Belted

Dillypoo wore her shirt tucked into her pants today:

I haven't done that in 10 or 15 years! It takes guts (or maybe the lack of guts) to wear a shirt tucked in instead of out.

One of the gals in the office noticed and commented on my daring styling. The compliment was much appreciated!

I'm also wearing my silver loop belt! I wish I'd thought about wearing it when I left the house this morning, but it didn't occur to me until I was driving home after my Club WW meeting tonight.

Not surprising since I haven't worn it in years. The last time I even tried it on was to show that it didn't fit:

What a difference 50.6 pounds makes!

And for those of you paying attention, that number means I lost at the scale this week. Yes, Dillypoo is down another .8 pounds. I'm exactly 4 pounds from goal.

I'm going to try and get there by my birthday, which is a little more than five weeks away.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Caffeine is Not for Losers

Dillypoo really needs to lay off the caffeine. I had so much diet soda yesterday that I lay awake watching tee vee until 2:30 this morning.

The informercials in the wee hours of the morning are pretty entertaining, in an OMG what-was-that-it-can't-be-real sort of way. Have you seen this?

I doubt I'll be buying anything that makes my fanny look bigger. After losing 50 pounds, I think it's bootilicious enough as is.

Anyhoo, I try and limit most of my daily caffeine to a couple cups of coffee in the morning and the occasional diet coke at lunch. My tolerance for it seems to weaken as I get older and makes me crazy.

Because in my caffeinated state of wakefulness last night, I began to fret between reruns of The Locator about facing the scale at Club WW on Tuesday.

I berated myself for drinking a gallon of pop and for skipping a workout for the first time in 15 days. I also gave myself a lecture about the cheeseburger I ate Friday night and the Mexican food I had for lunch yesterday.

I know that in the grand scheme of life, these things will not hurt me so long as I don't eat that way at every meal, but I'm supposed to be in a losing state of mind, not maintenance. Onion rings and a bowl of chips and salsa are not losing foods.

So this morning I went back to the football stadium and did more steps than last week (665) and I walked up and down the stadium ramp twice. I wanted to get a full 30-minute workout in, which I did, and I completed my strength training routine when I got home. So I should be plenty sore tomorrow morning and hopefully back on a losing plan for eating today.

Signing off for now. It's time for a late breakfast and a bath. I'm blogging in my workout togs.

Gross.

The Water Thief

Dillypoo broke a record this morning:

This was my time to walk two miles. I usually walk a 15-minute mile but the wretched heat wave finally broke this week and the cooler temps before dawn motivated me to push harder and walk faster.

Wow! My legs are still feeling it this evening. I'm beginning to love that feeling in my muscles after a good workout. It's a dull ache but not in a bad way. It's more a feeling of being alive.

Weird, I know.

After my walk, I came home and finished my workout with the Nordic thing and some weights while watching Sunrise Earth on the tee vee.

I love Sunrise Earth. It's a wonderfully soothing backdrop for lifting weights. Much better than having drama and noise blasting from an early news broadcast.

My peaceful morning wasn't to last, though, and came to an abrupt end at 7:00.

Just as I was about to get in the tub, The Professor's alarm went off and he leapt out of bed and stole my bath!

Dillypoo: "Hey! That's my bath!"

The Professor: "I overslept! I have an 8:00 meeting. Why is this water so cold?"

Dillypoo: "Because it's my bath and I'm hot from working out!"

Pretty nervy to steal a person's bath and then complain about the water temperature.

Thankfully, the disruption was short. He finished my bath, dressed and fled the house in his own record time, and I was left to finish my morning in solitude, marveling with quiet awe at my 27:28 accomplishment.

For more Feel Good Friday posts, check out A Reader's Random Ramblings.

Dillypoo vs. The Scale

The scales mocked me tonight. My weigh-in showed a .4 pound GAIN.

I mean, really? I gained?

My legs are still sore from Sunday's hike up and down a football stadium!

Hmmm...I wonder if that has something to do with it? Perhaps my poor, beat up thighs are storing fluids to ease their pain.

There's only one way to find out. I must continue pounding the pavement every morning until my muscles become used to regular activity.

I accept your challenge, Mr. Scale! I will defeat you!

Shopping and Shaving

I made one of The Professor's dreams come true this past weekend.

I shaved my legs. Sort of.

Saturday evening's conversation as we watched tee vee in bed:

The Professor: "What are you doing?"

Dillypoo: "Removing the hair on my legs."

The Professor: "With what?"

Dillypoo: "This sandpaper thingy."

The Professor: "I don't think you should do that on the bed. That's 40 years of hair you've got there."

