Day 71

This morning I was lying in bed debating on whether or not to get up and workout. I kept trying to come up with different excuses of why I couldn’t workout this morning and I actually started typing a text message that would have read “I was not going to make it” to everyone. But then I realized that it wouldn’t have been fair to the girls and the more I kept thinking, the more I became “awake”. I discarded my text, got up and woke up the girls.

Since we were running about 10 minutes late, we were only able to get in 3 miles. I have to write that it was a beautiful morning! The sky was dark and covered in clouds and there was a cool breeze that made it possible to feel the water from the campus sprinklers. When we arrived home I didn’t get any crap from the girls when it came time to weigh – surprisingly! With one week left before school our weights are as follows:

Kiki’s current weight = 126.8 – LOSS of almost 1lb! (Total = 11.2lbs)

Kitty’s current weight = 169.9 – Loss of 2.3lbs! (Total = 8.1lbs)

My current weight = 165 – Loss of 2.2lbs! (Total since February = 27lbs)

I look at our weight loss and can remember back to last summer when the girls gained 10+lbs each. I know that we aren’t breaking any weight loss records here, but the reality that summer is coming to an end and we have succeeded so far (even when you consider the weight GAINS too!) puts a very happy smile on my face. I am happy because I know that it has been 71 days now and we haven’t quit. I am happy because I know that this is only the beginning of our progressing healthier life!

I met the girls for lunch and I was reminded of a poem by Henry David Thoreau that partially reads: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

This morning I didn’t want to get up, but I decided to venture into the woods because I do wish to live deliberately. I don’t want to be my daughters’ excuse as to why they can’t do anything and I don’t want to be my own excuse as to why I don’t do anything – I want to front only the essential facts of life – and those to me are that life doesn’t last forever, so I need to take advantage of EVERY opportunity (if only time) that comes my way.

My goals over the next few weeks are to train myself and my girls in the powers of positive thinking. I think this will help aide in our weight loss and motivation. I also think that with the stress of work, school starting, athletic tryouts, piles of laundry and work (oh yeah, I wrote that already), we need to find and KEEP a new perspective on how lucky we all are.

Do you have any suggestions on how I can accomplish this feat or any goals over the next few weeks?