Just. Breathe.

Our week-long mission trip to Haiti is over, and I'm trying to capture both details and feelings. I'm not sure I'm succeeding, but here we go with Part 2. The Goal Our group's stated purpose was to build a home for a family who had lost theirs in the earthquake in 2010. Working through Baptist Haiti Mission, we teamed up with their proven group of masons to accomplish this goal in about four days of work. When we arrived, the foundation was laid, the materials were at the bottom of the hill, and our team of masons was already at work. We got busy hauling bricks and sand about 300 feet from the road below. Some of us started laying the cinder blocks. The building is about 10x14', and 12 bricks high. This was basically a neighborhood -- there were 2-3 other homes on the hill, and the kids who came to watch became the best little helpers ever. This was when we were told we had to haul another 100 bricks up from the road. Notice the enthusiasm. When w...

We're home! Thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts as my daughter and I spent a week in Haiti. If you visit this blog for weight loss news, you'll have to skip through a couple of entries. Then I'll get back to that. This is also my 100th post, which feels like it should be special! I've been mentally composing the Haiti story for days, and I realized I can't do justice to it in one post. This is my "scrapbook" - the record to not only share, but to capture my memories while they're fresh. I apologize in advance for the detail. Skip whatever you want! The Group We were a diverse group of 14 from our church. Four teens - 3 boys and my girl; five 50-to-60 somethings; three 40-somethings; and two 30-somethings. Five women and nine men, two sets of couples. Seven had made this trip last year, so we had a nice mix of experienced and new.  DFW, early Thursday morning. Little out of focus, but it's the only one we got!   Once th...

For the record, these. suck. a. lot. Thank you, Pinterest, for making me unable to sneeze, cough, or get out of bed without crying. I've done these twice, and I'm due for another set today. I'm not sure if/when it will get better. [On the funny(er) side, Bug decided to do them with me, and she hasn't been able to take a complete breath since. Teenagers should have more endurance, right?] On to the rest of the workouts.... It was actually a good week. I reported on last Monday already -- that I finally got over the 2 mile wall again. I decided to go for distance more than speed for the next few workouts. Here's how I did. My distance didn't go up, but for the first time in months, I didn't walk AT ALL after the 3 minute warmup. I also got the Garmin heart rate monitor to work (finally) and I'm definitely in my target workout zone. I kept checking the Garmin when I'd feel like my breathing was less labored, and sure enough, that's...

It's looking rather unlikely that I'll hit my 30-pound loss goal before my trip in 9 days. On Sunday I was showing a full two pounds up, which did NOT make me happy. I worked out and watched my intake on Monday, and the net result was a gain of about half a pound. I can live with that. We ate really well this week -- as in steak, smoked chicken, pork loin, and of course fish tacos . Anyway, I started to panic over a gain and realized I didn't need to. My workouts are going okay (given the temperature) and we've had a lot going on. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't push harder for those last 2 pounds to make 30, but I've also had a lot of fun the last couple of weeks. It's a tradeoff. Rough life, but somebody's gotta live it. And that's my bathing suit floating up - I'm not filling that out by myself! ________________________________ I'll do a scorecard posting next Tuesday, then Bug and I head to Haiti for our mi...

[No, I don't speak French. Other than to pardon it, that is. And what will I do after three? I don't know what comes next...] I capped off the week with a pretty decent run this morning. It was a few degrees cooler (78 instead of 82) and overcast. That made the humidity ridiculous, but it wasn't unbearably hot. Oh, and this was at 7:15 in the morning. Gotta love Texas summers. I've been struggling to run much farther than 2 miles lately, almost since finishing the 5K (3.1 miles) back in March. I am sure it's mental, not physical, as I only occasionally have twinges in my calves or hips, and no lasting pain from a run. So why do I have to lecture myself for half an hour before I'll actually get out of the house? It's not too early. It's not too late. It's not too hot (yet). You're not that tired. You've done three miles before. It is NOT all uphill. No one laughs when they drive by you. You can get a new playlist later. Yes, the ...

I've never ordered fish tacos in a restaurant. I only like them when I make them myself. And this is my favorite way to make them! This is also one of the easiest meals I make.  The fish was tilapia. Brush with olive oil and heavily season with blackening spices. I use a mix I buy at this spice shop , but any that you like will work. Let that sit while the grill heats. Tonight, I sliced squash and chopped red onion for the vegetables. I tossed them into a skillet with a little coconut oil and clarified butter, seasoned with jalapeno salt and pepper. Stir them around and let the squash get soft. I also made pico de gallo. Keeping it simple, I chopped a little more red onion, a few cherry tomatoes, and some cilantro. Put that in a small bowl, add some lime juice (maybe a couple of tablespoons), some salt and a little pepper. Stir it up and put it in the fridge. I had some packaged guacamole I opened and put in a bowl with a little lime juice and salt. Now for the fis...

A couple of years ago, my company was sold to a much larger corporation. So far, my job has remained unchanged, and presumably it will stay that way. Other than some technology changes related to security (which usually do not go smoothly, btw), it's business as usual. Earlier in the week, however, I got a large postcard in the mail titled "The 10 Dos & Don'ts of portion control" -- here's a picture, with identifying marks hidden cuz I don't wanna get fired. Not that anyone associated with the corporate behemoth reads this, but still. At first, I just tossed it in the trash and briefly thought "Stay out of my pantry" -- then, I actually read it. If you've been reading any of my posts the last couple of months, you know that we've switched to a Paleo diet. Excluding gluten/wheat/etc is one of the biggest changes you make on in this eating plan, and is one of the most controversial for those who think Paleo isn't healthy. I'...

It wasn't the trainwreck I expected ! Of course, I'm going on three weeks trying to lose ONE pound, but it's summer! I want to laze by the pool, drinking (non-Paleo) fruity drinks! It's hotter than the surface of the sun, and I hate getting up early enough to run before work. All in all, a tiny .2 pound loss is a win. Now I'm an even 171 pounds. Of COURSE I want to lose 8 pounds a week. But for the first time in ever, I'm not stressing about what I'm eating. I know what's Paleo, and that's what I eat (with a tiny bite of cheese occasionally). I'm just going with it. __________________________________ This "cook up" idea is the greatest thing ever. I know it's not original - bloggers everywhere talk about spending one day a week cooking and freezing, etc. I just have never done it consistently. But Saturday, R-Dub got his new grill -- the "egg" thing that is apparently the bomb. Based on the chicken we cooked, it'...

In this story, the cat is played by the teenaged daughter who is currently at camp...and the playing mice look an awful lot like parents goofing off. Like, movies until way too late. Dishes that really need to go in the dishwasher. And no workout because sleeping late sounded better. So I totally blew off my workout tonight. I was under duress -- R-Dub gets the blame (and I warned him) because it was rainy and water aerobics wasn't happening. Who can turn down Paleo chicken salad with wine, cozied up on the couch, watching trash TV? Anyway, tomorrow's weigh in is likely to be a train wreck, but I had a really fun weekend, so I'll deal with it! I didn't blow off the whole week. Tuesday and Thursday were run days -- I went further on Thursday (2.3 miles) than I've done lately, and my times weren't bad. Thursday was also water aerobics for an hour -- and I was sore on Friday. The weekend was spent in the pool - some stretching, but not much cardio involved...