Weekly update, 6/9/09

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What a couple of weeks this has been! The week before the big 5K went well, but this past week saw the best laid plans completely laid out: I was sore after the race (especially my shins!). I got a nasty head cold, and I learned that illness and poor sleep=not so great fasting numbers in the morning. My work week was screamingly busy, and of course that meant my home life stuff would be, too, because it all happens at once, doesn't it?

I took a day off to chaperon Thing 1's school field trip to an art museum, which was in jeopardy of being cancelled. Ah, the 2nd grade perspective: already much snickering at the nudie bits. For example, reaction upon viewing a Renoir of a mother, half-naked toddler, and cat: "Hey! Look! You can see that little boy's buns!" I tried to make a teaching moment of it by pointing out that earlier painters did more formal portraits, whereas modern painters portrayed people in more naturally, in less formal settings: "...and, well, it doesn't get much more natural than that!" Fortunately, we had diverting tasks, such as counting the number of paintings with dogs, finding a still life and counting the number of bugs in it, and tracking down works by painters they'd studied. I enjoyed seeing the small gallery of Impressionist works and the Rodin sculptures, but the Picasso sculpture and large amount of Medieval art (nearly half the museum!) didn't do much for any of us, I'm afraid. We braved the porcelain gallery, and the kids were surprisingly interested in the novelty teapots and serving dishes. (I was not-so-surprisingly interested in escaping the gallery with the nick-knacks unscathed.) They gamely counted bugs painted on the still life-themed plates as I wondered what had inspired such dinnerware: 18th-century attempts at weight-reduction-through-aversion, perhaps? Not for restaurant use, obviously, what with patrons' constant complaints of dragonflies in their soup and all.

We also enjoyed 3 straight days of dance recital rehearsal+performances+volunteer duty. (I didn't screw up Thing 2's makeup too badly...I'm surprised I still know how to apply the stuff at all! Thank goodness for the dance teacher's makeup cheat-sheet.) Until I eradicate the "Mary Poppins" show tunes ear worm, though, I'm going to be humming "Jolly Holiday" and "Chim-chim-cheroo!" under my breath. Things 1 and 2 were in 2 dances: the barnyard scene as ducks, and in same costume for the "Let's Go Fly a Kite" finale at the end. They had a great time, looked totally adorable, and Thing 2 is still prancing around in her yellow tutu.

The good thing about all the craziness last week was that food dropped in priority. The bad news was so did my regular exercise routine, but I kept as active as possible, considering how things were going. I got in lots of walking and a little bit of strength exercise at home, but gym classes and regular workouts went "poof!" I was back at spin class yesterday, though, and it felt good! And it feels healthy to not be freaked out over having to take some "active rest" time. (I would really have freaked out about this last summer or fall, for example.)

Progress last week

7-day blood glucose average: 96 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting average: 100 (met goal of less than 120, 100% of days)
Weight goal: -2.2 lbs (met goal of either maintain or make progress toward goal)

Food goals:
- Consumed 4 meatless, low-fat meals and 1 fish meal. (met meatless meal goal; missed fish meal goal by one meal)
- Met fiber goal 2/7 days.
- Met my coffee goal.

Exercise goals:
Did fine the week before the race, except I was one strength workout shy of my Women's Challenge goal. Week after the race? I pretty much had a week of active rest (read lots of strolling and some more serious walking), punctuated by some light strength exercises a couple of days.

Misc. goals: Got adequate sleep all nights except Wednesday night, and it showed in my morning blood glucose number.

Goals for this week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
- 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
- On work days, switch to tea and plain water after that first cup of coffee.
- Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day and work up to consuming 50 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
Minimum of 30 minutes of workout 5 days/week. Workouts to include at least 1 bike, 1 run, and 1 swim per week, plus 2 strength training per week.

Misc. goals:
- 7 or more hours sleep/night.