The Road to Orlando

May 31, 2005

Exercise:

What : interval walk
Time: 26 minutes (!!!)
Distance: 1.6 miles
Minutes/mile: 16.25

Can I get a WOOHOO? I had an AWESOME walk today! I used the interval setting on my new watch and finished the 1.6 mile loop over 1 minute faster than I have ever done it before! It brought down my min/mile to 16.25! And that is an average min/mile, including a "brisk" 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down.

It was great. I did a brisk walk to warm up while I was on the main road. It took almost exactly 5 minutes to get to the neighborhood road. I started the interval mode when I turned on the neighborhood road and did 1 minute "super fast", followed by 2 minutes "regular fast". During the super fast portion, I took smaller strides, swung my arms faster and walked faster. I was breathing really hard during those minutes. During the normal fast periods, I lengthened my stride, got my breathing under control, and walked my normal fast pace. It took me 5 and a half sets to get back to the main road where I stopped swinging my arms, but still walked briskly home. After I got home I stretched. I am so excited about doing intervals now. I feel like they will be the key to going faster. I know i can't maintain my super fast pace all the way around the loop, but it was easy enough to keep it up for a minute at a time, knowing i would have 2 minutes to catch my breath.

WOOHOO!

# posted by amy @ 5:15 PM

Here is the promised picture of my new dress.
http://mikeamyandizzy.typepad.com/capitals/

# posted by amy @ 1:08 PM

May 30, 2005

Today ended up being a rest day. I wanted to take an after dinner walk, but it is raining. We have house guests arriving tomorrow for a week long visit. Lots of fun, I hope, but not too much straying from the diet. We will start another boot camp next weekend (even though they will still be around a couple more days.) I want another good strong kick in the rump, I need to be cutting time asap.

To that end, I have bought a new fitness watch. Well, it is more like a mother's day present. Mike bought me a lovely necklace for mother's day that (he thought) matched the ring he gave me for my 30th birthday. I have secretly desired that he finish the set (necklace and earrings) but haven't asked for them specifically. It was so thoughtful of him to get it for me, but he bought it in white gold and the ring is in yellow gold. Wouldn't you know that the place he bought it at doesn't sell the necklace in yellow gold. So after visiting some other places, I just returned it and decided to buy a watch. It has both interval and pacing options. I hope to put it to some good use to increase my speed.

# posted by amy @ 5:53 PM

May 29, 2005

Exercise:

What : "long" walk
Time: 43 minutes
Distance: 2.2 miles
Minutes/mile: 19.5

Nice, easy walk today. We did the "long" walk, even though I wished I had gone to the bathroom before we even got .25 mile from our house. It didn't become too much of an issue.

We went to a cookout earlier and did ok with all the food that was there. I took mushrooms to grill and a cucumber, tomato and feta salad and watermelon, also had some corn on the cob, 2 deviled eggs, pasta salad and icecream cake. I still need to write it all down, but it comes to about 14 points. Not bad.

Mike has been wanting some crispy (but healthy) snack food so we went in search of some today at trader joes. Someone from his office had told him about some healthy crackers they sell. We didn't find the crackers, but I did find some BBQ Soy Crisps. I read about them on MSN not too long ago as a healthy alternative to chips. They have 110 calories per serving with little fat and some fiber (I think). The best thing is that they have 8 grams of protein per serving. We bought them and tried them today and they are pretty tasty. They are thin, but have the consistency of rice cakes. The BBQ flavor was great, though I could detect a slight soy flavor lingering beneath the BBQ. If you are in search for a healthy chip alternative, give them a try. They also had a white cheddar version, but I didn't check the calories on them. They will be a great side when I go on my summer sandwich fling (sure to happen soon).

# posted by amy @ 6:47 PM

May 28, 2005

Exercise:

What : "fast" walk
Time: 27.4 minutes
Distance: 1.6 miles

Did a fast walk today as well as walking around a mall. Bought a sweet new dress for a wedding and our 5 year anniversary dinner. I got it in size 16! I will try and post a pic later, it is very sweet.

During today's walk, I did almost exactly 17 minutes/mile. To complete the loop doing a 15 minute mile, I need to finish it in 24 minutes, so over 3 minutes quicker. Today I tried to follow the advice I have read on the internet, swing my arms front to back (no side to side motion), keep my head up, back straight, normal stride. I felt like I was walking fast, but it didn't hurt which was good.

Tomorrow we have a cookout. I am bringing most of my own food, but there will be devilishly good potatoe salad.

# posted by amy @ 9:37 PM

May 27, 2005

Exercise:

What : mall walk
Time: 1.5 hours

Very easy mall walk today with a friend. The walk included trying on clothes and buying new shoes, so not stressful at all.

We leave for our vacay in 6 weeks! I need to shave over a minute off my mile before then! I guess I will try 2 fast walks, 2 "interval" walks, and one long walk a week.

Busy holiday weekend ahead. Hope you guys have a good one.

# posted by amy @ 8:06 PM

What: 60 min hard yard work

Busy, busy. Lawn is looking way better. So's house.

But baby is still teething feverish and grouchy like hell. One tooth broke through in front, two or three molars are still coming. Hard to see in her mouth with her yelling "NO! NO! NO!" at everythign and flapping around.

Rough night last night with her -- crying, clingy, etc. NEVER have had it this miserable with previous teeth. Ugh.

So... I'm still going to be sporadic til this episode is finally over.

Thank goodness for slings!

# posted by Cat @ 10:37 AM

Hi Guys! I am back from New Orleans. I had a great trip and lots of fun at the conference and with people I don't get a chance to see often, but really like. I also ran into a dear old friend who I spent a lot of time with and was super happy to see. Turns out he has moved fairly close to where I live and I am planning a trip to visit him and his wife in the fall. It was hard to be away from Iz (cried more than once) but everyone survived.

I did ok on eating, not great. It really is impossible to stay within points when eating out three meals a day for 3 days. I chose a light lunch (baked potatoes two days, salad one day) and ate reasonable suppers (pasta both nights). Breakfast was probably the hardest, the only options were starbucks, starbucks or starbucks. And a starbucks muffin is 10 points (just looked it up.) And of course I had a drink both nights with my old friends. Oh well.

The good news is that I was walking and standing for much of the day. On Wednesday, I wore my pedometer and walked over 12 miles! I am tired and sore, and need a serious soak in the tub.

