People Watching at the Gym...

This morning while I was waiting to take my turn at a weight machine I got to looking out over the gym. It was interesting noticing all the different sizes and shapes; also the different attitudes while people were working out. Some of the people looked like they were doing a fierce battle with the machine. They had those determined mean looks on their face, and were just going at the machine like their life depended on it. Others were turning beet red and dripping as they struggled through their workout. I would place myself in this category.

Still others, mostly guys at the free weights, were straining and grunting galore. It rather reminded me of a morning where one guy was particularly grunting loudly when Diane and I were doing our circuit on the weight machines. Diane was struggling with a machine and I told her it would help her if she grunted like the guy over there. I kept on telling her to grunt and she ended up laughing so hard she couldn’t lift anything.

As my eyes continued to wonder more through of the gym area, I spied a short rather round blond man with his head lolling around that would have put Stevie Wonder to shame. His eyes were closed, head phones in his ears, and his face was between a smile and a grimace. I choose to think that it was a smile. He looked as though he was wondering around while on the elliptical in his own little world. It looked much like a happy place I would like to visit, and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him. It’s all in the attitude of how you work out, and he looked as though he was having a ball of a time!

Meanwhile earlier this morning, I was on the elliptical machine next to the beautiful petite blond who had the machine at level 10 and was not even breaking a sweat. Here I was turning turnip red and sweat rolling down me on level 3. She’s looking around the whole time checking out guys and not even paying any attention to what she was doing on the machine. I saw quite a few guys checking her out as they went by, and I couldn’t help but wonder where my mother was when they were handing out these genes. I definitely missed out!

I felt like placing signs above us… BEFORE (above me) and AFTER (above her). Then put a HUGE disclaimer below that these results may vary and that they would require a great deal of starvation, an ungodly amount of hours working out, and quite a bit of plastic surgery (Shoot. Possibly even a complete overhaul!). AND yes, you too can be just like her! Not me, not in this life time! I would much rather join the Stevie Wonder guy in his happy place!

Experiences in Eating Healthy...

There’s something to this eating healthy thing. I don’t know if it may be all just in my head—and Lord knows there are quite a few voices going on up there. But it seems as though I’ve had a little more energy this last week. I’ve given up the diet soda and anything else with artificial sweeteners in them. I’ve been trying to eat more natural and added fresh fruits to my diet. I’ve put myself on a diet of eating between 1400 to 1500 calories a day and trying to make those few calories as healthy as I can. I know that some of you will comment that this is too few calories but I’m really focusing on making sure these are healthy and well balanced meals that I’m eating. I’m also really hoping to reach my goal of losing 10 lbs in 10 weeks for my Perfect 10 goal too.

It’s been a week since I’ve given up the diet colas, and I’m rather surprised that I don’t have more cravings for it. I always thought that it was the carbonation that I craved when I was drinking it. But it seems as though I really haven’t had that much craving for carbonation. I bought four bottles of sparkling mineral water for my carbonation fix. I’ve only touched 1 out of the four bottles.

Now for the fruit report— I surprised myself. I ate ALL of the bananas and will probably have the last kiwi with my dinner tonight. I still have a fair amount of the dried fruit left. I’ve noticed that they really taste almost excessively sweet after eating real fruit. I think that’s probably a good sign. Now if I could just give up on some of the other sweets--- like the homemade mint chocolate chip pecan chocolate cookies that my Mom sent in a care package to me this week. GONE in ONE night! OUCH! BUT in my defense they were SO GOOD. YUM! There’s just something about homemade cookies made with love from your Mom that proves irresistible.

Now for a negative experience for eating healthy… I was trying to increase the size of my breakfast and make it as nutritious as possible. I was hoping to make it larger and trying to make my evening meals smaller to make a more positive step towards some weight loss. Well, I went for it this last Friday morning. It was a hearty bowl of oatmeal, two pieces of wholesome sunflower honey wheat toast, a banana, a cup of joe and some water. OMG!!! It was like feeling a rock land in my gut! AND then the rock moved through my system the REST of the day. OMG! Much of that day, all I wanted to do was drink water, and then it was like my whole of my intestines felt like it was on bloat over drive. I did NOT even want to think about the end result. I took a preemptive step and took a laxative prior to the end. Thank GOD!

