Quirkyself

On the tail end of fighting a flu over here. Started with one kid, then hubbie, then second kid and now me Don't usually get the chills and fever this had, and unfortunately it also has a very bad cough... Been on the couch for 3 days now - blah!

-13, I wish. It was -28 with windchill, although once you got moving you were sweating anyhow, so it didn't end up a factor until my gloves were all wet. My favorite part was smooching you under the cargo net You are going to want me to do all your OCR's with you - ha, ha!

In case you don't follow me, here is my post about my Polar Hero OCR this weekend Hobbling around today, but trying to get re-organized for a better week.

Hi all, Yesterday was the Polar Hero Obstacle Course here in Ottawa. Honestly I hadn't been holding my breathe that we would make it. My husband had some weird health issues last week and then travelled all this week. I was single momming it and anxious about him being away and not feeling great out of the country, so was not feeling great myself. I started perking up by Thursday and he got back Friday night at 10 p.m.after being up at 3:30 a.m. to catch his flight. All of that on top of the weather forecast which was -28 with the wind chill for race time. I wasn't feeling it to be honest. My kids were also registered and my son came back from ski day on Friday with a sore throat and woke up Saturday morning with a full on cold. So, we tossed around the idea of bailing, not feeling 100%, super cold and just didn't think it would be much fun at this point. BUT we aren't really quitters around here and figured we might as well do what we could. My son stayed with friends as he really was in no shape to compete and stand around in cold weather. My 11 year old daughter did her race, and had a great time. It was the first time this event was in Ottawa and the kid's race needed some work for sure. They only had one runner lead the pack and kids got separated after a bit, and she didn't know where to go next, so twice she took a wrong turn as the course wasn't marked well for them. Anyhow, it wasn't even a 1 km run for them, but they did some cool activities in that time including pulling tires, hurdle climbs, climbing over a big cargo net and crazy carpeting down a hill. She was sweating afterwards and is sore today, so it did her good. I've never done an OCR before and what happened was that I gave this to my husband as a gift for Christmas and said I would do it with him. Not sure if any of you follow him or not, he is QuirkyDM and is sort of crazy. He did the Vermont Spartan Beast this fall, but has been nursing injuries ever since. So the deal was, I will do it with you, but we walk the whole race and I don't have to do all the obstacles. I'm 100 pounds overweight, so walking 6 km in the fresh foot of snow we had was going to be challenging enough, let alone all the obstacles AND stairs, because the race was a stadium edition at the football field. Okay, so we made it to the race and our daughter was done and then left to hang out with my cousin. Just be and my hubby now and and we line up at the very back of our heat, knowing we are walking. Three other heats leave behind us, but I think we are the last people on the course - but I don't care! We head off and out of the stadium right away, you think the foot of snow would be packed down by now, but no, it is all just foot printed through and makes it challenging enough just to walk through, so we start chatting. There had been lay offs at my hubbies work over the week he was gone, so we chatted about that and arrived at our first obstacle - short little walls. For me challenging enough, but made me feel like I could do this. This is where I got all my bruises though. Jumping up and swinging my legs over, legs hitting the wall in awkward spots, so I have 6 bruises on my inner thighs, longest one is 2 inches wide and 3 inches long- so today this is my reminder of the race We had lost the pack and took a wrong turn when we weren't supposed to, but figured it out after about 5 minutes, back tracked and were ready to go after that. Climbed under a cargo net in the snow, climbed a hill with a brick (husband carried my brick for me when it got too steep at the top), balance beam, climbed over some huge frozen ice slabs, and then we were at the Green Monster. I didn't see how BIG it was when we started and have to say I did not like this part at all. Huge cargo net going up wasn't too bad, but then it went straight across high up off the ground and people were behind me - I was stress, let out a few shrieks when it moved as people passed me by, then I had to come down the net. I was done at this point, and climbed off when I had the chance, everyone else went up one more time and then down again through a narrow tube of netting. I was happy with what I had done and tried to recover. Then there were some climbs over tall stair rails and you had to jump down off them after.... I bailed on these too, mostly because of the jump down after with my knees -didn't trust myself, so walked around. Then we climbed through a narrow metal contraption, I'm sure this is easier for tiny people, but it was a bit tight for me - made