Moving on

I was up most of the day yesterday, and then collapsed at 7. Could not keep my eyes open any longer. I slept from 7:30 pm until 5:30 am, and I feel pretty good today.

Really ready for the Whole 30 to begin.

Yesterday I filled one kitchen trash bag with Things I Don't Need from the pantry. I moved all the non-paleo baking items and all the crackers to an upper shelf. Coconut oil, canned tomatoes, ghee, pickles, olives, coconut milk, tuna – all are front and center and easy to reach. Paleo flours are also accessible, but I won't be doing any paleo baking during the Whole 30. Clean and simple for the first month.

Okay, are you ready for some news? You might want to sit down first, and make sure you're not mid-sip.

I lifted weights yesterday.

Three sets of 10 curl/squat combo, with eight-pound dumbbells. Baby steps!

I weigh more this morning than I have in many, many years. I've decided I need to begin like those morbidly obese people on My 600-Pound Life. To me, three sets of 10 is probably like someone who has 400 pounds to lose making it from the front door to the mailbox and back. (If the mailbox isn't attached to the house.)

I haven't had breakfast yet, but will soon have some scrambled eggs and an avocado. Lunch is a chicken soup that is just chicken and broth with vegetables. Dinner will be this.

Walking will be on the treadmill because, while the temperature is a bit warmer than it has been, there's some freezing rain/sleet/wintry mix headed our way.

Tonight is the NCAA football championship game. I'll watch as long as I can stay awake. I really don't have a dog in that hunt. And as much as I hope Trump gets booed at the game, that thinking really doesn't square well with my daily message to …

be kind.

A spring in my step

I can't remember a nicer spring than this one. Frequently here in southern West Virginia we move straight from winter to summer, with maybe a week of moderate temperatures to mark the transition. We haven't had a truly hot day yet. It's cool enough in the evenings to need a jacket. We still keep a just-in-case blanket folded at the foot of the bed.

Yesterday might have been the warmest day – we noted it was 82 in town, but it's always a bit cooler on our little mountain. My husband and I walked together again yesterday, down by Indian Creek, and it was pretty warm there. I'd watched the Boston Marathon (congratulations, Meb and Rita and everyone who started!) while I finished up that design job and was inspired to do one of my Run Double interval trainings.

I chose the 60:30 one. I've been doing the 60:60 option (Run Double has lots of training routines), but I'm trying for a 30-minute 5K. I figured if I ran twice as much as I walked, I might be able to add a little distance.

And I did, logging 2.63 miles in the 30-minute interval phase of yesterday's workout, instead of the sub-2.5 I've been doing. Walked and ran 7.07 miles total in 1:45, which is slightly less than a 15-minute pace. The longest distance I've done recently during the interval training is 2.7 miles. So lots of room for improvement.

At any rate … it feels so good to me to move faster, even when I was dying of thirst on the way back and even though I forgot my visor and even though my right calf was cramping and, and, and … I love to run. What else can I say? I wish I loved lifting weights, if only because grabbing a glass of water is so much easier.

Maybe I need to set a dumbbell goal the way I've set a running goal. I'll have to think about that one. Your suggestions are welcome on this. I'd hoped to reach my weight goal by my birthday (May 25), but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

So … your assignment is: What can I do with light weights in the next 34 days that would be significant and challenging, but not be overwhelming or feel like punishment? Help me out here, I can't afford a personal trainer! Heh.

Up, down, up down ... HEAVY SIGH

[Before I get started this morning, did you read Mindy's fantastic comment yesterday about how she knew her husband was The One? What a guy! Thanks for sharing your story, Mindy.]

Okay, I'm ready.

Perhaps I shouldn't be weighing myself daily. Or perhaps I shouldn't give the number I saw this morning so much power. I have a lot to do today. I don't have time to analyze why I've bounced back up again, nor do I have the energy for it.

It's. Just. Information.

Data comes in all forms, and what I weigh is just part of it. How my clothes fit, how my wedding ring slips around on my finger, how I move, how I feel are better indicators of how the South Beach+gym workout plan is working than what the scale says.

Can I get an "amen" on that?

I'll be honest with you, I'm pretty tired of all protein and vegetables, all the time. I'm sticking with Phase I most days; a couple days a week I have steel-cut oats or whole-grain bread at one meal. I'm allowed to add a half-cup of carrots (and peas) on Phase II, and I think I'll do that today.

What's so bad about carrots, anyway? Yes, I know they have more "sugar" than spinach or celery, but still. Come to think of it, though, the original incarnation of Weight Watchers limited carrots (and peas) to four ounces daily. (Many vegetables were unlimited back in the day.) There must be something inherently delicious about carrots (and peas) if they're restricted.

For the last couple gym workouts I've been using free weights instead of Nautilus for biceps and triceps. I started with five-pound dumbbells, because the gym doesn't have eight-pounders (which is what I have at home) and I didn't think I could lift 10-pounders. Because I'm a wimp.

Well, yesterday I picked up that 10-pound bad boy and ripped off two sets of 15 curls and kickbacks like it was nothing! I was so surprised, and I learned a valuable lesson: I must not underestimate myself. Maybe my inner badass is breaking free. Heh.

If that doesn't get me out of this scale-induced funk, nothing will. I feel better already, just remembering how I felt when I finished.

Don't worry, I'm not morphing into a weightlifter. I still don't much care for strength-training, but I can see  a few benefits already. Not so much in my shape, but more like this:

• my ability to move more freely
• my energy level
• my willingness to just go do [whatever] rather than delay or ignore doing [whatever]
• my posture (seriously!)

I hope I figure out all this health-and-fitness stuff before I'm eligible for Medicare. It would be so great to have a government health benefit and not have to use it for illness or a disability. I've been working on figuring it out more than half my life, you'd think I'd have it down by now.

If I did, though, what kind of drivel would both of you be reading this morning? Heh.

Here's what the rest of my day is going to look like:

This is the prototype for this year's campaign buttons for my Democratic women's group.
I need to make enough to give to members at our meeting tonight, and then we'll be
making and selling them as a fundraiser. Want one? Let me know. Just $3!

I hope your day is just as crafty, creative and hopey-changey as mine is!