Success vs. Failure

What determines failure?

Sometimes what may feel like a failure can truly be success hiding in the shadows.

Today I experienced a failure/success.

I had decided to go cycling for at least 20 miles this morning.  However, it was not meant to be.  This distance is no crazy feat for me.  Recently I have been doing 20+ miles regularly with plenty of energy to spare.  

               Today was destined to be different.

  -Back story, I injured my knee a few years 

ago during p90x,then continued exercising 

and ended up in a brace with crutches for 

3 months.  This was absolutely NO fun. -

About three miles out my knee began to bother me.  By mile five I needed a break!  All I could think was, 

"You pussy! You are so out of shape! Suck it up!"

This was not a fair thought though,  clearly from the past few weeks I have proven to myself that I could do much more on routes with more hills.  I ate my Honey Stinger waffle straddling my bike trying to figure out why my knee was giving me such a problem.

                   Didn't take long to conclude that all the walking around 

                   towns, up hills, up & down stairs over the past week on 

                   vacation did not help my knees condition.

It took a minute to calm my ego and decide to turn around.  Even though I wanted to push through and keep going, treating my knee like a spoiled child that won't eat his broccoli.  So I listened my body, turned around, eased off the gears, and headed home at 5.2 miles.  As soon as I clicked my shoe back into my peddle a pain hit me and I knew I made the right decision!

It may have felt like a failure; however, in failing to achieve the goal I had set for today, I succeeded in doing what I am worst at.

I listened to my body!

I listened and most likely avoided a serious re-injury of an old enemy, my bum knee! 

Even though I was upset for not being able to finish my planned ride, I am proud of my ability to extinguish the negative thoughts and realize that making there right decisions for my body is the real success.

Success can hide in our failures

So tell me, where is your success hiding?

What led me to this life of Health & Fitness, you ask?

Why Do I Do This Stuff?

I was never an "active" person.

Well maybe that isn't true, I grew up before video games came around to being in every home so, Yeah, I went out and played outside as a kid.  I grew up camping, fishing, climbing trees, building sand castles, and having loads of fun outside. 



The thing is that I never realized people ran for sport or cycled for sport.  
In high school I knew kids in track and on the soccer team, but that was school, it made sense.  I was in the marching band and twirled a flag and rifle, not so lazy.  Went to the river, lived outside if I was able.  

         "What is your point JeanMarie?"

Well what I am getting at is the point in my life at which I was introduced to running and cycling and being active for your health and not because your mother told you "Go outside and play!"

I met my husband (ain't he cute?) when I was 17 years old and a junior in high school.  He was 19 and in the SeaBees (branch of the Navy).  When we met he was already an avid runner and cyclist.  I remember going to a duathlon with him, where he placed 3rd overall.  It wasn't such a big race then and I didn't really understand what it was to run and cycle.  I was the proud girlfriend though! 
Well, we got married had a baby and I gained weight, ugh!! 
He tried to help me be more active and drink shakes like Spiru-Tein, but I was a brat and turned my nose up! 

"What!? You a brat?!"

I know, I know, who'd a thunk it! 
Yes I still didn't understand how food and exercise affected my body! All I knew was I got hungry, I ate! 

"So what happened next? Did you ever learn what food and exercise were!?"

Umm, You are fired from this commentary! Yes, I found out! I still struggled though.  Around the time I became pregnant with our 3rd son I started to get wise to this "You are what you eat!" idea.  After he was born I lost the 30+ pounds I gained fairly quickly.  I started eating a 100% raw vegan diet.  I went to a size 12/14 I was happy, yet I slowly started eating SAD (standard American diet).  

I should probably mention that my husband and I became vegetarians 

before we were married and still are to this day.

"What! Where do you get your protein!?"

I'm going to punch you in the throat! Get off my blog! You're comic relief is wearing me out! 

Where was I?  

Oh year SAD, now my weight hit an all time high of 238 (if you read my "Getting to know you", you know that.)  I was NOT healthy, despite my vegetarian diet.  I ate out a lot, I cooked from a box, fresh veggies were not always in every meal.  Disgusting, I know! 

So slowly but surely I began to see how my husbands lifestyle and eating habits were helping him maintain a healthier weight.  He always slept good and had energy in the mornings.  So I decided, 

 "I'm going to run"

  This I found was easier said than done.  Running is hard!! Especially when you are overweight!! If you are not overweight and have never been go pick up 50 extra pounds or so and go for a run! IT'S HARD! But I did it.

At first my husband tried to help, he would tell me what to do and how, but it always came across in a manner that just didn't fit with me.  It felt judgmental.  He wasn't trying to be, he had just always grown up eating healthy foods and living an active life.  It was rote to him and he didn't realize how new it was for me. 

I started running 5k's and eventually began taking classes at the gym and even got into group training with a personal trainer.  I went to 199 pounds, Yay!

Well, life happened again and I went back up to 220, ugh! That was my last straw! 

I then picked up my husbands mountain bike and rode, and went to the gym, and ran again! This time for keeps!

I even got my own road bike!

I named her

Honey Biscuit

So, as I have become more and more active and knowledgable of how important diet and exercise are, I can look back over the past 17 years and see how much I really have learned from my husband.  Maybe I started out wanting to just lose weight; however, in the end I realized that if it weren't for meeting my husband I would not be the health conscious and active person I am today.

