Cam's New Lease on Life Journal (comments welcome!)

[MIdanceMom]

Hey Cam,

Congratulations on making it though the day completely OP. that is a major accomplishment this time of year.

Keep up the great work.

Take care,
Beth

 

[keenercam]

Thank you, Beth!
Today was day 2!
Someone hand-delivered a box of gourmet chocolates to me today and I am glad I was able to resist.
We leave for Hilton Head tomorrow night, and I am hoping to return to weigh in on 12/27 and find that I kept things under control.

I probably wont' get back here in the next several days, so here's best WISHes for a Merry, Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of my dear WISH friends who got me through some really tough times this year and celebrated with me my small accomplishments!

 

[AmyBeth68]

It's been too long since I stopped by here Cam. YOU are my hero...I know I've said that before...but wow you are SUCH an inspiration. I've been worried about you considering your back problems and now the latest scare you had. I'm just relieved to hear your good news. How is your back doing lately? Are you still in a lot of pain?? Please stop by and update us when you get a moment (I know how busy you are though).

I wanted to take the time to wish you and Howard and your two lovely children a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I think of you often and still feel that you are one of the main inspirations behind my deciding to run the marathon last year.

 

[toystoryduo]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Cam!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Merry Christmas Cam!

 

[keenercam]

Jen and Tracy -- THank you so much for your good wishes and the blessing of your friendship! Happy New Year to both of you and your wonderful families!

AmyBeth -- Your words touched my heart and made it smile, but they also brought tears to my eyes. Look at you and how far you've come! You are MY inspiration, kiddo! I am so happy for you and you should be abundantly proud of yourself! I can't wait to see you sporting your Goofy medal in just 2 1/2 weeks!

Thank you for asking about my back. I realized last week that it wasn't hurting anymore and I was so grateful to be pain free. Carrying suitcases in on Wednesday night when we got back from Hilton Head, I pulled it a bit and realized I should be a bit more careful. But I haven't had any real pain, which makes all the difference in the world to my attitude and my ability to function. YAY!!!

Our Christmas was so lovely. We drove all night THursday night and arrived at the resort by about 7:30 Friday morning to torrential rain and flooded sidewalks. By mid-day, we were able to get our stuff from the car to the villa and settled in. Saturday I did my first 4 miles on a treadmill at the fitness center and then took myself outside to the cool breeze and gorgeous surroundings. All I could think of was how Blessed I am to be someplace so beautiful with my family. We were able to attend Christmas Eve midnight Mass and I walked to and from the beach house and took a quick walk on the beach on Christmas day. We started home by 7:45am on the 26th and arrived home around 9:45 pm. I had received a new book by my favorite author and occupied myself for most of the trip home with that.

The only bad thing about the trip is I came home UP 7.8 POUNDS!!! In just one day home, however, I took off the first 1.6 and will continue to work to make it all disappear before we leave for marathon weekend.

We are very excited about marathon weekend and have planned an ADR at our favorite restaurant -- LeCellier -- for our Sunday night celebration. We are surprising Jenn with lunch at the Crystal Palace on Monday so she can see her pal, Eeyore. Tuesday we meet with the Disney Fairy Tale Weddings wedding coordinator to start talking about our January 2009 vow renewal. We are very excited about that. We moved our flight off a day so that we can return Wednesday late day instead of Tuesday. YAY!!!

Okay, in case I can't get back here, Happy New Year to all my wondeful WISH friends!

 

[traceycooper]

Hi Cam
I'm sooo glad the test results came back negative
I'm still not back online but trying to catch up with everyone on friends & families pc's, but you are in my thoughts.
Have a safe & happy new year

 

[toystoryduo]

Happy New Year, Cam!

It sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas.

Marathon weekend is coming up soon! I love your choice for your celebration dinner at Le Cellier. That is our absolute favorite restaurant! I hope you get Jason as your server....He is great!

Have a great week!

 

[keenercam]

Thank you, Tracey & Tracy!

Well, I fit in 8 miles yesterday before I had to get home to get ready for a visit/dinner with my brother and his family. The overall pace was below marathon required pace, so that was a relief. Only residual soreness today, though I am feeling some spasms in my back. I'll have to track down my Rx anti-inflammatories or rely on my miracle drug, aleve.

I did pretty well with food yesterday, considering that I'd burned a bunch of calories and didn't eat them! LOL! For dessert, with a buffet of temptations, I was able to limit myself to 2 50 calorie pizzelles and a small piece of jewish apple cake. I sent most of the leftovers home with my niece who seemed very excited about the goodies. I only felt slightly guilty about dumping all those calories on someone else! So, I am calling yesterday a kind of day.

I've done some soul searching over the past few days about where I am trying to end up, weight-wise and why I haven't been diligent and disciplined. I wrote about it in my sparkteam and thought I'd drop it here, too, to remind me of where I am and where I want to be and how I'm going to get there:

Quite frankly, the whole "getting healthier" thing isn't enough right now for me. The fact is that I am healthier and more fit and at nearly the lowest weight (once I get these few new holiday pounds off) that I've been since I was in my teens (more than 25 years ago -- EEK!!!). (gratuitous plug for my sparkpage where you'll see a "before" picture that isn't even me at my heaviest. UGH!!!)

It seems my pride and pleasure in having made it so far already may be hampering my ability to move forward and to get to the weight I really should be and to get to optimal fitness and health. The reality is that people probably look at me and still see someone who is tremendously overweight. I still only see the fat, but have sufficiently brainwashed myself about being happy about my progress (this keeps me from backsliding).

