In and Out...

Hi Ladies...

I've been in and out lately...I'm mostly caught up on everyone :)  The in and out will probably continue but I'm always thinking of you girls!

It has been a crazy summer in the Floyd House.  I am 5lbs down from where I was June 1st so even weight loss has been slow this summer (but at least I didn't gain) :)  I was sick earlier this week so I'm sure this has helped to boost my weight loss this week.  I'm finally down to 210 so that makes me happy :)

I've started something new on my personal blog (http://www.fitfloyd.blogspot.com/) I've started a photo food journal.  I got the idea from Monica at http://www.runeatrepeat.com/.  I really enjoy doing it and it makes me really want to eat the food if I'm gonna make it look pretty then take a picture of it :)

Other than that...I'm getting back into running (after a week off) I plan to start tonight with a 2 miler if the weather holds out.  If not, I'll probably do a video.

I hope everyone is having a GREAT summer!!!! 

Maybe getting back on track?

Last week I got barely 6 hours of sleep a night. I was going to bed too late and staying up even later reading. It has probably been going on even longer than just a week. So I was starting my days late (and cranky) and eating irregularly. Add to that that I haven't been exercising, and it's hardly surprising that my weight finally started creeping up this weekend. Daniel and I went to bed on time on Sunday -- but stayed up half the night talking, while I read and he played PvZ (thanks, Amy!). Yesterday we declared an end to this. We both went to the gym in the afternoon, we went for our walk in the evening, we munched on veggies (NOT chips or cheese, and no alcohol) during our nightly Doctor Who episode, and we were in bed not long after 11. I got a full 8 hours of sleep (but I woke up at 5:30 am first and had to make myself go back to sleep) and woke up with a lower weight today than I've seen in a while (142.0 -- though of course I know it's unlikely to be permanently there, unless I can make the other changes permanent).

I am not looking forward to the return of school and obligations to be out several evenings a week and having to bark at the kids all day, but, golly day, am I ever craving routine! We are not starting school until Labor Day (which is later than I realized this year -- I wish I had said we'd start a week sooner), but with Daniel starting classes next week things should start to smooth out a bit overall. And we start Game On the same week as school (if we can get more takers!) so that will be even better for me.

Walking Works launch

That was yesterday. I meant to post yesterday and got no further than getting on the blohg. Anyway - so yesterday was day one of Walking Works. I haven't uploaded my steps yet - but I am thinking I didn't break 3000. Maybe 3500. I have a new walking plan though. My plan is that I will walk 10 minutes before I leave for work and 10 minutes when I get home. I won't change my clothes or shoes or anything - I will just walk. Then I hope I can get another 10 minutes in in the middle of the day. Granted, that isn't A LOT - but it is better than what I have been doing. Right? I was also thinking that I need to add extra walking when I go to the bathroom. This is how I do my water drinking when I am focused on that (which, BTW, I started up again this morning). Everytime I go to the bathroom I chug a bunch of water first (or after if first seems like a bad idea...). So - last year I started walking the long way around the circle in our building to get to and from the bathroom. NOW, I think I need to take it further. I think I need to walk the long way around AND through the cafe. Or maybe follow it up with a lap around the parking lot. Anything to get the extra steps in.

My weight this morning was up by a pound - but still about four pounds down from my high.

I started tracking my food again yesterday. It is enlightening (not really) because my calories were WELL within what I am allowed - but I had NO good calories other than the stuffed pepper April gave me for lunch. I had WAY too much sugar! I need to get back to meal planning...

I've been checking in almost daily

But nobody has been around and we were all in mourning after the house fire anyway. I have not been exercising much (but Daniel dragged me out for walks several nights last week, just 30 minutes, two miles on very flat ground, and once to the gym, and I have ridden my bike to commute a couple of times, and I jogged after the kids to downtown and back twice this weekend -- OK, so not as lazy as I thought, but not active) and have been eating whatever the heck I feel like. Reveling in the non-diet, actually. And my weight has remained completely, stubbornly constant, except for a 3-day scale-freak-out where it went up 2.5 pounds overnight, then went down the same amount afterwards. Poor scale is getting elderly. Then, today, after being exactly the same weight every day except those three, since we got back from Spain, it went DOWN a half pound to 143.0. I don't get this at all. It tells me that the scale is not broken (I've never seen such consistency before) but not much else. Maybe my muscle is reverting to fat? They use the "you're gaining muscle" excuse when you fail to lose weight, so surely the reverse can be true when you fail to gain.

