10/2/11

This has been my random blog but I am about to make it not be random.  I have been running since the beginning of the spring doing the couch to 5 K, the bridge to 10 K and now a speed program.  I am training alot and need a training log/food log.  I am seriously addicted to running now and i need to correct my nutrition to complement my running.  I will admit, it is tough.  I show dogs so am gone alot on the road and usually travel with others so have to pack smart and eat out alot.  I am hoping this blog will help me stay accountable and help me stay on track.

Running today:  Taking the day off.  Ran my first 10 K yesterday and am very sore and need a break today:)

Food:

Breakfast: Kashi TLC Dark Mocha Almond granola bar and a coke zero with vanilla


Okay so there is a festival in town called oztoberfest so my lunch is going to look crazy but it only happens once a year.


Lunch: A small cheeseburger plain.  A few bites of chili cheese fries.  A few bites of an indian taco that had chicken.  Helped my hubby drink some beer as we shared a stein.  Drank probably three beers over a course of 6 hours.

Dinner:  A couple of bites of a brat.  Two hardboiled eggs and 4 oz of V8 light.  A pumpkin/chocolate brownie.

Yeah I was super bad, but oztoberfest has come and gone and now back to my normal bad self.

updates galore

Okay, been keeping my agility blogs updated, need to do a better job here. Well, I am happy to report that we got new gutters on the house and all of the water issues we were having have gone away! We have had several really good long rains since we put the gutters in and the basement and upstairs window have stayed dry! I am so excited to have figured out this issue and wish we would have done so sooner. Tony also ripped out the bathroom skylight and roofed over it. We left it un-insulated for a while to make sure he got everything sealed tightly and we have had 0 leaks so now he just has to find the time to insulate it, dry wall over it and then of course we will have to repaint the whole bathroom. I am so bad with colors so this should be interesting! We still haven't ordered a new skylight for the bedroom. Oh yeah, we decided to keep this one a skylight but go for a real skylight, not a plastic bubble. We have a real skylight in the dining room and it is beautiful and doesn't leak so we will try this approach for the bedroom as well. Oh heck, I guess we will have to paint the bedroom too. Another color choice, ICK! Anyway, we may just have a paint a thon because we have paint now for the guest room and are still debating about what color to paint the living room. I am guessing when the weather turns crappy and we are stuck in the house, the painting will occur. My stepdad is coming out for thanskgiving so many projects will probably start then as well. Tony is going to need help with the skylight as I am afraid of heights and will not be on the roof at all. I am hoping we can get that ordered and they can work on that while he is here. I also hope we can get the trim figured out for the bathroom window too. It looks so yucky with trim and the framing and we can't put the old stuff back on since it is damaged. Of course that means changing the trim on the other window, but oh well. Poor tony, he has so many projects on his plate!

We also recently got a dining room table made. I had been looking at tables for while and never seeing anything we liked. Well, we took a trip to Paxico and found a guy that makes tables and he made us one to our specifications. It is made of KS maple and it looks antique and I love it. It has benches instead of chairs and i was a little concerned about that, but they push up under the table, thus saving a ton of space. It really fits the room and is the perfect shape and lenght. It was well worth the money we paid for it and he made it very quickly so we could have it for thanksgiving. I hope to work with this guy to make more furniture in the future and possibly teach tony how to make furniture as well.

Last update. Well boo hiss, I have gained a ton of weight. I haven't been exercising other than training my dogs and walking to and from my car to work. I just haven't been motivated, haven't cared. I keep trying to recall those feelings when I worked out of how great I felt and how great my clothes fit. Unfortunately, lately, I just haven't cared. Been eating out most meals, just don't care. This is all going to bite me in the ass in the end. I am already barely fitting into my jeans, had to go up a size or two just to be comfortable. Tried on new clothes, couldnt' fit well into any thing or any size, almost cried then said fuck it. I just don't care right now. My biggest thing right now is working my dogs. I come home, either eat or go to the field or vice versa. I don't care what goes in my mouth as long as it fills my belly. Tony has virtually stopped cooking at all. It is a very dangerous and unhealthy habit of convience we have both come into. I hate the way I look right now, figured the comments from my relatives would be enough to bounce me back to reality but it didn't. I wish I could get out of this habit. It is not good for either of our bodies or our health. Tony is bigger than he has ever been and so am I. I am at least up to what I was in CO although I have been afraid to weight. My clothes tell the story. I need to just start walking again and go from there. Being at nationals motivated me to run all out and I was sure out of breath every run. I need to get back into shape, should probably get back with my private trainer. BLAH!

Why did i become a homeowner?

