The Original Superwoman

I interact with people all day long and it never ceases to amaze me how strange things are. Sometimes things just happen, and at other times it feels as though we are being "gifted" and all the right things are happening for all the right reasons at exactly the right time.

Recently, a friend stumbled "further" into my life and I couldn't be more thankful. She has been so inspirational to me at a time when I needed it most. She probably doesn't know it, but she has taught me a great lesson. There comes a point when we are more important than our past and we must draw upon an untapped future-changing superpower! (This doesn't mean that she encouraged me to run around in Underoos and capes.) Maria helped me to see that we have the ability to change our future by simply including ourself in the priority list- and by valuing this, we are able to love our families more deeply, become more authentic with our friends, and respectful of ourselves when faced with tough decisions.

She continues to be a light in my week- if even by the light of my cell phone as she sends a text reminding me that I really didn't want to eat a tub of frosting because gas prices were on the rise. (Yes, I am quite capable of coming up with all kinds of excuses!) Our short Starbucks visits are sometimes worth their weight in gold... because she gets it. She gets how hard this struggle is and how badly I want to get there. She gets it because she has been there and embraces and learns from all the imperfections along the way.

I am so excited to say that Maria truly is Superwoman- She made lifetime this week! Although, we have yet to celebrate (damn her for running off for a 1/2 marathon!) I know it won't be long before we get to! She looks absolutely amazing!

Congrats my friend- I am happy for you! OP-4LFer!

Recently Mike and I took a trip to San Diego with our friend Maria. I've been meaning to blog about it- because this "Activity-cation" was definitely worth repeating! We basically decided to go last minute and although time was tight, we were resolute on fitting as much activity into our time as possible. Hmmmm... let me re-phrase that, Maria and I were resolute. Mike, on the other hand, committed to showing us some of the best food in San Diego! (It's all about balance!)

We left Saturday morning and arrived about 10am. We biked along the boardwalk, climbed the tallest peak in San Diego, and ran 6 miles along the beach only to leave by 2pm the following day. All in all, we got in a great amount of activity- but we gained so much more along the way. Almost instantly, we felt empowered and renewed. There were no doubts, no excuses... Just twitching muscles itching for more.

It was while I was jogging along the beach that I got to thinking about excuses. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation were beginning to set in - and it would have been fairly easy to quit, but I kept telling myself that I was looking for an excuse and that isn't who I am anymore. Prior to starting this journey, there were so many times in my life where I made up an excuse in order to NOT complete an activity. Hell, for that matter, I would say I was darn proficient in finding excuses to never START an activity. And if I'm being completely honest, it wasn't just activity- it was risks, goals, challenges, wants, needs, you name it! For me, all these excuses made it impossible to see what my priorities were. It clouded who I was and who I wanted to be. I became some fowl mixture of angry, embarrassed, and hopeless.

It's funny, people always ask me, "What made you want to lose the weight?" Apparently being 401 pounds and depressed wasn't reason enough? I never knew how to answer that until very recently. I ran out of excuses.

So in Jen style, I am typically haunted by a topic over and over again until I admit that I've learned the lesson... and scream from the mountain high that "Yes, I get it!" So this weeks haunting comes to me through a book called, "Hot Sweaty Mamas - Five Secrets to Life as a Fit Mom," by Kara Thom and Larae Kocanda.

It is an amazing book- and I highly recommend it. I don't want to spoil it for those who want to give it a read- but chapter 5 talks about eradicating excuses. In summary, it explains that there are differences between excuses and reasons. Since reasons are positive forces in decision making and excuses are negative forces, it becomes easier to differenciate the feelings that might result from each.

There was something that I loved written in Chapter 5:

Reasons are succinct; excuses take explaining.
Reasons don't leave room for second-guessing; excuses do.
Reasons are truth; excuses are half-truths at best
Reasons don't crumble on examination; excuses do.
Reasons are not driven by fear; excuses are
Reasons allow us to reach our potential; excuses help us cheat.

I know I have a lot of friends who are struggling with the same topic and I'm pretty busy dealing with my own excuses- so I definitely can't promise to save you from yours. But, I'm always more than happy to help you find a reason to be healthy. You know where to find me.

I'm in this for good- No Excuses.