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.

Comment on Emily's post that was getting too long

When I was at Bead Camp I had comparatively few stomach problems however, almost instantly when I got home things started up again. Not to be crude - but the problem I have been having the most is lots of gas. LOTS of gas. And daily reflux, brought on by eating - anything. I started thinking that being more actively gluten free was probably strongly contributing to my low iron problem I have been having lately. I haven't switched back entirely but I started having regular bread in the mornings for breakfast. Today we had no eggs, so I have an extreme headache - but I think that was because of the lack of protein, not the intake of gluten - but I could be wrong.

I met with Rebecca again on Wednesday and told her I thought I was going to ease off on on the gluten free - mostly just with bread, which is very limited in my life anyway. I don't mind GF pasta, and I use rice a lot. I am OK with corn, so allowing gluten back in my life is really a pretty small concession. She seemed to think it was OK to see

The other revelation that I had talking to Rebecca is that now that she has me eating more regularly, and paying attention and responding to my hunger signals, my headaches haven't been as bad. Or - more specifically - I notice I get headaches when I am hungry, and since I am now seeing my headaches as a hunger signal (and responding to them) my headaches aren't as regular as they used to be, and mostly go away if I eat something. OTOH, I have also noticed that when I DO get headaches (like today) even though I can directly tie them to what I have eaten or not eaten, they are definitely worse than they used to be.

My biggest concern is my GI issues. I am making a list of things I want to talk to my doctor about. The last annual I had I had several things that I wanted to discuss with her, but she didn't spend ANY time with me then. So this year I am going to be prepared - I am writing it down so I can hand it to her. It is kind of frustrating because I have NEVER been the type to go to my doctor with a list of complaints and "health issues" so now that I actually HAVE some I don't know how to get my doctor to listen to me. The past three or four months have been much worse than I have experienced in the past. Yes - maybe they are just gross, uncomfortable things that I have to get used to, but I think that if there ARE things you can do about them it would make more sense to do them now rather than wait until they have cause more severe issues.

Plugging away

I don't have anything interesting to post -- I'm just trudging along with my diet and didn't want to wait until Tuesday before posting again.  I am back to the world's most dull daytime foods -- cereal for breakfast and a ham or turkey sandwich for lunch.  That leaves me with the most flexibility for dinner, and sometime during the day I'm eating a piece of fruit (mostly pears this week, but some bananas as well) and I have something sweet after lunch (currently the very dangerous Rainbow Chips Deluxe cookies, 80 calories apiece and hard to quit with one).  My weight is finally (slowly) budging downwards; I'm still not outside the range of mere fluctuations yet, but at least it's not consistent anymore!

Amy, how's dropping the gluten-free going for you?  I'm nervous about you doing that -- you had such a poor reaction to the gluten test and your weight has been more consistent of late, though you said it's creeping upward most recently.  If it suddenly flies up again we'll know!  But I also know you cheat on the gluten regularly (e.g. when you're at my house or camp) and it hasn't been that bad for you.  Here's hoping.

Moderate Exercise

This one is interesting - but depressing...

I did a Google search for "moderate exercise." Everyone talks about how much moderate exercise you need to do - but what exactly IS moderate exercise? I mean, personally when I think of something as moderate or done in moderation, I think of it as slightly less than what you really desire - or something very, very average. So "moderate exercise" could be anything from walking to the bathroom three or four times a day to running for 1/2 an hour five days a week. It is very subjective. Personally, what I would consider "moderate" exercise is nothing that would make you too sweaty or make your face break out, and can be done in less than 15 minutes... and preferably with some sort of toy surprise at the end... like a new fun pair of socks. 8-)

British

Why is it that everything the British write sounds like a Monty Python routine - or at least a joke? I liked this article. I think it must be because they use words like squillion.

I think obesity being connected to income and education is a chicken/egg question. Are poor people FAT because they are stupid (don't know what they should be eating) and lazy (don't exercise enough) or are they POOR because they are stupid and lazy? Or are they stupid because they are poor and fat or are they lazy because they are poor and stupid - and onwards with the word combinations. See? Chicken/egg.

There was one comment that the reason well educated, good income people are not fat is because they have the opportunity to get more pleasure out of life than through just eating. I agree with that. People who are more engaged are going to spend less time watching the telly and eating crisps. However, I am well educated, make a decent living, have a million interests and I am still fat and lazy and poor - or something like that...