We will be cleaning most of the weekend and preparing for house guests that arrive on Tuesday.

# posted by amy @ 9:20 AM

May 25, 2005

Hey ladies, sorry I've been scarce.

I haven't been doing too well with my eating and exercising, but I'm stepping it up and getting back on track. Olivia, too, has been really needy and I've been slinging her. Cat, that's so cute how Julia asked to be slung, she must have been feeling bad, poor babe.

Anyway, nothing much to report. I bought a pair of jeans as a mini-goal for myself. They're a size 17/18 from this cool little store called Maurices. They're buttoning up, looking scarily tight, but they're just sooo cute, little low rise number.

I've never worn low-rise before, they feel like my buttcrack is showing - haha. But very cute and I can see it's withint my reach. Cant wait to shop their for real and not always have to spend big Lane Bryant bucks!

# posted by Livs Mommy @ 11:11 AM

I'm going to be scarce for a bit. Family things and then Julia.

I had the saddest treadmill walk ever last night. 1 mph, bare feet, and a grumpy, feverish baby slinging to me in a sling. She'd cry any time I put her down so I started a slow walk to try to soothe her to sleep.

Doc appt this morning -- basically keep doing what we are doing and let it run it's course.

If Julia asks me to sling her I know she's feeling bad. :(

# posted by Cat @ 10:34 AM

May 23, 2005

No exercise today, it was thundering here and then I was packing. I will check back in on Friday. Have a great week!

# posted by amy @ 9:04 PM

Informal exercise yesterday.

In the form of beating the hell out of a drum and other things and then dancing with my kid and trying to get her to quit streaking.

It was at drumming circle class that we attended en famille after church. Paul was the only one of the three seriously drumming and he came out of it with red palms and feeling it in his upper body. He doesn't often get to cut loose so I had fun watching beat the stew of of our clay drum. (In class you can bring your own or share class instruments)

Julia and I explored all the instruments in the center -- shakers, bells, tambourines, little drums, guards, clacky things... all kinds of percussion. So I got to drum for a while when we were first there. I love making a racket and I much prefer beating on things to the piano lessons of my childhood that never went any where.

After a while Julia wanted to run around and alternated between dancing up front with other people who were dancing or zipping up and down the aisles. It was a bit warm -- we weren't prepared for that so next time we need to bring her a cooler outfit. I let her strip to her diaper and that helped, but eventually even that got too hot for her because she kept trying to take it off.

Amused the whole class when she was on stage and doing a crazy little naked dance while I was trying to catch her and put her diaper back on. I think next time we do that she need to wear panties. It's lighter, and she can't take it off as fast!

But we're all coming back -- way too much fun not to do it again. :)

# posted by Cat @ 8:14 PM

May 22, 2005

Exercise:

What : walk outside with family
Time: 45 minutes
Distance: 2.2 miles

Well, today was an ok day. Ate a little more than planned. Got my walk in, but felt really bad afterwards (and it was only 45 minutes at a 20 minute/mile pace?) I am starting to get worried about being deficient in something or anemic. I will head to the doctor when I get back next week. I will be out of town at a conference tuesday-thursday. I am sure it will be lots of walking, but also lots of eating out and drinking. I have been trying to develop a plan (like make sure to get yogurt in the morning or to put snacks in my bag) but since I will have no fridge and don't want to carry stuff on the plane, I will have to wait to get there and see what I have available. It is to New Orleans, btw, one of my favorite cities of all time. Wish Mike were coming and we could enjoy the nightlife.

# posted by amy @ 8:52 PM

May 21, 2005

No formal exercise today, but Mike and I have been working our tails off around the house. Got most everything done so we don't have to do anything tomorrow. The one thing I didn't get around to is weeding the front flower bed. We ripped up all the flowers and now need to get the weeds before we put down more soil and grass seed. I hate weeding.

We ordered pizza for lunch - a super big splurge, so we had a light stir fry for dinner. Always a good option for lots of bulk without many calories.

# posted by amy @ 6:27 PM

May 20, 2005

What: treadmill interval program 4
Speed: 3 mph average
Duration: 20 min
Distance: 1 mile

Got interrupted this afternoon during Julia's nap. Mom and Dad showed up unannounced while I was trying to get this walk out of my hair so I had to stop. They woke Julia coming in so they visited with her a bit and then took off again.

Then it was late, so no chance to walk (me) or nap (Julia) and we were off to meet Paul and work and then try to hit the bookstore to see some playgroup people.

She got really tired and grumpy from the lack of sleep. Sigh.

Anyway, I got the walk done later when we got back home.

# posted by Cat @ 10:46 PM

Exercise:

What : treadmill walking

Time: 30 minutes

Distance: 1.5 miles

Man, I find it very hard to exercise on the treadmill. It is rainy and cold today so I didn't have much of a choice. I tried to walk fast on it, but found I just couldn't get my pace right. Also it is hot in my basement and I got sweaty pretty quickly. So not a great exercise session, but I did it and got it over with. Made yummy pasta with salad for dinner.

I have been spending my lunch break on-line looking for training info the last couple of days. I am just going to focus on walking faster from now until we go on vacation in July. I would love to start jogging, but I worry about knee injuries sidelining and getting frustrated when I can't jog too far/fast. By walking faster, I mean getting to a 15 minute mile and sustaining it for 30 minutes. It would be the fastest I have ever walked, that is for sure. I hope it isn't too ambitious a goal, I am not sure how quickly I can speed up. Also, what helps us go faster? Losing weight? Building muscle? Or just the practice of walking fast? Couldn't find any good books on the subject at B&N last night, still looking for books on-line. So far I have decided to walk fast simply by walking as often as possible (5-6 times a week) for 30-45 minutes. I am open to other ideas.

After we get back from vacay and I have slept off the hangover, I plan on starting to jog. I will follow Hal Higdon's 5 K training guide to start with and hopefully get to the point where I can jog a 5 K distance. The I will continue with the HH half-marathon program. This won't add too much milage until the end. It seems to focus on speed instead of distance until we get closer to race day.

So there you have it, I have a plan. Happy weekend!

# posted by amy @ 5:46 PM

May 19, 2005

How was Star Wars? :)

Yep -- it's a "getting ready" kind of few weeks. I just got back from the gym and trying to sort out my billing problem. Their computers were wonky so the desk lady told me she'd get in touch with the corporate office and then call me on the phone when it gets settled. Then to the grocery store to get food for the pets and some odds and ends for ourselves.

