artemiscuous

Okay. I have now actually gained back five pounds that I had lost after kind of abandoning the diet I was on. I am not sure if I am just retaining water right now or what (possible), but it's not a good feeling. Anyway, I am having issues with consistency. After checking back in and finding this had happened, I thought about what my problem areas are. I seem to slip up in the following circumstances: 1. Travel. This one is tough, since I'm 100% eating out when I travel. This means I am struggling against restaurant serving sizes and plate sizes, my desire to always clean my plate, my colleagues' pressure to have dessert, and the stress of being away on business. That last thing is key - if I can de-stress some other way, then the other difficulties are easier to overcome. They then require the creation of habits - putting half of my food away immediately, for example, and passing up on dessert in favor of some other kind of comfort (a hot bath, for example). 2. Weekends. We're often in perpetual motion on the weekends as well, and end up eating out more often than not. 3. Special occasions/any old Tuesday night, when my husband offers repeatedly to go and get me ice cream to make me feel better. I really don't like to blame anyone else but myself for poor eating choices, but does anyone else have a saboteur they are dealing with? I really do not understand why he does this, but my husband will agree to support me on Monday, and then on Tuesday, he'll start in on the ice cream thing. "I'm going to the store. Do you want your ice cream? Are you sure? You don't look sure. I'd be happy to buy it for you! I know, but do you want some?" I might say no five times, but eventually I'm going to admit, begrudgingly, that it does sound pretty good, I guess, and before I know it - BAM! there's a pint of my favorite kind of Ben & Jerry's and a spoon. And I always eat the entire pint. It's also the same thing that happens if we are out to eat and it's time for dessert. It doesn't matter how many times I tell him that I need him to not do this, that I really want to lose weight. When I get frustrated because I'm not losing, he starts in on how it's a simple math equation, "you just figure out how many calories you're eating and eat the same thing every day and work out twice a day," and I just get so frustrated with him. I eat the same breakfast and lunch every week day, and cook a healthy Paleo dinner most nights, but every chance he has to influence what we eat, whether I'm tired and don't feel like cooking ("I wanted to order pizza anyway - I'll get a large so you can have some") or if I order an omelette for brunch ("Would you split a bagel with lox with me, too? Please?"). Or it's a random Tuesday night and I feel kind of down and he wants to get me ice cream. I just don't know how to continually resist this. Sometimes I do, but my ability to say no starts to erode after week one or two of a change in eating habits. I don't think he wants me to fail, but it makes him feel bad to eat stuff I am not eating in front of me. I think if he just left me alone and ate whatever he wanted, I would be fine - I don't miss it when I don't eat it for awhile. What's a good way to keep saying no? Does anyone have any thoughts on how to deal?

Thanks guys, you really cheered me up :-) Noon workouts are working for me this week. Yesterday I did Spin, today I did a barbell/dumbbell class - which was a fun change, since I usually do bodyweight-only stuff at home. Tomorrow I'm going to try to boulder if the rock gym doesn't close because of Snowpocalypse 2014, part 12 (by that I mean like maybe 6 inches). Friday's noon workout would be yoga, which I want to hit, but I have an appointment in DC at 1pm. I'll have to try to work it in at some other time. One of the things that works for me about the 4HB diet is the idea of only restricting on certain days, and then eating a lot on one day. I was reading this study that showed women in an experimental group lost more weight via intermittent fasting (IF, in the Primal community) - two days a week, eating only like 500 calories, then eating normally - up to 2500 calories - the other days. They lost more than women in the group eating 1500 calories a day regularly. I'm thinking about maybe scaling back my diet goals from a rigid set of rules to a group of habits, like IF and 80/20 Primal. I don't know, just thinking aloud really. I lost one pound over the last two weeks, but to be fair to the diet, I wasn't really following it well. But I like to keep switching it up :-)

Sorry for dropping out like that. I'm going to try to get back in. I don't really want to go into the last couple of weeks too much, because they were out of my control for the most part. Honestly, I'm feeling pretty demoralized about it. I don't like feeling like I don't have any say in my own life. Travel wasn't like it usually is, although I did get to sleep. Yesterday I went climbing. I did get on a 5.10a and got all but the crux move (had to skip), so I'm going to make that my project, if I ever get back to the rock gym again. It's called Jammin' Out and it's on a crack. I think the crux has to do with the crack as well as the arete on the right, but I was either doing it wrong or too tired to stick the move by the time I got up that high. I was also working on Retribution (5.10a) after that, but I was so tired I had to stop halfway. It had been at least three weeks since I'd been climbing, so it's not that strange that I got tired so fast. But it was a little sad because I only really got to do two full routes (a 5.7 and a 5.9).

