Small Change Challenge - Week 2

Right now I'm drinking a delicious Cup of Stanley instead of water because the BOSTON BRUINS won the STANLEY CUP!!! I don't remember the last time they brought the Stanley Cup to Boston since I was barely out of diapers then so it's very exciting. It was such a great series to watch and a good way to get your heart rate up without having to exercise or break a sweat. I'm looking forward to another celebratory parade here in Boston. I've been to all the other parades we've had for the Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots so this will be sweet. It's so much fun to be a sports fan in this town.

Ok, time to update my hydration status. I did a little better this week by getting those 100 ounces in THREE whole days. Again, I got at least 64 ounces in the other days but only finished off that third bottle a few times. Maybe by the time the challenge ends I'll have worked my way up to a whole week of 100 ounces.

I definitely notice how full I feel when I do get those 100 ounces down. There was a study that said people ate significantly less when they drank a glass of water at least 20 minutes before a meal. I believe it because with all that water sloshing around in my belly I feel full much quicker.

There is a downside to filling up on water though and that is the constant need to pee. I ran some errands after going to the gym yesterday and had to do the cross-legged pee-pee dance up the stairs and almost didn't make it without wetting myself. Speaking of wetting myself, another benefit I've noticed after losing 90+ pounds is that I don't leak when I sneeze or cough anymore. (Sorry, TMI?). Anyone else have/had that problem?

I've been trying to get as much water as possible down early in the day so I'm not up all night taking trips to the bathroom especially since I woke up the other night, stumbled to the bathroom and stubbed my toes on the door. Luckily I don't think I broke any of them but DAMN it hurt. It took a long time to get back to sleep with throbbing toes after swearing like a sailor. Ouch!

I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else did with their Small Changes. Looks like I'm going to need to keep working on this one for the duration of the challenge. Just like my weight loss, it's a slow and steady process but every single small change adds up to something big.

Cheers!

Winter Games

I'm addicted to the winter games. I especially love the alpine skiing, snowboarding, snow cross, speed skating, nordic combined, figure skating, biathlon ... I love it all. I have watched almost all of the competitions except for curling. For some reason I just can't seem to get on board with that "sport" (is sweeping really a sport?) but everything else has me glued to the tv.

I get so impatient listening to all the commentators drone on and on about the same few athletes. I'm not crazy about NBC's coverage because they are too focused on just the American Olympians. I'm proud of my fellow countrymen but the Olympics are about all countries competing not just the USA and Canada. I have been recording the day's events and then watching them back the next day while trudging along on the dreadmill. It definitely takes some of the dread out of it.

I've been thinking of changing the focus of my workouts to training instead of merely exercising to lose weight. I think it's important to have something more than just weight loss to focus on whether it's beating your last time, increasing the amount of weight you can lift, or just getting more balanced and flexible. I need something beside the scale to measure my progress and keep me motivated.

I haven't been skiing or snowboarding in a couple of years but I'm going to dust off my gear and get out on the mountains to play before the season is over. Let's hope Mother Nature pulls through and dumps some snow here in the northeast.

What is your favorite Olympic sport to watch? It's time to get out and play!

Who Dat?

Every time I hear "who dat?" I think of Janet Jackson's song Nasty.

"Hey! Who's that thinkin' nasty thoughts?
Nasty boys!
Who's that in that nasty car?
Nasty boys!
Who's that eatin' that nasty fruit?
Nasty boys!
Who's jammin' to my nasty groove?
Nasty boys!
Ladies? Nasty boys don't mean a thing
Oh you nasty boys"

After this past weekend I started hearing "who dat eatin' that nasty food?" I hate to admit it but it was me.

Congrats to the Saints for winning the SuperBowl for the first time in franchise history. The Saints certainly had an amazing season and I can't think of any other city that is more deserving and in need of some extra attention and financial assistance than New Orleans.

My apologies to the Saints and the Colts but I didn't really care who won the SuperBowl this year. It was an exciting game and I'm glad the Saints won but my football season ended when the Patriots got knocked out. How did Drew Brees get all pumped up to play after having a beautiful baby boy and Tom Brady seemed anxious to end the season as early as possible? Oh
well, spring training will be starting soon enough. Go Sox!

I also have to admit I spent more time playing poker and eating all sorts of salty sugary snacks all afternoon than I did watching the game or the lame commercials. I should have been fully
satiated after eating a big bowl of beef stew with fresh hot wheat bread but I couldn't stop myself. I started snacking on chips and dip, crackers, carrot cake, garlic bread sticks and whatever else was on the table. UGGH! Does it ever get easier to resist?

I've been on a roll working out hard at the gym and eating healthy reasonably sized portions but one weekend of mindless social eating sends me right back down the slippery slope of regaining any weight I so painstakingly lost. The scale says I'm up over 5 pounds but that doesn't seem possible. Apparently my body doesn't know about the mathematical equation that says I'd have to have eaten over 16,000 extra calories to have gained 5 pounds in two days. How can it take a month to lose 5 pounds and two days to gain it right back? It really isn't fair, is it?

I'm going to need to put in some serious extra hours at the gym this week just to get back to my pre-weekend weight. It shouldn't even be possible for me to gain 5 pounds in a weekend but the scale does not lie. Let's hope some of it is from all the salty snacks I inhaled and it won't take a month for me to lose it again.

Drew Brees and the Saints get to go to Disney World and I'm going to be spending even more time at Planet Fitness.

Who Dat gettin' right back on the healthy living bandwagon? ME!

Hot Sweep

It felt like summer here this weekend with temperatures in the high 80s/low 90s. It was much cooler in Vermont yesterday so we missed sweating it out in the city.

It was only in the 50s when we left the Northeast Kingdom yesterday afternoon but the temps climbed higher and higher as we drove south and it was up to 90 degrees when we got into Massachusetts. Thankfully it cooled down by the time we got to our house so our apartment wasn't an oven. We opened all the windows and got a nice cool breeze to air things out and cool off.

The heat was on at Fenway Park all weekend. It's always exciting to be a sports fan in Boston and there is no bigger rivalry than the Red Sox/Yankees. The Sox spanked the Yankees this weekend taking all three games at Fenway. It's always good to see the Red Sox win but it is so much sweeter when they beat the Evil Empire. Go Sox!