How an astronaut just guilted me into a better lunch

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:21:15 EST

An hour or so ago, I was trying to figure out how to cheat myself out of a good lunch. I was feeling lazy, so I really didn't want to go home and go through the massive effort of throwing veggies and other good stuff on a plate when I could stand in line for twice as long to have someone make my lunch for me. My excuses were many:

- I just got paid, so I have cash on hand
- I just found out I got a kick ass promotion at work and I should celebrate (squee!)
- I'm tired

My calendar is starting to look like an art project

Mon, 6 May 2013 12:54:50 EST

I'm the type of person who likes to colour code things to keep myself organized, and right now my second half of May has so many different colours of pen and highlighter that I'm tempted to just give up and start drawing happy faces and flowers over the rest of it. Amazingly, even though I have a dozen little seperate things all falling in that three week period, and somehow I haven't had any major timing conflicts yet. Where things get difficult is keeping the constant training and eating ri...

Things to try for next Sunday

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:32:31 EST

Next Sunday is my last long long run before tapering, which means it's my last chance to really experiment. The long runs have been going well, but I did get pretty tired yesterday - not enough that I had trouble finishing the run, but I was completely worn out and achy after. When I looked at my heart rate info after the run, it had spiked quite a bit between 20 -25k before settling down for the last few kilometers. So, with that in mind I'm trying to tweak things for next week's 32k:
...

Midway training impressions from a marathon noob

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 16:21:05 EST

It's been too long since I've posted a blog update, especially since the last one was about a crappy run.

Correction: The last blog was about a difficult run, not a crappy one. It was still a good run, even though it tested me mentally and physically.

The good news is that the 26k blizzard run still stands as my most difficult run ever, which means the last few weeks have been pretty good. We seem to be getting into a typical Calgary 'spring' (ha!) weather pattern here ...

A 26k run in the park ain't no walk in the park

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:44:56 EST

I had a feeling today's run would be tough. I wasn't psyching myself out or anything, but this run was a jump into new territory for me.

My previous record was 24k, on a beautiful Sunday morning back in mid-September. We headed out to a park I'd never visited before, enjoyed the scenery and conversation while testing out new gels and sucking back as much water as we needed. I was tired by the end, but had enough energy left over to push my running buddy to go one bridge further so...

A bit of sunlight

Fri, 8 Mar 2013 13:11:07 EST

Literally and figuratively... last weekend, Winter got tired of Spring trying to sneak in, so it came back with a vengeance. Sunday's run was 20k of wishing I had sled dogs. I've decided to create a little mental box labeled 'Do not open until Kilometer 33': When I get to the hardest part of my race, I'm going to crack open that box and remember how I laced up my shoes and went through two and a half hours of a heavy snowfall in my face, so I can definitely - DEFINITELY - run another nine kil...

Feeling a little blue today

Wed, 6 Mar 2013 12:52:25 EST

I could use a pick-me-up.

I've been feeling kind of blah for the last couple weeks. Training is going well and I'm enjoying it, all my goals are on track, and generally life's not bad. At the same time, I've been having trouble focusing and really working up enthusiasm. It's just one of the normal ebbs and flows in life, but it's still not great when you're in it.

My eating over the last couple weeks hasn't been great. It hasn't been awful, but many of those extra train...

A reminder from space...

Wed, 6 Mar 2013 00:11:41 EST

"Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you'd be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in.

Don't let life randoml...

Musing....

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:28:30 EST

Today I found myself wishing -again- that I could just have a day to relax and meditate and sort things out in my brain.

Dude! You just had a four day weekend, and I can guarantee there was some free time between the long run, grocery shopping, and ice cream (One scoop of coffee with hot fudge this week. Mmmm...)

If I'm going to get my calm, brain-sorting day, I'm going to have to make it happen. I need to put aside the to-do list, turn off the TV and computer and phone,...

Why is it the short weeks that seem so long?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:15:42 EST

Next Monday is a holiday here. Officially, it's Family day, but it's really We-Need-A-Stat-In-February Day. I'm taking this Friday off to give myself a four day weekend sandwiched by two four day weeks - which would be ideal if Nick wasn't doing 5am - 1pm inventory shifts over the same two weeks. His only day off with be Monday, but I'm guessing he'll spend most of it unwinding before going in for another four days. Oh well.... I can enjoy my little mini vacation myself.

I have a p...

When plans change (and I put my ranty pants on)

Fri, 8 Feb 2013 13:28:42 EST

So, I think we're going to buy a home.

