A Birthday Weigh In

I’ve avoided the scale for 2 months now but decided today it was time to take a peek. I couldn’t help myself. My data collecting side took over. I just got REALLY curious what the scale would read on my 37th birthday.

I hopped on first thing this morning.

Closed my eyes.

Counted to 10….

and voila!

Pretty much EXACTLY where I was when I stopped weighing in!!

I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless. I’ve pretty much maintained without food journaling, without weigh in, without “dieting,” without even thinking about it. Actually, “pretty much” is an understatement.

I’ve maintained.

As someone who used to live their life in one of two states, gaining or losing, this. is. HUGE.

I’ve never completely disconnected from everything at once. I went through periods of not food journaling but I’d still check the scale. I’ve also avoided the scale for long periods of time but was still counting points or calories. I’ve pretty much always kept one foot in the I’m-a-recovering-dieter door.

Is it possible I’m a “Recovered Dieter?”

Hmmm, I don’t want to get too cocky. I’m just going to keep taking things one day at a time. :)

OK, I REALLY have to go. I have a flight to Chicago in a few hours. I’m speaking at BlogHer’s Healthminder Day tomorrow!

How did your week go? Did anyone take any leaps out of their comfort zones? Big or small? PLEASE SHARE!

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2013 Birthday Bucket List Update

Tomorrow I turn 37.

Wow.

I’m sure everyone who has ever turned 37 feels the way I do right now.

When did this happen?

Not only am I not in my 20s anymore, I’m pretty darn close to 40!

Is this really happening?

Yes it is, and I’m totally over the whole age thing.

Comparing 27 to 37, I’d take 37 in a heartbeat. I’m happier, more confident, and content. I’m thinner, which is a total byproduct of my lifestyle. I’m more fit and energetic. I do more despite having more responsibilities. And I have two amazing kids!

Last year I wrote a Birthday Bucket List so I thought it would be fun to revisit it, give some updates and possible add to it as well.  So here goes …

Write a Bucket List.Live at the beach (at least part time), AKA buy a beach house.Become a World Traveler. I don’t even own a passport at the moment.
Update: Passport obtained!! Click here to read the post.Hike in the Grand Canyon.As cheesy as it sounds, skydive preferably with one/all of my boys but I won’t force them to do it.Visit the Redwood Forest.Publish a book (note: I’ve self published but I want to traditionally publish)Launch a Travel Blog.
Update: Launched The UnWordly Travelers last August!Be financially independent (My goal is to support my family doing only things I love and want to do, like this!)Start some type of non-profit to help people in some way. Not sure what that “way” is yet but I know it will come to me.Take the ultimate American road trip with my boys coast to coast.Take a cooking class just because.
Update: I did it AND brought The Husband along. It was great! Click here to read about it. Train for and run another marathon. This time completing it in under 5 hours. Preferably the NY Marathon but it’s not a necessity.Sing karaoke, alone and OWN IT. This scares the CRAP out of me. I can’t carry a tune to save my life.
Update: I DID IT!!! At FitBloggin’ this year. I’m sure there is a video but I don’t want to see it. lol Honestly, it was really fun even though I suck. I may even do it again. OH! and I chose “One Way or Another” by Blondie. :)Write a children’s book.
Update: In Progress! Working on the illustrations with David!Take my Mom to Italy.
Update: This was the highlight of the year for me. Click to see how I surprised her on Christmas. Take a rock-wall climbing class and get certified to belay.See the Northern Lights.Throw a big reunion party for all my college friends. I miss them dearly.Host a double elimination Beer Pong tournament in my garage. Note: May be combined with item above.Spend a week on a guilt-free spa vacation.Go scuba diving NOT snorkeling but SCUBA diving. I want to see a coral reef!See an iceberg.Take martial arts lessons.Host FitBloggin’ on the West Coast.
Update: DONE! FitBloggin’13 was in Portland this year!Be on or work with the Food Network in some way .Be present with my kids while they are kids and do my best to raise them to be responsible, happy adults.
Update: In progress. Always.Take a creative writing class.Take a class at Penland School of Crafts. See the stars and milky way in the night sky uninterrupted by city lights.Do 2 pull ups in a row. Note: I did one once and it took me months of training. WHY are they so friggin’ hard?!Visit Australia alone. I can’t explain why, I just want to.Hike to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.Audition for a Reality Show. Oh wait, I did that already! Surprise my neighbors with New Year’s gifts.Master my camera and take a breathtaking photograph that people want to hang on their wall.Make a video that goes viral on YouTube.Plan a romantic transatlantic cruise with The Husband.Take The Boys to Legoland.Plan an official 5k event.See as many of these movies as possible.Go to Comic-Con International.Take the boys to see the Statue of Liberty.Spend a FULL day in bed watching movies with the Husband.Teach/Inspire as many people to cook as I can.
Update: In progress on GreenLiteBites. :)Build something useful with my hands.Have a conversation in another language.Get another tattoo.Collaborate on a project with the husband. We have tons of ideas.Never stop living consciously and continually add to this list.
…
New for 2013…Run 2 Tough Mudders back to back
Update: Mission accomplished! Click here to see the video. Now I’m considering putting The World’s Toughest on my list but I’m not sure I’m ready to commit yet.Compete in an unscaled CrossFit competitionRun at least one adventure marathon. The Great Wall Marathon is at the top of my list.