As a result, I’ve opted to back off a little from making the large breakfast thing. I’m now trying to balance out my lunch and dinner, and just take it easy with the breakfast thing. But now I need to go to the store and see about some more healthy food. I’ve noticed with fresh food there’s a correlation of shopping more often. Freezer foods have a tendency to last quite a bit longer. So off to the store I must go…

Perfect 10 Update- Week 2

Here's my weekly progress report for how I'm doing on my Perfect 10:

--Lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks: I've lost 2 lbs. this week, and so that brings me to a total overall weight loss of 1 lb. It's progress and at least I'm moving in the right direction!

-- Build to 10 mi run in less than 2.5 hrs: This last Sunday I managed to do 5.3 miles in 68 min. I'm working on a combination of building up distance and working on a bit of speed on my shorter runs. My hope is that this theory will produce the final goal. I feel like I'm on track to reach this goal, and I even broke in a new pair of running shoes yesterday.

-- Balance exercises twice a week: I fell down on the job on this one this week. I only did the "Circle of Shoes" once this week. Something I need to work on.

-- Visit the gym 3 times a week: Reached! I went on Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. I think I got my money's worth this week.

Now for the unknown fact about me to the blogging world out there--

I used to love them when I was growing up but I'm allergic to mushrooms. Most of my close friends know that I'm allergic to mushrooms because they've had to redo a dinner menu in the past for me. But I don't think that even they knew that I used to really like mushrooms. I remember as a kid, the family piling into a car and going to this dive of a restaurant along the Mississippi River where we would play pool and eat deep fried breaded mushrooms that had blue cheese in them. YUM! In fact, I didn't have trouble with these fungi's until I was in my freshman year in college.

It all started with a large mushroom and cheese pizza from a local pizzeria across from campus. That Friday night, it took four college buds an hour to carry me from the college dorm; down four flights of stairs (no elevator) and across the street to the on-campus medical center. My head felt like it was going to explode at any movement. It's like I get a HUGE migraine and terribly sick to my stomach when I've had something with mushrooms. At first I did not have any idea what had cause this severe reaction to happen, but over time I finally narrowed down the culprit. In hopes that I could keep some form of mushroom. I tried every variety of mushrooms. All with the same reaction. So now I read labels and ask at restaurants when they list vegetables. Since it seems as though for some reason mushrooms is considered one of them. I think this also has made me not much of a fan when it comes to veggies too.

I've been told that what I have is actually a food intolerance and not an allergy. But it's easier to tell people that I'm allergic than explain what a food intolerance is. I find it very interesting that as a person gets older that your body can change and something that you used to really enjoy can become the enemy.

First Test Run and Healthy Eats...

This morning I did my first run in the new running shoes. The first test run! It almost felt like Christmas morning as I double knotted the shoe laces and headed to the gym. I was curious to see how they would do, and kind of hoping that they would make me a better/faster runner. As if shoes could make me lighter than air and I could run the speed of light? Hello! I don't think so...

So on to the treadmill, I went. I warmed up with my usual fast paced walk for .2 mile and then picked up the speed. Gradually building up to 5.8 mph for a while. Was it my imagination but it seemed that my feet did feel a little lighter? It seemed like it but I'm never quite a wake at 5:30AM so my mind could have been having a running dream. My feet still felt good as I reached the 30 min. mark and I decided to run till I almost reached the 3.5 mile mark. Twelve minutes later and I walked off of the treadmill and my feet felt fairly good. Cool!

I went food shopping this last weekend. I have recently decided to cut out artificial sweeteners out of my diet and am going to try to eat more healthy. Part of the reason for this decision was a post by a fellow blogger who talked about how artifical sweeteners could affect our bodies with symptons that was similiar to MS. This got me to thinking about how I want to try to be more healthy and good to my body. I made the decision to cut out diet soda right off the bat. Then, I thought about how I need to add more fruits and veggies to my diet.

