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

Just testing me

OK - this whole training by body to recognize hunger has gotten to the phase where it (my body) is just testing me. I am SO HUNGRY! I haven't felt this hungry in years. And, I have no food. Usually I have some of the KIND bars in my drawer just in case I get hungry, but I ate my last one last week and haven't bought any more. I will have to do that soon. Anyway - so I know my body is just testing me right now... I have been telling myself (with habit changes and ALSO verbally) that I am not starving, I am not in a famine, I will feed me if I am hungry - and it seems to be working. As I have reported, my rapid increase in weight seems to have stalled (if not reversed) and in exchange, I am feeding me when I am hungry. However, about 40 minutes ago I got a wave of hunger that was really intense, and so, like the good citizen that I am, I fed the hungry belly - an orange. And I was satisfied. The orange was good. NOW - with the smell of orange still in my trashcan, by body is INSISTING that it is starving. What do I do? I don't want to get junk out of the machines. Sigh.

Lunch inspiration

After Emily's suggestion of making PB&J on graham crackers I thought of hummus as a lunch food. I love hummus. I didn't actually HAVE a lunch for today (well, and orange and a yogurt - but no protein). So I went to Wegman's (with my $7.49 that has to last me until Thursday) and bought a quarter pound of hummus and a bag of rice chips (sesame and seaweed). I ate one of the chips and thought "Man! They must have coated these in sugar!" They were very sweet - but not offensively so, just enough to make them VERY YUMMY! Anyway - I read the ingredients and there is 0g sugars in them. They just taste sweet naturally - and they taste really good with my very garlicy hummus. So, I may make that one of my lunch options. I just need to make a vat of hummus and subdivide it into single portions for ease of packing. I also need to make up a batch of cottage cheese with salsa. I can eat that with the rice chips too - or with the blackbeans and rice chips that Katie and I both love.

Emily - you mentioned The Big Pear in a post a while back. I just noticed it today. Is that Pearisburg? That is what Pat and I used to call Pearisburg - but I can't think of a reason you would be in Pearisburg...

142

I was up so early this morning that I forgot I should complain about that weight.  I have been consistently 140.5 or 141 for the whole last week.  But this whole week is going to be messed up.  I have to get up earlier than usual to get the kids dressed and breakfasted and their lunches packed before we have to head out the door.  Their zoo camp starts at 9 in Roanoke.  Then I'm stuck in Roanoke until 3.  

Yesterday Cecilia and I walked to the top of Mill Mountain to kill the first hour and then spent several hours in the zoo after it opened.  But this is a TINY zoo that only takes an hour, so by one o'clock, even after taking time for lunch and a snack and riding the zoo choo and playing on the playground and re-visiting the monkeys and the red panda and the really cool snakes, we were both ready to die of exhaustion and boredom.  So (out of numerous options) Cecilia chose for us to go shopping (what kind of shopping?  "Grocery store!" of course) so we went looking for a Kroger.  But she fell asleep and we ended up just driving around for 45 minutes before returning to the zoo.  We killed time at a kids' center we hadn't visited yet (and at their bathrooms -- Cecilia made about six potty trips yesterday) and finally got to go claim the kids at 3.  I walked 10,000 steps yesterday and ate less than usual, but this morning my weight was up.  Whatever.  I was so exhausted last night that I went to bed a 9:15.

Today, after that appalling 142, I'm in a Panera (with wireless, hooray!) and eating an asiago cheese bagel (with light cream cheese on top, of course -- I have to maximize the cheese) and helping Cecilia with her cookie.  Makes sense to me.  I will probably miss dinner tonight, because our church's dedication is tonight at dinner time and will go right up until bedtime, I suspect.  So I'll be wiped out again.

Tomorrow when I get home Daniel's parents will be there, and they'll be in town through Saturday.  And on Friday night I have a wedding rehearsal to attend (and said wedding is on Saturday).  So it's reasonably certain I'll be exhausted and eating wrong every day this week, after which Daniel is out of town for the next three days.  This is starting to seem comic!

