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Monday, October 31, 2011

October Wrap Up

 

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I have a sad little workout summary to post for October. What can I say? It’s been a bit of a crazy month.

Oct 01: NROL Phase 1 Workout B + Treadmill Walk[60 mins]
Oct 17: NROL Phase 1 Workout A[25 mins]
Oct 18: Cardio Intervals[40 mins]
Oct 20: NROL Phase 1 Workout B + Cardio [45 mins]
Oct 24: NROL Phase 1 Workout A + Cardio [35 mins]
Oct 26: NROL Phase 1 Workout B [25 mins]
Oct 31 Cardio Intervals[22 mins]

Almost every weekend I have  spend at least an afternoon out puttering around the yard, trying to get the garden put to bed for the season. I planned to finish that job this Sunday, but the weather was really nasty so I ended up puttering around indoors instead.

This morning I pulled out a pair of gloves for the first time this season and I was glad I had them on the way to and from work.

Frank has wasted no time taking over Husband’s side of the bed while he is away. That would sound really bad if you didn’t know that Frank is a cat. But you know that, right? So we’re good.

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Looks like he can’t  wait for Husband to come home, doesn’t he?

Since Husband and I planned to use Skype for chatting while he is in Japan, I figured I would take an actual photo to use for my profile, instead of my usual cartoon avatar. I figured Husband might actually like seeing my face.

Mostly, I hate photos of myself though. I have this picture in my head of what I look like, and somehow whenever I see a photo I think: how can that be me? I suppose it has something to do with getting older, and gaining weight. I am not the skinny 25 year old I once was.

And yet, somehow on Sunday I managed to get a photo that looks like me. It’s all in the camera angle and lighting. First reaction was relief – there I am! I still look like me after all! Followed quickly by the feeling that I am somehow cheating. Because I managed to find a good camera angle and natural light. How does that even make sense?

But for the record – here I am, looking like myself.

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So there.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

All Alone With the Halloween Candy

First of all, big thanks to everyone who responded to my last post. I appreciated every response and you all gave me some things to think about. I had every intention of responding with a post early last week, but things took an unexpected turn when Husband’s boss called on Monday evening to ask if Husband would be willing and able to go to Japan for two weeks.Willing was an understatement, but able involved a week of scrambling around and unexpected expenses.

Long story short, Husband is now en route to Japan and I am on my own for a couple of weeks. It’s a weird feeling. Husband used to travel for work all the time, but it’s been 10 years since he’s had to do that and I’m just not used to it any more.

Any-who, I’m thinking of taking this solo-time as an opportunity to do some experimenting diet-wise. I have thought about going dairy and gluten free to see whether I notice any beneficial effects. Intolerances to those foods seem to be quite common and I have seen them linked to eczema, asthma, allergies and lack of energy – which are all things I live with. I can’t say that I want to eliminate dairy & gluten permanently, but I would like to know whether or not it makes a difference for me. However, I also have lots of dairy, along with a package of spinach & ricotta manicotti, in the fridge needing to be eaten up this week if they are no going to go to waste, and only me to eat it. So, I guess I’ll see how things go.

For the moment I am just trying to decide what to do with my weekend and oh look! There’s a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon on Much More Music. Maybe I have a plan after all.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Why Can't I Do This?

A little over ten years ago, I embarked on my first serious weight loss effort. I was 29, going on 30, I had started working a full time desk job 2 years before and the weight slowly started creeping on. I think I managed to lose 8 pounds which was not a lot, but it was enough for people to notice a difference. Then I started planning my wedding. Then I got married. Then we bought a house and moved. And I gained the weight back.

I started calorie counting, I joined a gym which I could conveniently get to on my lunch break from work. I didn't manage to lose any pounds that time, but I seemed to be at least maintaining.

During that time I developed some good habits - regular exercise, meal planning, not keeping to much in the way of junky snack foods around the house, no snacking after dinner. But over the years since then, some serious backsliding has been going on. I still exercise fairly regularly - maybe not as much as I should but for the most part I feel pretty good about my exercise habits.

The diet part on the other hand...

I just don't seem able to maintain any consistency. There is too much food in the house. I can't stick to a plan for more that 2 or 3 weeks at a time. I can't figure out if it's lack of motivation? Or not the right kind of motivation? I do know that any time I have to get ready to go out anywhere socially, there's a good chance I will end up standing in the bedroom with clothes strewn all over the place, ready to break down in tears. I know that I don't feel good at the size I am now. Pictures of myself make me cringe. So why can't I do anything about it?

I can talk the talk about chosing healthy options, watching portion sizes, yada, yada, yada...but I can't seem to walk the talk, as the saying goes.

You may recall that at the beginning of August I told Husband I wanted to try and make some changes and he agreed to go along with my plan. I remember the first two weeks going so well. It was easy and I thought I can do this. By the end of the third week I was down 3 pounds. I was so encouraged.

And then...Can you guess where this is going?

Exhibit A
Instead of Husband asking "what are the meal plans for this week?" he said "I looked in the freezer and we have a,b,c so I think we should plan d,e,f for meals this week." I thought: well, okay, that makes sense, I can work with that this week. Problem is, he kept doing that every week. Next thing I know, we're back to exactly the way we were eating before.

