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Not just the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, but as of yesterday, my age! (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Groundhog Greetings!

Yes, it was my birthday yesterday. I feel very honored to share my real birthday with the MizFitOnline.com blog birthday week! Happy bloggy birthday, Miz! And while so very bummed that the wonderful run of Cranky Fitness will be ending (transmogrifying into a reference site, though, so we can go back and reread), I'm selfishly grateful that Crabby waited until today to announce, although I hope it didn't coincide with anyone's birthday.

I saw my shadow yesterday, so does that mean I get to celebrate for the next 6 weeks? Yes. Yes it does. (Celebrating with cake is done for now, though.) Over the weekend, we had a lovely time going out for dinner (local brewery with a yummy fish stew and a seat next to their huge aquarium to keep the kids entertained), a little cake, a little decadent yet no-sugar-added coffee ice cream that Mr. Handsome-and-Handy so proudly found the other day. (Clemmy's. It's SO gooooood. Even Thing 2 likes it, and she generally hates no-sugar-added stuff.) And homemade cards! Love the homemade cards. (While they were all lovely, Thing 1's card was especially meaningful to me in context of my health quest and deserves its own post.) The festivities continued with a rare lunch out with Mr. H&H yesterday; we went to Indian food buffet. Oh holy yum, it was good. I should go more often, because I went nuts yesterday precisely because I rarely ever go, and I forgot how much I love Indian food. They had this okra dish that was almost better than the butter chicken.

"A Christmas Story" at Sports Basement

No, I didn't buy a BB gun nor a festive leg lamp, and no eyes were put out nor were tongues stuck to flag poles there. I went there to rent a wet suit for the month of February, because of the sprint tri at the end of the month. Well, I found out why one must practice with one's wetsuit before an event. It's not so much the practice swimming in the thing, it's practice getting it on and zipped up! I'm seriously worried, because I have NO idea how that's going to happen come Feb. 28th unless I can rely on the kindness (and arm strength) of strangers, because I don't expect my family to come out for this one.

So there I was in the toy store that is Sports Basement (drool, wipe mouth), and I finally meandered my way over to the wetsuits and other assorted tri gear. The helpful associate handed me the largest women's size. I already had scoped out the size charts, and I kind of had a feeling that I'd have to go for a men's size, but I decided to give it a go. I got into it, but it took some serious pulling to get it up over my shoulders at all. When the gal got it zipped, I could NOT put down my arms. Ack! So I managed to get it off (easier than getting it on was, because of the long-ol' leash hanging off the zipper, thank goodness!). The next one was a men's, and it worked much better, even though less curvy. Yes, I know, y'all want to laugh yourself silly at pictures, but you'll have to wait. (I have a deep new respect for Batman as a superhero, because Superman's getup would feel like pajamas in comparison. Is Gotham City located in the Arctic Circle or something???)

I was armed with some birthday money, so I got some deeply discounted Tevo sandals (have always wanted these!) and a racing belt with little pockets. (My purse fannypack was a wee bit unwieldy.)

Hat Progress

Well, I finished the knitting portion of my first "pay it forward" hat. While I calculated the number of rows correctly, somehow I got the stitches-per-inch gauge incorrect, so it was not as wide as I had intended. But when I stuck it over my fist, it fit the 10" circumference, so I think it's still good. The book I'm using, Knitting for Peace, interviewed the person who coordinates a knitting for NICU hospital babies program. She told the story of how she developed her hat pattern. When she first started, she kept bringing samples to the hospital, and they kept telling her to knit smaller items. One staff member then finally told her to buy a lime and knit to that size and shape.

A lime?

Whoa. I was pretty floored when I read that.

I also messed up on the stitching method used to sew up the top, so I will need to redo that part; it's not visible from the photo.


The hat, when finished, will have two pom-poms, one on each upper corners of the hat. I'll take a proper photo when it's done, this is from my cell phone. (If you're curious, here's a link to one talented knitter's photo of her finished product, overlaid on the page of the same book. I like how this knitter did the hat in two colors; I'll have to try that on the next one.

Progress This Week
("Rethink Your Shrink" goals marked with a *)

7-day blood glucose average: 108 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 108 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: Up .8 from last week. And to think, I would have been down .4 had yesterday been weigh-in day. But birthday feasting will do that to a girl. Must investigate Moroccan food, which I've heard is highly spiced like Indian food, but without the cream.

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. (Hmmm...this seems to be a pattern.)
Fiber: Of the days tracked, I am averaging over 30 grams/day.

Exercise goals: At least 30 minutes 4/7 days, so missed by one day.
* Total mileage: 7.98 miles
(Total mileage for January was 105 miles! I'm jazzed! I counted every exercise mile possible--walk, run, spin, swims, elliptical.)
* - Wednesday, 1/27: 60 minutes - BodyPump class, went light on legs and back tracks because I was still really sore from Monday.
- Thursday, 1/28: 42 minutes total - 17 minutes (1.06 mile) walk + 25 minutes (750 yards) swim today. Leg was still incredibly sore from Monday.
* - Friday, 1/29: Leg getting a little better, but not much. Decided to rest today, since even mild exercise didn't seem to be helping much.
- Saturday, 1/30: More rest; leg feeling a lot better.
- Sunday, 1/31: 71 minutes (5.52 miles) - Darlingest husband suggested that I go for a run today. (I tend to be reluctant to do this on the weekends, since he is the primary caregiver during the week, too, but he knew I was feeling antsy to move.) Leg felt great again (finally!), so I ended up getting carried away by that and the good weather. I didn't push for speed, just distance, and it felt goooood.
- Monday, 2/1: 30 minutes (1 mile) - Stroll at lunch. Leg felt fine today, but I didn't want to overdo it.
- Tuesday, 2/2: Unplanned rest day.

Sleep: Coming up short here on several nights. :-P

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.