At the end of last school year I received a card, I should say my husband received a card in the mail from his employer.  It was a program that assisted you in healthy living and changing habits and losing weight.  Chad wasn’t interested in the program but I was so I signed up and it has been great.  Everything was online, even a scale that they sent me sends everything through WIFI to track your progress.  I happened to start the program the week we moved to our new house.  So it was truly new beginnings.  I have a lot of weight to lose.  Not that extra 10-15 pounds you hear women complain about consistently.  I have told very few people I am doing this program just because of fear of failure and how much I need to lose.  I am not using shakes, surgery or supplements.  Not that these things are wrong but I wanted to try and make life long changes.

I have finally had a few people come up to me and ask if I have lost some weight.  I am a tad over 50 pounds lost.  I have a lot more to go but I am proud of the progress I have made.  I notice I have more energy and buying a couple new pieces of clothes have been fun.  I hope to keep a slow and steady pace for the future.

I have been walking more and more.  I want to add in some strength exercises so a kettle bell was just purchased.  I am excited to be able to do more and more and my kids are excited to go with me and walk with me.

A good friend of mine has reintroduced me to yoga.  I did yoga when I was in college and really enjoyed it.  A couple weeks ago we went to a yoga session in Morris.  I loved it!  I kept waiting for it to get really hard to the point I couldn’t do it but that wasn’t the case.  It was a meditation yoga and I was able to do the full class.  I would love to go back to that class once or twice a month.  Last night we went to a regular yoga class in town.  Oh my, I made it through but it was so tough.  I am not in shape.  I have about zero balance so doing these things in class I felt like I was going to die.  I finished the class, let me tell you there was more than once I wanted to get my mat and walk out the door.  One thing I really learned last night is I am not at that level.  I need beginners yoga and work up to that.  Yes I pushed myself and I got a good work out but I felt lost and extremely awkward the whole class.  In saying that I am proud I stuck with it to the end.

To add to the stress of trying something new is trying to understand what the instructor was saying.  Squaring your body with the mat and turning to watch her talk was tough.  A lot of times her back was to us while she talked or her face was down to the mat while talking.  Add in some music playing- if you are deaf/hard of hearing you get it.  You aren’t going to get anything out of what is going on.

I will try again.  I am not sure if it will be that class or a more beginner class.  I won’t give up.  I give huge virtual hugs to my friend, Beth.  She has been such an encourager.  I don’t think I would be where I am now if it wasn’t for her.  She is always giving me a compliment or a little push to do something more.  I am very thankful she is in my life.

So I will keep walking, and working.  I love cooking and canning and that works great for this because I can make my family food with no preservatives, no dyes, no added items.  I am changing my whole family without their direct knowledge.  My youngest who used to be so picky has learned to love grilled chicken that was marinated in a light italian dressing.  My oldest loves to cut all kinds of veggies for a stir fry.  My husband who was a 6 cans of soda full of sugar guy, is down to 2 cans a day and one is diet.  It is slow baby steps but they say slow and steady wins the race.