A Life-long Obsession With Water

I believe I have had a life-long obsession with water.  From the babbling rivers and streams of the Appalachian mountains and the tranquil lakes of Minnesota I knew growing up, to the beautiful Gulf Coast shores of Western Central Florida I enjoy so much today as an adult -- it's no small wonder that water brings me such joy.

Air moves us; Fire transforms us; Water shapes us; Earth heals us. ~ Wiccan 

Clearwater Beach, Florida and another amazing sunset

Today Hubby and I spent some time at the beach at our favorite hangout at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater.  It's become our favorite Sunday thing-to-do... church-time at our Chapel by the Sea, and then time at the beach after service.  We've missed our usual routine the past few weeks, so today was nice to get back in our normal swing.

Sitting there today, soaking up the sunshine, made me think about how much I LOVE being close to water.  It had to have started from the time I was a toddler.  My mom loves to tell me the story of any time I'd get so excited when we'd pass a river or lake on our travels... "Mom, look at the waaaa-ttteeeee!!!!!!"  I just couldn't seem to be distracted from my fascination from whatever body of water we just passed.  And then there were my daydreams I'd fancy to myself when we'd rent the beach house in Emerald Isle, NC with the family each year... full of romantic moonlight strolls down the beach with my man...  What a wonderful realization that my best day-dreams are now a reality in the loving relationship I share with my husband.  I'm such a lucky, lucky girl!

But it has made me think even more about my fascination with water.  It is one of the classic elements.  Does "water" fit me though?  I'd say as I read more, that's a resounding "YES".. it sure explains a lot about me! Ironically, I took one of those crazy online tests and found my "classic element" was indeed "water"... Hubby's element was "earth", so no wonder we LOVE being close to the beach!

So find out what your classic element is -- wind, earth, water or fire?

Through Ups and Downs Keep Pressing On

So far 2012 is off to a great start for us already and I find myself making the usual updates to my health and fitness goals (among other things I hope to achieve and enjoy in the coming year).  As I look back on progress made I'm quickly reminded I've had a lot of ups and downs along the way, but am thrilled that overall positive trends continue. 

I've been on an intense wellness journey over the past 3 years especially.  Through diligent efforts of trying to loosely adhere to a Weight Watchers type of diet program on my own, combined with regular aerobic and exercise and strength training -- along with tremendous support and encouragement from my husband, I'm thrilled to be back to the weight I was back in my early college days.  Often people comment to me shock and surprise at how much weight I've managed to lose, especially those who haven't seen me in a long time or those who have just met me.  On more than one occasion lately it seems like those individuals may think these results came to me easily or quickly.  I can assure you they have not!

Food brings me great joy.  I LOVE to eat and I enjoy so many types of foods.  My husband is the best cook ever and I could eat my weight over and over enjoying all the unique and wonderful creations he comes up with.  I can't say that I wake up any day overly excited about getting in a great work-out either.   It's so easy to make excuses and let the exercise slide.  As I've been going through this wellness journey over the past several years, I've charted my weight (shown above) as a reminder to watch the overall trend and keep myself going in the right direction.  As you can see, it's not been a straight line of progress... there have been ups and downs throughout.  Clear trends also show me that my weakest point always comes at the end of the year... of course, right around the time of holidays when there's really so many  indulgences to enjoy.  If I were to go back and chart 2008, I'd see a similar pattern, although my year-end weight ended up higher than where I started the year.  How discouraging to have put in so much hard work to lose a good amount of weight and then to see it all (and then some) gained back again!  So, the overall trend-lines serve as good motivation just to keep pressing on.

So, I'm back at the effort again even now in 2012, although my goals are changing somewhat now... beginning to shift into more of a maintenance mode after losing just a bit more weight, training hard to run my first 5k race at the end of April (Athleta Iron Girl - 4/22/12 in Clearwater Beach), and striving more and more to achieve a sustainable balance in life in general.  Along the way I hope to keep encouraging those I meet to keep pursuing their own individual goals and not give up.

Size-10-me in my size-18 jeans in early 2011

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. ~Anonymous

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time." ~Anonymous  

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.  ~Newt Gingrich