Track It Tuesday

Whooo Hooo!  After a crazy busy month, a vacation, and hospital stay.  I have put/forced myself back on track, and after this week.  I can happily say I am down 3 lbs, eating well, and exercising and an excellent and exciting level.

I have put my workouts first, and left everything on the gym floor.  I have walked out of Renaissance ClubSport Aliso Viejo with nothing left the last couple of weeks.  I have had to kick my running up a notch because the Disneyland Half Marathon is this weekend on September 2nd.  I have been lax in my training and let my social schedule, my family vacation, and being the crazy autism advocate that I have to be, and having both my kids home from school was incredibly challenging to stay on track.  And occassionally, I fell off of that track. 

I have improved because I don't stay of track very long anymore.  I have a bad meal or a couple of bad snacks and I eat a healthy meal, not because of guilt, but I truly don't feel good when I eat too much processed crap.

I also took an amazing cycling class at Renaissance this week.  What an amazing workout,  I was sucking wind and burned like 850 calories in an hour.  I could get hooked on that.

My hope for this week is to finish the marathon before they close the course, to take what I learned from the last half marathon and practice it.  Run, run for my kids, run to finish, and feel good, and enjoy my time with my thoughts and the road, push people on the course that are struggling, and enjoy the experience.  I am running a half marathon, are you kidding.  2 years ago at this time I was in the middle of fighting cancer, over weight, out of shape, and scared - and now I'm running 13.1 friggin miles.

My hope for next week is to take some running breaks and really put all the weight training that I have been taught by the amazing trainer Allie at Renaissance ClubSport to use, and start to change the body.

What I have learned over the last couple of weeks for myself, is that no matter how guilty certain people want to make me feel for taking care of myself, it is IMPORTANT.   I matter and I do have to put myself first sometimes because my health is important, without it I can't care for the most important things to me.

So see ya later 4 lbs., hopefully next week I'll have the same to report :) 

Rebecca

Life Lessons of the week

• Ronald Reagan was an amazing President (Go visit his Presidential Library very cool experience and see for yourself).
• My kids are a lot of work, yet every quirk, and deficit autism gave them, gives me a Ton more love for them
• I hate hospitals
• The medical profession needs to learn how to work better with children with Autism
• There are some "friends" that could really care less if you have something going on, but you better be there when they have a crisis or self induced drama
• The laundry you have to do after a vacation is almost enough to make me not go on vacation
• Unless you live with or work with on a daily basis someone with autism you don't know much about it
• Show compassion
• Go with your gut
• The more grateful I am the more I get to be grateful for
• I love spending time with my family
• When you sign up for a half marathon - TRAIN for it. -  I have a feeling the Disneyland half marathon is going to be a disaster!
• Hug and kiss your kids at least 5 times a day.  It makes you and them feel good.
• Eating good and exercise is the best medicine and stress relief that there is
• The person that invented Reese's Ice Cream sandwiches is Satan

Rebecca

Track It Tuesday

Well after a week on vacation, I gained 1 lb. and when we came back I worked out like a dog, got some good runs in under my belt, for my half marathon, that I have been way too laxed on in the training area. 

So just as I get back on track, and took a couple of amazing classes at Renaissance ClubSport Aliso Viejo.  I took Cycling and Kick Boxing again, I was feeling all motivated and pumped up, and ready to kill it, my 5 year old who has autism was admitted to CHOC hospital for an EEG to monitor seizure activity.

So this is a crazy lesson on how to LIVE HEALTHY.  I am doing my best to eat right.  However the comfort friggin' food is everywhere.  I am stuck in a room trying to out flak a hyperactive autistic 5 year old that is tied to about 100 wires coming out of a turban with probes glued to his head.  AHHHH!  A cookie just makes it easier than a carrot does, if you know what I mean, since they don't allow margaritas on the pediatric floor.  But since I am a work in progress I am eating the comfort food, but I am getting good stuff in too.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to run to the Renaissance while my husband takes a shift here at the hospital.

So as soon as I get sprung, I am kicking it into high gear to get the Disneyland Half Marathon under my belt, and then the Long Beach Half Marathon in October and I will have 3 half marathons done this year!  

