Looking Back: 2010

Well, 2010 proved to have some successes and some unfulfilled goals. Like I've posted before, I like using yearly goals as guidelines.  We do it with finances: savings, giving and spending goals and it's worked well for the last 3 years so why not keep it up with other areas of my life?  Here's the deal, throughout the year I use the goal as a guideline.  I knew 10 races would be easier than a sweet a week.  I knew that 10 races would be easier than 20 books.  And as we can all see, I didn't quite make the sweet a week.  I actually failed miserably here at the end.  And as much as I want to use this pregnancy and hormones as an excuse I'm not going to.  I could have been stronger, much stronger.

In the near future I'm going to write about what I'd like 2011 to look like as far as "guidelines" go.  I know I want to keep the 20 books as a goal and we'll see what forms with the others.  My mind is a little nuts at the moment being 38 weeks pregnant.

Ten Races in 2010
1. 1/23: Mission Duathlon-Done!
2. 1/31: Groundhog Run-Done!
3. 3/27: Rock the Parkway-Done!
4. 4/11: Brew to Brew-Done!
5. 4/25: Acorn Walk/Run-Done!
6. 6/12: Maryville 10K-Done!
7. 7/31: KC Women's Triathlon-Done!
8. 8/26: Run for the Kids 10K-Done!
9. 10/2: Northwest Athletic Training Walk, Run or Roll 5K-Done!
10. 10/16: Kansas City Part of the Half Marathon-Done!

The Saga Continues: 2010 Sweets
1. Jelly Filled Donut
2. Vegas
3. Cupcake from Johnna
4. Glazed Donuts
5. Cake
6. French Silk Pie
7. Donut
8. Brownie
9. B-day week: vegan gf cheesecake, cookie cake, cupcake ala-mode
10. Brownie and Mrs. Fields Cookie
11. Chocolate Cake Dessert from Bravo
12. Sugar Cookies
13. Easter Candy
14. Swiss Cake Roll (only half!) and CC cookies
15. Donut
15. Frosted Cookie from TCBY and chocolate cake
16. Vacation week to Mexico
17. The Week after the vacation. Too many sweets.
18. Smores
19. Sugar Cookie and Cheesecake
20. Jelly Filled Donut
21. Cupcake Ala-Mode
22. Jelly Filled Donut
23. Donuts
24. Donuts
25. French Silk Pie
26. Cupcakes
27. Reeses PB cups and some brownies
28. Reeses PB cups and half a cookie from Mrs. Fields
29. Donuts, Cupcakes and Apple Dessert (BAD week)
30. Pineapple Dessert (did so great this week! Really, only 1 sweet and so happy with that at 4 months pregnant)
31. Cheesecake
32. Donuts
33. What didn't I eat that was sweet this week?!? (BAD week)
34. Ice Cream-and not even that much
35. Cookies
36. Donuts
37. Frozen Yogurt
38. Too many bad things
39. Another week of bad things
40. Reeses PB cups, cake
41. Reeses PB cups, cupcakes
42. chocolate cake
---------Warning, here's where it gets bad and out of control------------
43. Candy, Cheesecake, Cupcake, Black and White Cookie
44.Chocolate Chips, CC Cookies, Cupcake, Candy
45. Donuts, Chocolate Cake
46. Cin Roll, CChips, CC Cookies, Brownie, Cupcake
47. Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Cake, CC Cookie Dough
48-52. Bad, Bad, Bad-that's all I have to say

20 Books in 2010
1. The Noticer (Andy Andrews)
2. Food Rules (Michael Pollan)
3. Find Your Strongest Life (Marcus Buckingham)
4. Pilgrims Progress (John Bunyan)
5. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
6. Change Your Brain Change Your Body (Daniel G. Amen, MD)
7. Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers)
8. Master Your Metabolism (Jillian Michaels)
9. The Shack (William Young)
10. The 5 Love Languages of Children (Garry Chapman)
11. You Having a Baby (Mehmet Oz, MD and Michael Roizen, MD)
12. Runner's World Guide to Running and Pregnancy (Chris Lundgren)
13. The Culprit and The Cure (Steven G. Aldana)
14. Authentic Christianity (Kim Dean May)
15. Active Birth:The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally (Janet Balaskas)
16. The Carb Lovers Diet (Ellen Kuhns and Frances Largeman-Roth)
17. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
18. The Impact! Body Plan (Todd Durkin)
19. The Marriage You've Always Wanted (Gary Chapman)
20. Shepherding a Child's Heart (Tedd Tripp)

Book 20: Shepherding a Child's Heart

I'm just so glad to be done with book #20 for the year.  This was a good perspective.  I always enjoy the little things I get out of a book.  It doesn't have to be a ton of information but there were a handful of items that stuck out to me; the main one being how much of a time investment we as parents need to put into our children.  I think it's easier said than done living in such a fast-paced world.

Book 19: The Marriage You've Always Wanted

A great book for anyone married.  I got this book back in April when we attended Gary Chapman's marriage conference.  He challenged every couple to read the book together chapter by chapter and then discuss the questions together at the end of each chapter.  I'd love to tell you Aaron and I did this but we didn't--yet.  I completed the book and Aaron has agreed to read it and so the goal is to complete the assignment originally given by Chapman by April of 2011.  Not bad, one year to complete this simple task?!

One reason I like the book is it goes over so many areas of marriage with the overall goal to increase communication.  We've all seen the couple that have this overwhelming sense of "oneness."  The couples that talk through everything.  Then you see the couples that are on completely different pages.  They are the couples that let things slide under the rug.  My hope and prayer is that Aaron and I would continually grow into a couple that has the overwhelming sense of "oneness."  I think this book is a great start to that.

