Life is like a bike ride - up a very steep hill

Yesterday I went for a bike ride in a nearby neighborhood that I've never been to before. I ended up on an extremely steep street as it wound down to the waterfront. Halfway down the hill I decided to stop and take a video (which didn't turn out).<br /><br />When I was ready to take off again, I looked at how steep the hill was going down, I decided there was no way I could do it. I had a fear of flipping over head first. I'm use to hills, but this one was a suicide hill. I decided to turn around and head back up the hill. The problem, the hill was just as steep going up it as it was going down. <br /><br />There were houses on one side and the waterfront on the other side. I kept thinking maybe there were people inside the houses watching me. My pride wouldn't let me push my bike up the hill. I thought I'm strong and powerful, I can do it.<br /><br />After six failed attempts at getting my bike started back up the hill, after coming close to falling over and crashing to the pavement, I finally realized I couldn't do it. I couldn't bike up this hill starting at the mid-point. I swallowed my pride and pushed my bike up the hill. It was humiliating, but I had no other choice.<br /><br />On my way home I starting thinking my bike ride is exactly how my weight loss has been for my entire life. Sometimes I just fly up the hills, sometimes I just can't do it and I fall, over and over I'll fall. My pride gets hurt, I'm humiliated with weight gains, and I finally, I just give up.<br /><br />Right now I'm practically coasting downhill with my weight loss. I'm going through one of those "this is so damn easy, why was I struggling" phases. I'm smart enough to know the easy button won't last forever. It never does. <br /><br />So why is my weight loss different this time? Why is this ride different than the other hundred plus times I've done this?<br /><br />Number one is you. Yes, the you that is reading this right now. I feel like I owe you something, that I want you to know this can be done. <br /><br />I'm just like you, I have a major problem with food. I love food a little too much, and it's been too big of a focus in my life. I use it for comfort and I use it for joy. I've struggled my entire life trying to get to a healthy weight and stay there. I want to prove to you it can be done by eating healthy, regular foods. I want to give you hope.<br /><br />I know how hard it is to lose weight, I've been doing it since I was fourteen. I'm fifty-four. That's forty years of trying to lose weight. You would think with all that practice I  would have figured it out. The fact is I'm great at losing weight. I've lost hundreds of pounds over the years. My problem is that I've never kept the weight off for more than a year. I bet you're sitting there nodding your head yes, and thinking "me too!".<br /><br />I want to show you this is possible. Believe me when I say this...if I can lose weight and keep it off, anyone can do it. Since I'm someone that's failed at this numerous times, it's logical that I'll fail at it again. Yet, I have confidence this time is different from all the other times. I'm not being cocky, and I'm not feeling like I'm superior or I have secret knowledge on how to do this. Or that I'm stronger or more disciplined than anyone else. In fact, just the opposite is true. I'm kind of lazy, I have no discipline, and my follow through on most things suck. Yet I truly believe I can do this, and I believe you can too.<br /><br />There are some other things that are different this time around. It has a to do with my eating, how and what I'm eating. I have a post started which I'll publish later this week. I don't know if it'll help anyone else but it's working for me. Again, it's not secret information or any new revelation. It's just something I've been trying for the last three weeks that has kind of changed my life.<br /><br />Speaking of bike rides, I think I'll go for one while the sun is still shining. <br /><br /><strong>My weighin Saturday, March 28, 2010</strong><br />I set the goal of 170 six weeks ago. I didn't quite make it, but close enough. I'm also losing a little faster than desired these last two weeks. The week before last I lost 3.2 pounds and then this week 2.8 pounds. That's a total of six pounds in two weeks. I was "talked to" by the weighin gal and then the Weight Watchers online weight tracker gave me a warning that I'm losing too fast.