Monday, April 30, 2007

This weekend

OK - I was going down steadily all week -with a low point of 220.4 on Saturday... Then Sunday morning I was up again to 222.0. Sigh. Today I was 221.4 again. I worked out with Tony on Saturday - we boxed again - which I really enjoy. Then yesterday I took a 2 mile walk. This was a good thing because up until that point I was being an absolute slug. I planned to walk to church - then (accidentily on purpose) didn't allow enough time. So I DID haul my butt outside for a walk just at dusk last night. It was a beautiful night for a walk.

There are several houses for sale in my area. I think you should all consider buying there. Then we can all walk together. The prices aren't unreasonaly (mostly because the houses themselves are ick 1960s-70s houses instead of brand new) and the lots are large. Many of them are already fenced in. Very nice.

My eating hasn't been great - but it hasn't been aweful either. I ate most of the fresh fruit in the house over the weekend - but no vegetables to speak of. Katie and I are grocery shopping tonight and doing Let's Dish tomorrow night - so hopefully that should get us back on track.

Madness

I cannot WAIT for school to be over. I need a break!

I signed up for this training program at Goucher on Wednesday nights for an hour for the next 8 weeks.

http://www.charmcityrun.com/programdetail.cfm?programid=86

You train for a 5k. I figured what the heck--it is $20 and you get a tshirt! Woohoo! The 5k is the Baltimore Women's Classic on Sunday, June 24. I am thinking of registering for that. Let me know if any of you want to join me, either to run or to walk. The race route is very flat--it is in Locust Point. You start at the Museum of Industry on Key Kwy and run to Ft McHenry and back.

http://www.baltimorewomensclassic.com/

Otherwise, I have been holding steady and have been very frazzled with school and work. May 15 can't get here fast enough!!!!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Still going on

I STILL have the not quite sick thing going on - and today Lynne Tuccy has it too. It must be something real. I have been mildly queasey since Wednesday morning, but have managed to eat most meals - although, not quite as enthusiastically as I normally would.

Katie and I have gotten in the habit of having a piece of toast and orange juice first thing in the morning. This is a recommended breakfast on the YOU on a Diet diet. I have noticed - and maybe this is the virus and not the diet - but when I do this I don't feel as hungry as quickly. (Not that feeling hungry has ever been my problem.) Normally, however, if I eat breakfast at 9:30 or so I am feeling hungry by about 1pm. This way I STILL am feeling hungry at about 1pm - which may indicate that my hunger is more habit than true hunger.

We went to Bonefish last night. I didn't enjoy my dinner that much. I had a filet - which was too over done. Then, right when we got our dinner, someone asked to change the TV to baseball (from the food network). The bartender knows not to switch our show - but asked us if he could anyway... and laughed when we emphatically said no! Baseball was on the OTHER TV in the bar - sit down there!! But, I felt like I had to guard the TV after that. Our two favorite bartenders are leaving within the next two months - one NEXT week and one in June. Katie and I are going to have to find a new bar... So sad.

I didn't exercise last night. All day I was feeling achy (not like my muscles were sore from working out, but like I was getting a flu) and I had NO ENERGY. So I took a bath and went to bed instead. When I woke up this morning I considered calling in sick - but didn't. Sigh. I was 221.0 this morning - so still going down - very slowly.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

No good reason to post

Except that I haven't posted since Tuesday so I thought I was due. Alexander was still sick as of yesterday afternoon, so I cancelled my gym appointment, but then we ended up going for a walk (about 2 1/2 miles) to and from the library -- he rode his bike on the way there, and in fact rode it off the side of the trail and down a steep bank so that it ended up on top of him! -- and then rode in the stroller for most of the way back (except up the long hill at the end -- I made him walk that. And Mary rode his bike for him and her scooter folded conveniently into the bin on the stroller). He can normally ride most of the way to and from and he is certainly good for a lot of walking, so he was definitely still a bit affected by the virus. This morning he woke up queasy and didn't want breakfast until 11 or so, but then he ate enthusiastically.

My point was that I did exercise yesterday, but not very high-energy. I suppose pushing the stroller adds to the exercise.

Daniel had the not-quite-sick version of the virus, and Mary and I mostly missed it. Mary complained of her stomach hurting a couple of times but her appetite returned anyway. So I'm not sure if it was the same thing.

Sarah, Daniel pointed out that you might burn more calories running than walking, depending on how efficient you are when you run -- if you lift your knees really high and pump your arms when you run, then, yeah, you'd burn more calories that way, because you're covering more vertical distance even if the horizontal distance is the same. But officially you don't burn any more when you run.

My weight has been hovering around 145. But my rings and shoes still feel tight so a little bit might be bloat. But I'm not going to lose any weight until the candy is gone.

Can't think of a title

I was working on a tight deadline yesterday so didn't get to the gym, but after checking my memory of physics with Emily I decided that a three mile walk with Davey is the same, calorie-wise, as three miles on the treadmill. So I walked him when I got home (ended up being 3.26 miles according to mapmyrun.com). I was also feeling better yesterday, although not fabulous, so my food stayed within healthy, normal limits.

Connor seems to have the ick now--doesn't want to eat, a bit feverish (although barely measurable) and diarrhea. Well, he always has diarrhea, but this is worse than usual. He doesn't even want to eat cupcakes! That's how you know when Connor is really sick and not just being difficult.

Not Quite Sick

I know what you mean Sarah... Katie and I have both been suffering from the "not quite sick" syndrom also. I have been doing the feverish sweaty thing a couple of days. Then I have been having the mildly dizzy, buzzy ears thing. You are not quite sick enough to call in sick, but really just not feeling good. I took a two hour nap yesterday and had a horrible time getting up from it. Then I didn't have any problem sleeping last night - which is usually a sign that I am not completely healthy. I also had an upset stomach all morning - and just no appetite the rest of the day. Although I didn't actually LOSE any weight. I was 221.6 again today.

I DID do lower body with Tony yesterday. I had NO energy do to being not quite sick- which in some ways was good, because I had no energy to complain about the work he was making me do. I did refuse to do squats. My knee was bothering me. It only really hurts when I do squating motions (i.e. sitting down or walking up and down steps) so I could do most of the lower body workout. He then had me doing a high march motion with my legs that didn't bother my knee and pretty much worked the same muscle group.

