First Day of Health and Fitness week 2011

 Last year I showed up to health and fitness week in really bad shape, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I had been gorging on french fries the weeks before I came, mentally I was a wreck and I started menstruating within hours of arriving (which was heavy and painful due to eating all those cooked fats).
This year I arrived in great shape. Twenty pounds lighter than last year, fresh and excited from attending the fruit festival 2 weeks before, my body clean from eating all fresh fruits and veggies. We did our fitness evaluation this morning. I have a partially torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder from wrecking my bike in May. Despite my injury, my fitness evaluation score doubled that from last year. First thing we did was run for 12 minutes. Last year I walked the whole time. This year I did an easy slow jog and made it the whole time without even feeling winded or tired. Since I do not run on a regular basis, to me this was amazing. I didn't know I had it in me.
After health and fitness week last year I went home and made three major changes in my life. First thing I did was join recreational soccer. Doug taught me that it's much easier to get an intense workout while playing and having fun, rather than at the gym or doing a workout routine. Even though I was still eating some cooked carbs, 160lbs and not feeling so good, I absolutely loved soccer and I played up until I had my shoulder injury. I attribute much of my running and fitness progress to playing soccer.
The second thing I did was create a supportive 80/10/10 community for myself at home. I knew of two other people eating 80/10/10 in Boise. We hardly ever talked or did anything together. Health and fitness week showed me how important it is to be around supportive, loving people. So upon arriving back home I called the two other 80/10/10 women that I knew. I told them that we would be communicating with each other and supporting each other on a regular basis from now on. I didn't want to seem pushy, but I explained how much this meant to me and it worked! I have stayed very
close to those women and we talk at least two or three times a month if not more. I know I can call them up at any time and they will be there and I know they feel the same about me :)
The third thing I did was start doing the thing I hated doing the most at health and fitness week. I learned that I was only as strong as my weakest link. Physically I hated jumping rope. I became very frustrated and angry during our work out times when Stephanie made us jump rope for what seemed like forever. At the end of the session I remember throwing my jump rope on the ground and stomping off. When I got back to Boise, I bought myself a really good jump rope. To keep me warm in the winter I would jump at the bus stops while waiting. All the bus drivers started calling me the jump rope lady. I jumped and jumped and jumped and then...I started to love it. My daughter and I would have contests to see who could jump the longest. Within just a couple of months I went from being able to jump 10 times to 70. To this day I carry my jump rope everywhere with me.
That is what I learned from health and fitness week last year. So excited to see what I learn this year :)