Time to get real

There are a few things I've been just sort of pussy-footing around and not getting to business. That's coming to an end.

My weight is becoming an issue again that must be addressed. Years ago I got down to 140 pounds and I said to myself "If I ever see 150 again, it will be time for drastic measures". By the time I checked the scale it was a couple pounds over 150 and I just didn't have the will power to do anything, so I let it creep. It was a fast creep, over 50 pounds in 5 years. Yes, I was pregnant at one point during that time but I was fat with or without the pregnancy. This time I got down below 155 and I said "If I ever see 155+ again, it will be time for drastic measures". Well, since I was below 155 for about 3 consecutive days, as it rose again I reasoned that I was training for my triathlon and therefore not a great time to make big diet changes that could make me weaker. (The real flaw in that reasoning is that I could have given myself FREE SPEED by dropping a few more pounds before the race.) Also, I listened to all the well-meaning but misinformed people that said things like "well, muscle weighs more than fat so you're just building muscle". I dislike that phrase because a pound is a pound whether it's muscle or fat, people are trying to say that muscle is more dense than fat so it takes up less space, but I was not getting smaller anywhere, so that wasn't the explanation either. People told me, you need to keep your strength up for training, you look great, blah, blah, blah. Because it's what I wanted to hear, it's what I heard, even though I really knew it wasn't true. So here I am, approaching 160 pounds I think- I've been avoiding the scale like the plague and now it's time to get real. I've got a legitimate 12-15 pounds that have to go, and if I get to 145 and still see room for improvement, I'd like to get back to 140. That's issue number 1. To that end I'm going to start posting daily calories in and exercising done. I'll post a weekly weight/stats thing. As if anyone cares, but I'll be more honest with myself if I have to be honest with anyone interested in reading.

Issue number 2 is my running. I've got to keep doing it otherwise it will never improve. I seem to have a good week (2 weeks ago) followed by a poor week (last week). It just means more time on the treadmill, track or just out running. Unfortunately, the treadmill is what works best with my schedule so I'll take what I can get. It just has to be done.

Issue number 3 is my organization. I've always been very organized at work. I'm good at working with deadlines and I can multitask very well. My work personality doesn't seem to come home. Maybe it's the lack of deadlines and to-do lists, but I can't get things done as well at home as I do at work. It's time for me to start giving myself to-do lists, picking a chore and giving myself a deadline. Yesterday I finally got around to cleaning the kitchen floor grout and I realized it's time to re-grout and seal. That's got to be done before we host Thanksgiving, so there's a deadline. The fridge needs to be completely cleaned and the deep freezer needs to be defrosted. Then there are the more mundane- cleaning the bathrooms, changing the sheets, vacuuming the rooms, folding and putting away laundry. Maybe daily/weekly to do lists would help. I'll give that a try.

I have to admit something that I did not admit at first. I don't write this blog just for me. If it were just for me, it would be a journal in my desk drawer, or a Word file in //MyDocuments. I don't think anyone that has a blog could truly be keeping it just for them, why make it public then? At first it was just for me, because no else knew it existed. Now I've had some comments and visits and it's much more fun to think that someone else might be interested in hearing what I have to say. I'm looking for any feedback to some of the daily life stuff that I deal with that I'm sure is common to others. We can all use some help sometimes.

Finally, I have to congratulate all the competitors out there, bloggers and non, that took that starting line yesterday in Florida. Whether they reached the finish line or not, they trained, they had all the heart and soul necessary and they're iron. Congrats for an admirer and some day Iron-hopeful.