Taking the week off

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Holy COW, that was a lot of chocolate!

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

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

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

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

Today Tuesday post

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

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

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

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

Post meant for last Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Naked bike and ballroom dancing

Three days until race day and I'm finally getting anxious. This started yesterday when I spent some time reading other people's race reports, looking at finishing times from last year, and making a list of what I'll need on race day. Suddenly this all seems so real--up until now it was just a fantasy thing sometime in the future. Last night the anxiety dreams started--the usual stuff about being late, not knowing where I'm going, tires underinflated, etc. But the best one was where I realized I hadn't trained AT ALL for one event of the triathlon--the ballroom dancing portion. I think this is all Tom DeLay's fault! Good news, though--I made it through even that part of the race.

Yesterday I had Brian strip my bike down until it was nearly nekkid. No more rack, bell or fenders. The fenders and bell were new last year, but this is the first time since I bought the bike in 1990 that it's been without a rack. I took it in today to Princeton Sports to get the required safety inspection done, so now I have a little inspection sticker, kinda like the ones you find on meat in the grocery store, showing the bike has been approved for takeoff.

Next up is packet pickup and pre-race meeting (tomorrow) and bike racking (Saturday) and long night of upset stomach and no sleep (Saturday night to Sunday morning). I think once I'm five minutes into the swim I'll be fine, but getting to that point is absolutely NOT half the fun!

It's all bad and ugly for me!

My diet - It has been crap. I haven't been eating breakfast in the mornings before I leave. Last summer I stuck with the morning routine, even without Katie getting up also. This year I don't think I have had breakfast one single time!! I haven't even been making coffee... This means that if I DO stop for coffee I buy some horrible pastry (which, for the record, although I find hypothetically appealing, in reality my body just DOESN'T like it!) or I carry a yogurt with me and then don't eat it... I am really excited about Katie going back to school so I WILL start eating breakfast again.

Katie and I were so clever last week. We did Let's Dish, but I had the foresight to bring with me a big jar of that clear fiber stuff. So we added fiber to all of our dinners as we prepared them. I went to see Rebecca a few weeks ago. I told her that now that I had been holding steady for the better part of a year (although, in reality I have been gaining over the summer - darn lack of breakfast!) I want to start thinking about LOSING weight. I had been thinking about a low glycemic diet for a while. This is mostly because it seems as though it is the white rice, flour, and (of course) sugary foods that brings on my reflux so badly - so eliminating them seems logical. Also I think that a true low glycemic diet is the ONLY diet that I haven't tried. Although, most of the diets that I have done HAVE been low glycemic by accident. So - after discussing it with Rebecca she gave me lists of foods and told me that more importantly than just choosing low glycemic food I need to increase my fiber intake. (This I thought was very ironic since when I FIRST started seeing her - two, three? years ago - I had JUST increased my fiber dramatically and she asked me why I was eating so much fiber... I didn't have an answer, other than it seemed like a good idea at the time, so I backed that down.) Unfortunately, I have had a hard time jump starting this diet, because I have not been able to find a good guideline for planning a diet. I am GREAT at planning diets if I have a format of somesort to follow. I think I am going to have to email her again before she goes out on maternity leave so I can get more info from her....

Exercise has been minimal to say the least. I am still doing yoga - and I am still seeing improvement from that. Of course, one thing I really LIKE about yoga is that it doesn't matter what level you are doing it is RIGHT - you just gradually get better over the years. What I would have loved is to have started when I was 10 and kept it up. Kids naturally bend and stuff where they are supposed to. We stop when we hit about 12 and start ONLY doing toning exercise - which means our bodies get tighter and tighter over the years - which results in pain and injury. We ALL should do yoga our whole lives! Kick ball followed by yoga; softball and soccer followed by yoga, running, biking, swimming, then yoga. Then when we get REALLY old - standing up and walking, followed by yoga. 8-)

I did water ballet on Saturday because Sarah woke me up at 7:45 to say she was going to my gym and did I want to come too. Sheesh! So I went. It was HORRIBLE. It was water ballet at the senior center. Not the group - they were the usual people, but the teacher was a sub and she was WAY too old for our group and the exercise she did was WAY too slow and passive. I didn't get my heart rate up at all until the very end when I decided to ignore her and just tread water for a bit. I got out when she started the "cool down" (I had never WARMED UP!). I wasn't the only one feeling this way. The whole group was looking at each other and rolling their eyes. The usual Saturday teacher has us panting and sweating within 10 minutes. So I think I will start back with that again next week.

I need to pretend like Davey is still living with me. I need to get up and walk for 20 minutes each morning and then again at night.

I should, should, should all the time. I don't know if I ever WILL! Sigh. Katie has been feeling the middle age spread creeping up on her too. I am hoping that once she is back into her school routine we will start our 10 minutes of exercise in the evenings. That actually DID seem to help when we did it before - four years ago!!!

While I'm here ...

watching that hysterical commercial I figured I'd write a few words.

The good: My diet is great. I'm going to the farmers market weekly -- the stand I frequent just offered me a cashiering gig for all the produce I can haul. So think I may do that for a few hours each weekend. The food I eat now is mostly fresh -- tons of salad with fresh tomatoes from my deck garden and the market. I'm also eating a lot of stone fruit right now -- peaches, nectarines and plums. There's a nice variety so I don't get bored.

I've got all processed foods out of my diet -- no high fructose corn syrup, aspartame or the like. I've almost completely eliminated sugar. I have made some homemade ice cream /sorbet/gelato this summer and that's been responsible for most of my processed sugar consumption. I'm still eating chicken, but I buy it from a local organic butcher. It's so good. I haven't eaten ground beef all year and I love hamburgers. I've also kept red meat to a minimum. In addition, I'm buying dried heirloom beans from a shop in N. Cali and they are great and last for quite awhile.

The bad: My exercise level is light years away from where I want it. But I am ramping it up a bit and hope to increase it during the Congressional recess when I'll have some time.

The ugly: My exercise has been hampered by some unexpected shoulder issues that are making a lot of exercises difficult to impossible. I woke up one morning and boom my right shoulder wasn't happy. I treated myself to a couple of massages lately and that has helped but the shoulder needs more time. Hopefully it will return to normal soonish so I can attack the pounds from all sides.

Best open water swim training video

This one made me laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk

Is anyone still here?

I have no idea if anyone still checks this blog, but I thought I'd post an update about my triathlon training. The race is now less than three weeks away, so whatever level I'm at now is about as good as it's going to get!

Going on vacation at the end of June/beginning of July may not have been such a great idea. Between preparations, the vacation itself, and jet lag (which hit me really hard when we got back--I didn't start to feel normal until Thursday of that week) I took three weeks off of training entirely. When I was 20, three weeks of no exercise was no big deal. At 40, it's like starting all over again from square one. I can never believe just how much fitness I've lost after taking time off! So my first few days of training again were just awful, but I got back into the swing of things pretty well after about a week.

I've been working out six days a week, alternating between running, swimming and biking, with one brick each week--usually bike/run on Saturdays, but last week was swim/run as part of a "dress rehearsal" for the Iron Girl. Each workout is either the distance of the race or slightly longer. I'm aiming for three runs each week and two sessions each of biking and swimming. I figure running is where I can use the most work--I'm comfortable and happy with biking and swimming is just a lost cause for improvement at this point!

I've been doing my bricks on the actual courses for the race. The bike course is just plain fun--there are four climbs, but only one is particularly steep and it's mercifully short. The roads and scenery are just beautiful. My average speed is low--about 14 m.p.h. (compared to people I know who are "real" triathletes and maintain an average speed of 20 m.p.h. and really competitive racers who average 23+ m.p.h.), but that's faster than I was last year by a good 3 m.p.h. and faster than my average on my commute (which involves the long, grinding hill along Frederick Road where I may as well be walking). I bet I could improve my speed significantly with a lighter bike! A red one. Or maybe orange. It's hard to go fast on a baby blue bike with fenders and a rear rack and a bell.

The run course is awful. I don't do well running hills at all, and this course has three bad ones. I've only made it running the whole thing once--every other time I've had to stop and walk portions of it. But the worst section, I think, is a long flat section (over a dam that forms the lake we'll be swimming in) towards the end that should be fast but I think is brutal. I like the tree covered portions with short rolling hills best. There's a lot of that on the course, too, so I shouldn't complain.

