Another Good Day Yesterday!

Although I was reminded of the drawback of drinking a lot of water... :}

I drank about 96 oz. of liquid if I count my G2 Gatorade, had my Dance Classes last night where I danced pretty hard, and took in 1927 calories, which according to My Plate put me at 1221 net calories for the day with the exercise.

(edit: corrected calorie numbers)

Hopefully today will go as well! :)

GOTCHA!!!

Using a trail of chocolate, potato chips and other junk food (yeah, I know...), I lured it in to my trap and then GRABBED AHOLD WITH BOTH HANDS! I then pinned it with my best wrestling hold (And the only wrestling I've done is with my twin brother and my weight) and secured it as quickly as I could with a hammer and nails, glue gun, stapler, screwdriver, and lots of rope. And I'm sitting on it.

Yes, I've got my motivation back. For now. I mean it feels pretty secure at this point, but I've had a lot of false starts recently, so I'm not willing to bet on how long it's going to last, at this point. :P AND so I'm just going to take it one day, meal, step, pedal, shimmy, choice, temptation at a time. As I should've been doing all along. *Sigh...*

But today was a good day. I got up early enough to take a brisk half-hour 1.99 mile walk before work, and logged all my calories on My Plate, which came to 1576 net calories for the day. I drank more water than I have been recently, but not as much as I'd like. So overall, today has been a success! One day down - on to tomorrow!

Can I Please Have my Motivation Back...?

I have a problem right now:  I don’t care.  I’m at the “How the hell did I do it – how in the world was it ever EASY for me?!” point.  Because it has been easy in the past to keep track of what I’m eating and eat well, and drink my water and do the exercise, but that’s not where I am right now.  Right now I’m not really happy with myself, but I just don’t have the motivation or energy to get off my duff and make the changes I need to make.  I just don’t care right now, not even enough to be really mad at myself.

Ye gads, I sound pathetic!  I’ve used the excuse of being tired, the excuse of not feeling well, the excuse of being slammed at work and not having enough time, the excuse of my bike needing some repair, not to mention the excuse of “well the Hubster is cooking for me tonight, so I have to eat what he’s fixing.”  (What he usually makes is not entirely unhealthy, but it’s not the best choice I could make…)  And there may be some depression settling in, which would MORE THAN LIKELY be relieved by my actually getting out and moving around! 

The Hubster fixed my bike last night, so I won’t have that excuse any more, and I’ve got a perfectly good (new!) pair of running shoes if/when I start doing the Couch to 5K running program again (Having been inspired quite a bit by ORShadow…)  And in terms of eating, which is my main problem now? (not to mention drinking my calories)  I think I’m going to have to pretty much ignore what the Hubster’s doing (he’s on his own journey and doing very well…) and just do my own thing.  Maybe we can eat together on the weekend, but I need to focus on myself, and not feel obligated to eat what he prepares.  For all he likes to “kick me out of his kitchen” so he can be the cook, he’s just going to have to deal with me cooking for myself. As much as he loves me, he’s not going to make this journey for me (or make it easy for me…) so I’m going to have to do it myself.

So I apologize for being flaky and not posting for a long time.  It’s hard to post about not wanting to post, or not being in the “healthy living” mindset on a blog that’s supposed to be about losing weight.  I’m still not feeling it yet, but I’m getting back there.  Slowly.

Back In The Saddle!

As you might have noticed, I’ve done some remodeling around here. :)  I’ve ignored this Blog and my weight-loss efforts for so long that I’m just going to press the reset button. I’ve been off the wagon for about 2 and a half months, and I’ve gained back a lot more than I wanted. I’m not all the way back to the beginning though, thank goodness, but I’m starting to dislike myself again, and I don’t want to any further down THAT path! I’m ready to get back on track. I think that the best way for me to start moving forward (downward) again is to consider this a fresh start (including some new paint and reupholstered furniture in this corner of teh Interwebs), and set the past aside. Onward!

