Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Tale of the Scale:8/28

Weight: 124#. down most of a pound. Don't know if I'm burning it from the middle where it needs to disappear from, or where.

Saturday, while walking the dogs and using a chucker to throw balls for Jake, I tweaked the nerve and tendon in my shoulder. By the time I got to the car, my hand was a little bit numb. It was a major step that I admitted it to Guido a couple days ago.

Now we are having the argument: how long do we work out without doing anything using my arms. I say this week, he says at least 2 weeks maybe longer. Two stubborn souls will be butting heads on this for a while.

Today we did stability moves and legs. Then Guido stretched out my hips and lower back. Oh. My. God. It hurt.. but in that good way that you don't mind, though you're glad when it's done. He said he was not happy with my flexibility and figures I'm doing all I can. So once a week, we're adding these stretches to the routine.

In a month I'm through my current training contract, and will be going solo for 3 months. I am taking that time to learn how to workout on my own, to take some of the group classes, to maybe find a workout buddy. To believe that I can do this alone. That when I choose to go back to training, it's because I want it not because it I need to lean on Guido to get this workout done.

I'm sad every session when I realize that I'm that much closer to going on my own.

And after today's stretching session... I'm going to miss these workouts even more.

(sigh)

I also blog at A Stitch in Time and BlogHer on Saturdays and Mondays.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Tale of the Scale: This one's for Suzanne

Weight: holding steady at 125#. Since I've only been back working regularly in the gym for about a week, this is good. At this point I only need some rather stubborn belly fat, which I understand is the hardest stuff to get rid of. Patience is my test.

Plan for week of 8/26:
Sunday: personal workout. 1/2 hour each of cardio, stability and weights.
Monday: cardio: 45 minutes and stretching.
Tuesday: workout with Guido. Supersets all around.
Wednesday: Same as Monday.
Thursday: workout with Guido. He's going to surprise me.
Friday: rest (thank goodness).
Saturday: rest and stretching.

The rest of this is for Suzanne. Because she asked nicely. Suzanne wrote this article for BlogHer called the Swimsuit Brigade for Honest Photos. She showed herself (strong, healthy, fit woman that she is) in her own swimsuit. As fit as she is, she did not resemble at all the models in catalogs and magazines wearing these suits.

And she asked that we all go out and take our own photos in our swimsuits and post them on our blogs. Here I am wearing my 5 year old tankini:
real swimsuit body

Care to join me? Post your photo on your blog and tag it:Swimsuit Brigade.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

New Social Media is dangerous...

I think I may have figured one thing out: some social media is dangerous.

It used to be that I'd have a small "bloggable" thought. Just a notion or clever turn of word.. and I'd blog it.

Now I Twitter it. (if you have succumbed and don't follow me, I'm debroby on twitter).

It's out of my mind and into the universe and I don't feel the urge to turn every little thought into a longer blogpost. It means I blog less, but when I blog it tends to be a longer more detailed post.

I'm not sure that it's a good thing.

And we won't even mention the time-drain that is playing scrabble with friends on Facebook...

Talk about distractions!!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Tagged... for Random Things...

Ya know, I love Laurie, I really do. (No, that Laurie, whom I also love, but this Laurie!) Which is probably the only reason that when she twittered me that I had been tagged by her, I didn't hurt her! I've managed to avoid this meme for weeks, mainly because my friends do "honor tagging"... that is letting people choose to tag themselves. Laurie, it appears, is not honorable. But she's bright and friendly and a damned good writer, so I'll forgive her.

The nitty-gritty:

Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves...People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules....At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and they should read your blog.


Random thing #1: While I'm basically a quiet person, I regularly "practice" conversations (just like Laurie!). Infact I spend most of the day having imaginary conversations with people. The problem with that? When I actually get the opportunity to have one of these conversations, I don't know what to do after I stop talking. I never practice other people's part of the conversations. So I somehow usually make them end.

Last week, I managed to do that in the gym. I had a nice warm moment with my trainer, because he's been in my corner now for nearly a year.. and often the only one there. I've made so many changes this past year, and they all began with our working together. As soon as I finished my warm fuzzy moment, I picked up my 15# hand weights and started doing bench presses... dropping the warm caring moment before it could continue.

Awkward conversations are my specialty.

Random #2: I've worn glasses since I was 8. When they tested my eyes at 7, I was a little near-sighted but within normal range for a 7 year-old. At 8? I could not read the top letter on the eye chart. My vision goes out 7 diopters. If you have 20/20 vision, imagine standing in one end zone of a football field, and trying to read the eyechart positioned in the other endzone.

The evening I first got glasses, I walked outside and wondered: I could see individual blades of grass; leaves on tree; street lights were not simple a glowing ball of light.

Random #3: I like taking photos, but I don't like taking pictures of people. Mainly because it's too hard to get a photo that looks natural and unposed but that still has good composition, light and focus. It's hard for me to "see" people-pictures as interesting, so I rarely do them. And I rarely look at them.

Random #4: I love thai food. I love the complex blend of flavors and spices. Infact I love almost all Asian cuisines. Probably because with these I don't have to consider the possibility of them containing cow's milk.

Random #4A: I'm mildly/moderately allergic to cow's milk. If I've been healthy for atleast 6 weeks, I can have small doses of it: a couple slices of pizza or milk in my coffee while travelling. If, however, I've had a cold or other respiratory infection (which always turns into bronchitis), then I must completely avoid the cow's milk (which also gives me bronchitis). It seems to confuse my friends who have trouble knowing what I can/cannot eat.

