Sweaty Superheroes

I hate to sweat. I know, not a good thing to hate when you are working on your fitness, to quote Fergi. Ugh, did I just quote Fergi? Anyway, I really do hate to sweat. A couple of times a month I work a 3-10 shift and have the whole day to myself. That never, ever, happens and on those days, I somehow always end up being Super Slug Girl. Today was one of those 3-10 days and I vowed to break the cycle of lounging in my polar bear print jammies with coffee and backed up episodes of Masterpiece Theater Real Housewives of Insert City Name on the DVR. Today, I went out and bought new running shoes, which I’ve needed for a couple of weeks now and got myself out there on an almost-3 mile mostly-run. As I was working myself up to going out, the only thing that was holding me back was the thought of getting sweaty. Now, I was planning to shower anyway, much to the relief of my co-workers I’m sure, but I just didn’t feel like getting sweaty. And I’m a sweater. Not a sweater, a sweat-er. Two steps into my run and I’m red faced and sweating like a...like a...um, I usually use the idiom sweating like a whore in church, but I’ll be more delicate here. Sweating like snowball in summer. There, that’s a little more lady-like. My mom does read this blog after all. It was a beautiful, non-humid, 60 degree day today and I was still sweating like it was 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity. And I hate it. Hate, hate, hate. But, it felt great when I was done, as it always does and I was so happy to finally have my new shoes.

It really bugs me that you have to replace running shoes so often. They say every three to four months, but, like the oil change in my car, I usually drag it out to 6 months. But about three weeks ago, I started getting these horrible pains in my legs on the outsides of my calves and thighs when I was running and I knew it was my shoes. It’s the same pain every time my shoes wear out. Seriously, though, at a $100 bucks a pop, you’d think they would last longer. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m running so much that I’m wearing out my shoes, but can’t I wear out something cheaper, like a t-shirt? I have tons of those! But no, it has to be the $100 running shoes. As I’ve said before, do yourself a favor and get professionally fitted for running shoes and buy the good ones. They are the one thing not to go bargain basement on. And believe me, it’s hard for me because I don’t pay full price for A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G, but I’ve learned the hard way that running shoes are definitely worth it. Case in point is that I had one of my best runs today, with the new shoes. I wear New Balance 860s, but everyone is different so again, go get fitted. Running stores will do it for you without an extra charge, usually, and their shoe prices are the same as if you were to go to the brand specific store. I don’t get fitted every time I buy new shoes, just once a year.

I had sort of a crappy week last week with eating and working out. I was slacking on getting the new shoes and I didn’t run much (two days only, blech) and decided that the world was ending and needed to eat everything in site and finish all of the wine in my wine rack. Okay, I’m exaggerating (a little) and what I’ve noticed lately that even my “bad” days (or weeks in this instance) are still not as “bad” as what I used to do. And I am right back on track. I had a great run today, have logged all of my food so far this week (granted, it’s only Tuesday but…) and am focused. Super focused. With x-ray eyes that will zap Super Slug Girl. And in the future, Super Fit Girl will emerge victorious. Sweating her ass off.

They're Here...

I’m being haunted.


I can feel them just outside my door.


Their quiet whispers beckoning me.


The thought of them causes a physical reaction in me.


Cold sweats.


Hair standing up on the back of my neck.


They repulse me yet I can’t look away.


They’re heeeeeere.


Where’s that little scary lady from Poltergeist when I need her? I need her to exorcise these demons. The colorful, sprinkle-coated, frosting-laden demons. Wait, what? Frosting laden demons? Did I say demons? I meant cupcakes.

Why am I always being haunted by cupcakes? I love them so with their whimsical colors and sugary swoosh of frosting. Vanilla? Sure! Chocolate? Yum! Red Velvet? You betcha!

So, I’m sitting here. Eating my cucumber slices and hummus, which, don’t get me wrong, are delicious. But not a cupcake. And if I hadn’t cooked shrimp in white wine and butter (yes, real damn butter) with polenta yesterday and used up the majority of my overflow Weight Watchers Points and, oh, I don't know, NOT gone running yesterday, well, maybe I would have indulged myself in one of those little beauties. But nooooooo. I HAD to have a decadent dinner last night. I HAD to drink wine Monday and Tuesday nights. I HAD to blow off running yesterday to watch Survivor.

