Head Ache

I've been very stuffereded up these past few days, and this morning woke up with a headache, yuck. I need to be drinking more than my 2 glasses/day water goal. Right now my eyes even hurt from the sinus pressure. I hate taking medication but this is not going to work for me since I don't have the choice of going home & sleeping it off, so I just took some decongestant/headache relief and am alternating sips of coffe with sips of water. I've been running my humidifer here at work, and I *know* it's very dry in here because I also have a fountain that dries out almost every day! I run the humidifer at home at night too. I imagine the Y is pretty dry, so that doesn't help during yoga/working out...

Yoga was tough again last night - I was so tired again, and I have no idea why? I went anyway, and did what I could. Actually, I did pretty well considering, and only came out of downward dog twice for a brief rest before popping back into it (plus she had us holding it awhile while she made adjustments on individuals). It just felt like a struggle.

I also feel as though I may have pulled a muscle around my left ribs, or goddess forbid, fractured a rib??? I've never had one so don't know how it feels, but it hurts sometimes to lie on my left side, turn certain ways, etc. I don't really feel it when I breathe deeply, so I'm hoping it's just a muscle pull.

I feel less bloated today, so maybe I am in PMS mode. I certainly was craving sugar yesterday, and ended up eating about 10 cookies (choc chip and choc creme sandwich, or the ones that are round on the ends and RE in the middle - the choc chip weren't full-size, just slightly bigger than the choc creme). Not so great. I have some natural herbal women's stuff that I should take when I'm feeling those cravings, to see if it helps. But doncha know that cookies are so much more efficient?

Looking back on the past month, I'm quite proud of myself for getting back on track, and taking clean eating a step further with moving towards vegan-ism. I definitely feel much better than I did at the beginning of the month, and even though the scale hasn't moved much, I know I'm more toned and flexible than I was 31 days ago!

Habit

I got new glasses last November, and was advised to clean them in a certain way in order to preserve the anti-glare coating. Before, I would just rinse them in warm water and sort of circle around each lens on both sides with a towel. The new technique is to start from the nosepieces and wipe straight across towards the earpieces. It was hard to get used to at first, since morning is not my peak functional time, but I eventually got used to it. However, I got out of the shower this morning, and when it came time to dry my glasses, I went back to the swirly method without blinking. Thankfully I caught myself doing it and went back to the "proper" technique, but it made me think about how challenging it can be to change even the simplest of habits, habits that I have for things that I do EVERY DAY. It's been almost 3 months for the glasses, for pete's sake!

Perhaps this will help me be a little more forgiving of myself when I slip into old habits. Like wanting to eat junk as soon as I walk in the door at night (most likely due to the pressures of the second job, namely feeding and caring for my family and house). Or not taking my Floradil before my evening meal. Or adding chicken soup to my vegan soup in order to use up the leftovers, whoops!

Thankfully yoga is becoming a good habit. I went last night, although I was tired again, and it was not gentle again, which turned out to be fine. I got to bed later than hoped/planned, so I'm tired again today, and this finally-winter weather isn't helping the urge to crawl back under the comforter and take a nice nap.

I have good food available to me today, so I just need to take advantage of it!

197

So I don't seem to be losing any weight, but I'm definitely feeling more fit and toned, so I guess that's what really matters. It's just disheartening to see all the pretty exercise stars (20 so far this month!) stuck all over my calendar and not see a downward movement on the scale. I'm not due for TOM for at least another week, so I don't think it's water retention. Ah well, I do enjoy the NSV's too.

I think part of it may be that I have been doing mostly yoga, which isn't exactly a sustained cardio workout. Yes, it's making me stronger and more flexible, but it's not getting my heartrate up consistently, so I am not in the calorie-burning zone. My long-term goals are to establish a consistent yoga practice, so I'm trying to focus on the "long term" aspect of it, and congratulate myself for moving so much this month.

