Weight loss and running…

This past week was a successful week for me. I stayed on plan all week with Weight Watchers. OK so I deviated a little bit, but I stayed within my points and that’s what really matters. I logged every single item that I ate, even the 2 fudge striped cookies that I wolfed down while staring into the pantry closet. I truly believe that being successful at weight loss requires a person to be realistic about what they can give up, the changes they are willing to make and to log everything they eat, even the “bad” stuff. The nice thing about Weight Watchers is that it truly promotes a lifestyle change, not just eating less for a short period of time until you lose the weight. This is of course if you actually follow the plan as it is intended and read the various suggestions the plan has for you. My loss for this week was 3.6 pounds, which puts me at a total loss of 45 pounds on this journey. I still have quite a ways to go on my journey, but I know that I will get there in the end. It may take another year or may two, but it is all worth it.


Another thing I’ve learned on this journey is the importance of reflection. When I hit a plateau or just have a rough week, I reflect back on where I was a year ago, 6 months ago, or even 3 months ago. Reflection really puts the journey into perspective and helps me recognize what I’ve accomplished. I knew going into this that it was going to be a long road ahead. When I started this journey I sat down and realistically made a map for success. Taking into consideration vacations, plateaus, and other unplanned events, I gave myself 3 years to accomplish my goal. So far so good, I am on track. I am 1/3 of the way and one year into the journey.

Sunday I ran. It was on the schedule to do 6 walking/running intervals of 3/2. Before I started I was thinking there was no way I’d be running for 2 solid minutes after only a 3 minute cool down, but guess what? I did it and it wasn’t too bad actually. I completed a distance of 1.9 miles in 29:45 minutes which puts me at a 15:39 minute mile. Three weeks ago I was walking 21 minute miles. Almost forgot to mention that I took my dog on my Sunday run. It was pretty funny actually. The first 2 intervals it was like she had forgotten how to heel; she was pulling and sniffing and doing all those things that many dogs do. However, midway into the 3rd interval she was getting a little tired and kept looking back at me like I was punishing her. And by interval 5 she was heeling like a good dog. We walked in the door and both ran for our water, it was a good run.

This week’s plan is pretty straight forward:

Tuesday – Walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes
        Repeat 4 times
Wednesday – Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday – Walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes
        Repeat 4 times
Friday – Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes
        Repeat 6 times

Hmmm… kind of curious what the plan is for next week. I better look that up.

Power Bleaching = Conscientious Dieting… Who knew?!?!

On Wednesday I went to the dentist for a procedure called power bleaching. If you’ve ever considered this procedure be aware that it takes about 2 hours and your mouth is propped open pretty much the entire time. It isn’t painful, but it tends to be uncomfortable at times. However, the results are pretty darn cool. (of course, results vary depending on teeth and habits) My teeth are so white right now that I no longer need a nightlight or cat-like vision to find my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. All I need to do now is smile and even the slightest amount of luminescence reflects off of my teeth and lights the way for me. Ok, so maybe not quite that bright white, but they are pretty darn close. One thing that they emphasis after the procedure is that you avoid any teeth staining foods or drinks so that you don’t completely undo all of that hard work. The rule of thumb is that if it could potentially stain a white t-shirt it could potentially stain your teeth. For me this has been a bit of a godsend because it has brought my awareness for what I am eating to a whole new level. I consciously think about each individual food choice before it goes in my mouth. There is absolutely NO way that I am going to waste $250 by eating or drinking something that could stain these teeth. Not only have I been avoiding teeth staining foods and drinks due to the procedure, but I’ve pretty much cut out anything bad for me all together. Generally speaking if I eat something that I consider bad it is simply because I am mindlessly eating. Now that I’m conscientiously eating this is not an issue. Plus it helps that my biggest mindless eating food is chips and salsa. Guess what? Salsa is tomato based, therefore it is a major teeth staining food. I’m kind of wishing I would have got my teeth bleached when I first started my weight loss journey. It sure the heck would have helped me get an amazing jump start on a this lifestyle change.


