Our local newspaper. The News Gazette runs a weekly article in the Sunday living section called Getting Personal. The writer Meg Dickenson, interviews well known people or people you should know from around the area. Today she encouraged local people who blog to answer the following questions and she may feature some of our answers in an upcoming article. So here are some of my immediate answers that I thought up tonight. Enjoy! Jane
Jane Sprandel, 35 Living in Thomasboro, originally from Cissna Park IL
Profession: Work as a grocery inventory analyst for the Champaign Meijer store
What time do you typically get up? What do you do the first hour of the morning? I get up at 4am Monday-Friday I try to only hit the snooze once, weigh, brush my teeth and such, get dressed grab my pills and head off to work to clock in by 5am.
What did you have for lunch today? Had a late lunch of popcorn. Where? At home after work and running errands. With whom my kids were home but they had already had a snack when I made my popcorn
Best high school memory. I have loved sports all my life and while in high school I did some work as a student athletic trainer.
Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes. They would have to be my orange and blue Illini crocs
What does a perfect Sunday afternoon include? Watching a game of football with my family. Right now my son plays for the Rantoul Falcons but also love to root for the Steelers!
Was there one book you read as a child that you still cherish? Own? Read? I Will Love You Forever! Love to still read it to my kids. Often give it as a shower gift!
Where on earth are you dying to go? Why? I would like to go to Germany with my husband. I was there as a high school student for an exchange but would like to go there again with him. It is such a wonderful place!
Tell me about your favorite pet. I have had several dogs in my life but my Lab Bertha was one wild girl. I can’t say if our current dogs, Tyson a boxer or our Lab Sully is my favorite….they may start pouting.
Have you discovered as you matured that you are becoming like one of your parents? I have a great loving caring heart like my mom.
Which one and how? I have always had many of my moms traits and temper but learning to be more even tempered like my dad but still very diplomatic
What would you order for your last meal? In the hope I could eat it: I would go to Outback Steakhouse. I would have a medium steak, loaded baked potato, salad with blue cheese and some of their bread. For dessert…something with Chocolate.
What can you NOT live without? My Iphone
Who do you have on your iPod? A lot of Christian artists and workout music with upbeat tempo
What’s the happiest memory of your life? The day I married my husband Tony and promised to love his two kids Seth and McKenna as my kids and then when we brought our daughter Raegyn into the world. Family is so important to me!
If you could host a dinner party with any three living people in the world, whom would you invite? Sarah Palin, Julia Roberts, Jodi Picoult
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? If you can go to bed at night and know that the Lord would be proud of you then it was a successful day.
What’s your best piece of advice? Never have regrets. Maybe wish things would have happened differently but in the end we all learn from our mistakes and challenges.
What was your first job, and how much did you make an hour? I worked at our school/public library in Cissna Park while in high school. Thinking about $4.35 per hour
What was a pivotal decision in your career, and how did you arrive at that decision? I decided to leave retail management so I could focus on being a mom. I am currently a full time working mom but at least I have a set schedule with some flexability to participate in my kids activities.
Do you have a bad habit? What is it?
How do you handle a stressful situation? I am learning to try to work out, call a friend or sometimes just have a good cry. I do a lot of praying so that helps me work through the tough times.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Rain Rain go away!!!!
Where is the sun? So it is the second day of this gloomy weather and I am ready for the sun to come out!!! When the weather is gloomy it is hard to feel excited and happy about the things around you. Overall today was a good day despite the weather. I was able to find positive things on this gloomy day. I seen a post from the News Gazette on Face book today encouraging local bloggers to fill out a questioner to possibly be used in a future story. Each Sunday they interview a local celebrity about a variety of things. I decided that I could do the survey. It does not matter if my answers are used, because I was able to see what a great life I have. Up to now I have had a good life and the future is even brighter for me. We all have our challenges day to day and I am learning to deal with them more each day. I feel like as the pounds come off my ability to encourage others has increased. One of my friends recently went to the doctor and he suggested that she take part in a very aggressive type of diet. This diet is very expensive so it is not a possibility at this time for my friend. I have tried to reassure her that she can lose weight by just watching what she eats, how much she tries to work extra movement into her daily life, but most importantly she has to BELIEVE in herself, but also I am here for her. The thing that has helped me the most with my success is that I have believed in myself and others have also believed that I can be successful. Today I was proud of myself for not letting my work stress get the best of me. Work has been hectic lately but I am getting better about only freaking out about the things that I can control. Instead of freaking out I decided to work hard on modeling the behaviors that I want some of my coworkers to mimic. I can only hope that they noticed how I try to do all that I can to help the team with a smile.
