All cookies all the time

Well, I had a very slight weight jump this week. I think it is because I have been eating mostly Christmas cookies all the time. I will be glad to get back to a normal food routine. I have this problem with Christmas cookies. I am the only one in my house eating them - and after one or two plates for work I don't NEED anymore. Next year I will have to get far fewer in the exchange... I don't like them to go to waste - and they get stale pretty quickly - so I eat them even when I am not wanting them. Sigh. Sarah - I think I need to return some to you so your kids can eat them. I think I will freeze some this year too so I can eat them when I AM in the mood for them. I think the prilosec hasn't been helping either. Since I am not getting reflux from eating junk there is far less stopping me from HAVING meals composed entirely of cookies.

I have done a little bit of exercise in the last week or two. Well. Not really. I actually only did one day of water ballet and that was on Sunday morning. That was it. I did squat on my new yoga wedge twice... but that isn't really exercise. I PLAN to go to water ballet tomorrow morning too (or maybe even tonight if I leave work early...) but I often PLAN on going, but then sleep through it, or work through it - or something.

I am getting more concerned about Celiac disease. More and more the decriptions sound EXACTLY like what I have (again, except the weight GAIN instead of loss). I didn't mind the challenge of doing gluten free when it was an optional thing - and MY choice - but going gluten free COMPLETELY, and because I HAVE to scares the willies out of me. I can't even imagine not having most of the foods I love EVER again for the rest of my life. I mean, it isn't like Claire not having peanuts -because she NEVER had peanuts and lots of people don't like peanuts anyway. NEVER having bread again. Nuh-uh. I really don't love the idea.

However, YOU all better be hoping against the Celiac thing too - because they say that it is genetic - and having one family member diagnosed with it increases first and second degree family members likelyhood of having it from 1 in 133 to 1 in 22. Hee hee. We can all be gluten free together! And Sarah - even if you DON'T have symptoms, you need to be tested for it. The result of having Celiac leads to other medical complications up to and including cancer. But maybe I don't have it and we can all go back to being 1 in 133. Oh - but Katie and Emily - Celiac alerts often come in the form of anemia and mild lactose intolerance.

141.5?

I'm not sure about my weight this morning -- I weighed in and it was UP from last night before bedtime and not consistent with this past week (and I've been sick, so not eating, but getting plenty of fluids and having some, um, fluid loss), so it seemed unlikely.  So I weighed again, and it came in at 141.5, 141.0, 141.5.  So I took the 141.5.  Hard to be certain.

I missed exercise on Sunday -- I did think about it but just never made the opportunity.  Yesterday I had my usual gym workout.  Today I have an appointment for 4pm but I'm feeling so rotten I may not be able to go -- I also have a doctor's appointment for 2:30, which could be kind of tight, since I'd have to go back home and get changed and get the kids first.  Would I be a loser for wimping out on the 12th day of fitness?

I haven't posted OR exercised OR watched my diet in two weeks!

So much for 12 days of fitness. I haven't gotten to the gym in the past two weeks at all because I have this job thing that is going though one of its periodic insane times (which I'm forecasting to last through February--I've got 12 proposals due between now and February 24! An average month has two or three due) plus Christmas preparations, all colliding to create the perfect storm of non-fitness. I haven't even walked the dog. And my diet has been largely starch and fat.

Much to my surprise, when I weighed myself this morning I wasn't 150 pounds, but merely 144.2. Not great, but I'll live with it (as if I have a choice) until I can get back to a more normal routine.

The Downside

OK - I have been reflux free for almost a week now, and I discovered the downside of it. Yesterday we had our team Christmas celebration - which was mostly just lunch out and a white elephant gift exchange. But one thing we did was fill up little lunch bags for each other (THAT was fun!) so I got quite a few goodies. Also - several people brought in cookies. Prilosec is great - I ate probably a total of 10 cookies throughout the day and didn't get ANY reflux. The downside to that, is after I ate the first cookie, there was no pain and suffering as a result and so I CONTINUED to eat cookies. It was nice not having the acid - or having to take Tums - but it was nice before NOT eating cookies like crazy. Then last night, I didn't eat any dinner. The cookies had filled me up. That can't be healthy.

THEN, this morning since Katie didn't have to get up, so I didn't cook breakfast. Instead I had a blueberry muffing for breakfast. Prior to a week ago I would not have CONSIDERED this as a breakfast option. Today that was it. I am committed now to having something decent for lunch. Or at least something with protein.

Emily - I am not sure what I am supposed to be looking for as a result of taking the iron. I won't need to give blood again until February I think - and they took it on December 9th anyway - even though my doctor said she was surprised they would. I don't know what other effects having low everything in my blood would have on me. I FEEL healthy other than sore knees, reflux (now mostly gone) and a weird buzzing feeling in my left shoulder muscle.

Speaking of sore knees (I know, I know, "Poor Charlotte!") but Sunday night I fell down and skinned my knee, just like a four year old. In fact, I was running to take pictures of Santa on the fire truck (the camera was fine), just like a four year old. I went down HARD on my right knee - which is the worse of my two. It was stiff that night - but mostly fine yesterday... until I had to sit at the Japanese Steak House, you know, where you can't streatch out your legs. OMG! My knee got so cramped up. It worked itself out pretty quickly though.

Celiac

I have been reading up on Celiac a little bit - it is interesting. I agree with you Emily, how do you diagnose a syndrome? In the case of IBS, I am convinced that that is what doctors call random digestive issues that they can't explain otherwise - or it isn't worth the effort to identify. So - IBS can be caused by a spastic colon, a food intolerence, imbalance in you digestive flora, a permanent virus, or whatever. So in the case of your friend her IBS probably IS her Celiac. I wouldn't give up the communion wafer if I were her (unless she HAS shown an improvement). As I am sure she knows gluten is found in weird places; spices, bath products, etc.

When I say I was "attempting" gluten free, I didn't voluntarily eat gluten for about 7 months. But I also didn't change my spice rack, or require people having parties to have something I could eat. I managed just fine. Gluten wasn't that hard to remove from my diet once I did work at it. I only faced it with dinner side dishes (we switched to rice or GF pastas) and my one piece of toast with breakfast. Since it was after I did that that I began having problems with my blood I concluded that the benefits from "enriched" bread products outweighed the disadvantages of the gluten.

However, my digestive problems have gone on since I was in the 7th grade. My freshman year in college I lost a ton of weight because everytime I ate I followed it up with being sick. I called it "natural bulemia." I wonder why I didn't think that there was something off at the time? That lasted all through college in fact - off and on. Which is why I weighed 40 pounds less when I finished than when I started.

Barbara Ball tested me for Celiac before and it was negative - however, she said it was a slow developing disease and might not have shown up then. The symptoms are vague enough that I can say that they all apply to me - but as Sarah said - lists of symptoms can apply to LOTS of categories. She took the thyroid symptoms and called it "Indications that you MAY have an autistic child. Chronic Fatigue, Waking Frequently During the Night, Anxiety, Depression, etc." Here is a list of the Celiac Symptoms:

Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:

• unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
• fatigue
• bone or joint pain
• arthritis
• bone loss or osteoporosis
• depression or anxiety
• tingling numbness in the hands and feet
• seizures
• missed menstrual periods
• infertility or recurrent miscarriage
• canker sores inside the mouth
• an itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis

People with celiac disease may have no symptoms but can still develop complications of the disease over time. Long-term complications include malnutrition—which can lead to anemia, osteoporosis, and miscarriage, among other problems—liver diseases, and cancers of the intestine.

I don't have artritis, missed menstrual periods, seizures (although, I do regularly have phantom smells, light flashes and sounds - which I heard actually ARE seizures on a small scale - I heard it on NPR on one of those doctor commentary things...), I have never had a miscarriage, and my infertility is caused by something else entirely - namely the lack of the other half of the equasion. Otherwise this list is very like the list I gave my doctor the other day. However, if I am malnurished, it isn't showing up in weight LOSS. Sigh.

Seventh and Eighth days

Yesterday I did my usual gym workout -- nothing special but plenty of good sweat.  Today, however, I pretty much bailed.  I was busy most of the day and I did make a point of jumping up and down and jogging in place a few times, but I never got any real exercise in.  I hit about 7,500 steps for the day -- not bad, but not great.  Phooey.

Blood!

Well - I forgot I was supposed to be doing the 12 days of fitness. Totally forgot. And - If I do a 90 minute yoga class and then 5 hours later do a 60 minute water ballet class does that count as TWO days of fitness. I didn't think so. That was hyopthetical anyway, because yesterday I skipped yoga (for the first time since April - or whenever it was I joined... 28 weeks straight except one week when I was on vacation...) It was a bad time to skip because it was the last class of the session and we won't have another one until January 7th. I am going to be SO unbendy by then. I will have to start working in my living room. I will have to do the 12 days of fitness for 5 days prior and seven days post Christmas.

