Archive | May, 2010

Interval Run Application

31 May

As  mentioned in a previous post, I’m attempting to train for a 5k. In preparation, I downloaded an application to my iPhone called Interval Run. I highly recommend it to anyone that is a beginning runner like I am.

The application takes you through a series of workouts that get increasingly more difficult until you can run a 5k. It also has programs for training for an 8k as well as building up to 1-hour if runnin if you’re a little more advanced. It’s all done through interval training, so the workout I did yesterday was 26 minutes alternating 1.5 minutes of walking with 1.5 minutes of running throughout. You start the application when you start your workout and it will trigger you each time you’re supposed to change your pace, so you never have to look down at your phone.

One tip…make sure that you put together a great playlist for your workout because you’ll start your music before you start the Interval Run application and then leave it running throughout your workout. You can leave the application to skip through your music but sometimes it doesn’t go back to the spot where you left off.

If you don’t have a phone that allows you to download applications, let me know. I can send the different workouts over to you pretty easily. Then you can just use a stopwatch to track your time.

Happy running!

So Far, So Good

26 May

I am currently on day 2 of a 4-day cleanse diet. It’s supposed to be the initial days of an ongoing diet plan called Flat Belly Diet, but I still haven’t decided if I’m going to stick with it long term. It’s a little high maintenance for me, and with Chris trying to cut back on carbs the two diet plans don’t really mesh. I’m considering re-starting with Weight Watchers again, but the jury’s still out.

Either way, it has certainly been enlightening for me and is a great way to change your frame of mind and kick start an ongoing plan for eating better.

First and foremost, I thought I was going to starve. I truly didn’t think there was any way it would be enough calories for me in a day. Especially with the exercise I’ve been doing every night. I was SO wrong. It has been just enough at each meal that I feel full and am fine until the next meal.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

  1. I love eating breakfast before I leave the house. It means I get to eat breakfast with Nicholas. He asked yesterday how long I would be on my “special diet” and when I told him only 4 days he seemed disappointed. We may have to keep this part.
  2. Variety IS the spice of breakfast. I typically just eat a bagel thin with light cream cheese but it’s kind of nice to have a couple of different items. Yesterday it was cornflakes with skim milk, a little unsweetened apple sauce and some sunflower seeds. Not bad.
  3. 1 cup of cereal is really not as little as it sounds like. The key is putting it in a smaller bowl so it looks like more.
  4. The ratio of milk to cereal should not be 1:1. 1 cup of milk is too much for only 1 cup of cereal.
  5. Carrots can be steamed in a microwave and they are delicious that way!
  6. I like tomatoes, but 1 pint of grape tomatoes is a lot.
  7. Water is delicious when it sits overnight with lemon, cucumber and mint leaves in it.
  8. If you need to go on this diet make sure you have a husband like mine who is supportive AND is a good cook. I had to eat roasted potatoes and grilled tilapia for dinner last night. Sounds easy enough, but I barely know how to turn the grill on, let alone actually cook anything on it.
  9. Eating at the office isn’t so bad. I’ve always avoided it because I prefer to get away for the hour, but it was kind of nice today.

Here are my obstacles:

  1. Some of the food is terribly boring.
  2. It takes FOREVER to prepare each evening for the next day’s meals.
  3. How the heck am I supposed to have a smoothie every day at 3:30? We have a smoothie machine at home, but I’m not about to drag that into the office. I tried to make it at home and then refrigerate it until it was time to drink it, but then it tasted terrible. Yesterday I literally plugged my nose and gulped it down like I was drinking cough medicine. It was that bad.

Chris asked me yesterday if I was going to eat pizza this weekend. Honestly, at this point, even a nice Subway sandwich sounds like a feast.

Photo: Courtesy of laurenatclemson, http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenmanning/2412889151/

One of Those Days

24 May

Today was one of those days. Do you ever have those days? Those days that are just good?

It started out with an amazing visit to tour a local community service organization. I’m looking forward to spending some time volunteering there soon.

Then I got to have lunch with 2 co-workers – one who I’ve know for years but who I don’t often have lunch with, and the other is someone I’ve always liked but don’t spend much time with.

After lunch I accomplished 2 big items on my work to-do list. w00t!

