Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Weekly Update, 1/27/10

Hi there!

Ugh...not much sleep last night, so I'm not going to write much now. Life is a whirl of work, kids' school stresses (including possible closure of my kids' school due to budget cuts - so lots of school board meetings added to our schedule - and no little "what if..." and freaking out - we love our kids' school), and struggling to keep on an even keel with regard to food and fitness.

On the positive side, I've started my first "pay it forward" hat. I found the yummiest yarn, but I had to do a bit of recalculating the pattern to fit the needles I have. Thing 2 likes the gauge swatch; it became a new blanket for her little animal toys. It's been awhile since I knit in the round, and I rarely knit in such a small yarn (sportweight, which is thinner than the usual kind, which is worsted weight), so the fingers are feeling a bit fumbly. If the first hat turns out totally funky, well, guess Thing 2's stuffed animals get a new hat. ;-)

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

7-day blood glucose average: 104 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 102 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: Up .2. I'm holding steady, but it would be nice to be able to eat the same and hold steady about 10 pounds lower. What? It doesn't work like that? Damn.

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. (Though I suppose I could Monday as double? ;-)
* Total mileage: 24.04 miles
* - Wednesday, 1/20: Missed BodyPump class today. :-( Rode stationary bike at home 23 minutes (5.5 miles) and did strength workout 15 minutes (arms and abs).
- Thursday, 1/21: Rest.
* - Friday, 1/22: 60 minutes - BodyPump class.
- Saturday, 1/23: Active rest (shopping stroll).
- Sunday, 1/24: Utmost sloth.
- Monday, 1/25: Brick workout today, total 75 minutes. 3.41 miles in 35 minutes treadmill run, 12 miles in 33 minutes spin bike, and .5 mile in 7 minutes cooldown on the elliptical.
- Tuesday, 1/26: Ugh, so sore today! Walked 48 minutes, 2.63 miles.

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

Monthly Measure
Down .5" in the waist (back to lowest point) but up 1" in the hips (up 1" from lowest point); other measurements unchanged.

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.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

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.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Weekly Update, 1/6/10

What's New

Welcome to the year Twenty Ten! I hope it's going well so far for all y'all, and that working toward your goals this year goes smoothly and enjoyably!

We enjoyed the last few days of 2009 at home, with a mini New Year's Eve party (culminating with the Eastern time ball drop at 9 p.m.). Things 1 & 2 went crazy, blowing horns and shouting. We also did the family tradition (from my side) of hiding coins outside on New Year's Eve; when you find them in the morning, it's supposed to mean that you will have a prosperous year. Mr. Handsome-and-Handy had never heard of this one and quietly rolls his eyes; I continue it anyway. I'm not sure if this was just something my dad's family made up or if it's a cultural/regional thing. Anyone ever heard of this? It might be a variation on prosperity-themed foods at New Year's, a lot of which seem to focus on foods that resemble coins, or food with a coin hidden in it that brings luck (and hopefully not choking) to the finder. I suppose I should be grateful that my husband's family did not preserve the German/Polish tradition of eating herring at midnight! *Shudder*.

We knew that Monday would bring the return of early mornings, so on Sunday we bribed the kids to get up earlier by promising to take them out to breakfast. There's a little cafe at our local airport that has some seriously tasty food, and they make fresh orange juice, plus there are lots of model airplanes and pictures on the walls. (Our favorite dish, the "Flying Farmer's Feast," is a sort of hash: various sausages, including chorizo, mixed in home fries that have bits of onion and red & green bell peppers. I got the sliced tomatoes instead of pancakes, but Mr. H&H and Thing 1 shared a few bites of theirs. Thing 2 got a grilled cheese sandwich.) Afterward, the kids clamored for a park outing, so they could "exercise and burn some calories." Egads! How did that seep into their consciousness? I really don't talk about exercise and calories much outside the blog world. Sometimes the kids are curious about "what's healthy" and I chat with them about eating "good for you" foods and what those are (somehow dark chocolate has made it into this list...insert some nonchalant whistling here) and that moving around is good for your body. But I prefer to just do my thing and not really bore them with a lot of talk about it. I think it was because Mr. H&H played Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred last week and the kids and I followed along (but not overly intensely; I was sore from BodyPump). At the park, though, I think Mr. H&H and our ancient dog got more exercise, shuffling through the neighborhood, because the Things decided that building a replica of the Hawaiian Islands in the sand box was much more fun. It did feel great to get some sunshine and fresh air, though, and to think tropical thoughts.

