Resolution UPDATE!

Alright….I made a few resolutions in January and I thought it might be a good idea to give an update on how I’ve been doing at keeping them.

Resolutions from January:

Be able to run 3 miles without stopping

I actually haven’t been running too much lately. I know that I’ve improved my cardio endurance greatly but I can’t say for sure that I can accomplish this. I’ve been focused on my cycling, so as soon as the MS 150 is over I’ll refocus on the running.

Lower my BMI by 3 points of lose 20 pounds

I’m slowly but surely making this happen! As of last week I’d lost 10 pounds since January. I have 10 more pounds to go to hit my goal weight, so I’m focused and working hard. Since my weight fluctuates so much with cycling I’ve decided to hold off on weighing myself until after the big ride. I can say (with a big ‘ol smile on my face) that I’ve lost 17 pounds since last October! YAY!!

Only go to the grocery store once a week

I can happily say that this happens about 95% of the time. We rarely, if ever, go to the grocery store during the week anymore. We usually go together on Sundays and it’s working out well.

Stick to our allotted budget

YAY!! This is a great one for us. Hugh and I have both been doing very well with this. We’ve been saving even more than usual and thanks to some inventive coupon usage we’ve even managed to drop our grocery bills.

Go to Europe

Ohhhh yeahhhhh….this is happening! We’re leaving this summer to go on our long-awaited Europe trip. We’ve decided on visiting Munich, London, and Edinburgh. I know that Hugh is just as excited as I am. AND, thanks to our budget discipline the trip will have been paid for before we even step on the plane to leave.

Be more positive in my dealings with family members.

Hmmm….maybe I need to send out a survey to see how this one is going.

Convince my husband to play hooky from work at least once so we can go play.

This hasn’t happened yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to get him to comply later on in the summer. Hugh and I are both big beach/water fun people and since we won’t be getting that in Europe I know he’ll need a day off to play.

Take the dogs to hike at Sam Houston State Park

I’m hoping we can make this happen the weekend after the MS 150!

Take the challenge route on the MS150 this year

This one makes me nervous. I’ve been training and working out like a crazy person this year, but I still find myself intimidated by the “challenge route”. I’m 100% positive that I can handle it physically, but I need to locate my misplaced confidence. We’ll see what happens. I have until the morning of day 2 of the ride to decide.

Improve my average cycling speed.

Done! I'm a beast in spandex.

Seriously reduce the amount of sodas I drink.

Um. Well. When I wrote this I was talking about caffeine. I have limited my caffeine intake greatly, but I am now drinking all natural sodas that are sugar and caffeine free. Not sure if that’s accomplishing the goal or not. Ok, fail.

Keep up the blog!

Yeah. I’ve been a slacker. I’m working on it.

Work and being a positive, uplifting wife.

I’ll ask Hugh about this one! I did go on my own and got 40 pieces of sod for the backyard yesterday. I put them out myself! And then I cooked a nice dinner. If that doesn’t count for something…..  J

I’ll keep you updated!

Night Flight!!

When Hugh got an awesome job offer in January, I started scoping out a great “Good Job” gift. One of my good friends from work is a retired Air Force Colonel and he’s a pilot. I talked to him about some different options and I decided on having the Col. take us up for a night flight. Needless to say, Hugh was thrilled with the idea. I have to admit that I was a little nervous at first. The idea of climbing in to a tiny single-engine plane in the dark was a little disconcerting for me.

My fears left the moment we took off! It was so amazing! Think about it: How can you be nervous flying with someone that flew jets in Vietnam? We flew over 290 and through the I-10 corridor where we got a great view of the city skyline. Then we hopped on over to the San Jacinto Monument and circled it a few times before heading back. It’s amazing what you can see flying at that height. I took pictures and sat in the back while the Col. and Hugh sat up front. Hugh even got to take the controls for a few minutes and I could tell by the smile on his face that he was happy.

Here’s the problem with flying: It’s addicting! I can’t wait to go again during the daytime and take a look around. I have no desire to actually fly anything but I really enjoy getting to ride. I know Hugh wants to get out again and his Dad even mentioned that he’d like to go as well.  

Hugh and Me before the flight.

This is right before take off.

 This is Col. Dan and me.

 The controls.

 Here's Hugh being all sexy in front of the plane.

 Skyline

I love this picture! Hugh did a great job getting the reflection on the wing.

Awesme and Not Awesome

Ok. I realize that I haven't written in a while, but I've been too busy experiencing life to write. I've actually got several posts in the works but I'm not ready to post them. So, to hold you over I'm posting this list that I began on Monday morning. I'll probably add to it but these are my current feelings:

Things that are awesome:

Cheese

Bacon

Donuts

Cole Slaw

Groupon

Funny t-shirts

Swimming

My New Balance 1225’s

The blanket at home named “purple”

Things that are not awesome:

Greek Yogurt-it’s vile. Why would someone eat that?

Cottage Cheese-bleh.

Diaper Rash

Waking up at 4 am-for any reason

Having salsa yet no chips for said salsa

Dust-it’s everywhere and even when you dust once a week it just comes back.

Commercials-DVR has made regular T.V. watching impossible.

The prospect of losing my job.

Folding laundry

Getting to the pool 5 minutes late and being forced to swim in the lane with the pool drain.

More to come!

I just want my orange juice back!!

Ok…so one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to lose some weight. Even though I’m actually in the “healthy” weight range for my height I’m tired of being chubby! I’m currently 16 pounds away from my goal weight and struggling. I’ve hit a total plateau and I’m trying something different to help bolster me over the hump. Back in mid-October I started doing Weight Watcher’s here at school. I’ve lost about 12 pounds and I’ve managed to keep it off but I HATED going to the meetings. I quit over the Christmas break but paid to keep an online subscription so I can track my weight weekly. In January I changed my workout significantly. I’m swimming three days a week and either doing spin class or some type of cardio for the other two days a week. One day on the weekend, I ride my bike with Hugh and Mac. Obviously exercise is not my issue; I’m getting plenty of it.

Last Friday one of my coworkers sent me some information about an all protein and vegetable diet. I read about it and while it seems crazy, I can understand the concept. It’s nothing I can do long-term, simply because it cuts out all fruit and dairy. I don’t care what scientific research they have but I don’t think any diet that completely removes a food group is healthy. BUT, I have realized that I seem to have a sugar/carbohydrate addiction. I’ve made it three days so far without carbohydrates, fruit, or any processed sugar. I don’t think this is anything that I can do forever but I do have to say that it’s made me realize how much I really do eat carbs and sugar. Anyways, I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going. Wish me luck!