I think I am hitting my final straw with some things, namely our house. Don't get me wrong, I love our house but the constant flooding of various rooms is starting to get to me. I guess I am thinking ahead of if we ever move, what will we have to fix in order to be able to sell our house and make some sort of money, not loose it. We have spent probably 1000 bucks on fixing up the front yard so it has more curb appeal, but we still have so far to go. The porch is very basically put together and needs some sprucing up, namely something to cover the bare posts that hold the porch up and some decorative gravel to accentuate the walk up to the porch. I would also like to add a nice porch swing as well, but we would probably take that with us when we moved. We have added some planters but need some more permanent types as these are plastic and not the best in the world. Anyway, the two biggest issues we have right now are the leaking basement/master bedroom and the floor. I have called today to get a free estimate for new gutters as tony thinks this is the main issue with the flooding basement and part of the flooding skylight issue. Yesterday, we had a downpour that lasted for several hours and one of the south facing windows in our master bath started gushing water. It had previously been leaking but it was more of a drip, drip, not a gush, gush. We had to take down the trim and there is considerable water damage to the dry wall, window frame and of course the paint. I just decided to have a big pity party for myself so I sat down in the tub i never get to use and had myself a good old cry. Tony said the window was dry above it so we must either have another leaky skylight that is feeding into the window, or we just have a leaky roof. I hope today he will be able to get on the roof and assess the damage. I hope we can get a home loan and just get some of this fixed. I am tired of the leaky skylights and just want to rip them out. Who needs a sky light when they are laying in the tub anyway? The sky light in the bedroom hasn't leaked in a year probably but we are afraid to put the trim back in and fix the dry wall until we are sure it won't ever leak again. Tony has become good and dry wall patching so I know he can patch it and then we can re-paint, but I say rip the fuckers out. I am tired of the loud storms, the lightning shows, having to sleep downstairs when it hails, and worrying about the dry wall constantly. I am all for patching with plywood, re-insulating and putting dry wall over it. I mean, I am married to an electrician, he can put up new lights or something to compensate for the lack of light. We have many windows in the bedroom so we have plenty of natural light. The only time we need more light is at night and it is dark outside anyway so the skylight is of no help. Here is my dream: Rip out the whirlpool tub that I never use and probably won't ever use, put a claw foot tub in and a stand-up shower and get rid of the skylights and the leaky window. Wonder if I can make this dream come true? Of course all of this takes money, of which we are very low on now.

Signed up for a nrew session of training but stressed

I finally used up all of my training sessions and signed up for five more. I think having someone come up with new routines keeps you so much more interested in going to the gym. While I am still only getting into the gym around 2-3 times a week, I feel like I am making huge progress. I still haven't lost any weight at all, in fact I have gained a pound, but I feel great! I can tell a huge difference in the body fat content of my butt and thighs and my muscles are starting to show definition. Funny though, my belly fat of course has not gone anywhere and if anything, seems to have gotten bigger. I do feel more slim and trim through my waist area, but that gut is still there. I feel like my pants are actually a lot tighter now, in the gut area and in the thigh area but the thigh area is because my thighs are getting super muscular. I know belly fat is the last thing to go so I am being patient but I hate to have to go up a size in pants:( I need to get my fat percentage measured again because I feel like my back fat and leg fat has really been shaved down quite a bit. I actually wore shorts twice last week and that is saying alot! I won't wear shorts unless my legs are quite tone! I haven't even been wearing shorts to the gym, even though it is super hot in there!

Now to the stressed part. Well, Tony is laid off again. We have no clue how long this lay off is going to be but I am super stressed. Last time it took three weeks for his unemployment to actually kick in and we can't go that long without income. I did pull our show entries for June and will not enter the July show or regionals in August at this point to try and save money. Unfortunately, we have been very naughty with our credit card and it has a bit of debt on it and i think that is what is bothering me. We have bought many concert tickets with it and I have been using it to get the business started up so it is a bit more full than I would like. I think what scares me the most is that we both have older vehicles with tons of mileage that could or couldn't konk out at any moment and both of us commute to work so we couldn't get by with one car. Tony has been very lucky to have a shop vehicle but companies everywhere are doing away with shop trucks so I have been holding my breath that they won't take his away. You can't imagine the savings we incur with him not having to use his own vehicle anymore or having to pay for gas. I think someone told me that they figured it up and they were spending an extra 10K a year to commute with their own vehicle and gas! YIKES! I commute 20 minutes but his commute is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. Anyway, we are trying to ease into tight budget status and hoping unemployment comes quickly. Tony has been busying himself with projects around the house but of course everything he wants to do will take some money. We have money built up in savings but it still scares me that this could take a while. What is weird is that the job was picking up so we are super puzzled as to why they got laid off. Oh well, I will never understand that whole industry and how the union works and such. Just going to give this all up the Lord, he has always taken great care of us and he has never ever given us too much to handle, even when tony was laid off for a whole year. We always manage!

