Week 16 on Profile by Sanford

Again, my Profile weeks run from Wednesday to Tuesday, since I started on a Wednesday. So this is from April 19 through April 25, 2017. I do tend to get discombobulated a bit so while the weight/measurements run those weeks, what I write about may not. :-)

What a rough month and, consequently, week.  Let's just get these numbers over with, shall we?

Uff da.  But, in looking back, I've been off plan far more than on plan, I'm afraid.  And it shows - no loss this month.  In fact, 2/10 of a pound in gain.  BUT for all the off-plan, I'm impressed that that's all the gain I had.  I would almost say it's more of a maintenance than a gain.  We ended up eating out a couple of times and that doesn't help, of course.  No excuses, but things to remember for the future.

Getting steps in has been interesting with this crazy South Dakota weather!  We woke up to snow TWICE this week and it was cold/rainy all week long.

Walking in the winter coat that didn't zip up at Christmas!

Punny.....

Windy day!!!

But I did it - even on the weekends!! 

And I think it was Tuesday - but it might have been Wednesday or Thursday after these stats - it was raining out on my first break and I really didn't want to walk outside - and I really didn't want to walk around the break room as that's when a lot of people are just getting in to work and getting their coffee, etc.  Then I remembered! Leslie Sansone, of WATP (Walk Away The Pounds), has some workouts on her YouTube channel - including a couple of 5-minute ones!  So I went upstairs (and walked up the stairs, no elevator!!) to a quiet area rarely frequented, hit play, and went for it!  Then back down the stairs, across the building to the breakroom to get my blender bottle (I fill those with water when I first get to work and put them in the fridge) and back to my desk.  My goal for the next month is to hit that step goal every weekend too, then increase it by a factor of 10%.  Even though I'm hitting it during the week, weekends seems to be a bear for me.  No structure, no schedule is hard for me.  

And while there was no weight loss this month, there's still things to be proud of.  Those steps, for example.  Feeling more energetic as a general rule (not counting the being so tired from getting up at 3am for his job).  Going to my new favorite store, Torrid, and buying denim capris a size smaller.  Flappy jeans when I'm walking (which amuses me to no end!).  (Flappy jeans - the material flaps as I walk because it's so loose.)  And ALL my jeans can now be taken off without unbuttoning or unzipping.  That's even the pair that was still snug a couple of weeks ago.  So while measurements haven't been changing much, weight loss has been stalled, things are really looking up.

For example, blood pressure.  Ideally, it should be between 90/60 and 120/80.  January 3rd it was 143/84.  I take this with the proverbial grain of salt because I was definitely feeling dehydrated that morning (we'd spent the night in a very warm hotel room the night before and I was doing fasting blood work that morning as well) and the nurse had tried 3 times with an arm cuff before switching to a wrist cuff.  Still, kind of scary.  I've been regularly checking it Wednesday evenings and this last week it was at 123/62.  It ranges up to the 130s over 80s, and sometimes higher if I forget to sit still during the reading or forget to wait a few minutes after coming upstairs.  But I like these numbers.  The beginning of July I plan on getting the blood work done again to see how that has changed also.

Other news - there are only 11 more days of waking up before the crack of dawn!!  My husband got a job at one of the winery/breweries in Hill City.  It will mean a fair bit more driving and a lot more meal planning - but it will get us on a more normal biorhythm, too.  My goal is on nice days to go walking/biking outside and on yucky days to stop at Planet Fitness before going to pick him up.  I was able to switch my schedule from 6:30am-3:00pm to 9:30am-6:00pm.  The earliest his shift ends will be 6:00pm so this will work out nicely.  I'm mentally planning larger breakfasts and lunches which will also help with sleeping at night.

Skoolie news - insulation is in!

That pile is what is left plus one more roll - and let me tell you what: even with the cold weather we had, the temperature difference inside the Skoolie is noticeable.  In just a t-shirt and jeans I was almost comfortable.  Hard to believe, isn't it?  Definitely a good investment and a great score!  (Regular price would have been $350 and he got it for $35!!)

We thought we had an on-demand water heater but on closer viewing it's a hot water dispenser - meaning it has a tiny tank inside for providing hot water for a cup of coffee or tea.  Not what we need at all!  So we're going to test it anyway and if it works sell it.  We had one in mind anyway so now it's a matter of looking at budget for that and what else we need right now to start framing around.  I think the water heater/plumbing are the only two issues.  

