Those of you who have followed my blog over the years know that I’ve been going through a fairly significant weight loss phase. I had lost 60 lbs from when I started this process back in November 2003. If you go through the archives, you can see some of the journey. Well unfortunately since last summer I’ve gained back about 15 lbs or so because I was glued to a computer screen working all the time. When I read this post today on Dan’s site (discovered from the NB blogroll), it was sooo familiar to me. Kudos to him on dropping the weight back off.

One of the things I’ve started using is a pedometer. The first day I used one it scared the crap out of me with the concrete visual of how little I had moved that day. We’re supposed to have 10,000 steps/day and I had a measly 2000. Sitting in front of a computer screen all day will do that to you. Using the pedometer has really motivated me and it’s part of my new business with my brother in law and sister (more on that later;)). So now that I’m playing basketball again, my steps start to add up a lot quicker, but I still need to really make sure that I don’t slide into work mode too much and spend too much time at the computer because that’s where my risk lies with inactivity. I’m hoping that within a couple of months of hitting that 10,000 step goal, I’ll be back to where I was last summer and then can keep going from there.

I’ll write a longer post soon, but I’m swamped right now. I did want to give kudos to the liberal government today for their press release related to childhood obesity and tackling diabetes. The two are intrically linked and need to be tackled in tandem. I have a lot more to say on the subject, but no time.

For humour, check out this gruesome site, be neat to have family portraits like this, lol.

I started to respond as a comment to Scott’s comment but I quickly realized it was too long so decided to turn it into a post instead.

Yes, I remember the NB Games very well from the old days. And as to pedometer. Well I have a bias on this as it’s related to our new business. But suffice it to say there’s a huge difference between free McDonald’s type pedometers and high quality, technologically advanced pedometers. And there are lots of opportunties for it to be fun and interactive for kids. Oh god, did I just sound like I was making a sales pitch? lol. I’ve been using a pedometer for a while and yes it can make a difference, and with kids today who are so used to being connected it can motivate them. While in an ideal world, kids would just play outside to get exercise, the reality is that it’s not happening and we need to address how to relate health and fitness to kids in a technologically, media changing world. There’s a whole new area of kid’s fitness called exergaming that is being implemented in areas, like a gym in NS. For our generation, it seems hard to imagine that this is needed, when they’ve got a basketball court down the street, but the end result is that kids are getting fit whereas before they were glued to an X-Box.

It’s only part of the picture though as healthy eating needs to be addressed too in our world of fast food, (I’m guilty of it too at times, who isn’t), a rush to soccer, or Camp, no time. Or as the Gleaner addressed today, picky eaters, kids that won’t eat anything except peanut butter.

Diabetes runs rampant through my mother’s side of my family. Obesity, heart disease, all contributors. I don’t want my children growing up without the tools to make healthy food choices or not knowing about an active lifestyle. And yes I need to lead by example, I’m trying;)

I hadn’t planned for this to turn into a spiel;) But it’s a subject matter close to my heart and that’s why I was glad to see Graham address it today.

I’m organizing my clothes for my trip and NOTHING fits. I know I’ve gained weight this past year and I refused to buy new business clothes because I don’t plan on keeping the weight on, but now I’m in a bit of a bind for my trip. Sigh, I guess I’ll rummage through my closet some more and see what I can find. I started getting back into regular exercise last month, have lost some weight, but this weight gain this past year distributed everything differently. And things are just fitting differently, not as well:(

Which overall makes me feel pretty crappy and like a big fraud. You see, 3 years ago, I decided that it was time to start losing the weight I had been carrrying for a long time. So I changed my life, became more active and lost approx. 70 lbs  as of Sept. 2005 (you can check out the weight loss category in the sidebar). Fitness and health had become an important part of my life. And one day last August 2005, I had the opportunity to become involved in the research of a new wellness company. I jumped on it as it was something I believed in. And thus it started, my downward spiral. I worked full time for Goose Lane. I had a part time web/print design business. I was busy with 2 kids as a single Mom. And now suddenly I had new work to do.

I guess I thought I’d be able to juggle it all. And I did, but at a cost. I worked all the time, except for when I had the kids. I stayed up until 2 am many nights working. I stopped playing basketball. I justified that with telling myself I was following Dr.’s orders for taking 6 months off. But then the 6 mos came and went and I still didn’t play. I stopped going to the gym. I spent all my non kid time sitting at a computer. Go to work in the morning and sit at a computer, come home, do the kid routine, get them to bed, etc. and sit at the computer working until very late. Well, the body doesn’t do well with that lifestyle. I knew I was gaining weight, but I’m like a rabbit, hoping that if I can’t see you, then you can’t see me. I didn’t step on the scale anymore. I kept telling myself, that things would calm down when I wasn’t juggling so much.

And then in July I quit my job at Goose Lane to go to work fulltime with our wellness company. And that’s when reality kicked in. One morning, I weighed myself and seeing those numbers meant I couldn’t hide from it anymore. I’d gained almost 20 lbs in the last year. I was also feeling tired, more migraines and just overall crummy. The guilt of being involved in a company that was promoting health and wellness and I wasn’t following what we believed in. Then my pedometer arrived in the mail for testing out the computer part of the program. And like the scale being a visual kick in the pants, the pedometer really hit home. 10,000 steps they say, well many days I was lucky to hit 5,000, with an average of 2-3,000/day. More guilt. Well, the only thing to do with guilt is to do something about it. So, I started wearing my pedometer every day, trying to be creative about finding more ways to step, which resulted in me being more active. I started playing basketball again. Those nights are great, I hit my 10,000 steps and more. I have a bathroom in my basement where my office is, but I run to use the upstairs bathroom, just so I can get more activity. Being aware of my steps, made me work harder. If I had hit 8,000 by the end of the night, I’d take the kids for a walk, hoping to hit that 10,000 mark. And it’s working, I feel better on those days and the weight is starting to drop off again. It’s a challenge still, as I have a lot to juggle, a new business involves a lot of time, and my kids are back in school, so there is more time involved with shuttling kids around now. Yet, now I’m not hiding from it anymore and I’m making it a priority. I want our company to be ethical and if I can’t walk the talk, then how can I expect anyone else to do the same.

And I know the difference. I know what it’s like to take that slippery road to weight gain. And I don’t feel like *me* when I’m heavy and I don’t feel well physically or emotionally when I’m heavy. So when our company launches I will be one of the members, like everyone else, struggling to find ways to fit movement in our lives. I’m going to make myself accountable to our members. I don’t want to be a fraud. How could I do otherwise, when I know the difference, have experienced the difference of a more active and fit lifestyle.

So tomorrow I head off to Texas for a marketing seminar. They say everything is big down there, so maybe these extra lbs I’m carrying will fit right in;)

I worked most of the weekend, night and day kind of blurred together. Although I managed to visit a friend who in return for some design work I had done for him, offered me a therapeutic massage. It hurt. Although in a good way, need to work out those kinks in my back and neck from too much time at the computer. I did take some time off on Sunday to take the kids for a walk to the park. There was no Friday night movie for me unfortunately.

I’ve been working and working and working, and all that work has made Lisa a very dull person, lol.

We’re finally gearing up to start our actual pre-launch marketing campaign, slowly but surely:)

Instead of going straight to the site, have some fun with it;) Created by Andrea, one of my favorite bloggers:)

What’s Your Walking Style?

You are a WANNA-WALKER.You know some of what you should be doing, but may need a bit of encouragement to get going or challenge yourself. You may feel like you don’t have time, even though you want to walk. Get a pedometer and try it out! You may be surprised. See you on the road!
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