Swimming. Ugh. I've gotten to the point where I can swim the whole distance of the race without pausing, but it takes about 26 - 27 minutes. Then when I went for the "dress rehearsal" and had to actually swim in the lake (not the actual course, though--they started us from the finish and just had us do an out-and-back loop that, it turns out, was actually longer than the race distance), it was as if I had never learned how to swim in the first place. Between the flailing people, the murky water, and the lack of walls and nice black lines to show me where I'm going, I was a mess. I wore out way too fast, kept having to pause to figure out the best way around other people, ran into problems with my swim cap (which kept slipping back on my head), and had *serious* problems sighting along the course. Twice I went so far off course that I was well into oncoming traffic! Eventually I gave up with my freestyle entirely and went with breaststroke the rest of the way. So my *new* goal for swimming during the race (my old goal was to try to finish in 26 minutes) is to just finish at all and not worry about the time in the least! Back at the pool today I swam 1.5 times the race distance, practiced breathing in a way that lets me look forward to see where I'm going during freestyle, and swam 11 laps (half the race distance) without touching the walls or bottom of the pool at all. That was awkward--at the end of each length I had to stop, tread water while turning around, then wiggle myself into position to start swimming again without kicking the wall. That was some serious slow going, but probably closer to race pace, where I also had to stop and tread water from time to time to figure out my next move. I don't know what to do about the swim cap. I don't have slippage problems with it in the pool. I think the lake water was just slimy and it got under my cap. Maybe glue dots would keep it on? ;-)

So, two more weeks of hard training and one week of tapering and then race day. You all are welcome to come see me gasp my way across the finish line (barring major mishaps, that is). The race is at Centennial Park in Columbia on August 23. I have no idea what the parking situation will be. Probably dismal. There are 2100 competitors plus lots of volunteers, so anyone arriving after about 6 a.m. is going to have a hard time of it with finding parking. My swim wave starts at 7:30, and with any luck I should cross the finish line shortly after 10:00. It's humbling to realize that the elite competitors will be crossing the finish line as I'm finishing up the swim portion of the race.

Progress

While a couple of the main contributors to this blog are globetrotting I'll post an update.

So after weeks of eating the same thing day after day I've finally seen a solid drop in weight. I hate scales so I don't know how much but all of clothes are fitting much looser, including the pants I bought after losing weight last year that then got too tight. Argh.

I've been sticking with a regular routine of plain yogurt, a fruit smoothie or oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. I recently eliminated my mid-morning snack and decided to go straight to lunch so I could plan to have dinner at a normalish hour. I think that's really helped with the weight loss. So for lunch I do a salad with a lot of fresh stuff I buy from the farmers market then I have a yogurt or fruit or almonds for a mid-afternoon snack. Then dinner and that has consistently been the chicken tacos I make. So good.

Exercise has been sporadic. I haven't been into a regular routine but I've been staying very active. So maybe that's helping. But my intention is to use this boost to drop some of those stubborn extra pounds.

Another Congressional recess is coming up and I hope to maybe establish a routine and carry it through July to the LONG August recess.

It was the pies

I hit a new (possibly) high this morning. I am sure it was the pies from Saturday - or possibly I was retaining water. I drank a lot yesterday, but mostly because I kept feeling like I was bloated and I was wanting to flush it out. Aparently it didn't work.

Well - I didn't get very far on this last week... I will post it now, and start over a new one this week.

Bummer!

I was down FOUR POUNDS from my previous Tuesday weight on Friday morning. Last night I had crab soup and satines for dinner and KNEW the salt would make me fat this morning. Sure enough - I was back to the exact same weight as last Tuesday this morning. Oh Well. My ankles are also puffy, but only a little bit. I think one or two bottles of water will take care of it. Sigh.

Other than that I am in the same boat as Emily - minus the sickness. I actually WAS having queasiness all last week (beginning on Wednesday) which resulted in me eating considerably less sugar than usual, because it seemed as though it was sugar making me queasy.

I bought high fiber Kashi cookies at Wegmans last week. They are pretty good - but are full of sawdust and woodchips. Because of that I am never inclined to eat more than one at a time. They are also sweetened with honey and brown rice syrup - which, while tasty, is almost too sweet and so, again, I am less inclined to eat too much.

I only did one walk and one yoga session. I thought about doing water ballet on Sunday - but didn't. I am so darn lazy! I also failed to create my menus and to contact Rebecca for a nutritional review. So, I guess I should be GLAD that I didn't gain a ton of weight.

I guess same goals for next week... Sigh.

All systems dysfunctional

So my attempt to track my eating lasted about a day or two.  On Tuesday night I got queasy, and then it got progressively worse over the next two days.  Since then I've been in a holding pattern of occasional queasiness -- if I don't keep something in my stomach I feel sick, but if I eat more than a little I feel sick.  It seems to be lessening each day though, and today I'm almost normal.  So I may be able to try watching my diet again next week.  In the meantime, though, I'm forced to do what all the diet advisors say -- I'm eating when I'm hungry, and only to appetite!  Unfortunately, my appetite has been leaning heavily to starches and protein, because fruits, veggies, and dairy haven't really agreed with me.  Ugh.

Meanwhile the rest of my systems are out of whack, too.  According to my temperature charts I haven't ovulated in two straight cycles and this one appears to be ending at 17 days.  I am so confused.  I'm getting plenty of sleep -- the nausea saw to that last week, so I got caught up, and now I'm getting 8 hours each night -- but no exercise, for the same reason.  I've barely left the apartment!  I hope next week's report will be a little better.

200 squats

Have you all noticed the proliferation of those plans designed to get you to do a ridiculous number of one type of exercise in a day? 300 sit ups, 100 push ups. That kind of thing. I ran into one this weekend designed to get you to 200 squats a day. And figuring any increase in strength in my lower body is probably a good thing, I decided to try the initial test. That test told me I was in excellent shape and should start with week three of the plan (I stopped at 55 squats. I wasn't really feeling it, but excellent for my age is only more than 31 squats, so there was no point in continuing). But good golly, I may not have felt it then but I was sure feeling it the next day! Specifically my inner thighs--that muscle that is so hard to target and really isn't used much for anything outside of childbirth. And squats, as it turns out. Which isn't much different than childbirth, I suppose, except it doesn't take as long and you don't get a baby out of it. All good things.

So I decided to give this plan a try. I'm only on day two today. I did 140 squats on Monday and 150 today. By the last set my legs feel pretty trashed, but I can walk it out pretty easily, then get a day to recover before doing it again. I'll probably regret this since I was just complaining about my scary cycling thighs, but it's giving me something to do that feels like I'm accomplishing something without having to really think about it!

The Daily Plate...

is apparently now owned by a construction company, if the colors on their website are any indication!  I went to Daily Plate and the site said we're supposed to be using the LiveStrong site now and that new logins are no longer permitted as of April 1 (fortunately I still have my old login kicking around in a cookie).  I just hate all the yellow and black -- it doesn't feel like a gender-neutral site, to be sure.  Ugh.  It looks like you can work with either or both, for now, but I'm not sure how much longer!

Jumping on the bandwagon

So I see everyone else posted so I may has well join in the fun ... it has been a busy few weeks at work and last week, when Congress was out of session, I was just too tired. Blah blah

For awhile I was just plain stagnant. I hadn't been getting in enough exercise but I was eating consistently well. I decided recently to cut out my morning snack so I'm eating lunch at a normal time thus not eating dinner at 10 p.m. I'm not sure if that is what has helped but I've noticed a recent difference.

But I've also picked up my exercise a bit. I've been trying to bike on the weekends. What's funny is I always bike for just plain exercise ... I'll go from mile marker 10 to 20 and return, knowing I've done 20 miles. But lately I've been trying to bike for pure transport. I've gone to the farmers market and to meet friends for lunch.

My food has been good. I've been buying all my greens from the farmers market along with some other seasonal veggies. I planted seven pots on my deck -- two jalapeno plants and the rest a variety of tomatoes. They are growing like crazy and I can't wait for some of my own veggies.

