If you knew for absolute certain, Amybeth, that every little thing you did today would later be scrutinized, literally moment by moment, by a future you, and future friends, as well as anyone else interested, and you'd all be looking for a number of qualities, especially patience, kindness, and love, during this game of games and test of tests called life, how might you treat the very next person you see after reading this Note?
Yeah,The Universe
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| Used with permission from Arthlete |
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| Run like no one is watching. Photo by Bernd Moehle |
“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.” —Mark TwainTell me what/who your "gunman" is in the comments below. Kim is the writer and creator behind Un-Copied Life where she writes twice weekly about non-conformity. You can also find her on Twitter and Google+.
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| 15 of these! |
This week on the Amybeth Loses Facebook page, we're sharing healthy recipes! I've been struggling with eating at home lately and asked my fans to submit their favorite healthy recipe. I'll be working on meal planning in the coming weeks and trying new things. I'll also be sharing my thoughts on what I cook at home.
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| April 2011 You can just see it, can't you? |
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| April 2011 |
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| April 2011 |
One of my biggest motivators is my daughter. Right now she's just two, but I want to be here to watch her children get married. I want to run around with her, jump rope, ride bikes, and any other active activity she gets interested in. I want to keep up.
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Follow me on my brand new Pinterest and Twitter accounts...because I'm AWESOME!
Follow @amybethloses
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| Post Workout - O M G I'm gonna die or puke or die or something. |
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| Source: ARThlete |
My friend, SS, is not the only one working out with me at the gym each day. I've got my long time friend Fibromyalgia along for the ride too and her companion pain medication.
I've always had psychological issues with taking my prescribed pain medication. My father was a long time drug (prescribed and illegal) abuser. He would lie and exaggerate pain for more drugs, constantly pushing the limits on how much he could take. Because of this, I've always had strict limits on my own drug and alcohol usage. I live in constant fear of having a substance abuse problem as he did. As a result, I often ignore or fight through my pain making it difficult to live up to my potential. I'd work hard in the gym one day and when my body screamed that night I would skip the next week out of fear of making it worse. This constant battle of pain from doing what my body needs and not wanting to take my prescribed medications as held me back immensely. I also convinced myself that being on a medication that other people abuse makes me a bad parent. See? All these rules. I can't take meds if I'm home alone with Meghan. I can't take meds if Robert takes something (even cold meds). It's good to be paranoid, but sometimes I go a little too far with it.
I guess it finally clicked in my brain that I needed to start accepting the help prescribed to me if it meant doing what I need to do. So now if I go to two aqua classes back to back and come home walking funny in pain, I'll take a pain pill. I still feel guilty, but I just need to work through it. I realize that with time the workouts will become less painful as I become stronger. Each workout puts me closer to my goal of being healthy and without so much pain. I know that loosing weight and gaining muscle will lower the amount of pain I deal with from day to day.
Sure, pain can be a warning sign. I know I need to not over do it. I'm listening to my body. For example, when I awoke in pain today, I decided to do cardio instead of an intense weight lifting class. Tonight I will go swimming for therapeutic proposes and loosen this tight muscles. Tomorrow I'll be attending a stretch class and if I will well enough after I'll do some weight lifting afterward. It's important that when I feel pain I shouldn't stop. I just need to modify and keep going. Any exercise is better than no exercise. Each and every day I will continue to exercise regardless of how I feel.
I will tell you that having a good friend along side me helps! It keeps me accountable and makes the time go by a little faster. Now it's not just going to the gym, it's visiting and socializing. Let's just hope she doesn't get tired of my awesomeness!
Yesterday was my final weigh in for the Face2Face program. While I wish I could have done the full amount of exercise they suggested (Kidneys Suck), I am still happy to see the results that I have.
Weight: -12 pounds
Waist: -7.5 inches
Hips: -11 inches
Right Thigh: -1.5 inches
Left Thigh: -1 inch
Right Arm: -1.5 inches
Left Arm: -2.5 inches
Total Inches Lost: 25
TWENTY FIVE INCHES! I'm totally proud of that! Pretty good for having a major illness in the middle of it and being unable to exercise. I'm excited now to do this. Results are very motivating!
As a prize for being compliant (or in my case trying to be compliant!) I get one free personal training session next week. I'm a little nervous about that appointment, but I'm going to do it anyway. My trainer has agreed to keep measuring me every four weeks to help me chart my progress.
I cannot wait to share more progress with you guys! Big changes are coming, stay tuned!
Just a few short hours after my last post, I woke up in severe pain and was rushed to the hospital. I was diagnosed with a severe kidney infection (left) and several small stones (right). I was able to come home for a few days only to end up back at the hospital to stay for several days. It was a very painful experience.
It's been almost four weeks now and I'm still struggling to regain my strength. I require a nap pretty much every day. I'm weak and wear out very easily. My regular workouts have had to be shortened, as I have a hard time making it through without severe dizziness and palpitations. It's pretty defeating.
