I know, I know...it's annoying keeping track of all of my blogs...I just know that I need to make my healthy journey more of a focus than it's been. I've been going in too many directions, and I need to make sure I have my priorities straight. I'll still update this blog, and all of my other blogs, when I have the time, but for now, Phatband is back until I'm back on track! :)
Fake it until you make it is a concept I've heard in different areas of life...in sales, they tell you to fake it until you make it to project an image of success or to believe in yourself before you've seen the fruits of your labor. In other areas of life it's the same principle, when you want to have a certain frame of mind but you don't yet, fake it until you do.
I haven't been to the gym in a long time. Even recently when I've worked out, it's been hiking, kayaking, yoga, etc..., but I haven't been to the gym. I think if you are trying to lose weight and/or gain muscle, and you aren't a fitness guru, the gym is probably the easiest and quickest way to make that happen.
I love outdoor exercise and variations for working out, but I think there's something about the gym that makes me work hard, and in turn helps me reach my weight loss and fitness goals. I can measure the progress I'm making, time myself, keep track of accomplishments, etc... I will always take on variations of my work out and include things other than the hamster wheel gym activities, but I think it's important that I keep the gym in the rotation as well.
When I get to the point when I'm maintaining my weight, I can probably rely on outdoor activities, sports, yoga, pilates, etc, to stay fit, but with the amount I still have to lose, I need to work out hard core.
I haven't felt great since I got back from Dubai. I started eating the right things yesterday, but I didn't work out as I had planned to. I felt sick and tired, and I worked for 12 hrs, plus spent hours on my CD, so I didn't do it.
Today, I felt just as sick and weak and tired. It's rainy and gross, and I'm fighting off something. I slept for 11 hrs last night - that's unheard of for me! I got on the scale to a disappointing number this morning, and I knew I had to start faking it until I could start making it.
With all of my heart and soul, mind and spirit and body, I wanted to avoid the gym, but I didn't. I not only forced myself to go, I forced myself to work out HARD. 25 is the top level on the bike, and I did 25...only for a few minutes, but still! Most of the time, I was pushing myself as hard as I could.
I did about 6.5 miles on the bike, at fairly high levels, and then I did some chest and back work with the machines. I was going to do more, but I felt really weak from pushing myself so much on the bike, so I cut my workout a little short, but I was still there for about 50 minutes...not too bad. I did a calorie burning calculator, and it says I burned about 550 calories, so if that's true, that's good.
I have to admit - I'm a little tired now, but I feel better than I've felt in a long time. My mind feels sharper, I feel like I sweat out some of my bloat, so I feel slightly thinner, I feel good about myself, and I feel like my energy is coming back.
I have learned this lesson over and over and over, but I still manage to forget it. When I'm feeling lethargic, and tired, and lazy and weak, I need to get down to the gym and really push myself. My body will release endorphins that will make me feel better, mentally and physically. The mental and physical improvements will make me feel better emotionally. I know this. I know this!
So today, I faked it, and I made it in just one session. Now I'm a believer once again, and I'm hoping when it's time for my workout tomorrow, I'll remember this feeling and these realizations, but if I don't, I'll just fake it until I make it, once again.
It may take practice, and that's okay....somehow, I see a new bracelet in my future...LOL
I was supposed to have my songs narrowed down by last week, and I hadn't had a chance, so I narrowed the list down to the magical 12 songs yesterday. I recorded 16 songs at home, and I picked the 12 that Darcy and I thought were the best.
I'll post some clips within the next few days. So far, whenever I record myself singing on my laptop, I'm too close to it, and you just hear a ton of feedback. At this point, I think I'll need to be in the other room. :)
I also sent the payment in full for the CD. It's a costly little venture, but maybe someday I'll recoup the costs...doubtful, but you never know. I'm not doing it to sell it, I'm doing it because it makes me happy. If it makes other people happy too, well then that's a bonus.
On the food front, I was much better getting on track yesterday, but my weight is the same. I'm retaining water in a major way, and I know it will stop in a few days. In the mean time, I'll just do my part to get there as quickly as possible.
My weight fluctuation is reaching an all time level of insanity. I weighed 10 lbs less than I do today...2 days ago...The day before that, I weighed 7 lbs more. For the sake of creating an example, let's say I weighed 117 (LOL) on Saturday. And then I weighed 110 on Sunday. And today, I weigh 120.
Now I think it's safe to say we know those numbers aren't my actual weight, unless we're measuring in stones. ;-) You get the idea, though. What is wrong with me?
I was bloated the day I weighed "117." I ate what I was supposed to and worked out, and I was "down" 7 lbs the next day. Then I wasn't feeling well and I ate junk, and now I'm "up" 10 lbs from 2 days ago? Impossible.
I'm bloated for multiple reasons, and I feel fat and gross which is never makes me feel great and healthy, but enough is enough. I've been on a plateau for so long, all I do is gain and re-lose the same weight over and over again.