Food is good - went grocery shopping, had an awesome stirfry (although the kids felt it was a bit too spicy for their tastes) with rice noodles, and leftovers for dinner tonight or lunch tomorrow. I thoughtlessly added the rest of the can of chix soup that my daughter had started to my tomato/chickpea/spinach soup to cut the tang of it, so I have that for leftover lunch today - I totally didn't think about the chicken aspect of it!!! I have an apple and some oranges, and some baby carrots. I finished my first bottle of Floradil, so that was also a victory, and I know I'm getting my iron.

I feel renewed this week, which is a much better feeling than last week, when I was seeking out sweets and comfort food. Every little step forward....I'll take it!

Sweatin' to the moldy oldies

Ellipted today to Boston and Little River Band. Dude, Boston is kick-ass for a great pace on the elliptical! Kept the heart rate right up there, good ol' ellipticals. Eff you, treadmills! Did weights for back/shoulders, and I'm happy to report that I'm back to my old weight numbers, even if they are a bit challenging. As they should be.

No formal exercise yesterday, but 5 hours of decluttering my son's room. He did an excellent emotional job of getting rid of stuff, and even had enough room on his floor to have his cousin sleep over last night. Does my heart good, and I bet it did his too!

I can't remember if I posted about yoga Thursday night, but I did go, despite being tired and wanting to stay in out of the cold. Good xena!

I think I'm going to get an eye-pod when I get (if?) my annual bonus in April. In the meantime, I should start putting my CD's into eye-tunes so I'm ready to go. My bf just got the 80-gig - I really don't know if I need that much storage space. His CD collection is about 3x the size of mine.

I am re-reading the original Oprah book (is there another one out now? I was reading some hoo-ha about it, but can't remember if it was a book or what) in preparation for donating it, and although it focuses on the basics, the whole emotional eating chapter was a when-the-student-is-ready-the-teacher-will-appear moment. I need that reinforcement to prod me into really sticking to exploring what is *really* going on when I'm longing for chocolate. Breaking old habits will not be easy - I feel so much more prepared to work on it than I have in the past. Progress, dear girl, progress.

Other than the bacon sandwich yesterday, I've been impressed with the amount of meat I have not been having. We ordered indian food takeout last night, and I had a vegetarian dish (novratana or something korma) and some veggie naan, and I don't miss meat at all. I'm still avoiding most soy products due to the estrogen-mimic(k?)ing issue, but may have it once in awhile. Especially since I've found a bunch of yummy tofu recipes. I know that seems like an oxymoron, but I think I just don't know how to make it right yet.

Yoga tomorrow...enjoy the weekend!

Brrrr

Baby, it's cold outside! I can't believe they are running my daughter's snowboarding program tonight - it's supposed to be something-below-zero with the wind chill factor, yikes! I don't think it helps that it's been spring-like here up until now - I swear our bodies aren't acclimated to the winter now. And my poor tulips or crocuses are *now* choosing to pop their heads out. "Hey, where the hell is spring?!". That's what I'd be saying, if I were a flower.

Yoga last night - yummy as always. I was definitely tired, and the cold made me want to skip it, but knowing I probably won't get an official workout today (I have a feeling that cleaning out the son's room will reward me with many trips up/down the stairs) and not working out the night before due to school got my arse in gear. As always, I was glad that I went afterwards.

I got a bunch of great vegan cookbooks from the library, and am interested in trying out some new things (nut roast? chestnut stuffing? whipped macadamia cream?). I truly believe following an eating plan would be SO much easier if I were single. This morning the daughter didn't finish her cheese & bacon sandwich, so I finished it for her. Terrible habit, I know, but the frugal scot in me (how'd he get in there?!) didn't want to see food wasted. Clearly neither bacon nor cheese are vegan, so...I've been getting by on making my own meals and having them last for leftover lunch and some dinners, so I've been pretty successful at avoiding the chicken or tuna that the rest of the fam is eating. Plus I make them eat some of the greens and we usually have a bean dish one night a week. I am so sneaky, yes?

Yoga tomorrow or ellipt/weights, and yoga on Sunday. Need to keep focusing on staying away from the sweets and more importantly, look at what is going on that is sending me in that direction.

