Friday, December 31, 2004

day 60 - Happy New Year

When I "restarted" things 60 days ago, I didn't actually realize that it was 60 days exactly from then until New Year's Eve. I wish I could say that I had hit some special fitness goal or that I had lost 15 pounds in that time. I did not. Much like the rest of 2004, I merely maintained. By maintain, of course, I mean, I re-lost and re-gained the same 5 to 7 pounds over and over again, just as I had all year.

When I looked back at the goals I set for myself in 2004, I see that I came up a little short.

1. I did not lose another 70 pounds this year (well, actually I probably did but I kept gaining it back too so it didn't really count).

2. Exercise at least 5 times a week -- this one I pretty much stuck to so that's not too bad I realize. Had I not done this, I know that I would have regained every single last ounce I lost in 2003.

3. Get our finances in order -- we're not out of debt by any stretch of the imagination but we're in a little better shape than we were 12 months ago. We are continuing on the plan we began in 2004 throughout 2005 and we have a meeting in the works with our bank manager to help move things even further along.

4. Get rid of clutter -- again, we worked very hard on this. Partly because the LOG was moving in and we had to give up a whole room, we did a lot of throwing out and donating to goodwill this year. Of course, there is still more to do but it all gets easier every time we tackle it.

Overall, considering the stress I went through at work (and trust me, it was incredibly stressful going through an organizational transition. I wasn't really for much of the year if I would have a job when all the dust settled), everything we had going on at home (with LOG moving in) and some other family stuff, 2004 could have been much worse. I am so relieved that I have not regained all of my 2003 loss (I even noticed today that I've re-lost most about 4 pounds of my holiday gain already so I'm guessing most of it was cycle related water weight).

As always, I'm going to try to paint a friendly, happy, fresh face on 2005 and make it mine. I'll post my 2005 goals tomorrow. In the meantime, I wish you a very very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!!

Thursday, December 30, 2004

day 59 - running around

I am totally pooped. We were on the run from about 7:30 a.m. I took my hunny to work but he didn't have to work (news to us) so we set off to do errands together. I never thought for the life of me that it would take us most of the day but it did and they are done. We got groceries, did some computer parts shopping, fixed my mum's computer, got more groceries at a different store, did banking, cashed in winning lotto tickets, picked up the LOG's prescriptions and in the middle of all of that, had lunch along the way.

LOG is feeling crappy. He has the same thing that we had earlier in the week but it's hitting him way harder than it did us. I'm not really surprised that it's beating him up so badly. It's a very nasty bug and it was so hard on us, I can't imagine how terrible he must be feeling, being almost 80 and all. He's been in bed all day (and most of yesterday) but is feeling better tonight (thank goodness!!).

While we were out, I picked up a four DVD set (with resistance bands) for Winsor Pilates. It is called the "Power Sculpting with Resistance Kit." I've never done pilates before but have heard good things about this set. I thought that in addition to the cardio and weights that I do in the mornings, it might be nice to have something I can do a few evenings a week, upstairs in my room. My hunny said he'd try it too so we'll see. Hopefully it'll be easy for me to figure out. I still haven't heard yet if we're going to be able to purchase discounted gym memberships at Good Life yet (through work) so I thought that this might be something cool/different to try in the meantime.

Tomorrow I hope to post some kind of year-end wrap-up. I cannot seriously believe that it's almost 2005!!

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

day 58 - clearing the way

I feel much better today. I can still feel a little tenderness where it used to hurt but other than that, I feel almost normal.

This morning after I took my hunny to work, I shoveled the driveway. Because we've both felt like crap for a few days, the snow had been piling up in the drive. It took me 45 minutes (because it was really heavy and wet) but it is all cleared up now. Given the irregularity of my workouts recently, I was sure that the shoveling would totally kick my ass but it's cleared my head and I feel better for it. To use my muscles and get lots of fresh air seems to have done me a world of good.

After shoveling, I came in and had a very healthy breakfast. Today is shaping up to be a great day so far. I am hoping that the rest of the holiday/break will be much the same.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

day 57 - much a do about nothing

Shortly after I posted last night, I looked out the window to see the police cars driving away. No lights flashing, no "perp walk" to witness. They just quietly drove off, into the night. I was happy to see that and figured that no one was injured. It was very weird all the same and it made the local paper today (I've posted it below).

