Author: keepingupwithkate91

Challenge Results

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I’m sure you’ve been waiting by your computer for my Step Challenge Results (using my FitBit Flex) – HA! 🙂

I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to come out.  I knew I had some opportunities to get some good steps in while traveling for work in NYC (although it did rain so I did cab it to and from the train station – normally I would’ve walked).  I was also doing some personal travel – so I knew I would have good days on my airport day (my return trip was after my challenge).  However, I wasn’t sure about the weekend – I was staying in a hotel but I didn’t know the schedule as I was in town for a baptism.

My goal was to average 8,190 steps per day and end the week with a running total of 57,330 – achieving this was a 30% increase in my prior week.

From Sunday to Saturday – I was able to get 72,421 – I blew out my 7 day total by 15K steps and increased my activity by 64%!!  Here is a view of my numbers a couple of different ways:

  • Total Steps:  72,241
  • Average:  10,345 (almost 4K steps above my prior average)
  • Highest Day:  11,734 (NYC)
  • Lowest Day:  7,037 (work from home day)
  • Average (when I drop the High / Low numbers):  10,730

I loved my results – very happy with them.  However, I definitely had some anomalies – extra steps due to work events, travel and access to cardio machines.  I don’t have a cardio machine in my house anymore.  My current 7 day total is lower than the 44K.  The cold weather has been a factor and so has my current work schedule – just haven’t been able to step away from my desk.  I’m really glad I did this comparison when I was traveling.  It showed me I can do it and it reinforces I need to schedule breaks during my work day to step away from the desk and move around.  Hopefully, we’ll have a little bit of a warm-up so I can go back to doing my 1:1s with my team by walking.

Have a great weekend!

Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart

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How many times have you used the Ctrl+Atl+Delete to Restart your computer?  I can say I’ve done it more times than I care to count (plus Task Manager to unlock the multiple windows I normally have opened) – I’m pro!

This Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart is a bit different.  This is about me and my journey.  I haven’t posted much lately on my weight loss.  Quite frankly there hasn’t been much to report.  So why am I writing about Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart today…read on…

I had an appointment with my nutritionist at the beginning of December.  This appointment was an early morning appointment so I could have my metabolism test done.  The good news my metabolism is still firing on lots of cylinders! 🙂  The not so good news is I had lots of CO2 in my body – so what does that mean? – I’m not burning my fuel efficiently – mainly the carbs (I’ve mentioned before I’m carb sensitive). Oh and I was up a pound.  The one warning I took away from that appointment was if I’m not careful – I will gain weight back – starting a bad trend (I’ve kept that comment in the back of my mind for the past 6 wks).  I wasn’t as disappointed in the 1 pound up as I was scared of the potential impact of the CO2 messing up all of my progress.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my stress level was quite high with some deliverables at work right before going on vacation – which meant workouts suffered and my eating probably wasn’t at my best (it wasn’t awful either).  Although I enjoyed my Christmas break with my family – I ended getting a bacterial infection which messed up my progress even more.  The positive is – I didn’t go super carb crazy (based on feedback today) – I made some good choices.  And this whole time you know I was checking the scale – and it was all over the board no matter what I did.

So the end of last week – I was up over my December appointment – I was not happy.  I tried to really focus on eating the right things this weekend, while still going out and enjoying time with friends (if you can’t do that – what is the point of going out!) and getting some exercise in (a nice walk Friday night, yoga on Sat and Spin on Sunday) – mission accomplished!  Or so I thought…

I got on the scale yesterday morning – not where I wanted to be – at this point I would’ve been happy with flat to December – and trust me I wasn’t there.  So of course, I start trying to rationalize in my head – I have a lot going on at work this week – maybe I will move my appointment tomorrow to a couple weeks out.  I know I’ll get a reminder call and I’ll have an opportunity to move it to see if I can get this under control.  Then the next thought was – what if I don’t get it under control and I’m up even more – that would just completely de-motivate me.  I got absorbed in a project and put it out of my mind.  So I get my reminder call – and it isn’t my nutritionists assistant who calls to remind me – it was him!  Now I couldn’t re-schedule – because I knew I would get grief :-).  So my flip / sarcastic response was “If this job doesn’t kill me today – I’ll be there tomorrow”.  We had a good laugh and I hung up.

