Tag Archives: bliss

Nike’s got it Right: Just Do It

03 Sunday Nov 2013

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JDIEvery day in this Lean Eating for Women program I started back in late July, we get some reading material.  Nothing overwhelmingly long…just maybe 10-15 minutes to read through.  And the material is archived so we can always go back and re-read something if needed.  The timing on these works out great for my daily routine:  given my time zone I usually get “tomorrow’s” reading in the evening here.  So I can take a sneak peek at it…and then I re-read it again in more depth after I get home from work and the gym that next evening.  And so on.  I’m blocked from lots of external sites by design at work (it’s a secure IT environment) and taking the time to read small print on my phone during a lunch break doesn’t really work for me.  And I’ve yet to pull the trigger on some sort of tablet.  Hmmmm.

OH, by the way, it’s one of my absolute favorite days of the year.  The Sunday after the end of Daylight Savings Time.  YES.  One extra, gloriously blissful hour.  Yeah, I know when we ‘spring forward’ we have the benefit of longer evening daylight hours in the summer, but the price to pay is a steep one.  Setting our clocks ahead an hour makes me feel tired, cranky and like I’m constantly running late for a good week or so until I adjust.  So now…the bliss of extra time.  Time – one of our most precious commodities of all.

Now, back to these daily readings from PN!  One of them (thankfully) shattered some weird mind perception I’ve had about people who are experts in fitness and nutrition.  Those of Olympic athlete caliber…or someone like one of my trainers at the gym who is probably 10 years my senior and puts people half his age to shame at how fit he is.  His spinning class is jam-packed with a waiting list for a reason.  I can always tell when he’s teaching, because the gym parking lot is extra packed those nights!

For some reason I had it in my head that fitness gurus are ALWAYS without fail super jazzed about what they’re doing and their workouts.  Endorphins perhaps?  Just extra happy, positive people by nature?  Motivated by achieving their fitness goals and inspiring others to do the same?

Well, maybe some or most days, but some days, well, notsomuch as it turns out!!

How illuminating this was for me, this new realization!  OK, I think I get it – there are days I’m not really going to feel like working out for all sorts of reasons.  It’s easy to come up with lots of excuses.  I just figured that as I stayed with this program and did the workouts that I would feel happier because I’m getting regular exercise, seeing improvements in my strength and muscle tone and I’m now down nearly 15 lbs since late July!  YES!  That in itself should be motivating, right?  I even had a shocker a couple of weeks ago when I actually was looking forward to working out during the workday!  Meaning, during the workday I knew later that evening I’d be at the gym…and was excited about it!  WOW! And what the hell?

But now I know I’m not going to always feel that way.  Not even when I get in more peak condition, whatever that might look like.

The point of this lesson in PN is to just do it anyway if you don’t feel like it.  Action before motivation, everyone!!  Get a routine scheduled and get what you need to surround yourself with for success!  For example, before I go to bed at night on weeknights I make sure my gym clothes, shoes, iPod and my workout printout are all ready for me to grab on the dining room table on the way out the door when leaving for work.  I make sure I have my lunch and snacks in the front of the fridge and ready to throw into my lunch bag that morning as well.  Mornings are not my strong suit.  I need my clothes, shoes and jewelry all picked out and laid out the night before so I can just get dressed, put on some makeup and get going to work as quickly and mindlessly as possible.  I don’t have time to linger and my mind is just too fuzzy at that hour to make any sense.

And when I get to the gym after work, I have my list of exercises printed out and ready to take with me!  I make sure to watch the short video clips the night before to mentally ‘practice’ them.  Maybe that in itself provides some motivation for me to keep practicing the exercises.  Every time I do them I get a little better and a little stronger.  And improved muscle tone – yes!

So action first…then motivation.  Great stuff for those days I just won’t feel like working out.  Love it!

Random Tuesday Ramblings

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Surprise!  It’s fivenineteen here rambling away on a Tuesday night, not Sunday afternoon!  One of my followers (who is a dear friend, check’s in the mail) teased me a little that it’s been awhile since I last posted!  Yikes, she’s right!

I had probably one of the most blissful weekends I’ve had in probably a year.  Just basking in the glow of a glorious sunny weekend in October (yes, even in Seattle), which is as rare as white tigers.