Today I wasn't feeling that great. My hunny wasn't either. We both have something weird going on. Yesterday, we went out for a few groceries and stopped for a quick bite to eat. I've been trying to figure out if we picked up something in the restaurant or from someone in a store. It feels like a stomach ache but it's muscular. It's sort of below my stomach but feels like the way your muscles do when you have a hard ab workout. We're both feeling the same kind of pain. When we stand up or sit down it's very sore. Once you get seated, it's not too bad. I'm not sure what it is but ibuprofen seems to help. I don't want to take too much of that though. Yesterday, I thought I was just having a very very bad period but today, seeing that my hunny is experiencing a similar type of pain, I know now that it wasn't that. I don't think it's food poisoning because neither of us are nauseous or anything. Whatever it is, hopefully it'll clear up by tomorrow. It's really been a drag so far this holiday, feeling so crappy. At least I was able to drag my ass around this morning and get most of the laundry done and a banana bread baked for the LOG.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Here's the article about the situation up the street last night:

Police use Taser on man who claimed he left bomb at hotel
By Ian Elliot
Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Local News - A man with a history of mental illness led Kingston Police around the city last night before he was taken down and arrested outside police headquarters three hours after he first alarmed authorities with a call saying he was armed and suicidal.

The drama started when a 34-year-old man called police on his cellphone and claimed he was armed with a handgun and intended to kill himself and anyone who tried to stop him around 5:30 p.m.

He hinted he was at an address on Kingscourt Avenue. Uniformed units and the force?s emergency response unit surrounded a residence there.

After cordoning off the area, they found the man wasn't there.

Calls continued throughout the evening and the man made various claims that he possessed explosives and had left bombs at various locations.

Staff-Sgt. Mike Attwood, who said he has had extensive dealings with the man over the years, convinced him to come downtown where police quickly staked out an area around police headquarters and were ready to arrest him.

"He agreed to come down to the police station and see me and we'd have a coffee and talk," said Attwood.

"In his last phone call, he claimed to be at the Holiday Inn and so we had officers all around the area."

The officers saw a man matching the suspect's description enter the Tim Hortons on Ontario Street and walk out with a coffee.

Instead of going to police headquarters, he started to walk back in the direction of the hotel and police moved in, subduing him with a Taser.

He was carrying a white plastic bag containing an extra pair of boots but possessed no explosives or other weapons.

After he was arrested, the man claimed that he had left a bomb in the pool area of the Holiday Inn. That area was cleared while uniformed officers swept the area and cut open a locker but no explosives were found.

The individual was questioned by police but was intoxicated and difficult to make sense of.

"He was very intoxicated and we've dealt with him before," Attwood said of the man.

"He?s mentally unstable with violent tendencies. Our dealings with him have been fairly consistent over the years."

No one was hurt during the arrest. He was not charged last night, but was taken to hospital for a psychiatric assessment after being taken into custody.

Monday, December 27, 2004

day 56 - neighbourhood excitement

Right now, as I type this, the police are across the street (and down a few houses), surrounding the home of one of our neighbours. We had a call about 20 minutes from a friend who heard that some guy on our street has himself barracaded in the house with a 9mm gun and some grenades. From our bathroom window we can see the police going from their cars to the house and back again but not much else. I really hope that no one is hurt tonight. Whatever is going on, it's kind of scary.

Christmas was nice and, fortunately, not that exciting. Actually it was a very nice day. We stayed up kind of late on Christmas eve. I got to feeling a little better (finally) so I did a little more baking (just one more batch of cookies) while we watched "Bad Santa" (which was bad but in a good way). I had a little bit of wrapping to finish up Christmas morning but that was okay, we didn't have to be at my mum's until later in the afternoon.

My brother and his girlfriend arrived mid-afternoon (from Ottawa) and we had a really nice visit with them and my parents. The meal was terrific and I really didn't pig out. We had eaten a light brunch at home, mid-morning so overall, the caloric consumption for the day wasn't terrible at all.

Yesterday was a good day too, foodwise. We went out of town to my aunt & uncle's for a Boxing Day Open House. There was tonnes of food (and mucho sweets) but basically, I ate very well. I piled up my plate with raw veggies and some smoked turkey and pickles. Again, I think I did pretty good.