So I was optimistic this morning when I got up – yesterday was a good day – ate the right foods, drank lots of water, no snacking and even got about a 30 minute walk in last night before I finished my project.  I always jump on my scale the morning of my appointment to see how close my scale is to the ‘official’ scale – plus I know I check because I want to know what I’m getting into at my appointment.  Surprise – Surprise – no movement!  It was an 8:00 am appointment so no turning back now.

I’m glad I went today – it was a good appointment – we really talked through my struggles in December / early January.  Discussed that being sick and the holidays do really mess things up.  And the food choices I made while sick (I swear I was living on soft boiled eggs and English muffins) were not that awful (think lots of pasta – which I didn’t have any).  We talked about getting me back on track – doing the things I know I need to do – focus on the protein, vegetables / salad and hydration (and the structure I need).  Limit my carb intake.  And really watch how full I get and when are my triggers – and what I’m doing to address it (drink coffee and if I’m still hungry – what am I selecting to eat).  We also talked about how this appointment really helped and how I almost cancelled – and that his phone call probably made it so I didn’t cancel.  I had the option not to get on the scale – I chose to get on the scale.  As I knew – I was up 2 lbs from the beginning of December.  However, I wanted to be accountable to myself and my progress whether it was what I wanted to see or not.  I’m not going to beat myself up over this – another example where it isn’t all about the numbers (but most of you know I still believe that deep down).  🙂

So today was my Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart – instead of restarting a computer – I’m re-starting my focus – which right now it is all about giving my body the right type of fuel that I need to be more efficient.  

Thanks for reading – Post #140!  

Back in the Saddle

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Today was a great day! It was my first time back on a spin bike since before Christmas and I loved it!

I got sick right before Christmas and it had me down and out for awhile (and then I had some Saturday conflicts – Saturday is my normal spin day).

I got a nice surprise over Christmas – an Amazon gift card – one of my purchases (that I just ordered last week) a pair of tri-spin shoes (and no I don’t have any plans to do a triathlon – my spin instructor suggested tri-shoes since they are lighter).  I had my SPD cleats put on yesterday at a local bike shop.

Aren't they pretty?! :-)

Aren’t they pretty?! 🙂

So the class I did today wasn’t at my normal studio.  It was a benefit ride for Gearing Up (we raised $13K – WOW!).  It was a 90 minute ride.  I was more than a touch nervous.  The longest ride I’d ever done was 60 minutes and I hadn’t been on a bike in over a month (and my cardio workouts have been minimal – with the exception of last weekend when I was in Tampa).

Our ride was an endurance ride of the ‘Lake Placid Iron Man route’  The descriptions of the route were fabulous!  It was like we were there.  🙂  After we finished our first loop – I could feel my adrenaline pounding – it was AWESOME!  What a RUSH!  Time to start saving for that road bike!

PS:  Just hope I can walk tomorrow!! 🙂

Midweek Challenge Check-in

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I promised on my last post that I would give a midweek check-in on my step challenge.  My 7 day running total is 61,934.  I’ve had 3 11K days so far this week – which is well above the 30%.  Did I make my goal too easy?  Guess time will tell.  I have a habit of hitting goals out of the gate strong and then life seems to get in the way (and one week doesn’t make a trend – but it is a nice start).

The first two days, I made the extra effort to get outside for some walks – on the 13th – I split my walks in two (one in the afternoon as a break from my endless conference calls and one in the evening to get some fresh air).  I had a quick business trip in NYC and even though it was raining – got some good steps in back and forth from the office, hotel and dinner.  Even with the rain – it was an awesome time in NYC.  I get to work with some really great people – we don’t get together that often and it was great seeing some co-workers I haven’t seen in a year or so.

Here is my update:

  • 1/15:  8,716 (NYC) (and counting)
  • 1/14:  11,694 (NYC)
  • 1/13:  11,734
  • 1/12:  11,400

Now the pressure is on to keep up the pace! 🙂

Weekly Challenge

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I haven’t posted too much lately on my transformation as I was sick prior to Christmas and it took me over 2 weeks to start feeling better. I haven’t been to my HardBody workouts or SPIN classes since before Christmas.  I’ve had gone to a few yoga and yogalates classes and some walks.

My brother got a FitBit Force over Christmas and he gave me his FitBit Flex (with the caveat that if the Force dies on him – I have to give the Flex back).  I’ve been wanting to try the FitBit (I have an UP band by Jawbone) to see if I want to upgrade my band (I plan on doing a side by side comparison shortly).