I'm up for Game On! My bad habit is going to be Cafe World. I've given it up twice before, but it has a horrid way of coming back. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the good habit. Plenty of time to think, if we're going to start in September.

Nothing is wrong with me!

I just haven't been posting since it looked like no one was reading, what with the fire and all.

But I've been quietly racking up the miles on my bike and feet, and keeping my weight steady (140.4 today). Having missed my long bike ride the day of the fire, that put me back a week with adding distance, so this past Saturday I did a 36 mile ride. This week I'm planning two weekdays of cycling and two of running (both cycling days will be commuting) and a 40 mile ride on the weekend--my mileage should be just over 100 for the week. Then we leave on vacation for a week, which will drop my mileage down to nothing (except the occasional odd hike) and I'll have to start all over when I get back. But the Subaru is officially dead now, so I can see a lot of bike commuting in my future. I think I'll get back into shape quickly.

So does anyone want to join us in a round of Game On in September? It's a four week challenge, so that'll get us through the transition from summer to fall. We'd form teams (presumably two teams given our small numbers), choose a prize and everyone would contribute to that prize. In those four weeks you get points for diet, exercise, drinking water, sleep, communication with other players, dropping a bad habit, and picking up a new good habit; you lose points for snacking, collusion (that is, trying to convince a player on an opposite team to cheat along with you), weighing yourself more than once a day, and drinking alcohol. You get one meal off each week and one full day off each week (at which point you CAN drink alcohol, snack, stay up late, and ignore everyone). The diet is very specific--no refined sugars, no white flour, rice, etc. (all whole grains all the time). Each meal has to contain a lean protein, healthy carb, and healthy fat, with strict portion control of each. Five meals per day. Three liters of water each day. You get bonus points each week for reaching your goal, which could either be a weight loss goal (must be 1% loss each week; more is fine, but you can't set your goal to be lower than that) or a fitness goal (mine would probably be a mileage goal). Sleep 7 hours a night. Work out at least 20 minutes six days a week (and it has to be aerobic--you need to get your heart rate up for those 20 minutes. FWIW, in the game we played the players who only exercised 20 minutes a day didn't lose weight--more exercise led to consistent weight loss).

I'd recommend reading the book (I have a copy if you want to borrow it; I think libraries have it too. I got it from Amazon for about $10). You can also find more information here: http://www.thegameondiet.com/ The "how to play" tab is the most informative.

What the heck is wrong with us!?

No posts in HOW long!?

I weighed in this morning. I weighed at some point last week, but I can't remember which day it was. I was a little bit up. This morning I was down from last week - and down from my scary high of a month ago - but still over the dreaded 250 point. I need to get below that!!!

I just updated myself on April's blog... I need to start reading that daily! I love the way you have organized yourself April. Even with the "bad" weekend - you confessed to it all - and that is really good. You can see where you made your less than perfect choices - BUT, you need to forgive and move on... which you also did.

I want/need to start a daily journal again. I will try not to get obsessed, but I need to get back on track with my food. Katie and I were remembering fondly last night the days where we used to have structured meals. I am fine eating the same food every day - I just need to do it. I also need to STOP waiting until I get to work to eat breakfast, because I end up not eating until 11am and I know that throws me off.

When are we going to do the Bridesmaids version of the Move it or Lose it? Or - what is the name again? Sports thing... OH! Game On! I think we need to start on August 15th. That is just about a week away - and also the official start of the Walking Works challenge.

What do we need to do, Sarah?

New Attitude Part Two

OK - I came back from Spain DESPARATE for fruits and vegetables! Of course, all we had in our house was crackers and cheese. I went to the store yesterday (where I bought mostly junk food for our party tomorrow) but then Katie and I met up at the produce market that we have both been told about many times over the years. It was awesome!!! We bought a ton of fruit - plums, cherries, apples, oranges, bananas, lemons, limes, more plums, and an onion - all for $16.52. YAY!

I also started today to pack a MUCH larger lunch than I normally bring. In addition to my oatmeal and milk and leftovers for lunch, I brought a yogurt, cottage cheese, two plums and an orange, tomatoes and carrots. However, then at the last minute we decided to go out to Cafe Spice for Indian food. So I had rice, naan and curry instead. It was a buffet, so I am not entirely sure what all I ate... I had already eaten my oatmeal, milk, cottage cheese and one plum. I am eating the second plum now. I need to run my calories in TDP, but I think this is what I need to focus on - eating more, and healtier, foods.

