Time Marches On - Ten Dates That Changed My Life

I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately.  My life has changed dramatically these past 15 months and that change has been for the better.  I am feeling very thankful to be alive and to be healthy and to be looking forward to the changing dynamics of our household this next year.

Soon my oldest and my only girl will be moving across the country to Virgina to pursue her doctorate degree at VA Tech.  Close on her heels will be our oldest son heading off to Golden to begin his College experience, leaving just our youngest home with Dave and me.

I've been thinking about 10 dates throughout my lifetime that have made a significant impact on my life - good and bad.  That's what I want to reflect on in this post.

NUMBER ONE - October 9, 1961.  The day that I was born

6th daughter of 7 girls.

NUMBER TWO - July 27, 1962.  The day I swallowed a peanut and was hospitalized for 30 days.  Dr. Dugan and Dr. Dvorskey gave me up and told my parents I was in God's hands.  My family, the doctors, the nurses, the church, the neighbors all prayed for me and I lived.  That is what the scar on my throat is and it reminds me daily of those prayers that kept me alive.

After the month in the hospital - hair is curly from oxygen tent.

NUMBER THREE- April 16, 1977.  The day my sister beat Thyroid Cancer!!!!!!!!!


NUMBER FOUR  - January 19, 1981.  The day my 53 year old dad lost his battle with cancer.  From that day forward I tried to tell people what they mean to me, because tomorrow is never promised.

Top photo is a healthy dad.  Bottom photo is 10/1980.  My dad is on the right.
My grandpa (mom's dad) is on the left.

NUMBER FIVE - July 4, 1991 - The day Dave asked me to marry him.  We were on a boat on Lake St. Marys, in St. Marys, Ohio.  He said he asked me while on the boat so I couldn't run away.  (smile)  He still displays that same sense of humor today.


NUMBER SIX, - October 26, 1991 - The day Dave and I were married.  That was the happiest day of my life.

The getaway!

NUMBER SEVEN - October 3, 1994 - The day our first child was born.  Our doctor had told us (after a sonogram) that we were having a boy.  We brought yellow and blue to the hospital.  When she came out, he held her up to me and said, "Tell everyone what it is, Patty."  I remember just staring at him and thinking, "That does not look like a boy."  He finally had to say, "It's a girl."  I was still just kind of trying to figure it out.

A father's love!

NUMBER EIGHT - December 23, 1999- The day our second child was born.  Due on December 31, 1999 our doctor had hoped for the millenial baby.  But Joe had other plans.  He was born within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital, he let out one cry and then was mellow from then on out.  Pretty much describes him to this day.

Joe newborn and 4 months old.

NUMBER NINE - November 20, 2001 - This day is remarkable for two reasons.  One is the birth of our third child - who by the way came out fast and screaming.  I had Dave there and two friends and the doctors and the nurses.  He screamed while each one of them tried to calm him. He eventually calmed down.  My mom was visitng for Ben's birth and when she returned home to CA she went straight to Emergency from the airport.  She had an aneurysm.  It was a very scary time, but Ben is now 15 and my mom is still alive and well.

My mom and Benjamin David!

NUMBER TEN - January 18, 2016 - Almost 35 years to the day after my dad passed away, I began my fitness journey because someone believed they could help me and then they followed through with what they had stated.  I don't know if I can ever properly relate to my readers the hopelessness I felt before seeing success with Ryan's help.  I honestly don't know if I would be here writing this right now, had we not started working together 15 months ago.   I could really never say thank you enough times.   I am reclaiming my life day by day and it feels great.

A pretty recent photo, showing how far I've come.

Each of these events changed my life.  My belief in God is solid because of what happened to me at 9 months old.  My realization to tell people what they mean to me while they are alive is living and real because of losing my dad at such a young age.  My life is richer and fuller because of my marriage and my three children.  And I am getting to enjoy this next chapter in their lives because of the help I received and followed through on to reclaim my health.

What are you thankful for?  How has your life changed through the years?  We always have two ways we can look at things - positively and negatively.  It absolutely sucks that my dad died when I was 19, but I didn't let it ruin me.  I tried to become a better person and I tried to be more like he had been.  Hold on to the good and live life to the fullest.  I know I am.

