Gnats and Kiss Me, Kiss Me Hiking

Dave and I went for a long hike around Lake Wapello yesterday.  It was warm, in the 80's, and no wind.  And, like I said, we hiked around a lake.  Which meant we were accosted by gnats the entire time.

It was 6+ miles of a quick route step march, using upper body movements such as Team America's (the movie) signal, "Kiss me, Kiss me".  Actually, if you saw the movie and remember it, it was the danger signal, meaning to come and get me.  Anyway, we love some movies like that, despite its liberal use of the F word, and some of the movie lines have peppered our language.

So here is Dave doing the "Kiss me, Kiss me" signal.

Yes, I know it is blurry.  But picture the arms moving up and down across the face, windshield wiper style, or a "slow down" motion.

We got some good exercise on this hike that seemed to never end, mostly because of our pace.  Also, when we started out on this hike, Meth boy (I named him METHer Head, or if you like Deliverance Boy better, you can think that).  Both could have been accurate.  He was carrying a plastic bottle of Mountain Dew with red liquid in it.  And, of course, his drawers were almost off his butt, though more red neck style than the popular urban style.

Since we didn't know what he was up to, and he certainly wasn't a hiker, not a real one anyway, we were suspicious and quickly overtook him and moved out smartly.  Thankfully we never saw him again.  We half joked about running across his meth lab....  Glad we didn't.

Dave had run 6 miles or so in the morn, so this additional six he put in was a nice total for the day, matching my 12 or 13 miles of running on Saturday.

Today I can feel muscles in my butt from the route step pace we kept up, even up the hills.

We did some good sweating.

Out for 13 Miles and Food Progress Report

Yesterday morning I went out to run a long one, 10 miles or so and ended up doing around 13, I think. I haven't traced my route carefully on a map to see what the exact distance was, but I've run that area before and also know what my general pace is so I'm pretty sure I'm close.  I wore a Camelbak for water and a butt pack with my cell phone and small camera.  I ran a modified version of the Fairfield, IA 16.2 mile bike loop trail around the city.

I did this long run partly because one of our sons, and some of his Coastie friends and colleagues were running the ADK Ragnar this weekend and I wanted to run with them in spirit.  They did it ultra style, and in fact, they did the MD/DC Ragnar last weekend ultra style too.  So they are rocking out.

There is so much to be said for identity with groups and with group behavior and motivation. I wanted to attach myself to them for that reason and so many other reasons that get complicated and have mixed emotions attached since we are in Iowa so I can be with my older sister who has stage 4 cancer. I haven't lived in Iowa since I left for college as a teenager. Some years I didn't even come back once for a visit. So here I am now, living in the RV in a place that I don't particularly care for, surrounded by extended family, many of which are toxic. Iowa is toxic.  High cancer rates, lots of fat people, lots of handicapped parking places.  Everyone watches TV and shops at Walmart.  Like everyday.  Both.

This is not a happy place in so many ways.  It is certainly not a healthy place in very many ways.

So mentally attaching myself to our son in Connecticut who was running a 200 mile relay race in the New York Adirondacks with 5 other people this weekend was a good thing for me.

As far as the Body Transformation Challenge and the whole weight loss/changing our eating practices issues, we are doing very well.  So I think, because neither of us has gotten on a scale since we started. Dave has lost two inches on his waist and actually acquiesced happily when I bought him several new pairs of shorts, jeans and casual pants.  I am back into everything I had that was too small for me when we got rid of our house and moved into the RV - I'd made the rule for myself that I would never again buy anything larger than a medium or a size 10, so for a while I didn't have too much to wear.  Now I have LOTS of choices. Some of my things are still a bit more snug than I desire, but I am getting there.

I am also doing the No Sweets September Challenge that one of my nieces invited me to participate in through FaceBook.  I am enjoying that and despite having made 3 different birthday cakes, two ice cream cakes and one cheesecake, for my older sister whose birthday was this last week, I have not even done any taste testing.  So I'm happy that the whole issue of sugary treats is totally off the table, so to speak, for me, and not only that, I found that I am able to bake and work with these things and not even wish I could eat them.  One small complicating factor is that since I didn't taste test anything, and didn't use any recipes, well, I guess I am flying without a net.  Good.  I like risk taking and adventure.  And so I guess I share that with the consumers (literally) of my efforts.

When I came back out to Iowa after a break back on the East Coast in the summer (to get my head right and to recover from some family and grief burnout), I realized that there was no way I could spend the lengthy (hopefully) amount of time with my ill sister and be able to navigate the emotional land mines that populate extended family dynamics.  I know I will anger people.  That apparently has already happened, as one of my brothers stopped by to ask why I am pissed at his wife and three of his grown daughters.  What?  I know nothing about that, and actually like them all very much.  But, whatever.

Doing the fitness, the controlled eating, helps me have a level of control in this crazy, sick (literally) place where I am a prisoner due to the love and compassion I have for my sister.  It is a no-win situation in that respect.  But I can control my own body on so many levels, and I choose to do that.  It makes me happy....and healthy.

Let the Games Begin

So yesterday the Body Transformation Challenge started for Dave and I.  We went to get weighed and measured, and to get body fat computed and photos taken around 6 pm. Who knew the Fairfield Nutrition store was just a front for the Herbalife company.  Well, it is. And the entire contest is basically their way of getting more customers.  OK, so that is my cynical view point.

The lady at my sister's church who gave me the cutout notice of the Body Transformation Challenge, and told me she had lost 40 pounds already, told me that she does Herbalife and that traditionally, Herbalife people fair better in the challenge than others.  My response to her was that I knew how to do herbalife without the Herbalife.  And it may be true that Herbalife people do better than others in this challenge but it may well be due to the frequent support group meetings that are held, that the others don't attend. I would be interested in seeing a good study done where each group got equal amounts of coaching and group support, where one eats (drinks, consumes, whatever) Herbalife and the other eats a healthy whole food diet, or even to compare other gimmicky things in the same league as Herbalife.

The other thing that ticked me off last night was that body fat was computed not by a pinch test or combination of taping and pinching and weight/height, but apparently by choosing one of three categories of occupation:  Office, Nurse, Laborer.  Bullshit on that.  That is not scientific.  Apparently that factors in with the height and weight (and my guess, gender) to determine body fat composition.  The Herbalife lady said the scale can detect, from my bare feet, through electrons, what my body fat content is.  Really?  Can that be?  Hmmmmmmm.....

Regardless, I weighed more than I thought.  The caveat though is that I am getting into almost all my smallest clothes....and we are talking size 10 and 8 here.  But, that weight is not what I want to weigh.  I want to take off at least 20 and maybe up to 30.  And when what you're doing isn't working, you have to try something else.

Thus, this contest to formalize a timeline.

No Sweets September

My niece who just visited her parents (and us) over Labor Day weekend, sent me a FaceBook invitation for a No Sweets September challenge.  Hell yes, I responded.  Why not?  I am just about straddling the fence (progress from standing on the next to top rung, thinking, wavering) on the lifestyle change to quit sugar sweets forever.

So a month?  Hell yes.  Lets get it on.

And guess what?  Two friends (at least at the first look within 12 hours of my response) have joined in too.  One of them was just put on meds for Type 2 Diabetes. She said she'd been trying to manage it herself but her Doc said no more.  I gave her encouragement.  She needs to know others are out there who don't eat processed foods as a matter of routine.  People who don't eat bread and still enjoy eating. People who don't nibble on junk all day, or at all.  People who try, every day like a smoker trying to quit, to get at least half the daily intake of food to be fresh veggies and fruit.

Good stuff.

To try is to aim.

To succeed is to do it.