The Holiday is OVER! YeeHaw!

Lots happening and not happening. Changes are everywhere. Some successes some not so much. Where to start?

Punk Rope - I decided to let it be. Meaning? I'm not willing to sacrifice everything that I would need to sacrifice to make it as successful as I would like it to be. It's just not that important to me. Yes I enjoy it. Yes I worked very hard to get it. I'm willing to do it but not at the price tag it bears. The good news though is that I conquered the retarded fear and I feel a million times better now that I have.

Belly Dancing - I hated it. I loved it. It was strange and enjoyable, frustrating and liberating. Did I do it the justice I was planning? No. Not even close. Could I? Can I? Yes. Will I? No. There were just too many other things happening to give it my full attention. And, I'm not one to over share my embarrassments like many of the other bloggers out there. So...if you wanted to watch me get all dressed up and wriggle my jiggly bits well then you should have participated and requested it. You didn't..so I won't. Deal with it.

The Artist's Way - I will admit that I'm a little behind. The stupid Christmas bullshit got in the way and instead of just sticking to what worked for me, I freaked out a little and threw my comfortable routine right out the window. That included reading and journaling for a week. So, I'm starting week 7 today. More to come.

Challenges - I did not update the Hot 100 last week and I'm not going to do it now or anymore. I almost made it through the entire thing but I must admit utter failure. I don't have any good excuses nor bad ones now that I think of it. I just failed. I did not meet any of my goals. Not only that but I didn't come close to any of them either. NO weight loss. I gained a couple pounds back actually. No book. Didn't even finish the NaNoWriMo challenge. I didn't blog consistently either and I'm not sad about it.

Blog - You might have noticed that I've been MIA lately. I've had a bad attitude and took time away. Blogging has recently felt like more of an obligation and an empty one at that rather than the motivational tool it once was. The idea has been rolling around in my head to abandon it altogether. If it aint workin'... But instead, I've decided that I will do what I want, when I want, how I want, and you can either read it and like it or go away. This isn't meant to be mean or antagonistic at all. Well, that's not entirely true. It's meant to be antagonistic to me. I fear that I've been writing this blog for the past few months in hopes of getting more attention or more readers or more comments or whatever. I've been doing it for you and somewhere along the line, I lost my own motivation in there. I've removed the fluff so you are no longer going to be asked to vote, there aren't blog awards flashing or links on all sides. I no longer have a goal to blog a certain number of times every week or any other little hooks to try to get your attention or make you happy. Now...it's just me, exposed. Take it or leave it.

Activity - I'm still going to do my monthly activities for the most part. If I find something I like and want to do it longer, I will. If I find something I hate, I'll switch it up. My calendars are still posted and I'll still share my experiences with you. If you're interested, cool...if not, so sorry. Because the voting was tied, I just decided what I wanted to do this month and the winner is....

Now I don't want you getting your little feelers all hurt or anything. I still very much welcome and appreciate all your feedback and advice and questions and criticism. Believe it or not, I read every single one of them and take them to heart. My intention with the shift going into the new year isn't to alienate anyone but rather pull the focus back on to myself because I've been slacking lately and need a tighter leash now. That's all.

I hope you all enjoyed the worst time of the year and are back and ready to kick your goals back into high gear like I am. Failure or not...I'm back baby.

Fitness Fear Friday - Shin Splints & Hot 100

A week or so ago, I went to my gym and was talking to my favorite cutie petutie front desk boy there. He was telling me all about how he has started training to run a full marathon but that he's been having strange pains in his shins. In the past few years, I've had my fair share of shin grief so I told him about my experience doing the breast cancer 3-day walk a couple years ago and all the post event treatment I had to go through to recover from that. He got a congested look on his face and said "oooooo, ouch - did you have to go get shin splints? I think I might need to get some."

So obviously that got my wheels a-spinnin' just a little. Is this the picture he had in his head about shin splints I wonder? Or maybe it was the image of a couple sticks and some duct tape wrapped around his leg?


Leg Splint

Here is the definition according to Wikipedia: Shin splints is a general medical term denoting medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), a slow healing and painful condition in the shins, usually caused by exercise such as running, jumping, dancing or other sports. Ten to fifteen percent of running injuries are shin splints.

Shin Splints

What does all this have to do with me right this particular moment? Good question. I've got the damn shin splints again. I'm sure it's because I've been jumping rope a lot more than I really need to in order to teach the Punk Rope class and apparently...I'm fragile or some shit. In all honesty, it's not a surprise that I'm having pains in my shins again. I had problems during the breast cancer walk, I had problems when I started the C25K program earlier this year, I had problems when I took the Punk Rope instructor training. It's just unpleasant and I don't appreciate it much at all, especially when I'm trying to do things here.

