Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Weigh-in Wednesday: 100 Miles in 100 Days Intro

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**Sharing the triumphs and missteps in my journey towards a healthier physical, emotional and spiritual life.**



Spiritual/Emotional Update: I have missed the last couple weeks of my Book Discussion of Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter for Weigh-in Wednesdays because it has been super busy here, especially with these last weeks of school. However, today the last of my kiddos have finished off the school year so summer vacation has officially started. With a more relaxed schedule, I can hopefully post more often. I finished re-reading the second half of chapter 4 and have lots of notes to discuss about sex and marriage (be forewarned šŸ˜‰ and I’ll try to condense it to a comprehensible post for you next Wednesday.
Physical Update: Instead, today I’ll update you on my physical progress. As I mentioned before, I’ve been trying to walk more. This was relatively easy on the three days the boys went to preschool but for the rest of the week I floundered. Now that the boys are out of school and I don’t have much alone time to walk, I have to incorporate my walking with the kids’ day. They can’t walk two miles but they’ve been okay with one. (Although half way through JP starts dragging and Andrew frequently reports to me how his energy levels are running low.)
My sisters BC & JC are already running half-marathons (they and my brother JC are running the Disney 5K & Half-Marathon in Sept) and my sister EL recently started the Couch to 5K program. I looked into that but frankly I am not ready to start running yet since I am barely making it out the door to walk. My biggest problem is consistency so I’ve been looking for something I can do every day, including days when I have all 4 kids with me. I thought I would commit to walking at least one mile a day. On the days when I can walk without the kids I can double it and try to increase my speed. But as long as I get a minimum of a mile each day, I’ll be happy. My goal is to walk 100 miles in 100 days. It may not seem like much to all you physically fit mamas & chicas out there but for a girl who used to count the ketchup on her hamburger and the apple pie for dessert as two serving of fruits and veggies, well, it is a lot for me but not so hard that I can’t do it.
If you are interested in doing something similar, let me know and I’ll start a link up so you can share your progress on your blog. You can go as far/long as you want. You can walk, run, bike, whatever. Some days you can push it and some days you can make it a leisurely stroll. The main thing is to get moving. If you are on Twitter or Instagram you can upload a photo from your walk or update with the hashtag #100milesin100days.
Here are the photos I’ve taken so far:

Day 1: Monday, June 11, 2012

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There were butterflies everywhere on the canyon path we walked.



Day 2: Tuesday, June 12, 2012

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Bella joined me on my favorite walk along the central California coast.


Day 3: Wednesday, June 13, 2012

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The view from today’s walk.



My calendar shows that I’ll hit my 100 days on September 18, 2012. Wish me luck. (and perseverance!) I’ll keep you posted. šŸ™‚
UPDATE: (6/15/12) My sister is going to join me so I will make a Link Up for next week. I’ll post it Monday mornings and we can share how we’ve been doing.

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Weigh-In Wednesday: Vol 2

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**Sharing the triumphs and missteps in my journey towards a healthier physical, emotional and spiritual life.**




It’s late so this will be a short post!

Physical – I haven’t been walking as usual because the family was hit by a flu bug. It started with JP then made it’s way down the line, including me. Thankfully I got sick on the weekend so Brian was here to help me. We timed it well because after I got better, he became sick. He and Andrew were the last two. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal soon.
Spiritual – Being a nursemaid to sick children (and a hubby) is a perfect way to teach you patience and humility (nothing like cleaning up vomit to humble you.) I had to keep telling myself that this is where God wants me right now at this moment…this is a gift of love I can offer God….this is a great Lenten sacrifice, etc. It was invigorating at first but after the novelty wore off, about five minutes later, then I was begging for God’s grace. As usual, he gave it and I survived. It was a good way to jump start the final two weeks of Lent, so for that I’m thankful.
Okay, it’s after 11PM so I better get to bed. Have a restful night!
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Weigh-In Wednesday: Vol 1

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**Sharing the triumphs and missteps in my journey towards a healthier physical, emotional and spiritual life.**



Today is the first Weigh-in Wednesday where I share the small triumphs and missteps in my journey towards a healthier physical, emotional and spiritual life.
So much of life in the physical world goes hand in hand with the spiritual world. It’s not healthy to focus solely on one area and ignore the other. There is a balance. I picture it like a table with four legs. You could say that the table represent the four areas of my well being – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
As a Catholic woman, I can also see that table represent the main relationships of my life: God (my relationship as a daughter of God), my family (my relationship as a wife and mother), others (my relationship with family members, friends and the world in general) and myself (how I deal with me.)
However you look at it, they are all intertwined. All are a part of who I am. The four table legs represent the four areas. Working together, the table is stable. But if one area is lacking, then that broken table leg will make the whole table lopsided, or worse, it will tip over.
Someone once told me that a person’s exterior life reflects their interior life. This was a motivating factor in slowly organizing my house. But I am also clearly seeing that my exterior physical life also mirrors my spiritual interior life. Here are a few examples.
I struggle to motivate myself to exercise.
I struggle to slow down and spend time in prayer.
I need to decrease the junk food and increase the healthy fruits and veggies.
I need decrease my frivolous media intake and increase my spiritual/deeper reading.
I can’t lose weight unless I get on my feet and get moving.
I can’t grow spiritually unless I get on my knees and get praying.
Healthier living is not done overnight. It takes small changes everyday, done over and over until it becomes second nature.
A strong spiritual life is not done overnight. It takes small changes everyday, done over and over until it becomes second nature.
The list could go on and on. I know none of this is new but Lent is an especially good time to review and relearn what we’ve let fall through the cracks. For me the lesson is to be a better steward of my time, which helps me spiritually and physically.
So today I’ll give you a report on my physical progress. My goal this week was to turn off the computer and start my walking routine again. My two sisters BC & JC have inspired me! The started off simple and then slowly trained, got fit and have worked their way up to completing their first half marathon. Go girls!

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So with their encouragement, after I drop off the boys at preschool I head over to the local walking trail, put Matthew in the stroller and walk two miles. I used to walk this trail all the time when Bella was in preschool and I was pregnant with Andrew. Today I was reminded how invigorating it is to be outdoors and walk so near God’s beauty.

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My sister also recommended that I use the Endomondo app on my iphone while I walk. I love it. It really helps out by keeping track of my time, the distance walked, the calories I burn and it shows a map of how far I’ve gone. (It also works on a number of sports, not just walking or running.)
Okay, Wednesday will be over in less than an hour so I better post this before it is too late. Have a restful night!
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