What a wonderful surprise last Friday to hear from J…typically we each just chill out separately on Friday nights as we’re pretty pooped from the workweek.  I go to the gym, come home, shower and cook a light dinner.  Wow, what a far cry from my hard partying college years…am I turning into ‘that person’ we all swore as 21-year-olds we’d NEVER be?  Yep, I guess so.  So for a very cool change of pace, he offered to come over and cook us dinner after I got home from the gym!  WOW!  Color me happy!

And what did he bring?  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts he’d been marinating all day, a sweet potato to make fries with, and some frozen peppers for a side dish!  I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t ever even dropped a hint as to what I’d like to try eating, and he nailed it!  This is EXACTLY an example of a meal we would be encouraged to try in the Lean Eating for Women program I’m nearly 90 days into.  No meal plans, no calorie counting, no forbidden foods…rather, food can be plotted on a spectrum from Better to Worse.  And we’re encouraged to add things to our food, not take away.  As in adding more veggies and trying other alternate sources of carbs, for example.  Voila…here it was!  We peeled the sweet potato, sliced it up into French fry-shaped pieces, sprinkled some spices on top and baked until crispy!  And grilled the chicken and sautéed the pepper medley!  YUM!

On Saturday we headed over to an Oktoberfest party.  The consulting agency I was with prior to the one I’m currently with has a food palooza of sorts every year, and all of the staff cook incredible meals from scratch and serve up to their current and alum consultants!  One of the big advantages of working with a boutique agency for sure!  Normally it’s a summertime seafood theme, but this year they changed it up and did Oktoberfest. They had tons of brauts, streudel, salads, sauerkraut, handmade pretzels, mustards made from scratch, desserts and of course lots of beer for tasting in custom-made steins we got to take home as party favors!  Even some quinoa-stuffed mushrooms for a veggie/vegan option and a kale salad – I need these recipes!

Then we went home, changed our clothes and tackled more of my Garage.  Which is now the most organized room in my house thanks to J’s help.  Yes, the popcorn ceiling scraping continues in the master bedroom/vanity next week…after a major delay which is fodder for another post.  Most of my garage is below ground level and there are some problems with drainage….whenever it rains water seeps through small cracks in the concrete.  Lots of fun being at the bottom of a super steep hill.  J mixed up some concrete (we used a spoon I sacrificed and some plastic keg cups as you have to do it in small batches) and patched up a few of the cracks, after first drilling out the loose concrete where the leaks are coming from.  We’ve got more to do, but it’s a great start and has provided HUGE peace of mind for me…I’m worried about the water seepage and the damage it might be causing elsewhere.  We’ll check and see how it’s working and continue with the rest of the wall later.  This concrete mix is so powerful you can even use it under water!

Tough football weekend here…U of W Huskies lost a hard fight against Stanford, and the Seahawks’ 4-0 winning streak got snapped in Indianapolis last Sunday.  UGH.  The boys were playing the refs as well as their opponents much of each of these games, I swear!  The chitter chatter in the gym locker room tonight was still going strong!

And hockey season is underway…yes! Go Canucks!  A FULL length season this year with no Lockout!  I’m still enjoying my own personal hockey sabbatical, which could definitely become permanent but that’s OK – 9 years was a great run.

And I have other fitness goals now which have my full focus…and they’re working!

Drunk on Bliss…What a Weekend!

31 Sunday Mar 2013

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KMYep, there’s no other way to say it.  This past weekend goes into my Top Ten of All Time…so far!

Starting with INCREDIBLY fabulous weather!  When it’s pushing 70 degrees F (21 C) in late March, we celebrate here in Seattle!  Not a cloud in the sky, Easter the way we dream it to be…in springtime clothes, not in polar fleece and rain gear!  I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating…we TRULY appreciate great weather here.  Everyone’s moods shoot through the roof and there’s a kind of ding-y and sensuous vibe in the air.  Smiles everywhere…people are waving and friendly…there’s just ZERO reason to be in a bad mood on days like these!

I wrapped up week two at the new job last week.  While I’m used to the ‘first day of school’ mentality given I work shorter-term engagements, it’s always nice getting the first few weeks out of the way to get my bearings and really start feeling productive.  The honeymoon phase is morphing into the oh shit/frustration phase (very typical for my job ramp ups), where suddenly it CLANGS loud in my head that I’ve got deadlines but I’m not fully up to speed on where or how to get ’em done.  I tend to be my own worst critic on not ‘getting it’ on Take One, so it’s a relief getting good feedback that I’m a quick learner in the eyes of others.

