Fiber Fool

Well, DH is safely out east. Amazingly, despite a nearly hour delay on the Denver train departure, he arrived at his destination on time. I haven’t gotten to talk to him yet, just a lot of texts going back and forth, but I think the living situation is much better than last summer, even if the location wasn’t quite what he wanted. Being without co-workers and living alone I’m going to have to work that much harder to find the gratitude.

How are you greeting the week with gratitude this week? This week I’m grateful for:

• 24 hour car rental so we could get DH to the train station. While we could have timed that a bit better so I could have made more use of having a car, I still managed to squeeze in a mega grocery trip, got the propane tank for the grill refilled, and started the process of finding new running shoes (my last pair appear to be causing more problems than wearing the old pair) all before returning it.
• I’m making semi-regular use of the new MAX line of the Fort Collins mass transit system. It was invaluable to dealing with the car rental. The South Transit Center was just a couple blocks from the car rental. I’ve also taken it to Target a couple times, the DMV, and Saturday’s Farmer’s Market. I’m loving how much it is being used here while it is free and I hope many decide to pay the fare to use it come late August. I only wish there were a good way to educate people on proper etiquette when riding a bus such as pausing to allow people to disembark before boarding, not pulling the cord for a stop unless you actually plan to get off, and when traveling in groups to sit together, not with seats in between each of you so other people have to stand.
• Having fuel for the grill again! I’m all ready for the week now that I grilled a whole chicken last night for dinner. I have left overs for sandwiches and power bowls (along with extra quinoa I cooked up) for dinners this week. I’m looking forward to baking in it again too. I suspect I’ll need to bake bread come the weekend.
• My personal trainer/water aerobics instructor at the gym. I used my birthday session on Friday and we expanded my strength training routine now that my shoulders/neck are improving a bit. I’m back to some free weight work! Yay! We also added some stuff to address my feet issues that have cropped up recently. I’m excited to jump in this afternoon on the new routine.
• The LiveWell Colorado Get Movin’ Challenge in the month of May was very successful for me. I killed it and wracked up almost 93 foot miles (just deliberate walking, I don’t have a tracker to measure steps or that so this was just to/from bus stops etc.)! I need a different goal for June though and not sure what to aim for. 100 foot miles? 100 bike miles? 200 people-powered miles divvied up however? 13 strength workouts (every M,W,F in June)? May did prove to me though that goals are necessary, even if I don’t have a race or special even coming up.
• DH’s officemates are great because they put up with me :-) I’ve been semi-regularly working at an empty desk in their office. Now I’m using DH’s desk. Admittedly the office has been relatively empty the couple times I’ve been in since spring term ended.

How are you doing on the moving front? Have you moved for 30 minutes everyday? Are you getting bored?

I’m sticking to more or less the same routine for the moment - strength (focused on back/arms/shoulders) three days a week and water aerobics two opposite days, then any walking (and eventually biking I’m hoping, but the bike isn’t easily removed from the garage right now) to get to/from the office and gym and anywhere else I wish to go. It’s working though.

My stats for the past 6 days (because I haven’t gone to the gym for today’s strength work yet) is as follows:
Distance - 20.2 miles
Duration - 12 hours and 7 minutes
Calories Burned - 5,692 (averaging 948 calories a day)

While at times I still miss readily being able to just hop in the car and go run an errand or being able to bop around and not plan out all my activities so I leave and return home just once a day, one thing I am loving about my mostly foot-powered and bus-aided transportation is the ability to slow down and notice things. Yesterday as I was headed to the bus stop in the rain I stumbled upon this pair of mallard ducks on a lawn in the middle of our sub-division. I’ve been seeing a lot of mallards in the city’s water ways this spring, but the nearest one is probably close to 1/2 mile away from this lawn. But there they were, waddling around this suburban lawn together. If I were in a car I likely wouldn’t have even seen them and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to pause and appreciate their presence.

Have you found any benefits or surprises to being more active?

I’m sure now that we are nearly through the first week of the Get Movin’ Challenge there are some struggling with getting in their 30 minutes consistently. Perhaps hectic schedules or boredom are partially to blame. Don’t forget though that there are probably a lot of things on your to-do list that can count towards your daily physical activity.

• Yard work like mowing and trimming.
• Gardening tasks like pulling weeds, prepping beds, hauling mulch or rock etc.
• Walking to/from a bus stop or far away parking.
• Walking while shopping (it might not up your heart rate much, but it is better than sitting).
• Cleaning the house.
• MapMyFitness even has an option to log your intimate activity! (Just be certain to set your privacy settings on that one.)

Don’t forget the beauty of multi-tasking either! While it may take longer to walk or bike to work than driving, it may not take longer than driving and having to hit the gym. Chances are it’ll be quicker to find a place to park your bike and you can reduce your exposure to road rage. Not to mention the gas/pollution you’ll save!

If you log your workout on the computer, MapMyFitness now lets you add multiple activities into one “workout.” So, I wait until the end of the day and map out all the places I’ve walked and add in any gym workouts I’ve done etc. so I get one single workout counting toward the challenge, even though aside from gym workouts I’m just being active in 10-20 minutes spurts most of the time. I’m not sure if the iPhone app allows that or not. I haven’t looked yet. The one downside to this is I can’t have MMF track my movements or my heartrate, but that saves my phone’s battery life too so I’ll take it.

Do you have tips for being more active in your everyday life?

My hopes of any news this week has dwindled. Looks like Monday is the day.

But, today is also Emma’s official adoption day! She chose us for Valentine’s Day in 2003 and we are sure glad she did! She may have some gray/white (or a lot) going on, but she is as spunky and frisky as ever.

No surprise, as Carole is queen of timely 10 on Tuesday topics, but this week in time for Valentine’s Day on Friday we are to share 1o favorite things that are red. A pop of bright color in the midst of winter doldrums sounds like a good plan too.

1 & 2: My great grandma’s sugar bowl (whose lid has since broken and now serves as our salt cellar) and apples (especially pink lady when you are talking the reddish kind).

3: I don’t wear them super often as they are cheapy Target shoes and not terribly comfortable for the amount of walking I do most days, but I can’t help but smile when I wear these red mary jane mules!

4 & 5: Roasted red peppers! I especially like them in things like hummus or tomato and roasted red pepper soup.

6: While it is now a back-up, I still love my red case for my Kindle Keyboard and only wish there are been an equally good red choice for the Paperwhite. As a consolation, DH’s hand-me-down iPad came with a good red case too.

7: My road bike, Isabella!

8: Röd Gröd, a Scandinavian raspberry pudding that is packed with fiber and antioxidants but still seems decadent and like a treat.

9. Again with the red feet, but I love wearing my Three of Diamonds socks knit in Sandi’s Red from Miss Babs.

10: And another handknit, my Cornucopia cowl has been getting a lot of love lately as we’ve had single digit or worse walks in the morning into the office. The soft yarn and pop of the red against my purple down jacket makes me smile.

Believe it or not, I used to hate red. With a passion. Now I keep being drawn to red things more and more. I will confess to being a bit prejudice against warm, orangey reds though. I apparently like nice, cool reds.

What are your favorite red things?