Coach - Facilitator - Trainer
Okay, so the gym was closed for Labor Day and I don’t do Tuesdays, so no gym progress to report. I still weight 162 lbs, so nothing new to note there. I am keeping track of food on FitDay, and it looks just like last week’s intake, so that isn’t news.
Yeah, I am fresh out of information.
I did get a papercut, yesterday. Yow! But, funny, that doesn’t seem blog-worthy.
So, on your way. Read something else. Nothing to see here.
Well, there finally seems to be some progress toward helping those folks who have been affected by Katrina. I really want to help. I know money is important, but that doesn’t seem to be enough to fill the chasm of need. Our local Red Cross is setting up several shelters in town and a local church is hosting a volunteer training tonight. I am planning to attend the training so that I can get connected to the network and be of some use.
Volunteering with the Red Cross is a good use of my skills. If you live in the US and are not one of the folks who can go help at the site of the disaster, there is probably some local activity you can join, too. If you own a business, perhaps you can employ a couple of evacuees. If you can teach, perhaps you help set up a literacy initiative or job training. It looks like we are in for a long haul. The least we can do is to pitch in and make life as comfortable as possible for the folks whose lives will never be the same.
There is progress in the fitness area, too. I completed workout 55/200 yesterday. I also met 162 lbs on the scale this morning. So, I have lost 2/3rds of the weight I set out to lose! That sends me to 23.9 on the BMI chart, which is solidly in the “healthy” range!! I also broke the 30% fat plateau – and am finally down to 29% body fat.
And, yes, it is time to move the car.
I am still sitting in front of the TV, but I ran over here to update y’all on the fitness thang. I did go the gym yesterday (They have cable on the TVs in front of the elliptical trainers, so I was able to keep my eye on the news networks.) and completed workout 54/200.
I’ll be seeing my friends who got me into this whole MegaChallenge deal next weekend. It is the first time they will see me since the beginning of the summer. I am pretty excited that I am going back short some 25.5 pounds. (Here’s the car, son!)
When I started this it really was about the workouts – and I knew that workouts would cause me to lose some weight. But getting the eating in line made a bigger difference than I anticipated. (Here’s where you say, “Eureka! She gets it!”) I was counting on losing about a pound a week, so doing double that really makes the overall effect seem radical. I was squeezing into baggy size 16s in June, and I am struggling to keep my body-hugging 12s on, now.
It seems inconceivable that in 3 months I could be so close to my goal weight. The nice part of where I am is that I feel fine at the weight I am, now. I am happy with the way clothes fit. I have tons more energy. I can only imagine how I will feel in another 13.5 pounds.
Speaking of kids with autism. My son needs some normalcy to his routine. He keeps asking me about the car, and in my concern for the folks south of here, I nearly lost track of his needs. So, here ya go, sweetie!
It actually should have moved twice this week, but here is where it sits for today!
I gotta work on keeping life “normal” for him when things are so out-of-whack that I can barely function. There has to be a middle ground between the planet stopping to take notice of a disaster and maintaining our lives. Damn, there is that balance thing, again.
There are plenty of things I should be doing. I should be doing my Econ homework. I should be doing laundry. I should be going to the gym. I should be living my life. But I am stuck in front of the TV and Internet watching endless updates on the happenings on the Gulf Coast. Each story is heartbreaking, and I gather them to me and try to figure out what I can do to help.
I think about the folks with disabilities who are stuck, scared, hurting, confused, or dead. I try to imagine what it is like for someone with autism to be completely out of their routine and around strange people and with no hope of things getting back to normal any time soon – if ever. I wonder how folks with physical disabilities are faring. They would have had a very hard time evacuating and can’t climb into attics or onto rooftops. I worry and worry and worry.
There are some things that can be done. Donations. Information sharing. (The Arc of the US has a site set up specifically to help put folks with disabilities in contact with resources.) I can and will do that, but I am a mom. I mother. My urge is to get my hands on people and make everything okay. Of course, that is not within my power or ability. And since I can’t seem to do the one thing I want to do, perhaps I should turn back to the things I should be doing. Right after I check the news.
