November 2009 | DutchBeingMe

Monthly Archives: November 2009

Dreaming of travel…

Written on November 30, 2009

I have been covering some random topics lately… and today is no different. (Oh, and you *WILL* want to come back tomorrow for a double blog post day. Seriously. It’s going to be HILARIOUS!)

Anyway… so after watching the Biggest Loser on Saturday (and Sunday), I was so inspired by what Matt had done that I looked into doing the IronMan in Kona (there is no way I would survive at the moment.) Why am I so hung up about Kona?

Well, to be honest… I have a dream job — and it belongs to someone else currently. Samantha Brown to be exact. She gets to travel around to fabulous places and see amazing things — then reports on them for her television show. I started watching this show a few years ago and my favorite episode was when she featured Kona, Hawaii. I think if I saw the episode again, it would still be my favorite.

I’ve never been to Hawaii. But I have a dream to go there. And I believe with all my heart that it is a beautiful and wonderful place to visit. I don’t know if I could live there — but I can’t say I wouldn’t mind trying though either.

So based on this thought… I started dreaming today of all of the places that I would *LOVE* to go in the next few years. There’s no way that I have the money or the vacation time to do everything in 2010, but I can try to get some of the items off the list… right?

Disney World
Kona, Hawaii
Europe (minimally… The Netherlands, Belguim, Paris)
Napa Valley
Seattle
Alaska
Australia/New Zealand
South Africa
Brazil

Wow… there are my travel dreams written out before me. I wonder if any of my “dreams will come true” in 2010?? Can you guess that I *really* want to go to Disney??? Might just be the plan for the 33rd birthday if I can talk some fabulous people into going with me!

Interested????

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travel

Learning my lessons…

Written on November 29, 2009

I’ve said it on the blog before. When I’m tired, I eat. I eat the first things I find. And I eat mostly carbs. Same thing was true yesterday. I ate things I probably shouldn’t have — but it was in direct correlation to the fact that I was tired. How do I know that I was tired? I fell asleep while watching “Biggest Loser: Where are they now”.

I was SO into that show because it was bringing back some of my favorite people — Matt & Suzy especially — and showing that everyone struggles with keeping the weight off (well, except the now personal trainers!) It’s hard to lose weight. And it’s hard to maintain a weight loss.

While watching it 2 things stuck out to me… (before I fell asleep…)
1 – One of the participants (I wish I remembered her name at the moment!) said that in order to maintain a weight loss after being obese, you need to work out 5 or 6 days a week for an hour and a half!!! I’m checking with my trainer on this one… because I think if I were to do those kinds of workouts 6 days a week I think I would start losing A LOT of weight again (hmmm… might not be a bad idea…)

2 – I was absolutely inspired by Matt doing the Ironman in Kona. First, I want to go to Hawaii. I want to see Kona. (But that’s a whole other blog post… maybe for later this week.) For someone who is still a little overweight to even ATTEMPT this was awesome. I give him all the credit in the world because it scares me to commit to the Riverbank 10k next year. It inspires me to want to learn to swim well –I can survive in the water, but swimming well is not a forte! It also inspires me to get back on an actual bicycle… or at least attempt GroupSpin once again in the new year.

So back to the point of this blog post… I fell asleep about three-quarters of the way through this show. It was after 5pm… but my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. Why I didn’t feel the need to take a (probably well-deserved) nap earlier in the afternoon is beyond me. Or maybe it was because I was snacking all afternoon and the guilt of eating (because I *REFUSE* to eat during Biggest Loser!) had caught up to me at that point.

When I woke up (less than 20 minutes later), I realized that I had missed whoever gained all the weight back (I’m assuming it was Erik… but will have to go back and finish watching it later today.) I wanted to hear what he said, what happened in his life… or if he just went back to the “old” patterns that come so easily. The patterns that we have built up from years of practice. I still fight those patterns… but TRY not to keep things in the house that will tempt me so strongly.

So upon reflection of all of this… I am going to try to go to bed EARLY tonight. I have a workout planned after the family get-together at 1pm and then will keep myself busy with miscellaneous items (i.e. work I took home that needs to be done by the time I arrive back in the office tomorrow). Hopefully I won’t have too much down-time that I find myself hanging out in the kitchen by the snacks again today.

Or maybe I’ll be a better and wiser person… and choose the apple.

