“I was going to say!”
July 2, 2015
The beginning and end photos from my 30-day DietBet. You can’t see much, if any, difference, but I can feel it!
Like so many women–and you know what? It’s not even a woman-thing. Like so many people, it is always my desire to just drop a few pounds. A month ago, I got back on the horse. I began going to the gym again three or four times a week. A couple of weeks ago, I figured out an alternative bike route to my office that is a little further but which I can ride in the same amount of time. I toned down some of my consumption habits. I joined a 30-day DietBet game.
Let’s start with the DietBet. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s a website where you pay money into a multi-person game to bet that you will be able to lose a certain amount of weight. You win by meeting the target, and the pot is split by everyone who made it. For the 30-day game I just completed, the goal was to lose 4%. For me, that was 8 pounds (3.6 kg). I’m not going to lie–I joined that particular DietBet because Karina Smirnoff was the host. You know how much I love Dancing with the Stars!
I went to the gym regularly for the first few months of last year and it felt great! I dislike running, but trotting on the treadmill has kind of become my thing since I discovered the Couch to 5K business two or three years ago. It only takes a couple of weeks for me to begin seeing and feeling the difference, so that’s my approach every time I start over. I fell off the wagon (er, treadmill?) when I went on vacation last July and spent the next three-quarters of a year subsidizing other people’s memberships. But my weight also crept up to the highest it’s ever been, and so finally last month I started going again and have managed to get back in the good habit.
Feeling the inspiration on foot, I also try to bike a little more, too. From about March through about October, or for as long as the snow holds off, I bike commute to work every day, a 15-minute ride through the heart of downtown. I don’t really think of it as exercise, even though it is, and so have been trying to go out for a long ride at least once on the weekends, and a medium ride in the evening every now and then if it’s not too hot.
Perhaps you are a fan of the NFL (National Football League) and know that the Minnesota Vikings are building a brand new stadium where the Metrodome stood until last year. I guess it’s going to resemble a giant, glass Viking ship. All I really know is that they didn’t spring for bird-safe glass. We’ll see how that plays out. The area of downtown adjacent to the stadium site is also going through a major redevelopment, and shiny new office buildings are rising from the backhoed rubble of a number of former surface parking lots.
Well. All of this construction activity has wreaked havoc on the very streets that I use every day in my commute. There are closures and detours which, unless I want to go significantly out of my way in one direction or, in the other direction, ride on a busy artery with cars only thinking about the freeway access a half mile ahead. Even the quieter alternative a couple of blocks beyond that is under its own construction of a sewer project. There is no good way to bike that particular vector.
Thus, I finally broke down and tried the route that takes me along the Mississippi River bike path to a bike commuter trail to the western suburbs. I can enter and exit within blocks of home and the office. I had balked at using it because it is a longer distance, and when I’m commuting, I’m all about not wasting time. But it turns out that, even though it’s 3.25 miles versus the 2.5 miles (5.2 km vs 4 km) of the downtown route, it doesn’t take me any more time because there are only a couple of interactions with streets and I don’t usually have to stop even once, and I can just go. Riding this route for the first time was an epiphany! It’s easier, it’s so much less stressful, it’s scenic, and the longer distance fits in with my increased activity desires.
These are a few of the quick (usually about 30 minutes to prepare), delicious, home-cooked meals I’ve been making.
The final component of the last month has been to be more mindful of when and how much I’m consuming. For me, the largest part of that is to cut back on the beer. Instead of three or four, I try to keep it to a couple. And instead of my favorite double IPA or big stout, I often choose ones with lower alcohol content. Along with that is the realization that it also helps to eat a lighter supper earlier rather than later. Gorging on a burger at the bar is a whole lot different than freshly preparing a meal of more sensible foods (that I actually like better anyway). A staple has been a few ounces of salmon, a pile of asparagus, and one-half cup or less of a whole grain, such as quinoa or my new favorite, farro. I have resumed documenting everything that goes down my gullet in the Lose It! app. I don’t necessarily try to meet the calorie budget that it suggests, but the act of tracking eventually causes you to more carefully consider your choices.
So doing all of these things consistently for the last five weeks paid off. I surpassed my DietBet target and lost 8.8 pounds (4 kg), and won $49.68 on my $30 bet! My stamina has increased so much from the treadmill trotting and wobbly bits are coming a little more under control. Mainly, I just feel better and that is very satisfying. The knowledge that this happens when I keep up with things is what gets me through the afternoons when I’d rather just go home (okay, that, and that I’ve been watching 30 Rock while I trot to distract myself).