it through and then we were walking back over toward the stadium. I was feeling my stomach pretty good from the climb and was breathing heavier. All I could see were more walls out in the field and huge hill to climb for the crazy carpet ride. I told my hubby, I wouldn't be able to do that stuff and maybe I should be done now. He said, just walk beside me and if you don't want to do it, you don't have to. So we kept on walking. No one was around anymore, which was good, because I get embarrassed easily. We looked at the 6 foot wall and he figured he could give me a boost. There was a small foothold on the side, so he boosted me up, I got my foot on there and swung by body over the top and fell down into the snow. Was shocked that I could do that at all. Then we had another wall, but it was like a criss cross ladder sort of. I'm not fond of heights and I don't have proper running gear, so was wearing my BIG parka. I peeled it off, so it would catch on the top and tried to get up. I found it hard to see where I was planting my feet, but felt around and managed. Got to the top and swung over again. Going down is sometimes scarier for me, but the ladder part worked well and it was successful. So, a 6 foot wall I got over by myself, felt pretty good! Then there was a ball throw through some holes, which we both missed and had to do knee jumps. And off we were walking again. Now we were finally at the stadium part of the event, but first we had to walk up hill to get to the second level of the stadium. We walked around the side of the stadium and came across a tire pull. You had to pull it up from the first level on a rope. That made me feel tough. Then we had to do some stairs, up to the top level of the stadium, memory test up there and quite a bit of wind, as well as very slippery floor. Hit the water break and wonder if that means we are half way done? We find the crazy carpet hill and go down, and then have to walk our sled back up. We head over a bridge and they have ropes all crisscrossed through, so over and under we go. Then you have to do I don't know what it is called, but like a bear crawl on top of two railings. I opted out of that one - hands on one railing and feet on the other and slide your way down - too hard for me on a good day. Now we actually get to go into the stadium. A bucket carry filled with snow uphill. If I just had to carry the buckets or just had to go up hill, I'd be okay, but doing both just doesn't work with my bad knees. So hubby did the carrying part for me and I just climbed the hill. Then through the stadium football field we went. Another wall climb which I managed with help again, but then a BIG ramp you had to get up. Even hubby needed help getting up that and then there was a 10 foot drop after, so yeah, didn't do that one, another heat had caught up to us somewhere around here, so a guy helped pull my hubby up to the top Good team work! Then we ran through the gauntlet, guys were very gentle with me and off to the spear throw. We were now on the other side of the field. This meant more stairs and I knew there were lots on this side. Up the ramps to start, all the way to the top, a few cargo nets to climb under on the way up. First set of stairs and we were supposed to carry a large weight across our shoulders, my hubby took both weights and off we went. Honestly just doing the stairs was hard enough for me, had to catch my breath a few times. Made it back to the stop and then we had to do 10 jump quats, 20 burpees and 30 push ups - GACK! This is when my hands realized they were cold. I had been sweating, so took my big mitts off and had little mini mitts on, but they were soaked now from the crawls. Tried to put my big mitts on and realized they were full of snow and ice. luckily were near the end. A few more stairs, then we had made it out of the stadium and into pavillion where they had the big orange rig. I hadn't planned to try it at all, but went up the cargo net, but then could not figure out how to get down, as you were supposed to swing across ropes. Hubby talked me down, but really could have hurt myself there, so not my best move. Last obtsacle, I couldn't do, it was a 10 foot slanted wall. You had to step on hay bails and lift your body weight up over the edge and then come down the slanted side. Even with 2 guys there to help me over, there was no way I could pull my body weight up and I wasn't falling into snow here, but hard concrete floor, so I did the 10 jump squats instead and we were DONE! We made it! Considering I thought I was done after the Green Monster and that wasn't even half way, I was surprised I made it to the end. It is hard to be proud of yourself when you know you skipped a bunch of obstacles and weren't strong enough to do some of it, but really I pushed myself out of my range of comfortability, did something I didn't think I could do and have the bruises to prove it, so I'm going to take it as a win. That said, I don't have any urge to do this race again. It was good to do once for sure and I can cross it off my bucket list. I am signed up for the Mud Hero in the Spring, so I can cross both a summer and winter OCR off my list in a few months. Thanks for listening!

