The best time of the year

It's amazing the things you get used to. I am entering my 10th year of being a teacher and I honestly cannot remember how I worked all the time. How did I survive not having summers off? Of course, my job didn't require hours and hours of prep and didn't leave me so drained I could hardly walk at the end of the day. So I guess there's that. But I sure love having summer off.

So school ended 1 week ago. Now I swore to myself that I would not waste this summer like I usually do. I would not become lazy and do nothing most of the day. I would keep up the healthy habits I had established during the school year and continue to improve my health. Well, it has not been so great this first week. I have gone to the gym and will be going again today - yay!!!  I am taking a Krav Maga class on Saturday - yay!!!  I went to agility with Mavy last night - yay!!! What I have not been doing is getting in a lot of steps - boo!!!  I started wearing my Garmin the day after school ended because I knew that I would not hit my steps unless I kept track. But that has not worked at all. So it's time to regroup and come up with a new plan of attack for fitness. I can already feel my body responding to the inactivity and it is not good. My back is hurting and my butt is sore. Time to step it up - ha, literally!!!  I need to come up with a way to spend more time on my feet than on my butt. There are a couple of problems with this and let me see if I can identify them all.

First, I don't wear clothes most of the day. Sounds weird, but I spend most of the day in my bathing suit. Because of that, I don't have shoes on for most of the day, I wear my sandals. I can't spend most of the day on my feet in my sandals because my feet/ankles will start hurting. But wait, is that just an excuse? Yes, being on my feet without my orthotics caused me a whole lot of pain - 50 lbs ago. I'm a whole lot smaller now and I don't know how my feet will react to going without the orthotics. Hmmm, something to consider. 

Second, my lack of movement tends to provoke more non-movement. So I need to keep moving at regular intervals in order to not succumb to the lure of non-movement. So I need to space movement out throughout the day instead of in bursts.

Third, I have a lot of school work to do and that requires sitting. I need to figure out a way to do it and not sit all the time. I think I can read the book on the treadmill, but it will be difficult to take notes on the treadmill. Or, is that just an excuse? I don't have to walk constantly or even fast. I can stop to take notes. I can hop off to check something. I can do whatever I want as long as I'm not sitting on my butt.

Finally, when sitting on my butt, I lose track of time. The computer or phone can be such a time suck and I'd rather spend my sitting time working on my diamond dots. So I think I need a timer for my sitting. Whenever I sit down, I set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes. When that goes off, I get up and moving again. I wonder if I could find a way to raise my laptop so that I could work on it while standing? Hmmmm.....

Okay, we are back from the park - Maverick and I walked home -  Hubby is cooking breakfast and after that I need to work out and get my activity figured out for the day. I'm off.......

Wasting Time

I have no problem with wasting time in and of itself. Sometimes a little wasted time is good for everyone. I'm having a problem though with my level of technology wasting time. I went to a dance performance last night and spent almost the entire time on my phone doing a silly painting app. Now granted, it was fun, it was still a waste of time for no apparent reason. I need to change that.

One of the groups I belong to is doing a 21 challenge to reduce your time with technology. I'm not thinking of doing that, but I do need to change some things about the way I waste time. I have a lot to do this summer, much of it on the computer, and falling down the black hole that is Facebook is not going to get it done. I think I need to turn Facebook notifications off. I don't think I need to get them anymore. I can go to Facebook anytime I want and check it, I don't need to be notified of every little post. I also need to not keep a Facebook tab open on my desktop. I just went and did that, so no more notifications from Facebook, yay!!!  I have this great program called RescueTime on my Chrome browser that tells me how much time I spend on each site. I never check it :(   I think for the next couple of weeks I'm going to have to be very thoughtful about what I'm doing on the computer. Am I wasting time? Am I being productive? I want to break away from technology and get some of the other things in my life done. I have lots of crafts that I can work on and I really enjoy doing - much better than cruising Facebook....  So less Facebook time, more real-life time.

A couple of things....

First, it's the end of the school year and things always get crazy around this time. This past week was a train wreck of epic proportions. Reviewing and testing are without a doubt, the most boring part of teaching. I would take grading over them every single time.