It always makes me feel great when I have people comment on my amazing weight loss. I prefer to call it a transformation. Not only have I lost a large amount of weight but I have also gained a lot of self confidence. I enjoy blogging and sharing my story with others in hopes to inspire others to do something to improve their lives in one way or another. I want to inspire others to make a change to make their life even better than what it was the day before. I seen a post on someone’s face book page the other day, “ is it more important to be remembered as being a giver or one than who takes more than they give?” Of course most want to be remembered as a giver but sometimes it is bad to give to much. I need to learn to let others help me and rely on them more than I do. I tend to do to much and then get overwhelmed.
I am busy with work, being a great mom, driving kids all around and trying to work on my overall transformation but yet I like to take some time and blog and inspire others. How did your day go? What can I do to inspire you? Helping you make me stay accountable too! Have a blessed day!
It always makes me feel great when I have people comment on my amazing weight loss. I prefer to call it a transformation. Not only have I lost a large amount of weight but I have also gained a lot of self confidence. I enjoy blogging and sharing my story with others in hopes to inspire others to do something to improve their lives in one way or another. I want to inspire others to make a change to make their life even better than what it was the day before. I seen a post on someone’s face book page the other day, “ is it more important to be remembered as being a giver or one than who takes more than they give?” Of course most want to be remembered as a giver but sometimes it is bad to give to much. I need to learn to let others help me and rely on them more than I do. I tend to do to much and then get overwhelmed.
I am busy with work, being a great mom, driving kids all around and trying to work on my overall transformation but yet I like to take some time and blog and inspire others. How did your day go? What can I do to inspire you? Helping you make me stay accountable too! Have a blessed day!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Overwhelmed
Overwhelmed is how I feel lately. I am a very busy mom to three wonderful kids, I try to be a great wife, I am a busy advocate for our school, and I work full time. Add to that I am trying to get my self to a set goal on the scale and that can spell disaster! Life changes are a journey with no distinct beginning or end. I began the journey of weight loss to shed some weight to get healthy. Never did I dream that I would have lost over 100 pounds in less than a year. Never did I dream that I would fall in love with the gym. Never did I think I would be wearing a size 18 pair of Levi's rather than a size 28 from Lane Bryant. Never did I think I would be able to self talk myself to doing some running on a treadmill to finish a mile with a personal record. Nor did I think that some days it would be hard!
I always say since this is my blog I can say what I want! Well to be honest Lap Band and weight loss surgeries in general get a bad rap. Over the weekend one of my favorite trainers Jillian Michael's posted a link about a woman dying from Lap Band. I was upset with the article! It sounds like to me the lady was at a quack job type of place to begin with. The simple truth is this. Can you die from Lap Band of course you can. What you have to do if find an approved specialist to make sure that the surgery is right for you and you know what is involved with the surgery.
I have talked about how the biggest battle of Lap Band for me is still controlling the "emotional" eating. I have had a stressful week and there were times were I felt that a chocolate shake or ice cream would make everything all better. Truth is it doesn't and it takes willpower to not allow those old ways to creep back into your life.
I had a really bad day on Wednesday and I was asked if I wanted to take rest of the day off or a few days off. I must have really been crazy. I decided no that I was going to regroup and be a big girl and take the issues one step at a time. So after a great pep talk from my friend Becky I was able to pull up my saggy pants and go out there and control what I could at work and what was not my problem or I could not control....I was going to try not to let it bother me. This is extremely hard for a perfectionist.
So Thursday and Friday I did pretty good at work taking care of what I can control and what is my responsibility and not letting other things overwhelme me. Looking forward to another great week at work starting tomorrow at 5am.
Over the weekend I was able to get alot of house cleaning done and it was needed! I threw away some stuff, started getting rid of some stuff that is to big, and that is always a great feeling. So it is Sunday night and I had a great day at Seth's football game, had a wonderful family meal with all 5 of us and my dad came over for ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans, It was yummy. Made a couple of pans of Pumpkin bars and like usual Raegyn and I took some to the older couple next door. It just warms my heart to share with them. Getting ready to watch some Steelers football with my boys!
