Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Quintuple Whammy

Well, there it is.

I've officially lost ground.
Backslid.
Gained a couple pounds.

GAH!!!!

I saw it on the horizon. Saw it sneaking up to grab me from the rear. (IN the rear?) (No, FROM the rear.) (IN the stomach.) Like Hurricane Sandy, I saw the clouds out over the ocean and couldn't get far enough inland to escape.

I know two pounds...or three...may not seem like a lot when I'd managed to make it to the 30-pound mark. But it's not the number, it's the direction.

But at the same time, like Sandy, I'm in the middle of a perfect storm:

NATURE - PART 1
The days are shorter and generally cooler. Both of these cut down drastically on the window of time for me to get out and walk on any given day. It's often still too cold at 7:00 or 8:00...or even 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. But I can't wait and go in the mid-to-late-afternoon because it'll be dark (or nearly so) before I'm finished. So there's a sweet spot of getting out somewhere between 11:00 and 3:00. And at that point, my day is in full swing and breaking away from it to go walking for an hour or two is tough to do.

NATURE - PART 2
As I said, it's getting cooler. And, at least for me, the cooler temps bring a caveman-like desire for carbs that will add body fat to get through the winter. Or at the very least, I want hot, filling foods that stick with me but are easy to fix. I want ravioli and mac'n'cheese and big cheeseburgers and fresh, hot fries and chicken noodle soup. It's winter. It's comfort food season. Or, at the very least, I'm less inclined to want salads and fresh fruits and veggies like I do in the summer. Those are light foods...cold foods...GREAT for the hot summer days, but definitely not tops on my list of Favorite Winter Foods.

WORK
Mine is a feast-or-famine job, and the last couple of weeks we've been feasting. Everyone in the group has as much as they can handle. And while I'm grateful for that fact, the deadlines for turnaround definitely make me have a stronger focus on sitting and typing than on getting out and walking. It's hard to get out for any length of time when you keep thinking, "I should be home doing..." (It's one of the few pitfalls of a job that has a large work-at-home component to it.) As a matter of fact, while many people are having a 4-or-5-day weekend, I'll be having a holiday but then probably working as much as I can on Friday and Saturday. And probably some on Sunday.

HEALTH
Not mine - Sandi's. She's been sidelined for a few weeks now with a back that's just not cooperating. And I've realized that she's very much my Jiminy Cricket - the one who nudges me to do what I should when I don't want to do it. Without her saying, "When are we going? Where are we going? What are we doing tomorrow?" there just isn't the push to get out and go.

HOLIDAYS
We've had one Thanksgiving dinner already with our college kids. We'll be having another Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Then we get to December and the month-long celebration of gifts and special events and time spent with others - most of which involves food. It's the time of year when even non-cooks like me pull out the aprons and heat up the ovens to make special goodies to share. (Okay, maybe not the apron bit.) You want to give "a little something" to people who are special to you. But if you don't have the money to really shop for a bunch of people, or if you don't know them well enough to know what they would like, treats are the go-to option. So food is everywhere at this time of year, and it's not veggie trays.

At this point, I feel like the storm is bearing down and all I can do is hold on and ride it out. Work will ease up eventually - that's just what it does. The holidays will pass - that's what they do, too.

Sandi is due to have surgery next week to have a pain pump put in. Hopefully that will get my Jiminy Cricket back up on and on her feet. And once that happens, we can start going to the Y to walk, which will broaden the window of time each day that we can be doing our thing.

I just have to do what I can, refocus my efforts on what I'm eating, and try not to lose too much ground while waiting for things to get back on track.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

3 comments:

  1. You just wrote extactly what I've been thinking. The only difference in our jpb is that I have Paisley full time with 2 part time paying jobs. Coming up with a time frame in which I can do any organized exercise is often more than my brain can take. Each day is different and has its own pitfalls. Somehow I will work this out :) Dena

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  2. You can do it, Jenni! Can't you go to the Y by yourself, or does Sandi have a membership?

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  3. I'd recommend the mall, but not this time of year. We do have a dead mall nearby, but you didn't see me walking, did you?

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