This afternoon when I picked Nicholas up at school he was SO excited. He’d gotten 30 “McKinley dollars” because he earned 100% on 3 different class papers. They earn McKinley dollars when they do good things in class. AND one of his buddies gave him a baseball. Not just any baseball, but 1 of only 3 he had to give to his friends since his baseball team won a tournament.

When Chris got home Nicholas and I went out for a jog/bike ride together. It’s nice that he’s finally big enough to ride with me. Although next time we skip the bike path. It was a little too hilly for his little legs and I had to push him an awful lot. On the plus side, it made for an even better workout.

Then…I get home to find Emily in a GREAT mood having just eaten a dinner made up of ALL fruit – that’s what happens when daddy’s left to feed her. Fruit and cheese. I’m starting a 4-day cleanse tomorrow so I spent about a half hour getting everything ready for tomorrow and look over to see Emily, Nicholas and Chris all curled up together on the couch. We let the kids stay up a half hour later just because they were both so content.

So now I’m curled up on the couch writing this post and catching up on some TV with my husband, reflecting on such a great day.

One of those days.

Side note…I’m forewarning you now that there will be very little food over the next 4 days so the posts will be much less upbeat.

My Eye Opening Experience

24 May

I visited a local organization today that supports the community in several key ways. I shared my experience on our company’s community service blog, but wanted to share it here as well.

eye

Photo: Courtesy of helgabj, www.flickr.com/photos/helgabj/1074000287/

I helped to start the Ivie community service program almost 3 years ago now and have had the pleasure of being heavily involved ever since. Lately, I’ve found myself feeling disconnected from our efforts. Often we are raising money without actively being involved with the organization and the people (or animals) our donations are helping. Although, I fully realize that money is what these organizations often need the most, I also think it’s important for people to connect with the organizations they support so they truly understand the needs of others.

Today I had the pleasure of touring a local organization called Christian Community Action (CCA). CCA supports 8 school districts throughout the county our main offices reside in. I’ve been familiar with CCA since I first moved to Texas 10 years ago. They are the place we ALWAYS take our donations to – much like Goodwill. What I learned today was truly eye opening though. They are so much more than that donation station I drop by a couple of times a year.

First of all, CCA provides not only a re-sale store but also food, shelter, education, training and spiritual guidance for families throughout the area we live in. We live in a nice area. Flower Mound is generally considered a town of mid to high income residents, but what we don’t realize is the impact the economy has had on those who live right around us. This has created a tremendous need for the services that CCA provides. A need they are struggling to keep up with.

The woman who gave us the tour today mentioned that it is no longer predominantly the working poor who need their services, but people like us who have been affected by the bad economy over the last couple of years. People with college diplomas and MBAs and solid work experience. People who’d managed to build their lives into what would be considered the “American dream.”

Our friends, family and neighbors have lost their jobs and are desperately trying to hang on to their homes despite having lost everything else. CCA helps these people to pay their bills, to feed their families and to receive medical care. Plus, provides education and training to help people become self-sufficient again. They provide supplies for kids to go back to school, toys for their parents to put under the tree at Christmas, and during the summer they even provide lunches for kids who might otherwise not eat.

And they do all of this with only the money from their re-sale stores and donations from people like us, plus the tremendous hours that countless volunteers are putting in.

I try to remind myself often of how lucky I am to have what I do and try not to take it for granted. But walking through that lobby with my designer bag on my shoulder was like a punch in the gut. Especially after hearing that $25 feeds a family of four for a month!

At Ivie, we are busy making plans for how we can help CCA both through donations as well as volunteering. Personally, I’m also looking for an opportunity to take my 8 year old son to volunteer with them as well. Much like me, he does charity fundraisers at school, but ultimately he has no idea what that means or where the money is going. I’m hoping we can remedy that.

What can you do to make a bigger impact on the lives of those in need?

Progress!

20 May progress sign
progress sign

Photo by Blumpy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/blumpy/325853852/

So MANY things I’ve come across in the last couple of days have underlined the goals I’ve set for myself over the last week – writing, organizing, moving and focusing.