This year I even participated in the same Duathlon series that my husband placed 3rd in so many years ago!  His was a 2mile run/11mile bike/2 mile run and the one I did was 5k/11mile bike.  

                                          It was SO much bigger than I remember it ever being!  

                                         So much so that I wanted to turn around and go home! 

I was scared! 

Thankfully, my husband was there and helped me calm my nerves and reminded me that I wasn't there to win, I was there to participate! He; however, didn't participate. He was there to cheer me on.  He helped keep me motivated and on task at the transition and I finished it! I had an awesome time!
 I placed 194 out of 214, not bad for my first duathlon. 

Well, I guess the reason I do this stuff is not just because I want to be healthy and teach my children about being healthy.  But because I met my husband and I have learned from him over the years what life is all about; family, fun, and LIVING! 

Turns out I am pretty lucky after all. 

The Perfect Summer Survival Kit Giveaway—and Free Sunscreen for Those Who Need It!

SUMMER GIVINGS

What a fantastic idea! 

Neutrogena is donating one of their SPF product to a family in need for every one purchased now through July!  It's not only those who can enjoy the beach with fancy things that needs sunscreen! Giving in a great way for a great reason!  Check out Fit Bottomed Girls for all the info and enter to win your own Summer Survival Kit! Maybe you can find someone in need to share or even give it too this summer!
Thank you Neutrogena and FBG
The Perfect Summer Survival Kit Giveaway—and Free Sunscreen for Those Who Need It!

"Getting to know you". . . "Ahhhh"

Getting to know each other can be fun!  

Who am I?

I am Jean Marie, 

• Ok so let's get this settled first.  It is pronounced Je`an, like Jean Luke Picard or Jean Claude van Damme.  Yes it is spelled in the male sense, I know! I didn't fill out the birth certificate though, something about me being an infant and not yet having eye-hand coordination, but lets not hate on my parents, they meant well. :)  (was that to many commas? Hmm)

I am going to be 36 in July.  I have been married for 17 years and have 3 awesome sons ages 16, 14, and 11.  Also, I have recently finished graduate school with a M.S. in speech language pathology.

    

    "But this blog is about healthy stuff and some fitness and maybe a black eye!

                    True but we are getting to know each other, remember! 

So, back to me.  

During graduate school I found 20 pounds.  

                    "Dang, education makes your brain fat!"

No silly, Education makes your brain retain knowledge; bad, unhealthy, fatty foods and no exercise makes your body fatter.  (No, I am not fat and I know this.) 

Prior to starting graduate school I had successfully lost 73 pounds.  The summer of 2009 I had finally had enough! I didn't take pictures, I didn't wear clothes I liked, I didn't own a bathing suit! So I got busy! I cycled 18 miles 2 days a week that summer, ran, and went to the gym 3 days a week for 2+ hours a day.  I logged every bite I ate into an app (Loose It) and  by April 2010 I had hit my goal of 165!  WOOHOO!! Yay! 

You know you want a before and after!! Ok, well here it is… 

So then I kept the weight off and still went to the gym, ran, and cycled regularly. 

        I loved doing that! 

                    Then came graduate school! 

                    DUN DUN DUNNN

During my 2 years in graduate school, traveling 4-5 days a week 62 miles one way to school, I managed to find 20 pounds and lose all of my muscle that I worked so hard to build.  I ate like crap, I was stressed, and practically had a diet coke & coffee drip attached to me the entire time!  Recipe for disaster!! 

I even got shingles in the middle of all that! FUN, right!? NO!! 

So now I am finished with graduate school, SWEET! I even have a great job that I start the beginning of July, AMAZING! and I have muscle to regain and some fat to dispose of. WOOHOO!

Now before I show my after grad school photo, I want you guys to understand one thing! 

I love my Grandmother with all my heart and she was always my best friend.

Yet, she spent the last 7 years of her life in a nursing home due to her inability to recover from a broken hip because of her weight.  She was overweight my entire life.  I never saw her as that though.  She was my life and loved me more that a grandmother should.  She raised me through high school and helped me grow into an honest and caring woman. 

So, that being said, I may not be "fat" to you guys, but obesity is a fact on one side of my family and cancer and disease is the reality on the other side.  I am fighting a two sided battle to show my children that obesity, cancer, and illness do not have to be in our futures.  By eating a healthy cleaner diet and living an active life we can overcome the past and create a new future for our family.  

Okay so here is my "After grad. school photo."

I know, it's not the end of the world.  However, on the inside, the feelings I get when I put on my clothes and they don't fit.  I feel like I have gained back every bit I lost!  

I came so far and worked so hard and then I let it go away!  I can't blame school.  I made the decisions to eat junk and drink junk.  I also can't dwell on the past and what I did and what I was. 

What I can do is start anew, start fresh, start living again! 

So I am starting this blog.  I am starting it not just for those who want to be pretty like the magazine! That's just not real.  I am starting it for me and anyone who wants to have fun and make changes for a healthier life, whether it is thin or heavy set.  

Don't we all want to be healthy? (please say yes!)

So let's start today! I told my cousin this once, and now I am telling myself! 

p.s.  I forgot, I am also a vegetarian :) but you eat what you want, I'm not on a mission to conform anyone!