141.2

OK, down from last week and not a lot up from the week before that, so I can't complain. Nothing to report otherwise--I'm just trying to eat well (birthday cake notwithstanding) so that I don't gain a lot for these weeks when I can't get to the gym. This is the last week of summer camp, then we've got Pennsic next week and then another couple of weeks of summer vacation before we FINALLY get back to a normal schedule! I shouldn't complain about my summer schedule so much--all I do is miss lunch break. Brian spends two months essentially not sleeping.

Weigh in day

My weight this morning was on the higher end of my 3 pound range - but it wasn't as high as I thought it would be - which is good.

As I was making my breakfast this morning I decided I needed to structurize my lunch a little bit more. I am GREAT with my breakfast (poached eggs, gluten free toast, and orange juice) and I am pretty good with dinner - most of the time... especially when Katie cooks. But I stink at lunch. I don't mind eating the same thing every day forever as long as I like it OK - but I have yet to come up with something that I CAN eat everyday forever for lunch. I think when I think about it a peanut butter an pickle sandwich, fruit and yogurt would be my top choice for lunch - but I really can't stand gluten free bread for sandwiches. I have considered going back to my regular whole grain light bread - but two weeks ago I finished off a loaf of that (since Katie hasn't been eating breakfast with me in the morning, that bread was just going to go moldy anyway) and ALL week I had the worst gas. It is very possible - probable in fact - that it wasn't the bread causing it - but it is an easy fix, just in case that was what was causing it. I have come to the conclusion that it is just food in general that gives me gas and reflux, and there isn't much I can do about it - if I cut one thing out, something else will become my trigger. Lately I have been noticing reflux from my coffee - even with the lactose free milk. Sigh.

Exercise... Sigh. Last night I got a craving to go to the gym and work out - but sadly, it was 10:30pm - which was too late to get changed and get there. I wish it were safe to walk at night. Maybe I should start borrowing Murphy from John and taking him (Murphy, not John) for a night time walk. I am actually looking forward to having my exercise room - but I think that is mostly from a decorating stand point and not an exercise stand point. Although, the idea of having a space to spread out a yoga mat, and have blank wall to work with is really exciting to me. I would love to do a daily yoga routine.

Mom - regarding Laura leaving... it really is natural attrition. She is working in Laurel now. With gas prices the way they are - and the amount of time it takes to travel there and back, it became too stressful to continue the commute. She is moving to an apartment in a house in Catonsville. I told her she is more than welcome to move back with me at any time (although I am excited about having the extra space) and if I ever buy a house in Catonsville she can move back in with me.

Did anyone else see Donna Downey's before and after pictures? I know she has been making great progress -but I have to say I am SO proud of her. If you watch her little video about it she says that it is a lot of work. I am glad she said that, because all along she has been making it seem so easy. And she got me back into the mode of GOT TO EXERCISE MORE. Sigh.

I did it!

I know this isn't weigh-in day, but I stepped on the scales today--twice--and they registered 149.5! It may not be that good tomorrow, so I wanted to record it!

I haven't done anything about new sneakers so we haven't wallked at all.

Amy, give me a call and tell me about Laura!

I'm Trying!

I have signed in about five times in the last week or so and I can't manage to actually write a post!! Even now, I got as far as five times and got pulled away.

So quickly - my weight hasn't changed. I had my period last week and I don't think I gained anything! This is a miracle!! So - two months in a row now with virutually no change in my weight. I fluccuate between about a three pound range - but nothing up - yet. So that is good news. Rebecca and I have been trying to figure out what I am doing differently, but haven't pin pointed anything specific yet. I have increased my kelp intake (sporadically) I have made my breakfast a bit larger - 2 eggs, a piece of toast, orange juice (with fiber added) and coffee with agave and milk. That is the only meal I am consistant about - but I definitely try to eat more sooner in the day. This past Monday I didn't have my breakfast - and I had the most miserable headache the rest of the day - but then the headache went on through this whole week, so now I am wondering if perhaps that it wasn't food related. I have been inconsistant with dinner, well - at least when Katie isn't around. I have been craving comfort foods - zucchini casserole, Mom's pot roast, roast chicken, instant pudding. I don't know if that means anything - but I have been making them as I crave them.