Call me crazy, but it seems somewhat self-centered to be focused on weight loss while folks are drowning in their own homes. With the knowledge that many of the folks in the most dire circumstances didn’t have the financial means to get out of dodge, it brings up thoughts of the Titanic. Here we are nearly a hundred years later repeating history. If you can afford to go first class (ie hire a limo for $3700 to drive you to Chicago) you get out. If you can’t, you drown.
I admit that I am a bit of idealist, but if we can get busses to transfer 25,000 people to Houston after the hurricane, couldn’t we have gotten busses to transfer them out of town before the hurricane? I have lived in a hurricane zone. I know what it takes to prepare for a storm. I know what it takes to evacuate an area. It isn’t like we don’t know ahead of time that these things will crop up from time to time (say between June and September every year). Why aren’t we better prepared to get out of the way of them?
Someone really needs to make sure that we learn our lessons from these very scary/sad/tragic events. We need more lifeboats.
With yesterday’s workout (50/200), I reached the 25% mark in the MegaChallenge. I got past the quarter mark today with workout 51/200, though I was totally unmotivated to hit the gym. I piddled around all afternoon and finally laced up the shoes just in time to make a 45 minute run to nowhere before the place shut down.
I am sure there is more to tell, but I am busy watching hurricane updates and working Sudoku. My brother-in-law is one of those brave/crazy folks who flies into these storms on purpose. I sort of sit vigil when I know he is out there – and this particular storm is so scary. I just keep praying for it to lose strength over night.
I am really excited about completing 25% of the MegaChallenge – which I was scheduled to do, yesterday. I was dressed for the gym and changing the batteries in my Rio, when my son winged a toy at my daughter. He managed to hit her in the face, and drew blood. Of course she needed stitiches. Poor baby. So my gym trip was replaced with a heart-rate increasing hospital trip.
For the record, this child is the bravest kid I have ever met. At four years old she accepted all the stuff they had to do to her – including a major shot into her eyebrow – without flinching. She took it so much better than I did! Her only request was that we go get “sparkeldy” nail polish when we left the hospital. Done! (And a princess nighty, flavored lip gloss, and popcicles.)
As I mentioned, this lovely gash is on her face. So, if everyone would send no-scar-healing vibes her way, I would appreciate it.
I have already confessed that I am a numbers girl. Love them. So, it should not come as a shock that noticing patterns is something that I sort of do naturally. With that said, I think I have spotted a trend. I lose about a half a pound every time I work out. I have worked out 48/200 times since June 6. In that same time period, I have lost 23.5 pounds. I noticed this phenomenon a couple of weeks ago. It may not be scientific, but damn if it isn’t motivating! I gotta get to the gym!
Oh, and for those keeping track, the car has moved, again.
Now, don’t anyone tell my son that my going to the gym moves the car. He’d be all over it.
Well, yes it is, son!
“Moving the car” has taken on a whole new meaning around here. Luckily I dropped another pound so that I can keep up with the demand for advancing the car.
I wonder if anyone ever developed an eating disorder because their kid wanted their ticker to move faster.
You know, pleasing other people is probably what got me into this mess. (Sure, Gramma, I’ll take thirds. No, really, it is delicious.) I’d like to think that I am working toward a better/healthier way of interacting with the other life forms on this planet. I still feel guilty when my daughter brings me food and I turn her down. (Mommy’s full! Her tummy doesn’t need crackers right now.)
One thing I have learned is that that pleasing thing is genetic. I mean, my tiny daughter already does it. When I am sad or frustrated she does back flips to cheer me up. Part of my inspiration to be healthier (physically and emotionally) comes from her. When I gave birth to my daughter, it became crystal clear to me just how blighted my inheritance was, and I didn’t want to pass that stuff along to her. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but we manage to do things to one another that are less than graceful. I doubt that I am wise enough to end all the weirdness, but I am trying to be mindful of what I am teaching my children.
First lesson: Self Care is important! It is not “selfish” (in the sense of being a person who wrongfully denies someone else their due) to take really good care of your own needs. Eating well, sleeping plenty, getting exercise, taking time to relax/read/reconnect, and pursuing passions are all things that a healthy life is built on. I learned that those are all things that come secondary to making sure everyone else’s needs are met, and – you know – being responsible. My inheritance was that martyrdom is respected: the more work/pain you experience, the more you are worth. Blech. Hedonism isn’t the way, either. It is about – all together, now – balance. But isn’t everything?
your thoughts