Stop the insanity

Yesterday was not a very good day, on many levels. The day began with my doing the first of my “Insanity” workouts. I’d say it was my last but I didn’t finish. It led to the shocking (although why it was shocking I’m clueless) realization that I have lost far more of my fitness level than I realized. It was pretty demoralizing.

I had applied for a job in another department, which I did not get. Granted, the rumor intelligence network had another guy that already works closely with the team as a shoe-in, and I am pretty happy in my current role, but it is still disappointing.

The I realized that careless spending plus a series of continued financial events (car repairs, dead dishwasher, etc.) have led us to add quite a chunk to our debt burden. Hub and I had a serious “come to jesus” about that last night. We must be more vigilant about our discretionary spending!!!

After dinner we went and took a tour of the Y. We were members back when I started this blog. We switched to another gym for a couple of reasons, but lately we’ve been missing some of the amenities at the Y (pool, sauna, hot tub, steam room…) and they have expanded their hours of operation, making it more convenient. Even though it’s a little more a month, given that we aren’t using the current gym at all I think it’s worth it. Even though we are committed to cutting our spending, I think we both realize we’ve got to make fitness a priority. Notice I don’t say “top priority” – at this point any priority at all would be good as it doesn’t even seem to appear on the radar.

Right now I’m just feeling sad.

Insanity: yes, it is

This morning I did day one of my Insanity workout - the fitness test (I was supposed to start yesterday, but I overslept. Ooops). It consisted of eight exercises: you do each exercise for one minute – as many times as you can. There is a one minute rest between each exercise. Let’s just say it was …. Embarrassing. Not that anyone else saw me, but I was dismayed at how hard it was. The program is 60 days – you do a tougher schedule of workouts in the second half than first. I may do the first half twice before I move on. We’ll see. It’s HARD.

We went out to a Vietnamese restaurant last night recommended by a friend. It was great! The boy couldn’t get over the size of the bowl of soup they brought out for each of us. I got vegetable & tofu and have the leftovers for lunch today, plus some leftover stir fry.

I had a green smoothie for breakfast and a piece of peanut butter toast later at work. I am trying to make diet pepsi a “sometimes food”, so I haven’t had any today. I just don’t think it can be very healthy, even if it doesn’t have calories. Tonight I am making chicken adobo – it’s in the crockpot since we are volunteering tonight. I put a piece of “chicken seitan” in for myself. I have no idea how it will react to spending all day in the crockpot, but I figured I’d give it a shot. We’ll put rice & green beans with it.

They had my favorite potatoes in the cafeteria at breakfast this morning – they are boiled then sautéed with some onion & seasoning & have a tiny bit of cheese. They are great in a burrito. I didn’t get any because I knew I’d be starving later and the pb toast would stay with me. Which was a wise move because it’s 20 minutes until lunch and I’m very hungry! I guess you can tell by all the talk about food!

I did some sewing this weekend, which means that come Monday my house was a mess and my cooking wasn’t done. It seems horribly unfair that I either have time to take care of my home & family OR time to pursue hobbies I enjoy, but never both. Sigh. Too bad winning the lottery isn't a serious consideration!!! :-)

Have a good day!

Here

I'm here. I was off work Friday since our team volunteered at the Special Olympics. I fell in a hole. I'm okay, just a nasty scrape/cut/bruise. Friday evening we drove to Georgia to visit my great aunt. Came home Sunday, then I took half a day Monday off since it was my birthday. I got a much needed pedicure.

I think I'm finally caught up on sleep from last week.

The power struggle between the two men at my house continues (sigh). Last night the lawn mower got left in the yard overnight and I threatened to kill everyone and burn down the house etc. I swear, those 2 make me crazy sometimes!!! It always has to be this pissing contest between them. Aren't the teen years great??????

Oh well. I hope to get some sewing done this weekend - I want to do something I want to do instead of chores all weekend long!

Normally I do my mom’s taxes, but for some reason she wanted to do them on her own this year. Then she hit a snag, and I said I’d take a look. Tuesday morning I grabbed them from her house, but I was too tired to do anything about them that evening. Yesterday she came over and was going to try again, but when I got home there was a note “Didn’t have time. I’ll be your BMF (best mom forever) if you’ll finish them.” Hee hee. Sadly, I didn’t feel like doing them last night (drinking beer and watching “Dr. Who” in prep for the new season was a MUCH better idea IMO), so I got up a 5 AM and did taxes. Next year I’m doing hers when I do mine – in February!!! I ended up re-doing her fed (which was finished) because I have NO IDEA where she got a couple of numbers.

I did not inherit my mad mathematical skillz from my mom. Ahem.

Made ji gae for dinner last night, which was enjoyed by all, and there’s plenty for lunches. Woo hoo! Tonight I have to get hub to clean out his car because we are driving it to Georgia because we are taking Alma a new recliner for her room. Assisted living places suck. Really. The boy refers to hub’s car as “the garbage can”. We’ll be vacuuming that bad boy out before I go anywhere in it!

I emailed a friend and asked about coming up for a sewing weekend. While I am very excited to see her, can I be a baby for just a minute and admit I haven’t driven that far all by myself in ages? Good lord I feel like some clinging vine “ooh, I can’t go on a trip out of town without my husband to help me drive.” Sheesh. Time to re-claim my independent woman card!!!

