One Hundred Seventy Two point Eight

Well, I gained weight this summer. I knew it was happening- I was in a land full of candy- I love that land- it's called Mom and Dad's house :) and even though I was running, I wasn't watching what I was eating and I wasn't cross training. I weighed myself this week and I was not pleased. But I also didn't want to feel like I was bad somehow, I didn't want to go on a diet, I don't want to feel powerless against that number- That number is not who I am, I am so much more than that- I don't want to feel like I'm constantly in a battle against my body- I don't think that is healthy at all.

At Stake Conference this weekend, someone brought up the choices we make each day between Good, Better and Best and I thought "I want to be My Best, whatever that may be" and so I sat down and I made myself a little daily checklist- on it I put things that I felt would help me be my best. Time for Spiritual things- scriptures, gospel study etc; Time for my body- exercise; Time for helping others- Volunteering and service; Time for Singing; Time for Learning- anything, something new, anything I'm interested in; Time for Housework- because yeah, I can improve; AND Time for Healthy, Mindful Eating. The past few days I have been using my time for learning to learn about Mindful Eating/Intuitive Eating. And in true mother fashion, while I rode the exercise bike today, I watched this video. It's pretty interesting.



She speaks about how our bodies have weight set points, It's something our brains just do, and though we can train our body/brain to have a higher set point, it's rare that our set points ever go down. This is why after dieting the majority of us gain the weight back. At first when I heard this I thought "WAHT?!?!?! How am I ever going to be able to maintain a healthy weight!" But then I remembered something I have spoken about before, and this memory gives me hope that I may be able to convince my body to reset. Don't worry, if I can't I'll still be happy, because I will be my best no matter what.

So here is what I remembered. 8+ years ago my body had a set point of 202 pounds. If I wasn't constantly on guard, that's where I would find myself. Through hard work I was able to get down to the 160/170 range and I was amazed! But as always seems to happen with dieting, you eventually stop watching yourself, and when that would happen I would find myself at 183. Yep. That was my new set point! I reset! My current set point is 172.8. 30 pounds less than my original 202. YAY! But about 20-30 pounds more than the range I'm hoping to be able to reset it to, my personal Anti-Type 2 Diabetes range.

At the beginning of her TED Talk Sandra Aamodt told about how 3 years previous she had started to make changes in her eating habits, to be more mindful and intuitive. This lead to a 10 pound weight loss, which is awesome, but the more awesome part is that she moved from the "Controlled" group of eaters- those who use self control when it comes to food and tend to diet, lose then gain- to the "Intuitive" group. Those who eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full- and who tend not to obsess about food. She said she doesn't even THINK about the chocolate that is in house! Imagine that- I know where the chocolate is, it calls to me. Currently I'm a Controlled Eater. But I hope that I will be able to change to an Intuitive Eater. Near the end of her talk she says that becoming an Intuitive eater won't necessarily lead to weight loss, unless you tend to eat a lot when you are not hungry. EMOTIONAL EATER RIGHT HERE!

So this is my goal. Be the Best Me. Retrain my brain, become an Intuitive Eater. Find a better outlet for my emotions than eating them, that's where I hope to find the weight loss and my final RESET. I'll let you know how I'm doing.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

What a Summer we've been having. The weekend before Memorial Day we moved out of our house in Lehi. We put it on the market the next week and it was under-contract the very next day, the sale was final at the beginning of July. We currently own no home. But we are lucky to be able to have a nice, safe and happy place to live while we wait. Grandma and Grandpa Turner have been so amazingly welcoming. 

As I said, we CURRENTLY own no home, but in a couple of weeks we'll have a home again. We found a Home in South Jordan that we are excited to be able to purchase. It's been an interesting process, but things have actually gone really well, we feel like this is exactly where we need to be. The elementary school that serves our new neighborhood is a Year Round School, and since we were under-contract on the new house, we were able to register the boys and they started school last week. 

See how excited J was for the 1st day of school!

 

 B has adjusted to 1st grade and going to school ALL DAY really well. 

