This New Year's Eve, my children and husband are happy to hear that my resolution is to calm down: to live in the moment, to enjoy life, to laugh every day, and to relax.
I am a compulsive goal-setter. Just this week, I decided to attack the GRE word list, and with the same over-do-it-ness that I apply to everything in my life, I learned 100 words in a week - not 10 or 20 - but 100. Instead of making my exercise goal a simple 20 minutes of exercise a day, I am compelled to do it large: a virtual bike trip to Seattle. Instead of losing ten pounds and going from there, my weight loss goal is a seemingly impossible 30 pounds.
I also set a book-reading goal for myself that may be impossible for me to accomplish - but setting the goal set me back on a path to reading books I love. I have finally made it to the scene in The Hobbit where they found the secret door - I can't wait to finish it.
In my heart, I think these goals are good. Without goals, I feel like I'm not myself. I think I need them, so I will keep up my voyage to Seattle and hope to finish it this year, but will definitely add my kids' miles to the mix. I will work on the thirty pounds but will be happy when I lose even five. I will keep reading and hopefully will make it to the point where I set aside time everyday for reading like I do for writing - because I love it.
I feel a little lost this week because I haven't written (except here) in two weeks. I am terrified the children's book I am working on may well be the last good idea I will ever have. I know a lot of writers feel that way and freeze in their tracks.
One thing that keeps me going is this blog, and I appreciate everyone that has read my entries. Writing daily here is one thing I don't have to set as a goal for myself, although working on my other writing projects probably should be. Being too tough on myself with my writing goals is the surest way to stifle my creativity and make the writer in me pop into my shell like a turtle attacked by three year old boys. I set a too-rigid goal for myself for getting my story done and have frozen. I need to back off of it, take a rest, take my tired body to the bookstore and hope that my creativity will be revived if I give it a chance to breathe.
Showing posts with label bike ride challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike ride challenge. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Bike Challenge December Update
I am not doing well on the bike challenge. I give myself a pass and blame sickness. Our dot on the map has barely moved. We are pretty much still here at home on our virtual bike ride. My ten year old is a little disappointed in me but has offered to add his miles to mine, which I think is a fine idea.
On the up side, my husband and I have been doing a 6-minute abs video every day for two whole days and have committed to doing it until we are no longer soft and pudgy. Last night, on day two, we moaned and cried trying to do little tummy crunches with sore tummies from day one. Should be hilarious tonight.
On the down side, my doctor informed me a pound is 3500 calories, not 2100, so riding my bike to Seattle will not lose me 22 pounds - not even close. I will recalculate later.
We have re-gifted all of the treats we were given and have gifted people with the remaining treats we made and have committed to not eat out until we are able to meet our healthy weight loss goals. But our diet isn't going that well either - dinner is still a challenge when you start planning the meal two minutes before dinner time. I think it will work out - we just need more time.
On the up side, my husband and I have been doing a 6-minute abs video every day for two whole days and have committed to doing it until we are no longer soft and pudgy. Last night, on day two, we moaned and cried trying to do little tummy crunches with sore tummies from day one. Should be hilarious tonight.
On the down side, my doctor informed me a pound is 3500 calories, not 2100, so riding my bike to Seattle will not lose me 22 pounds - not even close. I will recalculate later.
We have re-gifted all of the treats we were given and have gifted people with the remaining treats we made and have committed to not eat out until we are able to meet our healthy weight loss goals. But our diet isn't going that well either - dinner is still a challenge when you start planning the meal two minutes before dinner time. I think it will work out - we just need more time.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Bike Challenge November Update
A few weeks ago, I decided to take a virtual bike ride to Seattle, Washington from my home in southwest Ohio in an effort to get healthy again after a series of setbacks that have made it difficult to exercise. I am hoping to lose 22 pounds in a year or less. My kids would love to go on an actual bike ride to Seattle, but this will have to do for now.
Today I added up my miles, 16.7 so far over three weeks, which is way less than I planned but is at least a start. I looked at Google Maps to see where I was and found that they have a bike route option, which is more miles but simulates how you would actually go on bike, which is super cool. I tried to print it out to track my progress, but the directions included 59 printed pages, which is totally unusable. Instead, saved an image of the map and the step by step directions so I can track my progress.
The little red dot next to the A is where I am, which is so close to the starting point that the big arrow that points to my current location seems to also point to the starting point. I will persevere nonetheless with my goal for next month to make it to Indiana and maybe burn off some of the pumpkin pie.
It looks like it is about 100 miles from the starting point to Richmond, Indiana, which is just inside the Indiana border on the bike route I have selected. So I have about 85 miles to go to reach this goal before January 1. I am sure I can do it. If you would like to join me, leave a comment with your virtual progress and I will post it on the Bike Challenge page.
My other goal for this week and the weeks up until Christmas is to lay off of the pies, cookies, and sugary sweets that seem to be creeping into my life. It's all beans, vegetables, and brown rice for me for three weeks. Yum....?