I spoke to my doctor today about my blood results. She basically said "When did you last give blood????!??!" I said the night before my appointment. SHE said she was surprised they let me because ALL of my counts were VERY low. She said I had both low hemotomin and anemic - or something like that. And something that sounded like seratonin levels - only iron/blood stufff - was also low. So I have to start taking an iron supplement. She said that my vitamin D was very low too - and that is a prescription that I have to take. So she called that in for me. She said the low D would explain the muscle spasms and tingling sensations. Then she said one of my other levels of something (a non-indicative test, but tracked for baseline purposes... I don't know) was slightly elevated. Specifically mine was 23 and 20 is the high end of normal. Of course, I don't know what that means. She says she wants to re-run the blood tests in March, and at that time wants to test me for Celiac disease. I reminded her that she DID test me for that about four years ago and it was negative. She said that is often a slow to develop disease and the results from these current tests indicate that I could have since developed it. She has a brother with Celiac and so is very carefully about checking for that. I don't for one second wish that on me - but I would love to have a concrete thing to addess when it comes to my stomach issues and weight problems. Of course, the 8 months that I was attempting gluten free didn't really show any advantage - so I don't think I have developed it. She checked me for arthretic levels and they were all fine and she told me my night sweats were most likely peri-menopausal symptons. Sigh.

Fifth and sixth days of fitness

Yesterday I did my usual gym workout -- 45 minutes on the elliptical, followed by crunches and and push-ups.  Today I decided to do something different, so I ran two miles on the track (I got bored before I got completely tired, but I was going at a sub-9-minute pace) and then did a lap of walking lunges while holding an 8-pound weight in each hand.  By that point I was sweating profusely -- the lunges are a lot harder with real weights!  But I thought I needed more cardio so I did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, and then I called it quits.  So at least it was a little variety from my normal routine.

My weight crept down a bit today -- lowest I've seen since Halloween. :-)

143.0

My weight didn't budge all week -- despite cutting calories and mostly being good about exercise it hovered around the real weight it should have been last week, i.e., 144-145.  Today it politely dropped to a half pound below last week's weight, which is probably about right.     :-)

On Sunday my exercise consisted of fifty jumping jacks at 11pm -- it was a busy day (church, brunch, baking two kinds of cookies, the kids' piano recital, an actual Sunday dinner, and something in between the last two that I'm forgetting, and cleanup and bedtime and I'm not sure what-all) but not a physically active day, but at least techically I still qualify on the twelve days of fitness.  Yesterday was better -- I labored in the garden for an hour (Yes!!  I finally got the weather I've been waiting for since the beginning of November -- not rainy and not freezing) to clear out all the dead stuff (or at least knock it down -- a lot of it still needs to be raked into the pile) and took Mary shopping (and finished the shopping for church and most of the rest of my shopping).  I hit more than 10,000 steps on the day, most of it from the shopping.

Today and the next two days I have gym appointments, so that's at least three more days I can keep exercise going!

First and second days of fitness

So, despite my cheerleading, I barely made it through the first day of fitness -- at about quarter to midnight I got down on the floor and did crunches and push-ups.  I have NO idea when I would have done anything real -- I was going from the time I got up until long after the kids were in bed.  The Christmas play was today so I had to get one kind of cookie baked by today, and since I had started the lebkuchen last weekend it had to be that one (gets the best reviews, anyway), and that takes a couple of hours.  And we had play practice.  And school.  And Mass and lunch.  Dinner was grilled cheese and tomato soup.  By bedtime I had nearly 9,000 steps on my pedometer, which is phenomenal for me for a non-gym day!

Today I got up and got dressed in my exercise clothes, so I went running right after breakfast.  I went about four miles.  Very slowly, but I did them.  I haven't been running in ages, but thanks to my other exercising it wasn't that much of a shock to my system.  Tomorrow will be more of a challenge for exercise -- I won't be up to running again but I don't usually have the gym as an option on Sundays (they're open, but no childcare, so Daniel and I have to go separately, which is never as much fun).  But I'll figure something out!

I'm in ...

I'm planning to start my 12 Days of Fitness tonight (Friday). I had attempted to start a more comprehensive plan last weekend. I got through the first couple of workouts but I got quickly sidetracked. Then I worked endlessly all week (didn't get home until midnight last night and most other nights). Argh! So I decided this morning that I'll go home tonight and start back on my exercise plan and see where I am at Christmas.

I've been really frustrated over the past month or so because it's obvious that I've put on a few pounds or as I like to call it -- the immaculate pooch (not a dog) -- as I'm expanding in areas that were thinner (aka gettin' fat). Yet I've been pretty good on food. I was going through a list of what I no longer eat/drink i.e. soda (Diet Coke) and the other crap I've gotten out of my diet and I concluded that I should weigh, oh, about 120 pounds max. haha Not happening.

But what has become glaringly clear is that exercise is a huge component. I've known that but I've seen recenlty what brief stints of inactivity can do. I do like to exercise and I enjoy how I feel when I do get off my butt.

Incredibly, even though I have no husband, children or Christmas b-day parties to prepare for, I manage to be exhausted and use up the majority of my day with no time left to work out.

I'm hoping next week gets me on the right track so I'm ready to continue the plan even when Congress returns for what will be a blindingly busy January.

Good luck everyone!!

It's happening again!

I hate trying to keep up with exercising this time of year! I went to the gym on Monday and then every other day this week I've had to spend my lunch hour running errands, largely to get ready for either the scout meeting or Claire's birthday. Never have a December baby. It's too much work. And then every night has been the same thing--staying up late trying to get the house in order and things prepared for the party. I haven't even started on Christmas wrapping/baking/cards, etc. yet.

And today is no better. No errands, at least, but I have to head to a conference in 15 minutes that will have me out all afternoon, so no gym today either. And tonight I may fail at the 12 Days challenge right from the get go because I have to finish getting ready for the party--clean the house, make the cake, put together goodie bags blah blah blah.

12 days of fitness time!

OK, everyone!  This is basically a verbatim post from last year.  It's two weeks until Christmas.  Including tomorrow we have 12 days that aren't Christmas or Christmas Eve.  So here's the challenge:  twelve days of fitness.  Do 12 days of SOME kind of exercise every day.  It can be as simple as ten jumping jacks (which would be enough to kill me -- I hate jumping jacks) if you discover it's 11:58 pm and you haven't had a moment to exercise yet.  But do SOMETHING!  Ideally it should be something different every day -- try out each of the different cardio machines at the gym, do upper body weights one day, lower another day, do a video you haven't pulled out in ten years (Jane Fonda, anyone?  I have one with Scottish dancing on it!), try jogging if you usually walk, run up and down the stairs until you pass out.  But anything is better than nothing -- if you can't come up with something new, do something old again -- it still counts.  12 days!!  That's all!  Then you can relax when Christmas arrives.

For new ideas, last year the list from my gym included:

• Bring a friend (not very useful for our purposes)
  
• Take a yoga or Pilates class
  
• Take a Strictly Strength class (cardio muscle work)
  
• Take a morning cycle class (that's 5:30 am -- they mean MORNING)
  
• Take a cycle class after noon
  
• Take a cycle class on the weekend
  
• Take a 20 minute Absolute Core class (Pilates without the stuff I'm good at, I guess)
  
• Take any cardio-based aerobics class
  
• Free weight upper body workout
  
• 30 minute elliptical workout
  
• 30 minute stair stepper workout
  
• 30 minute stationary bike workout
  
• 30 minute treadmill workout
  
• Body Master (like Nautilus) upper body workout
  
• Body Master lower body workout
  
• 3 mile workout on the track
  
• 2 laps of walking lunges on the track
  
• Hammer Strength workout (it's a cross between Nautilus and free weights)
  
• Take 2 back-to-back classes (like I'd survive!!)
  

Have fun!  Who's with me?  Post each day and tell us what you did.  Bragging rights if you finish!  Eternal shame (or at least as long as our attention span lasts -- an hour or two) if you don't.

No Change

Well - I weighed myself yesterday and it was same same. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and she said that my weight was the same as it had been in May - so, I guess it is true - I am holding steady. Now, if I can just get it to go DOWN.

I am sore today. Unlike the old lady water aerobics Emily experienced, yesterday's session has me sore today. She had us kick with a kick board up and down the pool for a few laps - and then ride a noodle "like a waterhorse" only it was more like a sprint on a bicycle - However the whole image of the waterhorse was kind of fun. Then she had us cha-cha-ing in the water. This time she was decribing the water as chocolate pudding. She is fun, and WAY more energetic. And Emily - I looked at the clock this time - we only used the weights in the water for the last 10 minutes - and at NO POINT did I get cold!

