It all started when there wasn’t much progress happening in the weight loss department. I am not one to sit around and ponder too long, so I came up with ways to troubleshoot my weight loss stand still. Outsmarting my scale became my obsession, and to be honest it still is. I don’t recommend my plan because it does have some serious draw backs which I am about to explain.
I haven’t been able to blog- much less do anything else due to the fact that I am spending all my time in a gym sweating along with my MP3 player. I am a big fan of the elliptical machine, because it gives me the most bangs for my buck. Last week I got in trouble for staying on it longer than the 30 minute time limit, but because of my obsession I stayed on to complete my 60 minutes even though Barbie stood behind me yelling at me to get off the of the machine. I am not normally a rude person and I can assure you that I am a big fan of the rules, but when it comes to getting in 60 minutes on the elliptical Barbie can wait her turn. Then I discovered the treadmill and running; what a thrill that was! As a result of finding all these exciting exercising machines at the gym I am now drawn to their siren call. Watch out Barbie; don’t get between me and my treadmill!
When I am not at the gym I still go to Curves to do my strength training on the resistance machines. I would use the weight machines at the gym but Ken and his buddies believe their sweat make them official owners of said equipment. (I might be able to push around Barbie, but it will be a few more months before I can take on Ken and GI-Joe.) On my Curve days I also do yoga for the stretch benefit.
On top of all of that my butt is also out there burning up the pavement walking daily.
Now the working out takes up roughly two hours a day, but the procrastination takes up six, and recovery takes two hours. I don’t know why I make exercising such a big drama, because it is my choice, and it is what I want to do. However, I still treat working out like I am going to get my fingernails pulled. I have some valid “reasons” for delaying my workouts like: I am not a morning person, so I have to wait until the afternoon to get my mojo on. (Okay that is my only reason, but it is working for me, so far.)
The major draw back to my “flawless” plan is that my exercising takes up my entire day. I can’t focus on anything else because I am too busy procrastinating, and that takes a lot of effort to do it properly. Ah another chance to troubleshoot! Well since I am not a morning person, and you will never see my sunny face working out before noon; I have come up with a solution that will hopefully give me some balance (and allow me to blog.)
I am going to take every Tuesday and Thursday off from heavy working out. Instead David and I will go for a long walk in the evening. Truthfully I can’t live every waking moment avoiding the gym, this way I only have to avoid it on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays! What a relief!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Bad Habits
Since losing weight I have developed some bad habits. Ladies and gentlemen I have bones. You see when I was heavy my bones were buried under the fat, and I thought I was made of Jell-O and boneless.
One day I woke up and I noticed something poking up from my midsection. “Oh my God I have ribs!” I’d better check the other side to see if I grew some there too. Yup there they were. Hmmm…I’d better count them; four on each side. Soon I could count five; I grew another one. Then I could actually see some of them, wow! Bad habit number one: Counting my ribs every morning.
When I was overweight I would look at magazines and scoff at the models who had collarbones. “How disgusting, look at her!” Alright sometimes those poor girls can go too far, and it really does look bad, but for the most part I was just jealous. I wanted sleek collar bones too. I was getting really tired of my bras falling off my shoulders because I had nothing to hold them up. Guess what! I have collar bones! Yes it is true. I can’t wait until summer so I can wear a strappy little dress and show off these babies. Bad habit number two: I keep poking at them. I love to turn my neck slightly, and run my fingers over the bone. Bad habit number three: I actually show people my collar bone accomplishment! “Hey look at this…I have a bone here.” This is starting to get a little sad.
I haven’t developed bad habit number four yet, but I just discovered that I have hip bones. I think I need an intervention!
One day I woke up and I noticed something poking up from my midsection. “Oh my God I have ribs!” I’d better check the other side to see if I grew some there too. Yup there they were. Hmmm…I’d better count them; four on each side. Soon I could count five; I grew another one. Then I could actually see some of them, wow! Bad habit number one: Counting my ribs every morning.
When I was overweight I would look at magazines and scoff at the models who had collarbones. “How disgusting, look at her!” Alright sometimes those poor girls can go too far, and it really does look bad, but for the most part I was just jealous. I wanted sleek collar bones too. I was getting really tired of my bras falling off my shoulders because I had nothing to hold them up. Guess what! I have collar bones! Yes it is true. I can’t wait until summer so I can wear a strappy little dress and show off these babies. Bad habit number two: I keep poking at them. I love to turn my neck slightly, and run my fingers over the bone. Bad habit number three: I actually show people my collar bone accomplishment! “Hey look at this…I have a bone here.” This is starting to get a little sad.
I haven’t developed bad habit number four yet, but I just discovered that I have hip bones. I think I need an intervention!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Tide, Cheer, Chores
David and I have cohabitated for what seems like eons now, and we have finally gotten into the groove. When we first moved in together I was a cleaning machine; I cleaned almost every day. Then I would get mad at him for never cleaning, but the truth of the matter was I never gave him a chance to clean, because I thought he couldn’t “do it right.” Now when it comes to doing chores we have determined our weaknesses and strengths and divided the chores up accordingly.
