Back from the orthopedist

I had an MRI on my back on Friday--the pain had become intense at times and my foot was regularly loosing sensation or just getting tingly, like it was asleep.

The MRI showed that I am extraordinarily short waisted. Well, that's not what the doctor said precisely, but that's what he meant. He pointed to my spine and said that spines aren't really supposed to curve out so dramatically at their base. Then he pointed to the sacroiliac joint (where the spine and pelvis meet) and said that one of my bones there isn't fused properly, which could be a congenital thing or could be the result of injury, which was most likely a repetitive stress injury. He said you see this a lot in people who play a lot of tennis, volleyball, and swimming (see, I KNEW swimming was a horrible sport!) but then said that the small amount of swimming I did to train for the triathlon wouldn't have done it. He said sports where there's a lot of forward-and-back movement from the waist can cause this sort of injury. He was more interested in what I had done much earlier in life, something I may have participated in long-term. I told him I hadn't participated in any sorts of sports like that, but then on my way back from the doctor I remembered, duh, rowing. Three years of five days a week in the fall and spring, all bending back and forth at my waist. A quick Google search tells me that 66% of sweep rowers on the senior national team have SI joint dysfunction.

So whatever the cause (as he said, could be congenital because of the weird shape of my spine. Thanks Mom and Dad!) the treatment at this point is anti-inflamatory drugs and physical therapy. If that doesn't work, we move on to injections, and if THAT doesn't work, then we move to surgery. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I'm kicking myself for not spending more time focusing on core conditioning this past year. I was so focused on doing what I had to do to make it through the triathlon that I ignored conditioning like that.

10 days left...

I weighed in today at 153, which is the lowest I've seen since Tromsø. Of course, I've blown it all by the way I've eaten this evening -- we went out to dinner and to a bar afterwards, so I've had a ton of empty calories. I missed two days of exercise over the weekend, which gives me only a day's leeway between now and Christmas, but I have all five weekdays booked for the gym this week, so there's hope that I won't cut too many corners in the next ten days. Today I did a 5k on the treadmill and it felt much better than it has before, and I got my max set in my pushups to 61, so I'm seeing evidence of improved fitness in several different ways. Oh, and my "fat" jeans were slipping down a bit this afternoon -- another good sign. But I'm still not willing to give up their comfort for the smaller size, even if they fit better -- loose jeans are just so nice!

12 Days of Fitness time!

It's time for the 12 days of fitness! We have 15 days until Christmas. You only get (at most) THREE breaks from exercise in that time (so don't blow them all in one weekend). Try to get in SOME kind of exercise every day, and try to keep some variety in the mix to keep yourself interested. If it's 10 minutes to midnight and you haven't exercised, run up and down the stairs. Or turn on Christmas music and dance like a fool (the kids think this is hysterical when I choose this form of exercise). Or start those hundred pushups you've been meaning to do. There's a lot of exercise that only takes a few minutes when you're desperate, and it's great for a pick-me-up when you're dragging. I don't care what it is you do, just do it!

Back to Basics

I am starting to really scare myself. This morning I hopped on the scale (actually, more like forced myself - resisting - onto the scale) and was once again FAT. Actually, I thought I was up today, but it just occurred to me that I was actually about 1.6 pounds down from last week. Regardless, my weight is considerably higher than I want it to be.

I ate like crap this weekend - pizza, burger, astronomical - waffle, popcorn, gingerbread, road food (girl scout cookies and pretzels in this case), etc. OTOH, I did a lot more walking than I normally do. My feet were killing me, but I did notice on Sunday that my butt muscles were acting less flabby. My feet are still killing me. I feel like I have spikes poking up into the arch of my right foot and the ball of my left foot.

So I woke up this morning deciding that I really need to get back to the basics of dieting. Eating lesst (and right) and exercising. I have already decided that I am going to dramatically reduce my sugar intake once the holidays pass. That is going to be no refined sugars or alcohol. Things made with agave or sweetened with fruits are fine. I am considering going back to reduced gluten, but I think I want to attack just one thing at a time. In the meantime I want to get my regular eating under control. I am going to set my Daily Plate goal to 1800 calories (the recommended calculation it gives me is 2046 to lose 1.5 pounds per week - I think that is too high). I am going to pay attention that I am hitting that goal each day (not too high, not too low...). And I am going to start doing SOME sort of daily exercise. I don't know how much I can do or how often, but I want to really really get rid of the extra 20 pounds that I added on since last year. I hate that the amount I have to lose keeps building. At this point I would be SO happy to be able to just maintain for a while!

18 days of Christmas -- feelin' good

One week down about three to go ... it's amazing what a week can do. I exercised each day and even got out for a nice, though wet, walk on Saturday during the crazy snowstorm to take photos.

So I've been doing about eight exercises a day -- 3x10 -- with either 10 or 15lb weights. Sometimes I do them all at once, sometimes I divide them up. I've done a bunch of lunges, dead lifts and squats and haven't had any issues with my knees. Whew. I highly recommend dead lifts. If done right you will feel it. I tell you though, Mike Heatlie is right, those exercises -- lunges, squats, dead lifts -- work many many parts and I can feel the difference in only seven days.

Today I did walking lunges and actually really liked them even though they kicked my butt. I can say right now that my butt is a burnin'. Feels good.

I've also done some good biking on the trainer -- mostly interval -- one minute fast -- two off and so on. When I take the metro into DC I walk all the escalators etc.

The biggest positives -- I'm not stiff in the morning -- this is after one week -- and my right shoulder that has been killing me for months (I couldn't lift a cup of coffee into the microwave over my stove) is actually feeling pretty good. I can't quite do a full pushup with my body weight but I can hold my weight with my arms outstretched. Planks weren't ever a problem. I can't even tell you all how happy I am that my shoulder is improving. I'm getting a massage tomorrow and I'm hoping that some of the general tightness I'm experiencing will be fully released. :-)

In addition, my food was pretty good. I made every meal and focused on good veggies and proteins and I mixed it up a bit so I wouldn't get bored. But I kept it simple. Oatmeal with fruit, yogurt with fruit and I tried a new baked egg recipe that was delish. Also no alcohol at all last week. I'm trying to reserve that for any party-going.

So into week two I go.

25 Days of Christmas

So I saw Emily's challenge for the 12 days of Christmas but I decided over the Thanksgiving break that the situation is more desperate. I really need a routine and figured I could use a month before the holiday so it's the 25 days of pain before Christmas. I'd really like to take advantage of my semi-unemployment.

Here's my goal -- to do some exercise every day and keep my diet in check. But with a different outlook.

I went through my old routines, read up on some new stuff (Mike Heatlie) that suggests focusing on weight training instead of cardio and put together a new schedule.

I have about 30 different exercises, nearly all working several different parts of the body at once with weights.

My plan is to spend between 20-30 minutes a couple of times a day on the exercises and throw some cardio in for good measure. I pick out say 4-8 exercises at a time and I can do them in my livingroom. That's the key. No gym.

I went grocery shopping and am set on food. Today went well.

At least that's a start.

Slow progress, but progress nonetheless

Despite Thanksgiving, I did manage to drop a pound from a week ago. I am still using Daily Plate, mostly honestly -- though it fell apart over the last couple of days of our trip. And I went running twice and walking once and did some walking by accident one other day (we were looking for a lost rocket -- never did find it, but I picked up a lot of steps in the process) so my exercise wasn't too bad. This week I have four appointments at the gym, though our weekend trip will be another challenge.

My push-ups are back to improving. I got stuck at 40 as my max for a while; it doesn't help that I'm only managing about two days a week instead of three on the program. But I just finished up week 5, and in that week you switch from 4 long sets and a max set to 7 shorter sets and a max set, and for some reason that's the boost I needed, because yesterday I did 50. Ish. It was really 49 with sort of a caving-in, last one tagged on to reach that magic number. I have an exhaustion test coming up on Wednesday, where you just try to do as many push-ups as you can without stopping, so we'll see how I do. Last time I did one of these I didn't get any further than my previous day's max! I am amazed that I could even make it to the vicinity of 50; at my peak in past years, I could only do 20 in a set, and 50 TOTAL on the day. Yesterday my total was 200! The only thing really holding me back at this point is my ability to keep my core muscles engaged (to use the buzz-words from the exercise videos these days) -- in short, I have to keep my ab muscles tight to keep my back from aching, but if I do that, after a while I forget to breathe.

We're into December now -- on the 10th let's start 12 Days of Fitness, where we get 12 days of exercise in before Christmas, preferably 12 different activities -- different machines, different environment (treadmill and road walking/running are different) to shake us out of any rut we may be in.

Back on track

Unfortunately, it is the track I don't WANT to be on. I am now 40 - FORTY - as in FOUR OH! pounds up from when we started this diet four years ago - which means I am back on track for gaining an average of 10 pounds per year in the last 10 years. What worries me is 20 of these pounds have happened in the last 8 months. That is a pretty fast gain by anyone's standards. Also, I can honestly say that you can't really see gain or loss of about 10 or so pounds on me - but this is VERY noticeable. Expecially since I am not getting any taller. In fact, I think I am getting shorter.

