Learning the ropes

Thursday, September 11, 2008

My new scale & heart monitor arrived today! After supper my husband & I played with the scale & figured out how it works. Once you've created your personal profile (age, height, gender), besides weight it calculates BMI & also sends a pulse that supposedly reads your body fat percentage. You, my Sparkfriends, probably already have a cool scale like this, but we are just now entering the 21st century of bathroom gadgets. Heh.

I will officially weigh myself in the morning, & tomorrow you'll see my weight zoom up on my ticker. We already compared the new scale with our old one & found the new one weighs us both 6 pounds more than the old one. I'll probably adjust my goal weight too, though, since my original goal was based on the old scale.

Tomorrow morning, after finding out my REAL weight, I'll go running with the Camelbak--yay! I haven't had time to figure out the heart monitor yet, though, so that will have to wait. Hopefully over the weekend I'll have time to read the instructions.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SHANSHE 9/12/2008 3:47AM

Cool!!! Sounds so neat and I do not have one of those new fancy schmancy scales. another friend got one and her old scale was off 20 pounds, can you believe that? I felt so sorry for her! Shannon Report Inappropriate Comment

New fitness toys!

Monday, September 08, 2008

I'm wearing a belated birthday present from my husband: a hydrating Camelbak backpack to wear while running! It's the smallest size, quite sleek & light, with a flexible liter container for water & a connecting tube that I can drink from. Isn't that a cool idea?

Last week during my two-hour walk/run in the forest preserve I didn't see a single drinking fountain. This despite the fact that in several places the trail goes through large cleared picnic areas with shelters, volleyball nets, restrooms, grills. My water bottle is too heavy to carry when running, so I drank from it before leaving it in the car . . . but of course I got QUITE thirsty. I stopped twice in bathrooms & managed to drink a bit by sticking my head into the sink as far as possible. This will be MUCH MUCH better--yay!

The other two new toys haven't arrived yet, but they're on their way: a digital scale (ours has been terribly unreliable as of late) that estimates body fat as well (I have my doubts about that part, but we'll see) & a heart rate monitor & timer to wear while running. I'm really looking forward to both.

I haven't been blogging much lately, but I've been working hard on a challenge with a private team. I don't feel like I'm in the groove yet--too much craving going on--but hopefully it will get easier soon.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SHANSHE 9/9/2008 8:37PM

Good Job Ruth and when you DO blog it is so nice to hear from you. There is no hard and fast rule saying you have to blog, right? I love your toys and I must have missed your B-day, so happy belated birthday! Shannon Report Inappropriate Comment

CTEMPLE 9/8/2008 10:55PM

Hi Ruth I bought a heart rate monitor that is like a watch and has two buttons that you press to see your rate, but even when I went to exchange it, still does not show the rate every time because of sweat and because it's too big for my wrist and doesn't make good contact. I think you have to have the ones that have the strap around your body. The backpack sounds great. Glad to hear from you. Claudia Report Inappropriate Comment

Our Second Annual Music & Poetry Garden Party

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The party last night was fabulous. The folks who arrived (50-60, I think) were so lively & attentive & fun; the music was fantastic; & my readings came off well. It was wonderful to share the celebration with my husband this year (last year he was on a work trip to California). I dedicated two poems to him, & he was very moved.

I am down a pound this morning! Yesterday I just worked worked worked & drank tons of water & ate very little. (I took the day off from work.) My exercise was to jog a little over a mile to the grocery store & then to walk home briskly lugging at least 20 lbs. of last-minute groceries.It was really fun to do a bunch of baking, though it was a fairly hot day.

I'm unreasonably happy about the herb bread recipe that I found & altered. I used basil & chives from my back-porch flowerboxes, plus dried rosemary & thyme, & I substituted white whole wheat flour & wheat germ for some of the white flour the recipe called for. Ended up with two SCRUMPTIOUS loaves, & people raved about it. I'll have to run it through the Sparkrecipes calculator to find out the nutritional values.

Late this afternoon, after the heat of the day has passed, we'll put away the lawnchairs & folding chairs that are still set up in the backyard. Happy party aftermath . . .