As to moving more... Yesterday I didn't go to yoga. I had the last bits of restoring my life to do - not to mention a thousand pounds of laundry. Katie and I did go to clogging. It was fun class last night, but for some reason I couldn't get it together. I wonder if that was because we started right in on a new dance instead of running though our old ones first. By the end I was doing better, but I couldn't do the clog over vine to the right. I could do left just fine - but not right. It was a fun class and dance.

Saturday Sarah, Claire and I plan to go on a hike. I am mildly worried that I won't be able to keep up... Oh well, I can probably find my way home eventually.

I just walked to the post office. I used to go regularly, but now I almost never need to...

Yesterday I sat at my spinning wheel for the first time in almost two weeks. I was shocked at how much my leg muscles were hurting!!!! It helped once I oiled the moving parts - but I think my spinning muscles have gotten soft. I will have to build them up quickly if I want to finish my century!!

Commuting

I rode my bike to work today for the first time in ages. I really can't remember when I last did this. I suppose I must have at some point last year, but I know it has been at least a year and maybe more.

I remember the ride being shorter. For some reason I had it in my head that it was a 12 - 12.5 mile ride, but it's closer to 14 (13.93 to be precise). I'm thinking I might just add an extra 8 miles on to the commute home to make my total mileage for the day what I plan to ride Saturday for my long ride. That way I could just do a short ride on Saturday. Would that be cheating? To split my "long" ride for the week into two parts? Is it less cheating when I do the ride carrying two kind of heavy bags? I didn't realize how much those added to the overall weight until I strapped them on today for the first time in forever. I'm particularly peeved that I brought my u-lock, which probably weighs 18 pounds (or feels like it!) and then wasn't able to use it because they replaced the good bike rack at work with a crappy one that the u-lock doesn't fit around. I can leave that here, though, and not drag it home with me.

Up again

Not surprisingly, my weight went up to 143.5 today -- not a dramatic increase, but an increase nonetheless. Since the beginning of July, I've had numerous 10,000-step days, so the trip didn't really increase my movement, and I did eat more than usual (at least for a calorie-counting month). Then I got back to Alabama and moved not at all and ate just as much as usual for a day and a half. And then I spent 12 hours in the car and ate so-so -- I had Wendy's apple pecan chicken salad (I LOVE this salad) for lunch, which includes a lot of good ingredients, but even half-sized, it's probably fairly caloric; then I had Subway for dinner, and did not hold the cheese; and in between I helped the kids go through quantities of trail mix and cookies. Yesterday alone could account for most of a pound of weight gain. And I didn't drink nearly enough water during the trip, which only adds to the troubles.

I'm having a very hard time leaving vacation behind. I'm not resisting the snacking today, even though I know the more days I have like this the more work I have to do to make up for it, and the harder it is just to stop the habit. And exercise (especially given the heat, after lovely 70-degree Spain) is anathema.

no more excuses

That's the title of April's Healthbeat blog today and it's fitting.  I injured my back a couple of weeks ago and have been using that as an excuse not to exercise.  And every weekend there is SOMETHING going on.  (a birthday party, a wedding, a baby shower....)  Plus every Sunday my mother-in-law makes an insanely delicious dinner.  Last week was shrimp scampi.  how often do I get good seafood out here?  I couldn't say no to it. and then this weekend is Michael's birthday so we are having a cookout (well the west-coasters call them BBQ's which is weird to me still).  His mother is making a mango lemon chiffon cake.  I should say no- especially since I don't even care that much about mango/lemon combos.  But its his birthday!  another excuse.  baby steps though.  I think I'll start by taking a walk after work with Colin. 

True to form

I was down 6 pounds today from my last weigh in. Maybe what I should do is always be on vacation and never live real life...

OK - My theories were that I lose on vacation because I move more, I eat more regularly and I eat more calories. I was thinking that this time around I may NOT lose. We did move more than I am used to, but only two or three days were excessive. Most days we were right around 8000 steps (right Emily?). We did NOT eat regularly. We had coffee and pastries for breakfast most days, lunch only sometimes and dinners at wildly varied times. I did eat more calories than normal - because Tarte de Santiago and kaffe con leche is way more calories than two poached eggs and a piece of skinny toast. For example. We were also eating dinners for lunch and dinners for dinner. Most days I cleaned my plates too! AND - we didn't say no to dessert several times. So - lots more calories, almost NONE of them vegetable based. We did find a lovely fruit shop that we liked, we went there twice, which means that I had I think five servings - maybe four - of fruit for the WEEK! Our eating times for dinner were right up there with what I normally do. We went to bed most nights slightly later than I normally would. We drank more than I normally do also. I don't think I got more than seven hours of sleep each night. Once day I slept late (Tuesday, our lazy day) but I still think my total hours were only about 8.5 hours.


