Snow Day

Only here can we go from +13 Celsius to –13 Celsius in less than 2 days. All our snow was nicely melting away (making for some pretty mucky roads) and overnight we have a TON of snow (and it is sti coming down). I know everyone is experiencing the same thing all over the country– others more than we are but just the same – that’s a huge temperature change for such a short time. Mind you, it happens all the time around here.

And because of all the snow, Mr. Sandra didn’t want to drive to the Kidney March Alumni party that is tonight and I really wasn’t all that keen on trying to dig out my truck either. So we stayed home. I watched cartoons with the kids instead. Besides, Aiden is still in his pjs and didn’t want to get dressed. It’s what he does when he is here – just hangs, has fun and doesn’t get changed all day. He calls it his special time at Grandma’s.

I had a good day today – I exercised, I cleaned, I danced, I stretched. Overall I had a pretty active day and it feels good. I am feeling much more like myself this weekend. I’ve been focussing on just letting things flow over me and not to give anything negative any hold on me. I’m trying to really not sweat the small stuff – not worth it in the end.

And speaking of the small stuff – tomorrow is my weigh-in and measure day for the month. I have not done as well as I should have but I also know where I can improve so February is going to be a month spent applying those corrections. But whatever changes I record tomorrow I will take. I feel like I’ve lost some inches so I hope it shows on the tape measure. Tomorrow will tell the truth.

I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!

ttyl

Sandra

Wow... I've been missing...

I'm actually surprised anyone still follows this blog. I've been MIA lately and am really finding it hard to find something interesting to share.

I've been extremely busy at work, so stressed out I can hardly stand it. In fact I had a bit of an incident last Thursday and Friday I took a "me" day. I was off sick. I felt like crap all week long and by Friday I couldn't take it any more and just didn't want to go in. So I didn't.... Not really good work ethics but I had to do it.

I felt like crap only because I let things get to me. I ALLOWED it, gave it more presence in my life than it deserved. Home life is better because I have gotten things out and off my chest and there is an obvious attempt to remedy what wasn't working. So I'm good there. But work.. I've found it best to keep my mouth shut. Unfortunately for me, my boss is also my friend but right now she is mostly boss. On an ego trip. Or power trip... not sure exactly how to call it. Anyway... things are bugging me and I am not the only one.

So because I'm not the only one, folks find it really easy to talk to me, and I am a sponge. I absorb peoples negative energy - not that I become negative, it just wears me out. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone at all but after awhile, I get worn out mentally and emotionally.

However, I have been getting to Yoga twice a week and although I would love to get there more, my schedule hasn't allowed it. But when I do go, it is a HUGE help. I've been concentrating to NOT beat myself up at all (the fat, junk in the trunk comments) and have been focusing on getting better at the stretches. My hip still hurts a lot but in other positions I am getting a lot better.  But there is a long ways to go before I would even consider myself a true Yogi.  I was fortunate last weekend and the weekend before to attend a workshop presented by the studio I attend, and they went into deep discussion on all the positions. I got to see the instructors demonstrate how it should be and I was able to learn enough that the sessions I have attended since, I have been able to correct myself in a few of the positions therefore allowing myself to get a little deeper. It's all cool... (well actually it's quite hot :)

I've got a busy weekend ahead of me. I've got my Grandson coming over tomorrow (YEAH!!) and Saturday night we have a Kidney March 2010 Alumni/2011 Kickoff party to attend. I'm all excited, they will be showing video's and pictures and lots of folks will be talking about what we did last September.

I signed up again this year and will be walking 100KM for an excellent cause (my link is over there to the right if you would like to provide support).

You all know you will be hearing more about it in the future. The walk isn't until September so I've got some time yet to get really into the long distance training walks.

Thanks for being here for me! I hope you all have been having a fantastic week. Trust me.. I am trying to read all the blogs, just can't always comment...but I'm there. :) 

ttyl
Sandra

I’ve got the Bug…

It’s happened again, just like last year. I’ve got the Bikram Hot Yoga bug. I just can’t get over how much better I feel after attending a couple of sessions of Hot Yoga. It’s tough, it’s hot, it can even be miserable during the class but the benefits far outweigh any of that. Because it’s tough, it is really doing me some good. And the nice part of it is that I get to spend some “me” time between poses re-adjusting my attitude. It’s called “Savasana” and we do it between the floor poses. I do the same pose standing up between the standing series.