I'm up from the last time I saw my lap band surgeon, and I don't want to go back until I'm down to where I was then. I know I need a fill, and I'm going to make an appointment with my surgeon in MA, even though it's a giant hassle. Until I find a new MD in NH, I need to go somewhere. I have this great tool,and I haven't had a fill in close to a year - it's time I used this tool again.
I know I can handle today, so for today, I'm going to increase my water intake, reduce my sodium intake, make healthy, well balanced choices, and I'm going to make time to exercise.
I feel so much better about myself when I feel healthier - why would I ever want to feel anything other than that?
I just heard back from the event planner, and there's a good chance I'll be invited to speak at the conference in Barcelona. I'll know for sure in the next few weeks. I just checked out prices from Barcelona to Paris because hello - it's on the way to Italy from Spain...it would be downright irresponsible of me to skip over Paris on my way...probably even RUDE! :) Anyway, I found a one way flight from Barcelona to Paris for $38!
So the new plan would be to stay in Barcelona for a few days, then Paris for a few days, and then Italy for a week. I'd stay longer, but we'll miss our little doggy too much. We can take a train from Paris to Venice in 4 hrs, or a quick flight, depending on cost... we'll stay in Venice for 2 days, and then onto the villa in Tuscany...not sure where yet...
I'm getting ahead of myself, as I don't know if they'll even select me to speak in Spain, but that would be exciting! I'm having a wonderful time lately, and I only wish I'd gotten laid off sooner! (JK)
Okay, the wrist bands have arrived. In case you missed it, a few weeks ago I blogged about how when we put garbage into our bodies, we get garbage out of our bodies. We aren't going to be performing at our highest rate, if we are fueling ourselves with junk.
I ordered wrist bands that say "Garbage In, Garbage Out" on them, so that I can wear it as a reminder to be careful about what I consume, and the implications of the things I put in my body. I hadn't put mine on until today, because yesterday I was busy consuming garbage (LOL), and I didn't want to wear the band until I meant it.
I put it on this morning, and I realized it's a bit loose. I don't think it's going to work for me. It feels like a dangly bracelet. I think I'm going to order another batch in a smaller size. I have no idea what size I picked, and it is probably supposed to be loose, but it's driving me crazy. I will keep trying...
I didn't eat the healthiest variety of foods when I was away. My stomach was slightly upset the entire time, and I pretty much went for whatever seemed the most bland, ranging from pizza to pasta in many cases. I only ate 2 meals a day, so I was hoping I didn't do too much damage, but I did.
First of all, I'm still incredibly bloated. I know that extensive traveling can do that to you, and it did. I didn't help matters by eating junk all day yesterday. I was so tired - I did not care at all that I was putting junk in my body, even though I know it only made me feel worse...and I used plenty of salt...more than plenty...
Today I hopped on the scale, and I think I was up 2 lbs from when I joined weight watchers like 2 months ago. Great job! LOL
I was totally bloated and very up in weight the day I joined, and I was down 10 lbs within four days of de-bloating and eating the right things. I hope the same will be true for me. I can't believe how much my weight fluctuates.
I know part of the weight gain is from eating bad foods while I traveled, and the other part is bloat. The bloat will be easy to get rid of, but the actual weight I've gained will be a little more challenging. It's okay - I'm up for the challenge! :)
After a week of avoiding vegetables and fruits out of fear, I am completely ready to eat healthy foods. I put garbage into my body, and now I'm getting garbage out of it. I feel fat, bloated, slow, achy and gross. I earned it.
I want to feel thin (which I won't be, but I feel it whenever I have a good loss), energetic, and light on my feet. That's the goal.
We now have a second refrigerator in our garage, and I'm going to the organic foods market to stock up on frozen meats today. I've put together an extensive grocery list, and I'm looking forward to getting back to the basics.
We are going to a BBQ today (and probably tomorrow), and I'm going to make my roasted vegetable with feta and sausage orzo. I love that dish. I'm going to buy locally grown organic veggies and grass fed chicken sausage. I'll plan to just eat that with a salad, and that will be just fine.
I already had my multigrain cheerios with blueberries and BGHfree milk for breakfast, so I'm off to a good start.
I have a bunch of work to do, so I want to get a few hours in this morning, but I also plan to take Henry for a hike and do some yard work and grocery shopping before the BBQ.
I had better get cracking!
Have a healthy and safe Memorial Day weekend, everyone!
It's an angora rabbit! How cute is that thing?
I showed the picture to Darcy, and she told me she had a rabbit once when she was a kid. He was a little bit nasty, and somehow she ended up giving him to her great grandmother...who Darcy suspects ended up eating little Flopper!
If anyone is in the mood for a 17 year old cat, let me know!
LOL - kidding!
