The 40th Portland Marathon this coming October, here I come!

I have never participated in a marathon in my life, but have decided to do it to help get fit (the next challenge on my weight loss & better health journey) while raising money for suffering animals. I am a member of PETA PACK which will use any funds I raise to help end animal abuse.

I would of course appreciate any support and/or contributions! You can visit my fundraising page at this link:

www2.peta.org/site/TR/Events/PETAsOnlineCommunity?px=2429912&pg=personal&fr_id=10811

I start training on July 1st by walking everyday. I am definitely going to need Shaklee’s Sports Nutrition products now more than ever.

In January, it started with “I Commit To 10”-Shaklee’s campaign to motivate people to lose even just 10lbs. to improve their health. Then we launched our Team RLEI TrimminSlimm to double the efforts. So far, both Mark & I have lost 15lbs. with the help of the Cinch plan.

Most of all, our eating lifestyle has changed for the better. Mark & I eat vegetarian, vegan frequently at home, with more fresh, organic, & seasonal veggies & fruits than ever before. (Every week there’s been lots and lots of blueberries, grapes, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, spinach, garlic, and arugula.) And whole grains, nuts, and beans. (Wheat pitas, seeded bread, garbanzo beans, almond butter aplenty.) We generally eat smaller meals and keep fast & processed foods to a minimum. And even then we try to buy mostly locally made & with as much healthy ingredients as possible. (Only Burgerville here in Oregon & In N’ Out in SoCal, sometimes Subway, are allowed as occasional fast food destinations & multi-grain crackers from “Mary’s Gone Crackers”, “Uncle Eddy’s Vegan” oatmeal raisin cookies, or “Panda” licorice as processed treats for example.) We try to seek out vegan places to eat when we go out, but just do our best. Soy & water are main staples. We still need to work on keeping to an eating schedule with stricter monitoring of portions and calories. Our journals need to be picked back up. But in general, what’s going in our fridge, pantry, & mouths is much, much better quality. Including Cinch products & supplements.

Our exercise lifestyle, though, is stalled. With the better weather, our motivation briefly picked up. We’re getting outside with the dogs more. Mark challenged me to a hike that I surprisingly accomplished. And he is on and off with his stretching & yoga routines. I started using some dance workout WII games, but couldn’t commit. The only thing we both do regularly is find time for meditation & breathing. But I keep searching for that one thing that is going to really change my pattern and get me on the right active path that my diet is on now. I really hope walking to train for this marathon is it!

As we all approach this 1/2 way mark during our program year, we would love to hear your story too! Post to this blog if you want to share your ups, downs, & everything in between. And thanks for following mine!