Progress

Monday, May 6, 2013

Rain is Gone...For Now

The pain in the knee comes and goes which concerns me because it makes me think there might actually be something wrong with.  Activity has been close to null but changing that tonight.  It rained nonstop from Wednesday night until Sunday morning.  "Sunshine State" my butt.  

So Saturday was a lot of just hanging out at home trying to not to the let girls go to stir crazy.  We did find a fabulous BBQ place here though!  We've tried a lot of different places since moving here and this one is head and shoulders better than all of them.  Mojo's has become my favorite restaurant so far.  

Sunday we saw Ironman 3 with the neighbors.  I liked it so much!  I admit I'm a geek for Marvel movies.  I don't think it was as good as the first 2 but it was a good flick.  Once we got home, the neighbors took my girls to the pool for their first swim of the season.  The water is still too cold, in my opinion, but the girls loved it.  Hubby and I took a little nap while they were gone.  

Sadly, that was about it.  With the rain and general "blah" feeling I've been having, that's about as good as it got.  This week, the goal is to walk any night that it isn't raining.  I'm heading to the store at some point today to buy the food for the week.  I've got to start eating better again.  The portions have made their way back to normal but the quality is definitely off.  

Special shout out to Andrea who got married this weekend!  Congratulations sweetie!

And after a long absence, I bring you a Monday DEMotivator:

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Ridin' in the Rain

Since moving here, the girls and I ride our bikes to/from school every day.  When it rains, we generally walk so that we can use the big umbrella.  Today the rain was really coming down.  My youngest wanted me to drive them.  2 problems with this.  1) The car line at this school is utterly ridiculous!  2) We live a block away!  I am not driving them a block away!  So we sucked it up and rode our bikes because that's faster than walking and they have rain jackets so great.  Yeah...except I don't have a rain jacket.  I got back totally soaked through.  Clothes are in the dryer and am working so I lived but I will buying a rain jacket pronto!

My knee is feeling a bit better today.  Keeping the brace on for today but may try for a short, easy walk this evening.  I didn't walk last night to give it an opportunity to rest but don't want to go 2 days in a row.  Speaking of exercise, found this tidbit on CNN.



Excuse-proof your Workout

The point of this article to bust through the top 5 excuses for not working out.  Full article is linked to the title but I'll give you tidbits and my opinion in blue.  (Ah...I forgot how much I missed "In The News" posts...)


The excuse: I'm too pooped.

The reality: It's the number-one reason you blow off workouts. Know this, though: Studies have shown that regular physical activity can improve energy. If you don't believe it, commit to a week of exercise and see if you notice a difference.  Being too tired is one that I've used often enough.  And I know I feel more energy when I'm working out.  They give a suggestion about a special kind of alarm clock to get you up to go in the morning or enlisting a workout buddy if you prefer evenings.  Truth is... even if it's a walk, gotta just make yourself bust through the tired thing.

The excuse: There aren't enough hours in the day.  I'm not even going to bother putting in the reality piece of the article here.  There IS time...you just have to find it.

The excuse: I don't want to redo my hair and makeup.  I'm not justifying this one with the reality either. Seriously???  This is an excuse people use?  I've never been an overly girly type but come on!  Suck it up buttercup!


The excuse: Exercise makes me eat more.

The reality: Actually, if you work out at a moderate-to-vigorous level (think a brisk walk), a shift in hormones may help suppress your appetite immediately post-workout. In a recent study, researchers at Brigham Young University showed images of food to women who had just finished a 45-minute morning workout. Their neural response to the food was less than it was on non-exercise days. The researchers also found that women did not eat more on the workout day to make up for calories burned.
I've argued this point before.  I actually DO think exercise makes you eat more.  For this one study, there are others that show people DO eat more on days they work out vs days they don't.  That being said, I think a lot of that is mental and thinking you're allowed more calories just because you worked out.  But then again I wouldn't classify a "brisk walk" as moderate to vigorous either.

As you can see, I basically think this article is crap.  None of these tips actually help you stop making excuses.  I suppose it helps if you don't think you're making excuses.  If you use any of these excuses but think they're legitimate reasons as to why you aren't working out, then you're in denial and this article may help you see the light.  I, personally, am under no delusions regarding why I haven't been exercising.  I'm simply lazy.  

Happy Thursday everyone!


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

It's Hell Getting Old

Thank you all for the warm welcome back!  As always I'm overwhelmed by how fabulous this community is!

I went for my walk last night.  3 miles in about 54 minutes.  Not bad...except for one nagging problem. I felt a little tug on the back of my knee as I started my walk last night.  I stretched a bit and figured it was just from lack of any activity in the last several months so I figured the more I walked, the more it'd stretch and it'd get better.  It was pretty sore by the time I finished my walk last night.  This morning...TERRIBLE!  I can barely put weight on it!  I have no idea what I did to it.  All I did was WALK!  So I'm nursing the knee today.  Can't find my brace (I know I have one somewhere) so I'll be running to the pharmacy to get one once traffic dies down.  I'm tellin' ya...it's hell getting old.

Otherwise it's just another day in paradise.  My next door neighbor was taken to the hospital Monday with chest pains and she's still there with no idea what's wrong with her.  She's only 34!  So scary!  So we'll be taking dinner for her family tonight.  We've become pretty tight since we moved in.

Random note...May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month.  Some of you may have noticed I changed my profile pic on facebook to reflect.  I'll probably keep it up for the month.  You may recall that my brother in law was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in December 2010.  He was given between 6-12 months to live.  That was 2 1/2 years ago and he's still doing great!  His MRI's are stable and he's still working.  He goes into chemo every other week and other than feeling more tired, he's holding up OK.  You can see his most recent speech for MUSC brain cancer center on youtube - he's about 5 minutes in.  Link is here.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful Wednesday and I'll resurrect our Hump Day Happy Thought:


"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life."