I have been working out every day. I am tired to say the least. I took two naps yesterday, one nap on Sunday.
I got on the scales...I am minus ten pounds!
Yippee. I skipped breakfast and I am eating a 210 calorie Heath bar. That is my reward. Is that a healthy choice?? No. But calories are calories. And I have been jones'in chocolate for a week now!
Ryan is still keep up with me every day. I asked how his workouts were going..."Oh, nothing fancy. Just 2000 jumps (on the jump rope) and running 2 miles a day, plus shooting hoops." Nothing fancy. Good Lord I get short winded just reading about it!
He is an awesome trainer.
Until next time...
Ten down...thirty to go...
N.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Day 2 - 6:15 a.m
My alarm went off way too soon. The sun was shining right in my eyes so it made it a little easier to wake up. I got dressed and went downstairs to talk to Steph. We decided that Ryan didn't get to bed til late and that we would let him sleep. But I knew if I didn't walk he would call me a quitter.
I don't quit. Sometimes, that fact can even be to my detriment.
At any rate, I started walking up the road. My legs were wobbly from over exhaustion the night before...but I had to try. Last night Ryan suggested walking from one telephone pole and then running to the next. So, I started out walking, then I jogged...Oh my Lord my back hurts!! Right in the very middle where you can't do much about it!
I ran three poles and walked one all the way down and back. I about died coming into the driveway. Steph was waiting with a glass of ice water. "You did it! I can't believe you jogged!" I can't believe it either!
So when Ryan did get out of bed, he accused me of not doing what we said. I informed him that yes, I did get up and walk and even had a witness! He gave me a high five. He said his alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and he said he wanted to see if I really would get up and do it on my own, and if I did, he would know that I was serious.
After getting ready for work we decided to shoot some baskets before I left. At 7:45 a.m. I am in heels and skirt shooting a basketball (mind you I haven't shot a basket in at least fifteen years...and I am still kickass on the free throws).
Ryan said, "My shots aren't pretty, but they go in." He has come such a long way.
So, I think I survived 2 days...and I think I'm doing okay...
This is the text I got yesterday afternoon: I am very proud of you, ya made my day this morning...ur paying so it's my job to have you lose 40...at first I didn't know if we could do it but if ur willing to do it without me there sometimes...we will do it! Hope you're having a good day.
N.
I don't quit. Sometimes, that fact can even be to my detriment.
At any rate, I started walking up the road. My legs were wobbly from over exhaustion the night before...but I had to try. Last night Ryan suggested walking from one telephone pole and then running to the next. So, I started out walking, then I jogged...Oh my Lord my back hurts!! Right in the very middle where you can't do much about it!
I ran three poles and walked one all the way down and back. I about died coming into the driveway. Steph was waiting with a glass of ice water. "You did it! I can't believe you jogged!" I can't believe it either!
So when Ryan did get out of bed, he accused me of not doing what we said. I informed him that yes, I did get up and walk and even had a witness! He gave me a high five. He said his alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and he said he wanted to see if I really would get up and do it on my own, and if I did, he would know that I was serious.
After getting ready for work we decided to shoot some baskets before I left. At 7:45 a.m. I am in heels and skirt shooting a basketball (mind you I haven't shot a basket in at least fifteen years...and I am still kickass on the free throws).
Ryan said, "My shots aren't pretty, but they go in." He has come such a long way.
So, I think I survived 2 days...and I think I'm doing okay...
This is the text I got yesterday afternoon: I am very proud of you, ya made my day this morning...ur paying so it's my job to have you lose 40...at first I didn't know if we could do it but if ur willing to do it without me there sometimes...we will do it! Hope you're having a good day.
N.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
My First Workout - May 20, 2009
I work at a lawfirm and I am usually crazy busy every day. I work through a lot of lunches - but lately have had a lot of lunch dates. It's hard to eat healthy at House of Hunan...
Anyhow, I get a text from Ryan that my workout is in one hour...he can't wait! Then another text came in, "I am gonna give you a whipping." I'm thinking, great, the kid is going to kill me on purpose. One of the girls in the office was making a chocolate run, I had her pick me up my last Snickers.
The texts kept coming: "What did you eat today?" "Did you walk yesterday like I told you to?" "Are you going to be on time?" He will learn quickly that I am rarely on time and will probably be late to my own funeral.
