Weekly Update, 4/28/10 (OMB! Edition)

Happy Wednesday!

First of all, thanks for sharing your insights on coke/soda/pop! I'm a word geek, so the regional variations are fun for me! I know that out here in California, we generally call it "soda"; in Michigan, where Mr. Handsome-and-Handy's family resides, it's "pop," and the "o" is pronounced somewhere between an "o" and an "a," so it sounds more like "pap." I've never heard of it being called "coke," and I lived in North Carolina for 6 months--which I realize is not Tennessee, but is close. So far, the soda issue has been a non-issue. The Things generally drink water or milk at home.  I suspect we'll handle soda the way we do fruit juice or punch: allowed outside home or when we host parties, but we won't go out of our way to buy it.  For parties we host, we'll still favor real fruit juice or something like sparkling fruit juice if they want something fizzy, or maybe use your make-your-own-soda-with-fruit-juice ideas, I liked those!


OMB!

Thanks, Debby of Debby Weighs In, for the "Oh My Blog" award! Woo hooo!!!!

Here's what I get to do:

1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER! (DULY ACCOMPLISHED)
2. Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award:
1. Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
2. Write about your most embarrassing moment.
3. Write a “Soundtrack of your childhood” post.
4. Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog. Basically, you’re talking to the camera about whatever.
5. Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc)and post it.
3. Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers as yourself. Don’t forget to tell them.

And my "pass-it-on" picks are...oh my. I have too many bloggers who inspire me with their awesomeness. But for this one, I'm going to pick the following people. (And gals, I will not be offended if you choose to opt out or not pass it on, but I thought you might enjoy playing):

• Christie O of Baby Tea Leaves, who constantly inspires me with her Iron HumanitarianHotmama-ness and to our delight also enjoys writing about item 2.2.
  
• My favorite yogi, Ms. Fatterton, of The Weight-Loss Blog of Fattie Fatterton. Did you know that she and Future Hubby are walking the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K? You go, girl!!!  Thanks to you both, on behalf of my mom, aunt, cousin-in-law, and childhood friend, all breast cancer survivors.  It touches so many people.
  
• Brooke of Smart + Strong = Sexy, who just experienced a terrific breakthrough and is training for her first sprint triathlon!
  
• Josie (the Runner!) of 35 and Shrinking for her irrepressible optimism and amazing successes in health and fitness!
  

As I told Debby, perhaps if I combine ALL of the #2 options, it would result in a *new* most embarrassing moment. Entertaining as that may be for all y'all, I think the online world is really better off without a first-thing-in-the-morning drunken vlog of me singing "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Stayin' Alive! Stayin' Alive!" Truly.

So I'm going with embarrassing moments. You all know that I love me some fitness misadventures. Scattering belongings across the bike course in a triathlon? Sporting a wetsuit and swimcap in public places with camerapeople? Farting in Pilates class? Forgetting my t-shirt for BodyPump class and baring my midriff in all its fluffy glory (and nearly spilling the girls out of the inadequate sports bra) rather than miss class? Wearing the wrong clothes (loose t-shirt and very undergarment-looking bra) for yoga class inversions? All just more fodder for the blog.

