ski legs

Got our first day of the season in on Sunday! It's funny that a ski day is my off day, as far as training goes. I have to say, skiing uses totally different muscles, and I was feeling it even on the easy stuff! But I'm so happy we went. I wore my new ski girl shirt. I have wanted a version of this shirt since before me and DH were together. I found it on sale, in a medium, and the girl on the shirt is a cartoon version of me (sans helmet). WIN! This shirt was a present to me for all the work I've been doing. I am taking Chrissie Wellington's advice - she says it's important to do nice things for yourself to acknowledge all your hard efforts. I plan to show my appreciation by doing something nice for me once a month. 

My body is definitely adjusting to the workload. This week starts adding a second swim to the calendar, and today I have both swim AND track in one day. Here we go, right?!?! Still doing the CG workouts, too and I am feeling stronger. Interesting note, no pain while skiing! My left shoulder issue definitely improved with resting it (took it out of the weights rotations for a week) and my hip gets tight after a long run but doesn't hurt otherwise, so hooray! I've been careful to stretch after every workout and use the massage gun if things feel extra tight. I think the gun really worked to help my shoulder, so that is very good to know. 

I am doing a good job of curbing the night-time eating. It is amazing what a little awareness will do. I figured out another thing I can improve - eating enough earlier on in the day, so that I'm not so hungry at night. I am trying to shift to sort of front-loading my calories, more at breakfast, lunch, and day snacks rather than dinner. I noticed Sunday night as we were making dinner that I was starving, and not because we had been skiing. I waited too long to have lunch, then we didn't have much for lunch since we had left our lunch bag in the car at the mountain, oops! We split a bowl of chili, which was OK to hold us over, but I was very hungry as we headed home. We used our packed lunch as snacks during the drive, and I made a whole sandwich instead of just a half for dinner. This is observation - I had this problem not eating enough or on time on ski days last year, too. And if I look at my eating patterns, I'm generally light on the calories until dinner. So, I'm shifting to be sure I have a good breakfast and lunch, a good healthy snack if needed, then use less calories for dinner and pretty much nothing afterward. The calorie timing shift is a process, one I can improve now that I am aware. 

And with that, I need to get some chores done before I head to the pool. I hope you are having a wonderful healthy day. 

all of the FUN...

My activity has really ramped up and I'm generally feeling tired and hungry now, but I am having a LOT of FUN! My body will catch up - I remember this transition used to happen back in my rowing days and I think I will be feeling pretty stable by next week. I am loving my workouts, I love my coach, I am doing more social things with the tri club, it's awesome! 

We went to the club's holiday party this past weekend. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up, rather than in bike helmets, visors and workout clothes. Some of us didn't recognize each other! And then the next morning several people did a group no-drop coffee ride. Because of the late start and the fact that the route went right by work, I was able to ride the route in reverse and meet them. I have really missed group rides and I am SUPER GRATEFUL it was warm enough to do one here in December! Also, you know you have the right coach when, on that coffee ride, even though you won't make it to the meeting point at the coffee shop, they pick up a hot chocolate for you to enjoy when you DO meet up. YES!! 

Yesterday I finished Day 5 of Caroline Girvin's 24 Days of Christmas series, about to go do Day 6. I joined this group of WW members who are doing it, so that is fun. These daily workouts are all around 20 minutes, but even so, that woman is STILL not messing around! If you want a little workout every day, do them, as *some* movement is better than none. Here is a link to her playlist: Caroline's 24 Days of Christmas - YouTube 

Over the past few months, I have gotten a lot of inspiration from a woman who decided, in her early fifties, that she was going to stop the yo-yo dieting lifestyle she's been living the past 30 years, get down to a healthy weight and just keep being as healthy as possible all the time. For her this includes planned indulgences - a pizza night, a vacation, etc. - but it also includes deliberate choices every day, like eating mostly healthy homemade meals and fitting in daily activity/workouts, so she can stay at that happy weight. She has stayed within 2-3 pounds of it. She calls this her "No Mo' Yo-Yo" mindset and she's been there 2 years now. I have to say, as the scale is moving down for me, I am moving and feeling BETTER than ever before, and I think she's on to something. 

I'm not dropping tons of weight or anything, just about a pound a week, but that's actually a lot for me. This is simply a by-product of all the extra activity, plus me putting a little more thought into what I consume (don't worry, it still includes wine and chocolate). I feel great overall, even if I am a bit tired and hungry (!!) I know that will level out soon. But I like being in this mental and physical space, and I want to do everything I can to keep it this way. Yesterday I even told DH I might be making peace with the house being in some state of disarray - I'd honestly rather have a healthy body and mind than a perfectly clean and organized home. Every so often I am bothered by the state of the house, but I just clean *a* room and move on, doing the best I can. 

Today, I'm challenged. I am definitely tired, there are many chores I don't really enjoy, but that I am catching up on. Took the dogs for a walk, of course one dog peed on the other, so I had to give them a bath, in the bathroom I just cleaned... I am grateful for dogs, and to have a house TO clean. But I'm also tired. I think after my workout I might leave the house for a fun errand for me, for a few hours. Yeah, we will all probably have more fun if I do that, so on that note it is time to go have some fun with my best YouTube friend here for Day 6! 

Hope you are all having a great healthy week.