Of course, I credit my low-carb/low calorie/high fiber eating lifestyle and dedicated workout reigmen for these numbers. I certainly (unfortunatley) get little support from my spouse in these endeavors. He bitches about the cost of the healthier foods I buy, the lack of junky snacks around the house, and of course, the time I expend pursuing exercise - which is usually when no one is home (ie - kid is at school, hubby is at work) anyway. It makes me angry to think about that in retrospect: last year my knee (a year after knee surgery) still wasn't great so to get a cardio workout I would go to a local park district pool for aqua-aerobics classes, two evenings per week. The cost was low, but after a few weeks he started giveing me the business about having to "babysit". Uh, other people call it parenting, right?! Eventually it wasn't worth the endless fights for me to get out of the house on time for the class so I stopped those and started jogging in the neighborhood or riding my bike.

Once the weather got cold, I DEMANDED that we install our treadmill, vowing to be careful to use the safety features to prevent the little one from turning it on.

I finally have gotten to the point that I no longer need a knee brace when I run, thankfully.

I ignore his ridiculous proclamtions when he was protesting my exercise time - "Just don't eat." Say WHAT?! Ugh - this is  guy with a master's degree, very well read, and yet he has the nerve to issue such an asinine statement.  I read a study once that addresses the issue that  avid runners who have partners who are not runners have a higher rate of failed relationships. I thought perhaps it was due only to the variance in brain chemicals that would prevent interpersonal connectivity (i.e. - runner gets all that extra endorphin and adrenalin boost). But its more than that - its a disconnect on ways of seeing our bodies and how we relate it to the environment around us.

So, I am completely bragging here, for each fitness/health achievement, as I have done it on my own, not by choice, but by circumstance.  Not an ideal situation (don't even get me started about the arguments on my recent secondhand bike purchase, or my entry fees for upcoming tri-events!) but I do what I gotta do. Above all I try to keep as much peace as I can, all the while knowing that the only person who will always care for me and my body, always love me the way I need, is ... ME. I am not promoting being selfish, but its like they say, "When mom is happy, everyone is happy." I think that it'd be impossible and utterly disheartening to have to care for my family (and I am the caretaker ) without caring for myself.

I think perhaps I have watched one too many "Ophrah" episodes! ;)