So, Katie and I were trying to figure out today what we are doing differently. Exercise, clearly, has always been a problem for me. I can't say it is much less than it was LAST year. I mean I was only doing my Wednesday yoga (which I still am) and walking to church. I have cut out the walking to church bit. I was doing water aerobics somewhat regularly - but still only one day a week at best, and that was only for about three months. I think when I DO (periodically) get into the habit of going to the gym, it usually lasts about a month or so and then I stop. I haven't had one of these month long gigs since Sarah's birthday party. I go periodically, but not regularly. Next, I think I need to stop eating sugar. I HAVE been eating Girl Scout cookies. Not daily - but frequently. I also have been having a drink or two after work. Again, not daily - but more often than I used to. Everytime I DO have a drink I think that it isn't the alcohol I want, but the sugar it contains. I know this! Finally, I need to stop getting older. I am sure that some of the changes I am seeing are based in the fact that I am getting older - but I wouldn't think it would be THAT much that fast!

Anyway - I am going to see my doctor in two weeks, I will discuss all of this with her. In the meantime, I need to do something. The planned meals have helped to a degree, but I need to tighten them up - more fruits and veggies, less bread and rice. I also have to start going to the gym again. I want to shoot for after dinner. Katie can't stand waiting for me to come home from work to eat (which is usually around 8pm as it is) so I just need to not sit down when I do come home, but get in my exercise clothes as soon as I walk in the door, and the get to the gym by 9pm!

What do they have against fiber here???

I'm in Alabama right now. Lunch when we got here yesterday was barbecue with white buns (I skipped the buns). Dinner last night was steak, baked potato, and a romaine-based salad (OK, a tiny bit of fiber there). For breakfast this morning the options were banana bread (very light and fluffy, not very banana-y, so I couldn't pretend it was healthy) and cocktail smokies in buttermilk biscuit pieces. For lunch I bypassed the barbecue and went for a turkey sandwich on the "whole grain" bread -- but I knew it wasn't going to have fiber because it didn't say 100%, and I was right -- less than one gram per slice, and I only ate one slice. Today I've already had half my calories and two thirds of my main meals and I'm barely up to TWO grams of fiber -- usually my breakfast has 8 and my lunch has 5 and I have fruit at some point between them!! There is fruit on the counter here -- red delicious apples and bananas. I tell you, it's a serious fiber-free conspiracy. I'm going to be ill by tomorrow. As usual.

My exercise continues to be spotty. On Friday and Saturday last week I spent time raking leaves -- according to Daily Plate this is a gym-level workout, and after the first day of it my heart rate was rapid and the next day I was sore, so I believe them! I also spent every spare minute on Saturday and Sunday working on cleaning in the basement -- so no formal exercise those days, but I was very active and my step count was over 8000 on Sunday. Yesterday I missed exercise; we had about 6 hours of sleep before we departed for Alabama, then drove 7 hours, and then crashed in the afternoon (after said fiber-free lunch), after which it was too dark for me to get outside. So today I got up and got dressed into my exercise clothes so I'd have no excuses, and Daniel and I went out for a 5k after breakfast. This was the same run that killed me two or so months ago, and today it felt pretty good. I ran 3.36 miles in 33:47, which is pretty much dead-on a 10-minute pace. I brought enough clothes to exercise every day, so I don't have that excuse. And I can't use lack of time as an excuse while I'm here, either! I think my only hope is the weather!

I stumbled on to week 5 in my push-ups this week after my disappointing exhaustion test last week where I got no further than my usual max, even without four sets behind me. I made great strides in my max over the first two or three weeks but have hit a bit of a wall. But I made it through the sets today and managed to eke out one extra push-up (kind of one and a half) beyond the max. My arms are a good sore today, but my back is what hurts the most when I do the push-ups. I just don't know how to strengthen it, though! I do crunches (even though I've read in several different sources that they're not what's best for a flat stomach or for weight loss -- but I'm genuinely trying for ab muscle strength so my back doesn't have to do all the work) but I don't know how else to make progress on that front.

I didn't weigh myself yesterday and don't have a scale for this week, but I am trying to keep portions down. As of Sunday I was back into the range of the number I saw the day I got back from Norway (but never saw again, so it was a fluke). Now I'd like to get back to the range of the end of Tromsø, another 8 pounds down -- if I can be good through December I can maybe do that by Christmas! I'm using the Daily Plate to keep me honest. I don't like Livestrong and the site is slower, but it's got years of data for me, and I know the drill, so I'm sticking with it.

Update

I ate poorly this weekend. I stopped tracking it because I couldn't remember what I ate. It wasn't a LOT per se, but none of it seemed to have nutritional value. I ate popcorn, canned soup, spinach dip (at the coffee shop where Loch Raven played) some Girl Scout cookies... I can't remember what all. By Sunday night I wanted straight up protein. So I got sushi. The plain old blobs of raw fish sushi. It was SO good!!

I have been pretty good on the exercise front. Saturday I got up and immediately put on my exercise clothes and tennis shoes (brand new on Friday!) to go out for a walk. I got no farther than downstairs, I DID, however, exercise - in the working in the yard sort of way. I ended up cleaning up the deck, which was in desparate need of cleaning. I moved all of the big planters off of the deck onto the stairs, threw out all of the little plastic seeding pots (which - it just now occurred to me - I might regret) moved the fireplace from its tucked away "storage" spot back onto the main deck, swept everything - several times - scrubbed and scraped at some of the moldy black and green spots - pretty much to no avail. I really need to power wash it next spring. There are several branches of the big pine tree behind us that I want to take down. There is no way I could get all of the over hanging branches, but I want to get the ones that reach farthest into my yard. I also really need to get gravel delivered to spread over the non-patio area of the yard (otherwise known as the mud pit) under the deck. You can't even walk on it currently. It is too muddy. I did a calculation on how much gravel I would need to cover that area and, based on 18x15 feet 2" deep (although, it is probably more like 15x12 feet) it would be THREE TONS! I can't haul three tons of gravel. Maybe I will just buy one bag of gravel each time I go to home depot until the area is covered. I wonder how long that would take? That actually kind of makes sense for the short term. I could do a path area from the bottom of the steps to the slider at least. Hummmmmm....

So, after I did all of this I felt bad that I hadn't actually gone out for my walk - so a few hours later I took a short (about a mile or so) walk around the neighborhood. Then Saturday night after I got back from the coffee shop I did my push-ups. My calves were still feeling it, but my tricepts were REALLY feeling it. Yay!

Sunday, however, I did no exercise. Sigh.

Today we did a team lunch. I hate that I can never positively influance my people into where to go for lunch. Not that ANY prepared food is that good for you, but they ALWAYS want to eat at Silver Spring Mining Company. I hate that. Their food - first of all - isn't very well prepared. Then, everything is deep fried and/or covered in cheese. It is like TGIFridays, only I don't like it as much. So I had a Bison Burger. It is leaner than beef (supposedly). I ate only half of it - and it was very dry. It did, however, come with one onion ring (my perfect portion) and then fries. I usually remember to order not the fries (applesauce is my preferred substitute - or a salad). Believe it or not, I don't really LIKE French fries that much, however, if they are there, I will often eat them. Today was one of those days. I ate all of the fries. I think I did that because our server was very slow to return to our table after we were done eating, and I was enjoying the conversation - so I wasn't paying attention and so picked at the fries on my plate. I did pack some of them up with my remaining half burger, but I ate them this afternoon.

I have to get back onto Daily Plate. I was on over the weekend, but not diligent...

The Great Pumpkin Conspiracy

I just read on Yahoo news that Nestle's - who makes Libby pumpkin, used for pumpkin pie fillings - is experiencing record low crop yields, due to wet weather. They just announced that they have picked all of the pumpkins they can for this year. Furthermore, LAST year had bad weather too leading to less surplus than ususal, which resulted in spotty outages in late summer (before the new crops came in). So, they are out of pumpkins, and won't get anymore until next year (side note - buy now!). HOWEVER, Wholefoods, Trader Joe's and Farmers Market Organic, are all saying that they don't know what the heck Nestle's is talking about - they had no pumpkin disasters this year. So, my question is - Is Nestle's trying to create a run on the pumpkin market just in time for the holidays? Jack up prices now to "get while the getting is good?" Is it a conspiracy?

In other news... I just ate a BLT. I know! Bad for me, huh? I don't know... I made it with Arnold's Ancient Grains whole wheat & more bread, fresh lettuce, fresh tomatoes and just a tiny smidge of mayo. It was 15 grams of fiber (I am supposed to shoot for 10 per meal and almost never get there), only 7g of sugar, and it was emotionally satisfying. AND - I got in a serving of vegetables!!!

So I have been good with my exercise this week. Well - good as compared to, say, last week! I haven't missed a day since I said no skipping, no excuses, including T-day. Last night was a little bit skimpy I have to say, however, I am feeling it today - which has got to say something. I was intrigued by Emily's comment about the 100 pushups. I decided to check that out... Back when I was doing weight training in college, my big mark of accomplishment was that I went from doing 2 push ups, to 25 push-ups, and I could have kept going! I was very proud of myself. So, I decided I wanted to get back to that...