Eat More, Weigh Less

I am saving my life!

In my last post, I shared how I was swimming more because swimming actually makes me hungry.  As a general rule, I only eat because I have to, not because I am hungry.  But swimming flips the switch on that rule.  I eat because I'm hungry when I swim.

I wish I was a bigger person who didn't get bothered by the number on the scale.  I can list to you 20 non-scale victories pretty easily (and there are many more than 20.)  But doggone if that scale doesn't "get" to me.  I don't know if that is because I am an analytical girl (Acocunting degree) or maybe it's just because I am a woman.  Who knows?   So anyway, we used to weigh weekly and now there is no set date. 

Easter Sunday breakfast out with the family.

I was weighed and measured maybe 6 weeks ago.  So in my mind I was like, "Well fine, if I'm not going to be weighed any more, let's live on the edge a little.  Easter Sunday we went out to breakfast.  I stayed well within my boundaries with 3 eggs, hash browns, and 2 bacon.  But as a norm I do NOT eat bacon or hash browns.  Then on Monday for lunch, I was tired of having chicken so I finished off the chicken enchiladas (that I had made for the rest of the family).  Really, honestly it was a double serving.  But hey, I was hungry.  I swam that morning.  For supper, I did fine.  I ate my chicken and veggies, but I made spaghetti and french bread for my youngest.  Darn if that boy didn't leave that garlic bread sitting in the toaster oven, smelling all delicious and what not.  Finally right before bed (around 9:30 ish) I couldn't take it anymore and I ate that bread.  

To some of you maybe this doesn't seem bad, but I am an OCD person when it comes to my nutrition and I stay true to the book of what I am supposed to eat.  I had not had a piece of garlic bread in over 15 months and I had only had enchiladas once in the past 15 months.  I felt like quite the Rebel.

Do you remember my post about how trainers have a sixth sense?  OMG - Tuesday morning, I get up, eat my breakfast and indulge with two cups of coffee WITH cream.  I head to Kickboxing and then training.  As soon as I walk in, Ryan points to the scale.  I was like, "WHAT?  NO WAY!"  I almost walked out.  In my mind, I was like, are you serious?  The one day I decide to indulge (Monday) comes back to bite me in the butt with a weigh-in on Tuesday?  Seriously it had been like 6 weeks since we weighed in.  And I had an absolutely full belly from the breakfast and two huge coffees.

Well my weight was exactly the same, but my measurements were down immensely.  2 inches off the waist, etc.  He was thrilled!  And all I could think was "Why are you thrilled?  My weight is exactly the same?"  He was saying, "We broke the plateau!  You see that, don't you?"  Um, yes, but no, but maybe, but no.  

So I asked, can I come in Thursday morning early before I eat breakfast and weigh.  He said, "It's up to you."  I had to really think about it because if my weight was the same, I'd be disappointed and kind of a bear to be around.  But if it was down, then we'd be back to Ryan's always right, and I'd be happy.   I decided to go for it and weigh and my weight was down 2.6 pounds.  Darn, if that boy isn't right!  I am inching closer and closer to one-der-land and it feels great.

My aha moment of the week came on Thursday when I was doing 30 seconds of rope slams and 30 seconds of kettlebell swings for 20 minutes straight.  I said, "So, do you think it's the swimming then, that broke the plateau?"  But really before he could even answer I said, "OR, was it that I was hungry because of the swimming and I ate more?"   Ding, Ding, Ding, we have a winner!  He starts exclaiming, "THE LIGHT BULB HAS GONE OFF!"    

Even after 15 months this concept is a difficult one for me to grasp.  I guess for 54 years and 3 months, I was schooled to eat less.  1000 calorie diets were good - no more than 1500 calories.  For the past few months, I was at 1950 calories and sometimes it was hard for me to eat that much.  However after I swim, I am looking for food all day long.  With the exception of that Monday, I make the right choices with my food and my calories in are easy to attain and the results followed.

This makes total sense to me.  So why can't I relate that to me?
Working on it.

Friday I asked if we could sit down and go over the food and macros again.  I just wanted to understand better what my options were for snacks, etc,   However, I walked out of there with a higher daily calorie count then I had walked in with.  I was not expecting that and again that messes with my mind.  But I know it works, so here's to proving it.