I ate something totally horrible by accident last night. For dinner I got from the grocery store a noodle bowl called "Simply Asian" It was plain noodles in a roasted peanut sauce (more vinegary than spicy) with about three peanuts worth of peanuts sprinkled on top. As I was throwing the packaging away I noticed that a serving was 1/2 a bowl... it was supposed to have been TWO servings and EACH serving was 320 calories! That means I had 640 calories for dinner last night - and it wasn't that big of a bowl of noodles. There is NO WAY it could have served two people. Go look at it at the grocery store! You can clearly see that you would think it was meant to serve one person!!! I can't figure out how they packed in so many calories!!! PLUS - I got a salad from the salad bar. So in reality I probably had about 1000 calories for dinner. Luckily - I didn't eat much the rest of the day (a piece of toast and orange juice for breakfast and 100 calorie microwave popcorn for lunch and a granola bar in the afternoon. It was a heavy carb day...) I did get cottage cheese and fake crab mean on my salad for some protein.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Down two pounds

Actually more than two pounds--I was 136.8 today. But that was actually because I hardly ate anything yesterday. I was feeling--not quite sick--more like just not hungry, but in the way you feel not-hungry when you *are* sick. Hard to explain. But I didn't eat anything but coffee for breakfast, my usual almonds for snack, string cheese and pretzles for lunch, an apple on the way home, and a cupcake at home. That was it. Basically the equivalent of an elementary school lunch over the course of one day. No wonder I dropped two pounds!

Yesterday

I had my b-bop-sy (and since Sarah didn't remember, I will remind the rest of you - that is what the crazy aunt in My Big Fat Greek Wedding called her biopsy) yesterday. It went fine - I had a sore throat all night, but it is fine today - I look like I have the world's smallest hickey. Just my luck. Anyway - I am supposed to get the results on Monday. Dr. Haber insisted that he wasn't worried - and told me what they would do if it was cancer - but he wasn't worried! Don't forget to call him on Monday. I left with the feeling that "The doctor doth protest too much..." We will see.

I met with Tony last night. We did upper body - big surprise. There were six of us there. I don't like that many people there and one of them was a REALLY ANNOYING pregnant woman who was way too concerned with other people's workouts. I am meeting him again today, so I think he will be forced to do lower body today. I am counting off my workouts - I am at seven now - five more and I will be done. Sigh.

I was 221.6 this morning - twenty pounds more and I will be where I was last year. What went wrong????

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Freemotion equipment manuals

http://www.freemotionfitness.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/EducationView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002

Amy, there are online manuals for Freemotion equipment (one of the brands your gym has) so you can check them out before you go!

Also, the closer pictures of the equipment look like there are instructions actually on the equipment so you can look at those before you use the machines.

Me three Yikes!

I was 145.0 again today. I know some of that is water -- my rings won't go on -- but I'm having my period so the water should have been going away. I was in my lightest nightgown today as opposed to my heavy PJs from last week so I can't even blame the clothing. Ugh. The Easter candy is still not gone, though it's getting much lower.

Yesterday I was supposed to go to the gym but Cecilia got hit with a stomach virus at 3:30. Alexander came down with it at bedtime. Daniel was feeling quite icky, too, though he never actually got sick. I did work in the garden for a couple of hours yesterday, but it was planting more than tilling and weeding so it wasn't much of a workout. Last week I didn't exercise much, either; I didn't do anything on Friday, though on Saturday Amy and I went for a short walk (on Springdale hills, though -- they should market themselves as an exercise challenge center).

I am scared!

I am afraid of my gym. It has been less than a week since I joined - but I still haven't actually gone yet. I think this is because I am afraid it will be crowded, or that I won't know how to use the equipment, or something. It is irrational - but fear of the unknown has always been my problem. I KNOW I just need to do it and then form a routine - but I haven't done that yet. I need to set up an appointment with a trainer - which I haven't wanted to do before I finish up with Tony... But maybe I should. I am such a chicken!

Still yikes!

139.2 today. That's not much of an improvement from yesterday, although today I can at least report that some of this weight gain is plain old water retention--I couldn't get my rings off last night. Ugh.

Did I remember to mention that last week instead of just running three days at the gym, I did one day on the treadmill, one on the elliptical machine, and one on the exercycle? I figured it might make life more interesting and might work slightly different muscles. I'm actually getting used to the elliptical--I figured out tricks to keep my feet from falling asleep, and my heart rate seems more steady on that than it is on the treadmill. I ended up back on the elliptical yesterday because all of the treadmills were taken. I really just don't like the exercycles, though. I always feel like I'm working really hard, but I barely sweat (except around my waist) and the calorie burn is pretty low, although my heart rate is really high on the hills. Doesn't seem fair. If my heart rate is going to get so high, I should at least get the benefit of burning more calories, right?

Yikes! Me too!!

I got fat this weekend too. 150 today. ICK.

I went to the gym yesterday and did 8 miles on the bike in 24 minutes. I only had about 30 minutes I could spend and I had to change clothes as well. Sunday I went for a 4 mile walk from my apartment to Whole Foods and then around Mt Washington village. I live in a very nice neighborhood.

So far today I have add some frosted cheerios with skim milk and a cup of tea. I have a banana for my 10:30 snack and a can of diet dr pepper. I nearly died in India...there is no diet dr p there at all!!!

Weigh in day

So this morning I was 222.2 again. That is a relief compared to my last two days. How pathetic is that to be relieved that I am at what was my highest weight yet just one week ago?

I have my biopsy (bibopsy) today. To re-cap... Last fall I went to the endocrinologist about my weight gain. He did NOTHING about that, but discovered a nodule on my thyroid that he decided to review with a sonogram. He said it was probably no big deal... but if anything was odd about it they would do a biopsy, but that was probably unnecessary. There ended up being several nodules - one being significantly larger than the others. So he said that he wanted to biopsy it - again, he said it was no big deal and that I could wait until spring to have this done. Good thing because the earlies appointment I could get was March 6th, when I was supposed to be in Italy, or today. So, today it is. At 3:00 I think - but I can't find the time anywhere - and no one called to confirm. Sigh. I tried calling THEM, but they never answer their phone. It is at GBMC in Towson.


I am then going to meet with Tony the trainer at 6pm tonight. Ugh. I tell myself that it is better to just get the sessions over with so I can stop going, but I really just don't like him. He calls a pedometer a ped-o-meter. I want to say to him "do you call thermometers Therm-o-meters?" He irritates me. I am only half way done with him too. Ugh.

Monday, April 23, 2007

GACK!!

Swimsuit weather!??!! I am not ready for that! I wasn't even quite sure if I was ready for wearing a T-shirt today to work (I added on a cartigan at the last minute).

I also got fat this weekend. Fat-er. I almost fell down dead yesterday morning when I stepped on the scale. I knew it would be bad - and almost didn't weigh myself... and then after I did I was trying to convince myself to pretend like I hadn't weighed myself. Sigh. 224.6!!!!!!!! So - yeah, Sarah - I gain 3 pounds in a day on a fairly regular basis. Then I proceeded to be a slug all day. And it was so pretty out! I did nothing. I was concerned that I woudln't even hit 1000 steps. I did - but just barely! So as a result my weight was 223.0 today. It makes no sense. My period started overnight - so maybe I will drop more weight before tomorrow.

I read most of the Sugarbusters Diet book last night. It was annoying because when I finally got to the section that has the actual diet it really was a list of suggested foods. Grrr. I am going to check their website to see if they have any recommended daily menus.