Three years

It was three years ago that we started this blog. Well - sort of. Offically it was on September 6th, but it was the Tuesday after Labor Day that we started - so I think of today as the anniversary. That means it has been 2 years and 10 month since I lost any weight. Sigh.

I was especially high this morning. I was UP outside of my "allowed zone." In fact, I am seriously edging on 100 pounds overweight. That shocked and horrified me this morning. I was feeling pretty chill for the past few weeks about my weight. I mean, I know I weigh more than I like - by a fair amount - but for most of the summer I have not been GAINING weight - so that is a good thing. But I guess for the past several weigh in days my "not gaining" has still been on the high end of my range - which I guess counts as gaining if my "holding steady" number is constantly slightly higher. Gack!

I didn't eat well this weekend. I ordered a pizza Saturday night (grilled chicken, ultra thin crust, green peppers) and ate that for all meals all day Sunday. I had a blueberry muffin and sushi on Sunday. That was about it. I didn't cook anything myself - and I didn't have enough protein. I also think I was heavy on salt comparatively. I probably haven't been drinking enough water lately - I woke up with creases all over my body this morning - which is usually from not enough water. I will try to increase that. Again. Still. I never seem to drink enough water.

The only exercise I got this weekend was taking Davey for a walk on Sunday night. We did about 2.5 miles. I really liked walking him. I like walking at night. I don't know why - but I think I always have. There is something vaguely edgy about it. It reminds me of Halloween, and being at Pennsic and being a teenager and stuff. I get more urges to walk at night than any other time. However, I would never do it without a dog. I noticed that even with mild mannered Davey Dog people I passed would give us a little bit of distance. I like that. It is like walking around with an obvious defense weapon. Unfortunately, getting a dog of my own is out of the question. I think I may ask John if I can walk his dog for him. I never seem HIM walking his dog - but I know he takes him over to his parents a lot.

142.5

I am very consistent these days.  Every single day this week I weighed either 142.5 or 143.0.  It's boring.  I exercised Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, plus a little bit on Saturday and Sunday, and again on Monday of this week.  Monday through Thursday I averaged 1200 calories.  I had around 1400 calories on Friday, Saturday, and Monday, and my only "bad" day was still under 2000.  So I would like to have seen a decrease in weight, but I'm not distressed yet, because the 142.5 at the beginning of the week was kind of a fluke, and my jeans seem to fit a little better (but it could be wishful thinking.  I also know that weight loss is slow at this weight since I can't safely cut back a large percentage of my caloric needs, so I shouldn't expect to see any more than one pound a week, which means any loss I might see is within the daily noise level, so I'm not going to see a change for a while.

But an occasional fluctuation on the scale would at least be interesting!!

It's only NUMBERS

OK - I am really pissed! Suzanne just sparked a big arugument in our area by sending us this article. How is it that a state government can charge more money for someone's health insurance by checking ONE NUMBER!? So - of course we all did our BMIs. I am 36.1 MORBIDLY obese. Suzanne is 26 - Overweight. But - Suzanne has high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and she carries her weight in her waist and is 10 years older than me. I have no health issues, but because I have a higher BMI I would get charged $25 a month more for my health insurance. How does that make ANY sense? How can the cost of health insurance be determined by one number? And one number that when it comes down to it discounts a WHOLE lot of other factors!? This really upsets me. It is like Gattica is really coming to pass. The article says that people will be screened for other health issues - but in that case why do the BMI at all. Are they only going screen the fat people? Skinny people can get as sick as they want?

Exercise makes you younger

Here's an article about the study that said that exercise actually makes you younger. It's not the same one I read before, but it cites the same study.

Younger muscles

Sarah and I had a funny (not) conversation about being twice people's age. How is it that we could possibly be twice someone's age? I am still used to being the person who is half someone's age. When did we switch???


But that led to a conversation about a study done recently about exercise not only making you healthier, but actually reversing the aging of our muscles. You get YOUNGER by exercising. I have got to tell you, this is one of the best motivations I have received in a long time for exercising! I want to get younger. I wonder what exercises I can do for my face. Maybe I will start chewing gum again. I know I looked a lot younge when I used to chew gum. Sarah - if you think of it I would like to see that study that you were talking about.

