I made it home, after a slightly disjointed flight. All my fault, but the trip home took several more hours than it should have. This is just such a wide country.
Now I can’t sleep. This is going to be such a demanding week. I will be a wreck.
Son #1 was a great pet minder while I was away and also made a good effort to do all the chores I left him. Mostly yard work, and the weather worked against him, but he tried. I know this by the bags full of leaves on the front lawn. He says he also worked the job search but has not had any response which worries him. Worries me too, as I am still paying all the bills.
So, I admit I blew the no sugar/no alcohol thing but I don’t care, I had a perfect day today. I walked for about 5 hours - 90 minutes of serious walking through Stanley Park, then the rest of the day meandering through the city. This is how I used to spend my weekends, when I lived in the big city. Since moving to the small town I have become a car person - I drive EVERYWHERE even when it makes no economic or physical sense to do so. It is just too easy - no worries about traffic or parking make the car culture so inviting. I have to break that, it is embarrassing to admit that I drive to work when it is a 15 minute walk away.
Sushi for dinner. Being away from the office at this time is very bad, but boy did I need this change of scenery. And hey, so what if I don’t answer emails for 24 hours. As my old boss at the ngo aid agency used to say, ‘did anyone die? No? then it is a good day.’ As a boss he was no great shakes in a lot of areas but he did have a right on sense of perspective once in a while. And my current boss also has an enviable ability to shake off daily disasters and keep her eye on the big picture. Something I could stand to learn.
Ok, so today I walked for 3 hours total - one and a bit intentionally, the rest because I got lost and headed in the wrong direction. Finally made it to my conference, then walked back to my hotel, stopping for the aforementioned sushi on the way. Also dropped far too much money on specialty body lotions etc. I will be sorry for that when the credit card bill arrives.
Allow me a moment to pat myself on the back…the nike ipod thingy tells me I have walked a grand total of 67.96 km since March 2nd. March’s total: 35.59 km (average pace 11:25 per km); April so far: 32.36km at an average pace of 10:53 per km. Hot dang. That makes me feel very very good about myself. I am not nearly as lazy as I think I am.
I just returned from a 1hour and 17 minutes walk along the Pacific, beside English Bay to Stanley Park and back. It is cool, damp and grey here, as it seems to be every time I visit Vancouver. I never seem to pack the right clothes for this city.
I am treating this business trip like a spa vacation ( except for the work part…lol) which means lots and lots of walking, no sugary and/or excessive foods, no alcohol and lots of sleep. So far so good.
I spent the weekend with Loverboy at the “1/2way hotel” - this little place we found that is between here and his new town. It’s a nice place with a series of little log cabins…private and cozy. It’s been four weeks since I flew to visit him - this is probably going to be the pattern. Really not sure how I feel about this and being very very careful not to examine the situation too carefully.
However, tomorrow I head off for a week in Vancouver - I am SO looking forward to this. I am going for a conference but I feel like I am going on vacation. Sort of. Part of the appeal is that I think I will get a lot of work done in the evenings - after I find the good sushi restaurants….lol. Also I am bringing my workout gear and even have arranged to stay in a hotel a few blocks away from the conference so I have to walk every day. Downtown Vancouver is a nice place for walking - it is relatively compact. I am going to eat well, walk lots and learn lots.
This weekend I did get two hour-long hikes in - yesterday even in high heeled boots and a trenchcoat, trudging down a muddy hydro access road . I wonder what the next person down that road will think of the tracks…I just forgot my hiking boots but I went anyway. Today after I got home I grabbed the dog and headed out to the hiking trail. The cross-country skiers are done with it now (although there was a surprising amount of snow, still) and I did over an hour - 5.77 km. (I am not sure I entirely trust that little nike ipod thingy but I like the numbers, so what?)
Still about 75-80% succesful on the lo-carb thing. No impact on the scale yet except that it stopped going up (whew). Working hard to focus on the fact that I feel better, and only say nice things to myself.
Thinking like a healthy shrinking person, I have been coming home for lunch this week and packing an afternoon snack to get me through. This is important because, especially when trying to stay lo-carb, I hit a 4pm crash that, in the past, has driven me straight to chocolate covered peanuts or a cookie. If I have an afternoon snack of soup & carrots, or tuna, I find the energy to keep going, AND when I do finally get home I don’t sit down to a huge meal. Supper becomes almost another snack, just a bit more substantial. I doubt I will be able to maintain this every week all week - but every day counts.
Finally went to the gym to calibrate my nike ipod thingy - had to do it on a track or treadmill where I could definitely know the distance covered. Math in the gym is hard - if the track is 1.667 km in 9 laps, how many laps is 1 km? Or, if I need to cover .4 km, how many laps should I do? And I think I can do an MBA program. The math parts of your intelligence atrophy if you don’t use them…lol. However, at the end of it - did 6km at a really good pace. Downside to the gym? It’s attached to work so there were lots of familiar faces, which I always find awkward.
I had a total airhead weekend. I had to go to the big city on business, and took advantage of the timing to have a weekend visit with sister and friends. Over Sat and Sun, I managed to leave business folders at one house (creating a mad dash around town on the way to the airport), end up at a train station nobody could find waiting for a ride AND buy two different shoes. Not 2 pairs of shoes - 2 completely different shoes. I was trying several on and guess I mixed things up and didn’t check the box on the way to the cashier and now I have a beautiful silver pump and a black peep-toe patent leather pump. One of each.
Good thing I have a sense of humour.
So now loving sister has agreed to go back to the store and buy the two matching shoes for me so I have two pairs. yay VISA is all I can say.
I am very proud of my ever-shrinking sister but I can’t help the sibling rivalry - I will use it only in a positive and healthful way… for instance tonight I am going to be in bed by 10am because I didn’t fall asleep until after 3am last night and healthy shrinking people get enough sleep.
Spent the weekend away visiting sister and friends. My sister has lost about 100 lbs over the last 2 years, and is now an extremely active, much happier person. I am envious and proud of her at the same time. We went shopping and I found out she wears 2 sizes smaller than me. Now, her frame is more petite, and as she loses weight she is emerging as a very tiny person (5′ for example) but my sibling competitive streak has just been activated. In a good way. So out I went for a walk and did my fastest average time yet over 47 minutes.
It’s a girl night - doing my hair, doing my nails. I am really exhausted due to working 10-12 days, and a touch of insomnia so I am planning an early bed. Also may be getting a cold. In general - it is just a yucky evening. However - very strict on the low carb thing today - so yay me for that.
