Adina’s Cute & Perky Blog!

Midday, Perky People!

I didn’t have to work today, so my post is not going up at the right time AT ALL!!! 

But…GET OVER IT!!!  It’s a day off.  I slept in, which for me means sleeping till 7:00.  My people don’t need a lot of sleep!

But here’s what you need to know!  I’m sitting here typing sausage fingers today.  Puffy and non-bendy.

It was Thanksgiving Day yesterday, and I had did enjoy a regular Thanksgiving meal.

Calorie-wise, I’m sure I didn’t go too far over.  I mean turkey is not bad.  But it was the way in which the other foods were cooked.

Over the last year, I kicked my salt addiction.  I was one of those people who could pour it in my hand and just lick it.  I know.  That’s bad!!!  But…it’s true!!

I NEVER tasted before I salted!  But when I first started the diet I am on now, I decided it was time to kick this addiction too.  My last remaining one.

OH MY LORD!  I was miserable!!! 

I had to all but slap my hand to stay away from the salt shaker!!!

But…it WAS my last of the foodly vices, and I had conquered everything else.

And that misery only lasted a week.

Then, slowly I emerged.

I began to taste the food.  Really taste it.

And the last time I used a salt shaker, I had to throw the food out.  What I intended for a treat, felt like it was going to burn my tongue right out of my mouth!

Arriving at today, where just the normal Thanksgiving food leaves its mark on me, puffy fingers attached to a body that just doesn’t feel as energetic today.

And I am reminded of something.  Those quirky eating habits I have are the reason I don’t feel like this every day.  I mean, I used to feel like that all the time.

And while I had a good day yesterday, I am happy to be back to my quirky way of life!  Because bendy fingers trump salty, bad-for-you food any old day of the week!  And I like feeling bendy and good!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Cute and Perky People!!!

I am going to have a cheat meal today, relax, and enjoy the day with my family and friends.

Today’s post is a little different.  My friend Karen celebrates her 13th year sobriety birthday today. 

(And for a man I draw inspiration from daily.)

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Today you celebrate a birthday by choice.

When you walk into that meeting, as you have for years, you set yet another milestone.

Another year as clean.  Another year as sober.

You celebrate this birthday because for another year you have consistently done what they tell you to do.

This achievement did not come without hurdles.

The moment of realization. 

The first few days of self-denial.

Learning other ways to deal with life’s problems.

Day after day, week after week getting stronger. 

Until month after month, one year has come and gone.  That first hard year.  One of everything to make it through.

And it gets easier.

And years pass.

And sometimes you get sad, because while you have chosen to stay strong, others have faltered.  Some only making one meeting.  Never to be seen again.

The failure rate is staggering, so your perseverance is testament to your will.  Your will to survive and your will to enjoy the life you were given.

And you find solace… and refuge… and peace in your meetings.  Aware that the day you think you’ve conquered it, is really the day you’ve lost it.

And you keep going and keep doing what they tell you to so.  Making amends.  Finding peace.  Healing your soul.

And so, on this day, when you are reminded of the birthday you chose to have, and the life you chose to make better, stop and for once be in awe of your own strength.  Your ability to adapt and your ability to conquer.  Most importantly your ability to love, heal, forgive… and inspire.

So many people walk through those doors once, and only once. 

But YOU remain to show the world that it can be done.

And you remember the day you gave it all up.  That horrible day your world fell apart.  And THAT day, THAT moment, is what you celebrate today.

Because without that day, there would be no celebration.  Only a life not lived.

And for once, don’t tell me it was nothing…because it is everything.

And I am proud of you.

Cute and perky people!!!

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m having trouble posting and responding to things this week.  I’ve been missing getting to talk to my cute and perky people!

But…I thought I would tell you about my run last night. 

Don’t let this scare you, but…Not-so-perky-Adina made an appearance last night!

I took off for an evening jog.  I don’t know why, but I didn’t really want to do it.

The whole time I was changing my clothes I was thinking, “Gosh.  I really don’t want to do this.”

Then as I was putting my shoes on, a million things I needed to do flashed through my mind.  My thoughts drifted to, “Man, I don’t want to run.”

I stepped out and it was COLD.  I ran back in for my jacket. “Stupid cold weather.  Stupid jogging.”

I took that first step.  “Man.  This sucks.”

Midway through the jog, and I know you think I’m about to tell you the euphoria took over.  It didn’t.  “Dang potholes.  Stupid street.”

Toward the end, that euphoria still hadn’t kicked in.  “I don’t want to run today.”

But four miles after I left, I was back. 

Good heart rate.

Good speed.

Good distance.

Got it done. 

And I was free to enjoy the rest of my night.

And when someone comes to me for help today and says, “I just don’t like it like you do,” I will just smile.

I don’t always like it.  There are days I loathe it.  But I have yet to loathe being fit. 

