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

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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 discipline may, at times, be sketchy, but the truth of the matter is, I love walking. If I miss it for a time due to injury, stress, or some other reason, I truly cannot wait to get back to it. Why? Well, here are a few reasons:

1. The rhythm helps me to deal with the physical outworkings of stress, making me calm and less overwhelmed
2. The forced deep breathing also works to eliminate the sense of stress I often feel about my life, and it “wakes up my brain”, sweeps away the cobwebs and what the Germans aptly calle “Morgan Muffle”. This helps me feel focused and alert
3. I begin my day by accomplishing something that’s important to me. I feel successful right away, and my tracking tools bring evidence to the work I’ve done
4. While walking I listen to podcasts and such about things that inspire, challenge, and encourage me
5. Calgary usually has lovely weather, and it’s invigorating to get outside and breathe the fresh air with the sun pouring down on you
6. I live in an area that enables me to walk along pathways through beautiful parks and along the river. While Calgary would not be considered a “lush” place as far as foliage is concerned, it has its own attractiveness, and there’s always something interesting to see along the way
7. People who work out outside seem to be very friendly. At the end of a walk I’ve smiled, and said “hi” to a good dozen people who’ve smiled and said “hi” right back. There’s often a brief exchange, a passing comment, or a chance to say hello to their dog, as well. I come back feeling warm and fuzzy
8. The sunshine floods my brain with endorphins and lots of vitamin D, so I come home feeling strong and happy
9. If I’ve done an exceptionally good job, and if my Nike+ system is working, I get to hear some famous athlete/coach tell me that I was wonderful
10. When I’m all done, I have a good stretch. This makes me feel limber and fluid. I come home in positive anticpation of the day ahead

Well, those are my reasons – do you have any of your own?  Share them here in the comment section!

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Still heading in the right direction – very encouraging! LOL! I feel like I’m “back in the swing” which is great. I’m back to walking, and was delighted to find that this morning’s 2hr interval walk required some real pushing to get my heart rate high enough. Looks like the long hiatus wasn’t all bad.

In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about rest and rhythm these past couple of weeks. Two weekends ago I nearly killed myself getting a HUGE project taken care of. I never got out of my PJ’s the whole weekend, and only stopped working to eat and use the toilet. By Tuesday I had a migraine that lasted 2 days. I rarely get headaches, so this was truly unusual.

This past weekend I also had a big project I wanted off my list. I started, however, by walking, showering, dressing, having breakfast, poking around a bit and making some connections on the Internet. Then I focused on the task at hand while listening to music that made me feel good. I took breaks, made sure to “hang” with the family, helped others with their projects, and managed to get everything done – and more – that was on my list.

This type-A, super driven person is realizing that a relaxed but focused mindset accomplishes MUCH more than when I’m driven and tense.

This morning I started my day with a walk again. A hard walk. A pushed walk. However, I still made sure I was listening to stuff that inspired me, and I took time to admire the stunning nature around me as I walked. Again, a relaxed but focused mindset.

Very cool. Try it out. You’ll like it!

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One of the things I love about my walks is that they give me the opportunity to work on some personal development in the mental/emotional/spiritual areas of my life as I develop my physical health. I do that by listening to audiobooks and podcasts.  I want to share some of my favourites here with you today:

If you love to read but can’t find the time, here are two great resources:

	Podiobooks.com : (from the site: The term podiobook was coined by Evo Terra to describe serialized audiobooks which are distributed via RSS, much like a podcast. Listeners to Podiobooks.com can choose to receive the episodes of their books via an RSS feed or by listening to episodes by directly downloading episodes from this site. Some listeners keep the audio files on their computers, some transfer the book to CD, but most transfer the file on to their MP3 player so they can listen no matter where they are.
	Or you can Try Audible Now and Get A Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 75,000 Titles. My family and I love the audible membership program and have quite a list of books we plan to work through. Currently we’re reading Eldest together

I also listen to podcasts, and these are some of my current favourites:

	The Brown Sessions: Steve Brown is a great talk show host with challenging, interesting guests. You never know what you’re going to get, exactly, but you can be sure it will be interesting, and cause you to rethink some of your “modus operandi”.
	Christian Meditation Affirmations: While I’m definitely not someone who subscribes to the “prosperity Gospel” theology, I do like this podcast as it’s a quick 3-minute meditation on scripture, and rarely on a prosperity theme. The author often focuses on who I am in Christ, God as my strength, topics of praise, and so forth. Kind of a nice jump-start to my walk.
	Diet Science: I met Dee McCaffrey when she accepted the challenge of working with me on my “Total Body Radiance” project (but she has, unfortunately, now left the project). Her podcast is a short explanation, exploration, or teaching on some of the top nutritional discoveries, challenges, products, and myths. Always interesting, and very practical for those wanting to improve their nutritional health.
	Get Fit Stay Healthy: Tina Anderson has created a humorous, challenging, interesting podcast on all things to do with health and wellness. Sometimes it’s “true confessions” about her own struggles, sometimes it’s a great workout plan, sometimes it’s nutrition, sometimes it’s motivation, and sometimes it’s a guest. Always, it’s interesting!
	The God Journey: This is my current favourite podcast. Based on the books and teachings of Wayne Jacobsen this podcast has been pivotal in my life in the last couple of months. Always a good laugh, always a challenge, always something to encourage. I LOVE this podcast.

That should be enough to get you started, anyway! I have lots more, but I’ll save them for another time!

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Get your own graph at skinnyr

Well, my graph is once again going in a much nicer direction!  Pleased with that.  It’s been a good week.  Part of the success lies in the fact that I only had two shifts at Gymboree this week, and it’s the end of the two week cycle for this lesson plan so I was pretty much on top of the lessons.  That, combined with three days off plus a “long weekend” (I don’t work today, either) really lowered my overall stress level, and it’s a well-known fact that stress can seriously contribute to weight gain.

