Accountability....

You hear about accountability a lot in church - having someone you're accountable to for your actions. I've always been accountable to myself in that regard. However, when it comes to food, that's a different story. As part of my return to exercise and my desire to free the beached whale, I signed up for a few sessions with a personal trainer. Last night was my second session. Part of the deal is keeping a food log. Ugh. I have never liked doing this as it puts it out there in black and white. Her question to me last night was "so, what's with all the chocolate chip cookies?" Yep, I baked this weekend and they were my munchies for the first part of this week. Not good. I knew this, but it's also good to have someone say, uh, no, not that many. She was like, how about 2? I like that it's not a give it up mentality as that just gets you in trouble. I think I can do that. Well, I packed 3 this morning, but I also asked her about other options for the afternoon. Crackers are good. That's good - I'm a fan of Cheez Its. Fortunately, I don't do cookies in the evening. I think once I line up good meals, then my snacking should go down. I hope.

She also asked how much water I was drinking. Prior to moving to AR, I drank A LOT of water. During the commute, during workout, during lunch, in the evening. So, even though I'm the soda queen, I balanced it with the water very nicely. Gotta get there again, too. And, yes, I know more water will help me lose a few pounds, thus helping to unbeach the whale.

24 Seconds....

24 seconds never sounded or seemed like a lot of time until last night. Why last night? I participated in my second boot-camp style class. Even though they refer to as Boot 24, it's more like an interval class. The class does 3 minutes of cardio and then 3 minutes of resistance training. 24 seconds before the end of the the 3 minutes, a bell rings (like in a boxing match). You think, oh good, we're almost done. Well, you can do a lot in 24 seconds. Several sets of whatever, in fact.

The class is done using a Core Board. This means you balance on it (as mentioned in a previous post). Last night I realized it's been over 6 years since I really participated in an exercise class. I'm not counting the "boot camp" I did last year in Arkansas for 6 weeks. At the end of the class we did balancing work on the core board. This means one leg. I was impressed that I didn't fall off. I realized this is good for me. This class is 30 minutes, so I'm thinking that I should either do the the step class before or the weight class after. I'm not ready to dive into 90 minutes of exercise, but may try to do the step class, also 30 minutes, that's right before it next week.

Yesterday, I also did 12 minutes on the stationary bike for warm-up, bringing yesterday's excise to about 50 minutes, including stretching.

Exercise, Week 2

Well, this is week 2 of my return to a gym and exercising. My goal starting out was three days a week and I made that last week. Unfortunately, it was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and I'd really like not to do them all in a row but spread them out. Alas, I like not going on Friday. So, maybe Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I used to go Monday, Wednesday through Friday. Something will work out. I may also work in a Saturday or Sunday for a 4th day.

I did do one of their classes. It's a 30 minute class and was done on what amounts to a balance board. The thing rocks and swivels and some of the moves are unique to the board and some are similar to step, which is interesting since you have to have balance to do it! I was just happy to complete the class without falling and breaking any bones. I'm planning to give it another go this week. After all, after going for a bit, I should become somewhat of a pro, right?

I'd also like to get back to doing yoga on the weekend. I've gotten out of the habit and I'd really like to get that habit back. It's good for flexibility. Hmm... maybe I should set that goal for starting this weekend.

Yards and Moving

One of my favorite shows is House Hunters. This week they are doing new episodes all week from Florida. Last night they were in Naples. The couple chose the house I would have - great interior; exterior needs a bit of work. I moved into a new house when I moved to Texas and the backyard definitely needs landscaping. And the front a little as well. The builder called it a "deluxe landscape package." Ummm... I don't think so, but that's another post. Anyway, for the house the Florida couple picked they estimated $14,000 for the landscape. Ack! Granted they needed a fence and a good one will probably run about $5,000, but what would cost $9,000 in landscape. It had grass, so no sod. It needed some trees, but a screened porch was already there. They gave the figure for what they spent at the end and it wasn't quite that and it did look nice. Maybe trees run it up. I tend to plant small ones and watch them grow. Anyway, my budget is MUCH smaller than that, so we'll see what I come up with. The good news is that the show that followed, My House is Worth What? did say that landscaping in the back gives a very good return for the investment. Good to know.

Now, the moving part of this post. When the movers deliver your stuff, they are supposed to put the beds together for you. Generally, I was taught if they take it apart, they put it back together. Now, I have moved A LOT, including two cross country moves. I am not unfamiliar with moving. In the past, the movers have taped the hardware for the beds to the bed frames. Not this moving crew. We found the bed frame hardware in a dresser drawer wrapped in paper. But, we couldn't find the hardware to attach the bed frame to the bed. We looked in every drawer in the dresser and any other drawer we could think of. The driver was frustrated. He couldn't understand why it wasn't with the other hardware. My Mom and I wound up getting new hardware (bolts and nuts) at Home Depot. We knew I'd probably find them - someday.

Well, apparently we missed a drawer. Last night I found the hardware wrapped in a paper towel in the drawer of my nightstand. And, it was basically out of curiosity because I couldn't remember putting anything wrapped in a paper towel in there (we didn't have to unpack drawers for the move). I looked and there was the hardware. Guess I'll count it as a spare set for any future moves. I still haven't found the glass that goes in a lamp table and think it got delivered to the folks in Oklahoma (the delivery before me).

Personally, the load crew in Arkansas was a bit haphazard in my opinion. I almost think he did it on purpose. He was so very sure he knew much more about moving than I did. We were put off by his almost snotty attitude. The Texas crew that delivered was much better.