Well, Dang.

Hoooo doggie its been hot in Vermont for the past two weeks and instead of sitting on my butt blogging and editing pictures like I usually do I actually got up and went outside!  Every day all day!  We have broken the record for high temps here for the past FIVE (5) days in a row!

 

80s people!!

This ain't normal folks.

Let's see, a recap of how I have tried to substitute real life movement for hypnotized elliptical training/CSI watching:

At least I got to see a bald eagle on my pee squeezing walk

I walked for 5 hours 2 Saturdays ago.  Or was it last Saturday?  Who keeps track of stuff like days and times anyway?  I started walking at 9:30am.  I got a half mile or so from home and realized I had drank a 16oz coffee right before I left.  Go before you go, people!  That's like a rule of life you are supposed to learn when you are 2!  SO I thought I would be fine just "holding it".  I made it another mile before I started hopping.  I went to call my husband to come get me and saw that I only had 1 bar of battery left!  My phone is a piece of genuine crap and I knew if I tried to call and he didn't answer that I'd be shit out of luck.  Or piss.  whatever.   So I texted him instead.  I waited for 5 minutes at the place I told him I would be, eagerly anticipating a ride to the nearest loo.  Nothing.  So I texted him again.  I told him I would meet him a little farther down on the main road.  Waited for 10 minutes, took some pictures of dirt, and still no blue car carrying my knight in shining armor.  Damn.  I looked at my phone and it gave me the finger.  It said "Battery Low" and just kept blinking.  I looked around for a place to go but really there was no where.  So I started walking.  I imagine you tone up your glutes when you are walking how I was walking.

I made it home (2 miles away P.S.) and glared at my husband as I walked in the door.  Did I mention I was totally PMS'ing?  Oh yea it WAS this past Saturday!  All coming back to me now.
"Don't you have your phone on??" I snapped.  He had that look of "Oh shibitz" on his face, trying to remember where he had put it.  "I had to PEE!!!!  What if I had been kidnapped?!?!  They would have taken me!"  And he probably would have been totally fine with that at this point.  I regrouped in the bathroom and then declared that we were taking another walk.  This time with our 2 year old.  I walked around for another hour and a half with them.  Suddenly I felt a sharp pain inside of me.  The kind that makes me look at my little rump roast I mean daughter and gives me Wile E. Coyote ideas.  I was STARVING.  I had totally forgotten to eat anything since I had breakfast, which was at 7:00am.  OOPS.  We were 2 miles away from home again.  All I had was a stick of gum.  That stick of gum was pulverized into a fine powder by the time we finally got home.  I inhaled a bagel and most likely some kind of chocolate.

I decided that I needed to detail my car.  I'm not sure what that term really means, but I took it to mean that I needed to make my car look something other than a mobile dumpster.  First, I washed it.  Then for good measure I washed my van as well (way bigger, way more calories to burn!).  Then I opened up the car and started heaving crap out.  On the floor where my older child puts her feet (and sometimes my oldest child) was this big dark stain that God only knows what it is.  I made my husband clean that.  Then I polished everything, vacuumed the hell out of it, and hosed down the floor mats.  The sun was getting low in the sky but it was still 75 degrees so I took a walk.  By dinner time my feet were tingling and my thighs told me they give up.  I felt good.  Now if only I hadn't been PMS'ing and eaten all that chocolate.  Its really amazing that I haven't gained 10 lb since Saturday.

View from the top of Mt Philo

Sunday I hiked up Mt. Philo with some ladies from church, which is the best hike ever because its PAVED.  Yes, a bike path basically up this somewhat small mountain that overlooks the lake and the real mountains.  We took  my 11 year old son, a 6 year old child, and a dog with us.  As soon as I stepped out of the car my thighs were like "Hey!  Remember yesterday?!?!  Our union says we get a day off!"  My thighs don't really talk to me I swear.  Don't tell anyone.  So I pretended I was not in pain and started up all perky and stuff.  The dog was RUNNING up the mountain.  Oh to be a 9 month old Doberman.  When we got to the top it was beautiful out still.  Then we went back down.  Super easy.

