Pending goals.

Everybody knows that it’s nonsense to try to goal-set before an impending vacation. We’re leaving on Thursday morning. I’m only holding myself to the vague, nonspecific ambition to not be a complete pig, and to walk and hike as much as possible, for the next couple of weeks.

Hah. I haven’t really had any restrictions on myself for the past couple of weeks, either. I’ve ignored my diet and only exercised a few times. Feh, I’m okay with that. No sense in stressing about my slackardness now, right?

BUT. When I come back from vacation, it’s going to be a whole new ball game.

It will be the perfect time, after being out of any kind of routine for the duration of our vacation, to establish an altered routine that focuses on my health and fitness. There will be, by that time, only another month or six weeks of truly miserable weather. Then I’ll be able to go outside again, and add options to my pretty stale exercise regime. Now that my foot pain is fixed, I’m going to attempt the Couch to 5k running plan. We’re going to go for more bike rides. We’re going to go hiking.

Fall is Spring, in this instance. A time for refreshed attitudes and renewed energy. And I’m really looking forward to it.

Undefined

Last Wednesday and Friday I weighed myself at the gym.  On the same, doctor’s-office type scale I’ve used for quite some time.  Clearly the old scale needs calibration.

Earlier this year, it was simple.  Stand on scale.  Set bottom (big) weight on the ‘200’ spot.  Adjust top weight until the scale balances.  In the spring, it was at ’17.’  A few weeks ago, it was at ‘1.’

On Wednesday and Friday, I put the big weight to 200 and the small to zero – the scale still stayed bottomed out.   Woohoo!

Then I dropped the big weight back to 150, and started moving the small weight.  45…47…49…50…  Nothing.

I moved it PAST 50 on the top scale.  All the way to the end.  Nothing.

So, apparently I weigh more than (150 + 50) pounds, but less than (200 + 0) pounds.

Clearly my body weight has tried to divide by zero or something.

Pet Peeve: Gym Yoga

As most of you know, I’m on vacation in sunny Florida with my mom right now. Of course I can’t leave yoga behind when I go on vacation, so I brought my mat and some clothes with me so I could practice on my own and, hopefully, find a class somewhere. IMHO, it’s always a good idea to take classes in your favorite mode of exercise in all sorts of places, because the climate, the naming conventions, and the level of difficulty can vary so widely that it’ll always be an interesting experience.

My mom told me she had a class that she’d love for me to take. It was too hard for her, she said, but she thought it would be great for me. I didn’t learn until I’d already agreed to this that the class was at her gym. I kind of went “oh, it’s a gym yoga class” when I found out, and she said “is that a problem?” and I tried, and ultimately failed, to explain that the mood of gym yoga is just a whole different thing than studio yoga.

Unplanned, unregulated exercise

If things go as (partially and vaguely) planned, sometime this weekend I’ll have a repeat of last weekend.  I’ll pull my bike down off of the hooks in the garage and ride the mile or so with Boy to the nearby park.

Maybe we can even repeat the trip of a year or so ago and ride the hell out of the park, lugging uphill and hauling butt downhill.  (Those hills are pretty damned steep, so ass can be hauled, even by a lardass like me, simply by virtue of gravity.)

It’s funny.  It’s so hard to motivate myself to get up off my butt when I’m at home on my nights and weekends to actually go out and do something like that – which is why I force myself to go to the gym, because if I can get into a routine and just get there, then I fall into the mindset of “I’m here, I better do what I came here for.  Time to get my money’s worth.”

When, really, what’s more of a drag?  A mile bike ride through a park, or a mile’s worth of pedaling a stationary bike in a sweat-reeking gym?  Even if you can’t count the calories burned or you know that you weren’t pedaling the whole time (because sometimes, on a real bike, you actually get to go downhill!  Woo!), it sure as hell feels a lot less like…work.

So why the hell don’t I do it more often?  You got me.  (Well, aside from the occasional butt soreness.  But I digress.)  Time to change that.

I leave you with one of my favorite workout songs of late.  Simple, catchy, pounding rhythm.  And fun, too!

(Actually, the one I’ve been working out to is the Sepultura cover, which I think kicks even more ass, but may not be palatable to everybody, heh.)

Daily Goals

TRY NOT TO KILL MYSELF OR ANYONE ELSE ON THIS, MY LAST DAY OF WORK BEFORE GOING ON VACATION.

If I can manage that one little task, I’ll consider this day a success.

Of course I’ll be posting a little sporadically over the next week or so, but I’ll be around. I am way too attached to you guys to think about going more than a day or two without being in touch.

Issues much?

Here’s to vacations! In t-minus 3, 2, 1…

Soundtrack

This was the soundtrack of my walk around the AcronymCo campus this morning:

Long Cool Woman – They Hollys
Take it on the Run – REO Speedwagon
My Hero – Foo Fighters
Hero of the Day – Metallica
Shake Ya Tailfeather – Bad Boys Soundtrack
Blue on Black – Johnny Lang
Hey Hey What Can I Do – Led Zeppelin
When It’s Love – Van Halen

Total elapsed time – 30 minutes

Balance

I hinted at what draws my attention the other night on TB’s Radio show.

I have been on an excellent three day period of exercise.   Both running and lifting and it feels very good to get back on track in that part of my life again, but my little green and blue books have not been touched since that happened.

My running hasn’t been very far…or very fast, but five miles is five miles (and about 600 calories) and it is good to have some of that familiar soreness in my body that I seem to crave.