After swearing off razors from an unfortunate shaving incident in 1983, Dillypoo succumbed to the power of advertising and bought this:

Last weekend was the annual three days of tax-free shopping sponsored by the State of Texas. It's our government's way of getting as many people off the streets and into the malls as possible. The Professor waits all year for this weekend to buy new shorts, t-shirts and socks.

I spotted the little pink box on a clearance table as we did our usual bickering in the men's clothing section at Sears:

Dillypoo: "You really don't need anymore short sleeve plaid shirts. You have at least 20 hanging in the closet now."

The Professor: "So you're saying I can't get any new clothes for school?"

Dillypoo: "No, I'm saying you don't need any new short sleeve plaid shirts."

The Professor: "All I wanted was a new shirt to wear to school and now you won't let me buy anything."

It's like shopping with a 14-year old girl.

It was about then that I spotted the As Seen On TV promise to remove hair instantly and pain free. It caught my attention because I was in serious agony trying not to make Saturday the The Professor's last day on Earth. And since getting him into the women's clothing section so I could look for bargains was about as likely as his buying a decent dress shirt, I grabbed it as the only source of retail therapy within reach.

The end result of my impulse buy is that The Professor lives another day and Dillypoo has hairless legs for the first time since college.

About a dozen or more friends and relatives just fainted after reading this news.

I'm Melting

No chance of hell freezing over today!

And the a/c at the office died.

Fall, wherefore art thou?

Stair Climber

Dillypoo has been very motivated this week. Last week's weigh in was just the kick in the pants I needed to re-focus on getting to goal.

Not that I've been lax in the effort. It's just that I've become so comfortable with my body and relationship with food that getting to goal hasn't been a priority. I know that reaching it is attainable. I just haven't cared about how long it would take.

But reaching the 50 pound milestone triggered something inside. I want to reach my goal weight sooner rather than "sometime."

So I've refocused my eating on losing instead of being sensible and healthy. And I've pumped up the exercise.

Dillypoo has worked out everyday for the past seven days straight!

And today I tried something new. I've been pre-occupied with the thought of climbing stairs ever since the Berlin trip. But I don't have access to a tall building and parking garages are kind of creepy, so my mother suggested that I head to the local university and climb the stairs in the football stadium.

Brilliant idea, mom!

Dillypoo didn't attend this school and I've never been to a football game. I'm not a football fan.

I had it written into my divorce papers from Husband #1 that I never had to watch football again. Ever.

So I was in unknown territory when I drove through the school gates. I wasn't even sure I was allowed on the premises, being neither a student nor football aficionado.

But nobody stopped me, so in I went. I was hoping there would be a shady side, but that was wishful thinking. It was already 91 degrees when I got there (the temperature would eventually climb to 105 degrees). This wasn't going to be a cool climb.

For the record, there are 133 steps. I counted them. Four times. It took me 15 minutes to go up, down, up, pause, down, up, stop, gasp, down, up, stop, groan and down again.

My legs were shaking by the time I finished.

I usually spend 30 minutes walking and/or running every morning, followed by 15 minutes of weights and strength training. But 15 minutes of stadium hiking was enough for today. Even my arms hurt afterwards!

And I loved doing it and will most definitely do it again. Especially if it helps me get that much closer to goal when I weigh in again on Tuesday.

Beating the Heat

Dillypoo has found a way to beat the heat and still get her workout in! For the past two mornings I've set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. and gone for a 30 minute run/walk.

It's still dark out when I leave the house, but the heat is tolerable if you can't see the sun.

It's actually kind of peaceful. There are a few other early risers out getting their exercise in. A couple of joggers and a handful of walkers, some with dogs. Folks aren't as friendly at that hour as they are in the park, but then again they're probably sleep jogging.

I'm glad I tried this early routine. The long hours at work mean I'm too tired to go out when I get home, and I get cranky if I haven't exercised in a few days.

Oh, and being able to work out again means that I lost 1.6 pounds this week for a total of 50.2 pounds! I even got a fancy magnet at my Club WW meeting for the accomplishment:

I knew last week's gain wasn't because of Nutella!

Getting Back to Normal

Things are finally returning to normal at Dillypoo's house. Our bags are unpacked, laundry is done, I'm gorging on cherries again and The Professor has examined my re-organization of the upstairs and deemed it a job well done.

Yesterday morning I went to the park and ran a mile and walked two. I'm still not fully adjusted to the triple-digit temperatures, though. It's easy to get overheated and I worry about hurting myself. As it was, I was so hot and tired afterwards that I was losing muscle control. Specifically of the bladder variety.

It wasn't a fun drive home. Or a dry one.

So I think Dillypoo will stay away from the park until it gets a little cooler and stick to walking in the neighborhood. There are more shade trees in the hood than in the park.