Didn't make it to curves, as my guts are still not 100%, made due with a walk as it was gorgeous out. Husband is out of town all next week and typically that would mean I would eat all the fun stuff he doesn't want to eat while he is gone, so my goal today is to make a meal plan that still allows for fun, but won't be crazy!

Hrrmph... I missed a day on Fitness Pal and lost my streak - funny how things like that can derail me, as I haven't logged for days now. The last 2 days here were not great though, I deal with some anxiety and one of my triggers is puke or anytime I think someone is going to puke. I have no idea why it is so bad, but I get an instant, like within 10 seconds physical reaction and if it doesn't calm down quickly, like as in a false alarm and someone in my family is actually going to be sick, I am set off running to the bathroom with the runs. I know, TMI right, but it is difficult because once I have "an attack" or whatever you might call it, it effects me for over 24 hours. My stomach feels like it's in a war zone and doesn't feel like eating, but is hungry, feel like I am going to be sick, can't sleep that whole night and then the next day I feel like I have had the flu the whole day before. So until I get a solid sleep, I am a wreck. So that was my last 2 days. Hubby came home thinking he was going to be sick, laid on the couch all night with a bucket, but was fine... I ended up being sicker than he was in the long run. Got a good sleep last night and feel much better today, but this is really becoming problematic, as with 2 kids this happens more often than you might think in the course of a year. My other trigger is flying, so anytime we travel now I have to book an extra day to get over it. ANYhow... That said, I am down 2.5 pounds from all the pooping - geesh! Going to get back on track today with the food and eat regular meals again. Also plan to get to Curves and do a mild workout just to get moving. I'll try to force myself to log again on Fitness Pal too, but man to I hate logging - so much work and time. It's the stuff that's hard that really makes the difference though, logging and exercise, so suck it up and just do it, right?

Anyone else on MyFitness Pal, I do think I would like to add more people to follow - seeing other people's food logs is sort of cool!

Didn't do too bad at my ladies night on Friday, so that was good. I was quite stiff on Saturday from doubling my workout Friday, opted to go for a walk instead of do the Curves circuit again. I bought new hiking boots at Christmas time and need to wear them in before the Polar Race. Did a nice 45 minute walk - only got a mild blister on one foot, so need to keep breaking them in or wear some mole skin or bandaids on the day of the race. Food hasn't been as good the last 3 days as I am in report card writing mode. It takes a long time and I like to snack while I do them. AND I always drink a baileys and hot chocolate when I write report cards... seems strange, right, but I find it helps keep me mellow and "nice", so I don't grade kids too tough - ha, ha, ha! Today we plan to hit the open gym and go to the family volleyball. Tomorrow is the first try out and I am coaching and both my kids are trying out for their perspective teams, so that will be some good running around.

This has been my issue this week as well, and I have to say it makes everything THAT much harder when you are tired. Hard to make the right choice, hard to get out of bed on time, too tired to want to exercise. I've got to get it under control or my body will get too run down and I'll end up sick Time to buckle down.