My fear for today is that I will have to sacrifice something or multiple somethings in order to do Punk Rope.

• My shins of course
• The other exercise I do because I'll need to spend time every week recovering from the damage I do to my shins every weekend
• Alllll my time
• More of my own money
• My weekend freedom

My other fear is that I will have to sacrifice Punk Rope for those things listed above.

I don't know if this has any validity or not but I found this picture on a medical site that described some treatments for shin splints. Perhaps I'll give it a try and see how it works this weekend for my Punk Rope class. Other than that, anti-inflamatory, ice, and rest are the only other treatments I'm aware of.

Shin Taping

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HOT 100
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The OG
The Hot 100 Daddy
The Update

1. Weight - Now this is a strange one right this moment. I don't know what to say other than...huh? I stepped on the scale last Saturday and it said 162.4 which is pretty much what I was expecting. Then, because my normal weigh in day is Sundays, I decided to step on it to confirm what I saw the previous day and I saw 164.2. Very very strange considering that I burned 900 calories on Saturday doing Punk Rope and drank a ton of water and ate perfectly healthful foods. 2 pounds overnight? I don't believe it. So I'm suspending judgement until I step on the scale again this weekend.
1. Water - Not as well as I hoped but I'm determined to do it damn it.
2. Workout - This one sucks butt this week. I haven't been able to exercise at all because I've been limping all week long with shin splints. Anti-inflammatories and ice just aint cutting it yet.
3. Meal plan - Yes!
4. Tracking - Yes
5. Sleep - Yes, for the most part. I had a couple nights of tossing and turning but I'm not depriving myself of sleep so that's good.
6. Journal - Not too much, no.
7. Food - Healthful planned meals every day. Yay!
2. Blog - Yes
3. Book - Nope. Not even trying anymore.

Regardless of what my progress on the Hot 100 goals looks like, I'm feeling pretty damn good. I looked at my goals for 2010 a couple months ago and came to a nasty realization that I hadn't accomplished much this year in terms of being able to definitively cross anything off my list. I did become a certified personal trainer which was a weird thing for me and I did overcome one of my biggest fears this year. I actually did Punk Rope. I'm actually DOING Punk Rope! Just a couple months ago, I had pretty much written it off as a failed attempt and a reason to feel shame so turning it around and making it happen before the end of the year feels like a huge victory.

Victory lap! And the crowd roars with excitement. No? Just in my head? Whatever.


PLEASE

1. Vote for my January activity. Top right side bar, you'll find a poll. Vote vote vote! Pretty please.
2. Check out the Punk Rope Seattle facebook page and share it with all your friends. With a cherry on top.

Hot 100 - Week 7/ Feeling

Lonely

Confused

Unsure

Irritated

Lost

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HOT 100


The OG

The Hot 100 Daddy

The Update

1. I haven't weighed in so I don't know. I feel huge.
1. Water - almost
2. Work out - yes
3. Meal plan - yes
4. Tracking - no
5. Sleep - yes
6. Journal - yes
7. Food - yes
2. Blogs - no
3. Book - I started off really good but haven't written much at all this week. I'm just a little behind in the NaNoWriMo thing.

Fitness Fear Friday - Questions

For those of you out there who have things you want to do or unfulfilled dreams keeping you awake at night, yes you, the ones who want to try something new but are too afraid to act...I have some questions for you.

If you could do anything without fear or obstacles (time, money, sitters, talent, etc.) in your way, what would you do?

What's the payoff for continuing to allow your fear or obstacles to determine your actions?

What do you gain by staying in your comfort zone?

What are you missing out on by staying in your comfort zone?

What's the worst that could happen if you chose to just act on what you want?

Is the worst possible scenario bad enough to logically justify selling yourself short?

What's the worst that could happen if you chose to just ignore the little voice in your head that says "but I really want to _________"?

Is it really worth it to you?

If your best friend or child came to you with the same answers you just gave to the questions above, how would you advise them?

What did you do yesterday that made you glow with pride?

What can you do today to give those embers a little oxygen?


Acknowledging and facing our fears is one of those things that is really easy to ignore. It's simple to pretend we are perfectly satisfied with our normal daily routine and we never want or dream of more for ourselves even if more just means taking a class for fun. We don't miss what we never had right? Maybe that's true but is it good enough for you? I've already decided that it's no where near good enough for me. I've been working through my fears one by one for the past few months and I know a couple of you out there have started doing some of that for yourselves as well. Brava! I want more. I want more for you. You've been here to cheer me on and give me a little push when I just wasn't feeling it. I want to return the favor and be here for you. All of you.

