Well, I was super-MOJO'd up when I wrote on April 6 -- and then woke up to COLD rain & SNOW on April 7. Major MOJO killer for me. We lived in San Diego for 4 years and that is my ideal climate. Maryland was killing me.

But I digress. Once the snow melted, I got out running again, and I've been running about 3x/week ever since. I met a nice woman in my neighborhood to run with and it's so much better with a buddy! Last Saturday, I was really feeling good and ran 5.7 miles -- the farthest I've run since getting pregnant w/DD2.

And.... we've decided to train for a 1/2 marathon in September. Which means all the training will be in the hot summer, and while my older daughter is out of school, so I'll have the double stroller to push. But I'm feeling really good about it. I turned 35 last month and I kind of want to do this to get a feel for myself and where I am as I pass this milestone.

And to that end, I've started volunteering for a great nonprofit. I'm a lifelong animal lover and used to work at a humane society, but since my girls came along, I've been out of touch with the animal community. So now I'm volunteering with a nonprofit that provides emergency funding for sick and injured labrador retrievers (and lab mixes) in rescue. Talk about a niche market. :-) But with labs being the most popular breed for so many years, there's unfortunately quite a demand for our funds. I've linked it below in case anyone is interested. I've really enjoyed using the "professional" side of my brain as opposed to just the "mommy" side. I spent my birthday at a dog show manning an info table and it was just wonderful.

And our kitchen starts... tomorrow! This weekend's workout has been marching up and down the stairs a zillion times as I empty the kitchen. Later I will walk the dog.

Donna, I've been thinking about you and how, as halfdecaf suggested, maybe it's about balance. If you can't give up the chips, you just have to really balance it out on the days your home. Also, find a walking buddy. I can't tell you how much my jogging buddy is keeping me on track.

And celtic, that was about the best peptalk in history! I LOVE IT!

Amy

Amy, I'm also in MD, and that return to winter really froze my resolve, too. Anyway, it's getting nice out, so no more excuses (I'm saying that to myself).

BTW, a correction on my post about the 25-cal cheese: it's SmartBeat, not Lactaid (though it is similar).

Sue

I've been busy painting - trying to get some things done at my lake place before Memorial Day and I only have a few weekends to get up there and do this stuff. It's cut into my workout time on the weekends but I've still been exercising during the week. I have pretty much been prepping, painting and cleaning up from the time I get up until the time I go to bed. I think I'm done now. We're having a wood ceiling put in and new counters and sinks and a few new appliances. I have no fridge there so I haven't been eating anything too great either - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!! It's supposed to be done by next weekend so then we get to do major cleanup and put everything back. That is not as time sensitve as the painting was though so hopefully I'll get back to my weekend exercise routine next week - and maybe a decent meal.

Amy, you had me go back and read my own pep talk, LOL. I am hereby making a committment that I will get my butt to the Y tomorrow. Need to end this two week slide. Half marathon! Impressive.

My only good news is fantastic progress on purging clutter from my home in the last month. Folks over in the Organizing the Home Forum have been very helpful. So I will take some Mojo pride in that accomplishment.

Momcat, welcome. I love pretzels. But they are just salt and refined carbs. So they just make me swell up with fluid then crazed with carb cravng hours later. I find I am much more level if I can stick to protein, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I do love chowing pretzels though. But they are not good for me.

Sue, good to hear from you. Do you suppose others are quiet because they also slipped into a spring slide? I know the brutal return of wet cold weather was very depressing and disheartening here...

Tomorrow starts a new week. Let's each try to do one thing, just one thing, to start it right.

Talk is cheap. Having an incredibly hard time making myself go to the Y...

Well, me and my Mojo have been MIA for the past month,though I have been following the thread. I loved the throwing the cake out story, awm. Many times I wished I had done the same. Anyway, I may be having one of those "come to jesus" (no offense intended, jubilee) experiences on the horizon. I am supposed to go to a COTILLION in a BALLGOWN. Not to mention we will be sitting at a table with my DH's (thin) EX. Yikes!!! Seriously, the thought is making my hands sweat. Even the hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon that I'm doing in 2 weeks seems like a cakewalk compared to stuffing this bod into evening wear. Crikey. The good news is that it's not till next February, so I actually have time to lose that pesky 50 lbs. But only if I cut out the whiffle-waffling and get with the program. I did it once before, 10 years ago, and I can do it again.

