Happy New Year! I’m Still Here!

Look! I’m dusting off the old blog to let you know that I’m still here! Some of you have been wondering and I appreciate you checking on me! I still love you guys and I still have plenty to say. Where have I been? Mostly I’ve been spending my days like this: Run, work, sleep, repeat. We’re officially in the home stretch for Dopey Challenge 2020! I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally be finished training (almost)!

Happy New Year!

Sunday’s nine lonely miles in the rain gave me plenty of time to feel sorry for myself, but instead of indulging in a pity party, I thought about how grateful I am that I’m able to run. Even though I’m sore and tired and a bit worried that after all we’ve done, we still haven’t trained enough – I still love to run. I thought about how lucky I am to have Joseph running the Dopey with me and how Raymond has been the ultimate support system through these many months of what felt like constant training.

Happy New Year!

2019 is over and what a year it was! Looking back I would most definitely describe it as uncharacteristically busy. We packed a lot of work and play into the past 12 months (and this blog paid the price). Given the choice between typing a blog post and playing with a sweet grandbaby…can you blame me? I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, but I am going to do my best to resuscitate Living a Disney Life and get back to regular posting. To get that going, I’ve got some Wine & Dine race reports and some other thoughts from our November trip coming up for you over the next few days. After that we’ll be trying to cross four finish lines in four days and I will be sharing many thoughts and photos on social media during our adventure – so if we’re not connected on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, I would love to have you follow along.

When we get back from our trip, I’m sure I’ll have opinions (don’t I always?) on everything from dining, attractions and resorts to what happens when we run 48.6 miles in four days at Disney World. I’d love to hear from you! What’s in store for you in 2020?

Happy New Year, Disney friends – may 2020 bring you peace, health, happiness, and adventure! – Lisa

My Weight Loss – Not a Journey

When people talk about their weight loss journeys, I imagine lengthy, epic treks of self discovery, changing habits, and learning about how to fuel a body for nourishment instead of eating for (sometimes) unhealthy reasons. It doesn’t sound bad at all and I am genuinely happy and supportive when one of my friends or coworkers embarks on their chosen variety of health-building adventure. For me, losing weight isn’t like that. It’s more like an MMA fight – a gloves off, no holds barred, cage match between me and the lazy overweight woman lurking inside of me. She is mighty bossy, stubborn and determined. But so am I.

Those Chins!

For me, the end of daylight savings time each fall brings on an irresistible urge to hibernate. When I leave work in the dark at the end of the day, I want to go home and enjoy warm, hearty comfort food and sleep. On the weekends I want to lay on the couch with Junior and watch sappy movies on the Hallmark channel and drink my favorite craft beers. I want to cook pastas and soups and stews that take hours to make and taste soothing and delicious. While I still exercise all winter long, the duration of said exercise gradually shrinks with every passing week until I’m down to 30 minutes roughly four times a week aside from the usual Sunday long run (I know this because my Fitbit tells me so). I become kind of fluffy-fit. I can still run a decent 5K or 10K time, but it’s not pretty (or comfortable). Every winter I gain weight and this past one was exceptionally extreme.

Who is that woman?

When spring arrived, I crawled out of my cave and found all the clothes in my closet had been replaced with much smaller ones. I’d grown an extra chin I nicknamed “Hank”. I looked back on January’s Disney World vacation pictures and wondered what the heck!?! I’d gotten so…uhm…f…f..f…full-figured! I looked in the mirror and said out loud – “THIS is ridiculous! Pull yourself together!” I started by setting three small goals: Lose 15 pounds, train for something fun, fit into the clothes I have & don’t buy any new ones in a larger size. Totally doable, right?

What the heck?

How’s it Going?

The battle has been fierce, but I’m winning. I’ve lost the weight and am two pencil skirts away from victory. I shed the first 10 pounds between April 1st to May 4th so I wouldn’t have to haul so much weight around on my bicycle during the Natchez Trace Century Ride. The rest has come off slowly, but I’ve been building muscle too and the results are not bad, if I do say so. I might not exactly love my body with its short limbs, long torso, and curvy bottom but my respect for it is growing and that’s good enough for me.

I wish I had a fool-proof method to share with you. Like a side hustle where I could sell you an amazingly effective nutrition and exercise plan and post Transformation Tuesday pictures on social media and make a bunch of money. I don’t have that. What’s working for me is to exercise more and eat less. I’ve given up (for now) my beloved stouts, porters, and IPAs. I aim for 360 active minutes per week – running, walking, bicycling, and weight training with my ASICS Studio App. That means I’m on my treadmill by 5:30 am before work every morning and must confess that this has been the hardest part. I eat the same breakfast every day (protein shake or bar and two hard-boiled eggs.). I eat tuna and veggies on a low carb wrap with an apple for lunch most days and for dinner I still eat the hearty comfort foods I love to cook but in much smaller portions and with a side salad.

ASICS Studio App

I log every single bite I eat into My Fitness Pal which is a total pain in the patootie, but is crucial to my success. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I don’t have a sweet tooth, but crave things like cheese, pasta, and rice – which I still eat, but I budget those calories into my day. This way, I don’t feel deprived. It also explains why I eat the same breakfast and lunch all the time which makes logging those meals plus budgeting cravings faster and easier. I aim for 1400-1600 calories a day on the days I exercise and slightly less on rest days. I eat more fruits and vegetables now…but not kale or riced cauliflower because I hate those and I’m not eating anything I hate. If my Fitbit is accurate, I burn between 2,000 and 2,200 on most days, so I should continue to lose about a pound a week until I can zip those last two skirts.

