5 Rewards

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I’ve had a busy week…too busy to post much, but that’s going to be a chronic theme in the spring.  Two kids in both baseball and hockey = overstretched mom! But, I’m still trying to balance my kids’ activities with my activities, hoping to make sure I don’t short-change myself too much!

So here’s a brief synopsis of my week (with pictures, of course!):

1. I “officially” reached goal weight at Weight Watchers on Wednesday. I won’t get into how much weight I lost, but suffice it to say it was plenty. 😉  I got a little silver star keychain that has the initials WW on it.  I was actually a bit surprised at how emotional I got when she gave it to me.  Such a silly thing, but when I remembered starting Weight Watchers at my heaviest weight nearly 12 years ago, it really meant a lot to finally get that little silver star. 🙂  So that was reward #1 for the week.

2. Thursday morning was set to be my running day.  In order to keep a minimum of one day in between each of my runs, I had to run on Thursday.  Since most of my nights are filled with hockey and/or baseball for one kid or the other these days, I knew I’d have to do it in the morning before work.  This meant getting up early.  Have I ever mentioned I am chronically late to everything, and the true root cause of this is because I like to sleep?? So, for me to get up early (ie, before 6am) was really pushing my limits.  But, I did it, and I must say, running 1.25 miles before work felt really good.  And, as an added bonus, I saw the sun rise (I love both sunrises and sunsets) and was able to get a picture.  That’s reward #2.

3. After my weigh-in Wednesday night, I felt like I deserved a little “splurge” for making the official Weight Watchers goal weight.  So the next night, after DS#2’s hockey game, when he suggested we go to Olive Garden, I wasn’t about to say no!  I had received an Oliver Garden gift card from the coaches on DS#2’s now-defunct team at the end of the season.  It was the only gift they ever gave me in 4 seasons of coaching, and the fact that they gave it to me before essentially deserting me made me want to really savor it and especially savor the fact that I am no longer managing that team. Yes, I can be petty sometimes, but there it is. :p  So, DS#2 and I went across the street and enjoyed some mommy/son time at “the Garden.”  I am still in “weight loss mode” to get rid of the two pounds I gained last week on maintenance, so I took it easy with shrimp pasta primavera (lunch portion), salad with low-fat dressing, half a bread-stick, and…AND!!…exactly 1/4 of the chocolate strata cake.  That delightful chocolate decadence was definitely a fitting reward for my weight loss efforts, and also for all the effort I put into that team for the past 4 seasons.  I will say that while I do still miss all those boys, and most of the families on that team, I do not miss the stress and heartache that often accompanied it.  So, that cake was reward #3.

4. Saturday morning included a baseball parade, team pictures, a birthday party for one of the kids on DS#2’s hockey team, and then a game for DS#2.   But, it was also a day slated for running, so I got my butt up early (again!) and ran. Based on my modification of the Hal Higdon running program, I was supposed to do 1.5 miles.  But I said heck with that and strove for 1.75 miles–and I did it!!  I was really, really proud of myself for meeting this goal.  Not only did I run that far, but I actually managed to have a faster time for the last 3/4 mile versus the first mile.  Normally for me it’s exactly the opposite!  Shown here are my “splits” from my online Garmin software.  I think it’s actually kind of funny for me to be referring to my splits, because I used to hear my runner friends talk about “splits” and I secretly wondered if they had to do some sort of gymnastics before their runs for optimal performance. 😉

On Friday night, I purchased new pants for myself, because my three-sizes-too-big jeans were finally at a point where no amount of belt-cinching would keep them on, ha ha!  Thursday’s run was a pain in the butt because I kept having to pull them up. :p  So, reward #4 this week was the new pants.  After we got back from the baseball parade, I remembered that I wanted to show off my new duds on my blog, so I asked DS#1 if he’d come out and take a picture of me.  He likes to complain when I ask him to take pictures, but I think he secretly enjoys it, because once he gets hold of my DSLR, he takes pictures as if he were getting paid by the shot, lol!  Shown here is the picture he took of me with my new pants.  After the shot, I complained about being cold and went to the car to get my sweatshirt.  You can see below that, unknown to me, he kept snapping pictures!  Seeing them later made me laugh.

After I got my sweatshirt on, he asked if he could take a picture of me running. (I really think this kid is going to be the one who gets my photography gene.)  I said sure.  I wish I could show you all the pictures he took of me while I walked down the road, then ran back, then walked and ran again when he told me the first ones weren’t good enough.  I swear, it was such a riot!  Below are just a few shots from that “session.”

And then, when I was done running, even when I told him we were done, he still wouldn’t stop taking pictures!

I just could not stop laughing at him.  I took a picture of the two of us together at the end because I just wasn’t ready for the fun to end yet.  He is such a great kid. 🙂

And finally, here is one of the pictures he took of me running that just makes me smile.

I am amazed not only by his photography skills (at ten years old!), but also by how happy I look in this picture, considering I had run one and three-quarters of a mile earlier that morning.  I never would have thought I’d have run even a half a mile just a year ago.  I would’ve laughed if anyone even suggested it.  But I actually ran almost two miles this morning, and honestly, I felt really great when I was done, and have felt great the entire day.  It is truly a wonderfully accomplished feeling to have done something so good for myself and to know that it wasn’t nearly as hard as I would have thought.

And that feeling is my reward #5 for the week. 🙂




2 thoughts on “5 Rewards

  1. Jenn

    I am so proud of you, Steph. That photo of your running is so great, well done to your DS. He is such a good kid. I have been kind of “off” plan the last two weeks. I have been tracking, but it has been ugly. A Vegas wedding and Disneyland are not WW freindly. Oh well, I am curious to see what the damage is on Tuesday (I missed my last weigh in) and get back on track.

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Thanks, Jenn. You can do it! Vegas and Disney are evil, lol, but they were very necessary (and fun!) evils. Now it’s back on track–I have faith in you!

      Reply

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