Consultant

I met with our seminary's "Wellness Ministry Director" this morning. She gave me some awesome suggestions for changing my eating habits for lowering cholesterol, and promised to send me a personal workout plan as soon as I join a gym. Woot! So awesome.

To celebrate my hearing and understanding of her suggestion to cut sugar out of my diet, I had a peanut butter/chocolate brownie. I think I might actually be successful this time!

Seriously, though, it was good, because she told me when to eat and suggested some ways to make that work with a busy and varying schedule, and it was good. I do think I can do much of what she suggested, though the joining-a-gym thing will be hard for me, as I really don't want people to talk about me on the missed connections page on Craigslist.

Actually, now that I think about it...

So, here's to wellness! I hope!

Biker Chick

Hi all!

I know, I know...I kinda fell off the planet a bit there, didn't I?

I went to ALA in Washington last week, and walked many, many miles between hotels and around the exhibit hall, but sadly didn't get to walk with Harmony, because I am a doofus.

(Cell. Charger. Bad. No. Phone. Oops.)

In any case, I have managed to ride my bike several times since I got home, and tonight I broke my latest mini-goal...three miles! I rode 3.3 miles in the lovely dusk evening, grinning on the downhills, and panting on the uphills, but I made it!

I'm planning to wear my pedometer to work on varying days in the coming weeks to see if I really do hit that "10,000 steps" a day mark, and how I can adjust it. Does anyone else do this?

Anyhoo, lovely to read all your posts, and keep moving! We can do it!

glug glug

I am on my fourth glass of water today, and I feel like I could float away. Of course it also breaks up the monotony of sitting at my desk, as I have to get up and walk across the office to the restroom every hour or so. The whole "balance" goal is going to be a gift, I think, as I taper off the drug dosage. It gives me lots of things to keep track of and think about... my eating habits, meal planning, water consumption, walk-tracking, time management... hopefully that sort of tasking will help me boot my brain on track when it occasionally stalls and drifts into the ditch... which it has been doing periodically all afternoon. Thankfully just an hour left to the workday and then nothing on tap for this evening. I might watch a movie, read, sleep... sleep... sleep.... something like that. Heck, I might even go for an actual walk and not just count the steps I take during my workday. In defense of my workday, I walked two miles on Friday between 9am and 7pm. The pedometer is both a blessing and a curse... it encourages me to give credit to non-aerobic walking. But I will get better... I'm working on it... you all inspire me to keep working on it. :)

Balance

I'm trying to be more devoted to walking... and better eating choices... and general well-being. I need to maintain balance, as the title suggests, particularly right now as I wean off an antidepressant. Because ineb told me to, I resisted the urge to go cold turkey (I ran out two days ago, so I had a headstart!) and went to pick up my prescription over lunch. I also bought a pill-splitter, so that I can reduce by 25% at a time my one-tab-a-day current dosage. Today'll be the first day at 75% which is.. what, 7.5mg? I think. Not that it matters. :) Anyway while I was there I also bought a book called Eat Smart, Walk Strong. And I hope it doesn't suck. And if it gives me any fabulous tips, I will be sure to share them with the rest of you. I chose it because it was marked down to $11, because it includes recipes and contains an integrated "diary" of what you've eaten and how much you've walked, and... because it has quizzes. Quizzes rule.

I am sad because the "show all" labels button doesn't work for me anymore. And I don't have our labels memorized...

ooh, and also! In the interest of balance and general emotional well-being... do good deeds! And then let us praise you for them, because it feels good and that IS OKAY! Blog about them, even if they're tiny. It will give us another topic. :)

And then...?

Okay so I know Binky went shopping, but where did everyone else go? It's quiet on here this week and I'm curious to know what's keeping you all away - too busy walking or too busy slacking?

I've done so-so this week - meaning good, but not as good as I wanted. Including this morning we've clocked 140 walking minutes. That's likely to be near our total because Phil will be around to help tomorrow morning and then I'm off to Tawas for a lovely no-boys-allowed weekend vacation.

