Friday Focus

FOCUS

It's Thursday night as I write this and and tomorrow I intend to FOCUS my actions and my thinking on my diet and my exercise.  I won't have the grand babies.  I need to visit my Dad at some point and spend some time with my brother, but I intend to spend a lot of this day on myself.  I want to center my thinking and make sure that I'm doing all I can to make progress toward my goals.  I think I've gotten sort of lax about things and I feel the need to tune up my game to do my best.

The forecast promises mid-70s in the morning and maybe rain.  I'm going running.  I want to challenge myself to see if I can cut out some of the walking breaks I've been taking in all my recent runs.  I also want a good, long run--maybe 7 or 8 miles.  This is one of the few days during the week where I don't have to squeeze my run in before the children come or I have to dash off to WW or to church.  


I also want to take some time and do a little intentional reading in two or three diet/motivation books that I have.  I also have a few months worth of Eating Well magazine that I want to take some time with and find some new recipes to add to my repertoire.  


As a sop to the idea of doing some housecleaning, I want to spend an hour working on my closet.  I've got clothes to give away and clothes to bring back to the front of the closet.  I need to do some serious weeding of my T-Shirt pile.  I grabbed one this morning that was a 2X--I'm sending all my X's to live in Texas (or at least to the Goodwill store)!


Breakfast and lunch will be my usual, but I want to discover some new ideas during my time with the magazines and cook something wonderful and new for dinner.  I'll let you know!


The ants have gone completely away.  I haven't seen even one ant in the past two days.  Hurrah!  Maybe I can hold my head up again when the cleaning ladies come tomorrow!  Someone asked me what the recipe for the Ant Poison was. I got it from a Wiki How article (google  "get rid of ants").  They had several ideas, but the one I used called for 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, 2 TBSP Borax.


I made reservations today for a beautiful inn on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  We're going Labor Day weekend.  We'll load up our bikes and take advantage of the flat terrain and bike-friendly conditions and do some serious biking.  We regularly do 14 or so miles a couple of times a week, but the farthest I've ever biked is 17 miles.  There's a 35 mile bike trail that includes a 25 minute ferry ride and lots of biking along the water.  It sounds really nice.  I've got to get DH to read some of Lori's posts so that he gets into the idea of interspersing serious biking with bagels and fro-yo and other wholesome treats!

For your viewing pleasure:  Here's a picture of DH and me during a trip to Astoria, Oregon.  In May 09, when this was taken, I weighed about 5 pounds less than I do now.   








PLEASE~~~Can Someone Help Me with a couple of technical Question about Blogger??

1)  Why does my blog typically take 5+ hours to update to the newest post on the blog roll (my own and yours--I've checked)?  This happens almost every time.  

2) Why do I sometimes have huge spaces in my blog even tho the preview and the compose view don't show those spaces and I can't eliminate the spaces without deleting lines of my post??

AWOL Blogger Returns, WI

I think I'm really back now.  We flew overnight Sunday night (DH loves the idea of the red-eye, and he made these reservations) and arrived home early Monday morning.  I had the two little ones that day and my sister, who had gone with us, stayed here until this morning.  We also have our 8 yr old grandson, B, for the next three weeks.  (The west coast grand kids get to visit here for a few weeks when they are 8, 11, and 14--it works out to one kid per year and we all love it).  Here a picture of B (8), R (6), and J (10) with our sparkler fun on the 4th.

In retrospect, I did pretty well staying with my plan while we were away.  As is always the way with traveling, meals were a bit tricky.  My lovely daughter, Laura,  knows I'm "watching it" and cooked fairly reasonable meals while we were with her.  She even stocked up on my favorite WW Latte Bars!  The eating up at the beach (west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada) was full of land mines--homemade molasses cookies, long cocktail hours with fancy drinks for the grownups, at least 5 bags of chips on the shelf at all times, 2   s'more cookouts,  high fat beach burgers, and not one, but three birthday cakes (for me) in different flavors they know I like.  I did have some of those goodies--half a cookie, No chips (!), small slivers of each type of cake, none of the fancy drinks--totally not worth the calories!,  a beach burger on a lettuce "bun," and . . . NO s'mores.  It was easy to resist the first time.  I just told myself I could have them, if I wanted to, on my birthday.  Then, on my b-day, I'd just had small pieces of cake and decided to go on a sunset beach walk with DH, instead of having a second dessert.   Here's the dinner I cooked.  That's Pacific salmon straight off the boat, corn on the cob, and new potatoes.  No greens as there was nothing green (even frozen) except iceberg lettuce at the little local co-op.  The cherries in Seattle were awesome, and also about half the price of the ones I bought here, today.   