But they're nothing compared to my most embarrassing moment. Which wasn't in high school, when I helped set up a volleyball net at the beach, slipped, and dangled from the horn cleat (the t-shaped thing around which you wind the rope) before my sweatpants gave way with a hearty "rrrrrrrrrrip!" and left me sprawled on the ground. With a big ol' rip in the front of my pants. Nope, that wasn't it. It was fall of my first year in middle school, and our PE teacher's #1 rule was to take our clothes home every weekend and wash out the gym class funk. Made sense, even if you weren't a very modest and rule-abiding lass like myself. (Hey, quit snickering out there!) Unfortunately, I forgot my clothes one Friday. When I tried to go to the locker room after school, it was...well...locked. So I went to the office to ask to be let in. The very trusting secretary gave me the key, and when I put it in the door and started to open it, I was face to face with a man! It was the coach of the visiting football team. Apparently, since the high school games were played on the middle school field, the visiting team got the girls' locker room. A whole room full of teen boys in various states of undress let out an uproar. I blushed a hue of red not commonly seen in nature. Yet, I persisted! (*groan*. I know.) I allowed the coach to escort me to my locker. More hooting and cat-calls. I dialed the combination with trembling hands, and yanked. Chukka-chukka-chukka. Nothing. I tried again. CHUKKA-CHUKKA-CHUKKA! Damn.  I'm sure I would have thought some more choice words had I been a little older. "Um...I must have the wrong locker." At this point, it was all just too much, so I just allowed the coach to escort me out, sans gym clothes. I slunk off to the office, returned the key, clambered into my mom's car, and burst into tears. She did, too...hers were tears of mirth, though, when I told her what had happened. Turns out that getting my locker open would only have increased my humiliation: I'd left my gym clothes in math class.

Of course, somewhere out there in blog land, that guy I tried NOT to see (honest!) sporting only a cup is probably writing, "Well, MY most embarrassing moment was when this GIRL came into our locker room before the big game. And Coach actually believed that story of hers about forgetting her gym clothes. Can you believe it?!?!"

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 103 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 100 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: +4.2. Huh, weird. This puts me over my "red-line" weight; time to buckle down.  Luckily Mr. Handsome-and-Handy bought some bags of salad on sale!

Food goals: Tracked 4/7 days. Guess I'm tracking the *wrong* days.
Fiber: On days tracked, averaged 40 grams/day.

Exercise goals: Making good progress on my training. And I met all of my goals this week. Woo hoo!!!
Total mileage for the week was 43.78 miles. (Thank you, spin class, for helping me racking up the miles!)
Wednesday - 77 minutes (1.36 mi) - 1 hour of BodyPump class and 17 minute treadmill run/walk.
Thursday - 60 minutes (15.94 miles) - Spin class
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - 60 minutes - Intensive yard work. Definitely counting this as strength exercise!
Monday - 65 minutes (20.38 miles) - Spin class
Tuesday - 30 minutes (6.1 miles) - Stationary bike before bed. If I were only so good about flossing my teeth.

Sleep: Getting 7-8 hours per night.
Hockey Respite for Mr. H&H: Accomplished! And the Red Wings advanced to round 2, so looks like I'll have to keep this in my goals.

Goals for Next Week

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

Food goals:
* Track food intake.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* Spin class at least once per week. I'd like to shoot for two, since I'm doing the bike portion of the "Tri the Coast" in early June.
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Continued "Hockey Respite" for Mr. H&H: It's Stanley Cup season - where possible, get home in time for Mr. Handsome-and-Handy to watch the Detroit

Red Wings playoff games. (Go Wings!)

What are you doing here....

...when you could be over at Baby Tea Leaves reading the incredible race report of Christie O', in which she conquers the St. Anthony Triathlon (olympic distance)?  Go on!  Get over there!  (And a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS, girlfriend!)

Dragon Training Tips

A childhood friend of mine and her family recently won the "How Would You Train Your Dragon" video contest!  Here's a link to the video on YouTube:  How We Train Our Dragon (David de Vos).  This certainly made me feel grateful that we've only had to train a dog. (Especially now that she's older and has become deaf.)

Congrats to the de Vos family! 