From this I conclude that I need to try moving A LOT more - like maybe three times what I do now. But I think I need to pair that with an increase to my calories. I want to try - AGAIN - to structure my meals more. I want to start eating salads again for lunch - and I want them to be interesting salads. BUT I have to start making them myself. $7-$12 for lunch daily is way more than I can afford!! I also need to pack healthy and appealing snacks. Today on my way out the door I tossed a bag of baby carrots in my lunch. I have been sitting here snacking on them. I told April it was my annual eating of carrots. I had a container of yogurt for morning snack - a sushi roll for breakfast and oatmeal for lunch (yes, in that order). I am feeling hungry now - so I will have to scrounge something up because I have a few more hours of work to go...

Final weight

Yesterday (last day of Game On) I was 139.8--exactly 8 pounds down from when I started four weeks before. Of course my starting weight was high (lots of bacon and ham the day before) and today's weight (after one day off where I went a little nuts with food) is back up, so the actual starting weight was probably more like 146 and today's weight is 141, so still a respectable five pounds lost in four weeks. And more important, it really did kick start my fitness--I needed that motivation to get moving again. When I started, finishing a 15 mile bike ride was real work; this weekend I did a 32 mile ride averaging 13.6 m.p.h. While I probably won't stick with the eating plan entirely (too restrictive IMO, and too much protein I think), for the most part it's how I eat anyway, so I won't make that many changes. I plan to continue with the fitness plan--6 days a week (although if I do only 5 I won't beat myself up), with at least two days of 15+ miles on the bike during the week and increasingly longer rides on the weekends. Once the weather cools off a bit I'm going to try a week of commuting to work only by bike. In the past I don't think I've done more than twice a week.

I've got 12 weeks until the Wild Goose Chase, and I'm halfway to the mileage I'll need to do. As long as I keep increasing my mileage each week at the rate I've been doing (adding about four miles to the long ride each weekend) I should have no problem doing that. Heck, I could probably do it now. At 32 miles I was still feeling pretty good; if I had stopped for a break and some food I could have kept going for a while. I'll probably top off my training mileage at 50 miles, just because of the time it takes out of weekends (and once September hits, getting time on weekends will be more difficult). That should happen around Labor Day, at which point I just need to maintain my fitness level to be ready for the ride.

It's not Tuesday

This keeps happening to me--I mean to post on Tuesday and then I forget or I put it off until the evening and then figure I can just wait until the next day.

So here it is Wednesday, it's a billion degrees outside, I haven't been anywhere interesting this summer (or even anyplace boring!) and I'm just feeling burned out. I've been sticking to the Game On plan but my weight seems to be stuck (fortunately it's stuck at 141, a good 5 to 7 pounds below where it was when I started!). I impressed myself with my mileage last week--82.8 human powered miles (mostly cycing, but three days of running were in there). This week I'm easing back a bit. I meant to take Sunday off but ended up going out for a 10 mile ride with Claire (during the ride she was sweating and panting and barely able to make it and had to get off her bike and push on a couple of the hills, but recovered immediately afterwards and was outside on the swingset within ten minutes, while I was going along nice and easy in the ride but afterwards passed out on the sofa for an hour!), so instead I took yesterday off and feel MUCH better for it. Today I went out for a 13 mile ride early in the morning and was able to manage the route so much more easily than I had last week. Amazing what one day of recovery will do for you. But this means that this week I won't manage another 80+ mile week. I'm only at 26.5 now, so I'd really have to crank out a few high mileage rides to hit that mark, and with the rest of this week supposed to be even more ridiculously hot than today, I just don't see that happening. If I want a weekend ride at all, I'm going to have to get up super-early--no more waiting around until 9 a.m. to start if there's really going to be a heat index of 110 degrees on Saturday. Ugh.

So even though my weight loss hasn't been impressive, I'm losing inches. Only it seems to be very targeted inches. My hips have gone down nearly 2 inches since I was measured for the bridesmaid dress, but my waist measurement hasn't changed AT ALL. What's with that? I really need to get back to pilates. Those are the only two measurements I have to go by--they didn't measure my knees that day. ;-)

I'm BACK!

WOW!!!  What a whirlwind?!?!  I'm just getting back to my normal life/routine and we got back from Ireland June 29th!  Anyway...

