Video, Successes, and a Confession

Oh god it’s video day. The guy from the phone company is here to fix our phones, finally. Our DSL connection came back lastnight but the phones are still dead, no sound, no static, nothing. The guy said it was on their end (yay) and that he would get it fixed within the hour. Not enough time for me to make it to work for the day but I’ll just get to work on Saturday instead.

So I saw on someone else’s blog that they do a video of their goals at the beginning of each year. I thought that was a great idea and I would do that as well. 

Please don't judge me. That confession feels utterly embarrassing. I mean, those times should be in my past when I sit down and binge. It makes me want to cry. I’ll cover up the crying though with two success stories for the day.

Since I had the whole day off from work, waiting for the phone guy to show up, I had plenty of time on my hands to work out. I did a Kick Boxing routine for 30 mins this morning with Bob and Jillian on the Wii. Wow, I’m not coordinated. I hope that changes soon. After I ate that pizza tonight and watch ed the first hour of the Biggest Loser season premiere, I forced myself onto that bike in the basement to watch the second hour of the show. There were soooo many times I wanted to get off that bike but I made myself finish the whole hour. Sure, there were times when I stopped to take a breather but I didn’t let my feet touch the floor. The last fifteen minutes was filled with thoughts of “just get through the commercials, just get through until the next commercials”. It was hard but I did it. I don’t feel all that bad about the pizza anymore after I think about getting a full hour in on my bike. It’s the little successes I have that are the most important steps in making it to my goals.

Days ‘til race day: 264 (not many days left)

I'm Committed Now...Oh Boy!

Here we are, sitting at Epic once again. I’m really hoping that we will have the internet fixed by this time tomorrow. I somehow got to take the day off so that I can sit around the house and wait for the guy from the phone company to show up. He said he would be there sometimes between 8am and 8pm. I think that is worse then what Charter tells you. Charter at least gives you a morning or an afternoon time so you don’t have to take the whole day off from work. The only way I was able to pull off taking the whole day tomorrow is because of my coworker’s uncle passed away and she’s expecting to be off some other day this week so she’s working tomorrow and I’ll be working her day off and Saturday.

Pat and I are planning on going to the Home Show this weekend at the Monona Terrace. I’m not really sure what that entitles but I am hoping to talk to someone about the hole (planter) in our entryway. I suppose I could take some pictures with me so they know what I am talking about when I say “hole in the floor”. Oh what a joy it would be to have that hole filled in and tiled over.

The whole focus of tonight’s post is a little daunting. I actually registered and committed to the Iron Girl Duathlon on September 25^th. I am $95 more poor than I was before but $95 well worth it…I think. I knew this was something I was committing myself to doing back in September. I went to watch  my sister compete in the first ever Maple Grove Triathlon. There were two lengths, Sprint and Olympic. I noticed the more experienced athletes competed in the Olympic distance. There were all types of people competing in the Sprint distance, big ones, tall ones and skinny ones too. There was one woman competing in the shorter distance that was quite inspiring to me. She was probably in her early twenties and had a huge cheering section. They were cheering her in, even though she seemed to be the last one through the finish line. What was inspiring to me? She probably was the heaviest lady in the whole competition. She was maybe 5’5’’ and looked like she was over 250lbs. But she finished it in the time allotted. THAT was inspiring to me. If she can do it, anyone can right? That was the moment I decided I needed to do something.

I knew I wasn’t a strong swimmer and didn’t want to take the time or money to join a gym so that I could relearn how to swim correctly and efficiently. I decided I would take on the Iron Girl Duathlon. This is an annual event, in it’s seventh year in Minnesota, which benefits women. Only women are allowed to register for this event of a 2 mile run, 22 mile bike ride, followed by another 2 mile run. I’ve always been strong on the bike so I’m not worried about that. I am worried about completing those four miles of running. I was hoping that my exercising would be better by now but I have yet to complete a 5k running the whole way. I guess I will have to be able to do it by September.