I almost didn't go last night. I was very unmotivated. It was rainy and cold. I was forced to go to the gyno yesterday (not forced - just it was time for my annual) and so I figured my reward for that SHOULDN'T be exercise!! But I hadn't been able to go because of conflicts ever since Emily and I went two weeks ago - so I made myself go. It was fun.

Yesterday was also yoga. Usually in the last couple of sessions per quarter Stan makes us do harder stuff to see if we are ready for level two (none of us are!). So yesterday he made us do half handstands. Our feet are braced against the wall and our arms are supporting our upper bodies. My feet were REALLY sweaty yesterday - so I swear I COULD have done it, but my feet kept sliding down the wall. I was having balance problems yesteryday too. I was just in bad shape all around!

I gave blood Tuesday night. My count was high enough so they took my pound of blood. I just got distracted from this sentence - so I am not sure what I was going to say about that... Oh Well.

138.4

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Hee. As if. No, have to rearrange those numbers a bit. My weight today was actually 143.8, more than a pound up from last week, and no real surprise--I had the sort of PMS over the past few days that sends you running for the Girl Scout cookies like they've stopped making them. I ate an entire box of Samoas between Friday and Monday, plus three pieces of birthday cake. And four meals on Saturday (had breakfast, then lunch, then came home from basketball and had second lunch, then dinner, then popcorn and Samoas). All of this in a week when I only went to the gym twice (well, it WAS only open two days! My evenings were hell so I never exercised at home). It was ugly, as weeks go, and I'm just putting it behind me and pretending it never happened.

I forgot to weigh today

Totally forgot. Oh well. I haven't been to the gym since last Friday. I had my company party on Saturday night - but I didn't eat that much.

I met with Rebecca on Wednesday. She has started me on an herb blend that is supposed to support my gall bladder in addition to my thyroid. She thinks the muscle spasams I am having in my upperback is gall bladder related. Who knows. I am more worried about my reflux - which has become pretty much constant.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I am going to have to run straight from yoga to Manchester to see my doctor. I have about 45 minutes to make it. I have a list (literally) of things I want to discuss with her. When I made my appointment this time I asked them to make sure they allow enough time that we can talk for a few minutes afterwards. How silly is that... Rebecca - who I see once every six weeks or so talks to me for over an hour each time. My doctor - who is SUPPOSED to be the person who figures out what is wrong with me - doesn't spend 10 minutes talking to me once a year. So - if Rebecca can look at me (and my family's history - i.e. Emily's positive response to Metformin) and say she thinks my thyroid isn't functioning optimally - WHY isn't that more credible then the numbers from a blood test? Sigh. Where is the art in medicine anymore?

143.5

Hooray!  Downward motion at last!  I've been cutting calories for a week and I've seen instant results.  The last pound isn't real -- I have dropped two pounds since yesterday, 1.5 pounds since my lowest this week.  But I'm exercising and eating light and I'm trying to keep this going until Christmas.

12 days of fitness starts Friday!

Challenges

Well, in the end I did all three of Amy's challenges.  I tracked food on Daily Plate, not that it has done me any good -- I can see how badly (or irregularly) I'm eating but I'm not really changing anything.  I tried water aerobics for my something new (it was fun but not life-changing -- it's not something I could take up regularly without the pool providing childcare, and if they do that I'm going to go back to lap swimming, which I always liked and which gives me a better workout).  And I've only missed my vitamin once in the last few weeks, while I was at Mom and Dad's.  But I'm pretty consistent about it anyway.  The challenge I should have given myself on that last point is to take calcium supplements every day.  I stopped taking them when I take my vitamins because they could only be hurting my iron absorption, which is terrible to begin with.  But I've never found another time of day that I'm good about taking vitamins.

Our next challenge is for the twelve days of fitness, folks!  That starts December 12, the first of the last twelve days before Christmas Eve.  I'll repost my challenge from last year then, but even if I don't remember to post it that day or the day before, our goal is to get some kind of exercise, even something pathetic, twelve days in a row.  It's the darkest time of the year, and some of the busiest, when we all WANT to be slugs.  But we'll be sluggish enough during the holiday week, so we can't be slugs for the whole holiday month.

147.0, and no gym for me, either

I actually dropped from last week, but that's in keeping with my bloating theory for last week.  I have eaten so much pie since Thursday that it's not even funny -- I seem to be the only one in my house trying to use up leftovers.

I scheduled a gym appointment for today but I've had to cancel it because Mary has altar servers' training.  (Not that I have any confidence that she'll get to use the training -- the new people doing the scheduling only scheduled two servers per Mass, not the three that have been requested, and they didn't include the list of new servers, which means they won't be listed until the NEXT schedule in March, by which time we'll be gone -- but I guess that means Mary could be tacked on as a third server anytime she's at Mass).  I couldn't have gone to the gym anyway because my "hour or so" appointment at the dentist once again turned into two-and-a-half hours of being socked in the jaw, so now I ache, even with a solid dose of ibuprofen.  AND afterwards I found out our insurance was maxed out, which nobody bothered to look up in advance, so now we're stuck with the whole bill -- last year my post-November work got done after the first of the year, which I didn't remember and didn't know it was so expensive, since insurance paid, and this year it got done promptly, which means this is my third round of stuff in one cycle.  I've only had fillings -- no crowns or anything dramatic -- and I've maxed it out.  I'm pretty ticked off at the office staff for not helping me keep up with these things!

No gym today

There's a gas leak on campus and they've had to shut down the athletic center to deal with it, so no gym for me today and possibly not tomorrow. Last report said they didn't know how long it would take to fix it.

So is God telling me to take it easy for a day or is God telling me to try out the new warm winter running tights I just got?

Me too same weight

I was SHOCKED this morning!!! I was all prepared to weigh a good five pounds more than I did last Tuesday... but I was the exact same weight - which even last week was on the lower edge of my current range. Yay! It can't be because I ate well (duh! Pies!) or exercised much (one session of yoga, one of old lady water aerobics and a couple of sessions painting trim in the basement...). I certainly haven't been feeling skinnier (see comment about weighing five pounds more...). I don't know. I am not complaining.

I have another meeting with Rebecca tomorrow. I just went on November 12th - but we ran out of time before we ran out of topics - so I scheduled a second meeting with her. I am glad actually because my reflux has been just awful lately. I don't know if she can help with that at all...

I have this horrible dilemna too. She is offering a 12 week long weight loss group class thing starting in January. It is expensive - $675 - but it includes weekly meetings with a group facing the same problems as me, 2 one on one sessions (I get them anyway - so that is $68 right there...) herbal supplements ($375 worth the description says - that is a lot of supplements!) plus meal planning (I don't know if I need that) and grocery store strategies (I don't know if I need that either). Anyway - I am thinking the money is too much. (I mean that is more than the cost of the gym for one year. More than the cost of meeing with HER for one year. It is as much as it would cost me to put in my yoga floor...) But at the same time, I wonder if it wouldn't help. I just don't know. Maybe I will discuss it with her tomorrow.

142.6

I can't believe I'm the same weight as last week! I thought for sure a steady diet of pie and an entire weekend with no exercise to speak of would make me gain weight. It's nice to be wrong.

On the treadmill yesterday I could really tell that I hadn't exercised since last Wednesday. I did my usual four miles and kept it at the same pace as I had been doing the past couple of weeks, but it was a lot harder to stay at that pace and I had to cling to the railing at times to keep up. I'll probably just get back to my previous level of fitness and then will go on winter break and have to start all over again!

147.5

That's a "yikes" weight but an improvement over yesterday's 148.5.  I exercised 5 days last week (though one day was just a 1.25 mile or so FREEZING COLD walk downtown) and again last night, so that's not the problem.  I haven't eaten great but I've had much worse weeks, so that's not the problem either.  This leads me to conclude that I am retaining water, which is very likely, given the timing of the month.  Ugh.  I hope next week's number will be better, or that my jeans will start falling off, or something to show I'm doing some good!

142.6

Today's weight is slightly higher than last week's weight, but since last week's weight was ridiculously low, I never believed it (and it didn't stick around more than a day or two anyway--by Thursday I was back to 143.8). So I guess I'll have to tell the Daily Plate that my weight is down slightly, which means the amount I can eat will be reduced (on every day except Thursday and Friday, that is. Those days don't count this week.).

I did get to the gym yesterday for a very short workout. I'll be back again today. Running doesn't hurt my back at all, but unless this pinched nerve gets much better overnight I don't see how I'll be able to swim tomorrow. I can go through the motions (no muscle injury) but it hurts like hell.

Monday update

So on Friday I ended up running five miles, which is more than I've run in one session since college. I think it may have been too much, too soon, though because I spent the next couple of hours with my chest feeling really tight. Not dangerous-tight--just I-went-too-far tight. I'm hoping to get back to the gym today, but with a 4:15 conference with Claire's teacher I'm not sure I can make it.