I text him back, "Have to stop at Walgreen's for your mom (after the work out we are having a scrapbook marathon for a graduation party on Saturday) and then I will be out." I was only five minutes late. I changed and we got to work right away.
We started outside with jump roping. He said we would do 4 sets of 25 and if I missed, I had to do 30. He also said that he was going to do a set, then I was going to do a set. I was surprised that we was going to work out WITH me.
When Ryan first got out of the hospital, he couldn't jump rope at all. Now he can do 150 jumps in a ROW. Amazing.
We did four sets and then we got to take a walk up the road...and jog back! I kept a decent pace. Then we went inside to work on strength training. Needless to say I have absolutely NONE. After 3 sets of arms, legs and abs he threw me on the elliptical. How you enthusiast do it, I do not know. After I was finished, he sent me to the treadmill. What?? I already did the elliptical. JUST DO IT. So I did. And then I had to do 2 more sets! I was dying a slow and miserable death.
Finally, I'm finished...or so I thought. Back outside to go up and down the road again! I talked Steph into going this time. The three of us walked in a line and then the last person would have to run to the front. Ryan kept yelling at me to not slow down for his mother.
After we got back, we decided that I did alright. Steph offered me a Mt. Dew and Ryan kindly said, "No pop. Water only." Of course, he grabs a pop and a handful of Oatmeal Cream Pies. Oh to be a teenager again.
Steph and I did our scrapbooking until about midnight. Ryan came down and we discussed getting up in the morning to WALK. I said, "I'm not running. My legs are already rubberbands."
So I went to bed in Allie's room, and on the window screen were exactly 17 June bugs. I live in the woods and I don't get 17 June bugs on my window screens! It reminded me of living at home (which is only about a mile from Steph's house) and how we used to flick them off the screens just because. The town is so quiet and really there's not much to do...but it's home. And I fell asleep faster than I ever have...until my alarm went off 6 hours and 15 minutes later...
N.
Anyhow, I get a text from Ryan that my workout is in one hour...he can't wait! Then another text came in, "I am gonna give you a whipping." I'm thinking, great, the kid is going to kill me on purpose. One of the girls in the office was making a chocolate run, I had her pick me up my last Snickers.
The texts kept coming: "What did you eat today?" "Did you walk yesterday like I told you to?" "Are you going to be on time?" He will learn quickly that I am rarely on time and will probably be late to my own funeral.
I text him back, "Have to stop at Walgreen's for your mom (after the work out we are having a scrapbook marathon for a graduation party on Saturday) and then I will be out." I was only five minutes late. I changed and we got to work right away.
We started outside with jump roping. He said we would do 4 sets of 25 and if I missed, I had to do 30. He also said that he was going to do a set, then I was going to do a set. I was surprised that we was going to work out WITH me.
When Ryan first got out of the hospital, he couldn't jump rope at all. Now he can do 150 jumps in a ROW. Amazing.
We did four sets and then we got to take a walk up the road...and jog back! I kept a decent pace. Then we went inside to work on strength training. Needless to say I have absolutely NONE. After 3 sets of arms, legs and abs he threw me on the elliptical. How you enthusiast do it, I do not know. After I was finished, he sent me to the treadmill. What?? I already did the elliptical. JUST DO IT. So I did. And then I had to do 2 more sets! I was dying a slow and miserable death.
Finally, I'm finished...or so I thought. Back outside to go up and down the road again! I talked Steph into going this time. The three of us walked in a line and then the last person would have to run to the front. Ryan kept yelling at me to not slow down for his mother.
After we got back, we decided that I did alright. Steph offered me a Mt. Dew and Ryan kindly said, "No pop. Water only." Of course, he grabs a pop and a handful of Oatmeal Cream Pies. Oh to be a teenager again.
Steph and I did our scrapbooking until about midnight. Ryan came down and we discussed getting up in the morning to WALK. I said, "I'm not running. My legs are already rubberbands."
So I went to bed in Allie's room, and on the window screen were exactly 17 June bugs. I live in the woods and I don't get 17 June bugs on my window screens! It reminded me of living at home (which is only about a mile from Steph's house) and how we used to flick them off the screens just because. The town is so quiet and really there's not much to do...but it's home. And I fell asleep faster than I ever have...until my alarm went off 6 hours and 15 minutes later...
N.
Ryan - My Personal Trainer
Let me tell you about Ryan. He is the son of one of my dearest and kindest friends, Steph. Steph and I go way back to highschool, so I have watched Ryan grow up since he was born.