I actually have multiple people that are planning on running the event with me. My dear sister told me she was going to register. This race should be a nice cool down two weeks after she completes her second Iron Man Wisconsin. My cousin Lynn is going to do it with me; this will be her second Iron Girl race. I know my other cousin Meg is contemplating it and so is my friend Kinsey, although she’s not a fan of biking. I may need to drag her out for some long rides this summer. I tried to talk my mom into doing it but she responded with a “no”. I appreciate all the support but it’s really up to me to get my butt in gear and get in good enough shape to complete it. I don’t really have a goal to place high. Just a goal to finish and maybe not come in last.

Days ‘till race day: 265

Connection Withdrawal

 

Woohoo! Two entries in a row. I’m working on this one pretty early because Pat and I are at Epic to get our Internet fix. We’ve been without our internet since yesterday morning. It’s frustrating because we’ve had the phone guys out here before to look at the wiring into the house and they said everything was good on their end. Pat did some rewiring of the jack in the office, thinking it might be the old wiring in this house. Well, that didn’t fix it. And it’s not just that we don’t have a connection for the internet, our house phone has no dial tone and no one can call into our house without it just going to voicemail. So if for some reason, you need to get a hold of Pat or myself over the next week or so, please call our cell phones.

Since we have no internet, I’ve been writing my blog entries in Word and updating them when I find time to find some internet connection. Today, it is at Epic. The next couple of days, I might be making trips to the Verona Library over my lunch break to take advantage of their wireless.  Pat leaves for Chicago on Tuesday afternoon, the same day the phone people should be out to check the connections again. If they don’t fix it that day, I suppose I will have to call someone to come check the lines inside the house. So who really knows when it’s going to be fixed?

But there was life before the internet… I think. I am going to try to use this time of no internet connection to do other things. I’ve realized how much time I actually spend searching the internet. It’s crazy amounts of time and that’s not a good thing. It really takes a lot of time away from myself.  There are healthier activities  I would like to focus on instead of sitting on the computer. Today, those activities include getting to Costco to use our gifted membership, packing up our Christmas decorations so we can put the tree out on the curb (or in the burn pile), and do day two of the Biggest Loser program.

Other things I would like to do over the next week included finish some books that I started, pick up Pride and Prejudice at the library and read that (I bought a book at Barnes & Nobel a couple of months ago that is based off P&P but I haven’t read the classic so I’m considerably lost), get used to my bike again, do the Biggest Loser program every other day, meditate,  take a bubble bath, do something with a friend, and maybe work on my crocheting again. There might be some TV watching in there as well but I will probably do that while I am working out. My iTunes music library will probably get a work out because I like to listen to music while I am blogging.

So here’s to limited internet making me a better person.

Days ‘till race day: 266

A Good Holiday and A Good Weight Loss

Happy New Year!

My mom called me today and told me, once again, that she and my sister were wondering where my blog entries have gone. I did promise on Monday that I would wonder about my losing weight over the Christmas weekend and having no idea how I did it. I’ll also fill you in on some of the great, and healthy, gifts I got from my family.

So I lost 2 lbs over Christmas, and I wasn’t trying. I did stay away from the sweets and Christmas cookies until just a couple days before hand. There were no holiday parties to attend this year so there was no unneeded drinking or high calorie foods to tempt me. Working out has been utterly nonexistent since I got sick in the beginning of December. Now that I’m feeling better, finally, that has changed and I’ve gotten back on the wagon. My mom claims the reason for my weight loss last week is because I received the Just Dance Wii game from my sister.

Christmas was good to me this year. It was wonderful to have my Dad, Mom and sister make the trip to Madison in the snow this year. I am blessed to have them and blessed to have their support. It was also nice not to have the large crowd of family, although I did miss parts of it. Christmas Eve was quiet and we opted for mass the next day. Dad made some awesome chili, which now fills my fridge and freezer. The five of us gathered around our tree to open gifts. It was odd to me that Pat and I were opening lots of gifts and my parents and sister were just opening the few gifts we got for them. It was early to bed to make sure we were up at 5am so that showers could be taken before 7am mass. A couple of us took an after mass nap before venturing to the movie theatre to see True Grit. The movie was packed and a pretty good flick. For dinner, I made my first ham, squash and salad. After dinner, there was another round or two of showing my parents the Wii that we got last year from Pat’s parents. It’s always bitter sweet when guests leave. It’s nice to have them around and our house really felt like a home when they were here.