Thanks for the tip kshennya, I should make more friends on there, as logging really does help me. You'll see I don't eat as disciplined as many, so I need to stay in my calories at least. At Curves today I spiced it up by doing doubles of each, so instead of rotating machine, cardio, machine. I did all my cardio first 2 rounds in a row on 1 mat and then switched mats to stay in rotation. Then in the second rotation, I did all the machines for double - what a difference that makes, seemed like a much harder workout to me. Although I likely drove people crazy, as they like it when you all move at the same time otherwise some of them get thrown off - ha, ha! The afternoon crowd is mostly older ladies, but surprisingly they always have a handful of people in there no matter when I go. Going out tonight and saved some calories for it, but very nervous knowing my friend will be bringing Party Mix. I'm bringing my club soda and Veggie chips and hoping that makes me still feel like I am having fun

The Polar Hero Race is a 5 km run in the snow with obstacles. This one is a stadium edition being done at our Football stadium, so likely lots of stairs. I didn't realize that when I signed up, because I have bad knees, but it sounds very casual for a race and the organizer said that I can do a different obstacle twice, say the pledge instead or even have my husband do my extra set for me? So, will have to play it by ear and see how it goes. But it gives me something to workout for.

Hi all, First time checking in on here for me. I got a late start on the challenge, but have 5 days in a row logging into MyFitness Pal and have been getting to the gym, so I am pleased overall. I think for me my main focus is getting my head in the game again. Right now it seems so hard to make the right choice and get out the door - lots of self-talk going on over here. My hope is to establish some habits, so these things become more natural. Thanks for the support so far and keep it coming Good luck to you all!

Made it to Curves again, not sure if you all know what that is, but basically it is a set of hydraulic machines set up as stations. You work most of your muscles as you go through the various machines. 30 seconds on each machine and in between each machine is a 30 second rest/cardio mat - you can recover if you need to before next machine and walk on the spot or like many of the women do, they do cardio moves of some sort. Jillian Michaels is also hooked up with Curves now, so if I go at the right time, they have her on a video screen and she shows you what to do on your cardio station. It's nice because she shows the regular way and then a way for those of us who need lower impact. Anyhow, I changed things up a bit yesterday and when I was on my cardio stations I got down on the floor mats and did abs for the entire second rotation. I've logged into MyFitnessPal 5 days in a row now and was under my goal yesterday Didn't get to Curves this afternoon as a work meeting took longer than I expected, but I've decided do go Mon/Wed/Fri and if I miss one, then I have to go on the weekend mornings to make it up. So Saturday morning I will have to go now - that's okay. I see different people when I go at different times and learn some different moves for the cardio spots.

Off to Curves again today and followed up by getting groceries at Farmboy - some more veggies and fruit. Seems I already had a lot of berries in the fridge, so I guess berry salad for dessert tonight. Played volleyball at open gym with my family last night, too. Could feel my knee a bit doing that, but it was good for me. I start coaching Grade 4-6 volleyball next week, so will need to be on the move then. I'm not sure I mentioned that I am signed up to do the Polar Race. Yeah, it was my present to my husband, Quirky DM, for Christmas. Not sure what I have got myself into. We are going to walk it, as he is injured and I can't run anymore, but it should be a good adventure day, although I don't think about it that way when I am thinking of it. When I think of it, I usually picture myself like a contestant on The Biggest Loser - hands on my knees, huffing and puffing, feeling like I want to cry... so I hope it isn't that bad. In the end I hope it reminds me of how a good adventure feels and makes me want to do more of them.