LOL
Darcy is having WAY too much fun with her iPhone apps - how funny is that picture!
I'm home...SO glad to be home...
Hotel lobby and exterior: (yes, that's live music being played in the first picture below)
Constant construction:
(Will be the tallest building in the world...I think...Armani is designing the interior, and his hotel will occupy the first 40 floors)
Gold Souk at Mall of Dubai:
Mall interior (live music again...):
Penguins!!!! At the mall!!!
Other friends...
The Bentley being auctioned off:
Entrance to Atlantis Hotel on Palm Island:
Windy oceanfront on Palm Island:
Atlantis from afar...
Construction of the man made island:
The hotels and residences all look the same on Palm Island:
A view from the bridge to Palm Island...you can almost see the Burj Al Arab (famously tallest hotel in the world - designed to be the eiffel tower of Dubai...)
Another man made island in the making...you can see it in the distance:
One of the many beaches:
A closer view of the Burj al Arab:
City view from the tour bus:
Jumeirah Mosque - the only mosque that non-muslims can visit in Dubai:
In the UK and in Dubai, they recycle their public trash. Good job! :)
Views from the abra (water taxi):
Old town:
My groceries:
Indoor ski area:
The blue thing is my room key. As you can see, it's in the shape of the hotel. I had one cab driver who really didn't speak any english, and I tried to show him my key to explain which hotel was mine. He said he didn't understand (as best as he could say it), but somehow I made it home! It's a well known hotel, so I didn't expect there would be a problem. Also, I knew the address...Anyway, from then on, I carried a map of the hotel area with me, and I had to use it with another cab driver.
Okay - I've bored you enough for one day! I'll keep the other 200 pictures to myself. You get the idea. 
I read somewhere that it's illegal to take pictures of or in the Dubai International Airport, so I'm certainly not going to, but I found this picture online.
It seems many other tourists didn't do the research I did on the social rules of the area...or just didn't care to follow them...I'm not sure.
All I know is that I saw far more knees and shoulders than I thought I would while I was here.
It seems like I've been gone forever.
I only got a few hours sleep last night, and it will be almost 24 hrs from now when I touch down in Manchester, NH tonight. I'm hoping to catch some sleep on the plane. It's going to be a long day, but I'm going to get to the airport *plenty* early, so I won't have to rush, and I'm just going to relax and take it easy.
The presentation went okay - just okay. I had been having technical difficulties all day, and we worked on it for quite a while. They were using an old computer with older versions of the programs I was using, and when we tested it *right* before my presentation, it worked just fine. However, during the presentation, the hyperlinks I had to the tools I had developed (as the majority of the presentation) did not work. Well, one did and the other four didn't. When I tried to launch the second one, it froze the whole computer.
I ran down to my chair in the audience, because I had hard copies there, and I did my best to keep the speech flowing while I walked to and from my chair from the podium, and while I ran diagnostics on the computer. LOL - can you imagine?
I was disappointed because it looked unprofessional. I had asked the event leaders to check the links in my presentation on their computer at least 5 times before coming. They never did. It was their outdated computer that caused the problems, but the audience didn't know all that.
Oh well - what can you do! It's good practice for things going wrong in the middle of a presentation. Considering they went majorly wrong, I think I handled the situation very well. They told me they would be asking me to join their advisory board for the next year's event, so that's a nice sign.
I'm off to the airport. See you soon!! XO
Oh boy, am I tired! I'm so jet lagged. I thought I had resolved this by falling asleep at 11PM Dubai time the night before. Apparently, that only worked because I had been so exhausted from three prior nights of very little and spotty sleep. Now you tell me. ;-)
I went to bed at 11PM last night, and it took me until 4AM to fall asleep, and I had to get up at 7AM. I would prefer to have more than 3 hrs rest before giving a presentation, but I'll work with what I have to work with. I always feel as though lying in bed, even awake, is better than being active and only getting 3 hrs sleep. Let's hope my brain buys that.
I have to sign in for the conference in an hour, and I plan to attend at least the first session to get a feel for the event. After that, I may try to take a nap, although I'm a bit afraid, because I requested a wake up call this morning, and it never came. I also set the alarm on my US cell phone, and it didn't go off.
This all leaves me unsettled about making sure I get up at 6AM tomorrow for my flight. I found out that my Dubai cheapo cell phone has an alarm, so I'm going to test that today. I also know there is an alarm on the TV, so I'll try that as well. I'm going to have Darcy give me a wake up call if we can figure out how to call here from the US (LOL), and I'm going to personally request a wake up call at the front desk, letting them know I didn't get today's call.
One of the four alarms is bound to go off, but the uncertainty probably won't make it any easier on me to sleep tonight after this morning's scare! :) I think I'll sleep with the shades open too so that I'll see daylight peeking in.
I'm off to get ready. Have a nice night's sleep! :)