Weekly Update, 4/21/10

It's been a good week! Thing 2's gymnastics party with her classmates was a success!  I (and several of the adults) were a little envious of the zipline, trampolines, and air track fun.  Preparations went smoothly, and we had so much fun baking her cake.  Because some of her classmates do not like chocolate, she wanted half chocolate, half vanilla.  There were going to be a lot of kids, so we made two 9x13 sheets and put them together.  It looked a *little* funny, but we managed to tie it together with decorations (lots of pink) and pictures of Zhu Zhu Pets, which Mr. Handsome-and-Handy cleverly printed on photo paper and hot glued to toothpicks.  I'm so glad they invented the candles that spell "Happy Birthday," because it's too easy to screw up handwriting on cakes.  The only downside is that they melt very quickly; by the time we walked down the table to place the cake in front of Thing 2, one was completely melted and the others were just about to become wax puddles. (Note to self: seat birthday child at the end of the table closest to the food table.)

Project: Cake.  
If it doesn't scream "kindergarten girl," consult an audiologist.

An Opposite Monday

I went to spin class--yes, the petite spin sergeant's class--and afterward noticed this feeling of mindless joy and contentment which wasn't merely satisfaction at a workout survived.  I think the endorphins were especially pronounced because I hadn't worked out that hard in a few weeks.  (Too bad they don't have treadmill classes, there's something about a guided workout with really loud music that makes me push more than doing stuff on my own.  Classes included in my gym membership to have become my frugal equivalent of having a semi-personal trainer.)  Anyhoo, I walked to my usual level of the parking garage, realized with a "d'oh!" that I'd parked at the lower level, and glided on down to stow my stuff in my auxiliary purse trunk.  When I entered the building, whom did I see coming out of the elevator, to my utter astonishment and delight?  Mr. Handsome-and-Handy!  As if seeing him wasn't treat enough, he'd been to the blood bank and was bringing me a little protein-style (i.e., no bun) cheeseburger with mustard instead of sauce from the In & Out Burger across the street from his errand.


Innocence Lost

I feel sad at Thing 1's loss of soda pop innocence this past week.  His classmates were giving reports, and one person gave a report on Coca Cola, including samples.  Thing 1 had tried soda when he was really small, and thank goodness, didn't like the fizz, so it's been easy (and even truthful!) to tell them they don't like soda when it's offered at family gatherings.  Unfortunately, this time he liked it and thought it tasted like a chocolate drink.  When Mr. H&H told me, I felt rather angry and fearful.  Like we need another thing to worry about nutritionally?  I'd like to keep a "no soda at home" policy going; Mr. H&H was thinking that might drive them to full-HFCS Big Gulps when they reach high school age.  He was thinking some exposure to diet soda (to develop a preference for it rather than the caloric stuff) would be a good preventative measure.  I can kind of see his point; I've had friends who were raised with no processed foods at home who went gonzo over white bread and potato chips at friends' houses.  Then again, said friends reached adulthood and have reverted to the healthy preferences of their childhoods.  Perhaps we're making a bigger deal out of this than we need to (and are no doubt overlooking the girders remarkably shaped like huge donuts sticking out of our eyes...*cough*).


What are your thoughts?  Soda free at home?  Expose to diet soda to develop a taste?  See if they even bother thinking about it?  "Soda" vs. "pop?"


Oddball Tip of the Week

Is a plate of leftover cake just sitting there on the counter, staring you down...nay! Going so far as to make you shave off tiny slices and eat them?  Shove that sassy stuff into your microwave oven and find something else to do for a little while.  Not like you're going to cook it by accident (and would that really be a loss?), and it keeps the cake nice and fresh for others to stumble over and dispose of later.

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 105 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 100 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: +.6 from 2 weeks ago.

Food goals: Tracked 4/7 days.  I'm trying a mind trick this week:  I reset my goals in the tracking tool I use to calculate a slightly lower calories-per-day allotment.  Maybe I can "trick" myself into eating a little less this way.
Fiber: On days tracked, averaged 43 grams/day.

