Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Thursday Thirteen: Mostly eating and training stuff.

1. That hippie sprouted hemp bread I've become addicted to is a superfood. It's by "French Meadow" and it's wildly expensive, but now that the super-eating teenage boy is no longer lurking about, I can get it. Each tiny slice has 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein.

2. And then there's Tostitos salsa con queso, in a jar. It's not a superfood. But it's gooooooood. Zero transfats. It's one of my daily indulgences. I put bits of it on my veggies and my boca burger.

3. I have this fantasy that when I go to see the endocrinologist for my update in a few months he'll gasp and say something like, my god, i think you're the healthiest, most compliant patient i've ever had! then he'll ask if he can call his endocrinologist friends in to see how healthy I am.

4. I'm cycling to work with Sweet Baboo twice a week now. The ride in is mostly downhill for the first 9 or so miles, and then flattish/uphill the other six. The ride home is, UGH, hard. But it's good for me; when I first started I was afraid to go downhill fast, and now I'm used to it.
Sometimes, as I struggle uphill, Sweet Baboo is ahead of me, whistling, hands off the handlebars and behind his head, making it all look sooooo easy. Luckly for him, I can't reach for things to throw at him while I'm down in my bars, trying to keep moving.
My bike parked in my office -->
5. I've discovered I have PLENTY of time for ironman training and a regular, full time job! So long as I have no children, an automatic cat feeder, an automatic pet waterer, automatic sprinklers, and I never, ever clean house.

6. Mini-baboo is now in boot camp. No cell phone or Internet for 8 weeks and that will be worse than the yelling. His last week home, we worked him hard in the yard and tightened down on the bedtime. Boy, did he bitch about all that. It's hot. Why do you make me do this? Why can't I stay up? I hate this city; it's too big. Etc. Then, he left for boot camp. In Chigaco, in June.

Go ahead. You can laugh. I did.

7. I'm peeling.

8. I've taking B vitamins now, because I don't think I was getting enough, and I was a bit tired. They seem to help.

9. With Baboo's help, I've finally started sticking to a real training plan for the first time. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we swim before work and run after work. On Wednesdays and Fridays, we bike to and from work. Weekends are for long runs/long bikes/long swims.

10. I feel like I'm just swallowing fistsful of vitamins and supplements to prevent my body from completely breaking down. Why do I feel this way? I'm only 44. On the other hand, I have hope; my friends are knee-deep in children, while I feel like I get to act like a teenager again, except this time, I'll have a driver's license and more money.

11. My other fantasy is that one day I'll show up at a triathlon where a lot of my friends are, and they'll gasp at how fast I suddenly became. Yeah. I've had that one, oh, about four years now. No gasping yet.

12. Another fantasy is that I'll show up to the Redman Iron Distance Triathlon in September and they'll be all, "oh, sorry, you're far, far too light to be an Athena."

13. I feel smaller. I don't look smaller. But I feel it.
...

6 comments:

  1. I got a laugh out of your bread buying. Sometimes I'll be around a group of people at work telling them about some great nutritious new product I've found then they'll ask how much it costs then immediately say, "My God, that's so expensive!" It totally makes a difference when you're the only one eating. Then I laughed again at your fantasies, only to mask my own pain as I have the same ones. I also share thyroid disease and the body falling apart thing but I refuse to surrender. Otherwise how can I gloat that I'm only 49 and the kids have been gone for 8 years?!

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  2. Make it happen...the fantasies can become realities. You will look back someday and wonder why they were fantasies, because you will actually be living your life the way you want and doing what you say. I am sure of it.

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  3. The vitamin B issues I (unscientifically) link to thyroid problems. Again, never had a single issue with vitamin B until they took out my lumpy thyroid and now I need uber doses of B to keep on ticking. I also need vitamin E, isn't that fun?

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  4. I need a blog so I can do a Thursday 13! :)

    re 1 - it sounds so yummy I'm tempted to see if they'll ship it across the country

    re 3 - LOL; sorry, that hasn't been my experience with endos, but if happens, be sure to post about it

    re 4 - wow, you rock

    re 5 - but of course! priorities - ironman training, dusting, hmmm...there's an actual choice there?

    re 9 - impressive

    re 10 - I have a theory (shared by my sister) that humans were only designed to last until 35, maybe 40 max....that's why the eyesight problems kick in immediately after 40 (as one eye doc told me - pretty much like clockwork). Everything after those ages is a bonus, but you start spending much more time doing maintenance and trying to keep up with or ahead of the system wear and tear, argh. That said, there are supplements (safe ones) and training that can help. However, trial and error (along with research) seems to be the only way to figure out what works for each person. I found a shellfish-free glucosamine I can use (don't want the iodine of regular) for my knees, and I''m looking into this book (probably from the library first) Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age which is by Vonda Wright, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon, special­izing in sports medicine, and the Director of PRIMA: the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes in Pittsburgh. (to which I say, why didn't I know about it when I lived only 90 min from Pitt?!).

    re 11 and 12 - those aren't fantasies, you're envisioning accomplishments, just like lots of athletes are taught to; focus on it and make it really detailed, supposedly the brain can't really tell the difference and will work with the body to create the reality you're showing it!

    re 13 - trust how you feel, it's probably your earliest indicator of changes

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  5. #3 is brilliant! I have those fantasies.

    I can't believe you are 44 and kidless - well done! You beat me by 10 years.

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  6. Good list.
    Always informative and laced with humor.
    Keeping it real.

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