Running Update:

Yesterday I went running with the hubs. We did walking/jogging intervals of 4/2. I had thought that the 2 minutes of jogging would kill me, but in reality it wasn’t too bad. The first interval was a bit difficult because he kept making me laugh. As I’m sure you are aware, laughing and running do not mix for a first timer. Long story short…I was setting the pace for the run/jog portion and I was going a bit slower than his normal speed. Therefore, he decided to do like a slow motion run. It was kind of like those scenes in Baywatch where they are running on the beach and the editors slow down the frame rate for effect. I kept laughing because he looked a bit ridiculous and he’s kind of funny. He looked at me and was like, “What? You didn’t say that I had to have the same form as you just the same pace.” What a goof. :-)

Ending week 1 of running and beginning week 2...

Yesterday was yet another running training day. I was scheduled to do 6 intervals with walking 5 minutes and running 1 minute. I did the first 5 intervals with no problems or deviations. However when I got to the running portion of the 6th interval I decided to just keep on running after the buzzer went off. I ended up running 1 minute & 45 seconds. Then I repeated this interval 2 more times. I was feeling good while I was running, my breathing was steady, my pace was good, and my muscles felt nice and loose. You may be wondering why I did 8 intervals instead of the 2 that they showed in the training program… Well I was going my usual 3.2 mile route and figured I might as well keep doing the intervals as long as I was feeling good. I ended the 3.2 mile route in 51 minutes, which puts me just shy of 16 minute miles. As they say slow and steady, slow and steady. I think my actual weight loss is following this same pattern, lost 0.4 lbs this week. Obviously not a huge loss, but at least it’s a loss.

This weeks training is as follows:

Tuesday – Walk 4:30 minutes, run 1:30 minute
Repeat 4 times
Wednesday – Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday – Walk 4:00 minutes, run 2 minutes
Repeat 4 times
Friday – Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Walk 3 minutes, run 2 minutes
Repeat 6 times

It was suppose to be 2 minutes walk and 2 minutes run all intervals, but I don’t feel that I’m ready for that quite yet so I modified it just a bit and will do the 2 and 2 next week. I’m thinking I need a longer cool down than 2 minutes. I know I should follow the training as it is laid out, but it seems crazy to go from 5/1 to 2/2 after only one week.

Thankfully today is a rest day, so I’ll probably just hit the gym and do some circuit training.

Running and DQ…Hmmm….

Well yesterday I did the third day of training for a 5k. It was somewhat different than day one. Overall, day one was pretty easy. However yesterday was not as easy. I was running with a friend of mine, so before we began the interval training we walked about one mile. This wasn’t bad and didn’t tire me out, however when I hit that first 1 minute run my breath was labored and I was feeling it. Not sure if this is because I had just ran a few days earlier, the pace had changed, I was trying to talk occasionally during mid run, or if it was because of the 20+ mph winds. No matter what it was, it really kicked my butt a bit. But you know what? I survived and I’ll do it again on Sunday like the plan tells me to. :-)

Today I had a super cool NSV (non-scale victory). I was offered a free blizzard in honor of a co-workers birthday celebration and I declined it. OK so I didn’t say no right away, but I did say no eventually and that’s what counts. Long story short… I was asked at 10:30 am if I wanted a free blizzard. I said Yes. At 11:30 I felt sufficiently guilty that I retracted my yes and turned it into a NO. Had it been a last minute off with no time to ponder this choice I would have totally devoured the small choco cherry lovers blizzard in a heartbeat. Thank goodness I was given a heads up. And not I don’t have to feel guilty the rest of the night for indulging when I wasn’t even craving. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who completely denies myself when it comes to food. I think that is an unrealistic choice for me. Instead I just make sure that when I’m going to indulge a bit that it is on my terms and it is something that I truly enjoy and crave.