But it’s my desk-neighbor at work who put the extra little spring in my step today. She’s 23 and just out of college, where she was a competitive swimmer and is still someone who you would call an athlete. A couple of weeks ago I was moaning about being sore from my first session of strength training the day before and we had a brief conversation about my activities at the gym. Well, today she asked me how it all was going and was astonished when I said I had gone fourteen times last month. We talked a little more and I mentioned that I had lost about 7 pounds (3.2 kg). In response she uttered the five words at the top of the page and that is the most gratifying and motivating thing of all!
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Addendum: Because I want to keep the momentum going, I joined another DietBet game. This one goes on for six months with a final target of a 10% loss. There are monthly official weigh-ins with their own mini-targets, and you can win those, too. I tried one last year with little success, but I feel like I have a better attitude now. Stay tuned!
The blues for my shoes
February 26, 2012
I have come to the sad conclusion that my new blue shoes are what have been causing my right knee to be limpingly sore for the last few weeks. (Edit: Ha! I just realized they’re blue suede shoes. Moving on …)
Years ago I had plantar fasciitis in my foot. It was awful. After I had been sitting for a while, I’d need to take several steps before I could put weight on it without pain. Once it was warmed up, it was fine. If I had to get up in the middle of the night after my foot had been disused for hours, it wasn’t unusual for me to actually whimper on the way to the bathroom. In that regard, at least, my knee has been different. Resting it at night improves it. But during the day when I’m up and about, it’s a near constant aching and soreness. Bending it to step up or down stairs is the worst.
I had kind of been assuming that my right knee’s trouble was a side effect of aging and bowling. Why? Because my left knee and hip have been more frequently complaining during the twenty-four post-bowling hours. But here’s the rub. That discomfort reliably clears up by the end of the following day. And it’s only slight discomfort, not out-and-out pain of my right knee. And the other rub is that my sore knee is not my sliding knee. It ended up not quite adding up.
I pondered the problem further. I realized that the soreness had developed after I got the new shoes a few weeks ago. It’s true that when I was trying them on in the store, I knew they were a size or two too large, but I liked them so much that I bought them anyway. They seemed comfortable enough and I had been wearing them and walking in them with gusto.
But I couldn’t ignore the coincidence of the timing. So last weekend I resolved to not wear the shoes for a week to test whether they were the culprit. The inescapable answer is that they are. I was hopeful during the first few days because my knee didn’t not seem at all improved. I thought my beloved new shoes were off the hook. But in the last couple of days I can’t deny that my knee has hardly caused notice at all.
I’ll look into inserts or fancier orthotics so that I can wear my new shoes again, but for now I’ll have to stay with my tried-and-true oldies but goodies.
Poor bowling excuse: video game tennis elbow
November 22, 2011
I did not bowl well tonight. I mean, it could have been worse and has been many a time, but when you play a sport you have certain achievement goals and tonight I did not meet mine. I blame Scramble CE.
Scramble is the word search game I play on my iPhone when I go to bed. It helps me relax right to the point of falling asleep. I used to read in bed but I never got very far because it would usually put me to sleep immediately. For a number of years I’d work crossword puzzles because I could stay awake a little longer. Then I got my iPhone and went back to reading, because I could take off my glasses, lay down, turn off the light, and if I fell asleep I wouldn’t lose my place and the iPhone would also go to sleep and everyone was happy. Then I discovered Angry Birds and Scramble.
Angry Birds isn’t a good bedtime game because I get too worked up. Not at the pigs, but at my lack of dexterity with the slingshot and timing the extra things the birds can do. But Scramble is a nice, leisurely, two-and-a-half-minute word search. I play in Advanced mode which means I have to find words of four or more letters.
I love this game. I can usually stay awake for four, five, ten rounds. I’d get a lot more sleep if I switched back to reading.
A consequence of my Scramble stamina is a tennis elbowy kind of thing that happens in my right elbow or, as I call it, my bowling elbow, because I use my right index finger to drag around the screen. At first I thought it happened because I laid on my left side so that my right arm could be free-swinging to facilitate faster wording. I conditioned myself to be comfortable playing as I lay on my right side, with my arm mostly resting on my pillow. My left arm doesn’t have nearly the staying power being up in the air, but that’s its problem. As for playing with my left hand instead, I am slow and clumsy and it’s just not a viable option.