On the exercise front - I haven't really increased at all. I walk to church on Wednesdays and then do my 90 minute yoga class. That has been about it. I haven't been to the gym since - well - I don't remember... Maybe early June. When did I start yoga? I went to the gym once or twice after that and then nothing... I am thinking I should quit the gym and save the $36 per month. With Laura moving out I am going to move my stuff from the sewing room into the basement and turn that little room into a workout room - that I won't use - but at least it will BE there.

Yoga this week was led by a different instructor. I liked him - although he moved faster through things. He also kept doing level 2 stuff and then remembering we were level one. But we were diligently trying to do what he was asking... I was definitely sweating!

142

Ick. O.K., so I didn't watch what I ate at all last week and I'm retaining water, but still, I had hoped with all my exercise last week that I'd at least maintain my weight and not gain. Oh well. Maybe it'll all be gone in a couple of days. But then, I'm starting another two weeks of carting Claire home every day at lunchtime (= no gym) and then a week at Pennsic, so the only thing I can do now is watch what I eat, see what exercise I can squeeze in at night, and wait for summer to be over.

I forgot!!

Well, it's Tuesday again, but we got up to go to 7:00 Mass instead of 8:30 because Father Paul is on vacation and there was only one Mass today. I wasn't quite all there at 6:30 and forgot to weigh in.

My weight has been up a little since last week's steak on our anniversary and a few other indulgences, too. Then we had pizza Sunday night and chicken picatta last night--and both of those are probabloy too caloric. I know the pizza is and I suspect the chicken is, too, since it is breaded and sauteed. I wonder if I could bake it? Anyway--we have pizza leftovers tonight and chicken leftovers tomorrow night. However--we had barley pilaf instead of pasta with the chicken. Healthier.

I have had a pain in my ankle for about a week--I suspect it is time for new sneakers!

Welcome back to Tuesday

Our Tuesday postings aren't what they used to be!  Even if we're not all posting weights, it would be nice if we would at least all drop in and say howdy once a week.

Anyway, I weighed in at 140.5.  My exercise has slacked off and I'm still eating whatever.  The remarkable thing is that my weight has remained relatively consistent for so long.

The rest of this week is fairly quiet, after two days in a row of trips to the Big Pear, so I'll get some exercise, but next week is Zoo Camp, which means daily trips to Roanoke and no chance to get to the gym (but I should be getting a lot of walking in while we're downtown, just because it's better than sitting in my car).  After that the summer is calm for a little while longer, but then we have visitors (Hi, Mom!), and then we're out of town, and then, bam, we're into the school year.  Sigh.  Summer is too short!

What's your neighborhood walkability score?

I meant to post this a while back when I first found it--you enter your address and see how "walkable" your neighborhood is (not for leisure/fitness, but how many services and amenities you can walk to). When I first did it my neighborhood got a score of 71; today, for some reason it's a 69. And a lot of the information is odd (7-11 is a grocery store?) or very, very out of date--it includes stores that have been closed for years and doesn't have things that have opened up in the meantime. And they also don't consider the proximity of doctors and dentists in the score, which I think would be a bit more important than the proximity of things like music stores. I suspect if they updated the information we'd actually get a better score now since so many new places have opened in Catonsville. But overall something in the70 range seems about right.

http://walkscore.com/

I'm so weak!

I was feeling pretty good about myself and my ride on Tuesday. 28 miles and no muscle soreness or tiredness that evening or the next day. But when I went to the gym Wednesday afternoon it was like someone had attached sandbags to my legs! I could barely manage the workout at all--still no pain, but just weak, weak, weak! I didn't feel tired, but that effort was just too much for me. I'm glad I didn't try cycling two days in a row. I'll have to work up to that. I remember the same thing from back when I was touring--the first day of cycling was pretty short (maybe a grand total of 15 or 20 miles) but it wore me out and took me a couple of days to recover. And it probably took me a good three or four weeks before I got to the point where I could cycle 40 miles a day a few days in a row. And I was half the age I am now.