5k training has officially begun…

I know, I know a 5k is only 3.1 miles so you are probably wondering why anyone would need to train for that short distance. Although I am an amazing walker and could easily knock out a 5k walking, heck I could do a 10k walking, the simple fact is that I don’t want to walk it, I want to run it. And no I don’t want to do anything crazy like 6 minute miles. My goal for my first 5k is to finish in 37.2 minutes, which is running at a 12 minute mile pace or 5 mph.

Here is my week 1 training schedule:

Tuesday – Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute
Repeat 4 times
Wednesday – Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday – Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute
Repeat 4 times
Friday – Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute
Repeat 6 times

Each day has a 5 minute warm up and cool down too.

OK so I did the Tuesday workout. I must admit that first 1 minute run was a bit of a pain, literally. My knee felts a small twinge right at the beginning, however being an active person in a previous lifetime I knew it wasn’t anything serious and just pushed through it. By the third interval my running got a bit quicker and I remembered how to breathe. And by the 4th interval everything felt good. For my first 24 minute session I was able to cover 1.58 miles, figured this was a pretty good start since last week I was walking a mile in about 18 minutes.

To assist me in this new endeavor I rounded up a few tool. The first is an amazing pair of Nike Scoops. I absolutely love these shoes. They are lightweight, fit my foot very well and are super breathable. The second is the Gymboss interval training timer. For $15 this thing was perfect. You are able to program two time intervals into the device, set the volume of the tone, the duration of the tone, and the vibration level. I attached the Gymboss to the same band that my Bodybugg is attached to, which in on my upper left arm, and it was quite easy to hear and feel. The third is my iPod. Until yesterday I’d nearly forgotten the type of music I had on there. I started out with a bit of Eminem, moved into some Green Day, No Doubt, Dixie Chicks, Dr. Dre, Christina Aguilera, and wrapped up the walk/run with a little Paula Abdul (not sure how that got on there).

Overall, it was a great experience and I felt really free. Although I really have enjoyed running with my kid a bit over the past few weeks, it is nice to now have a routine in place where I feel comfortable doing all by myself. Today is a nice easy 30 minute walk, which for me will probably turn into at least a 1 hour walk. Tomorrow I’ll be back on to the intervals. Next week I think the intervals are 2 and 2. Hmmm… doesn’t sound like a lot of recovery time. :-)

It's working...

As many of you know, I blogged about making some changes to my calorie intake and my exercise routine. Well to make a super long story short, IT WORKED! All week long I focused on ensuring that I was burning at least 1000 - 1500 calories just through exercise. I consistently ate within 50 calories of the 1500 calorie goal I set for myself. The results were amazing. I lost 5.2 lbs this week! I am totally stoked and looking forward to another productive week. Already planning on walking for lunch every day this week and have a friend that wants to start walking after work. I am so looking forward to doing some more walking OUTSIDE in addition to my circuit training this week. That’s all for now, hope you all have an amazing week!

I almost forgot to give you an update to the baggy pants story. I went out and got some new jeans. They are two sizes smaller than the ones I was wearing before. Definitely needed to get new ones, huh?!?!!? :-)

Jogging with teenager….

Last night I discovered that there is no better motivator than to jog with someone who is 1/3 your own age. After watching my daughter in the “Living Stations” performance, I decided I still wanted to go for a walk. Mind you I had already gone for a walk on my lunch break and had spent 45 minutes at the gym. Not sure what has come over me lately, but it might have something to do with that exercise high that I mentioned in a previous post. Since the hubby was busy studying for class, I asked my teenage daughter if she’d go with me. She *shrugged* her shoulders and said ok. While we were in our first block I had told her that I’d like to jog every 3rd block. It is important to note here that she is in 7th grade and participates in cross country at the high school level. Last night when I made this request/suggestion I seemed to have forgotten the aforementioned fact.