So, spring is returning. Amy has a 1/2 marathon to train for, I've got a cotillion to train for. What do YOU dream about that gets your Mojo juices running?

honeyb - I got my mojo going a little over a year ago and it's still going. I didn't really have a dream - other than not getting old and unable to do anything. My mojo got going the day I found out I had high blood pressure.

Aside from staying fit and healthy and wearing smaller clothes and looking good in them and actually feeling thin for the first time in years, here's a new thing that's keeping me going! I'm going to be 50 next week and last week DH referred to me as HOT!! Can you believe that? I can't - I've never been "hot" in my life - plus we've been married 29 years! So honeyb, if I can be hot you can definitely be HOT in that ballgown - plenty of time.

I'm callin' you ALL out. If I could drag myself to the Y today, (and I did get there, and feel really good about it) then you can do something tomorrow. It is only fair.

That had to be a great upper, Gibby!! At my reunion a couple years ago the college kid bartending told me with such sincerity: "You are hot. Really." Sigh. I think he just wanted a big tip, LOL. But it did feel good. Would feel even better from DH though...

Honeyb, wow. A cotillion?!? I'm not even sure what that is. Would strike fear in my heart too. Fortunately you have plenty of time to get hot (and more important, to train DH to say you are - and mean it!).

Just asked DH, "Honey, am I hot?" He said, "I don't know. Why, is it hot in here?"

Such a kidder.

Celtic, you crack me up!! Glad to hear you made it to the Y - good for you. It does feel great once you get out and do it doesn't it? I was back on track tonight - rode my exercise bike. I wanted to walk but it was pouring rain. I felt terrible after skipping the weekend and eating all those peanut butter sandwiches. I'm happy about the painting though....

That's inspiring, gibby, that you've been able to keep the weight off. As hard as it is to lose, I find it even harder to keep off. I read once that there's a sort of high when you are losing weight and everyone is noticing and giving you compliments. Then you reach your goal, everyone stops paying attention to your weight, you realize getting thin didn't solve all your problems, mmm those brownies look good...oops. Hey, I'm a size 18 again?!? It's gotta help to have a hubby who tells you you're hot though!

Celtic - I'm not sure what a cotillion is either, but it sounds pretty scary to someone who didn't even go to her prom (it didn't fit in with my flower-power agenda), and whose idea of fun is identifying edible wild plants or doing crossword puzzles. Oh well, life is about growth and change - maybe I'm ready for my first manicure! (nah, no sense in going overboard.)

Glad to hear you got to the gym. It does always feel so good, why do we have to be dragged there kicking and screaming? I'm on a roll - today will make it 3 gym days in a row. And the weight is starting to drop. The tipping point will come in about a week, though. That seems to be how long my "diets" usually last before I run out of steam. But the cotillion looms, and I'm trying not to cut my calories back so drastically this time and am vowing to keep going to the gym even if I have a "bad food day".

Before I go, I would like to lead us all in the Mojo chant, "It is not the Mojo way to speak too much of hurdles, or the prospect of defeat. A Mojo Queen engages the beast thinking only of victory. The Mojo sword slays the enemy, be it lethargy, disorder, isolation or the evil snack, striking down the power of chips, M&Ms, jelly beans, and, yes, even the mighty pretzel" (thank you Celticmoon!)

honeyb - I know what you're saying about staying motivated to keep it off. Somehow that has to come from within. For me it's being healthier that really keeps me going. The older I get the more concerned I become about having chronic medical conditions preventing me from having a reasonable quality of life. For some reason that just got me off my lazy butt and I'm still at it almost a year and a half later. My eating is a bit healthier than it was before (mostly change in sodium consumption) but what's really impacted my weight is exercising 4-5x a week - compared with about 1-2x the last few years. Definitely hang in there with the gym visits - no matter what happens with eating!!

Amy,
I'm on a different route this month so I don't have to worry about chips. OK, this is what I've had on the London-Chicago flight: lots of various cheese, fruit, bacon, (extra crispy), Rice Krispy treats, Toblerone chocolate, ham and cheese croissant, and cold shrimp.
How am I doing?
Donna

Gosh, Donna, you're making me hungry! :-) That's pretty much all my favorite foods.

I think work can be so hard for eating healthy. There's stress and fattening food -- a killer combination. And I can come up with a million advice tidbits that I've read in magazines, but I remember the days of eating nothing but doughnuts for breakfast and lunch, and no apple sitting on my desk was going to stop me.

