Finishing Well

MY STORY… BEYOND THE SCALE & REAL LIFE TOO

True Confessions of an Imperfect Weight Watcher Leader

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Happy Leap Year!  My daughter asked this morning why we have Leap Year.  At 6:45am I couldn't think of the answer but didn't want her to know that so I quickly replied "That will be a really great question to ask at school this morning don't you think?  Tonight at dinner I look forward to hearing YOU tell ME all about Leap Year!"  The really bad part is that it is now well past morning brain and I still have no idea why we have this day every four years!  LOL!  Something about the sun and the rotation...  Never fear I will google it before the kids get home!

We were talking about goals this past week in the meeting and I realized that my Fitness Goal is the same one that I usually set this time of year.  To RUN a 5k.  My daughter starts Girls on the Run today which means that I will need to run with her at her 5K later this spring.  For extra motivation we also registered for a local 5K that supports children in foster care.  At least is supposed too motivate me! 

So here I am on the last day of February thinking about this annual goal of mine and it dawned on me that I have had this goal now for the past 3 years.  Yet I have never accomplished it.  Each year I download the Couch to 5k app an 8 week program designed to get you from the couch to a 5k in about 8 weeks time.  I can make it about 6.5 weeks then I give up.  Not intentionally.  But somewhere around that time frame my life gets busy & its around here that I run a full mile without resting so now I am a know it all and no longer need the App to teach me how to get the other 2.2 miles done.  (This time I need to make this Fitness goal a Smart Goal like we talked about in the meeting)  Then the day of the race comes and I walk/run it.  I am unable to complete it the way I want.  First of all I can't because I didn't do the work.  My dream of running the entire 3.2 miles stays a dream.  Many of the runners are there to win!  Get the prize, beat their best time.  Me I show up - get a tshirt - maybe a medal, and it is really a great day.  I spend it with my daughter.  In a large family like ours, time with just one kid doesn't happen often enough.  Yet once we get home and the day is done I reflect on the fact that I didn't reach my goal.  I make excuses about how it doesn't matter since the day was so great & try to convince myself that the time together was the goal.  But I know that was just part of it.  I really wanted to run alongside her - not hold her back.  I want her to be proud of me.  I want to run the good race... train my body to endure, learn to breathe, eat right, condition.  I don't need to win.  I don't have a time to beat.  I just want to finish without resting.  I want to finish well. 

Instead the past few years I sign up and think that magically I will know how to breathe and run and keep up with my daughter and not be last. 

Is this familiar?  Do you do this with your WW journey?  Do you pay each month and really really want to "lose weight and get healthy" but have no plans of doing what it takes to actually have that happen?  You know what to do.  Most of us know don't we?  Yet we hope that knowing is enough.  We know how to track, measure, weigh, move etc. and still we choose to ignore what we know &  lay on the couch eating "junk".  That's not the end though is it.  We do nothing and expect to loose weight.  So what is it that needs to happen to turn our dreams into reality?  We need to Leap.  Take that first scary step and DO what we know needs to be done.  Look at what can get in the way and push past or plan a detour.  Tell someone (or us!) to have accountability and begin taking the first steps toward reaching our goals!  Together we can do this!

btw if you are still wondering:  It takes 365.something days for the earth to rotate around the sun.  Since it isn't a perfect 365 days we need to have Leap Year to play catch up.  Grade school science is coming back to you now isn't it ;)

WHAT'S HAPPENING:
Wednesday March 2, in Geneva -
             Struggling Member Workshop  9-10am
Thursday March 10th in South Elgin -
              App Academy  6-7pm
Saturday March 12th in North Aurora -
              App Academy  11am - 12pm

LET'S CLAP THE BIG HANDS:

Let's celebrate!  This morning we had 3 people reach their 5% goal!  I didn't have my camera ready but this week Mary H., Kendra & Sara from DeKalb all reached this health milestone!  BRAVO ladies!

TASTY TUESDAY:

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti  5sp

Since using the squash instead of pasta I made mine like an Italian meal.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti Squash

1 pound Ground Italian Sausage

1/4 c. diced onion

1/4 c. diced green pepper

Large can of Diced Tomatoes

1/4 c. Mama Mia Marinara Seasoning (from Tastefully Simple)

Olive Oil

Season Salt, Pepper, Sea Salt, Garlic - to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Slice off one end of squash so that it stands on end.  Slice it long ways and scrape out the seeds.
3. Coat with Olive oil, season salt and sea salt.  Then place face down on a cookie sheet and cook for 40-60 minutes. Or until soft.  (My husband & I like it a little on the crunchy side so we cooked for 40 minutes.
4. In a skillet put onion and diced green peppers for about 10 minutes or until they start to soften.  Then add Italian Sausage to until browned.
5. Once meat is browned add Mama Mia seasoning, can of diced tomatoes, garlic, salt & pepper to taste.
6. Once spaghetti squash is done scrape out the insides with a fork.  This is your "noodles"
7. Top with Meat Marinara Mixture.

Since I avoided the pasta with this dish I also had a slice of garlic bread!  My husband and I shared the squash eating a half each.  The meat w/ sauce fed our family of 8.  Points were calculated for 8 servings.

                            

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: