200 Arm Weight Challenge

Last night's half hour exercises was all about the arms.

I brought my 5 pound hand weights to work last night. Every half hour I did 10 or more arm raises above the head and bicep curls. Sometimes I did 10 of each or just 10 of one type of raise. I feel pretty good today and surprised I wasn't sore. Then Kenyon came up behind me and started massaging my shoulder. Oh yeah...there it is!

I think I'll start bringing my hand weights to work more often (or heck I should just leave them there!). I am never good at doing my strength training and so this was easy way to get that done. I know many people suggest doing weights or squats or something between commercials on TV. With TiVo and the ability to fast forward through commercials I have gotten quite lazy.

Sounds like I've found another way to get in some added activity.

Tonight I am considering doing a standing push-up off the side of the console. I am not a fan of getting down on the floor and doing push-ups but I'd like to strengthen my arms. Maybe I'll do push ups and squats. Ohhhh....

My tracking this week has been 100% this week. I have eaten out several times but still tracked it all and balanced it out. I will update you on my first full week of daily WI at home after my WW meeting this week. That has also been going well and is very interesting.

It's my Friday. Yeah!!!

200 Squat Challenge

When I am at work I coexist in a very tiny space tethered to a computer and radio console by a cord. 

For me to leave my tiny space I have to ask a partner to listen to my channels.  This means that unless I need to use the bathroom, get some coffee, or warm up some food I pretty much sit at my console for my whole 10 hour shift.  Let’s not even get started on how I break all the WW Rules by eating in front of my computer while multi-tasking and inhaling my food before it turns cold.  I can’t even count the number of times I have answered the radio with a mouth full of food.

As you can imagine there isn’t much room in my workday for activity.  You will sometimes see me pacing back and forth to stay awake and/or shave off boredom.  My coworker and graveyard partner Ian started doing some sort of activity, usually push-ups, once an hour.  It is a small way to be active, gets you out of your chair, and slowly adds up to a bigger amount of activity throughout the day.

Enter the 200 Squat Challenge.

Last night Ian said he would be doing 10 push-ups each half hour so at the end of our shift he would have done 200 push-ups.  I thought this was a great idea and decided I would do 10 squats each half hour along with him.  We got a little busy at the start of our shift with a fatal crash (and other crazy Saturday night events) so I had to do 20 squats at once a couple different times.  I sort of started to lose track and might have even done a few extra squats for good measure!

This was a super easy way to get in some activity and I’m going to try and find ways to incorporate more of it as the graveyard shifts drag on.  Every little bit adds up.

Spring Time And Easter Eggs

Happy Saturday!!! I hope you are enjoying sunshine vs. snow. I hear some parts of the East coast are still getting snow. Yuck! I am very much ready for spring. I love all the blooming trees. The pretty pink ones are just amazing. Here are some flower photos from our recent trip to Vegas. If you aren't having spring weather, maybe this will help.

I woke up in the middle of my sleep time to attend a Scentsy party. Despite already owning a bazillion Scentsy warmers I bought a new one. Ha! Gotta give that credit card some use.

Being at Shauna's house and seeing her cute Easter decorations along with her Easter egg warmer reminded me I had not yet pulled mine out of the closet. So that is the first thing I did when I got home. Yeah for holiday Scentsy warmers. I also own a bazillion of those too.

I am pretty boring today. I did my meal prep for tonight's food for work and then took a nap. Night two at work has begun.

A Dose Of Vitamin D

I knew today was going to be a beautiful day with temps into the 70s.  I was craving a sweet pork salad from Costa Vida so I had made a deal with myself that I would get one today but that I would also walk the four miles roundtrip to the restaurant.  Win:Win.

I went for my usual large salad with a small tortilla.  I enjoyed my lunch outside in the shade.

I then decided to enjoy a bit of indulgence and redeem a Living Social deal for froyo at U-Swirl.  I had the NSA praline pecan and lots of fresh fruit.  The best part about having $10 to spend on yogurt is that I can put on lots of fruit topping.  I still didn’t spend $10 but I at least spent over $5 which is how much I paid for the deal.  I have lots more froyo deals purchased as I love the U-Swirl NSA kind.

 

I kicked up the pace on my walk home and ended up earning 7 APs.  It was a pretty lazy few hours before work as I have been sucked into my TV shows.  I am really behind on my TV and haven’t even started the newer shows of “How To Get Away With Murder.”  I started them on my days off and I can’t quit watching.  I’ve watched 5 hours already and am on my last hour of the season.  Binge watching at its finest.

I wish I was on Spring Break like everybody else.

Busy Afternoon

It was a busy afternoon today.  I had a dentist appointment for my six month cleaning.  I’ve not been to the dentist in years and this hygienist was a bit rough.  My poor gums are still sore.  Regardless of good teeth health practices I am just not a fan of flossing daily and I don’t plan to do so.  But after each teeth cleaning I know I need to go better at keeping up.  Ugh!