Last week, when I was sick and in the throes of PMS, and the last week I worked, were a bit of a wash out. I didn't record my meals and, although I drank gallons of water, I really wasn't careful about anything. It would have been easy to do the same thing today. My period started and the cramps had me rolled up in a ball, with the heating pad (seriously, they are never THAT bad) all afternoon. I could have used that as an excuse to pig out but I didn't. I feel good about that.

This morning, I felt really brave (and a little scared) and stepped on the scale. Honestly, I expected to have gained 15 pounds, maybe more. I had gained but it was a 6 pound gain. I was relieved and vowed to do better this week. Today was a pretty good eating day. I won't say it was perfectly clean because I did have a couple of Christmas cookies after dinner tonight but it was much better than it had been last week. I know that I'll be able to re-lose that 6 pounds and get seriously back into things and I don't have to wait until January 1 to do it. I hit the grocery store this morning and picked up some seriously healthy snacks and stuff. I'm definitely back on the right track again. Thank goodness!!

Friday, December 24, 2004

day 53 - weather report

I just finished watching "Me Without You" (which I totally enjoyed -- I absolutely love Anna Friel). The snow is falling quite softly right now but the flakes are huge. Quite a change from yesterday. We woke up to snow yesterday. The snow was followed by freezing rain. The freezing rain turned to regular rain (which made everything an icy slush) and, by the end of the day, the precipitation had ended but we were experiencing 72 km/h winds. I could barely get the door open the wind was blowing that hard. The weather has been pretty freaky around here lately. The local paper said to not get your hopes for a white Christmas. Right now, looking out the window, it looks pretty darned white to me.

Yesterday afternoon I did a little more baking, some butter tart squares and some fudge bars (which I totally ruined). This morning, I awoke with good intentions of doing more baking. I also awoke with a pounding headache and achey joints. So far today, I haven't done any baking. I did do some wrapping though, in bed, this morning, while watching, "Anything Else." We sure get our money's worth as far as the cable goes when we're sick. Depending upon how I feel tonight, I may make a couple of quick batches of cookies, we'll see. Right now, I have (I think), just 2 more gifts to wrap and then at least one thing I started will be finished.

Being sick sucks. This has been dragging on for a week now and I'm really tired of it. The upside of it (and yes, I have managed to find one) is that my appetite is sort of shot. That almost never happens to me. If I'm not feeling any better tomorrow I plan to take huge amounts of cold medicines and ibuprofen and have a good day, regardless. We're planning to go to my mum & dad's. It'll be a lovely, peaceful day (or should be -- I can't imagine why it wouldn't be) and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. To those of you who don't, have an enjoyable weekend. I'll probably post again on Sunday.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

day 52 - baking away

Finally, I started my baking today. This morning I made up some Drop Sugar Cookies (taste like the cut out ones but without so much fuss) and a pan of chocolate chip squares. This afternoon I'll do a little more. Things feel pretty organized right now.

I'm feeling a little better today and was actually up quite early (I started baking at around 6 a.m.). I'm still blowing my nose and coughing a bit but I'm hopeful that it's on the way out.

Oh, for the record, I didn't lick the bowl or try any samples, for "quality control" this morning. One of the benefits of having the LOG around is that he's totally ready, willing and able to be my taste-tester!

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

day 52 - humpidy-do-day

The windows are in. They look terrific. We haven't put our blinds back up yet though because the caulking has to set. Also, they haven't finished the trim on 3 windows. We were 1/2 expecting them to come back today but the weather's been crap so we haven't seen them.

Once they had finished the inside work yesterday, I was able to clean the whole downstairs. It desperately needed to be done and looks quite fabulous right now. I still haven't started my baking yet but I did get a lot of wrapping done. I think it's a little over 1/2 done. We didn't actually do a whole lot of shopping this year so it isn't taking me as long as it normally would to get wrapped up.

Tomorrow morning I'll start my baking. I just do it to give away but again, I'm not doing as many different things as I ordinarily do. I made a second batch of Taylore's chocolate pretzels, this time with the Hugs only (they melted better for me) the other night so I guess that's sort of baking. Baby steps right?

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

day 51 - windows

So, the windows that we ordered two months ago are being installed on the first floor of our house as I type this. Actually, they are working directly below me right now, on our patio doors and it feels and sounds like the wall may collapse underneath me. I'm sure it won't but it feels like it may.

With the exception of two very small things that I should be able to pick up tomorrow, I've finished up my shopping. Of course, nothing is wrapped, the house is a mess because of the windows and I haven't even begun my baking yet but I still have 3.5 days left, right?