Not right this minute (although, it's tempting), but "No later than May, 2014" is a much more solid date than "Sometime in the next few years". It means that in less than 12 months, we're going to have to be well into the process, not just talking about it as a near-ish future dream.

Eep.

I'm still not quite where I wanted to be. I was really hoping to go in with at least a 10% down payment, but since a decent two bedroo...

Slowpoke

Thu, 7 Feb 2013 12:18:04 EST

Slow down. Relax"

That's what the pacer for my group told me last week when he asked if I was running solo on Saturday. Saturday is supposed to be an easy run. You take your time, walk if you want, enjoy the day.

My problem is that my body has one speed, and it's too fast. Fast for me, anyway. I'm never going to be a Boston qualifier and I get passed by plenty of people on the pathways, but if you look at speed as a personal scale, my body likes to head to the top and s...

Analysis time!

Wed, 6 Feb 2013 17:32:08 EST

Wait a sec... let me come up with some important milestone for doing this today (other than having finished my work and being in an analytical mood).

Okay! It's been about six weeks since I flipped the switch in my mind from holiday slug-fest to training mode. My goals were to:

- Clean up my diet and look at food decisions as appropriate fuel for my body
- Drop my weight down to a more comfortable number than where it was sitting in December
- Get my base runn...

Smoothie operator...

Tue, 5 Feb 2013 17:19:42 EST

We have a new toy in the house. This happens a lot when you have a husband who sells small kitchen appliances, and it's dangerous when you have a microscopic kitchen... but that's another issue for another day. A couple weeks ago, we picked up a smoothie maker to replace my horrible cheap blender. The main reason for this is because I'm looking for ways to get a quick dose of good quality calories, and so far it's been doing the trick.

The problem with smoothies and juicing is tha...

When procrastination works in your favour

Sat, 2 Feb 2013 18:46:06 EST

I'm in a procrastination mood today.

I slept in (needed it).

I ate breakfast, changed into my running gear, and then sat around for the next two hours reading stupid stuff online. Half that time, I was wearing nothing more than tights, a sports bra and my chest strap, because I couldn't be bothered to actually put on a shirt.

Eventually, around noon, I got my butt out the door and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. That's one run off the to-do list for the weekend....

This is starting to feel pretty good

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:01:03 EST

Yesterday, I said no to this:

and had this instead:

It doesn't look very exciting (mostly because I took a crappy photo), but it did the trick 334

Normally, I don't have an issue with indulging in our monthly cake day at work, but when I was writing out this week's menu I decided to leave it...

In my gym bag right now:

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:48:23 EST

1. Pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 14's (the hot pink ones, not the ones that look like the Easter Bunny had an episode of severe gastrointestinal distress on your feet -- Though I might buy those as my second pair)

2. Thick running socks
3. Fleecy tights
4. The comfy sports bra
5. A HRM chest strap
6. A long sleeved tech shirt
7. An old lululemon hoodie
8. My normal running jacke...

And we begin!

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:46:28 EST

I made it!

From the start line to the, uh, start line? How about from the car to the start line? From the couch to the car on my way to the real start line? Either way, yesterday was the official training kick-off run, and I managed to meet most of my pre-training goals to get myself back into shape for it.

I'm back down to around 123 pounds now, which is much more comfortable. Another two and I'll be really happy (and I think it's possible with the first month of easie...

Hey, Ice Cream voice. You be quiet!

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:05:14 EST

Seriously.

I was sitting there last night, watching a baaaad start to a hockey game (my team was down by three in the first ten minutes), and that little voice inside my head said "Hey, you've done well today. You stuck to your eating plan exactly, despite having a killer headache when you got home. Your clinic doesn't start until Thursday so you're not reeaaaaaalllly in training mode yet, so why don't you take tonight off and go grab some ice cream downstairs?"

Really, ...

Anyone know Japanese food?

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:19:59 EST

I'm going out for dinner tomorrow night.

Normally, I don't worry too much about difficult-to-track items when I'm dining out, but this week I've ramped things up in the tracking and nutrition department, and I'd like to at least try to be somewhat accurate with what I'm eating tomorrow (mostly so I can balance the rest of the day around it).

I'm not terribly familiar with Japanese food beyond the usual sushi rolls and fast food/generic fusion stuff. Any tips on what to...

Hey, let's audit breakfast!

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:02:56 EST

From time to time, I like to examine things in my life that have become routine to see if I can make them a little bit better. Most of these are fairly healthy in the first place, but sometimes it's nice to sneak in a couple small positive changes while you're working on big positive changes in other areas. It never hurts to build on the good habits you've already established.

