Healthful Living/Weekly Workout Support Group - Week of December 17th

[Leslie Ferguson]

Happy middle of Hanukkah and happy week before Christmas to all! (I’m not trying to slight any other seasonal celebration that I’m forgetting right now.) The ebb and flow of life has hit again, lots of busy folks out there, not just on the boards but in real life (IRL) too. We’ve been enjoined by new folks these past few weeks and had some interesting stories and lots of neat discussions. We’re all thankful for their participation and hope that others will come and join us. A quick recap of the previous weeks:

Meg F. - Dropped by with her first post and let us know she’s getting back into exercise, good for her.
cksongbird - Busy with a new adopted grandchild; got over her multi-causal headache; planning ahead for a healthful holiday season and hosting at her place. She also is another of the cardio folks having done 2+ hours of cardio after coming back from the adoption. All positive things going on in her life - woo hoo!
Karen - Hanukkah at her place with in-laws in full swing, I’m sure it’s busy since this is a first for her but I bet everything turned out just fantastic. Kiddos getting ready to be home for the holidays from school and it’s balmy up her way - no white Christmas for CT either.
Robyncz – had a concert a couple weeks ago and working hard doing lots of business in the publishing and editing world. Been making good decisions about healthful living and dining with friends and spending time with family.
Me (Les) - did some traveling and still managed to be healthful with eating (but not exercising on the day of travel); dealing with frustrations of car repairs and the shop messing up my car while trying to repair it; ran a bunch of times and felt good; did some more healthful living and worked with homeless folks in Hampton VA, an interesting time to say the least. And saw the St. Petersburg Men’s ensemble and even though didn’t understand a word had a fabulous time.

Workout items: Lifted today (as normal). I hope to run on Monday and since I don’t have a car right now (back in the shop tonight) that may happen. Tuesday is up in the air but hope to run then too. Wednesday will probably be a spin day. Thursday will probably be a run and Saturday will be a run too.

Healthful living: Done with my internship except for 4 services on Sunday and Monday this coming week, hoping to reduce my stress a little there. Planning for Christmas week at Appomattox with my family and to decompress.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. I hope we all have a good week and I look forward to the spirited discussions to come. If there happen to be any other lurkers out there - please drop in and chat, we love having new people come by for a visit.

Until later friends, have a great week -

Peace,
Les

[tmsl]

Hi everyone! I have been AWOL for quite a while and have let the healthy living slide somewhat. I am looking forward to the new year and being able to get back into better, healthier routines.

Here's an update on life. Dh's father passed away from cancer the week before Thanksgiving. We were able to be with him for several days before he passed. He is in a much better place at this time. Needless to say, T-giving was hectic as plans were changed suddenly and we were still tired and grieving of FIL. We had planned a vacation about 6 months ago that we had a week ago. It was much needed relaxation with friends in the Caribbean. We have had a busy few days since we have been back trying to tie up loose ends for Christmas. Right before vacation, I put in my notice at work. I have been at this job for 14 years and am burnt out. I will be able to stay home for awhile and get some house cleaning/organizing done. I am looking forward to time to work out and plan my meals and get back into a healthy routine. Hopefully the stress of this past year will be behind us.

Les~I can't believe your internship is almost up. It has been awhile since I have checked in. I hope Appomatox is enjoyable for you at Christmas.

Karen~Happy Hanukkah! Sounds like you are still enjoying your routines, hope the kids are peaceful and happy over the school break.

Hi to newbies.

Laura K.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Laura K - My condolences for your loss. I'm sure it was a hard Thanksgiving and I'm glad that you took your vacation this past week. Wow! Giving notice and changing jobs (or planning on changing jobs since it sounds like you're going to take some time off) in the midst of all the things going on must be especially nerve wracking too. I'll bump you up on my list along with your DH and his family.

Peace,
Les

[karen w]

Laura K.-I'm so sorry for your loss(and your DH). But as you say, I bet he is in a better place now. It's no surprise you had to take a break from BB life with all that going on in your life! Congratulations on giving your job notice, and I hope you do get some much deserved relaxation time.

Les-I guess congratulations are in order for you, too, being nearly done with your interniship. I hope this means things will settle down for you as well....a little bit anyway! Enjoy your family time this holiday. I know you will.

We had a very good weekend with one minor setback....the crud that I gave to DH from before Thanksgiving....well, he kindly returned it to me. I now have a head full of snot!:rolleyes: Someone did suggest a way to prevent each other from giving it back and forth. I did not like that alternative!!!!:D Life would not be fun like that!!!:D So I will sniffle forth through the week. Our weekend was nice. Hanukkah at temple for dinner and services Friday went well. Our family won the menorah contest for the most original handmade category. We brought our blown glass menorah we bought at Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco 2 summers ago. Saturday after ellipticizing, I spent the day preparing for our Sunday family gathering. Sunday I was going to fry the latkes, but I just did not feel well, so I baked some frozen ones. I do still have a 20# bag of potatoes in the garage, so next weekend I'll be frying some latkes and making baked potatoes and potato soup and potato gratin and mashed and etc...etc... you get the theme!!:p Lucky we all like potatoes here and are not carb. phobic!!;) Anyway, there was so much other food yesterday, that no one missed the homemade latkes(and the frozen ones were pretty good). The kids all had a good time with their cousins and exchanging gifts. I do have 2 to exchange(a duplicate book for DD and the Nintendo DS she got is not functioning properly). I'll get her a different one at Costco this week.

