I is for ill-timed

I am currently putting in 16+ hour days, working at work and then volunteering 5+ hours a night.
Please amuse yourselves until friday.
I'm finding sleep is winning out over exercise, altho I am walking as much as I can to wherever I can and eating well (well, OK slightly too much mini wheats, but healthy!)

Be back soon...

H is for holy crap!

I'm not doing too well at the alphabet word thing...I do like saying holy crap though, so I couldn't resist.
Say it like Strongbad with me:
"Holy Crap!"
Last night I got a bit of a break from the Fundraiser I'm volunteering for for 2 weeks and met a friend for Vietnamese food and just talked. I don't get to see her much so it was good to visit and consume tonnes of satay veggies and soup. J held down the fort at the fundraiser for me so I could take off for 3 hours...it was nice.
I took the night off belly dancing this week too to be sure my leg was OK. And I think, tentatively, it is. Nice.
This morning, after a quick bowl of cereal I walked to work briskly - a nice 35 minute walk along the river. It was chilly and windy (about 3 degrees, there was frost overnight) so I bundled up in my warm coat with gloves and wore my running shoes. My knee feels fine today, and I feel good knowing I got a bit of exercise in this morning. I do believe I'll try my ball DVD tomorrow.
It'll be another long day today - all day at work here and then 5 hours at the pledge drive before I can go home and fall into bed, but it is for a good cause, and it's my way to help out...the tricky part will be eating well over the next while. J is overworked too so we're just trying to survive until Saturday...we both have the whole day off so we plan to make like vegetables all day and relax together.
Not being home or getting to a grocery store until saturday makes it a bit tricky to make healthy meals - I may be the cereal queen for the next little while :). Can you give yourself scurvy from eating nothing but cereal and fruit for 2 weeks?
Hope not.
:)
On that note, I'm off. Much to do.
Have a good day...

Music to walk to work by: Heart by the Stars

G is for getting better....

My knee feels better today. It's not totally back to normal, but that odd tugging feeling is gone. It's still a bit stiff...so I think I'll skip the belly dance tonight, as much as it pains me to do so, and let it have another day. And tomorrow, I'll just go for a speed walk or use the elliptical and not run on it.
I still have a 25 minute speed walk to get downtown to the pledge drive tonight so I know I'll get a bit of exercise today. And this morning was a delicious fruit smoothie for breakfast, and I have a tuna wrap planned for lunch. For supper, cereal...it's an easy thing to take to the pledge office...litre of milk and a box of cereal and I'm set for the week!
Off to work my pretties...much to do.
Ta.

Well, there's that alphabet thing shot all to hell, where are we at...f?

F would be a nasty potty sort of word about my knee anyways, so it's probably best if I leave the f alone today. Just say a nasty word in your head and we'll call it a day shall we? :)

My knee is still stiff and rather buggered. I'm very annoyed. I've been nice to it all weekend and it's still stiff. I haven't worked out for obvious reasons, but I am going to start to walk to work in the mornings, and to the pledge drive I"m volunteering at downtown in the evening to get in some exercise.
I have a belly dance class tomorrow which I hope won't make it worse...it's just this odd tugging crampy feeling attached to my leg that only really bothers me when I go down the stairs. Other than that it's not too bad, but is always there...and I'm rather confused about how to deal with it. I'm not going to run and exacerbate it, but I'm getting rather annoyed at not being able to run.
So walking it is for now. If it is still sore by the weekend I'll go have it checked out, altho I'll be hanged if I know what happened to it.
I'm still eating healthy and taking care of myself. I'm feeling rather good about the way I look as of late, so I'm just going with that.
Have a good monday all...

E is for extensor digitorus longus

Well, this morning I forgot to set my alarm, so I didn't work out. Well I *set* it I just didn't turn it on. Luckily I woke up at a reasonable time to get to work no problem, but no time for my ball work out. It's probably for the best as my left inner back calf muscles are quite stiff and as a result it is making my knee a bit sore, so I probably wouldn't have worked out anyways. It was fine when I went to bed and *poof* this morning? Soreness. Very weird...and of course having one muscle stiff and not the others is pulling on my knee. I think it's my extensor digitorus longus...or my tibealis anterior muscle. One of the ones involved in the extension of my leg to being straight. Either way...best to be nice to it/them/me.