Keep me away from food!

I stepped on the scale this morning and was shocked to see that I weighed 140.0!! I know I overate this weekend, but I think three pounds in two days is a bit excessive (Weds - Friday last week my weights were 137, 137, and 137.4), especially since I also stayed pretty active--I went to the gym three days last week, then I spent several hours on Sunday doing yard work and gardening, then I took Davey out for a walk last night that lasted an hour and 20 minutes. I'm really, really hoping that this morning's weight was largely water retention and will go away quickly!

In the meantime, all of the Easter candy is gone and there are no more candy-and-food focused holidays between now and Halloween (well, except summery things that usually involve picnics, but the food doesn't linger from those holidays), and the weather is nicer so I'm more likely to volunteer for walking Davey now, so even if I really do need to lose between five and ten pounds, I think I can do it. I want to get back down to swimsuit weight (for some reason that's 132 in my mind. No clue why.) for our trip to Disney World at the end of June. And really, that's not THAT far in the future, so I'd better get serious about this!

Friday, April 20, 2007

Gym

I didn't go to the gym yesterday. I wanted to leave early and go to the 7pm yoga class - but I FORGOT there was a reason I wanted to leave early - and ended up being here at work until 7pm. I remembered as soon as I started getting myself together to leave. I am going to set up a reminder on my outlook calendar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I wanted to go in early to the class too so I could introduce myself to the instructor and apologize in advance for being a spaz. Oh Well. Tuesday...

Last night however, I ran laps around my living room/dining room/kitchen/hall. I did just about a third of a mile... more, I think. It was stupid... I am ADDICTED to
www.crimelibrary.com and so I spent all night reading about criminals. Last nights I was reading mostly about mothers who kill and then serial killers who turn themselves in. Anyway - before I knew it it was 11:40 and I still needed to exercise. I didn't feel like changing to get on the treadmill so I ran laps. Or walked laps actually. I intended to jog them, but I twisted my ankle ON THE FIRST LAP - and so actually LIMPED the next I guess about 40 laps. I changed direction twice and the first and last batch were 10 laps each - and I know the middle batch was longer. I guess I should have taken my pantyhose off first.

I was 222.4 this morning. Sigh. I am not surprised - my period is definitely looming. I just hope I don't gain any more.

I had a salad for lunch - a southwestern turkey salad from Wegmans - that was pretty good. I had crock pot beef stroganoff for dinner. I ate Easter Candy last night - but I think I have pretty much picked out the good stuff, so tonight I am going to dump the rest in a bag and hide it. This weekend I am going to read my new Sugarbusters book and decide if that is what I want to do (if I can tear myself away from the Crime Library!).

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Checking in

Yesterday afternoon Alexander was still sick so I couldn't take him to the gym -- after piano we started to head there, when I realized, "What am I thinking??" so we went home. But Daniel and I both wanted exercise, so we took turns going out and running 5k. It took just over 30 minutes but my flaky watch reset and read 0:30 when I stopped. So I don't have an exact figure. I'm a little sore today -- that's the first time I've run more than a mile in a long time -- but I'm glad I went. It was a gorgeous day and there were a lot of people on the trail. It's strange, though -- usually everyone is so friendly and makes eye contact and waves and smiles, and there was still a level of that, but it's as though no one wanted to appear to be happy, so we all gave these weird half-smiles instead.

Today I need to get in some kind of exercise at home, since I'll miss the next three days while we're on the road! My weight has come down from the 145 but only by a pound so far. The candy eating has slowed dramatically because no one wants the kind of jellybeans that are left and I refuse to open a new bag until the Starburst Sours (which they requested!) and the Jolly Ranchers (mostly good, but there are a couple of weird-ish flavors) are gone.

Why do I bother

OK - Last night I met with Tony. He is absolutely fixated on working my upper body. It is OK from the stand point that I don't meet him every day, so my arms have a chance to recover - but he has not done anything with my legs since that first day he tried and my knees were acting up. He was SUPPOSED to come up with low impact work for my legs - but hasn't so far. I ran for about 5 minutes last night... I was doing a program on the treadmill that involved increasing incline and speed. Now - understand me - it wasn't FAST running (probably 4.0-4.2) but it was running rather that walking fast. I could have kept it at a walking pace, but my shins were really bothering me, and I discovered my shins DON'T hurt as much if I run. Even when the pace slowed down again, my shins started hurting again right away. So I am doing toe alphabets as I type this.

SO - fat lot of good with the exercise and all because my weight was BACK up to 222.2. BUT - I think my period is about to start. It came on Feb 18 AND March 18 so April 18 was yesterday - which means... ANY day now!!! Humph!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Today

I joined the gym. It is a beautiful new facility. The pool is supposed to open in June - and it will have a lap pool and a "theraputic" pool. The manager of the gym and his brother (who signed me up) are both golden glove boxers. They offer a class on Monday and Wednesdays at 6:30 called Boxing 101. There is a room that is full of different shaped hanging bags that you use like circut training. I am looking forward to that. 8-) There are also yoga classes on Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm. My only concern with this gym is that it seemed pretty crowded. I asked him if it was always this crowded and he said it is bad when there is a class (which there was) and in the evenings - but even with all of the people there were plenty of open slots on the equipment and space in the class room. My membership includeds 3 sessions with a personal trainer - one of which is mostly an evaluation, the second is a review of the equipment and creating of a workout chart and the final is more of an actual training session - which will go over flexibility and abs workouts. They offer a really interesting sounding "positive changes" weight loss program - which is a 6 week program that goes over nutrition and stuff... As appealing as it may sound, I don't know if it would give me anything I don't already know.

I got the corporate rate which is $37.98 per month, but it is charged bi-weekly ($18.99) - so they get an extra month out of it. There was no joining fee but there was a $19.00 processing fee. So - all told this is almost the cheapest gym I have joined with DEFINITELY the most services. I have 14 days to cancel and get all of my money back - but first I want to go to Yoga (tomorrow night) and the boxing class (either next Monday or Wendesday night).

I picked up a corporate pack for Katie to take to her school and get them to fill out if they want. I think it would be fun to be able to go with her. However, since she is over 21 and not my spouse I can't add her on as a family member. That pisses me off!!!

My weight today was 220.6.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Response to Sarah's comment

Actually, my problem was that I had gotten into the habit of ONLY using the treadmill at the gym. AND that the cost had gone up to $60 or $65 per month. So - for the cost of the membership I could BUY a treadmill. I knew full well that a treadmill wouldn't solve my resistance training issues. Which is why I met with the trainer before I quit to get a resistance exercise routine. I promtly ran into problems with that. The exercise ball I have is too small... I can't figure out how to get it to blow up bigger - that bugs me. I HAVE NO WALL SPACE! Check out my house. There is NO where in my house where I can lean my back against the wall and have space to work my legs and stuff. The closest thing I come is my hall way - but I run into the opposing wall when I try to do those exercises. I have free weights. However, they are pretty limited - many of them require a bench of SOME sort - which I don't have room for - also - home gym? Maybe when Katie moves out - but the treadmill takes up the WHOLE sewing room. There is no room to work out there... and in the living room there is room for one person to work out -as long as it is front to back and not side to side movements.