I started using the used FitBit on January 1, 2014.  I have good days and bad days.  I don’t belong to a typical gym and I don’t have any real equipment in my house (although I have gotten some steps on my BOSU and I do have a manual stepper) – so to get lots of steps I’ve had to brave the cold weather.  Earlier this week, I didn’t really get a lot of steps in – unless you count some of the pacing back and forth and going up and down my actual steps.  🙂

One of the things I like about the FitBit (besides the fact that is bluetooth enabled) is that it gives you a 7 day running total.  My 7 day total is just under 44K or 6.3K average per day.  My daily goal is 10K steps.   My challenge this week is to increase my activity by 30% per day or to 8,190 steps per day.  My weekly challenge goal is 57,330 steps or better by next Sunday.  I’ll check in Wednesday night on my progress.

My Adventures in FreeCycle

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As I mentioned in my Declutter 2014 post, my goal this year is to really declutter my house. I’ve accumulated so many things and never had a chance in either of my big moves to get rid of things.

Over the past year, I’ve been donating quite a few things via Good Donor. I love it – they pick up and leave you a tax deductible receipt.

So my new favorite is FreeCycle.  It encourages recycling via reusing – all items must be FREE.  I love this concept as I really hate throwing items away because I no longer use them and they are still in good working order.  And I’ll be honest some of the items I’ve recycled aren’t necessarily items that I want to deal with selling via eBay or at a Consignment store (note:  I do have some items I’ll be using eBay and Consignment Stores in the area – I’ll share my experiences in later post).

I belong to the Mercer County FreeCycle Yahoo group.  I’ll be honest with you, I was a little apprehensive to list items on a site and then have people come and pick them up at my house.  However, it is super easy – I leave the items at my front door and people pick them up.  Anything you want to Recycle you post as OFFER.  Once you get a response you post PPU (pending pick-up) and once it is picked up you post TAKEN.  If you are looking for something in particular you post WANTED.  I’ve been completely impressed with how quickly some of the items get responses or how many responses I actually get.

Here is what I’ve FreeCycled already:

  • OFFER:  4 Head VCR and VHS tapes – 4 interested; first email in less than 10 minutes
  • OFFER:  3 Unopened bags of Halloween candy – 5 interested; first email – 4 minutes after posting.
  • WANT:  Table Lamp and Clip on Light.
  • OFFER:  50 Misc (non dry cleaner hangers) – 1 interested; less than an hour
  • OFFER:  4 Ceramic Tile and Stone Grout Finish – 3 interested; less than 10 minutes on first inquiry.
  • OFFER:  35 Historical Romance Books (and yes I like to read trashy novels on vacation!  🙂 ). – 1 interested; 4 minutes from posting and picked up within an hour of posting – WOW!!

So I’ve gotten rid of quite a few things in a short period of time and I’m not cluttering another room as I stockpile waiting for the larger good donor pickup.  I will still use Good Donor – I have a pick-up already scheduled for February (and remember with Good Donor you get a receipt – so tax deductible).

What I’ve learned – delcuttering can be very overwhelming (I haven’t even made a dent at my house – I have a long way to go) but also liberating – I get pumped once I post something to see how long it takes for a response.  I know I’m odd!  But is also encourages me to continue to focus on this decluttering journey! 🙂

Dusting off an Old Favorite

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Good afternoon. Happy Saturday. Hope you are staying warm.

Although I  enjoyed my Christmas and New Year’s with my family – it wasn’t without some not so fun times.  I’ve been sick since the Monday before Christmas.  I thought it was just a bad cold but it gradually got worse.  I finally went to the Doctor’s on Thursday (they squeezed me in – thank goodness) before the big storm.  I have a bacterial infection and I’m on the mend thanks to the zip pack I was given.  I’m actually getting some energy back. (Yeah!)

I’ve been laying low – getting rest, drinking lots of liquids and even eating soup.  I’ve missed working out (I’ve gotten a few walks in) and hope to get back on track on Monday.

Last weekend I dusted off a simple, favorite breakfast from my childhood.  Soft boiled eggs!  I did a couple of google searches on the timing – as although I like my eggs over easy – I like my soft boiled eggs really an in between version of hard / soft boiled eggs.

