Just a little inspiration.

Okay.  Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving.  You know that’s no good.  Getting into the spirit of the holiday usually means getting ready to wear stretchy pants to take in as much food as you physically can.  I don’t know how the tradition moved from celebrating the harvest and being thankful for the bounty to eating as much food as your stomach can hold and then having a nap.  But I don’t like it.  I don’t like that it’s the fodder for legions of jokes and is an expectation of the season.  That everyone just nudges the person next to them with an air of “oh, well, eh?”  Not to go all soap box on you, but I think the general allowance/expectation of gluttony found during the holiday season is one of the country’s biggest issues.  (off soap box now!)

This year, I’d really like to do a better job of being mindful.  Not just mindful of how much food I’m eating, but mindful of…well, everything else.  I want to be more conscious of all the things I’m truly thankful for; things that I take for granted pretty often.  Having my (general) health.  Having a roof over my head and someone with whom to share it.  Being able to afford not only the pets themselves, but the food they eat and the other accoutrements that comes with pet ownership.  My parents.  My siblings.  My new niece.  My job.

One of those things I take for granted is obviously food.  And not just during Thanksgiving and Christmas – year-round.  There are plenty more people who don’t have what I have, and would undoubtedly be way more thankful than I am to have it.  In a kind of turning-over-a-new-leaf-and-harvest-time-is-a-good-time-to-do-it way, I’d like to be more conscientious about what I’m eating and how that food affects me.  That’s a whole lotta dashes.  J

So, for this Thanksgiving, I’m going to really think about all the things in my life I’m grateful for, starting with the dinner plate, and working my way out from there.  As part of that spirit of gratefulness, I’m going to think about how fortunate I am to have the choice to overeat or celebrate the spirit of the season.  And I’m going to do everything I can to make the right choice.  It’s not going to be easy with Auntie K’s garlic mashed potatoes, but dang it – I’m going to try.

Happy Thanksgiving, oh best beloveds!  Let me know – what are YOU thankful for this year?

EFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!

Kettle bells was awesome tonight!

Why the post title then? Because it kicked my butt! :) In a seriously good way though. I'm still tired, 45 minutes later. We did a ton of work with two (15lb!!!) bells tonight. It was a lot of work, but it really felt great.

I told Jody about how I've dropped about 40 since this time last year, and she was so stoked for me. That was great - how supportive she's been during these classes. I told her how it's hard for me to pace myself because I'm competitive with this sort of stuff ("Oh yeah?? You're doing dead lifts that fast??! Well, so am I!"). She reminded me again that I need to keep my own pace while trying to keep up to hers. As long as I keep my heartrate where it needs to be, keep my form correct, and finish the sets, I'm doing well. It really is great to have her on my side. :)

So, while I may be pooped (almost puked twice on the drive home!), I'm happy pooped. In a good way.

Anybody doing anything new and great with your workouts?? Share up!

IT'S A TWO-FER!

I think I promised to give more frequent update photos about a million years ago.  Well, today I'm following through.

A couple of things to note:
1) Sorry for the creeper photo.  I was trying to show dear seester how adorable I was that day.
2) Sorry for the FUZZY creeper photo.  I had totally been busted two seconds before shooting it. ha.
3) Yeah, I took it on my phone.  In the mirror.  In the bathroom.  Like a 14-year-old.  Meh.

So, there's our progress.  From this:

(In Wurzburg, GE - same trip from my original "before" pic)

Um, I just realized how slimmed down I am from then.  Wow...

Gonna try something...

While perusing Pinterest, I stumbled across a blog about eating "Real Food."  I'm intrigued.  I think I'm going to have to read some more about it, and see if it's something I think we can do.  It'll mean that I'll have to take over more of the cooking duties in the casa, but if it gets me out of doing the dishes, I'll probably survive.  Ha.

I think the gist of the thing is that you cut out the processed crap.  From the looks of things, there are plenty of "challenges" to get yourself into the routine, and then work your way up to just being totally processed-food-free.  If I've learned anything in this process, it's that baby steps are the way to go!  :)

In general, the idea of just getting rid of all the processed food is smart.  In one of her articles, the blogger points out 10 reasons to get rid of the junk.  One of the points she made was that it's just wrong to eat something that's engineered to never rot.  The more I think about it, the more grossed out by the idea of eating food that has so many preservatives in it that it doesn't go bad for ever.  That's just messed up, right??  Ick.  During the class I took at work, Lynda mentioned that they take part in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Since she mentioned it all those months ago, that's something that I've been thinking a lot about. In case you're not familiar with it, a CSA is an organization or group where you pay a certain amount (I want to say it was $500 or $700 for hers) to have a share in a group of farms.  You'll get weekly shipments of various kinds of fruits and/or veggies.  Some weeks, you'll get food you regularly use; some weeks you'll get some stuff that you have never had before.  Some weeks, the bounty is fantastically wonderful, some weeks it's so-so.  It can be a little bit of a gamble, but it's pre-paid veggies and fruits!  TO YOUR DOOR!  (or, to the CSA group leader's door first...)  Another item to put on my "learn more about this seriously" list.