When I am in a routine of working out, I am pretty good at sticking to it. Currently I AM in a routine - and I am really enjoying it. Bricks is ONE MILE from my house - perfect for walking to and from. So, aerobics, check! Then I can spend my time on the weights and stuff. I like belonging to a gym. I have off and on ever since I worked at Antrim. It is true that I will waste months and months worth of membership when I don't go at all... But when I want to exercise, I want a gym. If I sign up for another 12 sessions with Tony that added to what I already spent for him is MORE than the cost of a year at the gym. This one DOES have a pool - and with my increasingly painful joints, I would like to try old lady water aerobics or something... Or just swimming laps. Of course, I am not sure I actually KNOW how to swim anymore... I can get some use out of my 18 bathing suits I own, but never wear.

I scheduled to meet with Tony tomorrow at 6:30pm. He annoys me. I emailed him saying that I could meet tonight anytime, tomorrow late morning or evening, Thursday night anytime but not on Saturday (he only works until 11am on Saturday). He didn't email me back, and when I called him today he said "So basically you can't meet until next week." I said - No... I just need to work out different times." He said it in such a tone as to imply I was making up excuses to NOT work out. That annoyed me. When I put my foot down about using his As Seen On TV equipment the other day he ALSO acted like I was being lazy - when THAT resulted in me barely being able to lift my arms for a week! That wasn't good... and I am not stupid.

So - here is my question for all of you. Aside from parking as far away as possible, and walking the long way around to the bathroom - which I already do - how can I increase my daily steps? I keep hearing on the radio that the average person walks 8-10,000 steps a day. I can't get my pedometer to go above 7000 - even with a longer than 2 miles walk. I guess "average" in this case really is Katie divided by me - which IS about 4000 per day - but seriously... Where do you all walk to get it up to 10000!!!????!

145.0

Really awful, up five pounds from two weeks ago (though two weeks ago I was wearing a lightweight nightgown and this week I was in my heavier PJs, which would account for maybe a pound or a pound and a half). I didn't exercise over the weekend -- too lazy -- and, well, yesterday and today I've been a bit sidetracked. But tomorrow I have an appointment at the gym so I'll make sure to go then. I need to get back to "no excuses" and away from the candy but this isn't the week for it!

137.4

That's a pound up from last week and completely expected after my continued Easter eating extravaganza. But we're nearing the end of the candy, so at that point I can worry about getting my weight back down. Seriously, even though I don't like having gained three pounds in two weeks, I think that mentally I'm better off with not beating myself up over this and just knowing that I'm in for several weeks of no fun at all. But at what point does it become yo-yo dieting? I gained pretty much this same amount at Christmas and then lost it, now I'm gaining it again and planning to lose it again. But is it yo-you dieting when the gain is only a few pounds?

Weigh in

This morning I was 221.4 (or .2 I can't remember - I think it was .2). So - way better than yesterday, still HORRIBLE!

Tony the trainer is supposed to be back in town now. I emailled him yesterday to schedule my next training session. I haven't heard back. I normally go in on Wednesday at 1pm and Saturday at 9:30am - but I have conflicts both times. I haven't heard back from him yet.

I was talking to Krsity about our corporate relationship we have with the Maryland Atheltic Club in Timonium. I want to join a gym that has a pool (I know, I know, I just QUIT a gym saying it was too expensive!). I am just comparing what Tony is doing for me to the workouts I got at the gym and in reality I don't believe it is any better. The advantage to the gym is that there ARE more equipment options and it is much cheaper than the $250 for 12 sessions I have paid for. If I can use the gym enough to cost less than $20.83 per session I have made up for it. Anyway - Kristy pointed out that there is a Brick Bodies opening in Reisterstown RIGHT NEXT to Batemans. As we all know, Batemans is walking distance from my house. The cost is cheaper than my old gym and supposedly this one is going to have a pool. HOW COOL IS THAT? I haven't verified any of this, but even if it doesn't have a pool it will be close to home and cheap - and I will have a harder time coming up with an excuse not to use it.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Clipped to my panties

Hee hee. I have discovered that if I wear my pedometer with my knit skirts (which is what I wear probably 80% of my time at work) I form a bulge around my belly (mostly because my panty hose are firm, but the skirt is very flexible, and so the pedometer pushes forward probably at an angle NOT conducive to correct calculations. (Additionally, it rubs my fat bulge in a very uncomfortable manner...) BUT, if I clip the string to my waistband leaving the pedometer to hang down, it hangs so low that it looks like I am losing something... So I just had the bright idea of clipping the strap to the top edge of my panties - which means it has to travel UP my belly, over my waistband and back down to dangle. Being that the square footage of my belly alone is no small tract, that shortens the string enough that it isn't waving to and fro like a pendulum. I tested the step count from the bathroom to my desk (81 steps) and it came out at 78 - so pretty accurate. I will try it this way for a while. I just hope it doesn't UNCLIP so I lose my $20 pedometer. I also will have to remember when I go to the bathroom that it is clipped to the top edge.

I have been good with my eating so far. How sad is it that what I mean by good during the day is that I actually EAT! I had my hard boiled eggs at 8am and my orange at 9am. I may eat my cereal now before my 11am meeting.

Turning old

I had a horrible dream last night where I was turning 41. I was PISSED in my dream because I would have SWORN it had only been a month or two since I turned 40! Sigh.

Anyway, I was up again this morning - 222.6 - but I think that was based in the fact that I got no exercise. I only ventured out to church - and I drove. Other than that I stayed in and watched movies and made jewelry all day. Oh! And I did Laura's taxes for her. I did run in place for about one minute - but promtly got disctracted by something... I did one load of laundry. That was it.

I had bean and rice burritos for lunch and chicken and rice chowder for dinner. 8 oz V-8 for breakfast. And Easter candy of course - but not too much. I really DON'T eat as much if I am not in my bedroom.

Today my goal is to burn more than I consume. I guess I need to go back to the consumption calculation charts. I hope I can find them.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

No Such Luck

Nope - no downward trend - I was 221.4 today. Ugh.

I think I might be getting sick. I have a sore throat and have been sleeping an aweful lot the past couple of days - and today I felt feverish when I woke up. I am head achy too. Very mild symptoms - but possible symptoms none the less. I don't know.