So we proceeded with my plan. We walked the first two blocks then jogged the third. We repeated this process for about 1.5 miles, which is our halfway point. We get to the halfway point and I’m thinking to myself that this isn’t too bad. Yeah there were a few close calls with the ice that is still on the ground in random places, but overall I was feeling really good. Then it happened, we turned around to head back and the kid decides to take off like a cheetah. OK so maybe not a cheetah, but she was going much faster than she had been during the first 1.5 miles. During those lovely moments when we were able to walk and not RUN she was able to shed some light on the subject. The increased speed is twofold. First, since she is a natural born runner, naturally she get’s the runners high and for her that kicks in around a mile or so. The second is a bit stranger. According to her, on the way back, she noticed her shadow in front of her when we were walking/jogging. I was thinking to myself WTF, because obviously she’s a young teenage so I couldn’t say it out loud plus I think my breathing would have gotten in the way, each time we’d start our next running portion. I must have given her a strange look because she turns to me and says, “Duh I’m chasing my shadow”. Huh?!?! What does that mean? I guess there is this little switch in her brain that makes her want to catch up to her shadow, plus she thinks it looks funny when she runs. This was the secondary reason for the increase in speed. Obviously I should NOT have let her watch Peter Pan so many times when she was a small child. Who knew it was going to make her want to chase and catch her shadow and that I would have to pay for that decision physically. Although it was a bit of a challenge for me to complete the 3 miles with the running added, it was such an amazing high. Not only was I doing something amazing for myself, I also discovered another activity that my daughter and I can enjoy together.

I am so looking forward to tonight’s walk/jog/run!!!

Upping the burn...

As some of you already know, I use the bodybugg on a regular basis. The main purpose of the bodybugg is to measure calories burned. I currently consume approximately 1700 calories per day and burn 2900 calories per day. I’m thinking about tweaking this just a bit. If you do the math this formula results in a 2.4 lb loss per week, that of course is if I’m diligent and follow these guidelines. The change I’m thinking of making is upping my burn to 3500 calories and reducing my intake to 1500 calories. What does this mean for the scale? In theory this should result in a 4 lb a week loss. It’s a bit aggressive and they say you should only lose 2 lbs a week, so I’m a bit concerned. I’ll outline my plan below, tell me what you think.

In order to reach this goal, my plan is to reduce my calories by avoiding fatty and sugary food. I would say that I consume around 200 – 300 calories a day from just juice. Therefore in my mind I wouldn’t be cutting out anything really important or filling. In order to increase my calorie burn I’m going to add a 3.7 mile walk/run to my current workout routine. I am also going to go ahead and get that balance ball for my desk in hopes that it really works and increases my burn. I want to follow this routine for 20 weeks. I think the key is to remind myself that it is only 20 weeks. Right? I sure hope this works. I’ll keep you posted.

Balance ball for an office chair???

OK – I was watching the Biggest Loser the other night and one of the trainers, Bob, suggested using a balance ball instead of an office chair if you work at a desk. It sounds really strange, right? However, I’m sitting here contemplating if I should get myself a balance ball to bring into work. I sit for a good 6 hours a day and if I could get an additional workout by changing what I sit on, that would be cool. Would it be unprofessional to be sitting on a big A** ball instead of on a chair? Will my co-works decide it would be funny to play hide the ball or kickball with my new chair? Do I want to deal with all the heckling I will get if I bring in this new “chair”? Will I fall off and hurt myself? In all honesty I can kind of see myself getting up really quickly, inadvertently kicking the giant ball, watch it ricochet off my desk or a wall, and slamming me into the ground. Even after asking these questions of myself, I came back to the conclusion that heck yeah I’m going to go get me a big balance ball and bring it in as a chair substitute. I don’t care if it makes me look like a freak or a dork, if it truly gives me an extra mini-workout throughout the day then it is definitely worth it. I’m guessing after a few weeks I’ll have a story or two to share about the balance ball “chair”.