Monday I did sit on my ass for a while.

But I walked the kids home from school so I got 2 miles in.

Tuesday I walked the kids to school, and took a walk in the afternoon to get my little one to sleep.

Two of my little freakmonkeys.

 85 flippin' degrees.

Wednesday I drove a lot and walked a little.  

SERIOUSLY!?!?!

Thursday (today) I walked the kids to school and then went on a muddy hike through a local state park with my friend and her daycare.

Indian Brook

Now that was interesting.  I then walked my middle child home from school.  We call that a "leisurely" walk when coding it on My Fitness Pal.  My little doop-dee-doo is not a fast walker.  I'm ok with that though.

 If I'd been walking too fast I wouldn't have gotten to see this!

I didn't eat breakfast today (not on purpose) but I did eat three yogurts, 3 small peppermint patties, a peanut butter and fluff sandwich (also not on purpose but I ain't complaining), 2 tacos, 4 small peanut butter cookies, and a bowl of ice cream.  Pretty sure I evened out my calories burned.  I just can't seem to get to that point where I'm exercising more than I'm eating.

Tomorrow is to be the coldest day we've had in 2 weeks at 60 degrees with a stiff wind.  Sadly, the high pressure system that was holding off the eskimo air from Canadia (typo but i'm keeping it) is finally moving out and normal March weather in Vermont is coming for next week.  Which means I'll be back to sitting on my butt and desperately trying to stay below 130 lb by using the elliptical three times a day to balance out my chocolate addiction.  It seems to have calmed down since, you know, Auntie Flo came.  Thank God for that I was running out of Hershey bars!

It's the diet that's killing me

Sure, sure, Average Joe works me out to death whenever we have a training session.  I often can't lift my arms or legs depending upon which type of 1-hour weight training he has concocted for me. This should be enough, right?

Let's go back to goals.  My goal: sleep better at night.

After about day 2 of training and working out on my own, goal met. I have not slept this well in years.   But let's look at this more closely. 
1) I have worked out pretty hard off and on throughout my adult life. A few months here, a few months there with long stretches between of not working out.
2) I have tried over the counter sleeping medicine, thinking that if I just got that good night's sleep, I could easily start my shape-up "tomorrow". 
3) I have never dieted in my life.   I have never been on a diet, I have not owned a scale for years--like over a dozen years.  The only time I know what I weigh is when I go into the doctors office, and even then, I look away.

So, day one with training, Average Joe weighs me and takes my body fat index or whatever it is.  I look away.  I still do not know what it is, honestly--my goal is to sleep, have more energy and gain maybe just the teensiest little focus on what I do during the day.  (Hint, this blog is not it, at all)

Then he goes over my "diet."  Diet?  What's a frickin diet?  How does one diet?  Well, I guess it's not really a diet --there are a few things out, but generally, it's a shift in how I eat, i.e., I have to eat breakfast and second breakfast.  And no sugar crap after noon.   That's the kicker.  You don't think of fruit as sugar.  Generally when I want to lose weight or slim a little, it's fruit for dessert.

Okay, makes no logical sense to me.  But he explains during our workout, the sugars and no pastas and stuff like that in the afternoons and evenings are about sleep.   I am desperate, I will try it.

So that night and every night after for the last two weeks, its no sugars (not even fruit, that's a morning only thing) in the afternoon and evenings.  Good god it's hard.  I am constantly battling myself, especially since I taught my daughter how to bake over the last couple of years.  Little lady has a knack for fancy schmancy desserts.   And carb-laden breakfasts.  And, good god can she make some mac n cheese.  Mmm, mac n cheese, I miss you so.

And it makes the WHOLE HOUSE smell like fancy schmancy desserts, after I eat my protein and veggies.

Good god how long can this go on?  But again, I DO sleep better at night, and better than I did when I worked out hard before and DIDN'T stop eating those things at night.   So maybe Average Joe has something?

Time will tell.  And tomorrow is the first weigh in again -- to check those blasted numbers.