We might exercise, but we might also just lay around watching chick flicks and painting our nails. Or taunt the regulars at the local watering hole with our new aged non-country juke box music selections and loud giggling. We shall see.

Holla back, y'all.

Step-by-step.

So despite some yucky cold and sinus issues I managed to walk my little booty off last week(end). With 110 minutes yesterday alone, my week total was 270 minutes, or about 14 miles. And also, I learned that I like oatmeal.

We shall see what this week brings.

Yay, walking!

New motivation.

Lola was being, for lack of a kinder way to put it, a HUGE shithead-hellion-f@*kface-a$$hole tonight. I tried calming her with a 15 minute break in her crate. It didn't work. I was frustrated and ready to cry. And the fact that I was ready to cry made me want to cry more, cuz that's lame, yo.

So I took her for a walk. We went around our usual part of the neighborhood, but sensing that our few blocks were not enough to expel her demon energy, I kept going into the undeveloped parts of the neighborhood. By the time we made it back home we'd walked 40 minutes. She's been chewing her bone, instead of me, for the entire hour since we've been back.

THANK YOU, EXERCISE!

Ignoring the fact that Bethany is on her way over with a small Dairy Queen blizzard to reward me for being such a good doggy mom, today contained a nice healthy 70 minutes, or roughly 3.5 miles, and I still love my dog.

*gasp* I'm...I'm behind!

The good: Phil is in town and I'm loving not being a single mom to Lola. We have more fun this way. (Especially since we introduced the squirt gun as a training mechanism!)
The bad: I get to sleep longer in the mornings because he'll walk her when he gets up.
The ugly: I've only walked 30 of the 45 minutes projected for Monday through Wednesday. How am I supposed to overachieve if I'm not achieving at all?

I did kayak for an hour on Monday. So if ya'll consider that walking...with your arms...on water...then I'm golden. But uh, I really just need to get my butt moving!

DIET TIPS
The good: Popsicles and Luigi's Italian Ice are awesome to have on hand. Between the two, I can stave off most cravings for Wendy's frosties, rootbeer floats, twists dipped in chocolate and other icy cold goodnesses.
The bad and the ugly: Apparently it is NOT okay to eat mexican food for 6 meals in a row. No matter how good it tastes. Diversity should be enforced.

Week Three Goals

Week three, already?!?

Monday 10 minutes
Tuesday 15 minutes
Wednesday 20 minutes
Thursday OFF
Friday 15 minutes
Saturday 20 minutes
Sunday 20 minutes
total : 5 miles

I have some catching up to do. I've had a sinus infection since a week ago Friday, which now appears to have possibly made its way into bronchitis. This is a lousy excuse for not walking 10 minutes. As is the fact that I spent most of the weekend cleaning at my rental property. Haha I like calling it a "rental property" instead of "the house I lived in until I couldn't find roommates to live there and now won't seem to sell so I need people to live there and help me pay the mortgage." It's more... concise. Less melodramatic. But basically, I'm just saying that I haven't been very good at keeping up with this, which makes me extra proud of those of you who have, because I know first-hand how easy it is to get distracted and make exercise a lower priority, and you're all fabulous and awesome and inspirational.

And I'll catch up eventually... honest.

Oh, the temptations.

I was off to a great start this week. I was eating healthy and gung-ho on the plan. Then I gave in to laziness, donuts, ice cream socials and peanut butter cookies. I currently plan to go home and nap. And then eat pasta and drink wine (thankfully in honor of a birthday, so those calories don't count).

Awesome!

As for my exercising, I'd walked 80 minutes in two and a half days...and since then I've only walked an additional 45. Phil has been around to share dog-walking duties, and after 5 days of single parenting while he was out of town, I relish the Lola-free time. I have great plans to be active all weekend, so of course, they're calling for thunderstorms. Rain will totally ruin all of my really fun plans but will also keep me out of a bathing suit for a little while longer. Nothing's quite so motivational...

