31!

31!

That's how many miles I've intentionally walked so far this month.  Boy, when I wake up in the morning, exercise is the l-a-s-t thing I want to do, but I always feel fantastic when I finish.  It takes me about an hour to do 3 miles, because I'm slow AND I have to make potty stops for the dogs, etc, so it feels good to say I've put 10+ hours into my own physical health this month, too.

The interesting thing is that I feel sore and horrible until the 2-mile mark, and then that 3rd mile feels pretty good.  Of course the best part is stretching afterward!

Many thanks to my mom and dad who invited me to join them on their early-morning walks when I visited them in Texas!  As a general rule, I prefer to exercise alone and love that solitary time, but it was really enjoyable talking to my parents and trying to keep up with them, too!  

I like to listen to this song "Try" by Pink sometime during each walk.  The chorus line really speaks to me, especially when I see no change on the scale, ya know?

Where there is desire, there is gonna be a flame
Where there is a flame, someone's bound to get burned
But just because it burns, doesn't mean you're gonna die
You gotta get up and try, and try, and try
Gotta get up and try, and try, and try
You gotta get up and try, and try, and try


Happy Monday!

Listening to General Conference on the treadmill

Like every other school day, I took Rhiannon to seminary this morning and then fought the urge to go right back to sleep.  It's dark then, and the couch looks pretty cozy!!!  Usually I give in and enjoy that 40 extra minutes sooooo much.

But today was different.

I felt I needed to listen to conference AND get a little exercise, so I walked into the guest bedroom, set up the treadmill, and started walking while I listened to a recent General Conference talk.

The next 40 minutes were very special to me.  President Eyring's talk about the law of the fast and fast offerings was the first message of the Saturday morning session, and it was the best talk or lesson I've ever heard on fasting.  Period.  My eyes teared up as he talked about the faithful woman from Sierra Leone, too.

I still had time to kill and some treadmill to pound, so I clicked on President Packer's talk.  I felt my heart breaking a little bit because his words were very slurred in his advanced age and I could only pick up about every 4th word.

I quickly got off the treadmill and read President Packer's talk instead of listening to it on my little iPhone screen.  You know what I discovered?  He gave the best talk I've ever heard about the power of procreation, creating life, and why it must be guarded, why saving that til you're married to someone you love eternally is crucial.  I'm so glad I read it, and I will definitely share that with our kids.

A few minutes remained before I had to pick up Rhiannon, so I skimmed talks and picked Elder Ballard's talk titled "The Greatest Generation of Young Adults."

Because of the guidance of the Holy Ghost, I felt strongly to share it tonight in our institute class, even though there is a lot of other material to cover.  That talk is important.  It needs to be shared, studied, and reviewed over and over.

What an amazing start to my morning!  These messages from living prophets touched my heart today as I walked on the treadmill.  It was a funny place to have a spiritual experience, but one that I will treasure and think about through the rest of the day and week.

The gospel is true.  And it makes me happy!

Verity's "happy" list

I thought I'd share my "happy" list of late, things that have made me smile or made me excited!

#1:  Working on Couch 2 5K.

This morning I completed the week 5, day 3 workout, and it was pretty tough for me.  I'll probably have to re-do it, and that's okay.  I am loving some things that make this attempt easier for me, though:

--running in the dark with the dogs while Rhiannon is at seminary.  I've done it for 5 weeks so far, 3 days a week faithfully.  This is big for me.

--the 5K runner iPhone app.  Genius.  Love.  It cues me when I need to start running, and I can play my own music over the top of it.  It's silly, but I also like the little "badges" I've gotten from reaching certain milestones.  The "Hidden Athlete" badge made me laugh but also made me feel good, too.  It's the little things, right?

--setting my exercise clothes out right next to my bed the night before.  This makes a huge difference.

--playlists on my iPhone.  Some songs that I've found particularly motivating so far are:  

"I Just Wanna Run," by Downtown Fiction

"I Will Wait" by Mumford & Sons

"We Are Young," by Fun.

"Miracle Mile," by Cold War Kids

"Lightning Strike," by Snow Patrol

"Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley

"Try," by Pink

"Move Along," by All-American Rejects

"Calling You," by Blue October

"Radioactive," by Imagine Dragons

"Chasing Cars," by Snow Patrol

"How You Like Me Now," by The Heavy

This endeavor hasn't been without its challenges, meaning that I am SORE as all get-out some days, but I'm pushing through and trying to be smart about it at the same time.

And just so we're clear, my "run," is more like a really fast walk. :)

#2:  Making progress with emergency preparedness.

Last month I "sorta" participated in Food Storage Made Easy's 7-Day emergency preparedness challenge.  I found myself thinking about it and making lists more than doing the challenges throughout the day.  That's okay.  I've been doing a lot of different things over the past few weeks, such as:

--updating 72-hour-kits

--updating first aid kit, throwing out expired supplies

--purchasing honey and chocolate in bulk orders (important, right?)

