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I’m completely giddy.

21 Jan

My wonderful husband installed this Thursday night:

The CD player that the car came with hasn’t worked for at least 2 years and then the radio crapped out so I drove to and from work every morning in silence. And while I actually enjoyed it, I also enjoy having the freedom to listen to CDs again. AND this stereo has an iPod jack so I can listen to my audio books and downloaded music too. I’m going to drive around all night just to listen to music.

As if that wasn’t enough, I just discovered this on MapMyRun.com:

SPLITS.

Like a Garmin.

Now I can see my schizophrenic pace!

If I had known that using the iMapMyRun app on my phone did this, I would’ve been using it for every.single.run.

Another benefit of bringing my phone on runs (besides safety, which I need to get better about) is taking pictures of the amazing Colorado sunsets.

Well, today’s 10-miler is done and now we’re off to Denny’s for some pancakes or french toast.

Hope you’re having a great Saturday!

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Getting Motivated When You’re Bored Out of Your Mind

19 Jan

You’ve probably heard me mention before how slow things are at work, and have been since May when I was hired. Luckily, I am good at entertaining myself or I would have quickly gone mad.

However, I stink at being motivated when there’s nothing I have to do. And I find myself pushing the tasks I do have off until the next day because frankly, I can’t be bothered to stop reading blogs, mapping running routes, modifying training plans, and reading other useless nonsense on the interwebs. When I do have more than one work-related thing to do each day, I find myself annoyed because I had other things I wanted to do today. I already had plans, thankyouverymuch.

Someone driven by career goals would have quit long ago. My only “career” (and I use that term loosely) goal is to be a published author so I’m not sad to not be “succeeding in corporate America.”

Others would have at least utilized their 8 hours (sometimes 7…) a day for something that would improve their job performance. (I’m a copywriter so blogging counts, doesn’t it?)

Not me. I have seriously done everything on the Internet I’ve ever wanted to do, except anything work-related. I’ll find myself driving by a billboard that looks slightly amusing and making a mental note of the website – I should look that up at work. Things I would normally do at home (read: everything personal) I now save for work, so that I don’t lose it by 10 am and wind up in the office coffee shop, chugging spiked frappucinos.

Some days I succeed. I have enough blog posts queued up in Google Reader from the 100 or so blogs I follow that after the morning’s work of logging my previous day’s workout, checking my email (work and personal), and doing “15 minutes of actual work,” I can easily zone out until I leave at 4 pm.

Other days, when it’s slow in blogland, Reader is empty by 12 pm and I languish. I get a headache from looking at the screen and reading but what else to do? I do a crossword, check email, visit The Nest message boards, vote for the best outfits on People.com, and ::gasp:: even attempt reading the news. (But my eyes quickly glaze over and I abandon that idea. How did I manage to major in Journalism without ever reading the news? I’m just that good.)

You’d think by the time I’m done wasting hours of my life sitting in an uncomfortable chair and causing my back to need physical therapy, I’d be rearing to get ‘er done once I got home. But the combination of the winter cold, the short days, and “I’ll do it tomorrow”s combine to make me even more lazy once I get home. It’s like I’m in a walking coma. After my workout and dinner, it’s only 6 pm and I wonder, Is it too early to go to bed?  I don’t want to watch TV but I don’t want to read and I surely don’t want to be productive. What to do, what to do…

I assure you, there is a point behind all this mindless chatter.

The point is, I have realized that I am not a victim of circumstances. I make my life what it is. And if I don’t want to spend days upon days of accomplishing absolutely nothing but running a few miles and eating a bunch of food, I don’t have to.

So I’m making some changes. I’m not going to get crazy or anything, but I think implementing a modest structure for my days and evenings of boredom would be wise. So this is what I’m thinking:

At work

Do work-related activities until at least noon. Obviously, this goes out the window once I (hopefully!) start having more things to do but who knows when that will be? In the meantime, I will read books and blogs on writing style, marketing, copywriting, etc, or do whatever work is assigned to me. After noon, I can do whatever useless crap I want (unless work comes in, then I will do that). Baby steps people. It’s harder than you would think to break out of a 9-month funk.