Ho Hum Tuna hot dish....

For several years I’ve been mocked and a bit ridiculed that I have never made a hot dish. So this weekend I was downright lazy and decided to make a Tuna hot dish. OMG! Let me just say although it wasn’t horrible it was pretty much the most boring meal I’ve ever made in my entire life. I’ve discovered that I like my plate to have several separate elements to it. I like the variety in colors, tastes, and textures. I mean seriously, no matter how many veggies you put in tuna hot dish or tuna casserole or whatever you want to call it, it is extremely bland looking. I don’t know about the rest of you but I eat with my eyes first. I found myself nibbling on other items the whole rest of the night. Ugh! So it is official I have finally tried to make a tuna hot dish, it was boring, I’m going back to cooking real food no matter how much longer it takes to make.

Sure wish I had a more interesting story to post, but hey my weekend was boring. :-) The posts should get a bit more interesting once the streets are dry and I start my training to go from walking to jogging. It could be entertaining.

It’s official…

You know that 3.4 lb gain that I complained about from February? Well it is officially gone. I have busted my butt at the gym for the past 1.5 weeks and have monitored “most” of the items I’ve eaten. It’s truly amazing what a little hard work will do for a person. On the upside, I still have 20 more days left in March so I’m still on track to have a YTD loss of 20 lbs by the end of March 2010. It will be an intense 20 days, but I know I can do it. I’ve come this far and there is nothing that will stop me from reaching my goal or at least getting within 10 lbs of it. :o)

When I set my 2010 weight loss goal it seemed pretty easy. I mean what’s 20 lbs a quarter? That’s only about 1.54 lbs a week. Totally doable, right? As long as I don’t have any more months like February I know that I will reach the quarterly goal. Plus as a reward, for every 20 lbs I lose, I get to go to the spa for a day. Pedicures rock! Facials are AMAZING! I need to relax and de-stress a bit. Guess I’ll have to “weight” a few more pounds.

Bodybugg, Bodybugg, Oh how I love thee...

I have now officially been on the Bodybugg program for 2 months so I thought it was time for a review. Let me start off by saying that it is hands down the best tool that I have found for myself. When the hubby bought the device for me he decided to put out the extra $80 so that I could get the display unit that can be used with the Bodybugg. If you are thinking about getting the device, I strongly encourage you to go for the full package. Without the display (watch) unit the only way to see what you daily progress was is to upload the data to you computer from the Bodybugg. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I like to monitor my progress throughout the day so the display is critical for me. It shows you the calories that you burned, steps taken, duration of activity and the time. These can be displayed in increment for today, yesterday, target, or trip. I love the trip feature because I will reset it each time I start any activity that I’m curious about how many calories I’ve burned or steps I’ve taken. It is a great way to motivate oneself.

Generally speaking the bodybugg is a program that monitors your caloric intake and caloric expenditures. It also tracks your daily activity. The device itself will provide the steps, activity and caloric expenditure data to the online program once you upload. It is the responsibility of the wearer to be sure to journal all caloric intake. The online program has the functionality to allow you to input this data. It then charts your progress. The coolest part about logging the food is that it really keeps you accountable. After taking a brief survey the Bodybugg program tells you how many calories you should be consuming on a daily basis and gives you a breakdown of how you should be consuming them. It shows how much fiber, calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, protein, calcium, etc that you should have in your daily diet. It even provides you with daily meal plans that you can follow.