My husband is very confused about me asking, "Honey, am I hot?" He sheepishly says, "Yeah," but he's definitely wondering what kind of website I'm on!

Honeyb2, formalwear can be so intimidating, especially if you're not a fruffy girl (and if you've never had a manicure, it sounds like you're not too fruffy). A friend of mine got to go to the Grammy's this year. She was "between babies" and not at her goal weight. She went to Saks or Neiman Marcus and splurged on a designer dress that made her feel fabulous. She said it cost more than her wedding dress, but she felt beautiful in it. I'm not saying you shouldn't get your Mojo going -- but that if you're feeling not-great about wearing a formal gown, finding a fabulous one might help. Or maybe that just works for us fruffy types. :-)

I jogged a little over 4 miles yesterday and felt great. I'm going to try to go Saturday morning with the double jogger -- wish me luck.

We are on day 2 of the kitchen reno and my meals are totally thrown off. My girls are of an age where I really need to feed them on time (hungry toddler, anyone?) and keep the meals somewhat healthy, but I can see that in this crazy setup (most of the kitchen in the living room, fridge still in the trashed kitchen, cooktop in the basement) it's going to be hard to keep it up. My meals are suffering -- I feed them on time, but yesterday I ate lunch at 4 pm. Fruit. Repeat after me. Fruit.

Amy

Tonight I was at a figure drawing class (live nude models) and we had a new model. Gorgeous woman. Long, shiney, dark wavy hair, luminous skin...and easily 50 or more pounds "overweight". Exuded confidence and comfort with herself. My favorite live model ever.

Absolutely beautiful.

I guess I learned something besides 'volume shading with contrast color' tonight.

PS, Gibby, I just want to tie my own shoes when I'm 85.

And Donna, good to hear from you. I'd go with the cheese and fruit and shrimp. Ham and cheese croissant in a pinch, but ditch half the croissant. That combo should keep you clear, sated and with steady blood sugar. Sounds like much better pickings on the international flights, hey?

celtic,
I brought my own fruit too. I ate so much different fruit that I had really bad stomach cramps. LOL The bacon is the hardest to resist. Also, the Rice Krispy treats. You can be kind of proud of me cause we had hot Cinnamin rolls with frosting and they are great. I didn't eat any!
I ate the croissant sandwich before landing in London. We get in at 11:00pm London time but it's 5:00pm Chicago time, so that is basically my dinner. I don't eat much when I get to the hotel. I need something that will stick with me.
Donna

Hi all - The weather couldn't be more gorgeous here in New England. Everything smells of apple blossoms. It's very conducive to getting out for a walk or run. Today will be 4 days in a row exercising, so I'm pleased with myself.

Amy - yup, I'm not very fruffy. Though I don't leave the house without eyeliner and mascara. Since I reached a certain age, my face just doesn't look awake unless I put on a little make up. I do plan on getting help with the evening wear decision. There's a "personal shopper" that I know at one of the upscale department stores around here and I plan to enlist her help once I get closer to my goal weight.

I thought it might be fun to share some of the "diet-friendly " treats that I love and maybe others would like to do the same. My favorite no-cal is to put a big slice of lime and a 1/2 tsp of vanilla in a diet coke - just delish. For dinner in a hurry, I think nothing beats sushi - only 200 calories for 6 oz (6 - 8 pieces) of spicy shrimp roll with avocado. For dessert I like to cut up an apple and dip it in a tablespoon of caramel syrup (100 calories total) Mmmm.

Gorgeous here in the midwest too. Pear, apple, cherry, lilac - everything is exploding with color and fragrance. A walk or bike ride is just glorious.

Get out there. It'll all be over in a couple weeks.

Whooooooaaaahhhhh!

Are we STILL doing this? My goodness. I thought that when I got myself going, almost immediately lost 6 pounds, and started at a gym, (in March) that things were cool.

Well, I haven't been inside the gym in a month, am barely walking my dogs once a week again, and re-gained 3 pounds. My 25th anniversary party (given by best friends and my DDs) is Saturday.
T....R...U....L....Y thought I could lose about 10-15 and grow out my nails before this ridiculous deadline in mid-May. Not sure if I'm reading you guys right, but I have a simmering, sinking, sneaking, feeling, that many of you are still...on track/trying to be on track/working at being on track/keeping track? I think I feel ill.
Good news is, my nails look better.
What does that mean? Well, it means that, if any of you saw them, you would just think "That crazy woman bites her nails." I don't. But at least they are not awe-inspiringly bad right now. They only look....................not good. And, I am once again, starting this past Tuesday, watching my food intake, cutting back again on evening drink, and starting (AGAIN) to exercise.