Random#4B: Because of this milk thing (and some of the spices used), I am not terribly fond of Mexican or Italian food. If I can order a nice piece of fish, though, in these restaurants I can go for the company.

Random #5: I thought I've had the same size shoe since I was 10: a 6.5 narrow. Two years ago, though, I discovered that my feet had grown or flattened out, and I'm now a 7.5 medium. In fact my left foot is almost wide. This explains a lot.

Random #6: I am a non-swimmer. Give me a life-jacket or anything that floats, and I'll do anything: canoeing or rafting. and I'd like to try kayaking.

Random #7: are we almost done yet? I have never lived more than 12 miles away from I-80. My current 3 miles is definitely the closest.

Random #8: At the point that I've lived in a place about 8 years, I get bored with it and start thinking about moving on. It might take me several years go actually get into another place, but I've never found any domicile that has held my affection for long.

Whew. Finally through that torture. I am moving back to the more normal "honor tagging" principle... please leave a comment here and post your own Random Eight Things on your blog. If you don't have a blog, email me your random 8 and I'll post them here for you.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Tale of the Scale: 8/17

Weight: maintaining at 125#.

This is the first week that I have been able to be back in the gym working for 4 days. Would it have mattered if I showed up for 5 instead? I seriously doubt it.

My body has stablized at this point, which might not be a bad thing except that there is still about 5# of fat that needs to be dealt with. And I'm not getting anywhere on that. So it's back to logging food and activity on my FitDay program, and seeing what's going on. What needs to change?

(excuse me.. it's been over 3 hours since I last ate, I'm going to grab me a small snack). I'm back with a cuppa hot coffee with soy milk and 1/2 of a GoLean Chocolate Almond Toffee bar. 170 calories. 21% fat, 59% carbs, 20% protein. almost the perfect balance.

This past week:

Sunday: First day back in the gym since getting sick. I did 40 minutes on the treadmill hill program at 75% of max program. Then I did a light circuit weight training. Must admit it felt so good to be back pushing weights. My muscles felt happy too!!

Monday: 30 minutes on the treadmill hill at 75% again. I still have a little bit of congestion in the chest and didn't want to push real crazy on the cardio stuff. Then a half hour of work away from the weights: bridge, plank, wall squats, walking lunges, crunches.

Tuesday: 20 minutes on the elliptical, then a workout with Guido. He's adding stability challenges to some of the strength moves to switch things up a bit. Ended with another 10 minutes on the elliptical.

Wednesday: Off. I had a full day of stuff happening and couldn't make it to the gym. I did walk the dogs up and down the hill for some exercise.

Thursday: Guido sick, worked alone. 30 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes of floor exercises and 30 minutes of weights. Nope. I did not let myself off easy just because.

Friday: a "rest" day. Took the dogs for a 3 mile walk in the park. Then took a nap. Which was the perfectly right way to interpret rest.

Saturday: A rest day. And I'm at BarCampBlock all day, so it will be a day of rest. Will try to walk the dogs in the evening when I get home.

Next week: More of the same.

, ,

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Progress Report

I must be starting to feel like my old/new self again. Walked the dogs Wednesday afternoon along one of our favorite paths and remembered to grab my camera before I left the house.

The pictures are varied but rather interesting, I think:
Rusty Tank Car
There was something about this patched and rusty railroad car that intrigued me.

Strange Seed
And this strange seed pod thing interests me every year. Anyone know what the tree is?

Pinole Creek
And finally, a pool of water along Pinole Creek made an interesting composition...

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Tale of the Scale: 8/7

I've been sick since 7/24.. and have made it into the gym AT MOST once a week since then. My last visit was last Tuesday, and I probably won't return until next Sunday.

So I'm not working out. OK, when I've got a little energy I may walk the dogs or do some of my floor exercises, but that's all.

That said, I am maintaining my weight. A good thing, I think. To me, that means that my body is used to this weight and my caloric intake is what it needs to be to stay here.

Hopefully there is more to report next week.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Playing with Web MD.

I first got a head cold on July 20th. It was getting better within a week, when it decided to settle in my throat with a dry, hacking cough. This past week, it's added swollen glands too. It hasn't gotten better, and I'm trying to decide if I should call the doctor tomorrow for a visit.

yes, I am going to call.

Anyway in an (uh-hum) effort to be better prepared for this visit, I decided to use WebMDs Symptom checker to see if a trip to doc might be a waste a time. (I was inspired by a recent episode of The Closer. Poor Brenda appears to be entering peri-menopause. Her entire crew is in danger!) Entered my symptoms as best as as could:

cough; tender,swollen glands; sore throat; stiff neck; hoarse voice. I didn't get the chance to enter that I'm really low energy.

The top likely conditions are:

Viral pharyngitis (duh! that's a sore throat)
Common Cold (unlikely after 24 days... I think).
Strep Throat (where I'm placing my money).
Bronchitis
Laryngitis.

sounds reasonable all, but then they go on to suggest:
spinal meningitis
tonsillitis
indoor allergens
Mononeuclosis
GERD
Swollen glands (well, again, duh!! I told them I had swollen glands. the question is why??)
tuberculosis
asceptic meningitis
chemical pneumonia
asthma
congestive heart failure
lung cancer

Well, I guess they covered all the bases. The only thing they missed is Stress.

I'll take bets in comments on what you think the doc will decide!