From there I had a nail appointment.  It had been three weeks since I got my St. Patty’s Day themed nails and also my first appointment having gel overlay on my natural nails.  My fingernails grow too fast for an appointment every three weeks so if I am going to maintain my pretty nails I’ll have to go in every two weeks.  They are just too pretty NOT to maintain.

The gal that does my nails is pretty good.  She is still a bit inexperienced (as she said she recently got done with school) and so her quality of work isn’t really consistent.  They turned out nicely though and for $20 it is a good deal.  I rarely paint my nails a color since it chips so fast.  When I paint my own nails it is just clear.

I worked a four hour OT shift.  Kenyon sent me a Redbox 2 for 1 code so I have some entertainment for tonight.

The work week starts tomorrow.  Here we go!

Set Backs And Detours

It was a good WW meeting today, as I expected it would be and why I wanted to make sure I went to a meeting. I checked out the leader at the Meridian location. She is okay. It is a good meeting group but small and older women. That is the norm for morning and afternoon meetings. I think I'll check out the location near my house next Wednesday. I also have the option of driving across town for a meeting on Thursday as well. I'll see if I can find a new temporary home while I am on night shift.

The topic today was No Going Back and talked about set-backs and how you don't just quit because you had a rough day/week/month/year. Boy ain't that the truth. I had planned to just sit back and observe but then I joined in the conversation and pretty soon I was crying. Sheesh! My WW meetings really are like mini therapy sessions. It was a good group though and very nice and supportive. Just not sure I mesh well with the leader.

They started the meeting off with the weekly flip chart page.

I have heard many analogies though the years about calling it quits when things gets rough. This was a good one. We talked about GPS and if you miss your turn the GPS doesn't just send you back home. It finds an alternate route, a detour, or at the very minimum has you “make a U-turn ahead.” Never is it suggested to just cancel you whole trip due to one minor error.

The same goes for weight loss and weight maintenance. We have to keep going forward even if that means we have taken two or three side streets to get there. Speed bumps will occur. The WW weekly said it best when it said it isn't a matter of IF it will occur but WHEN it will occur.

Try to plan ahead and know how you will get back on track after a minor setback. No setback is bad enough that you should think you should quit. Find a way to push past the emotion and keep on that path to success. 

Back On Track

Today starts my new WW week and I am actually happy to get back on track and clean up my food. I am still not sure why it takes a new week to right myself but at least I do. I started my day with some oatmeal. I love oatmeal and when I have fresh strawberries I love it even more. I could eat a whole pint (or two) of strawberries in one sitting. They are really delicious now.

I am also tracking 100% this week. I do much better with my food choices when I track really closely as I evaluate my decisions more. I have been saying “yes” a lot lately and I need to start saying “no” more. Occasional treats are doable but daily treats just get me in trouble. They are called indulgences for a reason and if you have something everyday it isn't an indulgence anymore.

I did well with my tracking pre-vacation and I don't ever track on vacation. I did gain a few pounds from Vegas that has not yet dropped off so now it is real weight vs temporary weight. I'll see how much I can bring it down by being consistant this week with my food and getting is some activity as well.

I know I sound like a broken record. I know I often say I'll do better and yet I don't. Always a work in progress.

I am going to hit up the WW meeting tomorrow afternoon. It will be a different location, leader, and group. While I love being at my Tuesday morning meeting with my favorite leader and WW peeps it is just hard to do when I am on graveyard shift. I get off work at 6am Tuesday morning and the WW meeting is at 10am. While I thought maybe I would try adjust my sleep schedule to attend I was just too tired this morning. I'm getting older and night shift gets harder. Once my body adjusts I think I'll do better. Last night at work was rough. Both my coworker Ian and I were really tired and the clock seemed to move at a snails pace from 2am-6am. That is the slowest time of the night.

I am off work through Thursday, except for some overtime on Thursday afternoon. I am looking forward to some veg/TV time! Being on night shift and being up most of the night at home makes lounging on the couch fairly easy! Since my Axiom membership includes 24 hour access on weekdays maybe I'll check out the gym this week as well. We shall see.

Daily WI With Happy Scale

Good Evening.

Now that I have rotated to night shift, my blog posts will be later than usual.  Since I didn’t have any blog content ready to go, I am just now typing something up.

Just before we left for Vegas I had made the decision to start weighing myself daily.  I had been pretty stressed about the scale and feeling very deflated when I would wake up on WI day to see the scale was WAY up when the day before it has been down.  I just hate having to go to my WI with a million excuses as to why the scale is being silly.

Obviously I wouldn’t feel the need to have excuses if I was doing something about it.  But that is another blog post for another day.

I like weighing myself daily at home.  I am tracking it in this app called Happy Scale and instead of it also tracking my progress towards a goal; I am just looking at the weight trend.  So far the trend is just up and down but I don’t feel as anxious the more I get on the scale.

