fit/Healthy Prevents Hangovers!!" :)

I got out of bed, threw on my workout gear and went to the gym...I did my workout for a little more than an hour, took a long, fabulous shower and went down to breakfast!!! It was incredible!! I felt awesome and it lasted throughout the day!! Just awesome.

So that's it... I had a great time, and continued on with my journey...I still managed to lose 1 pound this week. I'm sure I could have lost a few more but no worries at all!! I am totally pleased and just feel awesome.

So this is a new week and I plan to kick it up a few notches. Rob (trainer) is building a new, crazy and killer workout for me, I will also be spinning twice a week in addition to my cardio - so I'm excited. This is it, I'm sticking to this hardcore..

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)