Step one was your Initial Test. How many "correct form" sit ups can I do now? Well, none. Actually, half. I was just fine with lowering myself down in a controlled manor (plank pose in yoga) but I couldn't push back up (I could go into down dog however...). So that was no go. The website said that if you could do 0 correct form push ups that you should try one of the modified versions. The girl style, knee bent form didn't work for me either (too much pain in my knees). A bench style push up was also described (which sounded like you would place your hands on a bench or chair and lower yourself up and down there. That sounded reasonable, but then it warned you to make sure the bench was stable. I immediately had visions of myself flipping my wooden hallway bench over, falling smack on it with my face and walking around with a fat lip, broken nose, and black eye for the next three weeks. AND break my bench to boot. So, I went with the final version - wall push ups, which is TOTALLY cheating (I thought). It said the farther you stand away from the wall the better the workout. The farthest I could get away from the wall before hitting furniture was four feet. I did 10 wall push ups. I then went back to the guide to see what I was supposed to do. It said if you could do 0-5 push-ups on day 1 you should do sets of 2, 3, 2, 2 3+(as many as you can squeeze out) resting for 60 seconds in between. Since I had already done 10 I didn't want to drop back down to TWO. So I did four sets of 10. By the fourth set I was feeling it and struggling to do the last few. For my last set I pushed past the 10, got to 12 and thought, ugh, but did 13 and then knew I couldn't stop on 13! so managed one more for a total of 14.

What impressed me this morning was that I was feeling it in my calves! It totally makes sense, but I just didn't think about it in advance. So, I am excited to stick with this. I figure if I can get to 100 wall push ups I can try the floor ones again!

Thanks Vickie for the yogurt suggestions! I will definitely check them out.

Check this out

I'm just here to announce that despite more time in my schedule due to my unemployment I'm not making any headway and haven't really gotten into a good routine. Booo!

Apparently I need to spend a minimum of 27 hours a week playing a Swiss mountain goat with girl scouts in order to have the discipline to get my ass in shape! Go Sarah!

But I'm working on it. In my pursuit for a good routine I saw this today on Fit Bottomed Girls.

Truly food for thought: http://fitbottomedgirls.com/2009/11/★fitstars-celebrity-trainer-mike-heatlie/

Challenge update

When did I sign on to the challenge? I can't remember. I know that there weren't anything like 16 days until Thanksgiving when I signed on, but I'm mentally starting it from last Tuesday, so starting from that date I've done five days of exercise (two outdoor cycling, two PT, one exercycle). I had planned to get to the gym today but that isn't going to happen this late in the day, so I'll do pilates tonight. I think that's close enough to what I'm doing in PT that it shouldn't injure me more, and I really need to work on my core strength.

Meal planning is fine for the meals that I plan, which is pretty much just breakfast and lunch. I never didn't plan them, so it's not exactly a challenge! Brian is in charge of dinner, and he's been good about that as well so we've been eating regularly and not junk. I've been craving soup, though, so tonight I'm making roasted cauliflower curry soup and tomorrow (or Thursday or Friday, depending on my time) I'm making garlic soup. Yum. Claire will hate it. The kid can't stand soup.

In other news, I counted up my hours spent last week with Girl Scout activities--27 hours last week! Admittedly 7 of those hours were ostensibly spent sleeping, but the rest was all waking hours of hands-on time. No wonder I kept falling asleep on the sofa at night! And that was on top of running the Children's Liturgy at Mass on Sunday (anyone remember the readings? It was all apocalyptic end of the world stuff--soooooo much fun to bring down to a kid's level!), going to a conference in DC on Monday and Tuesday, plus my usual workdays the rest of the week (which included a lunch event), two days of basketball for Claire and a team meeting with Connor's therapists on Saturday. So if I could do five days of exercise in there with all of that, I have no excuses for any other week of the year!

Moving in the right direction

Last week I carefully counted calories M-F. On Saturday I started caving in to more treats and on Sunday I gave up almost entirely, but after a week of calorie restriction (and since church kept me from eating before 11, so I had a late start) my appetite wasn't that outrageous so I didn't completely undermine my efforts. I'm 5 1/2 pounds down from last Monday -- which tells me a chunk of the weight wasn't real, but I've probably lost a real two or three pounds, anyway, and as of yesterday I was back to calorie restriction. I took the kids to McDonald's last night (Daniel is out of town and we'd had Girl Scouts -- which I'd almost forgotten about -- and we had no groceries, and it was 8:30) and got a salad even though the fries smelled REALLY good. I ate all of three french fries all evening, and I was stuffed on the salad (even with very little dressing), so much so that when I stayed up way past my bedtime I didn't get hungry before bed.

My response to the challenge has been less successful, however! I did dinner planning for the next month as of Saturday, but then I promptly ignored the first three days of the plan. And the only exercise I had on Saturday was my push-ups (I'm working on the hundred push-ups plan) and a short walk with the kids, and then NONE on Friday or Sunday. Yesterday I had an appointment, but then a friend came over (I've barely seen her in the past year or so) so I cancelled, which is why I forgot about Girl Scouts as well, and I never managed to fit exercise in. So after only a few days of the challenge I've already completely missed three days, which gives me only one day of leeway in the next week and a half. Yikes! Time to go back to no-excuses exercise!

Challenge Results To Date

OK - So, after I said last Tuesday that I was going to do 12 days of exercise leading up to Thanksgiving I promptly forgot about it. I remembered on Friday night, after I went to bed (at 1am after my party, which was a lovely success!). I had to get up and look at the calendar to make sure I hadn't already failed before I started. I hadn't - quite. I had 12 days exactly remaining from Saturday to Wednesday - which meant I was now on a no skipping, no excuses plan. I have failed at THAT too. I ended up skipping on Sunday - which REALLY pissed me off because my first thought when I woke up was that I should get out and take a walk. Instead I ended up cleaning up from the party (yes, I know! I didn't do it on Saturday! it was gross) and then doing laundry - which is a work out in itself considering the stairs - but, hardly counts when you only do two flights up and down once every 40 minutes or so... Then church, then (since I read Emily's blog post on Saturday) menu planning and a trip to the grocery store. THEN I was just lazy and didn't exercise. SO - now I am on no excuses, no skipping INCLUDING Thanksgiving. This is better (I tell myself, not quite believeing it). This means I will get myself in a hard and fast habit with NO days off. Right? I thought so.

So, last night my exercise was a "yoga burn." I love yoga, right? I know yoga can be aerobic - and there are times where I am just pouring sweat and my heart rate is up... This, however, was not one of those times. Don't get me wrong, I was breathing hard and my heart rate WAS up, but I can't imagine what I was doing was beneficial! She moved through the poses SO quickly that you couldn't actually GET into the pose. Furthermore, some of the stuff she had us doing was stuff that only someone who had been doing yoga their whole lives would be able to do (i.e. bend from the waist to the side and "ground your hand into the floor" for Triangle Pose - even yoga magazines and books only takes your hand to your shin for triangle pose. You can easily touch the floor from that angle, however most people would have to bend forward and stick their butt out to hit the floor - and that is NOT triangle pose. Or my favorite, laying on your back reach down and grab your big toe - keeping your leg straight, draw your leg up at an angle towards your shoulder. Yeah. OK. I will get right on that. I can do that perfectly - with a strap that has my hand about a foot from my big toe!). I have done a little bit of Flow yoga - which is where you move fluidly from one pose to the next, and then repeat the sequence. I really like that. It is graceful and smooth and makes you feel stretchy and elegant. THIS, however, made me feel blocky and bulky. I am glad I HAVE been doing steady yoga for the past two years because I WAS able to go from up dog to down dog to plank without having to check what she was doing, and without falling over - but I would have been MUCH better off just planning a sequence of my own and ignoring HER input!! As to the burn... The only thing that was burning by the end were my knees, and one random spot on my back where I think I pinched a nerve!

So, menu planning wasn't hard for me since my menus ARE already planned, with the exception of lunch. That has been my weak spot all along. Katie and I are PERFECT for breakfast and dinner - but from 7:30am to about 7:30 pm I can't get it together. However, over the summer was it? I discovered that if I pack a nice collection of foods (fruit, cheese stick, sandwich and veggies, yogurt and something crunchy - like crackers or pretzels or nuts) and then eat the FRUIT first, I love my lunch. I have the fruit and cheese stick for a morning snack, the sandwich (or left over chile yesterday and left over tilapia today) and veggies for lunch (although I forgot to pack the veggies today!) and the yogurt and cruchy stuff around 4pm, I am good for the day. PLUS, now that I have figured out the formula I am set for the rest of my life. Yesterday's total menu was just under 1600 calories - which is a little low for me now, but will be perfect once I drop about 60 pounds! 8-)

Now, I have to figure out my evening eating. I don't tend to eat much in the eveings - but I do want something sweet at this time. Last night I ended up eating Samoas (6, 450 calories! but kept me under my calorie goal on TDP). When I first went on Jenny Craig I had a nightly snack of chocolate yogurt with slivered almonds mixed in. That was perfect back then, but I haven't been able to find a chocolate yogurt that I like anymore. I will have to think about this a little more.

I have started using The Daily Plate again. That is fun until it gets tedious. I also have to be careful that I don't become so obsessed with my eating again, like I did before.

