Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Giving Back

I've decided that I want to give back.

I'm a big supporter of charities and want to make it a regular enjoyment. I'm one of those people, if a cashier asks me to donate a dollar, or five, for a charity, I will, without thinking. To try to play a bigger part in society, I'm going to donate to a charity once a month. I feel like I can skip a restaurant meal, or two, to give to an organization doing something to make a difference.

My first donation will be to ASPCA (of course) http://www.aspca.org/donate/ to help stop animal cruelty.

I have a few more organizations lined up for the coming months. If you have an organization that is worthy of a donation, let me know!

The following are already on my list:




  • The ALS Association: Fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease

  • http://www.alsa.org/donate/

  • In memory of Kimi's family members who have suffered from this disease, and a co-worker who passed from this unfortunate disease.




Amber D.



Friday, August 19, 2011

Nutritionist


I've been away from social networking due to some changes in family dynamics, but have made a return with lots of things to catch up on.

I have found a nutritionist to help me with my goal, and boy am I excited! I know I am going to have to change my eating habits drastically. With the help from Coach Nadine, I know I will receive the tools to do so. She explained to me that her number one goal for me, is my health. If a competition can be accomplished, from this process, than it's an added bonus.

I start this weekend by tracking my meals and feelings associated with those meals, plus a whole lot more of information, for three days. Then we set up an analysis of my diet and go over some basic information on how I work with my food. After the analysis, I then need to decide what kind of journey I want to take. A weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly appointment with her. Right now we are just going to focus on nutrition, then when the time comes we will work on cardio and weight training. We are both on the same boat, and I feel confident in her and her knowledge. She has competed several times in figure type competitions, and knows what type of intensity it takes. She told me if anyone said they liked preparing for competitions, they were lieing. She says it's super difficult and very constrictive.

Alex has been very supportive and encouraging. I think he secretly is viewing this as a competition, and right now he's beating me. He's been getting up at 4:50 am, before work, to go running, along with changing his eating habits. Oooh, but not for long... I'll be on his heels soon!

Considering ALL the changes in my very near future, I will be happy to gain tools to control my emotional eating and obtain a goal that I have wanted for a very long time. I am ready to be the athlete I have always wanted to become. With everything going on right now, I need to keep in perspective that I really do need to take care of myself before anyone else. So, let's do this!



Amber D.