Wo(man) Moments
23 May 2010 Leave a Comment
in GRAVITY Experiment Tags: .357, beautiful, estrogen, God, handgun, mommy, Mother's Day, pastor, Ruger, shoot, target shooting, Vera Bradley
GRAVITY Experiment Day #39
Today’s weight: 145.0
Pounds lost / pounds to go: 5.5 / 9.5
Exercise: Day of rest and I just got done eating popcorn – I’ve been craving it all day;-)
Church was great this morning. Our pastor and his wife started a new sermon series called “Beautiful” – the series is mainly aimed at women and is giving us perspective about what true beauty is and how God sees us. It was reiterated that for women, everything affects everything (oh, so true). I define myself by my appearance, home, career, relationships, and children – when one of those areas isn’t just right, it affects everything else. Instead, I should be viewing me as God views me.
Because the series is so estrogen-ized, they have decided to interject “Man Moments” where they show clips of things being blown up, people getting punched, guns being shot, and guys jumping off and out of things. So funny.
I must admit that I enjoyed the man moment. I’m secure enough in my femininity that I can say without shame that I like to shoot things. Yet another traumatic moment for my children last Mother’s Day when I got a Ruger handgun – imagine Mommy pulling heat out of a flowered bag stuffed with pastel tissue paper (still in the running for Mother-of-the-Year by the way). I’ve always wanted to get my permit to carry a concealed weapon and I got it last year – now if I could find a Vera Bradley bag that had a cute pocket for my .357 
I think it’s really hard for most women to confront their feelings about beauty and self-worth. I think I needed the break just as much as the guys. I know that I struggle with many of the things talked about this morning. Our pastor’s wife offered practical suggestions to make this easier but it’s definitely a process.
During this experiment, it’s been tough not to let a number or missing a workout get me down. As I’ve eased up on myself, I feel like it’s gotten easier and more manageable but I know I’ll have my seasons.
For now, I’ll just go target shooting while I work through my emotions.
Rotten Cheesestick Prevents Fall Off Wagon
15 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
in GRAVITY Experiment Tags: burrito, Cheerios, choices, drive-thru, food poisoning, God, lunch, McDonald's, PowerTower, psycho, refrigeration
GRAVITY Experiment Day #4
Today’s weight: 149.5
Pounds to go: 14
Exercise: 30 minutes of GRAVITY training on the PowerTower (that all sounds so high-tech). Today, I was advised to jump on the bike for 30-45 seconds in between exercises to keep my heart rate up. It worked and I can handle anything for 30 seconds.
I wanted a breakfast burrito so bad this morning I could almost taste it. I usually have good intentions of not going to McDonald’s every morning until “the morning” actually happens. I didn’t officially reach psycho mom status this morning but I could have.
Of course the kids professed to be ready to walk out the door until we actually got to the door. They all have gotten really good at pitching in to pack their lunches – they make healthy choices and are aware of what is acceptable regarding quantity and balance. I swoop in last-minute and make sandwiches if needed and quickly scan their boxes to make sure everything is in place.
The 5-year-old still needs a lot of assistance (although he professes to be a packing master). I went to grab his box and it wasn’t in its usual place. If felt heavy enough to be fully packed and I handed it to him while we were bustling down the front walk. I asked, “Will, what did you pack today?” His response, “The same thing I packed yesterday. I forgot to take it yesterday so I didn’t have to do anything.” Halt. Everyone back inside.
We had a nice lesson about refrigeration, food poisoning, and belly aches while replacing a very warm turkey sandwich, yogurt, and cheesestick. I took this episode as a sign from God that there was no way He was going to let me hit the drive-thru this morning. I poured myself a bowl of MultiGrain Cheerios and actually enjoyed the 5-minute respite before we tried leaving again. Who cares that I was a little further back in the car line at school?
Smart choices aren’t always easy choices.
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