Also, this week was teacher appreciation week. We have the best PTO and they fed us lunch all week. But, I ate things I shouldn't have eaten. For the last 2 days, my sleep has been really messed up and I can't help but wonder if there is a correlation between the two. Well, I'm going to find out because today there will be no deviations at all. In fact, no deviations for the next couple of days to get back into the routine.

Finally, my meditation is on point. I've meditated for 10 minutes for the last 12 days. I can literally feel a mental difference when I meditate vs when I don't. I like the feeling and I like the mental clarity.

It is heating up around here. The last couple of days have been in the 105F range. Yikes. That makes evening walks difficult if not impossible. Which drives Maverick up the wall. So I need to figure some other things out to keep him entertained and somewhat active in the evenings. I wish he would swim, but I can't get him in the pool.

Speaking of activities..... I definitely want to keep busy over the summer. I want to continue to walk - though that may happen inside. I want to go to the gym and use the weights. I also want to take Krav Maga. I got a month free for teacher appreciation week, and I really want to try it out. I enjoyed martial arts when I did it and I think I would like Krav Maga also. So I need to call them today and see about going to a class. Also, Laveen Crossfit has offered me a month free for teacher appreciation. I don't want to do Crossfit, but Olympic lifting might be fun. Finally, not next week but the week after, Maverick starts agility training. So I'm looking at all these things and the way it lines up is this: 
Monday night: Krav Maga
Tuesday night: Oly
Wednesday night: Agility
Thursday: Gym
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Gym

I like that because it keeps me busy. If I have nothing planned, I will do nothing. If I have activities planned I will keep moving. There are lots of other things I want to do this summer like school planning and such. This would only be for the month of June, that's when everything is free. After that, I will have to decide which stays and which goes. Of course, by then, I should know which things I like and which things I don't and I can at least say I tried them. I have a couple of days to think about it and figure it out. I think I'm going to go for it just because I can.

On Wednesday, while my classes were taking finals, I watched this movie. It's about how some people solved some serious problems with paleo/keto whatever you want to call it.  Now, of course, they made it sound like a cure-all and I'm sure it's not. But I think they provide some food for thought. Our diet affects us way more than most people, the average person anyway, knows. Just putting food in your mouth is not necessarily good for you. All food is not equal. I think they emphasized the grass-fed thing a little too much, but I completely agree with them demonizing processed food.  I do think sugar is evil and completely unnecessary for our existence, but carbs in some form are necessary just not to the extent we eat them. I love my 3-shift days because I get to eat rice and potatoes. But in all honesty, I do not miss wheat at all. And maybe it just doesn't agree with me, but I feel so much better without it. I don't know the answer. I don't know what is the perfect diet and I honestly believe that everyone is different and what works for one will not work for everyone. But I also believe that the way we are living and eating now is a huge part of the problem. There has to be a better way then the packaged, processed garbage everyone consumes.

Well, I can only control me and I'm going to do what works for me.

The power of meditation

Part of the AltShift regiment is to meditate daily. It's not so much to become this great peaceful being but to become more aware of your thoughts. Since uncontrolled thoughts can totally derail a situation, working on becoming aware of them helps to control them and not let them control you. Simple.

When I started AltShift meditating was hard. Probably one of the hardest aspects of the program. But when I joined AltShift Activate - twice - I had to meditate. He started us at just 3 minutes and it increased a minute every week. After ASA I kept doing that until I reached 10 minutes. That seemed like a good amount of time for meditation and I found that anything shorter really didn't allow me to calm my mind as much. So for easily 6 or 7 months, I meditated 10 minutes almost every day. Some days I missed, but most days I did it. Then I'm not sure what happened exactly but I started to forget. I would go a couple days missing it, then pick it up again. Then gradually the days I was missing became more and more while the days I was doing it became more infrequent. During those months I meditated, I had undergone some changes that I didn't notice until I stopped. I guess the easiest way to explain what happened when I stopped.

