Time Flies–Planks, Chips, and New Things, Too!

Like many folks, I live a very busy life, and quite often, some aspect of my life suffers for it.  Most often, it’s this space right here, where I try to share my thoughts and feelings – I guess that I haven’t quite connected this with “me time” yet…  Although I know I should, as I do see and feel the benefits of writing…

So, you might ask (or maybe not – perhaps you’re bored with me, but I don’t really care)…  What have I been up to the last little bit?

Well, I completed my first #7daychip today, with a goal of logging my food and being active for 10 minutes or more each day.  I’m going to try to continue on this path until I hit 30 days; then I will add something new into the mix.  I find that I need to focus on one thing at a time until the habit forms before I start on something new.  I guess I have an attention deficit when it comes to getting fit, as I am too easily distracted…

Of course, that doesn’t preclude me from doing things beyond this in order to reach my goals; I simply don’t expect myself to be able to maintain the habits, and I don’t berate myself for taking a day off now and again.

I started up my planks challenge again this week – so far, I’ve planked twice this week, which means that I need to do it again on both Sunday and Monday in order to meet my frequency goal.  Today’s plank lasted 22.5 seconds – that’s 5 seconds longer than the last one, so I met that goal.  I do need to catch up on the blogging topics, but haven’t had a chance to go back and review.  I’m hoping this long weekend will afford me the time to catch up on a few things without having work take precedence.

I’m also starting the #5kin100days program this week!  I’m so excited about this – I’ve been wanting to start running, but kept putting it off (I’m an expert procrastinator!).  With this program, I’ll have a select group of Tweeps, not to mention the blogosphere, to help keep me accountable.

Finally, while I was making my weekly batch of Sue Soup (my weekly indulgence is soaking in a nice hot bath and reading magazines), I read an interesting article on how to overcome fitness obstacles (in Fitness magazine).  One of the sections was for touching your toes, which is something I’ve NEVER been able to do.  It is basically a series of progressive stretches that, over six to eight weeks, should help me to achieve better flexibility and joint strength that will not only allow me to touch my toes – I’m sure it will help in my quest to become a runner, too.

The Light At The Beginning Of The Tunnel…

The past three weeks have been seriously filled with emotional upheavals, but I think I’m finally in a good space to start making some serious progress.  Over the last couple of days, the numbers seem to agree with me too!  If you take a look at my progress page, you’ll see what I mean…    I’m actually feeling a bit giddy!

Even though I’m really tired tonight, having dealt with an unexpected IT crisis today that required me to make an unexpected 130-mile trip to the client site to fix it, I thought I should take the time to start getting back to posting in this very public journal.  It really does help to talk to all of you, even though I’ve never met you, so I recognize that this is something I should try to do regularly.

I’m just wrapping up Day 5 in my quest for my first #7daychip, and I’m building another great support group via the #fitblog community.  I’ve restarted the #fitblog planks challenge, and will update here tomorrow with tonight’s progress.  Finally, I’ll be taking part in Brad Gansberg’s #5Kin100Days program, starting next week!

Good night, and thanks for listening!

Building With Planks

Yes, I’m a day late (aren’t I always?  )…  But, as of today, I am joining the #Fitblog Planks Challenge.

I just performed my initial test – I really suck at these!  I was able to hold proper position for 16.5 seconds.  For the purposes of this challenge, and for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to round this to 15 seconds

My goal over the course of this challenge will be to hold a plank for two minutes or more.  I will work on this at least four times per week, and will try to increase my time by at least five seconds

I’ve added a page to my site called “Planks Challenge” where I’ll post my progress!

If you’re interested in joining me in this challenge, you can find all of the information you need to get started at http://fitblogchats.com/about/challenges-and-special-projects/planks-challenge/.  Let’s do this!

Still Rushing…

Yesterday was such a kick in the pants!  Still a bit sore, but I think I’ll be able to hit the ‘mill again tomorrow….

Next up is the See Jane Run Half/5K in Alameda in 3 weeks….  That will be an easy one; max incline is just 1%.

Oh, I’m also starting the #fitblog Plank Challenge, but it’s not going to start until tomorrow for me – I need one more good night’s sleep to let the muscles recover….

I Did It!

Today, I managed to do something I never dreamed I’d do…

I took part in the 100th running of the Bay To Breakers in San Francisco, and I finished!