We babysit our 1 yr old niece this weekend and I want to spend some time on the house and cooking ahead during the down times. Get Paul to trim the lawn too.

# posted by Cat @ 6:01 PM

Cat- way to go with getting back on the wagon (or treadmill :). I am glad you are feeling better. I am feeling the same sort of pressure about TTC, everytime I think about why I am doing this, I remind myself of baby #2. And Disney, in that order.

Finished up the project at work and sent to the printers at 1, so headed off to see star wars with Mike then to a nice dinner. Rest day today and I am off to enjoy it.

# posted by amy @ 5:43 PM

What: treadmill interval program 4

Speed: 3 mph average

Duration: 20 min

Distance: 1 mile

Got up early this morning, took my levoxyl, ate breakfast, banged out a quick walk, got Paul off to work, baby snores on.

There.

My day starting how I LIKE for it to start for once.

My arm is no longer red and puffed up like before. Just a mild bump around the shot site. It was freakydeaky there for a bit when it got swollen Tues. night, angy red, and went to the size of the palm of my hand. Very alarming -- never had that happen before. But all is well. Ear still a bit fuzzy sounding -- but hopepfully antibitoic will get that resolved so I can hear out of my ears properly. Very hard having conversations with people. I sound funny to myself too.

No chest congestion stuff and now that the feverish feeling has been explained and dealt with I felt it was time to get back to walking.

Kept it brief -- no point in getting ahead of myself when I'm coming of so many weeks ill. Pretty much just chucked in a movie and picked a 20 min. preprogrammed workoutoff my treadmill at random and then just zoned out for a while. Sucky part was discovering one of my fav Moving Comfort shorts has a rip in it and I don't think it is mendable. At least not at my experience level of sewing. I'll have to take it to my mom and see if she can do anything with it. Certainly can't wear it to the gym -- even mended I'd feel weird about that rip on my butt! But at least mend it for home workouts. Don't much care if Paul or Julia look at my butt in mended shorts then.

I went out to dinner with Holly this week and she hasn't seen me in months. Told me I look great -- always nice to hear. But I told her over dinner I'm REALLY feeling the pressure lately to hurry up and get fit. Julia's closing in on 16 mos of age.

Originally we talked about TTC at 18 mos and while we decided to go with 24 mos instead, her 18 mos. being right around the corner only serves as a reminder that time is tick tick ticking away.

I refuse to TTC until I'm at a fitter point because I'm NOT revisiting GD and I want a VBAC.

At the same time I don't want my children spaced too far apart and I have the PCOS infertility hurdles to take into account and allow time for.

So... pressure.

# posted by Cat @ 9:21 AM

May 18, 2005

Had a bad reaction to my shot -- inflamed, hot, red. Doing better today but wow! Worse one I've every had.

I don't know. I think on the eating front, I'm going to settle at "not obviously unvegan" for now and then try to adjust from there. Making the vegan leap at home was easy but getting the hang of it when out and about is sometimes very hard. Bread, cake, pasta -- I'll deal. Just no quiche, ice cream -- more obvisouly non-vegan food.

Baby calls... mroe later.

# posted by Cat @ 9:21 PM

Blogger was wacky last night so here is my post from then:

May 17, 2005 (evening)
Exercise: * What: walk * Distance: 1.6 miles * Time: 28 (?) minutes * What: toning * Time: 10 minutes * What: stretching * Time: 15 minutes Good day today. I tried to walk really fast today and I think I made it around in 28 minutes which would be the fastest yet. The only real problem I am having is that my broken toe doesn't like to be in a sneaker at all and esp doesn't like being in a sneaker that is moving quickly. I am stressed with work and can't think of anything else to say. Cat - so sorry you still aren't well. My fingers are crossed that the worst is over. And I hear you about struggling with food while on the road. When I visited my sister last weekend, I had pasta for 3 out of 4 meals. May 18, 2005 7:30 p.m* What: walk * Distance: 1.6 miles * Time: 27 minutes * What: toning * Time: 10 minutes * What: stretching * Time: 15 minutesAnd tonight I did the same thing but I walked in recond time - 27 minutes for 1.6 miles = 16.8 minutes per mile. I was walking as fast as I could too, swinging my arms and wiggling my hips. I don't know how I am going to go faster, but go faster I must before Disney. Do you guys have any tips on speed training? Crazy busy at work, but everything is going ok on diet front.

# posted by amy @ 7:24 PM

Amy - Woohoo to fitting into a smaller size at the store and also for your eclipse tee. I can't wait for shopping to be fun again. And also - Congrats to Isabel for walking!!
Cat - Sorry to hear you're still not well. Your eating sounds like you're doing great!
I havent been around much, but I'm still here lingering and reading what you both are up to. It's just finding the time to post. On dial up and living way out as I do, my connection is crazy slow.
Moving on. My eating has been okay. I'm having another AF, when I just finished one less than 2 weeks ago, that's frustrating. My cycles have always been screwy - but I guess my usual problem was LACK of periods and now having them in abundance isn't fun.
My eating is okay, like I said. My exercise is okay, could be more. I work out like 3-4 times a week, which is good, but not as good as I have done in the past and I know I could do more.
However, I've been much more active with Olivia. Taking her to the park and just being down and playing with her. Taking her outside several times a day. Being busy with her is a workout in itself. I find myself so exhausted at the end of the day!
My focus is getting in more protein and more fiber. I neeeed fiber! I bought some Grape Nuts at the grocery store, but it's not as high fiber as I thought. I think I needed All Bran and thought the wrong thing. Next time.
Been eating more fresh veg, and it's surprisingly filling and of course, good ol' fiber. Upping my water intake, especially now in the dry heat of summer. Keeping Olivia hydrated as well. So, that's what's going on here. Nothing too new! Weight is moving down slowly but surely.
Car is in the shop. Paul has my car and so I'm stranded at home. If it's not one thing, it's another. However, it depends on how you look at the situation. Instead of the car being stranded down the street at the mail box, we could have been on the highway! So, hopefully that gets sorted soon and isnt too draining on our savings.

