I was tired this morning, so I didn't go to strength training. No biggie, I thought, I'll make sure to take a lunch walk. Not as good, but it will do. Only then it started pouring rain at lunch. Well, I still have a little walk up the big hill to meet Jason after work to look forward to, so at least I'll get my heart pumping for a few minutes.
Lame.
Yesterday, though, I did well. First off, though, my alarm didn't go off. Sometimes it goes off at weird times, but this is the first time it just didn't go off, period. I woke up on my own at 6:22, jumped out of bed and managed to make it to the pool by 6:40. I must admit, it's nice to live only a couple miles away.
We proceeded to do a million 100s at top speed. We did 100s of free, 100s of drills and 100s of stroke (I did backstroke) all as fast as we could. I was exhausted by the time it was done, though my fastest 100 was 1:24, which is a new best time for me (at least since my swim team days).
I keep thinking, if I could just get rid of some of this excess fat, imagine how fast I would be! I suppose skipping strength training class is not the best way to go about that.
Tomorrow I swim. Friday is strength training. Saturday I will swim again because I want to get in 4 workouts this week.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Determination
Work has exploded again, like it did in October, November and December, but this time I'm determined not to let it derail me. So even though I could come into work at 7:30 or 8 tomorrow, I'm going to go to Masters swimming from 6:30-7:30. And then I'm going to go to strength training on Wednesday from 6:30-7:30. And so on.
I just think it's really important to keep going. I know I'll feel better if I keep up my healthy eating and my regular workouts.
I just think it's really important to keep going. I know I'll feel better if I keep up my healthy eating and my regular workouts.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
4.5!
That's how many inches I've lost in the past couple of weeks! The scale is staying put for now, but I have lost a total of 4.5 inches. I'm thrilled with that!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
NSV
"NSV" in weight loss lingo means "non-scale victory". I don't have one yet, but I have a couple of ideas of NSVs I want to shoot for.
First, I just bought a cocktail dress (Yay for Nordstrom free shipping both ways!). I often have to go to cocktail and semi-formal affairs for work and I've just about worn my 2 other cocktail dresses into the ground. The new dress is this lovely deep purple color, with chiffon layers and it ALMOST looks amazing on me. The shape is perfect for my body, which is saying something, since I often have a hard time finding things that look right on both my hips and my waist. Usually it's one or the other.
While you might think that fitting perfectly into this dress is actually weight-related, I would argue that the number on the scale won't really matter, so long as my proportions are correct. I'm doing strength training to get toned and to improve my overall shape, and that's what looking amazing in this dress depends on. My next work event is at the end of April, and my hope is that I'll be wearing the purple dress!
My next NSV goal is about feeling good about myself when I go visit my grandma in Florida in May. I know we'll be making at least one trip to the beach, and I want to feel confident in the knowledge that I have done everything I can to be fit and healthy. I want to be comfortable hanging out in my swimsuit.
By the way, we're buying our house! I mean, the one we're living in right now. I am oddly calm about it, while Jason is kind of a nervous wreck. I'm not sure if my calmness is denial about the implications of it all, but I'm pretty sure I've thought it through and I feel A-OK. Maybe I've just decided to let Jason do all the worrying. For once.
First, I just bought a cocktail dress (Yay for Nordstrom free shipping both ways!). I often have to go to cocktail and semi-formal affairs for work and I've just about worn my 2 other cocktail dresses into the ground. The new dress is this lovely deep purple color, with chiffon layers and it ALMOST looks amazing on me. The shape is perfect for my body, which is saying something, since I often have a hard time finding things that look right on both my hips and my waist. Usually it's one or the other.
While you might think that fitting perfectly into this dress is actually weight-related, I would argue that the number on the scale won't really matter, so long as my proportions are correct. I'm doing strength training to get toned and to improve my overall shape, and that's what looking amazing in this dress depends on. My next work event is at the end of April, and my hope is that I'll be wearing the purple dress!
My next NSV goal is about feeling good about myself when I go visit my grandma in Florida in May. I know we'll be making at least one trip to the beach, and I want to feel confident in the knowledge that I have done everything I can to be fit and healthy. I want to be comfortable hanging out in my swimsuit.
