In a Fog

Me today after my workout.  The blur is because there was a smudge on the lens that I didn't catch.  I've been in a bit of a fog all day and not even my workout woke me up - so I left the blur and didn't retake it.  Kind of fits my day

But I'm sure my energy will come back tomorrow.  

Jigsaw Puzzle - 24 hours - what are you going to do with it?

It's easy to say "I don't have time"  But everyone has the same amount of time.  It's all in how you use it.

Top 5!!!

I've been trying to get to the top 5 of my friends list for awhile now.

Today was the fist time I made it!!

Ronco Chiptastic thing

Total impulse buy.

I like chips, but know better than to eat them very often.  I sometimes make kale chips - love kale chips, hate every other form of kale, but love kale chips.  Still sometimes I want something more like a traditional potato chip.

Saw this at Target and said, what the heck, let's give it a try.  It works in the microwave and doesn't use oil.

Got home and immediately tried it.  Didn't even finish putting things away first.  I'm a kid like that sometimes.

The mandolin wasn't bad, cut the cips thin enough.  I didn't peel the potato, I never do for anything unless I must.  Patted the slices dry and sprinkled with a bit of lemon pepper.  Too much lemon pepper - but I didn't know that at the time.

Microwaved for about 10 min and then had some wonderful potato crisps to munch on.  NOT the same as chips from a bag, but I didn't expect them to be.  Fried things are fried, baked things are baked and microwaved are zapped - they all give different tastes.  

The thinness made them light and snack worthy.  I'm excited to try it again with other spices or at least less lemon pepper.  I get a wonderful jalapeno spice from thy guy at the market (I've known him since he was 11 and he's in med school now - super hard to believe, not sure where time goes)  I also have a huge assortment of spices I get from them so I see my bag of potatoes going quickly.

I'm also excited to try other types of chips - various veggies and maybe apples.  The chiptastic came with a recipe book but I haven't read it.  I don't usually read instructions first if I think I can figure it out on my own.  I consider that part of my charm but I think it makes my husband a bit nuts since he practically memorizes the directions before he starts ANYTHING!

Verdict on my impulse buy?  

I would buy it again!

It's never too late to be amazing

One of my personal heros is Juliette Gordon Low - the founder of Girl Scouts.

Badass doesn't even begin to describe her.  This portrait of her was done shortly after her marriage (on my birthday a mere 90 years before I was born)

Looking at that demure traditional lady from the late 1800s you wouldn't suspect that she was really a rebel waiting to happen.  During her lifetime she was a talented sculptor, painter and even a blacksmith.  She was athletic and enjoyed sports - she did headstands every year on her birthday just to prove she still could.  Think about what women wore in the early 1900's - headstands were HARD.  I cant' do one in yoga pants, much less a full skirt or bulky "athletic shorts" that young women of taste wore.  She was smart and enjoyed science - performing experiments with electricity decades before most homes had easy access.  She learned to fly an airplane and drive (however badly) a car.   She did a lot, but she's best known for founding Girl Scouts - something she did at 52.  Her greatest work wasn't even thought of in her 20s or 30s or even 40s.  

We live in such a culture of youth today that it's easy to think that by 50 it's too late to really do anything.  People are living longer, but far too many of them are spending most of those extra years trying to be young again.  I personally wouldn't want to be 20 again.  Or 30 or 40.  I'm 47 now, will be 48 next December - I'm closer to 50 than 40 and soon enough I'll be closer to 60 than 50.  I'm not going to waste that time trying to recapture a youth that was better in my memory than it probably was in real life.

Besides, I don't have to be young to be amazing.  You can do that at any age.

I would say just ask Juliette, but obviously you can't 

So maybe you should ask Bette Calman - Yoga Instructor Extraordinaire

She's 20 years older than my mother and more badass than I have ever been in my entire life.  

Running Outside Beats The Treadmill

Why do you think running outside (or inside if you insist) is better?

Fitbit Cheers

Community is wonderful for anyone trying to keep on a certain path of change.  Doesn't matter if it's to lose weight, get in better shape, stop smoking, read more, learn a new skill......  Having support makes it easier.

When I was wrestling with computer issues my steps got lower.  Because I was sitting in a chair and not walking.   My community of friends on Fitbit and Spark People noticed and sent me encouragement.  I got a lot of "cheers" and even more when I started catching up to my goals again.

It really made me feel good.  No way to screen shot the whole list, because it goes on and on and on, but you get the idea.

It's motivating to have a cheering section.  People who want you to succeed, even if they only know you online.  Family and friends are supportive and probably the best cheering section - but a group of like minded people with the same goal means a lot.  I'm glad I have that.

Playing catch up

Running behind all week.  At least some of it was because i was actually running.  :-)

two days ago

yesterday  Still managing to keep my steps above 14k.  Thanks Kathy for the push!!

Training for Jane

I'm not into an official training program yet.  Will start one soon.

I'm so happy to see the sun.  Today I did 5 miles on the stationary bike and 3 miles on the road in my trusty VFF classics.  I know they don't make them anymore, but I found an overstock sale and loaded up on the ones in my size.  I love those things and have enough to last for awhile.

