Sparking Away

I had done so well at the end of last year and even into the beginning of this, but once we went on our trip to the U.S, I lost steam in my workout engine. I had tons of excuses, work to catch up on, a husband leaving, rain, etc etc. but none of them were really valid. I just lost my momentum and consequently my mojo.

I did some yoga here and there but it wasn't until the beginning of this month that I really got back on track. For me the biggest help is SparkPeople.com. I've written about this website before and it really is an inspiration to me. 

They recently redid their front page design and I love it. It is so nice to look at the Start Page and see my progress:

I find that if I get on the website first thing in the morning--right after my workout, I'm more likely to stay on track all day.

It's not easy tracking my food here because we make things by hand and the ingredients don't have nutrition labels on them, but I do the best I can. Just by thinking about it I find I eat less--I pay more attention to portion control.

Watching my workout progress is very exciting too. Look at how many miles I've walked total (well, at least those I've logged)--nearly 138! My 2011 total is a bit low right now--just only around 15, but I will be remedying that.

Now that I've been walking 5K regularly (with a little break) I felt I was ready for the next step. I joined a five week 5K walk/run training group on SparkPeople. Each week I'll get an email telling me what to do for my 3 training sessions per week. 

To make it even more interesting, I've signed up for a virtual 5K. No, this does not mean I'll sit on my couch and pretend to run a race. What it means is that I have committed to walk/run a 5K race sometime in the second week of July. Everyone who has signed up for this same week is listed and I'll essentially be pitting my best time against them.

See all those people who have signed up so far? At the top I can filter out those who are not doing a 5K walk/run or any who are out of my age group. Or only list women. It's kinda fun. So far there is only one other participant doing a 5K walk/run but she's in a younger age group so even if she beats me I won't have to feel badly about it. LOL

As an aside, can I say that I'm not happy with my current age group. I'm happy with how old I am but I don't want to be lumped in with people who are nearly 10 years older than me. It makes me feel old.

One of the best things about SparkPeople is that you get points just for showing up. This morning I spun the little points wheel and got 10 points just for logging in. Plus I got 8 points for my yoga workout, 9 points for entering the food I ate at breakfast, and 3 points for reading a blog entry on SparkPeople. That's 30 points! And yes, the points are like the points on Drew Carey's Whose Line is It Anyway--totally meaningless. But they make me so happy!

If you're excited about this free website, you can sign up today. If you do, please use my name: Laiah73. I get 25 of those awesome points if you do.

What do you do to motivate yourself to a healthier lifestyle?

Exactly One Year Ago: Whirlwinds and Whirlpools

Tuesday's This and That

I have exciting news! I have now lost 10 pounds! I'll pause for a second while you take in this earthshattering news. OK, so it's not that exciting but it is progress AND I'm one pound ahead of schedule. Tom and I have been competing and we are exactly at the same point in the race. Normally I don't think it's a good idea for men and women to compete in the weight loss arena because of the difference in metabolism and muscle mass, blah blah blah. But, right now it's working for us and I'm happy. 

This may change in a week or two and if so, I'll be back to say how right I was, but for now, YAY!

I got back on the figurative horse and went for a walk this morning. This was my first time out on that road since the unfortunate event. Saturday was my day off, Sunday I did yoga instead and Monday I was SORE from the yoga. 

As I walked, every single twig got a good look from me and I was careful to pay attention the whole time. I did have a funny experience today while walking: When I started my walk, there was a woman about 100 yards ahead of me on the road walking in the same direction. Because I was walking more quickly than she was I caught up with her eventually. I said good morning and she asked me where I was going. (At least that is what it sounded like--my Bemba is nowhere near fluent). I told her I was walking "up there and then back" and said I was "exercising". Exercising is a fairly novel concept here but she nodded her head in recognition and I kept on walking. 

As I walked briskly I could feel her just behind me. I was surprised because she had been walking much slower previously. Then I realized that she was trotting every so often in order to keep up with me. I felt bad that she was trying to keep up and wasn't sure what the protocol was. If I slowed down, I wouldn't meet my goals, and even if I decided to do that, we couldn't really converse. It was kinda awkward. 

I eventually settled on on the path of least resistance and that was to pretend I had no idea she was there. I stared straight ahead and kept walking. She stayed pretty much the same distance behind me--about 4-5 feet--by walking and then running with her flip-flops making a slapping noise each time.

Thankfully it was less than ten minutes to my turn around point and as I passed her I said "Mwende Bweno" (Go Well) and she smiled and walked on as if we hadn't been having a weird race of sorts.

Today I shaved 2 minutes off my usual time for completing 3.1 miles. I'm very happy! and I didn't see any snakes so all in all, an excellent day!