Standing on my head

Tuesday night, I almost didn't make it to yoga, but the bf offered to get the kids from their respective pickup places and I ran home, started dinner, and then went to class. I am so happy that I made it, because we did a headstand! And I did it! This particular instructor is very good, and explains things in ways that make it easy for me to understand, to correct my body, to get deeper into the poses. Granted, it was a headstand assisted by the wall, but it was very thrilling to be able to do it.

Monday night's yoga class, billed as "gentle", was anything but, and I was down to my tank top by the middle of class because I was sweating. I didn't mind so much that it wasn't gentle, but I wasn't really expecting it, and therefore not really revved up for it, if you know what I mean. Like if I know I'm going to do a killer workout, I can get energized beforehand, but if I'm just going to take a walk, it's not the same.

I've been overdoing it on the sweets again, especially last night after class (hot stone massage is AWESOME!). I need to explore what's behind this behavior....

Doing so-so on the goals this week - I can't give up now just because it's Thursday and if I haven't been getting pretty gold/green/silver stars for every goal then why bother for today/tomorrow/saturday/sunday anyway??? I do fine with the morning vitamins, and even getting a fruit and a veggie in every day (often more than one). Water? Hmm, I do better when I'm at yoga, but during the day have been opting for evil coffee instead. Flossing? Need to get back on that one!

Yoga tonight; not sure what's up tomorrow since I'm taking a half-day for the son (he has a half-day at school) and we need to tackle his jungle of a room. It's not that he's not neat, because he is for the most part. It's more that he gets a lot of "build it yourself" toys for gifts, and they've been piling up into little towers and mini-carnivals all over his not-very-big room, so that we're having to step over/around things to get to his dresser. Then we're having dinner with the bf's friend from CA, so no workouts there. Saturday morning? Hopefully yoga. If not, then ellipt/weights during the day. Sunday is yoga. I need to get some massage practice hours in too at some point.

And then it gets hard

Well, the New Year bloom has worn off, and now it's time to do the hard work of keeping up with these goals and exercise. I definitely felt the struggle last week, and acknowledged it for what it is/was. I just gotta suck it up and move on!

I exercised every night except for the icy night (Monday?), mostly yoga. I did a nice long elliptical on Friday night, when the Y was thankfully almost empty and I didn't even have a neighbor on the machines. The free weight room was deserted too, except for a few dudes in & out. I was able to go back to my previous weights level, which made me very happy and amazed me as to how quickly the body & muscles "remember" what they used to be able to do. I was huffing & puffing a bit on the elliptical, but at least I had the resistance on (set at 5; can't remember the highest number it goes to - 12? 15?) this time.

I can feel the difference in my body already, most notably my buddha belly, which is where I always gain weight first. It's unfortunate that I have such animosity towards this poor little guy - so much emotion tied up in a physical piece of me that will *always* be a piece of me, no matter how big or how little. I remember getting a massage about a year ago, and when she massaged my abdomen, I broke into sobs. Why am I so cruel to myself??? To an innocent span of flesh that only responds to what I do to my body. Of *course* it's not going to stay trim and firm if I don't take care of it, and eat crap day after day. It's done so much for me - protected my 2 babies, supported my mellophone-playing days and thousands of belly laughs, been the happy recipient of my bf's kisses, and so on. Wow, I don't know where *that* all came from!!!

Anyway, eating is slowly getting on track. There were 3 days last week that food was provided here at work, and it was challenging to get veggies only. I have some parsnip/kale/black bean for a few meals, and need to figure out what I'm going to have the rest of the week besides salad. I am craving warm, heavy foods due to the time of year and sudden chill we're experiencing.

I did so-so on my goals from last week, and will be having the same for this week. I've already taken my floradil and multivitamin today, have 2 oranges beside me for later snacking, and my parsnip/kale/black bean dish for lunch. I need to fill up my water mug...

Gentle yoga for tonight. Speaking of which, I did a vigorous class on Saturday morning, and was worried about keeping up, given my long break and slow, stiff return, but I did very well and tried hard to listen to my body. It felt good to push a little.