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life, weight loss

Long weekend & reading…

Written on November 28, 2009

This weekend has been filled with many things… cleaning being the most prevelent. I don’t think my closet has EVER been cleaner/more organized. Seriously. Granted, I decided to use the space in the 2nd bedroom here that I really haven’t used all that much of in the past. But the rest of the house is looking pretty stellar as well. Christmas tree is up, living room & dining room have been vaccuumed, bedroom is getting to the point where I need to buy a desk/table in order to get things the way they need to be there as well. (A trip to IKEA may be in order one snow-less upcoming weekend!)

Another thing that I did this weekend was an assessment test of my abilities. It has been pretty interesting reading over the results… and I’m pretty excited to have more analysis done on it as well. There were a lot of things that were confirmed there for me, but I have also learned that things I enjoy (writing, photography, etc.) are natural abilities for me as well. (Or at least that’s how I’m reading the report!) One thing the report did show me is that my vocabulary SUCKS. Here I thought I was all smart and stuff, but some of those words I had never heard of! Based on this, I’m going to have to get a “Word-a-Day” calendar (or maybe a word-a-day e-mail?) to start learning these or reading a lot more!

Well… so then today rolls around and I was going to go to a movie (Blind Side), but didn’t have anyone to go with — so I decided to read instead (because obviously I need to do more of that to increase my vocab!) I have been reading the book “Captivating” on and off for a while now. But today, what I read **REALLY** struck a cord with me.

Like Eve after she tasted the forbidden fruit, we women hide. We hide behind our makeup. We hide behind our humor. We hide with angry silences and punishing withdrawals. We hide our truest selves and offer only what we believe is wanted, what is safe. We act in self-protective ways and refuse to offer what we truly see, believe, and know. We will not risk rejection or looking like a fool. We have spoken in the past and been met with blank stares and mocking gaffaws. We will not do it again. We hide because we are afraid. We have been wounded and wounded deeply. People have sinned against us and we have sinned as well. To hide means to remain safe, to hurt less. At least that is what we think. And so by hiding, we take matters into our own hands. We don’t return to God with our broken and desperate hearts. And it has never occurred to us that in all our hiding, something precious is lost – something the world needs from us very, very much. … Where do you go instead of to God when the ache of your heart begins to make itself known?

Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge, pgs 56-57

I think this is why this is such a good book for me to be reading… it not only confirms things within me, but also is helping me to realize with these things I’ve been doing – I need to begin to rely on God more to take these feelings and insecurities away.

So there you have it… my weekend thus far.

Tomorrow I have another family gathering which I am taking the “Hungry Girl” Spinach Dip so that I know there will be one low fat option for me there! (Although, I know I won’t limit myself to just the healthy stuff… my mom is taking lasagna!) I also know that I will be on my way to the gym shortly after the workout to get some of those calories burned off!

Hope you all are having as enjoyable extended weekend as I am!

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life, weight loss

New Header…

Written on November 27, 2009

I had some free time… well, to be honest I made the “free” time (rather than napping) yesterday between trips to my grandma’s house… and then stayed up late to finish it, but I have a new blog header!

I think this will make my renovations (for the most part) complete for a while. I’ve given up learning HTML code and may pay someone in the future to help me with customizing sidebars or something… but that’s not going to happen right now.

As I was creating this new “look” for the blog, I took away pictures that mean a lot to me (friends, family, trips, etc.) but I think I kept a few that really show who I am. Not to mention that I like my “Belive.Hope.Inspire.Live.Dream.” as well. I think that really suits who I am and what I stand for (and what I hope others see in me.)

In case you are wondering (or if you are new to the blog), I’ll clue you in on the pictures…. most are from things that I wanted to accomplish from my lifelist.

Top left: Highlight of Windmill Island in my hometown (from my being a tourist for a day)
Top middle: Riding a horse for the first time
Top right: Nickelback Concert in February 2009

Bottom left: Just finished running my first 5k
Bottom middle: Family… me, Lori (sis-in-law), Scott (brother) & Michael (brother).
Bottom right: Tattoo I got shortly after reaching my goal weight

Note to self… I should work on updating the “family” picture to be a whole family picture with my parents and future sis-in-law included as well!!

So there you have it… part of what I did (outside of eating) on Thanksgiving Day. Now I’m off to the gym to work off said food… then enjoying a relaxing day at home. Maybe I’ll even set up the Christmas Tree.

What do you think of my recent “makeover”??? Does it look good???

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