SAVASANA: Corpse Pose

BENEFITS:

• Returns cardiovascular circulation to normal
• Slows heart rate, reduces blood pressure
• Teaches complete relaxation
• Stills and calms the mind
• Allows the body to absorb the benefits of the standing series
• Build the ability to access relaxation when necessary – in stressful situations, before bed, etc.

I’m emotionally struggling these days, guess I’m trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Might have something to do with approaching 50 or it just might be how unhappy I’ve been feeling lately. I’m stressed at work,  stressed at home… and I hate winter.

I only have control over the first two things… and attending Hot Yoga regularly is going to help me with both of those. I’ve been feeling a bit out of sorts because my scale isn’t moving very fast in the right direction but my saving grace is that I “feel” thinner. In Yoga, I have what I refer to “a lot of junk in my trunk” and some of the positions are just impossible for me to get too deep into because the junk just gets in the way. According to one of the instructors, that’s not entirely bad as I am causing more compression against my organs than say a 100lb young lady is… blah… I’d rather not have so much compression thank you very much. But back to the feeling thinner…. I am noticing a difference and am feeling “flatter” if that makes sense. Scale sucks, but the body is telling me differently.

And it is amazing how much better I feel (less stressed) when I start to notice a difference in my body. I just start feeling better about myself. If I feel good, then I have a good day. If I’m not feeling so good, then it affects my mood. You know the saying “If Mama is happy, everyone is happy, if she’s not… look out”. I’m not normally known to be a moody person but lately that’s not the case. However I am in inwardly moody person – I don’t yell, scream or stomp my feet. I keep it all internally. And that in itself is not a good thing.  I’ve got to make some decisions, make some changes and attending Yoga is going to help me through it all.

I hope you are all having a FANTASTIC DAY!

Sandra

p.s., I think I need to blog more often as typing out my thoughts lets me release some stuff. All is good….

Friday is here Yeah!

I’ve managed to keep really busy all week at home and at work. Work is crazy and I suspect it won’t change for a couple of YEARS to come. I am happy I have job security but man, I could just use some slow time once in awhile. And I thought Christmas was going to give me that time… Not!

Tuesday I worked from home and quite honestly I got a lot more done than I do when I am in the office. I get so many interruptions here it is ridiculous and if I could, I’d work at home every day. But my boss doesn’t see it the same as I do. She thinks folks don’t work as hard when they are at home. I’m not saying I work harder at home, but I can work steady. Yesterday as an example, at one time I had 4 people at my cubicle waiting to talk to me. It’s the problem with being the one that is in the “know” about all our new technologies, but man it’s hard to get work done around here.

Back to Tuesday…. Mr. Sandra’s son and his new wife came into town to visit (they live about 4 hours away) and since they were unable to get here for Christmas, we opened presents in the afternoon then went shopping later on. I got in lots of steps that day. I had also gotten on the treadmill first thing in the morning before I started working. It was nice to just finish that, stretch then immediately sit down and start working.

Wednesday I went to Hot Yoga again. This time I brought another co-worker and she just loved it. In fact she went again yesterday. I’m glad she enjoys it so much. I’m scheduled for an information session at the studio for Saturday. I won’t be doing any of the poses, but all the instructors will be there to explain each of the poses in detail from various directions. We are reviewing the standing series this Saturday and the floor series the 22nd. I’m excited to learn them properly. Even though I have been doing this for a year now (wow, it’s been that long), each time I take the class from a different instructor I learn a little bit more about it as each of the describe the pose differently. It is important for me to really know the correct way to do it so that I don’t develop bad habits and possibly hurt myself. Injuries are not a good thing.