In December of 2007, Ryan was in a near-fatal car accident. It changed his life forever: he could no longer play basketball (we was a star player) hang out with his friends, text message or drive. He had severe head trauma amongst other injuries, leaving him in the hospital for months on end and undergoing many surgeries.
On January 19, 2008, my dear friend wept at his bedside as this was the day her mother died of cancer several years ago...and the doctors told her to say goodbye to her son, that he was going to die, too.
Ryan's young spirit, his determination and the awesome will of God kept him alive. In March of 2008 Ryan came home with many months of intense therapy and training. He had to literally re-learn everything.
Back in November of last year at one of his high school's football games, Med Flight flew in to be honored for saving Ryan's life. It was a very emotional day.
Steph and I were chatting and Ryan came up between us. He said, "Natalie, if you would lose 20 pounds you would feel better. If you'd lose 30, you'd be hot."
Steph's mouth fell to the ground, she gasped, "I'm sorry! Ryan you don't say things like that to people! He is still learning that you don't always say what's on your mind!"
I was not offended. Ryan was right. Over the last couple of years I was going through some major life crises. I was depressed for a while and my doctor put me on anti-depressants which really didn't work for me. Gaining 25 pounds from the medication made me even MORE depressed!
Periodically, Ryan would "remind" me that I need to start exercising. I kept putting him off, telling me "I would get to it sometime soon..."
Then, 2 weeks ago when our family bought Ryan's air hockey table at their garage sale, I decided to take a chance. I sent Ryan a text message and asked him about being my personal trainer. He was elated! We negotiated $15 per hour and he was to organize a workout plan for me.
From here on out I am going to blog my journey with Ryan. For one, it keeps me accountable to hang in there and reach my goal (which, by the way, has been changed from 30 pounds to 40 pounds by Mr. Trainer - NOT ME!)
And secondly, it allows Ryan to use his awesome abilities and positive attitude to accomplish a task.
Until next time...
N.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
***This is a few days old...but I'm pasting it over from my MySpace account. It's a tribute to my mom.***
It's May 14th. Brenda, my mother, was born today in 1950. She died in 1991 and was barely 41 years old. Which is basically, my age.
On her birthday every year I try to tell Baeleigh a good story that she will remember to give her an idea of who her grandmother was, even though she never met her.
Here is this year's story...
It was a hot and humid muggy morning at my house in the quaint town of LaRue, Ohio. It was a Tuesday in July and my cousin Nikki was spending the week with us, and we were already getting bored. We spend two days at the pool (our eyes were sore from the chlorine and from staring at Kyle Stofcheck in the lifeguard chair) and had already toured the entire town on our bikes.
Speaking of bikes...an old blue car seemed to be following us every where we would go. We were petrified. I still remember the license plate: EBG 977. We memorized it just in case we had to call the police. Oh, Wait, we didn't have a phone. And the rent-a-cop was in town only on Thursday (if we were lucky). Oh well. Good to exercise the brain.
It's was 11:00 p.m. Lightbulb: Let's toilet paper someone and soap their windows! The household was asleep. We tip-toed down the creaky old narrow stairs from my bedroom. We made it to the bathroom to stuff soap in our pockets and toilet paper under our shirts. We got to the kitchen...
"Renee...what are you doing?" My mind froze - !!! "uhhh..." I muttered. My mother smiled hugely. I was confused. Why isn't she mad?? I was so confused, I pulled the soap out of my pocket and handed it to her. Brenda frowned. "Why do you have soap," she sneered, "If you use soap it will come off with water. You need paraffin." My 5 foot mother walked over to the kitchen sink, opened the door underneath and pulled out paraffin wax, the stuff used for canning and to make buckeyes.
She torted, "Girls, if you are going to do something, do it right."
So we ran past Hot Shot's loud mouth dogs and ran up to the trailer on the other side of our property. Mr. Gantt was our very own "Boo Radley". We started with his car...it was blue...it had a license plate number of....EBG 977!!!
Nikki hissed, "It's that car! It's that car that follows us!" We panicked. Ran back up the road past the loud mouth dogs and back home. (Of course Mr. Gantt wasn't following us...he turned out to be a dear friend.)
In every situation, my mother was a blast. She was always the life of the party. She always wanted us kids to enjoy life. She loved life and loved us.