Exactly One Year Ago: How I Lost NaBloPoMo Last Year--Long post but interesting.

A Paradox

We're gonna take a break from Africa and Orphans for a side trip into Amy's Brain. Hang on!

Last  week one of my friends posted this quote on her Facebook status:

"Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart." - Erma Bombeck

I liked the sound of that. Life is too short too count calories, isn't it?

 But then, later that very day I happened upon Speed on TV. I saw this movie years ago but since I have the memory of a sieve I thought I'd watch again for a few minutes. I don't want to give anything away in case you haven't watched it yet, but in the very beginning of the movie a rescue took place. It involved people being pulled out of a small area. I thought how embarrassing it would be for me if I were in a situation where I had to be rescued but I was so heavy or out of shape that it was impossible. 

 I read an article some time last year about how our health goals should have more to do with getting healthy than being a perfect size. The author challenged everyone to think about whether they'd be able to rescue a child from a burning building or run far enough to get out of dangerous situation.

I think I fall somewhere in the middle of these two. I definitely want to be healthier so I can be around a long time and that I am fit enough to look after myself, but I don't want to obsess over calorie watching and miss out on the fun that can be had in life.

 So, what do you think? What is your take on this paradox?  

Exactly One Year Ago: Extending the Table (in reading over this again I've realized I promised to share some of my favorite recipes and haven't kept my word. No promises this time but I'll try to do better in this area.)

Tuesday's This and That

Sunday was Halloween and I was enjoying a day of rest and projects when we were informed that a family had brought a baby to our door. 

We found out that a young woman had died the day before, leaving behind a tiny baby. Thankfully, the family had not waited long before bringing the little girl to us so, aside from a cough, she is in relatively good health. She also had a fever but this was most likely due to being way over dressed. It was around 100 (F) at three in the afternoon and she was bundled up with a woolen hat and a huge, thick blanket.

The funny thing was that the relatives didn't know the baby's name so for two days she was Baby Girl. We tossed around the idea of naming her Grace or Ginny. Somehow she looks like a Grace to me.

Today, the family came back to sign the guardianship papers and they told us her name. Her name is Sara. It turns out her mom's name is Grace. So, there you go.

Please pray for Sara because while not so ill, she is incredibly tiny. According to her records, she is nearly 3 months old but weighs 3.3 kg (7 pounds) and is 21 inches (51 cm.) long. Basically a small newborn size.

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When we were signing the paperwork today for baby Sara, we found out that her maternal great-uncle is the paternal grandfather for another of our children--Moriah.

So that makes Moriah and Sara cousins.

Moriah is cousins with another of our children--Nathan. They share a grandfather on their mother's side. Isn't that interesting?

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Sunday was also my weigh-in day and the scale showed another pound gone! I'm so glad! And I was extra glad because Sunday is my 'free' day so I got to eat candy. Yum Yum!

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Don't forget to vote today. If you are American, you should be at the voting booths but, for all of you, please visit yesterday's page and cast your vote if you haven't already. It is shaping up to be a landslide win for one of the candidates. 

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I'm participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) again this year. This is a challenge where bloggers try to consistently post something everyday. Last year I failed (due to power failures--the electric company--not me) but this year I have a plan. 

You can read more about my start last year if you click on my 'last year' link below.

Exactly One Year Ago: NaBloPoMo

Sundays in My City--A Walk on the Wild Side

Join me on my morning walk.

That's the corner of my house that you can see on the right of the photo.

The brick pillars are the gate that I usually come through.

This is quite a hill to warm up on. It's also a little scary for me on the way back because it wasn't graded before and last year I slipped on loose gravel and fell, breaking my coccyx in the process.

At the crest of the first hill. Yet another hill to climb. Whew!

My first landmark. When my teenage daughters lived here 2 years ago, they would drag me out of the house to go walking and this is as far as I would get. Walking to this termite mound would take 15 minutes. Today I did it in 12.

Usually I walk about 30 minutes earlier in the day.

I love the way the morning sun looks at this time of day.

Here is my second landmark. When I first started walk/running, I took Tom's GPS toy gadget very important navigation tool, and it told me this was 2.5 km from the house. It was mistaken. It was only 2.2. Bummer!

Here is my new turnaround point. 2.5 km. (1.55 miles), baby!

I'm nearly home! Just have to get down that treacherous hill.

Home again. 5 K (3.1 mi.) done!

It took me 56 minutes today because of all the photos. 

Normally it's around 50-52 minutes but eventually I hope to get that time to 30 minutes.

And....guess what guys and gals......I've lost 7 pounds now! Yeah!!

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