Hotel Room Carpet

Despite eating at Smash Burger today--and loving it--I have to pat myself on the back for victories in other areas:

First, the boys and I were in Denver all day Monday and part of Tuesday. Got up early on Monday and did a workout. Yay!

Took the kids to Krispy Kreme. They ate doughnuts. I did not. Yay! (for me, anyway)

Ate the world's biggest and most expensive salad from Whole Foods for dinner last night. Yay! Sort of.

Got up this morning and did a workout in the hotel room. Yay!

Then it went downhill from here because we went to Smash Burger, but the good news is that they have added a "Small Smash" to their menu--a smaller burger! What does this mean? I can save calories there and eat more Haystack Onions! OK, maybe that's not a yay. So my meal was a Classic Small Smash, no cheese, no bun. Yum, I'm telling you. I'm still thinking about it 12 hours later. Sad.

Back to today's workout in the hotel. It was just me and the boys so I couldn't really leave them in the room and go to the fitness center. Besides, I wanted to do a DVD anyway. Our room had a little living area, so I did Core 20 and Lower 20 from TurboFire.

And then I realized I had to get down on the floor for parts of each workout. And I looked at the hotel carpet and threw up in my mouth a little. Ick.

And that's where Today's Tip of the Day comes in: Under no circumstances should any of your body parts touch hotel room carpet. Get a towel out of the bathroom before you proceed.

FYI: I also checked the bed for bed bugs. Didn't see any, but was sure things were crawling on me all night. Happy thought.

Streaming Netflix is Distracting Me

We have a Netflix account. And I confess, I love it beyond all that is rational. Why? Well, let's face it, with the death of every DVD rental place (I almost wrote "video rental place" but that makes me look way old. Why don't I just start writing about the BetaMax now and seal my fate?) there's no place to rent. And I was a little behind the curve on finding out about RedBox. I know, I know. I'm a late adopter, remember.

Anyway, the beauty of Netflix is that they have all of those crazy English shows I love to watch. Ad nauseum. Shows that no one else will watch with me. I can stream them right to my computer or iPad and it's a beautiful thing.

So why am I writing about Netflix on my fitness blog? Here's the thing--you can also stream Netflix through your Wii. Or other gaming console thingy, which we don't have. We have a Wii. Not that I know how to work it, but we have one.

Now, awhile ago, a year? More? Heck, I don't know. But awhile ago, I made the boys move the Wii to the basement because I couldn't stand the competitive arguments they would get into while playing. Plus, it interfered with my Oprah watching while I was making dinner, but I digress. But after the Wii moved to the basement, we received a disk in the mail from Netflix. You could use it to set up Netflix to stream to your gamey thingy.

We tried it. It didn't work. I didn't pursue it further. I figured it had to do with having the gamey thingy in the basement.

So a few weeks ago, Declan discovered that it has nothing to do with the gamey thingy being in the basement. No, it apparently had something to do with the fact that I had no idea what I was doing. Imagine that.

Now, the streaming works. In the basement. Which cracks me up because now the kids sit down there for movie night, which is kind of weird. But I'm liking it, too, because I can watch all of my crazy English drama down there.

This is good and bad. It's bad because that makes me want to work out on the elliptical so I can watch TV at the same time. I think the elliptical is lame for burning calories. I find it boring and I don't push myself on it. Bad. Not pushing is bad.

But it's good because I've started doing something a little different. Today I did a high intensity workout DVD first, burned a bunch of calories, then hopped on the elliptical, kept my heart rate up and trotted along while I watched my current English show of choice--Mi5, or Spooks if you're in the UK. It was a win-win all the way around.

Dear Rupert Penry-Jones, I love you.

Tip of the Day: Watching Rupert Penry-Jones will boost your heart rate and you will burn more calories. Try it and see.

Goals, Schmoals

I haven't done crap on my goal achievement this week, people.

Yes, I've worked out, but my eating has been marginal at best and I haven't been recording my food past about breakfast each day. And how about that goal to blog here 3 times a week? Not happening.

When does school start????? Two weeks? Two weeks = eternity in my world right now.

I'm just hanging on by a thread. I know I'll be sad (well, maybe not really sad, but just sort of sad in a "oh my word the fact that they're back at school means time is passing quickly and I'm getting old" type of sad. It's always all about me.) when they go back. Declan will start middle school and we'll enter a whole new era.

Blah blah blah, I know. Whatever.

I'm just sort of flapping along and trying to stay afloat until I can get my work finished during the day again. And then maybe go to bed before midnight.

So my goal report is really kind of lame. My goal for August should really just have been: not have a nervous breakdown. That was my goal for July and I achieved it, but just barely.

Anyway, my tip of the day: Don't have a nervous breakdown. I'd be sad if you did.

I do confess I'm also looking forward to September and starting a real workout schedule again. I will be setting some pretty aggressive fitness goals for myself this fall and I'm excited to get rolling on them.

Wake me up when September comes. Even though that's not how the song goes.

I Ate Pie. And It's Not My Cheat Day.

And that about sums up today.

Yesterday was my cheat day. It involved tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream and popcorn.

My ankles are a little puffy today.