In other news, very much in the vein of my theory that calories consumed in honor of birthdays do not exist, I'm trying to think of a loophole that negates the affect of any foods consumed at holiday BBQs. Any suggestions?

Have a great long weekend everyone! Stay strong!

(Oh yeah, and even though I feel like a slacker, I still totally exceeded this week's goal. So there's that.)

Tuesday

Well I haven't kept track up to this point, but now that I have my handy-dandy I'm-so-excited pedometer, I've been keeping score. Surprisingly, I walked about a mile on a workday at my desk job, even though I'm sick. Can't wait to see how I do on a high energy day, that's frickin' sweet. Not that it's fast paced or anything, but it totally still counts in my head.

Sorry I've been quiet. Been sick since Friday. Stupid sinus infections. I've been getting them often this year, and until yesterday it was a mystery -- yesterday when my darling roomie said "well, you do live with a teacher now." So "Merlin," while I do not blame you for bringing home all those germs, I do think it might be your fault. LOL. ;) But don't worry I still luv you, I just need to buckle down on my vitamin consumption!

Yay everybody, by the way. You are all exceeding my expectations and kicking ass in a most admirable manner!

Weekly Check-In

I think everyone's done fantastically well this week! Yay us!

Here are my totals for the week....

Time: 228 minutes (3.8 hours)
Steps: 26307
Distance: 10.2 miles

I'm feeling a bit blah today, but all these high numbers from y'all are totally motivating me!

Holy walking, batman!

I'm so impressed with how well we are all doing! You guys kick some major butt! I had absolutely NO expectations and yet somehow we've all surpassed them. To be honest, I might have thought to myself, "Man, Bethany is being overly proactive with this whole blog thing...", but I'm really digging the progress and positive attitudes.

Weeeeee!

My official numbers from the first week:
210 minutes of walking
3 hours of kayaking

I figure Lola stopping to explore the world slows down my usual quick pace a bit and puts us somewhere around 8 miles on foot. Kayaking was 8 miles, though not constant paddling.

And I'll post a hilarious picture of my Neon with 4 kayaks on top as soon as I get it uploaded. I'm pretty sure it defies physics.

Here's to another great week for all of us!

week summary, weekend predictions

Okay it seemed excessive to post every time I walk since I'm the only one who has a puppy to drag me around. But here's what Lola and I managed to do this week:

Monday
Morning - 20 min
Lunch - 10 min
Evening - 10 min

Tuesday
Morning - 10 min
Lunch - 10 min
Evening - 10 min

Wednesday
Morning - 10 min
Lunch - Called on account of rain
Evening - 15 min

Thursday
Morning - 10 min
Lunch - 10 min
Evening - 15 min

Friday
Morning - 15 min
Lunch - Phil is home. I actually get to go out with coworkers for lunch! Woo!
Evening - Assuming we can actually fit 2 12 foot kayaks and 1 10 foot kayak in the back of a single Escape, I'll be kayaking after work. And Lola gets to romp around with her cousin (a Puggle) all night.

Tomorrow will include at least a morning and evening walk with Lola. And Sunday, again, assuming my logistics all pull together, kayaking on Sunday. Longer trip though, more like 2 - 3 hours.

Yipee!

Total actual time walked so far this week, not counting predictions = 2.5 hours.

Not sure how that translates distance wise, but sounds great to me!

This hour is unfit, but I shall no longer be.

I've been walking with a new partner, a 10 week old puppy named Lola, for almost 3 weeks now. It's been great for me but she needs to build up stamina for some longer walks. Truthfully, I think she just needs to build up bigger legs. Generally we take about three, 10 minute walks a day. This morning, because she woke me up at the godawful hour of 6:15am, I forced her to take a longer walk. We did 20 minutes. And while it did not, as I was so hoping, create a disruption in the time continuum and transport me back to when I was sleeping (maybe we need to walk faster?), it did feel good to use the extra time for something worthwhile.

It even tired out my exercise buddy (photographic evidence). For a second. Before she decided to try and eat me.