On the Road Again.... Danger!

In a week's time, I will be on the road again for work for a whole two weeks!!  UGH!!
All of my weight disasters have circled the drain around travel, and principally work travel.
Big work dinners.
Working way later than normal.
Lack of Sleep. (12 hour time difference this time)
Missing the Gym.

All of these things are a prescription for disaster, but here is my plea. 
I want to make this better this time, and I need your help.
What hotel workouts do you do?  This trip, I will have a gym available to me 24 hours a day, and a pool!!
The gym is somewhat small, but has treadmills, elliptical, and free weights.

On a high note, I will get to see these flowers again.  Does anyone remember where? :-)

Sports Injury Friday

Well, my life of an athlete is kickin' into high gear!  I am injured.  Boo!

I think my new sneakers have triggered a pain pattern of tightness from my ankle, through my calf, and shooting into the back of my knee.

Sweetheart rubbed it a bit, and that provided some relief.   But now that he stopped, I feel the tightness happening all over again.  It is like I have tight guitar strings on the back of my left leg.  If I move to much to the right or left, they might *Snap*.

I was super tired yesterday, so I didn't gym it.  I don't want to miss another day.  I need some fitness. Give me my fitness!!  AARRGH! 
I am going to give it a few hours and then we will just have to see.  Maybe swimming would take the edge off it?

Students Teach Too

On Wednesday, one of my mentors from work pulled me aside and told me that they resigned.  I did not expect it, but suspected that something was going to change.  Let me explain.

In the past several years, I have had many opportunities provided to me to improve my skills, to advance in the company, to do new things.  In the last year or so, I moved to a position where I worked along with and above my mentors and spent significant time with the stakeholders within my company.  From this vantage point, I got to see my mentors in a new way.  In some cases, they were the leaders that I always thought they would be.  In others, I found that, like the mirrors, 'images maybe closer than they appear'. 

I saw when mistakes were being made.  Like a devoted lamb, I warned.  I gave opinions of caution, suggestions of redirection.  I was ignored.  At the time, I felt dismissed and unaccepted.  Now, I know that I was right.  However, here I am, correct, vindicated in my convictions, and I still feel like shit.  Did I stutter? Did I not say the right words?  Had my mentor taken my advice, they would not be resigning.  I find myself mourning the mentor relationship, not because I couldn't learn more, but because my mentor couldn't learn the lessons that they taught me, from me. 

So my last lesson from my mentor:  Listen to the mentee.  If you teach them well, they might actually have something to teach you. 
How does this relate to the health journey?  Not all the experts make all the best decisions.  Sometimes the ones who are the students, the practitioners, have the best advice.  I have learned so much from all of you, just because I know that you have practiced what you preached.  You pay attention.  You are honest when something goes bust.  You can take it when 'anonymous' comments with livid harshness.  You are all my mentors.  I look forward to tomorrow's lesson.

Are you on a Health Vacation?

I have not been able to make my mid-week check-in call with HMR for the last couple of weeks, thanks to my vacation.  While I was out, I noticed that my group has drastically decreased in size.  We used to be 10-12 people strong, and now there are only 5.  I worry that people are taking a health vacation.  Is there a season for health that I was missing?  Is being on a program a seasonal activity? I've been looking online to see if there are any statistics, but the only thing I saw was a vague reference to Jenny Craig and the average membership was 16 weeks. 

So, supposing it is 16 weeks, and most people start at the beginning of the year with their New Year's resolutions, then they would be on health vacation starting Mid-April.  However, I am going to juxtapose that people take mini-vacations during this 16 week period.  People take a week for Valentine's, then spring break in March, then another week for Easter-Passover holidays.  This puts us well into May, so I guess I should not be surprised that June seems like a ghost town.  

Have you noticed the same behaviors in your local support groups?  I have even noticed some of the same behaviors in many of the blogs I follow.  I have noticed fewer postings (myself included), and also blogs just disappearing into thin air.  So, here is what I suppose people:

SCHOOL IS NOT OUT.  Health doesn't get a vacation.  Put down that cupcake.  Go outside for a walk.  I am on the hook and SO ARE YOU!

On a side note, my new sneakers are making my knees hurt :-(  but I am not giving up.  I am going to continue to train with them for a week or so and see if it normalizes.  I guess my knees just like it when I roll my ankles, and now that I can't:  OUCH!

My Sneaker Procurement Experience

I am new to this whole athlete thing.  I do not have all the gadgets and gear.  Most importantly, I did not have the right sneakers.  I have known this for a little while.  I have noticed that after my runs, by knees felt tight and sore.  My hips were out of whack.  I knew this had to be shoe related.  (It also could be because I have a big ass, but I am sticking to the shoes). 