All of my best intentions about good eating and lots of exercise have been thrown out the window (oops, no pun intended, really!). I keep trying to focus on the good things I do instead of dwell on the bad but it's just easier to beat yourself up than it is to praise yourself. Why is that?

In any event, I'm just trying to focus on getting through the next 10 days without doing too much damage to myself. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll do the same for you, promise!!

Monday, December 20, 2004

day 50 - cold snap

It was so cold this morning that we blew two tires. It was sort of a combination of the cold (it was minus 26!), the tires coming to the end of their natural lives and aluminum rims. Fortunately, it happened just up the street from here. I hate to think what might have happened if it happened on the highway.

I'm feeling a bit better today. The very dry, bitter cold seems to have helped clear my head a smidgen. In a little while I plan to go out and finish up the last little bit of shopping I need to do for the holidays. It shouldn't take too long, hopefully.

What I didn't write about on the weekend was Friday. Oh my goodness, can you say "big time wash out"? After four days of grabbing food on the run, no breaks, packing, moving furniture and basically running around like headless chickens, Friday was practically blissful. Our whole team ended up working together in a big old meeting room, laptops covering a huge, antique board table. It was so refreshing to be able to get some work done after the chaotic week we'd all been through.

Actually accomplishing stuff was nice but boy howdy, you should have seen the food. Our bosses bought us lunch (pizza), a coworker brought back freshly made nachos and salsa from the Lone Star. Two boxes of hand made truffles were plunked in the middle of the table. Basically, it was a nightmare. I shouldn't say that because honestly, it was delicious. I very much enjoyed it. Now, I did drink my water and a few clementines but really, it was a junky day. I really should have definitely resisted, I know this and I didn't.

Unfortunately, because I was feeling lousy with my cold, I let that slip-up carry over into the weekend. I haven't tracked what I've eaten through Fitday in a few days now and I wouldn't want to, if I'm totally honest. At some point this week, I probably will but, at the moment, I don't want to make myself feel that bad.

On the upside, I have not any alcoholic beverages and have been drinking a lot (and I mean a lot) of water since I've been home. Thank goodness for small favours huh? Anyway, it's time to go bundle up and get out to the mall. I really really want to be finished with this shopping nonsense, today!

Saturday, December 18, 2004

day 48 - get off my chest

Right now, it feels like little gremlins are sitting on my chest and on my head. My head is really stuffed up and I cannot breathe properly. I'm also coughing, a lot. It's not fun.

All I have managed to accomplish today so far is one quick trip to the store and changing the beds. I only got this much done because I absolutely had to.

I have lots to report but not much energy to write so it'll have to wait a bit. Have a good weekend everyone, and stay healthy!

Thursday, December 16, 2004

day 46 - move day minus one

I only have a second, for a very quick post (sorry!!). We've moving everything (I do mean EVERYTHING) out of our offices tomorrow. Over the holidays, we're getting new paint, carpets and furniture. It's a huge job though, to get everything out before the carpenters and painters come in. Right now, almost everything is in boxes or crates. Our furniture is labeled, it's generally looking like semi-organized chaos.

One of the benefits of it is that I'm getting lots of upper body exercise, not to mention walking and climbing. Someone should open a gym that basically simulates what you do when moving!! It would be a terrific workout, I can assure you!!

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

day 45 - getting the hang of it

This morning, we had a meeting with our Executive Director. It was a large group meeting (about 40 of us) and it turned out to be an end-of-the-year get-together. They had hot cider and fresh baked home made treats (baked by a coworker). I sat there feeling all proud of myself for not having eaten anything.

Everytime I go to a party type event, something that it outside of my comfort level, somewhere full of tempting foods that are full of fat and/or sugar, I get so impressed with myself for not indulging. I was thinking about yesterday and how I didn't have the mashed potatoes and gravy or the nanaimo bars. It was definitely good of me to make healthy choices but this shouldn't surprise me, this is what I should be doing all_of_the_time.