I've been eating the same breakfast at work for about two years now. It's a good breakfast: It fills me up...

The new (side) project

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:21:06 EST

This has nothing to do with running, fitness, weight loss, or food. Because sometimes it's good to have a side hobby or project to focus on as well. This is also one of those posts that mostly exists so I can get myself organized. It's more fun to talk through things than to just write another to-do list.

I have lots of goals for 2013, and not all of them are related to my feet or waistline. One of the things I wanted to do was start tacking a minor apartment reno, room by room. Re...

Like a bouncy ball

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:23:03 EST

Let this be a warning to you: If you comment that your weight has stayed unusually stable for three days in a row, your body may respond by giving you enough fluctuation that your scale gets whiplash.

On Saturday/Sunday my weight was up slightly from Friday's restaurant dinner. By Monday it had dropped back down to my current normal. Yesterday, however, I woke up .8 kg heavier. That's a 1.7 pound gain, which is extreme for me even when I've eaten something really salty. Monday had ...

Theorycrafting nutrition (part 2?)

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:45:30 EST

Waaaay back on November 1st, 2010, I posted my first blog on Spark:

www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_jo
urnal_individual.asp?blog_id=3754233

At the time, I was coming off of several years of being a pretty heavy (in more ways than one) gamer - specifically, World of Warcraft. I'd met some great people in the game (including my husband and fellow Sparker ADARKARA), but I was starting to get irritated and bored with it, and the new expansion at the ti...

Weekly stat & goal time!

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:02:40 EST

192 Weight:

Saturday weight: 57 kg (125.6 lbs)
Last week: 56.9 kg

Weekly average: 56.6 kg (124.8 lbs)
Last week: 57.4 kg

Oh, look! It's a nice example of weight range flux!

First things first: My average weight for the week was down by nearly a pound, which is exactly what I wanted to see. I spent most of it around 56.5, with a steady decline over the course of the week. I'm about 1.5kg away from where I'd like my weight to be, ...

Brain vs. Body

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:52:37 EST

My brain and my body aren't always on the same page. Sometimes one's lazy while the other is jumping around wanting to get started. Sometimes they bicker. Sometimes they stop speaking all together.

Usually, I try to let my rational brain win out, but it doesn't always work that way. Last night, it was my body that won, and for once that was a good thing.

I had the type of 4:30 sleepies that hit when you're sitting around waiting for one email that's holding up a pile of ...

56.5... 56.5.... 56.5....

Wed, 9 Jan 2013 14:52:06 EST

That's been my weight for the last three days. Notable only because it's unusual for me to not fluctuate at all (obviously I'm fluctuating throughout the day, but I keep my morning weigh-ins consistent). 56.4 is edging back into comfort zone for me (124.5 pounds), so I'm pleased with the post-holiday recovery effort so far.

Weighing in metric is still weird. I've said before that it's like the difference between a first and second language. There's a detachment with kilos that's k...

Stat-urday

Sun, 6 Jan 2013 00:10:43 EST

192 Weight:

Saturday weight: 56.9 kg (125.4 pounds)
Last week: 57.1

Weekly average: 57.4 kg (126.5 pounds)
Last week: N/A

Finally got rid of the last of the New Year's food bloat today. I spiked on Jan 1st (for obvious reasons), and the weight's been dropping since. I'm looking see next week's average below 57 kg (preferably in the 56 range).

7 Measurements:

Forgot this week, but the pants are fitting bet...

I have a heart! And jeans! And some pantry observations.

Fri, 4 Jan 2013 18:04:22 EST

26 I finally got my heart rate monitor working, along with a bunch of other nifty things to do with the new watch. The first time I ran with the Garmin, it was recording my heart really low - by the end of it, I averaged 109 during a fairly intense run. Hm... not good. I was starting to wonder if I was defective when it came to heart rate monitors, since I seemed to kill my last one.

The second time I used the watch, it was for a relaxing walk (normally I wouldn't have ...

Day seven

Thu, 3 Jan 2013 13:45:46 EST

Last Friday, I attempted to flip my mental switch from 'not training' to 'training'. Going by that, today is day seven, and my first full week.

It's a funny thing, because it's all a mind game. At this point, 'training' doesn't look that different than a normal (good) week. In fact, the only reason I'm using the word training rather than just saying that I'm being healthy is because it keeps me focused on a goal that will mean some fitness and nutrition adjustments down the road. M...