Still Working Out

I just realized I haven't updated this blog lately and wanted to comment on my working out. I am still taking from my private trainer, every other week just about and still love it. I am not getting into the gym as much as I would like, only 2 or 3 times a week, but this is the prime time for me to be outside. These lovely spring days have me wanting to mow, weed eat, work in the garden or work in the flower bed or work with the dogs. I am hardly ever inside and hardly ever still! I still haven't lost any weight, am around 137 which is still way to much for me but I am probably in the best shape of my life. My cardio seems to be through the roof right now and I am continuing to push it as hard as I can. I like the change up of routines, love new stuff every couple of weeks. Keeps you from getting bored. I am also drinking lots of water. I have a water bottle that holds 20 ounces, at home and one at work, and I keep them filled and nearby at all times. I think yesterday alone I drank 60 ounces of water. Not bad from going from 0 ounces a day to 60! As long as I crave it, I am going to keep drinking it. My eating habits, well, lets just say they have improved somewhat. I am teaching or taking class twice a week so those two nights I have a bowl of raisin bran or a protein bar for dinner and that is it. Tony and I still eat out way too much but we are getting better. I haven't been eating out as much for lunch but that will probably change as the weather gets better. Walking down to the various places in aggieville during the summer when all of the students are gone is so much fun! I have started drinking alot more coffee in the morning which is not good because i like the frufru coffee that is loaded with fat and calories. All in all, I am happy where I am at right now and hope I can keep it up!

Week two with the personal trainer

I have to report that I am having a great time working with my personal trainer. So far she has shown me many things and has taught me how to use alot of the equipment including the weight machines. I really feel like we are making great progress, not so much with weight as I haven't even weighed myself but with my fitness overall. I can tell I am already gaining strength and stamina and have moved up on the weight machines very quickly. I am still doing no-impact cardio though. I took a break last week and went and walked on the track with the dogs and my leg was killing me the next day:( I sure thought it was doing better but I guess it makes a huge difference between no impact and concrete! I also noticed that my leg was killing me on sunday, probably due to the running on the packed dirt. You wouldn't think that running for four 30-60 second runs would hurt you that much but apparently my leg is that sensitive.

I am staying with basically the same plan this week, 20 minute interval training with the elliptical or other non-impact machines (learned the rowing machine and the hand bike this week but still love the elliptical the most) and then doing the weight training circuit. I am staying away from the ab machine and the leg curl machine but doing abs on the big ball and doing all of the other leg machines. I am a little concerned that my upper body strength isn't coming along as fast as I would like but pleased with everything else. I have to admit to myself that I am 32 now and things happen differently. Urgh, the joys of getting older! The soreness seems to be getting less in duration and intensity which is nice. Getting up and not being able to walk cause I am so sore is a bitch! I only got in three times going to the gym last week and I had committed to four but one of those days, I walked two miles on the track instead of being in a gym. This week, I hope to get in four times but of course we are leaving on friday to be gone all weekend to Carthage so I will have to work out Monday-Thursday with no breaks. I know myself and I will not be able to get up and work out. I am just not motivated at all in the morning! I can also tell that my eating is mirroring my working out. I knew it would, just needed that kick start!

Can light trim is in finally!

Okay so this is our new can light trim. I never even noticed the trim before but apparently this looks better. Leave it to an electrician to have specific things to change, much like can light trim and can light bulbs. Like I said, I never even noticed that they looked bad! We just ordered the new switches for all of the lights last week so they should be here probably next week. Again, I had no clue how many types of switches and dimmers there are and had no clue what the heck Decora even was before this. After this all comes in, we will probably take a break for a while and pay some stuff off. I hate to say it, but my plan of buying a little bit per paycheck didn't work because Tony took one step into the lighting store and started ordering stuff left and right. I want to go slow with this room and pay things off so after we get the switches and all of the switch plates in place, we are stopping for now. I am sure based on the sconce lighting tony picked out of the catalog, we are in for another couple of hundred dollars:( I actually haven't seen anything that I really, really like and wish we could put can lights in the lower ceiling, but tony is the wiring guru and says it has to be sconce lighting. It is so dark over there at night that I don't think sconce lighting will be enough. I may have to just trust him like I trusted him on the track lighting and see what he comes up with!