It's a quickie

A quickie post that is... stayed up too late and I really gotta hit the hay, but I thought I'd just let you know that I did it!!  FIVE DAYS IN A ROW!!!  YES!!!

Here's the stats:

Mon: 3626

Tues: 2605

Wed: 3226

Thur:  3294

Fri:  2703

Each of these days were a new record for that specific day as well.  And this is my first 5 day streak!  I won't be keeping it up for the weekend, or if I do, it won't be intentional.  I'm going to take it easy and ice my knees - really. I will.

Proof's in the Puddin' and here it is...

Wow, I just noticed - I've walked 16.7 miles this week.  Cool.

On a Mission!!

I discovered last night an area on the Nike web page that interested me.  "Missions."  <Cue Mission Impossible theme...>  I clicked on it and ended up in this video game-like arena.  I clicked "play" and suddenly I'm in this raging snow/wind storm (well, this character who is supposedly me) when this well-built cute guy rescues me and hooks me up with this really cool shirt.  And like him, I'm on fire - like literally, but it's that Hunger Games no pain fire right?  Anyway, next there's  another "play" button that asks me if I want to start my first mission.  Uhhh, no - it's almost bedtime.  So I saved it 'til today.

The Mission:  Get 200 fuel points in 30 minutes or less.  Hmmm, a challenge.  But wait - how much of a challenge?  I did a quick search online - there's no way to tell for sure because it's based on the individual, but it shouldn't be a big deal to get 200 points easily.  There was an article written prior to the FuelBand's release where Nike gave a demo to a bunch of folks.  At the beginning of the demo, they did a bit of jump rope and then moved on the banging on buckets with drumsticks.  Hey!  I've got drumsticks!!  They're souvenirs from the Blue Man Group and light up blue when they're hit hard enough, but they'll work.  I just used my bed as the "drum" and played along to a couple fast-paced songs.  After two songs, my arms felt like they were about to fall off, but I checked and I'd already passed 200 points.  YES!!  On to the next!  (oh btw, I'm not a drummer, I just like to play around - wish I was though!! =D)

The 2nd Mission:  Get 350 fuel points in 30 minutes or less.  Since my arms were out of commission, I decided to grab a basketball and just dribble the ball on my patio.  I did that for a couple minutes, but then I kept wanting to shoot the ball.  However, I don't have a hoop in my yard, sooooooo I felt a little dumb.  Then I decided to just walk around my backyard and pick up the doggie poo - might as well be productive, right?  I don't think the band registers my motions as much with that particular activity though, so I went back inside and grabbed the b-ball again.  Yep, felt stupid dribbling the ball, but hey I was moving.  I checked my progress at 25 minutes and I had earned another 379 points.  Not bad.

It was time for dinner by the time I was finished with those two missions.  I look forward to what's next.  Oh and I can increase the "skill" level if I want.  Mine is set to "easy" right now and I am perfectly ok with that!  AND I met the 2500 point goal during Mission 2 - yay a twofer!!

Eating and water intake were both good today too.  I'd still like to get rid of the majority of processed foods in my diet.  But, baby steps right?  Do what I can do right now, but keep working at it.  This is my life - I've got to meet me where I am.

Well, I've already covered my activity for today, but I also want to throw in the Wednesday fuel point results:

Mon: 3626
Tues: 2605
Wed:  3226
Thur:  currently 3230 w/ bedtime shortly...

That's 4 days in a row that I've met my goal of 2500 points or more - woot!!
 

This could be me!!

For the last few weeks, I've been reading several healthy/weight loss blogs and recently, I read something that struck me as pretty profound...

In this particular blog - "Diary of an Aspiring Loser" - Michelle has been on a 5 year journey to get fit, lose weight, etc.  (keep in mind she had a couple babies during this time as well).  Anyway, she frequently says stuff that just makes total sense to me.  I don't know where she gets it, but here's what I read yesterday...