As for today, I had a good swim in spite of a full head. I went to boxing as well, but kept it a tad lighter as I was feeling a bit dizzy with my stuffy head. It was still a good class. I also fit in groceries and making a pot of soup before having to start the afternoon taxi service.

Tomorrow will be the usual exercise routine and ALOT more errands. I need to get some holiday gift certificates(room mom duty calls)and make my returns among other things.

Have a good night everyone,
Karen

[Leslie Ferguson]

Karen - I guess there might be ways to keep from passing colds from one to another in a household but like you say, that wouldn't be any fun (I've done that in the past too - being separated by the Navy for 6 months at a time really keeps you from getting/giving illnesses to your spouse). It does sound like you had a fun Hanukkah celebration this weekend and 20# of potatoes - I guess with 5 of you they might not go bad before they get eaten. Too bad it's winter too because you could always do a neat event called a "Potato Bash" where you bake potatoes and your invitees bring fixings to share. A friend celebrates in that tradition every Labor Day and Memorial Day. A fun time. Take it easy tomorrow - we don't need you to get light headed and pass out on us. ;) Who would be the taxi driver too? It will be a slightly melancholy day on Christmas Day as I depart St. John's for the last time but it will be joyous because I will be able to move forward in my process.

I had a good run today at lunch and it was 63 :eek: when I ran. Not that I'm complaining but... Where's December? Still without "chariot" but it will be ready for "parole" from the shop in the morning (was ready late tonight but I couldn't get there before they closed) - hopefully this time...

Prayers headed out for Laura K and those who are in need this evening. Until tomorrow...

Peace,
Les

[karen w]

Les-Good for you on a nice run in the warm weather. Our mercury is dipping a bit now, so now it is more "normal." Sorry your chariot is still in limbo. Mine(a.k.a. the taxi) just got a good once over at the shop last Friday and everything checked out A-O.K.

The crud still lingers on, but is now more a nuisance than a hindrance. For whatever it is worth this cold came on fast and is fading fast(who am I to complain about that!). I had a great swim and boxing went better today(no dizziness). Without boring you with all the gory details, I got alot of other errands accomplished as well this afternoon. And BTW, Les....I love your idea about the baked potatoes and the toppers. Since my kids and I(except DD who does not like much of anything anyway:( ) love potatoes, I may just do this for us one night next week. Bake 'em and they can top them as they please....add a salad and call it a meal. These are big taters, too. The Costco bag which I'm convinced were grown in steroid laced soil.:D

Tomorrow is another busy one. Besides the usual routine, we have DD's winter concert and party, DS#2's party, religion, and gymnastics. Fortuantely DH is off to share the fun.:p

Have a good hump day tomorrow,
Karen

[Leslie Ferguson]

Hey Karen, I'm glad your car came out of the shop with flying colors. Mine may end up flying colors if it doesn't start acting right. The weather is turning a little down here too. Nothing terrible on our end and it's supposed to be back in the 60s on Saturday. Taters with salad sounds like a fun dinner - and with all the wonderful things you can put on a spud you can go wild and still be nutritious. As long as DD eats being finicky isn't a big deal but... I'm glad your crud is passing quickly and wish my congestion would pas as quickly but I think my nasal allergies are running rampant and are sucking the life out of me. Maybe I'll be able to break the allergy cycle but for now congestion is the thing of the day for me. Hope you have a good hump day.

My day, besides bailing out the chariot, was spent on a teleconference (went well but there's a lot of opinionated people in this program so it may be more challenging than I'd like). Then I was approached and told "you know that document editor's note: the document is easily 1.25 inches thick needs to be through the front office and back to the author (in another command) by the 29th. :eek: So that occupied the remainder of my afternoon. So a run in the blustery conditions just didn't happen. There's always tomorrow and I'll get out for sure tomorrow.

Hope to hear from a couple other folks on hump day - regardless, I hope all are well and have a peace-filled remainder of the week.

Peace,
Les

[karen w]

Hey folks,

I am going to be brief tonight as it has been a busy day and the head snot has made a resurgence today with a vengeance!:mad: Fortunately, I've still been able to plug along. I had an excellent swim and boxing was good, too, in spite of the crud. The afternoon was filled with school parties, concerts, religion, and gymnastics.

