Day 252 = Home Workout + Clothes!

Tonight was just too late and too dark after work to get in a run outside. So I opted for a homemade abs workout on my core ball mixed with some resistance bands.

My friend Kristina got a GoWearFit (aka BodyBugg). I feel a movement beginning. That's three friends now who have one. Sweet thing Kristina told me I've "been lookin' skinny lately." The BodyBugg works in that it helps keep me on track. And I'm feeling skinnier this week instead of the bloatapotomus I was feeling like last week. I get so hungry when I'm hormonal and can eat and eat and eat. And then it's like I'm done and I am just not hungry at all. Or I could eat cereal for three meals a day for weeks at a time. Or I get addicted to sugar-free popcicles. Speaking of... I might have one right now.

One thing about working out every day is, eventually, the weight and the inches just start falling off. And the best part about that is re-wearing all the many clothes I haven't worn in a while. And I've noticed that working out every day has really helped with my endurance and running. I'm so stubborn. It's easy to say working out everyday and drinking more water (for that matter) really have some great side effects. And it works. But if you're stubborn like me, then you'll just have to try it out for yourself.

Another reason I didn't run tonight is I was just too stressed at work and came home and acquainted myself with Adivan and pinot grigio. Ok, so not the best combination. In fact, it's not a good combination at all. Since I'm retro-writing this blog, I'll have to admit that on Friday (Day 254) I woke up to emails and winks. From match.com. I'd forgotten that I'd signed up for online dating again. See, stubborn. Like I haven't learned my lesson in the last 7 years of off-and-on online dating. Thanks to the Adivan and wine, the next three months ought to be interesting and filled with great material for the comedy club, as well as disappointment, shattered dreams and crying in my kitchen after kicking off my shoes across the floor after another hopeless date.

And to that, a toast to new beginnings!

Day 251 = Resistance Bands + Knees

I'm just not running today because of my knee. It's my IT bands, which support the knee, so I just need to get up on my foam roller. However, I'm going to do some crunches on my ab ball and some resistance bands and will just have to live with that. Knees are important. A knee injury forced me to bail out of a marathon in 2007, and I took that pretty seriously. And there's not a lot that I take very seriously.

However, I'm about to be damn serious about this Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cone. And this glass of wine. And this Adivan. All very, very, very serious.

Oh, how I miss the daylight. Stress at work gets me down and I hate that I can't just come home and blow off steam with a run. I need to start getting in my runs in the mornings from now on.

Day 250 = Gym + Swimming + Well, Swimming

I don't mind two-a-days. I'd do them every day if I could work from home. I just like getting out of the house and being active. So I had my gym workout this morning then went swimming for 30 minutes tonight. No idea how many laps that was, so don't ask.

Usually, I come up with my comedy sets and other jokes when I'm running, but swimming does nothing for me. I get so bored. A friend told me that it's more fun to swim with friends, but I can't really put my head around that concept. I mean, do you swim and talk at the same time? Or are you just shooting the shit at the end of the pool? And how can you guarantee that you're swimming with people are are FUN to swim with?

Thank goodness it's just for 30 minutes tonight.

I used to swim with my dad almost daily, and I wonder what Michael Phelps sees in this? He must have the FUN swimmer friends. I was in Key West with Paul last year watching the Olympics from a bar that had naked women on the velvet wallpaper. So that is where I happened to be when Phelps earned that 8th medal from the relay. Ah, now that was a fun trip.

Day 249 = Running + Trapeze

I ran 4 miles tonight. It felt great, and I ran into the Rogue Runners who gave me free water. I'd just like to say, in case I haven't, that runners are generally happy people. I mean, if you work out everyday, let alone run mostly everyday, then you can't help but be happy because exercise naturally releases those wonderful endorphins and reduces the stress hormone cortisol, and I'm always more de-stressed and laid back after a workout. It boosts the immune system and increases oxygen to the brain (maybe why a workout clears my mind and generates ideas?). Exercise helps prevent chronic conditions like heart disease. Everyone knows this, but until you experience it on a consistent basis, you really don't get the full effect of BELIEF.

OK, I'm not really a doctor, but I am a believer that working out keeps me balanced and happy. Runners wave to each other and sometimes can tell where you are in your run just by looking at your face. Runners help you and say hello and good morning when they pass by. Thank you, runners!

Another great core workout I'd forgotten about is a trapeze lesson. I had the opportunity to take one in April 2008 with my friend Amy S. for her birthday. We took the class at The Crossings, but there's now a full time class offered in Austin at Trapeze Experience. I think I'm going to give it a go, or a swing, again. Now that I'm not sick anymore, my mojo is in full effect and I can proclaim with confidence, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!"

