At the end of January, I took part of my tax return and picked up an 80 GB iPod. If nowhere else, it helps me stay focused while I'm working out, so I look at it as a worthwhile investment.
Speaking of working out, that is what the subject ("I'm back") refers to. Partly for the education and partly to get myself back on course, I signed up for the YMCA's free 12-week training program almost three weeks ago now.
I met with a counselor that night, took my body fat measurements and developed a solid work-out strategy.
Now, I'm switching it up -- in addition to the elliptical machine, I'm getting on the exercise bike and treadmill each week. That way, it's harder for my body to get complacent. Then I'm lifting weights again. Before the program (and before I quit lifting weights over the holidays), I was working on about 10 machines per night.
Usually, I worked on about five lower or upper body machines, in addition to about five back/abs machines. Now, I'm working on four lower body machines and five upper body machines, as well as doing crunches with the help of a giant exercise ball.
And now, I have a set schedule. I'm not going in with an attitude of "oh I'll lift weights when it fits into my schedule." I'm making my schedule fit the weight-lifting.
I think it's helping, too. I weighed myself tonight, and -- if the scale is to be believed -- I've dropped about three pounds in the past three weeks. That's just super. Then again, those scales have been notoriously OFF in the past, so before I start jumping up and down, I'm going to go back in a few days and see what I weigh.
It was hard for awhile. I was snacking way too much, and even at working out five nights a week, I wasn't losing much, if any weight. That bothered me, because I want to get to a point where I'm only working out strenuously for three or four days a week. And to do that -- and maintain my weight, wherever that ends up -- I need to cut back on foods.
So I'm watching my snacking. I'm still not perfect, but I need to get back to that point where I wasn't even phased by the temptations put before me. Another byproduct of the holiday season, I suppose.
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Hmmm ... what else?
Fast food. So many childhood and young adult memories are tied to it. Funny how that works. A brief sampling:
-When our family bought our first and only brand new car, our first trip was grabbing lunch at McDonalds.
-One time, when our family was on vacation in Lincoln City, my Mom went out and brought back ice cream. I got a blizzard, which is notable because the blizzard came in this looooong cup, instead of the short, fat cups we get here. Why do I remember this?
-Another DQ memory. When I was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, my Dad and I made it a tradition to eat at DQ after the parade.
-One year, Mom's Christmas Eve chicken noodle soup was smelling rancid -- I'm talking "evacuate the house" rancid. So she scrapped that and brought home Burgerville.
-One time, when my parents were out of town and my sister and I had friends over, we took advantage of McDonalds super-cheap cheeseburger deal, where you could get something like 20 cheeseburgers for $10 or something ridiculous. I don't remember the deal, but I remember stocking up for like ... the whole weekend.
-One year on Halloween, Mom brought home Hot 'n' Now for dinner. If you don't remember Hot 'n' Now, it was great. $.39 hamburgers, fries and small sodas. No indoor seating. Two drive-through windows on either side of the restaurant. It was bananas.
-Some mornings before school throughout high school, Mom would take my sister and I to school. We'd get breakfast at McDonalds or Burger King or Taco Bell (yep) or Burgerville ... the list goes on.
See? All these memories that involve fast food. Maybe that's why I was totally addicted throughout college. I gave up BK and McDonalds more than two years ago now (wow -- has it been that long?) and, save for a few weeks of KFC addiction (long story there), I haven't had real fast food since.
Honestly, my parents were good about keeping us away from fast food a lot growing up, and even when we went out in high school and stuff, it wasn't like ... all the time. I wasn't really gaining a ton of weight in high school. It's only after I got my own car and graduated that I went nuts with it.
And even then, to my parents' credit, they always fixed me meals in hopes that I'd eat at home. I can't count how many meals I threw away in favor of a Whopper value meal.
People always call Subway and Quizno's "fast food," and while I understand the sentiment, it's not something I totally agree with. I mean, I eat Quizno's and Subway, and I get that they probably are fast food, but I don't lump them in with McDonalds, you know?
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Thinking about taking a trip to New York in September, which got me to thinking about my trip to San Francisco LAST September.
I remember, just after the first day, my feet hurting badly. I think I was walking like an injured penguin for a good portion of the trip. Of course, that was about 25 pounds ago (only 25 pounds since September? Really?). But even though I hurt so bad, it was probably the best time of my life.
I hope that I get to take the NY trip this year and do just as much walking. I like walking. I think, for someone of my size, I have a ton of energy. It takes a lot for me to get tired to the point where I need to call it a day.
I kind of blame my six or seven years in grocery for that. I was moving ALL THE TIME. So now when I'm sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, I'm like "alright ... MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE." So I do. It works quite nicely.
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