Thursday I was up early and back on the treadmill doing some cardio first thing in the morning. Today I got up and did another weight session (Jackie Warner’s Circuit training) and after work I’m going back to Hot Yoga. My abs are still sore from Monday’s workout – both Jackie's core session and my after work Hot Yoga session. I really worked my abs that day. Tomorrow I will likely feel the same – sore

My eats have been pretty good except yesterday. My calories were a bit high but not too bad. Need to know the caloric information of something BEFORE I eat it (when eating out) so that I can balance the remaining days meals. But since I couldn’t get to my PC until this morning to plug it all in, I really was kind of eating blind. Reason for this is because yesterday was not planned. I NEED to plan my food and bring it to work. Yesterday was a fly by the seat of my pants food day. Bad idea!

Planning, planning, planning… key to weight loss for sure (at least for me).

Hope you are all having a fantastic day!

ttyl

Sandra

My Monday Musings…

One thing I hate to see is someone who parks in a Handicap parking stall and although they do have a sign hanging in their window stating they are allowed, they get out and walk just as able and fast as I do (or faster). Maybe I am being judgmental, maybe not… I mean really.. I don’t know the persons story. But if you can walk just as good as the person next to you, and only have the sign because you have a spouse that does require it, I think you should NOT park in the stall to allow those that really truly do need it use it. When my Mom was sick, I drove her around a lot, and she had that sign in her car window, but if I drove, I dropped her off at the door then parked in a regular stall and caught up with her (unless she wasn’t able to get to the building on her own). I was more than capable of walking from anywhere in the parking lot and never wanted to take a spot when I was able to walk freely. I’ve also been known to walk up to folks that are sitting in the stalls, knocked on the window and asked them if they truly need to be parking there. I get a lot of “Mind your own business” and I suppose I deserve it for sticking my nose in the window – but it is a pet peeve of mine

But what did make me smile shortly after seeing the above, was an older man with ear phones plugged in and he was singing at the top of this lungs to the song in his head. He wasn’t that great of a singer but at 6:00 a.m., I thought it quite cute. Most people just scowled and looked away.

It’s been cold, windy and snowy here. Yesterday was a great back\arm workout as I had to shovel at least foot high snow drifts from my sidewalk. I got smart and shoveled it in smaller pieces so that I could heave it across my lawn. First two shovelfuls were into the wind – silly me.. face full of snow. You would have thought I learned from the first shovelful but I was in a momentum and was moving to fast to stop that second heave.

When we left our meeting location last week, to fly home here, we left in a snow storm. Our flight got delayed, spent hours on the tarmac, missed my connector, found another flight two hours later, had NO clue where my bag was but didn’t care – just wanted to get home at that point. Bag finally showed up the next day at 8:30 p.m. Might want to lose my bag more often, they carried it right to my door, I didn’t have to haul anything. Because we were so delayed, I got in quite late (after midnight at least) and just walking outside and hailing a cab was kind of nice.

I got up early today and tried out a new DVD. It is Jackie Warner’s Circuit training and it was 40 minutes long. Since I kind of slacked last week, I found it particularly hard this morning and that just means it will only get better as the week goes on.

Tonight I’m going to Bikram Hot Yoga!  Yeah!

Alright, that’s enough for today…

Hope you are all having a fantastic day.

ttyl

Sandra

First Week of 2011

Well I didn’t exactly start 2011 under the best circumstances to allow myself to be on a diet and get lots of exercising in. Nope, didn’t happen.

Was away for the week for business meetings in a different time zone and getting up early to get on the treadmill just wasn’t going to happen. My body just wasn’t going to allow it. That two hour difference had me staying up later than normal and getting up early not that easy. I walked around the room while getting ready doing squats and stepping high etc.  I’m positive if anyone would have seen me, they would have put me away. I also made sure I took the stairs to the room (3rd floor) rather than the elevator. Even got my coworkers to do the stairs as well.

But the food was an issue. I had all three meals supplied all week and although I tried to chose lite, it didn’t always work out that way and quite frankly I was too hungry some days to bypass the meal entirely. And in working meetings, you need the brain power.

All excuses… I know.

But I am back today, tracking my food, getting in the exercise and drinking my water.

Sunday’s are weigh-in days and it wasn’t pretty today. Gained a lb this week.

ttyl

Sandra

198.4