Love the stairs idea. I'm going to check out my stairs to see if it would work! Gaiman is great and really shines in short story form from his graphic novel days (and I always recommend the Sandman series if you're into graphic novels). I think it shows in the vignettes throughout American Gods, which make up one of the best facets of the book. There are a few story compilations that I really liked as well. Smoke and Mirrors is my favorite.

Thanks, guys. It's been a rough week! I've missed two days entirely for working out, and I slipped twice for my diet, once with ice cream, and once with Thai food, which is maybe not as bad, but there was a lot of rice involved. The working out was because of the snow - my sitter couldn't make it and my husband wasn't able to help with my son, so I was basically running around like a crazy person all week trying to fit in work (which has gotten busy this week, figures), eating, and the occasional nap. Little man is also teething - just cut his first two on the bottom - so we aren't really sleeping much, and he's in a lot of discomfort. :-( I did an active recovery day on Monday post-skiing, and I did do yoga one day - it was an arms video on doyogawithme, which was definitely tough. But I'm just very tired. I've barely gone outside. I've barely slept. It's just been tough. When I have so much stress going on, it just makes it very hard for me to stay disciplined with food, but at least I've gotten right back on the wagon after messing up. Having pre-prepared meals has been critical this week. Both of my screw-ups were opportunities I just didn't have the willpower to pass up - meeting friends at a Thai restaurant? I always get red curry with chicken and rice. My husband brought home my favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's, eats a few bites in front of me, and decides he doesn't like that flavor? Screw it, I'm eating that. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, as I've got a bunch of friends coming over for a potluck thing. I haven't done much socially this week, and it will be really nice to connect. I've rescheduled my climbing date for my sister to Sunday. So this weekend should be restorative. And hopefully I can alternate a little more with my husband on the night wakings, since he won't have to drive to work. Next week I am away for work. On one hand, it tears me up to leave my son, but on the other hand, this means I will be able to sleep more and probably work out, and I will certainly get to go outside and see people, all of which are good things that make me a better person and mother, lol. Hopefully that will make it easier to resist the food temptations of the road. I just hope Harley does okay. I'm hoping the teething discomfort will be better by then so that it won't be so hard for the sitter and my husband to soothe him. Hoping the weekend lives up to expectations!

Oh, I took Argentine Tango classes once! It was lots of fun, if a bit scary, since I didn't know anyone but my friend. So cool!

I think bouldering is just harder and more intense! Like HIIT versus a long run. Great job defeating the overhang.

I apologize, as I definitely chose poor wording. I misunderstood your previous post on not wanting to use medication, probably because that's how I felt about my disorder. (I'm also tired and in my mind I thought I read that you used the word "stubborn," which you did not.) I went for a really long time without seeking help for my own depression because I was both skeptical of medication and too exhausted emotionally to do anything about it. I also felt like I just needed to "snap out of it," and I hate that I held a mistaken view, blaming myself for something that was out of my control, for so long. More than anything, I just didn't want you to feel like it was all on you to overcome it without help, and I feel awful that it sounded I was judging you for anything. I understand that it's a difficult emotional expense to seek treatment, and it takes a lot of support to overcome that barrier. I just wanted to provide some of that support and it seems it has come off as the exact opposite. I'm sorry for making you feel judged, I definitely did not intend it.

It's okay to handle it badly. Try not to get upset about the fact that you're upset. That said, I'm really sorry you are feeling this way. It sucks.

Cool videos! I know the feeling of being stubborn and refusing to treat depression. But mood disorders are a real thing with concrete outcomes. They function as a headwind, invisible but dragging, so that forward progress appears minimal, even when tremendous energy is spent. So your bar is actually set quite high; even getting out of bed is a struggle under this condition. It's important to acknowledge this struggle, to recognize the achievements of reaching out and feeding yourself as the achievements that they are. I hope you'll consider conserving some energy to seek treatment - this would be enough for one day, as it's a taxing task! The thing is, no one would expect you to defeat a physical illness like cancer alone with the strength of your positive thinking and energy, and it's equally unreasonable to expect that for depression. I do understand, and I'm just sending you this message from the other side. The light at the end of the tunnel exists, and you deserve to have real help getting there.