So, until next week!!

H

Week 15 with Profile by Sanford

Again, my Profile weeks run from Wednesday to Tuesday, since I started on a Wednesday. So this is from April 12 through April 18, 2017. I do tend to get discombobulated a bit so while the weight/measurements run those weeks, what I write about may not. :-)

As mentioned last week, I will no longer be tracking body measurements weekly.  The next measurements will be taken on May 3rd.  Instead, I'll be adding my Fitbit stats up here.  This past week a friend invited me to a Workweek Hustle challenge and I was within a few hundred steps of one of her friends most of the week - but he pulled ahead by a couple of thousand on Thursday.  Next week, good man, next week!  😅

Weekends are still the bane of my walking existence but I'm getting there!  My daily goal right now 4,000 steps per day.  I've re-started walking on my morning and afternoon breaks and added walking on my lunch break.  That definitely makes hitting that goal easy, as evidenced by Monday and Tuesday!!  

Weight/BMI stats for this week:

Not a lot of change but Saturday we had our Easter dinner - and with good ham comes lots of sodium.  This isn't something I'm going to fret over - but definitely need to refocus.  Which I've said how many weeks now?  😖  A big challenge this week was.....vegetables.  I was so over vegetables this week.  My favorite, riced cauliflower with peas, carrots, and green onions and I couldn't eat them.  After talking to my coach Thursday, I went out to the food truck (I'm fortunate in that my employer allows local vendors to set up shop for lunches) and got their cheese salad.  We're talking the basics, here.  Iceberg lettuce, shredded cheddar, and their house ranch (they do cajun foods as a specialty) and talk about hitting the spot.  So Friday I brought a similar salad to work as well.  There's also been some Panera goings-on for breakfast Friday and Saturday, so I definitely have some work to do.  

Saturday I went in to town with my husband so I could pick up a bit more overtime.  I had a seasonal greens salad at Panera for lunch and tweaked it a bit.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat raw kale....haha  He had a "working interview" Saturday afternoon and we ate in Hill City again.  He'd had the initial application and chat Friday night and we splurged by eating at the Alpine Inn.  The menu consists of 6-ounce or 9-ounce filet mignon, iceberg wedge, house dressing, baked potato and Texas toast.  Nice and simple, yes?  Well.....until you get the dessert menu!  If you're ever in Hill City, SD, you must check them out.  But get there early - the lines form quickly!!

Saturday night we chose a different restaurant and opted for a buffalo/elk burger.  Yum!!  But it was also 8 ounce, plus the bun, plus sweet potato fries, and dessert.  I really, really should have eaten only half and boxed the rest - I was physically uncomfortable the rest of the night.  But his "working interview" seemed to go really well and perhaps there will be news on that front next week.

In other news, I have a cousin getting married this fall and so I've started to crochet one of my favorite afghans.  It's the Very Victorian by Maggie Weldon.  So his socks and my shrug are on a back burner again!  But not for long - I crochet fairly quickly.  I am using my new Trindle drop spindle and get a little bit more spun now and again.  I'm hoping there will be time soon to get my weaving/spinning bench built so I can get my spinning wheel out.  I'm working on a couple of alpaca/merino/silk blends that I'm hoping to spin into a fine yarn with which to weave a wrap on my Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom.  It's nice having a front patio to sit on, but I have to be able to sit!  My wheel sits a bit too tall for any standard chairs so we bought the supplies to build this bench and hopefully we can work on it this spring, along with a lazy kate for plying the singles I spin.

And, some Skoolie progress.  My husband was meandering Menards last weekend looking for insulation.  We had thought the foam boards we planned on using were a lot less expensive than they actually are - but he managed to find rolls of a wool blend for $2.50 a roll - the regular price is around $25!  He grabbed it all up - there was 14 rolls, and there's just a wee bit left.  The best part is it takes the R factor from 7 to 15 and he said when he and Dad were installing it you could already feel a difference.  Nice Skoolie Skore!!  We're very fortunate and grateful that Dad has, as a wedding gift, said we can stay in his driveway another year to test it all out rather than trying to find a place to park it in town.  I'm hoping we'll be "living" in it by June but there's still a lot of work to do.

Until next week!