And I start school up on Wednesday, yippee! Hot stones massage class, can't wait. Thankfully it's only 6 weeks and I don't have any other classes, so I should have a thousand-times-better chance at maintaining my clean eating and regular exercise!

Sick Day

Both kids are home sick today. One was throwing up and the other has had an off/on headache since last night; they've both been sleeping a lot and starting to feel better. I hope the daughter can keep her lunch down!

Things got very icy here last night, so I opted not to go to yoga since falling down and hurting myself is not worth being on the DL for a month! There's always tonight.

Eating? Meh. I did enjoy my weekend, had an organic tomato/basil pesto pizza between saturday & sunday - it wasn't that big, maybe 10"? and some more B&J, damn them! Oh, did I mention some "natural" cheese curls too? *snort*

I did enjoy my weekend xena along time. I read trashy romance novels - they are a nice escape from reality, but they make me long for the same thing in real life, and we all know that there's no such thing as a wealthy/built/sensitive/awesome/love-making machine who sweeps one off their feet. And once the dirty laundry/finances/kids enter the picture, FORGET IT!

Did yoga on sunday - I really do have tight hamstrings, always have. Hip stuff is usually a breeze, although I am definitely not as flexible as I was a year ago! Speaking of which, it's been almost a year since my one-month massage intensive at Kripalu. I wish I could go back for a whole month again! I'm definitely a different person than I was a year ago - mostly in a good way. In some ways, I feel more jaded - I've lost my illusions that things could be perfect, people, situations etc. I always considered myself rather naive in some ways, and I feel that made the fall all that harder. So now I have to find out what *is* true for me and go with that, instead of ranting and railing about the injustice of it all, blah blah blah.

I got some cookbooks from the library - 2 vegan, 1 raw (what a PITA!!!!), and 1 veggie japanese cooking. I need to sit down and cull my own recipe library, grab some from these books if they look good, and continue to eat my grains, beans, fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds. Speaking of which, Born Again Gym Bunny has a new food blog, and I can't wait to check out some of her recipes, as she has moved to eating more veggies vs. meat.

I am still enjoying this feeling of unhurried peace about my current weight loss journey - it's a lifetime change, and I don't need to introduce all these drastic changes at once. In the past, I've felt anxious and anal and the need to doitallnownowNOW! I'm not sure where this shift came from, but I would be happy if it sticks.

Mmm...bacon

Yep, it's going to be hard to be pure vegan. I only had one piece of bacon at breakfast - it was so good! Damn taste buds. I really shouldn't complain, because then I might lose all sense of taste, and that would suck big time. I did have pancakes too, so no workout this morning (plus I was up late last night and got up "work week" time this morning, yuck!). Perhaps after my massage...

I forgot to mention yesterday that I gingerly tried out the scale yesterday morning and I lost 2 pounds! 194! Woohoo! Somehow, though, at least for me - and maybe it's because I am heavy - a couple pounds seems to come in & out of my life pretty easily, so I'm not as excited as I was when I lost 2 pounds weighing 173. But I'll take it, for sure. I'm already feeling less flabby, and my stomach seems to have lost some of its santa-like goodness.

Last night I indulged from some leftover holiday junk food from the freezer - pre-prepared stuff that I would usually never buy but did and we're slowly getting rid of it (crab rangoon, pigs-in-a-blanket, that sort of thing). I did a great job of throwing out everything else from the holidays by new year's day, but am keeping this as "backup" for when we have nothing to eat and need something quick. Once it's gone, it's gone. I just couldn't face another bowl of curry soup, which I had eaten 3 times in the past 2 days.

So I plan to finally put the xmas decorations downstairs (they've been down for a week but haven't been boxed up & put away) - it's kind of a pain because we have limited storage and need to rotate seasonal containers. Ah well! Then I am going to plan out food for the week - thankfully we have Monday off (MLK day - in the name of love - word!) so I can do some cooking then, because tonight is all about Xena! I do plan to go to the library, get that trashy romance novel, grab a healthy dinner from the natural food store, and veg out. My girlfriends suggested I do it nude (the vegging out part, not the public part), but it's a little too chilly for that, plus Aunty Flo is in town. Plus I'm not crazy about the state of my body, and it would just make me feel bad. *sigh* that's sad.