Our challenge

ONE - to exercise twelve of the sixteen days before Thanksgiving. Bonus points for extra days.

TWO - to plan meals for every day between now and Thanksgiving. You can either sit down and plan all sixteen days now or plan two days at a time each day so that you get ahead eight days by the middle of the time. Or something in between. Or plan a week in advance each week. Or whatever works for you.

What "plan meals" means is up to you -- just something that will allow you to eat more healthy foods in the quantities you require. In Amy's case it means all this lower GI and fiber and such. In my case it means I need to know what dinners we're having so I can shop in advance so I'm not always going to the grocery store at 6 pm when I'm starving, so we end up with junk food in the house that I can resist until dinner time or right after that, when I start consuming mindless junk. It's bad for the whole house. So I need to plan dinners, which means I know what other food groups I should be covering during the day and how many calories I should be getting at those meals and snacks, so I don't find myself at dinner time with only 400 calories behind me and another 800 or so to go.

Who's interested in meeting the challenge? It's only two weeks -- we should all be able to do this!

Hufflepuff

I would like to claim any of the other houses, but I am definitely a Hufflepuff. I can tell from all of the huffing and puffing I do when I walk. Or stand. Or laydown.

So, I am shocked and appalled at how quickly I got out of shape. Not external shape - I was never IN external shape. I also never saw much advantage in the exercise I would grudgingly force myself to do. I never lost weight. I never lost flab. I never built muscle. I never got stronger. The only exercise I SAW improvement doing was yoga. That DID make me stronger, and more flexible, and able to move better. After now, many months of NOT doing anything aerobic (other than two water aerobic classes, one swimming session, and two weeks worth of dog walking over the summer) I can tell you that my clothes fit about the same, my butt and legs are no less flabby but no MORE flabby, my muscles don't get any more firm really - so VISUALLY exercise does me no good. HOWEVER, I can tell you that for the first time in my life I am huffing and puffing like a fat old lady! The weird mis-rhythem of my breathing seems to have passed for the most part. I still notice it in the shower which is probably related to the steam - and I still notice it when I am stressed - but not as much as before and not as constantly as before. I also am no longer doing the staggered deep breath - which is a big relief to me. So - all of the huffing and puffing I am doing now is ONLY related to me being out of shape.

I am with Emily. I need a challenge too. I have made NO progress with the low GI diet planning. I need someone to give me a specific schedule of what to eat and when and why. This thing about GI levels, but off set by protein and fiber is just too confusing to me. What I SHOUDL do is plan healthy meals and then see how it measures up to the glycemic index. Hey! There is an idea. PLAN healthy meals. I'll bet they wouldn't include leftover halloween candy. OTOH, I have hardly touched the Girl Scout cookies.

In the past two weeks, however, I have given up coffee (so far successfully) and dramatically increased my water intake (although not yet to 123 oz a day... I think I will shoot for 96 ounces).

It is 16 days until Thanksgiving. Maybe I will do a 12 days thing... I have to exercise 12 days before Thanksgiving. I also need to start tracking what I eat again, and then fix the trouble areas...

Despicable Me

I have been blaming my weight gain on Norway, but as of this morning I'm up four pounds SINCE then. Maybe five. At any rate, I'm still gaining, at a rate of a pound or two per month. For the past month or so I've been exercising vigorously three to four days a week, and over that time my weight has gone up three to four pounds. So, as in the past, exercise alone is simply not enough.

It has gotten to the point that I am thoroughly grossed out by my own appearance -- for the first 10-15 pounds of gain it wasn't really noticeable (though my boobs looked pregnant and my clothes were tight) but now I'm blobby all over. Ever since I started feeling YUCK about my appearance I've been trying to motivate myself to cut back on my calories but I haven't seemed to be able to get moving on it -- and this during the two months of the year (September and October) when I have traditionally been very motivated and organized about losing weight.

So now I'm forced (by a new high today) to try to cut calories during peak calorie season. I've started logging my foods on Daily Plate but I tried that once before this year and I'm fearing that that won't be enough. I need some stupid challenge or a weight loss competition or SOMETHING to get me moving and keep me going! I'm already OK on the exercise front -- I'm making gym appointments and sticking to them and I'm finishing my third week of the 100 push-ups challenge (but I missed Friday because of the slumber party and didn't make it up this weekend -- shame on me, and now I'm behind), but I have a food addiction -- especially sugar! Our house is loaded with fresh fruit right now -- we have clementines, apples, and bananas, and we just used up the grapes -- but I always end up going for the candy -- which we are also loaded with right now. Help!

Take 9 asprin every day and call me in four weeks

That was the verdict from the doctor today. I went in because my knee/ankle/back (which I don't remember injuring so I think it just didn't want to miss out on the fun) are getting worse instead of better. Got a bunch of x-rays, got manipulated and manhandled, got told that nothing is really seriously wrong (which I knew--I figure as long as I can move everything, it must be o.k.). He wants me to do physical therapy three times a week (we'll see how long that lasts, depending on what my insurance will cover), take 600 mg of ibuprofen three times a day, stop running already dammit, and come back in four weeks if I'm not on the mend.

In the meantime, registration for Iron Girl 2010 is next week, opening November 3 at 9 a.m. Anyone want to join me?

Oooh, and pretty bike: http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/cusa/model-0RW95C.html I want it in the white/red color!

OMG I LOVE CANDY!

Yesterday when I was buying my $80 worth of Halloween candy I was thinking what a shame it is that the assorted bags of "fun size" candy aren't available year round. I was thinking of how that would be a HEALTHY thing - that if you have a craving for a Snickers you could have just a small one and not buy a whole candy bar.

Today - I am sitting next to an enormous fish bowl filled with assorted candy and I am thinking "THANK GOD this doesn't happen year round!!" That, and "I LOVE CANDY!!!" I just ate a mini Twix. OK - two. Sigh. This was after I already ate two mini Kit Kats and a mini Twix less than an hour ago. OTOH, I have in my desk drawer several pieces of candy from LAST Halloween that I never ate. Out of sight out of mind really works. Now, I suspect that if it was Twix and Kit Kats they would have been eaten - but it is Skittles and Laffy taffy and stuff. No - I am wrong. There are two Nestles bars and a package of Whoppers. OK - out of sight, etc... Luckily the candy bowl is actually BEHIND me. I have only dipped in when I have had to go to the file cabinets.

All that being said - I love Halloween candy. Katie and I were discussing the fine line you walk deciding when to buy the Halloween candy, so it won't all be eaten before the main event. I bought yesterday, not because I thought it was the right date but because I was concerned that I wouldn't have the money closer to Halloween to be able to afford the candy that I would need to buy. It just occurred to me that I didn't get any Nutrageous. Those are one of my favorite candy bars that I only eat at Halloween. I may need to get some... Sigh.

So, I took a mental health day off yesterday. It was good. I went to the post office, got a precription filled, ran a few small errands, FINALLY made apple butter (no applesauce this year since I have some still from last year), and did laundry. It was a nice day. The apple butter doesn't seem as good as normal. Too much sugar? Too many spices? It has an odd underlaying flavor that I didn't care for - almost like the apples weren't as good as normal. Too tart? Bitter? Something. Of course, this was tasting it hot off of a spoon, but it may be just fine cold on toast. I am going to give little jars to co-workers for Christmas, and slightly bigger ones to my Why Catholic group.

So between Sarah and my boss I have decided NOT to wait until my next annual appointment to talk to my doctor about my breathing. I tried calling for an appointment a bit ago but the office is closed for lunch. Who closes for lunch? Anyway, I strongly suspect that what is happening isn't long term serious (i.e. emphasyma, congestive heart failure, etc.) however, it is possible that there IS fluid in or around my lungs left over from my sickness this past spring, and it ISN'T getting any better or going away. If it IS something that is in/on my lungs, then getting it dried up is probably something that should happen sooner rather than later. Ugh.

Long time no blog

So I took the last five or six weeks off of exercising. At that point, anytime I'd try to do anything, I'd end up making my ankle and knee even worse than they were, so I figured that only time was going to heal these problems. I'm still not entirely healed--by the end of each day my leg aches, but the pain isn't sharp except for when I land wrong when I'm walking. Yesterday I decided enough was enough and I went for a walk, only it turned out to be more of a run/jog. Wwalking hurts more and is deadly boring. I did my usual route around campus (3.4 miles) in just over 42 minutes, which doesn't completely suck given that I walked almost half of the route and kept the running to a slow jog. I ached worse than usual last night, but don't have any ill effects today, so I don't think I reinjured myself. I'm going to take today as a rest day and try again tomorrow. My heart rate was higher than it used to be on this same route, but I guess that's to be expected after taking so much time off of exercising. It felt good to be out and moving again.

During all of this time off of exercising I also didn't weigh myself at all. I was scared to see how much I was gaining, and I felt like such a lazy slug that I figured my weight would reflect that. But it turns out my weight is roughly the same as it was before--I was 146.8 this morning. I'm pretty sure some of that was gaining fat and losing muscle, but at least I'm not starting off again as badly as I thought I might be.

