Today is an off day for exercise. I've a small pain in one of my toes and I'm seeing the doctor about it this morning. I'm thinking it might be a bone chip that's floating around and snags itself somewhere every now and then. Whatever it is hopefully she will sort it out.
Yesterday I pushed hard on the trails. I did three laps of the 2.5 mile circuit for the first time. It was tough, its not only the trails but the changes in elevation, about 500+ft each lap. Legs felt fine afterwards and sweated out a lot which I felt really good about. Met a guy on the third lap who complained about the incline we were going up and he couldn't believe that I was on lap three!! Really positive effort yesterday. Wore a heart monitor also just to see what the heart rate is. Very surprised to see efforts going into the 96-97% of max. sometimes, although thankfully I had a huge cardio checkup in January and all tests came back well, so the ticker is in good shape. Otherwise I'd be more concerned!
I'm keeping up with my calorie counting on Livestrong.com, so far doing ok. Had to be careful yesterday because after the exercise it showed I had 3600 calories left. I tried hard to not go crazy and ended up with 1540 calories left in the bank at the end of the day. Overall not bad but I can do better. My weight is decent and going in the right direction. I'm at 226.4 this morning, down 1.5lbs from Tuesday and overall down almost 10lbs from the starting weight. My short-term goal is to be at 215lbs by the end of April, though that will be close at the moment. I'm learning more and more about calories and also just how tough and what discipline is required for it. I'm enjoying it more and more although I'm realizing that beer doesn't help. I've cut down on draft beer in a huge way, only drinking bottled beer now. Still need to do less of that though. I did have some draft beers yesterday and I've found that 48 hours after the beers is when the weight gain shows up. My kettlebell workouts are going great and are really enjoyable. I'm seeing results in my arms which feels great and encouraging. I think that's the big push for someone is to see tangible results and that pushes you further! One thing I make sure to have after the trails workouts is a good protein shake. I have EAS Premium Protein that I got at Costco which is a chocolate shake that's good on its own, but I add strawberries or a banana to make it taste a little better. Its like a meal in itself!!
I have two phone interviews (tomorrow and Monday). Looking forward to both and will be preparing today, tomorrow and over the weekend. Hoping for in-person interviews and nothing more at this point. Being out of work for so long - over five months now - is tough. But I have to keep plugging away and soon something will pop for me.
Staying positive is tough, it really is, but if I can remain positive it helps not only me, but Jen and Maggie too. Jen's been really great about it so far. We've had our moments, trust me, but we're doing well as a team and this experience will really help us. Maggie is incredible, most mornings she yells at me and only wants Mommy when she wakes up, but today it was the opposite....loved that!! Today I'm picking her up from daycare and tomorrow I'm doing both trips which will be really cool. I thought about keeping her home with me tomorrow but I've done that before with a phone call for work and it didn't work too well.
This weekend lots of exercise planned, more trail work and some bike work. Pool time also for the family I think. Maggie is becoming quite a swimmer!! Also plan on working on the garden. My new grass is coming in well and originally I was hoping for 70% coverage and I think I'm at about 75-80% at the moment, so I'm pretty happy. Next step is to break down the play/swing set and build a new one. Will work on the vegetable garden also, my lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes are growing like crazy!!
I talked about staying positive. Its tough like I said, but I've also found there is some depression there too. Some afternoons I get very down when Jen and Maggie come home. Feeling down is the main reason I haven't posted on this blog in so long. For me writing is very therapeutic and I enjoy posting here, but there are some days when you end up just staring at the wall. Most times I give myself a mental slap and kick on with something new, but there are days I just stare like a zombie!!
Its tough to hear what people have done out of the house and I've been sitting here all day. I try to do work around the house but at the end of the day sometimes I just want to go to bed and get to tomorrow as quickly as possible. My ADD medicine helps keep me focused and if I schedule things I feel the satisfaction of having completed and task or made the efforts required.
I've taken steps to get back into my novel also. The working title is "Sandy Hook", this is an actual place in central New Jersey which I loved going to when I lived there. I finished re-writing the first chapter on Tuesday and I'm happy with it. Will continue to do little by little and get it hopefully published by Christmas. I get excited when I'm writing it, and I've found that I need to keep that current because it will help with my overall self-worth.
I also registered for the New York Marathon. I've been rejected in the lottery the last three years so hopefully that means I am selected this year. Its definitely a "bucket list" item for me. But I have some sources for my book in New York and New Jersey and I can combine the two if I'm selected. Another reason I did this was I have enough air miles to get me there and back. Just need to find a decent hotel. But I'll worry about the hotel when I'm selected!
Hope everyone has a great day today!
"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves"
-Sir Edmund Hillary
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