I've also been walking around the past 24 hours or so with a pinched nerve in my back. Ouchie ouchie ouchie. I blame it on bad sleeping this weekend--Friday night on the hard floor of the scout room packed in among 30 or so little girls, then Saturday night in my own bed but wedged between two little kids so I could barely move. For the first time in his life Connor insisted on sleeping in my bed, and Claire, of course, takes every opportunity to sleep in my bed. Turns out it's not quite big enough for three. The pain started yesterday afternoon and makes any upper body movement (including deep breathing) hurt!

Anyone reading my Daily Plate log saw that I completely gave up on dieting over the weekend. Saturday, in particular, I made a conscious decision about midday that it wasn't worth it and I was just going to eat and not worry about what I was eating. I was a bit better yesterday, but not by much!

I'm going to the gym

Maybe I've turned a corner, or maybe I'm just looking at the next 24 hours (Girl Scout overnight--yikes!) and recognizing that I need to work off some stress before I go into that, but this morning I woke up and realized that I *wanted* (in fact, maybe even needed) to go for a run today. I hadn't planned on this since I volunteered at the book fair at Claire's school this morning and can't really justify that amount of time away from work, but I'm going anyway. This will be my fourth trip to the gym this week (although I think Emily has me beat--it looks like she's been just about every day!), so I'll be keeping up with my minimum number of aerobic sessions each week that I'm aiming for. That was a really convoluted and badly written sentence. Sorry.

Unrelated: I just signed Connor up for swim lessons! I've been looking for a program for a while that would be able/willing to teach him, and it turns out there's a program based in Ellicott City/Columbia that specializes in teaching kids with special needs to swim. It ain't going to be cheap, but it'll be worth it if we can get him to the point where we don't have to fear for his life when he's around a pool or lake. How cool is that?

And more related: I heard about a device this week called the Bodybugg that is supposed to help with weight loss by tracking your actual energy expenditure and measuring that against the calories you're taking in. It's a little device that you strap onto your arm and it measures motion, skin temperature, skin conductivity and things like that to determine how much energy you're using. You plug that information into a computer program along with your food intake and it compares what you burned to what you ate. I was skeptical until I read a review by a real person, who said that as long as you're completely honest about what you're eating, it seems to be pretty accurate. I don't think I'm ready to drop $250 to get this information, but I thought it was cool that there's a commercially avaiable gadget that will tell you how many calories you're actually burning (instead of just guessing based on what you think your activity level is and how hard you ran on the treadmill).

My weight today

I was lower today by four pounds too - so maybe we are shivering off the weight. I can't imagine ONE session of water aerobics and one day of eating a fibery lunch lost me four pounds. The good thing is that I felt fat this morning so I expected to weight A LOT - so I was relieved. It was actually only about thre-ish pounds now that I think about it - but it was on the low end of my range, which was surprising.

I just got back from my first holiday event of the year. The Transmitter Team does a dinner out and ornament exchange every year. This year we went to Ruth Chris Steak House. I had never been there. It was fabulous - but honestly, the filet and crab cakes at Bonefish were just as good. The service was excellent - which almost made it worth the money. We had a prix-fix menu for $50 - and we had choices throughout. I had the ahi tuna sashimi app (but I got to try the crab stuffed mushrooms also). Then there was a salad. My entree was a mixed grill, which was a 4 oz filet, a half size crab cake, and a crab stuffed chicken breast. It had steamed veggies and garlic mashed potatoes to go along. I had cheesecake for dessert. It was VERY yummy and we all had a lot of fun.

The ornament exchange was fun as always. We do it as a double round robin. First we each get to pick and open a package. Then we do a second round where we can keep our or take any from anyone else at the table. There was not an ornament that I didn't want there tonight. It was fun. I ended up with a clip on bright blue glass bird with a fluffy feather tail. It is similar to some I have already - but I really like it.

145.5

I did see that scary 148 on Saturday but that was higher by a lot than any other number I've seen so I can safely write it off as a fluke.  I'm happy to see the 145.5 today -- it's lower than last week and mostly lower than I've seen over the week.  I'm starting to cut calories a little bit, though not in a very healthy way yet!

Yesterday I went to the gym!  I was planning to go while Mary was at Girl Scouts -- they're just around the corner from each other (well, more like a half mile, but in the same general neighborhood) but Daniel called mid-day and suggested that we go together, so I got my act together and made the call.  I ended up with four appointments over this week and later I made another for next Monday.  So I'm set until our trip.  Now the trick will be NOT to fall into the same I-don't-feel-like-calling cycle after Thanksgiving.  Since I do have the Monday appointment I should be able at least to make one for the Monday after T-day and that will jump me past the out-of-town period.  And Mom and Dad have long distance so I have no excuse for not calling the other days that I'm in Maryland.  So there.  I hope.

Last week....

....I found the 147.something impossible to believe. This week I'm finding the 142.4 on the scale equally impossible to believe. I'm like one of those crazy ads for diet pills: "lose five pounds in one week!" Yesterday I had been 144.2 and was just hoping to match that amount today since it seemed like a realistic loss (assuming the 147 was wrong and my actual weight was somewhere around 145).

I'm still keeping up with the exercise, although I didn't get out on my bike this weekend and my evening schedule this week means I can't commute by bike (two basketball games, a book fair, scout meeting and scout overnight). But I should be able to get to the gym at least three days this week (I've been aiming for four, but I've got a couple of days this week where I have to be at the kids' schools midday, so I won't be able to take a break those days). Last night I dreamt about swimming. In my dream, it was fun. Wish that were the case in real life!

Challenges

Sarah scolded me today about challenging everyone to use TDP but then not doing it myself. Sorry. I DID for a few days but didn't see anyone else. And - I REALLY don't like it in the Livestrong format. Ugh. The colors are ugly and it doesn't seem to be as easy to navigate. I got caught up tonight - but even that was a challenge... It kept saying that today was actually tomorrow! Then, I added a recipe for Split Pea Soup, but it did that thing where it calculated it as 1 person, and used salted drumsticks instead of salt. So it says it is 7200 calories! Sigh. I fixed it - but it doesn't seem to show my changes.

I went to water aerobis yesterday. I really enjoyed it. I didn't go today because I wanted to just stay in my PJs for a change. I have had committments that have me up and about everyday by 8am for weeks now - and I just didn't want to do it again! I will go again next week - maybe even both days... It was fun.

Katie and I started on the basement yesterday. We got as far as dusting and killing the spiders, vacuuming, bleaching the walls and spraying the carpet with bleach AND cat odor killer. It smelled like a pool down there, and definitely smells better - but I don 't think it will last. We will really have to stay on top of spraying the carpet - regularly. We also bought Kilz and paint yesterday. The paint is Orchid Opulence. Actually it is Behr's Bed of Roses - but it is almost exactly like Orchid Opulence (same color as this type). I think it will be pretty when it is done - which will hopefully be by next weekend. Yay! Then the moving starts... Ugh.

Still in the lead... sigh...

I was 148 this morning.  That's a two-pound gain over yesterday.  Since I started tracking calories on Wednesday I had a dinner out at a fancy restaurant (included bread, wine, dessert, bleu cheese on the filet mignon -- you get the picture) and then Girl Scouts nuts and candy arrived.  I suspect I under-counted yesterday and it was still much too high.  Today there is nothing special going on and Daniel's out of town so there's not even a beer or a glass of wine on the horizon, so maybe I can manage to keep my calories in check.  But I still need to get my rear in gear with exercise!

My week, challenges, etc.

Emily, I've got you beat--on Thursday morning I was 147.something (I stopped at the seven and didn't look at the number after that!). I had been 144.6 the day before, so I don't know what's up with the 147, and today I was down to 146.2 so maybe the 144.6 was unusually low and the 146.2 is more or less accurate with the 147 being a spike. Who knows?

I'm still keeping up with exercise. I went for a longish bike ride on Sunday (17 miles), ran on Monday and Tuesday and yesterday, and today I'm scheduled to go to swimming (Claire got angry when she saw my suit and towel sitting out this morning--I think she was pissed to find out I've been swimming regularly without her!). I'm trying to make the running more interesting/challenging by incorporating a couple of training ideas I read about this week. One is training for speed, which is pretty much like interval workouts but with a higher top interval and lower steady pace. I did that while walking Davey on Tuesday and he thought it was great (although when I'd stop the sprinting he'd stop and sniff around, figuring I must be stopping for an interesting reason like maybe a rabbit in the bushes or a piece of chicken on the sidewalk). The other is a tempo workout that's supposed to increase your lactate threshold. I don't have the time for that full workout (it's supposed to be 8 miles total and starts by saying "run an easy three miles." An easy three miles? What planet are these people on?) so I cut it in half yesterday, jogging at a low speed (4.9) for a mile to start and a mile to cool down, with two miles in between at a slightly higher than usual speed (6.2). The idea is to condition your body to handle higher speeds for longer distances. Since it would take me nearly an hour and a half to do the full eight miles (plus, I might die) I don't see doing the full workout until maybe this summer when I could get out in the early morning comfortably.

