Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Weekly Update, 7/28/10

I am...

Learning Stuff from my Family!  If you missed yesterday's post, I interviewed my family in a guest post for Foodie McBody over on her blog, FoodFoodBodyBody.  My family is tremendously supportive, and it was fun to pick their brains about what they think people should do to be healthy and happy.  (Of course, the Things were thinking in terms of what OTHER people should do....)

Playing!  It was a hard week, in some ways.  Swimming, usually the balm of my soul, was an emotional suckage this week; Pilates and Cardio Sculpt felt really hard, and I chaffed a big gouge into my shoulder during my 13 minute treadmill run in the wrong bra.  Ouch.  But I'm satisfied that I at least touched on all areas, and I even did a little yoga!



Sustaining!  I'm still food blogging, and that's been valuable.   forgot to weigh this morning.  As of yesterday, though, I was down 1.4.  As long as it stays within a couple of pounds of where I am right now, I feel very neutral about what the scale says.  Interestingly enough, Debby summed this up beautifully in her "TVP, Part Deux" post, in support of her not weighing:
I am making good choices, and I don’t want to eat less.  I only want to stop eating when  I am already full and of course, I want to stop eating when I am anxious/bored/irritated/whatever.
I think as long as I'm honest about my choices being good and my motives--in other words, satisfy my physical hunger in a way that pleases my senses and best fuels my body--then the scale will continue to be a useful tool for me.  As a tool, it helps keep me honest about whether I'm truly making the best choices with my food and fitness; it won't change good behavior, but it can help me course-correct.

Getting Excited about the Lompoc Sprint Triathlon!  I printed out the registration form and the course maps, and I got this little rush of excitement.  I'm looking forward to this event.  I haven't been training for it particularly well, but you know?  I realized that I'm okay with that, even if it's not in alignment with my crazy-ass dream.  I know I can finish it, although it will still be challenging.  The swim is a pool swim in their aquatic center, and the pool is the same width as the pool I train at now, so I'm comfortable about that...no weird swim start like the Treeathlon, no wetsuit, although I may have to share lanes, which I feel comfortable about doing.  The bike is an out-and-back course, completely flat.  The only thing that could throw me there is the infamous Lompoc wind, although it would be at my back on the way back, if it's even blowing in the morning.  And the run is also flat.  Registration was duly mailed yesterday afternoon.

Reading!  I finished Chapter 3 of Savor this morning.  Good stuff, and it makes sense with my own experience in some ways.  I'd read the advice in a book about simplifying your life to stop subscribing to magazines, because they are primarily a tool for advertising and can increase your feelings of dissatisfaction with life.  I'm down to Country and my mom gets me Guideposts, both of which have minimal advertising.  (Well, Guideposts has an awful lot of pharma ads, but I ignore those.)  So when I recently purchased Shape magazine to read their interview with Lori of "Finding Radiance", I was struck by all the ads, and articles masquerading as ads for stuff.  I much preferred the stories about real people and their experiences with gaining health and fitness, which to their credit, they did have several.

Maintaining Blood Glucose Levels!  Overall 7-day average is 109, fasting 7-day average is 109.  My only out-of-range reading was a 124 before breakfast on Sunday, and I'm guessing it was the party food on Saturday.  (Boo hiss, because it was 101 at bedtime!)

Trying New Recipes!  Well, one was new (yummy "Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake" from askGeorgie.com) and one was a new twist on a favorite (another askGeorgie.com recipe, "Roasted Crunchy Garbanzo Beans," but with different spices).  The first was a glowing success, the latter...okay.  I liked the batch I made before better, the spice combo I tried didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

I want to...

Keep on photo blogging the eats.  It's still fun!

Keep meeting goals.  I want to stay consistent with my goals, especially fitness ones: Get out and play 30 minutes x 5 days; play with weights 2x per week; do at least 1 swim, bike, and run per week.  Revel in the last month of being able to feast on fitness, because the school year makes everything much more complicated.