Workout today is questionable, but that's ok. We did the pool last night and got some mild exercise plus family time, which is a great combination, in my mind. Tomorrow is still yoga, and so is Monday assuming the holiday hasn't changed the Y schedule. I started putting stars in my binder/calendar for exercise, and it looks so cheery to have so many stars already!!! Let's keep this trend going!

Keep them doggies rollin'

Raw hide? Nope, sore muscles!

I was *so* tired last night when I got home from work - I ended up sacking out for almost an hour before going to yoga. Thank goddess it was gentle yoga - I picked the back corner and really listened to my tired body, only holding poses for as long as *I* could, and then resting, even though others may have continued. I was so self-centered (har har) that I didn't even look around to see if others were "beating" me. Yes, it's truly true that yoga is about me me me and my body's needs for that moment alone.

Dinner was more forbidden rice (ooh, naughty!) and curried soup. Even the bf liked it! The color wasn't exactly appealing, between the eggplant and forbidden rice - it made it a grayish-purplish color, but it was delish! I did also have 2 bowls of granola & multigrain flakes w/hazelnut milk. For dessert. Naturally!

Unfortunately, I did not earn a green star for brush/floss/tool last night, but that's ok, I can do it tonight and the next night and the next night and the...

Tonight will most likely be the pool with my son since I am not meeting their dad until after 9:30 (ugh!). I haven't decided about tomorrow yet - I'll see how I feel after getting a massage in the afternoon....I'm sure I'll *totally* want to work out after that!

It's been a great week for accomplishing goals - I'm proud of myself, and considering keeping the same for next week too, since it takes at least 21 days to set a habit, if not longer. And these are some great basic self-care habits that should continue to be a part of my daily routine.

Enjoy the weekend!

Still hurtin'

My triceps are still sore, especially around the elbows. It hurts to do a biceps curl, and I'm not even holding weights. I did not end up doing weights last night, more because I ran out of time.

I did the treadmill because all of the ELLIPTICALS were TAKEN, thank you SO MUCH. I hardly get a workout on the treadmill. I can't go fast enough to get my heartrate up enough like I do on the elliptical. I do the incline to accomplish a rise in heartrate, but right now I'm not in good enough shape to keep up with the dang thing long enough to raise my heartrate. Ah well, hopefully the ellipticals will start to be available again soon. Damn new year's. Of course, I'm one of those folks this time, haha!

Yoga tonight. Thankfully it's gentle, although I went to this same class last week (has it only been a WEEK since I started up again?!) and was out of breath for some of it. Tomorrow night will probably be elliptical 'cause only losers go to the gym on Friday nights, right? RIGHT? And there will be plenty of machines available. I have to drop the kids off with their dad first, so this is a late nighter, and the question of eating enough early enough so that I have enough energy w/o wanting to yak.

Saturday is questionable. It's really hard to consider not eating a lot at my sorta-every-other-week-girl-breakfast-meeting so that I can come back and work out before I have to give a massage in the early afternoon. 'Cause I WANT those hearty grain pancakes, and some bacon (so very non-vegan!) too! *sigh* If I don't get there in the morning, I want to do the evening, where there will most likely be ELLIPTICAL machines AVAILABLE. My temptation to stay away is that I'm going to have the house ALL TO MYSELF (why am I YELLING so much today?!) from Saturday afternoon to early Sunday, ya-frickin-hoo!!!! So it's looking more and more alluring to pick up a romance novel from the library and something healthy from the natural food place for dinner and loll around....ahhhhhh

Sunday will be yoga in-between lacrosse (that's lax to you, missy). I also need to plan, shop, & cook for the week. I made some yummy curry (can you tell that I do like the curry?) soup with veggies (including eggplant) and white beans, and added coconut milk at the end. I had it today with some "forbidden rice", which is an AWESOME purple color, quite chewy and yummy in its own right. The soup should last me the next few days...I also have purple kale in the fridge, and need to figure out what to do with it. Or may just go with the ol' saute deal.