Answer the questions above if you feel so inclined.
Comment to let me know what your fear is and what you're going to do to challenge yourself and I'll follow you and do what I can to give you the "atta girl/boy" you need.

If you just don't wanna, fine...be that way. I'm still going to be working through my fears right here for all to see.

Happy Friday

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HOT 100 Update

The OG
The Hot 100 Daddy

The Update

1.  I weighed in on Sunday last week at 160.4, down 1.4lbs from 161.8 the week before. Still not below the 160 mark but at least the TOM gain is gone now.
1. Water - Still a struggle. I'm working on it though.
2. Work out - 4 days so I'm very very close to getting there. Next week will be spot on, I'm determined.
3. Meal plan - Technically I did not meal plan but it's because I had a ton of left overs from last week that I've been finishing.
4. Tracking - I haven't tracked for the past 2 days but plan to update everything today so I'm going with a YES. :)
5. Sleep - YES.
6. Journal - YES.
7. Food - YES. Well, slight side note here...I had some Halloween candy which was not part of the plan but that was the only slip. The rest of the week was fabulous.
2. Blogs - YES.
3. Book - YES. NANOWRIMO baby! Come look me up if you're signed up too. SalinaLyn in Seattle, WA.

Hot 100 - Week 4

The OG

The Hot 100 Daddy

The Update

1. I did not weigh in. Nope, not at all. I wasn't even tempted by the scale. I know I should probably do it just to keep track of my progress or lack thereof but I just haven't really cared about much in the past week or 3. I totally slacked out on pretty much everything this week...and last week...and the week before. Damn, I'm on a roll. Time to pull my big girl britches up and get back to work.
1. Water - I tried harder to drink more water this week but I doubt it was enough.
2. Work out - I'm sorry to say that I didn't get my 5 workouts in. Sad panda.
3. Meal plan - Oh YA! Oh YA! I planned and I cooked and I ate the planned meals.
4. Tracking - Not even a little.
5. Sleep - Yes. Finally, I'm sleeping again. Hallelujah!
6. Journal - Oh YA! Oh YA! I wrote every day.
7. Food - For the most part, it was perfect since I followed my meal plan but I must confess that I had Bailey's in my coffee a couple mornings. Shhh..... :)
2. Blogs - Um....Not even a little, incase you didn't notice. Here's the thing with the blog lately. I just don't care. Ok, that didn't come out right. I care about all of you that read and I really don't want to let you down but sitting down to write a blog is something that just hasn't been fun or interesting to me lately. I just don't care about the blog itself or the content right now. I don't think it's the blog's fault, I just think I haven't been caring about much lately. Why? I really don't know. I have suspicions but nothing concrete. I've actually been tossing around the idea of retiring the blog writing indefinitely. Originally, I started this blog with the intention of using it as my journal because I was finding it difficult to develop the habit of writing in an actual journal. Then I justified it even more with the added bonus of having a support network and people outside myself to be accountable to. Now, I'm writing in my journal every day and loving it by the way and I have the world's greatest Accountabilibuddy and I just don't really feel the need to have an audience anymore. Am I just trying to self-sabotage? I don't know. I don't think so but it is a thought that has entered my mind. A question that deserves being answered I think. Feedback?
3. Book - Oh YA! Oh YA! I wrote on my little stack of note cards. Another idea that could be super awesome. A kid's book. Me? Write a kid's book? Um...weird but whatever.

Now for a little update on the belly dancing thing for the month. I'm very dissatisfied with the progress. The month is pretty much over and I have yet to get to a damn class. I've cheated you all and feel horrible about it. But because I really really do want to do belly dancing, I'm going to just wipe out the rest of the plans for this year and do belly dancing exclusively. The difficulty was that all the classes I could find were 6 or 8 week long sessions and I looked into them 1/2 way through a session so I missed everything. The one option I could find that would work turned out to be MIA. I went and it was not there. I don't know what happened. If it was a mirage or I just imagined seeing it online and paying for it or whatever but I have yet to find the damn place. So, I'll try again on Saturday morning and maybe it'll just appear. If not, I'm just going to sign up for one of those sessions I found and do it for the months of November and December. Then I'll do the martial arts and/or boxing after the first of the year. We shall see!

