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Introduction Text Hi, I'm Nancy. I live in the western Chicago suburbs. I enjoy being outdoors and marveling at the beauty of all God's creation in all 4 seasons. In the fall of 2009, I enrolled in a "Healthy Eating" class at school, and our teacher introduced the class to this website. WOW, what an awesome support community! I'm so glad to be part of it now! Just before Christmas 2009, I had neuroma removal and bunion correction surgeries on both feet. I was confined to bed or the sofa with my feet elevated over my heart for 4 weeks. My goal was to maintain my weight during the recovery time. Thanks to all my SparkPeople friends, the Nutrition & Exercise Trackers, and Coach Nicole's online exercise videos that I was able to modify to my ability, I did not gain even one pound during this downtime! Thank you for all the SparkPeople support and encouragement - it really helped me! You guys are AWESOME! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ December 2010, I had both feet operated on again for another neuroma and hammer toe corrections. My goal, once again, is to maintain my weight during my downtime. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 01/03/06 - 173.6 10/21/09 - 159 12/23/10 - 144.4 12/23/11 - 161.4 (I obviously didn't maintain my weight during my foot surgeries last year. I ended up accidentally frost-biting 3 toes due to constricting bandages and over-icing trying to get the swelling down. It was a tough year of recovery. I was stress eating and feeling-sorry-for-myself eating. Back to basics. Looking forward to getting back to my 12/23/10 weight by 12/23/12!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1/13/12 New goals for 2012 -- Starting weight 161.2 Get back to my college weight of 140 lbs. Train for and participate in a triathlon sprint (shorter distances than a regular triathlon.) Be accountable to my Spark Team daily with my accomplishments toward my exercise, calories, water, freggies, and sleep goals. 8/26/12 After months a physical therapy and the PT's blessing, I participated in my first triathlon - a super sprint: 1/4 mile swim; 10K bike; 3K run. Took 5th in my division. My transition times were slow, or I'd have done better. 12/31/12 I began 2012 at 161.2. This morning, I weighed in at 154.2 - a loss of 7 pounds for the year, but I was just below 150 during the year and my goal was to get to 145 by year end. I didn't accomplish that, but that is still my goal for 2013. I've been out of my workout routine for the last 2 weeks and only made it to the health club one time - that is a problem that I need to correct next year. Less busyness and more focusing on the basics. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2013 Goals * Spend 15 minutes reading and meditating on scripture daily by setting the alarm 15 minutes earlier. (Accomplished most days.) * Always be present in the moment by not multitasking. (Still needs work, but at least I'm conscious of when I'm multitasking now!) * Find something to be in awe of daily by being present in the moment. (Needs more work. Forgot this was one of my goals.) * Participate in 2 outdoor triathlons and 1 indoor triathlon. (Did 2 outdoor and 5 indoor tris.) * Run 2 5K races. (Laps with Chaps and Turkey Trot.) * Reach and maintain goal weight of 145 +/- 3 pounds. (Ended the year 2 lbs heavier than I started it.) 1/1/13 Starting Weight 153.8 12/31/13 Ending Weight 155.8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Father's homily at mass this morning was about the un-examined life. I hadn't really thought about goals for 2015 yet. But the homily inspired to me reflect on last year and set some goals for this year. Here's what I wrote last year as my goals. (My year end comments are in parenthesis) -- 2014 Goals Many of these are lifestyle changes rather than destination goals, and I want to change my life, not just my weight. * Spend 15 minutes reading and meditating on scripture daily by setting the alarm 15 minutes earlier. (I probably started the year better than the way I finished it. I'm going back to a print meditation booklet instead of an online version. Too many other online distractions from my meditation.) * Always be present in the moment by not multitasking. (I wrote that? Still struggling with this one.) * Find something to be in awe of daily by being present in the moment. (I