 And E has been thoroughly enjoying being my BABY- In fact she has decided she is a baby again and can often be heard saying "Goo-goo, Ga-ga" and asking to be swaddled. She is also enjoying hanging out with Cousin E who comes to Grandma's house twice a week.

I'm starting to get really excited about the new house! My Mom and I were at the DI last week and we saw this Settee Bench. It was $15. It needs some more fluff in it's cushion but that's a project I'm willing to take on. This will go in our Front Room :) possibly right in our bay window. The kids love it- they've told me they each want one of their own- because yeah- they're prefect for lounging :)  

Again?

About a week ago, my neighbor commented that I had the most delicate ankles she had ever seen.  Well, on Thursday my right ankle decided to say "Hey! Hey You! I'm delicate! Pay attention to me."

Yep, I was walking out to the van, taking my Kindergartner to school and going to the school to volunteer myself. I stepped off the curb.......and OUCH I was falling/rolling my ankle. My purse landed in a puddle, I landed on wet asphalt. I was able to scramble my way off the asphalt and sit on the curb while I tried to breath deeply and prayed that he pain would go away. My two youngest kids were in the van, they watched me fall, they told me I would be okay, then they asked "Mommy? Are you hurt?" Sadly, I had to say that yes, yes I was hurt. I eventually got myself and both kids back into the house and I decided that I wasn't going anywhere.  These first two pictures were taken pretty soon after I got back inside. My delicate ankle- was swollen, from my point of view it kind of looked dislocated, it wasn't, but it was most definitely sprained. 

 I let the teachers know that I wasn't going to make it to school that day. My wonderful neighbor took B to school and picked him back up from the bus stop when he got home. E tried her best not to take advantage of the fact that Mommy wasn't getting out of bed, but she wasn't able to stop herself from throwing popcorn around the front room, that just HAD to be done.

I stayed off my foot as much as I possibly could. J made dinner (his first attempt at frozen burritos) while Ken did his running for the day. I was given a blessing by Ken and our Home Teacher. I felt comforted, this sprain will heal more quickly than my last sprain. I've set some big goals this year, running a race per month- In fact my next race is in just 2 1/2 weeks. I am really excited about that race because it's the Rex Lee Run and one of my neighbors sponsored me and I'll be wearing the name of her friend who recently lost her fight with cancer. I don't feel like I need to worry about not being able to meet my goals.

In the past, with the approval of my doctor, I've run a 10k about 3 weeks after spraining an ankle. As I went to bed on Thursday night I had the thought that maybe I could switch from the 10k to the 5k. Friday morning I looked it up and I have about a week to decide if I want to do the 5k or even just the 1k. Being able to switch races is a big blessing to me- because I still get to run in honor of my friend's friend, but I also get to take care of myself and not push myself harder than I should.

Another Blessing- My 7 year old, J, made breakfast on Friday, he fried eggs for everyone. My boys were both able to get dressed and off to school without me having to get out of bed! I was able to Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate.

Another Blessing- I watch a little boy who is about E's age every Friday. I was a little worried about how I was going to handle two very adventurous 2 year old kids all day long while I was trying to rest. He didn't arrive at the regular time and so I sent his mother a text, she had the day off of school!

More blessings came- another neighbor invited E over to her house for a few hours, she also picked B up from the bus stop (if an adult isn't there to pick up the kindergartner they have to stay on the bus and are taken back to the school) I was able to stay on my bed, Rest, Ice, use a Compression bandage and Elevate my leg. I was also able to use my boot from last year to get to the freezer for ice packs AND for lunch- yep, for lunch we ate a baked from frozen baguette and tater-tots. Easy to make while laying on a bed :) Also delicious.

So, now we are on day 3, the last day, of R.I.C.E. I tried to convince the kids to help clean the house- Money was involved. It didn't work. Sad. BUT I've still got high hopes that giving my ankle this time to heal will be of worth and that I will only be losing 1 or 1.5 weeks of running compared to the 8 weeks last summer.