What’s With the Soul-Baring?

So…why am I sharing this with you? Two reasons: First, maybe one of you has also emerged from hibernation, found yourself with a too-small wardrobe and are trying to make a change…you can do it!!! We can support each other! Small goals reached with small changes makes all the difference in the long run. Second, remember that third goal I made to train for something fun? I’ve got that all settled and I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you what runDisney events are in my future and maybe some of you will be doing them too!

Is your weight loss a journey or a battle? What’s working for you?

Thanks for reading…Lisa

Update! Living a BUSY Disney Life

Where have I been?  What have I been doing?  Why don’t I write posts regularly?  Have I run out of Disney things to say? Great questions, all of them.  Allow me to explain…

Update!  Living a BUSY Disney Life

Of course, I still love Disney and still have plenty to say!  So much great stuff is happening right now, I have let this blog (and you beloved, faithful readers) fall by the wayside.  It’s not personal, you still mean the world to me.  A number of factors have distracted me and I fully expect to be back to my usual post-writing self in the very near future.  We’ve got three Disney trips in the works and I couldn’t be more excited!

I have a day job (that I love).  I’ve been with the same company for 16 years and have enjoyed many interesting, challenging, and rewarding opportunities.  Recently though, the career that’s been fairly easy to balance with my non-working hours has required a bit more attention.  I used to spend many a lunch hour working on blog posts and that has not been possible lately.  Everything’s great and I expect this crazy-busy time to even out a bit in a couple of months.

Preparing for Megan and Grant’s new arrival!  I had no idea that becoming a grandma would be this exciting!  About a month-and-a-half ago, Raymond and I became grandparents for the first time.  We loved helping to set up the nursery, which is lovely (with quite of few Disney touches).  And are so fortunate to have Megan, Grant, and their darling baby girl living nearby.  Our granddaughter, while not ready to make her public debut on the internet, is as sweet, precious, healthy, and adorable as can be.

I’ve embraced my inner farm girl!  Hello, heirloom tomatoes and squashes galore.  I made Eggplant Parmesan with eggplants straight from the vine (plant? shrub? you get what I mean) and homemade tomato sauce!  Also, those baby chicks that arrived while we were at Walt Disney World in May (Thanks again, Tyler) are growing like crazy and have been integrated into the existing (perhaps I should say “remaining”) flock of five.  Chickens…simple and difficult at the same time.  A sucker for Tractor Supply ads, I also picked up some teeny tiny baby chicks on a recent Saturday during “Chick Days” which added six more females – three Cinnamon Queens and three Sapphire Gems.  Yup, that’s 16 chickens of various ages and breeds.  Here’s hoping my track record improves for their sakes.  The May hatchlings are named Scotch, Soda, Bubbles, Moe, and Bart Jr.  The newest six will get names as soon as I can tell them apart.

We Said Farewell to The Disney Exchange – After 190 episodes, Nick, Dave and I decided it was time to end the show and our last episode was released a few weeks ago.  We’re still very good friends and we still love every one of our listeners and the friends we made from doing the podcast.  I had no idea when we started we’d get 3 1/2 years of weekly recordings simply from talking to each other about Disney.  I had such a fun time and if you’ve listened to even a single episode, you’d be able to tell.

Finally, I’d like to add that for the past several months, I’ve been working out extra hard and trying to eat in a way more focused on macros than calories.  I’ve fully embraced protein shakes as a breakfast food and have added much more weight training to my routine.  I’m pleased with the results so far and am running and bicycling better than I have in a couple of years.  After an MRI in 2016 revealed some arthritis and two bulging disks in my neck, I convinced myself that too much strength training would cause a nerve pain flare-up.  I was totally wrong!  My neck feels better than it has in a very long time.  We have lots of running and cycling events planned for this fall and winter and I cannot wait!

Still here?  Thanks for reading and if you’ve been here before, thanks for following along with Living a Disney Life.  I’ve been scarce lately, but I’ve still got lots of plans for this little blog.  Please consider follow along over on Facebook and Twitter too.  Be back to my regular posts soon, I promise…Lisa

 

Merry Christmas One and All!

It’s hard to believe how fast the time has flown!  Once again, I find myself full of thankfulness along with Christmas Spirit.  You, yes YOU, are the reason for my happiness.  It doesn’t matter if you’re friend or family and I don’t care if we know each other only through social media or we see each other everyday.  I have been blessed by the love and support you’ve shown and find myself humbled and somewhat overwhelmed with gratitude.

Merry Christmas One and All!

I’m thankful for your acceptance, for the stories you share, the glimpses I get into your life.  I love seeing pictures and hearing about your Disney vacations, your children, your hobbies, your pets – all of it!  I appreciate the advice you give, the debates we have, and the times, more than you know, when you’ve lifted me up and reminded me that the best things in life are never things.

In a hundred ways, big and small, you’ve touched my life and not a day goes by that I don’t feel like the luckiest person in the world – I very truly have the best, most loving family and friends anyone could hope for.  I’ve celebrated accomplishments that could never have been achieved without your support and I will never take that for granted.  I’m excited to see what the future holds.

May the peace and happiness of this holiday season be yours and may 2018 be a joyful, healthy and prosperous year for you and your family.  From our house to yours, Merry Christmas One and All!