My New Ending

Hello!  As we begin Summer Break I have to share a slightly funny/sad experience I had over the weekend.

In an attempt to loosen my hip flexor and relieve post-running pain I used a foam roller and tried to do this…

But ended up doing this…

Yes, as I tried a few different positions I found online for rolling out the hip flexor  I was was frustrated with the pain.  However, I knew that massaging out sore muscles doesn’t usually feel good, so I kept going.  I had read to start massaging for 10 seconds at a time and work up to 30 seconds.

Rolling on the front wasn’t so bad, but when I rolled around to where I felt was closer to the pain it was awful.  With the pain I was having I only lasted the 10 seconds and was in tears when it was done.

Well, duh!!!

Sunday morning in the shower I found the bruise on my hip that looked much, much worse than today’s picture. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the idea that I injured myself while trying to massage with the foam roller.

It did explain one thing…the most pain I was having was most likely because I was only rolling directly over my hip bone, with only a layer of fat between..no muscle.

DOH!

Yes, folks even though I’ve had to lighten my hair with a bottle as I’ve gotten older, I’m a natural-born blonde.  Days like this it shows terribly.

Ahem, so please don’t forget….
Self massaging with the foam roller is only for use on actual muscle, not bone covered by some fat.

Trust me, I’ve now learned this the hard way.

Today’s Weight:  169.5
Loss/Gain:  -1.5 lbs

When I texted my husband this morning that I lost the 1.5 pounds I gained during TOM his reply was “Nice.”

Yes, it is nice.  It’s nice to know that I can have busy weeks and still see my weight go down.

It’s also nice to see that in addition to the L I’m seeing in my new shirts I’m also seeing a 14 in the bottoms now as well.  Whee!

Wednesday night I wore a size 14 skirt to church that I bought on clearance last fall in hopes it would fit soon.  I couldn’t even begin to move the zipper up when I bought it.  🙂  In fact, I almost took a picture so I could show you how much it didn’t fit when I bought it, but that was a bit immodest.   It was bad.

It zips up nicely now and I can even sit down in the skirt.  (Yes, didn’t your mother ever tell you to sit in the outfit your trying on to make sure it really fits?!?  LOL )  

At Target last night I also tried on some size 14 capris and they fit too.  They aren’t as comfy and loose as the 16s, but they do fit.

It truly is ‘nice’.

Oh, and one more thing…I’ll have to write more on this later, but I have a friend who has started running here.  She is about my size and I sent her my before picture so she’d see that if I can do this anyone can.  She was a bit amazed, and hopefully encouraged.

Sharing a bit of where I’ve come from to my new friends in this town has really helped me want to stay more on track myself, both in eating and exercise.  Now I have people who are like “Hey, Leah’s doing this.  I can too!”  It’s like positive peer pressure…knowing they are watching makes me think twice about overdoing it sometimes; but, like I said, more on that subject later.

In the meantime, have a wonderful Friday everyone!  Thanks for checking in!

Hello! After trying to figure out how to put this, I’ve decided…

Diane got me thinking with a recent post on mantras and I thought I’d share my comment with you. She asked her readers to share their mantras and I said:

 Three come to mind:
 1. Never give up. (no matter how long it takes)
 2. Running for those who can’t. (because there was a time in my life I never thought I could do anything so physical, so all my running and harder workouts are my living testimony and hopefully an encouragement to others.)
 3. MY New Ending (My blog title is also becoming a mantra of sorts, because it reminds me that I’m not the lady I once was and every good choice I make leads me another day forward in my new ending in life -an ending I never dreamed would be me. It’s also in caps, because it’s my journey, not anyone else’s)

 I’d like to add…


Faith+Works=Success … I think I’ve written about that before, so I won’t explain more than to say it came to me after knowing I can believe God will help me in my loss, but I have to do the work too. See James 2:26. 

Feel free to share with me any mantras that keep you moving in the right direction.

After having not run in over a week I went for a run last evening.  It felt so good to be running.  The sun was going down and there was a slight breeze, so even though it was still about 75 out it seemed cool.

ahhhh….

Today’s Weight:  171.0

Well, I’ve been reading about these “green smoothies” and since I do like Naked Juice’s Green Machine I figured I’d give it a try making my own.  I used the recipe I found on Katherine’s blog – Real Food Runner – and….

I felt so healthy putting all that natural stuff in the blender…

The pureed concoction didn’t even gross me out.

I served it in a jar, because Katherine made hers look so cute in a jar and I was sure it tastes better that way.

And I decided to add 2 tsp. honey to whole mix.  Oh, and ice.  It was much, much better cold!  The recipe ended up making two of those jars full and I drank all of it – one for lunch and one for after-lunch snack.  The honey added just enough sweet boost for my taste.

This is a smoothie I will definitely make again..[insert dramatic pause]…never thought I’d say that…as I told my friend in a text “My New Ending continues… trying new things.”  🙂

This is the second in my line-up of guest posts I have to help me celebrate three years in this weight loss journey.


I found Diane’s blog shortly after starting my own and was an immediate follower.  I was drawn to her blog mainly for the fact that she lost a large amount of weight and had kept it off for over a decade already.  The fact that she was a mother and had to work her healthy lifestyle around taking care of a family was an added draw.   Her emails of wisdom and encouragement over these past three years has meant ever so much to me.


And now…Diane from Fit to the Finish: