Thanksgiving - Food or Family?



The Holidays are upon us in full force.  And after a meal consisting of several plates of this, the question of Healthy Food is there again.

I love Thanksgiving!  I love the food, I love the smells but mostly I love the time with my family.  They are the most important thing to me, and as I now live thousands of miles away in Colombia I realize this more and more.  Family is what the Holidays are about.  The food's good, but Family is Better. 

 

3 Memorable events from my trip home for Thanksgiving:

 

#1:  Going for a run with my brother.  Living in Bogota, Colombia has been tough on my running.  Meaning...I can't do it.  I'm at 8,600 ft above sea level and I get migraines that would knock out an NFL player whenever I run.  So being in Utah, USA at 3,500 was AWESOME!  We ran for 3.5 miles and I loved every minute of it.  For one I got some one on one time with my Bro which is tough with 10 kids between us, and two I realized how much I miss running.  So the slow training starts tomorrow at 8,600 ft.

#2:  Going for a walk with my sister.  My oldest sister is pushing the 350 lb mark on the scale right now.  And she's doing nothing to change that.  If anything she's probably still gaining weight.  We only walked half a mile, but we had some good conversation about goals and challenges.  I'm going home again for Christmas and plan to walk with her everyday.  And this summer I'll be home for a few months, so Water Aerobics here we come.

 

 

 

#3:  My Brother-in-Law made an Oil-Free Fried Turkey.  The best part was he added Creole Seasoning.  Now this Brother-in-Law is currently receiving weekly to monthly advice from his Dr. on how to loose weight.  This is due to the fact that he's over 400 lbs.  So instead of the 2 hr Fried Turkey he made last year, this Oil-Free Fried was awesome.  And super moist and yummy.  I was so happy to see him listening to a bit of his Dr's advice and using his amazing BBQ skills to make us all some delicious Turkey.

So to sum up.  I love the Holidays: the food, the music, the lights, the parties.  But none of these would be worth anything without my family.  And as hard as Health is, keeping my family around for many years to come is super important to me.  And I'll do everything I can to keep them with me for as long as possible. 

Love you Fam!!!

Zumba

I've been teaching Zumba now for almost 3 years.  Over 2 1/2 years in Cochrane, Canada and now a few months in Bogota, Colombia.  Funny that I'm an American Girl but I've never actually taught in the USA.

Zumba, it's great fun.  People that think they're in shape tend to burn out in my classes.  And I'm not even in top form for myself.  But I push through when it's tough and keep a smile on my face, which isn't hard because I love it.

Next week I'll be teaching for my sons Year 5 class.  Loads of fun with kids.  I love starting them into activity when they're young.  If the learn to love it then they'll keep loving it when they grow.

Sleep

For the past few weeks I've been waking up at 4:40 am every stinking morning.  Then Jared gets up at 6:00.  Then I'm up at 6:45.  But because I'm waking up at 4:40, I start thinking about the next few hours and then I can't go back to sleep.  AUGH!!!  It's a horrible cycle.

But I think I found my solution.  Last night I went to be about 10:45 pm.  Not exactly, but I know it was before 11:00.  I slept straight through.

I woke up to Jared's alarm, but was able to go back to sleep.  This morning I felt amazing!  Totally rested.  Ready to conquer the day.  On top of my eating.  Actually wanted to exercise.  Everything!  There is more to healthy living than just eating right and exercising enough.  You have to sleep right too!  When you're rested you make better decisions and you're just naturally a nicer person.

"Early to bed and early to rise.  Makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise."  LDS Primary Childrens Song Book.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:124 "...Retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated."

New Year New Start

Christmas was a killer on my scale this year.  I didn't formally exercise maybe even twice while the kids were on break.  I ate like crazy, and enjoyed every bit of it.  LOVE Christmas food!  It's the only time of year you get it, so I may as well enjoy it.

But man did I pay for my indulgence.  I gained a solid 8 lbs and went through sugar withdrawals like crazy. Headaches to make you cry and that even woke me up in the middle of the night.  But the headaches only lasted about 2 days, then I was good.

I am now back on Myfitnesspal.com and already down 4 lbs.  You deffinately loose weight faster when you eat right.  I'm also back to teaching Zumba Toning twice a week and loving it.

One of my students went to Nepal for December and since we were supposed to move over Christmas I thought I'd never see her again. But we didn't move and she's back with lots of great stories.  :)

I found the Marathon I want to run this year.  It's in Newport, Oregon on May 31st.

That means training starts next week.  I'm really excited.  A lot of people get their PR (personal record) at this Marathon and I am hoping to get 4 hrs.  This is my 3rd Marathon with that goal and I hope I get it this time.  Best thing yet would be get 3 hrs 40 mins, then I'd qualify for Boston 2015!  That would be awesome!

I am currently having trouble sleeping and I have to figure that out.  I thought there were too many blankets on my bed, so we fixed that.  It helped a bit but I'm still really restless at night.  I'll do some reading and let you know.

Love being back on track.  Love exercising again.  Love feeling like I have energy from eating healthy food. No more heaviness after a meal, and that's nice.