# posted by Livs Mommy @ 2:34 PM

May 17, 2005

Spoke too soon. Woke up this morning feeling gross and was tempted to cancel my appt. but I dragged myself and the baby out there. Dr. F. looked in my ears and said they are still filled with fluid and after checking my nose and throat gave me another round of antibiotics. I'd only done them for 7 days and she says in her experience it takes 10-14 to really kick it out other wise it keeps feeling like it is better and but keeps coming back.

Probably my problem all month with this lingering illness. So I have another 5 days to go and hopefully that will be the end of it for real!

Got my shot, so that's back on track. She wants me to do 1x per week for 4 weeks and then I can move to every other week. Booyah!

Going to lay down. Maybe the antibiotic will kick back fast even though I've had 4 days off of them.

# posted by Cat @ 1:27 PM

Doing much better. Came back from the weekend out of town and had to spend today getting things back in order -- laundry, groceries, bills etc. But ate very well -- 5 fruit, 7 veg, and with the other food -- 2000 calories total for the day. All vegan. 82 grams of protein. Yay!

NIce to be home nad "normal" after being away and loosenign up to lacto-ovo vegetarian. I don't much like doing it but I still haven't figured out how to manage vegan on the road.

I'm shooting for 3 workouts this week so we'll see how I do. Doc tomorrow (allergist, asthma stuff) but the cold and sinus infection that had been plaguing me seems to be over and done. Hooray. :)

# posted by Cat @ 1:30 AM

May 16, 2005

Today is the day of my skinny t-shirts. After realizing I could wear a smaller size and look better wearing a smaller size than the tent shirts I have been wearing since the fourth month of pregnancy, I decided today to break open the skinny t-shirt drawer. In January, when I seperated everything into "fit" and "gotta be kidding me", I put all the t-shirts I couldnt' wear into a seperate drawer and I haven't opened it since. Until this morning, that is. The first one I pulled out was an old tie-dye that I have always loved. Slipped right on, good as new, but didn't look quite appropriate to wear to work. Next I pulled out a science themed one a picture of the sun in an eclipse. I have NEVER been able to wear this shirt. I distinctly remember buying it (at the place I used to work) because I liked the picture. I got the biggest size they had and the girl I was with said "that is way too big for you". I told her I would use it as a sleep shirt. Then I was so embarassed when I tried it on and it didn't even fit. I could squeeze into it, but it was super tight. I never wore it to work (or slept in it for that matter). And now it fits perfect, is even a little big, and I love it. I wore it today and I am doing a happy dance right now. :)

I am not doing a great job of keeping track of it, but I am finding ways to include walking in my daily routine. On Saturday, we did the mall trip and walked for 4 hours, on Sunday morning, I got my sister to do a few laps around the target parking lot while we waited for them to open, and today I walked for about 45 mintues while chatting with a friend.

# posted by amy @ 6:56 PM

May 15, 2005

I am back from the weekend with many happy things to report.

1) We shopped all day on Saturday. In one of the stores we went into, I found three really cute dresses, but the largest size they had was 16. I tried them on anyway and they all mostly fit. They were a little "grabby" across my belly, and I wasn't really looking for dresses, but it was great to be able to try on a size 16 and have it mostly fit! I finally found some shirts to try on in the last dept. store we went into. Every shirt I liked, I grabbed a 2X, for some I also grabbed 1X or 3X. I wasn't sure what size I would need due to pregnancy belly. I had to get 1x or size 18 in everything! I found 3 shirts that I loved, but they didn't have one of them in 1x so I am going to try to order it online. I also bought 2 scarves and a pair of sunglasses. I had a great time, fitting into a smaller size made my day!

2) Even though I was away this weekend, I ate great. Usually my mom and sis and I pig out together, lots of sweets and eating out, which does none of us any favors. this time, we ate out once, and the rest of the time it was healthy eating at home.

3) I am so proud that I did bootcamp last week. I hope to make it a more frequent thing. I have a lot of weeks where I can't do everything I want to do because I am traveling or have dinners with work or celebrations. It was really nice to note that I had a week with none of those things, and trying to make it a perfect week. It wasn't perfect, but I did really well. I am much more excited about exercise now and am looking forward to increase my walking speed and maybe even jogging a little if my knees can handle it. I want to get a new mp3 player or ipod, so I already have an idea about what I want to get the next time we do boot camp. It was a great way to get me back in the mindset of being healthy, making all my calories count for something nutritionally, exercising. In retrospect, I would say the hardest thing about bootcamp was eating only one sweet a day, the easiest was getting my fruits and veggies. the two things I would like to carry over into my every week is exercise and the new way of keeping track of points.

4) Isabel started walking this weekend!!! :)

# posted by amy @ 10:17 PM

May 13, 2005

“Here's to today. Not everyday can we be filled with fresh motivation and excitement, dedication and willpower. And its at these times we need to push through it more. These times when the real life changes happen.”

I can’t agree with you more, Nikki. And Amy, it sounds like you’ve had more than enough of your share of crazy life stuff happening! Ouch -- poor toe!

Over here I’ve been laying low, pushing through my own junk. Coping with the stuff I can cope with and just letting go of the stuff I can’t.

Like family drama – not much I can do about other people. Just try to steer clear and minimize it’s affect on me.

Or disturbed home life -- I got the insurance company to send me a replacement check for the one that was missing. Finally! Once I can cash that I think we will be squared on our claim and I can get on with hiring another crew of house workers to wrap up repairs.

The next group has to be general contractor for fixing the inside of the house. Yesterday the landscaper got done with the new sod, sprinkler system etc. I want to take a week off from having strangers traipsing all around my house before I get a new crew in here.

I think Paul felt a bit guilty that I’m saddled with all the house insurance/repair stuff on my own because he came home yesterday and cleaned all the gutters for me without my asking.

So that's another thing done I don't have to deal with any more.

The weather – bloody hot. Gah. From past experience I KNOW summer is NOT my best season. Apart from hurricane season upon us again, we’re looking at scorching temps in the 100’s again. I can’t control the weather but I can control my fitness schedule.

Had a talk with Paul and he’s going to take the kid Tues and Thurs evenings and then Sat mornings. I can’t get to water aerobics at the pool because they’re done before Paul gets home from work. But gym’s got one water aerobics on Sat mornings and I can get to the gym late the other nights for cardio so… Monday I have an appt to reactivate my membership and deal with my online billing access so I don’t have to be doing this stuff in person. I have no idea why my online access is wonky but whatever. Get that straightened out and just get on with it.

