Over the winter break my brother rented ice at the York U arena, and arranged for a family skate after a hockey game with his friends. My niece Zoe called and asked if I would come and watch her, which of course I did. Little did I know that day that I would have an Oprah “ah ha” moment that would really change my life.

We went for dinner upstairs at the Ice rink and of course it was pub food – wings, pizza, chicken fingers etc…all of the things I was starting to avoid in my quest for healthier food options. While I was eating my salad option, everyone around me was eating the chicken wings, pizza, chicken fingers. I survived, and as I am finding out through this journey, it is a huge mountain to climb.

Sitting across from me that day was my brothers two friends, both of whom are personal trainers and very physically fit. It wasn’t until I got home that night and was thinking about the time we spent together that it hit me – like a “V-8” moment – THEY CAN HELP ME!!!

So, I sent Adam a message and he told me that it he would have Shoshana call me the next day. And she did. And on January 4th we met, to discuss my needs, my objectives, what I need/want/have to have in my life. On January 11th we started in the gym at my condo.

And what has transpired in the process has been amazing. I expressed my fears about personal trainers pushing my friends so hard that they cried, and I told her that wouldn’t work for me. And she has pushed, but has not made my cry!

It has been 10 weeks now since I started, and it is really amazing. Being active has become a part of my life. I have accomplished so much already, and even though there is so much more to do, I can say that I am building success each time I try something new or reach a new milestone.

– I can now walk over 2 miles on the treadmill.
– I have tried the elipitcal machine, which looked so scary and daunting when I would see people on it, but now I have tried it and it is not so scary and daunting.
– today I tried the bicycle. Not the one that you sit in the ‘chair’ and peddle, but the banana seat kind, the one that looks like a bike, but not. I was apprehensive and a nervous, but again, not so scary and not so daunting. And when Shoshana told me, “now…peddle as hard as you can for 30 seconds”, my first thought was, “is she crazy, I am going to have a heart attack”, but no, I didn’t and it felt great. I will be doing that again.

When Shoshana comes to meet me, I have already been on the treadmill for about 20 minutes. Today she came in with punching gloves, and I said to her, “are you going all Gillian Michaels on me today” and YEP, she did. I actually did target boxing today. It was GREAT. Once I got used to it, she told me “punch has hard and as fast as you can” and I did that for 1 minute. It felt so good.

Social networking is a very public environment. You can choose to share and let people in as much or as little as you want. I am happy to share my accomplishments on facebook and on here. Many people have told me that I inspire them. That is such a compliment, and that is HUGE for someone like me, who in 10 short weeks has discovered how much I can do, and how much more I have in me!

Thanks to all of you who comment, and cheer me on, you have no idea how much that helps me keep doing what I am doing. What I need to be doing.

I am sure that we have all watched a child in our life open a gift and is more interested in the box than the gift. There is so much truth to that on so many levels.

Last night my two nieces played with two empty boxes for over two hours over our Shabbat meal. In fact, they were having so much fun before dinner, that they wanted to leave the table early to continue their works of art.

Zoe was very interested in creating “Zoe’s Taxi” and had Gramma cut out windows for the front, back and sides of the car. She drew wheels, and headlights and tail lights, and inside the ‘taxi’ she drew in the steering wheel and seats on the bottom of the box. When I asked her if she wanted me to write the word “TAXI” at the front, she said no, but asked how “taxi” was spelled and did it herself. Very sophisticated at six years old.

Jaime’s car was more the look of a 1960’s VW hippie van with all kinds of art on the sides, front and back. I had written the words “Jaime’s Car” in bubble letters on one side, and she was very interested in colouring each letter about 4/5 different colours. I coloured in trees, and a sun, and she followed it up with a kite in the sky.

After their creations were done, photos were taken with them inside their cars to email to their mom (she and Ezra were not there due to illness). It was fun to see the creativity flourish and grow the way they are.

After that, Gramma put on Klezmer music and the dance fest began. There was lots of creativity there as well. Jaime told me that she could “feel the music in my heart”….and that made my heart melt just a bit.

We did say a prayer for the Fogel family and being with my family and watching them laugh, smile and dance was all I needed on this Shabbat.