After work I had a meeting downtown across the river, which I speed walked to so as not to be late...but I did it in my crappy shoes, after running in the morning and I think it was a bit too much. At any rate, next time I'll take the bus and not over do it, or wear the right shoes. Or both.

I *did* however have time to have a yummy breakfast of some oatmeal with blueberries and milk before I left today. That was nice. And I did some sit ups so I didn't feel like I completely did nothing today. I'll be spending my day stretching and moving my legs about gingerly and trying to eat well...if I'm feeling better I'll walk home from work briskly to even it all out. We'll see. I'm taking it easy...the goal is to get in shape, not gibble myself.
Have a nice friday all!

D is for...um...diligence??

I thought the alphabet thing would be a clever way for me to exercise daily and post 26 days without quitting (3 weeks to form a habit and all that), but I'm not that clever with letters it turns out...

At any rate, this morning I got up at 5:10 and made a fruit smoothie for J and I and tucked mine in the fridge for later. He had a tasty breakfast while I put on my run kit and headed out. The blender is LOUD so he always feels bad using it in the morning when I'm asleep, but on the days I run, I get up about the time he's having breakfast, so I figure from now on, on run days for me it's smoothie time for both of us. He's very happy with the whole deal...
It was only about 8 degrees this morning, but very pretty - the leaves are starting to turn and my lulu lemon running jacket has been working very nicely to balance the "it's a bit chilly I need to keep warm/oh wait now I'm sweating/oh no it's too warm/ah I'm cooling off now" part of the annoyance that is running here in the fall. You can't dress for the temp as you warm up after a few minutes...this jacket is just the thing for it. I did need gloves today, but that's nothing new. My hands are always cold.
I did 2 minutes walk + 4 minutes jog 6 times again this morning. I picked up the pace a little bit, and made it to the mini bridge by the gallery today before turning around, which is about 2 blocks further than tuesday. It felt good to get there (it's very pretty) and know I'd pushed myself a little bit. My legs are a bit stiff, especially on the outside of my knees, so I'll have to do more ITB stretches I think, but so far, there have been no major aches or pains. I always worry I'll do too much too soon and end up bugging out my knees or something. That is the problem with having been in such good shape is I want to get back there right away. I'm trying to find a happy medium so I don't hurt myself. I do want to be diligent tho - I like how I feel when I exercise. And I'm making sure I do LOTS of stretches. I forgot the butt stretches tuesday and wandered around all yesterday with a stiff butt, so I made sure I did every stretch I could think of this morning before I hit the shower.
And then there was a fruit smoothie in the fridge for me to drink on my way to work.
Nice. This is working out very nicely so far... I just hope the scale doesn't dissapoint me when I step on it at the end of the month.

Music to jog by: Beck - The Information

C is for cramps

Today I was up, a bit stiff after my first belly dancing class from the fall session. Plus it's PMS time, so I'm all achy. But strangely, feeling very good despite that.
I did my ball DVD this morning (with cat assistance yet again...), then walked to work. It is a nice 35 minute walk. It actually takes the same time for me to walk as it does to take the bus, so on a beautiful morning like today it's nice to walk instead. I even did the fruit smoothie thing again for breakfast (added some blueberries today) and took it with me on my walk to work. YUM.

I signed up with a friend from work to take a belly dance class at a local high school gym every week this fall...because it's a community association class it's cheap ($25!) and the girl teaching it is very good. Last night was the first class...and I am really looking forward to it. It's looking to be high energy, but very mellow, and a lot of fun. I get the feeling I'll learn a lot, but not feel to intimidated, because it's a class of about 20 "average" ladies just there for fun. The teacher had some jingly hip scarves (she gets them for a very low cost) and I finally got one so I can practice with one at home. It's easier to tell if you're doing the moves right...plus it's jingly...J was very intrigued. Apparently we'll learn a routine by the end. Neat.
Jingle jingle.

Snack time: a distinctively average snack


While buying my current addiction last night, almond sweet & salty granola bars (Nature Valley...they're like crack...seriously people. Eat one. They are so good.) I saw these coffee flavoured granola bars and though I'd grab a box to try them.