The weight training is going to have to happen at home, so I’ve just cleared out our entire bedroom, rearranged furniture and set up for weights there. Before the baby I used to do it in the living room but she’s such a monkey and getting into things – too scared to have heavy stuff out for her to accidentally mess with. Just best off in a room I can close off from her.

Julia supervised my wardrobe sorting and I've got all my gym clothes cleaned, hung, organized, and ready to go. I won't have an MP3 player for a bit yet, but I've got fresh batteries for my poor tired ol' walkman.

I don’t know what I’m going to do with all the stuff I moved from the bedroom to the living room because it can’t stay there… probably a ruthless purging and send all this stuff off to charity.

That also part of the disturbed home life thing – with people coming in and around to work I have to keep moving things from one room to another to give them the space to work on the thing that needs working. I’m fed up with it. Simpler just to own less stuff!

But some things are falling into place -- antibiotics are done, sinus infection dealt with. Allergist appt Tues, endoc schedule for August, have to get a dental cleaning in there next week sometime, Paul's labs came back normal (hooray!), kid's caught up with her medical stuff....

While not as good as doing what I want to be doing, there's a lot of satisfaction to getting my ducks in a row.

# posted by Cat @ 8:18 PM

May 12, 2005

My Day by Amy

I started my day as usual, up at 6:20, breakfast eaten, lunches packed, kid dressed, off to work. After I drive to work, I get out of the car and start walking toward the door. Another person is walking close behind me and it is that uncomfortable distance where maybe they should pass but it would be a slow pass and so I do what anyone would do, speed up. I zip down the side walk and when I turn to enter my building, my pinky toe comes in hard (and quite painful) contact with the cement retaining walk lining the sidewalk. Ouch! I didn't even stop though, I kept on until I got to my office. It looked bad (looks worse now, about 10 shades of black/purple/blue/red). The nail was almost ripped off so I trimmed the jagged edges. Not an auspicious start to my day.

Around lunch, I was chatting with Mike on the phone and he asks me about my schedule so I look at my calendar and, oops, we are supposed to go and get iz's shots today. Completely forgot about it. Luckily the appt was later, but had to change plans and leave work early.

When I leave work to pick up hubby and kid, I see a huge silver thing in my tire. Bigger than a nail, maybe a large bolt? It is sticking out of my front driver's side tire which looks suspiciously low. I wouldn't worry about it too much except I am due to take a 4 hour drive tomorrow to visit my sis and we have a doctors appt so dont' know how we are going to fit in "tire fix it" time.

After getting Iz and we rush to the doc praying to the pediatrician gods that it won't be a long wait. We walk in and the waiting room is full. No telling how long it will be. I call the tire place on my cell and they say they can fix it today, but it has to be there by 4:30 (it was 4 when I called them) so Mike stays with kid and I rush to deal with car. I decide to change carseat to second car, drop off first car, then run back to pick them up in the second car (the fix would take 2.5 hours).

I drive home, change carseat to other car (which is a piece of crap, can barely drive and we never put Iz in it unless it is an emergency) and drive to the tire place. This is where my carefully thought through plan breaks down. How do I get back to crap car to go and fetch iz? Well, that is where my exercise comes in. I hoofed it, broken toe and all, back home to get crap car. I kept worrying that Mike would call when I was halfway there and I would have to tell him it would be 30 more minutes. As fate would have it, he was done almost exactly when I pulled up to the office.

The End.

P.S. I am off tomorrow for the weekend. I have earned my mini shopping spree and plan to enjoy it. Hope I can find some things I like. Have a great weekend!

# posted by amy @ 9:56 PM

May 11, 2005

Today was definitely better than yesterday, solid A. We walked, but not too fast.

Exercise:

What: walk

Distance: 1.6 miles

Time: 34 minutes

# posted by amy @ 9:03 PM

Cat, Amy - Good for both of you and your boot camp!!! Hope family drama gives you a break soon, Cat!! Bah to dramas. And Amy, I'm proud of you for exercising. That must have been an arguement in your head! It would be in mine! (It HAS been!)
Well, I seem to have lost my momentum when it comes to my exercising. So far, I've gotten in an 30 minutes this week. LOL!! Oh well. My eating is also - so-so. My energy is just sooo low. Which means I need to push through it.
Went to the pool yesterday with Olivia. She looooved it! The baby area was full so I brought her into the adult pool. It made me nervous because she doesnt understand. A few months ago when I brought her, she was happy to be held. But now, as always, she's trying to get down, trying to explore. She knows not that if I let her go, she'll sink like a rock. It was cute, nonetheless. Didnt do any laps or anything, so didn't earn anything there. But it was good for us to get out into the wind.
Here's to today. Not everyday can we be filled with fresh motivation and excitement, dedication and willpower. And its at these times we need to push through it more. These times when the real life changes happen. I can't give into my urges food-wise and lazy-wise (lol) just because I don't feel like being strong. So far... not too bad. And that's progress!

# posted by Livs Mommy @ 10:46 AM

May 10, 2005

B yesterday, C today.

Exhausted.

I really don't want to get into it heavily here, but MAN. I'm sick of family drama. Blaaaaaahhhhh.

# posted by Cat @ 11:24 PM

6:00 pm

Bootcamp Day 4 - hump day.

It is half over thank god. I am having a crap day. (TMI : TOM starts today.) I was hungry early and often, I offended a co-worker, I just wanted sweets and to eat out and to eat everything in sight, and definitely not to exercise. I have a bad headache that no pills can touch. So bad day. So far I have stayed mostly on plan (though jury is still out about the exercise). I will check back in later.

9;25 PM

OK day, B+. Had an extra sweet. But exercised.

Exercise:

What: walk
Distance: 1.6 miles
Time: 34 minutes

# posted by amy @ 6:00 PM

May 9, 2005

Another great day! A+, I did everything on my list. The hardest goals to meet are the exercise and limiting myself to one sweet a day. I have been eating yogurt and fruit, they have been subbing for some of the sweet stuff.

Exercise:

What: walk
Distance: 1.6 miles

Time: 31 minutes

# posted by amy @ 9:57 PM

Day 1 -- Cat's Boot Camp

1. Yoga every day for active rest. Other exercise added as I recover.
2. ~~Keep a food log.~~
3. ~~Eat in except for lunch on Mother's Day.~~
4. ~~Drink 8 glasses of water each day.~~
5. ~~Eat 5 fruits and veggies each day.~~

Bonus: Fix my gym membership billing.