Food has been improving drastically from the holiday break, but that ain't sayin' much. I am not tracking food yet - I am focusing more on the goals that I set, and am doing pretty darn well, thank you very much. I have done pretty well with avoiding sugary junk food, mostly because I don't really have any in the house to eat. For sweets I've been doing yogurt/granola, fruit, or roasted almond butter/apricot preserves on whole-grain bread. Coffee, though, in the mornings and an occasional afternoon cup. That's ok, 'cause this is LONG-TERM, baby!

Annoyed

I'm in a rather foul mood this morning - I just want to go back home and get under the covers and sleep 'til noon. I'm not sure what the cause is. My schedule got thrown off when the daughter apparently missed the bus but we didn't realize it for almost 10 minutes (the bus driver isn't always consistent, so we figured he was running late, but then saw him pass by across the road, full of kids - my daughter is the first stop!). Thankfully the bf brought her in so that I could shower/eat and then get the son to chess club. I wasn't about to skip breakfast, so I quickly threw together some instant oatmeat, raw honey, pb, coconut, raw sunflower & pumpkin seeds and scarfed that down.

My triceps are KILLING me! I can barely straighten my arms out. I didn't even do anything that strenuous, although maybe the combination of yoga last night (downward dogs - a whole pack of them) and return-to-lifting the night before did it. I usually do tricep pulldowns on the rack standing up, and it happened to have the rope attachment (see pic above). I don't know if you've ever done the rope vs. the metal V, but the last few inches at the bottom of the motion are *killer* with the rope, since you pull your hands out slightly to get it to go down those last few inches, and that must really isolate the triceps, because I struggle much more than with the normal metal V attachment. BTW, that is *not* a picture of me, har har har!

I'm thinking of skipping weights tonight (shoulders/back) as I don't want to overdo it, but I'm wondering if any of the routine would actually need my triceps involved, e.g. lat pulldown.

Today is definitely a struggle, and I'm glad that I haven't given up coffee yet! I know it's a crutch, but I feel the need for a little comfort. I just need to stay away from the vending machine and raid my snack drawer instead, which has much healthier choices (nuts, bavarian multi-grain bread - cute little slices, sunflower butter, plus I have an apple and an orange).

I know these challenging days will happen, and hopefully they will be few & far between. I also hope that I can rely on my wisdom of trying healthier choices (take a walk, stop & breathe) and being kind & gentle with myself. I feel that will keep me on track and make it easier to climb back on if I have a day that didn't go as planned.

I've already earned 2 green stars today, so that is a step in the *right* direction!

I lost 5 pounds!

Off the amount I can weightlift, that is.

Back to the free weights last night, chest/arms, and I had to take it down a notch or five. And I could barely finish my 3rd set of each - it was a struggle. My biceps looked rather wilted in the mirror. I dropped my stupid CD player for the umpteenth time and almost lost the battery cover. It was gray, like the elliptical machine, and blended in with the back piece, hee hee. Maybe I should start using my mp3 player, eh?

Ellipting was also a challenge. I didn't even bother putting any resistance on it (was up to an 8 out of 12 or 15, I can't remember what the top is), and my face was quite red, but my heartrate stayed in the "safe" range. I was in a hurry getting to the gym, so my daughter offered up one of her homemade CD's, which ranged from rap to teen hard rock to Journey. Ok, Steve, I won't Stop Believing! Yeah, I need to get my mp3 player loaded up with a solid workout playlist.

