Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Adrift on a Sea of Unchanging Mist

Drifting. Floating. Stagnant. Close your eyes. Sleep. Tomorrow, tomorrow, always tomorrow. Aching fullness never comes. It is time. My body moves on and waves wash through me. Sleep is interrupted, again. The weight of my body is an unchanging burden. I should sweat, I should move, but the exhaustion overtakes me again and I decline to pursue activity. Dormant, hibernating. Could I crystallize for a while? Could I just...?

Wondering, pondering, my brain does not rest. Twinges and sensations abound and all I do is contemplate. Heaviness. Breathe in, breathe out. Exist. Be in the moment. Observe. Listen. Feel. Close the world around you. Let it be. What will happen will happen. No control but your reactions. Be still. Beat, beat, beat...forever. Still. Can you feel it? Life, insistent, cocooned in my body, my pulse, my soul. Hush and let it be. Let the waves come. Feel the air around you, close, thick, soft. Hush.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Weekly Weigh #10

Well this was a frustrating week. I kicked ass in so many ways, I ate right, I exercised lots. I met my calorie goals every day (actually was 100-200 calories below my max every day) I only got in 7.5 miles, but I did do 2 workouts (Bikini Body Mommy Day 3, and Guts and Butts yesterday). However, I've been horribly bloated (hormones suck balls) and as a result, where I weighed 140.6 on Monday (easy reach of the 130s!!), this morning the scale showed me 141.8. I know that 1 pound fluctuations mean nothing, but not a single ounce lost, and in fact a slight gain this week? Very frustrating. I am not tracking today, because I need a break. My hormones are bugging the hell out of me, it looks like I will have a short luteal phase this month (like 9 days, maybe,  because I'm on 8DPO now and bloated as hell, as well as having been crampy yesterday and the day before). So, last week = ovulation, and this week = PMS. Lovely.

Plus I'm working late today, but fortunately not horribly late (yay!) and I can still make it to meet a new friend at the Christopher Moore book signing. My mommy is back from her stint in Hawaii for the past 2 1/2 years so she's babysitting, while C has a gig. Busy Friday night, yeah?

And Dee turns 3 on Sunday, and has her 3 year checkup on Monday. Her birthday party is next weekend, so I'll post pictures of that when the time comes.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Happy Friday!

I got some new shoes at Kohl's for super cheap as part of some retail therapy when I was losing my shit at home. C sent me on my way so I'd get to cool off.



I've been better about walking consistently, and even ran my fastest mile ever (well, not ever, in recent history) at 12 minutes per mile, and I ran 1.5 miles in one go, only walking about a block of it. I've been working on strengthening my core correctly to fix the diastasis recti (using the exercises here). In 10 days, I've reduced my separation by half, so that's awesome. I lost an inch plus on my waist since my last measurements, which brings me to:

Week 9 Progress:
0.6 pound gain (dammit!!)
10.4 miles walked/run
1 at home workout (Bikini Body Mommy Day 2 - only doing these periodically)
Nutrition goals met-ish... not really very good. I was close to my maximum goal nearly every day. Also, there was lots of fried chicken. Calorie wise not so bad, but veggie and fruit wise not so good. Ovulation also happening, which causes some bloat/water retention. Bah.

Summary of Challenge to Date:

8 pounds lost (5.4%)
84.4 miles walked/run
3 inches lost on waist
1 inches lost on ribcage
1 inch lost on bust
No change on hips

Goals for next week:
Break the 140 barrier!! This means a 1.7 pound loss will be needed. I can do it!
10 more miles
Guts and Butts Class or 30 mins of Bikini Body Mommy workouts
Avoid sweets that comprise more than 10% of my daily intake total. 
Keep 200 calorie "cushion" between my maximum intake goal and where I actually end up. I have Sparkpeople set up to include my calories burned, so this is really not that bad.

(Yes, weigh ins have changed to Friday, because it was too hard on all of us to have the weekend, our universal weak spot, in the middle.)

Almost forgot my "No 'Poo" update. I think I'm getting past the detox period. Turns out I was going through it after all. My hair would get really sticky/greasy and it was gross. Yesterday my hair was all wavy and nice and not quite as weird. I think I just can't use the conditioner part, that seems to mess things up for me. Today I just did a hot water rinse and have a ponytail, but we'll see this weekend how my hair does. I'm pretty optimistic. This website was really helpful when I needed some troubleshooting support (or thought I did).

I also got my custom dress from eShakti yesterday. I LOVE IT. It's perfect and fits me perfect (as it should, since it was made just for my measurements). I will make sure I get a pic of it on Sunday when I will wear it. If you want to know more about eShakti, or join them (you get a $25 credit with your first order, so you can get some great deals on stuff!), just visit the website linked above.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

75 miles!