You do realize that 2 years ago I couldn't run 1 mile right?!  Thanks to all the help I have gotten online from The Unnatural Mother, @roninoone, and my many other sources and the amazing facilities and staff at Renaissance ClubSport Aliso Viejo I will get these last 20 maybe it will be 25 after this hospital stay off of my ass.

How do you stay on track when your life is in your way?

Rebecca

Life Lessons of the Week

• I love my house and am glad to be home
• Going on a vacation in the middle of half marathon training is probably going to be be paid for at the race!
• I am a much nicer person when I run regularly (My husband agrees)
• I love sleeping in (Those days are over)
• I absolutely got a kick out of shocking the crap out of someone and seeing their jaw on the floor (I love bugging meanies)
• The more I'm grateful the more I have to be grateful for
• My kids are amazing and bring me so much joy
• There are some people in life that will never be happy because they chose to look for the flaws in EVERYTHING when they themselves are far from perfect
• Worrying does absolutely NOTHING to change a situation
• It is not nice to criticize and whine when someone is doing you a favor, makes them not want to do favors for you
• I remembered why I fell in love with my husband
• I'd rather be happy than be right.
• I will miss having a campfire and s'more every night
• There are so many people on the road that do not deserve a drivers license
• I love my new Canon Rebel camera the thing takes ridiculous pictures
• I loved going to the gym today and really leaving everything on the gym floor and giving it my all
• Reality TV has killed some brain cells 
• I love air conditioning

Rebecca

Elated Exhaustion

Well we did it, the two middle aged immature parents of autistic toddlers took them on vacation, and everyone came home alive!!!!

We fretted, and debated, and worried, and stressed, about
Where to go
What to do
How will they react
How will they behave
How much will it cost
Fly or Drive
Hotel or Condo
Close or Far

To the point of absurdity we worried. However, we finally got it together and booked a vacation in the High Sierras.  We went to a place my husband had been to before in his childhood, and it was HIT!!!!  I could not recommend enough if you are in for a rustic type of vacation with hiking, fishing, horses, and the most beautiful mountain country imaginable go to Cardinal Village Resort.  Our cabin was quaint and cozy.  I cooked most of our meals, and they had a great breakfast out on their deck.  Owned by an incredible family who were beyond accommodating to my family, and they had a beautiful worship service at the facility the night we arrived.  Franklin made it through half of the service and then was getting a little too loud so we had to make an early exit.

The kids had a great time, they were so good, the change of routine and surroundings was a little bit of an issue but once they got used to it, the fun was incredible.  Since we were given the diagnosis of Autism, we had not taken our kids on vacation, and had taken them anywhere other than my parents house.  Because we have been submerged in therapies, and school, and Dr. appointments and diets and behaviors and the whole bucket of shit that comes with Autism.

My kids experienced something this week that everyone gets to experience, they fished, they hiked, they played, rode a horse, rode a gondola to the top of Mammoth Mountain, had lunch at 11,053 ft.

I learned that I have conditioned myself to have very low expectations of my kids, and that made me really sad.  Because they did amazing.  They had fun, they were good in the car both 5 hour drives were long and they behaved perfectly.  They didn't eat great, and didn't sleep much, but the trip was still a complete positive.  There was so much that they learned, and saw, and experienced, and a whole world opened up to them.  While I didn't sleep much and did a lot, I am exhausted but really am just elated at the experience that we all just went through together.  It was fricking amazing. 

This was a great week for our family, we upped the expectation of the kids, our marriage had a big reconnect, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like we were working as a team.  So we conquered Autism on vacation, it did not ruin a trip, it did not hijack my kids while were in the middle of nowhere, and our family became a stronger unit.

So Cardinal Village look out this motley crew will be back next year!

 

Rebecca

Track It Tuesday

I was so excited to go in and see Chuck Rudolph this week the Nutrition Specialist at Renaissance ClubSport Aliso Viejo.  I was really making an effort to stick to the food plan that he gave me eating mainly protein, fat, a ton of veggies spaced out through the day.  I really never felt hungry, but I did and would forget to eat every three hours.  That is just a behavior of putting myself last that I rarely prepare food for myself to take with me if I'm going to be out of the house for more than a couple hours.  However, the handy dandy texts I get from Chuck a few times a day that just say EAT - say it all.  If I'm out, I'll stop and get something that is 2-300 calories mostly protein and move on to my next activity.