By the way, we're buying our house! I mean, the one we're living in right now. I am oddly calm about it, while Jason is kind of a nervous wreck. I'm not sure if my calmness is denial about the implications of it all, but I'm pretty sure I've thought it through and I feel A-OK. Maybe I've just decided to let Jason do all the worrying. For once.
Monday, March 12, 2012
House Update
Saturday I went to lunch with a friend and then we drove around and looked at the outsides of a bunch of houses in southern Mass. One of them made us both go "oooo, pretty!" But when I looked at my notes on the house, I was reminded that it had pink carpet in several rooms.
Really? Who decided pink carpet was a good idea?
The house is kind of at the top end of our price range, and we would definitely have to put some work into it if we moved in. However, included in the price, stretching waaaay back into the woods, is 9.4 acres. My friend asked me what Jason and I would do with 9.4 acres. I thought about it for a second and determined that we would sell half of it. Then we would STILL have 4.6 acres.
Yesterday I drove around another town in Massachusetts and found a darling neighborhod, with families outside enjoying the sun, and this happy little yellow house for sale plopped right in the middle of it all. I'm kind of a sucker for yellow houses.
It's a lot of fun to look around, but in the end, I think we may stay put. The landlady has given us a price, and it's not unreasonable, though I think we're going to try to negotiate in the furniture of hers that we've been borrowing.
Last night, we were talking about little things we could do to fix the place up a bit more to our liking. Put tile in and get a new sink for the half bath. Possibly paint the dining room. Finally finish organizing the stuff we've been putting off organizing because it was a temporary home anyway. Jason was speculating on what exactly it would take to replace the kitchen cabinets.
So I think we're nesting a bit. Or talking about nesting. We'll see how negotiations go.
Really? Who decided pink carpet was a good idea?
The house is kind of at the top end of our price range, and we would definitely have to put some work into it if we moved in. However, included in the price, stretching waaaay back into the woods, is 9.4 acres. My friend asked me what Jason and I would do with 9.4 acres. I thought about it for a second and determined that we would sell half of it. Then we would STILL have 4.6 acres.
Yesterday I drove around another town in Massachusetts and found a darling neighborhod, with families outside enjoying the sun, and this happy little yellow house for sale plopped right in the middle of it all. I'm kind of a sucker for yellow houses.
It's a lot of fun to look around, but in the end, I think we may stay put. The landlady has given us a price, and it's not unreasonable, though I think we're going to try to negotiate in the furniture of hers that we've been borrowing.
Last night, we were talking about little things we could do to fix the place up a bit more to our liking. Put tile in and get a new sink for the half bath. Possibly paint the dining room. Finally finish organizing the stuff we've been putting off organizing because it was a temporary home anyway. Jason was speculating on what exactly it would take to replace the kitchen cabinets.
So I think we're nesting a bit. Or talking about nesting. We'll see how negotiations go.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Sugar Buzz
Yesterday, I was reminded what a real sugar buzz feels like, even though it was just natural sugar. I swam 2800 yards yesterday morning, then ate eggs and a banana at my desk for breakfast. Then we went to a meeting at another attorney's office, and when we got there, they offered us freshly-squeezed orange juice. Apparently they have this whole kitchen set up with a juicer and all. So I said ok, because how often do you get fresh orange juice? Well, maybe you get it a lot, but I don't.
I drank half of my glass. About 20 minutes later, my brain started buzzing. That's the best way I can describe it. It really feels like there's something going on in my head, and I feel antsy and hyper. It's a surefire indicator to me that my blood sugar is spiking. I guess the juice on top of the banana was too much.
A little while later, I crashed, and I never really recovered for the rest of the day. I was dragging around, getting my work done, but just barely.
That was a good lesson to me that I'm doing the right thing, limiting carbs. I'm feeling out the best way for me to eat and it's starting to work. I already know that my body doesn't like grains, especially wheat. I seem to tolerate corn and rice better than wheat, but I don't eat those that often either.
I don't seem to have a problem with dairy and feel perfectly fine incorporating whole milk and Greek yogurt into my diet.
I'm eating a piece of fruit every day.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes are a-ok, in moderation.
The foundation of my diet is meat and vegetables, particularly green vegetables.
The scale continues to go down bit by bit. Also, weight training + swimming = I can already see my triceps even though they're mostly hidden by excess fat.
