Looking Back

Today, during a nice bike ride with DH, I realized that one of my favorite Christmas gifts that he gave me last year was the bike helmet mirror.  Not the most pricey gift, but one that I use and appreciate every time I see it.   The little mirror allows me to look back and see what's behind me.  It helps keep me safe. We don't ride on high traffic roads much, but even on low traffic roads, it's very nice to be able to check out what's coming up.

I've mentioned before that I keep a daily log/journal of this weight loss journey.  I've kept it off and on for several years and pretty faithfully for over two years.  I don't write a lot, (especially since I've started blogging) but I do record my morning weight every day and usually my blood pressure and what exercise I've done.  I also note my "official" weight from my WW weigh in.  I take my scale along when we travel so that I can keep up.  Looking over the past several months, I've re-gained weight.  I've gotten through some difficult times and have finally gotten myself back in the swing of weight loss.   I noticed, looking over my journal, that I'd become careless in keeping track and had entire weeks that were blank during that period.  My journal is a tool that helps me.  I need to use it and I will.  I think I'll also re-read my blog posts to rev my enthusiasm and to re-learn some of the things that helped me lose last year.

The poison ivy is losing the battle; the swelling is all gone, the itchiness is gone, and even the redness is almost gone.  This megadose of prednisone is doing the trick.  Did you know that weight gain is one of the side effects of prednisone?  And you don't lose it automatically when the medicine stops.  It makes you retain water,  depletes your potassium levels, and causes an increase in appetite.  I read about it and discovered that if I strictly limit my salt, eat a banana a day, and watch my intake I can overcome that tendency toward weight gain.  Today is the last day of the prednisone dosage and I think I've won!

My favorite biking partner

What are your most helpful tools for following your plans to achieve your health and fitness goals?

Have a great weekend

Bike Holiday, Continued

Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford, Maryland

Gosh, today is even more beautiful than yesterday, if that's possible.  The high temperature reached the mid 70s.  It's sunny, with a slight breeze, and beautiful wispy clouds in the bright blue sky.  We got up in time to get to early church.  This beautiful little church is a short, 10 minute walk from our accommodations.  The bright sunshine showed off the pretty blue rose window to best advantage.    When we're traveling we usually go the the nearest church that best suits our schedule.  [I think I read that that's what Billy Graham and his wife did when they were traveling and it has worked well and taken us to some wonderful places over the years.]  Anyway, today we hit the jackpot.  Great message, good music, welcoming congregation.

We had another great breakfast.  This time I got fried eggs, easy over, wheat toast and coffee.  I considered getting my usual cereal, but their cereals were all sugared and I haven't had a fried egg in ages, anyway.

We took advantage of the great weather to get in another bike ride.

This route is 38+ miles as mapped, but I didn't want to tempt fate (or annoy my muscles) by pushing it quite so hard, so we cut out the the first segment and all but one of the side trips for a ~26 mile ride.  We started about 12:30 and rode for about 2 1/2 hours.  We only stopped about three times, for water/snack breaks.  There were beautiful water views and, again, very nice wide bike lanes and roads frequently signed to remind drivers that they need to "share the road."  I neglected to bring the charger for my camera batteries, but I took a few pix with my phone.  I've had the phone for a few years, but have never purchased the software necessary to transfer the pix from the phone to my computer.  You may (or may not) see the pix later.

Smith Island Cake

We did not reprise yesterday's visit to the Highland Creamery, although DH just came to find me (in the wi-fi-friendly part of the Inn) and see if I wanted to go.  Undecided.  He's reading the sports section of the paper.  We'll probably just take a walk and skip the ice cream.  Desert is included with our dinner . . . .   In the comments to my last post, Debby mentioned gaining 10 pounds once while at a vacation spot with menus such as they have here.  I'm hoping not.  I brought the scale along [you KNOW I always travel with my scale, daily weigher that I am] and seem to be doing okay.  I'm trying to order wisely, enjoy what they have, and follow Sarah's plan of "renoncement"--tasting, but not eating every single bite of everything on my plate.  DH was willing to make the sacrifice and finish half of my Smith Island cake last night. LOL

Karen, you asked where this place is. Click on the Bike Map link in yesterday's post for some very good maps of the area.  I think you can click on the individual maps to enlarge.  Basically, it's in Talbot County, Maryland, on the eastern shore. This is on the Chesapeake Bay side, not the Atlantic Ocean side.  The inn where we stayed is the Robert Morris Inn in Oxford, Maryland.

We're off to take a walk.

Going the Distance

This morning's run (C25K Week 8 Day 1) did not go as well as I had hoped it would. The plan called for the usual 5 minute walk warm-up and cool-down periods with a 28 minute run in between. I was pretty confident I could do this as I had some "extra" left after my last couple of 25 minute runs. But somehow, today was hard. The bruises from my bike accident earlier this week are beginning to go a lovely yellow-ish color, but the (muscle?) ache still bothers me when I move (e.g. swing my arms). This, combined with a high degree of mugginess, made me "wimp out" and walk several times during the 28 run part. I was jogging along, feeling disappointed in myself and discouraged, when I started noticing the lyrics to the song on my podcast.