There are a couple of gifts I’ve been using in the past week since Christmas. My sister picked up the Just Dance and The Biggest Loser Wii games for me. Neither require the balance board, which is good, ‘cause we don’t have one and we don’t plan on buying one in the near future. Boy, I tried out that Biggest Loser game a couple of days ago and my thighs still hurt when I stand up. I have a lot of work to do! Pat bought me a stationary trainer for my bike. I was surprised that he got it for me. It was something I had been wanting and it was something that I probably needed to get my butt toughened up for biking in the spring and summer. I’ve used it three times and I am impressed. I do need to get a new computer for tracking my distances and speed. My goal is to go 20 miles each time on in it. It’s a nice little trainer but I just have to make sure I get a bunch of use out of it.

I feel like I’m starting to ramble on a bit about odds and ends. Since I have no internet at home, which I will get more into in my next entry tomorrow, I plan on getting back on the wagon of updating this more often. I’ve been actually making lists of ideas for entries so that I remember them. So there will be upcoming blogs about registering for Iron Girl, I’ll give a recap of my high school reunion AND (if I’m brave enough) I will post a video of my goals for 2011.

Oh and I’m starting a race count down :)

Days ‘till race day: 267

How the Crap Did I Lose Weight?

I lost weight over the holiday week. How did that happen? More on that and my goals tonight.

Things to Write About and a Picture

I weighed myself yesterday. After a two weeks of not working out and a week of being sick, I figured I would have gained some weight back. The opposite was actually true. I actually lost weight! 219lbs yesterday morning. I actually let the scale reset itself and I weighed myself again. I don't really know what happened besides that maybe my appetite wasn't quite what it usually is. I haven't worked out for two weeks. I don't work out when I'm sick.  I'm still sick.

So what am I writing about tonight? The fact that I don't know what to write about. I know I have people that read this often and encourage me to keep writing. I seem to come up with these great blog entries at the most random times of the day. I need to start carrying a notebook or something that I can write these ideas down keeping them for future brain farts.

How about this one? Did you know that Christmas is only 11 days from today? That's scary right when I think about that I haven't done much of any shopping. I have Pat's gift but that's all I have. I am unsure if my family is planning on coming down to Madison for Christmas. I'm not sue yet if I am going to have to buy food for a Christmas meal or not. I was thinking something simple like ham, and Acorn Squash.  I love Acorn Squash, even more than I love Butternut Squash.  I haven't been doing much baking yet because I've been sick. I don't want to share this wonderful cold with my friends and family, especially around the holidays.

Here's our Christmas card picture this year. I think I did a pretty good job setting the camera up on the tripod and using the timer. I also love what I can do with Lightroom.

The Biggest Loser season finale is on now. I suppose I should go watch that.

Sick

I haven't posted in a week. 

Two weeks ago I got a flu shot, at my cardiologist's urging. I had never gotten one in the past. When I asked about getting sick from the shot, they told me it was a rumor that wasn't true.  They told me that people who get sick already have a virus in their system and the shot is just timing.  Well, two weeks later I'm sick.

I could feel it coming on last week. Just a general weakness and lack of motivation to do anything. I should have known it was coming. I could really feel it yesterday. I even told my boss not to expect me at work the next day. I didn't sleep last night. I was awake all night with various bouts of sleep. So just like predicted, I called in sick this morning. I hate calling in sick to work especially on Tuesdays when we are short staffed.

I tend not to eat much when I'm sick. The appetite just isn't there to motivate me enough to get off the couch to eat. I can count on one hand what I've eaten today. A bowl of cereal and yogurt for breakfast, a couple of handfuls of cheezits around 4, two pieced of pizza for dinner and 4 Halls cough drops.  Oh there were a couple of glasses of water in there to keep me hydrated while I work through my fever. There is definitely no working out when I'm sick. Like I said, butt off of the couch is difficult.

I hope I get to go back to work tomorrow. Although it's nice to have a day off, it sucks to be at home sick. I'd rather be at work. 

For weigh in yesterday, there was no gain...but no loss either.