I mentioned cutting  out the processed to Mr. P.  He kind of rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah?" in a dubious tone. Such a little doubting mustafa.  He'll see.  And he'll like it.

Oh, in case you wanted to know the blog, it's called 100 Days of Real Food.  And the site:  http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/.

Wish me luck!  Anyone have any other information about CSAs or eating Real Food?  What have you done to make strives in healthier, more natural eating?  Is there anything that you could absolutely not live without?

REEEEEEEPOST!

Here's the post regarding posting memos and the trouble therein.  I put the question out there to the blogger world, and here's my number one pick!  So, let me know if it works.  Pretty much, I would just skip to #11.  Install Google Chrome.  It's free, I've done it, and frankly I like it.  Oh, and it works.  I was able to comment on Megs' blog right away - which is something I haven't been able to do for MONTHS.

Here are some things that worked for a couple of people. It's a known issue with Internet Explorer. 

1) Before attempting to Login in Make sure the "Remember Me" Checkbox is UNTICKED

2) Make sure you are running the latest version of your browser, if not, upgraded it.

3) Make sure you REALLY have cleared both your COOKIES and CACHE

4) Once Cleared shut down the browser

5) Then Open it again and check that the Cookies and Cache are indeed Empty. This is very important. The problem seems to be with corrupt cookies and cache files

6) If that is OK try going to www.blogger.com . Don't login yet, press CTRL-F5 and then try logging in again

7) If that still does not work try logging into Gmail first and then go to www.blogger.com and try again

8) If that does not work try going to this address http://www2.blogger.com/home

9) If that does not work try going to draft.blogger.com

10)  If you use IE8 or IE9 try pressing the compatibility button (at the end of the address bar) when you're on your blog page.

11) If all those fail, try installing another browser to see if that works eg Firefox, Chrome, Opera etc

12) Just install Google Chrome.

PS - in case anyone wondered, NO I was not paid or perked or whatever by Google to promote their stuff.  I'm just a convert. 

My butt hurts

The kettle bell class tonight was even more difficult than it was last week.  I don't know what's happening here!  It just keeps getting harder and harder!  WTF is up with that??  This week was all about the cardio.  Everything was fast, fast, fast.  Squat jumping jacks.  Squat pulls.  A million swings.  It was a rough workout.  I tried my hardest, but I just felt today that it was NOT enough.  I had to stop a couple of times and just remember how to breathe.  I pushed as hard as I could, but almost passed out a couple of times.  It took an hour for me to stop coughing after the workout and get my normal breath back.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!!??

I thought stuff was supposed to get better as I kept going.  I'm so frustrated.  I worked out five times last week. Three of those were hard workouts!  HARD.

I don't know.  Maybe I pushed it on Sunday?  Maybe all the crazy walking on Saturday night was what did it?  Either way, I'm frustrated.  I'm annoyed.  I want to be energized and ready to work out.  I feel like I can't do that if it keeps being SO hard for me.

Did I mention that my butt hurts?  Yeah.  I've pulled something on the RIGHT side now.  WTF.  I don't know what's happening with me.  I wonder if it's because I haven't been stretching enough.  Maybe it's because I keep pushing it as hard as I can?  Whatever the reason is, I'm ready for it to be over.  I just want to be able to keep getting my workout on and do it without feeling as though it's my last damn workout ever.

Bah.

Anyway.  Oh, on an aside - I'm going to re-post the instructions about posting comments.  But seriously - just download Google Chrome as your chosen internet-viewing portal.  It's way better than Explorer (just my little opinion...).

The gauntlet has been thrown!!

My cubeland neighbor, Mr. SuperFitPants, has offered me a challenge. 20 burpees in 1 minute by the end of the year.

Kids, for those of you playing at home, that's one burpee every three seconds. That is one burpee move PER SECOND. He said (and I quote) "That'll get your heart pumping!"  Erm...yes.  Correct, I'm sure.

Thing is, I can barely do A burpee, much less TWENTY. It should be interesting. And, since I'm so damn stubborn, you KNOW I'm not backing down from this little challenge...

Yikes. Wish me luck.

Okay, that's weird.

I thought I'd just share real quick that I was leaning against the couch.  IT HURT.  Couch + less flab = hard and pokey!

Not that I'm complaining!!  I'm just sayin'.  It's kinda swell that there's a pokey couch to remind me that the 45 minutes of torture I'm inflecting upon myself is sooooo worth it.  :)  Tonight's kettle bell class was way better than last week's.  Still tough, but really great.  There was planking, side planking, planking while my partner did swings...it was really great.  I liked it a lot.  I'm ridiculously tired right now though.  I'm kinda hoping I can make it to 8:00.  ha.  Seriously though.  It was an amazing workout, and I'm really tired.  It felt good that Jody (Jodi??) only had to correct my form once.  She was giving me some mad props on my swings and that was sweet.  And totally well-deserved, if I can take a sec and pat myself on the back.

Anyway.  I'll try to write a more well-thought-out-post one of these days...