When Chocolate Goes Bad

Time is what prevents everything from happening at once. ~ John Archibald
Wheeler, The American Journal of Physics, 1978

I would totally disagree with Mr. Wheeler on that point. I'm pretty sure everything has been happening at once around here because I've spent the last month scrambling like a madwoman trying to get it all done. Don't ask me how I'm doing on that...

One thing I have been successful at, however, is eating about 10 lbs of chocolate a day. I'd like to blame it on Halloween, but I actually started the process about a week previous...okay, maybe two. Either way, by the time the kids showed up at the door trick or treating, I was in a full blown milk chocolate addictive meltdown. By the way, did you know chocolate can irritate the bejesus out of heartburn. I do. Now.

Needless to say, I am on a no chocolate hiatus. Just to add insult to injury, I'm also cutting out my one cup of coffee a day and adding 7 days of workouts to my schedule. Some days are just walking, which the dog will appreciate, but there's about 3 days of strength-training and 3 days of internal training and another 3 days of 30 min moderate/high cardio. Which, for those of you who are good at the whole math thing, equals more days than there are in a week, but I'm doubling up. And hoping to do a spin class and yoga class on top of that. I've noticed a softness creeping up where muscle used to be. Then I heard on the radio a week after my wedding that marriage makes people gain weight. I considered an annulment, but I kinda like this guy I married so figured maybe working out was a better option.

On top of that, I need to develop a solid marketing plan for my writing to boost my profile, sales, etc, as well as a workable writing plan for maximum output of manuscripts over the next 18 months.

All on no coffee and minimal amounts of chocolate.

Please have the rubber room standing by...

This is me exploring the gardens on Petrin Hill in Prague. I'm still trying to get my pixs up on Facebook.

Which reminds me...stay tuned on Facebook. Next week I'm looking at doing a book giveaway and visit to a blog where they're asking me lots of fun questions.

How to Improve a Bad Day

Sleepy is not a good way to start what is bound to be an insanely busy week. Waking at 3:15 am and not being able to get back to sleep, is not a good way to end the night. But, fitting into a pair of pants you haven’t been able to wear since last year improves the day and stumbling into work and finding new puppy pictures waiting for you -- well, that somehow makes all the bad stuff go away.

What Doesn’t Kill Me…

Week 1 of Booty Camp is underway. We had our fitness assessment on Saturday, and while I was pleased to see my weight was 2 lbs below what I had expected, I was not so thrilled to see my body fat percentage was 29.9%. Apparently it should be around 25%. The circumference of my hips also did not please me. Looks like I’ve got some work to do.

What kind of work you might ask? Well, the kind that involves two trips to the gym a day in order to fit it all in. You see, apparently what doesn’t kill me, will make me stronger. At least that is the mantra I am sure I’ll be muttering by the end of the week. Although, truth be told, I am quite excited to see where I will be by the end of this 12 week process. I plan on working hard to meet my goals, which include dropping 12 pounds to reach my goal weight, and 5 percentage points to get down to a healthy body fat. As for the hips…well I will be shaking my money maker until I knock a good 5 inches off those.

The workout component of the bootcamp includes 6 workouts per week. I knew they meant business when I saw that. I’ve already been going 5 times a week, so adding another day isn’t too bad. It’s just the intensity that’s about to get seriously amped up. Here’s what the week looks like for me:

Sunday: Resting (or make up day if I miss one of the other workouts)
Mon / Wed / Fri : 40 mins of steady state cardio (20 on elliptical stair / 20 on treadmill) and lower body strength training and core training
Tues/ Thurs / Sat: Yoga and 40 mins of interval cardio (treadmill climbing hills) and upper body strength training

Then of course, also on Saturday is our Bootcamp Team meeting / workout. But because it takes over an hour to get all the workouts done, I’m splitting it into half at lunch and half after work.

On top of that, we have the nutrition side of things which allows me daily: 6 serving of grains; 7 servings of fruits and veggies; 2-3 servings of protein; 2-3 servings of dairy; 3 servings of fat; and 8 glasses of water. Naturally all the food is of the whole wheat, low fat, etc variety.

And they gave us this lovely log book that we have to write everything down in. The logic being if we have to write it down, we’ll be more conscious of what we’re doing. Which seems to be the case. Because I didn’t want to write down that I ate a big piece of cake at my niece’s birthday party, so I only ate a very small piece.

Here are some new puppy pictures to end things off. They are 15 days old in these pictures.

The SuccessTeam

A group of my writing pals (including Anne who did a fabulous job on my new website) have gotten together to form a SuccessTeam. Basically, the gist of this group is to meet every two weeks, set specific goals and then egg / encourage / harass each other into meeting them. But, while this group consists of said writing pals, it isn’t just a ‘writing goals group’. We can set goals on anything we want to accomplish be they writing, health, money/finances, etc. And given that I function much better when I have a goal, this is right up my alley.

I mean really – if it involves a calendar, set dates, specific goals…why, I get positively giddy. It’s sad really. My friends and family razz me mercilessly about this at times, but hey, this is how I get things done. I make a plan. Then I make a back up plan (and yes, my back up plans also have back up plans – easier to shift gears at a moment’s notice if Plan A or B need tweaking). Then, I give myself a deadline, and then, finally, I put the proverbial pedal to the medal and get things done.

You’ve likely heard the expression: There’s no “I” in “TEAM”. Maybe not. But there’s an “M” and an “E”. And ME is going to put it into high gear this year and get some serious stuff accomplished. Manuscripts revised, research done, weight lost, health improved, books read and knitting projects completed.

And I’ve got ME and the TEAM to make sure that happens.

Downward Facing Dog

I joined the gym for the first time in 10 years. I was having trouble fitting my workouts in after work and since Nubodys is strategically located next door to my office and we have a corporate rate there…well, it seemed a pretty easy sell. I could go on my lunch hour rather than sitting in our windowless lunch room watching the paint dry. My desire to be in the lunch room now that my SO has taken a new job elsewhere and my good friend is leaving for good this week has dwindled. Plus I am determined to whip my butt back into shape this year, no excuses.

At lunchtime, the gym has several different classes. I’ve tried all that they offered and here’s what I discovered: I love yoga. Love, love, LOVE IT. In fact, if I had to pick just one workout to do for the rest of my life, yoga would be it.

Some don’t feel yoga is a hard workout, but I beg to differ. Even the most basic of yoga moves strengthen your muscles and leave you stretched and flexed. After only a few classes my natural flexibility was back so that I could stretch forward and have my face land on my knees. After a few more classes, I could hold the full plank position for ten slow breaths.

Right now, I can do this:

And I’m thisclose to being able to do this (I can get into it, it's the getting out that's tricky):

However, this...well this will take awhile:

I have done yoga at home for a few years off and on, but I have to say I enjoy the class environment way more. Plus our yoga instructor plays these really restful tunes of lapping waves and soft music that leave you so relaxed I spend the rest of the afternoon in a zen-like state that few things can perforate.

So to celebrate my rediscovered love of all things bendy, I decided to treat myself to a new yoga mat and bag. I got the red one on the end with the fish on it.

Right now I am taking 2-3 classes per week. But since variety is the spice of life, and I like to confuse my muscles and keep them from growing complacent, I throw in 2 spin workouts per week and 2 mixed days where I do a cardio / weight circuit training thing.

I've decided to keep a little weight loss tracker at the bottom of the blog to help with the motivation. To date, while the poundage is fighting to stay where it is, I think I am starting to win the battle. At least I feel better, and that has to be a turn in the right direction.