150

Well, this morning I weighed in at 150! That's progress. Saturday morning the scale flirted with 149.5 but it went on to 150. We still haven't been walking more than once lately and that was a shortened route one evening. Friday night we had broiled salmon and since it was a big piece we had lots of leftovers. I used to do salmon tetrazzini with the leftovers, but that involves cheese and pasta, and I am trying to avoid those too often. So we had chef's salad a couple of nights, and we are having it again tonight. Boring, but low calorie! We had some sheese and chunks of salmon a tossed salad. Dick adds little tomatoes, but I prefer to wait for the bigger ones that should be coming a long soon!

140.8

I didn't post last week. I weighed myself on Tuesday and was so mortified at the weight gain (I was 142.6) that I just couldn't get on and post. See what I mean about summer? Last Tuesday was coming off of five weeks of essentially no exercise at all. But Claire is at camp at UMBC this week and last, so I've been going to the gym--three days last week plus one ten-mile outing on my bike, plus I've been laying off the cookies at night, so I was happy to see that 140.8 this morning. This week I went to the gym just the once so far, but I *finally* managed to commute on my bike this morning. Except for the hills it was actually pretty fun, and I definitely feel more energetic right now than I normally do at 9:00 in the morning. But the logistics at this end of the trip are a PITA. There's no place near my office to wash off and change, and no place near the gym to lock up my bike. And going to the gym adds nearly a mile onto the trip since I have to take the ring road around campus to get there. But I did a temporary lock up against a bench, changed really quickly, and made it into work with my normal amount of lateness. Oh, and I rode my bike across campus to get to a bike rack near my office, wearing my little summer skirt. I'm not sure which looked more dorky--me in my screaming yellow shirt (see, Mom, I'm doing what I can to keep cars from squishing me flat!) or me in my skirt riding a bike not meant to be ridden in a skirt!

Amazingly, the bicycle computer you all gave me for Christmas back in 1990 (Amy doesn't remember doing this, so maybe I'm remembering wrong. I thought it was a group gift from a bunch of you) still works, so I can tell you I went 13.44 miles (not counting the bit back across campus at the end) with an average speed of only 11.1 miles per hour (did you know when you type "miles" with your fingers one key off on the right it comes out as "nukes?") and a top speed of 29.6 m.p.h. And the scariest bit of the whole trip was the two miles on the bike path between Catonsville and Ellicott City--too curvy and bumpy and debris-strewn, and when it switches abruptly from pavement to boardwalk with no warning there's an inch and a half jump that nearly knocked me off my bike. I'm going to try the road next time and see how that goes. I also spent way too much time at traffic lights, including one at the very end that is triggered by traffic in the lane, but my bike wasn't enough to trigger it to turn green in my direction and no one came up behind me. So I waited through three or four cycles before crossing at the crosswalk.

The calorie counter thingummy tool (not on my computer--it's not that technical!) says I burned 504 calories this morning. And I get to do it again tonight. I don't, however, get to do it again until sometime in August--Claire is back to Kids on Campus for the next two weeks, then we've got a week of Pennsic. But I can probably manage a couple days a week for the rest of August and into the fall.

Quiet around here!

I'm not sure why we've all drifted away from here lately.  Nothing much new to say on the subject of diet and exercise after three straight years, I guess?

Anyway.  My weight this morning was 141.  Depressing.  Four days ago I was 137, and I am absolutely, positively certain that I haven't eaten 3500 calories a day for four days (or even on any one of those days) so either I was dehydrated then so I'm retaining something now, or maybe both, or my scale is completely insane.  In any case, it's very irritating, because when I saw the 137 I thought several weeks of very hard exercise as well as some slight success (finally!) in restricting calories was doing some good.  I didn't eat extremely well over the weekend, but I didn't get totally out of control, either, so I was sorry to go back over 140 again.  I know that a swing of some pounds is normal, but 4 pounds so quickly is pretty extreme for me.  Sigh.

late posting

I forgot to post Tuesday, but that was my high of the week---152. Sunday and today I was 150.5. I do wish I could break 150! I'm not exercising. Since my virus I'm having trouble getting my "oomph" back. We did get to Mass this morning--we drove--and I have finally been doing some sewing this afternoon.