When I was getting ready to go see Chuck, my shorts felt a teeny bit looser, and that thrilled me.  So I get to his office in the gym and step on the scale, and it's UP - SERIOUSLY?  I've been working my fingers to the bone, and working out and running and training for this stupid Disneyland half marathon and I was PISSED.  Chuck didn't seemed phased by the number at all.  Then he whipped out his tape measure and pincher machine.  I lost an inch in my arms, also in my legs and 3 around my belly area.  I lost 3% of my body fat and gained 5lbs of muscle.  So that was something, he was happy. 

Apparently I am going to have to learn yet ANOTHER new behavior and not focus so much on the number on the scale but pay attention to shrinking my size.  I may not lose the 20 - 30lbs that I wanted to get rid of but Chuck says we'll have me in a size 8, currently I am a 12.   I guess every week when I see him, I'm going to do like I used to do at the docs office when I was pregnant and turn my back to the scale.  YIKES!!!  I'm taking a leap of faith here, and just going to continue the amazing workouts that Allie Meisch Nie my trainer laid out of me and follow the meals plan and hopefully continue to shrink.  But of course I always have to remember that this meal plan and workouts on paper are all fine and dandy but I MUST DO THE WORK.  Just because I have these nifty notebooks, they do no good sitting in the back of my Suburban.

I did try something new at Renaissance ClubSport this week, I took a Kick Boxing class and the AB express class.  Completely AWESOME!  High energy, great cardio I burned 700 calories according to my Garmin and I was sore the next couple of days.  I look forward to more.  There was nothing more satisfying than pretending I was kicking someones ass.

I can not say enough about the facilities.  If you are looking for a fantastic resource to help you get and stay healthy and feel like a princess also, consider taking a guest pass and letting them know the Real Mom sent you.  It is such an experience, the facilities are so incredible it makes me want to go to the gym and workout even when I do not want to go.

Rebecca

Congratulations and Thank you

I have been a golf fan since I was younger, my dad always watched the PGA on television as I was growing up and I've continued to follow it my whole life. 

Today, I watched something on a golf course in another continent bring me to my knees with tears.  Ernie Els won the British Open, it was an exciting ending but not as nearly as exciting as why I was thrilled for him.

Ernie and his wife Liezl Els have two children and daughter Samantha, and a son Ben, and Ben is 9 and was diagnosed with Autism when he was 3, and watching Ben is much like watching my Franklin, he's severely effected by his autism. After watching this video shortly after we received Franklin's diagnosis of autism, I have silently rooted for this family to succeed.

I think I will silently always root for any autism family to do well.  Because you have to know that once your life is rocked by this diagnosis and you are forced into a life that there is no preparation for and you are thrown for this big loop that you were never expecting, I think that it is hard to come out of that unscathed and successful.  I have been chronically distracted since autism that sometimes I don't feel like I can carry a conversation because I literally feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants trying and doing (and failing) to make my kid better.

So as I sat there and watched this man get a win, a big win, who hasn't gotten a big win in years, I did cry.   Because, you see autism has this way of taking over every thought, and the grief sometimes that you feel is too painful to participate in the fellowship of life.  Sometimes you want to put yourself in a cocoon because your kid is different, and the looks, the stares, the pointing and general ignorance is beyond annoying and sometimes unbearable. To pull it together and win a tournament, not just a little tournament but the British Open, that's just unfathomable!

This is a man with the resources, and his wife that is just like me, emotional and driven to do anything for her children.  They have the resources and they are making something happen to better their kids lives and other kids who are effected with autism.  They have put up a HUGE amount of their own money to build the Center for Excellence to help children with autism.  How incredibly awesome is that?  Crushed by a diagnosis, emerging from the rubble and moving forward to do good.  That is what champions do!!!!  That is what Autism parents do everyday.  WE ROCK!

I think its amazing that he was able to focus and make this happen, and I'm happy and proud for him.  I love to see wonderful things happen to families that are touched by autism, nothing makes me happier.

Congratulations to the Els family and thank you for sharing your story and helping others.

Rebecca