I put this into practice today. I had a meeting this morning, worked on some event materials, organized some files and then read The Elements of Style until noon, at which time I promptly opened Google Reader and exhaled a sigh of relief. Although I did mostly enjoy reading the book. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE grammar and syntax? I took a Linguistics class my senior year in college for my Spanish major and wondered why hadn’t I taken any before. It was by far my favorite class ever.

At home

Do one thing every day. I have done this before and found it quite useful. I make a list of all the things I’ve thought about, wanted, or needed to do and then do one small thing or part of one bigger thing on the list every day. For example:

  • Finish race memory book
  • Find passport or apply for new one (I’m pretty sure it’s lost)
  • Buy photo corners at Michael’s
  • Work on scrapbook (1 page each night)
  • Clean the dogs’ ears
  • Brush the dogs’ teeth
  • Buy more dog food
  • Schedule bike fit
  • Clean refrigerator
  • Get teeth cleaned at dentist done!
  • Get haircut done!
  • Get physical therapy for back done!
Because…

On a positive note, I have been more diligent about going to bed early and getting up at 5:30 to read the Bible and work on my book. So at least I have that going for me!

Do you struggle with laziness when not required to do anything? Any tips on getting motivated?

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Five Randos

18 Jan

1. I had my third physical therapy appointment this morning. Holy crap it was painful! I told him that the top of my shoulders were still tight and he went to town on them. Seriously, nothing that I voluntarily endured has ever come close.

2. I found the running gear version of Sasquatch – the elusive winter jacket or vest with more reflective detail than just a logo on the chest. It does not exist for a price I’m willing to pay. Seriously, almost every jacket or vest that did have plenty of reflective details was a lightweight jacket. Which just boggles my mind because when does a runner need reflective gear the most? In the winter when’s it cold.

So I abandoned that and looked for other options, such as reflective snap armbands:

How cool are those?

But I did fall in love with this UnderArmour jacket:

It is so cute. It has reflective details on the front, back and sleeves and it says it’s for cold temperatures. But do I trust UnderArmour? I should make up my mind soon because right now, it’s on sale for $84.95, down from $85.00. What a deal! {insert sarcasm}

I’m also looking at this Brooks Nightlife Silver Bullet Jacket. A little more spendy at $108.95 but I would save $13 by no longer needing snap armbands.

This looks like a great jacket and no doubt, would serve me well. I could even go look at it in the store since it’s not a closeout (like the UA jacket). My hesitation is that it’s fluorescent yellow. Yes, I realize that is the point of the Nightlife version but I can’t help thinking that I wouldn’t want to wear the jacket anywhere in public. I mean, admit it. You’ve seen those serious runners walking around in their bright yellow gear and even though you’re a runner yourself and totally understand why they’re wearing it, you still find it a bit weird. It’s just soooooo yellow. (I apologize if you’re one of those runners… who knows? I might join you!)

On the other hand, I might just get the pink version of the jacket. It still has all the same reflective details and warmth factor and it’s $8 cheaper. Travis won’t let me run at night anyway so I only need reflective-ness for about 10 minutes when my run is ending a bit late. That just might be the ticket.

3. I got the green light to post pictures of my adorable nephew!

In the hospital

Sleeping at home

With my mom, now Grandma Sheri

Isn’t he the cutest little thing ever? Can’t wait to meet him in person!

4. Meb Keflezighi runs in Skechers. Several months ago, I was reading an issue of Competitor magazine that I got for free from a race. I noticed an ad for Skechers running shoes featuring Meb. My initial reaction was one of skepticism – after hearing about Skechers was being sued for false advertising with their Shape-ups shoes, the whole company seemed like a sham, targeting the same demographic of people interested in weight loss supplements and detox diets. I was actually so intrigued by the ad that I looked up pictures of Meb running in the NYC Marathon so that I could see what shoes he was wearing. I thought it looked like he was wearing Nikes but apparently I was wrong –  he actually does wear Skechers for running.