Hot 100 - Week 3

The OG

The Hot 100 Daddy

The Update

1. Weigh in on Sunday, October 10th at 160 even. That's 1 lb less than last week's 2lb gain. I'm almost back to the 150s again. I think I can I think I can I think I can.
1. Water - Um....nope
2. Work out 5 days - Um....nope. I wasn't feeling well.
3. Meal plan - Um....nope.
4. Track food - Um....nope. Okay...kinda. But not every day.
5. Sleep - Um...Yep.
6. Journal - Um....Yep.
7. Food choices - Um....Yep. I did have the Greek feast too and it was fabulous.
2. 3 Blogs - Um...nope. I'm up to 2 with this one. Slacker. No, I was just super busy all week long with work.
3. Work on the book - Um...nope. No comment.

Hot 100 - Week 2

The OG
The Hot 100 Daddy

The Update

1. Sunday, October 3rd I weighed in at 161. Yes folks. I hate to say it but it's true. The little dip into the 150s was yet again a temporary thing. Seems that I lost 2lbs in one week then gained them all back in one week. Not sure what that's all about but it's true none the less. Personally, I think it's all about my head. I think there's something in my silly little brain that says "Hey, you're in the 150s again...way to go...now you can relax a little....go have a beer and some southwest egg rolls....no problemo". And I go: "Really? RAD!". Der D Der.
1. I didn't drink enough water again although I was trying....well half the time.
2. I worked out 4 days instead of 5.
3. I did meal plan but didn't follow it as closely as I would have liked.
4. I tracked but only loosely.
5. Sleep has been strained. Not sure why but even with Tylenol PM...I still woke up in the middle of the night. More exercise should fix that.
6. I'm happy to report that I have successfully journaled every day and coincidentally, I'm in much better spirits this week. Funny how that works.
7. I didn't take the Oktoberfest free day as planned because when we got to the festivities...IT SUCKED. So we just turned around and came home. No beer or brauts for me. Probably better than way. I do have my Greek cooking day tomorrow though. Looking forward to it. Ooooopa!
2. Wrote 3 blogs this week. Success! I had a slow start in the week though so I didn't do a Monday post but whatever. I do what I can in as little time as I have.
3. The writing work on the book is still on my wish list and not on my schedule. But after doing a little thinking this week, I decided that I need to put it on my schedule. Time to write and allow myself to be creative in between all my scheduled TO-DOs. Good plan.

Hot 100 - Week 1

Update time ladies and dudes.

Ready for it?

Ready?

My Goals

My Update

1. On September 20, I said I wanted to lose 1 lb every week. I weighed in on Sunday the 26th a whole 2 lbs lighter than before. 2 lbs. WoooooHoooo! Numbers are good so in the name of full disclosure: I weighed 161 on the 19th and 159 on the 26th.


1. Barely drank enough water though I'm trying.
2. Did not work out 5 days. I did however go for a nice bike ride and did a lot of house and yard work but the gym has been sadly missing me.
3. Meal plan? Bah... I'm going to get a hold of this little action this weekend though.
4. No tracking to speak of. Oops.
5. Sleep has been horrible. Maybe 6 hours if I'm lucky. No bueno for me.
6. Journal has been collecting dust for much of the week. I wrote on Monday, then nothing until last night. It's the sleep deprived thing. Oh ya, and I watched a movie instead. Choices.
7. Food choices were decent. I didn't go to Oktoberfest on the 25th as I planned though. I skipped that one in exchange for a bigger better beerfest in Leavenworth this weekend. Yay BEER!


2. I only wrote 2 blogs this week. Well, actually this one would make 3 so I guess I did it. Just not how I planned. Whatever.
3. I did not work on my book this week either. No writing means no writing. And to be totally honest with y'all, I'm feeling it in my attitude and my mood and my spirit. I'm just one of those weird writer people that needs to write to be happy I think.

In other news...
The polls have closed and I'm very disappointed in the turnout of voters this time around. 5 votes! That's all I got all month long. I think we can do better than that. Oh well, too late now. Here's how it's gonna roll:

October - I'm going to be a belly dancing mama and I'm not thrilled about this because I have a decent sized belly to shake around and I have horrid imagery in my head about it. But, I will follow through and report more specifically on my plans in my next post.

November - Will be some kind of martial art. Not sure which one yet. I'll be doing a bit of research to find something good. Or, if you have any suggestions, please let me know. I'm open.

December - I'm going to beat up on a punching bag as a boxer girl. Ooooo I'll be sure to have some super cute hot pink boxing gloves with skulls and cross-bones on them. Stay tuned for that as well.