Someone should have told me we were still doing this!

Deep breath. O.K. I have a whole week off work. Starting this Friday, the 11th. Here's my plan. I walk Every day. I can do that, right? And since I'm paying for the women's gym, do you think I should go?? No?? I didn't think so either. Thanks.

Red

Red, does it count as staying on track if I followed my run yesterday with almost an entire bag (LARGE bag) of Guacachips? Argh! I should know better than to buy them -- I can't stop once I start. Especially if they're sitting next to me in the car while I drive around all day and skip meals. :-(

Keep walking! No reason to go to the gym when it's so beautiful outside! Save that for rainy days or the heat of summer. Get the dogs out there. A tired dog is a good dog.

Hey, does anyone know what happened to koala_em? Wasn't she the original Mojo queen? I never saw her finished kitchen, haven't seen a post from her here...

Amy

My biggest incentive for winter/hoilday weight control is having 3 boys on the wrestling team. Right after football, they start to work on their "football fat" and "cut weight"
to the weight class they want to wrestle. I do monotor this because I don't want them to get sick. Oh to have the eating control of a teenage boy trying to "make weight" really puts me to shame, but they make good diet buddys.

Work is hard too. Alot of neighborhood people drop off "goodies" at the fire department as a thank you for a job well done. I've seen boxes of donuts sit for 3 days at a time, not a one touched because these guys are SERIOUS about staying buff. Well, if the guys can do it, I can too.
I do notice that the fireguys work out every shift and my boys will work out every day at the YMCA. We have such nice gym/workout rooms at work, it makes it easy to do an hour 4-5 times a week. My only problem is not being able to shower after my workout, so I usually do it late in the day (by that time, we are all smelling a little ripe) I know many larger businesses/companies have nice workout rooms for their employees.
Also, dieting helps me loose/maintain weight, not workouts. But workouts help tone/firm up the "jiggly" parts, and at 50yo, I could have alot of "Jiggle"

Yikes,
I ate too much fruit and now I'm sick. I went to Whole Foods yesterday and bought my weekly fruit. I ate most of it in one night. I ate a whole container of tomatoes! Needless to say I'm not leaving the bathroom much since last night. LOL I went shopping and barely made it home without an accident. I guess you can eat too healthy.
Donna

Reporting for 10 May 2007.

Ran 2.4 miles.

Ate a cupcake. A doozey of a cupcake.

Anyone see a pattern here?

Amy

Reporting in too:

OK, trying to kick the ol' fitness up a couple of notches after being sick in late April. Friday biked 18 miles; Saturday biked 28 miles; was wiped out on Sunday, so did an easy 30 min. on elliptical w/ 10 minutes of interval; Monday did 30 minutes step aerobics; today biked 18 miles.

I gained back 6 pounds this spring, so those have to go. Back to counting calories & using DietPower nutrition tracker.

We have a biking trip in Brittany planned in late July, so I need to get thinner, fitter, & stronger. Younger, too, would be nice :) :) :)

Hey - I just had my cholesterol checked for the first time since my epiphany on Jan 25, 2006. That is when I started exercising regularly due to the HBP diagnosis. HBP did not go down without medication but my cholesterol is way better. Total down to 190 from 217, HDL up to 63 from 57 and LDL down to 113 from 145 and LDL/HDL ratio 1.8 from 2.6. No Lipitor for me - YAY!!

My, my - the mojo-ers seem to have lost their mojo. I went for a lovely walk tonight which reminded me of this thread and made me wonder what you are all doing these days....

I've lost 4 of the 6 pounds. Still biking, stepping, elliptical training. Did anybody see the series that aired all day last Sunday on TLC about the Brookhaven obesity clinic and the patients there? It will be shown again June 25th through July. Watching 400 to 700 pound people talk about their need for cookies, fries, chips, pizza, ribs, fried chicken, chocolate and seeing the disastrous health consequences of these habits is a great motivator to "eat clean."