The article I linked to above talks about how Skechers wants to break into the performance running market and is using their sponsorship of Meb to help it along. Considering that he PR’ed in and won the last two marathons he ran (including the Olympic Marathon trials), I’m not as skeptical about the shoes as I once was. But… I’m not sure that I’ll be jumping on the Skechers bandwagon anytime soon.

5. I have some friends who are doing a juice cleanse.

{source}

They’re following the Reboot Standard Program, which has you eat only whole fruits and veggies for 15 days (click on the link for specifics). The benefits are supposedly (from their website, with my comments):

  • Boost the number of fruit/vegetable servings you can ingest in a day.  Well, duh! It’d be kind of hard not to, when that’s all you’re eating.
  • Break the cycle of unhealthy eating.  Watch me binge on celery.
  • Retrain your brain to crave fruits and vegetables.  If I can’t kick chocolate in 15 days, I couldn’t do this either.
  • Manage your weight.  I always manage to weigh something.
  • Promote a lifestyle that will lower risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, macular degeneration, cognitive decline and mental illness including depression. General healthy living does this too.
  • Promote longevity. Everyone dies.
  • Decrease aches and pains in joints and muscles.  I wear Skechers for this.
  • Improve your immunity.  Ok, you got me here.
  • Promote increased energy levels. …and increased bitchiness levels.
  • Promote healthy skin, nails and hair.  Only if I stop tanning, biting and dyeing.
  • Gain greater access to digestive enzymes locked away in whole produce through juicing.  Like in kale? Ew.
You can probably tell that I’m not a huge fan of “reboot diets” (which IMO is just a fancy word for detox). Running the risk of being called a hypocrite (since I eliminated sweets from my diet for a month…), I don’t think it’s ever necessary to eliminate entire food groups from your diet, barring an actual food allergy, in the name of “health” or “cleansing.”
Personally, I would go insane if I couldn’t eat cereal. I eat cereal every day. Unless we’re out of milk. And then I cry myself to sleep.
…………………………..
I’d love to hear your thoughts –
Which running jacket would you choose above?
Would you ever wear Skechers for running?
What do you think about reboot/cleansing/detox programs?

 

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January Goal Update 2.0: No sweets for a month.

17 Jan

Here is my second (and second to last) January goal update. I posted my first update last week. Here are the details of the goal if you missed them.

Not eating sweets has gotten slightly easier, though I am by no means out of the woods. I am still planning to eat Godiva chocolate for breakfast, cupcakes for lunch, and froyo for dinner on Feb 2nd when this silly goal is over.

{source, source, source}

What’s sad is that I’m not even kidding.

Last Saturday a friend brought a delicious-looking butter braid dessert to our football party. I really wanted some so I asked Travis if he thought that was classified as dessert. Without realizing why I was asking, he replied, “Heck yes, this is dessert!” Darnit.

Another friend had brought Coke Zero and even though I’ve realized that I really don’t like diet pop, I was desperate and thought, “Well I’ll just have one of those.” Then I realized those were off-limits too. Bah.

Anyway…

Last week, I said that I was going to distract myself after dinner to avoid eating snacks in lieu of dessert. Well, last week was rough on multiple fronts, one of those being the eating front. I did manage to squelch my after-dinner snacking but… I replaced it with pre-dinner snacking. The minute I walked in the door, my hand was in the box of Oatmeal Squares. I needed to fuel up for taking the dogs on a walk, right? In my defense, I was actually hungry.

So I have two observations this week:

1. Don’t come home from work starving. I get home too hungry to wait for dinner and this is only going to get worse as running mileage increases. I would like to figure out a balance between eating healthy snacks to alleviate hunger and being a big girl by just waiting to eat until dinner is ready.

