So, four months later, and here I am, finally. Nothing like a week of sitting around on your butt in Mexico at a 5 Star all-inclusive resort, being waited on hand and foot in a stunning environment to catch your breath and re-focus! (Yeah, that photo is a picture of one of the local beaches. Gorgeous!)

Still struggling with the balancing act here. Back to doing regular shifts at Gymboree in addition to everything else as they’ve lost some employees so I’m filling in while they get the trainees up and running. However, I’m not so stressed. I’m taking things in stride, and feeling quite good about everything. I’m much more disciplined and focused (though my desk has exploded again…) I have a major project in the works, which I’ll tell you about later, and I’m back walking, though not actually training. The weather here in Calgary is currently beautiful as I write this, and has been for weeks, so getting out for a walk is fabulous. I’ve found a great friend to walk with, and we get a 5k walk done 4x a week at around 10:00 am. Two days a week I teach at Gymboree, so that pretty much fills out a great workout plan! The training will come, but I think I’m really going to have to get into a type of Polyphasic sleep pattern (probably the 3 hour core sleep one) in order to actually get everything done well that I want/need to do, but I can’t follow that until I’m really done with Gymboree as a day at Gymboree has no breaks so I’d not be able to nap. Might take a look at this again in November.

I’ve been doing some great reading lately, which I’ll probably share along the way, and I’m feeling like I’m ready to tackle my eating habits. I need to keep it simple because I can’t handle anything more complicated right now. I’m thinking a nutrient dense protein shake in the morning, a vegetable/bean soup and boiled egg at lunch, and a protein and salad for dinner with natural yogurt and seeds for dessert. I’ll toss in some Omega 3 fatty acids along the way, and Bob’s your uncle! Not hugely varied, but for now, it’s easy, nutritious, low-calorie, and brainless. From where I stand now, that looks like a good plan!

One thing I’ve been doing is filling my mind with ideas that help me be more disciplined, focused, and aligned with my main purpose. This started when, for fun, I picked up Og Mandino’s book “The Greatest Salesman in the World“. After you get about half way through the book he suggests reading each of the seven scrolls (part of the story) 3x a day for a month. When you’ve done that with the first scroll, you move on to the second scroll and do the same thing – read that one 3x a day for a month. There are 6 scrolls to read like this. I actually scheduled the reading into my daily calendar and am finding it helpful for keeping focused on the important things and not allowing myself to be distracted by things that aren’t that important. Because I’m also trying to get a better handle on my finances, I started doing the same thing with Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” and since coming home, I’ve added Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be” though the latter two I only read once a day – one at lunch and one at bedtime – as the chapters are much longer.

I think this is really helping me. My goal this year is to finally drop the extra weight (which has increased slightly since Mexico…Sigh…) and pay off our credit card debt. In three years I’d like to be fully debt free (including having our house fully paid off), and financially free through location independent businesses. I’d also like to be traveling regularly and living in a self-designed house somewhere in the mountains.

With that kind of clarity behind me, I’d like to get back into blogging on this blog (I still blog regularly at HotSpot Promotion) and sharing a bit of my journey. I want to go back to creating an “automated lifestyle” by adding habits once a week and mastering some of those things that are making me weak and ineffective.

If you want to join me, here are my goals for this week:

1. Read “The Scroll Marked II” 3x daily from “The Greatest Salesman in the World” (I already started this a few weeks ago, so I’m a bit ahead of the game here)
2. Read Chapter 2 “Desire: The Starting Point of All Achievement” in “Think and Grow Rich” daily at lunchtime (I started reading this last week, and up to this point the chapters are not really worth repeating daily, so if you want to start with this, read up to the end of this chapter first, as your first reading, and then just repeat chapter 2 every day).
3. Read “Principle 1: Take 100% Responsibility For Your Life” from “The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be” daily at bedtime (again, let your first reading catch you up to the end of this chapter, and then read just this chapter each day).
4. Exercise according to the schedule I laid out above.
5. Begin each day with 1/2 litre of water sipped slowly over a couple of hours.
6. Make a daily high nutrition protein shake for breakfast each morning (currently mine consists of 1 Tbsp ground flax seed (I grind it fresh), 1 tsp Nutra Sea Fish Oil
   , 1 scoop Garden of Life – RAW Meal meal replacement, 1 cup frozen mixed berries, 1 cup pure coconut juice (I use Sun Tropics juice from Costco), 1 cup Knudsen Mega Green Juice, and 1 cup Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Milk, Unsweetened Original)

That looks a little overwhelming for a starting place if you’re just jumping in with me here. I would recommend doing only one of the books (Og Mandino’s is the easiest and shortest read) and then start either with the exercise or the breakfast/water. Add the others in as it becomes manageable.

