Spirituality

The last month or so I have been really drawn to Buddhism.  

 

Now before you jump all over me, know this:  I am a spiritual person, not so much religious.  I believe in God and Jesus, and read the Bible (pretty infrequently, but am drawn to pick it up again now and then).  I've always believed that the Spirit is all around me no matter where I am.  The Spirit is in the Earth, the grass, the sky, the wind, the rain, the moon, the stars, and all of Gods creatures.  However, as much as I think I should go to Church, because I've been taught to believe it's what I'm supposed to do...I've yet to find one that makes me feel as welcome as the forest...When I'm in the forest, I feel God's arms around me, telling me He loves me, while I appreciate his fine work.  

What prompts this post is lately I've been looking in to Buddhism.  I think I'm drawn to it because of the lessons involved.  They are not the same lessons we are used to hearing about.  They are taught in a different way.  A very nonsensical way.  The Buddha is not taking the place of the Lord in my life.  I'm not worshiping Buddha in any way. But I can tell you I respect the lessons he teaches, and could surely stand to use them in my own life.

I've been following on Facebook a page called Buddhist Boot Camp that was created by guy named Timber Hawkeye.  He practiced Buddhism for years, and then realized it was almost too complicated.  Why couldn't it be simple?  So he went and took the knowledge he had gained, and used it to create the Buddhist Boot Camp. He's also written a book of the same name that I am saving for right now...it's not that much money, but I'm on a budget.  I'm sure he understands... :-)

 

Anyways, I've been following the page on Facebook and get a lot of Mantra's, Buddhist sayings, quotes from the Dalai Lama, etc in my feed, and have been trying to internalize them.  Also I want to try to start meditating.  This is a hard thing for me, as my mind races, but I think it's exactly what I need.  I've also been following a basic Buddhism page on Facebook too, and love the posts from that one too.  It's a fresh perspective.  I appreciate that. I'm evolving into a new person, and feel that maybe my Spirituality is evolving too.  

 

My Step-It-Up Plan

I'm stepping it up.

That's right.  I've found myself at a plateau of sorts...I feel like I'm off the wagon in a way.  I'm bored with MyFitnessPal.  I'm bored with counting every single calorie, and eating the same things every day.  I figure it's time to step it up, get back in gear, and continue on this journey with a fury.  

I've lost 35 pounds (I'm sorry if it seems like I'm constantly tooting my own horn here, and that it might not seem like a lot considering how much I have to lose-but I'm freaking PROUD of what I have accomplished) and I want to lose a LOT more so I can't just stop doing what I have been doing thinking the battle is over.  I need to keep going.  

I've created a Step-It-Up plan that I think will help me to do what I need to do in regards to eating healthy, get a lot more exercise than I'm currently getting, and track in a new way.  I'm going to outline my plan, and I sure hope my fans and readers can help me keep in check!

THE PLAN...

FOOD

Breakfast:  

Protein Shake blended with flax, spirulina, maccha tea, and Frozen Berries

Snack #1:  

dairy and protein 

or 

greek yogurt with mini morsels

Lunch:  

Protein, 

100 calorie whole grain wrap or sandwich thin, 

Tomato, 

Cucumber or Bell Pepper

Snack #2:

Plain protein shake

Dinner:

Protein

Vegetables

Whole Grain

Snack #3:

Apples or Pears or Celery

Peanut Butter or Nutella

FITNESS

Monday

30 minutes on the exercise bike

Tuesday

Zumba or Kickboxing Video

Wednesday

Weights, Push-ups, Squats, Stretching

Thursday

30 minutes on exercise bike

Friday

Local high school track to do this workout I found on Prevention's site.

Saturday

Housekeeping and yard work

Sunday

Bike Ride, Hike, or Prevention workout at the track

WEIGH-INS

Since I started this in December, I have been going to the local Monarch Medical office for weigh-ins once a week, and I'm about done with that.  I have a great scale at home that I weigh myself on every day, and there is no reason I can't continue to do that.  I'm weaned off of the B-Vitamin injections from Monarch, and quite frankly, it's expensive to keep up with.  So I figure this will be much more cost effective on my wallet. I'll still do a Friday morning weigh-in, and I'll be tracking my weight using the free Weight-Bot app on my iPhone.

TRACKING

I'm going to track my food and fitness though I haven't really decided if I just want to go back to keeping a paper journal (I don't have a lot of success keeping up on it), or if I want to try a new app on my iPhone, or if I want to buy an actual diet and fitness journal from the fitness section at WalMart.  I don't know yet.  What I do know, is this is the hardest part for me, so I have to do it to stay accountable.  