Anyway, I have decided today that I am no longer going gluten free. I guess I will still make gluten free choice when I can (i.e. rice instead of pasta) but I have decided not to spend the money on gluten free bread for toast anymore. This means I can start having sandwiches for lunch. It is SO hard trying to pack lunches without bread! I am going to continue to try to be sugar free (as possible). I think I have a bigger problem with sugar anyway. I get reflux immediately now days when I eat sugar or sweet snacks.

I was going to say something about wanting to start using the pool at the gym - but after reading Sarah's post I am rethinking it. 8-) Sarah - you need to wear Speedo's and do the sidestroke!

I hate swimming

I'm just back from the pool. Three years at this job and this is the first time I've gone to the pool on campus. You know why? Because I hate swimming! I hate wearing a bathing suit, and I hate the temperature of the water (which is always too cold or too warm) and I hate the temperature of the air as soon as you get out and I hate the chlorine, the way it burns your eyes and makes it look like you've been crying for about six hours straight and the way it dries out your skin and makes you smell terrible, I hate not being able to breathe properly and getting water in my nose and lungs when I miscalculate my breathing just a tiny bit, I hate getting water in my ears no matter what I do, I hate not being able to see where I'm going very well or see what I'm doing wrong because I can't see myself.

But I kinda sorta told Connor's old teacher (not old at all--she's all of 26 I think, but "old" as in "last year's teacher") that I'd do the Iron Girl triathlon with her next year. She just did it on Sunday. She is not a competitive athlete. Far from it--she has a form of lupus and all of the steroids she was on made her gain all kinds of weight, so she started exercising to counteract that and has managed to lose 60 pounds (but still has a ways to go) and is off most of her medications but is still subject to pain and joint inflammation and all that fun stuff. In any case, she did the Iron Girl against her doctor's recommendation and then turned around the next day and started teaching a class of autistic six year olds. This was one of those "if she can do it, I can do it" moments, so she said she'd help me get ready for next year's Iron Girl.

I'm not concerned about the biking or the running. I can already run (well, trudge/jog) a 5K, and I can bike 17 miles at a very slow pace, but I can't swim. I told Claire I could--I was telling her what a triathlon was and she said "but Mom, you can't swim." I said "yes, I can swim, I'm just not very good at it." But I think Claire was right. I can't swim. I can just not-drown. The swim portion of the Iron Girl is .6 miles, give or take. Sara (Connor's teacher) says that that works out to 22 laps/44 lengths of the pool. Today I only managed 11 laps/22 lengths, and only managed THAT by resting for 20 or 30 seconds after each length. And I only did 8 of those lengths freestyle because that's the stroke that has me gasping and sucking in water and not getting enough air and stopping halfway to recharge. I did 11 lengths with breaststroke and the other three were just on my back kicking. Not even using my arms. There was a woman in the far lane with a weighted belt who was pool walking because of mobility problems, and I swear she was going faster than me. I almost wimped out and didn't go to the pool at all. You know what my reasoning was? It's raining, and I might get wet on the way over and back! OK, even I realized what a lame excuse that was so I forced myself to go.

So I said I'd do this, so I have to figure out a way to not-drown my way through .6 miles of open water (oh, ugh, even worse than chlorine!), and then a way to do that and follow it up with 17 miles on the bike and 3.4 miles (the route is a bit longer than a real 5K) running. I think I could manage two in a row at this point, but not three. Maybe I'll see if I can slowly work my way up to only stopping to rest after each lap and not each length, and then I can start adding on more laps. I should be ready by my 50th birthday. But the first order of business will be to get some goggles (which I hate wearing--did I mention that?). I can't believe how badly my eyes are burning right now, and I've been out of the pool for more than an hour. If I had tried swimming after work instead of at noon, I wouldn't have been able to drive home!

142.5

Remarkably, that was also my weight yesterday morning after a week in Alabama.  While I was there I ate indiscriminately and spent 24 hours straight at a place called Bridge Street where you go and eat, and sleep, and watch movies, and shop, and basically just spend money in every way possible.  (No, we did not go for a gondola ride -- having bridges and water doesn't mean being on the water going under bridges is interesting.  It takes two thousand years of history for that.)  So we ate (and drank) and went to the movies (and ate and drank) and hung out in our hotel (and drank and slept and drank some more, so the champagne wouldn't go to waste) and ate and shopped and ate some more.  I don't even want to know how many calories I ingested, but it had to be bad.