With that in mind, I found myself at the grocery store on Sunday afternoon shopping. I choose sparkling mineral water instead of the diet soda, and I actually picked up some fresh fruit. Wow! That’s amazing for me! As I was talking with a very good friend on Sunday evening I was telling her what was in my fridge. She was like… " wait a minute this is YOUR Fridge? That doesn’t sound like stuff that would be found in your fridge. You are really looking at my fridge aren't you? You ARE pulling my leg?" "Nope! It's really what's in my fridge, honest." I told her as I laughed. I called my mom later and she laughed at me too. Gee, was I really THAT bad?

I’m thinking to myself that I’m even amazed and very curious to see if I can stick with this healthy eating before the fresh fruit go bad. I will admit that I’ve purchased fresh fruit before and I never touched it and in the garbage bin it went. So with that in mind, I bought the greenest bananas that I could find. I also only purchased 4 kiwis hoping that I would use them up before they went bad. I, also, splurged on a larger container of organic salad mix that I should have no trouble finishing off. Then, I purchased low fat yogurts that had sugar instead of the artificial sweeteners. Then, I purchased 4 different packages of dried fruits—tropical mix, cranberries, bananas, and pineapple. Now for the progress report of 4 days later...

3 out of 5 bananas- GONE!

2 out of 4 kiwis- GONE!

WOW! So far so good!

But hey I'll keep you posted if any of this fruit ends up dying a gruesome brown smelly death...

New Running Shoes...

During my lunch today I went out and purchased a new pair of running shoes. I got to looking at my shoes after a 5.3 mile run yesterday morning, and thought these are getting a little raggedy around the edges. I might be due for a new pair, hmm. With training for a half marathon, I certainly will get the use out of a new pair.

So here I am like a kid in a candy store looking at new running shoes. Awwww… all these colors and possibilities. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!! I had now established that I’m a runner and wasn’t concerned with buying a pair of shoes that I would use for just a bit, and then they would get buried at the bottom of the closet somewhere. No, this time I went in knowing that this was a purchase that I would get my money’s worth. Though, I wanted to keep it within some reason.

I walk in the Salt Lake Running Store and start drooling over the wall of shoes. The salesman comes over. He asked me what pair I currently had. I amazed myself that I actually knew this information. Of course, it was an older model running shoe that they didn’t carry. I told him that I was happy with them except for the fact of getting blisters in my inner sole arch for runs that were 6.5 to 7 miles long. He said there were several possibilities of shoes where their design would not rub me in that area. Cool!

He came back with 5 shoes in my size. So I tried them all on; one on each foot. I quickly narrowed down to two that were comfortable. Decision time was here. Darn! They were both the same price. Both had my favorite blue color. I looked at the situation with logic, and asked the salesman which one had more stability. And that’s how I made my decision. So here’s a picture of my New Balance WR760 Stability… (Now the really hard part is waiting till Wednesday morning before I can use them.)

Perfect 10 Update- Week 1

I will be doing these weekly updates on Thursdays. (Most of the Perfect 10 group is opting for Fridays.) I have some out of town runs and what not where I'll be traveling on Fridays and be away from computer access. So here I am trying to be proactive and planning on Fridays. Not a surprise to some of you that know me, and no that's not the previously unknown fact about me. I will share that at the end after I have stated my progress on my goals.

Let me also preface before I go into my progress that I was a complete and udder bum New Year's day and over the first weekend of the New Year. So there's three days that I completely blew it and should have been earnestly working on these Perfect 10 goals. BAD Girl! Where's that Catholic Nun with the ruler when you need her?

Here's my progress...

--Lose 10 lbs in 10 weeks: It has been an interesting week as far as my weight is concerned. Oh, let me speak plainly here... it's been that woman's time of the month and I've put on 4 lbs. and I've also lost 3 lbs. So overall, I'm up 1 lb. Darn it! But this is all a starting point and week one with only 4 days of really working on these goals. Plenty of room for improvement.