Initially the web program seemed a bit cumbersome and confusing in certain areas. However after my Bodybugg training session, I was able to get all my questions answered by a professional and it’s been easy sailing ever since. There are several other attributes to this system, but I just don't have the time right now to list them all. :-)

Feel free to ask any questions that you may have. I’ll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

The Exercise High…

For those of you that currently exercise, I’m sure you know what I am talking about when I say, “the exercise high”. For those of you who don’t, you really need to experience this high. I remember a year ago when I casually decided I was going to start losing weight. The goal for the first year was to work on developing good habits; working out 3 times a week for 30 minutes, eating healthier and choosing more physical social activities. Realistically, I knew that change wasn’t going to happen overnight, so I gave myself the one year buffer to acclimate myself to these changes. During this past year I’ve noticed some physical and mental changes, which I will expand on as I continue this journey and blog. For me exercise encompasses both of these aspects. Back when I started, I very vividly remember thinking to myself that 30 minutes 3 times a week is all the time I had and all that I really wanted to do. All of a sudden back in January hints of the exercise high started to surface.

In January, I got a bodybugg which really made me conscious of the calories I burned throughout the day. The bodybugg has been especially helpful in tracking calories burned during certain activities, such as exercising. I noticed that I was burning on average 300 calories during a 30 minute workout. Throughout the month these calories increased to 400 calories in 35 minutes. My new goal that I set for myself has been 400 calories burned per exercise session, no matter how long it takes me to get there. However, last night I hit some sort of crazy exercise high and just couldn’t stop exercising. I ended up burning 600 calories in one session, which is twice as much of a workout than I would have done last year at this time. During the workout and well after I finished, I felt absolutely amazing. I was in the exercise zone. I am seriously sitting here writhing this, the very next day, still feeling a bit of a high from the workout the previous night and am looking forward to hitting the gym today at 5:00. I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. I WANT to go to the gym. In all honesty the only reason I didn’t end up burning 1000 calories last night is because I needed to pick up the kid from volleyball and the gym was closing for the night. I think I can finally say that exercising is part of my regular routine and it is officially a habit now.

My challenge to each of you is to get up and get moving. No matter what size you are and whether or not you need to lose weight the exercise high is so worth it. Plus healthy activity is good for every BODY!!!

Retiring the baggy pants…

I have several pairs of pants that have gotten to be just way too baggy. I told myself that I was going to continue to wear a pair of pants or shirts until I skip at least a size. Although this idea in theory sounded like a winner to me because it would save me money, the reality is that it might be one of the worst ideas I’ve had on this journey. Ok so the oversized shirts aren’t really my problem, it’s the darn pants.

There are several reasons why this is a bad idea. First of all, when pants get to be nearly 2 sizes too big it is difficult to keep them in place. The other day when I was running (yes I said running) from my car to my house, my pants decided that the waist would rather reside around my thighs than where it belonged. Thankfully I was in my own back yard so the exposure was minimal. I’m sure however if any of my neighbors saw my indiscretion they may be permanently blind. I mean seriously these legs haven’t seen the sun in many years and the refection from the sun off my legs, helped along with the bright white snow, could have potentially caused permanent damage. I know, I know, you are thinking to yourself that I should just buy myself a darn belt. Hmm… A belt? Seriously? I’m a big girl and it is nearly impossible to find a decent belt in my size.

The second reason is that baggy pants simply look bad. I am dangerously close to looking like I am homeless. My pants are so baggy right now that if the wind blew just right it might actually move me. I don’t think I’m ready to take flight yet, but with a healthy enough gust of wind it is possible. However, on the upside if I were to be in an airplane that was crashing to the earth I could potentially pull a Bugs Bunny and use them as a parachute. Not to mention baggy pants totally make my butt look flat. Although “magazines are saying flat butts are the thing”, well I ain’t in to that. J My butt may be big but it sure isn’t flat.

The third reason that I will mention is the most important one to me. They are way too comfortable. It’s like walking around in pajamas all day long. I know that sounds totally awesome, but it promotes laziness. And as I’m sure you are well aware, laziness is a contributing factor to weight gain. It is way too easy to hit the drive-thru at DQ when your pants are baggy. I feel like I deserve it because I have obviously put in a lot of work to lose weight. I’m not saying jeans should be uncomfortable, but they should fit. The ideal jeans would be super comfy until that moment when you’ve over indulged and you feel you need to unbutton your pants. That feeling really helps keep things in check. Now I don’t even need to unbutton my pants to take them off so I’m guessing I could overindulge quite a bit and end up right where I started.