Here is my recipe:

  • 2 – 3 room temperature eggs
  • bring a pot of water on high to a slow boil
  • add the room temperature eggs to the water
  • set timer to 6 minutes (while eggs are cooking – toast you favorite bread or english muffins)
  • once timer goes off take pot off of the burner – add cool water
  • quickly peel eggs
  • chop up eggs in a bowl – salt and pepper to taste
  • Serve with buttered toast or english muffins

A picture from my breakfast this morning:

Soft boiled eggs (2) with English Muffins (Thomas' of course)

Soft boiled eggs (2) with English Muffins (Thomas’ of course)

Enjoy!

The Coveted Christmas Present

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In our family there is a present we all receive – it isn’t an expensive gift.  It is a gift of time and tradition. It is a treat from my childhood and it was made for special events.  I think the first version of it was the Chex mix that my grandmother made.  And at some point became the Crispix Mix.  A nice savory treat.

I’m not quite sure when my Mom started giving it to us as one of our gifts.  I do know she has expanded as to who receives one.  There isn’t just one for each household – each member of each household gets their own tin.  And it is coveted!  🙂  This year my Mom added an additional one a House Mix – for the family hosting Christmas (and for sharing with guests).  It was yummy as usual (recipe posted below).

Not much left of my mix (note: it was a small tin) :-)

Not much left of my mix (note: it was a small tin) 🙂

Crispix Party Mix (Xs 2)

  • 3 T margarine or butter (my Mom uses margarine, but I’ve asked her to try unsalted butter for next year) (although if I only have a portion of 3T of margarine a year – I don’t think it will kill me)
  • 1 t Season-All Seasoned Salt
  • 2 t lemon juice
  • 4 t Worcestshire Sauce
  • 6 Cups Crispix Cereal
  • 1 Cup Pretzels
  • 1 Cup Salted Mixed Nuts
  1. Melt margarine or butter in a 13x9x2 inch pan in a 250 degree oven.  Once melted remove from oven.  Stir in Season-all, lemon juice and Worcestshire Sauce.
  2. Add Crispix, Pretzels & Nuts – stirring until coated.
  3. Bake at 250 degree for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Spread on absorbent paper to cool (brown paper bages work well).
  4. Yields 8 cups

Enjoy!

Decluttering 2014

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I’ve been off for the past week with hopes of doing some major house cleaning (and maybe even decluttering) since I wasn’t hosting Christmas this year. Well – the best laid plans. I ended up with a nasty head cold / bug (no fever luckily) all week – I didn’t do much except sleep, Christmas gatherings and look around on Pinterest.

I received an email from Pinterest highlighting the best of 2013.  One of the highlighted items was Inspiration to Live with Less – Best Becoming Minimalists Posts 2013.  I scanned through it but the post that caught my attention was 10 Decluttering Principles to Help Anyone Clear the Clutter.  Her tips seem easy enough.  And I know I’ve accumulated many things over the years.  I was never able to declutter when I moved from Dallas back to the east coast – I tried when I moved to my condo but I haven’t done a major declutter in a long time.  I do make donations but I also seem to feel ok letting more stuff in since I donate – that needs to be on of the things to stop and it is on the list.  I think the two that I really like are declutter one thing at a time and declutter the easy stuff.

Once I went through the blog post, I actually went to Colleen’s blog:  365 Less Things.  Lots of great posts and ideas to really made me think about how much stuff I really do have and haven’t touched in years.  I know there will be some items with sentimental value that I may never let go but if I declutter some of the other things – maybe I can actually enjoy some of those sentimental items which are packed away still.

I think one of the things that keeps me from decluttering is I really hate throwing things out that still work.  I used to sell things on ebay, but I honestly don’t really have the time to sell things on eBay anymore.  Most recently, I’ve been using Good Donor – you register online and they have scheduled pick up dates in your area – they pick up at your door and leave you a receipt for donations.  Another local group I like to use is Homefront.  You have to drop off, but it is for a very good cause and the items stay local.

A recommendation from Colleen’s blog is Free Cycle – all items are free – you can search for your town or county.  You can post if you have OFFERS (items to get rid of), WANT (if you are looking for something) and TAKEN (if someone has accepted your OFFERS).  I found a freecycle group for my county and I posted a few things today:  VHS Tapes (4 different categories) and a 4 Head VCR.  Since I’m new to the group, my posts have to be approved and they haven’t shown up yet.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Anything that you have used in the past that have worked?

So my goal for 2014 is to really focus on decluttering – 1 item each day.  Anyone else interested in joining me?