Little incentives to do well

Wed, 2 Jan 2013 18:35:05 EST

40 I now have a map of the Calgary marathon route on my bulletin board at work. It's long. Yes, all marathon routes are long, but this is one I *know*. Shrinking the little red line so it fits on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper doesn't make it any easier. The halfway point is in my old neighbourhood, which definitely didn't feel close to downtown when I was commuting there on the bus, and I have to both run there and back. With little twists and turns and detours, too!

T...

I'm giving myself a time limit here

Wed, 2 Jan 2013 09:46:53 EST

No, not a weight loss time limit (although I did reset my goal on the Wii this morning - two months to lose three kilograms). I'm just trying to get a quick entry in before work, because I'm attempting to get my work (and sleep) schedule under control. My workplace is pretty flexible about start times, but I've been struggling to get in when I want since the time change, and I'd really like to be sitting at my desk at 8:00 rather than 8:07 or 8:18. I'm cutting myself off at 7:45 so I have eno...

2012 resolution photo wrap-up: How'd I do?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:09:47 EST

A year ago, I posted this blog:

www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_jo
urnal_individual.asp?blog_id=4644199
It was short and sweet. This one, uh, isn't... but after feeling a little lost and meh the last couple months, it's been a great exercise to look back on what I set out to do at the beginning of this year and what I accomplished.

409 1. Love your veggies.

Success! Sometime in 2011, I started filling up a weekly veggi...

That first run

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:38:24 EST

57.1 kg again today. That may be down tomorrow, but it'll definitely be up on Tuesday. I'm tracking my weekly averages again, because I find that's the best way to get a good feel for what my body weight is doing. Behaviour is the goal, habits are the reward and weight is the eventual feedback.

We went shopping today. The haul included new dining room chairs (anyone in the Calgary area want four free plain pine IKEA chairs?), a wall mounted shadow box for Nick's shot glass collecti...

At the start line

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 10:16:24 EST

57.1 kilograms.

It's okay - on Boxing Day it was 58 20

For those playing at home, 57.1kg is 125.9 pounds, which is about what I'd expect after returning from a vacation.

I'm stuck on kilograms right now because my Wii is stubborn and insists that if you're Canadian, you're metric. Usually, I lie and tell it we're living in Spokane (we get all the cheesy local commercials from Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, so I think it counts), but the system gets g...

The cliche blog

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:21:49 EST

Ready for it?

3....

2....

1....

And, I'm training.

Just like that.

I have a confession: I've been bored with myself lately. Two years ago, I stepped on the scale on Christmas morning and broke through a milestone weight I'd never seen in my years of weighing myself. I celebrated by breaking into my locked apartment gym later that afternoon and eating a disgustingly reasonable amount of food. I was on a roll!

Last C...

Weight half-life? (More maintenance math)

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:11:17 EST

I've noticed an odd pattern with how I lose (and gain) weight: I seem to go in half-lives.

It takes about the same amount of time to lose half of my remaining weight as it did to lose half of the previous total. So, my total weight lost is about 45 pounds - 166 down to 121 at my current 'ideal'. The first 22.5 dropped off fairly easily, bringing me down to around 142, which was a mild plateau that took me about a month to break. The next 11 (ish) took about the same amount of time ...

Food for thought with documentaries

Thu, 6 Dec 2012 12:35:36 EST

Last night Nick and I took a break from our Bond-a-thon (We started with Dr. No a couple weeks ago and are now up to The Spy Who Loved Me) to check out some new documentaries on Netflix. Last night's was 'Hungry for Change'

The movie had some familiar faces. Joe Cross from 'Fat, Sick and Nearly dead', and Kris Carr from 'Crazy Sexy Cancer', along with other various experts. I haven't actually seen 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead' yet because, to be honest, the whole juicing thing seems ...

Tell me about yoga studios

Tue, 4 Dec 2012 12:51:06 EST

I've been toying with formally adding some yoga into my fitness schedule for a while. I'm not a complete yoga noob, but so far I've only used DVDs in my own living room. This time, I'm interested in actually taking some classes and, if I enjoy the setting, keeping up with it as a regular part of my weekly fitness. Here's my reasoning (since I'm in a list-y mood today):

414 Above all, I want to make sure I'm doing it properly. I can follow along with the DVDs, but it's ...

My cheeks are rosy

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:35:32 EST

But that's just because of the wind burn from last night. I had kind of a dumb run yesterday. It was quite pleasant (for winter) during lunch and then turned nasty sometime in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until I was about a kilometer into my run after work and freezing my butt off. I almost turned around early, but I stuck it out and warmed up around the 3k mark (which is, conveniently, the half-way point). Of course, 'warmed up' is relative, since I was apparently a popsic...