I've also been going to an organic butcher for my meat (chicken) but I'd like to find someplace similar that's slightly cheaper. There are a growing number of options. I like that.

A friend of mine is switching to a vegan diet and making me give my eating even greater scrutiny. I don't eat much cheese but I do like a goat cheese on my salad and I rarely buy milk. I do LOVE yogurt though so I'm hopeless for veganism. But I do continue to refine my diet. If I can buy from the farmers market without breaking the bank I'll do it.

A perfect example of how difficult it can be to get your hands on good food was evidenced tonight in my local Giant. I never go in there unless I need batteries or something. But I was out of my fave organic salad dressing and just stopped in to see what they had. NOTHING. Event he wildly expensive organic stuff was loaded with sodium, sugar and high fructose corn syrup. In fact, several "healthy brands" listed HFCS first on their list of ingredients. Shocking.

I did buy some cool beans (ha) from Rancho Gordo in Cali. They are heirloom beans and are just amazing. You haven't had a black bean until you've tried theirs.

Anyway, I'm trimming again and am so happy with my diet and shopping at the markets. It's a great time. Keep up the good work everyone!

It's been a couple of weeks

Since it didn't look like anyone was reading the blog, I didn't bother posting.

I've had one tough week and one easy week with training--two weeks ago I did four regular training days (two running, two swimming) then the 100 miles (only I did kilometers) of nowhere on Saturday. After a week with eight hours of exercise and 4500 calories burned, I went easy last week--one day swimming, one cycling, and one just plain old walking. I'm back to more normal this week, although with Encampment this weekend I won't be able to get in any cycling and will probably only manage four days of exercise. I can't wait for this year to end. I think that I shouldn't have taken on scouts AND triathlon in the same year. It's too much.

My weight has stayed pretty consistent. I was 141.6 this morning. In a way I'm kind of relieved that Brian lost his job--as long as it doesn't become a semi-permanent situation! But it means that once the craziness of the end of the year is over, I'll be able to manage more time training on weekends and in the evenings. I was dreading the summer when I don't have lunch breaks to get to the gym (since I tend to be running Claire home from camp) and Brian has to do his sleeping in two shifts, one in the morning and one in the evening, to work around Connor's school schedule. With no job to go to, Brian can sleep normally and not have to leave the house at 9 at night and will be home if I want to get in early morning workouts (not that that's likely--I hate exercising first thing in the morning. The only good thing about it is getting it out of the way!).

Tuesday Post

OK - so my lower weight was false yesterday - I was up by two pounds today.

Sleep - I need more sleep. I got good sleep over the weekend, and so I think that came into play yesterday. Last night I went to bed early(ish) but then I woke up at 5:30 and knew if I went back to sleep I would NOT be able to get up at 6:15, so I got up then. I don't feel particularly tired (or not more than usual) but my weight was up. My eating yesterday wasn't great - kind of fatty... We had Let's Dish cheddar sliders for dinner and I had the Wegman's European Baguette sandwich for lunch (procuito, fresh mozz, and tomatos on a white baguette - SO yummy!). I had a banana and a small handful of trail mix for snacks and then a half cup of ice cream for dinner. Lots of fat! Moderate sugar, and minimal fiber. Hummmmmmm.

No exercise. I got home from work at about 7:30 and then Katie and I did a little bit of cleaning.

I need to go back to my old attitude

I don't have a scale here, so for the next three months I will have no idea what I actually weigh.  But I do know that I was gaining weight at the end of our time in Tromsø, and right now my clothes don't fit as well as they did last year by a long shot.  And my appetite is up after all the overeating of last week -- so I need to get back to reasonable-sized meals and a regular diet.  It doesn't help that the grocery stores have been closed for two and a half days; today I will FINALLY get some new food in the house (I did manage to scare up fruit and milk yesterady, at least).

Even if I can't keep track of my actual weight, I can keep track of my calories and pay more attention to exercise.  And I can measure my success by how I'm feeling (blobby right now -- not a lot of energy and no enthusiasm for exercise) and how my clothes fit.  So I'm going to get back to using Daily Plate, and I'll keep posting here at least weekly!

New Attitude

OK - I haven't posted since 4/07/09. Which means I probably haven't even LOOKED at the blog more than once or twice since then. ME! I was such the blog junkie for so long I can't believe I neglected it for over a month. OK - so the last two (almost three) weeks I was in Norway - but still!

So - I was really feeling re-energized towards eating healthy again this weekend. We were pretty bad in Norway - although, I have to say I have had times where I was much worse. We DID manage to stretch our stomachs out nicely and so we could accommodate all of the extra food we were eating. The added bonus for me was that we were eating regularly - and so (until the 24 hour return trip) I was feeling hungry at meal times like normal people do. That is always a good sign for me. Then this weekend I blew it all by eating just two meals (that I can think of) and either nothing for the rest of the time or trail mix. Sigh. I then wrapped up the weekend by eating ice cream!! And I wonder why I am fat. At least I only ate about 1/2 a cup of ice cream.

Thus the desire (if not actual action) to have a renewed approach to eating. I went to the grocery store last night and bought bananas and prunes. Then they announced that the store was closing so I had to stop. I was busily looking for European cookies. They have so much more fiber than our American cookies. I didn't find any. I will have to check at Wegman's.

Tonight - or maybe tomorrow - I want to plan out my meals for the next two weeks. I need a plan to stick to. I want to regulate my calories. I want to shoot for 1800 and see how I do. I am ready to lose weight.

I didn't GAIN weight while I was away (in fact I was about a pound down from where I was before I left) but that just isn't good enough anymore. I want to drop the 25 pounds I have gained since we started this blog - and then I want to work on losing the weight that I had in the first place.

I need to work on my exercise. I want to work on something aerobic. I was appalled at how out of breath I was getting during the walks in Norway. Granted Norway is VERY hilly - and I was (am) sick, but I don't know if I would have been any better had I NOT been sick or we were walking on flat land. The one time I had to run to not miss the boat I thought I would fall down dead. AND THAT WAS ON A FLAT SURFACE!

So - My short term goals are:
1. Read the blog, and start posting again.
2. Plan my meals watching calories and trying to increase fiber and decrease sugar.
3. Start doing some aerobic exercise in addition to my yoga.
4. Call Rebecca and make an appointment.

Scary cycling thighs

My weight today was 143.2. Not great, but I can live with that.

What I'm not liking is I had to buy a pair of size 12 pants tonight. I was at Eddie Bauer trying on jeans. I always wear a 10 from EB (always being relative--always in the past three years, though), but I had the foresight to try on the jeans instead of just buying them. Length good, waist and hips good, thighs--not good. Really tight to the point of bunching up and visibly straining. And I've noticed this with my "skinny jeans" too--they still fit but every time I put them on, they are tighter around the thighs. All I can figure is it's all the cycling (and running and swimming, but mostly the cycling) I'm doing that's building up these enormous scary thigh muscles. It's nice that there's no jiggle in the area at all, but I hate it that all this exercise is making me go UP a size!

Is this Tuesday?

I'm getting so discombobulated with all the preparations for the move.  I think I weighed myself this morning but it was a million years ago -- it's been around 149.2 for the past several days, though, so we can call it that.  Ugh.  I bet I've lost weight today -- no, I take that back.  Even though I've been on my feet a lot, we had pizza for dinner and cream cheese on cracker bread for lunch.  And several brownies apiece.  So -- not such healthy eating today.  I think I'd better hope there's no scale in Oslo!

Again, I forgot to post on Tuesday!

I was 142.6 yesterday. I'm really feeling like these numbers mean next to nothing now--I'm at the point where I'm judging my level of fitness by my heart rate. The problem with exercising more, I'm finding, is that after a while it starts to be pretty ineffective as exercise. Back in January and February, walking Davey got my heart rate up to the low-moderate range. Now it doesn't even count as "light" exercise because walking just barely gets my heart rate up. Swimming, which used to get my heart rate up to "why aren't you dead?" now only hits the moderate zone. I know this means I should push myself harder, but it's kind of nice to go swimming without feeling like I'm in imminent danger of drowning. Running is still hard exercise, but my average heart rate is still about 10 - 12 bpm lower than it was before.