This weekend was blissfully full of time with family.  My cousin, her husband and their three kids spent their entire spring break here ‘out west,’ having flown in from Wisconsin.  They packed in time with relatives, skiing, sightseeing and topped it off with dinner at my folks’ house Friday night.  I was grinning ear to ear and walking on air the entire day at work, constantly looking at my watch! 

J and I spent Saturday afternoon and evening out enjoying the sunshine!  We planned on getting Pho at one of his favorite spots, but they were closed all weekend for some reason.  So what to do for Plan B?

Something infinitely more spontaneous and fun:  we hopped on the Edmonds to Kingston ferry as walk-on passengers.  What a GLORIOUS day to be out on the water…not a cloud in the sky and all the mountains were out clear as a bell, still thick with snow.  We grabbed burgers and beer at the Main Street Ale House (YUM) and later strolled around the marina, drooling over boats. [the pic above is of the marina…I shamelessly found it online; it’s not a pic from yesterday but you can get the idea.  And that’s Mt. Rainier in the background.] I am falling in love with this way to just do a quick getaway to a quaint town for a few hours…the ferry crossing is only 30 minutes each way so it’s super easy and convenient.  And once you arrive in Kingston there’s so much within walking distance and gorgeous scenery everywhere.

And today, Easter Sunday meant brunch at my grandmother’s retirement home on First Hill, just east of downtown Seattle.  Their food service is truly excellent, and they had 4 different stations set up serving everything from made-to-order omelets, carved leg of lamb with mint jelly and fingerling potatoes, salads, fruits, bagels, lox, blintzes…and of course lots of desserts.  WOW!  I’m stuffed. After brunch my folks and one of my brothers and I spent some time chatting with her in her apartment.  Grandma never ceases to amaze me with the new stories she shares, rather than repeating the same ones over and over.  She grew up in a very rural town in eastern Washington, the youngest of three daughters, and her father was the town doctor.  He visited patients in their homes either by car (which was rare for people to have a car in those days – this was the late teens/early 1920s) or by horse when the weather was bad.  She remembers as a little girl coming with her Dad to the nearest major hospital – 50 miles away – when a patient needed surgery…and how there were a ton of nurses going in and out of a particular patient’s room in the hospital once they arrived.  What was going on?  It was a nun giving birth!

Happy Easter, everyone!!

That Glorious Extra Hour!

06 Sunday Nov 2011

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Oh man ohmanohmanohman…I am sitting here grinning ear to ear, sunshine streaming into the home office…and…

It’s. Only. 11am!!  Not noon!

Seriously, people, our flip back to Standard Time (clocks go back one hour) is my most FAVORITE time of the year.  Payback…we balance the books.  It’s no secret DST kicks my ass when we lose that hour in the spring.  I feel jetlagged that entire week, and perpetually stressed that I am constantly running late.  Tired + late = bad combination.

But now, time to chill.  I woke up Saturday just knowing this morning was coming.  Kinda poked around the house and later, fueled by a salted caramel mocha from a Starbucks drive thru (which I RARELY do even though there is one just 5 seconds from my house), I drove out to visit my dear friend T in Sammamish.  She’s going to do a Silpada party later in December – an absolutely perfect time to host a party as it’s prime time shopping season!  Blue sky, leaves turning – ahhh anytime I need to whip out sunglasses in November I am a happy girl.

I had a major sushi craving as I was driving home, and swung by the Metropolitan Market to pick up some other groceries too.  I used to commute through the Houghton neighborhood a couple of years ago when I briefly worked in Kirkland and I miss it.  The Metropolitan Market is absolutely amazing, and the people who work there have their shit together.  Nice, knowledgeable, energetic.  You can just “feel” it when you walk in. 

So I grabbed some pre-made sushi (it’s actually pretty decent as they make it fresh right there in the store), got home and added an extra blob of wasabi and a few shakes of Nama Shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce as recommended in my raw food cookbooks).  Even found my chopsticks too!  Bliss.

…almost as blissful as sleeping in today until 10am (which really was 11am but I remembered to turn the clocks back tonight – oops, well most of them).  Funny how my cell phone didn’t make the automatic change (booo) but the old, crappy laptop here sure did.