Monday night around 11:30 my mom called to let us know she had called 911 because she thought she was having a heart attack. The 3 of us quickly dressed, jumped in the car, and headed for the emergency room.

Turns out she didn't have a heart attack (thankfully!), but they aren't really sure what it was. The doctor wanted to admit her so they could test some more and observe her. Around 4:30 we left to get breakfast and head home. I wanted to wait until she was in a regular room before we left, but the boy was passed out in the waiting room and hub was fading fast, so I felt like I needed to take care of them more than I needed to just wait., but I still hated to leave.

We got breakfast - hub made it to Herbie's but I had to drive us home. Funny - he's the late night person, but when it comes to late night driving, I have to pitch in a lot! We got home around 6:15 and headed for bed. The dog woke me up at 8:30, I left the guys sleeping while I headed back to the hospital. Mom was released and I took her home.

We all stayed home yesterday (except the boy did volunteer) and puttered around and napped. The boy said someone was looking at Jack, so I hope he gets adopted this week!!!! Hub picked him up and went in to look at the chihuahuas - they had just gotten back from getting fixed, he said they were all sacked out.

We are going to Georgia this weekend to visit my great aunt, but hub is staying home since he has to work. :-(

I was planning to take Monday off work (it’s my birthday), but I guess I'll just take half a day - I'll need some time to grocery shop & food prep after getting home.

Anyway, I'm tired - thankfully, today is actually a low key day at work!I went to the optometrist and ordered new glasses. They should be ready in 5 days. She knocked $40 off b/c she felt bad I'd had such a hard time! They are cute and it'll be nice to have a pair I can leave at work and have one for home.

I ordered a workout thingie from an infomercial. I know that sounds cheesy! I just feel like having some structure will help me out – I feel like I’m drifting. It’s a 60 day program. The reason I like this one more than some others I’ve seen is because it requires no equipment – it’s bodyweight exercises only. Right now that sounds pretty good.

My weight is up and seems to be staying that way – right now I don’t want to write numbers, even here. I feel self conscious even thought I don’t think anyone I know in “real life” reads this. Also, I am having my blood work done Friday and my annual check-up next Friday, and frankly I’m a little concerned. Not because I feel bad or anything, I just feel like I need to make some improvement. I’ll keep you guys posted with the results of that.

I started using my heavier kettlebell this morning. Wow! I forgot how much more difficult it is!

Well, that’s all I’ve got.

Nice weekend

I had lunch with a friend Sunday - the kind of thing I never seem to find time for. It was so nice! Sometimes I get so caught up in all the stuff I'm doing, I forget to connect with other people....

The boy has his leaner's permit! That was a big deal for him.

I am avoiding the scale - right now I feel like there is nothing I can do to change my weight, which is a crummy way to feel.

Ugh!

It's 1 step forward, 2 steps back sometimes. I was so pleased with the drop on the scale, then a frustrating day with data & Excel, plus the fact that my glasses STILL weren't ready (oh, and they wanted an extra $90) left me in tears by the time I got home yesterday.

I had beer & ramen for dinner. Then I ate the dinner my husband brought home for me. Not the way to lose weight.

Hello again!

Yesterday AM I was very tired and time was tight, so I didn't get in my AM kettlebell workout. I was able to pack healthy food though! I walked at lunch and then went and volunteered at the animal shelter in the afternoon. I was walked by several large dogs in the 90+ degree heat. Talk about wiped out!

I went home, had a quick supper (vegan stuff off the Whole Foods hot bar), took a bath, then had to go back to work for 2 meetings! I ended up getting home at 11:30! Ugh! Not a night owl...

So my plans for getting up this morning and doing a double workout (k-bells and walk) became zero workout as I slept in! Okay, things are NOT going as planned.

The good news is I dropped 2 and a half pounds of that vacation gain and eating is going well. I'm getting in plenty of raw foods (green smoothie for breakfast, raw nuts & fruit for snack, a huge salad for lunch) and I think it's helping me get back to normal.

Even though it's hard work and I don't always know exactly what I'm doing, I feel like volunteering at the shelter is making a difference. And frankly it feels more rewarding than all the political garbage that goes on in our medieval group! Dogs don't have politics - they're just happy to be out of the kennel and going for a walk.

It makes me kinda sad to see them there, but I'm glad it's a no kill shelter. otherwise they might all end up at my house!

Where do we go from here?

Well, my weight was up (quite a bit) after vacation. I guess that isn't too surprising since I mostly sat on the porch and ate and read books.

I wasn't as active as I wanted to be, but honestly I was just feeling so burned out. It's been a tough year for many small reasons and it was nice to just sit & watch the ocean.

I'm feeling better. I still need to get more focused, but I am feeling more at peace than I was when I left. Right now my focus is to make the time for the things I need to do - like making healthy meals, exercise, and relaxing!

And so I'm back

We made it back from vacation. Sigh. it was nice. it would have been nicer if I didn't need so much of it just to decompress! Also, boy was bored b/c no friends could come. other than that, very nice.

Glad to be home and back in a routine - and away from South Carolina pimiento cheese (OMG)!