Today I ate super clean all day, and low on calories, so that I could afford a piece of pie and some ice cream tonight for my nephew's birthday.

That right there is the tip of the day: If you know you have some sort of celebration, plan for it earlier in the day (or even earlier in the week). That way you can enjoy a small treat without blowing your calorie budget out the window.

Now we're watching 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or as Finn calls it 40,000 Legs Under the Sea. We challenged him to count how many legs he sees during the course of the movie.

Groovy Music

Most of the music on my iPod is from the 80s or before. Sad, I know. But I confess, I love 80s music. And now that I think about it, there is a good bit of 90s music on there as well. But as for anything in the 21st century? Really not much.

So now I have children. Children who have iPods and friends who listen to music that sometimes makes me raise my eyebrows.

But look who's talking. How about some of the stuff we listened to growing up and never thought twice? "Mama's got a squeezebox, Daddy never sleeps at night?" What's that all about? And "gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight, gonna grab some afternoon delight." Excuse me? I clearly remember belting out those lyrics when I was younger than Declan is now. Afternoon delight? I had no clue what that was until someone explained it to me. When I was about 32.

I've lived a sheltered life.

I had a point here. Ah, I know what it was.

My point was that lately, I've been downloading some music. I'm going to tell you what it is, but you can't laugh. One of my favorite new downloads is from...wait for it...the Disney TV movie, Lemonade Mouth.

Cannot believe I just confessed that. I will also admit that for several years now I've sometimes been seen trotting around the neighborhood and listening to High School Musical 2. I hope you still respect me.

In my defense, I have also downloaded some Bruno Mars, Pink, Jessie J, and some other stuff the boys wanted. I don't even know who they are, but I feel like I need to listen to them just in case they're learning about afternoon delight or something.

My point--finally--is that I love walking to music I really like, regardless of whether or not it makes me look like a huge geek. I like to bop along. Sometimes I play the air guitar, sing or even do a little dance step. If I think no one is looking. Then there was that time not too long ago I was singing and not realizing someone was running up behind me. Oh well.

Exercise doesn't have to be a hugely strenuous thing (although I'll do a post about intensity). Strap on your sneakers/tennis shoes/running shoes/trainers--whatever you call them in your corner of the planet--and get out there.

And do a little groovy step in my honor.

Checking in
I'm on target for this week except that we've been out and about so I haven't logged my food. And I notice it in the little nibbling I've done here and there. Those little nibbles add up, so take my advice. Log your food and be consistent about it.

In fact, that's my tip of the day. Again.

Going Through the Motions

Hey, how about me not posting on the very first day of the Wellness Challenge? I realize that I said one of my goals was to post 3x a week, but really, I figured I'd at least post on the first day!

It wasn't meant to be. And that happens. And that's the point of this post.

Life happens. And you need to work to accomodate life as best you can. Have I mentioned that Mondays are hell days, but they are particularly hellish in the summer? It's just because of deadlines, but with the boys home, Mondays are just tough. I stayed up really late on Sunday night trying to get my ducks in a row, but that made me super tired Monday morning. And I woke up to the added bonus of my period. TMI. Yes, indeed. But my period wipes me out in my old age. I think I'm ready for menopause. Not really. Or maybe. Not sure.

Anway, my point is when the alarm went off at 5:25am, I made no move to get up and walk. I finally rolled out of bed at about 6:30am and I did a really lame cardio workout for about 40 minutes and then did some stretching. I did the whole workout low impact. My feet never left the ground. I didn't burn a whole heck of a lot of calories--maybe 250 total. But I was OK with it.

Eamonn has said for years that when you don't feel like working out, just start and go through the motions. Usually when that happens, once I'm up, dressed in my workout gear and in the basement and started moving, endorphins start to kick in and away I go. I'm always glad when I make like Nike and Just Do It.

Now, with that said, yesterday the endorphins never kicked in. I just went through the motions, but I'm glad I at least did that. I didn't want to say I skipped my workout on Day One.

And today, I did hop out of bed right at 5:25am and went for a great walk.

So there.

Food on Monday was good and typical. Shakeology for breakfast, leftover salmon, rice, and carrots for lunch, fruit and crackers for a snack, a Cooking Light recipe for vegetable enchiladas for dinner that no one like but me. Came in around 1386 calories, which seems low. I also had two squares of dark chocolate. Just because.

Today's food:
Breakfast: Shakeology, almond milk, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup cantaloupe.
Lunch: Salad w/ last of leftover salmon, feta, tomatoes, cukes, yellow pepper, olive oil, avocado...some tortilla chips.
Snack: two squares of dark chocolate (is this a trend?)
Dinner: Baked potato with sauteed mushrooms, onions

So I feel on track for the week even though I didn't at first. It all comes out in the wash. I'm also realizing that with all of my walking, when I transition back to some hardcore high impact aerobics in 4 - 5 weeks, it's going to be a sufferfest.

I'm telling myself that a little suffering is good for oneself. I'll let you know how that works out.

Tip of the Day: Even when you don't want to workout, Just Do It. Start and you may find yourself getting a great workout. Or maybe you'll just go through the motions that day, but either way, you'll be glad you did! Trust me on this one.