2. Eating chocolate every day is not bad. When this goal is over, I am going to buy some dark chocolate Dove squares and allow myself to eat one every night after dinner. Seriously, all I need after dinner is that sweet little flourish to signal the end of eating and since it is sorely lacking in this month of deprivation, I have been wanting to find something else that will even just come close. There is nothing. I just want chocolate. And since one dark chocolate Dove square only has 42 calories but contains healthy antioxidants and satisfies my sweet tooth, I think it’s totally justified.

On a more positive note, I do like that my diet is cleaner as a result of this challenge. It has actually motivated me to make some other changes, like cutting out refined carbs, taking a multi-vitamin, and flossing every day. Now, I haven’t actually done any of those things yet but I’m planning to implement one change every month. Otherwise, I get overwhelmed and do nothing. So stay tuned on those…

What is one healthy habit you’ve adopted recently?

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Training Recap: 1/9 – 1/15

16 Jan

Can’t believe it’s Monday already!

My Saturday was pretty standard: grocery shopping, house cleaning, long run, watching the Broncos get slaughtered.

Sunday was also pretty typical: church, lunch with friends, laying around watching TV. I was also productive in the kitchen for the first time in a while – I made banana bread using this recipe. Because of the altitude, I baked it at 325 for 1 hr 30 minutes (thanks to a note I had written on the recipe from last time I used it) instead of what they recommend and it turned out delicious.

I also made this zucchini soup that we’re going to eat tonight for dinner and boiled some eggs for salads this week thanks to the wonderfully precise and helpful instructions from Reluctant Entertainer. The eggs turned out well and they peel really easily, which was always the thing that prevented me from boiling eggs in the past. (Who has 10 minutes to spend peeling an egg?)

After a only-mildly-unpleasant dentist appointment this morning, I have been looking over my workouts from last week and am completely baffled. I took three rest days last week? I only ran 10 measly miles? 7 of which were during my long run on Saturday? No wonder it felt like crap.

Seriously, has this ever happened to you? I have no idea what I did last Monday night. My heart rate monitor and mapmyrun.com both say that I didn’t run. But why? And if I did take a rest day on Monday, why did I also take one on Wednesday and Friday? The ironic part was that our Wednesday night commitment was canceled so I even had an extra free night!

Apparently, the light upstairs was burnt out last week.

But I will say, I was exhausted last week. Probably because the week before, I had a record week – my total workout hours reached almost 5 and I burned 2,500 calories. I don’t think I’ve spent that much time training even for the Olympic triathlon. So maybe my body deceived me into resting?

Whatever happened, here is last week’s training.

Monday: Rest day?

Tuesday: 3.22 mile hill run (38:12, 11:51/mile)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 20 min spin bike, 15 min incline walk on treadmill, 15 min walk with dogs outside

For my 20 minutes (and 2nd time ever) on the spin bike, I alternated 1 minute easy, 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 1 minute RPM over 100, etc. Got out of the saddle a couple of times, which brought my heart rate over 170! Great workout. I would like to try a spin class but haven’t really made the effort or commitment.

On the treadmill, I started off at 4.0 mph at 4.0 incline, worked up by .5 increments to 6.0 incline, alternating between 4.0 and 4.5 walking pace every minute. Also a good workout!! (But now I realize that I did two hill workouts in a week… aye aye aye).

Friday: Rest (although I did do some light strength training at my PT appt and my hip flexors were still sore Saturday)

Saturday: 7.11 mile run (1:21:17, 11:26/mile)

I actually took the dogs with me for 5 miles on this run. I was hoping it would wear them out for our football party and it sort of worked (they tuckered out sooner, I think). My legs were sore and tired from the PT exercises I had done Friday morning and my legs were ready to be done after 4 miles – although I felt it a lot in my calves and they didn’t get worked at PT.