We did go running on Tuesday, but my legs ached afterwards until late Thursday, and then we were busy every minute until we left.  And on the day I arrived I was freezing (they put the A/C on to 68 or 70 degrees) but for the rest of the week I was roasting hot.  It was very strange -- it was like my metabolism was on overdrive.  Now I understand why people kick the covers off in the dead of winter.  Maybe I'm starting menopause.  At any rate, despite all the calories, I somehow managed to LOSE two pounds in the place where I can usually count on GAINING between two and five -- case in point, in May I exercised there every single day and ate with some degree of moderation, and I came back with a five pound gain.

Anyway, yesterday I started my annual fall diet (this is three out of four years running, and since the last two attempts proved successful, I might as well go for it again) and I hope to meet Sarah's challenge of losing 8 to 10 pounds over the next two or so months.  I'm logging on Daily Plate again.  I went to the gym yesterday and kept my calorie intake down to just below 1200 (I didn't mean to fall short; I just still wasn't very hungry after all the travel) and today I went to the gym again and have kept my calories reasonable (but it's pizza for dinner -- that will be a test).  Tomorrow I will miss the gym (couldn't get a slot) but it will be brunswick stew for dinner, which is always a lean but filling meal.  So I've got a good start going!

143.8

Eek! I've been more like in the 142-something range the past few days, but this morning I was way up. I'm completely blaming my diet from yesterday alone--we went to the fair last night and I don't think you can get out of there without gaining a pound. It was fun, though, although I'm glad we got that out of the way for the year! I've been pretty good about exercise the past week--three trips to the gym and one day riding to work. I was hoping to ride to work today as well, but decided not to since it's Back to School night at Connor's school and I don't want to get to that all sweaty and out of breath. The trip home from work is lots of long, slow uphills and by the time I get home all I want to do is take a shower and lay down somehwere.

So much for the sleep thing

Actually, I have been very good about getting to bed at a reasonable hour. All last week I was in bed by 10:45. The weekend wasn't so good - I stayed up reading or whatever until about 1:30am each night - but then I slept later in the morning, so I still got 7-8 hours of sleep. Then Sunday night, I was in bed by 11pm, but LAST night I didn't go to bed until 11:30. Then, I had one of those really bad nights where I didn't sleep deeply at all. I had a lot of weird surface level dreams - and woke up repeatedly. Finally, about 45 minutes before my alarm went off I got up and went to the bathroom - THEN, as expected, I feel sound asleep. I ended up hitting my snooze twice. Anyway - so I am tired today. TONIGHT I will definitely go to bed by 10:30!

My weight was on the high end of my range. That was probably because of the popcorn last week. We finished it off yesterday. Then - Halloween candy is in the stores. I bought a bag of Junior Mints. The bad news is I bought them over the weekend. The good news is I haven't eaten them all. I can't do that again!

Exercise - same ole same ole - all on Wednesday. I picked out a color for my exercise room - if I ever get to clear out all of the stuff. Laura's stuff still lives in my basement. However, I am going to do my exercise room in a pretty dark, soft coral - and light pergo wood floors. It will be beautiful if I ever get it done... The basement I think I am going to do in raspberry - with white fixtures. Which means I need to start painting the existing shelves from my sewing room...

Damn Popcorn!

I have been eating Fisher's popcorn. April went to the ocean last week and brought back one of those giant tubs of popcorn. I was aware of it when she announced it - but forgot (thank goodness) about it...................... until yesterday. Then, sometime around lunch I kept smelling something really good. I didn't think about it until Suzanne said "Ugh! Get this popcorn away from me!" Then I remembered it. I still would have been OK, but I actually ate some. It was downhill from there. Luckily - I am on the other side of the wall from it - so I have only had one mug full today and about 1.5 mug fulls yesterday. But it is so sugary it doesn't take much to make my gums hurt. Sigh. Maybe I should eat some real food - that might help.

It's been too long

Hello everyone, 

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but it seems everyone has been in a similar mode. July was crazy busy with work as Congress scrambled to go out of session for the summer.

