Second Day of food structure and other rambling thoughts

OK, so I am writing down everything I eat, plugging it into :
http://www.fitday.com/
I can also plug in workouts and find out how much I have burned today..very cool!
It shows me how much fat, protein, carbs I am getting. Just the process of remembering what I ate 5 min. ago is exhausting! I am hoping this gets less time consuming as time goes on..I did the first of Josh' workouts in the gym yesterday and it went OK. Just core stuff. Had a horrible 45 min. run this AM. Trying to keep my HR below 132 (zone 2). I ended up getting really nauseated and felt like doggy doo-doo so walked part of the way. I think I should know by now that it is too much to eat breakfast right before running..I averaged about 16 min/miles for 45 min. Thank goodness I had my Garmin on to tell me that great information!

But alas-I was redeemed when my neighbor Kathy and I went out to Cochiti Lake afterwards and swam about a mile in 35 min. Why can't triathlon be all swimming? Oh, that's right-then it would be Master's Swimming...Anyway, it was fun, the lake was not crowded and we got done just before the really bad heat started..

Other news-hubby and I have decided to check out Defined Fitness for our new workout gym-YEAAAAA! I like the facility at the JCC but there are SCADS of little ones in the pool all the time. The lanes for lap swimming are frustrating and crowded. Then there is the guy that has a very strange swim where he pulls, then kicks with only one foot (he is not handicapped). Geez-not very inspiring..Of course I have heard some not so great things about Defined Pool too. I think Balance One-our alternative pool will never make it..There are so few people there and it must be sinking rapidly-great pool though.. We use to go Del Norte S&W until a year ago- Hartley had his car stolen there by someone who got his keys out of his locker, beeped the car and took it! Along with his wallet, cell phone, all our credit cards, etc..I guess there is some sense to the sign "Don't leave valuables in car" I also saw 3 days later someone break a window, get into some one's into a car at the same gym, in broad daylight! We got the car back, but all the stuff taken of course..He is traumatized and doesn't want to go back. OK-time to find new gym! That is how we ended up at the JCC-a nice family place with a police car parked in front for deterrence-seemed like a good safe option after the car theft incident a year ago but think it is time to go back to the grownup's gym. So Defined Fitness may be our choice starting in August-we are going to check it out this week..

Note to self: NEVER leave a locker unlocked with your car keys in them!

New Goals and Plan..

Every time I get back from vacation I have a renewed energy to make a plan to have a goal. Usually dietary/health related. I just get a new vision after taking a break from the old routine. I have been looking at Josh Hillis' book "Stubborn Seven Pounds" for a couple of weeks now (http://www.joshsgaragedenver.com/ ). He is out of Denver..my son-in-law told me about him. He works with mostly women athletes on getting that "last stubborn seven lbs off". Well, that would be me. I also read a book called the "Healthy Burn" by Kevin Koskella that discusses dietary changes, etc. I know i am not overweight-I just want to lose that elusive 7 lbs that seemed to come in the night about 2 years ago and wrap itself around my midsection and just will not leave. I don't eat sugar (usually), I eat pretty healthy, train alot and still the tire stays. So this is going to be my effort to get rid of it. In a nutshell, it is more weight training, more protein, less carbs. Not Atkins, just less of the carbs I usually eat. Lots of vegetables :(

One of the main focuses is the dreaded food diary...somehow recording what I eat makes me more mindful and really takes the fun out of eating..

So this morning, I woke up and weighed myself and measured my waist and hips. Seems my "waist to hip" ratio is high (duh) so that is the number to keep track of. Now I have always had my issues with the scale and eating. Had some form of eating disorder at a point in my life, so the scale is a dangerous place to be for me. Once a week is all-I am committed..

Back to the training schedule today after an invigorating 6 days off. It is very hot here I noticed as I got out of the airport yesterday-sure wish I could take that ocean air with me (not the pollution-just the ocean)... Plan for today: Bike 2 hours, swim 2000 plus meters..Weights at the gym..

OH and regarding bedbugs i was discussing, I saw this article yesterday in USA Today-YIKES! http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/07/theyre-back-cre.html?csp=34

Recovering In CalifornIA!

You know that great deal we got online for the flight and hotel? Well, here I sit in my bargain hotel room-you get what you way for I guess. It is clean but looks about 100 years old. I pray every night there are no bed bugs. The beds are comfortable I must say but probably a bit dated too. I have slept better here than at home for the last several months actually. Must be the hum of the bedbugs lolling me to sleep. This takes nothing away from the great visit we are having with daughter and granddaughter. Lane (3 year old) doesn't care about anything but the pool here. It is clean and we have had fun "swimming" in the pool with her. That is the extent of my exercise for the last 5 days. Oh, and walking around the Orange County State Fair, which is a step up from the State Fair in ABQ. Is alot more fun to go with grandchildren i have decided. No limits on sugar or rides for the grandkid..very cool...I have 2 more days of "recovery". My body finally has no aches or pains at all. My hair and skin thrives in the ocean/polluted air. No allergies except the occasional cough from LA pollution. Husband & I are off to a Dodger game tonite and then back to Abq tomorrow where the laundry and training awaits. It has been a great break from life at home (I know it is such a hard life)..:) Hey I have that serious laundry job! And then there is yardwork and flower care..and errands..hey maybe we will stay in the not so "Quality Inn" for a few more weeks!