So I did it – I got back on my bike over the weekend. Yay, me! We have it set back up on the Trainer, and I rode 17 miles on Saturday and 25 miles on Sunday. My legs were only a little sore this morning, so I don’t think I completely lost all the benefit of the training I did for my Big Ride, even though that was a couple of months ago. My crotch on the other hand… Yeah, I need to build my Bike-Butt back up again. That will teach me to set it aside for so long…! :P

What’s really helping is the iPad The Hubster got for me as an early Birthday present/reward for completing my Big Ride. :D When we got the Trainer, we got a book rest that just attaches to the handles of the bike. It was a good place to rest the remote and my snacks (wasn’t really so good for holding books) for my longer rides while I was training the last time. Now it’s my iPad Holder. :D I can stream Netflix (and with my earphones, I don’t have to worry about bothering The Hubster with the volume!), read on the Kindle App, or even just surf the Web while I’m riding. I love it!!!

I still need to focus on eating better and drinking the water (and SLEEP!!!), but the exercising is making me crave the water and the healthier food. So I’m headed back in the right direction again, finally! Wish me strength…

Hanging On By My Fingernails

Do you remember the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the car has gone over the cliff with our hero in it, and everyone is looking over the edge in disbelief and mourning?  Then they all turn away with heads bowed and hats in hand and tears in their eyes to continue on their way, not knowing that Indiana has bailed out of the car, and is clinging to the side of the cliff and is climbing back up? 

Yeah, that’s where feel like I am in this journey.  Clinging to the side of the cliff, and trying as hard as I can to not slip any further, as the face of the cliff crumbles around my hand-and toe-holds.  Actually, I feel more like this, only without the rope:

I had finally gotten back on track last week, and was doing pretty well, and then I got hit with a stomach virus that started Thursday night and lasted until Sunday.  I was on crackers and Ginger Ale for 3 and a half days, and I think I lost control again after that with the relief of being able to eat Real Food.  I’ve lost (gained?) almost all the gains (losses?) I’ve made so far, ever since I “relaxed” after my big bike ride to the coast.  I haven’t checked a scale in a while, but I know it will be ugly.  *Sigh…* 

I need to focus on getting back in control – back to the healthy eating, back to the cycling/exercising in general, back to the water, back to going to bed at a decent time.  That last one is the only thing (so far) I’ve been having success with this week. 

I had my Dance Classes tonight, then tomorrow night I’m going to see a musical with some friends, and then the Hubster and I are taking a road trip this weekend to go see my niece in a play.  I’ll try to be as careful, food-wise, as I can this weekend, and then Sunday when we get back, I’ll see about doing some Meal Planning, so I can be more careful next week.  I WILL get back on track!

Wish me willpower!  :P

Test Blog Post

Trying this again -- Checking to see how this Mail2Blogger thing works

 

 

RESTING ON MY LAURELS (and sliding off of them…)

Hoo boy, is it dusty in here!!!  *Opens up some windows for some fresh air and goes hunting for the cleaning supplies*  Well.  That just proves that it’s WAYYYY too easy to fall out of new habits like tracking food/exercise, and blogging…  *Sigh…*  But I will write about that later.  First, though, let me say “thank you” to Katie J and FAB who were worried because I haven’t written in a while, and sent me e-mails asking if I was okay.  I had forgotten that Blogville can be a community, and had assumed that I wouldn’t be missed…  It was nice to be proven wrong.  :}

So before I talk about how I fell off the exercise/tracking/blogging wagon, I’m going to talk about the good stuff and tell you about the Big Bike Ride I did on May 19th, and share some pictures.  :D

I trained long and hard, and rode 55 miles on The Day!  I had a great time, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and will definitely do it again in the future.  The Hubster is even considering doing it with me next year – we’ll both to the full 100 miles – or at least train for it!  :D

I do have some battle scars to show for my training...  I had gotten used to the “clipless” shoes on the trainer, and then realized 3 days before the ride that I REALLY needed to take the bike outside and get used to using them on the road.  It’s a good thing I did – I got my falls out of the way before it happened in front of 3000 experienced riders…  :P  The first time was on to grass in our front yard, and the second time was in a cul-de-sac where I'd stopped for a break, and was trying to get going again.  I fell in to a bush and my helmet got stuck on the branches for a few seconds...  (I still hope that doesn't pop up on YouTube at any point in time...) The third time I fell over on to my left, and hit the cement with my elbow. 