But wait!!  First, a little background - she started the blog in 2007 and I've been catching up to present day by reading a few months at a time.  I'm up to 2012 now just as she's about to hit her goal weight:

This isn't Yosemite, but it's still a beautiful place to hike.  (Estes Park, CO)

At this point in the blog, she's like 5 pounds from her goal of 145 lbs and she already hit her BMI goal the week prior.  In this particular post, she's talking about backpacking/camping with a group of women in the Yosemite Nat'l Park - a 6 or 7 mile hike with an elevation gain of <I think> about 2000 ft...

"Taking off that pack felt like such a relief.  I was so pleased with how my body handled the work.  Things like this would have been completely outside of my ability in years past.  Heck, I don't know if I could have done this even last year before I started exercising again.  But today I am strong and fit and capable and look at what I can do!  People might think that "diet and exercise" is hard work, too much trouble, not worth the effort...but the payoff is huge.  I spent three days exploring pristine beauty that I would never have been able to see had I not worked to turn my body into something that could take me to these places.  It's harder to remember this when it's 9pm and I'm craving large amounts of ice cream, but trips like this make the connection so clear and strong."

Nice, huh?  And so true.  I suppose one could say that you can experience exploring that pristine beauty virtually or even by car in some areas, but I feel like there's something to be said for using the body God gave us to experience His creation.

Another quote I read on her blog that I like using is "If hunger is not the problem, food is not the solution."  I use that a lot - really.  Thanks Michelle!!

Anyway, just thought I'd share.  

As for my day today, it went pretty well.  I had a last minute change in dinner plans and went to Olive Garden to celebrate a friend's birthday (Happy Birthday D!) and ate way more than I should.  It was all very tasty and I don't feel bad about it, just very full and sleepy!!  I had the traditional OG salad (2 small bowls - no olives - yuck!) and there wasn't a lot of dressing.  Had to have one breadstick!   I also ordered the Bruschetta and ate all but maybe 4 slices of the bread - it was SOOOOooo good.  I'd like to think that the veggies balanced out all that bread, but somehow I doubt it.  To make me feel even better about my choices though, I had ice water to drink.  Had I known I was going, I'd have cut back on lunch a bit, but oh well, this is life and I refuse to give up fun & friends for calories.  I did however....

NOT have donuts at work today!!!! YAY!!  How many weeks straight is that?  Oh, I know I know - SIX!  Another Donut Wednesday notch in my belt.   

In the realm of physical activity, I am extremely very close to 2500 Nike Fuel points and it's only 7pm.  Plus my 30 minutes on the treadmill will take place shortly after I finish this post.  Water intake was pretty good today, but not as good as yesterday.  I'll be sure to drink more water while on the treadmill though!  My goal for this week is to get those 2500 points 5 days in a row.  I can do this!!

So far:
Mon:  3626
Tue:   2605
Wed:  ???? (It isn't over yet!)

Days like this...

Actually, I had a pretty good day today.  I was busy at work, but not so busy that I couldn't get up and walk a couple times - so the day went by pretty fast.

MORE ACTIVITY?

I think my body is starting to get use to the additional activity.  Don't get me wrong, my knees still ache every single day and my ankles swell up with that - oh what's it called?  Oh yeah "pitting edema."  It really grosses my daughter out when I push in on my swollen ankle and the dimple just stays there - hehehe.  Ok, maybe it is a little gross.  But my point is that even though I still have some aches and pains, I'm enjoying being a bit more active - in fact I miss it when I don't have the time.  I'm actually thinking that someday I might be able to run again and... wait for it... LIKE IT!!! What?!?  Wait!  Quick!  Someone write down the date!!!  Remember this post because it will happen - I don't know when, but it will happen!!

GOALS  MET

Today my eating was very good, water intake was outstanding and I met my Nike FuelBand goal about an hour ago (around 8pm).  That means all goals were met today!  YES!!! 