As a result, my Face2Face program got pushed back a few weeks and my final weigh in is tomorrow. I'm disappointed that I was not able to do the exercise the way we talked about in the program. I should have been doing 3-5 days of cardio and 3 days of weights each week. I did pretty well at first but once I got sick I was out for three weeks and than had a hard time getting back in gear. I'm planning on asking the trainer if she is willing to remeasure me in a month so I can continue to see my results on paper. I know it's more about how I feel, but seeing those numbers is motivating.
For now I'm working on building back up to where I was with exercise and adding more in. Tonight I attended two aqua fitness classes with a friend. The second one was Aqua Zumba. It was a blast! I find that I am unable to do regular Zumba because of my joints and also because I'm a flailing idiot with four left feet, so Aqua Zumba is just right. No pressure on my joints and more importantly no one can see how stupid I look!
Stay tuned for those awesome Face2Face results!
I had another kick butt day at the gym, this time doing intervals on the treadmill and AMT machine. Next week I will be having my nutrition appointment where I'll be bringing a log of everything I eat and drink over a three day period. One week from that I'll have my last appointment with my final weight and measurements. I'm excited to see the changes in my body! Already, I'm feeling more energetic and a little stronger.
One area I am lacking in is a good support team. I need friends (near or far) I can count on over this long journey to help push and motivate me. I need YOU to hold me accountable.
Are you interested in joining my support team? Email me to find out how you can help!
“We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn't. Success often lies just the other side of failure.”
Leo F. Buscaglia
I failed. I gave up. I wimped out.
Tonight, I walked out of a class.
As part of the Face 2 Face program at the gym, it was recommended that I integrate classes into my fitness routine. Last week at my weight training meeting, I received a suggestion for a class from one of the trainers. If I completed the class, my name would be entered to win a "prize". I don't know what the so called prize would've been and maybe that's a good thing.
I've been having a hard time emotionally and have had to push myself extra hard each day. It was hard to find the motivation to try a new class. I was determined to push through it even though I just wanted the comfort of my bed.
I got to the gym a few minutes early and had to stand outside the group fitness room with several other women. This negative self talk was running high. "Those women are younger than me. They're thinner and fitter than me."
I entered with the others and followed their lead, choosing equipment and finding a place to set my stuff. When the instructor started handing out jump ropes I panicked. Then she started saying that all the tall people needed to move to spots that weren't under ceiling fans because of all the jumping jacks and jump roping we were going to be doing.
I picked up my water bottle and walked out the door.
I gave up without even trying.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, my defeat started weighing heavily on me and pulling towards the exit that would take me back to home. I took a deep breath, turned away from the door and continued on to the weight line. I took my frustrations on the weights, pushing to 20 reps on most every machine. I got on the bike and then the treadmill. Finally, when I started shaking and those thoughts started bubbling over, I went to the steam room.
I sat alone, in the steam room for a good 15 minutes. I was unprepared and didn't have my bathing suit, so I sat there in my gym clothes until they were soaked. After a few minutes, I couldn't tell what was wetness from the humidity in the room and what was sweat...or tears.
I beat myself up for not trying. I asked myself why I was doing this at all. Why bother? I told myself I'd never succeed, that if I couldn't keep up then it wasn't worth fighting for.
And then I stopped. Who says I need to be able to jump rope to lose weight? Or ever? So what if I never jump rope again in my life? I didn't like jumping rope when I was a kid, I don't have to do it now either. Maybe all the jumping around won't hurt later on when I'm fit and healthy, but who says I have to do it?
Would I have been better off having pushed myself through that class and suffered the consequences later? Would I have been proud of myself tomorrow when I would have had to cancel the rest of my week so I could stay in bed with my pain pills? I don't think so.
Yes, I walked out on class that wasn't right for me. But I made the right decision for me and my body. I can lose weight without injuring myself in the process.
“Doubt yourself and you doubt everything you see. Judge yourself and you see judges everywhere. But if you listen to the sound of your own voice, you can rise above doubt and judgment. And you can see forever.”
Nancy Lopez
Despite eating out a couple times last week, I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. I've been going to the gym regularly and trying out new things. I even tried Aqua Zumba which was a lot of fun! It was easier to keep up with than I thought it would be. I was actually disappointed when the time was up because I wanted to keep going!
I'm finding that the steam room and sauna does wonders for my sore muscles. I enjoy being able to relax after a workout. It feels good to have that "me" time.
My weight is currently still fluctuating, but I'm just focusing on doing what's good for my body rather than fretting about the numbers. In fact, I don't think I'll weigh myself again until after the last Face 2 Face meeting when they do my measurements. I think I will be disappointed if I don't see any results at that appointment, but I'm just going to keep chugging along regardless. Even if I'm not losing, I'm still gaining strength and I know that eventually the numbers will follow as well.
I love how good healthy foods make me feel. Last week I ate something unhealthy, I don't even remember what it was...maybe pizza, and I had the worst time trying to sleep because of reflux. I don't have to deal with that kind of stuff when I eat healthy. I don't miss the junk. I miss drinking something other than water sometimes, but it's not earth shattering.
The thing I like the best about all of this is the change I've seen already in energy. It's so much easier to do simple things like household chores with that extra bit of energy!
I'm excited to watch my body change! These are exciting times my friends!