Today I added up my miles, 16.7 so far over three weeks, which is way less than I planned but is at least a start. I looked at Google Maps to see where I was and found that they have a bike route option, which is more miles but simulates how you would actually go on bike, which is super cool. I tried to print it out to track my progress, but the directions included 59 printed pages, which is totally unusable. Instead, saved an image of the map and the step by step directions so I can track my progress.
The little red dot next to the A is where I am, which is so close to the starting point that the big arrow that points to my current location seems to also point to the starting point. I will persevere nonetheless with my goal for next month to make it to Indiana and maybe burn off some of the pumpkin pie.
It looks like it is about 100 miles from the starting point to Richmond, Indiana, which is just inside the Indiana border on the bike route I have selected. So I have about 85 miles to go to reach this goal before January 1. I am sure I can do it. If you would like to join me, leave a comment with your virtual progress and I will post it on the Bike Challenge page.
My other goal for this week and the weeks up until Christmas is to lay off of the pies, cookies, and sugary sweets that seem to be creeping into my life. It's all beans, vegetables, and brown rice for me for three weeks. Yum....?
Monday, November 8, 2010
Bike Ride Challenge
My older kids and I are fascinated with The Biggest Loser. It amazes us that people that are so out of shape can suck it up and run a mile and eventually a marathon. I don't especially agree with throwing them into it so quickly and the way they don't seem to appreciate the pain these people are in. My experience is that weight loss involves small lifestyle changes made over time.
Here's my story:
I was not a healthy, athletic kid. I remember my grandmother calling me her "strawberry shortcake with too much whipped cream." I remember believing I was fat when I was only five years old. I always believed I was somehow less than everyone else because I was a little soft and chubby. I remember lots of 8:00 PM meals of White Castles, meat lover's pizza, or fried chicken. My mom looked at me like I embarrassed her, but never provided healthy food. Every day of high school, I had a can of Coke for breakfast followed by chocolate milk and barbecue chips for lunch (I cringe at the thought of that).
After my divorce, I lost weight, mostly motivated by stress. A couple of years later, I got sick and lost an extra three pant sizes in a month. I wore size four jeans. I still thought I was fat when I looked in the mirror until my teenager got tall enough to wear my jeans. She was skinny in them, so I must have been too; how could I not see that? Then I got remarried, had another baby, and then hurt my foot, which has seriously limited in the types of exercise I can do. Now I am a full twenty-something pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight and weigh nearly the amount I was when I was full-term with my last baby, which doesn't make me feel good - not at all.
Tonight I challenged my husband to take a virtual bike ride with me to Seattle, Washington, which is 2,340 miles from our house. It is possible we could do it in a year. We can ride our indoor recumbent bike or our normal bikes with our baby and kids along for the ride. My husband is not a friend of exercise, but this seemed fun to him too, even more fun if we ride there together and then go there on a real trip. My nine year old was fascinated and helped me plan it.
Tonight I rode 3.1 miles on my recumbent bike at a very slow pace for only 20 minutes. I burned a sad 20 calories a mile. Twenty calories is nothing and doesn't even cover the creamer in my morning coffee. However, 20 calories for each of the 2,340 miles to Seattle is 22 pounds of fat (assuming I did the math correctly). It may take a year. It may take two, but it is a scientific fact that if nothing else changes I will lose 22 pounds if I take this journey.
I challenge anyone out there to join us too.
Here's my story:
I was not a healthy, athletic kid. I remember my grandmother calling me her "strawberry shortcake with too much whipped cream." I remember believing I was fat when I was only five years old. I always believed I was somehow less than everyone else because I was a little soft and chubby. I remember lots of 8:00 PM meals of White Castles, meat lover's pizza, or fried chicken. My mom looked at me like I embarrassed her, but never provided healthy food. Every day of high school, I had a can of Coke for breakfast followed by chocolate milk and barbecue chips for lunch (I cringe at the thought of that).
After my divorce, I lost weight, mostly motivated by stress. A couple of years later, I got sick and lost an extra three pant sizes in a month. I wore size four jeans. I still thought I was fat when I looked in the mirror until my teenager got tall enough to wear my jeans. She was skinny in them, so I must have been too; how could I not see that? Then I got remarried, had another baby, and then hurt my foot, which has seriously limited in the types of exercise I can do. Now I am a full twenty-something pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight and weigh nearly the amount I was when I was full-term with my last baby, which doesn't make me feel good - not at all.
Tonight I challenged my husband to take a virtual bike ride with me to Seattle, Washington, which is 2,340 miles from our house. It is possible we could do it in a year. We can ride our indoor recumbent bike or our normal bikes with our baby and kids along for the ride. My husband is not a friend of exercise, but this seemed fun to him too, even more fun if we ride there together and then go there on a real trip. My nine year old was fascinated and helped me plan it.
Tonight I rode 3.1 miles on my recumbent bike at a very slow pace for only 20 minutes. I burned a sad 20 calories a mile. Twenty calories is nothing and doesn't even cover the creamer in my morning coffee. However, 20 calories for each of the 2,340 miles to Seattle is 22 pounds of fat (assuming I did the math correctly). It may take a year. It may take two, but it is a scientific fact that if nothing else changes I will lose 22 pounds if I take this journey.
I challenge anyone out there to join us too.
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