Good morning!
My name is Ginny and I've been lurking here (for years) in awe of you all. So many of your postings have inspired me or given me food for thought. I've had opinions on things you've said and conversations in my mind but haven't committed myself to respond. It's occurred to me that I use this site as a daily stop for sustenance...I consider you all friends and eat daily at your table, but never give anything back or even say thank you!
So please let me introduce myself-
As you can probably tell from my opening, I'm a foodie. I'm happy to define myself that way, although loving food has caused quite a bit of confusion for me over the years. I've finally found freedom in this love affair...just in time too...I have a teenaged daughter and I feel obligated to help her become as balanced as possible so she can have a happy life. I'm stunned and saddened by how many of her friends have food issues.
So, in addition to (and more importantly than) being a foodie, I'm a mom. It's been the greatest experience of my life so far!
I'm also a wife...I was married once to a klunker and wasn't sure that I would ever be happy or feel free again. I finally managed to get enough strength to leave. In spite of my desire to be single, I met a great guy...and since I consider myself to be relatively smart, I didn't waste an opportunity. This was a good choice because he's fantastic and a perfect fit for me.
Then there's the stuff that I do.
-I work, but am not defined by my work. In fact, I just changed careers about two months ago - completely. Not one thing in my entire day is familiar to me. It's been scary and thrilling both!
-I dabble in things like gardening, knitting, beading, reading (dabble because I usually read at bedtime & then fall asleep). There's a lot that I'm interested in, but I've had to come to terms with the fact that there are only so many hours in a day and that I can't do it all.
-I enjoy cooking, baking, nutrition and playing with recipes. My family is coming on board with this now that they realize good nutrition and pleasurable eating aren't mutually exclusive.
-I work out...which is what brought me here.
I've struggled quite a bit in my fitness journey but I'm finally hitting my stride. Over the years I've started and failed at fitness a number of times...discouragement would win over consistency. If I didn't see what I thought I should in the time I thought I should see it in, then I would taper off until I just wasn't working out anymore. I never owned the fact that I was a quitter...in fact I couldn't even figure out why I was so out of shape! One day I realized that owning my failure wasn't really a negative thing and that I would start to be kind to myself. I would never say to my daughter or a friend, "You're right, you fail every time you try fitness...no wonder you're fat and out of shape. Why even bother. Just quit so you don't disappoint yourself again!" But this is how I spoke to myself...and I finally decided to stop it.
Now I understand that we learn from our failures and that time marches on whether you speak to yourself kindly or are abusive. I know now that I can choose something better, but that it takes work...and I realize that it's by doing something difficult on a daily basis where I find my strenght and satisfaction. It's good to impress yourself. When the focus is taken off of past failure and directed to a goal (consistency, for instance), suddenly it seems that you find yourself there and realize the challenge of the journey was the best part. I'm not sure why I ever thought my life should be easy. The thing that has helped me the most was to remove emotion from the entire equation - FEELINGS have NOTHING to do with
commitment. Doing what I felt like doing is what got me where I was in the first place. Feelings are like a boat rocking on the ocean and that's not the best place to make important life decisions from.
I've lost 50lbs in the past year without "dieting". Really, I could stand to lose 15-20lbs more, but I'm going VERY slowly because I want to continue my fitness experiment to see how far I want to take myself in this body I've been given.
Well, sorry for the long winded intro. I don't usually have this much time, so future posting will likely be shorter (whew). But it was important to let you all know how much you're appreciated and that the appreciation is coming from someone who understands what you do and how hard it can be. Keep on!
Have a great Sunday!
Ginny
My name is Ginny and I've been lurking here (for years) in awe of you all. So many of your postings have inspired me or given me food for thought. I've had opinions on things you've said and conversations in my mind but haven't committed myself to respond. It's occurred to me that I use this site as a daily stop for sustenance...I consider you all friends and eat daily at your table, but never give anything back or even say thank you!
So please let me introduce myself-
As you can probably tell from my opening, I'm a foodie. I'm happy to define myself that way, although loving food has caused quite a bit of confusion for me over the years. I've finally found freedom in this love affair...just in time too...I have a teenaged daughter and I feel obligated to help her become as balanced as possible so she can have a happy life. I'm stunned and saddened by how many of her friends have food issues.
So, in addition to (and more importantly than) being a foodie, I'm a mom. It's been the greatest experience of my life so far!
I'm also a wife...I was married once to a klunker and wasn't sure that I would ever be happy or feel free again. I finally managed to get enough strength to leave. In spite of my desire to be single, I met a great guy...and since I consider myself to be relatively smart, I didn't waste an opportunity. This was a good choice because he's fantastic and a perfect fit for me.
Then there's the stuff that I do.
-I work, but am not defined by my work. In fact, I just changed careers about two months ago - completely. Not one thing in my entire day is familiar to me. It's been scary and thrilling both!
-I dabble in things like gardening, knitting, beading, reading (dabble because I usually read at bedtime & then fall asleep). There's a lot that I'm interested in, but I've had to come to terms with the fact that there are only so many hours in a day and that I can't do it all.
-I enjoy cooking, baking, nutrition and playing with recipes. My family is coming on board with this now that they realize good nutrition and pleasurable eating aren't mutually exclusive.
-I work out...which is what brought me here.
I've struggled quite a bit in my fitness journey but I'm finally hitting my stride. Over the years I've started and failed at fitness a number of times...discouragement would win over consistency. If I didn't see what I thought I should in the time I thought I should see it in, then I would taper off until I just wasn't working out anymore. I never owned the fact that I was a quitter...in fact I couldn't even figure out why I was so out of shape! One day I realized that owning my failure wasn't really a negative thing and that I would start to be kind to myself. I would never say to my daughter or a friend, "You're right, you fail every time you try fitness...no wonder you're fat and out of shape. Why even bother. Just quit so you don't disappoint yourself again!" But this is how I spoke to myself...and I finally decided to stop it.
Now I understand that we learn from our failures and that time marches on whether you speak to yourself kindly or are abusive. I know now that I can choose something better, but that it takes work...and I realize that it's by doing something difficult on a daily basis where I find my strenght and satisfaction. It's good to impress yourself. When the focus is taken off of past failure and directed to a goal (consistency, for instance), suddenly it seems that you find yourself there and realize the challenge of the journey was the best part. I'm not sure why I ever thought my life should be easy. The thing that has helped me the most was to remove emotion from the entire equation - FEELINGS have NOTHING to do with
commitment. Doing what I felt like doing is what got me where I was in the first place. Feelings are like a boat rocking on the ocean and that's not the best place to make important life decisions from.
I've lost 50lbs in the past year without "dieting". Really, I could stand to lose 15-20lbs more, but I'm going VERY slowly because I want to continue my fitness experiment to see how far I want to take myself in this body I've been given.
Well, sorry for the long winded intro. I don't usually have this much time, so future posting will likely be shorter (whew). But it was important to let you all know how much you're appreciated and that the appreciation is coming from someone who understands what you do and how hard it can be. Keep on!
Have a great Sunday!
Ginny