I also had out-of-town plans every weekend beginning with the last weekend in July that included trips to Pittsburgh, a long weekend in Atlanta for my dad's 65th and, of course, a weekend away for my BIG 4-0. Whoa. 

During the past month I've also moved (the day before my b-day) and I had agreed to complete a sizable freelance piece around the same time. Although I had movers move all the big stuff I handled a lot of it on my own, taking about four additional days to complete everything. 

Now, just as I'm settled in the new place and trying to get into a good pattern of sleeping and eating I leaving for a two-week trip to N. California beginning Saturday. Trust me, no complaints about but I've still got some work to finish before my departure. But I'm nearly ready. 

I will be doing some hiking and kayaking out in Yosemite, touring around SF and tacking on a trip to Napa. So there will be some activity in there. 

But my plan upon my return from Cali is to buckle down again. I actually think I've trimmed down during the past month or so (must be the 4,000 times I climbed the stairs in both condos) but I actually can't wait to get back into a routine where I've got good food in the house and am making lunch and dinner and eating a good breakfast. 

I hoping since I've been able to at least maintain that a focused diet and exercise plan will help me drop pounds and tone up. 

Hey Sarah, if you're reading I'd like to get together with you, Debbie and Maureen sometime next month for a little 4-0 celebration. Maureen is meeting me in Cali to do Napa. Should be fun. 

Good luck to everyone as you start off on your new fall routines. 

144.5

This has been an absolutely awful month for me.  Until yesterday I hadn't exercised since July.  I did get some exercise during zoo camp week, just walking around the zoo and Mill Mountain, but that WAS July.  We've had lots of company this month and a laundry list of things that have needed to get done and I've just been lazy.  Oh, and with company that means some eating out and a lot of fixing food for other people, which means I've been eating more.  But really this is all excuses (except for the lazy part) -- I just got tired of exercising and watching every bite.  Going to bed at 1 am after Olympics and not getting enough sleep hasn't helped.  So through the month of August I have done nothing, and I have paid for it by watching my weight climb.  That weight is actually Monday's, since I didn't have a scale on Tuesday, but Tuesday, I'm sure, was no better.  Sunday was worse.

We are in Alabama now, so yesterday Daniel and I went out around lunchtime (in the 90+-degree heat) and went for a run.  I got through slightly  more than two miles before I had to slow down (my new shoes aren't working out for me -- they seem to prevent the supination but they don't provide the arch support so my toes start feeling dead and then my arches start paining me), and then I split the last mile between walking and running.  But at least it was exercise.  Today I hurt all over (teaching Mary the butterfly stroke in the pool didn't help -- that added upper body aches to the lower body, but it was worth it, because I LOVE the way butterfly feels while I'm doing it) so I can't do anything except go for a walk, and probably not much of one.  Tomorrow is our anniversary, so we're spending the afternoon and night in Huntsville; if I get out early I might be able to go running.  If I don't hurt still.  Friday and Saturday are pretty full of activities so it'll be catch-as-catch-can, I'm afraid.

Next week we are back to a ROUTINE!  Woo hoo!  I'm going to get us back to the gym, and we'll have school during the day (i.e., less time to wonder what food I can scrounge up to snack on next) and just be busy in general.  I'm re-starting my diet again (as I seem to do every fall, though at least it also seems to be successful) to try to get back to my weight from this winter, i.e., mid-130s.

143 again

I only exercised once last week--I ended up running three miles on the outdoor track because the one day I made it to the gym, the gym was actually closed! I didn't make it on Friday because I had only gotten two or three hours of sleep the night before and didn't feel up to it, and yesterday I brought my stuff and didn't go because I forgot it was convocation day, which took up the whole afternoon. But I DID ride into work today--it felt like an easier trip, even though I had to stop and catch my breath on one of the hills. But today was cooler than the first time I did this, which helped, and just being more familiar with the route helps as well. I'm looking forward to school starting next week--I should be able to consistently manage to ride to work at least two days a week, and maybe three. I'm debating what to do when it starts getting dark and cold for the commute. The cold doesn't bother me too much--it's not fun, but it's manageable with good clothes and just keeping moving. The dark is harder. There are some really good light systems out there now, but I don't know if I want to invest $200 or more to be able to do this. Well, I DO want to invest that, but I don't know if it's worth it when I may end up wimping out.