Okay, I didn’t HAVE to any of those things. But I chose to. So now I have to choose again. Eat the cupcake and pay the price. Or don’t eat the cupcake and save the rest of my overflow Weight Watcher points for my Dinner Club this weekend? It’s like spending money you don’t have. Put in on a credit card! Or in this case, put it on my hips!

Alright, dammit. I’m not going to eat the cupcake. There, I said it to all of you so now I can’t do it. This house is clean.

NB: Lost 1.2 pounds this week for a total of 5.2 in three weeks. That alone is worth not eating the cupcake.

Lest We Forget

Note: This blog is a little different today. It’s a remembrance of the day our world changed forever and is dedicated not only to the people who lost their lives on that horrible day but more so to the people who have had to live their lives without them.

Before I became a chef, then an educator, I worked in corporate communications in the Financial Services industry. The company I worked for in Chicago has a sister office in New York, two blocks from the World Trade Center. I remember that morning, much like it is today…sunny, beautiful, a hint of Fall in the air but still feeling like summer. I got in the elevator to head to the 16th floor of my office building that was two blocks from the Sears Tower in the Financial District of the Loop. Someone on the elevator told me a plane hit the World Trade Center in New York and they think it might be terrorists. No way, I thought. Some idiot in a puddle jumper plane didn’t know what they were doing and hit the tower. Odd place to be flying though, I thought. Then I got into the office and the silence hit me like a ton of bricks. Where is everyone, I thought. I went into our lunch room and everyone was huddled around a TV. Then I saw the tower burning. Then I saw the second plane hit. Someone told me that they were on a conference call with the New York office and they heard the plane hit the tower over the phone. That memory stays with me the most. Hearing the plane hit. Seeing it on TV looked like a science fiction movie and it wasn’t quite real yet. Hearing it actually happen though, that’s another thing.

I went back to my office and looked out at the Sears Tower. I wonder if they are on their way here, I thought. I wanted to get the hell out of downtown as fast as possible. After the second tower fell and we heard about the Pentagon and Pennsylvania, the building announced it was closing and that people should get out of downtown just in case. We’re at war, I thought. I’ve never felt so scared or so alone in my whole life. My family was in Indiana. I lived with my best friend, whose birthday was that day by the way, and I just wanted to find her and get to our apartment as soon as possible. My phone rang and it was my oldest sister. Are you alright? Get out of the city, she said, panicked. I am. I am. I walked out to get on the “el” to go to my Lakeview neighborhood apartment and as I walked out of the building, everyone else was evacuating downtown too. The silence was eerie, and everyone was looking up to the sky. Everyone was silent on the “el” ride too, looking out the window to the sky. Looking for planes.

That day changed our world. The financial services industry lost a lot of people that day too, along with all of the other businesses, fire houses and police stations. The images on the news after that haunted me, and still haunt me. I can’t think about that morning without getting tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms and a pit in my stomach. I can remember every detail like it was yesterday. The only other experience in my life that has stayed with me as much and I can remember in such minute detail is the day I lost my dad almost ten years before September 11, 2001.

So today, on the anniversary, I wished my best friend (and her 2 year old who was born on this same day) Happy Birthday. I said a prayer. I thanked God for my life and the life of everyone I love. And I continue to pursue my goal of fitness because even though life is so short and you never know when your day will come, I want to be my best self when it does.

On that note, I had to ease up on running over the weekend because I strained my hamstring so I’ll be interested to see if I meet my weight loss goal when I weigh in tomorrow. My hamstring feels better today and I am going to go out for a long walk instead of running, and will start up again tomorrow when it is fully healed. The last thing I want to do is injure myself and derail the good role I am on. I’ll keep you posted.

Dear Jenny

Man, I am on a roll. I have been kicking butt these last two weeks. I’m down 4 pounds (two pounds a week, which is my goal) and running 4-5 days each week. I don’t know what has clicked in my head, but it’s all coming together. I think part of it is writing this blog and the forced self reflection it causes. I have a better understanding of the whys for getting fit and am realizing the benefits of resisting too much self indulgence (i.e., multiple trips to Dairy Queen). Again, only took me 20 years, but…

I was trying to think of some the daily things I have been doing to help keep myself on track to share with you in case they might be helpful:

I am a visual person and need conspicuous reminders of things to help me remember them. One of the tricks I’ve been using is to create a paper calendar for my bulletin board in my office that has my weekly goals listed on it. I weigh in each Monday and so on Mondays I have written in hot pink marker: GOAL: LOSE 2 POUNDS THIS WEEK. Then I write in blue marker my actual weight loss. I also write down the workout I want to do each day and then cross it off after I’ve completed it. I also wrote in big, bright orange letters across the top of the calendar, “Stay Focused on Your Goals. They’re worth it.” I stare at my bulletin board all day so it helps to keep me focused, especially when someone walks by with cupcakes. Which happens a lot, unfortunately.

