Coach, Business, First Class

I was riding my horse, Pacino, on Saturday.  We were doing fine, but then my trainer came out to watch us and said "why are you riding him as a first level horse when he is a Prix Saint George level horse? You need to ask more of him."

I did and he obligingly complied.

He's very willing to do anything I ask, I just have to ask him.  When it comes to exercise and physical activity, I guess I'm like that, too.  If someone tells me to do something, asks me to do more, indicates I can put more effort in, I do. That's why I need a coach.   Just like my horse needs me to ask him to perform to his ability, I need someone to remind me how much I should be doing and to make sure I do it correctly.

Dan is my business coach, Judith and Debbie are my dressage coaches, and Jeff is my fitness coach.

Are you working to your potential?  Maybe you need a coach.

“If you only do what you know you can do- you never do very much.” -Tom Krause

“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself” - Bill McCartney

The Switch

My riding lesson was delayed by 2 hours, so I decided I could get a few things done in the morning before I left for the barn.  "A few things" are always needing to be done when one lives in an antique house.  This morning, my goal was simply to install two dimmer switches for chandeliers in the master bedroom and the master dressing room.  The dressing room had the added complication that in an old house the wires are not colored or marked and they weren't much for following standards in those days like always putting the hot wire in the side with one wire on a 3 way box.  The other would be easier, a single pole, but the added complication was that the breaker for the bedroom is not marked in the breaker box.

I could have taken the easy way out and used a cell phone and a helper (the master bedroom is upstairs, the breaker box downstairs), but instead I used it as an exercise opportunity.  There were three options for the three way, and I exercised every one of them, resulting in six trips up and down the stairs to wire and test.  Finding the correct breaker switch took an additional 10 trips.

I hate the stairmaster and arc trainer at the gym.  I can't imagine the point of climbing stairway to nowhere (and I know heaven is not located above the cardio room in the gym), but getting my switches swapped was worth the effort and made the workout more of a game.

The light went on, and I hope to make that same switch with as many workouts as I can!

"Enthusiasm is the great hill-climber."  Elbert Hubbard

Habit @ Your Habitat

I saw the title of one of Bob Wright's lectures  and totally misread it.  In a previous lecture, he had talked about Brian Wansink's book Mindless Eating and about the studies that have been done showing how much our eating is affected by our environs. I think I was also affected by the fact that I had left my prescription glasses at home and wasn't seeing clearly.  Bob was intending to give a lecture about the "Habits of Successful weight loss Managers" but the word I saw was habitat.  It was at that point that I realized that a big piece of my success would be setting up my habitat.  I've begun the process over the last few days. The refrigerator has undergone a renovation and the pantry has been reborn.  I'm working on (and working out in) my basement exercise room.  My plates have shrunk and my crystal has been rearranged so that the tall thin glasses are in front.
What habits does your habitat encourage?

Lost and Found

I've lost this.  Have you seen it anywhere?  It happened sometime over the past two weeks while I was at Hilton Head Health.   I may have left it in Amber's cardio boxing class or perhaps someplace on the dance floor in Zumba.  I know I had it with me during Adam's outdoor circuit; I was pretty sure I carried it with me the whole time, maybe I left it along the trail.  Is it along the beach we walked every morning with Ashley and Alicea? I might have left it in the dining room while I was eating one of Chef Jen's creations.  It could very well be in Beth's conference room or in one of the lecture rooms that Bob frequents. Aha! I could have dropped it running between the the workout rooms during ULTRA circuit with Jeff and Alicea.

It weighs about 8 pounds and I've had it for a long time, but it doesn't have my name on it.  If you find it, keep it, I have plenty more I plan to lose....along with a couple of chickens, a cinderblock and a few bags of meow mix.  If your curious about this, you might check out this old post.

Resolution

I haven't posted in quite a while which is a great indication of how much effort has gone into my health endeavors...nada.

In November I decided I needed to kickstart something, or just plain kick something.  I decided to sign up for a two week stay at Hilton Head Health Institute for two weeks.  I decided to do this in January as it would be a great way to start off a new year, with a resolution to keep doing whatever it was that they would teach me to do.

This morning I left home in 19 degree weather and drove for almost eight hours east, till I hit water, then I stopped.  I am at Hilton Head.

Today, on the Eve of the beginning of our two week adventure, we had a great introduction to all of our materials from Adam, had a great meal from a different Adam, and took a 30 minute walk in the dark to the "reflector tree".  I met some great people and I think this will be a wonderful two weeks.

I'm supposed to fast from now until tomorrow morning when they will remove blood from me and learn something about me.  Why do they call it fast when it seems to go so slowly?

Below is the current weather map.  Note that the very southern tip of South Carolina is NOT white!!!

Drinking the Water

Drank plenty of water today


with my goal in mind


I'll worry about this later.

Girl in the Mirror

Through an unfortunate turn of scheduling events, I find myself alone for the day in a beautiful bed and breakfast that was previously scheduled to be a romantic getaway attached to the weekend of my son's college graduation. My daughter's soccer tournament threw a wrench in our long weekend and we are split between the kids.


(Fairview Inn, Jackson MS, across the street from Millsaps College)

I have had the day to myself in a huge room with a ginormous bathroom...with lots of mirrors. I have a large bedroom at home, but it's different. I have lots of mirrors at home, but they are different. When I stood today in front of these unfamiliar mirrors, I was faced by an unfamiliar girl. I could see every extra pound, exactly where it was. It didn't look like me. I was shocked.

I downloaded some zumba videos because of a blog I read. I started doing them and they were fun. Then the email about the article on writing a vision statement came.

I'm pretty good about strategic planning for my business, my finances, my family, but not for myself.

I want to dance and not jiggle. I want to dance in the morning and dance at night. I want to spend hours outside instead of inside. I want to run when I am in a hurry when I feel like it and arrive without panting. I want to put on the first thing I see in the closet and know that I'll look great in it no matter what it is. I want to look in the mirror and see the girl that I am and have that be the same girl I think I am.

I'm making progress. I did a jig to my third zumba song today.

Now that I think about it, there is a lock on my office door and the zumba videos on youtube are only 4 minutes long...