--Build to 10 mi of running in less than 2.5 hrs: I've managed 3.1 miles in 37 min. I think this is a really good start.

--Balance exercises twice a week: Did it! I've been doing a homemade exercise at home with a circle of shoes. (Strange, huh?) I formed a circle of shoes (6 pairs) around me on the floor like a clock face. I stand in the center and reach out with one foot and touch the top of each shoe and then bring that foot back to center without touching down; then out to the next top of the shoe. The first time I almost fell over each time. The second time I got a little better and I have noticed that when the shoes are out to side or behind me that my balance is at it worst.

--Visit Gym 3 times a week: Done! I visited on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Okay now for the unknown fact about me...

I'm worry each day about what I wear and have concerns that one day I will be like that old man that combines the striped shirt with the high-waisted plaid pants. I know it sounds funny but I like to try to push the "fashion envelope" ( shall I say) and I combine some items that sometimes most people would not put together. That's the hardest part about living alone because I don't have someone to preview what I'm wearing and tell me I'm out of my mind for even putting that outfit together. It also doesn't help that I LOVE color, and I have tendency to be a thrift store and garage sale junky.

Case in point...

The paisley shirt I'm wearing today with earrings from Cambria's Collection(link on my blog) and a scarf pin (garage sale find) on a sliver chain...

(I apologise for the bad photos too. I took them myself.)

Oh, and P.S. I'm wearing a pair of brown jeans and brown ESPRIT boots.

SO... What do you think?

Get The RED OUT!!

My Eyes! My Eyes!

So here’s what happened…

This morning I went swimming with Diane at 24Hour Fitness. I thought a nice easy workout after a good workout yesterday in the gym area. Also, we noticed yesterday that the pool was totally empty as we were working out on the floor. So, we figured we would each have a lane to ourselves.

We got there just before 5:30AM and there was a guy in each lane. (Gee, so much for a lane to ourselves.) Diane jumps in a lane and waits at the end. The “friendly” guy in here lane states,” We split the lane. I take this half.” Then he swims off down on his side before Diane can say anything.

I jump in the next lane I stand in the end and wait. I ask the guy if we can split the lane and if he had a preference as to what side. He was much more pleasant. My first lap, as usual, is breast stroke. Ouch! I could feel it as I opened my eyes under water. The chlorine was VERY strong.

I have had this happen before where it’s taken a bit for my eyes to adjust. (No, I don’t wear goggles because with the water and what not I get kind of claustrophobic.) It was on the fourth lap that I stopped at the end and the guy sharing my lane asked if I was okay. I told him that the chlorine was VERY strong and I couldn’t wear goggles. We got to talking a bit and it was rather funny that he had decided to swim today too because he had seen no one in the pool yesterday too.

It was at the end of lap #10 that I decided that I had punished my eyes enough. I was standing at the end of the pool and looking out to a blurred landscape. Details escaped me as my eyes felt like they were on fire; as more and more air came into contact with them. OUCH!! I admitted to Diane in the next lane over that there was no way that I could drive home with my eyes like this.

I stumbled my way to the locker room and the shower. I kept on trying to hold my eyes open while I threw cold water into my eyes. While I dried off, and changed into clothes; I went to the sink sporadically and splashed cold water into my eyes. I was starting to see some details now, but everything had a bit of a fog. My eyes were still BURNING! OUCH! But I was finally starting to see some details in the world around me.

Diane finished her swim and asked if I would need to be driven home. No I told her I think I had it. It was as we were leaving and walking through the floor area that I pretended a sob and said to Diane,” Oh the things I go through for this friendship!” We both laughed. My eyes looked all red and puffy like I had been crying up a storm.

As the cold air outside hit my eyes, it really looked foggy outside to me. “Is it kind of foggy out here?” I asked Diane. “Yeah, a bit but not too much. Are you sure you’re up to driving?” I assure her I would be fine to get home. Well, it was one FOGGY ride home but I managed.