Yesterdays five miles was combined with enough heavy lifting to cause some soreness in my shoulders today…I like that feeling.   

My lifting had been slowed down by an injury obtained during an “incident” with someone I work with occasionally.   It turns out that i am still having some trouble with this right hand.  I only feel it when I am trying to perform a “curl” and it is at the base of my thumb.

Not being a “weightlifter” I am not sure what normal weight for me to use curling would be, but I perform three sets of five reps when I curl any weight.   Usually 80-100 pounds (single bar for both arms at the same time)…it depends on how I feel that day.   Even at this point, the 80 pounds causes me some pain in that hand.   It is better now than when I stopped lifting a month ago, but it is still there.   Yesterday, I was forced to go with 70 and 10 reps…and the discomfort was manageable.

I would really like to come up with a routine, system or a way that allows me to focus on multiple “free time” things at the same time…but looking back on it all now, I see that the increased focus on comedy happened right after the hand injury and now that the hand is healing, I am working back into “exercise mode”.

I guess we are all looking for some kind of balance in our lives…

Scare Factor

So, earlier this morning I got a call from my mom to my cell phone.

This would normally be considered bad news, except she’d tried to reach us last night while I was off watching moon movies with Boy.  And I knew they were hoping their broken AC was fixed on Monday, so I assumed she was just letting me know they were back in business, especially since I called to check in with them in that regard on Saturday.

Actually, it was bad news.

I’m sure most of you know by now that I grew up in a little neighborhood that could best be described as clannish.  We were almost all related in some form or fashion, and anyway had been living together for a generation or three.  We were close.

There was a family across the street from me – my aunt’s adopted brother and his family.  The kids were younger than me, the oldest being a girl, about five years younger.

Her husband just had a massive heart attack this weekend.  As in, shocked him back multiple times and failed.  Broke ribs giving CPR.  Turned blue.  Airlifted to one hospital (out of state, even), had to be diverted to another because of fog.

He’s stable, now, but in critical condition.

He’s thirty-five.

As it so happens, I didn’t really know the guy well, but according to my mom when we were both infants we shared a crib together at the babysitter’s.

I don’t know if he had familial risk factors, but I don’t think he was in the most horrible shape.  (However, being from back home, the idea that his diet was not diabetes- or heart-disease-friendly is a moderately safe assumption.  But I don’t know that.)

Holy shit.  Talk about a wake-up call.

Daily Goals

Kim
Water: Not so great, about one 20oz bottle. I’m sure I’ll make up for it later when I’m sweatin’ to the oldies.

Calories/Nutrition: Also not stellar. I’ve had a ridiculously busy day so for convenience sake I’ve had two granola bars & some Wheat Thins. Good calorie-wise, but some actual nutrients for dinner would be advisable.

Worst Thing Today: I spent my lunch hour running around to various government agencies getting things taken care that needed to get done before leaving for my trip on Friday. Not my favorite way to spend a lunch hour.

Best Thing Today: Same as above. The feeling of relief I now have getting this stuff taken care of is totally worth the time, energy and money it took to get ‘r done.

Notes: Princess Time arrived for me again (it seems like only yesterday I was saying that, but amazingly another whole month has passed), which on one hand is never a party (in my pants) but on the other – Woooo! This means it’ll be going, going, GONE by the time I leave for the trip! Good timing, you rat bastard, for ONCE!

Laura

Water: I’m not so great about this when I’m not at work, swigging away at my five hundred and twelve ounce (well, okay 34 oz) Bubba Keg ‘O Frosty Beverage. Today I’ve had… one 16 oz bottle of water. And I’m waiting for my cup of tea to steep. (I count tea. It’s mostly water. Actually, it’s all water with some leaves in it.) So. Yeah. Gonna work on that.

Calories/Nutrition: Uhh… this one STB today. Calvin brought home McDonalds for lunch (nom), we’re having The Magical Steak Dinner for, well, dinner, and I made THE Pie(tm) for dessert. Cuz it’s mah berfday. ‘Course, my diet has STB for the past week, but eh. It’s mah berfday. Did I mention?

Exercise: Did a half-hour on the elliptical, and upper body weight training. Free weights (HAH! I spelled it ‘waytes’, WTF?) are hella harder than the machine.

Worst Thing Today: Nothing, really. Calvin’s a little growly because of having to deal with some Computer Issues of Massive Assitude. I have Massive Sympathies.

Best Thing Today: Gonna eat pie. Cuz it’s mah berfday. Yeah, I’m gonna eat some pie. Cuz it’s mah berfday. Who’s berday? Mah berfday! Woo! (Repeat 154 times. Preferably waving your hands in the air. Like you just don’t care.)

Notes: I’ve been eating like such crap today, and for the past week really, that I’m actually looking forward to eating better for the remainder of the week. Go figure.

Have Jillian, Will Travel

I posted awhile ago about being concerned with going on vacation while trying to keep my eating problem under control. (I guess since I don’t have a drinking, drug, gambling or p0rn problem, all that’s left is eating because there has to be something, right?) Well, now that vacation time is almost here, I’m feeling pretty good about the strategy I have in mind.

Like Shari, I want to enjoy everything to the fullest while I’m away and that of course includes food. You’re not going to find me dutifully recording everything in my little calorie log while I’m hanging out with family and friends. And I already have several plans of going out to eat with different people; I’m going to be enjoying the company too much to be worrying about the numbers.