"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." ~Maya Angelou
Reading a comment thread in the Fit Fatties Facebook group, I found a mention of Run An Empire. It’s a running game app (app game? story app? “strategy running game”), similar to Zombies, Run!. The difference being, from what I can see — it’s still in closed beta, instead of earning items to build up your virtual zombie compound, you actually capture & defend the real world space you run through.
Today is the first day of October &, as I mentioned on Sunday, I am starting a 31 Miles to Halloween challenge. In the month of October let’s walk 31 miles. That averages out to a mile a day, but you can get the miles in however you like. You don’t even have to walk it. You can run, roll, ride, skate, scoot, whatever suits your fancy.
This is a chop job of the full version, so you must scurry over to Zen Pencils to see the whole thing in its proper size.
I really appreciated this quote because it is so true. When I was a kid & I asked about prayers, my mom always told me we have to meet God halfway. If we’re not willing to work for it, we don’t deserve to have it.
In the immortal words for Dr. Frank N. Furter, “Don’t dream it. Be it.”
Got today’s Zen Pencils, & it was too perfect not to share. If you aren’t familiar with Zen Pencils, which you should be, it’s “a cartoon blog which adapts inspirational quotes into comic stories“. I like that he shows a fat dude getting out there & doing it, even though everyone says he can’t. This is his second use of the running man. Mr. Man starts running here.
This is just a little snippet, not even half of the entire comic, so if you like what you see, go check it out in its entirety. It’s also much bigger over there.
For those sensitive to food & weight issues, he doesn’t get skinny, but he does lose some weight. He also throws out the junk food* & starts juicing. However, that is not the case in the first one. He begins running to get out of a funk & make himself feel better.
*Never throw out perfectly good food, even if it’s junk food. Give it to someone, donate it to a food pantry, something. There are too many people hungry out there for you to be tossing stuff in the garbage because you don’t want to eat it. You might think eating transfats & corn syrup whatevers is evil, but they are still healthier than starving.
What’s so fascinating and frustrating and great about life is that you’re constantly starting over, all the time, and I love that. ~Billy Crystal (Brainy Quotes)
Yes please
Anyone else remember the day time reality show Starting Over? I loved that show. Being a perpetual beginner, starting over is something I’m used to. And it’s time for another go around! I’m running again.
It’s been a couple of weeks, & I’ve been doing an hour of walk/run intervals. I based my plan on different 5K programs I’ve seen/tried. I did three days the first week, but last week I only made it out one day. It was a very up & down week. Monday & Tuesday I was so busy doing other stuff I never got around to it. Then Wednesday came. It was like the other two days had sucked all the good out of the rest of the week & left me hanging. I barely got out of bed Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday. Saturday I drug myself out though. I was feeling a little better, & did not want to let the week get away from me without going out at least one day. Sunday was okay, & I spent a good bit of time researching form. Yep, you’re going to see some of what I found this week.
It’s been stops & starts the last year trying to get back into a regular routine. This time feels really good though. I’m excited about running the way I used to be. I’m back to being as slow as I was when I first started running, but part of it, beyond just I’m really slow, is I’ve slowed down trying to get my form right. At some point my form became very jarring. I noticed the first day I went out this time my back hurt, so I decided I needed to slow it down & focus on better form; better posture & less jarring. My form is becoming more automatic & I was faster Saturday, so yay! I feel strong too. I think that’s my favorite part of running, feeling strong. I’ve also been working on my stretching routine.
I wrote about how I got started running for Salty Running a couple of years ago, On Being a Fat Happy Runner. Anyone who thought they could never be runner but wants to try, might find a few good bits in it, especially other plus size women trying to get started.
Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate. The world wasn’t formed in a day, and neither were we. Set small goals and build upon them. ~Lee Haney(Brainy Quotes)
Something easy for those days when your get up & go has got up & went. A jar full of simple things you can do for one minute. Who can’t workout for just one minute? Then maybe two or three or ten? It could be useful for the TV addicts who want to squeeze something in during commercials.
