A Mountain Top Experience

Monday morning – the clouds just opened up with a big bang and the rain is pouring down.  I am struggling through my healthy lunch – get this – because it is TOO much food!  Ha!  Now there is a miracle.

I know life is good when…..

1.     The rain only dampens the ground and not my spirit – I know the sun will once again warm the earth and my soul.

2.     My lunch is enough.

3.     My body hurts less and moves more.

4.     I get to the mountain top for just a moment and glimpse what a healthy life can look like.

I had a mountain top experience this weekend – literally.  We headed west with the idea we would hike Johnson’s Canyon – an easy walk on more or less level ground in a beautiful mountain setting.  A missed turn and a desire to capitalize on the additional mileage, led to a new adventure – a hike to Grassi Lakes.  It is listed as easy in the guidebooks and certainly families do it together – from infants to seniors – but I had left it to my end-of-summer list of goals as the walk is all uphill – a stress to my healing knees and improved, but still annoying asthma. 

Raouf carried the lunch to leave my hands free to use my walking poles.  I had to stop many, many times to catch my breath and rest here and there – talk about burning calves! – but I didn’t give up.  My knees were pain free – amazing!  The sense of elation I experienced when I reached the top and was able to sit and enjoy one of my favorite destinations in our Alberta Rockies was a true mountain top experience.  I felt fantastic – the beauty is steeped in serenity even amidst the crowd of hikers sharing the mountain top with us.  Deep, deep water so clear you can see to the bottom, sparkling green under the blue sky.  Water bugs twirled and sent ripples that were visible for several feet.  The small water fall provided a  perfect musical background to a scene out of the tourist ads you see on TV.  Our lunch was simple – a salad and fruit – but it was so delicious and filling – true contentment. 

 

I audibly sighed and stretched out in the sun and drank it all in.  The rock climbers were out in full force and were struggling up a very high cliff – ropes dangling and hands groping for the next hold.  Unbelievable guts or insane risk – either way, there they were, not giving up as the other direction was down!  Did getting to the top give them a more amazing view than the one we glimpsed on our climb up?  I really don’t think so but I did catch a glimpse of the feeling they must experience when they conquer their mountain top.  It is the journey to the mountain top that makes it so exhilarating when you stand on the peak.

I stood on my peak on Sunday – and I celebrated the journey that got me to this place.  My first commitment to this journey to a healthier me was to never give up – to follow through – because it is my chance to write my story and the goal is only the guiding light. I only move closer if I take the next step and then the next and the next! God is good!

Recipes by Request

I started out with the understanding that there was a story inside me that was different than the one I had revealed over my life time and I would re-write it.  This blog has been the introduction to a life style that is more than just food.  I had to learn to live first - I mean, really live and that meant embracing authenticity and all that might mean.  The early pages of the book were and still are full of discovery, disappointment and delight.  I have learned about the foods that make me feel sick, discovered the simple medical assistance I needed  to get my energy back, learned a lot about what living authentically means including letting go of my perfectionism and being willing to accept other's opinions for what they are - opinions.  Some of this pre-dates my blog launch and represents much of the inner learning I embraced without one thought of food or weight loss (well, at east not as the focus!).

Weight Watchers Here I Am

Well, I was true to my word and registered with Weight Watchers online.  It has really improved since my last visit there a few years ago!  Blogs, community groups, new interaction between members - I really like it.  My first five days have been really amazing with only a few challenges.  I am also still trying to maintain a relatively grain-free diet but suspect it is going to be the sugar reduction that makes me feel great.

I have added a walk each evening and chose the lake/storm pond in Coventry, the suburb where we live.  I use my poles as they increase the calories burned and reduce the wear and tear on my knees.  I love sharing this time with my partner and best friend, Raouf.  I have met others on our journey who are curious about my stabilizer poles and I am happy to share my excitement with their effectiveness.  I am now at a stage of healing when I can walk without my poles but now it is about being able to go farther and burn more calories.  Weight loss has always been a part of my journey toward health - a big part - but only now do I feel I am ready to focus on that aspect.  I have learned a lot about my body and personal health quest - the effect of grains and sugar, the metabolic syndrome I know I have, the emotional benefits of sunshine and exercise and some newly assimilated wisdom on letting go of perfectionism and control - a big deal for me.  Baby steps have gotten me to a place where I feel confident to move to this next phase - weight watchers.

Lettuce from our own garden - yummm

The food has been so great.  It helps to have a personal chef (Raouf) - I feel like Oprah!  Salads never tasted this good when I made them and just being able to sit down to a fabulous meal knowing without any effort how many points they are worth in the WW program is such a gift.  Although I succumbed to a peanut frenzy one night I did choose dry roasted no salt ones but they still cost me 12 points of my weekly special allottment.  It happened the one night I chose not to walk - I think that changing habits is important to really address overeating.  The amount of pleasure I get out of walking my 25 minutes or so each evening translates into a change in habit as well as exercise or even increased sunshine.  And, all with ease - no struggle, just letting it happen. 

I realize that not every stretch on my road to health will sound so sweet but it sure is great to enjoy this right now.  I have included some photos - hope it inspires someone else to start their journey.

BBQ Chicken - Weight Watchers!

Here is what I wrote in an earlier log because it is this simple change in point of view that has made the difference.

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Now, here is a new way of looking at New Year’s resolutions. These courageous decisions are not only about “the goal”- they are about the journey. I love this thought – the goal is not necessarily the biggest, most amazing thing, and, may even turn out to be a little disappointing- it is about the steps along the way, the story you get to write about your life, the story that is your life and how it changes when there is follow through.