A Better Place
I'm in a much better place than I was a few days ago. Mainly because I'm literally in a different place.
I was finally able to leave Friday afternoon to head to DC to visit my sister. The leak had gotten worse in the basement, but even if I say that I'll come back to a house whose frame is that of wet cardboard I know I'll still be able to walk in the front door and not end up in the basement....right? The trip was mainly uneventful. We LOVE stopping at the newly renovated Delaware House. You'd be a fool to stop anywhere else on 95...barring any kind of bathroom emergency that is. I was good the entire trip - while my mom and Sonja munched away I was actually full off of my Naked blue machine smoothie (THE YUM) and 2 sticks of string cheese. I shared Sonja's chicken quesadilla at the rest stop.
Into DC and the parking Gods were on my side. I was able to find a spot in front of the National Cathedral, which is just right across the street from where my sister lives. I was a parking spot maven that entire weekend. Lucky me! Of course our trip to the East Wing of the White House was cancelled and rescheduled for when we were in the Outer Banks - my sister will still be going of course. BUMMER! We did luck up and dine at Chef Geoffs and it was Restaurant Week. Friends have told me that Philly has the worse Restaurant Week and I think they do. We've dined here before, but they didn't have any limiting Restaurant Week menu that consisted of salad and chicken. You were able to pick from the regular menu! Imagine how you could have maximized the savings by picking the most expensive things on the menu...which we did. We were duped into thinking that dinner was the same $20.10 price like lunch. It was $35.10 and I was the only one who did it, but I'm on vacation so there!
Since we did not get to the White House that day we drowned our sorrows in cupcakes. My sis had a gift certificate from a Time Warner swag bag from some industry shindig (I need to get a job that has industry shindigs to get AWESOME swag bags). We head on down to Georgetown Cupcake to a MONSTER line. My sis says they are one of the 3 places she goes to in the city with the best cupcakes. Of course she usually goes during the week and not during tourist season. Who knew there was a reality show about the place. We stood in line for about an hour, but they really were worth the wait. I had a Vanilla Birthday and I split a Salted Caramel with my sister.
Anyhoo, before I left DC I joined a Twitter challenge: Drop Dead Gorgeous by December. I think it'll be fun. I think it will be encouraging. I think it will be motivational. I think I can do it. I made up my list of goals, took my photo and sent the info to the organizer.
Challenge goals (to start)
- use elliptical trainer 4x's a week
- be more patient with Sonja
- meditate for at least 15 minutes a day (Sun - Thurs)
- Focus on work at work so I can get to bed at 10 PM 3 nights a week
- Make breakfast at home for me & Sonja everyday (Mon - Fri)
Weekly Brag - That I managed to get most everything completed on my to-do list before I left for vacation. All reports are up to date & submitted & I can leave with a clear conscious.
Weekly Improvement - I got no exercise this week. Starting fresh while on vacation. Finally have my new Nike+ chip, new elliptical trainer will be there when I get home. No more excuses for not getting a heart rate up almost daily.
I left the weight out of it for this post. I'm still not all that comfortable with the number even if it is 27 pounds less than my highest weight. Once I feel that I look better I'll shock you with the numbers.
Flash forward to OBX. We finally got here - it took longer than expected and with some recalculating of routes we were able to shave off about 1.5 hours from the original time. I think I must have hit avoid toll roads because we paid nothing to get down there - other than time.
My mom had never been to Five Guys before so that was dinner the first night - and I was starved. I did well on the trip down again - but I was tired and a burger sounded good. So a burger I had. I'll work it off tomorrow - and work it off I did. I went walking with my brothers girlfriend. We did 2.55 miles. I thought it would be quaint to walk on the beach, but the sand was too sandy for me. :) We did see a Do Not Cross Police Line square near the house on the beach. I went to get a closer look and it's a place where sea turtle eggs were transplanted. Yay Sea Turtles! I did about 30 minutes of serious swimming after the walk (the pool felt so good) and the rest of the time was playing with Sonja and watching what she had learned at Girl Scout Camp - she's getting to be a better swimmer for sure! The rest of the day was a bust. Eggs & grits with cheese, bacon, coffee for breakfast. Smoked turkey & cheese on wheat for lunch & Sonic for dinner. Even my reading was fluff - The Broke Diaries - but I don't think I have laughed so hard!
I had to stop the madness. My sign for my Drop Dead Gorgeous by December read that my vacation wouldn't break me and here I am in pieces with no glue in sight. I had to pick myself up and start to glue things back. We had to go to the Food Lion for some items, so I decided on making some overnight oats for the rest of the week. I picked up some rolled oats, cherry vanilla granola for crunch, almond butter, 0% Fage Greek yogurt & vanilla soy milk. I was on a mission. Prepped the oats when we got home, popped them in the fridge and got ready for start my Couch to 5K program in the morning. Best laid plans.
Well, I did get up for the C25K program. I only did half of it before my lungs were on fire. I did the 5 minute warm-up and about 3 out of the 6 run/walk intervals. I kinda felt stupid with my fat ass jiggling down the road with all the tight bodies (and not so tight bodies) running circles around me. UGH! I did it - as much as I could even though I felt stupid in the process. I was thinking, I'm getting healthy here, nothing stupid about that! Thank goodness for the AWESOME breeze and overcast skies this morning. Otherwise I think I'd be dead on the side of the road. I felt it in my thighs (loved the feeling) and my calves (holy calf pain batman!). I was looking at the calves of the runners passing me and they were toned for sure. After about 40 minutes I make it back home and top my oats. Hmmm, they look suspect, but they're good for you. I can smell the sausage my mom is making for everyone else. I mix the oats, add more soy milk, take a taste - not so bad. Top it with the granola and a spoonful of the almond butter. Not so bad. Very filling. I also have a bottle of a Naked green machine. I like my colors. I think I can do this while at home - once I have enough items for an overnight oats topping bar. Maybe I'll put some strawberries in it tomorrow.
So, there ya have it. I'm trying. I just need a partner, but since I have none it's just me. I have to get good at this so Sonja will learn to like it too. She's a fan of the oatmeal so I'm half of the way there.
So, the plan is to walk to the top of Cape Hatteras today - 257 steps. I hope to do it tonight as well for their moonlight tour, but I'm hoping the clouds work with us tonight. The moon was gorgeous last night - clear, no clouds. Today, a bit different. More exercise on the schedule. Let's see how I fare.