Because my body doesn’t recognize when I’m in the mood or not.

It’s all good, and it all counts! 

Let’s talk about my eggs again, shall we?  Not my ovaries.  I’m 39.  Not much left to talk about there!  I mean my scrambled eggs.

I ate them with new-found joy this morning.  I truly did not enjoy the scrambled eggs made with the yellows from the weekend.

It’s like that phrase, “What’s old is new again.”

Those scrambled egg whites were new again this morning! 

I had a moment like this in the gym last week too.  I used to do Arnold presses all the time.  They were my favorite.  Then…I just forgot about them.  POOF!  Haven’t done them in a year or more.

But, I sat down to do regular presses last week, and my hands remembered them for me.  And I just fell in to the movement.

So I went back to my workout journal.  I don’t keep one now, but I did when I was so green.  So new to it all.  And there were a few more exercises I had forgotten.

And it was kind of fun bringing those back in to my rotation. 

But what I was really reminded of was the fact that I don’t know it all.  I know….I’m pausing for shocked silence here.

I was reminded that I used to seek out new things and get excited to try them.  Now, I know enough that I don’t HAVE to do that.  But I learned I NEED to do that.

So this week, I will make it my mission to seek out and try new exercises every day.  And I will be reminded of the joy and excitement I found when I first started out. 

Because what’s old is new again.

People!!!  I don’t know what happened to my Blog this morning!  I saved it last night as a draft.  Clicked post this morning.  Then…BANG.  I don’t know where it went!!!  But…I’m back at home where I still had a saved copy!  So…here you go…

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Good morning, Cute and Perky People!!!

I don’t care when you’re reading this, I’m saying good morning today because I’m thinking about eggs!

Do you know why?  Because I almost had a heart attack yesterday when I made my eggs.  For real!!!

I was making me some scrambled eggs yesterday morning for breakfast.  I’m just used to having eggs for breakfast.  I was about to plop them from the pan to my plate when I looked down and said, “Oh dear God, they’re YELLOW!”

And in an instant, I was TOTALLY grossed out!

I forgot I had left the yellows in!!  My hot friend only has me eat the whites, but I had decided I needed a cheat day.

It’s Thanksgiving week.  I literally don’t remember my last cheat day, so I thought I might better have one.  I know myself well enough by now to know I will have a total pig out if I go into that day feeling deprived.

And while I will relax on that day, I don’t want to be a total Ms. Piggy.   OINK OINK!

I mean, it’s only been a few months since I totaled my car hitting that pig.  I’m trying to wean myself away from all things piggy!

I digress…

Any way, I was completely and totally grossed out by those eggs.  To the point I could not eat them.

And I remember a time where I couldn’t get those whites down. 

And even though it’s a simple thing like eggs, I was reminded that if you stick with something long enough, it just becomes what you do.

And in the words of Mark Twain, “Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”

I didn’t start out loving egg whites.

I started out knowing I had a problem and diligently working to fix that problem.

But somewhere along the way, I crossed over.  And those yellow eggs reminded me of something.  Not only do I love what my healthy food does for me, I really love my healthy food.

Stick with it long enough and you will too.

OK….cute and perky people…I wrote a blog this morning… but it is GONE!

HMMM…I’ll post it from home this evening!

As I sit writing the rough draft to this post, I am in a little, tiny gym in the armpit of Texas, better known as Jasper.

My youngest, Jonah, is awaiting his basketball debut.  Seventh grade, B Team.

I’m watching him warm up, he catches my eye, and his furrowed brow releases to a grin.  And this is why I took half a vacation day and drove two hours to get here.

Well, actually….

I had started not to go, using distance as my excuse, but earlier in the week my mind was changed for me.

What Jonah said was, “Mama, it’s my first basketball game ever, and nobody will be there.”

What I heard was, “I’m really nervous, and I need you to be there.  No matter what.”

Then yesterday morning my oldest son finds out I’ve taken that half vacation day. 

What he said was, “You took half a vacation day to go to HIS game?  My game on Friday is farther.  You should have used it for mine.”

And what I heard was, “I really need you to do that for me too.”

And then my best friend, Alan, texts me to find out if I’m taking off early for that same Friday game in Dallas.  When I told him I’m working on it, he said, “We could go Christmas shopping you know.”

And what I heard was, “I need some best friend time.”

Sometimes you have to listen to what people aren’t saying.

Sometimes when they say, “I can’t do what you did,” they are really saying, “Please, help me.”

I just hope that when Jonah saw “mama tears” flowing down proud cheeks last night, he heard, “You make your mama proud.”

Because sometimes, no matter how badly you want them to, the words just won’t come out.

Good morning everybody…or evening…or…well…you now.  Good whatever….or maybe good grief if you are not in the mood for perky!!!  (News Flash: Leave quickly if you are not!)

