Monday, March 11th

Happy Anniversary, Joe!  Six years ago today we met in a little bar in Broad Ripple and I haven't stopped thinking about you since.  :0)  Love you and miss you.

Okay, enough mushy stuff.  On to my day at Green Mountain.  After breakfast this morning, I went to the class on overcoming exercise obstacles lead by LynnAnn.  She first had us list all of the reasons we give ourselves for not working out and then proceeded to nip them in the bud.  My two contributions were, "My apartment is too small and it is cold outside."  So she marked off a tiny piece of floor in the room and proceeded to do a cardio workout.  Then she said, "Too cold/hot/humid?  Go back inside!"  You know, common sense things that make our excuses sound really dumb.

While discussing Negative Self Talk, she told us to Detach and Refocus.  Detach ourselves from the situation and refocus on the goal at hand.  If someone else is giving us negative self talk, then do the 4 second U-Turn.  They say, "Well shouldn't you be working out?"  So you say, "Shouldn't you be?"  Or, "I have my plan for the day, thank you."  If you want to be nice.

Another tool is for us to write ourselves a letter that includes all of the little nuggets of success we have had here and seal it up.  If on one day we don't feel like working out, we ask ourselves 1. Am I too stressed? 2. Am I sick? 3. Am I bored? and if none of those motivate us to workout then don't.  Then repeat this on day two if we don't want to work out.  On the third day that we don't workout and those questions don't help, then open our letter and remember the successes we had here and it will hopefully motivate us to get up and moving.

Finally, in this class, we discussed why it is important to know whether or not you are a morning person or a night person.  She asked, "Why do you try to work out at the wrong time of your day?"  In the past I have often tried to wake up early to do my fitness and I just hate it and then I stop doing it.    Since I am a night person, then I should work out in the evening. Duh, right?

At 10:30 I went to a Low Impact Aerobics class and then after that we had lunch.  Today it was a zucchini and feta casserole with a salad.  Yummy, but it didn't keep me very full.  I then went to a class about 'Sustaining the Change' and setting our intentions for the week.  For those of us on the 4 week plan, our weeks should be focused on the following:  Week 1 - Foundation; Week 2 - Practice; Week 3 - Going Deeper/Reflection; Week 4 - Personalizing Your Program/Planning.  So we were asked some questions about the different aspects of the program and to reflect on how we feel about each part based on where we are in our time here.  I focused on 'practice' and figured out some areas I want to try this week in helping me practice.  For example, I mentioned that I want to practice more mindful eating, especially when I am at a table with other people and I am engaging in great conversation.  Sometimes good convo can be the same as watching TV and the next thing you know, your meal is missing!  Who took it?  Robyn suggested possibly setting a timer to go off every 5-10 minutes just so you stop and think about your meal.  Evaluate your hunger, savor the taste, and then continue.  At dinner tonight, I didn't set a timer, but I did stop the conversation at the table once and said, "Hold on, everyone.  This is delicious."  And we all took a pause and then carried on with our conversation.

Other methods of practice that I can use it to 1. Stop self hating. 2. Let it go. 3. Ask, 'Am I getting results?' 4. Say, "That's your OLD way of thinking, Beth!"

Total Body Strength followed and then there was snack and then I went to a class about Weight Bias. Unfortunately this class didn't turn out how I had hoped.  This week is Health Professionals week, so there are a number of ladies here who are in the health care industry and are taking the program to earn continuing education credits.  While some have the same motivation as the rest of us, to become healthier, others don't.  It was apparent in this class as I felt that some of the 'professional' were being bias as we were trying to discuss how that is wrong.  Saying things like, "I feel that overweight or obese people are lacking education.  Otherwise they wouldn't keep doing what they are doing and they wouldn't be so unhealthy."  Obviously this is a blanket statement about all overweight people that I take offense against.  As an overweight person, education is not my problem!  Not to mention that I am a very healthy person.  I am rarely sick and I have good blood pressure, my cholesterol is normal, my blood sugars are normal, etc.  While I know issues can arise if I continue at this weight or higher, I certainly don't deserve to be biased against now or ever.  So the class was interesting, but I feel it could have been more helpful if I took it when the HPs weren't around.

Dinner was amazing tonight.  Turkey Cannelloni, green beans, and Apple Crisp! Yum!  Finally, I watched a documentary called, "Happy" this evening and absolutely loved it.  So good and highly recommended.  It's on Netflix if you have the chance to watch it.