Fitness Friday: Losing

This is a good kind of losing. I’ve had mixed success with my goals: exercised most days, not so good with snacking or tracking. Yet, the number keeps going down on the scale. The small steps still seem to be helping.

Monday I went to work out on the Wii. I use a game/program called My Fitness Coach. I got it a few years ago, but tend to not keep with it. It has you do a fitness evaluation at the start and then after every 10 workouts(I think). Monday it prompted me to do it. So, I weighed myself first, was down 3 pounds from the last one I did(which I think was around the beginning of the month). Then, I took my measurements. Biceps & chest stayed the same. Waist, hips, and thighs were all done by 1/2 inch each. I was able to do the 60 crunches & 50 squats without a problem(same as before) but added two more push ups (17/40). Push ups are a serious weakness of mine, even the modified ones. It’s more a problem of the weight it puts on my wrists and the fact I have less upper body strength than lower. But, this is all still progress

• drink one bottle(24 oz) of water a day: 4/5 days. One day I even finished 2 of them. I’ve drank about 1/2 of today’s bottle.
• Exercise at least 30 minutes(between Wii & treadmill)  4/5 days. It’s been mostly the treadmill. My routine’s been a little off this week with 2 hour delays & cancelled school for my daughter.
• Limit snacks to 1 between meals – Again, I do good in the morning, not so well after lunch though.
• Track food daily – I think I got 1/5 days. Another thing that I do good in the morning, but forget about adding things in to the tracker after lunch.

Starting weight: 174.8

Last week’s weight: 172.4

This week’s weight: 171.2

This week’s weight loss: 1.2 pounds

Total Weight loss: 3.6 pounds(not bad for 3 weeks)

 

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Writing Wednesday: Off Week

I haven’t taken this week off, but it’s been a weird one. Monday school was on a 2 hour delay. So, we didn’t go down to wait for the bus until 9. That has a tendency to throw me off. Yesterday, school was cancelled. That was an ordeal. We knew Monday night there’d be a 2 hour delay before the girl went to bed. So, she was prepared for that. Then, we got another call after she had gone to bed that there was no school. She was NOT happy about that when I broke the news to her in the morning. She got over it, after screaming like it was my fault it was canceled. Today was another 2 hour delay. I’m starting to wonder if they’ll have a full day of school this week. I’ve still been getting things done though.

First, my WiPPet: 19 sentences(1+2+9+2+0+1+4) from the end of the next scene from what I shared last week. Cordelia is meeting up with Elijah and just told him what had happened with her following and eavesdropping on Henry.

“Your guardian angel must be working overtime, Cordelia. It’s a miracle you made it out of there. Why would you put yourself in such a situation?”

“At first, I wanted to find something that would help you and the other farmers. Once I saw that deed, I had to know what he was up to. The store’s the only thing I have left of Pa. I can’t let him take it from me.”

His arms came around me again, and I felt them tremble. “I won’t let him take you away from me. I’m not sure I would survive that.”

I was so wrapped up in him, I didn’t notice the sound of approaching riders until Elijah stiffened beside me. I started to turn, but he kept me tight against him.

“Step away from the girl.”

Elijah stood, and in the same movement, pushed me behind him. “Go,” he whispered before turning to the three men. “You’re not going to touch her.”

The man in the lead laughed. “I’d like to see you stop me.”

“That’s just what I plan to do.”

Now, for my progress on my ROW80 goals.

• Flames of Redemption: Finish Revisions – I’m through Chapter 23. 7 more chapters/15 scenes to work through.
• East of Abilene: Finish 1st Draft- I’ve finished 4 scenes so far this week. 3673 words. 2 more scenes to go unless something changes.
• Flames of Renewal – Finish Character Worksheets – I did this on Sunday. And almost have the blueprint filled in.
• Catch Up on Reviews – I caught up on the backlog of reviews on Sunday as well. So now, I’m trying to write them as soon as I finish the book. I’ve already read 2 books this week.

