Weekly Update, 12/23/09

Two Days Until Christmas!

Hi everyone! Here we are with only two more days until Christmas! Other than some baking for the neighbors, we're pretty much done with the preparations. Even though I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by the holiday craziness, I enjoy the holidays quite a lot. I think one thing that makes it so crazy is that there are so many *possible* things to do and enjoy, but only so much time to do them in.

Aw, no tree picture this week. But I do have an update on..."Chia SpongeBob"!
We have sprouting!


Some, however, in places we weren't expecting...

Mr. SquarePants seems to have a back hair problem...

"Pay It Forward" Challenge Update: I didn't get any folks clamoring for hand-crafted Pubsgal items, and I was feeling a bit awkward about not being able to pay it forward, especially with Debby's superior craft skills. So I decided to put my knitting skills to good use, and I'll be paying it forward by making 3 little hats for Christie O's NICU virtual baby shower in 2010! Then the amazing Juice did a pay-it-forward post, and I proposed doing the same for her. Now I'm on the hook for 6 hats. (Maybe I should consider crochet...) With the shower in November, I've got over 1 month per hat.

Juice expressed interest in my handiwork, so here are some photos....

Here is Mr. Handsome & Handy's scarf, for motorcycle riding.
It's short, with a hole in one end to tuck the scarf through
(you can't really see that detail here very well).
Nice, dark, tweedy wool + cashmere, a little scratchy but not too bad.

Thing 1's scarf, in a nice, soft green yarn.
He picked the yarn on one of our outings.

This project went slowly due to the checkerboard pattern,
but I really love how it turned out.

And finally, Thing 2's lovey:

In case you're wondering, it's a *kitty*.

Maybe I should have saved this post for tomorrow? Anyhow, I'm breaking my sanity-preserving practice of weekly posting to participate in the Christmas Eve Blogger Talent Show! (See here for details.) See you tomorrow!

Progress last week:

7-day blood glucose average: 100 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 98 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: -1.2 pounds. Hey, this balancing calories in vs. calories burned thing really does seem to be working! Fancy that!

Food goals:
- Ate lots of veggies.
- Got in at 1 meatless meals but 0 fish meals.
- Fiber: 5/7 days were over 30.

Exercise goals: Wow, I thought I hadn't made my 30 minutes/5 days goal, but looking back, I did, even though it wasn't hard core fitness all of the days.
Total mileage: 11.21 miles (tracked)
- Wednesday: 83 minutes - 1 hour walk, 23 minutes (6 miles) on stationary bike.
- Thursday: Nothing
- Friday: 30 minutes - Walked the dog.
- Saturday: 60 minutes - Spent about an hour strolling with our neighbors at the harbor to see the lights on the boats. The walking itself did not raise my heartrate, but keeping my kids from falling off the docks might have just a bit. Glad I didn't have to log an impromptu swim here.
- Sunday: Nothing
- Monday: 49 minutes - 35 minutes on the treadmill (3.01 miles) in the morning, 9 minutes on the stationary bike at home (2.2 miles), 5 minutes of strength exercises.
- Tuesday: 60 minutes - I tried the BodyStep class last night. I'm quite possibly the most uncoordinated BodyStep participant ever. But as Brooke noted in my DailyMile comments, "there is a spot in the back of the class made for people like us! :)". I had fun rocking my little spot in the back, nearly flying off the bench at one point, though trying to be careful about whacking people. (I'm really feeling it in the quads today.) The back of the class, though, is right next to the windows facing sidewalk-level outside the gym; hopefully I didn't give too many of my coworkers a good laugh on their way home....

Sleep: Missed the goal of 7 hours/night for at least 1 night. We went to a concert on Sunday night to hear surf guitar legend Dick Dale play. It was great!

Tracking stuff with online tools makes it easy to see the trouble spots...namely, the weekend. I don't know that I have a good strategy for this yet. The plan of action is to lose 1/2 pound per week, which is slow, but I'm at a point where I'd rather see slow progress than none at all. So hopefully around this time next year, I'll be whooping it up at goal weight! (Note - disregard the weight lost this week in the "My Progress" bubble, because I started tracking when I was on an upswing.)
























Goals for this week:

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.

Weight goal: Maintain.

Food goals:
- Calories: Stay within 1000 calories of weekly goal. (Obviously, I will be adjusting this back down next week. ;-)
- Fiber: Average 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
30 minutes of activity 5 days/week, with at least 1 strength session worked in there.

Misc. goals:
- 7 or more hours sleep/night.
- Enjoy a merry Christmas!