I keep having to tell myself that this is a GOOD thing. It's the whole point of aerobic exercise, right? But it doesn't burn as many calories.

147.2

Yes, that's the worst it has been since I got to Norway, at least for a weigh-in day.  For the past two days it was at 148.6 but I knew it was bloat since my rings wouldn't go on.  I have NO idea why I'm retaining water at this point in the month, but there it is.  Unfortunately, not all of the weight I've put on is water.  Our outing to Sommarøy this weekend involved me eating quite a lot of good food (and a fair amount of only so-so food, but it was food I didn't have to cook!) and drinking far too much alcohol.  And then I ate out again on Mother's Day, which involved more too much food and alcohol.  So I've really gained weight.

I went to the storage room to see if there was a bicycle I could ride here -- I would love to circle the island one time before we leave -- but I don't think that's going to work out.  One bike is clearly Harald's; the seat is set up much too high for me and it will require a screwdriver to get it set lower, and even if I can get it adjusted I fear the frame is too long for me, and even if I could ride it, the pedals are the clip-on-shoes kind, which I don't have.  The other bike here is missing its seat.  I found the seat, but even with WD-40 (or the European equivalent) I couldn't get it back into its socket.  And the tires seem a bit aged -- the rubber feels wrong.  I'm not sure where I could rent or borrow a bike or how much it would cost, but that might be an option.  When we get to Oslo I'm going to try to find bikes for all of us.

I almost forgot!

I was just shutting down my browser when I realized I hadn't done my usual Tuesday post.  I was 145.4 today -- my weight once again rose to the occasion.  Bleah.  I was in the 143s when I got the scale fixed last week.  The weather is so nice I have no excuses anymore!

Ack! It's Tuesday!

Almost let this one get by me.

I've been just plain lazy the past week. I only exercised three days/four times last week (one day was two sessions since I biked to work), and one of those days was walking the dog so it hardly counts. Naturally my weight is up this week--143.6. Bleah. But that's what I get for not paying any attention to what I eat and only exercising minimally.

On the other hand, my swim last week was good. I decided to just not pay attention to all the drills and intervals I normally do and skip the rests between sets and just swim. For the triathlon this summer I'll have to swim the equivalent of 22 laps, so I just counted off 22 laps and had no problem finishing them at all. It was still half breaststroke, and I wasn't trying to speed through any of it. I was going for straight endurance just to see if I could do the distance without pausing. I want to say my time was 27:40, but I can't remember precisely. And my heart rate was LOW--it didn't even count as hard exercise since I didn't get my heart rate past 160 for more than a few minutes. So overall a good workout.

And then except for walking the dog, that was it for last week--I hadn't exercised at all since last Wednesday (had to run out for supplies for scouts on Thursday and was in training on Friday. Saturday I spent recovering from Friday night's overnight, and on Sunday I went from the Sheep and Wool Festival to baseball with Connor to cooking dinner) until today when I went for a run for the first time in nearly two weeks. I don't know why I let myself do this. I *could* have found some time on Saturday to go for a run, but I didn't. And the more I put off working out, the less I want to work out. I had to drag myself to the gym today, whining to myself the whole way. And of course once I started I was fine. Big baby.

The scale is on the fritz

Seriously.  It's not just me not wanting to post my weight, though I wouldn't love doing so.  On Sunday I noticed that the battery symbol was on, so I flipped the scale over and checked the battery type (and of course it's not just AA or something simple that they have at the grocery store; I'm going to have to hunt for these).  The next morning Daniel and I both found a 4 pound weight gain -- and he had been running on Sunday and had barely eaten that day, so the gain seemed rather improbable.  A 4-pound jump would be improbable any day.  I don't know if it got re-calibrated after I checked the batteries or what, but I can't compare this week's weight to last.

Nevertheless, the new number has been scary so I've been watching my intake a little better.  I got out for a walk one night last week but haven't been out since; the weather hasn't been fully cooperative except on that one Sunday, but I didn't want to rush out when Daniel got back and I never got around to it otherwise.  I'm making excuses, I know.  I did at least walk all over town yesterday and to a pretty good extent today as well.  But no further than a 3-year-old can walk, so it's not that much.

I realized this week that when Alexander jogged a mile in the St. Mary's fun run (jogged the whole mile without breaking stride -- he just kept going) he was just three and a half -- younger than Cecilia by a good four months.  She whines if she has to walk two blocks.  So I'm making her do a whole lot more of her own walking right now.  She's slowly getting used to it.  But this takes away one component of my exercise:  I was building upper body strength and increasing cardio benefit by carrying her a lot, at least whenever I could find non-icy sidewalks!  When the weather clears I'm going to dig a bike out of the storage room here and see if it's rideable.  The kids around town are all on bikes now (there were about three days between skis and bikes) so I'm itching to go for a ride.  So is Mary!  I've promised we'll look for something to use in Oslo.

142.4

Down from last week, thank goodness. I was pretty vigilant with food for about half of the week (and not terrible the other half--I just didn't track calories obsessively), and I got in two days of running, two of swimming, the two hour bike ride and one walk with the dog, so a total of about 6 hours of exercise. This week will be a bit more difficult--Connor has dental surgery tomorrow so we have to be at the hospital at the crack of dawn, and on Friday night I've got training at work during the day and an overnight with the scouts that night. So it will be difficult to get any exercise tomorrow and essentially impossible on Friday. And usually after these overnights I don't have much energy to move at all the next day! We'll see how that goes. In the meantime I biked to work yesterday and will be swimming at lunch today.

Craziest charity ride idea ever

Last night I signed up for another charity ride. I'm not sure I can do the distance, but I had to sign up because it's such an insane idea. It's called the 100 Miles of Nowhere and is a fundraiser for the Livestrong Foundation. This fundraiser is the brainchild of a guy who writes a blog called fatcyclist (who is not fat anymore, thanks to the cycling part) and who is madly raising money for the Livestrong Foundation for cancer research, largely because his wife has terminal cancer.

He's a fabulous, funny writer and I love reading his blog (crazy stunts are pretty much par for the course with him) so when he posted this one, I decided to sign up even though I'm not entirely sure I can ride 100 miles. But the idea behind it is that on May 23, you get on your bike and you go nowhere for 100 miles. Ideally you should do this on rollers or a trainer at home, but you can also do a short outside course. You can also use an exercycle. And you can also cheat and only do 25 or 50 miles, because no one is counting. I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do--if I can find my old trainer in the basement I'll use that and just guess the distance, but I might resort to the exercycle in the gym at work (which would really be torture--those are uncomfortable and I'd have no control over what I watched on t.v.) or even to going in circles at the playground (I'd get dizzy, though, so maybe just 10 miles of that).

Every person who enters gets the ubiquitous charity ride t-shirt, plus a bunch of other free stuff (better than most it seems), but best of all you are absolutely guaranteed to win your age/gender/region/category group. Since this will be the only time in my life I can hope to actually WIN an event, I couldn't NOT sign up, right?

More info on the event here: http://www.fatcyclist.com/2009/04/23/register-now-for-the-100-miles-of-nowhere/

1200 calories later

I'm just back from the Kennedy Krieger autism ride. I had so much fun--I want everyone to do this with me next year! The weather couldn't have been any more perfect (not something we can count on in April, and today is warm even by May standards). The route was gorgeous--out of Oregon Ridge and through the valley, then up to Boring (really!) through little country roads that reminded me of England, then back down to the valley on Byerly and Dover, across Butler Road, then down Cuba Road back to Oregon Ridge. The cue sheet said it was a little over 27 miles, but my computer told me it was a mile less than that (not sure which one is more accurate). I did the ride in just under 2 hours. When I got back to the start, I met up with a guy riding another Miyata touring bike, so we geeked out about them for a bit. You don't see many people on touring bikes in general, and when you do they are never Miyatas. I also had a great spinach salad at the end of the ride, courtesy of Wegmans (one of the sponsors of the event). Who knew spinach salad could be a good recovery food?

I think my commute must be the best bike training in the world. The hills I deal with on my commute are so far way worse than anything I meet on other cycling routes, so I never seem to have much problem getting up other people's idea of a hill. Today's worst hill was VERY steep at the end, but the distance wasn't far so I didn't have to get off and walk like I saw several others doing. I'm also getting better about getting out of the saddle and standing up to climb short hills--not something I ever used to be able to do.