I was also able to keep to my goal of exercise.  DD took my sister and me along to her Zumba class twice, I ran on the gorgeous Seattle area bike trails several times,  we hiked, and, when all else failed,  I walked laps on the 3 hour ferry ride and at the airport.  These beautiful ferns were about 4 miles into our July 4th hike through a gentle rain to the gold mining ghost town of Monte Cristo.

This visit was not without excitement from the local fauna.  This young bear was happily roaming on the beach, about 20 feet from the hiking trail we were on in the Pacific Rim National Park.  He posed very nicely for pix.  He was not there when we returned and we kept the children close while we wondered where he might be!  I failed to snap a picture of the wasp that decided to sting me on the arm as I tried to make my way through a very narrow path through some wild rose bushes.  All things considered, I decided to leave the path to the wasp.

I went to my WI last week (in Seattle) and had another stay the same week.  Disappointing.  Today, though, I scored a 2.8 loss!  Down 30 from my starting weight of 218.2.  Nothing like a little success to fire my burners!   

I joined DietBuddyDaily's Summer Diet Buddies--see logo at right.  Join us, we've just started!  My goals for the next 8 weeks are:

I'd like to lose at least 12 pounds in this 8 weeks. I'll measure my weight by my WW weigh-ins, which are on Wednesday. 

Other goals are to keep up some of the habits I've developed over the last two months-
*Drinking 8+ cups of water daily
*Exercising 45+ minutes daily (running, walking, hiking, Zumba, biking, & weight lifting)
*Eating more slowly--taking at least 17 minutes to finish dinner and never again being the first "clean plate kid" when in a group.
*Keeping my portions in control
*Eating small meals a breakfast and lunch, with a major meal at dinner time.
Not eating pasta, rice, or potatoes at lunch time.

If you've read this far, sorry for this long post! I'll be better about posting shorter posts more frequently.

How are you keeping yourself on track this summer??

188.2

a word from our Embedded Reporter

Help, I'm stuck in the laundry room.  It's incredible how much laundry one man can generate (because DH outproduces the other two of us by about 3 loads to 1--really).  We're leaving for a 10 day trip to the west coast at the end of the week.  Between watching the little ones, cleaning & sorting clothes in my closet, getting ready for my sister's arrival tomorrow, and doing the day-to-day things, I'm in way over my head.

Mini Spring Focus Update:

Water--yes
Exercise--yes (3 weeks straight,  planned exercise every day)
Eating dinner slowly--yes.  It was a close call last night, but I dawdled like crazy and stretched it to 15 min.
Weight loss--yes  Lost an additional 1.2 at last weeks WI for a grand total of -17 since May 4th.

WI tomorrow--the last WI during the Spring Focus.  I've got my fingers crossed to dip down into the 180s . . . we'll see.

Just found out that our vacay house does have wifi!  Yay.  I thought I'd be totally out of touch.  We'll be in Canada on the west coast of Vancouver Island--just north of Pacific Rim NP.  Avg temps this week never break 60 degrees!  Packing jeans and jackets and warm things.  I'm going to take advantage of the weather and get in some nice long runs.  My daughter's family (the other 3 grandchildren) will be with us and all of DH's sibs, kids and grands plus my sister and FIL.

My bin of too small clothes has changed function this week. It's now a bin of too BIG clothes!  The ones that don't quite fit are on a shelf where they entice me to stay true to my plan.   I feel like I have a brand new wardrobe for my trip.  14s fit well and a couple of the 12s fit, as well.  And, if you're wondering, my bin of too big clothes will go to the thrift shop when it gets full.  I'm not leaving the door open for going back.

? Do you save your bigger clothes or give them away?

Coming Down from the Mountain

I'll try to keep this short(er) today. We slept late-ish today and, after our Starbucks lattes and strawberries & cereal breakfast, we headed up to Rocky Mountain NP. Both of us finally felt that we'd overcome the lack of energy caused by the high altitude. We consulted with a ranger and decided to do a 6 mile hike, with a 560 elevation gain, to Cub Lake. The climb happened in the first 2.3 miles of the hike and took us a long while. Once we reached the lake, the downward 3.5 miles went fairly quickly. Great views, some new (for me) birds, including the mountain bluebird, and a fun time. We again had our picnic lunch along the way and had lots of water. It was a challenge, but I felt great afterwards and am glad we did it. I'm in love with the Aspen trees. We don't have these birch-like trees in Virginia, but they are graceful and beautiful to look at. The other predominant tree in RMNP is the Lodgepole Pine. Unfortunately, in the park, as well as in several other western states they are under serious attack by a pine bark beetle which is fast killing great numbers of them.