Here is a link that might be useful: Inside the Brookhaven Obesity Clinic

Gibby, WAY TO GO on bringing the cholesterol down! That's wonderful news! Do your arteries feel happy? All clean and smooth? :-)

We are in week 6 of reno, and I've barely been online. When I have been on, I've been spending a lot of time doing stuff for the nonprofit I volunteer with (I spent a lot of time trying to rework that sentence to not end with "with," but I got too tired and gave up).

The good news is that my MOJO is still flowing! I ran the National Race for the Cure -- along with 65,999 other people -- on June 2. What an inspirational event.

I've been running 3x/week with a friend, usually about 3-4 miles at a time. But last week I ran 5 miles -- twice! One time in Charlottesville, where my parents live. The hills there are killers, and I was dog-tired when I finished but excited, too, that I had improved my fitness level so much from when I first hit the road back in Feb.

I start official training for a 1/2 marathon in two weeks. To beat the heat, my running buddy and I are thinking about running at 5:30 -- in the morning. Personally, I think doing *anything* before 7 is uncivilized, so I'm interested to see how this will work out.

Come on, ladies -- lets hear about all the great things you've been doing in the warm weather!

Amy

Hi. I haven't really posted but I'm proud of my recent fitness/weight loss program so I guess I'll do some boasting, since other aspects of my life seem depressingly out of my control right now.

I *somehow* managed to gain a bunch of weight over the winter. I don't have a scale, so though I could tell that rolls were spilling over my waistband and I had given up altogether on several articles of clothing, I was unaware of the actual damage until a doctor visit brought the truth home. Yikes! I was 136 lbs, which is a lot for me (I'm 5'2" and have always been petite, except when pg). About the same time, I had a visit from an old friend who looked at me and said, "Wow, I never thought this would happen to you!"

That's when I went back to the Diet Nazi that helped me shed the weight after my kids were born. He had me climb on the scale and announced loudly, "How'd you get so FAT?" Ok, so that approach doesn't work for everyone, but it seems to motivate me.

I started his diet and got serious about riding my bike. I stopped going for visits after 5 weeks, when I'd lost 19 lbs. (weight at 117). Since then (about a month), I've gone down to 112. My goal was 115 so I feel pretty good about it. I actually had a secondary, wishful goal of 110 so things are working out, though my husband doesn't want me to lose any more weight. I'm keeping his opinion in mind but tempering it with what I decide is my best comfort zone, *grin.*

I've had a lot of stress during this period, but I don't think it assisted my weight loss because I was blaming the same stress for my weight gain :)

seekingadvice - I'm so glad you checked in with your good report. Sorry to hear other things are not going so well. It sounds like perhaps you had your "epiphany moment" too - you never know what it is going to take to give you the motivation to make some good lifestyle changes. Gee - I'm not sure I have any friends who would be so blunt - must be either a really good friend or a not so good friend. I hope your other stressful situations are improving.....

Gibby, good of you to ressurect this thread.

I've been lax in the working out - though eating well (no more pound bags o pretzels). Weight is OK. Work is good and under control. Making progress on organizing, spending time on that forum actually. And took a cue from you in Finance to deploy some funds to address some needed work on the home front. Though somehow gutter/fence/garden work seems to have bloomed into a hot tub project for DH's birthday in July.

Igloochic, I now understand your frustration with finding contractors. Angie's List saved me - do they have that by you in Alaska?? I went from dealing with wacky, edgy, unreliable weirdos to a plethora of stable, competent bidders vieing to work for me. What a change!

How's by the rest of you??

gibby, thanks for the kind thoughts! Things, overall, are very good. There is only one area that has been a bit of a challenge, but that's life!

Well, yesterday I did something I've never done before, in the name of health, wellness and bathing suit season...

I woke up at 5:10 am to go running.

Basically, I don't like to get up a minute before 7. In an ideal world, I'd sleep until 8. Or 8:30. So voluntarily getting up, and then, on top of it, jogging (without my performance-enhancing two cups o' joe first) was really something else. I think DH is still in shock.

Of course, getting up and out was only half the battle. I was a bit of a grouch in the afternoon and even took a nap while the girls napped. But I will be doing this three times a week for the rest of the summer to avoid pushing a double stroller in the heat. Who knows? Maybe I'll reprogram my body to become a morning person. HA!!

Once the kitchen reno is over (the guy is here sanding the floors as I type), home organization is going to be my next PIP (personal improvement plan). So Celtic, I'll be seeing you on the home org forum! I'm also going to throw myself into PR for the nonprofit I work with -- we have a great story but we're not getting it out there.