Nothing to report again

I totally forgot to weigh myself this morning. I thought vaguely about it - and had I rememebered it was Tuesday I would have - but I didn't, so I didn't. I have no idea how much I weigh. I haven't been on the scale in over a week. I haven't exercised in FOREVER - with the exception of the walk to church last Wendesday and a short bout of badmitton and about three miles of non aerobic walking on Friday. The badmitten was surprising effective. It was SO much fun - as much fun as I remember from my childhood - and the next day I felt it in my quads and abs. Not BADLY - but I could tell I had been jumping and bending the day before. I now want to get a badmittin set. (Did anyone notice I spelled badmitten differently each time? Maybe one is right...)

Sarah has me on this bicycle kick now. I want one of the cute comfort bikes! I want one badly enough that I am seriously considering learning how to ride. My plan is that KATIE should buy one - and then I will learn to ride it - and then I can buy one after I learn. This is perfect for her to ride to school. She can get a nice basket to carry her books in. Awwwwwwww.

My instant pudding kick has eased off. Did I mention that here? I was going through this major instant pudding kick. I think I was needing the milk - but my brain translated it into instant pistachio pudding. Now I am eating the ice pops. Lower calories - no redeeming food value - and giving me reflux. This is good actually because I then eat Tums - which give me calcium. 8-)

140.5

My weight spiked again at the end of last week and dropped a bit when my period started.  I never used to notice water retention and weight spikes associated with my cycle; maybe it's because I was so irregular before I had kids, and then there were so many things interfering with my cycle after having children.  This is the longest I've gone not pregnant so maybe it's the first time in almost a decade that my cycle could be normal in that way.  It's just interesting.

I'm still eating too much junk; no surprise there.  But I'm exercising very well these days.  I have five gym appointments scheduled for this week.  Yesterday I had a great workout but it was otherwise a frustrating day -- just at the time we needed to be leaving to run a bunch of in-town errands (UPS store, post office, gym, Kroger) it started pouring, so we had to drive.  It was gorgeous just when we got out of the gym, but we already had the van out and Kroger was right there, not out of the way, so I took advantage of it by stocking up -- if I'm going to use the van I might as well use its carrying power so it's less likely I'll have to drive to Kroger on another rainy day.  We were in dire straits -- no milk, no bread, almost no fruit, no fresh vegetables.  But I still hate that I caved on this -- I hadn't driven to the grocery store in a month, and I could have gone home and gotten the bicycles.  But I couldn't have bought nearly as much.  Oh, well.

150.5

I actually tried to post Tuesday but something ate it. That day I was 151.5. I have been sick all week so I have had very little appetite--all that was interesting was yogurt and applesauce and cereal. I did eat a normal dinner each night but nothing tasted good so I usually left part of it on my plate. I haven't wanted to snack very much either. This won't last but I'll be pleased with the weight loss as long as it lasts.

I haven't been exercising! I feel so wiped out much of the time that I either nap or read. And all from a simple little virus!

Sorry to disappear

I haven't been posting because there's nothing for me to post. I was up to 140.8 on Tuesday--no surprise given that I'm not exercising these days, and a pound a week is about what I've come to expect in weight gain when I'm not moving at all. I was also internetless on Monday and Tuesday (moving offices at work and they didn't have the network set up in our new area yet, then on Tuesday evening I took Claire to see Wall-E) so that kept me from posting my weight on Tuesday.

The good news is that starting next week Claire is at a camp at UMBC so I won't be driving her home at lunchtime every day, which means I get two weeks when I can get to the gym again. Yay! Maybe I can make a dent in this weight gain during that time, or at least slow it down so I don't gain any more.

Interesting article

Time had this article I found interesting...10 good things about $4/gallon gas

I have nothing really to report.

139 again

No real surprise there.  I've been exercising -- 4 days last week and 2 this week so far -- and getting around on foot and by bike as much as possible; in fact, last Friday we were home all day and Mary, Alexander and I all started to get restless for a bike ride.  We ended up going to a homeschool picnic we didn't really want to go to just to get out of the house and moving for a mile.  (Uphill both ways, I might add -- but mostly uphill the first way.  It's my least favorite ride.)  And today I offered the kids the option of staying home with me exercising here, and they both protested -- they wanted to take the three-miles-each-way ride to the gym!  I've created a monster (two, actually!)!