So that’s about it.  Just enjoying a nice, lazy weekend – hockey is the big exclamation point later tonight.  Can’t wait!  

And the nice people at amazon.com are sending me a book that was very highly recommended by my new friend D.  I’ll leave it at that for now – it’s on it way and I will likely have my first ever book review post in here soon!  

Half Dreams

17 Sunday Apr 2011

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I didn’t do it.  It didn’t happen. 

This morning was supposed to be my first 5K of the year…the Bellevue 5K/10K which starts and ends in the Downtown Park.  My good friend T, fellow 5K’er and partner in crime for all things shopping and all things fabulous sushi, asked me to join her and a few others to do this one.  Why not?  She and I did two last year, and we were excited to try a different route!

For some reason I had a gut feeling early on that it wasn’t meant to be.  And it was for something as silly – and frustrating – as the registration process.  I went online a few weeks ago to sign up and the damn system put me in the most bizarre loop.  I kept getting prompted to register and create an account, starting with my email address.  So, after creating a new account, I got an error that my email address was already registered and that I just needed to sign in.  Huh?

OK, OK, no problem.  Perhaps I did create an account many moons ago with this registration network.  But try as I might with a handful of the standard passwords I use, no luck.  I then hit the ‘forgot my password’ button, but got yet another error that ‘this email address is not on file – please register.’  REALLY?  And the same thing happened with three different email addresses.  So, the system was hosed.  Thankfully T registered on my behalf after I’d tried this a few times to no avail.

If you know me in real life or perhaps read my ramblings here regularly, you may recall I’ve been under the weather, battling a lingering cold and cough since about February.  It’s pretty much gone (dang I say that every week…longest decrescendo ever eh?) but it’s very apparent how it’s sapped my energy level – moreso my voice.  I was talking with T yesterday on the phone to figure out timing and where we were going to meet this morning and she asked, “Are you feeling OK?  You don’t sound so good.”  I was feeling good, but my ravaged voice sounded otherwise.  I guess I’ve gotten so used to how somewhat raspy it is right now.  I told her no, I’m fine, looking forward to tomorrow and all.  And I was!

It’s a little frightening how horrible a morning person I am becoming.  The race started at 8am, which meant I’d have to get up even earlier – on a Sunday – than I typically do for work, to allow enough time to drive, park, pick up my registration packet and all.  So I forced myself to bed a few hours earlier than normal, but I tossed and turned like a dumbass.  Did I have my alarm set correctly?  Did I turn off its weekend sleeper cycle so it WOULD go off on Sunday?  DUH.  I NEVER worry about that on weeknights!  Anyway, I remember this tossy/turny feeling the nights prior to 5Ks, so I tried to just laugh it off and relax.

Normally my adrenaline kicks in and I bust through my inner fog and get up.  But today, that didn’t happen.  Around 6:30am or so, I stumbled out of bed and went downstairs to text T that I was a no-go.  Feeling oh so very turdlike.  But I knew deep down she would understand.  And she was doing this race with her boyfriend and a few others so I wasn’t leaving her high and dry.  

Then I went back to sleep.  I had no idea how much – or little – sleep I’d gotten the night before, but I sure needed more now.  Alarm…off you go.

But in the fuzzy purgatory-ish moments between laying awake and falling asleep, I started having what I call Half Dreams.  I’m not fully asleep in a dream when these happen.  Rather I have two visions in front of me.  First, whatever I would normally see, like the bed blankets, the ceiling or the window…and then an overlay of whatever the dream scene is.  Anyone else ever experience these?  I’ve only just noticed them recently.  They are mostly very brief scenes of recent memories – things that have happened at work or just hanging around the house here.  And even the memory of the flashing lights in my rear view mirror when I got a speeding ticket last month.  Ha.  Somewhere there’s some irony and humor about getting a speeding ticket going TO work.

I finally crawled out of bed around 10am.  Sweet freakin’ bliss.  THAT cleansing sleep (and a few Half Dreams) was exactly what I needed.  And as I went downstairs a second time to start my day (Take 2!) I smiled as I checked my phone and saw T’s text:  “Totally understand! Love you!”. 

Now THAT’S a true friend alright. Can’t wait to see her later this week and get caught up over fabulous sushi.