Three Things Thursday: Favorites!

I forgot to publish yesterday's post last night, so if you missed it (you didn't miss much--it was just a Wednesday Weigh-In) and you want to read it, you can find it here.

My mind is completely blank today! I was having a hard time writing a whole post about just three things, so I decided to list my three favorite things in lots of different categories. No explanations or hem-hawing. Just a list. This was fun!

Three Favorite...

Junk Foods: Homemade pizza, chips and salsa, vegan ice cream

Healthy Foods: Asian pears, tofu, bell peppers

Animals: Cats, squirrels, cows

TV Shows: Shameless, Friends, American Housewife

Books: 'The Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follett, 'West With Giraffes' by Linda Rutledge, and 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins

Board Games: Codenames, Ticket to Ride, Wits & Wagers

Pastimes: Woodworking, logic puzzles, writing

Musical Artists: Eminem, Reel Big Fish, Blink 182

Movies: Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, American Pie

Cities: Portland, OR; Detroit; Minneapolis/St. Paul

TV characters: Frank Gallagher (Shameless), Dexter Morgan (Dexter), Michael Scofield (Prison Break)

Guilty Pleasures: Best Fiends game, Lifetime movies, memes

And that's all I can come up with for now. Some of these were SO hard to narrow down! Feel free to chime in with your own favorites :)

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 76

(Damnit! This was supposed to post on 11/9, and I forgot to click "publish"; so it probably won't get delivered via email.)

I'm so excited I can wear this shirt! (It's a size XS, so I'm sure it's supposed to be big like that. Probably not wrinkled, though.) I've had it in my "sewing pile" for months.  The sides were split (intentionally) and the back of the shirt was longer than the front. I didn't like that, but the shirt was SO COZY and soft and I love the design, so I bought it (at Goodwill). Then it sat with other clothes that I needed to alter for the longest time. Finally, I removed the ribbed hem and cut the shirt so that it was symmetrical, then reattached the hem. It's the most comfortable shirt I own. Too bad I can't wear it anywhere because there will be black Duck fur all over it!

Well, I have Day 1 of 75 Hard under my belt (again). I went for a run this morning to kickstart my challenge; running gives me a big mental boost when I'm done. I wanted to work on the bathroom and I almost put off starting Day 1 until tomorrow, but I am just sick of overthinking *everything* about the stupid bathroom and I just want a break from it. I'm the worst when it comes to overthinking. It's a terrible habit (personality trait?) and it makes decision-making take forever.

I had a pretty good week, considering I was doing 75 Hard until I had to restart. I got in a ton of exercise, felt very hydrated, and I was still eating healthy vegan food. However, I did too much snacking after dinner--another bad habit--which inspired me to add a "rule" to my diet while doing 75 Hard. After dinner, I can have 300 calories in snacks. That way, I can eat what I'm craving, but I won't overdo it.

I was worried I'd gain weight again this week, but maybe the extra exercise canceled out a lot of the snacking, because I saw my weight was exactly the same as last week: 132.6.

So, that becomes my official starting weight for 75 Hard as well. The challenge isn't about weight loss, so my weight doesn't really matter, but I am curious to see what happens over the 75-day period. I took my body fat percentage as well. My body fat is considered normal (21.1%) so I'm not necessarily trying to lower it; but again, it will be interesting to watch it over the challenge. If my weight goes up and body fat goes down, that will show I'm building muscle. I should take a few body measurements, too--it's been a long time since I did that.

The non-fiction book I decided to read is 'Finding Ultra' by Rich Roll. I read it before, years ago, and I really liked it. I don't remember very much about it but I held onto the book because I liked it so much. It's a memoir, and not necessarily a "self-development" book, but I think this is acceptable for 75 Hard--written in the publisher's description is: 

"Finding Ultra is a beautifully written portrait of what willpower can accomplish. It challenges all of us to rethink what we're capable of, and urges us, implicitly and explicitly, to 'go for it.'"

I remember how inspired I felt when I read it before. And now that I feel excited about running again, I think reading this is good timing! (Edit: After reading my 10 pages today, I think I may have been referring to 'Ultramarathon Man' by Dean Karnazes. 'Finding Ultra' is starting very slowly, so I'm not sure I'll continue it. Gah!)

After my post yesterday where I mentioned missing my Kindle, Jeanie (my sister) told me that in a later interview, Andy Frisella said that Kindles/e-readers were okay. I still want to read 'Finding Ultra', and my library doesn't have the Kindle version, so I'm going to have to read the paperback after all!

Overall, I'd consider this week to be a win. Like I said before, I'm not sure how long I should do my Wednesday Weigh-Ins, because I'm not looking to drop more weight; but after having gained the last three weeks, I definitely don't feel like I want to quit the accountability yet. So my progress may be pretty boring from here forward, but I think of that as a good thing--I've never truly gotten the hang of weight maintenance--and my plan is to try to maintain my weight between 125 and 135. If I can do that, I'll be thrilled!