As a series of nights goes by, I find that I gradually roll more onto my back to liberate my right arm, because I’m still faster that way (well, faster, assuming my brain is willing). Over the weekend I realized that my elbow, and even my hand, had the very mild tendonitis indicative of too much Scramble. And tonight, my bowling scores reflected the weakened state of my right arm or, as I call it, my bowling arm.
I must put myself on a Scramble moratorium for a few days or a week. This will be difficult but, if I am to save my bowling average, it is completely necessary.
I suppose I might play a little Angry Birds in the meantime. For that one I do use my left hand because that’s the side from which you launch the birds. If I used my right hand I wouldn’t be able to see what I was aiming for. I’ve always kind of thought that a nice feature of Angry Birds would be to have a choice of launching end.
As you can see, Scramble includes words from some Martian dictionary, so if I find a third of the possible words in a round, I feel good. I also like to get at least 50 points which can be challenging if the total points possible for the round is 150 or less.
In case you’re wondering, my high Scramble score is 209, my longest word is DEPOSITOR, and as of last night I had made a total of 30,090 words, none of which begin with X.
Enjoy every sandwich
May 20, 2010
There are several sandwiches that I like a lot.??
The first that comes to mind is a Potbelly Ham Wheat with a little bit of everything. I do dearly love Potbelly (and they have the best malts, too), but the sandwiches became less fun when I looked up the nutrition and learned that the Ham has over 2600mg of sodium. Now I eat them sparingly.
I also love a Chipotle Chicken Burrito???black beans, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and sometimes the medium salsa. Chipotle has ruined me for burritos anywhere else. I???m not making any judgement as to the authenticity of their style, but they sure are delicious! Unfortunately, its sodium is right up there, too, at over 2300mg.
Rounding out the top three also-rans is Panera???s Bacon Turkey Bravo. I can thank my friend Rob for that one. I initially preferred the roast beef Asiago sandwich, but his devotion to the Bacon Turkey Bravo caused me to try it and what can I say? Everything???s better with bacon! I have not checked the sodium.
The grand winner in my personal sandwich preferences is the Caprese panini from a local outfit, D???Amico and Sons. I usually get the lunch special, which teams it with their equally delicious (but not sandwich) Tuscan chicken soup and my choice of a chunk of bread or potato chips. I choose chips. It???s my version of grilled cheese and tomato soup. Well, or theirs, I guess. I???m just in heaven when I eat this sandwich.
Everyone knows that smoking stinks (addendum)
March 5, 2010
I had a really stressful few days at work. I handed off the project at 1:00 this afternoon, at least for the next twenty-four hours. On my way home, I stopped to get some comfort provisions—sushi and beer. Posted next to the door of the sushi place was this placard. Now that’s what I’m talking about!
Everyone knows that smoking stinks
March 5, 2010
I should know, because I used to smoke. I managed to stop cold turkey in the spring of 2004 after I had been so sick with the flu that I didn’t go to work—or do anything, let alone smoke—for three and a half days. I had been wanting to stop, and with that head start, my brain finally got behind the effort.
Even when I was a smoker, I was a hypocrite. If I was not puffing away myself at the moment, I was not in favor of smelling other people’s pollution. It seems a lot of smokers feel that way. I was, um, lucky enough that none of the city, county or, eventually, statewide indoor smoking bans had gone into effect while I still smoked, so I didn’t have to deal with enforced outside-going to engage in my nasty habit.
But people who still smoke do have to go outside. And that brings us to the pet peeve that is my topic today. Hey smokers: please move a respectable distance away from the door to engage in your filthy habit!
As has been the case several other times in the course of writing this blog, I learned something new. I thought I had remembered that part of the ordinance detailed that your smoking is not supposed to occur within a certain distance of building entrances. That is not the case, it is not written into the law that you must be ten or twenty or any number of feet away from the door before you light up.
That part is, if you think about, simply common courtesy.
I accept that it is your choice to continue smoking and contribute to your eventual demise. My beer drinking probably isn’t doing me any great favors. But what bugs the living daylights out of me is having to walk through your stink to get in or out of a building. I have no choice where the door is. You do have a choice about where to create your smokescreen. Here’s a simple request: please move a little farther away.
Now you’ll try to convince me that in cold or otherwise nasty weather, you’re more sheltered from the conditions closer to the building. If you’re that concerned about your health and welfare, quit smoking!