did a daily gratitude list all year.) * Participate in 2 outdoor triathlons and 1 indoor triathlon. (Did 2 outdoor tris. I was sick for the indoor tri.) * Run one 5K race. (St. Paddy's Day 5K.) * Bike one 25K+ ride for charity. (Did 3 charity rides. Longest ride was 42 miles.) * Reach and maintain goal weight of 145 +/- 3 pounds. (Gained 4.8 lbs.) * Get 6+ hours of sleep nightly. This will be the really challenging one for me, since I average around 5. (Doing pretty well with this one.) 1/1/14 Starting Weight 155.8 12/31/14 Ending Weight (goal) 145 12/31/14 Ending Weight (actual) 160.6 - a gain of 4.8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2015 Goals I will continue with my 2014 Goals and improve on these lifestyle changes. (My year end comments are in parenthesis) -- * Spend 15 minutes reading and meditating on scripture daily by using a meditation booklet instead of my cell phone Kindle. (I'm still struggling with this one.) * Take a meditation class to learn to be present in the moment. (Did it! Now to practice it.) * Participate in 2 outdoor triathlons and 1 indoor triathlon. (I did not do an indoor tri. Waited too long to register and got closed out.) * Run one 5K race with Harry. (St. Paddy's Day beer run!) * Bike at least one 40+ mile ride for charity. (Did two of them.) * Reach and maintain goal weight of 149 pounds. (Surpassed goal weight half-way through the year.) * Get 7+ hours of sleep nightly. (Did I commit to that? I changed it to 6.5 hours some time during the year.) 1/1/15 Starting Weight 160.6 12/31/15 Ending Weight (goal) 149 Progress throughout 2015 - 1/1/15 - 160.6 2/1/15 - 158.0 4/1/15 - 156.0 Started doing daily accountability blog 5/1/15 - 152.8 6/1/15 - 150.6 7/1/15 - 145.8 My year-end goal was 149.0 8/1/15 - 143.8 9/1/15 - 144.8 10/1/15 - 141.8 11/1/15 - 141.8 12/1/15 - 139.2 12/31/15 - Ending Weight (goal) 149 12/31/15 - Ending Weight (actual) 137.8 - loss of 22.8 pounds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2016 Goals I will continue with my 2015 Goal. It's working, not gonna change it! * Spend 15 minutes reading and meditating on scripture daily by using a meditation booklet instead of my cell phone Kindle. * Be present in the moment. * Eat mindfully. * Participate in 2 outdoor triathlons and 1 indoor triathlon. * Run an official 10K race. * Bike at least one 40+ mile ride for charity. * Reach and maintain goal weight of 135 pounds. * Get 7+ hours of sleep nightly. 01/01/16 Starting Weight 137.8 12/31/16 Ending Weight (goal) 135 Progress throughout 2016 - 01/01/16 - 137.8 (1/3 Indoor tri) 02/01/16 - 135.2 (2 days post-colonoscopy & 1 day after Dad's death) 03/01/16 - 138.0 (After 3 weeks on vacation in CA) 04/01/16 - 138.4 (4/24 Champion of Trees 10K) 05/01/16 - 138.8 06/01/16 - 138.2 (6/12 Esprit de She triathlon) 07/01/16 - 139.4 (Not doing daily accountability) 08/01/16 - 143.2 (Deferred Naperville tri to next year) 09/01/16 - 142.8 (Decided to return to daily accountability) 10/01/16 - 139.8 (Daily accountability works for me!) 11/01/16 - 137.8 (I had a candy-free Halloween!) 12/01/16 - 136.6 12/31/16 Ending Weight (Goal) 135 12/31/16 - 137.8 (Actual) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2017 Goals I read a couple of articles about New Year's Resolutions, and both suggested keeping them simple and no more than three. So, here are my three main goals, which really will encompass most of the other goals that I was tracking in the past - * Grow in my faith walk by reading & studying scripture first thing daily. * Maintain my weight between 135-139 pounds by eating 125 fewer calories than I burn daily. * Get 6.5+ hours of sleep nightly by getting to bed by 10:30pm. Year weight goal - 01/01/17 - 137.8 Starting Weight just after bout w/diverticulitis 02/01/17 - 140.0 (Stress eating - 1st anniversary of Dad's death) 03/12/17 - 146.0 (Just back from 3.5 week CA vacation 04/01/17 - 142.0 05/01/17 - 144.8 06/01/17 - 143.4 07/01/17 - 144.4 08/01/17 - 148.8 (After MI vacation. Eating for triathlon training, but due to shoulder injury not exercising as intensely for triathlon.) 09/01/17 - 147.0 10/01/17 - 147.2 11/01/17 - 146.6 12/01/17 - 144.6 12/31/17 Ending Weight (Goal) - between 135-139 12/31/17 Actual - 144.