Did you miss me?

Holy cow!  Didn't realize it had been so long since I blogged.  Sorry about that.  I didn't even remember to post last week that I was on vacation.

Time has been slipping away from me.  but now that I am back at work every day, little reminders will pop up to remind me to do this.

Vacation wasn't very vactioney. (Totally not a word.)  I ended up back at work a handful of times or helping other people with their problems.  But that's as much my problem as those that asked.  In fact, that is ultimately my overall problem - I am bad at saying 'no' to others and 'yes' to myself.

The highlight health wise last week was my commitment to working out.  I only missed one day!  That was great.  I either worked out with Gwyn or swam.

Food wise, it was my birthday week.  So, I was pretty good most days.  Had pizza on my birthday, a drink the next day, the cheesecake I had really wanted for my birthday on Friday and Sunday dinner at my mom's - and you know that meant cake. ;)  But overall, I didn't go totally - "I will be a good girl when I get back to work," which is HUGE growth.  I actually ate fruit and vegetables, lean protein and whole grains most of the time.

So, now I am getting back in the swing of things and there is tons to do, I better roll.

Yours in Health,
Kate

It's Birthday Season - Again

My family has four birthday seasons.  Ah, cake.  We have several birthday in March/April, July, August/September and December - that's a lot of cake.

Today we are celebrating my mom's birthday.  I don't know if there will be cake.  Part of me says, "yes, yum, caaaaake..." and then another part of me says, "um, no more sugar please."  Sugar and I haven't been hanging as much lately and when we have, it doesn't really agree with me.  It has been making my tummy ache.  In fact, since the prednisone incident, all food has been a bit of a problem.  Which has a good side - I am eating less.

But back to birthday season...  cake is like anything else in life, anything in moderation (except lard).  Have you noticed though that cake isn't alone in the birthday celebration?  There is usually a meal and, because it's a special occasion, fat must be o.k.  And naturally, more than one group wants to help celebrate this special day, so there's more than one of these eating rituals.

Therefore it's time to dance.  Tripping along the fine line between being festive and being gluttonous.  If you have any good tips on treading lightly, please share, I know EVERYONE, wants to learn a new trick applicable to this holiday and all of the others.

Yours in Health,
Kate

Roses for my Birthday

These are the roses I got for my birthday. They were from the man in my life. (And my mom.)
That's right, when my mom asked my nephew Caelen what she should get me for my birthday he said, "I think she would like roses Grandma." So, on Monday, there was my mom holding these. They are beautiful and awesome, just like the people I got them from.

Special note - we are raising one hell of a good man!

Yours in (mental) health, Kate

The 37 Workout

Today is my first full day of being 37. I was born at 11:52 p.m., so I was technically only 37 for 8 minutes yesterday. To that end (and because I was too tired to go yesterday), today will be my "Birthday Celebration Workout". I don't think normal people use those words together.



Since I am now 37, I have decided to do 37 of everything today - in a row. As in:

37 minute run (that's a 5K+)

37 squats (cake)
37 inverted crunches (doable)
37 push-ups (okay, that's gonna have to be done in multiple sets - but it'll be sets in a row)
37 bicep curls (love it)
37 of some other kind of crunch
37 tricep extension (that's gonna be sore tomorrow)
37 hamstring on ball moves (I have no idea what it's really called)
37 shoulder moves (we'll see how far I get after last week's injury)
37 butt extensions (nope, not even near what's it's really called, but I do it on a machine and I know what it is, so that all that counts)
37 of whatever I randomly choose at the gym

Appropriately that is 370 exercises + 37 minutes running. I think I will make this an annual tradition, so it will only get more challenging as I get older. Of course, we'll see what I have to say about this way of thinking at 95! But then, I like to think, I'll always be up for a challenge.

Yours in fitness, Kate

From the beginning... It's All About Me

Monday's columns are always about how to get started on a weight loss/ health regime or tips I learned at the beginning of my journey. Today is the ultimate one - It's all about me.

That may sound conceded or selfish, but it's flat-out the truth. You cannot do this for anyone except yourself. If you do you will fail and worse yet, you will blame that poor unsuspecting schmuck you were 'doing all this for'.

You will benefit this most from losing the weight - better health, better mental fitness, better relationships, better shopping - so it needs to be all about you. Especially since you are the only one who can keep the pumpkin spice Kisses out of your mouth (damn evil Hershey's people). You are the only one who can put your butt on a treadmill at the gym. You are the only one who is ultimately responsible.

So, on my 37th birthday, as I take stock of my life, I am grateful to me. I have stumbled, I have failed, I have put another Kiss in my mouth - but I have also come a long way baby. And because of that, I expect to celebrate several decades of birthdays to come and that is the ultimate gift - for me.

Yours in health, Kate

I do not know this baby, but this is how much I love birthday cake too.