When I stopped, I started to fall into my laziness again. I would be exhausted by 4th period and come home and just veg in my chair. That had stopped somewhat when I meditated as I had energy almost all the time. After I stopped, I just found I had less energy overall. I would nap frequently on weekends and I just didn't want to do anything. Less energy or sinking into my own thoughts? Hard to tell but it was happening. Also, I got angry. A. Lot. I found myself angry at my classes. At my husband. At my dogs. At my friends. I was really an angry person. Now, I don't have any problem showing anger, if it's called for and face it, it usually is not called for. I was finding that I had trouble sticking to the shifts too. I would eat things in 3-shift that I shouldn't (hello, potato chips) and in 5-shift I found myself craving sugar and giving into it sometimes. So I knew something had to change and the thing that had to change was meditation. I needed to bring it back.

Monday I started making it a point of sitting and meditating while Hubby was in the shower. I always get up first, so I would have my coffee and as soon as he got up and went into the shower, I would go an meditate. I did that every morning. And may I just say Wow!!  I have been a much better person this week. I have been calmer. Happier. More energetic - though that will take a little more time to peak. In 5 days, I have seen a noticeable difference because of meditation. Wow, just wow!!! I don't know anything else that shows the benefits so quickly. Clearly, this is something I need to make sure stays in my life all the time.

May 1st came and went and because of the meditation issue and the fact that I just did not feel I had been doing my best with AltShift, I decided not to take weight/measurements this month. I don't need to sabotage myself, especially if I'm feeling a little down because things haven't been going the way I want them to - see, this is the benefit of meditation. You can think clearly and logically. I did weigh myself this morning though and I'm 186.2. That's down 4 pounds from April 1st. So in spite of not meditating, I've still been holding my own with this thing. Yay me!!!!!

Okay, enough for now. Time to get this day started.

What a week

Actually, it's been a couple of weeks. The weekends have been crazy busy. Crazy. Busy. For the last couple of weekends, my errands have run back to back. Yesterday, for example, I had a 9:30 - 10:30 training class with Maverick. Then an 11:30 painting date with my friends that ran until 3 pm. Then we hung out at a friends house for a couple of hours and then boom, the day was gone. My weekends have been like that for a couple of weeks now. It's fun, I'm having a good time, but I need downtime. I've been busy all weekend and then boom, back to school on Monday. Hubby can do that, no problem, I cannot. And my friend doesn't work, so she's decompressing all week and on the weekend wants to go out and do things. Ugh!!!  We have plans for today and I don't want to do them. But Hubby does and friends do. Ugh, what to do???

Anyway, it's been a week. There was a huge recall of romaine lettuce because it was tainted with e. Coli. On Wednesday I got stomach/lower abdomen pains like I've never gotten in my life. I felt like I was spiking a fever on and off also. I've never felt like that in my life. The pain felt like it was moving down my intestines, but it kind of settled on the right side, so naturally, I though appendix!!!! Yesterday, in talking to everyone, a few people had it and we realized that we must have gotten some of the tainted lettuce at a party last weekend. That was miserable. I never want to experience that again. Also, I think lots of people get diarrhea with e. Coli, but I got constipation. Big time. Like I didn't go from Tuesday until last night. I was dying. But all is well this morning and I'm glad.

Needless to say, with all that going on, I didn't get my walking in this weekend. But that's okay, I was sicker than I knew.

Also last week, I did not do my planner. At. All. I guess being sick, I let things slide last week. So it's time to step it up again. I did not meditate at all this week, so it's back to that again. I also need to work on Maverick a little every day. Need to have him rock solid by Saturday training.

I wonder how I can balance my energy levels. I have been doing lots of things on the weekends recently. Going out, doctors appointments, gatherings with friends, etc. I reached a point today where I just could not do it anymore. I have laid around most of the day and done nothing. That may be a hangover from the sickness or maybe I need to do nothing once in a while. Even when we have people over, I feel like I'm 'on' for as long as they are here.  I need downtime but I need to find a balance between activity and rest. I want to do a lot of things, but I need downtime. Where do I find the balance? Where do I find the happy medium that allows me to do all the things I want and still get my rest? I don't know how to do that and I need to learn. Quick.