So here’s how I’ve done so far this week:

  1. I haven’t done as well with writing as I’d hoped, but I have posted 3 times. If I can get 1 more in before Saturday I’ll be happy. My goal next week is to write more often. Not necessarily post more often, but at least sit down and write to start getting into a good habit.
  2. I made my list for de-cluttering this weekend. I’ve set it up as the screensaver on my iPad so it stares me in the face every time I turn my iPad on – that’s a lot by the way. I’ll be happy if I can get through half the list this weekend and then I’ll tackle the other half next weekend.
  3. I’ve gone for a run/walk 5 of the last 6 days. I downloaded this fantastic application called Interval Run on my phone that has a program called Couch to 5k. It’s taking me through a series of interval training sessions and I love it. I’ve decided that if I make it to the 1 month mark on this program I’m going to buy myself a new pair of running shoes. That will be my reward for running for a longer period than I EVER have in my life.
  4. I have been slightly more conscious of my bad habit of multitasking and have tried to focus on one thing at a time. It’s worked well at home but not so much at work. Although ironically, I’m writing this post as I watch the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. Which, by the way, is COMPLETELY stressing me out!

Speaking of multitasking, if you are a multitasker yourself, I highly recommend you read How (and Why) to Stop Multitasking. Ultimately, performing multiple tasks at the same time isn’t helping you to accomplish more. Just the opposite, studies show it can make you up to 40% LESS effective.

So here’s to focusing on one thing at a time as we end this CRAZY week and enter another weekend. One that will hopefully bring me a slightly less cluttered home AND focused time with my family.

Fresh Air

17 May
lego, mess, clutter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9516941@N08/ / CC BY 2.0

I cleaned my office last Friday and walking in today was like a breath of fresh air.

Than this morning I read a post called The Need for Getting Back to the Basics and I could really relate to what she was saying. She has 3 children under the age of 3 and the youngest is only a couple of months old. Between lack of sleep, a messy house and extra baby weight, she’s feeling overwhelmed. Her life feels cluttered.

Now, I don’t lack sleep and I only have 1 child under the age of 3, but I do have extra baby weight (yes, STILL) and a messy house. Both are contributing to my life (and therefore my head) feeling cluttered lately. That “breath of fresh air” I felt walking into my office this morning is a feeling I want all the time. I would even compromise for “some” of the time.

So here’s the plan:

  1. Get my rear in gear.
  2. De-clutter the house.

This past weekend I had a sudden urge to go for a jog. I’m not much of a runner. Well, let’s be honest, I’m not much for working out at all. I have a habit of jumping in and then petering out pretty quickly. I’m hoping the goal of running a 5k will help to keep me motivated this time. That and the fact that I bought some shorts I really like and would love to be comfortable enough with my legs to actually wear them. Sadly, it’s been years since I’ve worn a pair of shorts outside of working out. So that takes care of goal #1. Now on to goal #2.

We haven’t been in our house for long – we moved in just before Thanksgiving last year. It’s quite a bit bigger than our last house so it’s much more of a chore to keep clean and neat. And really it’s not the “clean” part that bothers me as much as the “neat.” There’s a distinct difference between clean and neat.

When I walk into my home, I feel overwhelmed. All I see is the mess, which is sad since it’s a GREAT house. For us, it was love at first sight. It’s perfect for our family, but with a 1 year old who tears through toys like a tornado and an 8 year old who lives, eats and breathes Lego’s, it’s nearly impossible to keep neat.

I WANT to be that Mom who can just let it go. Let the kids (and my husband) do what they’re going to do. It just means the house is lived in, right?

WRONG! I can’t do it. It’s just not me.

And it’s not just my husband and kids making the mess. It’s me too. I get the mail each day. Open it, throw out the junk and put the “real” stuff in a pile in the kitchen or the office. Guess what? The pile in the office has gotten really ugly. We don’t spend anytime in there so out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, I don’t work that way. I see that pile in my head every time I walk in the door.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the birthday decorations still hanging from my son’s birthday almost a month ago now. And those definitely are NOT out of sight, out of mind. They are hanging in all their glory just above the dining room table that is covered in Lego’s.

So, add these new goals to my existing goal and here’s what we’ve got:

  1. De-clutter the house.
  2. Get my rear in gear.
  3. Journal every day.
  4. Find some focus. Although I’m hoping #1, 2 and 3 will lead to #4. We’ll see.

SIDE NOTE: I was looking through the web for pictures to go with this post. My first search was for “Legos AND mess”. I was suddenly feeling much better about my dining room table turned Lego table.