I'm not trying to blame my husband here. He kept catching me off guard, and it's not like he was making unreasonable suggestions. But it was basically taking away the 'diet safety net' I was trying to create for myself and I need to learn to handle this stuff.

Exhibit B
The company I work for started stocking the kitchen with snacks and beverages. Some healthy, some not. Bins of potato chips and chocolate bars. Just what I need. For the first few weeks I was able to resist. I peeked at the chocolate bars a few times, decided there was nothing there I really wanted, and walked away. Yay me! Then I started having one chocolate bar a week, usually on Monday. One a week, I could live with that. Then they started stocking the bins with those little Halloween sized bars. And I started eating 3 of them every day. Every day I would go in to work telling myself I was going to stay out of the chocolate. And every day for two weeks I would end up eating a handful of chocolate bars.

One weekend I decided that  was it; I was done. And somehow, for the next two weeks I had no problem staying away. Okay, this is good, I've got this...Until suddenly one day I'm back into the treats and then it's every day again. Then I will very likely go home and munch on things that I don't need to eat. And end up feeling crappy.

So why? What is it that makes me able to go for 2 or 3 weeks, eating nutritious foods, feeling satisfied, ending the day around the right number of calories, feeling like it's effortless, noticing how good I feel when I am eating properly...Only to swing around to the opposite end of the spectrum where I can't seem to stop eating? Why is it that sometimes I can't seem to make myself care?

My Computer Programmer/Analyst brain tells me to gather data and look for patterns. Seems like the logical thing to do, but at the same time I wonder if making more work for myself is the way to go?
But, I don't have any other ideas at the moment,  so I think that's what I should try to do.

So, that's where I'm at these days.

Also, I think I broke my husband. I've been making salads for husband to have with his lunches at work. His building was evacuated due to plumbing problems today around lunch time. On his way home he hit the Wendy's drive thru. After work when I asked how he'd enjoyed his Wendy's for lunch, he said he enjoyed his salad more. I don't know what to think; doppleganger maybe?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Unidentified Flying Garden Shed

The first half of last week was rain, rain, and more rain, but by Thursday the sun came out and a short time later something new began to take shape in the garden.

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Any guesses? How geeky are my blog friends?

My parents and baby bro came to stay for the long weekend and build me a garden shed. How awesome are my family? We had a perfect sunny weekend and everyone worked hard,especially my Dad.

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It was amazing to watch it come together and take shape. My Dad & brother started on Friday morning and by Saturday evening all that was left to do was to put a lock on the door.

My Mom was peeking out the door on Saturday evening and noticed that the work was being  inspected.

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Frank thought it looked like a good lookout post, but he didn’t seem quite sure how to get down and Dad ended up having to rescue him.

It really was a fantastic weekend. It was so nice to finally see the sun and we actually had record high temperatures on Saturday & Sunday. I’m sure everyone was tired out by the end of the weekend but I think we all had a good time too.

And seriously, how awesome is this?

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

September Summary

I don’t know what to say about September. Our unpredictable weather has continued. Things have been busy- as usual. Exercise has been off and on. I’ve just been doing my best to keep up I guess. And now it’s October. How’d that happen?

Stealing a photo from my last past as this is indeed a good representation of September’s workouts.

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Though of course, there have been some other activities thrown in there for variety.

I’ve done 4 New Rules of Lifting workouts (2 different plans, 2 x each) and the biggest surprise is how short the workouts are. I worked hard, but it was over fast.Even though I actually followed the instructions and rested between sets, which I normally wouldn’t do (I usually turn these types of plans into a circuit where I move from one exercise to another, instead of completing all sets of one with rests in between – based on this post by Charlotte I’m not alone). Nothing in either of the workouts I did was new to me, and yet I finished the first workout thinking “something was different about that workout”…Then I realized it was only 5 exercises. Huh. That’s different.

My feeling thus far is that I am happy to have another option for getting in a  good strength workout in a short amount of time. The more options I have, the more I can switch things up, which I like. Keeps things interesting.

September’s Summary:

Sep 06: Zumba Rush DVD[20 mins]
Sep 07: Jackie Warner Xtreme Power Circuit DVD + Treadmill walk[45 mins]
Sep 08: Walk[24 mins]I
Sep 10: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD + Treadmill Walk[60 mins]
Sep 12: Treadmill Walk w/Intervals[30 mins]
Sep 13: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD[30 mins]
Sep 14: Zumba Cardio Party DVD[45 mins]
Sep 15: Treadmill Walk + NROLFW Phase 1 Workout A[50 mins]
Sep 20: Treadmill Walk + NROLFW Phase 1 Workout B[45 mins]
Sep 21: Zumba Activate DVD[40 mins]
Sep 22: Ellen Barret Barefoot Cardio DVD[45 mins]
Sep 24: NROLFW Phase 1 Workout A[30? min]
Sep 28: Jackie Warner Xtreme Power Circuit [30 min]
Sep 30: Yoga For Weight Loss #1 + Zumba Live DVD[75 min]

Other than that, I shall leave you with photos of sleeping cats…

Frank

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Zappa

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The sad amount of tomatoes I’ve been getting from my garden this year…

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And Sunflowers. I planted a bunch. Only 3 came up. But it’s nice to see something cheery in my poor garden.

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