4 out of 5 = 80% or "B" grade.

Busy day today -- no workout. Paul kept asking me today if I was ok and I am. Just not enough sleep and then all this stuff going on. Add that I'm not totally all there and my antibiotic makes me a bit slow... I'm not at peak performance. Better, but not at peak.

Julia's baby dedication and then lunch out and then long family visit followed by a long nap... it all went over very well. I hide a nice Mother's Day and really couldn't have asked for better. Julia took all the stimulus in stride. I think she entertained some of the congregation when she got up to dance and then tried to copy the woman doing the last hymn in sign language.

She's doing really well with potty training -- taking herself to her little potty when she has to go. Still have some accidents sometimes since she can't figure out how to get panties off well but the accidents happen on the potty. Either because she hasn't sat back far enough on the seat to get the pee into the potty insert bucket thing and it leaks over the edge of the seat or because she forgets she is wearing her underpants while sitting on there.

In a diaper or naked -- she can handle it. Even the Snappi's -- she's figured out how to get those off now. Panties she forgets she is wearing or forgets to try to take them off first and ends up peeing through them.

I was looking at my walkman (last legs, ugh) and my CD palyer (also last legs) and I think if I get through this boot camp in good shape I'm going to order an mp3 player for the gym. I need a lot of things wardrobe wise, but I know once the horrible long walks get long, I'm going to need music most of all.

I don't know how Julia will be this time around in gym daycare. Hopefully better than the last, now that she's had practice with church daycare.

I have her doc appt tomorrow sometime for her shots and then I'll want to lay low the rest of the day in case it gives her fever or something. I'm figuring maybe Thursday at the earliest I can deal with my gym billing and then go hang out with her in gym daycare for a while to start getting her acclimated. As far as when I'll be able to just leave her there and workout -- I don't know. But one thing at a time. Sick kids aren't allowed in gym day care so I have to get us both past this illness and off the antibiotics first.

# posted by Cat @ 1:19 AM

May 8, 2005

4:35 p.m.

Bootcamp Day 2 - Mother's Day

Reasons I am happy today:

breakfast in bed

very sweet and thoughtful presents from Michael

lunch at outback :)

watching girlie movies

Cute cute baby being super sweet.

getting down all the clothes in my attic that I packed away in January when I started weight watchers and having them ALL FIT! And some were too big! Yesterday I had 3 pairs of pants that fit, now I have so many pairs of pants that fit, I don't have enough room in my closet. :) :) :)

Off for our walk and some time at the park. So far on track for an A+ today, but will check in later to give you the full run down.

10:04 p.m.

definitely an A+ day, both for bootcamp and in general. I asked Mike if every day could be mothers day. Happy moms day, guys!

# posted by amy @ 4:35 PM

May 7, 2005

9:25 am

Bootcamp Day 1.

Trying to get lots of stuff done today: work on front door, install storm door, cut grass, de-weed grass, go grocery shopping. Tomorrow I want to take the whole day off and enjoy hanging out with my kid and getting pampered.

This morning the first thing on my mind was "BOOTCAMP!"

I am changing the way I keep track of points. The way I do it now is to subtract what I eat each day from my total number of allowed points (29) and the remainder of the points is "banked" so that if I go over my allowed points on other days, I can use banked points to cover it. The rule is you are supposed to eat more than the minimum number of points each day (24) so you can bank as much as 5 a day. The new way of doing it is to start each day with them minimum number of points and if you go over, you use your flex points (you have 35 flex points each week). It is exactly the same number of points per week, but with the old way, I was focused on stay beneath the higher number (and often going over) and with the new way I will be focused on the smaller number and trying not to go over. So it is all mental. I have gotten so used to eating 29 pnts a day though, I need to reevaluate my meals and snacks and see how they fit into a 24 pnt a day diet, only using my flex points when necessary.

I weighed in this morning. LAst week I thought I would give it another week due to PMS, but I don't want to put it off. There were 5 weeks in April already (we weigh on the first saturday of the month and April had 5 Saturdays). I lost 8 lbs in April and have lost 28 lbs total. I have been doing this now for 4 months.

I am going to move our scale back to the basement. We have it up in a cabinet but it is still too easy to get and i have done a lot of mid-month weigh ins this month. I want to re-focus on health instead of the number of hte scale so no more weigh ins till the first saturday in June.

8:55 p.m.

First day was HARD. I worked my butt off to get all my errands done (mostly done, enough to rest properly tomorrow.) Got my water in, my veggies, my fruit. Stayed within points. But with all the work around the house, I wanted to treat myself between jobs with a sweet. Having only 1 sweet a day is going to be rough. Grade for Day 1 - A+!

# posted by amy @ 9:25 AM

May 6, 2005

Ok, Amy, I'll play with you and Mike this coming Sunday - Sat., with some adjustments. :)

RULES FOR BOOTCAMP (Cat)

1. Yoga every day for active rest. Other exercise added as I recover.
2. Keep a food log. (I don't do points)
3. Eat in except for lunch on Mother's Day.
4. Drink 8 glasses of water each day.
5. Eat 5 fruits and veggies each day.
6. Fix my gym membership billing.

I'm going to do the same reward -- $100 on new clothes. I'll give it to myself for 75% goals met or better.

# posted by Cat @ 9:03 PM

I just took off my rings. My rings have been really loose for a couple of weeks now, but today one of them fell off while I was at lunch. I decided I didn't want to risk it and will not wear them for a while. Maybe I will get a chain and wear them around my neck, or maybe I will use string and make them smaller.

Mike and I have decided on our:

RULES FOR BOOTCAMP

Exercise every day for 30 minutes, tone twice.

Keep track of points and stay within points for the week.

Eat in except for lunch on Mother's Day.

Drink 8 glasses of water each day.

Eat 5 fruits and veggies each day.

Limit ourselves to one sweet a night.

Switch from keeping track of "banked" points (old school WW) to keeping track of flex points.

My reward for a successful week? $100 to blow next weekend on a couple of things I want. If I don't do all the steps each day, I don't get the money.