So, yesterday, I went to a sneaker specialty store.  I thought the process would only take 20 minutes, so I drove over before my planned workout.  Boy, was I wrong.  90 minutes later, and close to $200 bucks, I walked out with moon boots, anti-microbial socks, and new insoles for my kicks.  Let's explain the process.

I walk in, and they first measure my feet.  Then, they have me stand on a computer scanner and they measured my arch and my gait.  Apparently I have a better arch than I thought.  I always considered myself to have flat feet.  Apparently, I have a 'flexible arch'.  So you think I am finished, nope.

Then, they have me run on a treadmill, barefoot.  They take a video of each of my feet, while I run.  It shows in slow-mo, that I roll my ankles, where they should be straight.  In the end, they recommend a mobility stabilizing shoe.  Now, this sounded OK, except all the options in this category are weird looking.  They all have extra thick bottoms, are generally flat, and kinda ugly.  However, I am really hoping that my knees feel better, so I am up for the challenge.  So, this is what I bought:

I am hoping I didn't get taken for a ride.  However, I do like this RoadRunner Sports.  I can try them for up to 60 days.  If I hate them, I can return them covered in mud.  I appreciate that.  The bad news is I missed my workout to buy these shoes.  It just took too long and I could not squeeze it all in.  So today is the day that I get my test drive on my gear.  Wish me luck!

The Reckoning and New Trainers

Today was the Reckoning.  Did Missa gain 60 lbs while on vacation?  Did she plump like a blueberry?
NOOOO!  She didn't!  Actually, I feel really good, relaxed and healthy.  I did have a minor gain .4 lbs, but I am PMS'ing, so I really think it is a wash.  Most importantly, I feel great that I was able to enjoy myself and not over-indulge all by myself.  I didn't bring a scrap of HMR food with me.  I just used my mind to make good choices. I can't tell you what a win that is.  I have been on vacations before where a 15lb gain was par for the course.

In celebration, I am going to post a picture of me and my Sweetheart.  (OK girls, don't swoon.)  He said it was OK to reveal his true self on this blog, and well, him in his hat (which he adores) and tie-dyed bathing trunks is as close to his true self in a photo as you can get!  He would like to point out that the cap is a Trilby and not a Fedora. (this might give you further insight).  Oh, and I am comfortable in a bathing suit! Win! (Where the hell did that come from?)  I got it at Target (pronounced Tar-gzhay).  It comes with straps and looks great with or without them.

So now for something completely different:  Trainers.  Also known as sneakers, athletic shoes, etc.  I need a pair and now that I run, I need to have a really good pair.  At the moment, my Adidas are doing me justice, but they are getting a bit thin at the treads.  So, I am going to go to a store today called RoadRunner Sports.  Here, they can test your arch and make a real recommendation on what I should be using.  Any suggestions on brands or this footwear procurement experience is totally appreciated.

To this end, I also decided to change something else on my dailymile account.  When I started, I classified myself as a Walker.  Well, now, I do more fitness training and running.  So, my new title:  ATHLETE.  With this comes a new goal:  to kick ass.  Seriously.  I want to be fit not to be thin, but to do things that others can't.  I am tired of being limited.  I want to make some noise.

I hope this Monday is the start of a strong week. Cheers!

Honey, I'm Home!

I went to the largest cruise ship in the world:  The Oasis of the Seas.  I have cruised many times before over the years.  Nothing was like this boat. 
1.  It is massive
2.  Although you are with 5500 passengers, you don't notice them because the boat is huge.
3.  GREAT Gym.
4.  Healthy Dining Options EVERYWHERE!
5. Lots of fun stuff (I played in a dodgeball tournament!)

So, speaking of healthy?  How did I do? Well, I have decided not to weigh myself till Monday, my usual day.  I did eat some heavier, more decadent food than I typically do and my portion sizes were 'full'.  I also had some cocktails, but hey, it is vacation!!
However, I kept up on my fitness.  I was worried that I would go to the gym the first day and then never see it again, but no!!! I got in there and got it done.  In fact, it kind of made me laugh to watch all the gym-hard's stare at the fat girl running miles on the treadmill and pumping iron. I can't blame them though.  People watching is the best thing ever on a cruise ship.  You see people doing things you would never have thought possible.

So, here are some photos from the trip.  I am doing the Biggest Loser Challenge with Katy over at Project-Look Good Naked but it just started on the 1st, while I was away from Blogger land...  One of the requirements is that I needed to provide starting photos.  Well, here they are!  The pooches and me were taken on May 28th, the photo of me in the blue dress was on May 30th, the one of me snoozin' in the Cabana was June 1 and so was the one of me smilin' in the disco!

So, today I am back 'in the box' with my eating.  I am going to get my fitness on.  AND, I am going to take some time to meditate a little.  I finished Geneen Roth's new book and I am going to give some of her suggestions a try.

Game on!