Day 365 (day 1 / week 52)

Well I did it. Today was a workday and I forgot my pedometer at home again (doh!). It was much busier than last week so a safe estimation of 13000 steps wouldn't be pushing it. My arms are also still a little sore from Wii Baseball yesterday...which I love.

So there you have it.

365 days of exercise.

I did it!






















It wasn't a great feat because it was a bunch of small "make it counts" in a row. That's all you gotta do with anything big. Break it down into smalls. Think of it like a huge hunk of meat. You don't just inhale the entire thing. You break it down and work on it piece by piece.

You can totally do it if you are wondering.

I have a toddler, a job (a very physical one at that!), I work 12 hour shifts, I used to be a stay at home mom, and have a busy life. I even moved across state and sprained an ankle. I got a dog, had to give her up and was adopted by a strange pizza eating cat. I suck at replying to emails, comments and everything else that is bloggy related, I have issues managing my personal time, and I procrastinate BIG TIME, so this totally proves that I am just like everyone else (although you might be waay better at these things, than I am! sorry again!), with a normal life. I also heart sugar. yummy yummy sugar. *drool*

I have learned a lot and I had a vision of writing down a ton of things/goals that I had achieved throughout the year, but I'm tired.

I will tell you however that I am going to continue and focus on the things that I brushed aside or didn't try too hard with this year, because I didn't want to get overwhelmed and quit. I can totally do more than 10 mins a day now, so that will change. I also want to focus on strength training a lot more and my eating. I did HORRIBLY the past 2 weeks w/ my diet, but the rest of the year wasn't as bad as it could have been. This proves to me that focusing on what I eat is a must, if I want to lose weight. MORE weight. I probably gained 10 lbs in the last 2 weeks just eating whatever I wanted. I don't feel like I was owed it, but I spent a good portion of this year being "good" so I just let lose. Tomorrow that will change. Back to focusing and back to the basics. I also want to lose more weight in 2010 than I did in 2009.

That being said, I (really want to cry) decided to commit to something for 2010 that I have been dreading, but it is inevitable. I have issues w/ it and it needs to stop. I am in total denial and think "why the heck would I do this," but I need to. It's an addiction talking. I'm talking about sugar...again.

In 2010 no more sugar. Anything I see as a threat to this, I won't eat--including diet soda *cry*. I keep reading that there is a relationship between sugar cravings and diet soda, so I am just going to cut them both out. I know I am not strong enough, but I realize that God has given me HUGE amounts of strength and determination to do something hard for 365 days in a row (I'm not stopping people!) that I know that with His strength, I can do this. No sugar for 2010. I ate a good-bye brownie at work. It's going to be hard, but I know I can do all things in Him who gives me the strength to do it (Phil 4:13)! So can you!

My work schedule is crazy for the next few days. I work on the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th, until I get back to my usual Sunday, Monday, Tuesday schedule. I do have a 1 day off in there, twice, but it's not enough for me to rest up, do measurements and all of that and get stuff done to be ready for work the next day, so I probably wont be posting any results until the 8th. I will post results for the entire year and all of that good stuff :). I don't think I did my first measurements in January until the 10th or 11th anyway, so it's all good.

Have a good night and a safe new year.

Thank you all for your support and patience with me. You all have blessed me in so many ways. I wish I could hug you all--including all of you lurkers! You bless my socks off!

((HUGS))

In 2009 I exercised 365 days in a row.

I CAN do this. I am a star!

Day 358 (day 1 / week 51)

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope everyone spent precious time with their loved ones or doing whatever it is you wanted to do.

Today was a lot like yesterday. Push-ups before bed and all. I think I am going to start doing them daily. We'll see.

This morning we did the Santa thing for our 3 year old. He scored and loves his drum set. I know all parents say this about their toddlers, but he is so talented! He has rhythm and he is already playing to his favorite songs (A-B-Cs, Happy Birthday and Old MacDonald).

While he was unwrapping presents, the cat came back. It meowed loudly at our front door until my hubby opened it and then it walked right in, like it lived here.

I won't let myself get attached to this cat. It's someone's pet. I feel stuck because we fed the cat and she probably isn't going anywhere now that we did, but it's like one of those situations that you can't win from. We couldn't turn our backs on it and just let it go out and die in our yard (the poor thing is so skinny--all you feel is bones when you pet it) and we fed it because of this, so it's not going away. She ate 3 cans of tuna and a bowl of milk. If we just take her to the pound, no one will take her (she is SO horribly skinny) and they would probably just put her to sleep. We still can't find her owners so I am going to venture out a little farther away tomorrow and put up posters. She has this distinct orange sweater on her that would make it easy to identify her with, and a really long tail, so that might help too. I can't help but wonder if God brought her to us because He knows we will care for her and that my hubby will tolerate her (he is a cat person), if her family didn't want her anymore and that my heart still aches from Pebbles. Logan has been really good to her too (very gentle).

My MIL says there is a cat hospital up the street that will look at her for free to see if she is chipped and/or sick. I am not sure how I feel about adopting this cat if it is just a stray and if in the end, no one turns out to want her, but in a way she already adopted us! We got a litter box in the meanwhile until we find her family, but she won't use it at all. I know nothing about cats (I'm a dog person) and my hubby says that it could be a sign of illness. She was a house cat at some point, so I would think she would know how to use it. *shrugs* Anyone got any tips, comments, suggestions?

Here is a picture of her.


That is my son's blankey she is chillin on. He is VERY territorial with it (understatement of the year) but he is ok w/ her laying in it ???. Strange boy. Strange cat. (thank goodness for washing machines! lol). Off to bed.

Merry Christmas. God bless!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 357 (day 7 / week 50)

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The family was nestled all snug in the bed,
and mommy was still awake,
doing push-ups and reverse crunches instead.

lol.

Seriously though. It's hard to do the exercise thing during the holidays with lots of family and a little kid, so I ended up doing something before bed. That's what I did for exercise. 3 sets of 10 push-ups and 2 sets of 25 reverse crunches.

As you all know, I miss Pebbles (my dog that we had to give back, that now has a happy home with someone else). Deep in my heart I want a pet, but I won't ever go find one. I was talking with God yesterday and in my heart I said that I would never go looking for a pet again. I thought the only way I would ever end up with a pet is if one found us (what are the chances of that happening, right?).

Today (Thursday December 24, 2009) a cat found us. The poor thing was skin and bones and just begging for attention. We were going to the grocery store and this cat approached my hubby and practically jumped in the car. It was the funniest thing. This was someone's family member at some point, because it's wearing an orange sweater, has been de-clawed but is totally emaciated.

When we got home from the store (45 mins later) the cat was still there. My son fell asleep in the car so I got him out and put him in his room, and as I came out of the hallway this cat was sitting in the middle of the living room. I have never seen this cat before today--it just totally welcomed itself into our house and home.

We went out searching for posters of this lost cat, looked on craigslist and local classified ads, but we haven't found a thing. She used to be someone's family member and it hurts me to think that she could have possibly been abandoned (so many animals in this area are being left behind w/ the foreclosure of homes). She stayed in the house and purred at our feet.

We ended up leaving again so we gave it some tuna, put it outside and left for the night. When we got home a 4 hours later, it was gone so we just went to sleep, somewhat relieved (and missing Pebbles). Funny cat.

Anyway Merry Christmas!

I can do this. I am a star.