<br /><br />I eat all the time (every three hours when I'm awake), but my night binges are under control. Plus I'm sleeping more these days, seven to eight hours a night. <br /><br />Goal for next week, April 3, is <strong>169.6.</strong><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFOk_WNCGUqKBM44u2oMIG9GLIAqBXT84OVP2kepuV1zBfzaGn7PBkHVP2sBhc6SK2757VYog6KgsyuiMThKnhJtSJp_Le0D_S4_IFmUkFF0f_HeZ885dSHB_NJfNc3mb0Q9Cy8Qrv9CB/s1600/68.2+WW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfe-C4SlFfphPNaXg8wX9gnfsvWa5ZgO2lh8cruGx-Xg8hU8mmPCqTXpCPNTCQClI6-WVX_KZ7LtQNE5yfJcoMYs14ZWgP1LNDncYT4ebMxDCeG3SIbQB1-U2zMp-FoFEoxLKmXwEeOPZS/s1600/171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfe-C4SlFfphPNaXg8wX9gnfsvWa5ZgO2lh8cruGx-Xg8hU8mmPCqTXpCPNTCQClI6-WVX_KZ7LtQNE5yfJcoMYs14ZWgP1LNDncYT4ebMxDCeG3SIbQB1-U2zMp-FoFEoxLKmXwEeOPZS/s400/171.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><strong>My most favorite store</strong> <br />Of course it's a grocery store, what else would be my favorite store?! It's not just any store, it's HMart. I'm in love with this place. It's like a super store of Asian markets. It's huge.<br /><br />It's a Korean store, but they carry all different kinds of Asian food and some American food too. The best part is their fresh produce section. It's unbelievable. For example, they have six different types of bok choy. The produce guys, who are all Korean, speak perfect English. The produce section is so huge they usually have four guys working in that area, putting out fresh produce. It's like a huge adventure every time I go there.<br /><br />I wanted to take pictures because it's so amazing, but it turns out grocery stores have a rule of not taking pictures inside their stores. I got into big trouble at the Metropolitan Market in Seattle a couple weeks ago. I thought the guy was going to take my camera away from me. Stupid rule.<br /><br />If you have an HMart near you, you absolutely must go visit it. It's always strange to me that there are so few Caucasians in this store. I was a towering blond amongst a sea of dark-haired, petite people. The variety of their produce and seafood is beyond amazing. I so love this store!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A few of my purchases yesterday (that's yucca in the middle - I'm making a Cuban dish with it tonight)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYbu9FRmhg-7p8CejXuTlr5W1zXDEBzjhOY-KddhKhyPo0kDqvjMkjgFosXw1_UIy4I0adrqhJ6erZfRXxgLvTXCH7QB1tY9gniLMhcjUN0tZejMpEHCLj3JdgDomxDVgH0REbvbbsEue/s1600/Eggplant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYbu9FRmhg-7p8CejXuTlr5W1zXDEBzjhOY-KddhKhyPo0kDqvjMkjgFosXw1_UIy4I0adrqhJ6erZfRXxgLvTXCH7QB1tY9gniLMhcjUN0tZejMpEHCLj3JdgDomxDVgH0REbvbbsEue/s320/Eggplant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The neighbor cat, Bear. He's kind of in love with me. If I leave anything of mine laying anywhere, he curls up with it and goes to sleep. This was my iPod strap left on the bed. He curled up with it wrapped in his paw and went to sleep. He does the same thing with my clothes or my robe or my purse. Anything of mine, but not my husband's stuff. Which is odd because my husband is the one that keeps letting him in the house. I keep telling him to go home. Although he is pretty darn adorable.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6bWgro_CYUcQTeSwlBtwaWBmGat0Rndooc6dL7qsSD27OoobvlMC5ny6obkMKL9yGCr1KC2-UhM2fDkYNzJOxbZznmpbkR2BXP-nC4TPjqWjZBrTnSDdiYm8UrnJC3B3VmH3DIwfHEhF/s1600/Bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6bWgro_CYUcQTeSwlBtwaWBmGat0Rndooc6dL7qsSD27OoobvlMC5ny6obkMKL9yGCr1KC2-UhM2fDkYNzJOxbZznmpbkR2BXP-nC4TPjqWjZBrTnSDdiYm8UrnJC3B3VmH3DIwfHEhF/s320/Bear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>

Life is like a bike ride - up a very steep hill

Yesterday I went for a bike ride in a nearby neighborhood that I've never been to before. I ended up on an extremely steep street as it ...

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