Ramblings

Don't really have a whole lot to write about today, so it will probably be a bunch of unconnected ramblings.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I turn 59. Honestly, I never thought I would live this long. I grew up during the cold war. We used to practice nuclear attack drills in school. Then it was the 60's - 70's. Everyone was doing drugs. Then we moved to California where it was all gratification now. So I really didn't have a view of the future as I grew up. My Dad died when he was about 52 - that is so freaking young. I just didn't have any concept that I would live to be this age let alone what to do to prepare for it. I lived my life not really thinking about the future. And now, the future is here. Wow, wasn't expecting that. Anyway, the job I have now has a good retirement system and at this rate, I will collect about $400/month at age 65. Not great, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Today we are taking the dogs to the Riparian Preserve. It's a nice place to walk the dogs, which is why we are going. We are going to walk the dogs and then go get lunch. Tomorrow morning I'm going to take the new addition, Maverick, to a little training session in the park. It's done by the guy who runs the mobile doggie treadmill company and I'd like to get Maverick out and about whenever possible. Next week we start training, but I'd like to get a jumpstart on it by taking him this weekend.

Speaking of which, this is the new addition to the family:

Maverick. We adopted him 3 weeks ago (I think) and he is adjusting nicely. He is a border collie mix about 1.5 years old. They think he is mixed with husky and that makes sense by his coloring and his height - the boy is tall. I got him for a number of reasons. First, the girls are getting old and slowing down. I can't take either of them for a long hike anymore. Lola used to be able to hang but not anymore. Second, I have always wanted a dog to do dog sports with. Bella was supposed to be that dog, but her wrists started acting up before we completed her training. So that never happened. Then we had Axl for so long. He required a lot of love and attention and I knew I couldn't bring another dog into the house. Then we moved and blah, blah, blah. So having lost a considerable amount of weight in the last 6 months, I want to do more things. Also, since I'm not finishing my Ph.D. I need a hobby. So Maverick is my new hobby. He starts basic obedience training next weekend and from there we go on to dog sports. He is wicked smart and I mean wicked smart. This should be fun.

School is almost over. 5 more weeks and we are done. I can not wait. I'm really over this year and I just want it to end.

I guess that's about it. I don't really have anything more to say. I do need to go take a shower and get more coffee and get ready for the day.

Progress Report

So I made a huge mistake when I got my new phone earlier this month. I did not save the data from the app that I was tracking my weight loss/body changes on. Luckily, I had recorded some of them in a previous blog post so at least I have some. But, that's okay. I have made huge changes and I really don't need a step by step progress report. Though it would be nice to see month by month. Oh well. And in truth, I didn't do it every month. I had nothing for March or if I did, I didn't note it on my blog and I don't remember doing it. In any case, without further ado, here are the current stats.

Date	September 2017	February 2018	April 2018	Difference
Weight	227.8	197.4	190.8	-37
Body Fat %	49.7	46.6	44.6	-5.1
Chest	49.0	45.0	44.0	-5
Waist	44.5	38.75	37.0	-7.5
Hips	50.0	44.0	43.5	-6.5
Right Bicep			12.75
Left Bicep			13.0
Right Thigh			23.25
Left Thigh			23.5
Right Calf			15.0
Left Calf			15.25

Not too shabby if I say so myself. It has been years since I've been in the 190's and even longer since the 180's. I did get this low when I was doing the paleo challenge, but that didn't last. Lord knows it didn't last 8 months. So I am very pleased with my progress. And this weekend I kind of lost it on Friday. Popcorn, beer, lots of fried stuff, ice cream, yuck!!!! I really felt like crap yesterday. So I'm not perfect, but I'm making good choices more often than not and that is a great thing. One final thing, here are some progress pictures. Last ones were done in February so it's time for new ones.

I'm really seeing a huge difference. I know I have a long way still to go, but I'm confident I will get there with AltShift.

4-14-2018  I keep looking at this post and it becomes more and more amazing. When I first posted this, I saw differences but not a whole lot. But the more I look the more I see. My arm - look at the definition in the shoulder area. My back - that roll of fat is almost gone. My stomach - it is so much smaller. Even my legs seem to have shrunk. And I don't have all those fat rolls under my chin. I can't quite believe it. I look at my face in the mirror and I can see indents in my cheeks. It's wild. Okay, I just needed to make note of this.