Annoucing: the Walking Club

Hello!  I think we, the Lost and Not Found Blog Family, should start a walking club.  Here's why:

1) Getting out to exercise is not always easy, but it's a lot easier if you're doing it with others.

2) We (as a society) often gather to be social over a meal.  Being social while walking keeps us from consuming calories, while also helping us burn calories. Bonus!

3) It's spring, which is really the most beautiful season and the most amenable to outdoor exercise. Plus, the days are longer, which gives us more time to enjoy the outdoors.

4) If you live in Rock Hill, we have the Riverwalk, a most beautiful, paved trail that runs along the wild Catawba River.  It's also not far from those of you in Fort Mill and Charlotte, as it's right on the northern edge of Rock Hill.

So, here's the plan, as I see it (although feel free to share any thoughts or modifications you'd suggest in the comments section below).  I plan to be in the parking lot of the Riverwalk each Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.  I'll wait a few minutes and see who shows up.  You can come every week or you can come whenever you feel like it.  No need to RSVP.  If no one shows up, I'll just take a stroll by myself and enjoy the scenery.  

Here's a map, if you need it.

Let me know if you have any thoughts/comments/suggestions!  I hope those of you in the Charlotte area are as excited about this as I am!

Prepped: Mentally and Physically

Another week begins tomorrow and for me, it is another chance to reboot a diet.  I've been eating horribly and eating sporadically for the past two weeks.  I just haven't been in the right mental state to try lately.  I can't exactly put my finger on what's been holding me back. But today I feel like I'm tired of pussy-footing (please excuse my language) around, and I'm ready to get back in the game.  That's a big deal, because the mental space is where this battle is waged.

A couple of things I'm doing differently:
1) I'm moving my weigh day to Mondays for a couple of reasons. First, because I always end up rebooting on Mondays, and therefore having to weigh to get a good starting point. Second, because weighing on Friday gives me permission to be more lax over the weekend with my eating, since I'll have more time to make it up.
Last Monday I weighed and found that I had gained a bit.  Then I had fourteen pounds to lose before making it to 100 lost.  This Monday, I know it will be more, in fact, quite a bit more, I'm sure.

2) I'm going to try sandwiches for lunch instead of leftovers.  I used to eat sandwiches for lunch a long time ago, and they got boring fast.  However,  I haven't eaten sandwiches consistently in quite a long time and I've been craving them lately. I bought some good stuff to make exciting and low-cal sandwiches, so I think they will hold my interest.  This also means I only have to make one meal today.


So, even though it's early on Sunday, I know I'll be ready by the time tomorrow rolls around. I'm trying a new experiment with roasted vegetables today and making chicken kebobs on the grill to eat for dinner this week.  I'm excited about both! I'm also excited to get back into a regular workout routine. I really have missed it.

Are you ready for your week to begin?

Back on the Sauce

Friends, I think it is time that I admit to myself and to you that I am back on the sauce.  And by sauce, I mean Diet Pepsi.

If you've been reading the blog, you know that I decided to give up Diet Pepsi in February.  At the time, I thought it would help me kick the last few pounds, crave sweets less, avoid a lecture from the dental hygientist and become, in general, a healthier person.

I gave it up and didn't touch a drop of the stuff for four and a half weeks.  I don't exactly remember what made me decide to try it again, but I was secretly hoping that when I tasted it again, I would find it gross.  Many people told me that is what happened to them when they tasted it again after giving it up.  But, no, it was just as tantalizingly tasty and ravishingly refreshing as it has always been.  Maybe even more so because I had gone without it for so long.

When I first went back to my first love, I only had it occasionally.  I had a pretty easy detox, when I gave it up, and I didn't want to get addicted again.  I don't like the idea of being addicted to something.  These occasional meetings with Diet Pepsi went on for a few weeks, until this week. This week I lived and breathed Diet Pepsi for three days. It was partly because I was travelling, partly because I was tired and needed the boost and partly because I got some free ones.

Now, while I still don't want to be addicted to caffeeine, I've decided it is a-ok for me to drink Diet Pepsi in moderation.  It makes me feel less deprived, and giving it up did not help me kick the last few pounds, crave sweets less, avoid a lecture from the dental hygientist or become a healthier person. In fact I've been rather unhealthier in my eating since I gave it up.

Anyway, I'm glad I got that off my chest.  Now I don't have to sneak out behind the bleachers to sneak in meetings with Diet Pepsi.

Foiled and Unfoiled

I mentioned I'm at a conference. I optimistically brought my workout clothes AND my swimsuit hoping to squeeze in two workouts. 

Yesterday, after workshops, dinner and more workshops we returned to the hotel around 8:30 p.m.  I was very tired after beginning my morning early, and very much wanted to skip the workout.  However, I did not want to have hauled my workout clothes all the way here for no reason.  With dedication that has been rather fleeting in my life lately, I put on my running clothes and headed down to what was really a pretty swank hotel gym. 

I got there at 8:46 p.m.  The kid working the desk told me as soon as I walked in, "You know, we're like, closing at 9, right?" 