I know I know, but I like coffee and I like granola bars and vanilla bean stuff is always good...well usually.


I had one at coffee break and man - SUGAR! They didn't taste bad, they just weren't particularly good either. Compared to the sweet and salty bars that make me drool just thinking about them, these are the definition of "meh". And WAY too much sugar for my liking. And about 40 more calories a bar than my current addiction. So back to the regular crack, er, I mean granola bars. These ones: Eat these ones. They are YUM...


Delicious...

B is for bananas

Well...still at it. (don't mock...2 days is good! :P)
This morning I crawled out of bed at 5:15 and went out for a run/walk/wheeze. By 5:30 I was out in the dawn light...it was a beautiful morning, about 12 degrees C. I got to see the stars a bit before the sky got light. I alternated walking 2 minutes and jogging 4 minutes 6 times...36 minutes total. I admit I wasn't running the fastest I ever have, but it was being out there on my feet this morning that counted. I didn't die, and I was careful not to give myself a side stitch by breathing properly and remembered my water. I did a thorough stretch out after (I forgot how good it feels) with 2 cats trying to crawl on my head at any opportunity.

Then - my reward: a banana strawberry smoothie. After my shower, before work I blended up the following:
1 c soy milk
1/2 banana
1c frozen strawberries
1/2 a frozen peach
1 T flax powder
1/2 t honey.

YUM. This is officially my new breakfast after running. I even got a little bottle with a straw and handle which is just the right size to hold a 10 oz fruit smoothie and keep me from spilling it all over myself on the bus. SCORE!

So day 2? So far so good.
And I feel great. I'd forgotten how happy those endorphins can be.
Have a good day all :)

Music to wheeze by: Chemical Brothers - We are the Night

A is for abs

Well, it's officially day 1 at the back at it plan.
I had a nice weekend...I confess I indulged a bit, a few beer and ordered in pizza, as I knew as of today it would be back at it with diet and exercise, but I don't think I did any super damage...I didn't go too crazy or anything.
This morning I got up, had some breakfast and did my exercise ball DVD. I can tell it's been ages, as my legs and abs are complaining more than they should, but it felt good to work out again. I will eat breakfast after I workout I think...the stomach work on the ball made my stomach feel blech with all that cereal in there...live and learn I suppose. And or course BOTH cats felt the needed to help me, but I think they'll get used to it again and stay back a a safe distance once their tails are rolled on a few times.
Now it's just being good today and having a healthy supper.
Off to a good start I think!

Waddleyatchah!

Well...seeing as my life is returning to what I would call normal, and allergy season hasn't totally kicked my ass, I'm going to begin my workouts again next week. I plan on doing my ball DVD mon/wed/fri and running (OK, walking, jogging and wheezing) on tuesday and thursday. In October I'll switch the running to 3 days a week and ball to 2.

I am 134. This excites me. I'd like to get below 130 by Christmas. Maybe 125 by next summer. I've always dreamed of weighing 125. Do I dare to dream??? And is a number the important thing? Perhaps with my muscles back 130 will be just peachy. Who knows. I seem to have settled in nicely around this weight, and J and I are on a new thing - portion control and healthy food. Now that my friend (who had a deep love of cream sauces and oils and delicious but unhealthy foods) is moved out on his own, I can really focus on preaparing healthy food for J and I. It'll be tricky, but I'd like to have a serious go at it. J has lost about 10 pounds as of late and it's given him the kick to get back at it. I've gone back to my pre-christmas weight and it's encouraging me too.

I've signed up again for the 5K breast cancer run on Oct. 5, so I need to get in some training before the day of. I'm running in memory of my friend Shirley. Despite being thinner, my lungs *suck* at the moment, what with it being harvest, and no regular exercise for the past while. I need to get them in better shape...I don't like using my inhaler so much. Besides, in a month or so it'll be icy and I won't be able to run any more. So I'd like to get in as much as I can before then. Getting really sick in June really screwed up my fitness and I've let it slide. It's so easy to slack off!

So, as of monday here we go. Regular posts. Exercise. Healthy food.

Waddleyatchah!