Comments? Questions? Post them below!

Darlene

Be A Star! Post your comments below and join in the conversation (or get it started!) and then share this post with your friends using the different share buttons on the blog. I’d sure appreciate it! Thanks!

Be A Star! Post your comments below and join in the conversation (or get it started!) and then share this post with your friends using the different share buttons on the blog. I'd sure appreciate it! Thanks!

Who is Darlene Hull? Click here: www.darlenehull.com to find out!

Hey, it’s national “Start Walking Day!”. The American Heart Association has a program called “Start Walking Now” and today is the day it begins for this year.

If you’re American, you can download it here: National Start Walking Day You can’t download it if you’re not American (at least, I couldn’t – if you figure it out, let me know!)

If you’re not American, you can download my freebie on the right and get started with that.

Or, keep it simple, and just head out the door. Hey, it feels like Spring in Calgary (finally!!) That, in itself is worth getting outside and taking a walk for! Can’t waste the beautiful weather – never know when the next snow dump will arrive!

Have a great day walking!!

Darlene

Be A Star! Post your comments below and join in the conversation (or get it started!) and then share this post with your friends using the different share buttons on the blog. I'd sure appreciate it! Thanks!

Who is Darlene Hull? Click here: www.darlenehull.com to find out!

My Marathon Countdown: 16 days

Welcome to week 5 – how are you feeling? The water alone should be giving you more energy and clarity. I’d love to hear your feedback!

1. Equipment Needs: Download next week’s “Pray-As-You-Go” podcasts either from their site or from iTunes. You will also need to buy some raw, organic almonds, and soak them (you can see the instructions for doing so on this site).

2. The Spiritual Challenge: You will use the “Pray-as-you-go” podcast as a walking meditation this week.

3. Nutritional Focus: Something new! While still keeping up faithfully with your water, eat about 5-6 almonds right before each meal. Here’s why:

1. According to the BodyEcology diet website, almonds are one of the most nutritious of all nuts, and are a delicious source of protein, fiber, vitamin E, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, calcium, magnesium and zinc. Almonds are also the least acid-forming of all nuts.
2. More importantly than even that, according to the “Metabolic Balance” (C) diet, any protein eaten at the beginning of a meal jump-starts the fat-burning process of your body, so you automatically lose more weight.

   Check out more benefits and ideas for almonds here: Really Useful Fitness Blog

4. The Exercise Program: We’re going to continue to concentrate on our “designated walking times” this week, while still trying to remember to move as much as possible during the day. You need to find a workable time, five days a week, to go for a walk while listening to the podcast. The podcast is 10-13 minutes long, so I would suggest turning around after the first Bible Reading on the recording.

So that’s next week’s training plan. Remember to post your results, struggles, triumphs and questions below!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

My Marathon Countdown: 23 days

Here we are in week four already! I’m sure that by now you’ve seen that ANYONE can keep up with this program. The results, as far as weight loss is concerned, are slow to start with, but starting this next month, you should begin to see some good changes.

1. Equipment Needs: Nothing new this week.

2. The Spiritual Challenge: As you walk this week, check in with God en route. Let what you see and experience talk to you about who God really is. Ask Him to speak to you as you walk.

3. Nutritional Focus: Water – yep, sorry, it’s still the focus. It’ one of the best things you can do for yourself! Your timer is already beeping/buzzing every hour. Now when it goes off, check both your posture, and drink about 5 mouthfuls of water. If you like other drinks (coffee, tea, pop, juice) drink an additional glass of water before each of those other drinks. Stay close to a bathroom! LOL! To avoid hyponatremia put a small pinch of raw, unrefined sea salt in each glass.