For instances (according to David) I shrink, turn our clothes shades of pink and purple, and somehow lose socks in the process of washing our garments. He claims I do not know how to separate laundry. In my defence I put the clothes in two piles: colors, and whites. Where we have a difference of opinions is in the “color” category. David scrutinizes to see if it has red or blue in it. If the piece of clothing is really dark he does a small load of “really dark” clothes; if the piece of clothing has even a little bit of red in it he washes it with the reds. The man even washes the towels separately! My method is- hey if it has color in it- it must go in the color bin. (Most of the time it works out.) One day I was in the laundry room doing laundry and David came in and told me that I was FIRED! I was escorted out of the room; he actually fired me! He has Laundry-Room-Radar, because if I even walk too close to the laundry room door he yells from up from downstairs, “Amy, what are you doing? Don’t even think about touching the laundry.” One night (while he was away) I took it upon myself to teach Holly how to do the laundry. Holly and I were very pleased with our accomplishments (yes, her white panties did have a slight pinkish tinge to them, but I figure it’s like getting a new pair!) I should stop here and mention my biggest laundry faux pas- I will start a load of laundry and then get distracted and leave the load of wet clothes in the washer for a bit of time; sometimes it has to be re-washed. Well on my laundry mentoring night Holly and I did get distracted and forgot the laundry and when David returned home later that evening he saw our method of “sorting”. To make a long story short: Holly is fired too; until David can teach her to sort properly.
To be fair in place of laundry I took on cleaning the three bathrooms in the house. I don’t mind cleaning bathrooms, because I hired an assistant who loves to clean the bathrooms! Ten year olds are absolutely CRAZY, but I love the free labor. Holly is really good at it too; the only thing that is really tough for her to clean is the bathroom mirror. So if you have been following along carefully I traded in laundry duties for cleaning mirrors, and bathroom inspections; what a deal! Now I am not stupid I know Holly will not always want to clean the bathroom, but by then I am hoping we can afford a cleaning crew.
David vacuums, and I dust. I sweep, but David sweeps up the dirt into the dustpan. (For some reason “dust-panning” was not a skill I got the hang of. I can chase that dirt around for hours.) David and I both share the dishes, but I will admit he does them more than I do, but I clean the counters more than he does. I am a better organizer than he is, so I keep our house clutter free.
Our whole family shares the cleaning duties in our house, and I am so much happier for it. Our house for the most part is kept spotless, but liveable. Our clothes stay in their original color, and size thanks to David’s efforts. Most importantly we come together as a family and make our house our home.
For instances (according to David) I shrink, turn our clothes shades of pink and purple, and somehow lose socks in the process of washing our garments. He claims I do not know how to separate laundry. In my defence I put the clothes in two piles: colors, and whites. Where we have a difference of opinions is in the “color” category. David scrutinizes to see if it has red or blue in it. If the piece of clothing is really dark he does a small load of “really dark” clothes; if the piece of clothing has even a little bit of red in it he washes it with the reds. The man even washes the towels separately! My method is- hey if it has color in it- it must go in the color bin. (Most of the time it works out.) One day I was in the laundry room doing laundry and David came in and told me that I was FIRED! I was escorted out of the room; he actually fired me! He has Laundry-Room-Radar, because if I even walk too close to the laundry room door he yells from up from downstairs, “Amy, what are you doing? Don’t even think about touching the laundry.” One night (while he was away) I took it upon myself to teach Holly how to do the laundry. Holly and I were very pleased with our accomplishments (yes, her white panties did have a slight pinkish tinge to them, but I figure it’s like getting a new pair!) I should stop here and mention my biggest laundry faux pas- I will start a load of laundry and then get distracted and leave the load of wet clothes in the washer for a bit of time; sometimes it has to be re-washed. Well on my laundry mentoring night Holly and I did get distracted and forgot the laundry and when David returned home later that evening he saw our method of “sorting”. To make a long story short: Holly is fired too; until David can teach her to sort properly.
To be fair in place of laundry I took on cleaning the three bathrooms in the house. I don’t mind cleaning bathrooms, because I hired an assistant who loves to clean the bathrooms! Ten year olds are absolutely CRAZY, but I love the free labor. Holly is really good at it too; the only thing that is really tough for her to clean is the bathroom mirror. So if you have been following along carefully I traded in laundry duties for cleaning mirrors, and bathroom inspections; what a deal! Now I am not stupid I know Holly will not always want to clean the bathroom, but by then I am hoping we can afford a cleaning crew.
David vacuums, and I dust. I sweep, but David sweeps up the dirt into the dustpan. (For some reason “dust-panning” was not a skill I got the hang of. I can chase that dirt around for hours.) David and I both share the dishes, but I will admit he does them more than I do, but I clean the counters more than he does. I am a better organizer than he is, so I keep our house clutter free.
Our whole family shares the cleaning duties in our house, and I am so much happier for it. Our house for the most part is kept spotless, but liveable. Our clothes stay in their original color, and size thanks to David’s efforts. Most importantly we come together as a family and make our house our home.
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