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75 Hard: Week 0 Recap

No, that's not a typo--the first week of 75 Hard goes in the books as Week 0. Ugh!

The 75 Hard challenge is not at all lenient in its rules, which is part of what makes it enticing; it's hard! You have to follow the rules right down to the letter, and if you break any of them, you have to start over at Day 1. Even if you just forget to take a progress photo on one of the days, it's back to Day 1. As a reminder, these are the rules (excerpted from this article on Today); I like the way they are written here, because Frisella (the person who came up with the challenge) tells you WHY the rules are the way they are.

Frisella says the rules of 75 Hard are simple, but that doesn't mean the plan is easy. There are daily tasks which much be executed consistently for the entire 75 days:

1. If you skip a day, you must start over. If you miss a task, you must start over at day one. "You cant tweak the program to your liking ... it's supposed to be inconvenient and it's supposed to be hard," said Frisella. "In life, conditions are never going to be perfect; you're always going to have to do things that you don't want to do and the minute you start tweaking or compromising, that's what opens the door to quitting."

2. Pick a diet to follow, with no alcohol or cheat meals. You must choose a diet based on your goals and stick to it. But there's a second caveat to the rule: No cheat meals and no alcohol. In a culture that depends on after-work drinks or wine once the kids are in bed, Frisella acknowledges the difficulty of this task. "Not a drop. Not a beer. Not a wine. Not a glass when you get home. Nothing for at least 75 days," he said. "There's a number of reasons for this: Empty calories, psychological addiction, physical addiction. Also, we’re talking about detoxing your body for 75 days ... You don’t understand how foggy you are because of this (alcohol-drinking) lifestyle."

3. Drink a gallon of water daily. "Make sure you start early and be consistent throughout the day so that you're not chugging a gallon of water before you go to bed," Frisella said, which, he admits, he had to do a few times himself.

4. Complete 2 daily workouts. One of the most time-consuming parts of 75 Hard is the workouts: Two 45-minute workouts of your choice must be completed per day and one of those workouts must be done outside, regardless of the weather. "This is the point of the program — conditions are never perfect," said Frisella. "And one of the reasons that most people can’t get through life in an effective way is because the minute conditions are tough, they throw the towel in on their plan."

5. Read 10 pages per day of a non-fiction book. "This is not entertainment time, this is not 'Harry Potter' time, this is learn new stuff time," Frisella explained. "The book has to be a self-development book of some kind and it has to be for personal growth." He also stresses that it needs to be a physical book, not an e-book you read on your phone or tablet.

6. Take a progress photo every day. "This is not just to show your physical transformation ... once you start getting some progress, fitness or business or anywhere else, you start to forget the little details as you go," said Frisella. These photos will help you remember the daily progress of your journey, he said. He also encourages people to take photos that show their body, recognizing that this may be difficult, but that these photos are for you only and don't need to be posted.

It's actually kind of a funny story how I got bumped back to Day 1. On Sunday, I wrote about the power going out Saturday night; I said I was so glad that I had already finished my second workout for the day, because if I hadn't, I'd have to walk in the wind storm or march in place in my living room, depending on whether it was an indoor or outdoor workout that I had left.

Even as I wrote that, IT DIDN'T OCCUR TO ME that I'd done both of my workouts indoors that day! I don't know what I was thinking. When you do two workouts a day, they all kind of blur together. I'd done both workouts outside on Saturday (I ran for the first one and walked for the second) and then Sunday, I did two workouts on the Wii Fit U.

The Wii Fit U is no joke--this is how good I am at yoga, hahahaha. I have zero balance and zero coordination. Flexibility? What's that? (I forget what this yoga pose was called, but I had to stand on one leg and hold my balance.) The scribbly lines show how my balance was distributed for each leg; ideally, the scribbly line would just be a small dot in the center of the yellow circle. My legs were so shaky and my balance was terrible! The spots where the line goes out of the circle completely is where I literally toppled over:

At around 11:30 PM on Sunday, I was lying in bed trying to sleep, and it hit me that I hadn't done an outdoor workout. I wasn't going to get out of bed at 11:30 to do it (if I had been on Day 46 or even Day 16, sure; but on Day 6, I just decided that I'd count the first week as a lesson learned). I definitely won't make that mistake again!

Since I had to start over, I took yesterday and today off. I ran into an issue with the bathroom remodel and I spent time working on that. I could have started Day 1 today, but I figured that since I've always started my week on Wednesdays (my "Wednesday Weigh-In" day), I would just start 75 Hard on Wednesday.

The week wasn't a waste, however, in any way. I got in twelve 45+ minute workouts, including two 4+ mile runs! It made me excited about running again. During my second run, my fourth mile was actually sub-10:00 and I didn't even realize it. I used to run all through the winter until I became a big baby about the cold. Now that I'll have to do a workout outdoors every day, it'd be nice to get back to running outside, even when it's freezing.

