September's goal

Hitting August's mileage goal of 150 miles felt great. I don't often challenge myself like that, because I hate to fail and one never knows what might happen. Like those three days off due to illness – I might have hit 165 had I been able to get out of bed.

So here we are at September 1. I have two weekend events coming up, both of which require travel days. I don't think it's realistic to set a big mileage goal this month. I will most likely be able to knock out 100, maybe even 125. Cooler weather makes it easier to go longer, for sure, but the real deal is I think I need to come up with something out of my comfort zone.

Walking/jogging/running is very comfortable for me. It's my favorite intentional activity. I feel great when I can be outdoors stretching my legs and filling my lungs and moving on down the road. Hitting a mileage goal is a challenge, yes, but I'm not doing anything new or different.

Not that I have to, of course. Clearly what I've been doing is working, and I can see from the graphic that I'm improving, if improving means increasing my miles.

But.

The weight loss is slowing down considerably. Here are the monthly totals for the year:

January: 5.0 lbs.
February: 3.5 (8.5)
March: + 1.5 (7)
April: 9.5 (16.5) - started Whole 30 April 7
May: 10.5 (27)
June: 7.5 (34.5)
July: 6.0 (40.5)
August: 5.0 (45.5)

With s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y less than 20 pounds to go, I don't expect another 10-pound loss for the month. But I'd like to hit my weight-loss goal by Christmas, so I'll need to do a little better than five pounds a month.

I can't believe I'm actually thinking I can lose five pounds a month after all these YEARS of not losing a single damned pound!

Gingerzingi (I hope you're enjoying your blog break, but I miss you!) suggested – when I asked about paleo/primal blogs – checking out Mark's Daily Apple. I've been a regular reader for several months now. Mark works out (but he calls it playing) irregularly. That is, he moves a lot, every day, but inserts a few lunges here and some squats there throughout his workday. He walks a couple miles a day, does a sprint session once a week and makes sure his workday isn't all work.

My daily routine isn't like Mark's. I don't have a desk job, but I certainly could learn from Mark's example and begin doing some strength training.

I started last week, with (I'm almost embarrassed to admit this) 15 wall push-ups on Tuesday and 15 more on Thursday. That's it. Oh, and I went to yoga yesterday morning, which also definitely counts as strength training.

A new friend was telling me that when she started doing push-ups she had to do wall ones. She's now doing full-out "boy" push-ups, but she had to work up to them, and if that means starting with the wall, then so be it.

So September's goal is this: Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll be adding some strength-training moves to my walking/jogging/running routine. Push-ups and squats and lunges, and maybe some tricep kickbacks with dumbbells (because I really like doing those). From all I've read and from my own long-ago previous experience, strength-training can and does kick up your metabolism. That doesn't mean I won't add some bodyweight exercises every day, but it does mean that I will definitely do them at least twice a week.

Ya gotta start somewhere.

Mark also says sprinting really helps get through a weight-loss plateau. I'm definitely not plateauing, but maybe I could prevent one? I've been doing some sprints during the Cto5K training, but I could do more. (Week 7, Day 3 will happen today, since I didn't get it done Friday or yesterday. Oh, and I really liked the interval training during the first six weeks of the program more than I do these long, extended runs. But OH WELL. I also like to finish what I start. So I will. Two more weeks.)

Notice how I haven't mentioned politics lately, especially Syria? Here's what I think.

I wish I could take credit for it. I had the thought, but TheObamaDiary.com tweeted it. And I thank them for doing so.

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!

I promised you pictures …

and I deliver! I swear it took as long to edit these pictures as it did to clean the closet. Heh.

On the left, the before view of a very messy closet that gets all kinds of stuff
dumped in it. When I don't know where to store something, I put it in the hall
closet. On the right, everything's tidy. And I've already moved some things
around since I took the after photo. Can't. Leave. Well. Enough. Alone. Heh.

The tippy top shelf didn't have much on it, because I'm
too short to reach it. So I didn't take pictures of it. This is
the third shelf, the before view is above the after one.
Those boxes stacked on the left are empty, do any of you
have trouble throwing away perfectly good empty boxes?

Second shelf, the in-your-face-when-you-open-the-door
one. Yes, I have foot mannequins, I'm a sock designer!
(Although I haven't created a new design in, hmmm,
how long? TOO LONG TO REMEMBER!)

Lowest shelf, and the most important one. All the
instruction books for all the appliances, heat pump, etc.,
plus office supplies, bank statements.
Above: Chaos!
Below: Order!

The floor. In the before view (above) I sometimes had to
wiggle things around to get the door closed.
Not a problem now.

On the left, things to donate (not much, unfortunately).
On the right, the trash. I'm a little embarrassed to show you how many
paper towel rolls I had stashed away for some kind of craft project!

I feel NO NEED to buy fancy canvas containers to make the inside of a closet look good. Priority Mail boxes and other shipping containers are free. Those, a box cutter and packing tape are all I needed for storage solutions.