So does that count as doing something new? I hope so, because I don't think I could handle another new thing--Girl Scouts and triathlon training is enough new for me right now!

Vitamins and Daily Plate--I don't take vitamins and never have regularly except during pregnancy, so you all are on your own with that one. I'll try to start logging my food on the Daily Plate, but it was getting so slow to access it from home that the last few times I've tried, I've just given up. I don't mind tracking my food when it means five minutes online each evening, but it was taking 15 or 20 minutes and I don't have the time or patience for that! Has anyone else been having that problem? I haven't tried it for months now, though, so maybe it's not a problem anymore.

I weighed myself today...

... but I wish I hadn't, because it was 146.5, which is the highest this year, I think.  I am just SO not enthused about the whole dieting thing and I've barely exercised lately -- another point of non-enthusiasm.  Alexander and I have been going for walks; or, rather, we went for two walks.  One was my doing, because I was tired of feeling blobby and was feeling a bit unwell and thought a walk would help.  It did.  But I only got down the block and back once (can't go far with the kids home alone) when Alexander came out and joined me, and then it was a lot more fun, especially since my iPod was uncharged.  Then the next day he looked forward to our walk all day, so we went out for a much longer and further walk/jog once Daniel got home.  We jog whenever Alexander wants to, which is less than I would, so it's really easy for me, which makes it more fun, too.  But we haven't been able to go out since then, as we've had other things getting in the way the last several nights.  And I don't have any gym appointments coming up.  I just can't seem to make myself make the first phone call!  Ugh.

Anyway, I'll join in the Daily Plate challenge.  I'm already good about taking my vitamins and I don't know what I'll do that's new, though I'll keep my eyes open.  I KNOW that's what I need to do -- I'm eating a lot of junk (though most of it's gone now) and not being careful about what I snack on mindlessly (like today I already had a grains family item at lunch because I had a sandwich, but I still also ate the less-healthy pretzels when I got some for Cecilia, just because they were there).  So DP will help with that.  I know it will help; I just don't wanna.

Challenges

Why haven't we done any challenges lately? I mean, I know we don't actually even POST much any more - but maybe if we were doing challenges again we might check back...

Challenge #1 - I want to challenge everyone to log in to The Daily Plate for the next two weeks and record what you have eaten. I am not caring about calorie counts necessarily - unless that is what you are concerned about - but to see what our eating patterns really are. As I posted before, Katie and I have been in scrounge mode recently - and I think it is easy to get derailled that way. I had a blueberry muffin (think cake...) for breakfast this morning since Katie and I BOTH managed to get up too late and be very slow going... NOT GOOD!

Challenge #2 - The Vitamin Challege. Does anyone else take vitamins like crazy? I have been bad with mine lately - which is a shame, because I have invested some serious money in vitamins. I should take them. So for the same 2 weeks I challenge you all to take your vitamins... no missed days.

Challenge #3 - Try something new... New healthy food, new exercise - try something new and report it back here.

Forgot

I forgot to weigh in today. I thought of it last night as I was eating my dinner of Halloween candy - but I didn't remember this morning. Or I may have - but I was really foggy today - so I didn't actually REMEMBER until I was on my way (weigh) out the door. Oh well...

I did finally make two of my three pending appointments this morning (annual and nutrionist). I still need to have my boobie lump sonagram done - but I have to find that form. I think I may have "cleaned" it up in the Halloween rush.

Katie and I did Let's Dish last night for the first time since early summer. We have had NO FOOD for months now. I am pleased about that because it is very hard to eat well when there is lots of candy, but no real food in the house.

Anyway - since I didn't post last week (I don't think) I just will tell you my weight was still in my zone. I am pseudo plateaued I guess. I am testing the theory that there is some weird mold in my house that keeps me from losing weight... Or more precisely, gives me my stomach troubles. The way I am testing it is VERY radical. I am trying to keep my house clean. I don't know how that will go... but we will see. 8-) Actually, I just hired a girl (woman) I work with to clean for me every other week. I am very excited about this. As soon as Katie and I get the basement in order (guestament about two weeks) most of our clutter will be gone - which I think will make my house look like a grown ups house. I am very excited by this!!

Long overdue update

Bad news is my weight and diet aren't great, thanks in large part to Girl Scout cookies and Halloween candy. I was 144.8 this week (on Wednesday, or maybe Thursday. I forgot to weigh myself on Tuesday).

On the other hand, my exercising has been really consistent. I haven't managed to bike to work the past couple of weeks (blame Halloween preparation and Claire's basketball schedule/Connor's therapy schedule) but I've been at the gym running and swimming regularly--once a week on the swimming and two to three days a week for running. I'll need to increase that over time but I am, at least, managing to hold on to my level of fitness in running and improve my swimming slowly. I think most of my swimming improvement is from equipment--first the goggles made life much more pleasant and then this week I got a swim cap that made everything easier. I had been having difficulties with hair getting in my mouth when I'd breathe, so this took care of that problem, but I didn't realize until I had the cap on how much my hair was also getting in the way of my arms moving freely. So now I look like a total dork, but a total dork who went five minutes faster this week over last. I still don't understand how people can just keep going and going and going when they swim without a pause to catch their breath or a stop halfway down the lane to choke on water. I'm not sure they sell equipment to help me with that problem.

145

Though it seems I'm posting my weight to myself these days.  It's in rough shape -- I still haven't gotten back to exercising and I've been eating candy.  Bleah.  And now I'm fighting a virus (mostly sore throat).  Double bleah!

Really long time no post

It has been a long time for all of us - but I don't usually go weeks without posting.

Anyway - my weight is still holding mostly steady, inspite of the Girl Scout cookies, Boy Scout popcorn, restaurant birthday food, and Halloween candy (although I have hardly eaten any yet).

I have been doing yoga every week - but that has been about it for exercise. I like that I have seen improvement in my yoga - but I don't think the overall impact has been that great. I love it though. I have been fantasizing about my new yoga room. I can't wait to have that done. Katie and I are starting a plan of action to get the basement done, and THEN I can get the yoga room done. I am enought excited by the prospect of this new room that I am seriously considering having the professionals at Lowes or Home Depot put in the floor for me. That way it will really be done and hopefully done right...

I still haven't started my water aerobics. I keep forgetting on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I can't go this Saturday since Katie and I have the Christmas Bazaar at SHG - but maybe I will go Sunday. I know I am definitely doing the introvert, I don't know what to expect, thing with this class. Sigh.

Katie and I haven't been to Let's Dish in months - and we are really out of food in our house. It is such a struggle to figure out what is for dinner - and frequently we end up eating not so great food (i.e. processed) or not at all because of it. We need to get a plan of action back in place.

I have been craving grilled fish and steamed vegetables. Since I am supposed to be eating intuitively maybe I should pay attention to that.

Now for my next trick

I will lose 25 pounds in a week and keep it off forever. Yes, that would be magic and since that hasn't happened I will continue to plod along.

I have dramatically improved my diet again. I've been working on every aspect of it and I keep refining. It seems that when I take time to reexamine my habits I can make additional changes. Plus I keep discovering better and more wonderful organic and healthy foods.

At the same time I'm also looking at ways to trim my grocery bill. I only shop for one and that can prove a challenge because it's rarely a question of not having enough but trying not to waste food, especially salad fixings.

So all of that has definitely helped me cut the summer bulge that developed from too much beer drinking and a long vacation. Plus, my life was chaotic for almost three months and it was nearly impossible to gain a foothold.

Now I'm working on ramping up the workouts again. I still need work in this area. I'm always left with the feeling that I can do more. Oh well.

With the winter holidays approaching I know times will be tough but I am going to try to stick to a routine. We'll see.

I should have weighed in last week

Last week wound up being no worse than the previous week.  After a trip to Alabama and then Atlanta, though, my weight is up.  It was 145.0 today (144.5 yesterday and 145.5 the day before).  Ouch.  I wish I could say I were doing something about it this week, but, well, it's Halloween week, so I'm going to (a) spend the week working on a Halloween costume for Xander instead of getting exercise (though there's a lot of running back and forth between the sewing machine and the iron, so that's something), and (b) eating candy, at least as of Friday.

Maybe next year I'll get thin.

This is brilliant!