I think I also went out too fast because I did the first mile in 10:56. It was hard to tell how fast I was going with my sore legs so I was trying to just go at an easy pace. All that said, I’m satisfied with the run overall. If I kept that pace for the entire half marathon, I would still PR!

Sunday: 30 minute Tabata workout

………………………………..

This week, I am aiming to be more diligent about going to bed on time. That means I will have to do my workouts either at lunch or right after work, instead of eating dinner and then going to the gym later. Whenever I do that, I get to bed too late. And when I don’t get enough sleep, I feel like a zombie who wants to eat every refined carb in a 5 mile radius. That’s what happened Thursday night. Not pretty.

How does being tired affect your workouts/training?

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4-Year Blogiversary!

15 Jan

On January 15th, 2008, I published my first post ever to the blogosphere:

I love writing. But I hardly ever do it–something that really needs to change. So this blog is my answer.

It’s not that I don’t want to write, it’s that I don’t make the time. I find myself distracted by other things I enjoy doing: reading, exercising, cooking. In college, I majored in Journalism and Spanish–two majors that center on writing. Almost all I did for 4 years was write and I would gladly do that for a career if ever the opportunity presented itself.

I have heard, though, that to be a good writer you have to be a consistent reader–at least I have that going for me. I just started The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan last night. It’s different than I expected it to be. It seems like a lot of the snippets I’ve heard from other people about the book have occurred in the first 2 chapters. Makes me interested to see what the other chapters have in store.

For more information about me, check out the links to the right. Until next time…

Pretty exciting stuff, huh? (ha, not!)

Since I just talked about why I blog in my 400th blog post, I will keep this short and sweet.

In honor of my lovely readers, without whom blogging just wouldn’t be the same, I’m offering one lucky winner a $25 gift card to the restaurant or store of their choice. 

To enter the giveaway, please answer this question in your comment (don’t just say that you want the gift card, because that goes without saying!):

If you could compete in one Olympic event (and be good at it), which one would you choose and why?

I would choose figure skating. I got to skate a few years growing up and loved it. Although the marathon trials were very inspiring, it also looked like a crapton of work and pain.

Not too surprisingly, my husband would choose hockey so that he could, in his words, “kick some Canadian @$$!”

The giveaway will close Wednesday night and I will announce the winner Thursday morning.

Thanks for reading! I love hearing from you.

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Five Randos

13 Jan

1. I had my second physical therapy appointment this morning. I was dreading it because I thought I was going to be get poked with needles (I even had a blog post title of “Pins and Needles” thought up). But luckily, since I told the therapist that my lower back felt fine still, he said he would leave it alone. Woohoo!

But I still had plenty of unpleasantness to deal with. I told him that my upper back between my shoulder blades was still sore/tight so he cracked that area again, along with my neck, and then proceeded to massage/poke/pull my shoulder and upper back tendons as I turned my head to one side, then the other. That hurt. A lot. Not like the sharp pain of a needle but a deep muscle-y pain – like how your tight IT band feels when you massage when it with a foam roller. My shoulders are sore now, which he said might happen.

He also showed me some exercises I could do to strengthen my lower back and hips. I’ll demonstrate and post them soon, since they’re beneficial for all runners/athletes.

What I’ll demonstrate now is how to lower your keyboard:

With a keyboard tray! It took me until this morning to realize I could push the tray in (I just had it installed yesterday). Before, it was sticking out from the desk by about 8 inches. At that rate, I was going to need glasses from squinting.

Anyway, lowering my keyboard will prevent me from shrugging my shoulders so much – your upper arms should be perpendicular to the floor when sitting at your desk.

2. Lots of TV time this weekend. Tomorrow is the Olympic Marathon Trials coverage (2-4 pm MST – we’re the same as central) and the Broncos game. Go Tebow! I might have to go buy a Broncos shirt tonight…

Sunday, I will be watching My Fair Wedding because fellow blogger Danica’s wedding will be on. It’ll be cool to finally see everything she hasn’t been able to show on her blog.