I only walked yesterday - just two miles - and I wasn't paying much attention to the time, but I don't feel like it was a particularly vigourous walk. It started raining, so I turned around and came home a smidge sooner than I normally would. My left leg felt very stiff and was burning - not just on my shins and knees the way I normally get exercise pain, but up through the quad into the hip flexor. I then limped around like a WWII vet all night. I don't know what was up with that.

I didn't eat particularly well yesterday. I had the last of the french toast casserole for brunch and then Katie and I got sushi after ReCollections (there is a sushi place right next door that we both like, but never go to...). That was it for real food. Other than that I had Easter candy. Mine too seems to be an unlimited supply. I don't have kids around to help me with mine though - and I haven't been eating it THAT much (although, with me, ANY is too much!).

I ordered the New Sugarbusters Diet book from Amazon on Friday and should get it tomorrow. I am afraid that is just another typical low carb diet. I am seriously considering doing Jenny Craig again for a few weeks. I will keep you all posted...

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Still running, still gaining

I went to the gym completely unenthused yesterday but I wore my running shoes just in case. When I got there I discovered I did feel like running after all, so I ran a mile and finished in 7:40, again my fastest time. The first lap was really easy (and the fastest of all except maybe the last) so I just kept going at a high pace instead of pushing it just at the end of each lap. I don't think I could get much more in terms of dramatic improvement after this, but I might be able to decrease my time steadily by a bit each time. I do think I should go back to running more of a distance, but it's really fun to go faster every time, and it's dull to run long distances. Maybe next week.

I forgot to exercise on Tuesday and wimped out on Thursday. On Wednesday I did the 30 minute walk/jog video, which isn't too bad for video-based exercise. Today I haven't planned anything yet. My weight is increasing slowly but surely -- I was up to 143.5 today -- thanks to the Easter candy, which, like Sarah's, is not getting any less. (Surely it must be finite!) But I keep thinking there's no real point in dieting until it's gone.

I'm feeling very fat -- my stomach looks enormous to me and feels bloated all the time. I know I don't look bad and if I think I do I just have to look at pictures from a year and a half ago. And I know I'm in better shape than I have been for most of the last year. But there's no question that I'm having stomach issues and that I'm eating badly, which makes them worse. Ugh.

Amy -- I'm glad your weight turned around the last two days, and maybe now it's the beginning of a downward trend. This is all extremely strange. I wish your doctor would try the Metformin route! Surely she could see that this would make a whole lot more sense than a gastric bypass, so it's at least worth TRYING! Grumble. Metformin was the turnaround point for me eight years ago -- not just in terms of fertility, but that's when my spontaneous, slow weight gain finally stopped. And after I had kids things were much more stable, like my body figured out how things were supposed to work, so that replaced the metformin -- but if I hadn't had it I'd be huge today. I was gaining 5-10 pounds a year at that point.

I'm up for a scrapbooking weekend -- I've started trying to do at least ONE page from my monthly kits just to justify their arrival (so they're amounting to $40 pages) but I'm still behind even on that much of a goal. Unfortunately I have no free weekends until the last two weekends in June. July and August still look pretty open, though.

I am obsessed

I noticed last night that I am obessed with my weight. I think about it almost non-stop. How fat I am. How I can't manage to LOSE weight. How it seems that the harder I try the more I gain. I am concerned because being obsessed like this isn't healthy either! But I also know (and I have seen in action) that if I STOP thinking about it I gain it back and more. I was having fantasies last night of going to my doctor and demanding that she DO something... TRY Metformin, refer me to a bariatric specialist! SOMETHING! I was practically in tears I was so frustrated. That was when I realize that I was obsessed. And depressed. I decided that I am going to do the opposite of what the nutritionist suggested and actually INCREASE my St. John's Wort. That means I have to get some. I haven't actually BEEN taking it - well, not at all consistantly - for a long time. So I am going to start again.

That is pretty much all I have to report. I was 219.2 this morning. I slept until almost noon - but I didn't go to bed until after 2am and then had troubles falling asleep.

I am going to ReCollections today. I have a gift certificate from my birthday that I had forgotten about until I was cleaning up for Easter. I swore off ReCollections about a year ago and have been pretty consistant about NOT going there - but I DO have a gift certificate. Maybe I will buy $40 worth of Bazzil white cardstock. Speaking of which... when are we going to do a scrapbook weekend?

Friday, April 13, 2007

More weight gain

I was back up to 138.4 this morning--same as my weight after Christmas overeating. Too much candy, not enough exercise! I worked a half day on Wednesday so I didn't go to the gym that day, but I should get there today so I'll have done two of the three trips I usually do. And I still haven't gotten back to my pilates at night, which I think was a big part of my inital quick weight loss when we started this whole process.

Nothing really to report, other than that I haven't been hungry all week because I've kept up a steady intake of Easter candy. And the end isn't in sight--it's like the magic porridge pot, only it's the magic jelly bean and chocolate egg basket--I keep eating and the basket is still full!

Dreams

I was having VERY wacky dreams this morning. I dreamed I went to see a bariatic specialist about having gastric bypass surgery done. Mom came with me. The doctor I met with gave me another freaking meal plan that was JUST like the other dozen meal plans that people feel the need to give to me to follow. I took it and told her I would try but that it probaby wouldn't work because they never do!!! (Note: The one thing on this menu plan that was different was that I was supposed to drink green tea - so IRL I am going to add that to my diets.) Then she gave me an exercise program that morphed into the next segment of the dream. This exercise program was an underwater program that consisted of people twitching around acting like fish. It was strange. But then I was watching the guru film his next segment and what he did was suspended a VERY THIN girl using wires and pulleys and stuff in the water and then during editing removed the support tools. So I went crazy in my dream screaming that fat people would watch this and think "That looks easy" and then FAIL at it and be MISERABLE because they couldn't do something so simple as twitch in water!!!!!!!!!!! Then this became the last part of the dream which was a classic humiliation dream. I got out of the pool and could find no dry clothes to put on, except my corderoy jacket and one hand towel, so I wrapped my jacket around my butt and tucked the hand towel around my boobs, and then had to walk through a crowded room consisting mostly of people from my TIS class (which IRL ended yesterday with us having to give 2 minutes speeches, which I feel like I totally screwed up - but I can't tell for sure because I was so nervous and flustered!). Anyway, I question my humiliation quotient because even though this was a classic anxiety dream, I didn't feel too distressed by the fact that I was dripping wet and mostly naked in front of my peers - even with my ass hanging out.

On another note... I was getting annoyed on Wednesday. I had a seminar to attend and of course they gave us breakfast. Everyone was eating coffee cake and danishes, and bagels with cream cheese and sweetened coffee and fruit juice and stuff - except for me. I had fresh fruit and a granola bar, and plain coffee with icky cremora (one mini tub because it is so disgusting) and then later a cup of hot tea. And YET - I was the fattest one in the room (with one exception). My questions to myself were... why doesn't everyone have to fight their weight? Why is it that the harder I work at losing weight, the more I gain? And, finally, why do I care???

