Sorry for neglecting you, Dad.

(sitting in my parents living room, Dad watching hockey, me on my laptop)

Dad:  What are you looking up?

Me:  Nothing.  Just reading blogs.

Dad:  You haven't been blogging much lately.  I understood when you were working out, but now that you're not...

Me:  We only took a break for a week - we're back at it.

Dad:  You should have written that - how were we supposed to know?

**********

Sorry, folks. Apparently I've been leaving you in the dark.  P90X update - Sean's bout with BPPV was minor and short lived, thankfully, so we've been back at it for a couple of weeks.  Three weeks left!  I did take the disc and workout in my hotel last weekend, but we also left them at home this weekend and are just skipping them completely.  In the ultimate compliment, my mom said my shoulders are looking like the boys' - my wiry nephews.  Made me laugh. 

In other thoughts, here's a thread from the blogs I was reading that resonates with me.  It's along the lines of what and how we think of ourselves.  Seth Godin had a post last week called Turning the habit of self-criticism upside down.  Why do we put ourselves in the best light possible when dealing with teams and bosses, but beat ourselves up in our own heads about all kinds of things?  He suggests taking responsibility for the things we 'learned from' at work, and, what struck me was be more supportive of yourself. 

In the same vein, my friend Jackie has been posting lately about making changes in her life - she wrote a post about how thinking about the things you are working towards is far more effective than the black hole of focusing on the negative things you are trying to move away from.

Focus on what I want to be & where I want to go.  Be supportive of myself & encourage myself that I can do it.  Life ends up being so much more positive... these are reminders I need again and again.

On Hold

Our P90X workouts have been put on hold.

All those downward dogs and other movements and positions have given Sean a case of BPPV - Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.  He's got a good case of the dizzies, and we're going to take a break for a week to let that sort itself out, then get back to in.  Hopefully it will be gone before then.  We went in to the clinic Thursday after the second morning of waking up to the room spinning; he's got an appointment with our doctor this Thursday, so we'll see where it's at then.

We did just take our two month photos, and there are definitely some changes from our day one shots.  I'm trusting the short break doesn't get us too far off track.

Hmm... maybe since I'm not working out right now, I should go find some chocolate to eat instead...

The Week That Was

Books - I just devoured book two in the Hunger Games trilogy.  So good.  If the library wasn't already closed when I shut the cover tonight, I might have run right out to see if I could find the third...  I saw it last week on the new 7 day renters shelf, but hadn't got the second book yet.  I picked it up yesterday and yeah, devoured is the right word for it.

I am still waiting for Ender's Game, which is our next book club read.  We meet this coming Thursday, so I hope it comes soon!  Another futuristic youth science fiction...

Movies - We saw two movies this week.  Sunday night Sean & I watched The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.  It was fast paced, kept you guessing and wondering, and had some good surprising twists.  I quite enjoyed it.  Last night the three of us went out to see a show, and took in Hop on opening night.  The previews were inappropriate for the age of kids that were there, and lots of the humour in the movie itself was too old - I know they make these movies so that the parents will get some laughs, too, but if I take my kid to a movie, I don't want to be hoping she doesn't get some of the jokes.  It was a silly movie; parts of it were cute, and parts of it did have me laughing.  Overall I'd say don't waste your time and money, and play a game together instead. 

Disappointment - I talked myself into signing up for a triathlon this spring (a super short rookie women's event), and had the registration opens date of April 1 in the back of my mind for a while.  Friday rolls around, I think "Ok, I'm going to do this" and then see this: Registration for the See Jane Tri for the Cure is NOW CLOSED. Thank you for the quick sell out!!!!  Sigh.  On to other options, I guess.

Have you read those books?  Seen those movies?  Liked?  Disliked?  I'm curious to know what you think.

It starts... Tomorrow.

P90X.  Extreme Home Fitness.  It's 90 days of intense working out and eating healthy and hopefully seeing great results and setting us up for a better lifestyle after.

We talked about doing it for a while, and looked for a cheap one on Used Regina, but finally just went out and bought one last weekend.  Then we got another mat and a pull up bar and resistance bands, protein supplements, new shoes, and some upgrades to our living room stereo system that we've been putting off, but which were necessary to do this upstairs.  (The basement's too small for us both to work out at once.)  We've got enough invested in this now that there's no backing out!  And that's why I didn't tell you until now - we had to keep that option open. 