--purchasing a mobile washer for washing clothes in a bucket, flashlights, sanitation items, etc.

Right now I'm working on an emergency, grab-and-go binder with copies of important documents.  It's slow going but the fact that I've finally STARTED it is a big thing.

#3:  Scorpion on CBS.

This show just started, folks.  Don't miss it.  It's got my favorite things:  nerdy, super-smart geniuses with low social skills saving the world in a government-backed group.  So far I LOVE IT.

(Grandpa Rod, have you DVRed this one?  You should!)

#4:  My institute class

Last nights's institute class was my favorite one yet.  We spent nearly half the class time talking about our favorite General Conference talks.  It made me happy to realize that every single person in the class had watched Conference carefully and come away with something they needed.  We all felt the Spirit as we talked about the messages that had impacted us.  Then we dug into Doctrine and Covenants sections 42 and 44, had cookies, and sang "Happy Birthday" to one of our class members who CAME TO INSTITUTE ON HER BIRTHDAY.  Even I don't have that kind of dedication, and I teach the class, haha! It was a great night.

#5:  Kindness of others.  

I'd posted on Facebook a couple days ago, asking what to do about sore hamstrings.  The next day my friend Carol showed up in my driveway with a yoga DVD and a foam roller AND a list of massage people in town.  It made my day, and I was really impressed that she cared enough to do that.  I can learn a lot from that, to be more pro-active instead of using the standard, "please let me know if there's anything I can do."  What a sweet friend!

#6:  Cushing Family Camping trip this weekend!  WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is good!

Trying something new

Well, we all hit the ground running this morning.  Jason and Rhiannon were gone to work and school before 6:10am, and Wade headed to school at 8:30am with our friends Heidi and Halle Evans.  

Inspired by my husband, I started P90X3 this morning, 90 days of 30-minute daily DVD workouts with one rest day a week.  I love that they're only 30 minutes!  I did okay today for my current activity level, ha-ha! :)  For every 1-minute circuit, I was able to do 30 seconds of it or so, and I skipped the donkey kicks.  Sure, I'd like to be able to get to that point and do a for-realz donkey kick, but I can see why it's the last one on that workout DVD, too.  YIKES.  I was aware of myself and my surroundings and knew that if I tried anything that looked even close to what they were doing on that one, I'd crack my skull open and/or throw my back out permanently. :)  NO thanks!

Tonight we're going to sit down and talk about family and personal goals for 2014.  Can't wait! :)

Product endorsement

We had a good time watching the Super Bowl last night, well, at least I did!  Hurray for the Ravens!  Both Rhiannon and Wade were bummed because they were hoping the 49ers would win.  Hopefully all the yummy food helped them recover a little bit.  We had Doritos, smokies wrapped in bacon, cheeseball and crackers, guacamole, veggies, chocolate chip cookies, and a layered Oreos-hot fudge-Cool-Whip-ice cream dessert.  There was so much of it all that it became our dinner and I didn't have to cook again the rest of the day!

After eating all that food last night, I couldn't wait to do a little exercise today!  Thanks to the Fitbit that my mom and dad got me for Christmas, I can happily report the following:  it's not quite 10:00am, and I've already taken 8,510 steps, walked 3.33 miles, and burned 1,018 calories (that probably doesn't include what I burned during a Les Mills Pump strength training workout, either).  When I remember to clip this handy little device to my shirt first thing in the morning, great things usually happen!  Thanks, Mom and Dad--I love it!

Here's what the Fitbit looks like:

and here's a great review on it if you're curious how it works: Fitbit Review

My math question is this--if Oscar walked with me, do I multiply my steps by 2 to figure out how many steps he took? :)

Happy Monday!

A journey

Last week a couple things came together for me.  I picked up a random Prevention magazine in the podiatrist's waiting room and saw this:

I was so excited about it that I asked the receptionist if I could keep the magazine! 

The second thing that happened was that I got a clean bill of health from the podiatrist that day.  So long as I continue to wear the orthotics during the day in my shoes, plus the night splints for several more months, and don't have any problems, he didn't need to see me again.  This was fantastic news, especially as I thought about the journey I've been on the last few months to end my foot pain!  I floated out of the doctor's office and picked up some heavier weights at WalMart the next day!

So far I've done the weight circuit twice and the treadmill workout for week 1 twice, too.  They are so fun and I feel great afterwards with a good stretch, though a little sore all over except for my feet, which feel great!  :)  My plan is to alternate the weights and the "running" days and only have one rest day on Sunday. 

Who knows how long I'll stick this out.  Or if it will help me lose some weight.  But for however long it lasts, I am loving it!