Great workouts! Way to get outside in the cold weather. On the unplanned cleaning - I sometimes think that is the only way I ever clean anything. Because I've spilled something gross all over it. Good thing I'm a bit clumsy, or my house would be shambles.

Have you considered graphing your progress visually? That might help you keep perspective on the overall upward trend. It's hard to measure today's pain objectively, especially if yesterday you know you felt better. I am sorry to hear you are uncomfortable sleeping - I hope that gets better quickly.

I think she's hilarious! I've been obsessed since I saw the "Christmas List for a 10 Month Old." Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nuala! Haha well great expectations...but I'm hopeful! So skiing was a bit of a cluster. I love XC, but I'm not really a downhill skier - I've only been twice ever, and the first time was over 10 years ago - but my husband is (he used to ski competitively), so he said he would teach me on this tiny hill in PA that we went to called Spring Mountain. We have a trip coming up to Mount Snow in Vermont, and I wanted to get some time on the slopes before then so I wouldn't have a meltdown. Well, I did finally get the hang of it on the green circle around the time the sun was going down. I'm not very good at leaning forward into the downhill slope - my instinct is to lean backwards, which causes me to lose my balance. I'm going to have to work on countering that instinct. I think I would like skiing if I didn't get so terrified every time I came to a steeper grade. Anyway, grades for the week: Climbing: A (w00t!) Other workouts: B (missed one day) Nutrition: B (Sunday was a travel day and I ended up going, "Screw it, we're ordering pizza.") Overall, not too bad!

So, tomorrow is cheat day! I'm actually not dying for cheat day this week. I think it will be fun, but I'm kind of fine with what I've been eating (although I am getting a little tired of baked chicken drumsticks. It's definitely not on my list of things I could eat every day for the rest of my life). But it's weird that I'm so cool with it. Although sugar cravings sometimes strike me at night, they are much less powerful and go away with my nightly cup of delicious kava tea. I will say that cheat day has been a powerful mental tool for me, though. I can do strict for a pre-set amount of time, as long as it's not forever, or very long. Altogether, this has been another good week for diet. A lot of people have commented about the weight I've lost. I think I have about 15 or so pounds to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I just weigh myself when a scale comes my way, which isn't the most reliable tracking system. It's okay, though, because it's not really a stated goal of mine. I don't like focusing too on the number on the scale, but it's nice to have at least a vague idea so I know I'm making forward progress. I did take a "before" pic from a week into my first challenge, so I think after this one I'll do an after and maybe share it, if there is visible progress and if I can get over the awkwardness of sharing a full body pic on the internet. I did climb yesterday - a quick bouldering and traversing workout. I quickly onsighted a V0, V1, and V2 - this was extremely encouraging to me, as the last time I bouldered over two months ago (I've been toproping, mostly) I was struggling on every V1 I tried. So I can definitely see my progress. I started a V3 project that is pretty nifty - I'm about halfway up, stuck at a layback move that I think I can get if I can try it again fresh. I messed around on a few overhanging problems and then ended my workout with a traverse of one of the empty instruction rooms, which I was able to get in both directions without a break. Again, this is a marked improvement over the last traverse exercise I did, when I had to hop off the wall at the overhanging part. Until now, I've been just going for climbing workout volume to work on strength and regaining my baseline skills. But since I'm starting to get my groove back a little, I've been thinking about strategizing a little more on my climbing workouts to focus on particular skill sets and terrain. Hopefully by working on my weaknesses, I can overcome some of the obstacles keeping me from 5.10. Here's a tentative plan for the next four weeks: Week of 1/20/14: Focus on overhangs and ab strength. During my toprope session, choose climbs with progressively more overhanging sections rather than focusing on grade. During solo session, stay on the two steep boulder walls (except warm-up - there are no intros on those walls). Week of 1/27/14: Focus on small holds. For both sessions, seek out routes with crimps and pinches. Always use open-handed grip for safety. Week of 2/3/14: Focus on laybacks. For toprope, do crack climbs. For bouldering, seek out routes that require the layback move or train on sport wall. Week of 2/10/14: Grade test. Send a 5.10. Top-rope twice if possible. I'm about to sit down to do a doyogawithme video for hamstrings and lower back to prepare for skiing this weekend! We will be out of town, so I will be out of touch until Monday. I will post my week's grades then. I'm hoping for two A's and a B!