Not the boss of ME

I always jokingly tell my boss that she is not the boss of me. I have discovered today that I am not the boss of me either!!! It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself to do good things, I just don't listen to me. It isn't until the ME of me decides to do something that it actually happens - and let me tell you... the ME of me is VERY LAZY!!! You hear people talk about internal arguments - I seriously have both sides arguing. I need to make my id be more submissive!

My back and knees have been REALLY bothering me lately. I think it must be the weather change. Ususally, my knee pain hurts mostly on the first one or two bends of an activity (i.e. going up or down the stairs) but lately they have been hurting pretty continuously. Last night when I was in the bathtub (so, laying on my back, completely supported) I was testing at what point I feel the pain in my knee. It didn't stop hurting the whole time I was bending it. It is still mostly my left knee - but my right one chimes in now and then too. AND - insult to injury - today the muscles on the back of my knee are slightly sore from me doing all of the leg lifts in the bathtub last night. 8-)

I haven't weighed myself since last Tuesday - but I am still feeling vaguely queasy. I ordered pizza for dinner last night (thin and crispy crust with grilled chicken and green peppers... I have to start ordering it with more sauce, less cheese, but that seems just wrong to me) and THAT I am sure was the source of waking up at 3am sick to my stomach. I just don't do well with fat!

I made up a big bag of the trail mix that we made at camp last weekend and have been eating that as a snack for the past week - almonds, raisins, plain cheerios and chocolate chips. It really is the perfect snack - sweet, crunchy, chewy, and substantial - and also the type of food that you really just don't WANT to pig out on. I scoop it out in 1/2 cup portions, and that really is a little too much. Psychologically that is GOOD for me. I am much better off having a little bit left over than feeling like I want more when I finish. If I feel like I want more, I WILL go home and eat the rest of the batch.

Exercise has not happened. Just yoga. And thus back to the I don't listen to me statement - I need to figure out how to make myself do what I don't want to do... Sigh.

I seem to be usurping Amy's posts, so someone else should post soon

and get me out of top spot so I won't be stuck here all week again. I have now stuck with exercising for a whole week and two days. I took off Friday and Saturday -- Friday I didn't have time and Saturday I didn't have the opportunity. I worked my ability up on the treadmill from one to two miles by Wednesday, but on Thursday I simply couldn't manage the two and a half -- I had to slow it down to a walk. I think I was trying to raise distance AND speed AND level all at once all week, and it was too much. So it's a good thing I took those two days off. On Sunday Daniel came home early enough that I could go out for a run on the road, and it wasn't fast but I did actually keep the "run" going (it was more of a bouncy plod, but it didn't qualify as a walk).

Yesterday I just did a mile on the treadmill -- at a higher speed and about the same level as last week -- and it felt pretty good, and then I did elliptical for the rest of my cardio time. Today I managed four miles on the treadmill. I started slower and at only level 2 (short hills and not that steep) and increased the speed gradually for a while, and then by the fourth mile I still felt like I had some energy left so I pushed it up steeply to a 6 mph pace, then back to 5.4 for the middle half of the mile, then up to 6.5 for the last quarter because I was THAT bored. That's the trouble with treadmills. If I hadn't had Buffy going I never would have finished.

Saturday is the 5k. I'm going to do a short run and then elliptical tomorrow, then a longer run on Thursday, and then take Friday off. My goal this weekend is simply to finish -- fast is WAY out of the question. I think I need to steal Daniel's Galloway book and find a goal and start training for it his way -- even though the treadmill is very dull, running is more fun than elliptical because the goals are a lot more obvious. "Distance" actually means something when you run.

I measured my waist this weekend (significantly up from the last time I measured, I believe) so maybe I can watch that change. My weight isn't changing (159 today), but then my diet isn't great right now. I can't get excited about counting calories.

No heart attack for me!

Thank goodness! Camping was pretty fun this weekend. The weather - for the most part - was beautiful. It was hot/humid Friday night - and the wildlife sounded like a jungle - but a heavy rain storm came through at midnight and continued off and on all night (I know because I was awake). It petered out just at dawn. It was then overcast and drizzley until about 10 or 11 am, when it cleared up and was pretty for the rest of the day. It began to get chilly towards sunset and by the time we went to bed it was just over 40 degrees. The next morning was foggy and still cold, but by the time we were loading the cars and getting ready to go it had cleared up to be a beautiful sunny fall day.

The exercise was fairly minimal, and so didn't kill me. We did two walks on Saturday to the river - which was no more than a 1/4 of a mile from our camp. It was pseudo hilly - but only one walk back to our camp had us go up the full steep hill. That I did very slowly under the guise of helping one poor trailing girl. Much to my relief, her back was hurting her too. 8-) My breathing wasn't too bad at any point. The worst part was walking from the parking lot to the camping area when we first arrived - that was .44 miles (I did Map My Run to find that). That probably wouldn't have been too bad except it was in the dark, up-hill, and on a very uneven surface, with our stuff. And it was hot and humid. The return trip on Sunday wasn't as bad since it was daylight, downhill, and much cooler. But - my arm on Monday was sore from dragging my bag through the gravel. Poor Lydia, who I was walking with that day, sat down in the middle of the road when we were almost to the parking lot to rest. I had carried her sleeping bag for her on Friday - I don't know why I didn't on Sunday. I think I must have had something else in that hand - but I can't think what.

Then I locked my keys in my trunk and Katie had to rescue us.

While we were waiting we walked around the camp some more, and down to the stream again. The walk was very nice - but my back started bothering me. Not the part caused by weak abs, but the point on my lower left hip, just at my pelvic bone, that first started hurting when we went to Disney two years ago. It hurt for MONTHS after that trip, and still hurts when I am loading the dishwasher. (I think that is because of the semi-bent position I stand in to do that.) I have discovered that a forward bend, or any stretch where you broaden the muscles across your hips, relieves the pain immediately, but only as long as you are in that stretched position. As soon as I stand back up it hurts again. I don't know if that is a muscle or nerve problem. I am inclined to think it is a muscle spasam, because you can feel the knot where it is, but it could also be spasaming and knotting there because a nerve is being pressed funny. I don't know. I thought about getting a professional massage done - but haven't yet. I have a friend from yoga who gave me her husband's card. He does shiatsu massages. Maybe I will call him.

Anyway - my weight was up AGAIN today. Another new high. However, I have been sick to my stomach all day, so maybe I will have lost it by tomorrow. 8-)

Back on the exercise wagon

It took six weeks, but I am FINALLY back to exercising after our return home. The scary numbers on the scale were apparently not a rude enough awakening; it was the increasing back pain from kneeling in church that did me in at last! Daniel and I both came out of church complaining this week, and he gently reminded me that a pain in the back means the back is doing the work that the abs are supposed to be doing. So on Monday morning I called the gym and found, to my surprise, that they most certainly did have an opening for three spots THAT DAY (no procrastinating for me!!) and one every day this week -- though today is a little later than I prefer and tomorrow is only for 45 minutes. But it's something every day.

The first day back I ran a mile on the treadmill (with a .2 mile warmup and the same cooldown) and then did 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by crunches and push-ups. I could only get through 75 crunches before my abs gave out -- wasn't it just six months ago I said that I didn't need that 200 crunches website? And I managed ten pushups in one set, and six in the next, and had to call it quits. I'm lifting more weight with less muscle. Ugh.

Yesterday I was astounded to find that my legs didn't ache, so I ran a mile and a half on the treadmill (at .1 mph faster) and did 30 minutes again on the elliptical. I'm keeping the levels easy but planning to increase them gradually. But I tried to do crunches and even two burned horribly, so I figured I should take a day off muscle work. Today I will try again. I will also aim for two miles on the treadmill, though time limitations will force my 30 minutes on the elliptical down a bit. I have a 5k to run a week from Saturday, so that gives me not much time to get back up to three miles! I would like to try for three miles THIS Saturday, since I have three days off from the gym (Friday is too busy, and Saturday and Sunday they don't really have childcare) and I need to try running on the road. There is a 5k across the street this weekend -- maybe I should be enrolling in that!! -- but I'd rather embarrass myself a little less publicly before next weekend.

No Excuses Day One - FAIL

So, as I am sure you all know, I have been JUST HORRIBLE about exercise this year. I have been doing my weekly yoga class like clockwork - but other than that I could probably name EVERY exercise event in the past calendar year from memory because there have been so few. I did some MINOR walking off and on during the spring. I took Davey for two short walks daily for two weeks in the summer. I went swimming once and did two sessions of water aerobics in August. I was doing weekly water aerobics in January - but none since Sarah's birthday party. THAT IS IT. I have been a big slug.