Stress of Travel Planning

15 May
Portland Voodoo Donuts

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikewade/ / CC BY 2.0

A few weeks ago my dad offered up some points he had for a free hotel stay. Typically we would have passed it up or kept it simple and just stayed at a local hotel. But it’s been a long time since we spent more than a few hours by ourselves so we decided to plan a weekend away.

First things first, we have to find someone to keep our kiddos while we’re gone. Don’t get me wrong, we have lots of family nearby more than willing to take care of them AND we finally found a babysitter we like. But 2 nights and 3 days is a long time. To complicate things, my parents already keep our Emily 5 days a week while I work AND pick up and take care of Nicholas 3 days a week. That’s a lot. It’s especially a lot when you add the weekend to it. We called my husband’s parents but, unfortunately, they don’t live nearby and have their own work committments. So we found a compromise with my parents. We go out of town Friday, come back Sunday and then take 2 days off so Grandma and Grandpa still get their weekend. Perfect. One thing taken care of.

Now we have to figure out where the hell we’re going to go. When you’re only limited by Hilton locations it becomes a more complicated decision than you would expect.

First, we started with the obvious. New York City or Las Vegas. Yeah! Go big or go home, right?

Except, despite the fact that neither of us has been there, we’re just not Vegas people. And NYC…well, it’s a little more fast paced than we want.

Keep in mind, this is something we haven’t gotten to do since our honeymoon 3 years ago. We don’t want to be rushed.

So we switch gears. Someplace more low-key.

Napa? Oh, yeah. We both love to drink wine. But we only have 2 days which isn’t really enough to truly experience Napa. We’ll save that for a big anniversary.

Sometime around this point in the discussion we decide that it needs to be someplace where we can eat exclusively at restaurants featured on either The Travel Channel or The Food Network. Ok, easy enough. They travel all over the place, right?

Boston? Maybe, but no, I’ve been there a few times.

Seattle? Maybe. But my husband just didn’t seem as intrigued by it as I was.

Portland? Yes! Hilton – Check. Low-key – check. Lots of Travel Channel/Food Network features – check.

After a week of discussion about where we should go and another week of discussion about the right dates, I booked the flight.

Now I go into planning mode. Where are we going to go and what are we going to eat?

For the most part, I think we’ll wing it with the “where to go” part but I fully intend to meticulously plan out the “where to eat” part of this trip.

I’ve scoured The Food Network, Travel Channel and Trip Advisor websites and am compiling my list now. The only thing we are 100% sure of is that we will visit the place in the picture above – Voodoo Donuts. Wish me luck!

Brain Dump

14 May

Journaling. The idea of it has always fascinated me but for different reasons than it does now. Now it’s about 2 things: (1) finding some focus and (2) becoming a better writer.

Journal writing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyduckles/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

So first, let’s talk about that focus. I’ve been reading this book called “Eat, Love, Pray”. Overall, I’ve found the book frustrating. Basically the main character has found her life in shambles after an unpleasant divorce. She’s looking for focus and balance and finds it by spending a year traveling to Italy, India and Bali. If it was a work of fiction this book might be passable but it’s a true story. Don’t we all wish we could just turn everything else off and go spend a year trying to find balance in our lives? It’s like when college-aged kids tell you they need to “find themselves”.

It’s all a little too unrealistic for me but, despite my dislike of the book, I find myself intrigued by her ability to shut down everything else going on and force her mind to stay focused on a single thought or idea. It’s ironic really. I love social media – Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. I can’t get enough. It’s even part of my job. But that means I’m constantly overloaded with messages and constantly multi-tasking. Doesn’t matter if it’s at work or at home with my family. It’s really not fair to anyone when it comes right down to it: not my coworkers, not my husband, not my kids and certainly not me.

The other thing I find myself longing for is just to write. I’ve never been a writer. I’ve never liked to write at all but over the last year I’ve played around with some blog writing and find myself really enjoying it. I’d love to be able to sit down every day and just write for 20 or 30 minutes but have struggled with the discipline of it.

So here’s my plan. I’m inspired by a blog I discovered today called Journaling Saves that’s all about daily journaling. So I’m going to give it a shot. Just write. No particular topic or length or tone. Just write. Brain dump as I like to call it.

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