And if there's no pasta, you could try one of these: http://theuglyvolvo.com/2013/10/16/10-quick-easy-meals-for-moms/

I'm so glad the surgery went well, and I hope the pain meds help you through the next couple of days...you are on your way!

Good luck, obax! I think you just do whatever helps your stress level the most at this point. You know best :-)

Major props for doing Insanity. Yikes. Shaun T always scares me on those commercials. I am going to have to try the rice bucket thing, I think!

My cat helpfully bats around debris that I really should have cleaned from my kitchen floor and smacks me in the face while I'm trying to sleep. Good thing he's around, seriously.

Ugh, hope you feel better - acid reflux is one of the most uncomfortable and awful feelings I've had, and it was just a side effect of an SSRI for me. I feel like this about people and cooks (I'm looking at you, Giada) who say that they can take just a bite of something delicious and be satisfied.

That handstand drill seems like a great advanced progression! Also, all of these acrobatics must be contagious - my rock gym is offering aerials and partner acrobatics classes, which thanks to all these cool videos and updates, I cannot wait to try.

The eggs are much better refrigerated, for all who are following along my food prep adventures. Just as delicious as day one. I believe freezing things has actually never worked for me. My "freeze-things-for-future-use" adventures remind me of this post: http://theuglyvolvo.com/2013/12/07/the-amazing-butternut-squash-soup-recipe-that-everyone-should-make-at-least-once-in-their-life/ Okay, so on Tuesday I actually ended up doing a spin class at noon. Yesterday was crazy and I didn't get a chance to work out at all. I didn't even leave the house, actually. Today I am going to hit the climbing gym for a solo bouldering workout at noon (for an A for my climbing goal for the week!). Noon workouts are doing it for me, guys. I'm shooting for a yoga class at 1pm tomorrow - haven't been to the studio in awhile, and I think it would do me some good to do a nice 90-minute hot vinyasa class. I've been good with the diet - preparing in advance really helps with that, apparently. I think I knew that, but never put it into practice, so it was one of those theoretical pieces of knowledge that never helped me. Now it is helping me in a big way. I just don't have the time to think about food during the week, which is why my brain broke last challenge and I ended up buying Hot Pockets so often the challenge before. My life quest is going okay. I'm probably avoiding my phone like 70% of the time when my son is awake and with me and like 90% of the time when I'm with other people (sometimes I cheat when my husband and I are watching TV. I think that's okay with me, since we are already just staring at a screen and we rarely get some time to just tune out our brains). I'm not counting talking on the phone, because he doesn't mind that. He's a baby, you guys. But a bigger life quest for me right now is getting him to sleep more than three hours at a time (at most; usually it was 20-45 minutes, last night). Listen, he slept well from 6 weeks to about 3 months, but that shit went downhill fast. I'm on my fourth cup of coffee with coconut cream right now, and I'm only just starting to feel human. So we're working on him learning to fall asleep by himself! It's been really fun, and by fun I mean frustrating and exhausting. You are going to hear a little bit about this journey, sorry to say. Obligatory: it's worth it, he's the light of my life, etc. I'm sure he will sleep at least one more night before he goes to kindergarten.

I like this thread! Subbed. Here is my contribution: Chorizo Frittata 12 eggs 3 tbs canned coconut milk 5 big leaves of kale, torn into strips 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 lb chorizo (ground beef style) Preheat oven to 350. Brown the chorizo and set aside. Sautee kale and pepper in the chorizo oils on medium heat for about 6 minutes. Whisk eggs with coconut milk; add in kale, pepper, and chorizo and mix well. Pour into a baking dish (11 inch round pan works well) and bake for 45 minutes.

I meant to ask which Gaiman book you are reading?

Yeah I have had some good interactions with people when I've gone alone, but mostly I get really nervous, freak out, flake on some easy climbs, and leave early. Especially when the other gym folk seem like really good climbers. I've come a long way from where I was as a younger person, but this is one social situation that I seem to consistently hit against a wall. If I'm there with someone I know, it's like my nervousness just disappears! I have no idea why this is. That's funny, I feel like we have very similar experiences. Although I am much more freaked out around really good guy climbers. I think it's a bit of imposter syndrome - like what am I even doing there? I definitely know that they aren't thinking it. But it's a hard thing to get past, for me. It's been hit or miss. I guess what I'm trying to do now is determine what part of my mental game makes for a hit, so that I can have more hits than misses. :-) Btw, on the earphone thing - I've seen a lot of people bouldering with earphones, and I always wonder if they get tangled up! I definitely would. lol