No, sir, I did not.  I would not have put these clothes on if I had known you were closing in fourteen minutes.  I was irritated and turned to leave.  But then I thought, "I already have the clothes on, and some minutes have got to be better than no minutes," especially after I sat in airports, on planes, buses and in meetings all day.

So to make the most of my 14 minutes I did intervals on the treadmill .  I started off with a two minute warm-up, ended with a two-minute walking cool down, and spent the remaining 10 alternating between my typical jog-run and all-out sprints.  Even though it was only 10 minutes and one mile, I was sweating good by the time it was over.  Nothing gets your heart-rate jumping like intervals and a workout always feels good no matter how short.

Today, however, I did not expect to have any time to work out.  Leaving the hotel behind at 7:30 this morning meant I would not work out before checking out (I am SO not a morning person.)  The rest of the day was to be spent in meetings and at the airport.  While I was going to have plenty of time at the airport, I couldn't exactly run sprints in the concourse with my heavy carry-on bag. 

That was until my flight got delayed and delayed until I missed my connecting flight and the airline put me up in the airport Holiday Inn for the night.  After waiting several hours at the airport, I'm now checked in and have access to both a pool AND a gym for the night.  So I'm going to get to workout after all!  I think I'm going to swim laps tonight, since my workout clothes from last night are a little grody and the pool looks like a pretty good size. 

Lemme get off here so I can get to swimmin'!

The Pendalum

Today I have already swung on both sides of the self confidence pendulum and it's only lunch time.

I started the day before the sun came up (or should I say before the rain started). Coming to upstate NY, where it is supposed to snow on Friday, I had to again pull a winter coat out of the closet. The first one I put on, (yes, I have more than one, but the extras are really old. Like high school and college old) I decided was too big. I put on another and headed out the door. I got drenched waiting for the airport shuttle, and by the time I was rushing through the airport, I was beginning to feel like a toddler wearing her Dad's jacket. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good in my smallness and proud of how far I've come.

Two hours later, I'm wedged into a seat on a puddle jumper and suddenly feeling like I've never lost any weight. Disgusted and uncomfortable, I'm suddenly mentally bashing the
same body I was so proud of earlier this morning. I think I got a little spoiled on my recent international flights, which, while not roomy, do at least allow you room to breathe

Anyway, it just struck me as odd, the wide variety of thoughts that run through my head. Of course I would prefer to be entirely self confident and in control of these thoughts, but I'm not sure that will ever happen. At least when having these negative thoughts, I can be assured the pendalumn will always swing back in the other direction. That's how pendulums work.

This subject makes me think of the awesome Superchick song, One and Lonely. Here's a sample lyric. It's a great song.
It's not that I don't know beauty is only skin deep
Just the skin I'm in, not the girl within
But one imperfection takes away my grin


*This blog was all typed on my phone while I wait for the fun to begin here in NY. Please excuse any horrible errors and applaud me for my dedication to you, my wonderful blog readers.

Absence Makes the Heart Fonder?

It's been a few days since I've posted.  What can I say, I guess I'm out of the habit? I just don't have a lot to share about diet and exercise right now. Possibly, because I seem to be making a very determined effort to live a positively unhealthy life right now.  

Last week was one thing. I was tired, and tired is always a bad trigger for me to dive back into old habits.  I let the "I just want to eat what I want to eat" attitude run its course through the weekend and resolved to be better this week. However, Monday came, and I was inexplicably sad.  I'm not sure if it was the weather, or tiredness or thoughts of a friend whose dad had a heart attack the night before. At any rate, I continued to make poor decisions to eat out and snack.  Today I was a bit better, but not much.

I've also been less than diligent in my workouts since I returned from Europe.  Today I actually made it to the gym. It felt unbelievably good, and reminded me why I really do love to workout (I had forgotten this in the last couple of weeks).  I did nine miles on the stationary bike in 35 minutes, which is pretty good for me, and lifted weights.  I love being in the weight room. It makes me feel strong and alive.  

Tomorrow I'm flying to upstate NY for a two-day conference*. I've got my running clothes and even a swim suit packed. I hope to get in at least one solid workout over the two days I'm gone, but two would be better.  

I hope I don't sound mopey.  I'm not.  I've been fully conscious as I have made the decisions to eat poorly and not work out. I have chosen this, I have not been the victim.  However, I do want to start making better decisions and hope that I can get back into my normal routine of making meals, counting calories, recording everything I eat and working out five to six times a week soon.

In the meantime, I officially registered for my triathlon and took my bike (er, my sister's bike that she's letting me borrow) to the shop to get road tires put on.  I'm nervous, but excited about this adventure on May 21!

*Unfortunately, I will not likely be able to blog while I'm gone. I promise to be better next week.

Seemingly Ridiculous

I've written my second guest blog!

I wrote it for my friend Stephanie, who graciously allowed us to stay with her last week in England, about our experience there with her.  She is on a three-year journey to serve teenage children of U.S. military forces on an Air Force base in England, about an hour north of London.

Check it out.

Next week we should be back to our regularly scheduled blog posts about healthy eating, exciting exercise and the ups and downs of weight loss.