My resolutions

I was about 1/2 a pound up today from yesterday - but still a pound lower than my upper limit of my "current" range - so I guess that counts as holding steady.

I feel like I am performing a balancing act. It has been SO LONG since my weight has been steady that I am not sure what to do about it. I am usually gaining and - very rarely - losing. I want to see how long I can go without increasing anymore. So far it has been about three months. Even through my periods. I haven't even gained the usual four pounds. I feel like I should DO something. If my weight has truly stabilized I should be able to make it turn around and start going down. Right? BUT (says my skeptical doubting Thomas mind) what if I make a change and knock myself off of my precarious precipice and suddenly start gaining again? So, I am starting slow (No suddennnnnn mooovements...).

So - my first resolution that I am trying to enact is supposedly an easy one - but one that so far has proven more difficult than eating breakfast in the mornings. I am going to attempt to get enough sleep. ALL of the diet books, articles, websites, etc. say that the WORSE thing you can do when trying to lose weight is to not get enough sleep. I haven't gotten enough sleep in - well - forever, I think. Since, in my case, it is primarily self induced (no kids to wake me up during the night and all...) I should be able to break this habit. It is basic math. I get up at 6:15 every work day, therefore I should go to bed by 10:15 each night. Yeah. Right. I go to bed at 12:15 - except on the days when I go to bed at 1:15am. So, last night was the first night under my new plan. What I did was go upstairs and get ready for bed at 10pm. Then I read for a little while, and ended up turning off the lights at about 10:45-ish. I woke up just once during the night (at 1:47am - which was just weird because I had been in bed for a long time by then...) and I fell right back to sleep. I woke up again right on schedule about 20 minutes before my alarm was to go off. Perfect! Now, I just need to see if I can do that consistantly. I know 10:45 was about 1/2 an hour later than I should have gone to bed - but it was almost 2 hours earlier than normal!!

Betty Foy

I think I've mentioned Rivendell bikes on here before, haven't I? Maybe not. They're just the most beautiful bikes in the world--all handmade lugged steel frames, designed for real life riding and not racing or tearing around mountain trails, and with gorgeous cloisonne head badges as well. They also start at around $3,000 for a complete bike, so clearly not something I'd ever buy.

Except now apparently they are building a bike for me. It's a mixte frame (of all their bikes, the current mixte is my favorite) and will be named the Betty Foy. Betty Foy was a character in a Wordsworth poem--the overly responsible and somewhat guilt-ridden mother of an "idiot boy" who she loves more than anything in her life. In the poem, she is forced to send her son off for the doctor when she's caring for a sick neighbor, and her son doesn't return. Thinking the worst, she tears all over the English countryside (insert 400 lines of ghastly romantic poetry here) looking for her son and berating herself for ever letting him leave. Eventually she finds him sitting staring at a waterfall.

I don't know why they decided on Betty Foy for the name of their bike (except for all the tearing all over the countryside bit) but clearly I have to have this bike. The good news is, they're having it built in Taiwan instead of Japan or the U.S. so the frame will be around $700 instead of the normal $1,600, and the completed bike will probably be under $2,000. I need to start saving my pennies now--the bike won't be available until next year sometime.

Ho Ho Jog

Well - I guess we are all back now to our "real lives" - sigh. I was pleased to discover that I didn't gain any weight while I was away. Actually SHOCKED would be a better word for it. The Folk School feeds us well; three meals a day like clockwork - dessert with both lunch AND dinner - and each of the meals were more calories than I normally eat in a sitting. OTOH - they were, for the most part, balanced meals with vegetables and protein - and the dining hall IS at the bottom of a hill and so we are forced to walk (albeit very slowly) after each meal. When I was there in January I did gain 5 pounds - and so I expected the same thing this time too.

Katie and I walked a lot more this time around. We went out on "morning walk" each day - which was only about a mile or so - but still! Also, the studio was farther away from the dorm this time - although still not super far. It is amazing how much time you have for walking when you don't have to commute to and from work each day. I would happily walk for 1/2 an hour each morning and evening in place of my commute. It seemed like I was walking up hill all week though. By Thursday my calves were really feeling it. It wasn't just me - Katie said she was feeling it in her calves too. We walked down (and therefore up) the BIG hill to the blacksmith shop at least three times... picture runestone hill, only imagine the path doing a three layer switchback and ending with the steep incline - although the last incline piece was shorter than our Pennsic hill. However, once you are at the top of this hill it doesn't flatten out into the merchant area, you end up with several more smaller hills. So - in the end - even though we were averaging 8-10 hours a day in the studio I mananged to walk about 10,000 steps a day - none of it aerobic, but all of it leaving me huffing and puffing.

