Weekly Updates for 1/13/10 and 1/20/10

Hi everyone! Whew! What a couple of weeks it has been...and still is. I feel like I'm barely keeping up. I am reading and enjoying your blogs, but sadly not much commenting. And to think...I haven't posted since the new year started? An eternity in blog-time!

Thanks for chiming in about your New Year traditions! It's interesting how many people have a variation on the find-a-coin/prosperity one.



Just a few tidbits this week:

From the "even positive change can be stressful file": My work computer was screeching its death throes when I returned from vacation. It was old and slow, but oh-so-reliable! Farewell, ol' pal; I appreciate your steadfastness through many a doc project. And welcome, sleek new laptop friend! I hope we enjoy many years of productivity together. (I need to reframe this as an opportunity to buff up my brain--I guess this would be the B.R.A. parts that our favorite fitness guidance counselor recommends?)

Lifting Lovefest: Things 1 & 2 love the weights I bought for them with some of our Christmas money. This was totally selfish, because they always want to use my weights when *I'm* trying to use them. Thing 1 got some nice 3-lb weights and Thing 2 got some pink 2-pounders. Here they are, playing along with a 10-minute solutions toning video:

Thing 2 to Thing 1: "Keep your smile on!"

(No, not making that up. Actual quote. Delivered with nary a grain of snark.

5 year olds can get away with those kind of perky remarks.)

Of course, this all came to a screeching halt the following day, when Thing 1 complained to Mr. Handsome-and-Handy, "Thing 2 dropped 5 pounds on me!"
Me: "ACK! Was he okay? Why were they using my 5 pound weights? They have their own!"
Mr. H&H: "Yes, he's fine. It was one 2-lb and one 3-lb."
Me: "Oh my."
Dumbbells are now a controlled substance in our house.

A Happier Birthday: And finally, we celebrated my mom's birthday this past weekend. This time last year, she was in the hospital and facing impending heart surgery. I'm so happy and humble-grateful that she is still here and doing so well. She walks nearly every day, about 3-5 miles, and she has stayed smoke-free for over a year now! We enjoyed a park outing on Saturday and had a little family birthday party and grilled cheese fest (which got off to a rocky start when I torched my quesadilla); on Sunday, we payed a visit to the fabulous Lompoc "bucket pool" for recreational swim time. Wish we had such a nice facility in our town! (Although I would settle for having Parks & Rec Dept.-hosted summer swim lessons again...darn budget cuts....) Bonus points: the Grans scored greatly by having some garage sale toys for the kids, Thing 2 got to ride a pony, and Thing 1 (our little railfan) was transported in all aspects of the word by his ride on the Amtrak Surfliner between Lompoc and San Luis Obispo. (Mr. H&H and Thing 2 also enjoyed, but definitely not as much as Thing 1.)

Fortunately, we missed most of the storm that pounded our state on Monday morning (thanks to having to wait for the train), but Monday night we woke several times to cracking and booming..."we" being the grown-ups, not the kids! I even checked on them a couple of times to make sure they were actually asleep. It's been stormy mornings all week long, but I think the worst has passed.

Progress - Past 2 Weeks
("Rethink Your Shrink" goals marked with a *)

14-day blood glucose average: 107 (met goal of less than 120)
14-day fasting blood glucose average: 103 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: Up .2 last week, down .6 this week, for a net -.4 during the past 2 weeks.

Food goals:
* Calorie tracking: I did not track consistently, but I know I was over my limit by more than 1000 calories during the past couple of weeks.
Fiber: Of the days tracked, I am averaging over 30 grams/day.

Exercise goals: Overall, I'm satisfied with how I did; I just wish I hadn't tweaked my leg. Definitely a warning sign: must take more time to stretch!!!
* Total mileage: 54.86 miles over the last 2 weeks.
* - Wednesday 1/6: 60 minutes - BodyPump class.
- Thursday 1/7: Rest
- Friday 1/8: Rest
* - Saturday 1/9: 50 minutes - stationary bike (30 minutes, 5.5 miles) + strength (20 minutes - 2 tracks of "10 Minute Solutions Toning")
- Sunday 1/10: 30 minutes - stationary bike, 6.5 miles
* - Monday 1/11: 50 minutes - Level 1 of 30 Day Shred and 2-"10 Minute Solutions Yoga" tracks.
- Tuesday 1/12: 71 minutes - Brick: spin class (58 minutes, 18.16 miles) and treadmill run (13 minutes, 1.18 mile)
* - Wednesday, 1/13: 60 minutes - BodyPump class. My left hamstring was twinging badly when I walked, but I couldn't tell if it was made worse by moving or sitting still.
- Thursday, 1/14: 15 minutes (3.5 miles) - stationary bike at home, extremely low resistance; mainly so I could warm up the leg for stretching.
- Friday, 1/15: Rest (Can a 5.5-hour car ride can be considered "restful"?)
- Saturday, 1/16: Active rest; ambled around the park for 1.5 hours. Played on the monkey bars for strength, but not exactly a workout.
- Sunday, 1/17: Active rest; 1.5 hours of recreational swimming.
- Monday, 1/18: Rest. (See Friday.)
- Tuesday, 1/19: All better! Brick: spin class (57 minutes, 18.45 miles) and treadmill run (17 minutes, 1.57 mile).

Sleep: Met goal of at least 7 hours.

Goals for Next Week
("Rethink Your Shrink" goals highlighted with a *)

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

Food goals:
Track calories in my food log.
*Stay within 1000 calories of my limit for the week. (To ensure that I at least maintain.)
Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
*20 miles minimum distance.
*At least one run and one bike; one swim optional this week (it's stormy)
*2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

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