One of those weeks.

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:37:14 EST

A friend of mine once described it as swallowing a rancid golf ball. I don't know how she knew what a rancid golf ball tastes like, but it seems like a pretty accurate description - that feeling of -something- in the pit of your stomach, and that -something- isn't right. It's emotion, all right, but it's not your emotion, no matter how hard it tries. It's an impostor, but it still takes over everything. Letting the golf ball drive isn't fun.

I've been lucky with depression over the...

Does trying to wrap my mind around life decisions count as exercise?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:46:33 EST

A harmless conversation with my husband at lunch got me thinking - seriously thinking - about the future. Sometime earlier this year, thanks in part to having my health and finances under control for the first time in my adult life, I caught a glimmer of something in the back of my mind. Over time that's grown, to the point where, at the age of 33, I think I know what I want to be when I grow up.

Now that I have that tasty bit of information that I was missing back when I was 15, ...

Weightless!

Wed, 7 Nov 2012 11:40:24 EST

Once again, I'm without my Wii weigh-ins, thanks to people sleeping in my living room. I don't own a regular scale, so if I can't weigh in on the Wii (and at the same time in the morning - I could weigh clothed in the afternoon, but what's the point?), I don't bother.

That means I'm weightless for the week.

Usually when I lose living room access, it's because we have friends or family visiting, which means unusual eating patterns anyway (more dining out, ect). This time...

Sunshine!

Sun, 4 Nov 2012 12:32:32 EST

That nasty fog that's been hanging over the city finally lifted, and we have SUN.

67 67 67 67

The last few days haven't been bad, and I've been staying on track for the most part, but seeing some blue skies and sunlight poking through has made a huge emotional difference.

67 I started the day off with an easy run to test out the new shoes outside. They're awesome. They're as light as my mizunos, but ...

NoSAD November

Thu, 1 Nov 2012 18:15:21 EST

This last week has kind of kicked my ass a bit. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a familiar friend in my family, it hit full force this last week as winter hit the city. While we really don't have much to complain about with what's going on out East, we've had one of those whiplash season changes that we've been lucky enough to avoid for the last few years. Summer temperatures stuck around a little longer than normal, followed by maybe 2-3 weeks of something that looked autumn-ish, followed by ...

Early Saturday check-in

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:49:27 EST

Early, because I won't be able to weigh myself in the morning since I'll have in-laws sleeping in my living room and I don't exactly want to strip down and stand in front of the TV with them there. And if I can't weigh in with the normal conditions and 'scale' (I use the Wii fit), then there's not much point. So this week is going to be a six day average.

Last week's average: 122.9
This week's average: 122.7
This week's high: 124.3
This week's low: 121.5

A...

See this?

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:39:05 EST

That's my gym bag, sitting on my table at work. It's on top of my coat, so I can't ignore it when my day is over here.

That means I have to go for a run. Gym bags are tricky that way.

On the plus side, I get to look all hardcore to anyone who sees me in the elevator on my way out into our lovely -5 weather.

eta: Also on the plus side, my running route looks like this right now:

At least I have free candy... Oh, wait.

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:58:54 EST

I have a very simple to-do list for today:

- Go for a walk
- Go for a run

This week, my major focus is getting my fitness routine back in place. I had about a week and a half where I couldn't run because of my cold and I decided to slack off on strength training for good measure. I compensated by adjusting my calorie range, but eventually the shoes need to find their way back onto your feet before you forget how to use them.

So far this week has been a s...

Belated Saturday updates

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 14:27:07 EST

Stat time!

192 Weight:

Previous week's average weight: 124.9

Last week's average weight: 122.9
Last week's highest weight: 123.9
Last week's lowest weight: 122.4

I think I finished getting rid of the last of my temporary weight midway through last week. Now the real work begins! As nice as it is to drop five pounds of fluff in a week and a half, the challenge is pushing myself now that I'm back in my comfort zone and rememberin...

Shopping with a whiny inner child

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:22:59 EST

I've been at this for almost two years now, and sometimes, it's still hard. Sometimes, you get into an epic willpower battle that makes you stop in the middle of a busy grocery aisle like an idiot as you converse with that five-year-old that will always live somewhere in your brain. I suspect this battle comes up more than I notice, because I usually give in and don't think much of it... but today, the willpower won.

Today started with a shopping list. A pretty sensible one, with l...

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