4. The Exercise Program: We’re going to concentrate on our “designated walking times” this week. You need to find a workable time, five days a week, to go for a 10 minute walk. Try to not take more than one day off in a row, or you will break the momentum. I’ve put a suggested walking plan below:

So that’s next week’s training plan. Try and find a friend to walk with – even if you walk at different times. Share your struggles, encourage each other, keep track of and celebrate your successes.

Post your results, struggles, triumphs and questions below!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

(This is going out a little early, as our Internet is being shut off in preparation for our trip. Enjoy!)

I hope you had a great week trying out some of the challenges I’ve been listing. Did you manage any or all of the training steps? Post your reaction below, and share with us your trials and triumphs. I would love to hear from you!

We’ve worked through two weeks so far, and I hope it’s been easy to fit these suggestions into your day and create new habits. Let’s look ahead to week number 3. Remember these assignments all start on Monday so you have the weekend to get yourself “kitted out” and “psyched up”:

1. Equipment Needs: Nothing new this week.

2. The Spiritual Challenge: Keep working through “The Epic“, but look for ways where you can sense God’s presence in the things you take great joy in. See my post on Joy if you don’t understand what I mean!

3. Nutritional Focus: Water – yep still working on it! This is a MAJOR KEY to your overall health. This week drink a glass of water while you prepare your daily meals/snacks, in addition to the water you drink in the morning.

If all this water is discouraging you, take time to explore this site

4. The Exercise Program: We’re going to continue to increase our daily steps and focus on posture, and this week we’re going to add some “designated walking times”, which means we are going to start actually going for short walks. We will have trouble increasing our steps much more without them

So that’s next week’s training plan. If you’ve done even some of it so far, please reward yourself with something special – a new book, some great walking music, cool socks for your walking times, or whatever else tickles your fancy. Try to not make it food-related as that can cause problems we don’t want to have to fix!

Post your results, struggles, triumphs and questions below!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

Well, how did you do this week? Did you manage any or all of the training steps? Post your reaction below, and share with us your trials and triumphs. Let’s spur each other on to greater things!

Week one is behind us, so let’s look ahead to week 2. Remember these assignments all start on Monday so you have the weekend to get yourself “kitted out” and “psyched up”:

1. Equipment Needs: See last week for basic equipment, and this week add a timer, either a watch that beeps on the hour, or some other kind of timer.

2. The Spiritual Challenge: The big key with spiritual growth is making sure you’re on the right track in the first place. I love this quote by John Eldredge:

Life, for most of us, feels like a movie we’ve arrived to forty minutes late.

Sure, good things happen, sometimes beautiful things. But tragic things happen, too. What does
it mean? We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, usually a confusing mixture of both, and we haven’t a clue how to make sense of it all.
No wonder we keep losing heart.

We need to know the rest of the story.

For when we were born, we were born into the midst of a great story begun before the dawn of time. A story of adventure, of risk and loss, heroism, …and betrayal. A story where good is warring against evil, danger lurks around every corner, and glorious deeds wait to be done. Think of all those stories you’ve ever loved – there’s a reason they stirred your heart. They’ve been trying to tell you about the true Epic ever since you were young.

There is a Larger Story. And you have a crucial role to play.

That’s what our Spiritual walk is all about. Understanding the Larger Story and what our role is, in it. John’s book “The Epic” is the best book I’ve ever read on that story. Your Spiritual homework this week is to read it, listen to it, or watch it. It’s a pretty small book, but it will be hard to put down, I promise, and it will probably change the way you see everything.

3. Nutritional Focus: Water

• Now fill your water bottle up full. In the morning drink half before you get out of bed, and drink the other half before you leave your bedroom, to get ready for the day.

4. The Exercise Program: We’re going to continue to increase our daily steps, but this week we’re going to put our focus on our posture, as well.

And there you have it – very manageable tasks for each day of next week. Get your equipment together over the weekend, and off you go!

Post your results, struggles, triumphs and questions below!

Happy Walking!

Darlene