It's a web account of two women who toured the eastern U.S. by bike (and truck eventually) during the summer after they graduated from college in 1944: http://mjgradziel.com/thelmajones/lureoftheopenroad.html

143.5

It was actually worse than that -- I weighed in at 144.5 first this morning.  But that was a pound gain from last night so I declared it unreasonable (how can I GAIN weight while I'm asleep) and re-weighed five minutes later.  Either way, my weight stinks right now.  I'm just too busy and tired to care much right now!  I can't wait until October and all this traveling is over.

141.6 again

Same exact weight as last week, which I wouldn't dream of complaining about since I only exercised three times and spent the weekend eating Renaissance Festival food.

Tomorrow is the day that registration opens for the Iron Girl triathlon in Columbia, and I guess I'm going to sign up so that I can't back out of it! I've been getting to the pool once a week and it's getting easier. I swam a full kilometer last week (pausing every 25 yards, though!) so I'm less worried about the swim portion. At this point I know I'm physically capable of doing all three legs of the triathlon--just not in a row. And with ten months to get ready I'm pretty sure I can work up to that.

I also spent a bit of time this weekend getting my bike ready for fall and winter riding--I finally attached the bell and fenders that I've had for a while and I attached the lights I just got. These things are bright! I'm going for a short ride tonight to test and make sure things are attached and working correctly, and if everything is o.k. I'm going to try to continue riding to work one day a week through the winter. I may wimp out on the really cold days, but I've done this before (and longer distances without such good clothes too; of course, back then I didn't have the option of a nice warm car with NPR and a cup of coffee) so I'm pretty sure I can do it again.

This week

I totally forgot to post on Tuesday. I weighed myself - I was down from last week, back into my holding steady range - THANK GOODNESS!

I haven't been eating well. I have been eating a lot of popcorn - at work, at home, everywhere I go seems to have popcorn. There have been a couple of times that I haven't eaten at all until I get home and then I usually have a decent dinner - but not always. I am going back to keeping a food diary - not calorie counting, I gain weight when I do that - but just tracking that I AM eating, and hopefully eating something healthy.

My knees have been hurting lately. I think it is because I have been clenching up my legs at night because I am too cold. Last night I put on an extra blanket and today I am better. Although, yesterday at yoga my knees were mostly OK but my wrists were really hurting! Stan gave me a wedge to put under my hands to focus my weight off of my wrist and onto the ball of my hand - which helped a lot. I am proud of myself. I still hate downdog with a fiery passion - but I have noticed that first, my shoulders aren't tensing up as much when I do it (very hard - you are bent over at the waist, with your arms above your head and flat on the floor so you are forming a triangle with your feet, butt and hands being the three points - your shoulders are supposed to be held "relaxed" and away from your ears... kind of like you are standing with your arms hanging down, but reaching up instead - Stan calls it reaching with short arms.) ANYWAY so my shoulders are not scrunched up anymore. And second, I am noticing my heels are closer to the ground. In the ideal down dog your feet are flat on the floor - but most people can't do that when they first start out - unless they have had a reason for their calves to be nice and stretchy. I still don't have a lot of strength in my arms to hold me up for very long - but in most cases I can hold it the full time in class now. You are supposed to do 1 down dog for 3 minutes - or 3 for 1 minute each. He only had us do 2 yesterday, but the second one was REALLY long - so it may have been for 2 minutes. Supposedly when you are doing yoga regularly downward facing dog is the resting position. I don't buy it. You know the funny thing about yoga is most of the positions are things we do naturally as babies. Like downdog is exactly what toddlers do when they go from crawling to standing. Same with a lot of the twists we do. And there is a pose actually CALLED happy baby (it is what you would expect - lay on your back and grab your heels and pull your knees down to your ears-ish keeping your shins perpendicular to the floor).

Fall routine

Well I started back to an exercise and eating routine. I'm following my exercise book and so far so good. But it has only been three days. Still I have hopes because it's just easier for me to focus as cooler weather arrives. There are so many distractions in the summer like ... beer. :-)

I'm really just hoping to get back into a regular routine to trim back down again. It was obvious that I had put on a few pounds. My biggest focus is cutting down beer. That shouldn't be too hard. Otherwise I've got the right food in the house and my bike and trainer are set up at home with my weights, etc. So I'm ready to go. 

Today was my first day back in the office since Sept. 8. I have been up on Capitol Hill nearly every day since then covering the financial bailout. My earliest day was probably 9 p.m. during that stretch so it was impossible to do any kind of activity except chase lawmakers around ... although that did prove to have some benefits. 

So I'm looking forward to the rest of the month and hopefully some weight loss. 

141.0

My weight has been in the 140-142 range for a long time now, most of the past month, anyway.  For some of that time I was aggressively exercising and counting calories and for the past three weeks I've barely exercised and I've given up counting calories.  I guess I know how to judge how much I'm eating by now (though not counting usually means I know I'm overeating if I want to lose weight, but don't want to face up to it) so I'm not eating WAY too much, but I'm surprised that the lack of exercise (about one day a week) hasn't affected my weight or the fit of my clothing more directly.  Go figure.

I have an appointment at the gym today but not much after that, and I'm out of town each of the next three weekends, including celebrating three birthdays (if you count Mom's, which I won't be there for, but anytime I'm around for Dad's, even late, I count it as celebrating both) and two family reunions (nothing like Southern-style potluck for weight gain -- and in this case I'm counting the Angerers coming as the second reunion).  So I'm doomed for this month.  I'll try to get better at squeezing in exercise, since squeezing out calories looks unlikely!

141.6

Thank goodness, some downward movement from last week! Last Wednesday I was up to over 145, then started dropping each day until I hit a low on Saturday morning of 141.4 and it's stayed in that range since then. I'm back to my original plan (duh, it works--don't know why I ever stray except that it's no fun) of counting calories and exercising five days a week. Last week was bike riding, swimming, running, dog walking and pilates. How's that for cross training?

Cease and desist letter to gravity

Dear. Mr./Ms. Gravity, 

Although I admire your ability to keep me, my car and house from merely floating into space I have growing concern about your seemingly increased powers since I hit age 40 about two months ago. No one who had turned 40 before me mentioned an immediate change in gravity after turning the big 4-0. 

It seems that despite my work to the contrary you are winning the battle and all of those parts I've worked so hard on are sagging a bit more each day. Did I do something to offend you? I mean, I feel like I've done my part here. I've given you plenty to work with, I really truly have been what could be considered a loyal subject. But now this? 

OK, sure I'm not exercising like I should and my food hasn't been the greatest lately but do I really deserve this kind of gravitational pull? I think not. 

I mean you're forcing me to consider a trip to a certain ladies department in the store that carries items to cinch, pull and smush those nagging sagging parts. Please, no.

So meanwhile, I will renew my efforts to eat well and exercise like a fiend. Somehow, some way I will thwart you. 

I'd just ask that you please gimme a break and at least return to normal strength for the time being to give me a fighting chance. 

I'll tell if you'll tell!

Apparently it's a bad weight day in general. What was that about preparing our bodies for hibernation? By that tactic we should keep gorging for the next six weeks or so and then eat nothing for three months.

Last week wasn't a great exercise week for me--only one day at the gym and one day riding my bike. I rode to work again yesterday (so I guess technically that makes it three days of exercise, but that'll be my only riding day this week so I'm counting it in this week) and until I get lights, that will have to be my last day of commuting by bike. And I haven't been watching my diet at all, so as of today I'm back to counting calories, which seems to be the only thing that works for me.

Oh, OK, I was 144.4.

I plead the Fifth

My weight this morning was artificially inflated after dinner at Kabuki last night.  And two beers and a largeish glass of wine (the alcohol was over a five- or six-hour period, but it still leaves me feeling icky the next day) and some Manchego cheese.  And cake, of course.  And candy corn throughout the afternoon and a real, full-sized peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch -- sad that that's such a luxury.  So today I was carrying food weight around still, and while I did have a generous quantity of calories yesterday it wasn't two and a half pounds' worth, so I'm not going to post the number I saw.  (Besides, Amy says I get the week off, so there!)

It's Tuesday... and it feels like Monday

I wish is was. Maybe then I wouldn't have weighed myself this morning. Ugh. I have a new all time high. This is surprising because ever since last Wednesday I have had a very sore tongue from my temp crown. This means eating is more trouble than it is worth. There is absolutely NO pleasure from it. Which is kind of sad because there have been good foods to be had. Last night was chicken paprikash. You know - that is very odd. I mean, yes, my tongue hurts - and it is hard to chew, and to swallow, and to talk - but that shouldn't stop food from tasting good. I mean, I should be craving ice cream. I'm not. I have had painful dental situations before - and a history of cancersores too, but that has never made the food just unappealing. Maybe I am on to something here. Nothing too interesting though, because it didn't help me with my weight today. Sigh.