It also struck me that if I'm biking to the gym three times a week I'll be getting a minimum of 18 miles a week in, and usually more like 20-25 with other trips -- so I'll make up at least one tank of gas pretty quickly, and I make up a full gallon and then some every week, considering these are all short trips in my van.  In the month of June I didn't have to refill at all -- we filled up just before Memorial Day and not again.  I'm at about a quarter of a tank now, 200 miles later.  Daniel usually drives a lot more short trips in a month than I do, because he has to get to work, but he cut out his work trips almost entirely.  Unfortunately, he had two trips to the airport last month, one of them in West Virginia, so he still needed to buy gas at least once or twice.  But our total gas expenditures last month were WAY down.

I see a lot of people around town on bicycles and I know the bike racks everywhere are more full than they used to be.  But I'm amazed at how many people I know aren't cutting back.  One friend I have lives in walking distance of the Christiansburg library, where we had a meeting one evening, and I really had to wrestle with myself to admit that it needed to be a drive for me and I'm a LOT farther away.  But she drove her minivan, and she didn't even have her kids with her.  And when we showed up at the park a mile away from home on our bicycles, everyone exclaimed and seemed impressed -- but we rode to this park even before we pledged not to use the car as much, and we even tried walking there once a couple of years ago (but Mom was with us, and unfortunately she injured herself on a loose patch of gravel just a few blocks from our house -- it's not a good walk because there are several stretches without sidewalks, and the road can be busy).  Why WOULD we drive when it's only a mile, we have our bikes, and we'll be home before dark?  I guess as a society we've really gotten that lazy.  Sigh.

This month I'm going to be burning through a tank of gas in a week.  In the last week of July the kids have a day camp in Roanoke at the zoo.  Some resources we just don't have in Blacksburg.  Hmm... wonder how much the SmartRide would cost, and whether it would take us as far as the zoo?  I suspect for four travelers it would cost more than the car.  Oh, well.

No Way!

Where is everyone? I can't believe the last entry is the one I made last week. It wasn't even an interesting entry!

I don't have a heck of a lot to say. I weighed myself this morning - but I wasn't paying that much attention to it. I can't remember what my weight was. However, I do know it was up - because I remember thinking - "Hummm, it must have been Katie's birthday weekend that did it." My weight was on a downward trend (which counts for NOTHING at my level - I have to be down by 8 pounds before I can actually see it as any sort of real trend...) last week - but today was right where it was before it started going down. Coincidentally we had I-Hop on Saturday and then Katie and I went to Padonia Station on Sunday (where I ate the insides of a meatball sub and the outsides of an order of onion rings - and several Tums later on).

I have been tracking my basal temperature for the past month. Rebecca asked me what my basal temp was (a low one is a sign of hypo thyroidism also). Anyway - How can you tell? My temp (which I always take at 5am when I first wake up) ranges GREATLY. This morning it was 96.5. That is low by anyone's standards. But yesterday it was 97.1 and the day before was 97.5. It most consistantly comes up either 97.1 or 97.3. HOWEVER, the time between ovulation and my period my most consistant temp was 97.6. 97.1 is low, 97.6 is in the normal range. I will probably run an average of all of the numbers to get ONE number - or maybe I will use 2 numbers. I don't know. I don't suppose it matters.

I just bought a big bag of freezer pops from Wal-Mart - you know the kind I used to be addicted to years ago. I am excited about these. They are the perfect summer snack food as far as I am concerned. Very low calorie, sweet, but last a while. Actually the bag isn't that big - I think it is only 36 pops.

I have no yoga tomorrow. I am pre-emptively missing it. I really like my yoga. I have to find something else to do. Unfortunately my alternative plan of using the pool at the gym was thwarted by the fact that the pool at the gym is closed for the next two weeks for its annual (it isn't even a year old!) maintenance. Sigh. Katie and I talked about going out to Liberty Resevoir to do some sort of boat thing... kayak or canoe or something...