Sunday Summary: Book Bingeing

I have done a lot of reading this week. Anyone who knows me knows I’m pretty much always reading. But, this week has been a little insane. And yet, I’ve still managed to get my other stuff done as well. Despite what my tweet from the other day says:

If you all would stop writing good books, I'd actually get something done. Or you know, if I had more self-discipline.

— Fallon Brown (@frbrown906) January 24, 2014

And my personal book pimp/pusher, Lauren Garafalo, doesn’t help by recommending more books to me:

Starting to read Altered by @Jenn_Rush this morning. Another recommendation by @laurengarafalo which means I'll probably like it

— Fallon Brown (@frbrown906) January 25, 2014

And yes, I did love it. More book boyfriends to add to the harem 😉

Yet, I still managed to cross everything off my list for the week. I think it helps that I tend to be productive in the mornings before I start reading. If only I had the self-discipline to not open the kindle until after I got everything done for the day. I did have to move a few things to yesterday’s list from Friday, but I still got them done before the end of the week.

• Flames of Redemption: Revise through Chapter 19 -finished this yesterday. I added 5 new scenes in the last 9 chapters. The last of these meant I had to rewrite a good bit of the next scene. Hoping it makes it better, or it was a waste of yesterday’s time. I don’t have any more I plan to add in, so I’m hoping to finish revisions by the end of this next week.
• East of Abilene: Write 6 Scenes – Wrote 5. One of the planned 6 no longer worked because things changed on me a bit as I wrote the scene before that one. I have 5 more to go, unless things change again. So, if everything goes according to plan(does it ever?) I should be finished by the end of the month.
• Read: Shatter Me & From This Moment On(Bella Andre) – finished Shatter Me Tuesday and From This Moment On Wednesday. From This Moment On picked up a little bit, but I still had problems with it. I may not have finished it at all if I wasn’t looking for to the third one(the firefighter brother’s story). It wasn’t bad, just something kept me from connecting. Then, I read Destroy Me(Warner’s novella by Tahereh Mafi), Sins of the Son(Linda Poitevin – LOVED), Skeleton’s Key(Stacy Green – another loved), Riven(Kait Nolan – again, loved) and Altered(Jennifer Rush – omg, those boys. Loved) I’ve never known so many books in a row to make me cry/yell/scream at my kindle screen. I may get a little emotionally involved in fictional character’s lives. 🙂 I’ve finished 18/15 books this month, and it’s not over yet. According to Goodreads(as of yesterday), I was 6 books ahead of schedule for my yearly reading goal of 175 books.

If I get everything else done, I also want to:

• Finish back stories for Flames of Renewal – I had those done early last week. I also finished the plot summary and started working on character worksheets.
• Write reviews for books I’ve read this year – I have 6/18 written. Hoping to catch up on some of these today.

Goals for the rest of January:

• Flames of Redemption: Finish Revisions
• East of Abilene: Finish 1st Draft
• Flames of Renewal – Finish Character Worksheets
• Catch Up on Reviews

No reading goal for this week since I’ve already surpassed that goal. Although you can be sure I’ll still be reading.

Fitness Friday: Small Steps

I’ve have mixed results for my goals over the past week. Monday and Tuesday I did good with working out and even tracking what I eat. Wednesday and Thursday, I didn’t. I did walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes this morning. I’ve been working on finishing at least one bottle of water each day. It hasn’t happened every day, but that’s all I’ve been drinking after my coffee in the morning.  I’m taking small steps to reach my goals though, so I know I’ll get there. Weekends are kind of an off time for me. I don’t really track what I’m doing.

• drink one bottle(24 oz) of water a day: 3/5 days(working on today’s).
• Exercise at least 30 minutes(between Wii & treadmill)  3/5 days
• Limit snacks to 1 between meals – I can do pretty good in the morning. It’s more of a struggle between lunch & dinner and after dinner.
• Track food daily – 2/5 days.

