OCTOBER HAPPENINGS

We had a happy, busy Saturday. This morning, we met our son, daughter-in-law and grandson, Ethan, at Bates Nut Farm to pick out pumpkins.  We hadn't been to Bates since our youngest 4 children were kids....14 years ago.  It had changed, become more commercialized and it was packed!  But it was still so much fun!

Ethan still had fun traipsing around the pumpkins, fascinated with the John Deere tractor pulling cars of hay and riders around the farm.  There were lots of other families and many brought their dogs to enjoy the beautiful, sunny day!

 

 

 

Ethan and Daddy

 

 

♥♥ A beautiful family  ♥♥

 

 

We picked out two pretty pumpkins to put on our front porch.  We also lucked out with three beautiful floral plants to add to our porch and the two clay pots in front of our driveway, making our home look ready for Fall!

 

 

Our front porch

RAIN, WORKOUTS AND WINE

Last night, our first rain storm of the season moved through the county, slicking roads and snarling traffic, making my drive home longer and more dangerous than usual.  But, I took a deep breath and turned up the volume on my radio and remained patient while cruising at 30 mph. Most of the other drivers were behaving too! 

I love rainy days and nights and all the great things this season brings.  Fires in the fireplace, red wine, warm sweaters and scarves, boots and gloves, visits to the mountains to traipse in the snow, hot drinks in over-sized ceramic mugs and the crisp, clean way the air smells after a good rain!

I was tempted to bypass my workout and just snuggle up on the couch with a glass of the aforementioned red wine.  I was feeling stressed, tired and hungry but I knew my workout would make me feel great afterwards, so I did it and I did feel great after. 

I am finishing up my fifth week of new health habits and it is feeling like a natural routine to me now.  I'm glad we are coming into cooler weather too, because it feels much better to me in our garage since it is not 85 degrees out there anymore! 

I am eating really good whole food and keeping away from nearly all processed foods.  I can still stand to make some improvement on drinking more water.  I drink an average 2 liters of water each day, but I'd like to increase that to drink 3 liters a day.

Physical activity 5 days a week.   check. 
Eat healthy, whole foods.            check.
Drink lots of water.                     check, (most of the time).

I'm staying on track and feeling good! I look at each day as a new chance to improve my health and fitness.  

I am looking forward to this weekend. I will get two more workouts in AND enjoy some celebratory glasses of wine at our daughter's wedding! Stay tuned for photos!  

NO WEIGH, NO GOALS

So, I thought I'd share a revelation of sorts for me, with all of you.  I'm ditching my "goals" and my bathroom scale. I can hear the chorus of WHAT??  I'll explain.

When I re-started this (weight-loss, get fit, be healthy) journey, I did so with a new perspective.  A perspective that is different from how I have EVER thought about it before.  I've got to do this everyday forever.  Goals hinder me in that process.

So, instead of setting goals that lead to being obsessed and driven to reach a particular number on the scale or even working solely to get into a certain size of clothing, my sole focus now is to begin each day with a promise to eat healthy, whole food, drink 3 liters of water and get in some kind of physical activity. 

Since this is a lifelong commitment (right?), I realized I have to establish good habits, and not make this simply something I am doing to reach a number or even a size. (Because, then what?)

 

I used to be OBSESSED with my "goals", which was useful for attaining them (short term) but also, left me repetitively disappointed. There are so many variables that can sabotage one's goals and I was vulnerable to each one.  An injury, water weight, muscle gains....none of which can be avoided but which all affect the measure of success toward an ultimate goal.

Getting on the scale and discovering that after a week of on track eating, working out hard each day there was no change...or a gain.  I would be at the least disappointed and in some instances, overcome with defeat and the urge to quit.  Sometimes, I did quit. 

Ultimately, I want to feed my body nourishing food, drink plenty of water and stay active so that I can continue to enjoy good health (or better health).

 

This thought process is also why I have abandoned my scale, as I shared in another post. I'll admit that it has taken me a very long time to reach this mindset (and never occurred to me to approach it in this manner before) but it feels good.  Manageable for my lifetime.

 

I know this method won't appeal to everyone or, maybe anyone, and that's okay. I am sharing my thoughts to present an option for consideration for anyone working on weight loss, becoming more physically fit and improving their health.

Bottom line, do what works for you, but do something.