I still feel like I snacked too much, so I am going to adjust my "diet" plan. Before, my plan was just do continue to eat a vegan diet. Since I'm having a hard time with the mindless snacking, I'm going to make a simple rule: if I snack after dinner, it has to be 300 calories or less. I'm not going back to counting calories, but I didn't want to eliminate snacking altogether, or eliminate certain foods, so I think the 300 calorie rule will help a lot.

I was really good about drinking a gallon of water a day. I spread it into four quarts: one when I wake up, one after my first workout, one after lunch, and one after my second workout.

The non-fiction book is hard for me--you would think that would be the easiest task! But I was incredibly bored with Running & Being (there were a few interesting tidbits, but I had SUCH a hard time reading it. I only read the minimum 10 pages each day, so I didn't finish it.

I'm going to read something different tomorrow for Day 1. I'll have to dig around and see what I can find as far as a self-development book goes! I don't want to buy a physical book, knowing I'll never read it again, I may end up going to the library. It was SO hard not using my Kindle to read this week--I missed being able to look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary by just tapping them, I missed how lightweight it is, and I especially missed the fact that it lies flat so that I could eat breakfast while reading! I think I have a couple of physical books that I could read, but I might just have to request some at the library.

Anyway, I'm bummed that all of the six days I did don't count, but I learned from them so they weren't wasted. The biggest being that I need to control my snacking. I'm hoping I don't see yet another gain on the scale tomorrow. I've been eating healthy vegan food... just too much of it! And I certainly won't forget to get in an outdoor workout ;) 

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Hakka Noodles

I've had these pictures for about a week now and I need to post this before I forget about it! (Like the time I made the recipe for chickpea loaf and had completely forgotten that I made it and reviewed it months prior.)

I *love* cabbage but I don't use it as much as I would like to; I don't have many recipes that call for it. My family is kind of indifferent to it, but they lean more on the "don't like" side, so that's another reason I don't use it often. But when I saw this recipe for Hakka noodles--something I'd never heard of--it sounded like something my whole family would enjoy. And it was loaded with veggies.

I chose this particular recipe for Hakka noodles simply because it was what I came across on Pinterest. I didn't know that there were so many different ones! I'm going to look at some others and see if they are all pretty much the same as far as the ingredients go.

This recipe is from The Hidden Veggies (I'll link to it again at the end of the post), and is described like this:

"Vegetable Hakka noodles are a spicy Indo-Chinese style noodle in a spicy oil based sauce with cabbage and bell peppers."

Cabbage and bell peppers are favorites of mine, I love both Indian and Chinese food, and how can you go wrong with noodles? Yum!

First, the ingredients:

Rice vinegar, tamari, olive oil, chili garlic sauce/sriracha, cabbage, garlic, bell pepper, onion, carrot, spaghetti noodles, and green onions.

As I've mentioned, when I cook a new recipe, I like to prep everything beforehand, even though it takes longer. I like not feeling rushed when I cook, so I chop all the veggies and measure out spices or whatnot before I even start cooking.

There was a lot of veggie-chopping, but it looked pretty when I was done!

First, you cook the spaghetti according to package directions. We all know what that looks like:

Then you heat some oil and stir-fry the onions:

Then you add the cabbage, carrots, and bell peppers with a little salt:

When those are done (but still a little crunchy) put them in a bowl and set aside.

Then you add to the (empty) pot an alarming amount of oil (I kind of cringed, but trusted the recipe), sriracha, and garlic. I mixed them together before adding so that the oil didn't look like so much!

However, when I poured it into the hot pan, it separated a bit and you could see all the oil. I don't know why large amounts of oil make me cringe like that! I just hoped that the pasta itself wasn't drowning in oil. (I used to work at Steak N Shake when I was in college, and I remember we had a pasta dish there that was super oily; it always grossed me out. Maybe it just reminded me of that.)

Once that cooks for a few minutes (I didn't bother rinsing out the pot from the veggies, so that is what you see floating around in there), you add in the tamari and rice vinegar:

Once the sauce is combined, you add the pasta and stir it all together. I was surprised that there wasn't much color, because the sauce was clearly red, but it coated the pasta well:

It looked boring, but then you add the veggies and give it a good toss to mix everything together:

For such a large bowl of cooked veggies, I was surprised that the pasta to veggie ratio wasn't as impressive as I thought. I would have liked double the amount of cabbage! I'm a huge fan of green onions, so I piled those on top. 

My first thought was that it was milder than I expected. For a large amount of Sriracha, I thought it would be super spicy.

(Side note: I'd always assumed that "chili garlic sauce" was the name for sriracha--which I thought was the brand--but I learned that I was wrong about both of those. This recipe actually called for "chili garlic sauce". A google search told me that sriracha is spicier than chili garlic sauce, so I guess I was just expecting an abnormal amount of heat. Sriracha and chili garlic sauce are frequently substituted for each other because they have similar flavor profiles, however.)