Tomorrow I will swim and lay low the rest of the day as I have a progress test for boxing in the evening. This will be #5(out of 10 required) so I've hit the halfway point toward my black belt. :) The only downside is that the master has emphasized that everyone must bring their sparring gear tomorrow night which means....I HATE sparring!:mad: Oh well, at least it is only 1 hour; not 3hr. like a Saturday progress test. I also have to take the kids with me as DH will be at his office party and I could not get a sitter. I know it will be a late night, but the next day is their last day of school before vacation and it is a shortened day.

Have a good night,
Karen

[Leslie Ferguson]

Karen - I think this season is the kicker for long term colds. Hopefully yours gets gone soon. But at least you're still able to function - a good thing for you. Good luck on your mid-term test for your black belt tomorrow. It's hard to believe you've been a bo-black for this long already.

I didn't run today but probably could have but instead I got wrapped around the barber (getting fuzzy) over lunch so I spun when I got home tonight. Did an hour on the trainer and felt good. Tomorrow will be a run because I'm having b'day sushi dinner with my coach (only 6 days between our b'days) so I'll need to put a couple miles in before the fest!

Fading fast though so I'll drop a nickle to get a pass for tomorrow becore I fall asleep at the board.

Until tomorrow - peace,
Les

[Leslie Ferguson]

Back-to-backs... Karen must still be busy today. :cool:

Well, I had lots of excuses but I didn't run today nor did I spin. Still hard to move myself to run some days - kind of an emotional let down after the past couple months. I know I'll pick up but for now, every day is a push to run or exercise.

Speaking of Christmas, I got a phone call from my dad tonight. Not great news - their heater is out of service. It seems the heater was putting out plenty of CO and it won't get fixed until later next week I think we're going to go regardless. It's not supposed to be that cold, there are space heaters available, there is a gas stove in the house, and cuddling is always acceptable :D (I knew there was a reason I got married ;) ).

Peace all and I'll see you in the morning.

Les

[karen w]

Les-Sorry about leaving you in the lurch yesterday...yep, another busy day followed by a fun filled night of sparring at my progress test. Christmas might be very nice and memorable all cuddled up together with space heaters or around the stove. Enjoy your cuddling....oh, and your holiday, too!!;)

As I mentioned, last night was a progress test for me. It was sparring only(which we all hate), but was pretty low key. The master basically had us all going one on one with a partner in the ring for a few minutes each round, 2 people at a time, just like we will do on the real black belt test. The only excitement(if you could call it that) I had was one good whack(right roundhouse) delivered to my upper outer left thigh made it feel like I had a charlie horse there today. I guess I should block better. But I did get the "that is the only correctly executed left roundhouse I've seen all evening" last night by the master as well as a few compliments today from him, so it could not have been all bad. Anyway, 5 down;5 more to go!;)

Today I had a good swim and jacuzzi'd my sore thigh muscle. It was better this morning and not so bad that I could not box today as well. Class was small, but decent. Everyone is bailing out in anticipation of the holidays I presume. Kids had a short day of school, so the rest of the day was doing the school bus thing, making dinner etc... The kids are all waiting for DH to get home tonight, so we can light our menorahs together(all of them....alert the fire dept.!!!!) To top it off, there is also the shabbat candles!:cool:

The weekend is quiet here since we don't celebrate Christmas, and DH works this holiday so his partners can have the time off. I'll stick to my usual routine of exercise. I have to make my latkes(finally) this weekend, and I'm sure I'll come up with other fun stuff to make/bake in the kitchen. Maybe I'll get my reinforcements(DS#1) and make some bread over the break.

Anyway, have safe and happy festivities everyone,
Karen

[Leslie Ferguson]

How did I forget that you were sparring/testing last night. Good job! Isn't it odd how well you do even when you don't think you did? (If that makes sense.) Half-way there. I'll have to start watching my comments now. ;) Still working those spud are you? I guess 20# of taters is a lot of taters for 5 normal sized people (not my brother and his family). I know I say this every year, but it's nice that DH helps the other folks out in his office. I bet they do the same for him. Hopefully it's quiet this weekend and on Christmas Day - I'd imagine any work on Christmas wouldn't be a good thing in his line of work. Speaking of menorah - I know I forgot something last night - there were all these cars driving around town last night with mostly lighted menorah on top (electric lights). It looked really odd as I was walking in for sushi to see this line of cars with menorah - but then there is a temple around the corner from my favorite sushi place so not that surprising when I stopped to think about it. I bet it will be a lot of fun at Christmas huddled together - and darn the bad luck, I'll have to snuggle up with LW. ;) I hope the remainder of you weekend goes well and things are quiet (and you didn't burn your house down either). I hope your helper has fun making bread too!

I'm still fighting a workout funk - and it's bothering me a little. These past few days I just haven't wanted to go and workout. In my mind I've wanted to go but for some reason I've been able to persuade myself to skip which is really unnerving. I'll be fine, it's just weird for me to feel this way. Tomorrow morning I'll go out for a long run. It's supposed to be ~60 when we go. :eek: What happened to December. And there might be mud because of the rain. :D I'll be in 4-year old heaven.

Take care all and peace,
Les