Recently, whenever I'm in a restaurant or just generally around other people at meals, I've caught myself watching their plates. I read that if you pay attention to what thin folks eat, you'll figure out what you should be eating. Logically, I know what to eat, realistically, it's not always so easy. Over the summer months, it was a lot easier for me to give into my stress and eat large amounts of stuff that I shouldn't. It takes a long time to retrain your brain when it comes to food. It does me anyway. I remember back in January '03, it took me weeks of white knuckling things before food choices became habits. I'm working on getting to that point again. I want to eat like a thin person and, eventually, become one myself. Thinner than I am right now anyway, much thinner.

Oh, by the way, I heard something really interesting yesterday. I was in this workshop in the afternoon which dealt with conflict resolution. At one point someone brought up the notion of "fight or flight" when dealing with work conflicts. The facilitator mentioned something she'd heard recently, "stew and chew." She was talking about the link between the obesity epidemic and stress. She's absolutely right, instead of just fleeing a bad situation, we all (well some of us anyway) head for the fridge or the treat drawer or wherever and comfort ourselves with food. Interesting huh??

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

day 44 - choices

I spent today out of the office and out of my element. My workday meals are carefully planned out. Everything I eat during the day (usually) is stuff I bring from home. Today I was out at a professional development day and there was food everywhere. Fortunately, there were lots of healthy-ish foods to choose from.

The last time we had one of these things, the options were horrible for me. I could not find much that was low-fat. It was so nice to have a really lovely, big meal of veggies (some raw, some roasted), lovely baby spinach salad, cottage cheese, fruit salad. It made making decisions at the luncheon buffet very easy.

Other than that, there isn't much to report today. I had a really nice walk outside and my eating was great. Tomorrow I plan to get back into my regular morning, at home workout. I can tell that PMS is just around the corner and I want to get moving my butt a little more than I have been recently. I'll need all the help I can to squash any cycle-related cravings I know I'll be faced with. PMS and the week before Christmas, could this be more of a challenge??

Monday, December 13, 2004

day 43 - no dairy princess

This weekend, well last night really, I discovered that my body does not want me to indulge in too much dairy. I felt like hammered crap last night and most of this morning because of the stuff. In a regular day, I drink a serving of soy milk and eat two, fat free yogurts. I don't have any digestion problems with these things. The rest of the day I generally avoid cheese (save for a treat here and there which is usually a little goat cheese on my grilled portabellos - yum) and all other forms of the stuff. Yesterday though, we went out for brunch and I had a bit of cheese with my meal, in addition to the yogurt and milk. I also had cheese (really good stuff) with my dinner. My stomach was so upset last night, I felt terrible. At first I thought that maybe I had just eaten too much in a small period of time (no breakfast and then a biggish lunch and a regular sized dinner instead of smaller meals all spaced out). Right now, I'm pretty sure it was a combination of the two things. I'm pretty sure though, that if I had gone without the cheese, I'd not have hurt myself so badly. Yuck.

It's hard to imagine how much dairy I used to eat and had no problems with it. Maybe I did have problems though and just didn't put it together. At any rate, it'll be a good long while before I have any cheese again. I know that it's a good thing that my body cannot physically take too much cheese or too much chocolate (or too much of any one thing actually). It's really gross to think about how badly my body used to function when it had to process large quantities of things that were not good for me, on a regular basis. Yuck!

Because I felt so horrible this morning, I did not work out. I will try to get a walk in tonight if it's not raining. The week is not off to a stellar start but I am determined to not let it all fall to shit because of a slow beginning!!

Sunday, December 12, 2004

day 42 - hey hey, it's the weekend

So far this weekend, nothing I have done has really gone according to my plans. I can honestly blame it on the weather and on seasonal colds. Right now, as I look out my window, I can see a gorgeous winter-wonderland. The snow has stuck to every branch and power/phone/cable line in the neighbourhood. It looks pretty fake actually but that's just because of the freezing rain we received on Friday.

On Friday night, we had plans to go see my brother's band in a pub downtown. I was half-way hoping that they wouldn't come because the roads were horrible and they were going to be driving in from 2 hours north of here (where they were expecting a lot more snow than we were supposed to get). In the end, they didn't come in because of a very ill band member. I was relieved all the same. I would have worried myself sick about them being on the highway.

The weather was pretty yucky here too so we stayed home and had an early night. I can't tell you how good it felt to get to sleep early and then sleep late the next morning. Delicious!! I actually stayed in bed all morning yesterday, watching TV and reading.