But I’ll balance that TV time out with two runs – my long run of 7 miles on Saturday and my tempo run of 4 miles on Sunday (moved from yesterday because I ate too much for dinner and would have puked if I tried to run…one of those days).

3. I seem to be a running anomaly. I’ve input several times into the McMillan Running Calculator: my half marathon PR back in 2007, my most recent 5K time, and my most-likely-never-to-be-duplicated 5 mile run in the Denver RnR Half Mary Relay. Those times are all over the board and produce quite the varied results.

With the 3 different times, my predicted marathon finish time could be (respectively):

5:17:58

5:20:24

4:54:08

I’ll take the last one, thankyouverymuch.

Also according to the calculator, my long runs should be run at a pace around 12:45 to 13:15 per mile. Lately, I’ve been comfortably running, without challenge, an easy pace of 11:15/mile for my long runs. But apparently, that should be the pace for my tempo intervals, which I’ve been running at a 9:55 or 10:00 pace (those paces aren’t even on the chart).

So I’ve concluded that while the running calculators may give me a ballpark of +/- 30 minutes for my marathon time, I should just use my long runs as a judge for my goals (and obviously the runs that are closer to the marathon distance, not the 8 miler I just did last Saturday). I’m also planning on doing Yasso 800s for my speedwork during Weeks 10-16 of my marathon training plan. It’d be cool if it really works to predict your marathon time (click the link to read more details).

4. I’ve been waiting for Friday all week long. Regardless, when I woke up this morning, I was surprised that it was already Friday. Which means I have to clean my house because we’re having people over for the game tomorrow.

5a. My favorite lunch as of late has been big salads, thanks to my friends leafy romaine lettuce and Caesar croutons. If it weren’t for those two, I wouldn’t be eating salads. They have changed my life. (For some reason, I get sick of spinach every now and again and won’t eat it to save my life…unless it’s in a smoothie.)

Yeah, I scrimped a little too much on the lettuce for that salad… but I also eat the lettuce first and this was halfway through the salad.

5b. We got new dinnerware for Christmas from my parents. The dishes we got for our wedding were really cute ones from Target but since I am a dish-breaker by trade, we only had 4 big plates left and all of our bowls (minus 2) had giant chips out of them. We are really enjoying our new dishes. Thanks Mom and Dad!

They are the Platzgraff Java pattern.

It’s even prettier in person. They’re still on sale at Shopko if you need new dishes!

What’s your favorite thing for lunch? Do the running calculators predict your speeds correctly?

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Ambitious much?

12 Jan

This week has been very standard at work: nothing to do. But for some reason, I come home from work just exhausted. I have grand ambitions of working on a project I want to get done or reading a book but the only thing that seems appealing is getting my workout done as fast as I can and then spending the rest of the night glued to the couch and TV. Ever have a week like that?

Last week, I was thinking about my goal of reading 50 books in a year. I did the math the hard way – taking 50 books divided by 12 months and carrying the 2 – when I could have realized my over-ambition quite fast by taking 50 books into 52 weeks. Hmmm… that equals out to be almost a book a week. Every week. All year long.

Suffice it to say, I am revising my goal to simply Read more books than I did last year. Which cuts it down to 27 books instead of 50, but that’s still a book every 2 weeks. More realistic but (I think) still tough, especially when I have weeks like this where reading feels like the last thing I want to do.

The whole point of the goal is not just to read. It’s to be more intentional about doing something I enjoy (and I just like making goals). Treating myself like a Nazi is not something I enjoy. A goal too lofty would make me feel incredibly guilty for doing anything but reading, and ruin the very purpose of creating the goal in the first place.

This makes me think of a question I read in an interesting blog post and article the other day: When does self-improvement stop being beneficial and start being a hindrance?