Laura still hasn't moved out. She is supposed to be working on it today AGAIN - but her furniture is still in the room. As long as her BIG furiture is in the room I can't really do anything else. I told her I want to paint a layer of Kilz down there and can't because of her furniture. She hasn't replied to that email. (For the record I was much more diplomatic than I was just now...) I am tempted to start in there anyway. I mean - She moved out almost two months ago!!

Designer Handbags

I went to a fake purse party last night. I bought a fake Kate Spade. This is my second fake Kate Spade. I looked at the Dooney Bourkes also and considered a REAL Kathy VanZeeland. It was pretty ugly though - and when I realized that the only reason I was considering it was because it was a REAL one, and they are trendy I smacked myself and put it back. I did realize however, that I am shallow enough that I want a real designer handbag. Not an ugly one though. I would rather spend a ton of money and get something really classic that will last me forever. I like Kate Spades - www.katespade.com. I also like Dooney Bourke. Coach are nice too. However, ALL of these are $400-ish. The advantage of a really expensive purse is that I can't just decide to get one and then get one - I have to "save my money" which means that before I have enough I will probably lose interest until the next fake purse party buying opportunity.

140.0

My weight has been see-sawing over a two-pound range for the last week, and fortunately it sawed instead of seed today, so this was the lowest I've seen in a bit.  Then I blew it all by taking the kids to Chick-fil-a tonight for dinner.  We needed to go to Lowe's (I've been digging and replanting daffodils for three days now, a job I've never done and which I officially LOATHE, but once the digging and planting was done I didn't want to leave it just bare mulch, so I was putting mums in and I didn't buy enough on the first pass) and Chick-fil-a was close by.  So was Fazolis, which would have been my preference, but I was outvoted.  I thought that was a good thing, since at Fazolis I end up with too much cheese and too many breadsticks, and at Chick-fil-a I could just get a cool wrap, which I did, and I barely ate any dressing, even.  But Chick-fil-a is dangerous because they have their coffee-caramel milkshakes, which are REALLY awesome.  Cecilia helped me drink it but I still had the lion's share of the 810 calories.  That's 2/3 of my calorie goal in one chunk.  Ugh.  I haven't wanted any junk food since, though, as you can imagine.

The gardening has been great exercise.  And it keeps me from snacking because I'm usually out there for a couple of hours (or more) at one go.  I have all kinds of soreness in leg and arm and back muscles.  I know it's not very high-calorie work but it adds up, and it's good for my muscles.  But I was getting mighty cranky at the bulbs today.  I only got half of them replanted yesterday, so today I had a dull job ahead of me, and the darn holes wouldn't stay dug -- I'd put a bulb in and the dirt would collapse around it before I could get the others in the cluster in as well.  Even more annoying, the dirt would fall UNDER the bulbs so I'd plant it eight inches deep and it would scoot up to four before I could get two more in the same hole.  I was growling at the bulbs and growling at my kids because they all wanted to help, which mostly meant them bickering over who got to hold the watering can and who closed the door in whose face, which made me even crankier at the bulbs.  So, great exercise or not, I do NOT want to do this job any more than absolutely necessary.  Ugh.

143 again

I don't know what was up with that 144.8 on Saturday. I was back down to 143 today. Not losing, but at least not two pounds up! Oddly, my weight on Saturday was after a full week of exercise. My weight this morning was after three days of NO exercise. I was on my feet all day Saturday at the Grand Prix but only moving very slowly, then did nothing on Sunday. I brought my stuff to go to the gym yesterday and ended up not going--I had forgotten about the traditional post-Grand Prix department lunch out.

I had such a beautiful commute to work today. The weather was perfect and the effort felt like next to nothing. I kept hitting milestones on the way (well, intersections where I mentally break up the trip--end of long hill, halfway point, beginning of suburban ugliness) and thinking "how did get here already?" I wanted to just keep going when I got to campus. I need to get lights for my bike--in a couple of weeks it'll still be pretty dim when I set out in the morning, and while I'm making it home long before sunset currently, that won't last much longer.

I didn't weigh-in

I actually forgot this morning. That is remarkable for me and Rebecca would be so proud. I DID remember to take my vitamins, which I haven't remembered to do since last Friday. I thought about weighing myself yesterday - and I remembered in the shower today - but I forgot again until I was fully dressed down to my jewelry and shoes - so I didn't get on the scale. I was actually curious to see what my weight was doing too. I am mid period - and I wanted to see if I was still not gaining my normal 4 pounds.

Katie and I went to Bonefish last night for the first time in many, many months. The last time I went (which was without her) was in July - but I really can't remember the last time the two of us went together. The arctic charr was back on the menu - but it wasn't as good as it was last season. It was a smidge dry, and less flavorful. Oh well.

Katie and I photographed a wedding on Saturday. The couple was a friend of Charles - and so also Katie's. It was a beautiful day. The ceremony was in a park/beach and the reception was in two side by side back yards. The lighting was a bit too sunny or dappled (if we tried for shade) but the pictures are turning out good anyway. There were 5 each bridesmaids and groomsmen, and four little boys and two junior bridesmaids - so a large wedding party. I have been spending all of my free time since Saturday editing photos. I hope to get them done by tomorrow end of the day. I will let you all know when they are posted to my smug mug.

Would someone please tell me why I'm gaining weight?

This is insane. I was 143 on Tuesday and today I'm 144.8. I've been eating normally (not religiously counting calories, but not eating anything extra, and no parties or meals out) and exercising really well (two days swimming, two days running, one day commuting by bike this past week). And there's no indication that I'm retaining water either. So what's up with gaining nearly two pounds in four days?

143

I think that counts as holding steady from last week, which isn't bad considering all the stuff I ate over the weekend!

I'm just back from the pool, my second attempt at swimming. After the awful time I had that first time I was nervous about this, but the goggles made a HUGE difference in my comfort level, as did just taking it a lot slower. Now that I know that freestyle kills me, I paced myself better--breaststroke every other length as a "rest" and I only did seven lengths of just freestyle. So I did 11 laps/22 lengths again, but didn't pause as long at the end of each length, and only once had to stop to catch my breath in the middle of a length--and that was because I had gotten a mouthful of hair. I also did the old lady breathing with freestyle, taking a breath every other stroke instead of every third or fourth as I used to be able to do when I was young and had good lung capacity! So: goggles, slow pace, regular breathing and a REAL shower afterwards instead of just rinsing off and I feel much better than I did after that first time. And yesterday I was back to doing a 5K in under 30 minutes on the treadmill so I'm feeling pretty good overall. If I bike to work tomorrow and swim again on Thursday, I will have done a complete sprint triathlon over four days. All I have to do is work that all into just one day (and under four hours) within the next year.

Carpool Tunnel Vision

I was back concretely within my weigh range that I have been for the past several months. Yay! This is a good thing because the extra two pounds that I saw the last couple of weeks were really scaring me. I still need to figure out how to lose the extra weight - but I am really happy right now just to be holding steady. I seriously have that "no sudden movements" when it comes to my diet though.

I think I am developing carpal tunnel syndrome. I have had two weird things with my right wrist for several months now. First, pushing the doors at TESSCO open sends a shooting pain up my wrist unless I brace my elbow against my body before I push (and I never remember to do that) and around about 4pm my fingers go numb. It is the sort of numbness that you get when you are too cold, like your fine motor skills are gone. So I start shaking my hand and sitting on it to "warm" it up. I thought it was the air conditioning. However, last night I was working on a project which involved a lot of mouse clicking, and I was in pain up to and beyond my elbow. It still hurts today. I tried everything to relieve the pain and thaw out the numbness, but nothing worked. So, I need to have that checked out.

As I was driving home I was thinking "Oh finally! A medical condition that is in no way connected to my thyroid." I was wrong about that. Did you know that people with thyroid conditions are more susceptible to carpal tunnel syndrome? I didn't either until I looked it up on Mayo to find out what I could do about it in the meantime. I thought it was a joke!

I need to add that to my list of stuff to discuss with my doctor - however, I am beginning to think with this that I should address it sooner rather than later. Sigh. I guess it was to be expected in my case. I do so many fine motor hobbies, it make sense that would be something that would show wear and tear sooner or later.

No clue what I weigh

But on Saturday mom's scale flashed 139.5 and the  next day it flashed 136.5, so over the course of one intestinal virus I dropped three pounds.  Ugh.  My real weight was, of course, higher than that, since Mom's scale is consistently lower than mine, and I've probably recovered a bit of that weight in the meantime, since I'm not still dehydrated, I hope.  But my appetite has remained small.  I've barely moved since I got here so I'm losing muscle mass in all of this.  Today we've got a field trip planned so it won't be quite such an inactive day.  Tomorrow we go home so I'll weigh myself on Thursday, by which time my appetite should be normal again as well.