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2018 Goals Staying with last year's advice of not having too many goals, here are my three main goals for 2018, which are the same goals as 2017. I will keep improving on these, as they really encompass most of the other goals that I want to accomplish - * Grow in my faith walk by reading & studying scripture first thing daily. * Maintain my weight between 139-144 pounds by eating 125 fewer calories than I burn daily. * Get 6.5+ hours of sleep nightly by getting to bed by 10:30pm. I just went to this website to calculate my ideal weight - www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html This is what comes up for a woman my age and height - Ideal Weight Calculator Result Based on the Robinson formula (1983), your ideal weight is 139.9 lbs Based on the Miller formula (1983), your ideal weight is 142.5 lbs Based on the Devine formula (1974), your ideal weight is 143.4 lbs Based on the Hamwi formula (1964), your ideal weight is 141.5 lbs Based on the healthy BMI recommendation, your recommended weight is 123.5 lbs - 166.8 lbs This is quite a spread of weight range - 123.5-166.8, based on BMI. On all the other formulas, it looks like 139-144 is a pretty good range for me. Year weight goal - 01/01/18 - 144.0 02/01/18 - 146.4 Stress/sugar eating 03/03/18 - 150.8 post-vacation weight 04/01/18 - 146.8 05/01/18 - 149.2 not an excuse, but too darn cold to run outside 06/01/18 - 146.6 07/03/18 - 148.2 08/01/18 - 147.4 09/01/18 - 147.5 10/01/18 - 149.2 11/01/18 - 147.4 12/01/18 - 145.0 12/31/18 Ending Weight (Goal) - between 139-144 12/31/18 Actual - 148.4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2019 Goals What a year 2018 was! Got engaged and married within 5 months. My weight was all over the place. In the spirit of keeping things simple, I will keep improving on the goals I have had the last couple of years - * Grow in my faith walk by reading & studying scripture first thing daily. * Maintain my weight between 139-144 pounds by eating 125 fewer calories than I burn daily. * Get 6.5+ hours of sleep nightly by getting to bed by 10:00pm. Year weight goal - 01/01/19 - 148.4 02/01/19 - 149.2 03/11/19 - 154.6 Ugh, vacation eating. 04/01/19 - 153.4 05/01/19 - 155.2 06/01/19 - 160.0 It's been a slippery slope since vacation. 07/01/19 - 159.8 08/01/19 - 161.0 09/01/19 - 160.0 10/01/19 - 159.0 11/01/19 - 158.8 12/01/19 - 155.8 12/31/19 Ending Weight (Goal) - between 139-144 12/31/19 Actual - 156.4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2020 Weight management progress 01/01/20 - 156.4 02/01/20 - 153.4 03/09/20 - 157.4 (back from vacation) 04/01/20 - 156.6 05/01/20 - 156.2 06/01/20 - 154.4 07/01/20 - 150.6 08/01/20 - 148.0 09/01/20 - 146.0 10/01/20 - 145.0 11/01/20 - 143.8 12/01/20 - 144.2 12/31/20 - 145.0 12/31/20 Ending Weight (Goal) - between 139-144 Goodbye & good riddance, 2020 - Year of Covid! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My goals for 2021 -- In the spirit of keeping things simple, I will keep improving on the goals I have had the last couple of years - * Grow in my faith walk by reading & studying scripture for 20 minutes first thing daily. * Maintain my weight between 139-144 pounds by eating 100 fewer calories than I burn daily. * Get 7.5+ hours of sleep nightly by getting to bed by 10:00pm. 2021 Weight management progress 01/01/21 - 145.0 02/01/21 - 03/09/21 - 04/01/21 - 05/01/21 - 06/01/21 - 07/01/21 - 08/01/21 - 09/01/21 - 10/01/21 - 11/01/21 - 12/01/21 - 12/31/21 - 12/31/21 Ending Weight (Goal) - between 139-144

Get 7+ hours sleep daily. Reach my college weight of 140 pounds. (I took this off as a goal because I was so far from it, but it's in sight again!)

Be accountable with Nutriton & Exercise Trackers daily. Aerobic exercise - 30 minutes 5x week. Strength training - 2x week. Eat 200-500 calories less that I expend daily.

I like to hike, canoe, kayak, rock climb, cross country ski, and mostly walk/run with my Labradoodles - Libby (chocolate) and Barney (black). Libby is all brains. We did agility training together before my foot injury. Barney is all brawn and can leap a 4-foot fence from a stand still. He's a rescue dog, and now we know why. He was constantly on the loose and the owners gave up paying the fines to the dog catcher! He was malnourished, in bad physical condition, afraid of people - probably due to abuse - but isn't he handsome now?



Add a Link Nancy "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." ~ Philippians 4:8
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