Tomorrow we will drive across the park and head on down to Colorado Springs. DH's conference starts tomorrow evening and I'm sure I can find ways to entertain myself for a couple of days. I seriously need to get a run in--my running shoes are going to sue for abandonment. Tomorrow is supposed to be my WI day, but it looks like I'll probably go on Thursday, instead, because we won't roll into town until mid afternoon. I'm really hoping that I lose well this week. I miss having my scale along to keep an eye on things. For me, when I stop weighing myself every day, it means I'm avoiding acknowledging gaining.

I know people have different approaches to weighing. Do you weigh yourself every day?

Pinch Me!

It's late in the day, but on this Memorial Day I want to express my thankfulness for all the men and women who have served to protect and defend our country. Included in this number is my father, pictured above receiving his West Point diploma in 1939 from President Franklin Roosevelt. His class had so many casualties, but never forgot their motto: Duty, Honor, Country. I'm proud of him and all his comrades then and now.

So many of you wrote that you knew this little part of the country we're visiting now. Thanks for your comments. It's fun to imagine you here, too. This is the first time I've ever been here and I'm loving it. To think I've lived this long and never knew what I was missing! What ELSE are you keeping secret from me?? LOL

This is one of hundreds of tiles that local citizens decorated to line the entrance to a walkway along the River Walk in Estes Park. After a little more than one day here, we can really understand how they feel.

As per our usual travel routine, we shopped last night so that we could enjoy a healthy breakfast in our room. DH lured me from the bed (at 7:15!) with a fragrant cafe latte. I'm not usually a coffee drinker, but I do have skim cafe latte's when we travel to get in a little more milk than just breakfast. I could (and usually do) eat shredded mini wheats at breakfast every day. I love fresh fruit to vary it up, though. The white on the strawberries is Splenda (a habit I'm going to try to break one of these days, but not yet!

Today is Monday and I usually run on Monday, but not today. Estes Park is at just over 8000 feet above sea level and both DH and I had noticed that we were just a tad short of breath and that we lack our usual level of energy. We're feeling the altitude a bit, so I did not run. I did drink lots of water (about 2 1/2 quarts) and we spent most of the day at the lower altitude attractions. Anyway, I traded my running shoes for these:

.

We went on three short and one longer hike for a total of about 7 miles. Our hikes were separated by short rests in our hotel, a swim in the (heated) pool, and a nap. DH carried a backpack and, along with our plan to stay on-track food wise, we packed a lunch (bought last night at Safeway) and ate it alongside Lilly Lake. I usually do a better job of finding a variety of colors in meals, but this is what we had and it was tasty. I ended up giving DH about half of my chicken breast. Also, I've never liked bananas, but as they are always recommended for runners, I occasionally will eat an inch or two of banana. Today, it was good. DH says my tastes are maturing (!)

I didn't take along the camera on our long (4 mile) hike. We went on the Estes Lake trail, around the lake. Okay, but pale in comparison to the other walks and hikes around here.

We did notice we started feeling more able to breathe normally as the day wore on. This is good! Our final hike, just before dinner, was to Lumpy Ridge, part of Rocky Mountain NP. It had a bit of elevation gain (which we had been avoiding in deference to the lack of energy) but it was okay. I took this picture of one of the beautiful wildflowers right along the trail. I believe it is a kind of bluebell, a mertensia cillatta. Such fragile beauty in a rough terrain.

On our first walk of the day, along the River Walk in Estes Park, we noticed an Italian Restaurant (Mama Rosa's) and decided we'd go there for dinner. I'd eaten well within my plan and was prepared to treat myself at dinner time. This is what I chose: A Caprese Salad--it was on the appetizer menu, but it was always a favorite when we lived in Italy and so I ordered it. Dessert in our room with our beloved Latte Bars!

Tomorrow we're hoping to be ready to take on the Bear Lake trail (still with many snowy patches). Maybe one more swim in the pool tonight and then early to bed (we're still basically on EST).

Recap of my Spring Focus Goals: I kept to my goal to drink 2 quarts of water daily except on the day we were traveling. I have not measured my portions on this trip, but I did keep a mindful eye on them and feel they are well in control. I had a good, no fantastic, 2.8 pound weight loss at my WI last Wednesday. I'm hoping to lose at least half a pound at my WI this week. Things are going well. Thank you all for your inspiration and encouragement!

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 . . . !]