Exercise goals: Definitely feeling back on track!  Got back to my gym classes and met all of my goals this week.  Woo hoo!!!  
Total mileage for the week was 32.53 miles.
Wednesday - 70 minutes (.89 mi) - 1 hour of BodyPump class and 10 minute treadmill run.
Thursday - 45 minutes (2 miles) - Lunchtime walk
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 35 minutes (5 miles) - 25 minutes on stationary bike and arms + abs strength exercises
Sunday - Rest day
Monday - 63 minutes (20 miles) - Spin class
Tuesday - 65 minutes (4.64 miles) - Workout melange today!  I walked 15 minutes at lunch, then hit the gym after work for elliptical, treadmill, and stairmffrfrr--I mean, StairMaster.  I realized that, while it's a good workout that made my legs feel wobbly afterward, I truly detest that machine.  Too much trudging, and even watching the four TVs didn't help much.  (Now, if the Red Wings vs. Coyotes hockey game was on, I might have been suitably distracted!)  I was going to jump off after 15 minutes, but decided to be contrary and stick with it the whole 18 minutes.  Of course, the good part about the StairMaster was that it makes the treadmill feel like frolicking through a grassy meadow with rainbows and puppies and unicorns.  Why did I do it, if I knew I didn't like it?  I taking part in the 60 minute challenge hosted by Tony (The Anti-Jared) and Jen (Prior Fat Girl), and I included a StairMaster segment in their honor.  Sure glad I didn't have to do stairmaster for 99 minutes, though, like they were doing! 

Sleep: Getting 7-8 hours per night.
Hockey Respite for Mr. H&H:  Well, obviously I wasn't going to get home by 3:30 yesterday, but I'm happy to say that I've been good about getting home in time for the 7 p.m. games.  Just as well that Thing 2's gymnastics party conflicted with game 3, since Phoenix won that one.  The series is tied at 2-2!

Goals for Next Week

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

Food goals:
* Track food intake.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* Spin class at least once per week.  I'd like to shoot for two, since I'm doing the bike portion of the "Tri the Coast" in early June.
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Continued "Hockey Respite" for Mr. H&H:  It's Stanley Cup season - where possible, get home in time for Mr. Handsome-and-Handy to watch the Detroit Red Wings playoff games.  (Go Wings!)

Weekly Update 4/14/10 + Review of Pilates Class

Hello to you all!   Well, Thing 2 is thoroughly enjoying her 6th birthday...although "day" implies one day.  It's been more like a "season!" 

What better way to kick off the birthday season?

We had a just-the-family party on the actual day (Friday), her aunt and uncle came over on Saturday for more family celebrating, dual celebrations in Kindergarten class and in after school care Monday, and the big kids' party this Sunday at the gymnastics place.

Whew!

And wow. My "baby" is 6 years old already.  How the heck did that happen?!?


I also spent Sunday afternoon catching up IN PERSON with my best girlfriend!  *squeeeeee!!*  We've known each other since jr. high school, but sadly, she lives out of state now.  We talk on the phone regularly, but it sure doesn't beat just hanging out.  It's been a couple of years since we got to do that.  I dragged her to my favorite coffee house and to a yummy Indian food buffet place.

Girls' day out!

Pilates Class Review

First of all, thanks so much for the feedback!  Lori was right about it being harder than it looks.  SeaBreeze was right about the core work.  Core is my weak spot, so I was glad the instructor had some suggested modifications on some of the moves.  Some parts are definitely harder than yoga, but not all; some of the yoga poses are really challenging and need a lot of upper body strength.  The pilates class I took focused on abdominal and leg-lift exercises, with pretty much no upper body strength work.

Some parts of the class really tickled my funny bone.  (And no, not just the part when I farted.  Yes, out loud, but apparently not loud enough to make other people laugh.)  As I wrote on Daily Mile:

Survived my first pilates class. Whew! It was hard. We did some of the moves laying on a foam roller, and there was a ton of ab work. The move in which we sat up, pressing a ring between our knees, pulsing our arms up and down and breathing in and out in puffs made me want to shriek, "It's a BOY!" afterward. I can also see how pilates is effective functional fitness, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

It's more like childbirth class, I guess, rather than actual childbirth...certainly less painful on certain parts of the anatomy (unlike spin class...to which I'm dreading going back just a little bit).