That was probably my favorite summer...Oh, to be eleven again. I would go back if I could. But since I can't...the stories shall continue...
xoxo
Nat.
It's May 14th. Brenda, my mother, was born today in 1950. She died in 1991 and was barely 41 years old. Which is basically, my age.
On her birthday every year I try to tell Baeleigh a good story that she will remember to give her an idea of who her grandmother was, even though she never met her.
Here is this year's story...
It was a hot and humid muggy morning at my house in the quaint town of LaRue, Ohio. It was a Tuesday in July and my cousin Nikki was spending the week with us, and we were already getting bored. We spend two days at the pool (our eyes were sore from the chlorine and from staring at Kyle Stofcheck in the lifeguard chair) and had already toured the entire town on our bikes.
Speaking of bikes...an old blue car seemed to be following us every where we would go. We were petrified. I still remember the license plate: EBG 977. We memorized it just in case we had to call the police. Oh, Wait, we didn't have a phone. And the rent-a-cop was in town only on Thursday (if we were lucky). Oh well. Good to exercise the brain.
It's was 11:00 p.m. Lightbulb: Let's toilet paper someone and soap their windows! The household was asleep. We tip-toed down the creaky old narrow stairs from my bedroom. We made it to the bathroom to stuff soap in our pockets and toilet paper under our shirts. We got to the kitchen...
"Renee...what are you doing?" My mind froze - !!! "uhhh..." I muttered. My mother smiled hugely. I was confused. Why isn't she mad?? I was so confused, I pulled the soap out of my pocket and handed it to her. Brenda frowned. "Why do you have soap," she sneered, "If you use soap it will come off with water. You need paraffin." My 5 foot mother walked over to the kitchen sink, opened the door underneath and pulled out paraffin wax, the stuff used for canning and to make buckeyes.
She torted, "Girls, if you are going to do something, do it right."
So we ran past Hot Shot's loud mouth dogs and ran up to the trailer on the other side of our property. Mr. Gantt was our very own "Boo Radley". We started with his car...it was blue...it had a license plate number of....EBG 977!!!
Nikki hissed, "It's that car! It's that car that follows us!" We panicked. Ran back up the road past the loud mouth dogs and back home. (Of course Mr. Gantt wasn't following us...he turned out to be a dear friend.)
In every situation, my mother was a blast. She was always the life of the party. She always wanted us kids to enjoy life. She loved life and loved us.
That was probably my favorite summer...Oh, to be eleven again. I would go back if I could. But since I can't...the stories shall continue...
xoxo
Nat.
The best things in life happen unexpectantly.
I was having a rather normal day when I realized that we had Appeal documentation due in just a few days. So I had to run over to the Court House and copy the file. I've been in a somewhat gloomy mood with the rain and all.
I noticed that the sun was barely shining through the clouds so I decided to walk over instead of drive. As I was riding in the elevator up to the third floor, I put my hand in the pocket of my dress coat only to find something soft that fit in the palm of my hand. I squeezed it and had to pull it out to see what it was.
It was one of Baeleigh's socks. How it got in there?? No clue.
As I looked at the small, dainty sock with mild dirt stains on the bottom, I smiled so big...just the thought of her turms my whole day around! And I realized that whatever gloom is looming over me, that the owner of that sock can bring out the sun in a split second!
I decided to keep the sock in my pocket for future gloomy days...in some ways manipulating my destination in that I will be subject to another surprise that I so dearly love.
xxx
N.R. Powers
I was having a rather normal day when I realized that we had Appeal documentation due in just a few days. So I had to run over to the Court House and copy the file. I've been in a somewhat gloomy mood with the rain and all.
I noticed that the sun was barely shining through the clouds so I decided to walk over instead of drive. As I was riding in the elevator up to the third floor, I put my hand in the pocket of my dress coat only to find something soft that fit in the palm of my hand. I squeezed it and had to pull it out to see what it was.
It was one of Baeleigh's socks. How it got in there?? No clue.
As I looked at the small, dainty sock with mild dirt stains on the bottom, I smiled so big...just the thought of her turms my whole day around! And I realized that whatever gloom is looming over me, that the owner of that sock can bring out the sun in a split second!
I decided to keep the sock in my pocket for future gloomy days...in some ways manipulating my destination in that I will be subject to another surprise that I so dearly love.
xxx
N.R. Powers
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