Last week’s weight: 172.8

Today’s weight: 172.4

Not a lot of weight loss. Hopefully I can do better with this little steps over the next week.

Writing Wednesday: An Impossible Position

The girl had Monday off from school, and I figured that would throw off my routine. Then, the boy took a four hour nap in the afternoon. I thought that was really strange, but I wasn’t going to take it for granted. Then, he slept in until almost 8 Tuesday morning, when he’s usually up by 6 at the latest. Even with all that sleep, all he wanted to do all day was lay on the couch. This is a kid who usually doesn’t sit still at all. So, I knew he wasn’t feeling good. And he was practically begging to go to bed at 6:30. He didn’t get up until almost 7:30 today and I figured we were in for a repeat of yesterday. But, he ate breakfast(he didn’t seem to want to eat much yesterday) and is up and playing. So, whatever had him down yesterday seems to have passed. I was able to make a good bit of progress so far this week. I’ll report on that in a bit, but first a WiPPet snippet.

22 lines from the scene after what I shared last week. I believed Jack was mentioned in that one. He’s Charlotte’s father and the sheriff. I thought he was going to have a very minor part. I didn’t realize he actually cares about Cordelia(in more of a protective, not romantic way). He’s talking to her here about what she had told them in the last scene.

“And what were you doing in there?”

I felt heat flush my cheeks and cast my gaze to the floor.

“Snooping, huh? I’m guessing you already had your suspicions about him.” I just nodded, and he continued. “I have to admit I have a problem believing it too. Henry Vickers has done a lot for this town.”

“He’s a snake,” I muttered.

“Maybe. And like I said it’s not like you to truly lie. Maybe you just misunderstood something.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t misunderstand any of it. Maybe if I had just seen the deeds. But, what they said. There aren’t many ways to interpret ‘one way or the other I’ll be rid of her’. If Charlotte doesn’t marry me off to Frederic, he’ll kill me. Those are the two ways to get rid of me.”

He ran a hand over his face, and I saw the way it trembled. “Then, maybe you should accept his proposal.”

I pushed up from the bed. “No, Jack. There’s no way I’d marry that creep. I’d rather have Henry kill me then spend my life with him. I want Elijah. He’s the only man I’ll marry.”

He sighed. “This is an impossible position, Cordelia.”

“It’s the only one I’m willing to take.”

“Stay away from Henry Vickers. I’ll look into this more, see if he really is scheming. But, I want you to watch your step, Cordelia. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” I wanted to stay as far away as I could. In fact, I wanted to be away from this whole town right now.

He took a step toward the door then turned back to look at her. “You know, Charlotte never planned to get a daughter when she was barely twenty. Especially not one a half dozen years old and extremely spirited. And she planned even less to lose her husband a few years later.”

“I know.”

“She’s done the best she knows. She just doesn’t always know how to handle you. She did love your father though. And he wanted a mother for you. She’s trying to do what she feels is right for you.”

“It’s not. I don’t want this. She won’t see that though.”

Now, for my progress this week:

• Flames of Redemption: Revise through Chapter 19 – Halfway through Chapter 14. There were a few scenes in here that I’m adding in. And a couple more coming up. Some I planned to add didn’t really seem necessary.
• East of Abilene: Write 6 Scenes – I’ve finished 3 scenes. The next one I planned on writing doesn’t work now. So this goal will probably end up at 5 scenes. That will leave 5 left unless something changes.
• Read: Shatter Me & From This Moment On(Bella Andre) – finished Shatter Me yesterday(Loved it!) and started From This Moment On(meh so far. Hoping it picks up).

As for my ‘if I have the time’ goals:

• Finish back stories for Flames of Renewal – I finished these Sunday afternoon. Also figured out plot points and started fleshing out a plot summary.
• Write reviews for books I’ve read this year – 4 reviews written for the 12 books I’ve read. 2 of those were written right after I finished reading. Trying to catch up on at least 1 a day.

Hoping the rest of this week goes as well.