The whole idea behind making goals at the new year, I think, is to be more intentional about how you’re spending your time. Instead of just thinking about how much you’d like learning how to paint, or to speak Japanese, or to run in 10 states, you put some action behind it. Make your dream a reality. Use your time wisely.

But the day-in, day-out grind of life isn’t always as inspiring as those first days of a new year are. Hence, the number of unkept resolutions.

So what do you do when the glitter falls off of your goal? When you just see the menial tasks and grunt work actually required to meet your goal, instead of the sparkly prize at the end? Here’s how I look at goals:

1. Goals should be flexible. Life changes. Things happen. You might realize one day that shooting to read a book a week for the entire year is pretty much a pipe dream. So you revise.

2. Goals should be inspiring. If you’re saving for a trip to Paris, put a picture of the Eiffel Tower on your wall at work. Learn to speak French. Go eat a croissant and tell yourself that it’ll be 1,000 times better in Paris. Watch movies set in Paris. Keep a picture that reminds you of Paris in your wallet, so that every time you’re tempted to spend money that you should be saving, you hold out for the greater prize. Don’t just grunt your way through life – be inspired.

3. Goals should have a “why.” If you don’t know why you want to lose weight, or take up a new hobby, or cook more at home, it’s very easy to give up when you encounter resistance in the form of brownies, laziness or takeout food. Having a “why” also provides fodder for your inspiration (see #2).

4. Goals should be about more than just the end. Why? Because on your way to the goal, you’re still living your life. And if you’re only focused on the end, you’re missing out on the joy of the journey. Running a marathon someday will be amazing – but it’ll be so amazing because of the miles I ran and time I sacrificed to get there. A goal is an accomplishment because you stayed focused over an extended period of time for a specific result. It’s the work that got you there that’s impressive. Also, if you’re solely focused on the end of your goal, what happens when you reach it? Goals aren’t the point of life. A goal is just a tool that helps you make positive changes in your life, for your overall joy.

5. Goals should be filled with grace. There are days when you slip up and eat 2 slices of cake even though you’re trying to drop some pounds. Or you skip your run even though you’re training for a race. Or you veg and watch TV every night after work for a week even though you’re trying to read more. Some days you just need a break. And that’s ok. Use the break to think about your goal – Is it still worth it? If so, why did I do what I did? What can I do in the future to prevent it from happening again? Or should I revise my goal to make it more realistic or joy-giving?

 

In my case, I’ve been reading a pretty mentally-challenging book (One Thousand Gifts) and while I’m really enjoying it, sometimes I just want an easy novel. That’s why I’m drawn to TV over a book – I don’t want to think, just veg. I think easy novels can serve that purpose too. While I’m trying to break my habit of reading more than one book at once, sometimes you just have to make an exception (see #5).

How do you stay motivated for your goals?

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Back in Physical Therapy

11 Jan

After almost a year and a half hiatus, I’m back in physical therapy. Before, I was going for my IT band. Now, I’m going for my back.

This is one of those things that make me starkly aware that:

1. I’m getting older

2. I’m not invincible

3. My body will break if I treat it like crap

So sad. My mom often reminded me to stand up straight when I was younger. I brushed her off, saying that standing up straight made me look weird. That’s also what Quasimodo said, and look where it got him.

Since my ambitions are not to be a hunchback, I went to see a physical therapist at Rocky Mountain Spine & Sport (same chain I went to before, different location).

It’s snowing again in Denver!

The therapist was really nice and relaxed. I explained my symptoms. He checked the alignment/balance of my hips, spine, shoulders and legs and then said that my back most likely hurts because of sitting all day at work. Apparently, pain in the neck and lower back is pretty common in desk jockeys like me. In addition, I have a muscle imbalance in my lower back – one side is tighter than the other, which pulls on my spine.

So he proposed realigning my back this morning to alleviate the current pain. Then he’ll do Trigger Point Dry Needling next time I come in (which will be this Friday) to help release the tight muscles. I’m not going to lie – I’m a little freaked out by the idea of pain and needles. But I figure I’m too young to have chronic back pain and I’ve noticed it worsening over the past couple of months so I should probably just bite the $70-a-visit bullet.