It was a good workout week in general. I took Monday as a rest day, but I alternated running and swimming the next four days, then of course today's ride. I'm also back to doing crunches/planks/push ups in the evening. I always tell myself I'm going to do these and then I never do. I get good for about a week, and then I stop again. The trick this time will be to NOT stop when I get lazy.

I'm like an elevator

My weight is just going up. I was 144.6 this morning. Ugh. Gotta lay off the Easter candy (which will be easier once it's gone). Why is it that it takes months to lose weight and I can just gain it all back in two weeks? So not fair.

I only exercised twice last week. Of course one of those times was the triathlon, but when you get down to it that was only a glorified workout. I got out at lunch for a run today. Yay! Intervals on the actual road instead of the treadmill. After two weeks away from my usual routine I need to remember what I was doing and get back into it--only four months left to train for the "real" triathlon.

How am I supposed to post after that?

I can't possibly post anything as interesting as Sarah's triathlon post, when I'm just here for a usual Tuesday post.  My weight was 145.2.  It likes to jump up a pound or so every Tuesday, even if it was lower during the week -- the highest I saw all week was 144.4.  Ho, hum.  Nohting interesting going on in my diet or exercise right now.  I was going to go skiing today (we wanted to get video of the kids on skis before the warm spell that's coming) but it has been raining, snowing, and sleeting all day, with a sub-freezing wind chill but above-freezing ground temperatures, so we'd be cold but skiing in slush.  So much for that idea.  So it's back to no exercise for me, except for holding a sleeping 30-pound child for 10 minutes in the driving slush while waiting for a bus.  At least I'm getting some muscle work in.

The long version

Besides making it through the race yesterday and spending the rest of the day feeling smug, here's the rest of the story if you're interested.

First of all, it was rather anticlimactic. I didn't feel like I accomplished anything notable--it just felt like a nice, varied workout with a lot of other people around.

I started the race with a serious sleep deficit. Connor apparently heard I was doing this triathlon to support autism research, so to celebrate he showed off his best autistic behavior--up until 4 a.m. on Friday night, then until 2:30 a.m. Saturday night (I guess that's actually Sunday morning), then I had to be up at 4:15 to get ready, eat, and load my bike on the car. I wanted to be down in Bethesda at 6, and while it should only take 40 minutes, you never know what might go wrong. Like having no gas in the car, which, as it happened, was the case. But I got there in plenty of time and had time to cool my heels (and then warm up--don't want to do a race with cool heels), lay out all my stuff, wander around, talk with other uncertain first timers, etc.

I had been most worried about the swim since I really hate swimming, but since I wasn't trying to be competitive at all and since the swim was so short, this turned out to be the nicest leg of the race. I put myself in the slow group (I heard someone define fast as being able to do 500 meters in 8 minutes. I figured I'd be lucky to do the 250 meters we had to do yesterday in under 8 minutes!) but it turns out I'm average or better for the slow swimmers--only one person passed me but I passed multiple people. When I got in the water, everything I ever learned about form and keeping my head down went right out the window--my primary goal was to just not get kicked/hit or kick/hit anyone else! Even though we were starting 10 seconds apart, I kept ending up in these gaggles of swimmers blocking certain areas. But everyone is so darn nice (at least in the slow group!) so it was fun--lots of chit-chatting as we worked through these areas. I finished the swim in 6:43, about exactly what I expected.

The bike leg was three laps on the road around Georgetown Prep. It was a nice ride--one long but not steep incline, one flat section, one road with a couple of rolling hills, and then a section on Rockville Pike that had an incline down then back up, but again very shallow. The first lap was fun because there weren't many people on the course. By the third lap it was getting crowded. I got passed quite a bit by people on fast road bikes, but did a lot of passing myself--mostly of people on rusty mountainbikes and hybrids. I know they say the engine is more important than the bike, but I can't help thinking that MY engine would run more efficiently on a lighter bike! Almost all of the passing I did was going uphill--touring bikes have GREAT gears for hills. And these were easy hills compared to my commute, and I wasn't hauling panniers filled with clothes and my lunch. I'm pretty sure mine was the only bike there with fenders. I have no idea what my time was on this section (or on the run, just so you know)--I looked at my watch at the end of the swim and that was pretty much it until the race was over.

The run was the hardest for me. I did that brick a couple of weeks ago with a two mile run after a ten mile bike ride, and this wasn't much different for distance (slightly less than 10 miles on the bike, 2.5 miles running) and that brick was not a problem for me at all, and the 6 minutes of swimming shouldn't have taken that much more out of me. But the course was hillier than I normally do--it was a steep downhill to start, then up and up and up for the next mile and a quarter, then a quarter mile down, then a half mile flat or slightly downhill, then more uphill until you hit the track at Georgetown Prep to finish. It really felt like a lot more uphill than down, and I think the lack of sleep was catching up with me. I was tired and couldn't keep my heartrate where I usually do while running and slowed down to walk a few times to get my heartrate under control. I remember passing only five people, and four of them were mother/disabled child couples!

My final time according to my watch was 1:17, but I have no idea what my official time was--I don't know how long I took in transition, and I'd like to know what my times were on each of the legs. I hope they post that information soon. I'd also be curious to know what the top speeds were--I figure if four minutes would be a fast swim time, and winning cyclists generally average 22 - 25 mph, that portion could be done in under 30 minutes. Top runners are usually doing 5 to 6 minute miles, so another 15 minutes there. So I'm betting the top times were well under an hour. Pretty humbling.

I was finished with the whole thing just after 8:30 and home just after 9:30--when everyone else was just starting the day! I'm glad we got the weather we did--we could have been doing this race in today's weather (rainy, chilly, windy for those of you in Norway). I'm not sure I would have gotten out of bed at 4:15 if that were the case.

I haven't posted for the past couple of weeks.

I've just been lazy. And mortified that my weight is going back up. I was 142.2 last Tuesday, and 143.6 this Tuesday. Ick.

My first triathlon is this Sunday and I'm taking the idea of "tapering" to the extreme--last week I got those great workouts at the fitness center overnight, but the rest of the week only included one run, one (longish) bike ride and one swim. The whole week off, and that's all I did. And this week is worse--I'm having one of those weeks at work that just don't include breaks. Two days of training, and then today I have to leave at 3:15 for scouts. Tomorrow I'll be in a half day training session starting at noon. I was hoping to get in a few light "maintenance" type workouts this week, but now I'm wondering if I'll get any kind of workout at all! Thank goodness this is a short triathlon.

The real reason I'm posting today is because I found this website that lets you put out a contract on yourself--you commit to a goal (of any sort--they have some standard ones like "stop smoking" and "lose weight" but you can also set a custom goal like "clean out my basement" or "do my taxes in February for a change."), enlist someone to be a referee (who will verify the accuracy of your reports), and set yourself up with supporters/cheerleaders, and then best of all, set up a financial disincentive for failing to meet your goal. You can set it up so that if you fail, a certain amount of money goes to a charity (or better--an anti-charity, one you would never in a million years want your money to go to!) or a friend/foe.

I wonder if I'd get back down to 135 pounds if I knew the George Bush Presidential Library would get $50 if I failed? I think I'll talk to Brian about this tonight--he might push me to exercise more if he knew that was the result of me failing too.

144.2

I think.  It was 144-something.  Lower than last week -- but it was down in the 142s on Saturday, so this is the proof of two or three days of Easter gluttony.  The Easter Bunny did bring me a basket (OK, a basket-shaped crystal thing that he apparently found atop the cabinets in the apartment) full of truffles and other gourmet chocolates, but it's not the eat-until-you're-sick level of loot of other years, and the leftovers from Easter dinner are all but gone as well, so within a day or so I should be back to normal eating habits.  Skiing season is virtually over; we had a dusting of snow last night, so I might be able to squeeze a little in this week, but then I have to find some other exercise.  I looked in the storage shed today for a stroller, but no luck; there might be one in the attic, but I think it's a pram, and Cecilia's too big for that.  She's not up for the level of walking that would be exercise for me, so now I'm back to having to wait until Daniel's home before I can exercise.  Fortunately, with the level of sunlight increasing to 18 hours a day now and 20 by next week, I shouldn't have to worry about being out after dark!