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CTEMPLE 9/4/2008 9:16PM

Hi Ruth and very glad your party went so well. Talk to you soon, the computer alarm just went off and I'm not allowed more time this morning. It's a strategy that I devised to unglue myself from it and do other things as well. Claudia Report Inappropriate Comment

FITGIRL15 9/1/2008 5:17PM

Yay! The party sounds like it was a hit! Congrats!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 8/30/2008 4:47PM

I am so glad it all went well! How sweet you dedicated some poems to your hubby and that it "moved; him is even better! Shannon Report Inappropriate Comment

Back at it

Thursday, August 28, 2008

With houseguests & the music & poetry garden party coming up (TOMORROW! & more than 60 people have confirmed that they'll come!), it's a funny time to launch back into an SP challenge . . . but I'm doing so with a couple of my Chispa Chicks friends, because we all agree it's high time. Each of us is awarding herself points for doing the fitness/weight loss things that are most challenging for us. Here are mine:

* exercising four times a week (since I’ve been managing just three lately)
* intensifying exercise in some way weekly (intervals, heavier weights, more reps, etc.)
* tracking calories 5x/week & remaining within the recommended range
* making sure to eat a high-protein snack (instead of something sweet) daily
* getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night

I have gotten in two exercise sessions this week & was on track for another this morning; we were at a great outdoor concert last night, but I still managed to get to bed by 10:35 & was gloating over the expectation that it would be easy to get up & go running . . .

but I woke up at 8:15 a.m.! Almost the time I normally leave to catch my morning train to work! Immediately I realized that I had just turned on the alarm without checking the time--& yesterday I had reset it to 9:00 a.m. for my husband. So I got over 9.5 hours of sleep!

Well, at least today I'm VERY well rested. And I fully expect to be able to go running tomorrow (I'm taking the day off work in order to prepare for the party) & to do strength training on Saturday.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SUPERMOM17 8/29/2008 10:12AM

Ruth, you are an inspiration to me. Thanks! As for over-sleeping, I think your body was trying to tell you something! Have fun at the party. Joyce Report Inappropriate Comment

DECAROLIFIC 8/28/2008 9:58PM

Usually if you've been getting enough sleep, your body will wake you up at your usual time regardless of the alarm. The fact that you slept straight through your usual wake up time and for 9.5 hr at that means you needed it! You did more for your body by paying off some of that sleep debt than by getting up to go exercising. Comment edited on: 8/28/2008 9:57:08 PM Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 8/28/2008 8:44PM

Sounds like you are running on air and i love watching you reach for your goals, it is so neat! Shannon Report Inappropriate Comment

NOT my best day ever

Friday, August 22, 2008

Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging words & ideas about my obsessing. It's not that I'm actually hungry; I'm going higher than my calorie range pretty much every day (where it looks as if I have not gone over, usually it's just that I quit tracking when I saw that I would be over). It's something in my head. Or it could be that hormones are making me feel weird.

I have not been cutting back much on sweets either, even though I did bring low-fat cottage cheese to the office this week & have had 0.5 cup of it every afternoon. Sigh.

Some clothes I ordered arrived a couple of days ago, & last night I tried on the two jackets. Both are too small! They are size 10T; I'm going to have to exchange them for 12Ts. I know fit varies with clothing style/cut, but it's a bit demoralizing. I don't look like a size 10 in the mirror either.

On top of all of this, my husband is mad at me about a really minor thing. I don't seem to be able to reason with him about it. We are supposed to work on some bookkeeping stuff together tonight, but since he hasn't chatted with me all day I'm sure he isn't planning on it--but he'll say it's my fault we had to postpone it. I hate those vicious cycles.

A list of good things to make me feel better:
1. I went running this morning & continued experimenting with intervals.
2. I am rereading To Kill a Mockingbird & loving it even more than the previous times I'd read it.
3. This week I wrote a poem (about a rainstorm in Colombia) that I'm really happy with.
4. The break in my freelance project is continuing, & I was starting to get a bit worried about cash flow; but the project coordinator just wrote to propose that I take on another editing project for this church, which would be sent to me in short segments. That will really help!

I wonder whether I should keep the 10T clothes & use them as further motivation to lose weight. They are fall clothes, so I wouldn't be wearing them till later anyway.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

FITGIRL15 8/25/2008 6:03PM

Ruth, I think you should KEEP the clothes, and totally use them as motivation!!! I'm sure that's what I've been doing this whole time, and look at how far I've come! (From fittng into LARGE's to XSmalls... it CAN be done!) PS.. I hope things get smoothed over with your hubby... tension at home is the worst kind of stress possible! Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 8/22/2008 10:59PM

Ruth, you will make the right decision on the clothes I am sure. I am also happy that you found some things to to list that make you feel better. Also, sorry that my comment is screwy... I am tired and my family is bugging me... :) Shannon Report Inappropriate Comment

CTEMPLE 8/22/2008 5:45PM

Hi Ruth I read mockingbird a few months ago and it was absolutely PERFECT. I can't bring myself to buy clothes that are tight, or just the size for fear of putting on. Only yesterday I bought 3 pairs of shorts that fit like a glove and it makes me nervous. I had bought pair of jeans that were 1 size too big and regretted it. Yay for the poem! I can't even read poetry easily. Reading the EANEID in small doses. Claudia Report Inappropriate Comment