Today I was 221.2 and after my shower 221.0. So - I am going back down. I didn't eat anything in my bedroom last night - but I spent most of the evening watching a Good Eats DVD - so I wasn't IN my room. I did package up all of my Easter candy and put it in a ziplock bag...

I am re-thinking Southbeach. I can't get a handle on it. I may post pone (slightly) my next diet and do some more research...

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Two days

The blog wouldn't let me sign in yesterday. ANNOYING! That is probably a good thing because my weight yesterday morning was higher than ever!!! It is back down again today to 221.4. In the spirit of full disclosure - I was 222.6 yesterday! ACK!

My eating has been horrible the past four days. Actually - it hasn't been HORRIBLE - it has just been suplemented with too much Easter candy. I need to stop that. My new rule for myself starting TODAY is no food in my bedroom.

My exercise on the other hand has been very good. Last night I did the 10 minute kick boxing video that Katie and I have. After doing boxing with my trainer I can honestly say that THAT particular 10 minute workout is almost as good as what I am getting from my trainer. I intended to supplement that with 100 crunches and 50 obliques - but instead I followed it up with a 2 mile walk, or just under 2 miles. Then I STILL intended to do some ab work, but Katie had dinner mostly ready when I got home - and by the time I finished eating there was no room in my belly for situps.

So - no food in my bedroom. I know my breakdown in eating comes when I retire to my room for the evening. If I am reading (which I do almost exclusively in bed) I eat mindlessly - if there is food there to eat. So - I will no longer allow food to eat in my room... No snacking, no carrying up my lunch or breakfast to eat in bed while I am reading, no EASTER CANDY!, no food in my ROOM! I will see how this works out for me.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

142.0

Not a weight I'm thrilled to see, but not awful considering how I ate the last two days. And last week was really a fluke -- it should have been more like 140.5, not 139.5, so this is only a pound and a half gain. I do need to scale back the candy eating, however. I'm ending each day feeling completely gross.

Yesterday I went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the bike (I was NOT up to running) and 60 VKRs and numerous sets on the shoulder press and the leg curl machine. So it wasn't a bad workout, but it wasn't a good one, either. Lately the bikes have had problems figuring out my heart rate, which makes for really unpleasant rides. I'm not sure why -- I'm holding the monitors the same way I always did, I thought (and these are the bikes that are usually pretty good) and nobody else seems to have a problem. And both bikes are having a problem for me, so it's not like just one is malfunctioning. But I've had to switch to manual instead of using the automatic level feature, and it's hard to keep my heart at the rate I like.

Today I'm exercising at home, ho-hum.

135.4

OK, I can live with that for a weight two days after Easter and gorging on candy and other high-calorie/high-fat food. In two weeks when I'm closer to 140 I'll regret it, but for now I'm o.k.

I ended up spending 35 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym yesterday since all of the treadmills were taken when I got there. Normally I'd switch to the treadmill as soon as one became available, but I decided to stick it out where I was. I hate that stupid machine. It makes my feet fall asleep from lack of movement. It's so weird to be moving the rest of your body but your feet stay completely stationary. I had to rock back and forth on my heels just to keep the blood flowing.

Nothing to report, really. The good thing about being at work while the kids are home is that they are eating all of the communal candy so I won't be able to overeat too much on that, so maybe I'll be able to keep my weight in check.

Back to the drawing board

Sigh. I have hit new highs again. 221 this morning. I had decided that if I went above 220 I would start cutting off limbs - but then I considered that if I only had one leg it would be even HARDER to exercise - and so I am rethinking that plan of action.

In my defense I had JUST been thinking over the weekend that my fat rolls don't extend beyond my waistband quite as much - but the scale isn't supporting that dellusion.

New Challenges for me now... My next potty chart will be a water chart. I was noticing yesterday that I wasn't drinking enough water. I am usually fine while I am exercising - and even in the evenings - but throughout the rest of the day I am bad. I am not sure what my reward will be. I don't want to use food as my reward... I will have to think about that. Maybe another trip to Lush. That would be good for a water drinking reward.

Secondly, I am starting back up on my weird diets. Starting on Sunday (April 15th) I am going to do Southbeach. I can't diet using "guidelines" I need hard and fast rules. I need to have a number to count too and not be allowed to exceed that number (i.e. Atkins) or rituals to follow before eating anything (i.e. Fat Flush). With that being said, I am not sure if Southbeach is my best next choice - since I can't figure out the rules for that one - BUT, it has very specific diets to follow. After two weeks of Southbeach I am NOT going to take a week off - which is really just permission to gain back all of the weight - but I will then go into another diet. If I need an easing in period I will do a three day merging diet - but I haven't yet figured out how to do that... Maybe three days of the Glucerna diet or something. I am so frustrated right now that I was seriously considering going back to Jenny Craig for a while... Sigh.

Anyway - yesterday I was in a no exercise mood, but I don't want to start bad habits again five seconds after I started exercising again - so I walked a loop around the neighborhood. I should have done it twice - but it was really cold - and late. I didn't get home from work until 8:30 and then Katie and I ate dinner right away. So it was after 9 before I started walking. Anyway - I just mapped my neighborhood - and it is exactly 1/2 a mile - which is what I always estimated it as. I should have done FOUR laps.

Monday, April 09, 2007

My Weekend

I was SO SORE all weekend that I could barely move - but I forced myself to anyway - all I did to compensate was say Ow, ow, ow - so Katie would know that I was exerting myself (when I say exerting myself I mean I lifted my arms about elbow height or bent over slightly to pick up something off of a chair or something). Ow, ow, ow. I am still sore - but now as bad as yesterday. Last night when I went to bed my arms hurt when I was in my most naturally relaxed position. I discovered that if I lifted my arm up in the air at about shoulder height I couldn't feel the pain as much - but since that wasn't condusive to sleeping I settled for taking Advil. Sigh.

Tony is out of town until next Monday - whew! I am embarassed to say I am REMARKABLY relieved that he is gone. I coudln't take anymore. I had the day off on Friday so I started with a visit to him at 9:30am. He set up this piece of equipment called a Total Gym, which basically uses your body weight as your resistance tool. Unfortunately, my body weight is proportionately considerably higher then the weight I can lift with my upper body. I managed to do 30 of the things where I lay on my stomach at an angle and raised myself up with my shoulders (like a reclining pull up) then I lay on my back and had to use my tricepts to raise myself up. I struggled through them, but managed to finish 30 of those. THEN he had me stick my arms out to my side (like wings) and pull down that way. I couldn't do them at all... AND the first two things I did HURT in not a good way. So, I said NO! I am not going to do them... Surely there is something else that will work the same muscle groups without HURTING myself! So he made me box again. That was fine - but again, I was tired and sore... so it wasn't quite as much fun. I also had to do 100 crunches on the ball PLUS 60 VKRs. He wanted me to do 50 obs on the ball too - but by then my back was KILLING me (exercises on the big ball make my back hurt for some reason...) so I asked for something else - He had me do side bends holding weights - which I preferred. At that point he told me that I looked like I was in pain so we stopped then. Whew! I think he was mad at me because I didn't like the Total Gym.