I’ve made up these calendars through October because I have a doctor’s appointment then and I want to lose 14 pounds by the time I have the appointment. I tend to get overwhelmed easily when I think about this being a “lifelong” journey, so I’ve come to realize that shorter goals work better for me than thinking about the long term. When October rolls around, I’ll reevaluate and set another series of goals that will get me through Christmas and the end of the year. Oh, speaking of Christmas, I was in Costco the other day and they have all of their Christmas stuff out. Really? Christmas? I was pissed that a local store had Halloween stuff out in August, but Christmas? The thought of it makes me shudder. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Scrooge, but come on. Even Santa himself would have seen that and thought, “Geesh, don’t I get a frickin’ break?” Anyway, once the end of the year hits, I’ll then start my training program again for the Batavia Triathlon in June 2012. So I’ll do another new calendar then, and so on. It’s also good for me to change it up after a while because once I look at something for a long time, I stop seeing it.

Not only am I a visual person, but I am also a distracted person. Very distracted, especially at work. I usually have a least 15 different balls up in the air and it’s easy to forget about my personal health goals. See previous comment about those damn cupcakes…I’m like a dog that sees a squirrel. I’m constantly on the computer, on my smart phone, on my iPad. One of them is always attached to me, unfortunately, so I found an app (yes, like I said before, there really is an app for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g) that is called Life Reminders. I set it up so that each day I get a text message that says, “Track your food. Make smart choices. Work out. You’re worth it.” I also set up reminders about upcoming events and to save my Weight Watcher Points for them so I don’t overdo it. I set them to pop up on my phone at strategic times (before I usually eat breakfast, lunch and dinner) and more than once a week I say, “Oh yeah” and open my Weight Watchers app and track my food and activity once I get my reminder.

Some other things that I’m sure you already know but have been working for me:

• Set running (or whatever you do to workout) dates with a buddy. Not only is it more fun, but you’re more likely not to stand them up (I stand myself up all the time!). I also always, without fail, run faster, longer, better, when I’m with someone else. I’m waaaaaay too easy on myself. Although I only run with someone else once or twice a week so I don’t depend on it. I need to be self reliant, too. That way I don’t do the whole, “So-and-so can’t run today, so I’m not going to either,” bit.
  
• Pack food the night before. I get my breakfast ready the night before and pack my lunch bag (one of my many bags I schlep on the train to work) with a morning snack, lunch and a train-ride-home-snack. That way, I’m not starving when I get home and can then have the presence of mind to cook a healthy meal rather than go face down in a sack of cheeseburgers.
• Have a weekly weigh in that’s monitored by someone other than yourself. Accountability is key and you can justify anything to yourself. Not so much with a tough-as-nails Weight Watcher team leader, your best friend, your spouse, your doctor, a friend at work, or someone else who will keep you accountable.
• Only weigh in once a week. Weighing yourself every day isn’t sane because you really fluctuate throughout the week. Although I have been weighing myself on Fridays to motivate myself to stay on track on the weekends since my official weigh in is on Monday. If I’m down on Friday, I want to stay down so I toe the line a little more on the weekends. If I’m not down, then I want to get down by the time Monday rolls around so I work a little harder on the weekend to get there. So, okay, don’t weigh yourself more than twice a week, I guess. Just don’t get obsessed over the number is what I’m trying to say.
• Lay out your workout clothes where you can see them before you go to bed. It will be easier to get out there and pound out some miles if you're not fumbling around in the dark trying to find a sports bra and socks in the morning. It will also make whomever you are sleeping with happier.
• Work in treats. In case you didn’t know, I love ice cream. Shocker, I know since I never talk about it. I work it in once or twice a week so I don’t go crazy over it. I’m not eating a banana split or anything like that, but a small hot fudge sundae (or whatever your favorite indulgence is) that’s budgeted for in your eating plan is not only NOT going to kill you, but you’ll still lose weight and be happier for it.

So, there you have it. My advice blog on what’s been working for me lately. Knowing me, what I’m doing will have to change because like the dog that sees the squirrel, at some point, I’ll bound off in a different direction. Hopefully I won’t get hit by a car.