So...it's back to training in earnest this week. I was really dreading going back to the pool. It was grey and cold on Monday, and the way my schedule was going, I'd decided to swim after work. Not inviting at night, the idea of getting wet and cold. (The pool is outdoors.) But other than a little *gasp* on getting into it, the temperature turned out to be just right, and I remembered how much I enjoy swimming. I wanted to track my distance, so I tried using a mini knitting row counter (aka "kacha kacha") to count laps. I put it on a rubber band, then stuck the rubber band around my wrist. It will take a little time to figure out how to advance it smoothly while swimming; I tended to tread a little while clicking it. But it made a decent lap counter, I had one already, and it's about half the price of the ring-style swimming lap counters I found online, too. I also found that my breaststroke is more efficient than my front crawl (19 strokes vs. 30 to cross the pool) and is about the same speed. Interesting! So now that I hopped over that little mental hurdle, getting in the pool next week should go a bit more smoothly.

Oh, and a quick Chia Sponge Bob update: It's dead. We killed a Chia Pet. Can you believe we killed a *bleepin'* Chia Pet? That explains why our only house plant is an ancient, dessicated cactus. So Chia SpongeBob is spending his Chia Pet afterlife as a garden gnome; he's all cleaned off and placed in a planter with the remains of a cilantro and a basil and an "I'm not dead yet" mint plant. Which has to be much more interesting than sitting on a hutch with shrivelled chia clinging to one's head (and back).

A New Challenge

Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans just started its new challenge: "Rethink Your Shrink." Part of the "homework" was to commit to three goals over the next 7 weeks and come up with a non-food reward. Mine are as follows:

(1) Run, bike, and swim at least 20 miles (total) each week.
(2) Strength exercise 2x a week (instead of my current one day).
(3) Stay within 1000 calories of my weekly budget.

Non-food reward - I've already signed up for a sprint triathlon in 8.5 weeks! Seeing a time improvement over my last triathlon will be a great reward.

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

7-day blood glucose average: 98 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 101 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: Down .4 this week.

Food goals:
* Calorie tracking: I blew off tracking calories over the holiday weekend. On the tracked days, I was under my calorie limit only one of the days. *blush*. Not so well done last week. I know I was over "stay 1000 calories within range" last week.
Fiber: I averaged over 30 grams fiber/day.

Exercise goals: While I did not meet the 5x30 goal, I did do 4x30. I also missed my goal of running during the week.
* Total mileage: 33.94 miles (hurrah for spin class!)
* - Wednesday: 60 minutes - BodyPump class, plus a bit of 30 Day Shred Level 2-done-lightly with the kids. (Yes, Jillian, I phoned it in. Neener!)
- Thursday: 51 minutes, 15.38 miles - spin class
- Friday: Nothing today.
- Saturday: Nothing today either.
* - Sunday: Untracked "playout" at the park. I played on the monkey bars a little bit, and felt it in my arms the next day. I'm counting this as my 2nd strength exercise of the week.
- Monday: 34 minutes, 850 meters (1/2 mile) - freestyle lap swimming.
- Tuesday: 57 minutes, 18.06 miles - spin class

Sleep: I think we actually did get 7 hours/sleep per night, but with back-to-school this week, it sure didn't feel like it.

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, one bike, one swim
*2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

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