What I ended up loving was that my obliques were mildly sore for days afterward; they are obviously not getting worked.  And there was a lot of inner thigh work; it's an area on me that doesn't get toned from the exercise I do now, so it sure wouldn't hurt to exercise it and see what happens.  (Although I realize it may be like my chest, in that all of the chest work in the world is just not going to bring back the former glory of that region...the right bra, however, can still do wonders.)  I've read that spot reduction doesn't work; has anyone ever had experience to the contrary?

In conclusion, I'm weird.  I know, I really ought to save this space to tell you something you *don't* know. I spent much of pilates class watching the clock, wondering if my abs could hold out until the end.  I walked out feeling like, "Meh, I'm not sure I would do this again."  And then after letting it sink in, I started wishing I could work it into my schedule, envisioning a "Summer of Core" (Peace! Love! Leg lifts!) since I could make this one and the other 7-8 a.m. pilates class when the kids are out of school, and it would still give me time to fit in some triathlon training for August.

Changing Doctors...Again?!?

Well, our doctor is in a different medical group now, so we changed back to a doctor we liked from the medical clinic we used to go to.  (Long story--the clinic ran out of money and closed all of a sudden...even the doctors didn't find out until they tried to show up for work that day!)  I really liked the doctor we were seeing, but I like this one, too, so a win-win situation.  I went to check out the tail end of my cold (which we suspect is being aggravated by allergies), and it was fun to see her reaction to how I'd done since I'd last seen her.  (She was the doctor I'd started seeing when I was first diagnosed; her standards for my numbers are very much in line with the control I like to see, so we're good there.)  She said I could try scaling back on my metformin dosage if I wanted to do so, and so I might give that a try after I'm in the clear with my other stuff.  It's worth a try, anyway; I can always go back on it if the numbers get out of range.  Given that my largest meal of the day is at night and that my morning numbers have always been the hardest to control, we decided to keep the night time dose and try eliminating the morning dose.  I'll of course be posting how this experiment goes.  A1C testing is still every 3 months; she'd like me to stop in every 6 months for check ups, since I've been doing really well for the past year.

Oddball Thought for the Week

Did you ever notice that the French word for "yes," oui, sounds just like the English word "wheee!"?  Of course, it sort of loses that nuance if you say "oui" in a bored, detached way.

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 106 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 104 (met goal of less than 120)
Going back down; yeay!  I've also noticed that fasting blood glucose is affected by my cycle; I've found that it shifts up during PMS-time and drops as soon as menstruation starts. 

Weight goals: Whoops, forgot to weigh this morning, but I'm sure it's up.  For the record, fully clothed and breakfasted but shoeless at the doctor's office appears to run about 4 pounds over the home scale.  Oddly, my height appears to have increased by about a quarter inch; I'm assuming that's due to better posture.

Food goals: Started out the week okay and tracked for 3.5 days; stopped for a few days, and picked it back up today. As for the hunger thing, I'm laughing ruefully at what I wrote last week.  Hunger came roaring back when Mr. Handsome-and-Handy made ribs last Wednesday. 
Fiber: Averaged 22 grams/day.  Need to do better there.

Exercise goals: Feeling much better this week.  It's funny, because I was sitting here today feeling like I'd totally blown it, having done zippity-do-dah on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but then once I looked at Daily Mile, I realized that I didn't do too badly this week with my goals.  Only one missed day, and I got strength into two of my workouts this week. 
Total mileage for the week was 16.73 miles.
Wednesday - 40 minutes (7 mi.) - 15 minute walk at lunchtime (.75 mi.) and 25 minutes on stationary bike at home (6.25 mi)
Thursday - 90 minutes - 60 minutes pilates class and 30 minutes on recumbent bike (5 miles)
Friday - 75 minutes (4.73 mi.) - 40 minutes walk at lunchtime (2 mi.)  and 35 minutes run/walk at night (2.73 mi.)
Saturday - Nothing
Sunday - Nothing
Monday - Nothing (Ack!  Shouldn't have had that double cappuccino late on Sunday afternoon; I didn't get to sleep until after midnight and was dragging today.)
Tuesday - 35 minutes - DVD extravaganza!  "Dance Off the Inches: 15 Minutes Express" + two segments of "10 Minute Solutions: Kickboxing Bootcamp," basic (I added some hand weights) and the abs segment.