Found in my garden. Transplanting them last summer worked! Meaning they didn't die.

Today I hit 75 miles (on my walk). Wow. It's kind of amazing, really, to think that I did that. I've got 225 left to do, but 75 seems important. 

The "Guts and Butts" class went well last week, I was sore for 2 days after but I'm glad I went. I will be going again tomorrow. For some reason I didn't really lose any weight (141.8 last week, 141.6 today) but I feel great and I had to use the smallest hole on my belt yesterday, so I am making progress. My skin has been mostly clearer still, so that's a nice perk, too. Next week is measurement week, so I'll see what progress has happened in that department. I'm feeling reasonably optimistic about everything. I'm slightly frustrated that my hormone fluctuations affect my weight so much. Every month during ovulation and PMS I can guarantee a no-loss or slight-gain that week. Ovulation will fall next week, so I'm going to work extra hard to have a 1+ pound loss between now and then.

Update on the "No 'poo" front: nothing very exciting here. My hair definitely has more body and curl.  I've had to make sure to use enough baking soda solution (BSS) or my hair gets oily and awful. I haven't really experienced "detox" like I've read about. So far, so good! No itchy scalp, either, so that's nice.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Weekly Weigh-In and Other Thoughts

Drumroll please!!!

My weight this morning was 141.8. I have lost 7 pounds since I started this, and I have gone back nearly to my weight 2 YEARS ago. I am so proud of myself! I feel great. I've also gotten 60 miles down. I still have a ways to go in fitness and miles, and I want to be able to run two miles rather than just sort of half-ass run a mile and a half where I'm really only running a mile of it. Diet-wise I've been doing well at getting enough water (usually) and eating only whole food, though I do treat myself once in a while. I have the occasional chocolate from Trader Joe's, and sometimes I have a chocolate croissant from Starbucks (because really, they are AMAZING). I was terrible about getting fruit or veggies yesterday and got NONE. Unless you count the little bit of sauce on my pasta at lunch. :-/ Ah well. Onward and forward, I'll keep at it.

I am also going to go to a class tomorrow at work (over lunch) called "Guts and Butts" so we'll see how that goes. It seems like it will be fun, and I'm going with a friend from work.

A selfie because I feel pretty today :-)


Other than the fitness front, I've started to go "No 'Poo" this week. I've been pondering it for a while, because no matter what shampoo I use, my scalp is super itchy after a few days of use. I also tend to have a dry scalp. I have been only shampooing every other day for a long time, which helps, but even then I have awful itchiness problems a lot of the time. So I figured it was worth a shot. My method is this:

Dissolve about 3 tablespoons of baking soda in water. I think I used about 2 cups of water. The consistency feels slippery when I pour some in my hand, which I read is what it's supposed to feel like. I use a condiment bottle (ordered from Amazon) to distribute the BS (haha) and then massage it through my hair with my fingers. I do have to shake the bottle up every time I use it because a lot of the soda precipitates out. I think that as of this morning (two washes in) I've used maybe 1/3 of my solution. My hair is only shoulder length, so the amount may change as my hair gets longer, but we'll just have to see. Once I rinse the BS out, which feels a bit slippery, I use a spray bottle to spray a solution of water and vinegar into my hair. This is the "conditioner" step. I used 2 tablespoons of my orange-infused vinegar and filled the spray bottle the rest of the way with water (1 cup). It smells slightly vinegar-y but mostly orangey, which is nice and refreshing early in the morning, and once my hair is dry it doesn't smell like anything. I do rinse it out after I apply it and rub it through my hair. Again, as my hair gets longer I may change the way I do this, but for now it seems to be working.

I first did this on Monday morning, skipped yesterday (as normal) and washed again this morning. My hair wasn't any greasier yesterday that it usually is on a non-wash day, which is mildly greasy in the morning and a little more by evening. It feels totally normal, not weighed down or flyaway or anything (and in the dry Colorado air I was a little concerned about static). It's a little curlier than when I use shampoo, which is nice, because I do have sort of schizo hair that can't decide to be straight/wavy or a combination of the two. Usually the front is one thing (straight) and the back is another (wavy to curly). Oy. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this pans out, and the lack of unpronounceable chemicals is a bonus. I doubt I'll save much money doing this because I spend very little on shampoo or conditioner to begin with.

Once my hair gets long again I may use commercial conditioner again, but we'll just have to see how this goes.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Spring, and Progress

 I see many lovely flowers on my daily walk. I missed taking pictures of the crocus, but I will try to capture the flowers currently blooming and yet to come.


Also, you may notice my ticker now says 60 miles!! YAY ME!!! More tomorrow, but I am very proud of myself. 60 down, 240 to go...20% of the way there!!