Our measurements and 'before' photos have been taken - remember the fat tests we had done in junior high, with the little pinching tool?  Yeah, we bought ourselves one.  Crazy.  There's just one more thing to do before we press play tomorrow, and that's the fit test, to record a few 'before' numbers so we have something to compare end results to.

Wish us well - I'll keep you informed of our progress.  Probably won't post those photos until I have some after ones, though!!

R is for Running.

Today I went for my last Running Room motivated run.  Our clinic ended this week, and I`ve succeeded in running the full three times a week.  Yay, me!  Now I have to figure out a new way to keep motivated.  I really liked that part - knowing that we were going to meet Monday night and it would be harder than last week, so I need to stay on top of it. 

If I come up with a good plan of where to go from here, I`ll let you know. 

I`d love to hear your suggestions of what you do.

A week in the life...

Monday - Went to my first Running Room Clinic.  Apparently that makes me a runner, now.  Thanks, Jess, Silas, Levi & Solomon for the inspiration.

Tuesday - Took Madeline for a run.  Let's just say that running will be my thing, not our thing.

Wednesday - Got a call from my doctor's office that my blood test results are back and the doctor wants to see me. (He said if they were fine, he wouldn't call.)  Last time I went to give blood, they said my iron was low enough to warrant a doctor's visit... 

Thursday - Napped in the middle of the afternoon.  Was it just laziness or the tiredness of anemia brought on by the doctor's office call?

Friday - Went for an hour long walk this morning; felt good on the muscles, bur I sure feel more like sleeping than working now.  Hoping when I get to the doctors in an hour he's got a miracle drug for me. (Eat more liver, maybe?)

Along with all of that, I had a couple of good work meetings, a dessert date with Sean, birthday party shopping & planning with M, and tonight we're taking her out for a birthday supper.  Tomorrow is her party - just a bunch of girls, pizza and a movie.  Pretty simple, but they're at the age where just hanging out is enough.

Oh, I should tell you a funny birthday party story.  Last week M went to a party for a friend; they spent some time playing in the park across the street, and the birthday girl (11 years old!) thought it would be funny to swing in the baby swing...  She got stuck.  So stuck that they had to call 911 - they sent a fire truck and ambulance, and they had to cut down the swing, then saw it off of her.  How's that for a memorable party??

Update:  The doc said my iron level is good, but my reserves are depleted, so he has me on iron twice a day for 3 months - he said I should have more energy than I know what to do with.  Yay - can't wait for that!

First Bike of the Season

Sean got out our bikes after supper, filled the tires, and off we went along the bike paths (we have to go under the tracks and across a busy road, but then we're set for quite a ways.  While we were out we saw people playing at the playground and a wailing child who did not want to leave the playground; people walking their dogs and people letting their dogs run on the fields (including a beagle Daisy who tried to chase me down); kids on bikes (in t shirts and shorts - I was wearing my winter jacket, toque and gloves); a family playing with a Frisbee ring and kites; and mamas walking pushing strollers.  And we heard birds, and of course something funny out of M's mouth.  I came up behind her and said, "I'm coming!" to which she replied, "I'm going!" as she sped up.

Yay!  Spring is here!  The other two never even came in when we got back - Sean is out in the garage and M was sweeping off the deck to get it ready for the patio furniture.  Earlier today she said that if it was out, she'd go read in the backyard.  Soon.

Show and Tell

This is Damian, our Compassion child from Mexico.  We just got this new photo in the mail; it's fun to see how much he's grown in the two years he's been 'ours.'

M's swimming lessons wrapped up this past Saturday, and she brought home a passing report!  On to level 8!  hanging out at the pool is not a bad way for her to keep active over the winter.  Sean and I had big plans to work out while she was in lessons (she goes at the Lawson, so there's an indoor track and with a weight area, and upstairs overlooking the pool there are more weights and cardio machines.)  Guess how many times we went???  Yep.  None.  Glad at least ONE of us is getting exercise.

 

Fitness

I have an ongoing love hate relationship with TaeBo.

What do you do to get exercise and stay fit?