I added some more tamari and that made a big difference--I think it just needed the extra saltiness. I also ended up adding more sriracha for extra heat. As for the oiliness, it actually wasn't nearly as bad as I expected! There was just enough oil to coat the noodles, but not so much that it pooled in the bowl.

Jerry and the kids liked these noodles, too--they all added more tamari, though, too. The next day, Jerry took some leftovers to work and I ate the last of the leftovers that evening--by that time, it was mostly veggies and far less pasta, which was fine with me because I was craving the cabbage. After I heated it up, I added a handful of peanuts which gave it a great flavor and extra crunch.

It made a large batch; the recipe says eight servings, but my family got about six--we like large helpings ;)  It's definitely a recipe I'll make again! Next time, I'd probably just use pre-shredded coleslaw mix (two bags) and I'd add another bell pepper, and extra tamari. I love it when I find a recipe that all four of us like--since becoming vegan, that's hard to do!

You can find the full recipe at The Hidden Veggies - Hakka Noodles.

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And Then There Was Light

Shortly after I wrote my "wordless" post yesterday, we had a huge windstorm. It was loud--I knew it was supposed to be windy, but I didn't expect it to be so windy that our electricity would go out! It was only about 7:00 PM, but it was dark outside. And for some reason, the moon just wasn't giving us any moonlight, so it was pitch black inside the house.

I waited expectantly for the power to come back on, like it usually does, but after a few minutes I wondered if it was going to be out for a while. I felt my way into the living room for a flashlight, then used that to find my phone (I never know where my phone is). I had about 40% battery left on my phone, so I didn't want to mess around by playing a game or something and drain the battery.

I was SO glad I had already done my second workout (I finished it--just a walk--about 30 minutes before the windstorm). If I hadn't already done it, I'd had to have walked in the windstorm or, I don't know, marched in place in the dark living room? One of my workouts has to be outside, so if I had done an indoor workout in the morning, planning to do the treadmill or something in the evening, I would have been totally out of luck. I chose to run yesterday morning, and I did that outside. (I'll recap my workouts tomorrow).

I remembered that I could read my Kindle in the dark if I turned on the backlight; the Kindle battery lasts forever, so I figured I'd just read in bed for a while. I started a book called 'The Quarry Girls' by Jess Lourey, a murder-mystery inspired by a true crime, that I got for free via Amazon's First Reads. I really like it! I'm only about a quarter of the way into it, but I'm going to read some more tonight.

I read for a couple of hours (still no electricity) and decided it was probably a good time to try to go to sleep early. One of my goals with 75 Hard is to get into a good routine so that I can hopefully sleep better. I fell asleep on and off for a few hours, and then at 1:00, I just couldn't do it anymore. I got up and read my book again, ate some pretzels (*sigh*), and kept checking the electric company's app to watch for an update.

Duck joined me--he draped himself across my chest, which made it hard to read, but he was so cozy and warm that I actually started getting tired again.

I fell asleep again for a little while, but was wide awake at 4:00. Why does my body not let me sleep?! I have had insomnia problems since I was a kid, and I've tried all of the tips for getting a good night's sleep, but my brain just has such a hard time turning off. Melatonin and over-the-counter sleep aids do nothing for me. On the rare occasion that I get four hours of uninterrupted sleep, that's a *great* night for me. But usually it's tossing and turning with an hour here and an hour there. So frustrating.

Anyway, it's kind of pathetic how much I rely on electricity. It's funny how even when the power is out, I flip light switches from room to room out of habit.

Murphy's law when the electricity goes out:

Naturally, the portable chargers for USB things (like charging phones) aren't charged. The battery in our super-powerful flashlight has about 10% battery remaining. And of course, I always have a load of dishes going or a load of laundry in the washer when the power goes out. I'm surprised I didn't have dinner in the crockpot, too!

Oh, and let's add in Daylight Saving Time--we had to set the clocks back an hour at 2:00 this morning.

In the morning, Jerry texted me to say that they were estimating the power to come back on at 11:00 PM tonight (Sunday)! I was bummed it was going to take so long. One of the big benefits to being vegan now, though, is that I didn't have to worry about meat spoiling; the majority of our fridge contains vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, condiments, soy milk, and leftovers from dinner. (And tofu... there is always a block or two of tofu waiting to be cooked into something yummy.)

My day today was all screwed up. It didn't *have* to be, but I was totally out of my element without electricity! And the "extra" hour when we set the clocks back messed with my brain, too. I went in the living room to read and when Jerry got home, we used "the" flashlight (it's a stupid thing to get excited over, but I seriously LOVE this flashlight--it's super bright) to sit and talk for a little bit.

I noticed Duck and Joey's shadows on the wall; and if you look closely, Chick noticed the shadows, too! (He's in front of the TV lying on his nail scratcher, staring up at Duck's shadow).

