beautifullyambitious’s BodyBl

Well it is official.. after a 6 week recovery (6 weeks on Saturday) from my appendix surgery, I am back. I can almost say better then ever before with regards to being fully committed to my new 11 week goal in sight. Despite how estatic or enthusiastic I am about it- it seems to me that those people closest to me are not supportive and almost deliberatly try to sabotage my goal…. I suppose the first example I will use is my husband… first let me start by saying I love him very much, I cannot imagine my life without him- we have been married a little over a year now. My husband and I are like night and day with everything. He likes the fast night life of a city and me- well although ocassionally I could use a night out on the town- I prefer to hang out at home and get up early to get outside- go to the beach or hike just anything OUTSIDE! With this being said… 9 out of 10 times I am more on the extreme side of healthy… I am really careful about what I eat- while I eat foods that taste good to me- I eat for a purpose to fuel my body not just to eat or satisy my short term cravings, I take all of my supplements and will train until my body is absolutley exhausted and still want to do more. He just started working out (good job!) - I am really very proud of him but like I said back to night and day- he will workout for 20-30 min max then go home and eat crap and not return to the gym until the next week..his average is once a week which I admit is better then nothing! Now here is the kicker…he absolultey REFUSES to work out with me… not really sure why… Whick ok he doesnt want to workout with me- no problem- I am kinda a solo gym goer anyway …as long as I have my Mp3 player I am good.. The next kicker… he complains about how much I train and how I loose fat and tone my body- nto all the time but I get comments like "You are getting too skinny" "You need to just take a few days off from training" "Why do you eat like that, why cant you ever eat normal food?" At first I took it as a concern from him..I really thought these comments were made out of genuine concern.. well recently its become more frequent I hear these things, instead of encouragement or "good job" when I come home completely excited about breaking through a barrier I hear why do you even do that? It makes it hard… I have discussed on many occassions the need for him to be more supportive but it doesnt seem to sink in… any suggestions? Next up is my Mom and Dad- who thankfully live in Alaska while I am in beautiful Hawaii. I love them very much but wow… sometimes it is just like talking to a wall.. they dont understand my passion for health and nutrition… they dont understand while I continue to train or eat the way I do.. I hear - "We worry about your health" … all I want to say in response is you should be worrying about your health.. but I dont.. I guess what I am trying to get at before I ramble on forever is this… I need support. I need a support system of people who can be my cheerleader as I push towards goals. How do I make the people who I need most (my family) be more supportive or do I seek support elsewhere? Is there anyone else who encounters this with their family? Aren’t there other people out there who are just completley 100% interested in health and fitness and have family members just the opposite? How do you handle it? thanks for listening to the rambling… Andrea

Here we go…time to set my weekly goals… This is officially my week 5 of after surgery and I am feeling 100%! This saturday is my huge milestone..the 6 week mark in which I can go back to lifting heavy and running for miles and miles… I officially have a little over 11 weeks to reach my goal of being in the best shape of my life by my 25th b-day (9/5).

Goals for the week of 6/10/07-6/16/07

Training Goals

1) Run 2+ miles 4 days this week.

2) Complete 4 weight training sessions this week, 2 upper and 2 lower- with light weights to tap back into my muscle memory and prepare me for returning to heavy weights next week.

3) Complete 1 long cardio session this week 45-60 min at a medium intensity rate (fat oxidation).

4) Get outside 1 day this week and do a physical activity with my family- hike, kayak, swim ect.

5) Complete 1 yoga or pilates session to increase flexability and stretch for 15 minutes every night before bed.

Nutrition Goals

1) Pack my lunch for work the night before to save time in the morning and plan for sucess by not grabbing what is fastest on the way out the door.

2) Create meals and snacks that load up on lean proteins, fruits and veggies, yams, and oatmeal or brown rice instead of protein bars or bread or other refined carbs.

3) Involve my daughter more with dinner preparation to teach her about good nutrition and healthy choices.

4) Have 1 cheat meal this week, just one.

There it is… my goals for this week. On Sunday when I post my new goals I will also post a tracker to let you know how I did.

Take care.

Ahhhh the wait has been VERY, VERY long… I have wanted to train and get back to my lifestyle for weeks now. 5 weeks ago this Saturday I had my appendix removed during "exploratory surgery" (yes it actually was exploratory…have to love military hospitals…). Although I am very grateful that I have healed well, learned how to slow down, learned to appriciate my health a little more - I am still going stir crazy. I have realized I am a doer… lol a busy person who loves to keep moving… I now know that I am not the type to be happy spending a sunny day indoors watching movies…let me outside! With all of these realizations I have been counting down weeks to my 6 week mark- I have almost made it! Before I was counting down to my 4 week mark to return to at least cardio…now I am here with cardio and I want weights back..but I am being good and following orders..believe you me…on Sat (my 6th week) I will be waiting for the gym to open and go in and train and train and train… I can’t wait!

Which brings me back to previous goals or as I call it "life before the surgery"… my primary goal is to be in the best shape of my life by age 25…essentially by September 5th.. it didnt seem like that much of a challenge giving all the time I had before but now…well it will deff be a challenge, I have lost 6 weeks of great training and in reality probably more like 8 because getting back in the gym will be slow. Here I sit at my desk (I know I should be doing something real estate related but I am distracted by this)… and I am looking over my calendar… I have a little over 11 weeks until Sept 5.. they say in 12 weeks you can completly transform your body- which in my case isnt really my goal.. I am more less seeking to firm up, slim down certain areas.. and increase lean muscle… increase endurance with my running and training.. and feel fantastic. I believe it is do-able… Here is my game plan…

*** Create weekly goals for the following week at the end of each week- EX: this week I will run 3 miles 4 days a week and complete 5 days of weight training

*** Start planning my meals the night before again (I use to do this before my surgery but surgery was my excuse to be lazy for a bit I suppose) This way I can plan for sucess with eating instead of finding myself starving and eating whatever I can find at work.

*** Involve my family more with my training. While I LOVE the gym.. (I knwo I am sick hahaha) I have decided that there is a very real boundary between my training there and being with my family. I think sometimes it takes time from them and sometimes I get a little resentment… so I will start taking my daughter outside with me more for bike rides, get out an hike and kayak with them.

 *** Post my training on bodyspace EVERYDAY to obtain feedback from those with similar goals who may be able to help me along the way.

Thats it for now…the first initial steps towards sucess…

Take care.