New Week - New Plan - New Feeling (Hunger- What is that?)

Phew!  What a week.  I absolutely have to start this post out with a gigantic thank you to Mana Shigematsu for the tremendous impact he's had on my entire family's health and wellness.  Mana is moving back home to Hawaii and we will miss him like crazy - especially his workouts!  We are forever friends now so I know we'll still keep in touch, but I just wanted to publicly thank him again.

He looks sad to leave us - doesn't he?

My last post detailed out my not-so-good week.  Ryan has been saying to me for weeks that he really thinks I need to swim more, because I'm always hungry afterwards and it's easy on my body.  I've kind of just acted like I'm not hearing him, because swimming is very hard.  But after my week where I was grounded, I decided to have some meekness and give a listen.

I purchased a swim membership over at Colorado Mesa University.  We decided I would swim 3 times a week for 45 minutes to an hour instead of the 1 time a week for 1 hour that I was currently doing.  Dependent upon the app I use, I am burning from 350 to 1000 calories per workout.  I think 350 is low and 1000 may be high.  But I can tell you, I am starving afterwards.  In fact, I've been hungry all week.  And honestly that is what he was hoping for.  Because as a general rule, I am NEVER hungry.  I have to force myself to eat to get the number of calories in that I need to each day.  Not this week - I was hungry all week long and I'm not sure I like that feeling.  (smile)

Swam 47 minutes Monday and 75 minutes Wednesday.

So my cardio sessions consist of 3 days of swimming and 2 days of 1 hour cardio sessions with Ryan.  On Tuesday we did this crazy double kettlebell swing and then overhead kettlebell press.  Sometimes I think he's absolutely crazy.  One day (Friday because I couldn't fit swimming in) I had to do 45 minutes straight on the rower AGAINST a pace boat.  Now if that's not fun, I don't know what is.  At least that day I had my playlist on.

Tuesday cardio with Ryan - 728 calories burned

I have two days of weight training also.  And this week I worked in a day of Physical Therapy for my legs (knees) with Semaj over at Gold's.  My knees felt a lot better after that session.

I really wanted to keep doing kickboxing as well.  He is teaching me to maximize my workout sessions in the minimum time.  So adding kickboxing doesn't necessarily fit into that model, but it is something I enjoy and I like how it is a confidence booster.  So I kickbox two days a week.  I may have a little too much fun in those classes.

Thursday morning Kickboxing crew.

Monday - swim/ weights

Tuesday- Kickbox, cardio

Wednesday - swim/weights

Thursday - Kickbox, Cardio

Friday - swim

Sat - rest

Sun - rest

Facebook has a way of showing you your memories from years past.  So it was fun to come across April 11, 2016 which was the end of my 12 week challenge at Golds gym.  I lost 33 pounds in that challenge.  I asked Ryan and Jenna if we could take pictures one year later and put them side by side so we could see the continued progress.  See for me it NEVER was just a 12 week contest.  This is a lifelong journey I am on.  

April 11, 2016    versus April 11, 2017

Both Jenna and I have had great progress in one year working with Ryan.

All in all it has been a great week, albeit very tiring as my body is adjusting to the swim workouts.  I have no idea of my weight progress.  I have this problem where I get angry if the scale doesn't move.  It really doesn't go up, but sometimes it doesn't go down and that makes me mad.  So in order to stay happy I am forced to stay away from the scale.  (You know if Patty's not happy ain't nobody happy.)  But I can tell by the pictures above, that I am making progress.  

It Started with an E-Mail

[This post was written about last week - April 3-7.  The previous post I was all excited about my non-scale victories.  But then I went to the Bod Pod and had body fat measured and that number got into my head.  I'm an analytical girl.  So even though I know I have a ton of non-scale victories, I allowed my frustration to get the best of me and I voiced it in the weekly e-mail mentioned below.  (Apparently that's frustrating to a trainer.  lol)  I had done the bod pod on Friday, sent the e-mail on Saturday and then did the hike on Sunday.]