I made it to Curves and it felt really good, but man am I out of shape. The last few stations I was just going through the motions, but I guess that means I did a good job at the previous stations. I got my measurements, too and so in a month will have a good idea of how I am improving. They do arms, bust, hips, thighs and all so that will help keep me motivated. Going to have a bath now and think about my goals and the week ahead

If that is the definition of a nerd, then I guess I could likely teach you a thing or two about scrapbooking or of course teaching Grade 6

Okay, so this is really day 1 for me. I got groceries last night and bought veggies for salads and lots of fruit and proteins. I refrained from any snacks I know I like, even if I say I really buy them for my kids and then end up eating them mostly myself. I allowed myself to sleep in as I was so tired after the first week back to school (I teach Grade 6) and I'm sitting here with a bowl of yogurt, banana, natural PB and chia seeds. Once I am digested I will head off to Curves for the first time this year. I weighed myself this morning and I am officially the most I have ever weighed. I had to adjust my little ticker tape at the bottom, as I have gained the 10 pounds I lost last year back I am going to weight in at Curves this morning as well and that comes with a full measurement job. I am also going to make a weight loss graph, so I have a visual of how I am doing. Supper tonight is fajitas and weather is great, so hoping to get a family snowshoe in tomorrow afternoon.

Hi all, Joining late as usual and after a hiatus, but I am here. I read all your posts and feel lame for not being nerdy enough to get what half of you are talking about, but that's okay. I'm not going to pretend to be nerdy anymore - really what I am is a goodie-goodie and that is just not the same as a nerd... anyhow. I've tried the SMART goals and often they tend to fall apart on me because they are too detailed, so here is my simple plan that I hope to accomplish with your support: 1) Make time to go to Curves - ideally 3 times a week 2) Eat clean, no treats that are not made of clean ingredients, limit carbs like bread, crackers and cereal. Eat more protein and vegetables. 3) Love myself in the process. 4) Be active with my family and enjoy the journey Feel free to ping me with healthy recipe ideas, tell me you went to the gym and ask me if I made it, wonder what I did with the kids this week... I really like the love, so feel free to pass it on to me. I'm 100 pounds overweight and hope to slowly shed some of that, so I feel happier and healthier and can live a long life with my family!

1.) I am my Quirkyself and my challenge is here. I saw this and thought it was perfect for me. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and am 100 pounds overweight! 2.) My plan is to get more active and eat less... obviously - ha! I signed up at Curves, and I plan to go 3 times a week. I want to open my Tosca Reno cook books and get back to clean eating and reduce portion sizes. I'm also signed up for the Polar Hero in 3 weeks - GACK! 3.) I will hatch out the details this weekend, but ideally eat clean and reduce serving sizes. Drink more water and tea (since it is -37 with windchill here today). Goals are to eat more salads and have pre-cut veggies in the fridge at all times. EAt more proteins like egg whites and roasted chicken and always have one ready to add to salads. Have a meal plan ready to go for my week and just start saying NO to the extras. 4.) I'm going to weigh in weekly for myself, but Curves does a full measurement monthly as well and they include a graph and all that with it. 5.) For me it helps to know someone else is reading my posts or are curious as to how I am doing. It makes me feel loved and supported, so yeah feel free to bing me!

Oops. QuirkyDM posting as his wife accidentally.

Quirky DM's wife here ... just wanted to let you know that he made it to Vermont and survived the Race. His time was 8 hours and 17 minutes - he said it was brutal, but he was so glad he went. I'm sure he will give you all the details when he gets back Just so proud right now!

Listen to these people - they know what they are talking about. Right now it's a head game and I don't think I have to tell you this, but you are pretty damn smart, so you're going to figure it out. AND you've got like a 5 hour car ride to do that, too I love you and the kids love you, so go and have a great adventure away from responsibilities and enjoy the journey. Meet some new people, get inspired, dig deep, see what you are made of and knock this race off it's ass!

Decision: Stayed home for supper instead of eating out last night Food: Bough arugula, spinach, romaine lettuce and cabbage - lots of greens Body: freshly painted fingernails

Decision: Went for a walk instead of staying inside and marking Food: Chilli in the crock pot, loads of beans and mushrooms in there Body: I'm going with my face, I have to say this challenge has helped me look at myself more positively and I am liking what I see in the mirror lately.

Decision: Took son for an afterschool bike ride Food: had homemade butternut squash soup Body: I'm running out of body parts... so I'll go with big boobs