# posted by amy @ 7:08 PM

May 5, 2005

Just a quick note. I am back from a day of eating like crap. Lunch out at indian buffet, dinner out with a visiting woman from work who had a birthday today. Decided next week will be a bootcamp. Will make up rules for boot camp tomorrow, but no eating out and exercising daily sound like a good start. Need a good swift kick!

# posted by amy @ 11:30 PM

No puking today. Hooray! I'm considering an easy yoga workout tomorrow to ease back into things since I seem to be well enough for that. Julia also didn't puke today AND she's acting perky so I think she's doing better herself.

[...]

Interesting article, Amy.

It reminds me of the book by same title -- The Psychology of Dieting by Sara Gilbert.

# posted by Cat @ 11:29 PM

Below is a description of the dateline I watched a couple of days ago that focused on the psychology of eating. I cut and pasted from an email to myself so it might be formatted funny. Just a couple of comments from your posts. Cat - I make Mike check me out every chance I can! Nikki - I don't think I could go back to senseless eating either. I have shared before how before I started WW, I would go to a bagel place every morning for a bagel, cream cheese and a blended coffee drink. Now, anytime I think about going "off the wagon" I think about that place. I think "do I want to go there? Could I go there, knowing what I know (that my former breakfast was worse than a quarter pounder and fries)?" So far, the answer is a resounding "NO". I can't unlearn how bad that food is for me. Even if I don't want to stay within points and don't want to journal and don't want to exercise, I can't go back to my former eating habits. For some reason, this idea helps me soldier on. I guess I feel like "If I can't do that, might as well do this." I watched this dateline a couple of weeks ago that dealt with the mentality of dieting. they did all these tests on dieters and non-dieters. The people thought they were testing food products so they had all these samples that they could have as much of as they wanted. In the first test, they had a "plant" in the room with them and if the plant took a lot of the food and ate alot of the food, then the other person would too. Basically demonstrating that we get our cues about how much to eat from social situations, not our stomachs. (Like when you order dessert because everyone else is ordering dessert, not because you are hungry anymore.) In the second test, the people were left alone in a room with gigantic plates of cookies. The dieters kept eating the cookies, while the non-dieters would stop after one or two, demonstrating that when you are dieting, and breaking your diet, then you tend to go way overboard, because "why not, diet is already ruined today anyway." The final test had to do with stress. They had them do an impossible puzzle that was supposed to be for kids to go on the back of a cereal box, then counted how many cookies they ate. The one comment that stuck with me from the program was "when you are not dieting, your stomach dictates how much you eat, when you are dieting, the available food often dictates how much you eat. The food has the power." Another interesting side note, some of the dieters were already quite skinny and some of the non-dieters were quite over weight.

# posted by amy @ 3:42 PM

Everyone is having revelations here, I see :)
Everyday, I learn more about myself. Everyday my definition, my cause, my goals in all parts of my life become clearer. How I want to be as a mother, wife, homemaker and how I want to find and define myself. It's all very interesting, isn't it. How much we learn...

Coming off of my period. The scale is finally budging. I'll know the official number on Saturday, however, I don't want to concentrate on that. I don't like how so often my mood is affected by the number on that scale. However, I'm consious of it.

My mood is also very much affected by the weather. The sun wakes me up and makes me more positive in a matter of seconds. I feel unstoppably happy when the sun is shining.

Eating okay, and when I don't eat the best, I am able to control myself for the rest of the day and also work off what is appropriate. This is a huge thing for me. My entire life I was ruled by "I messed up, the day is ruined, and now I might as well sign off the entire day." It's these little adjustments that make more difference than just on the scale, but mentally and emotionally - not giving in to the binge, the eating craziness.

Finding that control, harnessing it. It's very empowering. Paul has recently been very impressed with me and my exercising. It's really neat to see because he's never really taken much notice before in my health efforts. I guess because I would get on an exercise/diet kick and quit after a week or two, or less. I've beeing doing this for months now, and even though the scale has slowed, I've only sped up.

I am surprised by the comments he gives. He talks about my energy reserve that baffles him. (There isn't that much reserved energy - I summon it, I force it out!) He's amazed with me and I'm happy that I've found a way to surprise him after all this time. And mostly, surprise myself.

Something I do know for sure. I could never go back to mindless eating and a sluggish lifestyle. Well, never say never, I suppose. But right now, I can't imagine it. It would feel and it would be, so wrong.

However, I still struggle with my "All or nothing" attitude. I am exercising 75-90 minutes a day even when my body isn't up to it. Usually if I exercise, I'll find the energy and it will pick up. Other days, I am proud of myself for taking a break. I still have a lot of balance to seek out. But it's so amazing and interesting to learn more about myself. Where I used to find excuses, now I find there are none. Unless I'm ill and need rest more, and rest is equally important. I'm glad I'm able to make it a regular part of my day and making myself a priority.

# posted by Livs Mommy @ 10:52 AM

May 4, 2005

Amy, yup, it stayed down. And Julia ate all 4 0z of her soy yogurt. (Hooray!)

Now I'm contemplating dinner.

And thinking about what you wrote in your post.

"It was just one day, one minute, that I made a decision to change my life. I just need to make sure i continue making that decision, every day when I get up or every evening when I write down my food for the day."
It's pretty much what I've been thinking lately as well. Living what I believe. Not just with vegetarian/vegan eating, not just with attachment parenting, not just with fitness, not just with spiritual matters, not with just how I fit and use our home. But the whole way through, all the way across.

It's both difficult and rewarding. The cost for some, the reprogramming of habits for others.

The challenge is making it work.

# posted by Cat @ 8:12 PM

Cat -did you keep your lunch down?

Had a good day. My mantra when I started to have negative internal dialogue? "It is all mental." I kept thinking about the day I started doing WW. I stopped breastfeeding around thanksgiving and meant to start weight watchers soon after. I kept thinking "I will go to a meetign next weekend," but something always came up. Then, one day, I just started. I didn't go to a meeting, just bought a notebook and started keeping track of my food intake. It was just one day, one minute, that I made a decision to change my life. I just need to make sure i continue making that decision, every day when I get up or every evening when I write down my food for the day.

I have discovered propel fitness water. I don't want to do diet soda or iced tea at dinner (I try to avoid chemical sweeteners if possible) but I wanted to have something other than water. the propel waters are just what I needed. They are mild, are subtlely sweet and have 10 calories.

