Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Loves this and these...


Though bits and pieces of poetic phrases come to my mind here and there, I haven't written an entire poem since a trip to Kenya in 2001. Today, I felt inspired to pen this poem. It's minimalist in structure but meaningful in purpose.


Loves this and these...


loves these coils
this skin
and these curves
If I don’t, who will?


loves these hands
this heart
and these desires
If I don’t, who will?


loves this mouth
this voice
and these melodies
If I don’t, who will?


loves these eyes
these ears
and this foresight
If I don’t, who will?


loves this mind
these thoughts
and these words
If I don’t, who will?


loves this blackness
these roots
and this heritage
If I don’t, who will?


loves this air
this sun
and this beauty
If I don’t, who will?


loves this God
this Me
this God in Me
If I don’t, who will?


(c)2010 by CMM (RIGHTS RESERVED/NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED)

Monday, November 22, 2010

The SCALE: Moving from FOE to FRIEND!

Let’s face if you are one of the many millions of people trying to lose a significant amount of weight, you probably have experienced a love-hate relationship with your scale. Believe me, I have. When I first started Fit-Fun Boot Camp, I wanted to throw H.O.M.IE (my affectionate name for my Health-O-Meter scale!) out of the window. But today, H.O.M.IE and I are growing in our “friendship.” Like you must do with all friendships, you must learn what type of friend your scale is; what communication methods work with your friend; and how much influence you are going to let your friend have over you.


I have learned that H.O.M.IE is a “fair-weather friend”—she just is. We all have those friends—call when they want to, hang out when they want. Changes her opinions and thoughts in the presence of others, namely personal trainers and MDs—just plain inconsistent. Yet, you love her to pieces. H.O.M.IE does this same thing. Gives me good numbers, sometimes. Other times, she doesn’t. She is inconsistent in her statistical reporting and sometimes her numbers just don’t add up. Yep, she’s a fair-weather friend and I have, FINALLY, learned this about her.


I have also learned that H.O.M.IE and I CANNOT have a serious conversation EVERY DAY. We just can’t. It’s too much for her AND for me. So, we have agreed upon less regular meetings, about once a week or every 10 days, and that actually works better. It also helps in my annoyance at H.O.M.IE’s fair-weathered nature.



Lastly, I have learned that I CANNOT let H.O.M.IE influence how I think, feel, and act regarding my current nutritional journey. The fact of the matter is H.O.M.IE is one-sided, she doesn’t like to look at the full picture—she only sees the NUMBER. My nutritional journey is so much more than numbers. I try to help H.O.M.IE see this but she won’t listen. She LOVES numbers—its just in her nature and what she believes her purpose is. How can you argue with someone’s purpose? You can’t—but this is another reason why we can’t talk everyday.



When you come to learn how to identify with your friend, the scale, she moves from the enemy category to just a friend who deserves some understanding. For so long we have put so much pressure on our scale-friends, expecting them to give us what we want, when we want it. Understand your scale-friend and its purpose, don’t give the relationship too much power over you and your relationship can move from foe to friend.

For whom/what/why are you thankful?



Monday, November 15, 2010

SkyRise Chicago 2010: 103 Flights. 2,109 Steps. 53.52 Minutes.

On Sunday, November 14, 21010, I climbed the tallest building in the WESTERN HEMISPHERE—The Willis (formerly Sears) Tower!

If I said getting up those steps was easy, I would be a big liar and no part of the truth would be in me! The Willis Tower did not allow me up those stairs easily and each and every one of those 103 floors and 2,109 steps made me realize what a blessing life, health, and freedom of movement really is.

On the way up, I passed two SkyRisers who encouraged me so much. One was an older gentleman and the other, an older lady. They had to be in their mid-80s, early-90s. They took each step, one at a time. As I walked by I said, “you can do it!” but I really wanted to give them a BIG hug. Here I was, by floor 39, feeling like I was going to die, and they were going steady, no complaints: just. doing. it.

A few highlights from a couple of floors.

Floor 39: Again, it was here that I felt as if I was going to perish in that stairwell, but we were a little over 1/3 of the way through so I couldn’t turn around!

Floor 52: The half-way mark! It was here that I realized, though it had been and would continue to be hard, I could make it TO THE TOP.

Floor 70: Each floor represented 1 lb of weight loss since I began my weight loss journey in January. I had to do a VICTORY dance on this floor!

Floor 83: We only had 20 more floors to do—really doable especially since the building we trained in had 19 floors.

Floor 100: 3 from the top! And, my official weight loss goal! By SkyRise 2011, I’ll do a victory dance on this level as well!

Floor 102: We’re almost here, let’s SPRINT to the TOP! LOL

Floor 103: The Finish LINE! SO happy to see the SkyDeck! Made it up in 53:52 seconds!

SkyRise 2010 re-affirmed a lot of obvious lessons:

  • Progress happens after an accumulation of little changes over a long period of time. I made it up those steps, one-at-a-time and after 2,109 steps, I reached my goal.
  • “Team work makes the dream work”—thanks for this one LH! ☺ This one is obvious, work with others to achieve your fitness goals. When I decided to do SkyRise 2010, I immediately recruited friends to do it with me. (Same with when I started my lifestyle transition in January.) Friends provide encouragement, accountability, and GOOD LAUGHS that really keep you going when the going gets tough!
  • It hurts, but keep going! (This is my exercise mantra!)
  • Encouragement comes from unexpected places—be open to receiving it!

SkyRise 2010 was exhilarating! Who’s up for SkyRise 2011????