Got my dishes done last night, butternut squash/carrot soup w/hazelnut milk on the table for dinner, scout pack meeting attended (last one before son "crosses over" to Boy Scouts, *sniff!*), homework helped, teeth brushed/flossed/tooled, and kitchen picked up. It felt good to get up to a clean kitchen, for sure! Breakfast was (instant, not for much longer) oatmeal with some coconut, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, peanut butter, and a dash of raw honey mixed in, yum! I have steel cut oats that I'm going to attempt in the crock pot overnight with some fruit & seeds mixed in at some point soon. Tonight is rice & beans with broccoflower (genetically mixed broccoli & cauliflower -I hope it's normal! I got it at our local natural food chain so I'm hoping it's not an evil mutation). I had to eat corporate lunch since I was in a meeting for 3+ hours, but I choose the roasted veggies/cheese grilled wrap, a bunch of greens, and water. Oops, and chips!

Yoga tonight as well, can't wait! I had a hard time falling asleep last night, so wondered if I overdid it on the working out since I normally crash afterwards and sleep like a rock.

Rainy days and Mondays

I actually enjoy rainy days, but I enjoy them more when I can sleep in! It's still crazy warm here, and my kids' ski programs are a sure bust again this week.

They started lacrosse clinics yesterday, and it was good to see them moving again, given how sedentary our holiday vacation was. It was necessary, given the nasty chest colds going on, but it's taken a toll on our cardio abilities!

I went to yoga, as planned, yesterday while they were at the clinics, and that was lovely as always. Saturday was not quite so successful. We did go to the track and walked around 4-5 times (maybe a little over a mile). It was downright *hot* and we could have been in shorts! So we decided to head over to the beach, and did not come home until almost 9:00, so I did not go to the gym as planned. But we got some beachwalking in, some kite-flying, some onion-ring and beach-ice-cream eating in, some great family time in. It was all worth it, and I'm trying not to fret about not getting something "done".

Yesterday was also not as balanced in getting things "done", but I got to sleep in, which was lovely. I did make up the lentils/sweet potato dish, which was yummy, along with the salmon, also yummy. I have the lentils for leftovers today, in addition to some zucchini/yellow squash and brown rice. However, I kinda blew it with a whole pint of B&J last night, *sigh* That stuff is e-vil! Ah well, can't go back now, and I need to keep it positive...no beating up allowed!

So I'm behind on my dishes, which I'll fix tonight. I did get a partial menu for the week planned and grocery shopping in, so have healthy food to prepare (was hoping to get ahead on that last night, ah well!).

I plan to go to the gym after work and fight for the elliptical. If the weights are unreasonably crowded, I'll extend my cardio and do weights another day. The weight of my own body in downward dog and other yoga poses is certainly giving my muscles enough to do!

My goals are the same as last week, plus adding 1 veggie/day to the list. I did so-so in the evenings on my goals over the weekend, so that may be an area to focus on. All those shiny gold, green, and silver stars by the end of the week put a smile on my face!

I haven't added any exercise goals into the mix yet because I want to get a handle on these basic goals first. I'm considering exercise a bonus, and it feels great to get back into it.

I feel good

Less than a week of cleaner eating and some movement, and I'm feeling better already. I know a lot of that is mental, but I'll take it!

Splashed around with the scouts last night. I recall last year this time when I was much prouder of appearing in public in a bathing suit. I had been working out for over a month, and felt more toned. This year, however...I had to pull out some shorts to wear over my bottoms, since they were revealing waaay too much of my badonkadonk. I'm sure the bf would have loved it, but not the rest of the scouts and their parents.

It is practially tropical outside today - it has to be close to 60. We're heading over to the track in a bit, maybe heading up to the beach for an hour or two. I have plans to get to the gym later and ellipt/lift. Hopefully a Saturday evening will find it less crowded at this time of year.

I have more food left over from my monday cooking than I had planned, so I need to eat my butternut squash/carrot soup and my udon noodle soup soon. I pulled salmon out for curry-ing and found a terrific lentil/sweet potato curry to go along with it. I am going to sit down today and plan out the week, and the shop either today or tomorrow.

I sat down and typed out my 2007 goals. A big chunk of them have to do with building my massage/bodywork practice, which makes me nervous and excited. I know I'll be great but the insecurity of having my own business is freaking my shit out a bit. I'm not going to do anything crazy - I can't. I have 2 kids who depend on me for benefits and financial security, since their facther can't seem to be depended on. But I know I won't be doing human resources for too much longer!