I’m only adding three things this year, one of which I already completed. I want to  make more progress on my original list before I go really crazy. ;) I’m super excited about the progress I made on this list so far! There are a few more in my sights for this year, too.

Making and checking in on a bucket list really helps keep things in perspective. I know I accomplished a lot of these things because I committed to them on paper. I’m tired of talking, I’m in “do” mode now.

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Living not blogging: birthday edition*

I know.

I, too, feel, as though Ive yammered about my birthday coming! soon! for the past 364 days.

Ive prattled on and on and on & it’s finally here.

And, after all that, Ive decided to spend today pretty much in the same fashion as I spend every other.

Ala the notion of happiness not being having everything you want—but wanting everything you have.

I shall spend time hanging out with this one (& marveling it’s been close to 3 years since I had this caricature made for her):

Last I heard she was gunning  for us to spend the morning making gluten-free cake pops (like these from last year):

Im hoping, as in years past, she’ll demand to be my doppleganger:

As I know the years of her requesting that are waning:

(Im not sure I have any idea where my headband is. We may need to birthday-gift ourselves new ones.)

I plan to follow her lead and let her show me how she thinks birthdays should be celebrated.

I imagine when given free reign over my day she’ll be just like her I LOVE MY ROUTINE! Mama & pick some time with this:

And with these lovely yoga-loving folks:

Perhaps she’ll pick to spend some time here:

I *hope*  she’ll choose some QUALITY time with these:

Perhaps we’ll hang with him**, too:

And afterward Im hoping for some good old fashioned beanbag/snacks/movie time:

Im hoping for a day spent discovering (her) & reminding (me) we are happy because we want what we have.

And that life—and birthdays—is (are) as simple as that.

*Ive closed the comments today as this post is 100% my forcing you to peer inside my birthday-brain.  No need to wish me a happy ANYTHING as *my* wish is you take the 30 seconds or a minute you’d spend on a comment & and share them with a loved one in YOUR life!

**The husband.

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Happy birthday Dr. Seuss

(I do love me some Theodore Geisel*)

All over the ‘net

today tributes there are.

Shout outs to Seuss.

From near & from far.

Spoofs on the subject

of green eggs & ham.

Written by cooks

and lovers of SPAM.

I shall spare you an ode

As we do that each day!

The child & I

As we hangout and play.

We yammer ’bout Horton

& Bofas & such.

Because THEODORE GEISEL?

We *love* you so much.

From McElligot’s Pool

To how lucky we are

What you’ve taught about life

From our minds? Never far.

6 things I learned about fitness & healthy living from Dr. Seuss:

Did I ever tell you how lucky you are? What I learned: Screw motivation. If we are physically capable of working out we are lucky. No matter how much we wanna whine, lament or moan about how bad we have it the simple fact we are ABLE to exercise makes us one of the lucky ones. This MizFit says: MOJO? SCHMOJO.And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street. What I learned: Use your imagination. A lot. Liberally. Things are never as impossible or challenging as they may seem (or even as boring as they may initially appear). Get creative. Choose to see life through the lens of WHERE CAN I SHOVE FITNESS INTO MY DAY? This book debunks the no time whine (creativity) & also reminds us never to listen to those who may scoff at our nontraditional methods (PLAYOUTS not “workouts” anyone?)The Sneeches What I learned: Dont waste time, energy (or money) worrying about what anyone else is doing! Everyone joining a certain blog challenge? Training for a marathon & you cant run a mile? WHO CARES. Focus on your own belly (literally & figuratively!) who cares what others are sporting on theirs.Pale Green Pants (AKA What was I Scared of? ) What I learned: Embrace fear. When we expose what we fear to the light of day 99.9% of the time we realize that there was nothing to fear in the first place! All fears. From fears of weight training (what if the guys at the gym laugh at me!) to ZUMBA (what if I look like a fool or if I cant get it?!) When examined many of our fears are pretty misplaced and we CAN CONQUER if we give ourselves the chance and take that first step.Horton Hatches the Egg What I learned: The importance of COMMITTING and not QUITTING. Period. No matter what. And a reminder about service being the rent we pay for living. That helping others when they may not be ready, willing, or able to help themselves (heck, or even appreciative). Sit on their egg for them if need be and if nothing else youll get a fab helpers high.Oh, the places you’ll go! What I learned: Avoidance does not work. We need to ‘face down our problems‘ as Seuss says. It’s only through feeling negative emotions we can work THROUGH and PAST THEM with minimal destructive behavior (be that behavior quitting working out, blowing our “diet,” binging or WHATEVER). Dont think these dark times wont happen to you. They will. For sure. They happen to all of us & getting off our healthy living path and BACK ON is all part of the journey.