I didn't do any exercise on Saturday (again - the whole pain thing, but also Katie and I were busy getting ready for the Easter brunch on Sunday). Last night, however, I walked for about two miles after everyone left. I am getting to the point where I am really enjoying the walking thing... enough so that I am mentally building myself up to running. Maybe someday - Oh, I forgot that was my New Years Resolution... OK - maybe someday before the end of the year...

I got my new, fancy pedometer on Friday. I wore it all day Saturday, Sunday and also today. I have discovered that it only registers steps if I am actually walking in a straight line. Side steps , like the four or five from my desk to my files (200 times a day) or jogging around the kitchen from the stove to the sink to the refrigerator, or in my bedroom from my closet to the dressers to the bathroom, don't register, or don't register completely. I feel cheated!!! Most of my movement is done in those weird little patches. Sigh. Yesterday - after being on my feet from 8:30am through my walk at 7:30pm - where I walked two miles, only registered as 7500 steps. Walking in place (which is what Katie suggests to do to get your step count up) doesn't register either...

Anyway - Katie and I are no longer vegetarian, but neither one of us ate much bacon yesterday. I am not sure what we are having for dinner tonight, but I doubt it will be super meaty... Maybe chicken quesadillas. We have them in the freezer from Let's Dish and they don't need thawing.

Spring Break report

I did no actual exercise all week, and I ate way too much (especially yesterday! Brian and I came back from brunch and spent the evening watching SuperSize Me while eating Easter candy. Did you know that guy gained 25 pounds in the one month that he was eating McDonald's food? That's just nuts. It took him 14 months to then lose that weight.). In spite of that, my weight this morning was just 135.4--I expected it to be much higher! Although instead of now seeing it drop nicely for tomorrow, it'll probably continue to go up since I still have a chocolate bunny, a pecan nougat egg, a bunch of jelly beans, and my Cadbury caramel and cream eggs in my basket, and that doesn't even count the extra leftover stuff in the house. And to think I thought I was being reasonable with the stuff I bought this year. Hah!

Julie, do you want to come over and help us get rid of some of this excess? You're the only one of us who can justify the calories right now!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Back from the Third World!!!

I am so happy to be home. India was a great trip--an unexplainable mix of enchantment and absolute repulsion.

I was 144 this morning when I hopped on the scale. My all time low. We'll see how it plays out now that there is actual food to eat again. There were days that Luna bars and water sustained me. I was like a kid in a candy store when I got off the plane in Chicago. I went to Starbucks AND to Cinnabon. It was heaven. I think I consumed more calories in the few hour layover than I did total for the majority of the days I was away.

My exercise while I was away was walking miles and miles a day. Now that I am home, back to running. Although it is going to take me some time to get back to where I was before. I am hoping to go for a walk tonight, and start running maybe mid-week. I am still suffering from jet lag (15 hour plane ride) and I was so sick the entire time I was away with respiratory issues. India is FILTHY. I may do no good trying to run in my present condition. My lungs are very happy to be filtering plain old Baltimore pollution instead of that in India. WOW. I will work on describing it to you all. Pictures are on their way as well.

I hope you all have a fabulous Easter!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Tomorrow I have an excuse

I went to the gym last night and ran a mile with the goal of beating my time, and I finished in 7:51. It could have been even better, but the disc I was listening to ended and I had to switch it, and I'm not coordinated enough to run fast and adjust my iPod simultaneously, so I wound up being pretty slow in one lap. Then I did 40 minutes on the bike, and then 18 shoulder presses and 18 chest presses but I didn't have it in me to do another set -- I was too drained, although my muscles could probably have handled it. I skipped VKR.

This morning I did the 30 minute walk/jog video, so now my exercise is done for the day. Tomorrow I get a day off for Easter, hooray! But I'm going to continue to pursue daily exercise after that. This week I do not have a time reserved for Wednesday -- I overslept and missed out. In the unlikely event that the weather is good (we have 1/2" of snow on the ground at the moment) I'll switch off with Daniel and go running -- otherwise, maybe we can switch off and go to the gym, though it's not as much fun.

Sweets tomorrow and thereafter! Hooray! (I shouldn't rejoice too much -- my weight has gone down to the ballpark of 140 for the first time in ages, and I'm pretty sure there's a connection!)

Friday, April 06, 2007

Oops

Yesterday wound up being very busy -- school forever, then I had to run out to get cat food (and a frozen pizza for dinner), then we had church, then the kids' bedtime, and by then it was late and I was tired and hungry, so I never got around to exercising. On the other hand, I had two pieces of pizza for dinner and two for a nighttime snack, and I had a beer, so that makes up for it... no, wait...

At least they were small pieces of pizza! Today I won't be eating except dinner, of course, and we have a gym appointment at 4 so I'm going to try to exercise, but I don't know how that will go.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Good Sore

Oh My am I sore today!!!! Yesterday when I went to meet with Tony (the trainer) he started me on one of the machines and my muscles just felt weak. I told him this - the weight didn't feel too heavy, I just felt to weak - and so he said "OK, let's work off some of that tension." Then he had me boxing for a good part of the next hour. It was a lot of fun! I got to punch him (holding hand pads) and then the hanging bag. He also let me kick it - and I can tell you that if I ever need to kick anything I should use my right leg - I have a lot more power in that one. He also had me doing crunches. He tried to make me do the vertical crunches - but I was so sweaty at that point that I couldn't get a grip and kept slipping off. So I did the laying on the floor leg lifts instead - which I think I hate almost more. He made me do 60 - and I did them as six of ten. I am very sore today - but it is the good kind of sore. When I got home I got Katie and we went to Home Depot and bought five bags of mulch, then we went to the grocery store and got a little bit of food (one can of beans and two red peppers became $45 worth of groceries!). When we got home we mulched the garden and planted 9 impatiens. Then we made very bad for you perogies with cheese. I went to bed at 9pm last night! I was so tired! I am not sure why though, I didn't get up all that early - we went to 9am mass - but I didn't get up before 8:15am...

Today my weight was 218.6 - so, I guess the perogies cancelled out the hard work and virtuous living. Sigh.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Super Speed

Today I went to the gym and started running laps around the track -- Daniel was joining me late and I figured he'd be interested in the track, so I plowed ahead even though I didn't feel like it. But I found myself moving at a pretty intense pace -- around 51 to 56 seconds per 1/9 mile -- and feeling comfortable about it. Daniel showed up after 4 or 5 laps and I found he wasn't interested in running (didn't even have the shoes for it) so I finished out the mile and quit. After 8 laps I still felt so comfortable that I really pushed it on the last lap, and I came in at 7:56 for the mile!! That's definitely a personal best. I know it's indoors and on a flat track, but it still felt very cool, considering when I got started a one-minute lap was tough.