He cracked my back and neck this morning and it was loud. It’s amazing the sound bones make. My neck and lower back feel a ton better but my whole back still doesn’t feel 100%. Is it supposed to? I’ve never had my back professionally cracked before so I don’t know!

When I got to work, I made some adjustments to my workstation to be more in line with this:

Instead of this:

Oh, slouching down in my chair with my legs propped up on my CPU isn’t considered good posture?

But seriously, I have done every single one of these.

I put a couple of paper organizer trays underneath my monitor to raise it up, moved it about 8 inches closer to my chair, raised my seat a couple of inches, and have been trying to remember to sit with my legs uncrossed. This has proven to be the hardest change. I sit with my legs crossed almost always, and when they’re not crossed, they’re either propped up, cross-legged, or I’m sitting on one of them. Sitting with both feet flat on the floor feels like standing in front of people with your arms at your side, doing nothing – awkward. It’s feels unnatural.

But alas, every source on the interwebs confirms that indeed, this is the correct posture for sitting at a desk. (Quasimodos excused.)

Do you have good posture? What’s your favorite way to sit?

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January Goal Update: No Sweets for a Month

10 Jan

So I have successfully made it 8, going on 9, days without sweets. And I have to say, it’s been ROUGH.

I have given up foods before as a way to go cold-turkey off a bad habit – because let’s be honest, I’ve tried “to eat less chocolate” and bombed big time. So it works for me to abstain from a certain thing for a while, until the craving goes away or at least decreases. But for some reason, this time has been the hardest.

Maybe it’s because I outlawed all sweets, not just chocolate or pop. Maybe it’s because I entered this goal with a fresh holiday sugar rush that I accumulated, bite by bite, over many weeks. Maybe it’s because I just got so used to ending a meal with a “little something extra.” Maybe it’s because I don’t have any cheat days, or even cheat moments, with this goal.

Whatever it is, I really hope these 8 days aren’t a foreshadow of what the next 22 will be like. 

I mean, it’s got to get easier, right?

It’s the hardest after dinner. I just want… something. Sweet. Chocolate.

Then it doesn’t help that I see all these delicious baked goods on the blogs I follow. Or at friends’ houses. Or on TV commercials.

What I wouldn’t give for a brownie, a blondie, or a chocolate chip cookie.

Anyway… I’ve noticed and not cared that I am substituting other post-dinner snacks for the MIA chocolate. I know that this is partly the result of having eaten dessert for after every meal in the months of November and December, and partly the result of me being extremely addicted to chocolate.

I’ve found that a good remedy for this is to use the snack as a reward for doing the dishes right after dinner, straightening up the living room, walking the dogs, etc. Do something else right after eating, with the promise that if you still want it, you can have a dessert/snack later. About 95% of the time, my craving is gone by the time I’ve done doing whatever. Because I  just wanted to eat more. But once I get out of “eating mode,” a dessert isn’t as appealing (unless, say, you were attempting to go a whole month without one).

I do this with bowls of cereal too. Honey Bunches of Oats is especially tempting (probably because it’s a bowl of sugar). I finish one bowl and immediately want another one. But in order to practice Intuitive Eating, I take a break. If I’m still hungry in 20 minutes, I can have another bowl. If I’m not hungry in 20 minutes, I can have another bowl once I’m hungry again. Overeating often happens because we think, “This is the only chance I get to eat this! If I don’t eat all of it, right now, this second, it’ll be gone and I’ll be unsatisfied for the rest of my life!” Dramatic, yes. But tell me you haven’t acted like this around food.

So this week, I’m going to distract myself after dinner to prevent me from substituting one bad post-dinner habit (snacking) for another (eating dessert).

Do you have any tricks that you use to prevent overeating?

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