It took a good three hours to finish this job, which really isn't much considering the amount of crap I had stuffed in there. To reward myself at the end of it, I worked out. At my new gym!

Time for a progress report. I've been feeling really, really down this week, because I check my weight daily and I haven't seen any losses. Yesterday was the end of the two-week South Beach Phase 1 regimen, and I'd hoped to see some results. Until this morning, I felt unrewarded for all my hard work. (I can honestly say I've followed the plan pretty well. No sugar, no grains, if I've gotten off track at all it's in not eating enough vegetables with each meal.)

Today's weigh-in showed a two-pound loss. I was so surprised! How does that happen, to go all week long staying the same and then suddenly drop two overnight. I guess if I knew the answer to that I'd already have written a book, right?

I think I reported incorrectly last week that I'd lost six pounds since the first of the year, when it was really five. Now it's seven since January 1 and five since January 10, when I started South Beach.

Looks like it's working. No reason to stop now, especially when I've added the element of regular weight-training to the plan.

I didn't join the gym for cardio, I'm happy to walk on my mountain for that. I joined for the Nautilus and Cybex machines and, eventually, the free weights. My previous (albeit 20 years ago) experience is that muscle-building = weight loss. That's also what science says, at least current science. So we'll see. I'm my own guinea pig!

Using prison as a motivator

My husband was able to join me for my walk yesterday. He's been working on a project which takes him out of the house most days so it was a treat to have him tag along with me yesterday afternoon. It was grey and very windy, but warm enough that I didn't need a coat. Quite remarkable for January.

My New Year's goal of doing some strength training 3x/week has completely gone by the wayside. I guess seeing my daughter's results from just eating a low-carb diet (she doesn't work out) made me think I, too, could forego weight training. In fact, she and I have very different body types and very different metabolisms. She takes after her dad, clearly.

She's also 20 years younger than I, and all of us old folks know that even though it might have seemed hard at the time, losing weight 20 years ago was a heck of a lot easier than it is now.

Since it's Wednesday, and Wednesday was one of the days I'd committed to strength training, I'm going to find the motivation and time to do something with dumbbells today.

Last night was my AA meeting at the prison. I have to admit that I rarely feel like going. It's hard to head out at dark o'clock, leaving my nice warm house to deal with a hundred women, most of whom don't want to be in that room. They're not required to attend, but their team leaders strongly suggest it, and if you were in prison and your team leader strongly suggested you stand on your head, you'd be figuring out a way to do it. Team leaders are motivational like that.

There are a few women, though, who make it all worthwhile, or I probably wouldn't have kept going back for the past 13 years.

I wish I could transfer my feelings about that meeting to the dumbbells. I'd love to be reluctant to begin a routine, work my way into it and finish knowing that was exactly what I needed to be doing. Tune in tomorrow. I'll report back. In the meantime, have a happy hump day.

A killer day

I live in the Middle of Nowhere, so when I shop, I have to drive a ways to get to a store. And when I really shop, I drive farther and take care of several errands at once. This saves gas, time, and wear and tear on the car.

It does not, however, save wear and tear on me.

Yesterday was one of those big shopping days. I walked four miles early in the morning, played with the dumbbells, drank a lot of water (bad idea when you're traveling, but hey, I managed), got organized and left the house around 11:30 a.m. Which was an hour later than I'd hoped to leave. With all the chores on my list yesterday I didn't think I'd make it home until dark.

Here's what the day looked like:

• Lowe's for a roll of fencing for the blackberries
• Local mall to see if my black Clark clogs could be repaired. The couldn't. Had to buy new black Clark clogs. Grrr.
• K-Mart to check the price on sheer curtains, which I would buy if they were less expensive per yard than tulle.
• JoAnn's for fabric and notions to make my younger granddaughter's Halloween costume. She's going to be a bride. Tulle is cheaper than K-Mart sheers. Yeah! Don't have to go back to K-Mart!
• Sam's Club for coffee beans and a whole bunch of other stuff.
• Wal-Mart for the rest of my list.

I got home at 5, amazingly, and dinner (chicken fajitas) was on the table by 6. I am woman, hear me roar.

By 8 p.m. the roar was a whimper, and by 8:15 I was asleep. Seriously! I usually read for an hour or so before I nod off, but after only a couple of pages I was done for the night. Woke up around 5:45 this morning and feel like a new woman.

The power of restorative sleep.

Gingersnapper posted a few links yesterday for body-weight exercises, as she promised she would do in a comment. That's the kind of advice I love. I know I need to do some strength training. Her comment that moving the dumbbells from one place to another counted as a workout made me laugh and encouraged me to actually do it. I ended up carrying two fives and two threes and then actually doing real exercises with them, as you know if you read the Stats post yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday's work was upper body, so today I'll do lunges and squats. I don't see Squat Thrusts (Mountain Climber) happening in the near future, though. That looks hard!

The way to manage this new plan of attack is to take it a day at a time and to get it done early in the day. My motivation and energy level are highest in the morning. Once it's done, I can lay around the shanty the rest of the day.

Or do laundry. Take your pick.