This weekend I’m vowing to go through my closet and get rid of the old pants. Any that are in good shape I’ll donate to charity and the rest I’ll have to trash.

I guess I’ll need to go shopping on Saturday too then. I’m pretty sure I need more than 3 pairs of pants that fit.

Reflections....

I woke up today realizing that I need to take a step back and reflect on what I did this month. January was a great month I worked out 4-6 days a week and stayed OP 28 of the 31 days. Now let’s fast forward to February. All I can really say about that month is “UGH, what was I thinking?!?!”. February was the month of excuses. First it was my birthday, then it was super bowl, then it was the new Mexican restaurant in town, then it was that I was sick, and then it was the oh crap I’ll just start on March 1, 2010 again. I swear I had an excuse to over indulge and not exercise at least 3-4 days a week every week. During the month of January, I saw a weight change of 11.2 lbs, it went down. Then in February I only saw a 3.4 lb change and normally had that been a decrease of 3.4 lbs I’d be pretty darn happy, but OH NO it was a gain.

All I can say is ugh and I’m done with making excuses. I want to be at goal and I do not want to be limited by my weight anymore.

Today is the first day of my WW career.

I know that I said it several times in February, but I am serious this time, “I AM BACK ON TRACK!”

United WE Stand, but for who?

I started my weightloss journey about 1 year ago today. I decided to take my first year to ease into into the journey becasuse in my opinion it is not just weightloss, but a lifestyle change. I am now at the point where I've lost 41 lbs and find myself reevealuating choices I've made and events that are happening around me on a daily baisis. I know this entry seems like a bit of a strange one for the first entry of this blog, but it is a good reflection of where my mind has been lately. Well here it goes. Maybe my next post I'll get a little more personal. :-)

Why is it America is one of the first countries to respond when tragedy strikes? Is it because we are compassionate? Civic minded? Feel an obligation to help out since we are one of the wealthier countries on the planet? Or do we just like the public recognition? I don’t know about the rest of you, but as I’ve observed the efforts put forth towards the Haiti recovery I’ve become a bit disenchanted. Don’t get me wrong I think it is amazing that so many American’s are willing to sacrifice their time, talent and money to help Haiti rebuild during this horrendous time. I feel that it is amazing that so many Americans are willing and able to adopt the orphans of the nation of Haiti that were displaced during this disaster. In no way do I mean to belittle or devalue the events surrounding the earthquakes in Haiti and I am proud of the response of Americans.

However what I don’t get is this… Once Americans have moved on and no longer focus or remember the devastating events that surrounded this sudden surge of support, how do we go back to our everyday lives and not feel the need to continue to help in other ways? Why is it that we only seem to respond when there is devastation? Why does it always seem as though the focus is always aimed away from our home country?

What would happen if we focused the same amount of effort here? It’s like they say on an airplane, “secure your own face mask first before assisting others”. Shouldn’t we take this advice? Shouldn’t we as Americans focus on ourselves first? Wouldn’t this make us a stronger country which is truly united? Again I’m not saying that we shouldn’t help these other countries, but during those times when we are not rallying for others why can’t we rally for ourselves? There are numerous homeless people in our country, numerous children in our foster care systems and orphanages, and numerous families that lack the ability to provide the basics for their children. All I’m saying is that I would like to see a little bit of concerted effort towards our own country for a change. I know there are individuals out there such as myself that volunteer their talents, time and give monetary donations. What I don’t understand is why aren’t we screaming it from the top of the mountains, blaring it over the airwaves, and having major nationwide events to truly put an end to hunger and an end to homelessness? As individuals we have the ability to make a difference, but as a group with a combined mission we could change our world.