It was a gorgeous trip!!!  We had an amazing time and the best part was that my DH and I realized that we still really like eachother :)  Really tho, I'm not kidding...with 3 kids and life sometimes we forget to even say hello to eachother.  The 9 days (just the 2 of us) made us realize how well we mesh! 

Getting back into the swing of things has been tough...my biggest problem is the pool!  I LOVE our pool (private pool in our community)!!  But I do not LOVE the snacking that happens at the pool.  chips, Ice Cream, Nachos (with that horriable fake cheese...that is so good and gross all at the same time).  I usually do well on Saturday but by Sunday my resolve has faded and I endulge.  This wouldn't a problem except that I really need to stop losing the same 2lbs.  I keep losing it and gaining it and losing it and gaining it.  ENOUGH already!!!  Exercise has been a constant as have Green Monsters. 

This week I've been a Rockstar!  Exercise every day!  Eating lots of veggies!  Not Snacking after 6p!  GOOD STUFF!!!  Now I just need to transfer this to the weekend!!!

Last night was my first night back to running with my neighbor,Terri (she was on vacay).  I do more when I have a partner in crime!  We timed our runs.  I've signed up to run my first 5K...Race for a Cure in October...so we are training for this. 

Amy reminded me that since my Ireland Trip is over I need a new goal...here it is:
I really want to be 199 by September 1st.  (that is 15lbs).  I have about 6 weeks to make that happen.  This is a very strict plan and may not be feasible.  I will re-evaluate next week (I need to break the 212 barrier first!!!!)  I'm STUCK between 212 and 215.  If I can have a good eating weekend, it may happen. 

WELCOME GINGER!!  Come on home Amy...I HATE DOING PAYROLL :)  LOL

I ran the whole way!

Since getting back into running a few weeks ago, I've been slowly working up to actually running and not walking for long stretches before breaking into a run. I finally did it today, aided, I'm sure, by the MUCH cooler and less humid weather this morning. So, three miles down at ten minutes per mile. Now I need to start adding distance. Yuck.

I don't know what was up with my hunger yesterday, but it seems to be gone today. I had planned to take lunch today as my meal off this week since I was in an internal retreat for the morning and early afternoon, but it turned out not to be necessary. Lunch was lettuce wraps with fruit on the side--all perfectly acceptable for my diet, as long as I stayed away from the strawberry shortcake for dessert (which I did). So instead of hunger today, I'm dealing with extreme sleepiness! Again, what's the deal? I've been getting 7 hours of sleep a night for the past two and a half weeks (barring the occasional middle-of-the-night wake up call from Connor) and have been fine every other day except today. So if yesterday was hunger and today is sleepiness, I guess tomorrow I should be struck with either a total lack of motivation to work out or an inability to stay away from mindless internet browsing in the evening. Let's see what happens!

Trying to catch up

And it just isn't going to happen at the moment...welcome to our new blogger, and April, I hope you had an awesome trip to Ireland.  And Amy & Emily, did you go to Spain yet or is that coming up?  Have a blast!

I am currently between sessions at a mapping conference in San Diego with 15,000 of my closest friends.  I've been eating out every day, and thank goodness we found a great place for breakfast that is something other than a plate of carbs.  Although I did opt for that one day--they make their own cinnamon loaf that they use in their french toast.  It was heaven, and totally worth it.

After 4 years of attending this conference, I finally remembered to bring along a pedometer.  I hit 18,000-20,000 steps each day, sometimes with the addition of "on purpose" exercise, sometimes not.  My feet are tired, my brain is fried, and it is most awesome to be a GIS professional in this present day and age.

I haven't taken advantage of the really nice pool at my hotel because of the restrictions still in place given my vision correction surgery two Fridays ago, but there really hasn't been much time anyways.  We're up around 6 am and have been getting back to the hotel around midnight...no wonder I am sooo tired!

I have no idea on my weight and won't until we get back to MD late Saturday night. I'm hoping the enthusiasm I have collected for GIS will carry through to other things when I get home.  I've been suffering from severe career apathy recently and I think this conference was just the thing to get me going again.  Now let's see how long I can ride this high!!!!

Last day of my streak

I haven't missed a day of exercise all month -- this was day 15 of no-excuses. But I think this will be it for me! Tomorrow through Saturday we're in transit (though I may be able to sneak in a walk or a jog tomorrow or Friday) and then all my exercise will be touring. Most days this month I've actually looked forward to it; I've tried to work in enough variety that I wake up thinking not, ugh, I have to exercise, but, hmm, what should I do today? Of course, a few days it has still been, ugh, what's the minimum I can do today and have it count? But I've stuck to it.