This is another reason I thought I gained weight - starting about Wednesday I found myself struggling with breathing everytime I did anything. I thought it was because of the extra weight I put on. However, on Thursday the skinniest girl in the class asked if anyone else was having chest tightness. Someone else said that the goldenrod was in rare form - but we also speculated that it could be the gas that we were breathing in all week. Katie and I both had congestion starting on Tuesday night - that was helped significantly by Sudafed - so we think it was actually allergies not gas poisoning.

It was SO beautiful there! I took some good pictures. I hope to get them uploaded to Smugmug in the next day or two. The weather was perfect. We were told on Sunday that rain would be moving in on Tuesday - but we got just a few after dark showers that night - and then we were back to perfect, clear, beautiful weather.

I have returned home with some new health resolutions - but I will get into them tomorrow.

Yikes! 143!

How did that happen? Oh yeah--vacation. Lots of food, very little movement.

Back to the grindstone.

141

Down a pound from last week, but not really.  I've hovered between 141 and 142 with virtually no deviation for two solid weeks, and only a half pound deviation from that for pretty much a full month.  Not bad, considering the only exercise I'm getting is near-daily walks to Kroger!  Oh, and I'm watching OTHER people exercise a lot -- the Olympics are bad for my health.

Oops again

It was 142 on Wednesday, even though I forgot to post it then.  Then 141 then 142 again.  I've been really consistent for the last month.  I've also been consistent about not exercising and about eating without regard to the consequences.  I haven't even touched my bike for two weeks (not that I've been driving anywhere, either -- we've been homebodies!).

Oops!

I forgot to weigh myself this morning.  That's pretty rare for me!  And on a Tuesday, no less.  I'll weigh myself tomorrow and post the results.  I've been around 142 all week, though.

weigh in day

Amy, I was surprised to see your post. I figured that if Sarah was at Pennsic, you and Katie would be, too. Are you going at all?

Again I was 149.5 yesterday, but this morning I was 150. I know that is a very slight variation. In the course of the last week I was up to 151.5--maybe even 152. We had broiled tilapia lat night, and we will have it again, leftover, tonight.

Nothing more to report, except that I have ordered two pairs of sneakers, a black pair and a white with pink pair, different New Balance models. They are coming from Coward Shoes (such an unfortunate name) in, I think, Arizona, so they will probably arrive while we are down in Blacksburg next week!

Excited for the peppers

and I suppose the tomatoes also... I was out watering my "garden" this morning and noticed that all three of my pepper plants are loaded with microscopic peppers. One plant has two that are developing nicely, the other one has five and the third had about 10 buds and two bumps. The four tomato plants have multiple green tomatoes on them - but they seem to be growing slowly. The plants I have all came to me as seedlings from Sarah - so I am not sure exactly what I am going to get. She told me that two of the tomatoes are heritage and were acting fragile (in they baby state). Since all of them took nicely to the pots I put them in, I am not sure which were the fragile ones. One plant has two tone green tomatoes - so I think that may be one of the heritage plants - but I am just guessing. They could also be two tone from the sun/water/dirt/bird poop combination that it has been receiving... I have this idea that I am going to chop up and freeze my peppers the way Mom and Dad used to so I can use them year round. Katie and I cook with a fair number of green peppers. I am not sure what I will do with my assumed bumper crop of tomatoes...

My weight was again where it has been for weeks now. I was .4 down from my weigt last week - but that is still within the three pound zone that I expect - but still on the upside from it.

On Saturday I walked to the coffee shop in Reisterstown to meet Kristy for coffee. My shins were KILLING me the whole way there and back. This didn't make a lot of sense to me because I had just walked about the same distance wearing the same shoes on Wednesday and had no problem. But I also noticed that while I was walking on Saturday I was walking very heavily. Like my legs and butt and body weighed more than it normally does. It was weird.

Goodbye BMI, hello PBII???????

I found this amusing...Women's funny weight loss math

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/08/01/o.women.weight.loss.math/index.html