March 8th I ran my first 8K! Wow, that was hard! The first half was nothing but climbing up Brown St. and then turning on Rim and then up to Scenic Drive. The part where it was pretty steep, all I kept saying to myself, DON'T STOP RUNNING!!!! You know what helped me here? The fact that a lot of other people had stopped running and had to walk. Are you kidding me...this just gave me a boost! To know that in my head I had set my mind.....YOU WILL NOT WALK....YOU WILL RUN!!!! It felt great! Finally after all the climbing, time to come down. Running downhill is even harder. You have to use all your muscles in your legs to hold yourself to not just let the decline take you. I did it! I ran my very first 8K in 1hour, 1min., and 52 seconds.....so so so proud of myself. This is one of those moments where I catch myself: crying, gasping, smiling. This run I dedicated it to my nutritionist: Georgina Fourzan. Some of you think that I might be a little obsessed by saying she "saved me". But believe me, when you can walk out of the doctor's office and she has told you, "no more high blood pressure meds".....uh yeah....she saved me. When your nutritionist tells you that you are no longer in the health risk category....uh yeah....she saved me.
So if you are keeping score, here is where I am at: June 21, 2013 I weighed in at 204 pounds. My nutritionist gave me the target to lose: 84 pounds. I have lost 49 pounds as of March 13, 2014.....drum roll please.....35 more pounds to go!!!! My nutritionist said that I can get this done by the time my one year of Clean Eating comes around......June 21, 2014. If you ask me, I am gonna hit it before that date!! Score! Once again I catch myself: crying, gasping, smiling.
March 17, 2014. I had to go to Phoenix for a training for an event we are having in August. We get there, we sit in the first session and then it's time to go eat dinner. The company had a place for all of us to go eat together and spend some quality time talking and getting to know each other. So we get there, find a place to sit with others. Everyone is sitting together at random tables. Great time meeting and talking with so many. Some people have ordered the chicken (me of course) and others have ordered the beef. One guy from San Diego, is commenting on how he ordered the beef because in California hardly anybody eats beef, ha ha! We are all laughing and just making comments. This same guy then looks across to this other guy (I have not met him yet at that time) and asks, "what do you say about beef, your the cardiologist". Of course everyone looks over to him and he starts talking. So yea, we are sitting there and in the midst is a cardiologist. So everyone is talking "food" stuff and what is good for you and what is not good for you and what you should eat and shouldn't eat. And there I go....I just had to. I honestly felt right then and there to speak. So I did. I look over to the cardiologist and say, "so your a cardiologist...you'll get a kick out of this" "On March 3rd, my doctor cleared me of high blood pressure, no more meds"....and so I begin to share with the group my journey of Clean Eating. As the faces begin to focus in on me and as I continue to share, I notice that it's pretty quiet and everyone is experiencing what I am experiencing: crying, gasping, smiling. When I finish speaking, the flood of questions come at me. What? What do you eat? How much did you say you lost? Clean Eating is that similar to the Paleo Diet? Can you eat Dark Chocolate? Ha ha! I love it! So I answer, I share, I laugh.....
Now back to the guy from San Diego....he then speaks to the cardiologist, "what do you think about this?" "have you ever heard anything like this?" I turn over and look at the cardiologist, and he is smiling. He begins to say that this is so rare because people just don't change their eating life-style. They stay on their meds pretty much forever or don't even take them. He shared with me that I must have some determination. Then another person asked me what got me started to do this. I then began to share about my dad passing away almost 4 years now and how that rattled my world. Once again: crying, gasping, smiling. So needless to say after all was said and done, I was encouraged by new found friends and deep in my heart that night, I was once again reminded why I began this journey. I was once again reminded why I want to live. Psalm 70.
Next day, we arrive to the place where we are training. People are getting there, everyone is saying their good mornings, etc. In about 10 minutes as people are getting there, I get bombarded (in a good way) by 5 people and then more. All I can hear is, "this is the lady I told you about," "tell my friend what you shared last night," etc. The San Diego guy comes up to me and says that he called his wife last night to tell her about me, why???? Because his wife is a nutritionist! Ha ha! Yes!!! She told him that she believed it! She believed every word of it because Clean Eating can CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!! This was crazy! I was laughing because these people from the night before had gone back to their hotel and shared with others and now this morning, everyone wants to know. So yea, I kept answering questions. It was the neatest thing ever.
Break time comes, some others come back up to ask me more. I then realized....my blog. I need to tell them about my blog. So I shared that I have been blogging for 2 years about my journey. I then handed out my business card with my facebook link. Everyone was so excited to find me on facebook and start reading my blogs. Once again: crying, gasping, smiling.
The end of the training has come, people are saying their good-byes. San Diego guy comes and thanks me for sharing and how I have inspired him. The two ladies from Maryland also thanked me for sharing and inspiring them. Then there was the cardiologist. He shook my hand and said keep it up. But one more guy. This guy was sitting to the left of me at that dinner. He asked questions, he talked, but that was it. He came up to me to say good-bye. He was all choked up and shook my hand and said "Thank you for sharing your story. You have no idea how you have inspired me. You have no idea how you have impacted my life." And yes, once again: crying, gasping, smiling.
For months now I have been wanting to make a facebook page of my journey. I just hadn't done it. After this encounter, I decided to do it. I know that God has been speaking to my life in so many ways. I am compelled to share my journey so that others can know that it's okay...just take it moment by moment. As I have shared in my blogs my ups and downs, I want to keep it in front of me and anyone else that needs inspiration......https://www.facebook.com/gravybihl
Now to close this blog....I want to share something from the deepest of my heart.
I am real. I am human. I fail. I will continue to fail. I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. I will always struggle with eating. I am an addict. I am a food addict. I am weak. I am insecure. I am a failure. My skin that hangs from my arms reminds me of my failing body. The skin that hangs from my stomach and where the 2 c-sections I had reminds me that I made horrible eating mistakes for years. Everytime I drive by Peter Piper Pizza I have to drive away fast. When I am alone in the house I must keep myself busy or I will binge. When I run, I hear my skin flapping. I want to eat Cheetos. I want to drink Dr. Pepper. I want to eat popcorn. I want fritos and bean dip. I want trail mix with m&m. I want pizza from Cocomiel Restaurant. I ate a hamburger with cheese animal style on March 18th from Inn and Out Burger. My stomach is messed up today because I ate that burger. I signed up to run another 5K tomorrow. I bought me a pair of pants today and they were a size 8. I bought me a shirt today and it was a medium. I am playing volleyball on Sundays. I no longer snore at night. I no longer struggle to walk up stairs. I wake up early because my metabolism is working correct. I look forward to running in the early am. My sex life with my husband is SUPER. My kids inspire me to keep on living. I am taking on new challenges everyday......once again: crying, gasping, smiling.
So I leave you with this.....
On May 17th, I will be 48 years old.
In June my husband and I will be vacationing in Creel, Mexico, where we will do some adventure stuff! I am looking for a place to run over there as well.
In August I will be joining my husband and I will be doing a triathlon with him. Don't even ask me where that came from...but yep...I'm up for this challenge!
In December, the husband and I will be running in a half-marathon.
LIVE LIFE! Psalm 70
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| this is me coming in to the finish line from my 8K! |
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