Sleep: Ahhh...kids on vacation=more sleep for me in the morning!  That came to a rude halt on Monday.

Goals for Next Week

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

Food goals:
* Track food intake.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* Get back to spin class!!! (groan...)
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
It's Stanley Cup season - get home in time for Mr. Handsome-and-Handy to watch the Detroit Red Wings playoff games.  (Go Wings!)

Weekly Update, 4/7/10

First of all, big (((HUG))) to you all!  Writing these posts has become writing a open letter to good friends, and I've always enjoyed doing that.

Thanks for understanding what I had to say on Monday (and laughing with me, too).  Because this blog is about accountability, I posted it because I wanted to put it out there that after nearly 2 years of "opposite life," it's not always going to look like perfect compliance with what I should do.  I'm so grateful that I've been able to come a long way and reach a point where it is easier than it was during my first 6 months.  But there never will be "perfect," just me, following my path to the best of my ability.  And you're right, it feels really healthy to me to just move along: not sweeping it under the rug, but not beating myself up over it or feel guilty about it, either.

I'll have to re-read that memo on Friday and Saturday, though.  Thing 2 has a birthday coming up!

I have a question for you all:  Has anyone tried Pilates?  There are a couple of classes on the gym schedule that I was thinking about trying.  One is "Pilates Mat" and one is "Pilates with Foam Rollers."  About as close to Pilates as I got was an interrupted DVD, and the first part involved going from laying down completely, then rolling up and touching toes: epic fail, there. 


Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 108 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 109 (met goal of less than 120) <-There were a few days where this popped above 110.  Worrisome.  I think it was a combination of things: illness, eating later in the day, not as much strenuous exercise, and possibly cold medicines (nasal decongestant can affect metformin's effectiveness, but I didn't think that was the case for the expectorant/cough suppressant).

Weight goals: -1.8 pounds.

Food goals: I tracked 4/7 days during the past week.  Guess which days got skipped?
But you know what's weird?  I haven't been very hungry the past couple of days, and I'm actually listening to that for a change; just because I *have* calories available doesn't mean I have to *eat* them.  Part of that might be because my workouts have been scaled way back in intensity and duration; I haven't had to eat in preparation or recovery from a workout.  Or maybe I'm just eating cleaner in reaction to the fabulous food fest at Easter. :-)
Fiber: Averaged 31 grams/day.

Exercise goals: Completely down the toilet this week.  I gave it a good go on Wednesday, but then felt horrid, so I eased *way* back this week.  I'm finally feeling up to going back to the gym today.  Mr. H&H and the Things might be coming by for lunch, so I might have to go after work instead of doing BodyPump class at lunchtime today. 
Total mileage for the week was about 6.1 miles.
Wednesday - 60 minutes (.34 mile) - Level 2 of 30 Day Shred + A.M. Yoga DVD, Hip Opener segment + dog stroll around the block. (No BodyPump, because I was exercising my *social* muscles at a work lunch, and that's a rarity.)
Thursday - Nothing
Friday - Nothing
Saturday - 31 minutes (1.45 mi) - Neighborhood walk.
Sunday - Nothing
Monday - 40 minutes (2 miles) - Walk at lunch.
Tuesday - 41 minutes (2.27 miles) - Walk at lunch.

Sleep: Ahhh...kids on vacation=more sleep for me in the morning!  This has been great!

