I guess I run now

We can sometimes pick up a neighbor’s wireless at mom’s condo, but usually I have to get all my emailing. etc. done at my sister’s house, so it’ll be light posting this week as well.

Got back from San Antonio on Saturday & we’re heading to MA for Thanksgiving in a few hours. It’s going to be great to see my family, but there are a lot of activities built around food this time (and every time if I think about it). I’m the largest marge in my family, but that’s because most of them barely eat in any given day. They just save up for when hubby & I are there. They’re like camels. Camels who never really worry about their weight. Camels who wear size 8s & 10s. If they weren’t my camels, I’d probably hate them for this!

Sorry, lost on a tangent there. So in addition to turkey, mom’s bought a leg of lamb, and she’s planning a Saturday brunch with the extended family that includes ham & quiches. Hubby & I will do most of the cooking, so I just have to keep him from adding butter to everything. Of course, I have that tendency too & when I’m cooking for these people, I really like to make it nice since it happens only twice a year.

So. I. need. a. strategy!

No unnecessary eating. Walking, walking, walking. Pushups & situps in the morning. Light on the butter (everyone has high cholesterol, so that’s how I should show the love), light on the chocolate, light on the dips. Walking, walking, walking.

Boot camp starts up again when I get back. I’m trying to decide if I should sign up again since it’ll run right up to the week of Christmas. Hubby says we don’t even have to go to his folks for Christmas (his family celebrates on New Year’s Day since his sister’s family is around then, we usually go up for Christmas & stay until new years, but we could put it off), so it’s doable & boot camp would be a great way to survive the holidays. But it’s expensive, so I need to think about it. Hell, I love it so much…I’m not sure what I’ll do without it!

Okay, time to get ready to fly. I’m at least in better shape this week than I was last week.

Thanks for the cold remedies & tips! I tried out all of them (except the zicam, which figured I was too far into the cold to use & the crazy Chinese pills :)). I’m not sure why, but I’m attributing the fact that I was able to survive the trip to massive doses of vitamin C, pineapple, hot showers, and sleep. Oh, chips & salsa too…I took chips & salsa in liberal amounts for many days, but only because of their obvious medicinal value.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the American Chicks out there! & Happy Week Everyone Else!

The bug came on suddenly: sore throat, runny nose, fever, achy, icky sicky. It was like it hit me all of a sudden after my meeting early this afternoon & only abated during boot camp when I figured I wasn’t just kicking boot camp ass, but was also kicking this stupid cold or sweating it out or frightening it away or something.

No luck. Boot camp ended, the high stuck around for a bit, but now the stupid cold’s back. & I leave for San Antonio on Wednesday, so it better be beat by then.

Funny story: tonight our trainer was also training an intern (I guess he’s in stage 2 of being a PT). So we did our usual grueling “warm up” that usually leaves me feeling like it’s time to go home already, thank you very much. Then we start in on a fairly simple routine: 1/4 mile run, 15 dead lifts (of about 90 pounds), 15 push ups, and 30 overhead squats (the overhead part is squating while holding a pole above your head, which is supposed to engage the abs, I guess). So we’re all doing different parts of the routine at different times, but we all have to finish the full routine.

So the first round ends & the intern comes back from his run while I’m finishing up the dead lifts & he looks bad. All white around the gills bad, all we’re about to see what he had for lunch bad. So Kathy’s worried he’s going to throw up, he leaves briefly to get water & I’m thinking, “does he realize we’re only in round one & there are 3 rounds to go?” Don’t think so. We ended up doing only 3.5 rounds & then heading up to the weight room to do about 15 minutes of ab stuff.

Sounds bad & I’m really a nice person normally, but I kept glancing over at the intern to get inspiration. The more he looked like he was hurting, the better, stronger, & healthier I felt.

So here’s the point to my story…the guy who is easily 15 years younger than me & studying to be a personal trainer…he really, really suffered through boot camp &, even with a terrible cold, I didn’t suffer any more than usual. Did you think I was gonna say, “even with a terrible cold, I rocked”? No, boot camp kicks my butt, I can manage, but I’ll probably never rock it. But tonight I left knowing that I did better & had an easier time of it than the intern & that feels like a personal victory.

Okay, I’m going to nurse this cold by turning off the lights & crawling into bed. I hate traveling, especially for work, when I’m sick, so it’s time to get serious here.

What’re your home remedies for the common cold? I’ll get chicken soup tomorrow, but I could use some suggestions for kicking this thing by Wednesday. This is an emergency situation chicks! Help!

everyone should be able to get there by going to this link. It’ll ask you to choose a name & a color & then you’ll be able to see who’s saying what. I go into “my preferences” and under “chat alerts,” change it to “alert by dialog” or “alert by sound.” That should keep the page updating constantly. Otherwise you have to refresh it yourself.