Boy, am I Thor!

I am trying not to be judgmental, but I am so very out of shape and it's rather pitiful. I went to yoga last night (yeah xena!) and could barely get through some of the poses. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. with such a sore upper middle back/neck that I had to get a heating pad for it, and have the bf put some tiger balm on it this a.m. Ugh!

But it felt great to be there, and to be breathing, and stretching, and moving again. Tonight is scout swim, so that should be fun and some moving around, even if it's not all that cardio-esque.

Still earning my gold stars, yippee! It was wonderful to go to bed last night, teeth/gums fresh & squeaky clean, pleasantly tired from the yoga class, feeling content that I am moving in the right direction again.

Tomorrow will either be the gym or early morning yoga. Sunday the same. I need to shop & cook on Sunday too in order to have healthy yummy stuff available again all week as I did this week.

May your weekend be healthy and happy!

16 gold stars!

Yes, I get motivated by gold stars on a chart. I also have them in green, silver, red, and blue. I'm giving myself a chart to use to satisfy my anal tendencies, my need to analyze and plot and chart/graph/plan the next 52 weeks. It's working so far.

It includes everything from yesterday's post - Floradil 2x/day, multivitamin, 2 cups of water, 1 piece of fruit, and brush/floss/tool. I was tired last night (I like vacation schedule *much* better!) and tempted to skip the brush/floss/tool, but I did it anyway, and it probably took all of 4 minutes. As I said, new habits are hard to build.

I reviewed the yoga schedule, and can definitely make enough classes to make it worth it, so I'm going to sign up tonight after my son's piano lessons, and attend the 7:30 class. They've added meditation classes and chakra-focused yoga, so that's very cool! My back has really been bothering me due to lack of movement and only giving one massage in 3 weeks, so I need to get moving again. I plan to get there early in case of first-week-of-January sardine-age.

My system is definitely not happy about all this new-fangled fiber stuff that I've been treating it to, and I've been rather uncomfortable digestion-wise. TMI, I know, but lump it. I'm still on coffee, so that's been keeping things moving, har har har!

It feels natural to be moving back to good habits, but I know I'm going to start hitting bumps in the road, and I need to be committed enough to keep going. I know that having healthy, prepared (emphasis on prepared!) food is a key component to my success.

Oh, I can't wait for 7:30!

196 it is, ugh!

Back where I started, but hopefully a little wiser. Yes, it's resolution time. I'm happy to see those of you who accomplished your 2006 resolutions, or came pretty darned close.

I am definitely not thrilled about my current weight, but I'm not beating myself up as severely as I would have a year ago, so that's progress.

I have no desire to go anywhere near the gym for a few weeks, although I am itching to lift weights again. I need to check the yoga pass situation and make sure I can make the scheduled classes - I have one last massage class (woohoo!) on Wednesday nights starting 1/24/07 for 6 weeks, so want to be sure the yoga schedule works with that.

I cooked for a few hours on Sunday night, after a few hours spent at the local natural food store on Saturday night. My current plan is to move to vegan-ism. My son was concerned that I wouldn't make his spanish grandmother's recipe for chuck steak now that I was becoming a "virgin", so that gave me and the bf a huge belly laugh! I know I won't switch over completely, but it's a good target for overall eating. It also encompasses my son's allergies to dairy and corn somewhat...

My goals for this week, and I'm trying desperately to not overplan and be all graphs/charts/subgoals blah blah blah, are to:

1. Brush, floss and dental tool (for my gums) every night.
2. Take my floradil (for iron & b vitamins) in the morning and at night before meals.
3. Take my daily multivitamin in the morning.
4. Drink 2 cups of water/day.
5. Eat 1 piece of fruit/day.

That's it for this week. It seems like these should be easy to accomplish, but I have forgotten how hard it is to start a new habit. Painful, even. I don't like to have to think about my routine.

I have other long-term goals that I am spacing out over the next few months, instead of trying to have them all in place by next week, which would be setting myself up for failure.

Wish me luck! More importantly, wish me consistency.