There is light at the end of the kitchen tunnel. Floor stain goes down tomorrow. Poly on Monday, granite Tues morning, more poly on the floors tues afternoon and maybe Wednesday? Complicating all of this -- on Thurs we leave for NJ, where my siblings and I are hosting a 50th anniversary party for my parents. We usually have our dogsitter stay at the house, but I don't think we can ask her to do that with all the chaos.

Off to buy backslash tile -- I've made my last major decision -- hurrah!

Amy

chmpgntst - boy, I could have been writing that stuff about not being a morning person. I'm sure there's no way on earth I'll ever get up at 5:10am to exercise in my lifetime. Very impressive that you do that - of course I wouldn't want to run in the heat pushing a stroller either.

I had a rare occurence this week - six days of exercise. I think I've only done that once or twice before. One day of walking, four days on the exercise bike, and my first day of kayaking for the year - an hour of that. Went way better than I expected for the first time out - like I never went a whole winter with no kayaking. I'm in MUCH better shape this year - a little muscle soreness the day after but not bad at all. I turned fifty last month and I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been - I'm still amazed - and I still say if I can do this anyone can.

Gibby, I *love* this quote:

"I turned fifty last month and I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been..."

I'm going to print that out and put it on my wall. It is inspiring.

I'm also jealous of the kayaking. Are you going on a lake? I've only ever kayaked in the ocean, and I love it. I wonder how old the girls would have to be to go? For sure my little one couldn't be trusted to stay on board at this point.

Amy

chmpgntst - yes, I kayak a lake - no ocean kayaking here in landlocked Minnesota but lots of lakes. It is so fun - peaceful - I love doing this on Saturday morning after a long, grueling week of work. I just found out I have "shoulder impingement syndrome" and need to have some PT for that so it doesn't lead to a torn rotator cuff. Not sure if I'll have to forego kayaking for awhile or not - I hope not.

Gee - I don't know that I've ever been "quoted" before especially with anything inspiring......

I'm still not doing what I know I must. But I am so proud of all of you. And you are all inspiring, because as long as some of you are motivated and working on your plans for a fix, there is still that hope that, tomorrow, or maybe the next day, that will be me.

Red

You can do it, Red! One foot in front of the other -- even the longest journey starts with one step (or some hokey cliche like that). But truly. Try one new thing. Just once. Maybe it'll take!

Amy

I was out for a lovely 45 minute walk tonight - an absolutely beautiful evening. Some days are good walking days for me - some days aren't - some people may recall that I'm an above knee amputee.

Anyway, every time I go out for a walk like this I'm just giddy with delight and seriously thankful I can go out and do this. Alot of people in my situation can't. So tonight I'm out and I only see two other people the entire time - they're out walking their dogs. I just could not help but keep thinking - why is it that NO ONE is out for a walk and enjoying this fabulous evening? And then I was thinking about a friend of mine (age 53) who has been diagnosed with a neurological disorder that now makes it very painful for her to even stand let alone go for a walk.

So why do you think it is that lots of able bodied people don't take 30 minutes out of an evening and go for a walk -alone or maybe with their family - while they're still physically able to do so? Maybe they were all out during the day while I was at work????

Well, gibby, people get through the day by their routines. And in the evening after a long hard day of work, it's hard to muster the energy to break the ol' routine. It IS relaxing to fuzz out in front of the TV.

Also, the women I know who work take care of necessary chores & family responsibilities in the evening. When I mention to coworkers that I exercise at night, they often respond with a smug "I wish I had time to work out in the evening, BUT I DON'T," implying that taking time out to exercise is a neglect of housework & family needs for vain, self-centered reasons. And yes, my house is a wreck. But at age 52, I keenly feel the importance of getting my health & fitness in order as I head full steam into old age -- so what if the laundry is in a pile on the floor? Also, my "kids" are old enough that they don't need Mommy supervising them every minute. But they do need the examples of: working hard for self-improvement; stumbling through exercise videos (looking like a fool), but not giving up; reading labels & being careful with food choices; setting long-term goals and sticking with them; not stagnating. Finally, my wonderful husband has worked & worked & worked to provide a nice life for us. I don't want to saddle him in his old age with a fat, broken down, useless partner -- diabetic, arthritic, high blood pressured, weak hearted -- with outrageous medical bills to boot.