It is interesting to see how something you eat may or may not affect the scale.  I plan to keep up with my daily WI at home each morning and work to brining that number back down.

I know.  I sound like a broken record.

The Ihli Sisters Do Vegas

It is no secret that Kenyon and I love Vegas. When I saw Newsies The Musical was coming to the Smith Center and asked my sisters if they wanted to go, a different type of Vegas trip developed. Spending time with my sisters, and enjoying the Vegas sights, slots, and alcohol was really fun. We had a great time!

Our flight left on St. Patty's Day so you had better believe I was all decked out in my best green attire. It turns out so was our flight attendants. Southwest was also offering a free drink to anybody over 21 that was flying on March 17^th. Nothing says Vegas like free alcohol.

Our first day in Vegas was fairly low key. My sisters and I got checked into our hotel, had lunch, and then went to the North outlet mall. I am very disappointed in the Coach outlet. Both the fall and spring lines have been a dud. So no money was spent this trip. We met up with Kenyon, who had gone to Vegas earlier in the week for a gun class, and had dinner at Bucca di Bippo in The Excalibur. This is becoming one of my new favorite restaurants. 

Kenyon and I had to return his rental car and we walked/rode the bus back to our hotel. Our first day in Vegas was a busy one!

Vegas Day Two started with 2 for 1 deals at the breakfast buffet my sisters were able to get for us. I love breakfast buffets. After breakfast we did a little gambling at The Luxor using my $5 free play from joining the Mlife players club. I hit the jackpot on the penny machine and won $75 on a bonus game. Then I won a little bit more before cashing out. That never happens!

We went to the South outlet mall but again, nothing at the Coach outlet. 

We had dinner at Nine Fine Irishman at the New York New York. My sisters also had deals for this restaurant and it was amazing. We ordered two entrees and two appetizers to share and enjoyed it all. The chicken pot pie that others around us ordered looked amazing as well. We will be back for sure! Newsies The Musical was that evening so we took a cab to the Smith Center.

This was the highlight of the trip!!! When we went into the theater I wasn't sure where to go to find our seats. The attendant looked at our seats and said, “Box seats? Ohhhh...somebody loves you!” Yes, I do love my sisters. Upon a recommendation from a high school friend who is a theater buff I bought us tickets in Box K. It was amazing. I have never been to such a fancy theater. We were in a box with five other people and had boxes on either side of us. We made friends with the ladies in the box to our left and had a great time visiting with them.

Unfortunately my seat didn't have the best view.

I had a really tall guy infront of me so I had to lean to my left for the first half of the show. After intermission the two guys sitting to my right didn't return so I moved over to the middle seat for the last half of the show. It was a bummer for sure and a reminder that next time if I am spending that much money I'll try and get the front seats in the box. It was quite fancy in that if you ordered your drinks before the lights went down they were waiting for you at intermission saving us from having to stand in line. I could get used to this!

The story was amazing and the set design was unreal. I loved everything about Newsies and I am dying to see it again. It is playing in Portland, OR in April 2016 and you had better believe I'll keep my eye on tickets. I loved it. I can't wait to see it again.

We finished day two of our trip on Fremont Street. I love to people watch there. It was another jam packed day.

Vegas Day Three was pretty low key. We were all feeling the pains of walking around so much. After breakfast at Denny's we walked to The Bellagio to look at the conservatory only to find it was under construction. I remember once asking how long it took to change the display and we were told a full seven days. Sadly, there wasn't an opportunity to see the finished display on this trip.

We did some gambling and enjoyed some drinks on the house before heading back to Fremont Street. We had dinner a some restaurant, which wasn't very good, and people watched for a bit before calling it quits.

We had a very enjoyable time. I really loved my Vegas sisters trip.

Seven Years As Mrs. Nowotny

Today is my 7^th Wedding Anniversary.

I can honestly say things get better with time. I love Kenyon even more today than I did when we first got married. Either I got it really easy, or we just really do mesh well. I am so happy to have found such a wonderful person.

My sister Katie introduced us. This last week while we were in Vegas I thanked Katie for making this match. She told me “you are welcome” and then looked at Kenyon and said “I'm sorry.” HA! Ain't that the truth.

We are planning a trip to New Mexico in April to see my aunt Barb, my cousin Megan, and Megan's two twin boys. Barb suggested we take the tram up to Sandia Mountain so Megan and the boys can see where we were married. That sounds wonderful! Kenyon and I have not been back up the mountain in the last seven years.

We have plans to go to dinner at Tucano's tonight but its not like we need more eating out after just getting home from Vegas. I am really craving the salad bar, that is for sure. We might also take in a movie.

I honestly believe that if you give your marriage the same quality and time you give other parts of your live, you will have a better quality marriage. Communication is key and I am so glad we both communicate well with each other.

I am so very lucky. I love you Kenyon!!