Sunday Summary: Productive Week

I love when I can cross off everything on my to-do list for the week. And I’m almost there. When I checked in on Wednesday, I’d been productive. And then I went down to get my daughter off the bus and read for the rest of the day. I fell behind on some of my goals, so I moved them to Thursday. Thursday morning I got caught up on those one and some of the ones for Thursday, went down to get the girl off the bus, and…read. Noticing a trend? I had my three planned books for the week finished by Thursday night.

Friday, the girl didn’t have school but she went with a friend to the movies for the friend’s birthday. The mom took a couple other kids as well, then they went out to eat and for ice cream. So, it was still just the boy and me most of the day. I was actually able to get caught up on my list. I even read another book(short novella actually) Friday night. I didn’t have too many goals on my list for this weekend, since that’s the time I usually have for finishing what I didn’t get done during the week. I actually spent most of yesterday writing out character back stories for my upcoming WiP. Finished 2/4 of them, both were 6 pages handwritten in a composition notebook.

Feeling pretty good about my progress this week. Hoping for another good week.

• Flames of Redemption: Revise through Chapter 10 – Done
• East of Abilene: Write 7 scenes – 7/7 written. Have 11 more planned
• Read: Rock Your Revisions(Cathy Yardley) – Done
• Read: Soul Oath(Juliana Haygert), She’ll Never Rest(Jannine Gallant), & Deadly Games(Lindsay Buroker) – Done(Loved), Done(Liked), & Done(Loved). Also read Cup of Life(Juliana Haygert) & am 25% through Shatter Me(Tahereh Mafi)
• Crochet: Baby Converse booties – Done(well for the most part. Should get some Stop Fray glue for the ends of the laces, but that’s it.)

I like seeing all those Dones. I also baked a ham, made some potato soup, and yesterday cooked up some ham stock. Now, I just need to figure out what I’ll use it for. My goals for next week are:

• Flames of Redemption: Revise through Chapter 19
• East of Abilene: Write 6 Scenes
• Read: Shatter Me & From This Moment On(Bella Andre)

If I get everything else done, I also want to:

• Finish back stories for Flames of Renewal
• Write reviews for books I’ve read this year – This is something I struggle with. I’m not sure why, but especially when I really love a book, I have a hard time with putting into words what I really loved about it. I’ve written two so far this year even though I’ve read 11. It’s my goal to write at least a couple sentences on goodreads for each book(and then put it on Amazon since that’s where I buy my books).

Fitness Friday: Ashamed

I haven’t done a fitness Friday in well, a long time. And that’s probably part of the problem. I haven’t been doing anything to keep myself accountable. I stopped tracking what I was eating. Got lazy about working out. Part of it is that even when I was doing those things, that damn number on the scale never seemed to budge. And it frustrated me. And I may have given up. A little.

Then I watched that number keep going up. And it depressed me. Especially when it got over 170. The only other time(s) I’ve been up this high is when I was pregnant. Other than that, 166 was my highest. And I wasn’t happy with that. After my son was born, I was able to get down to a little over 140. I’d love to be able to get back down to that weight. I felt good there. I’d even be happy between 145-150.

So, obviously some changes need to be made. I’m going to try to start with small goals. Of course, I’ve never been too good at pacing myself. I’m going to use these Friday updates to track my progress with those instead of just recording weight loss. I will still track that, but I’m trying to keep myself to only weighing in one day a week. Otherwise, I have a tendency to obsess(and right now, I can hear the sarcastic “no, not you” from those who know me).

So, for right now, my goals are:

• drink one bottle(24 oz) of water a day
• Exercise at least 30 minutes(between Wii & treadmill)
• Limit snacks to 1 between meals
• Track food daily

Snacking is one of my hardest issues to overcome. Not so much in the morning as in the afternoon though. So, that’s what I really need to work on.

As for the weight, I stepped on the scale Monday morning as a starting point. 174.8. This morning I weighed in at 172.8. I made some of those changes this week(not so good with the snacking though). It’s a good start.