Will someone please check to make sure you can get in? & if you can’t let me know. I might need email addresses to send official invites, but I’m hoping the link is sufficient.

http://www.chatzy.com/871622430756

at the in-laws & we’ve been out to eat twice. Once for a lunch of thai, and yesterday lunch at this diner called Schoops (an Indiana native that’s made its way to the Chicago area). Big thin burgers “grilled” (read: fried) on a flat-top grill and served on giant buns with the works. I ate the whole damn thing & split an order of fries with 3 people. Fortunately we were all so full that we just ate cheese & crackers & I had 1/2 sandwich & was satisfied.

But I gotta get out of here. The scale here has me 2 pds lighter than the night we arrived, but I can’t imagine what the scale at the Y’s going to tell me. & on Wednesday I travel to San Antonio for a conference…I’m a real sucker for Mexican food & this is the place to get it. Then the following week, home to see my family for Thanksgiving. Eh gads! I need to work out!

Okay, I’m up to no good. Let’s see what ya’ll are doing.

none of them boot camp related, though & also DAMN! I have to miss tonight’s boot camp cause my department meeting will go til after 5, SWAT begins at 5, and you just don’t show up late for SWAT unless you love doing endless squats all class long. I had hoped to attend her 7am session today, but apparently that one got canceled cause no one in that class could make today’s session…argh!

On top of that, it’s hubby’s b-day, so we’re going out for beer with a colleague after our meeting, then to our favorite restaurant, then home where he has cake & presents waiting for him. It’s his 30th, so I want it to be special, but we don’t really have any good friends to celebrate with around here, so it’s just the two of us. He’s probably not expecting the cake & I clearly don’t need cake, but I’m going to have a small slice to celebrate anyway. Tomorrow we’ll bring the rest of the cake down to Chicago where we’ll spend the weekend with his parents. That’ll be nice.

Wait, why’d I start writing this? Oh, right. So no boot camp & non-stop food and beverage temptations today. I’ve done good so far. I had a meeting at noon & they provided box lunches (sandwich, chips, pasta salad, cookie, apple, and mint….so the biggest lunch you’ve ever seen), but I planned ahead & brought in leftover moussaka & salad, ate before the meeting so I wasn’t tempted to snack, & brought the box lunch back to the office for hubby’s lunch. & last night I did my situps, pushups, plank, and leg lifts & this morning I woke up early to do a pilates video & about 5 minutes of the 8-minute buns video. Not bad & a routine I’d like to get into now that we have a spare TV in the basement & plenty of room to stretch out down there. I’m thinking when SWAT ends next week, I’ll just take her pilates classes until the next round of boot camp rolls around. & I’ll add in some of my own tabatas & runs…must get back to those runs!

Okay, that’s it for now…I better get a move on or I’ll be late for my meeting.

Cheers Chicks!

5 bucks says you’re unpacked before we are! My husband may never unpack his stuff, after all & I refuse, REFUSE, to unpack the last boxes he packed (without me) cause they’re randomly packed boxes that carried lawn mowers in a former life…can fit a large adult human very comfortably.

Hey, scratch my “I’m holding steady at 170″ remark from the other day. My bathroom scale sucks…slide it two inches in any direction & you get a minimum of 5 pd difference, a maximum of a 10 pds difference. & I refuse to believe any of the lower numbers, although it’s always nice to see them & imagine that one day soon….Whatever, the high number keeps me honest & I just make sure it stays steady all week long.

So the only scale I trust now is the one at the Y. Yesterday I did my weekly weigh in & I’m 2 pds to 2.5 pds lighter this week (can’t remember exactly what I was at last week, but I know I lost at least 2). So that rocks. It’s confusing since I haven’t been counting calories or paying much attention to what’s on my plate, but maybe the SWAT muscles are starting to pull their weight & burn those calories! Yay!

Yesterday was “fight gone bad” day. I sorta like this workout. First the warm up, then once around the track, then a series of lifting, pushing, pulling exercises (most with weights) that you do as many reps of in 1 minute, then move on. The first time we did this one, I was sure I’d die after the first round, & I was shocked, shocked I tell you!, when she made us do two more rounds. This time it just felt really hard, but in a way my body finally seems to understand. Poor fat body…eventually it figures out that there will be no rest & it starts behaving. & since I knew we were only expected to do once around the track for each round, I really pushed myself for the runs, which felt good.