I’m not really going to preach here; you’ll do what you want to and, like religion and politics, my little rant doesn’t stand a chance of getting you to change. But it feels good to put the bug in your ear for a minute, anyway. If I can influence just one smoker …
I wear bigger shoes now
February 4, 2010
Are feet one of the body parts that keeps growing as you age? Or have my feet gotten a little larger because I don’t impose tight confinement on them? It probably all started with my first pair of Birkenstocks (this is the second, and it seems it’s about time for a third), when I learned just how comfortable shoes could be.
These Nike Air boots are the last in a long line of that style that I used to favor in the 80s. Only these were actually comfortable and had good traction for snowy Minnesota winter walks home from work. I think they’re the oldest pair of shoes that I still have. I got them probably fifteen years ago and wore them regularly for a good eight or nine years. I have good luck with Nike. That’s what the trainers are, too. In footwear as in many things, I’ve gotten curmudgeonly about going for comfort and practicality over stylishness, especially since I had a bout with plantar fasciitis ten or twelve years ago brought on by walking too much in my Dr Martens, which apparently did not have good support. The toes of the shoes I buy have gotten progressively less restrictive, and I’ve gone for extra room in length, too. Whereas I was always a 7-1/2, now I don’t get less than size 8. Sometimes, they might even be 8-1/2 or 9 depending on what the style is, how they run, and whether there needs to be room for an extra pair of thick wool socks. Extra arch support insoles always go in. Someone I know judges shoes by whether they make her feet look big. I judge shoes by whether they make my feet comfortable.Connect the dots
February 3, 2010
Quick! What did you think of? I’ve been pondering all day about what I could connect with what, and I haven’t come up with anything profound. As for the non-earthshattering I give you the following.
Last Wednesday I woke up in the morning with some mild head congestion. I did not go to bed any earlier than usual. Thursday I felt about the same when I got up, but by early afternoon I was dragging and teetering on the edge of finding a substitute to bowl for me. But after a while and two and a half cups of coffee, I was feeling much better. I went bowling. I drank orange juice. My first game was less than stellar, only 169; my timing on the approach was all messed up. I added vodka to the orange juice. Was it due to the “aiming fluid” or the sage advice from my teammate? We fixed my timing problem and my second game was 243 and my third was 251. That’s a 663 series after starting with a 169. Not too shabby. So then, feeling good about my bowling after all and still fairly peppy, I decided to pop over to karaoke. When I leave the bowling alley, I have half a mile to drive before I have to make the decision. That’s plenty of time to find a song on the car radio that you know and can sing along with a little to determine what kind of a karaoke voice you have that evening, even though you’re likely coming down with a cold. Verdict: good enough. At karaoke I drank tomato juice and grapefruit juice (okay, with another vodka or two, but hey, I was making an effort on vitamin C and not overdoing the booze), and sang Robbie Williams “Millennium” and Carole King “Jazzman.” Although I couldn’t say it was early, I did leave about an hour sooner than I usually do, if I go. Friday morning? Train wreck. Unfortunately, I could not choose to totally call in sick that day, as I had to finish the 60th birthday party invitation for my boss’ sister WHICH HAD TO GET DONE. That’s fine, it was a take-off on one of the American tabloids, and something like that is always a fun diversion to work on. I went in, hacked to the other boss that I was only there long enough to finish the invitation, finished the invitation, and left around noon or so. After a brief stop for some comforting tomato soup and grilled cheese (creamy tomato basil and caprese panini), I headed home. There was some sneezing. Would it have felt like my neck was trying to expel my throat if I hadn’t warbled like a songbird the night before? Once home, I went to bed at 2, woke up at 7, managed to stay up until 11 on account of some good movies on the classic movie channel, and slept through until about 11 on Saturday morning. I still felt like death warmed over, so unfurled my futon chair and made a daybed in front of the TV out of it and several pillows. The movie channel took good care of me with such classics as “Elmer Gantry,” “National Velvet,” and “Wuthering Heights.” As Saturday evening wore on, I began to feel noticeably better (I recorded “The Sea Hawk” because though I’ve never seen it, I just couldn’t stay up for it. I’ve had the soundtrack for 20 years on the recommendation of public radio for Eric Korngold’s scoring skills). I went back to bed around 11 again, and again slept until a little before 11. I was very much better on Sunday—I have always said that sleep is my best medicine. Sunday night I went to bed at the usual time which is not early or late, or just right. Monday I felt pretty good, except for the nose-blowing.The verdict on the dot connexions? I wonder if I would have felt so crappy on Friday if I had just come home Thursday night and gotten two, maybe three, more hours of sleep. Hard to know.
Still, I certainly see a lot of related actions and outcomes between Wednesday and Sunday.
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