207: I Don't Glisten

When I was in high school I read trashy romance novels.  Actually I read whatever I could get my hands on, but the romance novels seemed to be more frequent.  As a side note, now that I'm happily married, I can't seem to get into romance novels - maybe because I have my own romance? 

Anyway, back to the novels.  Every one of them would talk about how the woman glistened instead of sweated.  Glisten.  It sounds so romantic and cute and pretty.  Well, I don't glisten.  I can't believe I'm going to do this, but here goes...this is what I look like after 4.5 miles in 60 minutes at 5am:

I am a hot mess.  I certainly don't look like I glisten, do I?  Nope.  I plain old sweat up a storm.  I sweat first in my head so it's always bad. It was worse before I started wearing the headbands to keep my hair back and sop up some of that sweat.  I always wonder if the people at the gym who know me by name would recognize me outside of the gym when I'm not a hot mess?  Sometimes I want to go in, dressed like normal, and see if they call me by name.

Are you a hot mess when you exercise?  Or do you glisten?

208.8; Still Alive and Kicking

I have to be honest here.  The last week and a half has worn me out.  We had a house guest and the kids and thing to do/places to go.  By Sunday night I couldn't stay awake past 8pm.  And when I tried to work out on Monday morning, it just wasn't working.  Running/walking was frustrating and my knee hurt.  I ended up going out of the Body Pump class in the middle because someone was faint.  I was plain old worn out and my body was trying to tell me that, but I was fighting to keep doing what I do.

Bottom line is that it didn't work.

I think there is a fine line between pushing yourself and listening to when you need a break.  I'm frustrated that I haven't lost inches or pounds in the last couple of weeks.  But Pushing my body past tiredness is one thing and pushing past exhaustion is another.  I suppose that I'll end up going over that line again several times before I realize what's happening with my body.

This morning's workout was a struggle.  I ran, but slow.  I walked, but my feet hurt.  I did it though.  For an hour.  And this afternoon I feel better for it.

207.2; Memorial Weekend Friday Fives

1.  My puppy dawg got a cut.  A buzzzzz cut.  Does your puppy dawg hang his head in shame for the first 24 hours after a good cut?  Mine does.

2.  I had the best dinner last night.  Our house guest set out cold chicken, cut up peppers and onions, avocado, peppered salmon, crusty french bread and creamy feta cheese.  We sat on the living room floor eating picnic style and talked.  It was relaxing, yummy and I didn't over eat.

3.  I'm going to be spending the weekend with 2 kiddos who've never camped.  Lord help me.  It's going to rain and then be hotter than Hades.

4.  I portioned up snacks last night.  Grass fed beef summer sausage, low calorie cheddar slices, watermelon, grapes, kiwi, banana bread, cookies and strawberries.  I put the dry snacks in a plastic box that will go in the back of my SUV and the cold things in a reusable grocery bag that fits in my fridge so I can grab it and go!

5.  I'm a Body Pump addict.  Really.  I love the class and can now clean & press almost 40 pounds.  LOVE!

Have a great weekend!!

207.4; Weekend Prep

I feel like I'm the only one working today, but I'm not.  I have the afternoon off because I have to be here tomorrow all day.  We have a guest from out of town staying with us and I'm picking up my almost 10 year old niece and 6 year old nephew tomorrow for the weekend. 

Busy.  With a capital B.

So this afternoon I'm packing snack bags for all of us.  Pre-portioned bags of grapes, banana bread, cookies, watermelon, strawberries, cheerio bars...  Yes, I'm packaging things that are sugary and sweet too.  But I'm pre-packaging them.  So when I crave the sweet thing this weekend because I see the kids with it, I know that I'm taking one serving.

I'm also filling a cooler with water for me and other drinks for the kids.  No excuse not to get my water in.

And I'm going to try to talk them into going to the gym with me.

I'm hoping that the prep will help make it easier to make better choices in the rush and business of a holiday weekend.

208.0; The Color Black

When you're heavy, black is your favorite color.  I loved black.  It's slimming.  It's a constant.  It pairs with almost anything.  I had several black shirts, sweatshirts and long sleeved shirts that I loved.  I had several pairs of black pants that I loved. 

Black was a big part of my wardrobe, even in the summer.  And while I think that tan capri pants and a black top is classic, it wasn't what I dreamed of.  I dreamed of this:

Something nautical and summery.  But I knew that I could never pull it off and still blend into the background.  After all, that's what my friend, the color black helped me do. 

Last week I was going through my 4 pairs of capri pants and my 5 or 6 tops and I realized that I owned no black tops.  How was this?  How did this happen?  Black is my staple, it's my friend and I had none of it to wear.  Oh sure, I had black capri pants, but nothing in black on top.

Then I realized, I wasn't subconsciously ALWAYS choosing black when I shopped.  I think that it became so ingrained for me to chose black in a top ALL THE TIME, that I had a hard time seeing other colors.  In fact, I had a lot of black tops that I donated to the local charity in my bags of clothes.  Now, I realized that I was choosing hot pink, coral & white, purples and greens and even light blues.  I'm choosing what I like and if I don't absolutely love it, I'm not buying it.  I'm not buying it because I DO have other options.

So did I go and buy that outfit up there?  No.  Not yet.  But I intend to when my pants size goes down 1 more size so it will last be a bit longer.  I did buy a pair of white capri pants.  I don't think I've EVER owned a pair of white pants.  You know what else I did?  I bought a black top.  It's a knit wrap top that hugs my new found shape.  And I bought it because I like it.  And it's the only black top that I have.