Holding steady

Seems every time I get excited (moderately) about nicer weather staying around here for good, another cold front moves into town. Oh well.

So my routine has been pretty good but it can always be better. But I continue to trim, especially from my upper body. My poochy stomach continues its stubborn ways but I'm making inroads to eliminating it.

I started a push-up routine that will eventually lead me to do 100 push-ups in a row. It's only three days a week and takes less than 10 minutes. So far I'm progressing.

I went for a 7-mile hike on Sunday with the nickname the "roller coaster." Yeah, my calves are still screaming from that and my knees didn't like it much, but overall I burned a lot of calories and it was great to be outdoors.

I'm going to have the tires changed on my bike to a slightly thicker tire so I can take the bike on some rougher roads. I'm camping at Assateague in a couple of weeks and want to be able to ride on the beach and on the roads around the area. My other tires are slicks and just don't work so well off road -- I proved that a couple of years ago when I wrecked the bike.

This weekend I'm headed to Phoenix to visit friends who have a 5-month-old and we're going to head to the Grand Canyon. I planned this trip very late so I won't be hiking to the bottom of the canyon but I do hope to get in one good hike.

With Congress in recess I hope to get in some extra workouts and set a good pace for the next couple of months.

Stuff

My weight was same-same this morning. I am glad that I have been holding steady, but more and more I am thinking I need to do something to now start moving downward... I have been dreaming about exercise. I said that in my last post - but I have dreamed it since then. I was pretty disgusted with myself this weekend. I did nothing - and I had plenty of opportunity to do lots! I even woke up in time to make water ballet on Sunday - but didn't go. It was beautiful weather, but I didn't take a walk. I need to form new habits. The FIRST habit I need to form is getting dressed in the mornings - even when I think I don't have to go anywhere. My current habit is to wear my jammies until I have to go somewhere, or I can't stand it any longer. I need to resolve NOT to leave my room (OK - the bathroom) until after I have gotten dressed. Maybe if I was actually wearing clothes rather than PJs I would take a walk... Something.

Yoga is starting a new session this week. It runs in 13 week sessions. Level one loops back to the beginning. That basically means that we are starting over focusing on our legs and how they affect our poses. After about four weeks of that we do more on our pelvis and core, then we move up to our back and shoulders for the last six weeks or so. I like the later sessions better than the earlier ones. They are HARDER (i.e. focusing more of our weight on our arms and stuff - hard for me with my no upper body strength and LOTS of bottom body weight!) but I prefer it anyway...

Not enjoying the general trend

My weight was 145.0 this morning.  Yikes.  It's been creeping up over the last several days and landed here yesterday, though it dropped again a bit before I got around to eating breakfast so I didn't count it as "real" yet.  But today it was real.  Sigh.  I've been getting a little more exercise, what with the skiing, but I think my body is settling into the new routine of having to walk a lot and take buses everywhere and it's re-focused on gaining weight.

Yesterday I declared that I wouldn't eat between meals unless it was fruit or veggies, and I did just fine with that, except then we went out to a restaurant for dinner (pretty rare for us here, and after the expense of last night -- more than the cost of a week's groceries, and groceries aren't cheap, either -- it will be even rarer) and I ate a lot.  I had reindeer steak for dinner (bitter at first, but I got used to the flavor and it wasn't bad -- Mary hated it, though) with mashed potatoes and vegetables (mostly brussels sprouts, though, and kind of soggy, so I didn't eat many) and a roll with butter and some garlic shrimp for starters and my share of a bottle of red wine and a dessert of cloudberries and cream cheese, probably way loaded with calories -- I was too full even to finish.  So that undid any good of eating well yesterday.

Today I'm doing better.  I had a reasonable breakfast and lunch, and we got oranges at the grocery store this afternoon so I had one of those, plus I ate the remnants of the two that Cecilia ate (she won't eat all the way to the peel, and there's a lot of yummy stuff left!).  But oranges are practially free.  Calorie-wise, not in price -- though the price was a remarkable 5 kr per kilogram, about 35 cents a pound!  It's rare to find anything that affordable here.  I wish I could go back and get a couple dozen more -- they were sweet and tasted almost like clementines, but they were huge.  Yum.

I'll keep at it the rest of this week and see if I can reverse the upward trend before Easter!  Next week there will probably be chocolate and jelly beans, so I'm in a little trouble, but there won't be half-price leftover Easter candy so it won't go on nearly as long as it usually does, and maybe I won't see such a big penalty on my weight chart this year.  I'm already at my post-Easter-binge weight, so I don't need to go up any further.

Ouch.

And to think I thought I was in pretty good shape these days!

Last night was "Up All Night Sports," which, as the name says, means that I got to stay awake all night locked in at a fitness center. With 200 or so Girl Scouts.

It was a very, very nice fitness center--the sort of place I'd love to be able to afford a membership to. It's the same place Connor does his swim lessons, but I had never wandered beyond the pool area before. Last night we were in the gyms, the racquetball courts, the climbing wall, the spa, the studios and the vast sea of gym equipment. Because I was in charge of keeping track of 11 4th and 5th graders, I didn't have that much time to myself, but over the course of the night I got in a short swim, 30 minutes on the rowing machine (lordy, I love those things. Why isn't that standard equipment in gyms instead of appearing only occasionally, and then only two machines hidden in the corner?), and a circuit cardio class that kicked my butt. For what it's worth, I was the only one who actually kept up and pushed myself through the whole class--I didn't see anyone else who didn't stop and just collapse towards the end of each station--but I'm feeling it (and the rower) today. The class seemed to be based around pylometrics alternating with calisthenics. My average heart rate stayed at a good range for me, but the top heart rate was 195!!! I thought I was supposed to be dead with that heart rate. And on all of the jumping exercises, my heart rate was regularly in the mid-180s--173 is supposed to be my top heart rate for a hard workout. Some of this may be due to the time of day (the cardio class was at 1 a.m.) and my caffeine-laced blood, which meant I started with a higher base heart rate. But even though I'm hurting today, I'm also thinking I need to start recreating this class at home once a week or so, because clearly I need more intensity like this. All the endurance stuff I do is fine, but only challenges me in one direction.

And this probably won't last until Tuesday, but when I got home my weight was 140.2. Not really surprising since I spent the whole night working out, not sleeping and not eating. I'll probably be back up in the 142 range (where I've been all week) by tomorrow morning.

Geeez! I almost forgot

I haven't been on the blog in a while. I didn't realize how long until I logged in today.

I do NOT have Celiac Disease. Yay! I was getting very worried about that. I don't - and that puts me back at square one with my stomach issues - but since I have dealt with these problems since I was 14 I am OK with that.

My blood was not anemic anymore and my vitamin D levels were fine. My sed levels, however, were still up and higher than in December. This is the non-specific indicator that picks up on inflamation somewhere in your body. 20 is the high end of normal. I was 23 in December and 27 this month. She wants me to have my blood tested AGAIN next month. I told her that I thought it was my emergency root canal (happened about a week after my blood test) that was causing the inflamation. She said possibly but she wanted to do some other tests since I have been talking about joint pain. She checked me for artritis in December, and I don't have it. Lately, though, my legs have been having that "growing pain" sort of ache in them that I (Dr. Amy) have decided the increase in my iron has caused. Who knows. Since Friday the aching has been so bad that I think maybe it is a virus - which is good, because that means it will go away. My buzzing back and foot muscle hasn't stopped. She wants me to see a neurologist - but I am not convinced that it is worth the effort. I am sure it is just muscle twitching at very high speeds. Sarah said that I should go because an achy tooth is no big deal until you need an emergency root canal. I don't think this is QUITE the same thing - but maybe I should have it checked. I have this fear of doctors thinking that I am just making it up - or worse - making a mountain out of a molehill! But on the other hand, twice in the past month I have been told spontaneously that indications of gall bladder trouble are felt in your shoulder blade. Maybe I will call next week for that...