I had downloaded a C25K podcast from itunes that has Christian music. Not things you've heard before, but songs by small, independent writer/composers. Anyway, this song was talking to me. The lyric I particularly noticed said something to the effect that "the race is not to the swift or the proud, but to those who make it to the end." [The song is Do Not be Weary, by Buried Talents Band] I was finishing my workout. I went the distance I was scheduled to go, I just didn't run the whole thing. Maybe it wasn't so bad. Yes, I walked some bits when I was supposed to run, but I DID go the distance. I also noticed from my records, that I have run farther this month (53+ miles) than I have in any other month during the past year.

I'm feeling much better about my run now. And my scale again this morning showed me my lowest weight since November (when my weight was on its way up). Dinner last night went well (we had a college age intern from my husband's office to dinner). I did buy some tortilla chips for the guys to munch on while I finished making dinner. I stayed far away from them and sent the remainder of the package home with our guest. I grilled steaks, but only did three as they were large. I shared one with our son. The baby red roasted potatoes (olive oil, rosemary, garlic powder, salt & pepper) were awesome as was the salad. I love red leaf curly lettuce. For dessert I had beautiful strawberries. I had bought a pint of vanilla ice cream which I stopped with berries for the boys, but DH and I just had a bigger dish of strawberries.

Today is Laundry Day. I think it must breed in that basket. It's a never ending chore. Am I the only one who throws white sox in one bag and black sox in the other to sort later? DH is well trained to go to the sox bag if there's not a pair in his drawer.

We're leaving tomorrow morning for 5 days in Colorado. DH has a conference at the end of the week and we're going to spend a few days exploring Rocky Mountain National

Park before it starts. I found a good deal on a beautiful hotel in Estes Park and I'm excited about the trip. It's so great that DH is a weight watcher, too. We've just finished sketching out a game plan for how we'll stay OP during our trip. Our hotel has a fully stocked kitchenette, so our meals out will be ones we choose, not food grabbed on the go. You'll laugh, but we take our scale with us when we travel. Seriously. Did I mention that the hotel also has a double jetted tub in each room?

Off to find my hiking shoes and bathing suit to put in the "to go" pile. Have a great holiday weekend! I'll check in here tomorrow night.

I'm now feeling much better about my run this morning. Thanks for listening!

[no that is not my weight on that scale, I wish . . . !]

So sorry

I'm sorry if it was your car's tires that found the chocolate I threw out of my window when I was driving yesterday. Here's what happened.

My day started well. I did my C25K, folded a couple loads of laundry, and visited my father at his nursing home. Then I turned my attention to my dinner preparations. I needed to make a special dinner, a picnic dinner, because we had tickets to The Mikado at Wolf Trap. I decided to go to Whole Foods, a splurge, price-wise, but worth it for the freshness of the vegetables and the variety of great, unprocessed foods. I had decided to make a wonderful green salad. I found everything on my list (spring greens, a perfectly ripe avocado, tomatoes, radishes, corn on the cob, a bit of flank steak, two summer fresh rolls, snow peas, and some dates) except they didn't have any pine nuts. I love toasted pine nuts. I went to another high end grocery store, just to find pine nuts. I picked up a beautiful potted lavender on my way in the store, but they too were out of pine nuts. I was feeling frustrated and gave in to check out aisle temptatio

n and bought a small bar of dark chocolate (good for you, right?). I headed for yet another grocery store (I really do like pine nuts) and reached into the bag with the chocolate bar. It was a beautiful little package. I opened it and saw it was divided

into five sections. I'll have just one section, I thought. Three sections later I came to my senses. STOP this . I didn't trust myself to just leave it alone on the seat. I couldn't throw it in the trash because I was driving. Instead, I opened my window and threw the last two sections out the window. It was a warmish-hot day, I wonder if there was a lovely little puddle of expensive dark chocolate on the street as the day wore on.

Anyway, the rest of the day went really well. I got the salad all prepped (everything chopped and ready in separate little baggies) I got the picnic packed (tablecloth, plates, forks, the food, a big bowl). We got to Wolf Trap (a National Park center for the Performing Arts just outside Washington DC), had our picnic, and enjoyed the show. The tickets were a Christmas present from our son and his wife. The seats were front and center in the orchestra. The night was perfect--the performance was in a large hall with the sides open to the air.

Today's run was not perfect. I ran just after noon and it had gotten hot and muggy. I knew right away I was going to have a hard time. I had to walk during one of the 10 minute running sections. I'm going to repeat this day on my next run. And I'm going to remember to get out there early to avoid the heat. I have upped my weekly runs from 3 to 4 during this C25K. I'm wondering if the added day is a good idea. I've read that older runners shouldn't run more than a few days a week. I mix up my exercise with biking, weights, a little Wii tennis, and the running. I'm going to try to listen to my body and see if I still feel good about 4 days.

On my short term goal of drinking 8 cups of water, I have to admit I haven't done perfectly this week end. Yesterday I intentionally stopped drinking so much so I wouldn't have to get up during the show. I only had 5 cups. Today, I came downstairs to discover that my son had preempted my (big) pitcher with orange juice, so I tried to just remember to go to the water in the door of the fridge. I'm a few cups short now, but I'm drinking and will get them all in before I sleep. I've laid down the law that the big pitcher is MINE.

The morning scale is telling me good things these days. I weigh myself every morning, first thing, and write down the weight in a journal. I like it because it shows me trends. I've run across weight loss blogs where the bloggers record their avg weight for the past seven days (or something like that). I confess that I've got a nerdy love of numbers and graphs.