FUELBAND COOLNESS

I've gotta mention yesterday though... the FuelBand gives you "fuel" points for the activity done while wearing the band.  Yesterday, not only did I meet my daily fuel point goal of 2500, I met it at 4pm!!  How cool is that?  Then, on top of that, the FuelBand app gives these "awards" for meeting certain milestones and yesterday I got the "Best Day Ever" award with 3,636 points - woot!  This thing is really motivating me to move more - even at my desk.  

Now, I'm actually going to bed earlier than normal - woohoooo more sleep!!!  See?  It's days like this that keep me motivated to push through those not-so-motivating days.  

What do you do when you're not feeling the urge to keep going on the whole fitness thing?  It use to take me out - completely.  I'd pretty much give up for a week, a month or even more before I get so disgusted with being disgusted that I start all over again.  My goal on this journey is to avoid that altogether.  There is something to be said about this accountability thing that goes along with blogging...

Well, have a great hump day tomorrow!!  

P.S. Oh yay, I just realized tomorrow is donut Wednesday.  Nope - no donuts.  I do not like donuts anymore.  No thank you, I'm trying to avoid foods like that.  <<< my list of ammo when/if I'm offered the fat pills.

Fitting in $avings w/ NO GAIN!!

Well, no surprise this week - no loss =(  Boooooooo...

BUT the good news is that I didn't gain either - YAY!!  I went pretty much inactive since Thursday night all the way until today, so maintaining the same weight this week is OUTSTANDING!!!!   I was trying so hard not to sweat LOL!!

Today was lots of fun though.  Started off at Starbucks with a Turkey Bacon & cheese English muffin and free cup of coffee (from saving the bag that the ground coffee comes in) and then went geocaching with my friend Donna (thanks Donna!!).  I think we walked around 1-1.5 miles - I forgot to turn on "Map My Walk" app so I don't know for sure. When we were finished I had around 2500 steps, so I'm guessing it was closer to a mile.  We found 4 caches out of 5 - LOTS of FUN!!

Next I came home and cleaned up my garage a bit.  Then went on a quick bike ride (just around the block) to see if I could apply the gear theory I talked about in this post.  I definitely need practice, but the theory is sound.  I'm having the hardest time remembering which shifter (thumb or index) I push/pull to switch the rear gears.  So until I get all that down, I'm putting the chain in the middle sprocket so I don't stretch it by going the wrong way.  For now I'll just work on learning the front.


Here's a pic of the kind of shifter i have now - I kinda miss my old Trek with the grip shifters (they had numbers).  But this bike is nice too.  The problem I had with grip shifters was I would inadvertently change gears when repositioning my hands.  No problems with these shifters, but I gotta remember (find out?) what the red indicators reference exactly... (123? 321? idk)

After the garage and short bike ride, I did some more chores and then headed off for grocery shopping. I had checked the menu and made my list last night, so I was all ready.  Even clipped a few coupons.  Oh, that reminds me - during my "inactivity" of last week, I made up a "coupon mat" so sorting coupons is easier/faster.  And I picked up a coupon organizer for less than $1 so, no more envelopes and binders for me!! I now have all the coupons with me in a sweet color-coded little accordion file.  Oh, I haven't mentioned what a geek I am?  Sorry =D....  But here's a pic of my masterpiece (idea from Couponizer)>>>

No worries though, I'm not an EXTREME Couponer.  I just clip what I know I will use from the Sunday paper and check out sales at the store where I shop.  Today, I saved $22 and the total bill was $73 - not too bad.  If I can stock up on a bargain, then I do.  AND I'm a firm believer that you can NEVER ever have too much toilet paper!!  That's why I had to clean up the garage today - to make room for the TP - jk!!

When I first started clipping coupons, I found it difficult to shop for healthy foods.  It seemed like most of the coupons were for junk food - NOT good for someone who is also trying to lose weight, right?  So, I resigned myself to only clipping coupons for paper products, cleaning supplies, and foods that I know are healthy and that I will absolutely use.  It's been working great so far!

Do you clip coupons?  Have you noticed how there seems to be an abundance of junk food coupons?  What's the deal??