# posted by amy @ 6:17 PM

Sitting here staring at my lunch:

antibiotic pill (must be had with food)

banana

low sodium v8

1 box of Amy's Tofu Vegetable Lasagna (not vegan, but lactose free)

bottle of water

So don't want to eat it because I threw up my breakfast this morning.

So have to eat it, because I took the pill already, and must keep milk supply up for baby.

[...]

Paul told me the other day after taking a shower that I look smaller.

I told him I knew, and I was worrying about it. He said he meant not just now that I'm sick, but in general, over the last few months.

(He knows I'm worrying right now about my dropping weight so fast while sick messing with my milk and then the baby loosing some weight while sick beause she doesn't have extra to spare really. Pukathon for both of us.)

I told him I really didn't know how to take that. And I don't. It's a mix of feelings.

I like that he noticed, but I know his feelings for me don't change even if my looks do. He's seen with with waist length hair, and a shaved head. He's seen me quite thin, and quite obese. He's seen me pregnant and not pregnant. He's seen pale, and he's seen me quite tan. With and without make-up. Shaved and hairy legged. Sick, and well. Happy and sad and sangry. Everything. I just like that more -- the fact that no matter what, he loves and accepts me however it is I am in the moment.

We shower together almost every night and have for 10+ years. So I'm used to him looking at me naked. But I'm NOT used to him letting me know he's also been checking me out behind my back too... when I don't realize it. It makes me flush, feel all giggly girly. I'm not sure how to react to this -- I never do. It's cool that after 10 years he can still catch me off guard and make me turn colors but at the same time... well, you know. He was looking.

# posted by Cat @ 2:26 PM

May 3, 2005

Exercise:

What: walk
Distance: 1.6 miles

Time: 31 minutes

First exercise in a couple of weeks. I went out by myself before picking up Iz for the day. I was really looking forward to it, but it didn't go so well. I seem to be mentally defeating myself with negative talk constantly. ("Why am I exercising? I overate last night and the week is ruined.") I have negative talk issues during PMS. It is a little early, but probably the cause.

Another reason for the bad walk, I tried out the skort I bought from Terry's Bicycle company and I didn't like it. I was all excited about trying it and prepared to love it and to run out and buy more. When I put it on, if felt comfortable enough. The bike shorts are completely seperate from the skirt. The skirt is wrap around, most of it is sewn onto the shorts except for the little piece that wraps around and buckles in the front. It looked really cute, like I was wearing a skirt instead of exercise clothing. It has a lot of little pockets all over the place, I assume they are for power bars or something, they aren't big enough for much else. It does have a snap pocket on the side that was big enough for my cell phone and house keys. And the skort did a great job of hiding my thighs (you know how sometime bike shorts can feel too revealing?) So I left the house liking it pretty well. Today's walk was meant to be no pressure, just an easy walk to get back on track. I started walking into the wind and the inside part of the skort, the part in front that is sewn on, went directly into my crotch and before I knew it half the skirt had ridden up. (Don't we all love the "ride up in the crotch" look? It was the reason I started exercising in bike shorts in the first place.) I discreetly removed it then proceeded to battle it the rest of the walk. Sometimes I would lose. When I wasn't walking into the wind, it wasn't a big deal. But when I was walking into the wind (which was when I was walking on the main road) it was a constant problem. Then the fact that a casual passerby couldn't distinguish the fact that it was exercise clothing became a problem. Suddenly I just looked like a big girl wearing a short skirt that was almost obscenely riding up my crotch. (And I wonder why I am having negative speak today?)

A minor issue resulted from all the stiching on the bike shorts that held the useless pockets in place. By the end of the walk, the stiching irritated my skin something fierce.

So my review is a negative one. I might give it another chance, maybe after a wash it will be better behaved. And I think I could enjoy wearing it playing tennis. But i wouldn't advise anyone to run out and buy one. Next I try the quikwik bike shorts from Junonia (sp?).

On another, perhaps unrelated, note, I am waiting to hear about a job possibility that i am very excited about. It would mean a move and quickly. I should hear if I have an interview in the next couple of weeks. I am stressed about it and I am a stress eater. These next two weeks are going to be a struggle.

# posted by amy @ 9:22 PM

May 2, 2005

Cough, snot, ache, puke. That's me, that is. Saw doc this morning. Got different meds.

Bright side -- sick or not, I'm still eating decently. For the nursing kid, and for myself. It is verrrry easy when not feeling well to want to go for the easy eats that are basically junk food... and so far I keep talking myself out of it.

Look all I want, but keep walking away.

And it is haaaaaarrrrdddd.

# posted by Cat @ 6:15 PM

Today, I feel like I am back. The day hasn't started great. Iz was up a lot last night (ear infection? teeting? tummy issues?), we overslept and an accident on the beltway had me sitting in traffic half an hour before i gave up and came back home. But I am engaged again. Ready to exercise. Ready to spend time thinking about my diet and focus on the number of servings of grains, fruits, vegs, etc. Two weeks of sickness and "scrounge" eating followed by a weekend of company and overindulgence has motivated me to get back on track. I realize - I have a race to run! Time is wasting. By our vacation in mid-July, I need to be at a good starting level of fitness so that when we return from vacation I can jump on a training program and begin preparing for Disney. I am so proud of what I have done so far - got my diet under control, started exercising, and in the process lost 27 lbs, all huge accomplishments. but I am not yet satisfied. I want to do so much more. This is my year to get healthy before pregnancy #2, I don't want to peeter out 1/3 of the way through.

I knew that April would be a trying month. It has many birthdays and I normally start struggling around the 12 week mark anyway.

You guys are great motivation. Hope you are having a good day and a good start to a new month.

# posted by amy @ 9:30 AM

May 1, 2005

Can't really say I am back yet because I am still coughing, though not as much, and we just finished off the birthday cake for Iz's first year birthday party. But tomorrow I hope I will be back (we are out of birthday cake anyway). The weather is beautiful and i am itching to get out in it, but don't want to push myself too hard because I definitely don't want a relapse. I should have a fairly calm 2-3 weeks, then a crazy 2 with travel for work and house guests for a week (what was I thinking?) Hope to play a little catch up in the meantime.

I was supposed to weigh in next saturday but it is my TOM so I will put it off one more week giving me two weeks to get back on diet.

Cat- hope Julie is feeling better and you haven't caught it!

# posted by amy @ 4:13 PM