So this past weekend Sarah and I went to Girl Scout camp to check out the spider situation (and luckily, the road situation - spiders are fine, road is NOT). I was pathetically out of breath before I got 10 feet from the car. OK - maybe 10 yards... but we were doing NOTHING and I was huffing and puffing like the fat old lady I am! Sarah pointed out to me that if I were to have a heart attack she wouldn't be able to help me because we were too far from anything. I don't think it is LIKELY that I would have a heart attack. My heart rate seemed perfectly reasonable - but my lung capacity is absolutely nill. I have been noticing (and I think I have commented on it before) that I have been having a difficult time breathing for about six months now. No - difficult time breathing isn't quite right... I have been finding myself out of breath at unexpected times; in the shower, getting out of bed, when I am kneeling in church, etc. I have been paying more attention and I have noticed that I have developed this habit of holding my breath for no apparent reason. I know we all pause while breathing - it isn't a constant in out, in out. It is usually in out pause in out pause. OR - in yoga (and maybe this is more normal) you are supposed to pause on the inhale - in pause out, in pause out. Is that what you all do? Check for me because I am curious. My current habit is in out pause. My pauses are getting longer I think. Or I am more aware of my pauses now. I find myself gasping sometimes - or - as I said, out of breath.

So, I decided I have five days (this was Sunday night when I was smoking my knees, I am really beginning to question my sanity. Seriously.) to get myself in shape for Conowingo. This was going to involve five sessions at the gym walking UPHILL on the treadmill. Yesterday being day one. I knew I wouldn't be able to go during the day since I was doing payroll, so I would go afterwards. I ended up (and this was NOT because anything is better than working out!) staying at work until about 10:30pm. I didn't go to the gym. I ate a late dinner and went to bed at about 12:45. That wasn't enough wind down time because I lay in bed having - not a panic attack - but stress symptoms until close to 2am. I SHOULD have just gotten up and walked! That probably would have helped.

So - my plan for today is to go to the gym after my morning meeting. Oh - I just found out that is cancelled. Well - my PLAN is to go to the gym today. Maybe I will do that now... And then I want to do a make up session of yoga tonight - but that is at 7:45pm and I may not still be around for it. I wouldn't get home until 9:45 or so. I don't know how I feel about two late nights.

OK - My plan is to NOT have a heart attack at Girl Scout camp. I haven't quite decided how that will happen...

Holding steady

My weight crept up during the week but it was back at 156.5 today.  So my weight is keeping itself within a steady range of 156.5-158.  So far the only change I've made since Labor Day is in my snacking -- I'm not eating constantly during the day and I'm trying to remember to eat almonds instead of cookies when I want a satisfying crunch.  I'm not perfect, especially around dinner time and beyond, but at least my weight isn't rising anymore.  

I can't seem to establish any kind of routine that will allow me to go to the gym.  With the start of school, our work is taking us through almost dinner time every day (should that be "dinnertime everyday"?) and we're still not getting much done, and when I'm not teaching I'm laundering ten years of children's clothes from the basement (actually at least half the boxes are mold-free, thank goodness, but it's still a lot of clothes, the hand-me-downs of five children since 1998).  And I'm co-leading the Girl Scouts this year and trying to get Xander back into Cub Scouts, in a reasonable troop, so that's two nights a week gone.  And Fridays are Happy Hour, though I'm only going every other week, but now one Friday a month I'm leading a craft project club (for grown-ups) and Fridays tend to be group activity day for school, so that's a third night shot.  And Sundays don't have childcare at the gym.  So I think I'm down to three days a week that I could go, IF I could get an appointment and if the kids don't have doctors' appointments (those should settle soon -- we were due for everything when we got back) that knock our day out of whack.  I feel better seeing this in print -- I've been wondering why on earth I don't have time, and now it seems obvious.  I AM procrastinating on calling the gym, but it's with good reason.

At any rate, my mental goal of being not-overweight for my class reunion seems unlikely at this point, unless I crash diet and actually DO exercise to lose the next four pounds before October 3.  Hmph.  I guess that's not SO unreasonable, but I'd have to do it, and *whine* I don't wanna.

Tuesday again

I didn't weigh myself last Tuesday - or today for that matter. I did weigh myself inbetween last week and today - and I was what I expected - about 10 pounds higher than my high water mark. Sigh.

My eating has gotten MUCH better. Katie and I are eating breakfast and dinner and I have been packing pretty healthy lunches. Last week I did a crock pot chicken and had chicken salad (made with pineapple and lime juice to reduce the need for mayo) all week. I also made a chicken and rice soup which we didn't eat at all. I had a bowl for dinner the night I made it - but it was very greasy. Then - since it is now a week old - Katie and I decided we should probably throw it out. I thought about freezing it early last week, but I realized that it was not appealing enough to me to make me ever want to thaw it to eat. Oh well. It only cost me a potato, a carrot, and a cup of rice. Anyway - in addition to the chicken salad I have been packing yogurt, grapes and almonds to go with me to work. Amazingly, this combo of food seems to be really appealing to me each day - and in most cases I manage to eat it all by the end of the day. I am going to see if I can make this my standard.

I still feel like I am eating too much sugar. I was threatening to go cold turkey last week - but I don't really think I can do that. I need to switch back to agave in my coffee. I want to make some crock pot yogurt which I can then sweeten either with JUST fresh fruit, or agave. OH! I just remembered that I have peaches in my freezer from this summer. Maybe I will experiment with that this weekend.

I have NOT increased my exercise. I seem to be paving a road to hell. Each morning I move my gym bag so it is more conveinent to taking with me to work - and each day I realize just about at this time that I have forgotten it. Sigh. We have had such beautiful weather lately - and I THINK about going out for a walk, but then something more facebooky comes up. I am giving up facebook for Lent!

Sunday I measured my hips. Actually I was measuring for a bra. I wanted to see if I need to increase a cup size (I think no, but a band size wouldn't come amiss). Anyway, while I was there with a measuring tape I measured my hips. I was 2"s smaller than I thought I was. I don't know if this is because I am actually SMALLER, I was measuring a different point on my hips, or if I was just mentally thinking I was bigger, but I was not sad by the discovery.

I then started thinking about how odd a size I am. I mean, I spend a good chunk of my time feeling really HUGE and fat. My reflection in my kitchen window (which probably isn't the best guide) and the reflection in the door approaching work CLEARLy hold up my theory that I am HUGE, but then I spend time telling my friends who are fatter than me that yes I AM as fat as them. It is odd. I regularly have friends (bigger and smaller than me) tell me that they don't think of me as fat. Maybe it is because I am tall and have long calves - or maybe I dress to hide it - or maybe I carry myself better than other fat people. Why is it that I feel the need to convince these poeple that yes I am indeed fat? Why can't I just believe them? I want to lose weight for MYSELF, because I know I look bigger than I feel like I should be. I don't know. I wish I could let go of my self impressions based on what others think. Maybe THAT should be my goal. Ironically, when I was feeling less concerned with what others thought I DID stop gaining. How can I get myself BACK to that?

The day after Tuesday

So... I haven't been exercising much (though I did take the kids out for a jog the other day, but that wasn't exactly strenuous for me -- well, except for Cecilia's whining) but I have at least been watching my intake (some of the time). Basically I've cut out the cookies and other junk food snacking, at least for a good chunk of the week. I can think of a thousand exceptions, though. OK, so I haven't been all that good. My weight went down to 157 by yesterday, and then I totally caved and ate badly from 4 pm on yesterday, and I was punished by a weight of ... 156.5 today? That can't be right.

Anyway, this tells me that I really am ready to shed this weight if I'll just get my act together. The 156.5 is the lowest I've seen except for the first day we were back, which was a fluke 156. Our routine isn't very well established yet, I'm sorry to say; we tried to get going as of Monday, but we wound up with a playdate that afternoon, and then today we had a dentist appointment. And yesterday Mary's math took her from 11 am to 5:30 pm. I keep thinking things will settle down but they haven't so far! I guess I just need to stop waiting for that and just schedule the gym appointments, and hope that the kids find a way to get their work done anyway.

I'm baaack

Hi all,

I just got caught up on the blog. I've been out of my normal routine and kept forgetting to read. But I'm happy to see that we're all on the same page.

First, I may be interested in the Iron Girl. Maybe, based on who signs up, we could do a team race. Just a thought. I'm not terribly motivated to do a tri but I recently decided that I have to a goal to reach.

I've been trying to get back into a routine that I can fit into my work sked. What I'm opting for is 2-3 different morning workouts. Something short and quick -- mostly involving planks, ab work, some stretching and weight work. Then I try to do 20-30 minutes on the bike (on the trainer).

But the idea is to get in a workout of some kind in the morning. Then when I get into town I'm walking from the parking garage to the Capitol (about 15 minutes).

I have found in the past that doing two 20-minute walks a day after lunch or dinner not only spurs weight loss but has gotten me into condition to start running. I ran the Army 10-miler a bunch of years ago and that's how I prepared. But I found it really reduces stress and as I get faster and walk farther I want to increase my time. I'm trying to figure out the best routes around the Capitol. I prefer being outdoors but that's not always possible so thank goodness for the habitrail underground.

Considering my good eating habits it seems like I should be losing weight but I am maintaining, which might not be possible otherwise. Aging really sucks. But I've cut way down on meat consumption and try to eat loads of fruits and veggies. I'm working at the Reston farmers market and getting my produce free. So tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, eggplants, apples etc. fill my kitchen. I love it. I've been trying to get ALL sugar out of my diet and I avoid white flour, sugar and rice. I found a great red jasmine rice and some kashi pilaf that looks good. I roast veggies and enjoy.

