| |
|
SPEEDY143's Recent Blog Entries
|
 
Sunday, July 10, 2011
1. How many fitness minutes did you rack up in Assignment 2?
Tuesday... 60, Wednesday...60, Thursday... rest day 0, Friday, 30… total      = 150 minutes 
2. If you picked a day to add up how many calories you drank... what was the total? If you didn't count, do it on one day this weekend. Just the calories you drink.
I generally only drink water but occasionally I have a glass of wine with dinner or an 8oz glass of Naked Green Machine Juice for a snack = 140 calories. A few days a week I have a 30 gram protein shake 160 calories… every day I do have two cups of coffee with 2% milk and sugar at 99 calories.    
3. This weekend, you either have to make and take a picture of two beautiful healthy meals you create, and upload the pic to Sparkpeople...
Started in our freggie garden for Saturday nights dinner.
Created this  471 calories, 41 carbs, 17 fat, 35 protein, 260 sodium. 
Baked Wild Alaskan Marinated Sockeye Salmon
Tomatoes
Grilled pineapple rings
Grilled onions
Red potatoes w/scallions
Green beans
Grilled green peppers
Wine
Sunday morning breakfast….433 calories, 73 carbs, 13 fat, 13 protein, 293 sodium.
Whole wheat toast with 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter and smiley prune face  what an oxymoron!!!! Seven fresh fruits cup with strawberries from our freggie garden and 2 cups coffee with 2% milk and sugar.
4. Get in a workout this weekend that totally screams YEAH IM STILL ON BOARD! SEE! IM STILL FIGHTING!
Going to a wedding this afternoon and plan to dance my ass off  
Friday, July 01, 2011
We’ve all heard it and probably even have said it from time to time…
I am my own worst enemy. Well I WAS!!!! For a long time. Lot’s of self deprecation going on inside my head that would often slip out verbally and take even me by surprise. I really wasn’t very nice to myself in a lot of ways.
A year ago I decided to become my number 1 priority and I started taking the time to concentrate on ME. The results were astounding… low and behold, everyone whom I had devoted my entire life too in the past began to benefit as well. Not something I had expected. Another one of those win~win situation.
And as a result I’m now my biggest fan…. My own best friend… A true believer in Linda.
I’ve come a long way in just a year. This June I celebrated my one year Sparkversary, turned 64, reached my 60 pound loss, was voted Spark Motivator, named member of the month on the "Over 60 with 100 to 200 pounds to Lose" team... thanks again ladies. But it was also the first month with my least weight loss. I felt stuck. Still tethered to the past. Not completely liberated. Something was still holding me back from feeling whole, complete, satisfied.
When Yoovie asked; What was the best way to motivate me? I answered…. “Notice my progress and praise me when I make good choices. Yeah, like a ‘lil puppy dog… sad huh!!”
My answer made me think how much my self worth is still wrapped up in what others think of me… I am still giving other people all the power to make me feel either good or bad about myself. At 64 years old you’d think I’d be my own woman by now. Pfffttttt… I guess I’ll stop learning when I die. In the mean time I’ve decided….
I want that power. I want ALL the power over Me….
So, Today I start the final break from that constant childish need of acknowledgement and appreciation from others. I MUST evolve or die.
My Declaration of Independence is from the need of approval from others. I believe once this occurs I will find the unconditional self love I seek to break free and move on to the next realization… whatever that may be. Oh, I’m sooooooooo ready!!!!
BRING IT Summer of 2011, I’m ready to sizzle my way to looking as HOT on the outside as I feel on the inside.
June 22, 2011... my 64th birthday with my sweetest cheer leader always at my side  He calls me skinny now
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Today I celebrate my One Year SparkVersary…. tomorrow my 64th trip around the sun!!!! The past 365 days completes the “Perfect Circle” on my quest to a healthy lifestyle. A journey I started at my highest weight, broken, in pain and yearning for a life worth living.
Me at my 63rd birthday party weighing 326 pounds… yes, I was as miserable as I looked. On June 22, 2010, when I blew out the candles on my cake, I wished for less… less pain, less regrets, less of me to love… yep, I wished for less instead of more and my prayers were answered when I decided that day to make a New Year’s Resolution.
So I joined SparkPeople and quickly learned….
…. and the self intervention began!!
I took advantage of every tool available on SparkPeople and armed myself with all the latest knowledge about nutrition and exercise. I surrounded myself with thousands of other people just like me that were on the same adventure realizing that….
But the results were measurable in just a few weeks because,
I looked at the 756 months that I had already lived, mostly for others, and dedicated the next twelve months to me. June 2010-June 2011, became My Year and now I can say that I am no longer addicted to food. I’m actually “Eating to live, not living to eat.” I know for a fact that “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” So start small with a couple streaks in mind like drinking 8 glasses of water a day and eating 5 freggies, you can do it and YOU won’t be sorry that you did. Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't I give myself reasons why I can by exercising BEFORE I Spark. I’ve learned to love myself unconditionally because “Everyday in everyway I AM getting better and better,” as my weight is just a number and the scale is no longer the only way I measure improvement. I know I can do whatever it takes to lighten up my life regardless of my abilities or age, thanks to all my SparkFriends who candidly share their disappointments and triumphs while blogging. I have as much time as it takes to cross any finish line I choose because life is a marathon not a sprint. Healthy living is a way of life as I continue to love myself more than food.