My husband and I went for a run this morning with the girls in the double stroller. Later we talked about how important it is to us to set an example of an active lifestyle. I am the youngest of five and my siblings are all, for the most part, sedentary. Sad, considering my father is a gifted athlete and is in fabulous condition at 79.

I don't know what it is that divides the inactive from the active. I know with running, I often have to convince myself to get up and go -- I hate *getting* out there, but I love *being* out there. So if I don't remind myself how happy I am during/after the exercise, I just might talk myself out of doing it. So for those who have never tried, they don't know what they're missing. Maybe?

I think a lot of people do not appreciate their physical health. A friend and I were just discussing the other day that when we're feeling sorry for ourselves with all our "burdens and responsibilities" and "financial pressures," we try to remind ourselves that so, so many people live with far more difficult burdens, and under far greater financial strain. (I put our stuff in quotes because really we are both blessed and our troubles are not many). Anyway, I think many able-bodied people do not take time to think of what could happen -- and illness, an injury -- and how they should use their wonderful, beautiful, healthful bodies in a joyous way everyday -- because they can.

Gibby, I didn't know you are an amputee. A dear friend of ours lost his leg BK in a motorcycle accident. He is very active with the Challenged Athletes Foundation and is an accomplished triathlete. Are you familiar with that foundation? We just got their newsletter and it is incredible what people can do in the face of adversity -- and makes the sedentary "ablies" even that much harder to understand.

Hmmmm....

Amy

I just ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt for dinner. I'm not proud of it but boy was it delicious. I guess there are worse things I could have eaten......I think I'll go for a walk now.

Ooooo, Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt is my favorite flavor. I can see why you couldn't resist :) Hope you enjoyed your walk.

I just got a heart rate monitor watch. A nice feature is that you can take your heart rate while exercising, and the watch will compute the number of calories burned. That way you'll know if you've burned off the Ben & Jerry's yet ;) I think it's going to be a handy thing to have.

Red said "...there is still that hope that, tomorrow, or maybe the next day, that will be me."

Today it was me. Finally got to it and worked out. (It's been a while). Felt really good all day. And just now, hearing all this hooting and hollarin' down the street, toodled over on my bike to check it out. Just a big office party.

Point is, would not have thought to move to satisfy my curiousity yesterday.

Bump ...
Hi everyone, I stumbled on the original(?) "Gettin' our Mojo Back' posted by Sweeby in March '06, and was intrigued to read the thread (by stumbled, I mean I was searching for water alarms and got side-tracked, LOL). I think this is the most recent Mojo thread. So whats happening out there? Is this the end?

I'm so enthused, I'm going for a walk while the sun is still shining ...

It is never the end, napagirl.

I am OK. Especially after starting OTC Profema last week to mitigate outrageous sweats/hot flashes. Yowza, that was something. I feel so much better with improved sleep.

Troops, report!

I'm still here. Ironic this just surfaced after my worst week in over 18 months. One week of no exercise and bad eating - traveling for work then having sedentery guests at the lake cabin for a long weekend. The good news is that I can't wait to get some exercise after work tonight and I'm looking forward to some nice, light healthy food. So I guess the one week off is not the beginning of a dangerous slide into old habits.

Gibby, you will be back into your healthier routines in no time.

One of the healthy eating systems, maybe Zone, actually counsels you to go ahead every now and then and eat that giant plate o'pasta, just to remind your self how crappy and lethargic you can feel after some really bad (or good?!?) eating.

Bet you aready feel better today!

Well, summer's over - school has started - kind of a transition time. What's going on with everyone - what happened to all the mojo people? Napagirl - what are you up to?

Celtic - I'm pretty much back on track - though I still have a little Costco cake left from the weekend with the sedentery guests. Fortunately it's in the freezer at the lake cabin where I won't be for a couple weeks - maybe DH will eat it while he's there without me. I'm now eating 1/4 of a watermelon instead.....

Well, I have some exciting Mojo to report -- I completed a 1/2 marathon last weekend and beat my goal time!!!

Of course, it was a pretty practical goal. I wanted to finish under 2:10, which is 10-minute miles. I crossed the line in 2:08:32 -- yea for me!

Before August, the farthest I'd ever run was 6.2 miles -- so ramping it up to 13.1 was a big deal for me. Better yet was the feeling of setting a goal, working hard to get to it, and REACHING it! Now I'm trying to figure out how to fit running into my schedule without waking up at 5 am.

MMM, gibby, do you have any of that cake left?

Amy