My normal routine looks something like this:

Breakfast: Plain Stonyfield or greek yogurt with whatever fruit I want -- some cinnamon, golden roasted flax seed, sliced almonds and sometimes bear naked granola. Yum. I have the occasional OJ but it's loaded with sugar so I try to get water going early. I always bring my 16 oz water bottle in the car to drink for the commute.

Lunch: All summer I've eaten greens with loads of tomatoes, onion, sunflower seeds, goat or blue cheese, red pepper and anything else that looks good. I use an organic salad dressing called Drew's or plain ol' balsamic, which is so good on fresh tomatoes.

Snack: Yogurt/almonds or fruit/almonds

Dinner: I've been trying to mix it up but love making chicken and bean or just bean tacos with corn tortillas, fresh salsa, an excellent taco sauce I make. I buy amazing heirloom beans that cook up much faster than hard store-bought beans. I've also trying to use a grain such as rice/quinoa/pilaf with roasted veggies.

I do keep organic dark chocolate around.

So now I just have to get into a good exercise routine. I'm getting there.

Happy Anniversary

I see we all had the same idea - Tuesday after Labor Day - a new year. I made cookies last night. I don't remember the last time I made cookies that WEREN'T for Christmas. Anyway - they were whole wheat cookies... if that makes a difference. I didn't think so... I at three of them today - so I am off to a REALLY bad start to my new year.

I brought my gym clothes with me - but I didn't take a lunch break. I am planning on going to the gym tonight - but it is already after seven, so I am not sure if I will make it. I wish Katie would join the gym so I could meet her there. That would help.

I didn't weigh myself today. I didn't want to see that I am carrying around 100 extra pounds. I am sure I am up.

I had split pea soup for lunch, poached eggs and toast for breakfast (with orange juice) and a serving of 2 Fruit a Day (which is like pre chewed fruit and not as good as I thought it would be. I am sorry I bought it...). And three cookies. No coffee. Red tea. With the exception of the cookies, not a bad day so far. I am not sure what is for dinner.

Starting the new year

I was 159.5 this morning. So that's 20 extra pounds I'm carrying around! My clothes don't fit -- I've had to pull jeans out of the "give away" pile that's been sitting in the corner for over three years. (There are some advantages to being a packrat.) Today is supposed to be the first day of my diet and exercise routine, so with that in mind I went to Daily Plate to count calories.

Except it's not working. As soon as I try to add anything to my plate it sends me to these text-only LiveStrong pages where nothing works. It let me log in, but then it went back to being no good at all! So I'll post here for now, to keep me honest -- I've had a half cup of Honey Nut Shredded Wheat (95 cal), a cup of skim milk (80 cal), 6 slices of ham on a slice of bread (180 cal) and 1/3 serving of almonds (50 cal), which puts me at 405 calories today. I have to figure out how to get in some exercise -- I need to call the gym and start making appointments.

Tuesday post on Tuesday

It's just not the same Tuesday, so this'll be two Tuesday posts in one--I meant to post last Tuesday as well. I was getting back into exercising last week, after taking the week off after the triathlon. I want to spend the fall focusing on two things--strength training and weight loss. I was up to 148.8 last week (yikes!), although I'm down this week to 146.4. That's still about an extra 10 pounds or so I'm carrying around, and I really DO mean "carrying around." If I can maintain my aerobic conditioning and increase or maintain muscular strength, then think how much easier it would be to run four miles or bike 20 miles if I weren't carrying a ten pound weight around my waist! So as of last week I was back to a plan of three days of weight training and three days of aerobic training per week, only I immediately fell off the bandwagon and only managed two of each. But at least it's something, right? And I'm already behind this week since I wasn't at work on Monday and thus wasn't at the gym on Monday.

Tuesday Check-in On Thursday

As I reported in my last post (or the one before that) I have been steadily gaining again. I think it was because I was eating like crap all summer - but now I am not so sure. Katie and I have been back to our breakfast routine for the better part of three weeks, yet today (when I finally weighed myself) I was up AGAIN! So, after holding steady (an increase of about two or three pounds) for close to 18 months I have jumped up 10-12 pounds in three months. This, I think, is cause for alarm. My added bonus to this is over the past several weeks I have noticed myself getting breathless very easily. It takes VERY little to make me start breathing like I just ran several miles. Again - cause for alarm from my perspective.

The sad thing is that I feel absolutely NO motivation to do anything about this. Usually, when I would see my weight increasing or my activity ability decreasing I would get excited about planning healthy meals - or a new diet - or something. Now, I just feel tired of it all. Not discouraged exactly, more like resigned. My weight is increasing again? Oh well. Nothing I can do about it. Out of breath? Maybe I better start exercising... tomorrow... I don't feel like making a plan - and I LIKE to plan!!

So - Here is my half hearted plan... I am going to start going to the gym during my lunch breaks again. I am going to change HERE go there and then walk (or run slowly!) on the treadmill for half an hour. That is it. I can handle that... right? I still have the swimming goal in mind too, but that will be IN ADDITION to this other workout. Besides, getting my aerobic capacity up again through walking will help with the swimming too. I don't know what to do about the eating. Katie and I HAVE been eating pretty well for the past three weeks. I have increased my fiber dramatically - although, I haven't really decreased my sugar. I really AM like an alcoholic. I was fine with my minimal sugar in my life up until the last several months and now I can't imagine how I will purge it again. Darn me!! (Oh - connection much between when I started eating cookies, etc. again and when my weight started increasing? And - now that I think about it THAT was triggered by eating yummy candy in Norway. I AM an alcoholic!!! Only with sugar!!! GRRRRR! Although, now that I think about Norway, my out-of-breathness started with the swine flu I had in Norway. I was having AN AWFUL time breathing there ((lung sickness and mountains)) that has never gone away... I need to strengthen my lungs!! I wish I could quit smoking again, but that horse has already left the barn...)(I wonder if that aside should have been it's own paragraph?)

So there we have it. I will start walking again. I will continue my GOOD eating habits and reduce (stop) my sugar intake.

Tuesday check-in

I've had a busy week -- at home I did a lot of yard work (and basement work), and at the Crawfords I went running once (but only once; I was sore for three days, and then on the road yesterday), though it was more VERY slow jogging and surprisingly slow walking. I'm at 159 today, but now I enter a full month of no travel, so I should be able to get into a routine and start eating better and exercising more. I desperately need it! My jeans today barely went on -- I'm OK if I don't wash them, but these were newly washed, and the muffin top is really gross. My "fat" jeans that I wear when I'm working in the garden fit much too nicely right now! Ugh.

Taking the week off

I didn't weigh myself this morning. I didn't do anything this morning related to health or wellness. I had an English muffin with butter and coffee for breakfast. So there. I'm taking this week off and will get back into the swing of diet and exercise next week.

I've gotten my official race results back from the triathlon and I am finally admitting that I didn't completely suck. My times were 28:26 for the swim, 1:10 for the bike, and 34:05 for the run. All of these times were within the top 1000 finishers (994 for the swim, my slowest event; 757 for the bike and 574 for the run) and my overall place was 748 (out of 1722 finishers) and 162 out of 351 in my age group. So well within the top half overall. But my transition times were awful! 4:25 for the first transition and 2:27 for the second--1054th in the first transition and 1063rd in the second (yes, you get place times for transition!). So that's an area where I can make some gains without too much effort, I think. I was especially pleased with my run time, even though it wasn't really fast. But keeping up a 10 minute per mile pace has always been difficult for me, and in this race I came out with a 9:45 pace. The bike leg was also good--my average speed was just a hair under 15 m.p.h. (my computer said a bit over, but the official time had it at 14.9). My best for that course has only been a little over 14 m.p.h. and my usual average for most rides is more like 13 m.p.h. My total race time was 2:19:44

General race report: I didn't sleep well at all the night before. I tried going to bed at 9:30 but wasn't able to fall asleep. Finally fell asleep after 11, then woke up at 2:45 and never got back to sleep. I gave up at 3:30 and got up and ready for the race. I couldn't eat much breakfast--too nervous, so I only got down half a bowl of oatmeal and some cantaloupe. I left the house at 4:20 and was one of the first 100 people or so on site. And then we stood in line and waited and waited. They were supposed to open the site at 4:45 but it was more like 5:00--the first of many delays of the day. I got to my soaking wet bike (lots of rain the day before--the hill down to the transition area was treacherous and there was lots of talk about people likely falling on their butts coming back from the bike portion of the race when we'd have to run down that slippery, muddy hill with no-traction bike shoes at top speed rolling our bikes alongside us) and it took just a few minutes to get my area set up, then I had two hours to kill. I walked around and found the few people I knew who were racing that day, then walked the course a bit (the swim course looked frighteningly long), kept calling Amy (who wasn't answering-her phone was off. She had volunteered to arrive early and be my official photographer), and kept drinking water because my mouth was so dry from nerves.

Amy arrived just as they were closing the transition area (meaning I had to get out and go to the swim start). I heard on the way that they were starting the race 15 minutes late. The rumor was that the pros hadn't shown up yet, but the newspaper later reported it was because the traffic was so backed up that a LOT of people were having difficulties getting onto the site. By the time I got to the start they had pushed it back further and would ultimately start 25 or 30 minutes late. Amy managed to find me in the huge crowd clogging up the lakefront and got a picture of me with my nervous smile, then gave me a couple of grapes that were perfect--enough sugar and juice to finally take care of my dry mouth.