Oh the BURN, as I put a couple of Visine drops in each of my eyes. OUCH! I ended up making a cold compress and applying that while in between drops of Visine. I did some more cold water splashes on my eyes. The burning was dissipating but my eyes were still pretty sore. I managed my way getting ready for work. (Yes, I was still planning on going to work.) As my eyes seemed to be sensitive to light, I donned a pair of sunglasses and proceeded into work. Several co-workers teased me about having a rough night out on the town. (I WISH!) It wasn’t until about noon that I managed to take my sunglasses off at work. My eyes are still pretty red but not nearly as sore.

The First Snowshoe of the Year...

On Saturday, Diane and I went to Mountain Dell Golf Course and did a little snowshoeing. The Mountain Dell Golf Course is up about half way Parley's Canyon from Salt Lake City on the way to Park City. It's a very scenic area and it was a beautiful day as I think you can tell by these photos.

Resolutions/Goals for 2010 & The Perfect 10...

I know. I know… everyone is inundating the Internet with resolutions and goals for 2010. It like an endless barrage and you are SO tired of it all ready. Well, sorry to say here’s one more of those. If you don’t want to read any further, I will understand perfectly. Enough is enough is enough and believe me I know because I’m there myself. But for those of you that continue on, there are reasons that this occurs. The success of these goals and resolutions are greatly improved if you follow a few fundamental steps…

1) Make it public! The accountability factor does amazing stuff, and well, that’s why there are so many stating it out on the Internet like I will be below some where here.
2) Write it down. Just by forming it into actual words on paper, it clears up the ideas and narrows it down that resolution or goal.
3) KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid! Don’t get complicated and make it hard on yourself.
4) Celebrate your achievements. You’ve worked hard towards them, and you deserve to reap the rewards!
5) Make reasonable resolutions/goals. They should be close enough to be attainable but still enough out of reach to challenge you.

Follow those above and you have managed to beat the odds of success. Don’t and you might as well be flipping a coin.

Normally, I’m not a resolution type of person. I tend to be goal orientated, and once I have set that goal I tend to be stubborn and tenacious like a Pit Bull with its jaw locked on something. So with that in mind, here’s my list…

1) Save more money, honey! Last year in August, I accomplished a financial goal that I’ve been working on for two years. I became debt free. Now, I want to start putting that money into savings that I’ve been using for paying off these debts with. I have a number in mind, but for fear of being hit up for a loan, I will not state that number here.

2) Run a half marathon. I want to run in half marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon this Spring, and maybe even give the Park City Marathon a whirl too. Who knows maybe even push myself towards a full marathon in that one but lets get the first one under my belt first. Then we’ll see…

3) Do at least one century on my bicycle. Last year, I only did an 80 mile ride at the Little Red Riding Hood Ride, and that was as close as I got. Two years ago, I did 8 centuries on my bike. Maybe I can manage a happy medium in there somewhere?

4) Participate in the Slow Salty Dog Tri (70.3) and see if I can do better than 10 hours and 25 minutes.

5) Conquer Little Mountain and then Big Mountain, and back on my bicycle. I want to make it up and over and then back up the other side and down. I’ve managed ¾ of this but the backside is a climb that can prove relentless even for someone that likes to climb like me. (I usually climb a canyon once a week during the cycling season.)

6) Participate in the Perfect 10-- For the first 10 weeks in 2010, I want to give this a real go for the money. AND here’s my list for the goals of my Perfect 10…

(1) Lose 10 lbs over the 10 weeks. I think this is doable.
(2) Build up to 10 miles running in under 2.5 hours. I think this will help me train towards doing the half marathon.
(3) Do exercises at least twice a week that work on my balance. For all of you that have read my Boot Camp blogs, you know that I have some MAJOR balance issues.
(4) Make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. I bought that gym membership, and I need to make sure I get my money’s worth.

If you would like to learn more about or participate in the Perfect 10. Here's the link...

http://logmyloss.com/?p=2544

So there! That’s my list and for those that are still reading this posting. I ask for your help in encouraging me and holding me accountable to these. Thanks and Happy New Year!