So every week since January 2016, I have e-mailed my trainer my food log for the week via the Fitbit app calculations.  I did this again this past weekend.  My opening paragraph showed frustration with the "numbers" part of my journey.  I wrote the e-mail late Saturday night, sent it Sunday and then went on my first hike in 13 years.

The hike was unbelievable.  I never had to stop for rest.   I couldn't run when my son wanted to run, but I could move at a good clip.  I had to watch any "jumps" I made as they were felt immediately in the ankles and knees, but overall it was a great day.  I was flying high.  (But remember the e-mail was sent before this Rocky Mountain High.)

I woke up Monday morning and I was supposed to go do 3 separate workouts (2 with Jenna).  I had kind of promised Jenna I'd be there and help her with the kids so I didn't want to back out.  But OMG - I could barely walk.  My lower back was extremely tight and my hips/groin in the front were equally as tight.  It was that "so tight that if you move wrong you're going to throw something out tight."  I took 2 Motrin and took my kid to school.  I returned home and nothing was better.  I took two more Motrin and was looking for something stronger when I began to feel some relief.

I arrived at the gym and was asked by my trainer how the hike went.  "Great," I replied.  And how are you feeling, he asked?  "Fine."  I lied.  I really couldn't do much of the weight lifting involved in the Main Event cardio circuit that morning and he noticed.  He made a comment to the tune of "You want to know why your numbers are the way they are?  Right here.  Your lack of effort."  (Apparently my flip/flop attitude was not received well.)  Everything he said in that moment was true, but I pride myself on the effort I usually put in to a workout and I was exhausted, so that just pissed me off.   I felt like I was being called a slacker so therefore I worked even harder on Monday and Tuesday with being angry the whole time.  (I do not recommend.)

On Mondays we lift, but on that Monday he said, "I want you on the rower."  I said, "That's not what I pay you for.  I am supposed to lift today."  He replied, "You pay me to train you - get on the rower."  I said, "That's not what I want."  Guess who rowed 30 minutes listening to "You Don't Always Get What you Want" on repeat?

I want to take you back to San Lorenzo, California and a ten year old Patty.  I was a swimmer back then who swam hard and I also played hard and I was helping my dad build a basement.  I remember this particular day when my mom and I were in a heated argument.  She finally said, "YOU NEED TO TAKE A NAP!"  I fired back, "I"M NOT EVEN TIRED."  She made me lay down on my bed and she closed the door.  2 1/2 hours later, I woke up with that feeling of "Oh my goodness, she was right."  "I was tired."  I still remember that like it was yesterday.

Patty styling at 10 years old

Back to the present - during our training session on Tuesday I was determined to show that I was NOT a slacker.  I tried hard.  I got my heart rate up past 154, but my dang legs started giving out on me and that made me even more mad.  Finally he "called it."  What does that mean, you ask?  He said, you're done!  AND --  you're not to come back tomorrow and you are to ice.  (Aaarrgggh)  And you're not to go train somewhere else tomorrow or we won't train Thursday! (double aaargggh).  AND you need to eat the same amount of calories as if we were training.  (triple aarggghh).   I walked out pretty dang angry to tell you the truth.

Remember that story from San Lorenzo, CA?  I started to think of that and when I broke it all down, I knew he was really right.  My body was screaming for rest ever since the hike.  My first misstep was to not write him back after the hike and say, I take all that back.  I just had an incredible day.  Screw the numbers.   My second misstep was to act as if I felt fine on Monday when in reality I haven't felt that bad in a long, long time.  Your trainer cannot help you if you are not honest.   My third misstep was to get genuinely angry and get the attitude of I'll prove you wrong even if it kills me!

Needless to say, I iced all day and night on Wednesday and began to realize that was the right call for the day.  I don't know if you all know how BAD I want this - good health, good weight, strength, etc.  So when someone tells me I have to rest (or eat), it makes me crazy.  I don't see this as moving me towards my goal.  But I need to believe that rest and eating are part of the process.

Just like I realized that when I get cranky, I need a nap; I need to realize when my body is hurting, I need to ice and rest.  It sure would make life easier for all.

(PS.  Today (the day I iced)  I wore normal clothes (not workout clothes)  A pair of jeans that were tight a few weeks ago fit with room.  I felt kind of stupid then for being angry about the numbers.)