I went to Lowe's super early to get some stuff I needed to work on the bathroom. I figured that if it was light enough outside, I could at least get some stuff done in the bathroom today.

I bought primer, but I have NO idea what color to paint the walls. I want to do something different--we might as well, since we have to repaint the whole bedroom and bathroom anyway--but I'm having such a hard time deciding what colors I want to use. Jerry wants to do something really dark, and I like that idea (which I realize is ironic, considering the electricity situation). I've looked at some cool color schemes but I just don't think they'd work in our bedroom.

I worked in the bathroom for a couple of hours and then I heard the sound of the furnace kicking on. The electricity was back! I think it was about noon. We were only out of electricity for about 17 hours, but it's crazy how much that affects our daily routine and tasks:

Eli had drained his phone battery last night (of course) and he couldn't stand not having it, so he went to my parents' house really early this morning. Noah was excited to have friends come over last night to play the Xbox in the "man cave" in the garage; but his friends showed up right before the power went out. Still, they ended up ordering food and hanging out anyway. Jerry had electricity at work, but he also had a 13-hour shift, thanks to setting the clocks back!

Now I'm going to do my reading for 75 Hard, as well as take my daily progress photo; I usually do those things in the morning. I feel like I'm forgetting something else, too. Basically, I just need to complete my checklist for the day. And hopefully get some actual sleep tonight!

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Wordless

I'm going to take today off from blogging (I'm just exhausted--this week is catching up with me!). So here is a photo that I took on this day in 2011. That was the year I started my blog and the Noah and Eli were 7 and 5 years old in this picture. They are now 18 and 16!

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Friday Night Photos

I don't have very many pictures this week, unfortunately! But here goes...

This first picture is just a random fact from my calendar (which got wet, and that's why the pages are all wrinkly now) that I thought was very fitting after I wrote about a very lofty goal yesterday (the 4x4x48 running challenge)...

With all of the hundreds (thousands?) of goals I've set over the years and then tried and failed, I can totally understand this! It makes achieving goals particularly exciting, though. I think the keyword here is *reachable* goal. It's hard not to beat yourself up when you set a goal that you know is attainable, but you fail to complete it for whatever reason. At least it is for me! But I definitely don't think it's a reason not to set goals.

Funny story about Riley... When I babysat Luke and Riley on Wednesday, Riley had me cracking up. She was very excited to show me something but she couldn't find it, and she was getting really frustrated. She asked if I could help her find it, but she wouldn't tell me what it was because she wanted it to be a surprise. She asked me if I could text her mom to ask if it was in the car. Becky didn't know what it could be, so I told Riley should could talk-to-text on my phone and I would cover my ears--hahaha.

So, I showed her how to use the microphone button and send a text, then I told Becky that I was handing the phone over to Riley. I went across the room and covered my ears while Riley sent the text. I didn't read Riley's text, because I wanted to see how this whole thing played out, but Becky responded to check the "Barbie room" (where Riley keeps her Barbies) or the living room.

We continued to look--still, I didn't know what I was looking for--and Riley finally asked if I wanted a hint. I said sure, that would be helpful. So she starts gesturing and describing:

"Well, they're stacked on top of each other, and they're pointy, and they go like this (she opens and closes her fist)... and they're orange..." then she just got very excited and apparently decided to tell me, because she yelled, "AND THEY'RE TEETH! THEY'RE VAMPIRE TEETH AND THEY'RE ORANGE!"

I was dying at this point. It's kind of like playing hide and seek with a kid, and you say loudly, "Hmmm, where could she be?" and then she yells out, "I'm right here!" (Well, that's what Eli used to do anyway.) Riley told me to turn around so that she could put the teeth in her mouth and surprise/scare me.

She looked so funny! And she wanted to scare me with the witch finger, too. She couldn't really talk with the teeth in, so I was laughing just trying to understand what she was saying. That was a fun time :)

One of the things I'm doing with the bathroom (which I feel will never get done at this point!) is making a cat hangout. When I built the closet where the shower used to be, I didn't bring it all the way to the ceiling. I left a space up there and topped the closet with plywood. Then I glued down a piece of carpet (it was super cheap, more like a very thin rug--but the fabric was felt-like and perfect for cats to scratch). This is what it looked like from the top at that point:

On that far wall, which is where my bedroom is, I cut out a square hole. I haven't framed the hole in yet, but I will make it look cute when it's done! Anyway, the other side of the wall will have shelves that the cats can climb up and down to their little hangout.

Chick, Duck, and Estelle have all been using it already. I have the paint ladder set up in the bathroom and the cats climb the ladder to get up there (and down). In this picture below, I was looking in the bathroom mirror and noticed one of the cats up there behind me. It's hard to see in the photo, but at first it looked like two cat heads.

Then I realized it was Duck, lying on his back, with his feet propped up! Hahaha.

Here is what the hole looks like from the bedroom side right now. Duck loves to look out. I really need to get the shelves up soon! It'll be fun to watch the cats use it.