Anyway - Last night I dreamed I was exercising. I dreamed I was doing lateral pull downs using 310 pounds. Hummmm. In my dream I was wondering why everyone always told me to do 40-70 pounds on the lat machines when I was capable of doing 310 pounds. The trainer in the gym (in my dream) said that I should be able to handle more weight since I had about 1/16th of an inch of muscle in my shoulders... I don't know what THAT meant. I think I need to start working out again.

Yoga has been going well. I still like it - it definitely makes me feel stronger and more balanced.

142.6

Also going in the wrong direction, but I was blaming this entirely on NOT exercising last week--I only got to the gym three times. I had planned on it being a light week, but I was hoping for not quite that light. I did spend three hours trudging along a stream on Sunday cleaning up trash, and while it wore me out, I think that had more to do with being knee deep in cold water and keeping track of Girl Scouts at the same time.

143.0

Going up!  That's the wrong direction.  That's the punishment I get for getting some exercise!  I started that push-ups routine on Saturday and then did cross-country skiing (up- and downhill falling down and getting up, more than cross-anything skiing) yesterday, which left me too injured to do the pushups, but maybe I'll try them again today.  We've also shifted our schedule so the kids can start school, so I'm getting up an hour earlier and everything in my system feels a bit out of whack.  But if the number keeps going up I'm going to start cutting calories (I can cut out desserts and cookies, for starters -- I never buy cookies like this at home!).

Toddling along

So all is pretty good on my front -- I don't have a child who doesn't want to sleep (sorry Sarah) -- but work has cut into the frequency of my workouts. Still ... no excuses.

I started phase two of my workout routine and -- OUCH -- big OUCH. I could do almost all the reps but, man, I felt it. But I understand the method of trainer's madness. Each day builds on the other, working interlocking muscle groups. So, technically, the workouts should help with any soreness and stiffness. My aim is to do the workouts back-to-back to find that out. But this week it just didn't work that way.

So today I decided that I will do a short routine in the morning and a bigger workout after work.

I was sent two cool workouts -- one to work toward 100 push-ups in a row and another to work toward 200 sit-ups in a row.

The sites are hundredpushups.com and www.twohundredsitups.com.

The have nice printable workouts and you only have to do them three times a week. This morning my workout literally took five minutes.

I think the other lesson I've learned recently -- especially when I look at the exercises laid out in the book I follow -- is I've got to give them a try. I have surprised myself lately with what I can do. So my goal is to really push myself. I actually went for a run last weekend. It has been a long time because it's so high impact and my knees suck. But it was fine and I was able to run a couple of miles comfortably and without any ill effects on my knees.

So right now I'm just hoping for some warmer weather so I can spend my weekends outdoors and for more daylight so I can do a run or bike ride if I can get home before sunset.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Divergence

Oh, well!  I was up slightly, to 142.6.  Too bad!  I wouldn't have minded the one pound drop.  But I haven't done anything to deserve it -- still eating pretty much whatever, and still only getting exercise by walking around town.  I know I should be setting some goals -- I'm probably going to see an upswing after Easter, if past years are any indication.

I'll post first for a change

I was 141.8 this morning, only half a pound down from last week. Emily? Is that what you were too?

This in spite of 6+ hours of exercise, 3593 calories burned (why didn't I burn another 7?), and being careful with my diet all week. But at least my weight is slowly coming down, and this probably means that the loss is actual fat. I'm pretty sure I'm gaining muscle as I go too.

I did my first "brick" on Sunday--10 miles on the bike followed by 2 miles running. I think they call it a brick because that's what your legs feel like afterwards! Actually I felt pretty good during and after that workout, but yesterday, even though I *thought* I felt fine, I was like a slug on the treadmill. I was able to do my usual workout at the usual speed, but it involved two pauses and lots of holding on to the treadmill. My heart rate looked good, but my muscles were toast. I think I'm going to take it easy this week--probably slow down my speed on the interval run and skip the biking to work tomorrow to give my legs time to recouperate a bit before hitting them hard again next week. Then I'l have two hard weeks and one easy week prior to the first triathlon in April.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

142.4 Same weight as Emily again! And with sort of the same circumstances--I've been hovering in the 142-144 range all week and this morning I was down at the lower end. Mine, however, was done with a great deal of effort. According to my handy-dandy heart rate monitor I worked out seven times last week and burned 3451 calories in the process. I don't know if I'll be able to do the same amount this week-I'm losing two days this week to all day training sessions. But I was at the gym yesterday, will go to the pool today, will bike to work tomorrow and work out during lunch, and will get in another short swim on Saturday when Connor is at his lesson, so that leaves me only one long run from what my goal is for the week.

142.4

So that's a drop of almost 2 pounds.  It's been skipping around in the 142-144 range all week, but this is the low end.  No complaints here!  This is the first time since we started the blog that my weight has gone down without a substantial effort at exercise and/or dieting.  And it's not down much and I know I can't count on a long-term change, but it's kind of nice anyway.

700+400+700

That's my calories burned today (give or take) with the commute in, swimming at lunch, and the commute home (assuming I don't break my leg or something between now and 5:00). That adds up to the total calories I burned through exercise all last week! But isn't it colossally unfair that exercising like this doesn't make you lose five pounds in one day? It really should work that way. But then, I had second breakfast when I got to work--I had eaten a bowl of oatmeal at home, but around 10:00 I realized that I wasn't going to make it through a swim workout if I didn't have something more substantial than almonds, so I had another bowl of oatmeal at that point. Hard to lose five pounds eating that way.

Did I mention that I signed up for another triathlon? This will be my first first triathlon and the Iron Girl will be my second first triathlon. This one doesn't really count--they're calling it a "super sprint"--only 250 meters of swimming (in a pool, no less), 9.3 miles biking and 2.5 miles running. And it's a fundraiser for Autism Speaks, so I couldn't not do it, right? But I only have about a month to get ready, which is why I want to do a few of these days where I push myself in a couple of forms of exercise instead of spreading it all out through the week. Sara, Connor's kindergarten teacher, is signing up to do it with me, so I'll have the support/presence of someone who has done a triathlon before. I think this'll be good practice for the Iron Girl.

Baked Beans

OH! I meant to point out that I made baked beans in my crock pot yesterday. They are SO yummy!! I think I put too much sugar in them, but that is probably why they are so good. 8-)

Also - I wanted to say that I had Noodles Bancock Curry with Shrimp yesterday for lunch (it was payroll day and I hadn't packed anything - so Ginger picked it up for me). I went to check the nutritional information, and I am pleased to report that my favorite Noodles dish is the one dish that is on all of the healthy choices lists they publish - low fat, low calorie, and the other ones that I don't remember. The large serving is 400-something (the small is 286 calories). So - that's not bad for pseudo fast food that tastes awefully good!!

244.2

Not really. I just thought it would be funny to have that as my weight since BOTH Emily and Sarah had 144.2. Saddly, however, my weight was UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE to 244.2 - which means that I am almost 100 pounds heavier than my sisters - EACH!. If you could take that extra weight from each of them and merge it together you would get one WHOLE overweight person. Or - even if you take JUST the extra weight from me to ONE of them you would have enough for a whole SKINNY person. But I am talking a grown-up. I have by-passed "I am carrying around an extra 6 year old child" and have moved on to "I am carrying around an extra PERSON." No wonder I have a surprisingly firm ass - and calf muscles.

I can't remember what I wrote last week. I think I reported that Katie and I finally moved the bulky furniture out of the sewing room. Now all that remains is the STUFF. I have done two trips carrying stuff downstairs. My rule on Sunday was that I had to take something down with me each time I went downstairs - but I mostly forgot. This is a Lenten resolution - get the basement done - but I think I am running out of Lent. Sigh. I always have great plans when I am here at work - but by the time I get home I have run out of momentum. Maybe I will go home right now (lunch break) and carry two loads of stuff down. Is it worth the extra trip to and from work to do that? Hummmmm - maybe it is... I wish I lived as close to work as Katie does - but on the other hand - Katie rarely gets more than 20 minutes for lunch. I just rarely take lunch.

I have another dentist appointment tomorrow to have Dr. Behar look at more sore tooth. I don't know if he will find anything - again - but it sure is getting frustrating!!!