So, what is going to motivate me to get moving again toward journaling all my food, exercising in a more meaningful way and doing it every day of every week? Here it is: My husband and I are planning a Walt Disney World Fairy Tale Weddings Vow Renewal for January 2009! Woohoo!!! So, I really want to go dress browsing/shopping in March and I don't want to look at "plus-size" dresses. And right now, I'm not sure that any of the 4 "dream gowns" I am interested in come in a size that I would need and I might not even be able to try them on. That just won't do!!! LOL! So, my goal is to lose at least 12 pounds by the end of February.

By the way, I still think Sparkpeople is absolutely the most helpful and effective and comprehensive diet & fitness tool I have ever seen or heard of. If any of my WISH friends is interested in a link/referral to the website, please send me a PM and I will be glad to help you find your way to the DISBoards Disneyaholics sparkteam that I co-lead over there. I am always hoping for more WISHers to jump on the team.

 

[keenercam]

Today's food:
B: coffee w/skim milk
L: green salad w/salsa, corn & tuna
D: lean ham w/green beans; mix of corn, black beans & salsa

 

[AmyBeth68]

HAPPY NEW YEAR CAM!!!!

I truly hope you have a wonderful 2008...starting with marathon weekend!!!!

We're getting close now aren't we!!!??? I'm so excited! How is Howard doing with his sped-up goofy training? He's a machine that husband of yours. What a trooper!!! Wish him the best for me .

 

[CACruisin']

Happy New Year and Good Luck at WDW this weekend!!

 

[keenercam]

Thank you, AmyBeth! I am getting so nervous about the marathon that I keep forgetting I will be in Disney! There are so many awesome parts of the weekend to look forward to, including all the WISH meets and seeing our friends (one of them is returning from Iraq for his mid-tour break, Kevin, and who ran the full with Howard and Lynne last year), seeing old friends who retired in Florida, and meeting with our Disney Wedding planner! There's just that little detail of 26.2 miles and I am just hoping to stay on my feet and have an official finish time this year.

I am also really worried about Howard who has not been able to do a 15 mile run yet due to shin splints and/or exhaustion. I just dont' know how he is going to pull this off and I may end up praying most of the marathon for his well-being. Thank God he will be with Lynne (xterratri) and Kevin (kzmarathon). I know they will all watch out for each other. Are you getting outrageously excited?

Anna -- It is so nice to see you here. Thank you so much for your good wishes, sweetie! I'm sorry I haven't been visiting journals nearly enough lately, though my WISH friends are always close in my heart and thoughts!

 

[keenercam]

oh, I should probably journal that I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 40 minutes on the bike tonight.

 

[MIdanceMom]

Hey Cam,

i am so glad to hear that your back is doing much better. Just take it easy on yourself until race day. No more lifting suitcases.

You've come so far this year, and you have every right to be proud of the weight you have lost. A beautiful gown is an incredible incentive for you to keep losing.

Take care,
Beth

 

[goldcupmom]

In case I don't get back here before you leave, I'll be praying for all of you this weekend! Have a wonderful, safe, successful trip!!

 

[keenercam]

Thank you so much, everyone! I am so grateful that I've been able to take off 3.5 of the pounds I gained over the holidays. We leave in 8 days and I'd really, really, like to take off another 3.3 so that I don't have to carry them 26.2 miles on the 13th.

I truly appreciate the support you all give me and I will be thinking of my WISH friends during those long miles. I will be thinking of all we have accomplished this year and how we can do anything if we work at it consistently.

Today's food:
B: coffee w/skim milk; pear
L: nonfat yogurt w/fruit; blackbean, corn & salsa mix
D: turkey steake; 6 oz ham; 1 can green beans; rest of black bean, corn & salsa mix

Total calories -- 1344

 

[postesf]

Hi Cam!

I'm just making it over to your journal. I've read the first pages and the last few pages so I'm sure I've misssed ALOT!!!

WOW...I am so happy you were able to get the surgery you needed for your heart! To take that and now to have lost weight and be as fit as you are is amazing! What an inspiration you are. I am so glad your C scare was only scare and did not materialize in the rest of the word!!!

I know you will be so succesful for the marathon!!! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you! I'll be doing my first 5K on Friday there.

I hope the BL4 helps you reach your wedding dress shopping goal!!! That is awesome you will be renewing your vows at WDW!!!

My sister (larry's girl) is a DVC member and she has so gotten me hooked on Disney! It's addicting!

Good luck again! Hope you have a great weekend!

All the best!
Stacie

 

[keenercam]

Thank you, Stacie!! I really appreciate the support here.

Hey, you are going to have such a great time at your 5k. Are you bringing your medal to the POP meet so we can all have medal envy?

After I tallied my calories last night, I ate 4 tiny pretzels from a cheez-it party mix and about 5 tortilla chips. It was probably 100 calories, at most, but more disappointing is that I didn't resist late night snacking, my own personal demon. I WILL do better tonight, even though weekends are really tough. I will be working most of the weekend and we are un-decorating the house, so hopefully busy hands will mean no snacking.

I will go to the gym tomorrow morning, hopefully to get in about 8 miles before coming in to work.

Food today:
B: coffee w/skim milk; apple
L: turkey breast cutlet
S: pear
D: gardenburger veggie patty; chicken breast cutlet; 5 oz lean steak (craving protein)
S: pretzels; glenny's 100 calorie blondie; cheez-it mix; 2 pizzelles

calories: 1169

 

[CACruisin']

At least you only had a little snack. You are burning tons of calories with your training, even as you are tapering. I understand what you mean though about the snacking demon.