Noah finally got his hair cut (and dyed). I really wish he'd cut it shorter, but he likes it long. It looks much better than it did before, though! I really like the color.

Well, that's all I have this week. We have last-minute plans tonight to go see Sarah and Ne, who are here from Arizona for just a couple of days. Have a great weekend! xo

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Three Things Thursday

Today is day three of 75 Hard and also Three Things Thursday... so I thought I'd write about three things that I hope to accomplish by doing the 75 Hard challenge. I have to say, it's been harder than I expected! Not necessarily physically, but mentally (which is the whole point of the challenge in the first place--a mental toughness challenge). I can definitely see how this builds discipline; it invalidates any excuses I might come up with.

The last time I started 75 Hard was in 2020 during the pandemic. When we were on lockdown, I obviously had a lot of free time on my hands--so it was perfect timing for a challenge like this. Now, being busy, it's definitely tougher. Which is a good thing! If it was easy, there really wouldn't be a point to doing it.

Anyway, here are three things I hope to accomplish within the next 72 days:

1. Get back into a running routine.

While I don't have particular running plans right now, I do want to get back to running at least three days a week--preferably five. If my body is cool with it, I'd like to build up my mileage again, too. Reading 'Running & Being' by Dr. George Sheehan has started to make me remember what I felt like when I was running 10 miles with ease, or disciplined enough to run six days a week (200 miles a month) when marathon training for Chicago in 2013.

Being older now and not really interested in racing, I would like to run for the "high" of it. To feel really damn good after running. I remember what it was like to go for a cold 10-mile run and be home by 8:00 in the morning, showered and ready for the day by 8:30. It was awesome!

I don't have the desire to run a marathon or even half-marathon (I'm not saying "never"--because who knows what will happen later on?--but I don't have interest in it right now.

However.

I have this really crazy goal in mind that I'm hesitant to post here because I could very well change my mind and admit to myself just how ridiculous it sounds. David Goggins has this challenge called 4x4x48... which means running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. It's not a speed challenge--you can definitely take walk breaks or run really slowly (or even do another exercise entirely); but the point is to go 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours straight. Crazy, right?!

When you do the math, it adds up to a LOT of miles--if you were to do a 15:00/mile pace, for instance, you'd go 48 miles in 48 hours. I'm familiar with running on tired legs with little to no sleep from doing three Ragnar races--but those don't even compare to this. Even mentally, this will be a lot tougher because you don't have a team cheering for you or the excitement of a race or anything like that.

Anyway, if I'm serious about this, I have to start training for it NOW. So I'm going to run a few times this week and see how I feel about it. I went for a run today and I didn't hate it ;) 

2. Get in the habit of a good daily routine.

It's hard to follow that first one, because that's such a huge goal! But on a much easier scale, another thing I'd like to accomplish by the end of this challenge is to get in a good daily routine--waking up at the same time every day, eating at roughly the same time when possible, exercise (whatever my choice may be) in the mornings, read a book before bed, and then lights out at a particular time.

Right now I'm still figuring out the best routine for me, but over the next couple of months, I hope to see what my body likes best. It would be especially nice if I could figure out a good sleeping pattern to combat my insomnia. Maybe if my body gets used to lying down a particular time every night and getting up at the same time every morning, it will allow me to sleep!

3. I'd like to start doing strength training exercises.

I just don't like them and I've avoided them for years! When I was in college, I loved using the weight machines in the gym. I even took an ACE certification class to be a personal trainer (although, like with my running coach certification, I never intended to take on clients--it was more for my own knowledge and credibility). I worked at Curves for a couple of years and I loved doing the machines there as well. Curves was actually a really good cardio + strength program now that I look back on it.

Anyway, I don't have interest in joining a gym--it would take me just as long to drive to and from than it would to do a workout--but I know a ton of strength exercises I can do at home. Even just doing a short body-weight strength routine would be better than nothing. (I could go to the rec center if I really wanted, but it's at the high school and full of teen boys--as far from ideal as I could get, haha.)

I'm not going to dive in with a big routine, but over the next 72 days, I can do strength workouts here and there until I figure out what I enjoy the most. Ever since turning 40, I've been thinking more and more about my health--and I *know* how important strength training is. I just need to quit the excuses for not doing it!

So, there you have it--three things I hope to accomplish over the next 72 days:

1) Get back in a good running routine, possibly build up mileage and do a (super-crazy) goal of completing a 4x4x48 challenge.
2) Develop a good daily routine for my body.
3) Start strength training.

Aside from the 4x4x48 challenge, I think those are very doable things to work toward and accomplish by the end of the 75 Hard challenge (January 14, 2023). Maybe I'll aim to do the 4x4x48 on my birthday--January 25th. But I'm getting way ahead of myself--it's only day three. We'll see how I feel on day 30 or 40 or 50... haha!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 75

This photo is from Halloween night, but I just wanted to show my costume to *someone*--I usually don't dress up for Halloween because we don't go anywhere. This year, we still stayed home and passed out candy, but Jerry has been a huge Ghostbusters nerd for the last couple of years and I figured I'd join in on his fun. (By "fun", I mean he actually thinks he's a Ghostbuster when he wears his costume, haha.)