The one drawback I did have was that we finally had everyone in place to celebrate my birthday and my son’s birthday (our dates are 2 weeks apart) and this year we’d promised the kids we’d go to the Bear’s Den which has the most awesome, delicious food, and there’s lots of it.  I decided to simply go and enjoy myself.  I shared a “Bear’s Den Delicacy” with the rest of the table, then moved on to an 8oz bison tenderloin with steamed veg and grilled potatoes, and finished off with a truly palate-pleasing seasonal berry crème brûlé, which, in my mind, is always a fantastic way to end a delicious dinner – light and sweet and creamy.  Mmmmmm!  You can see the menu here if you want to know what you missed!

BUT, I was able to counteract that with a nice long, 18km. walk on Saturday, so that helped burn off some of those extra calories.

Here’s what I learned about weight loss this week as I mulled over last week’s sorry disappointment:  you’ve really got to want it.  It has to be important enough to say no to those things that will not only add weight, but will, ultimately, make you sick, sluggish, and toxic whether you’re trying to lose weight or not.  Our bodies are finely tuned machines, and we treat them like garbage bins.  We let the desires of our trained and addicted taste buds tell us what we will or won’t eat, and then expect all those lovely, internal organs to “clean up the messy kitchen” – and the truth is, they’re tired.   Junk foods really are bad for us (that’s why it’s called “junk food”!)

I’m going to be doing some more thinking along these lines over the next couple of weeks, but I’d love to hear your comments and reactions.  What have you discovered?  Where are your struggles?

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Get your own graph at skinnyr

Yeah, so this is not looking good.  I thought about hiding, pretending it didn’t happen, posting something brilliant that would distract you, or simply lying, but decided to ‘fess up, clear the air, and start fresh.

So what happened?

Wow. I’ve spent some time pondering this.  Understanding is often the key to success, so I wanted to understand what went wrong here.  In my last post on my weight loss results I talked about the importance of focus.  That still applies for sure, though I can say with confidence that I am now feeling a little more in control of the day-to-day stuff.  I’m settling in to my new job, we’re getting a bit of a schedule here at home, and the general overwhelm is lessening.

This last week, however, was exhausting.  My first week at work where I was basically solo, long days of high energy, next to no walking (that’s a biggie for me) and WAAAAY too much chocolate in the house, which is my biggest downfall.  Because I’ve been so incredibly tired I’ve been looking to food to get an energy “kick” and not only do I not get the kick, the fatigue makes me eat thoughtlessly and unhealthily, so because I’m not nourished properly, I get more tired, and the vicious cycle continues.  I cannot resist simple carbs when I’m tired.

Of course, these are reasons, but not excuses.

Yeah.  So on the weekend I redid my training schedule so it fits in better with my new schedule and lifestyle, got rid of the sweets in the house, and am heading into a MUCH slower week.  The out-of-town trips are over, the crazy training schedule is done, the panic and overwhelm have subsided, the training program is in place, and I had a fairly restful weekend, so I’m thinking we can start fresh, and get a better run at this starting now.

Wish me luck!

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It’s obvious from anyone reading this blog, that I’m passionate about walking, and that it’s really only prolonged grey days of bitter cold – and frostbite – that hinder me from getting out the door.  Even then, I’ve walked a lot of miles in some pretty nasty weather.

Still, after all the miles I log (and last week I hit my 2,000,000th step milestone!) I am still struggling with my weight.  Now that Dee McCaffrey is on board with me, I know what’s in the way, but I’m having a hard time putting it into practice (isn’t that always the way?)  I have all the answers but none of the will-power or focus necessary to make it happen – like the rest of you trying to lose weight!

So, with Easter behind me and my last “young” birthday soon to arrive, I’ve decided that I MUST get this under control.  Can’t coach others if I can’t coach myself, right?

Therefore, I’ve signed up with www.skinnyr.com to get a graph going, which, as you can see below, is currently blank… It will hopefully be showing a lovely downward trend over the next few weeks.

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Every Monday I will log in here and post my results. Smack my fingers if I’m not behaving!

Darlene

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Darlene

Every now and then I hit a place in my walking where I need to take about a week off.  Because I’ve never had problems starting up again, I allow myself this grace.  It happens about once or twice a year.  No biggie.

About a month ago, such a time had arrived.  I just needed a break, so I took a week off.  That weekend I got the dreaded flu, and the following two weeks, while there were no messy flu symptoms, I was so tired as to be useless.  I did do a couple of walks, but not enough to brag about, and each one left me drained and exhausted.

Following that my husband and I took a week off and went to Montana.  Training wasn’t even slightly in the picture.

In the meantime, due to complications with getting the winter version of my “funky feet” I succumbed and bought a pair of Skechers.  Since having begun with my Vibram 5 fingers, I’ve really only worn shoes with next to no support or cushioning in them, and my feet have loved it.  When I got the Skechers (SUPER comfy shoes with lots of support and cushioning) I’ve been wearing them quite a lot to get my feet used to them, and have hardly worn my normal shoes.

So for about a month I’ve not done much in the way of serious walking, and my feet have also been relaxing in these lovely skooshie shoes.  On Monday I went for my first serious walk in ages, with my Vibrams, and came home with feet screaming in agony.

I told them to “suck it up” and went again on Wednesday.  Well, my feet then went on strike altogether and I could hardly walk.  It meant I had to take a break from walking yet again, and baby my feet, getting them used to the Vibrams again.

What a nuisance.

The moral of the story is “suck it up”.  Don’t get lazy.  And if you DO get lazy, don’t let your feet get lazy too.

Ouch.

Darlene