In the afternoon, we pulled on our boots and ventured out into the holiday shopping madness. We aren't doing a lot of shopping but we're trying to be creative (read inexpensive) with what we are doing so it's taking a bit more time than it normally would. We picked up a couple of gifts and I'm down to needing only to find something for my mum and my 18 year old godson. I'm not too concerned though, I have the whole week before Christmas off and should have lots of time to get that done.

Given that this is supposed to be a fitness/weight-loss site, I suppose I should talk about how I'm doing this weekend. Overall, it could be worse. I missed breakfast yesterday (because I was busy being lazy) so we went out for lunch. It was a Chinese buffet. I didn't do too badly but I did give in and have a couple of fried wontons (yum!). We did a tonne of walking, in the snow, yesterday and I drank a lot of water so overall, it balanced out I think. I deliberately didn't bother stepping on the scale yesterday. My feeling right now is to give it a break for a couple of weeks and see how things are going in that direction after Christmas. Of course, in a couple of days, my curiosity may get the better of me and I'll hop on it anyway but for now, I'm staying away.

This morning, right now, it's very quiet in the house. I'm the only one who is up and I've been doing laundry and puttering around a bit. It's very peaceful and calm and I have to admit that it's very nice to not have the tv on. Maybe if I wish very hard, it'll stay off all day (yeah, right!). In any event, I hope you have a calm, peaceful, lazy Sunday because I sure hope to have one here!!

Friday, December 10, 2004

day 40 - clementines and ice

One of my favourite things about this particular time of the year, is the appearance of clementines in the stores. They are gorgeous, handy and yummy. I've been eating a lot of them just recently. They are handy because I can eat them on the go. I've been on the go a lot this week. My work schedule is all topsy turvy and I'm now working during the days I had booked off for next week. It's okay though, I'll be off that whole week before Christmas so I'm happy about that.

We've had another freezing rain storm over night last night. The world looks like a big skating rink right now. We're supposed to get hit with heavy snow soon, tonight I think. No fun. Fortunately, I think we're stocked up with groceries at home and I know that I have everything I need to get my holiday baking started. If we end up getting snowed in, I'll have lots of stuff to keep me busy.

My big challenge this weekend will be to not eat what I'm baking. Wish me luck folks!!

Thursday, December 09, 2004

day 39 - the party rages on

Another day, another holiday party. This is another work related shin-dig. It's being held in the same spot as one of the parties I went to last week so at least I know that the diet coke and water is free flowing. It's a very large group of folks and I find that it's much easier to avoid the food in a big crowd than it is when there are just a few of us around. Not sure why that is, it just is.

I know that I will do well at the party because I have to. I have to make up for the piece of chocolate truffle cake (it was small but still!) that I had at a gathering I attended at lunch. Yikes huh? Will it ever end?

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

day 37 - slip sliding away

Freezing rain is no fun at all. I can handle any kind of weather: extreme heat, bitter cold, 110% humidity, winds, rain, feet of snow. Freezing rain though, I hate. It makes me feel sick whenever the forecast calls for it. Hangover from the '98 Ice Storm I guess.

It's starting to warm up a bit here though and the freezing rain is supposed to end. The temperature is supposed to rise a fair bit actually. We'll see.

Overall, today was excellent. I had a really good workout this morning. It felt really good to have a proper workout. I knew that I wouldn't get outside for much of a walk today, not with everything covered in ice. Tomorrow, well, I'll see what happens. If it looks like it might clear up, I will try to get the walk in. I am really enjoying that. Getting outside and into the crisp air feels so much nicer than doing WATP (not that I don't love WATP).

Anyway, I'm off to bed soon (yes, I know it's early but I'm up at 4:45 a.m.!). If you have warm, ice-melting thoughts to spare, please send them our way!

Monday, December 06, 2004

day 36 - light headed

Yanno, I really should get my hair cut more often. I'm actually not quite as bad as I used to be. I now get it cut a couple of times a year and I used to go for up to 24 months without a trim. I had my hair cut today and I feel positively light-headed. My hair is very thick and heavy and it gets to a point sometimes, where it causes me neck pain. It had recently gotten to that point and this morning I said, enough is enough. I had the day off and a free couple of hours so I went over to Magicuts (yeah, magicuts, I get a good cut at this particular location for under $20!). It feels so good and I think it looks pretty good. It's a lot shorter than I have had it in a long time. It's still shoulder length but it's quite layered. When the hairdresser blew it dry, it was kind of straw like so she used some wax on it. I like what she did so I stopped off and bought some on the way home. We'll see if I can duplicate it tomorrow.