Anyway, my weigh-in today was mildly alarming (is that an oxymoron?) but I feel okay with it because I'm still within my goal weight range (125-135 pounds), and I started 75 Hard yesterday, which I'm sure will help keep me from gaining more. Still, this is the third week in a row that I've gained, so I want to keep that in check.

I got out of my routine of eating an afternoon snack and a late dinner--the late dinner helped keep me from snacking at night--and I know it's the reason my weight has gone up again. I've been eating dinner early (at around 4:00) and then snacking too much at night. Pretzels and hummus isn't the worst thing to snack on, but it could be better (red peppers and hummus sounds delicious, actually!).

I'm going to make it a point to eat a late dinner when I can, and if I have to eat early, then my back-up plan will be a healthier, lower-calorie snack. I also need to go to bed earlier. I don't think I'll ever "cure" my insomnia, but if I read before bed instead of watch TV or play a game on my phone or something else, I can usually fall asleep earlier.

Today was a lot rougher than yesterday as far as 75 Hard goes! I woke up with a bad headache, and I put off going for a walk with Joey until late morning. I told Becky I would babysit Luke and Riley while she and Brian went to parent-teacher conferences at Luke's school, so I had to get my first workout done before I went to their house.

When I put on my shoes, it felt like something was pressing really hard on my left heel. I took off my shoe and there was nothing wrong with it. Then I looked at my heel, so noticed this nasty bruise. 

When I was doing the Wii Fit yesterday, I was kicking my heels back behind me and I was a little too close to the coffee table. I hit the coffee table with the back of my heel *really* hard. It was blindingly painful for a few minutes, but I forgot about it until I put on my shoes this morning. I wondered what I should do--I couldn't walk without limping--but again, I thought of David Goggins' book and I knew I could make myself do the walk. So, I walked with Joey, doing the same route as yesterday, and after a few minutes I forgot about the pain in my heel. It doesn't hurt unless I'm wearing shoes, but I got used to the pain.

Luke and Riley--being 5 years old and 4 years old respectively--are, well, exhausting. I had so much fun with them today, but I was wiped out when I left. My head was still throbbing on the way home, but I knew I had to make dinner and do my second workout. I was so relieved when I got home and remembered that there were leftovers in the fridge from yesterday!

And as for my second workout, I was just so tired that I decided to go for another 45-minute walk. Jerry had about 50 minutes before he had to leave for work, so I asked him if he'd want to go with me. He did, and it went by so fast! It was fun; we had a good conversation about maintaining friendships. In the car on the way to and from babysitting Luke and Riley, I'd listened to a great podcast episode called "Why Is Adult Friendship So Hard? 5 Lies You Tell Yourself & the Truth You Need to Hear" by The Mel Robbins Podcast. It rang so true for me and it really made me want to get in touch with people that I want to maintain friendships with but just haven't been putting in the effort.

When Jerry and I got home I still had a few minutes left to go for my workout, so I did the hula hoop. My legs are really sore from the squat machine yesterday, so I didn't even want to attempt that again today. The walk, followed by a few minutes with the hula hoop, was just what I needed.

Eli and I are going to watch an episode of Dexter and then I'm going to read a little before going to bed. Tomorrow I have to get a few things from Lowe's so that I can (hopefully) finish up the bathroom soon!

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75 Hard: Day 1 (of Round 2)

Damn, I feel good!

Like, really good. Today was the first day of 75 Hard (here is the post with the details) and I was really excited to get started. It had been a while since I was running regularly, and I was just feeling ready to push myself a bit. And while 75 Hard isn't a diet or exercise challenge (it's a mental toughness challenge--building discipline), I knew that the exercise part was what I was craving the most.

Jerry just took this picture of me while I'm writing this post... I'm as exhausted as I look! Haha.

Sure, I could have just started doing exercise without the commitment of 75 Hard, but I didn't finish the challenge the first time around, and I want to try again.

I had a therapy appointment at 10:00 this morning, so I knew I wanted to get my first workout in before I had to leave home at 9:30. My first workout will probably always be a walk (or run) with Joey. I feel like it's a good way to start the day and I miss when we used to walk every morning together (five miles!).

I didn't want to walk in the dark and I'd gotten up pretty early, so I used the time to start a 75 Hard journal. It's just a very small (vegan) leather lined notebook (here is the Amazon affiliate link). For under $10, it's really nice!

I found a cute 75 Hard tracker printout online and I just printed it at a very small size; then I glued the pages into my journal. Basically, you just keep track of the 75 Hard goals by filling in the little circles each day.