Day 248 = Gym + European Memories

Yes - another personal training session at the gym. You're probably tired of hearing about it, but suck it up because I'm about finished with my sessions, and you will get to hear about new workouts then (probably at the gym).

I'm not really sure what to blog about today, so I thought I'd copy and paste an email I wrote when I was backpacking through Europe. Enjoy.

-------------------------------------

From: Heather

Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2002 8:45 AM
To: Mom and Richard
Subject: Stuff from Heather

We are in Inverness, Scotland today, Aug. 17. It's about 2:37 p.m. and we are at the library and waiting for the bus to take us to Loch Ness. We are going to find the monster! We are probably going to tour Inverness either later today and tomorrow before we leave. We are going to Orkney tomorrow and then to the Isle of Skye and Oban/Iona and then back to Edinburgh, where we wanted to stay last night but there were NO rooms anywhere there. And Glasgow and St. Andrews was also sold out. I'd like to also tour a whiskey distillery.

After that, we are going back to Devizes on Friday and Roger and Jan are going to drive us to the Isle of Wight to see Scott for the weekend. On our way home, we are going by Stonehenge and maybe Salisbury. The rest of next week, we are going to Liverpool, Stratford on Avon and Cornwall or Wales. That all depends on if we stop at any of those places on our way back from Edinburgh. Scotland is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. And I hate to say it (don't tell Richard) but I would rather come back to Scotland than England if I had a choice. I just love it here.

I have been journaling a lot and I think I will probably end up having to buy another journal before I leave here! I am running out of pages! I guess that's what happens when you try to find yourself. I've made a lot of observations and I've lost about 5-7 pounds I would say. I still have a fat gut, but the scale says otherwise.

Well, internet time is short, so I will talk to you later. I love you all, and give Ringo a big hug from mommy!

Heather

Day 247 = Walking + Bloatasaurus

I feel like a bloatasaurus. When I Googled a pic for this blog for bloat, the image results were hideous and disturbing. Umm, this one will do.

I got in a walk early this morning. Not sure why I can go to bed at 4 am but still wake up before 9 am. It's not fair. I'm hoping a nap will come my way this afternoon.

I walked to the Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood, had breakfast then did some more walking and went home. I showered, and got back in PJs and it's not even noon.

I have not been eating right for the past week. It's been just crazy bad. I'd think I'd lose weight when I am sick, but I don't think I did. It's all hormonal. Tomorrow is measurements day at the gym, so I'm going to try to avoid that if at all possible.

Tonight at the comedy club, I had my best set ever and hardly anyone saw it! I was on toward the end of the lineup, and every comic I had befriended had either gone home or not even shown up. It was a rainy night, and it turns out that comics don't like to venture out in rain. Evidently, not everyone has a personal goal they're trying to fulfill by doing stand-up every Sunday for the rest of the year. But my friends Ashley and Jeff did come out to show their support. Very sweet of them. And my black blazer did it's best to cover my bloatasaurus belly.

Day 246 = Running + Crafts

I am pretty amazed. After being sick and not running in a week, I pulled out 14 miles today. And I felt good. I could have gone the full 15, but I somehow got off course and missed a mile. Not sure how that happened. It felt like 15 miles. I ran from Town Lake to Far West and back.

I like to use my workout time, when I'm alone running or walking, to come up with my comedy sets. I'd meant to bring my digital voice recorder along on my run today so I could record my thoughts on my set, but I forgot. Need to remember to execute on this brilliant idea next week. For now, I have to resort to jotting down my notes while waiting for Juanita to make my taco.

Tonight I was a double threat with my magic jeans and FMPs. Or so I thought. My friend Hope had a wine glass painting party. I'm ridiculously uncrafty when it comes to stuff like this. I can look at art and describe it and tell you what I like and I can tell a Raphael from a Da Vinci from a Botticelli or if it's a Rembrandt or Michaelangelo or Picasso or Van Gogh or a Monet vs. a Manet. But actually creating something artful, like a wine glass? Well, I suck. SEE????

The party served as way to celebrate my friend Shelli's birthday, and then we headed to Deep Eddy Cabaret. Don't let the name fool you. It's a dive bar. No cabaret action happening. And not the scene for my magic jeans and FMPs. But after a while, we got bored and went to Shelli's house to play her favorite game, Apples to Apples. I gotta tell ya, I love that game, too.