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Best Workout in Weeks!

By on February 14, 2011 in body, gratitude, weekend, working out

Happy Monday, y’all!  I hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a new week.  (Yes that’s an unusual Monday attitude, try it on for size!)

Thanks to all of you who have commented on my ever-more-sporadic posts and who keep checking in on me.  All is well; it’s just an exceptionally busy season for me right now, so I’ll be back more regularly as soon as I can!

In the meantime, I had to share about a GREAT workout/walk/hike I took with my husband this weekend.  I stayed home sick Friday and was tempted to sit on my butt all weekend – and in fact, I did just that much of the time.  But Saturday I was going stir-crazy and just had to get my body moving.  The forecast was calling for rain but the skies looked reasonably clear, so we did something my hubs has been wanting to do for.ev.er. – we walked down to the lake near our house.

Why hadn’t we done so before?  Well, here’s the thing about my hubs.  He is oblivious to conditions such as rain, wind, cold, or darkness.  So he would always suggest this at the last minute when it was about to get dark.  Or rain.  Or when we were already out walking in flimsy tennis shoes.  And the trail down to the lake?  It’s short, but it’s steep and it is very much a hike.  I like to be more prepared than he requires, so it just never gelled before this weekend.

The distance of our outing was only about 2.5 or 3 miles, but 1.5 miles of that was either down or up a VERY steep hiking trail down to the lake front.  The rest of it was through the state park that’s about .25 miles from our house.

It was windy.
It was cold.
It was rainy.

But?

It was beautiful.
It felt awesome.
I felt?  Kind of badass for being out in those conditions.

It was just another reminder of what I already know, which is that my body loves to move.  And it’s been a struggle to make that happen lately, for a lot of reasons.  But you know what?  I have the power to make it happen even when it’s hard, and Saturday’s hike was a reminder to me of how much I love to be active.  Plus, the win-win of it was quality time with my hubs, which I adore.

How about you?  What’s the best workout you’ve hate lately?

Comments { 4 }

Something to Brag About

By on November 15, 2010 in consistency/commitment, determination/motivation, hope/inspiration, NSV, R2P3, Vibrams, weekend, working out

Happy Monday, y’all!  First off, I’ve got a guest post running today over at Sarah’s place – go check it out!  She’s running a whole series of posts on getting through the holidays with our healthy priorities intact, so be sure to bookmark her blog and head back for more.

I had a great weekend – the hubs and I decided to take a last-minute trip up to my parents’ place on Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands.  We’re rarely there on our own; usually it’s the whole family, which is super fun.  But it was great to be there with just the four of us for a change – lots of time to catch up with my folks.  Plus the hubs got to go shooting with my dad, which they both loved!

The only drawback to the way our weekend played out is that I didn’t fit a workout in.  And once we got home last night, the last thing I wanted to do was change and drive 20+ minutes to the gym!  So I was munching my way through the evening (yeah, I’m still struggling with that) and inspiration struck.  I have an adjustable weight set at home, so there was no need to leave for the gym to get a workout in!

I knew the inspiration wouldn’t stick around if I waited too long, so I got up immediately, put on my VFFs and some gym clothes, and banged out a 35 minute strength training and core routine in front of the TV.  It felt great, and even better, I’m going into the week with a head start on my workouts.  I know this isn’t the first time you’ve read this (or thought it!), but I honestly can’t say I’ve ever regretted a workout after the fact.  And I’m grateful that my determination was enough to get my a$$ off the couch and get ‘er done last night!

For me, 35 minutes was all it took to go from feeling sluggish and lazy to feeling strong and righteous (but not in that snobby I’m-better-than-you kind of way – more like the hooray-for-me-I-did-the-right-thing kind of way).  It made me realize that while we often pressure ourselves to make BIG decisions and do LONG workouts and focus on IMPORTANT things…every day is made up of a series of teeny tiny choices.  Moments, split seconds even, that determine the course and outcome of our day.  I read once that when we are faced with temptation, we don’t need to have the willpower to resist for long…we just need the determination for the ONE MOMENT it takes to throw away (or walk away from or otherwise remove) the source of our temptation.

So, yesterday?  My one moment was that second I hauled my a$$ off the couch and walked to my bedroom to change my clothes.  Everything after that was a done deal.  One moment, friends – that’s all it takes.

So, that’s my brag/moment for today.  What is your brag for the day/week/month?  What’s something you’ve been kicking a$$ at lately?  Please share your successes and NSVs, big and small.  It’s time for some inspiration up in here!

Comments { 12 }

Weekly Check In

By on October 6, 2010 in Onederland, R2P2, weekend, working out

Okay, so this post is two days late and I already let the cat out of the bag about Onederland…so sue me!

First off, hubs and I went to Ocean Shores, WA for an overnight to celebrate our one-year anniversary.  We had so much fun! I’ll be posting some photos to my Facebook so if you guys want to check them out you can. We arrived there around noon on Sunday and stopped for brunch since (a) hubs was ravenous and (b) our room wasn’t ready yet! We checked in at 1pm but didn’t take our stuff up to the room; instead we drove straight out to a jetty/pier on the point where our B&B was located.

It’s a man-made jetty/pier that’s basically a bunch of huge boulders stacked out into the water in a line (bad description, see photos for details! lol). We spent an hour or so climbing all the way out to the end (okay, hubs went out to the end, I stopped at about 3/4 of the way since the tide was coming in and I was already getting wet!), and then walked on a beach for another 20 minutes or so. It was beautiful and sunny, if a little cold. Afterwards we headed back to our room, got our stuff up there, and spend about 45 minutes just relaxing with our books enjoying some down time.