Speaking of goals...I read an article over on Zen Habits the other day, "The Best Goal is No Goal" .  It provoked a very strong "Yeah, try applying that one at school and work, pal!" reaction in me...and then I had to pause and wonder where such a visceral reaction came from.  I couldn't help but think of the compulsory nature of school and work, of how stressful and hard it is to keep the kids on track with their homework, with how it's even a struggle for me to keep on track with everything at home and work that needs doing.  Somehow, I doubt that my kids' vision of "you wake up and do what you're passionate about" would include going to school and doing their homework.  This summer, it's looking more like playing with toys, riding bikes and scooters with friends, and playing stuff on their computers (and watching videos of other kids playing stuff on their computers via YouTube...oh the recursive horror!).

What do you all think? 

On the other hand, I think it's valuable to not become too attached to specific goals.  Because, as the author says, "I end up in places that are wonderful, surprising, great. I just didn’t know I would get there when I started."  Also, too much attachment to a goal can sometimes make me dissatisfied with the journey; things eating me can cause me to eat too many things.  I mean, I need to do fitness things to stay healthy, but the more I can find joy and fun in them, it means I'll be more likely to stick with them.  Angst is not fun.

Keep those blood glucose levels happy. (average <120 overall and <110 fasting).

Keep on reading.  I'd like to finish "Savor" before the library demands it back again.

10 comments:

Brooke said...

so would you recommend Savor?

Christine.Joyce said...

What's Savor? Sounds interesting!!

Lori said...

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on "Savor." Overall, I liked it. A little preachy at times (and how many things do I really need to meditate about anyway??), but some good stuff in there.

I read that same blog about the goals and I just don't know about it. Maybe there is a difference between being goal-directed and having a goal and that is what he means?

Pubsgal said...

The book is called "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life", by Thich Nhat Hahn (a Buddhist monk) and Dr. Lilian Cheung. It takes the Buddhist mindfulness approach and applies it to eating.

I've just started reading it. I skimmed the first chapter (yada yada yada...obesity is a big problem in America...yada yada ya) and paid more attention to the next couple of chapters. I'll write about it more after I finish it.

As Lori said, it gets a little preachy, especially in the area of veganism, but the part I read this morning made some good points about how what we "feed" our mind and soul with can affect our feelings and our eating habits.

I haven't read or listened to a lot of Thich Nhat Hahn's works, but I did like his audio recording, "Mindful Living."

@Lori: I think you might be right about the "no goals" article. I was just surprised at how I felt after reading it. I usually really like his articles. It's actually a little funny, because some of the things he "just does" imply some sort of plan, like working on a book. Presuming he actually wants to share it someday, that implies working toward...if not a goal, then an endpoint? Well, it made me react, and think about it, which may very well have been his...hmmm, goal seems to be the wrong word here...objective, perhaps? ;-) I'm guessing that perhaps he's working to free himself from an obsessiveness with making and pursuing goals, and of the attachment to certain outcomes.

april said...

I think you're doing a fantastic job!

I'm always in awe of all you triathlon people!

debby said...

A chacun son gout! perfectly expresses how we are thinking the same but handling it differently (the scale)

So impressed with your races and triathlons.

The magazine thing. I agree with that, even though I never read it. I used to subscribe to all the different house magazines. Even my quilt magazines, which are mostly inspirational, can make me despair that I will never be able to do what they are doing. And then I remind myself that I don't actually want to do what 'they' are doing.

Very interesting on the goal setting. I tend to be a non-goal setter. When I set a goal and then don't make it/don't follow through, it makes me very unhappy. But I think I am always (pretty much) moving forward/looking to the next thing/willing to try new stuff, etc. I guess I'm okay being a non-goal setter. It used to REALLY bother me.

debby said...

p.s. YAY!!!! on the food blog continuing.

Pubsgal said...

Correction on my comment - I skimmed the intro, not the first chapter.

Christie O. said...

ohhhh pubsgallllllll! (in my singsong voice) go over to the sisterhooooooooood: http://shrinkingjeans.net/2010/08/sister-spotlight-9/

and hurrrryyyyyy.

Sagan said...

Cinnamon streusal coffee cake? YES PLEASE.

I love reading. So relaxing happy.

Wearing the right clothes is essential for enjoying exercise! Which reminds me that I need to get a new workout bra.