Heather

Profile by Sanford Week 14

Again, my Profile weeks run from Wednesday to Tuesday, since I started on a Wednesday. So this is from April 5 through April 11, 2017. I am starting to get discombobulated a bit so while the weight/measurements run those weeks, what I write about may not. :-)

So, let's start with measurements. They've been driving me nuts the past few weeks - this past week my neck went UP in measurement, even with a large weight loss (keeping in mind I was "making up" for the weight gain last week). I talked this over with my coach and we decided to change up my "markers" - I'm going to do measurements once a month and start focusing on my steps. After today, I'm going to put measurements up with the 1st weigh in of the month, or, in the case of June, the May 31st weigh in - to try to keep them about 4 weeks apart. I'll be taking my weekly logs from FitBit and putting them up here for your viewing pleasure. (I have the One in burgundy and I absolutely love it! I typically wear it clipped to my bra but if need be I'll clip it in the "coin pocket" of my jeans or my waist band. I'm just more nervous about losing it from those last 2 spots but it has yet to work itself loose.) I just discovered that on the Fitbit website I can tailor the week so I'll be able to get the logs to measure the same "weeks" as my Profile week, Wednesday to Tuesday. My little inner geek is pretty tickled with that!

So - last week's weigh in looked like this:



That's that gain I talked about but didn't fret over.

This week's looks like this:



I can't believe I hadn't been putting my bicep measurements in this whole time - that's been added!

And here is the first FitBit clip! I was also able to go back and get steps from January, so that's my starting point.



Of course, the weekend of April 1 I didn't wear my Fitbit due to that surprise wedding, hehe - I put a "1" in there to keep from getting the div/0 error. :-) Weekends are definitely harder for me - I blog/do laundry/kick back and knit a lot on one day and the other day is catch-as-catch-can. Friday, I wore what I'm affectionately referring to as my "Marilyn Monroe" shoes - I like to think she'd have worn them! And if I can walk on my break in these shoes, I can definitely figure out how to get some short walks in on the weekends!!



So, you can see my goals for this week are pretty well laid out - back on track with eating (Easter weekend meant a lot of food - but I still practiced portion control and while I definitely indulged, I definitely did not indulge as much as I might have last year!), getting more steps in, and I want to add strength training, too. And doing that means giving up time doing something else...

Until next week!

Heather

Week 13 on Profile by Sanford

Again, my Profile weeks run from Wednesday to Tuesday, since I started on a Wednesday. So this is from March 29 through April 4, 2017. I am starting to get discombobulated a bit so while the weight/measurements run those weeks, what I write about may not. :-)

So - I fell off the proverbial wagon and hard. But with good reason:



We got married April 1!

Between end of month at work (mandatory overtime until the work is done) and planning and preparing for our surprise wedding, the last two weeks have been rough as far as staying on plan. And it showed on the scale this week with a 3.75 pound gain. Ouch. But I'm not getting too upset about it - in the grand scheme of things that's not something to fret over. It's just a reminder of what bad habits cause. I'm back on track starting tomorrow and moving forward. I'm going to be adding strength training to my day and with the nicer weather walking more, too. And reminding my husband (which is so terribly fun to say!) to pay a bit more attention to portions and ingredients as he cooks. He's so blessedly tired, though, it's near impossible for me to get upset. His job is going to cause us problems soon, I'm afraid. Getting up at 3:10 in the morning is getting to be too much - we have to keep a "normal" schedule for meals for Dad - so supper is between 6 and 7 pm and there's no way I can go to bed so soon after eating so it's usually between 9 and 10 pm - so 6 hours and usually only 5 hours of sleep makes for some tired driving on a very curvy road in the mornings.

But the wedding was fantastic - we were even able to have it outside! I was able to wear my shoes with a short heel all day, too. I haven't been able to do that in quite awhile! We had a package deal, a "Couples Night Out" that included a king suite with jacuzzi tub, shuttle to/from Deadwood, dinner at the steak house and coupons for the Silverado, as well as a bottle of champagne, chocolates, and rose petals on the bed. Super romantic!! And, we've confirmed what everyone else has already known - we're already an old married couple. We stayed in after all! haha

This past Friday, Profile by Sanford had a sneak peek for their new location that is local to me! I'm pretty tickled - and while I will still do my virtual coaching, it will be so nice to be able to just stop in and get what I need! They had samples out for the trying, and we got to tour the store. I'm looking forward to taking some classes there, too.

So, this week's goals are to get back on track, add in exercise, and increase my step count on my Fitbit. Let's git 'er done!!

H