We found out today that we need at least a new well pump at our cabin in northern NM, which had a serious flood this spring. We may need to go back to work just to get the place fixed up! Well, not really-we are hoping insurance pays for most of it....you know-that thing you pay in case of home disaster-well, this is one of those. We still may need a new heater, we are replacing all the floors, furniture, some walls and probably more as the flood result problem seems to be growing. We have learned a thing or two about MOLD-that really bad thing you get with musty water damage. It takes Chlorine to bleach the stuff out-gross! Thank goodness we don't have to live there full time but looks like trips to the cabin for this summer at least are suspended...But next year training for IMCDA in the spring will be great especially getting ready for those Idaho hills!

I found the key to a good quality workout..

Well, first you make your training sandwiched in between 2 important appointments..Then you bring your bike to the bike trail, look at your watch and say, "I have 1.5 hours to do a ride. let's go!" So Hartley and I rode hard and managed to do around 26 miles in that time. It felt really good-no middle age felt today! Then we rushed to the pool to do a 2400 meter swim workout in 40 minutes. I would love to say I completed that one but I would be one hell of a swimmer if I did! I did do 1400 meters, took a very quick shower, went to a Dr.'s appt where the doctor said I looked great and younger than the last time I was there..OK-my ego needed that! So feel great today-off to Long Beach tomorrow to see the smartest 3 year old that ever lived (granddaughter Lane). We were going to drive but yesterday I was on the phone with Lane. She says "Grandma Debi-when are you coming here?" Me: "in 2 days-we are driving" Lane: "Grandma Debi, why don't you go on a plane so you can get here faster?" This is coming from a 3 year old! Well, Grandma Debi did some research and guess what? I found a killer last-minute fare and we are going to fly! Wow, my grandkid is something else. Someday I will make a list of all the things she comes up with. like conversing with a little adult..Can't wait to see that kid..

The dreaded "A" word..

I heard it today from a professional..the word that has meaning on many levels to me..I was recently prescribed physical therapy for a few bulging discs an MRI showed in my spine. This is mainly for preventative measures to make sure I can still keep abusing my body with training. Little did I know 13 years ago when my dreams were to be Cory Everson-(world class female body builder, before they started looking like men) and lifting heavy weights, I was also slowly damaging my spine. The doctor explained that since I lifted weights, it messed up my discs and now I have the dreaded "A" word.....ARTHRITIS! Now some may take this gracefully-"oh I am just getting older-normal sign of aging for a woman" But NO I want to say-"NO" to aging gracefully. I hate that my body is aging. Today the physical therapist used that word about my knee too-ARTHRITIS! Geez, it's spreading now...Now I have alot of fear about that word. My mom died at a fairly young age of complications of rheumatoid arthritis. By the time she was my age, she was in a wheelchair. She use to be a golfer, active woman and one day in her forties-boom! Some professional said that word and her life and mine changed forever. Having a handicapped mom is very strange. Here was the woman who raised 5 children, could do anything, fix anything, travel, be there for me and one day the "A" word stopped all that. Now she coped with it as best as anyone for 20 years. Never gave up until the end when she could no longer move or talk....As a result, I am pretty hypervigilant about any aches and pains I have that is for sure. I even consulted with a rheumatologist who is taking my fear seriously and working with my neurosis. He doesn't really think I have RA,but never hurts to stay ahead of the game with blood tests, etc..
So you see, that word is loaded..Now the "arthitis" I have in my spine and maybe knee is not the same as mom (is osteoarthritis-if you haven't heard of it and you get older, you will). but I think of this as an "older" person's diagnosis. Not me-I am in some serious denial about being 53 years old. I have always looked young-that has kept me from facing facts. And there are some miracle things that my favorite doctor does to my face to keep it young. Now I just need to find the nice doctor who can turn back the hands of time and stop this ridiculous aging thing..I have aches and pains I never had before. I am wondering if one day I will wake up and just not care anymore. Just start eating fat, sugar, stop working out, start smoking again, drinking. Just to hell with it and go out with a bang! I have told Hartley that if I get a terminal disease I am pulling out all the stops and doing all the bad things to my body i have given up for so long (well probably not but it's a dramatic dream)..
Well, I think the PT is helping my back. Today, there was a strange little man who tortured me for 30 minutes and called it "massage". But I think it loosened me up. He reminded me of Mr. Hyde or some guy trying an experiment on me. Not threatening by any means-just like I was a specimen he needed to knead and roll until he found the place that hurt the most then pushed HARD to "release it" I believe it is called Shiatsu or something. OW!!
More stuff to do when you get older to keep up the athletic ability..that is for sure..
And..my new name is Peter Pan..