Power of the group

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Normally I get to meetings early so I have a few minutes to chat with everyone and catch up with the regular Tuesday ladies.  I was running really late yesterday and ended up walking in after the meeting had started and I was surprised when a few of the ladies looked at me and said things like 'oh good you're here'.  The meeting I go to is comprised of some of the strongest women I know and it is truly encouraging, every single week, to hear about their successes and how they overcame their challenges.  I feel so lucky every week to be a part of that meeting and to be able to learn how to continue to be successful.

I missed the celebrations part of the meeting (boo!) so if there were any big celebrations I hope someone will let me know.  If any of you are reading this and you celebrated last night... here's a YEAH!!!  (clap clap clap) for you.  Good job!

Last week my leader did something after our meeting that was a first for our group.  She took all of our name tags and made a ball with them and gave them to one of the members (my friend Jen, in fact) to take home.  Karen, my fabulous leader, said that whoever had the ball had the power of the group with them.  We did this again last night after the meeting and even though I don't have the ball of name tags I still feel like I have the power and encouragement of the group.

Change it up!

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The last couple of weeks have been a little sad when it came to weigh ins.  So last week I was determined to increase the amount of activity that I got in a week.  As I was losing weight I was also losing activity points, sort of.  I was walking 2 miles on most weekdays and 3+ miles on at least one weekend day.  I decided that now was the time to change my routine and start doing 3+ miles on week days and see how things went for the weekends.

Last week I logged the following distances:
Mon - 3.16 miles, average pace 17:41, average speed 3.39 mph
Wed - 3.10 miles, average pace 17:18, average speed 3.47 mph
Thu - 3.23 miles, average pace 17:09, average speed 3.50 mph
Fri - 2.94 miles, average pace 17:27, average speed 3.44 mph
Sat - 2.75 miles, average pace 17:29, average speed 3.43 mph
Mon - 3.16 miles, average pace 16:44, average speed 3.59 mph

I racked up a whopping 34 activity points, which I did not convert into food points; I just logged them.  When I went to weigh-in today I was rewarded with a fabulous 3 pound loss.  It was certainly a challenge but I felt amazing and I've never regretted a workout once it was done.  Have you?

Tracking really is helpful!

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My friend Ryan and I were driving to the CTA station one night in Rosemont, IL and we were pointing out different landmarks when I said, what do you think that is?  He looked at me and deadpanned.  That's a bridge!  Oh... duh.  This has come up several (thousand) times in the decade that I've known Ryan because from time to time I have a hard time focusing.  This is one of the reasons that I love love love the eTools journaling so much.  It is so easy to journal (I do it either on my computer or on an app on my phone) so I do it all the time which allows me to go back and find out what I ate or, more importantly, it also allows me to compare my level of activity from week to week or month to month.  I mean really - going from earning 20 activity points one week to 8 the following week is a HUGE change.  I'm hoping to be back in the 20+ activity points this week. 

Do you do anything like this to figure out why you had a bad week?

Naturally...

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Yesterday when I went to weigh-in it was official that I gained weight.  I knew this was going to happen based on what the scale told me all week and I also kind of figured that after having 4 really good weeks of losses that my weight would bounce.  It did.  I gained 1.6 pounds which, I hope, will not be too much of a big deal to lose, again.

The good news is that while Dan was on vacation on Monday, we went for a walk and while I normally only do 2 miles a day during the week we decided to do almost 2.5 miles.  That day I set a PR on our walk and I was really excited.  Until I did the same route this morning and set another PR!  I cut my time by nearly 10 seconds this week!  My average mile was 16:44 this morning!! 

Then I stepped on the scale this morning and found out that I was down 1 pound.  Naturally that would happen AFTER my official weigh-in.

Does this happen to you too?  How do you handle it?

C'mon Fall!

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It seemed like it took FOREVER for summer to get here but frankly I am really looking forward to fall.  Being able to take the dogs for a walk in the cooler temperatures is looking really good after the last few unbearably hot weeks.  However, my love of fall is actually due more to the fall vegetables than anything else.  Our CSA box has been loaded with sweet corn, onions and the first of the hot peppers.  I have to say that if you haven't gotten sweet corn in your own CSA box or local farm stand you should get some.  Go, right now.  You can finish reading this later.

For those who are still reading... let's move on!  For some reason I'd forgotten to bust out one of my favorite recipes this summer.... until now.  Tonight for dinner I made Balsamic Tomato Salad.  While we were eating it my husband Dan, who self admittedly will only eat about 8 vegetables, said oh my god, this is like candy but with vegetables.  How can you argue with that?!

Social Activities

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Last week our leader asked us when was the last time we did something with friends or family?  A few people said that day or the day before, some said over the weekend, etc.. you get the point.  Then she asked when was the last time you planned something that didn't revolve around food.  The entire room practically went silent.  She challenged us to try to change that and said that including snacks or drinks is ok but it shouldn't be the focal point.  Maybe a mani/pedi with a friend or how about a game of cards with a couple of friends.  These all sounded like great ideas but due to a sinus infection last week I really didn't want to see anyone.  This week I really want to keep this in mind. 

What do you think you can do to spend time with friends and/or family without the event revolving around food?