This is my left elbow, not a knee...  This was taken about a day and a half after my fall.  It's not the best picture, but you can kind of see where the bruise is starting, around the lump... 


  It’s a good thing I was wearing long sleeves, or my scrape (singular) would've been a lot worse…  And, the handlebar gave me a beautiful lump and bruise on my thigh, and the cross bar on the bike caught me really good high up on my right inner thigh.  Yeah - ouch.

But let me tell you, the training I did really paid off.  By the time the morning of The Ride came around, I had put just over 500 miles on the bike.  Yes, I was achy that Saturday night, but after a good, hot shower and a good night’s sleep, I was absolutely fine the next day.  I really wasn’t sore at all, although I was aware of my thighs just a little bit when I went up or down stairs.  Otherwise, I was Just Fine!  Surprised the crap out of me!   :D  After the ride when I was sharing stories with another rider, I mentioned how long I’d trained, and he said “you get out of it what you put in to it.”  I really think I need to make that a mantra…  :)

Here’s a picture of me crossing the finish line:



Here’s a picture of me in the classic Reach The Beach pose:

I had a great time, and I'll do it again next year.  But it was way too easy to get out of the habit of tracking my food and eating carefully because I was exercising so hard that my calorie deficit was REALLY high.  While I was training, that is.  And then I took some time away from the bike, but didn’t get back to tracking and eating mindfully.  Yeah, I really lost my momentum...  And after that, I had a Belly dancing competition to get ready for (which was the weekend of June 11 – 12) and then I went out of town to the Hubster’s aunt’s house.  It was a great time, but it was definitely a “vacation.”  I still haven’t weighed myself since we got back last night...

I’m going to work on getting back on track this week and then weigh myself on Friday and see what the damage was.  I will mostly be dancing for exercise this week – I will be going back to Tuesday classes after missing a term,  and of course, teaching on Thursdays.  And this Wednesday, I will be performing.  So I will be getting back in to it!  :D  And the Hubster is taking my bike in on Wednesday for a tune-up (well needed) and then I will try and get back on it this weekend.  I had a dream about riding last night – I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something…  ;)

LESSONS LEARNED TRAINING FOR BIKE RIDE:

• Cold Cream will clean bicycle grease off skin quite nicely
• Cycling gloves aren’t just for padding on your hands – they’re also to wick away sweat so your hands don’t slip off the handles.
• Cycling shorts/pants with padding are a MUST!
• Long sleeves will give a bit of protection against road rash – but only a bit…
• Chapstick/Blistex is a must (preferably with SPF) – lips get dry fast when riding outside.
• Riding for 20 miles and dancing for 2 hours on the same day is not the best idea – even when separated by a full day of work. The legs start hurting much more quickly...
• Even when it’s overcast, fair skin still burns so water/sweat resistant sunscreen is required.
• Riding on a trainer has its benefits, but it still is quite different than riding on the road…
• When someone tells me (in frustration) I’m as stubborn as my Dad, my instinctive reaction (unfortunately) is to dig my heels in even further...
• I like jogging (when I’m actually doing it) and I like biking, and I really like going fast.  This urge is easier to satisfy a bike, rather than on two feet. (and it’s less dangerous than it is to satisfy in a car...)

So I'm back again!  As I said above, I'll be getting back on track this week and will weigh myself on Friday and see how far off track I went.  Have a good night, everyone!