Grand Canyon Sized Doubts

Adventure, Fitness and Activity, Hiking, Travel, United States, Weight Loss 7 Comments

Facing self-doubt and the physical toll of aging, Michele prepares for a demanding hike into the Grand Canyon, having previously completed it 30 years ago with much difficulty. After setbacks including an injury, motivation from friends and realization of her consistent activity help reframe her mindset. Despite enduring mental and physical challenges during the trek, upon reaching the bottom, she releases her self-doubt into the Colorado River. Emerging with renewed confidence in her body and abilities, she reflects on the empowering journey with her fellow hikers, overcoming her past limitations and looking forward to future adventures.

Wakeup Call

Adventure, Argentina, Fitness and Activity, Healthy Eating, Hiking, Travel, Weight Loss 10 Comments

Life requires ongoing renegotiations with our mind, body and spirit. Of late, I’ve been on the losing end of that dynamic. I’ve arrived at a crossroads in my journey toward living a life more extraordinary.

Am I Worthy?

Fitness and Activity, Healthy Eating, Weight Loss 5 Comments

Like many of you, I’m beyond excited for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine is a light at the end of the tunnel. It means less worries about the health and wellbeing of myself and loved ones. It also represents the ability to safely and ethically travel again. Glenn and I feel confident […]

Running in the Buff

Fitness and Activity, Running, Weight Loss 4 Comments

“You should join a marathon training running club” was the epitome of the worst weight loss advice I’ve ever gotten from a doctor.

My trip around the sun.

Adventure, Cancer, Fitness and Activity, Travel, Weight Loss 4 Comments

One year ago my mother died. Anniversaries are often meant to be momentous occasions. A milepost in the march of time when one is supposed to pause and take stock of how far they’ve come over the past year. Progress…decline…stagnation. All best measured against one’s status exactly 365 days prior, or so I’m led to […]

Hey Poser…

Biking, Fitness and Activity, Weight Loss 6 Comments

I recently started riding an electric bike and it fills me with great shame. Or at least it did…until recently. Who knew a bicycle with a battery and a little motor would be so fraught with emotional baggage? It seems this bike has given me a front-row seat to the underbelly of both 1) the bike […]

Back in the saddle again.

Adventure, Fitness and Activity, Healthy Eating, Hiking, Travel, United States, Weight Loss 2 Comments

Somehow, Glenn and I found ourselves in Hawaii recently. A month or so ago we sat slumped in our living room chairs, staring mindlessly at our iPads after a long day at work. It was dark, cold and rainy. Again. “I want to go on a trip,” Glenn suddenly proclaimed. “Me too!!” I replied. We […]

Prying the lid off my bucket list

Adventure, Fitness and Activity, Inspiring people, Travel, Weight Loss 12 Comments

“That’s on my bucket list” is a common refrain I’ve used in the past. In reality, I didn’t actually have a list – just a general sense of things I wanted to do if and when I ever got around to it. So, several years ago – long before we began losing weight and getting […]

Guiding the Way

Adventure, Australia, Biking, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Fitness and Activity, Hiking, Inspiring people, Peru, Travel, Weight Loss 8 Comments

There is always that one person on most every group travel trip. You know… “the one.” They often exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: An exhausting personality or offensive sense of humor. The embodiment of the crass and entitled (North) American tourist stereotype. Talking your ear off at dinner, all the while complaining about […]

What losing over 130 pounds has taught me about food.

Healthy Eating, Weight Loss 6 Comments

I gained over eleven pounds while we were on our recent around-the-world trip. It honestly would have been a lot more if it hadn’t been for all of our extensive adventuring and activity. You see, Glenn and I were in vacation mode when it came to our food choices during our 6-months of travels. Meaning, […]

The Buddy System

Inspiring people, Weight Loss 21 Comments

I’m sitting next to my mother as she receives her first round of chemotherapy treatment. I can honestly say that as I was flitting around the world on our grand 6-month adventure, a chemotherapy clinic is just about the last place I imagined I’d end up upon my return home. We were in Thailand just a couple […]

Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!

Adventure, Fitness and Activity, Hiking, Peru, Travel, Weight Loss 9 Comments

When I was a little girl in Casper, Wyoming, we had a set of encyclopedias that were stacked next to the fireplace. I loved looking at the “M” encyclopedia because the things in that book started with the first letter of my name. I remember being mesmerized by the image of Machu Picchu, the Inca […]

I jiggle, therefore I am.

Fitness and Activity, Inspiring people, Running, Uncategorized, Weight Loss 11 Comments

I had to give myself a little tough love earlier this week. It turns out I’ve been nurturing some pretty negative body image thoughts without really realizing it. Let me start at the beginning. I will only be taking a carry-on sized bag (plus a backpack) on our six-month around the world trip. Since space […]

At a crossroads

Adventure, Inspiring people, Travel, Weight Loss 30 Comments

Glenn quit his job recently. He’s often fantasized about quitting his job in a blaze of glory. But this was a calculated step in a much larger plan we have to push the pause button on our daily grind. By becoming unemployed Glenn has helped create the space in our lives where magic is going happen. You […]

Getting to the heart of the matter

Fitness and Activity, Healthy Eating, Inspiring people, Running, Weight Loss 3 Comments

* GUEST POST by Glenn, Michele’s husband A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams – John Barrymore None of us are ageless. Eventually we will all be limited in one-way or another by age or circumstance. Not an especially cheery thought but something that I’m sure has crossed all of our […]

A Life More Extraordinary

Category Archives: Weight Loss