144.2

Ack! That's two pounds up for me this week, and I have no idea why. I haven't been weighing myself this week so I don't know if I moved up gradually or if this is a spike (why do people recommend only weighing in once a week? I like to know if my weekly weight is a pattern or an anomaly). But I did only get to the gym four days last week and no exercise on the weekend (unless you count hauling two kids to the playground, with one of them on my back most of the way there and back!), and I really haven't been watching what I eat. But then, I wasn't watching what I ate for those weeks when I was losing weight steadily either. So I think for my own peace of mind I'll call this a spike and go back to weighing in every day.

Also in the past week I signed up for the Ride On for Autism Research, the annual fundraiser for Kennedy Krieger. I think I'll be doing the 25 mile distance, which is longer than my rides have been typically, but only by seven miles or so, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I'll be pestering all of you for fundraising, so you may want to start avoiding my emails.

144.2

I didn't actually remember to weigh myself this morning, but I can guarantee that's what it would have said, because that is what it has said every single morning for the past week, except one, when it said 143.2.  I think it's stuck.  And I weighed myself long after breakfast today, when I did finally remember, and it was 144.2 then.  My exercise has just been walking around the neighborhood a few times, or walking around downtown, yesterday (I went to change money and they wouldn't take it at the nearer post office, so I had to go downtown to do it -- and it turns out all those people who claim the post office gives the best deal are wrong.  Bad exchange rate and high fee, by my standards.  ATM fees were cheaper, and the rate was better.  But at least we're not sitting on any excess cash anymore).  Nothing vigorous.  I don't get a lot of movement within the apartment, so any added walking over what I'd do in Blacksburg is offset by the lack of walking inside.  And our eating has been so-so -- not too much food, but not as many whole grains or vegetables and fruit as I would normally like.  Now we have that cash, so we'll be OK for shopping for the week, and I can get more fruits and veggies.  That probably won't change my weight significantly, but I'll feel healthier, at least!

Going Down?

Probably not, but I was down almost 4 POUNDS from last week - which pretty much brought me back to where I have been all along. Wow - party weekends really do a number on me!! This past week included Ash Wednesday, and a non-eventful weekend. So I didn't eat much. Katie and I are just about finishing up the left overs from the past two weeks of parties - but we are pretty much down to nothing now. Last night I didn't eat dinner because Katie went out with Susie, and I wasn't particularly inspired by anything in the house. I had a fairly late, somewhat calorie intensive (real mac and cheese) lunch, so at about 11pm I ate a handful of nuts (mostly almonds) to keep my stomach from growling overnight. It didn't growl, but the smoke alarm went off at 3am!! So often when I wake up during the night all I can think to do is eat. I didn't this time. I scowled at the alarm until I realized that the house wasn't burning down and the alarm was no longer going off, went back to bed, and managed to fall back to sleep.

Recent improvements I have noticed... This yoga thing seems to be helping parts of me. I have noticed in the past two weeks that I don't worry about getting out of the bathtub anymore. I know! Silly - but it has made a difference. I don't know if I am stronger, or more limber, or what - but I don't feel quite so much like I will end up living in the bathtub! My lower back - while still causing me some pain - isn't as bad as it was, and I have figured out how to hold my lower back so it doesn't get as tired. I hold my sholders straighter. And TODAY, I was demonstrating Downdog at work (like you do...) and I (while still REALLY BAD) was better than the other two people who did it. Mostly, I noticed that I didn't bunch my shoulders up and I didn't SEEM to be in as much pain as them... 8-)

23 and dropping

That number has nothing to do with my weight -- it's the temperature outside right now. Brrrr ...

So first, I want to pass along an interesting blog: fitbottomedgirls.blogspot.com

I like the name and it's a cool blog with interesting links and posts. One of the women is training for a half marathon so maybe there's some inspiration added in for good measure.

My routine is going pretty well. I'm in week six of my routine and there's a noticeable difference. My clothes are much looser and I'm feeling pretty good.

But I'm at my past plateau. I can't seem to get past this point. So I'm going to really try to push through these last couple (hopefully) brisk weeks and keep dropping the pounds to get myself to warmer weather so I can spend more time outside and pep up my exercise routine.

I continue to work on and rework my routine -- food and exercise -- so I don't get bored. I know that's the one thing that is key for me mentally and physically. I have to keep tricking my body physically. If I do the same routines my body adjusts and doesn't advance.

I'm sticking to a mostly raw diet -- salads, veggies and fruits -- and that has been a huge help in providing much-needed energy and weight loss.

But there's more work to be done.

142.6

Up a tiny bit this week. Not surprising given my activity level of last week--I only got to the gym three times and didn't get out on the weekend at all. Five days of exercise really does seem to be the minimum for losing weight for me.

Not much else to report. Now that we've gotten our snow for the year (yay!) I want to put winter behind me and get on with spring. In spite of all of my preparations, I wimped out on commuting by bike all winter long, so I want to get back to doing that. And running outside instead of on the treadmill. Again, I could have been doing that this winter but I didn't, at least not more than a couple of times.

144.2

I don't know what that is relative to my scale at home; this scale definitely reads lighter than mine there.  But I've dropped two pounds (it was three) since I first weighed myself here, so that can be taken as meaningful.  I have not done any formal exercise, even once, since we arrived; I haven't even figured out where I could do crunches, since the entire apartment is hardwood and I am without a mat and the towels have the texture of sandpaper.  There is a small area rug on the living room floor, but it is covered up by a large coffee table, and it doesn't seem worth the effort to rearrange just for crunches.  If I am inspired to crunch, I guess I'll work something out.

I have not been inside a car since the 21st, when we arrived, and I've been getting out in public, so logic dictates that I have been getting some exercise.  It's more walking than at home, but probably not enough to qualify as exercise, especially since in the home I am getting less exercise, since it's all on one floor.  I do have my WAtP video with me, but I hesitate to distress the neighbors downstairs with that!  The days are getting longer, and today the temperature is above freezing, so walking in the neighborhood is a real possibility, at least in the near future. I am eating a little less, because food is so expensive that I feel guilty when I eat anything unhealthy.  At any rate, my weight seems not bad for now, and my clothes are fitting just fine, so I'll probably keep doing what I'm doing for now and see how things go over the next few weeks.

FAT Tuesday

I was fat. A new high this morning. Two pounds above the "OMG! I must cut off my left arm now!" weight I allow for myself. I have been thinking about giving up sugar for Lent. I would allow sweetened stuff - just not sweetened with sugar (or natural cane juice as the organic foods call sugar). I hadn't quite convinced myself of this yet because currently at home we have banana bread, Coldstone cupcakes, birthday cupcakes, and a piece or two of sachre torte and upsidedown cake. I can't bring myself to throw them away - and they will not survive until Easter. After my weigh-in this morning, however, I think I WILL be giving up sugar. Katie and I - while firm believers that the "not on Sundays" thing as cheating - have already decided we are having meat on Sundays, just because our most recent Let's Dish session was heavy on chicken. We have some fish foods, but mostly all meats. They will probably survive until Easter just fine - but they take up a lot of space, and we can't justify buying more proteins when we have a freezer full already. So we are having meat on Sundays. Maybe I will allow THIS SUNDAY ONLY to be a sugar-ful one.

I am getting a salary cut. Just 5% - which is less than my last pay increase in July, so it isn't TOO terrible - but it is still a cut. I am spending my disposable income on my trip to Norway, so I am looking for ways to save a bit on my expenses. Unfortunately two obvious ways that have come to mind are 1. quitting the gym and 2. not doing yoga next quarter. The gym would save me $493.74 annually - which hardly seems worth it, but OTOH I haven't been using the gym as much as I should be. Except for water ballet - which I haven't been to in about a month! Yoga next quarter I was already planning to do a "pay as I go" thing - since I am going to miss several weeks during my trip. I don't know. Yoga is the more expensive of the two ($17 per week instead of $18.99 bi-weekly) but I USE it a lot more - and really enjoy it. What I REALLY need to do is finish all of the changes I am making in my house and get that upstairs room actually MADE into an exercise room. I have the treadmill, weights, DVDs and - if the floor is emptied up - space for yoga. That room will be a REALLY NICE exercise space. I just need to finish it. Of course, that is actually an additional expense - for the floor and the paint - but it is money I have already earmarked. Maybe I can get more of that done this weekend.