It may have taken me 52 weeks but SparkPeople has instilled in me the difference between portion control and dieting, the value of exercising for strength and stamina. And that nothing tastes as good as healthy feels!!!!
60 pounds thinner and light years happier. I’m so proud to display the One Year SparkVersary logo on my page. And I owe it to two simple words I use every day… NEVER QUIT.
My birthday wish has more than come true. I’m so very happy and in better shape than I have been in years. It’s no doubt that SparkPeople works if YOU work it… there’s just one little side effect I had not anticipated, when joining, and that’s all the wonderful people I have come to love and respect… the virtual icing on the cake. They remind me that, there really is no “I” in team but there can be no team unless I participate. My SparkPackage included a lot of emotional healing… and group hugs are a very important part of the healing process.
I plan on Spreading the Spark for another year and posting many more before and after pictures so let's get this  started  Today is 
 
Sunday, June 19, 2011
William Mortimer West
January 15, 1927 ~ December 24, 2007
This collection of memories about my dad, Bill West, has been loving put together as a keepsake for my mother…. his bride of 61 years.
Through My Fathers’ Eyes….
As you read these tear stained pages, soon to be wedded with your own, our hope is that you know, Mother, how very much daddy, grandpa, Pop-Pop & Uncle Bill was and will always be loved by family and friends whom he touched and inspired every day of his 80+ years. From hero to father-figure to surrogate “big-brother” you will find, while reading these precious memoirs, a theme that’s woven itself from the earliest recollections through his very final days. Each holds examples of his infamous humor, unconditional love, inspiration and support. Some memories we share will surprise and delight you; some will tug at your heart and make you yearn to be together again.
He was a serious self taught man with wisdom that came from years of experience and yet he was silly, and fun. Yes, he could irritate the hell out of you too but only for a little while because you’ve come too realized just how far that 18 year old boy had come since you first met.
As a family we’ve all been appreciative that you both found each other and worked so hard to make a life together raising two sons and a daughter who in turn have had the great pleasure of giving back through the addition of grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will always honor and respect the wonderful parents you both strived to be.
John and Tom and I have looked through our father’s eyes at a world that he taught us to respect by just the way he lived. An honest businessman with integrity who delighted in what he did because he wanted to be constructive, not destructive. Dad was a proud patriarch who shared in the joy of all the successes of his family and their offspring’s. With his simple dedication to his vegetable and fruit gardens… he taught us to be lovers of things living and growing. His perseverance to take care of what he owned instead of just replacing it when it wore out was a lesson well learned and much appreciated. His silliness made every effort to lighten and entertain even the glummest of strangers and lives still through the laughter and humor we will always share as a family.
Dad had a wonderful sense of being able to spark your imagination and did so with many inventive family projects like “SWRD” and the group Lotto program he spearheaded. His thirst for knowledge wetted my appetite as well as his love of classical music and of course, his creativity…. from the first “Do-nothing” he built for me to the final boat he created for his great-granddaughter Stella and all the clever creations in-between.
I watched as dad’s gentleness grew through the years of joy and sorrow you both shared. I was able to strengthen my spiritual beliefs as we shared our perspective of life and death across Tom’s bed. I was often reminded how lucky a child I was to have him for a father as I watched his love of the grandchildren give him another chance to be the dad he may have wanted to be when we were growing up but didn’t have the time or patience for because he was working so hard to be a provider leaving you, mom, to be the nurturer and cheering squad for us kids. I watched him gently welcome dozens of cats who had no where else to go. And I remember the families he graciously invited into your home, giving them respite on their rough journeys. We all continue to benefit from dad’s willingness to share his business and knowledge with Michael and me. I’m especially thankful and privileged to have been present while Dad continued to evolve into a man of patience and support who portrayed a great strength through Tom’s illness and ultimate passing.
What a blessing to have watched my father fall deeper in love with my mother these last several years. Growing into a man who was unconditionally supportive as they both struggled to be excepting and strong through their trials and tribulations together…. truly a role model to all who had the pleasure of knowing him. What better legacy could he have wanted than to be a true hero to so many?
Mom, you knew dad best…. all his faults… all his triumphs. You will surely miss him the most, as it should be. Just know that we will remember and honor his life as he continues to live in all of us for we are so blessed to continue to look at life through our father’s eyes.
With love and appreciation your daughter…
“Keep a memory of me not as a King or as a hero,
But as a man fallible and flawed.” ~A quote from “Beowulf”
Happy Father's Day daddy... I miss you so much 
First Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Last Page
|
|
Get An Email Alert Each Time SPEEDY143 Posts
|
|
GOOOOOOOOOO Speedy 
And if I can YOU can too 
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
Really liked this blog. You have been doing great but most important, you have learned so much and that is really the key to meeting your goals and sticking with it. 
I goofed...and now it won't erase the 1 month and put in the 1 year!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! But you know what I mean!