So to start this race you wait for your wave (going off about 10 minutes apart each), then wade into the water and tread water for four minutes before starting the swim. While waiting for my wave I caught up with Jenny and Maura, two women I went to college with. We were friendly but not really friends in college, but it was so nice to know two people there in my wave (Jenny very kindly married a man with a name in the first half of the alphabet so we could all be in the same wave. I'm sure that's why she chose him.) and not feel utterly alone. As soon as we were in the water I lost them--I moved to the back so I wouldn't hinder the faster swimmers and they both finished the swim well ahead of me. I didn't see Jenny at all the rest of the day, and I only saw Maura from a distance.

Surprisingly, the swim went really well. This was the part I was dreading after my disastrous dress rehearsal a few weeks ago. But I had none of the same problems--I never went off course, never felt out of breath, my cap stayed firmly on my head, my goggles didn't leak. I alternated breast stroke and freestyle and just took it easy, rolling on each breath to get a good look at the sky and repeating Dory's song in my head ("just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim."). The water felt good, the sun was coming out and it was just nice out there. I gave myself 32 minutes for the swim and was pleased to look at my watch afterwards and see that I finished in under 30.

I thought I hurried through transition, but obviously I didn't! I got the nasty grass and mud off my feet as best I could, shoved on my shoes and helmet and gloves and glasses, downed some water and energy gel and took off with my bike. My legs felt like lead--I've never done the swim to bike transition before (except at the tri in April, but that was such a short swim I didn't have time to tire out) and there's a steep hill out of the transition area that you have to push your bike up. The first two miles on the bike were similarly tiring, but after that I loosened up and just enjoyed the ride. I've said before that this is a fun ride--nice roads and beautiful scenery, and it was even better without having to stop at intersections and with lots of people cheering us on along the way. I saw Sara (Connor's teacher) when I was about five miles from the finish and she was five miles into the ride (she was in a later wave), and she noticed me at the same time. Kinda cool that out of 2000 people we managed to pass each other and wave.

Through transition again, where I was happy to see that they put a long fake grass outdoor carpet over the muddy hill so no one was falling down, change of shoes and hat, more water, got ten feet from my spot and realized that I still had on my gloves so I wasted time going back to take them off and drop them. Then off on the run and dreading the hills at the halfway point in the race. I've only managed to run the whole course once before and I really wanted to run the whole thing that day, but I didn't make it--I slowed to a walk at the top of two hills and once more to get some water at one of the aid stations. For a while, until the real hills hit, I was neck and neck with another runner who was using the strategy of walking up the hills and then running fast on the downside. That worked pretty well--she was keeping up with my steady pace (I'd pass her going up, she'd pass me going down) but I lost her at a long flat bit where slow and steady won out. After that I tried keeping up with other runners as much as I could and ended up in a pack of Team Fight runners at the 3 mile mark. Two of them dropped back so I was with the one remaining one and she and I sprinted when the finish line was in sight. She won--I couldn't keep up at that point--but that group was probably responsible for my 9:45 pace. I really think my last mile was faster than my first.

The finish line was a madhouse. I heard Brian yelling as I passed (while sprinting) but Maureen and Claire missed me entirely, and Amy and Katie were waiting at the finish and missed seeing me cross in the scrum of people there. I saw them before they saw me. No one except me heard my name announced (I was listening for it since of course I knew I had just hit the timing mat close to the finish). The cold wet sponge at the finish was one of the best things I've ever felt, and mostly I was just happy it was over. The mean, mean, mean race organizers put the finish line party/food at the TOP of a steep hill. Ugh. And I couldn't eat anything--my stomach was a bit upset (probably from the disgusting lake water!) and I didn't start to feel better until much later in the day.

So overall--fun. Tiring. Worth the effort, but no big sense of accomplishment (I kept saying it wasn't as if I learned a new skill--I just stuck together several things I already knew how to do and just did them each for longer than usual). I'm already planning how to improve my times for next year (better bike, more interval training in all three events to increase my speed, upper body work to improve my swim, new legs). Amy, Emily and Katie all want a piece of the action, which would be really cool. I'm wondering if I should aim for the triathlon on the same course they are doing in June, but that might involve a wetsuit (something I'm not opposed to--it would make the swim easier--but I don't like to take on the expense if I'm not going to use it more than once). And the June date isn't great since I did next to no training in late May and early June this year when Girl Scouts got crazy busy. But I can decide that another time.

Registration for next year's Iron Girl opens on November 3 (and closes about two days later when it fills up) so if you're going to do it, make up your mind soon!

Holy COW, that was a lot of chocolate!

My weight was 156 when we got home last week -- and now it's up to 159 despite five days of hard labor and not much snacking (but I'm probably retaining water -- and I also dropped two pounds when I took my nightgown off before my shower, and it doesn't weigh two pounds, so I think my scale is as flaky as ever). So I'm up somewhere around 15 pounds from last winter. Yikes!!

I am very glad that Labor Day is coming. That has always been our reset point and I've always found it easier to lose weight in the fall than any other time of year -- the first two months are before the candy holidays hit, and I'm back into my routine so I do less snacking and more gym.

And now I have a triathlon as my mental goal, even if I just do a piece of it! My bike tires are pumped up and one of these days I'll get brave and fix the derailleur, and in the meantime I can ride my bike at least a bit. I rode it back from the car place today (I left the car for new tires, ugh) and couldn't believe how out of shape my riding muscles are -- that teeny little trip made my thighs work, and I was winded when I got home. At the gym I'll start running some each trip (and at the Crawfords' this weekend I'll run my usual 5k, which is to say I'll jog-walk it) and work back up to that kind of fitness. I'm not sure how I'll work in the swimming fitness but I'll get there somehow, too! Next week the kids are out of town -- I could at least go over to the pool and try out my old muscles. Swimming always kills me after a long break.

Exercise is probably not enough to get my weight back down, though. I am officially overweight again, so I'm giving myself until Labor Day to merely eat sensibly, and then I'm starting the food diary again. My class reunion is the first weekend in October and I'd like to qualify as not-overweight again by then. We shall see.

Today Tuesday post

My stomach is making noises. Very gurgly. I think it is because of all of the increased fiber I have been eating over the last several days. It is kind of entertaining since it isn't causing any embarassment or pain.

Katie and I didn't exercise last night. I told her this morning that we need to discuss this tonight - or actually exercise, as the case may be. Katie is jonesing for a bike. I just joined the Owings Mills Freecycle group.

I have gone to bed at a reasonable time the last two nights. It has been VERY nice. My new plan is to set an alarm clock by my computer to go off at 9:30pm. At that time I either have to go to the gym or go upstairs and get ready for bed. I was reading old blog entries from last year and at that time I WAS going to the gym nightly. I am going to start that up again. I also am going to clear out the upstairs bedroom and start using that for exercise - even if I don't have the money to put in a new floor yet. I will soon...

Oh! My weight was down three pounds from last week - but still up about four (seven) for the summer.

Post meant for last Tuesday

OMG! No more skipping breakfast for me!!! My weight was up a million pounds since the summer started (OK - well 7, which in reality was more like 10 from where I want it to be BEFORE I lose weight).

That was really all I had to say last week. So here is my post from today.

I was really impressed by how many VERY overweight women did the Iron Girl yesterday. I don't know how many of them actually finished it - but I was mostly noticing them before they started the swim and then as they were RETURNING from the bike ride - so I am guessing if they made it that far, the 5k was cake... especially knowing that it takes no particular skill to walk or run a 5k - just stamina. Although, being in the ranks of the VERY overweight of the world, I have got to say that we fatties are in many ways stronger than you skinny minis. I have said it before and I will say it again - strap on a 100 pound fat suit and live like that for 10 years and you will know how I feel. 8-) Seriously though, I was thinking this yesterday... If I somehow figured out a way to rid myself of this burden of weight (I can't exactly say it is all fat, although that was my first word choice - I have a LOT of fat, but you can see the muscle I have in my legs - so there is muscle there too) anyway, if I could lighten up so to speak, I could probably do REALLY WELL in a tri-athelon... if only I could ride a bike... Sigh.

Sarah, I know you will do it again next year - or the year after - or eventually, just because I think that is very much your style - but I think we need to add to your training schedule "Teach Amy to Ride a Bike"

I am going to buy goggles today - and a swim cap - and start to do laps at the pool. My training scheduled is as follows - Day one - one lap. Day two - two laps. Day three - three laps. Day four - four laps. The following week - four laps each day. Week three, day one five laps, day two, six laps, day three, seven laps, day four, eight laps. Week four - eight laps each day. Etc. I will be impressed if I make it through day one. Seriously though... I want to start swimming. I used to like it a lot - although I liked the diving stuff and goofing off in the pool stuff much more.

Vickie, I never learned form. You gave great pointers to Sarah last year when she started swimming again - but from my perspective, is it OK if I just do that sort of underwater breast stroke that people who can't swim do until I build up some stamina - or should I flail around with my really inadequate freestyle so as to not reinforce bad habits?