A GREAT weekend!

I feel like I have so much to say! Not sure where to begin.

First of all, I wanted to say that I found something out over the weekend. I picked up a copy of a local magazine called "stride" the other day. This is one that I've not seen before. It's a health/fitness/nutrition kind of mag...so right up my alley. Anyway, there was a bit inside about a local woman who teaches some group fitness classes and also took first place in a bodybuilding comp in Eden Prairie, MN. And she is planning on competing in a comp right HERE in Fargo next March!! I could not contain my excitement when I found out there was going to be a bodybuilding competition here. I told my family right away. The first thing Eden said was, "Are you going to be in it?". I love her confidence in me. I said that technically I could be if I wanted to but I'd have to work REALLY hard over the next 8 months - which I intend to do. I don't know if I'm ready [mentally] for that kind of pressure. But I will DEFINITELY be there to watch, if I can be. I would love to experience one as a spectator so I know what to expect and how they operate. I still have 2 years before I turn 40, and as you may or may not know, it's on my bucket list!

The second thing I wanted to mention is that my 9 (almost 10) year old, Eden, has shown a recent interest in running. Mostly because we bought her some snazzy new kicks and she wanted desperately to try them out before school. So we ended up running twice in one day, once in the morning and again in the evening. Her legs got SO sore. She was complaining about her quads and that she could barely go up the stairs. I thought that was an odd place to be sore because I don't ever  get sore there when I run, usually only in my hips if it's been a while. I was teasing her a little bit about it, saying, "You sound just like Mama!" because I'm usually the one that is perpetually sore from lifting. But I'm used to it being a part of my life. She is not. But now that she is over the DOMS, we will go out again. And I have an app on my phone now that we can try out called BeFit, which uses GPS to track our run. It's free in case you want to try it out. It will be interesting to see how many miles she will log. I'm not sure if she's interested in her speed, but I know she is interested in miles because she must have asked me how far we'd gone every quarter mile last time. And of course I had no way of knowing other than by sheer guesstimation. Now I just need to figure out how to strap my phone to my body so I don't have to hold it the entire time.

I get SO excited when my kids show an interest in being healthy and fit. It has been my hope that during their young and impressionable years I will have been able to plant a sense of pride and accomplishment in them, and just an overall feeling of well being that is associated with staying fit. Because the more they see it, and the more it is apart of their lives, the more likely they will be to stick with healthy habits into adulthood. I am always making sure that they know it is NOT about being skinny, it's about being healthy. Sometimes I worry that they are getting the wrong idea about working out and eating right because they will say things like, "You're so skinny. I wish I was skinny like you." And that frightens me. I explain that my goal isn't to be skinny, but to be healthy and in my case, to actually gain some muscle. I don't want them to look at a bowl of spinach and think "diet food", I want them to see good nutritious fuel for the body. I know that they mimic me and the things I do or say, so I have to be careful. And I think I am. But what I cannot control is how the media constantly seems to portray skinny people as the most beautiful and happy. I don't want them to look at a magazine with stick figure models and actresses and think that they cannot measure up to their standard of beauty unless they grow up to be a size 00. 

The other day Hanna said to me, "I wish I was skinny like you. Then maybe people would like me better." And my heart just broke. I said, "No Hanna. People like you for your personality, not your size. If it worked the way you are thinking, I would have tons of friends, right?". After a long chat about it, I think she felt a little better. But I know that she really struggles with body image. It's pretty common, I think we all do to some extent. Some more than others. But even some people with awesome bodies tend to focus on every little flaw. It's almost more of a battle with the mind that we have to win.

I'm finally just starting to win my own battle with this. This summer is the first summer that I've walked around in a bikini in public and around the house, without a cover up, and felt ok about it. I was thinking to myself how crazy it was to let a few flaws ruin my summer fun. Screw it! Life's too short! Before I know it, I'll be 80 wishing I had my 37 year old body again! No way.

Yesterday, after our swim, my husband was patting the bottom of my thighs as I laid in the sun and I said to him, "You sure like playing with my jiggle."

"But it's so beautiful." he said. "And you have far less jiggle than most. You just need to embrace it."

I melted. Sometimes, he just knows exactly what to say.

"I think I have been embracing it. I mean, when was the last time I walked around all day in a bikini?" I said.

"True." he answered.

We swam nearly all afternoon yesterday. We bought a pool and it has been the best investment we've ever made, I think. I almost think we should save money for an in ground pool, judging by how much fun we are having. All five of us, swimming in this pool, for hours on end.....we had the best time. Getting a little exercise together. Finally! It's like a dream come true ;)