We headed out to find some horseback riding on the beach after that, but they were closing up when we got there and weren’t open the following day.  So we were kind of bummed by that, but next time we’ll plan our timing a bit better. We drove and walked through down, walked on the beach a bit more, browsed a few shops, and then went out to dinner. Afterward we headed back to the Inn where I took a long and luxurious bubble bath (in which hubs poured in HALF the bottle of bubble bath, so the bubbles were OUT of control!) while hubs read. We spent the evening relaxing in our room, watching a movie, reading, etc.

Anyhow, all of that is just to say – we had a marvelous time. Relaxing, sunshine on Sunday, a bit of activity (clambering over those rocks was HARD!), and just time away from everything together. It was much-needed AND much-appreciated, and we want to try to plan in similar trips a bit more often than once a year.

Aside from our trip and Onederland (cue angel chorus singing!), I had an insanely busy week at work and my workouts suffered for sure.  So I’m super excited to be feeling a little sore from my awesome workout with my trainer yesterday!  We’re bumping my sessions up to three times/week for a little while and I’m happy about that.

Finally, some numbers for you:

Round One Lowest Injection Weight: 217
Round Two Starting Weight: 220.4
Round Two Post-Loading Weight: 223.6
R2P2D20 (today) Weight: 198.8

Comments { 4 }

Weekly Update

By on September 27, 2010 in R2P2, weekend, weight

Happy Monday!  I’ve been trying to get here all day and it’s just one of those days.  You know the kind.  So, this post will be short (but oh, so sweet).

First, head on over to Jord’s place to congratulate her on completing her first half-marathon pikermi!  I got to see her this morning for a walk and seriously?  The girl isn’t even sore.  Except for Herman.  (No, I’m not going to tell you what that means…you’ll have to go read her recap to find out!)

Next, I realized that it’s been a really long time since I thought about reaching certain “goal” weights and rewarding myself for them – do you all do this?  i.e., every 10 pounds you get a massage or a pedicure or a running toy?  I used to love this idea (still do actually), but I haven’t put it into practice.  As I lose weight, I simply buy the things I need when I need them, and the things I want when the budget allows.  Do you treat yourself with scheduled indulgence (of the non-food variety) as you reach mini-goals?

My weekend was great – I worked and spent lots of time with family, and got to hang out with a friend I haven’t seen lately on Sunday – we went for a walk.  Not much relaxing to be had but c’est la vie.  How was your weekend?

Finally, some numbers for you:

Round One Lowest Injection Weight: 217
Round Two Starting Weight: 220.4
Round Two Post-Loading Weight: 223.6
R2P2D12 (today) Weight: 206

6 pounds away.  Crazy, terrifying, amazing, and … okay, just crazy.  That’s all I got for ya!

Comments { 4 }

Week in Review + Weigh In

By on September 20, 2010 in hcg, R2P2, running, Vibrams, weekend, weight

Happy Monday, friends.  Despite my extremely sore calves (hello running in VFFs & not stretching after!), I am as happy as a girl can be while saying goodbye to the weekend.  I am well-rested and for me, that is like being caffeinated for most people!

I am in a “boring” spell again, where all is well and each day/week is much like the last.  Workouts are good (but my trainer is going on vacay, boo for me, yay for her), eating is spot on, and the relationships in my life are on an even keel.  How often can you say that?!?

My weekend was wonderful!  For the first time in a while, I didn’t have much planned.  Saturday was a lazy day other than my short (2.2 miles) run in my Vibram FiveFingers.  I hadn’t run in them for about two weeks and I didn’t stretch afterward as well as I should have, so all day yesterday and into today, my calves are VERY sore.  I have heard that some people on HCG experience problems with muscle soreness and cramping and it seems to me that I do get more sore while on the Protocol than off, so I am going to talk to my ND today about some supplements (hello electrolytes!) to help with that.

Saturday night my hubs and I went out to a comedy show with my brother and his girlfriend – Arabs Gone Wild.  It was HIL.AR.I.OUS!!!  My family is of Lebanese descent and the show is joke after joke after story after story about Middle Eastern people and families that are funny to anyone, but especially funny to those who grew up in or with Middle Eastern families!  Seriously, go check out some You Tube clips from this show, it will make you chuckle.  My cheeks and abs are still sore from laughing so hard!  Here’s a photo of us at the show (I’m the second from the right):

Sunday hubs and I went for a nice walk in our neighborhood and otherwise vegged out at home together, which we don’t do nearly often enough.  I also, through the course of the weekend, cleaned the kitchen, did 3 loads of laundry, and cooked several healthy meals for us to nosh on throughout the week.

Weigh-In/HCG Update

So my general HCG update is that things are going well.  I only loaded/feasted for two days this time, and I’m not sure if that’s what caused me to feel more hungry than last time or not.  In any case, whatever the reason, my body has adjusted and settled into the “routine” of my daily injections and low calorie diet.  I stopped feeling hungry about two days ago and am experimenting with eating slightly more protein than the Protocol calls for (compensating for it calorie-wise by cutting out the bread sticks/Melba toast I’m allowed to have) and making sure to get as much fiber as I can on 500 calories/day.  My favorite foods this week have been homemade kafta, asparagus, and strawberries.

Here are some stats for you:

Round One Lowest Injection Weight: 217
Round Two Starting Weight: 220.4
Round Two Post-Loading Weight: 223.6
R2P2D5 (today) Weight: 211.4

I’m 11.4 pounds away from Onederland, people.  I am still trying to wrap my brain around that!

So there you have it – other than that last part, nothing too exciting or notable in my life.  Things are good, and calm.  And I’m happy.  How are you?

Comments { 5 }