So there you have it.

How Suess shaped my fitness life and a reminder to CELEBRATE.

We certainly are.

Wanna share *your* fave Seuss book or quote?

Long to join us for green eggs and Morningstar sausages ham?

Are you, too, making a pink clover to accompany the Horton image on my bumbum lower hip?

Please to RHYME US all up in the comments below.

photo courtesy of JoniBee Photography.

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My Birthday Cake FAIL

my cake

Several things went wrong. One of which, you may have already noticed.

1. Husband got caught up at work (not his fault), so I had to pick up my own cake. Boooo!

2. I get there and my name is spelled all kinds of wrong.

3. The bakery was about to close, so while I could still pick up the cake, there were no actual bakers on duty to fix my name.

The cake made me laugh, so it’s all good. hehehe.

4. I woke up sick on my birthday (and still am), so I pulled out all the Homeopathic stops to combat this miserable germ infestation I’m dealing with. I slept most of my birthday because I felt like crap.

But in happier news! I got awesome presents: Two pairs of Uggs and a Nook e-Reader. YAY! I’ve never had real Uggs before, only Fuggs (Fake-ass Uggs), but now I scored two REAL pairs in one day!

But seriously, the best part about my birthday were the cards I received in the mail (thanks, guys!) and the time I spent with my Greedy Family. That stuff is priceless.

I hope your weekend is in awesome mode!

xoxo,

Josie (not Josetpe)

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Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday Husband!

YAY! Now I get to be the young one for 6 months!

Babysitter will be here in 1/2 hour. We’re off for a Birthday date night. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo here I come! :)

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A Sensational Birthday Sunday at Mom’s

Even while visiting Grandma, my morning pretty much starts the same: feeding this little guy…

I also made a big veggie omelet for Mom and I to split.

While it cooked the kids played.

It was a nice morning and a fabulous breakfast!

After breakfast, everyone had errands to run except me! I stayed home and finished the Christmas cards…

while Little Bean napped and Little Guy watched one of my all time favorite movies.

Goonies!

Once the cards were done (Oh! And if you are a Hallmark user like me, I found a 30% off promo code: SPECIAL30 – It saved me almost $10!) I headed over the Shutterfly to finish a photo book I’ve been working on.

This is my first photobook attempt. I can’t wait to see how it comes out!

Before everyone came back I made lunch for Little Guy and I munched on some veggies with hummus.

Then it was Party Time!

Little Guy played a classic game of "Don’t Touch the Ground" with a balloon…

…and had WAY too much fun with the party hats.

Of course we had pizza and I had 3 slices sans-crust.

They went to Little Bean. He was quite a fan!

Cake Time!

I had a slice.

Plus the 2 bites Little Guy left on his plate. WHY do I do that? It’s a habit I need to stop.

After cake we all had fun opening presents, playing, and chatting. Someone had fun crawling…

…dancing with Dad….

…and standing with me.

Even though we were having a blast, it was time to hit the road.

Little Bean did great!

And Little Guy and I kept busy taking turns playing Angry Birds on the iPad.

Of course there was a car snack involved, but not for me. Little Guy asked if he could open the Sour Patch kids he got for "pre-Christmas."

I said yes and tried one. That’s right.. ONE! I know, I’m impressed too! ;)

When we got home the cat was so excited to see us she even greeted Little Bean!

The house was a mess while we unpacked our gifts.

Mom gave me a new silverware set and Little Guy helped me get organized.

By this time we were already late for dinner, so The husband fed the baby while I whipped something up.

Breakfast for dinner. YAY!

Those are waffles made out of my Quick Whole Grain Banana Pancake batter. One of our favorites.

Dad had his traditional…

and I stuck with just a simple can of soup. Honestly, I was still quite full from the pizza and cake.

After dinner we straightened up, got both kids a bath and sent them to bed almost in time for my new favorite Sunday show obsession: Once Upon a Time. It’s so clever!

Now? Well now I’m watching Iron Chef while snacking on these…

and enjoying a cup of tea.

With our pre-Christmas celebration on Saturday and my Niece’s birthday today, it was an awesome weekend. Now I’m trying to wrap my head around the week ahead. I have a recipe waiting to write-up for GreenLiteBites and 2 Laughing Cow posts to get done by Thursday, I’m behind on Babys1stYear posts, there are 3 BlogToLose chats scheduled this week AND FitBloggin’12 is in full planning mode with speaker applications rolling in and sponsor negotiations started.

Yikes. I better get to bed!

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