I'd like to use the other pages to journal a few things related to the challenge each day: my weight and body fat percentage, what non-fiction book I'm reading, a quote from the book that I read that day, quick details of my workouts, and a food journal. It sounds like a lot, but it'll only take less than five minutes or so to write it down and it'll be nice to have a recap 75 days from now.

While I was waiting for the sun to come up, I drank a quart of water and read 10 pages from 'Running & Being' by Dr. George Sheehan. I think I'm really going to like this book! What I read today was about how we (as a people) don't enjoy the present moments as they are happening. A quote that really spoke to me: 

"Given the choice, most of us would give up the reality of today for the memory of yesterday or the fantasy of tomorrow. We desire to live anywhere but in the present."

I am 100% guilty of that--all the time. I think about how things used to be and how I wish they were still like that; and I think about the future (when I reach certain goals, in particular). But the present moment? I realized that I never really think about the present, let alone take the time to appreciate it!

Finally, Joey and I headed out for our walk. It was warm for October--the temp was 55 degrees or so--and it felt great. I listened to the audiobook 'Can't Hurt Me' by David Goggins (Amazon affiliate link). I read the book once and loved it so much that I got the audiobook, which was even better (there is more content in between chapters). And now I'm listening to it a second time. I cannot recommend this book enough!

I just pre-ordered his next book which comes out in December, and I'm excited to listen to it as well. (FYI, Goggins is not shy about using curse words, so if that's not your thing, I think there is a clean version as well.)

I have no idea how I managed it, but as my Garmin's timer was approaching 45 minutes, I was approaching my driveway. I hadn't planned a route ahead of time or tried to keep a particular pace, but managed a perfect 45-minute walk.

When I uploaded the Garmin info to my phone app, I thought something was wrong with a setting because it didn't tell me how long my heart rate was in each zone for. It showed my average heart rate and maximum, but nothing in the zones. Then I realized that was because I hadn't even reached zone one! Hahaha.

I wasn't taking a lazy stroll, either--I feel like a 16:40 pace is decent--but my heart rate averaged 107 and maxed out at 119. I'm not trying to reach heart rate goals or anything, but I found it funny. I'm going to change zone one to start at 50 bpm so at least it will register!

I scarfed down breakfast quickly so I could change clothes and brush my teeth before heading out the door for therapy. When I got home, I wanted to set up the Wii Fit U so that I could do it for my second workout; it had been a long time since I used it. When I got out the balance board, it was missing a foot--and I tore the house apart for two hours looking for the stupid thing. (I never did find it, so I just had to take the other three feet off.)

After all sorts of problems getting it set up and updated and all of that, I didn't have time to do the second workout before I had to start cooking dinner. Ideally, I'll be done with my second workout of the day by mid-afternoon. My plan for my second workouts is basically not to have a plan at all--to change things up and try to have fun with it. I'll just do whatever I feel like that day.

I mentioned a few days ago a couple of pieces of exercise equipment that I'd gotten with an Amazon gift card. Right after I wrote about it, the "hula hoop" contraption-thing arrived and I really didn't like it. It was SUPER loud--a clackety-clack noise--so I returned it and got a weighted hula hoop instead. The only ones I've ever used are the cheap plastic ones that have water in them; I had no idea that you could buy them in pieces that you put together, or that they come with a foam exterior for cushion.

I've always liked hula hooping, so I tried it out right away and wow--it was heavy! It's bigger and heavier than what I've used before, but I think it'll be a better piece of fitness equipment than the small plastic ones.

The other thing I got was a squat-like machine (photo below, because it's really hard to describe). You basically push out with your arms and squat down, then stand up and pull your arms back in. There are bands on the back to create resistance. I put it together yesterday and I had no idea how it was going to go when I used it--would I be able to do it for 30 seconds? 5 minutes? 30 minutes?

So for my second workout today, I started with the squat machine. I wanted to set a timer to at least give me something to aim for, but I had no idea what to set it for. Finally, I decided on five minutes.

Holy hell! Just 30 seconds in, my arms and shoulders were burning and my legs were on fire. My heart rate was up to 130+ in just that 30 seconds! I wanted to quit, but I kept thinking about David Goggins' book and I knew I could do the full five minutes.

My heart rate got up to 157 bpm before the timer went off. My legs were super wobbly, I was sweating, and breathing really hard. That is going to be a personal challenge for me--I'd like to try to increase my time on it. (Here is the affiliate link to the squat machine)

The hula hoop felt easy after that squat machine! My abs will feel it tomorrow, I'm sure, but I'm pretty confident my whole body is going to feel like I was run over by a truck, haha.

I had fun using the Wii--I played some of the games I used to love, like the rhythm stepping and island cycling. My heart rate was very inconsistent because of the different games, but like I said--I don't have goals for the workouts other than to exercise. It averaged 117 and maxed at 157.

Well, I'm completely wiped out now and I'm going to find a scary movie for Jerry and I to watch. It was a great first day! Let's hope my body can still move tomorrow.

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