Goals for Next Week

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

Food goals:
* Track food intake.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* 20 miles minimum distance, if I'm feeling up to spin class this coming week.  I need to get on a spin bike once a week, otherwise, I have to reacclimate the girly bits all over again.
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

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

The Post-Easter Edition

Hope everyone who celebrated it enjoyed a happy Easter; hope those that didn't enjoyed a great weekend!

We had a nice time over the Easter weekend:  excited kids, big ol' living room egg hunt, special time spent with family and family of family. Ours was a rainy Easter; I don't recall ever having a rainy Easter in California! This means the hills will get to stay green a little bit longer; everything would have been brown by now without the rainfall we've had this spring.

Thing 2 was pretty excited about Easter!
(So was Thing 1, but it was manifested in wiggling rather than making a countdown chart.)

So why am I writing today, a Monday? I guess it's in the interest of full disclosure, and to figure out how I felt about eating more sweets in a single day than I have since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes nearly 2 years ago. Some history: my diagnosis happened in early summer.  As I've written elsewhere, it completely turned my world...well...opposite.  In some ways, the timing was great, because I had a whole summer with no holiday minefields to overcome and no school schedule to work around.  By Easter #1 with type 2 diabetes, I'd lost a bunch of weight, was exercising regularly and eating sensibly, and was in good enough shape to have two pieces of candy for dessert at the annual gathering without totally blowing my blood glucose levels or going off on a binge.  I had good strategy for our own Easter candy: get stuff I didn't care about for the kids and get a little bit of high-quality 70% chocolate for my husband and I to share. That was my strategy this year, too, but it didn't fully work out that way.

I could blame the well-meaning person who sent us nearly 6 pounds of See's, the premium candy of my childhood Easters.

I could blame Mr. Handsome-and-Handy, who opened one of the boxes on Saturday.

I could blame feeling down and crappy from having a nasty chest cold thing that has totally sapped my energy.

I could blame the human cultural tendency for food-as-celebration, or Mary See and her minions who followed for engineering their tastebud trifectas of sugar, fat, and salt.

But really, I can only blame me.

Thing is, I don't really feel like blaming anyone or anything.  It seems to me to give too much power to what happened.  I'd rather think about what happened, chalk it up to experience and being human, hopefully laugh about it a little with people who understand, and move on.

Memo
To: Pubsgal
From: Me, Myself, and I

It has come to our attention that we ate things and quantities that are in direct conflict with our health goals this past weekend.  The good news is that we didn't eat as much as in pre-diagnosis days.  That opened box would have been emptied and spinning on the ground like a fallen hubcap mere minutes after we'd been let loose on it.  The bad news is that we let one or two pieces turn into many, even though they were sensibly spaced through the day and consumed with healthy foods.  The scary news is that we don't even remember how many pieces we ate, we knew there would be little opportunity to even play it out of our system due to the rain, and that we knew full well that foods like this cause addictive behavior patterns in rodents.  (Side note: For those that already read Debby's excellent "Back in the Saddle" post, this is the same article.  I'd seen it before, but I don't recall the mention of "sausage" and "cheesecake", which gave me a chill; it's not just processed flour+HFCS foods.  And the researchers' question of "why do some people who have a biological tendency towards addiction go to drugs, while others go to alcohol, and others go to food?" merits an entire post on its own.  Okay, back to the memo...) We respectfully note that See's assorted chocolates are officially labeled a "trigger food" and are summarily placed on the "really, just don't go there" list.  On a positive note, we commend ourself for taking the remaining boxes to the Easter gathering and to the farthest removed breakrooms at our place of employment.  We also duly note that any withdrawal-like symptoms may be cross-checked and dismissed by use of the blood glucose meter, and can be endured in conjunction with that nasty cold.  April madness must not be allowed to bring May badness.

P.S. I just couldn't resist going with Easter egg colors for April, I know it's a little busy....