So work is going better, good weekend at home, that just leaves my journey. I did alot of thinking this weekend about my journey. I am so pleased with my journey but I have gotten a little off track on it so I have set the goal to work out more this week, do my at home physical therapy for my shoulder, eat better and try to take some me time this week. I have been so busy focusing on my family and my job that I sort of forgot about my journey a little. I need to make it a priority since when I make JANE a priority everything else falls into place. I will try to blog more in the next few weeks while I get back on track. Please keep me accountable. Also along the way remind me to take me time, to not sweat the little stuff and especially to not sweat the stuff I can not control if I am going to sweat it better be on the treadmill!! Take care of yourself. What can I do to help you???
I always say since this is my blog I can say what I want! Well to be honest Lap Band and weight loss surgeries in general get a bad rap. Over the weekend one of my favorite trainers Jillian Michael's posted a link about a woman dying from Lap Band. I was upset with the article! It sounds like to me the lady was at a quack job type of place to begin with. The simple truth is this. Can you die from Lap Band of course you can. What you have to do if find an approved specialist to make sure that the surgery is right for you and you know what is involved with the surgery.
I have talked about how the biggest battle of Lap Band for me is still controlling the "emotional" eating. I have had a stressful week and there were times were I felt that a chocolate shake or ice cream would make everything all better. Truth is it doesn't and it takes willpower to not allow those old ways to creep back into your life.
I had a really bad day on Wednesday and I was asked if I wanted to take rest of the day off or a few days off. I must have really been crazy. I decided no that I was going to regroup and be a big girl and take the issues one step at a time. So after a great pep talk from my friend Becky I was able to pull up my saggy pants and go out there and control what I could at work and what was not my problem or I could not control....I was going to try not to let it bother me. This is extremely hard for a perfectionist.
So Thursday and Friday I did pretty good at work taking care of what I can control and what is my responsibility and not letting other things overwhelme me. Looking forward to another great week at work starting tomorrow at 5am.
Over the weekend I was able to get alot of house cleaning done and it was needed! I threw away some stuff, started getting rid of some stuff that is to big, and that is always a great feeling. So it is Sunday night and I had a great day at Seth's football game, had a wonderful family meal with all 5 of us and my dad came over for ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans, It was yummy. Made a couple of pans of Pumpkin bars and like usual Raegyn and I took some to the older couple next door. It just warms my heart to share with them. Getting ready to watch some Steelers football with my boys!
So work is going better, good weekend at home, that just leaves my journey. I did alot of thinking this weekend about my journey. I am so pleased with my journey but I have gotten a little off track on it so I have set the goal to work out more this week, do my at home physical therapy for my shoulder, eat better and try to take some me time this week. I have been so busy focusing on my family and my job that I sort of forgot about my journey a little. I need to make it a priority since when I make JANE a priority everything else falls into place. I will try to blog more in the next few weeks while I get back on track. Please keep me accountable. Also along the way remind me to take me time, to not sweat the little stuff and especially to not sweat the stuff I can not control if I am going to sweat it better be on the treadmill!! Take care of yourself. What can I do to help you???
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Back in my workout routine
So as you may have noticed my journey with weightloss has slowed to a slow crawl. I have talked about how success can be measured. When I look at the scale is seems to have gotten stuck and some days even seems like there is some extra fluff on the scale with me. Is this classified as failure?? Heck NO! If anything the scale being stuck or somedays not being kind to me is a sign of success....I don't let it bother me, if anything it makes me want to work harder.