Motivation Monday: Victories

I had this thought last week when I was checking out at Hobby Lobby and desperately wanted a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  Then I had the same thought on the way to my OB appointment when I wanted to stop by Cupcake Ala Mode (I have this fight with myself every time I go to visit my OB which is now weekly).  I didn't do either (trust me there was other major damage done) but I thought to myself how I should make a goal to have 5 or 10 small victories per week.  Maybe it's passing up the chocolate cake at Target or maybe it's getting to the gym when my original intentions were to go and then I thought I wouldn't go but ultimately had a small victory and went.  It's an idea for 2011.  It could be a weekly count or a monthly goal of keeping track of victories no matter the number.  I think it can also give a sense of strength on days when we feel weak.  Looking at victories can be a motivator to keep attaining more victories.

If we can begin to think about how the small things will add up they will do just that.  Many small things can make up something very big.  Never underestimate the power of the small things. 

Motivation Monday: It's Just Food

It's interesting to me how much importance we put around food through the holidays.  Our life is centered around food.  I don't know how many times I've heard, "after the first of the year I'm going to get started on...." whatever their next plan of action might be.  Sure it may seem harsh to criticize this statement.  After all, maybe they are just being realistic?  Isn't that what everyone does.  After all Christmas just wouldn't be the same without eating ___. 

I read a quote from Wynonna Judd after losing 60 pounds in US Weekly this morning that got me thinking.  She said something to the effect of "once I realized it's just food."  Isn't that the ticket?  Can't we be in denial about how food controls us to the max and that's why the weight isn't coming off?  Sure, we want  to lose the weight but aren't willing to give up x, y, and z.  Seriously, listen to your thought process and even the words that come out of your mouth.  Once we start noticing and realizing how we think through our rationalizations then we can begin to fix it.

I think it's damage control.  Once we figure out the right symphony of food and exercise that will keep us sane and on a healthy path everything fits together nicely.  It just requires more work than passively walking through life. 

Then since I'm rambling I think the other issue is all or nothing.  Instead of striving for a "balanced" symphony of food and exercise we think it needs to be an extreme.  Either we're totally on board or we're totally off board and that the in between doesn't matter.  Well the in between is where we need to live.  It's where I live.  It's the only way I would know how to survive.  I strive to be healthy, I strive to exercise regularly.  I don't beat myself up if I over do it with eating at a meal or skip a workout.  Those little things aren't what will make me unhealthy or overweight.  It's the small things I do every day.

So maybe if we try not to make such a big deal about the food and keep it in our heads that, "it's just food" life would be easier over the next few weeks?  It's worth a shot.  Change your mind frame.

Book 18: The Impact! Total Plan

I've been ranting about this book for quite some time now, The Impact! Body Plan  by Todd Durkin takes the prize for my favorite book this year. 


Why do I love this book so much?  Why does it get 1st place out of 20 books?  The reason is simple, it's the complete package.  Durkin is a world-class motivator and educator.  I am a motivator, my career requires me to feed myself inspiration to share with others.  He motivated a motivator.  I am an educator, my career requires me to educate my clients of the why.  He educated an educator. 
 
The book includes a very detailed 10 week workout plan.  One I'm chomping at the bit to get started as soon as I can.  It's also packed with quotes and education you'd get from a personal trainer course.  I've encouraged all my clients to read the book, buy the book and have it in your house as a reference.  I'd tell anyone the same.  Durkin created a must read!

Traded In...

Ever since I've had to trade in my running shoes for walking I've really been okay with it...really.  Sure at first I was in denial that I couldn't run anymore because in my mind and heart (cardiovascular conditioning) I could do it.  Although my pelvis told me something different so walking 12 miles per week it was.  Sure, it takes much longer but I've been okay with it until the other night when I was at the gym.  It was packed.  You would have thought it was a Monday evening in January and not December.  All the machines were being utilized with a waiting list.  So there I was, power walking my way to complete my 3 miles for the day when everyone, and I mean everyone around me was running on their treadmill.  All I wanted to do was crank that baby up and really get my heart rate going and oh yeah, get some sort of a sweat instead of just feeling a little "warm."  So walking just doesn't hack it for me but I know it'll have to, at least for the next month or so and I can sure handle it.  It was just so apparent to me Monday night how much I cherish the ability to be able to get my heart pumping, sweat and feel so alive in my running shoes.  Funny how we never fully appreciate something until we can do it anymore. 

So if you can, will you run a mile for me?    

Motivation Monday: Stay Inspired

Finish the year strong.  Read a book, watch a documentary, go to a class, or hang out with someone who lifts you up.  During crummy weather months I like to stay inside and read a good, motivating book.  I can't say it enough, go get this book.  I promise it will inspire you!

Astound Yourself!

If we did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. -Thomas A. Edison

Motivation Monday: Get Your Mind Right

"Whether you think you can or think you cannot...you're right"- Henry Ford

I'm making my way through Todd Durkin's Impact! Body Plan.  I'll write my review on the book soon but in the meantime, go out and get this book!  It's one of the best books I've read in 2010 and one that's packed with motivation and ways to get your mind right.

Do the D!

Vitamin D that is!  The article here talks about how research is pointing towards a link between low vitamin D levels and an increase in gaining weight, especially around the belly in kids and adults.  Make an effort to go outside and take a supplement.