I drank half of my glass. About 20 minutes later, my brain started buzzing. That's the best way I can describe it. It really feels like there's something going on in my head, and I feel antsy and hyper. It's a surefire indicator to me that my blood sugar is spiking. I guess the juice on top of the banana was too much.
A little while later, I crashed, and I never really recovered for the rest of the day. I was dragging around, getting my work done, but just barely.
That was a good lesson to me that I'm doing the right thing, limiting carbs. I'm feeling out the best way for me to eat and it's starting to work. I already know that my body doesn't like grains, especially wheat. I seem to tolerate corn and rice better than wheat, but I don't eat those that often either.
I don't seem to have a problem with dairy and feel perfectly fine incorporating whole milk and Greek yogurt into my diet.
I'm eating a piece of fruit every day.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes are a-ok, in moderation.
The foundation of my diet is meat and vegetables, particularly green vegetables.
The scale continues to go down bit by bit. Also, weight training + swimming = I can already see my triceps even though they're mostly hidden by excess fat.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
What's Up With You?
The latest news is that I think we're trying to buy the house we're living in right now. I'm not so sure that it's going to work out, so I'm stressed about that because we would have to be out by May 1 if it doesn't happen. We've talked about possibly buying the house before, but it's always been very speculative. However, I emailed the landlady last week to see if she wanted to extend our lease for another year and she said definitely no, she wants to sell.
So we're tentatively entering into negotiations with her and already it seems like she thinks she'll get more for the house than we are willing to pay. Especially considering if she sells to us, she won't have to pay realtor fees, she won't have to fix up the place before she lists it (and there are several things that need to be spruced up), and she will have a guaranteed buyer, versus having the house sit empty (and without a renter making payments) for however long it takes to sell.
Also, just to throw this in, the fact that she bought at the top of the market in 2007 and wants to recoup some of her investment? Not our fault. I'm not going to overpay.
But I'm a little concerned that by the time she realizes all of this, it will be too late and we will have moved out months before.
So we started looking at rentals yesterday and there really isn't much out there. After living in a house for a year and a half, we are loathe to move back into an apartment.
Last night we puttered around Zillow, looking at listings. There's one in Massachusetts, just over the border, that we really like. But this whole buying a house thing is kind of terrifying, especially when we still don't know what the next couple of years are going to bring. When it comes to reselling, I think the place we're in now would resell more quickly because it's basically in the city. And it's a good location for a rental if we couldn't sell right away.
Also, oh my gosh, I sooooo don't want to move right now. When I think about packing up all of our stuff - AGAIN - I just feel exhausted.
I guess it all depends on where these discussions with our landlady go.
On the upside, stress makes me fast. I swam 2800 yards this morning in an hour, and was swimming my sets of 100s at about 1:37, which is really good for me, considering I'm still getting back into the swimming groove.
So we're tentatively entering into negotiations with her and already it seems like she thinks she'll get more for the house than we are willing to pay. Especially considering if she sells to us, she won't have to pay realtor fees, she won't have to fix up the place before she lists it (and there are several things that need to be spruced up), and she will have a guaranteed buyer, versus having the house sit empty (and without a renter making payments) for however long it takes to sell.
Also, just to throw this in, the fact that she bought at the top of the market in 2007 and wants to recoup some of her investment? Not our fault. I'm not going to overpay.
But I'm a little concerned that by the time she realizes all of this, it will be too late and we will have moved out months before.
So we started looking at rentals yesterday and there really isn't much out there. After living in a house for a year and a half, we are loathe to move back into an apartment.
Last night we puttered around Zillow, looking at listings. There's one in Massachusetts, just over the border, that we really like. But this whole buying a house thing is kind of terrifying, especially when we still don't know what the next couple of years are going to bring. When it comes to reselling, I think the place we're in now would resell more quickly because it's basically in the city. And it's a good location for a rental if we couldn't sell right away.
Also, oh my gosh, I sooooo don't want to move right now. When I think about packing up all of our stuff - AGAIN - I just feel exhausted.
I guess it all depends on where these discussions with our landlady go.
On the upside, stress makes me fast. I swam 2800 yards this morning in an hour, and was swimming my sets of 100s at about 1:37, which is really good for me, considering I'm still getting back into the swimming groove.
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