Ocean!

Wow was this weekend beautiful!!! Sarah and I spent the weekend at Ocean City with Claire and Connor. Claire and I went down Friday night and Sarah joined us Saturday around 11:30am. It rained the whole way down and so I was sure it was going to be a gross weekend - but Saturday morning I woke up to beautiful sunshine! I got Claire up and we were on the beach by 8:30am. The two of us walked up the beach 1/2 a mile and then back down. So I got a mile of straight (well, sort of lopsided) walking in that morning. Beach walking is hard. Your legs are tilted, and the ground keeps disappearing out from under you... The water was nice - a little chilly - and the waves were just right. We played together in the surf for a while, then I sat in the sun and watched Claire play even more. Once Sarah arrived we went to the boardwalk and only walked a little bit, then went back to the beach for about another 2 hours. That night (when we were playing miniature golf) I noticed that my body was REALLY stiff. Mostly my knee joints and my left side hip. Sigh. I could barely bend over and squatting was right out! I couldn't get my own ball out of the golf holes. I think it was because of the way the ground moves under you in the ocean. It think that was really hard on my joints. I didn't take any glucocemene this weekend. I still felt stiff Sunday morning, but it felt much better in the water (which makes sense since water supports you). So again we spent about 3 hours on the beach. We then cleaned up the condo, hit Candy Kitchen (there ARE rules you know!) and came home. I was SO stiff and sore when I got out of the car when I got back to Baltimore!! I took a hot bath last night, and I seem to be mostly fine today - except for my sun burn.

I have a make up yoga class that I have to take either today or tomorrow (it is the last week of the session). I am going to see what time it is being offered tonight to see if I can get that in. I hope that will help work out some of my stiffness.

We ate crap all weekend. My stomach behaved until I was leaving town. Sarah said I need to try bio-feedback to see if my problems are stress related. I think they possibly could be, and so does Rebecca, but they are also food related. It was the cantaloupe that my body didn't like - and it is normal for me to react to raw fruits and vegetables. But it wasn't until I was heading home that I reacted. So, maybe my life stresses me out. But I can't tell, and I don't know what all to do about it. I had NO reflux all weekend, despite the fact that I was eating Oreo cookies and pancake syrup the whole time.

I did the drive via Delaware this time. I don't like the bridge and so I loved that I didn't have to use it. The tolls were $13 on the way there - and I can't remember coming home. I think it was one less on the way home - but I honestly can't rememeber. I think I saved $4 or $5 on the way back. And it took longer. Sarah was home a good 45 minutes before I was... Of course I did have to stop twice on the way home. Once to get gas and then a second time to deal with my cantaloupe issue. I wouldn't have done it all in once stop except the gas station had no bathroom. So that was a lost 15 minutes or so.

We used to do day trips to Rehobeth. I want to start that again. It is SO relaxing to be at the beach!

Someone brought doughnuts

They're sitting in the back room, calling my name.

I haven't posted in a while because I was mortified about my weight after Labor Day. The week before that was bad enough--I think I was 143.something. So I worked really hard that week (that was the week I went swimming) and by Friday I was down to 141.8. Then came Labor Day weekend--Girl Scout pool party (can't do that without hamburgers and s'mores) followed by the trip to New York for Miriam's party (road food, party food, diner breakfast, more road food) and on Tuesday I weighed 145.4!!! Ouch. Plus at that same time I came down with a horrible cold and was knocked flat for a couple of days, so I continued eating badly and not really exercising (only two days that week). I've managed to shed a bit of that weight, but as of yesterday I was only back to 143.4. So pretty much back where I started that was "bad enough." And now there's doughnuts.

I was at a conference on Monday so I didn't get to the gym that day, but I got in yesterday and today I rode to work (that counts as two workouts in my mind since I do an hour in and an hour home). Oh, I took a different route today--one that cuts off the hill from hell. I was a bit worried about the road because it has no shoulder to speak of and I didn't know how busy it would be. Turns out it's not that busy, and there are traffic calming bumps and sharp curves that keep the cars either off the road entirely or just slow, so it was really nice. It also cuts off the worst intersection I had to deal with (highway overpass with multiple traffic lights and exit lanes, ending in me making a left turn--not fun). So my average speed was faster today and the trip was about 6 minutes faster overall. I guess that doesn't seem like much, but if I can get washed off and dressed in six minutes, that gets me at my desk on time!

142.5

Back to where I was!  Not that I ever got much below it.  But on Saturday we went to a party (and there were s'mores -- OK, so I'm weak) and on Monday we went out to dinner and a movie (high-cal food and popcorn) and I'm still reeling from that, weight-wise.  And it won't be better tomorrow, because today for Daniel's birthday we had cheese fondue (but not my homemade bread -- the starter hasn't been revived in a long time and it's still too sluggish for the bread to rise) and cake.  Tomorrow will be leftovers of unhealthy food.  By Thursday I should be eating like a normal human being again, though, and with Daniel out of town I will probably eat lightly.

I missed exercise yesterday -- my gym time conflicted with our date and the day was otherwise busy -- but today I worked out at the gym, and I have an appointment Thursday as well.  I wish it were daily, but every other day will have to do, this week.

I lost a pound

of blood last night - but it didn't seem to help. FINALLY they took my blood. I don't trust their new system for anything... Last time my iron readings were 12.0 from one finger and 10.9! from the other. You need to have 12.5 to give blood. I almost didn't go last night because I had hardly eaten all day - I did double up my morning orange juice, but didn't drink anything other than one cup of coffee (which I am not supposed to do), I had a really frazzley day and so just wasn't in the mood. But I went anyway figuring my iron would be too low. It wasn't! Well - they still had to prick both of my fingers - 12.2 was the first one and then the next one was 12.8! So I gave my pint of blood. They let you drink now while you are giving the blood. It never made sense to me that they wouldn't let you replace your fluids while it was happening. It USED to be that they wouldn't let me drink my water after they started taking my history. Oddly - today both of my finger pricks are hurting, and I have a big skid mark of burst blood vessels where the pressure cuff was last night. I wonder why that is. Anyway -so I am not sure why my iron was OK yesterday. I have eaten a total of four sandwiches in the past week (well, three and a half - I burned a grilled cheese sandwich to charcoal last Wednesday but ate the insides of it...). So maybe the regular bread made a difference. I have also been taking the whole foods multi vitamins instead of the regular kind. Maybe THAT made the difference. I don't know... Anyway, it felt good to donate again. I don't have to worry about it again until November 3rd.

I want to start running. Or more precisely I want to be able to run. I keep seeing people around running and I am envious. Their bodies seem to move so freely. And then I get an image of me in my head running and I scare myself. First of all - I wouldn't be running - it would definitely be more like trudging... Then I think how strenuous WALKING is for me and I cringe even more. My body gets in my way. I would love to be able to trust that all the pieces would move the way they are supposed to - but I smack myself regularly when I walk, and trip over my feet, and my thighs rub together. So I need to start out slowly - and find some place where no one would see me or be injured by my cumbersome form landing in unpredictable places. I think I will start trying to run again on my treadmill. I need to unearth my treadmill. I am SO looking forward to having my exercise room. I can't wait for Laura to finish moving her stuff out... YAY!

Turns out I *am* in better shape

Last summer I rode up to the top of Brush Mountain and back home again and vowed never, ever to attempt it.  I say "rode" -- that means I got a third of the way up before I nearly collapsed, trudged alongside the bike for what seemed like a mile (probably a quarter to a half mile), biked, walked, and biked the rest of the way.  But I've been on my bike so much this summer that I was really getting curious as to how I would do if I tried it again, so I did.

Better, it turns out.  Not great, but better.  I stayed on the bike the whole way, going really, really slowly, but I made it to the top and never felt like I was going to die.  I just kept pushing the pedals around one more time, and then one more, and that got me there.  I took the long way home (very hilly, more down than up, and it turned out to be a lot of fun) for a round trip of fifteen miles.  I seriously considered continuing on the Huckleberry Trail to add another five miles, but my back was getting tired from leaning over (my legs were fine) and the trail was packed with people on foot today (not surprising -- it's gorgeous out).  Maybe next time.

My other evidence that I'm in pretty good shape is that I put on Daniel's heart monitor before I went out.  I lay down and my heart rate dropped to 57 inside of a minute.  So my resting heart rate is really good.  While I was out my peak rate was in the low 180s, even on the mountain.  Most of the time it was in the 160s, which is where I like it to be at the gym -- I know they have complicated formulae for determining ideal exercising rate, but that's where I perceive exertion without exhaustion (over 170 my face gets red).  I got stuck at a traffic light and it dropped to 131 before the light turned about a minute later.  The average for the trip was 168.  Not shabby. ;-)  Gadgets are fun.