I took the summer "off"from working out at the gym so that I could attend all three kids playing summer ball. I did try to be active walking more, working in my garden and just trying to get out and MOVE. So I promised myself that once football got started for Seth I was going to go back to they gym. Well it took me a few weeks to go back and those first few weeks I just visited a few times. This week I got fired up and decided that I was ready to do it for ME again.....ME taking charge of my health was what needed to be a priority again. So this week off to the gym I went, I decided that I wanted to do a 1 mile push as hard as I could speed walk on the treadmill. Mondays time 14:24 now to many of you that may seem sad but I was thrilled. I immediatly sent Tony and my friend Becky my time and as always they had kind responses back. Later that night I emailed a few other friends who do some running and such and asked them to guide me as to what a good time is...and how to continue to get better but insisted I am not a runner nor do I want to be one. The next day my friend Lynn emailed me and said, "why not become a runner?" She then went on to share a great link with me. http://www.halhigdon.com/ So I checked out this link which helps you prepare for a variety of races. I looked at the 5K novic routine. Heck many days it is less than what I am doing now on the treadmill so I asked myself....."Why can't I become a runner?" So I have to clarify I can not run 1.5 miles but what I can do is walk at a pace of about 4.2 miles per hour and push myself to jog several times at 4.7mph. I did the 1.5 routine on Tue and Thursday. I took Wed as a rest day. My time of Tue 21:36 Thur 21:14 So there has been some improvement. I think that I am going to try to use this as a guide for me. Am I going to run/walk a 5K in 8 weeks? I doubt it but I never thought that I would be jogging on a treadmill so anything is possibble.
I feel proud of my new accomplishment. I am thankful to my friends and Tony for encouraging me to push myself and try things outside of my comfort zone. I honestly enjoy working out and the sweat I have been working up feels great. I feel like I am growing in so many positive ways.
So the question I first posed.....Am I still being successful with my journey? More than I ever imagined. My life has changed so much. I work out, I try to eat healthier, I try to believe in myself more that I ever have in my life, I feel 100 times better with 100+ pounds gone.
Like any journey there are ups and downs, obsticles, joys, and sorrows. I seem to have a few not so good for me foods back on my regular food list and I have to be carefully that I do not indulge in them to frequently.
I always say it and I truly mean it....I appreciate all of your love and support on this journey. I pray that your Labor Day weekend is safe and enjoyable. I do encourage you to get back on a healthy lifestyle yourself after this last horrah of the summer. Take care of you.....do it for your family...but most importantly, do it for YOU. YOU are worth it!
Jane
I took the summer "off"from working out at the gym so that I could attend all three kids playing summer ball. I did try to be active walking more, working in my garden and just trying to get out and MOVE. So I promised myself that once football got started for Seth I was going to go back to they gym. Well it took me a few weeks to go back and those first few weeks I just visited a few times. This week I got fired up and decided that I was ready to do it for ME again.....ME taking charge of my health was what needed to be a priority again. So this week off to the gym I went, I decided that I wanted to do a 1 mile push as hard as I could speed walk on the treadmill. Mondays time 14:24 now to many of you that may seem sad but I was thrilled. I immediatly sent Tony and my friend Becky my time and as always they had kind responses back. Later that night I emailed a few other friends who do some running and such and asked them to guide me as to what a good time is...and how to continue to get better but insisted I am not a runner nor do I want to be one. The next day my friend Lynn emailed me and said, "why not become a runner?" She then went on to share a great link with me. http://www.halhigdon.com/ So I checked out this link which helps you prepare for a variety of races. I looked at the 5K novic routine. Heck many days it is less than what I am doing now on the treadmill so I asked myself....."Why can't I become a runner?" So I have to clarify I can not run 1.5 miles but what I can do is walk at a pace of about 4.2 miles per hour and push myself to jog several times at 4.7mph. I did the 1.5 routine on Tue and Thursday. I took Wed as a rest day. My time of Tue 21:36 Thur 21:14 So there has been some improvement. I think that I am going to try to use this as a guide for me. Am I going to run/walk a 5K in 8 weeks? I doubt it but I never thought that I would be jogging on a treadmill so anything is possibble.
I feel proud of my new accomplishment. I am thankful to my friends and Tony for encouraging me to push myself and try things outside of my comfort zone. I honestly enjoy working out and the sweat I have been working up feels great. I feel like I am growing in so many positive ways.
So the question I first posed.....Am I still being successful with my journey? More than I ever imagined. My life has changed so much. I work out, I try to eat healthier, I try to believe in myself more that I ever have in my life, I feel 100 times better with 100+ pounds gone.
Like any journey there are ups and downs, obsticles, joys, and sorrows. I seem to have a few not so good for me foods back on my regular food list and I have to be carefully that I do not indulge in them to frequently.
I always say it and I truly mean it....I appreciate all of your love and support on this journey. I pray that your Labor Day weekend is safe and enjoyable. I do encourage you to get back on a healthy lifestyle yourself after this last horrah of the summer. Take care of you.....do it for your family...but most importantly, do it for YOU. YOU are worth it!
Jane
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