I had a few people ask me lately how I crawled into their head.  How I knew what they were thinking.  To them, it was as if I was writing for them.  Speaking directly to them.

But you know what?  Here’s how I see it.  Those are the people ready to make changes.

I sat on the floor of the book store every Friday night while I was losing.  I read story after story in the health and fitness magazines. 

In the beginning, I would think “Yeah, right,” at the pictures in the success stories.

When I had lost about 20 pounds, I began to think “maybe.”

But after losing 50 pounds, I made the connection.  Every story I read had some mysterious tie in to my life.  I just knew they were writing that for me!  They got me.  They understood me.

But that was a key connection for me.  I had to learn to see myself in others.  If you think what you’re going through is different or harder than others, you will give up.

You have to be able to look at what someone else says, does, or even writes and think, “I can do that.  She is just normal person, and she did it.  That means I can do it to.”

The kid growing up homeless has to see himself in a home before he fights for a better life.

The smoker has to see himself as a nonsmoker before he quits.

The depressed have to see themselves in the perky.

And someone struggling to get healthy has to look at someone who did it and think, “I can do that too.”

So when you see yourself in something I wrote, embrace the fact that you are searching and ready to make changes…because isn’t wanting to make changes the first step toward making those changes?

Oh…and if you want to see yourself as perky…you just need to show up here…to…. Adina’s Random Collection of Cute and Perky People.  We’ve been The Cute and Perky Breakfast Club long enough.  It’s time for a change….I think “Collection” makes us sound smarter!!!

Some days you like your diet, and some days you don’t.

I just wasn’t in the mood for large quantities of egg whites today. 

But I cooked them any way, because I know that whatever I eat will fill me up.  I don’t have to like or want it at the time.

But that pile of eggs just seemed bigger today.  And nastier.  And I just didn’t want them.

And as I moved the fork to my mouth, I swear I heard my lips say, “Uh huh, girlfriend.”

So, I took them in the car with me on my way to work; thinking of course, that I would eat them in the car.  Hoping that feeling would pass.  But as I went for that first bite, my mouth refused to open.

And so I went on to work, where I proceed to the break room with my now cold egg whites in my little piece of glad wear.  That’s an oxymoron.  That container wasn’t happy about them either.

But once I heat them, I sit down to do what I have to do.

And that pile seemed to grow as I ate. 

But just then my obese coworker comes in and sees the horrible face I was making.  (I’m very dramatic).

He says, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get my breakfast down,” I reply.

“Well, I just couldn’t do what you do.  I couldn’t eat like that every day.”

Without missing a beat, I answered “I know,” and continued to eat.

He started laughing until it sunk in.  “Hey!  Wait a minute.  That wasn’t very nice.”

I said, “I know, but I’m not being nice until I get these egg whites down.”

He stood there while I ate.  Asking me questions, listening to my answers.  Even when I’m eggy, I give a pretty mean pep talk.  I told him why I eat the way I do and the benefits he would receive from doing it as well.

As he left he says to me, “I could do that you know.  I could do what you do.”

I took my last bite, and headed to the sink.  Over my shoulder I said, “I know.”

He walked on before coming back to me.  “Hey!  Wait a minute.  First you say I can’t.  Now you say I can.  I don’t get it.”

So I say the only logical thing I can at this moment.  “Kevin, whether you think you can or you can’t….you’re right.”

Victories and successes were meant to be shared.

I reached out and took outstretched hands several times along the way while losing.  I had quite a few people tell me yesterday that they have such a hard time doing this.

The Nazi had to approach me with his encouraging words  countless times before I even noticed his outstretched hand.

But he had been patiently waiting for me to get it.   And the second I took up his offer for help in the gym, he became a constant.

Many times he stopped his own workout to stand by me while I did mine.

If there were people who he thought would get me off track with the cardio, he would physically stand between my machine and the “distractions” as he liked to call the chatty people!

People think I have issues with chatting at the gym.  My hot ISS friend Kevin told me before he ever met me not to stop being a chatty Kathy at the gym. 

I guess I just put out that vibe.  Any way, I digress…

Oh, wait, I didn’t digress.  He helped me with my diet.

And the closer I got to goal, the more people started getting excited. 

They wanted to jog with me, lift with me, eat clean with me…they wanted to help pull me there.

I swear to you that collectively my entire gym held their breath for me when I got stuck at 206 for three months.  They were there at the ready with tips, advice, and new things for me to try.

And when I broke through that plateau, pandemonium broke out!  All those reached-out hands started clapping!

Believe it or not, people actually enjoy helping.  Think about it in your own life, you don’t make offers to help people that you just don’t want to help.

When you take that hand they offer, you are allowing them to be a part of your future success.

Because isn’t that why they help you?  They see a vision of your success that you may not yet be able to see…and they just want to be a part of it.