There you have it folks.  The JustBeingDina step-it-up plan for summer.  I'm confident that if I follow this plan, with portion control, minimal slip-ups, and minimal sugar intrusions, then I can say I could lose at least another 50+ pounds by the end of the year.  That's about 8 pound weight loss each month.  I can definitely do this!

My jeans are TOO BIG!!!

This morning I was feeling like I needed to rock some denim...It's "casual" Friday at work, we're allowed to wear jeans...which I usually don't since they aren't that comfortable in my opinion.  So I found a pair I've maybe worn about 10 times since I bought them a year or so ago...and rolled them up in the legs, paired them with some flats, a sleeveless shirt, and an overshirt and kicked off my day. 

Before I even left the house I found myself kind of having to hike them up a little bit.  But you know how when you wear a freshly washed pair of jeans, they start to relax a bit when you walk around and sit and stand...well these have done that today, so now any time I walk around, my pants are like sliding down and I have to hold them up! LOL! 

I am feeling pretty proud that I am finally noticing a small change since losing 35 pounds.  This is a momentous event for me and I felt like I needed to share it.  I have only experienced growing out of clothes that are too small, never growing out of something because it's TOO BIG!  I don't think I'll be able to wear these again...seriously.  In the waist, they are too loose, and I pretty much should be wearing a belt.  Seriously.  I'm going to see if I can get them made into a skirt.  Or maybe I should keep them as my "after" hold up and gawk at how much weight I lost pants for my big reveal on the Dr. Oz show someday...you know when I get invited for losing over 150 pounds someday on my own without weight loss surgery or drugs or something...LOL, yeah right!

I love this feeling and this makes me want to exercise more and keep eating better, and continue this journey! 

                               

The 5 Miler

 Here I am looking all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before the Moonlight Five 5 mile walk/run that I completed last Saturday night.  I did the event with a couple of friends.  I couldn't have asked for two better women to walk this event with me! We got to the event and we got a free glow stick since it was a nighttime event.  We brought extra glow sticks, so we were able to adorn ourselves all fancy-like.  

                                                  Me right before we started...

Off went the horn and there we went.  I have to tell you that after my last post, I had pretty much been dreading this event.  I was so annoyed with myself that I had registered, and was really not into it at all.  The fact that I had paid $30 to do it, and had convinced two of my friends to register is what got me there.  

We started in the back of the pack so as to avoid getting run over by any hardcore runners.  I was fine with that as that is my usual spot in the event anyways.  

 There were two things about this event that I really loved: the course and the fact that the entire course was lit by a path of luminaria (white paper bags with flameless tea lights in them).  Being dark, it was really awesome to be walking through that.  It was almost magical.  The path itself was so new to me, since it was somewhere I never really go.  We walked on the sidewalk, we walked on the road, we walked through parking lots (including the parking lot at the emergency room and that was pretty awkward when people are driving through the parking lot).

The luminaria lit path....

I tried to get pictures of the mile markers, as I normally do...the mile 1 marker was totally dark...sorry about that.  The 2, 3, and 4 mile markers came out great though...

 Of course this story has to have something annoying, sketchy, and obnoxious, right? 

 OF COURSE!!!

So no sooner are we out of the parking lot when the event starts, do I hear a motorcycle cop pull up behind us...oh shit.  Are you serious?! Is this guy going to follow us the entire freaking event...?  No, just drive back and forth for a while.  We all had a good laugh out of that though for sure...see this post for more on how that feels.

Anyway, so we keep on walking. Around mile 1.75 or something like that, we are walking down a poorly lit bike path, and notice a middle aged man sitting 

on a bench and he asks, "are you trying to be in last place?" 

Um, no ASSHOLE, we aren't, but fuck-you-very-much for making us feel like shit!!!

Not too long after that, we're getting close to I'd say the 2.5 mile marker, and the two younger ladies in front of us decide they'd had enough, and cut off the course.  I couldn't believe it!!!  Why would you pay a ton of money, then buy about $30 worth of glow sticks and light-up shit, to not finish the event?  Honey's, I'm WAY fatter than you, breathing heavy, want to sit down and cry, but there is NO WAY I was going to give up!  All they did was cheat themselves.  No outright cheaters this time, unless those two chicks got around to the finish line somehow.  I don't think they did.  I think they went home.  

We continued on.  

Man, was 5 miles a long walk! I haven't walked 5 miles in a long time! 
That day, according to my FitBit, I walked:
17,559 steps and a total of 8 miles
which is a record for me since beginning this journey.
Here I am just past the finish line.  I was proud of myself.  
Feet were throbbing, feeling like cinder blocks.  Hips and thighs and knees screaming at me.  Sweaty.  Exhausted.  Proud to have finished.

Thank you friends, for walking with me!