Yesterday was an ugh day -- it was hot and I had to get the oil changed, so I counted the 0.75 mile walk to and from the car place (1.5 total) as exercise, and then Daniel and I went out for our evening walk (first in a while) for another 2 miles. Today was better; I took the kids swimming and did another full mile, this time with fewer interruptions and paying attention to the time, so I have a number to compare to on future swims. A slow number. Swimming is weird because I don't get sweaty and I don't feel the muscle fatigue very much while I'm doing it (but often I do later), so I don't entirely feel convinced that I've had a workout.

Food yesterday was near disastrous -- I think I was over 2000 calories by the time I quit. Tonight we're having clean-out-the-fridge and I think I'd better be cleaning out the grilled trout instead of the bratwurst or burgers and chips. Actually, I think we cleaned out the chips last night, so that may not be an issue. Next I will be cleaning out Spain. I'm doomed!

Why am I so hungry?

This is week three of the Game On diet, and except for the first couple of days when avoiding my usual post-work gorge session on all the junk in the house was difficult, I've been fine. Five small, healthy meals a day, spaced two to four hours apart. No problems, no hunger (except the good kind where you get hungry just before your next meal).

Today I came back from my morning ride starving. Stomach growling, feeling weak, I could barely keep myself from snacking while I made breakfast. Then I was fine through my second meal of the day around 11:00. Now it's 1:30 and I'm not due to eat for another hour and I'm starving again. What's up with this? I've been eating the same amounts as the last couple of weeks, and my workouts aren't any longer or harder than they have always been, and I can't imagine that my metabolism suddenly kicked up a couple of notches, necessitating more food. But my keyboard is looking mighty tasty right now.

weigh day

I weigh myself daily (starting last week) and my weight has flucuated between 5 lbs.  Since I started "dieting" last week I'm down 2.6 lbs.  it might be a fluke though because I have done NO dieting- I am waiting until Thursday (payday) to hit up our farmer's market and trader joes.  We are going to start making Colin's food so I need to get some organic veggies.  I've been eating alot more oatmeal this week though which helps because it's warm and makes me feel full.  I'm vowing to NOT buy anything unhealthy when I go to the market on Thursday.  NOTHING.  not even bagels and I adore bagels.  love them. 

Also- how the hell do mother's with infants exercise?  Michael and I are never home at the same time (he works evenings and I work during the day).  I can take Colin to the park for a walk(which I admit can wind me) but I'd like to find time to go to the gym.  I guess I could try to find a gym that has a daycare.  that makes me uneasy though- am I just a paranoid first-time mom?  the only people who've watched him so far are family and a couple of friends.  maybe I'm just making excuses!! :)

140.8

Yeah, that's right. 3.6 pounds down from last Tuesday. Yesterday (on my official Game On weigh in day) I was 141.8, so I don't know what's up with that other pound. On Saturday I was 141 even, so either weight could be accurate. But the larger point is I'm losing weight and getting into shape. Mostly around my knees, it seems. Before starting this, I was noticing that sort of hanging flab you get around your knees when your thighs are blobby, and today it looked like I was getting more definition in my leg muscles and less blob. Maybe we should switch to short skirts for Katie's wedding? And long sleeves?

I have to say I'm really liking how Game On is forcing me to adopt good habits. I was sick over the weekend--I woke up Sunday with stomach issues, and I thought it was because I overindulged on my Saturday day off (birthday party, pool party, anniversary dinner), but when the illness stuck around into Monday, I figured it probably wasn't that. In the past I would have used the illness as an excuse to not move and to eat saltine crackers and jello. But doing that would lose me a LOT of points, so I stuck with the diet (although both days I didn't attempt to eat until the afternoon, and then I went with the blandest approved foods I could manage, but still ate the five required meals) and exercise. On Sunday I went for a long and brisk walk. Yesterday I was hoping to get out for a long ride - that was my Sunday plan but I really didn't want to be away from home (and a bathroom!) for that long - but didn't have time for a long ride after work with the thunderstorm moving in, so I got out for 16 miles on my usual route (in 1:12--the first 11 miles averaged 14.6 m.p.h. and the last five miles were all uphill and knocked my average down to 13 m.p.h.). This heat and humidity is oppressive--I come back from even the most minor workout looking like I took a shower.