I printed a list of simple exercises, cut them into strips, & put them into one of the many jars I have saved. Easy peasy! Now when I can’t find my motivation, or just don’t know what I want to do, I can at least get myself to commit to one minute of a random activity. Starting is the hardest part of any workout, so this is the perfect little jump-start. Continue reading →
When I went to look for an image to accompany this share, I thought this image was pretty perfect. I almost didn’t bother today, but I convinced myself to do it anyway. (yay me!) So here is something short & sweet.
…without perspective, everything is personal, and this makes it easy to beat up an already bruised existence.
So maybe it’s time to change the way you look at yourself.
Think about it. How much more can you see from a second or third floor window than you can from the first floor? It’s the same with who we are.
If we never look at ourselves through a different frame, we’ll always appear the same.
If we stare at ourselves in front of the mirror or lie in our beds all of the time thinking the same self-deprecating thoughts, we’ll never set ourselves up for a new kind of series where we catalogue all of the ordinary that makes us extraordinary.
Forgiveness for our setbacks is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves as runners, but it’s also one of the most difficult parts of our training. For me, it helps to remember that I run because I want to be a better person, not just a faster athlete, and the person I want to be loves herself and prioritizes her physical and mental well-being. – Cinnamon, Salty Running
The sun is out & the weather is warming up, so I’m challenging myself to be a better blogger & get back to a regular exercise routine. For the month of April I will be blogging daily & taking a walk. I currently feel like arthritis has taken over my body, so gentle daily exercise is especially important now.
I have been very irregular with getting my exercise in for a the last few months (okay, several months), so this article from Cinnamon over at Salty Running seemed apropos. We all have setbacks, & beating yourself up over it does nobody any good, least of all you. So be gentle, be forgiving, & be inspired to keep trying.
There is a Japanese proverb that fits here: “Fall down seven times & stand up eight.”
So a couple of things happened to make me decide I should talk about yoga this week, well a few things actually, so I have a few things to share over the next few days.
I am a twentysomething plus size woman attempting a year long yoga commitment! My goal is to successfully complete at least one yoga set per day. I will pick from tutorial videos and pose charts I find online to help guide me through.
I am sick/continue to be sick but have something new now, & have an afghan that needs to be finished sometime hopefully before the baby it’s intended for is born >_< , so I am not up to fully addressing the Liebster Award today. However, I will do it this week, even if I have to sacrifice spending an hour or two trying to come up with the perfect answers, perfect questions, & perfect blogs, & you just have to settle for the best I can come up with at the time. (Everything takes too long when you feel like it needs to be perfect.)
Today, I also received a Care2 petition regarding yoga. I thought it must be one of these charities that teach the underprivileged yoga, but it was actually a Pledge to Add a Little More Yoga to Your Everyday Life by Gaiam. TBH, I thought it was a little tacky for a company that sells yoga supplies & lifestyle items to be using the petition site for something that seems more promotional in nature than anything. C’est la vie. They sell yoga stuffs because they believe in yoga; they started the pledge because they believe in the benefits of yoga for everyone*. I have been meaning to do more yoga, so I signed it.
source: Gaiam’s pledge page
So here’s to a week of talking about yoga, & hopefully actually doing some!
*Not really everyone since their women’s clothing doesn’t seem to come any larger than an XL, which according to their chart correlates to a size 16. The only thing I have ever bought from them was a yoga dvd with a mat & accessories kit, so I can’t speak to how their clothing fits. But they have a bouncy ball chair I have always wanted, jic anyone forgot to get me a birthday present last week… 😉
“What if someone told you to floss only one tooth everyday? Or start the new year, not with grand resolutions, but with a simple challenge?” ~BJ Fogg, “Forget Big Change, Start with a Tiny Habit”
Okay, this video was not just smart & insightful, it was entertaining. As I’m sure you gleaned from the title, Mr. Fogg advocates making small changes over time if you want to make a big change. He believes you are more likely to stick with a habit you can perform quickly & easily, than some lofty goal that can be onerous & discouraging. From there you build on those small changes until the big change sneaks up on you, already a habit. Continue reading →
(Everything takes too long when you feel like it needs to be perfect.)
My Year To Thrive 