For those of you not familiar with this race, it’s basically the Bay Area’s quirky take on a distance run.  In years past, it was more a party/parade than a race, although this year, the “party” aspect was somewhat subdued, as alcohol and floats (and peeing in public) were banned.  However, public nudity was still permitted, and visible in all its glory (?!?).  Basically, those who were nude should not have been, but isn’t that always the case?

Still, it was an absolute blast – costumes ranging from a whole team dressed as crayons to a flock of Elvises, and many others.  I only have a few pics, as I was more focused on simply making it to the finish line, but the others on my team (Laurie, April, and Cat) may contribute some more to add to my new photo gallery tab.

At any rate, I had a great time, and got in a week’s worth of exercise in one day (at least for me), although I still intend to work out the rest of this week (well, except for maybe tomorrow; I ache!).

And I’m looking forward to trimming my time for next year!

Life Goes On…

I’m getting past the upheavals and emotional stress of the last week, and am on Day 2 of the #7daychip once again…  Feeling pretty good!

One thing that happened yesterday is that one of the relations had the nerve to say, “You’ll never lose the weight!” thinking that this was going to be devastating to my confidence.

I’ve decided to prove her wrong.

Emotional Weight Loss… Part 1

Well, I was going to post a big ole long entry about the war between me and my family that started last week, but I’m so over it now that I’m not even gonna go into it.

To make a long story short, I’m no longer speaking to any of them, although one in particular doesn’t seem to understand that her poison darts are about 100 miles wide.

Why is this?  Well, I feel like I’ve lost about 250 pounds of emotional weight over this past week or so – I struggled for years seeking their approval and letting myself be walked all over.

No more!  I have collected my belongings and moved on…  I just pray that they someday decide to seek the help they need.

I have a life – a decent career, a happy marriage, and a pretty good support network of friends, both flesh and digital.  I don’t have time or energy to waste chasing a few words of insincere praise…

It’s time to get on with MY life, and MY goals instead of worrying about others.  It’s time to lay my demons to rest.

I’m OK…

Just tired tonight…  Not enough sleep, and too long a day…

Managed to make it through Day 4 of my #7daychip, though!

Hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight, so that my creative writing skills can be back to normal…

Scattered….

Shedooby, scattered, scattered…

I’m sort of scaring myself tonight – I think it’s too soon for the endorphins to be kicking in!  So…  why do I feel like my brain is bouncing faster than the ball in the 786th level of a Pong game (now I’m dating myself…  )

I’m way under my target calories tonight, too, but not really hungry…  Haven’t felt like this, really, since the distant past when I would abuse substances that would keep me awake for days.  Hmmm… Hope I can shut my brain off when it’s time to go to bed.

I’m rambling tonight, too….  I had all sorts of good ideas for blog topics earlier… When I was too stinkin’ busy to write them down, of course!

Anyway, Day 3 is done, successfully…  Ready for Day 1 tomorrow! 

Today Is The First Day…

So, in last night’s post, I mentioned the #7daychip program…  This is not a formal plan by any means – it’s simply a group of very supportive folks on Twitter, taking things one day at a time.  Full details on the group can be found at http://www.bradgansberg.com/7daychip.html…  Anyone is welcome to join in; all you need is a Twitter account and a desire to learn to reach small goals that build up to bigger ones!

It’s not as easy as it sounds – at least not for me…  This is like my third attempt to hit seven days straight.  The first couple of tries failed, as I didn’t clearly state what I planned to do, and left myself wide open to bending the rules based on interpretation.  This time, I’ve resolved to do two things consistently over the next seven days:

1)  I will engage in at least 10 minutes of dedicated physical activity each day.

2)  I will log everything I eat.

The idea behind these two goals is that I will begin to develop the habit of being more active, and I will begin to build my awareness of my current calorie intake.  If I can make it through seven days, and meet my goals for each of those days, I think it will help me to start on the path to a healthy lifestyle.  Of course, as I progress, my goals will change and progress, as well!  One of the things I’ve learned so far is that I need to start small…

I’ve also noticed that I’m MUCH more motivated and enthusiastic on the first day of ANY program, so, from here on out, I am going to treat each and every day as a new start!

One Day At A Time…

Short post tonight, as it’s already late, and I have to go to work in the morning…  I wish I could work at home every day, as I don’t have to get up as early for my hour-long commute!

Anyway, I’m trying to get back in the game, once again…  Started up the #7daychip group again, and had a very successful Day 1.  I’ll provide more details on the program tomorrow…

Good night, all!