Oh, last week I thought of you speed trainers out there. After our usual tabata, she had us do a running tabata: set the treadmill on 6 (that was my speed, everyone else did 6.5 & above), jump on & sprint for 20 seconds, jump off for 10 seconds, & repeat 8 times. I think I could’ve gone faster if we’d done this first, rather than as an add-on to the already brutal hour. But it was fun, & reminded me of the fact that running actually can be fun.

Okay, I guess this has turned into an exercise journal for today…Hey Eryn! Hurry up with that unpacking & then come help me instead. We can hit the Y after that

I haven’t been posting much lately cause it seems like every free second gets taken up by work…except in those moments when I realize that hubby & I are descending into sloppy madness & I take a break to clean.

Yesterday was a “break to clean” day for the most part. I finally opened up 3 of hubby’s boxes that have been sitting in the living room since we bought the place. But all that stuff is now out of the boxes, washed & put away. Yay! Got the spare bedroom tidied up too: shifted some boxes around so they’re in the basement or closet & not in the middle of the floor & even made room in the closet for hubby’s giant UP-like winter coats that have also been occupying a corner of the living room.

I swear, I don’t usually live like this. I mean, I get as cluttered as the next person, but this is crazy. My next task was going to be getting the wireless installed on my office computer (the internet service we have has only the one plug, so the rest of the computers–even my basement desktop–have to be wireless). This isn’t something I’ve done before, but I figured I could pull it off. Only I didn’t get the chance. I asked hubby where he kept the spare wireless card (or whatever it’s called), and that’s it, he did it for me…& used the opportunity to play around with my computer for 3 hours rather than work on the diss. I feel bad cause I know I could’ve & would’ve done it faster on my own…when you’re writing the diss, any distraction is a welcome & potentially lengthy one.

Oh, this is a lot of talk not about diet & exercise. Both have been okay, but not great. I really count on bootcamp to give me my exercise for the week & it’s almost the only thing keeping me grounded right now…I really look forward to her beating the crap out of us twice a week…although last week we did a lot of exercises that involved beating & kicking the crap out of stuff, so that was relaxing. The only other exercise I get is walks & occasionally pushups/situps. Seems like no matter how often I resolve to do better, doing worse gets the better of me.

Food has been mostly home cooked stuff…chicken, ham, beef chuck, burger, whatever’s on sale. Lots of veggies & salads, but I’m not counting calories this week, apparently. I guess I’m burning calories with all the treading water I’m doing at work…barely keeping my head above it. But probably the stress is just adding inches to my waist.

No gains…I’m holding steady at 170. I really hate that, but I’m also really determined not to hate it so much that I sabotage myself & get the scale moving in the wrong direction. So still with the bootcamp & still with the weekly fast & still with the no stupid over-indulging & still with the small plates & single helpings. If I can hold steady until this crazy time has passed, I’ll feel like I accomplished something.

Damn, I’m boring. Time to see what you exciting chicks are up to.

That’s all from me…we’re in amazed celebration mode today & even boot camp couldn’t kick the joy out of me!

Today, is day 1, I guess.

The plan: dentist & vote. I hope neither takes too long, but I’m prepared to stick it out at the polling place since, you know, we’re one of the richest countries in the world & the oldest democracy, but gosh darnit, we just can’t figure out how to make it easy for people to vote. Chick the vote people!

The exercise plan (for day 1 of my perfect week): 20 push ups, 20 sit ups, 30 jumping jacks, 20 squats, & 3 minutes with the jump rope. Ain’t much, but I’m post bootcamp today, so we’ll see how I feel after this. Ideally I’ll get a short run in as well.

The food plan: 1200 calories. Starting the day with a 170 calorie protein shake & planning a big salad for lunch cause there’s kielbasa, pierogies, and kraut on the menu for dinner…have to check the calories in those to see what the damage will be.

I’m all about planning, apparently.

That’s all from me, now to check in with ya’ll!

VOTE!

The last one wasn’t too bad: I averaged about 1278 calories a day, but I didn’t burn as many as I could’ve.

I think a perfect week is in order…by perfect, I mean an average of just 1200 a day, no crap food, and exercise of some kind every day. For exercise I’ve been doing 20 situps, 20 pushups, and 30 seconds in the plank position every day, but that’s not enough. i’ll try to up that one additional round of 20 & 20 plus add in jumping jacks & squats.

& what happened to at least walking every day? Hell, what happened to running? I need to start the couch to 5k program again around the 5 minute interval mark & work my way back up again. I can do a 12-minute mile in bootcamp, but only the one mile & even though I can sprint through the finish, I feel like crap doing it.

This is just no way to be chicks! Time for a fresh start & dern it all, it’s time to start another long week!

Oh well, at least we finally get to vote!