After that we did a full 40 minutes on the bike. We also did VKR at the gym, but we had to quit early so we didn't have time for other muscle work. I'm pooped all the same.

Yesterday I ended up walking a mile and a half with my friend (slow pace, though) and working in the garden for an hour (but not all that hard, I guess, because my arms didn't ache last night). No idea what I'll do tomorrow, though!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Sorry I've been MIA!!

Last week was horrible--one of those weeks where you can't even find the time each day to get to the bathroom, so not only was I not posting, but I was also not exercising--I only got to the gym on Monday. This week I'm on spring break and I had great plans to get the kids on the bus each morning and then go for a run. Hasn't happened. OTOH, yesterday I got the kids on the bus and then shampooed the living room carpet (so now it's merely dirty and not horribly filthy) and today I got the kids on the bus and then dug in the garden for two and a half hours. Man, I was stiff and sore after that, and I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning! This afternoon I walked two miles (to the post office to mail a letter). My diet has been horrible--Brian and I went to Ellicott Mills for lunch yesterday and I had a burger and fries and a beer (very nice oatmeal stout), then a big dinner (pork chops, couscous, can't remember the vegetable). Today I didn't really eat normally at all--I had a handful of pretzles before heading out to work in the garden, a piece of leftover birthday cake for lunch, cheese and crackers in the late afternoon, then two beers before dinner. Dinner was at least good--baked chicken, steamed mixed vegetables and saffron rice. But there's more beer in the fridge and I'm planning to watch a movie tonight.

This morning I was 134.2, over a pound down from my fake weight last week (the one I knew was unnaturally high because I was retaining water like the Hoover Dam).

A fluke 139.5!

I'm not complaining -- I had hoped to see 139.5 before Easter, and I did! And I saw 139.0 before my shower. This is decidedly lower than my weight has been all week -- I think 140.5 was the lowest I've seen. So it will be a while before it settles down to below 140 for good (assuming it ever does -- the sweets withdrawal ends on Sunday). (Oh, for crying out loud! I've been misspelling "withdrawal" as "withdrawl" all my life!) But I'm happy to have seen it.

Over the weekend I worked in the garden -- three solid hours on Saturday, digging, mixing in topsoil, weeding, mulching, sowing grass in a dead spot. Sunday I went out and spent another hour and a half or more (before the rain got too heavy) digging up another weed bed to turn it into a place for tomatoes and green peppers (there's a convenient fence next to it, and the dirt there turned out to be very nice, not the clay-like stuff we have elsewhere). By Sunday night I could barely move my arms! Remarkably they were much recovered by yesterday. So yesterday I went to the gym and ran two miles (16:50, I think my fastest two miles ever) on the track and then did 15 minutes on the bike. Then I did the shoulder press (kept it at 30 lbs) and tricep press (30-35 lbs) and the leg lift thing (started at 70 and had to bump it up to 80! Yay! Thank you, Amy, for the fewer reps, more sets, higher weight approach!). Today I have a comfortable muscle fatigue in my quads and shoulders.

Today at lunch I'm meeting a friend so we can compare math books and go for a short walk. I don't expect the walk to be much, though, as we'll have a total of six children with us, and mine, at least, are not enthusiastic walkers for long, and she has a 3-month-old. So I will need more exercise later, and I will probably go to the garden again -- if I can get to Lowe's and get some mulch I'll do that; otherwise it will just be weeding, weeding, weeding, ugh. The front garden needs a tremendous amount of work. The back garden is so much more fun because I'm getting ready to plant -- it's very dull weeding around overgrown bulbs and bushes and self-sowing wildflowers that someone else planted six or more years ago!

Am I the only one???

I am beginning to think I am the only one posting anymore!! I was down at the other building this morning and expected to come back to everyone already having posted, but nope! Nobody!

Anyway - fat lot of good this exercise crap does! I was 219.4 today before AND after my shower - and after about 8 hours of sleep!!! Oh - no - well, only seven hours of sleep... Sigh.

I have been tracking my routes all over the place. Did you know that when we used to walk to Safeway that was just over a mile round trip. Of course our legs were shorter so a mile was farther back then. Then - if I were to walk up to Beaver Dam and loop around and go down to the light at Shilling Circle and then back to TESSCO that would also be just over a mile. I have been enjoying my walks a lot lately. I am dreading it getting hot and sticky and ultimately cold and nasty again. I like this perfect weather we have been having - which will last all of about two weeks a year. Oh well - at least I am catching it now.

I have been listening to This American Life on my iPod. They are perfect for exercise... My iPod has this nasty habit of not picking up where it left off. I don't know if that is typical of all iPods, just Shuffles or just MY shuffle. Regardless - When I would listen to books it it would take me about 10 to 20 minutes to find where I left off. It was very frustrating. The Shuffle doesn't have that dial scan thing - and the rewind/fast forward doesn't work all that well. Since downloadable books are almost always one track, it is VERY hard to find where you want to be! This American Life comes in acts - and so it is much easier to figure out the beginning of an act.

I am cancelling meeting with the trainer again tonight. I have a session for tomorrow at 1pm and I really don't want to meet with him tonight AND tomorrow (less than 24 hours later!) so I am going to postpone - maybe to Friday... I took off on Good Friday.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Walking...

I don't know if I pointed this out, but I completely DIDN'T exercise one day last week. I can't remember WHICH day - either Tuesday or Thursday - Thursday, I think. Other than that I have exercised EVERY DAY since I started meeting with the trainer, and harder exercise than I have been doing in recent months. I had a REALLY good workout on Saturday with the trainer. We did upperbody again - and a little bit more of my back and shoulders. Friday night and then again on Sunday morning I did my walking outside instead of on the treadmill. That is WAY more interesting than the monotony of the treadmill. Anyway - Sarah reminded me of the link she gave us long ago - www.mapmyrun.com - which allows you to get the exact length of the route you follow. I discovered that the route I USUALLY take is 2.38 miles - I thought it was less - and the one I did on Sunday is 2.17 miles. I figures out how I can get a nice 3 mile walk in - and Katie suggested another two routes that I will map out. Hee hee.

I cancelled my trainer meeting for tonight since today is the fiscal new year and I was here at 5:30am AGAIN! I am not sure if I will be able to get out of work early, but either way I KNOW I will not be up for a beating from Tony Reid!!

Despite all of my working out I have NOT been losing weight. This morning I was 219.6!!!!! Yesterday I was 217.6 - so I gained two pounds overnight. Actually - that is back to my theory that if I sleep a lot I lose more weight. I got 9 hours Saturday night and only about 6 hours last night. I hope I will get plenty tonight - so I will be lower for weight in day.