Overall, my long-weekend was very nice. I feel relaxed and rested. My hair looks good and I was down 2 pounds on my weigh-in. All in all, everything's hunky dorey. I even started some of my Christmas shopping and have all of the stuff I need (pretty much) to do the little bit of baking I will be doing (I give it away for gifts). I'm back to work tomorrow but I have Friday afternoon off so it's going to be a very very short week (yay!). The only down side in the whole thing is the fact that it's freezing rain here right now. It started snowing this afternoon when I was out running around and it's turned into the slippery stuff. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't last. Hopefully it's not happening wherever you're reading from. Stay safe guys!!

Saturday, December 04, 2004

day 34 - weighing in

For the first time all day, I have a couple of minutes to check in here. Today was quite busy for me. Again with the running around, housework, etc. Fun fun Saturday stuff. I wasn't so busy though, that I forgot to weigh-in this morning. I actually lost another 2 pounds this week. I'm really happy about this and hope to repeat it again next week!!

Friday, December 03, 2004

day 33 - happy friday

Was your Friday happy? Mine has been pretty good so far. I didn't have to work today and that was very nice. I got up at the normal time though, got my hunny off to work, did some laundry. It was very relaxing. The best part of today I spent with my mum. We went shopping. I've been shopping a lot lately and it's made me think about my whole fitness journey.

Last Saturday, I went shopping, ran errands. You know, the typical Saturday stuff. I did A LOT of errands. I was in and out of the car MANY MANY times. At the end of the day, I thought to myself, "hey, my feet and legs are not tired at all." A couple of years ago, I probably would have quit about half-way through my list because I would have been wiped out. Not on Saturday. On Saturday, I ran around and got stuff done, came home, had dinner and then went back out for the evening. I felt pretty good about how far I'd come and even though I've been struggling with the same ten pounds all year, my fitness level was obviously improved.

So, today, with mum, we were running around, in and out of the car, I felt okay but not as great Saturday. What's happening?? Why are my legs so tired?? It was the strangest thing. So we carried on shopping, I marveled at my feet and it hit me. I knew what was causing the problem. I hadn't suddenly been moved back in time to that old, less-fit version of me. I realized that wearing winter boots, trudging through the snow (for the first time this year - ugh) wore me out. It was a relief but it was kind of sad too. As much as I love to look at the snow, I really am not crazy about sliding through slushy ice and wet snow. This was a really early jump on the season for us. The past couple of years, it's not really hit us until at least January. I really think that it's going to be a long winter this year!

Thursday, December 02, 2004

day 32 - where did it go?

Just a really really quick note. The day is almost over and this is the first chance I've had to post. I have a love/hate relationship with days like this. I mean, I like when I'm busy and am basically having an okay day and it flies by. I do hate when the days pass so quickly that you can barely remember them. Life just moves too quickly sometime.

Anyway, just wanted to report that the past couple of days have gone quite okay foodwise. Exercise has been mostly walking but the weather has been a little better (and I've dug out my hat and mitts) so it's not as chilly as it was. I'm off for four days now so I should have some time to get some "extra" exercise in. Yay for long weekends!!

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

day 31 - dark and dreary on the outside

What a miserable day today is. Perhaps it's because dub-ya is up here (in Nova Scotia today) and he's taken away our sunshine. Whatever the case, I'm wearing a new red top today and I'm feeling pretty good.

Work has been totally chaotic for weeks now. It's still busy but today I have had fewer meetings than normal so I'm actually (gasp!) at my desk and getting some things done. Concept huh?? Now, if only I could figure out a way to do this on a regular basis, we'd be cooking (with broth, not oil!).

In my continuing effort to use up all of my accumulated vacation days, I have booked Friday and Monday off. I've been debating whether or not I should actually take them or not. Right now, I'm thinking I should. I really don't want to take the first week of January off. I actually like being here that week because it's very quiet and I can get a lot done.

On the fitness front, my workouts have been hit and miss so far this week. Mostly I've been walking when I can. So far today, my eating is pretty good too. I'm feeling like I won't have a problem at this reception I'm going to this afternoon. Personally, I'd much rather save my calories for dinner instead of blowing them on finger food that I don't even really care for. If I keep telling myself that over and over again, I shouldn't be tempted!!