Hurdles

When I was in High School I had friends who ran in track.  One in particular loved the hurdles.  She was pretty good too.  The thought of jumping over something while running seemed like a very stupid thing to do to this very uncoordinated, overweight girl.  But I could tell that with each practice and meet she felt empowered.  I feared what happens if you stumble over and fall down?  One day that answer came in the form of a competitor falling and breaking bones (if I remember the story correctly it was a nasty break with bones sticking out and everything).  This cemented my first thoughts of the dangers of jumping over hurdles.  Sometimes you stumble and fall.  And sometimes you break bones.  So does that mean that you don't try?  That you never put yourself out there because of the risks?

Since I started going to WW I have had the fear of the dreaded weigh in where I gain and not lose.  What will I do?  How will it effect me?  Will I recover?  Well it happened.  I gained 1.2 pounds this last week.  I couldn't believe it.  I even stepped on the scale again to see if it was wrong (it wasn't.).  Then I held a pity party for one, and started trying to blame someone or something for my gain.  I had stayed within my points.  I had been working hard this last week.  What went wrong?  I narrowed down the issues to one of two possible reasons.  The most likely culprit is the Movie Theater Popcorn I ate on Saturday.  I had a lot of points left at the end of the day, and when Beau and I went to the movies I gave in to one of my favorite treats.  I ordered a large Buttery Movie Popcorn.  I was completely within my points, and I stuffed my face.  What I failed to remember is that although I had plenty of points to cover my indulgence,  I consumed a ridiculous amount of sodium and am most likely still retaining quite a bit of water weight as a result.  I stayed for my entire meeting (even though I wanted to run and hide) and listened to some tips and tricks for surviving Thanksgiving.  Another hurdle? Umm... NO!



So where do I go from here?  Beau asked me to promise him that I wouldn't give up.  I may be down, but I am not out.  This happens.  If I didn't earn lessons along the way I would not be able to conquer this hurdle.  I imagine that girl was a little hesitant about attempting a hurdle again, but I hope she healed and went back for more. 

In September we had a family reunion.  At this campground we stayed at there was a zip line that you could ride and slow as your bum skid across the pond below.  The kids had a blast.  As the day wore on the kids decided to try jumping off and landing in the water.  My niece decided to muster up her courage and took the challenge.  Poor thing jumped off too soon and instead of dropping a few feet she dropped like 10 feet to the water.  This startled her and kind of knocked the wind out of her.  She was upset for a minute, but it wasn't long before she said she would get back on the zip line for another ride - just perhaps she wouldn't jump off so early.  She learned from her mistake and was ready to try again.

This is where I am.  I have learned that there is more to food that fat, protein, carbs, and dietary fiber.  There are other factors to food that influence our bodies for good or bad.  I have been enjoying most of the positive results of my dietary choices, but it is good to learn from the negative results too.  Today I brush off the popcorn and move on.

Over the weekend I went to Time Out for Women.  It was a wonderful experience listening to the motivational speakers and being able to spend time with my sisters in law.  Something awesome happened that I was secretly nervous about.  We stayed at a hotel that was about a half mile from the convention center.  This meant that we would be walking to and from the hotel 4 times.  Two months ago this would have been an embarrassingly impossible task.  I did not have the ability to walk any distance without huffing and puffing.  I was fearful of not being able to make the walk at a normal pace - and without frequent stops.  I was able to do the whole walk without issue.  All four times.  I know half a mile seems like no distance at all to most, but to me it meant that I am improving.  My health is increasing.