What did you do today?

Make Exercise a Family Affair - jigsaw

My kids are all big now, and we don't exercise together.  When they were little I was exercise phobic, but when I changed, they did too - despite the fact that they are grown up.  It's a good thing to have in common and I hope that when they have kids it really is a family thing for them.

Despite having pieces that rotate, this puzzle isn't too hard

The good behind the bad

I've had computer issues so I have not been able to keep up with blogging and logging like I should.  Got that fixed and while not making myself log or exercise or write down a blog to type in later - something I totally planned to do, none of those "bad" days were like this one.

By all outward accounts not a single thing happened to make this a bad day.  I'm in a pretty good mood, nothing stressful.  What went wrong was my 3 mile walk/run.  It was HARD   <em>198</em>   So much harder than 3 miles should be for me.  I couldn't settle into a pace that was good.  I couldn't catch my breath (though that was probably mostly my head making my body react)  I ached, I hurt, I focused on all of that.

And I wanted so much to quit.

That's where the good part comes in.

I didn't.

I did the whole route.  After a certain point it makes more sense to continue than turn around anyway, because it's longer to go back.  Every fiber of my being from my mind to my body to my soul wanted to be done with this outing.

And now that I am done, sitting here with my drink and my 15k steps for the day so far - I feel good.  I hated it, I didn't want to do it and if I had been on my cell phone I would have complained the whole way.  But all of that negativity didn't stop me.  Once upon a time even the slightest owie would have been reason to stop or not go out at all.  I won't work through actual pain or injury, but I'm learning the difference between my mind trying to quit and my body actually needing stop

So in the end, my "bad day" was an NSV in disguise!

One of my favorite shirts from one more mile

find it here

http://onemoremile.net/collections/outlet-running-slow-is-not-a-character-flaw-quitting-is

today's check in

my computer has been giving me all sorts of fits, especially when it comes to uploading,but I think I have that under control for the time being.

I didn't track food like I should while I was working on the computer and that's not good.  I mostly did ok, but sitting down all day can lead to a lot of snacking.  Stress with the darn thing not working leads to stress eating.  The best thing would have been for me to track it, which I did not.

But as Jimmy Buffett said

According to my watch the time is now
Past is dead and gone
Don't try to shake it just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

A mini goal for the next 7 days is to stay on top of my tracking.  I did have a nsv (non scale victory)  I made another batch of caramels - this time with coffee and DID NOT over eat with them, despite the fact that they are super tasty.  I give them away so that I won't be tempted, but this time I have not had a chance to do that yet and for 2 days they have been in my kitchen.  Had 3, so I am proud of myself.

Here's what I did on fitbit the past couple of days

Win an Entry into the See Jane Run half marathon

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Enter to win!

The Sun is out!

Spring is tempting us with it's warmer weather and wonderful sunshine.  Might not be here to stay, but today's visit is a wonderful break.  I should set a record (for the year, not all time) with my steps today.

I have a lot to do, but can't stand the thought of being stuck inside forever, so I may (probably won't) get it all done!

Hope everyone else is out enjoying the sun if you have it!

Raffle coming up next week

Next week I will raffle off a free  entry into the See Jane Run half marathon (or 5k if that's your choice)

Check back starting Monday, March 10.  The raffle will run until Monday, March 31.

http://www.seejanerun.com 

Morning Check In - except it's the afternoon

 The first lady got more miles than the governor last year.

I'm doing the 100 Missour Miles again this year.

Still holding at 7 on my friends list.  I have not caught up to Kathy yet, but she's 6, so I'm gaining!   Problem is that when I move she moves  and then I move more so she moves more.  It's not going to be easy to catch her!

See Jane Run - The puzzle

If you need a larger board, use the arrows in the corner

Morning Check IN

Yesterday a fitbit friend challenged me to get 14k steps a day since I was averaging 13k.  Turns out she's as competitive as I am, so it will be good for both of us.  Right now she's in the lead and I lost a big day from my average, so to move past her on my friends list I'm going to have to spend a lot of time moving!  :-)

Morning Check In

Not so good on the steps yesterday.  I didn't leave the house at all and didn't manage to pace enough inside to get even 10k, much less my goal.  Weather was not friendly at all  Since I'm still hovering at 8, my friends must also be largely trapped inside.  This has been one brutal winter storm!  Tried using the spark people food tracker instead of myfitnesspal.  I'll keep entering things there for the points, but for use, I like the myfitnesspal one.

Morning Check In

Not a bad day, even if I did drop on my fitbit friends list.  Some of those folks move a lot and I'm going to have to step it up to catch them!  I am currently #9 out of 49.    The person at #1 currently has 129k steps and averages 21000 a day.  I'm sitting at 13474 a day, so like I said, it's going to take some work.  Of course the top 3 people are working on marathons and it may be awhile before I catch up with their long runs!

Morning Check In

It's March!  This is how I ended February

Having competition is fun.  It motivates me to get just a few more steps in.  today I start working on the stairs

My daily goal will never be 2600.  I know I was more active, but it wasn't hard working out, so I don't feel like I needed that many calories.  If had gone for a long run AND lifted weights.  I'm ignoring that part.