Go figure!

After a cold soak in the tub and two bottles of water, The Professor suggested we go running around, something we like to do on Saturdays and haven't done since June.

So off we headed on a hot, sunny summer Saturday to run unessential errands and relax in the air-conditioned car.

After making trips to Costco, Home Depot and several thrift stores in search of old bowling balls, we decided to buy some fish for our backyard pond.

The five fishies currently living out there need some new playmates:

We bought three Shubunkins and two fan tails:

I like the fan tails:

The Professor likes the Shubunkins, especially the blue ones:

Everyone seems to be getting along well!

I'm sorry? What was that you asked? Why were we thrifting for old bowling balls? Isn't that something everyone does on a hot Saturday in August? Did my fishy photos bore you?

The Professor: "Where's your old bowling ball?"

Dillypoo: "I finally gave it to charity. Why?"

The Professor: "What?! After all these years you get rid of it now?"

Dillypoo: "I thought you'd be pleased that I got rid of some of my things and not just yours!"

Turns out bowling balls make excellent sphere shapes for his beginning drawing students:

Four bucks and a can of paint makes one perfect still life.

Yes, things are finally getting back to normal!

Feeling Good on a Fine Friday the 13th

Today is Friday the 13th. Dillypoo doesn't like Friday the 13th. Bad things have been known to happen to me. I broke out in hives last time.

And the omens didn't look good for today. This morning I accidentally moved my work folder on the server and needed nerd help to find and move it back.

But then I decided to put on my big girl pants and stare the date straight in the eyes and say, "BACK OFF!" Dillypoo will not let another silly phobia ruin a potentially fine Friday.

Which is how I turned an ominous date into a perfectly good day.

I was busy and productive, pushing a lot of paperwork off my desk and onto somebody else's.

I had a healthy lunch and snacked on half a bag of cherries.

I didn't have to work late which meant The Professor and I were able to join my family for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

And I made it home early enough to blog and post this before midnight, which means I can participate in Feel Good Friday sponsored by Fiona over at A Reader's Random Ramblings!

That Time of Year Again

Vacation is officially over and Dillypoo is definitely not in Germany anymore!

It's 106 degrees at 6:30 p.m. Hooray for Texas summers.

It's taken me a week to acclimate to the heat again. I went to the park on Sunday for a run and a walk and thought I was going to pass out. I managed to do two miles (one running and one walking), about half what I could do before I left for Germany.

But I did climb some stairs, something I never considered doing before hiking up that Berlin cathedral:

I went up and down them twice. And then I went home and sat in front of the air conditioner with a bottle of water. I haven't gone back to the park since.

But that's less to do with the heat and more because I'm getting crazy busy at work again and haven't had time. Taking the extra week off after Germany means Dillypoo had to adjust to both triple-digit heat and make the mental switch from vacation-time to overtime in less than a week.

It's only Wednesday and I already have 33 hours on my timesheet.

Time to refocus my efforts to eat well and maintain positive lifestyle habits, like keeping my food journal (something I neglected while on holiday), exercising (I loved walking all over Hilmsen and Berlin) and stashing healthy snacks at the office (bags of apples and cans of tuna got me through last year's busy time).

I also need to lose the pound I brought back as a souvenir. I blame the church lady buffets from last week's family time in Ohio.

And maybe Nutella.

Nah. It was the church lady buffets.

Reasons for Getting Fit

This post was inspired by Jack.

German Chocolate

Dillypoo has a new love in her life:

Did you know that in Europe they eat chocolate for breakfast? I didn't either. A little dab on bread or a rice cake with some fruit and yogurt is my new favorite way to start the day.

It's the best way to keep the daily Dementors at bay. And with apologies to my Australian readers, chocolate is much tastier than Vegemite on toast.

Dillypoo is finally home, recuperating from intense exhaustion brought on by the events of the past 12 days. Getting from Hamburg, Germany to Piqua, Ohio felt like swimming upstream for three days. I had no idea a body could function for so long on so little sleep.

I'm currently sitting on my bed with the cats and dog, organizing photos and reminiscing about the past few weeks.

And thinking about Nutella. I brought my jar home but took it to the office yesterday. Which means I can't curl up with it and a spoon this weekend.

That's probably a good thing.

But back to the photos and reminiscing. Two weeks ago, The Professor and I climbed to the cupola of this Berlin cathedral:

And I mean we climbed it! For all the boasts about German engineering, the use of elevators seemed to be a foreign concept there. We had to hoof it up (and then down) about 4,000,000 stairs:

It's a good thing Dillypoo works out regularly because the old Dillypoo wouldn't have made it past the steps leading into the portico.

But the views at the top were spectacular:


It was one of the highlights of our visit to Berlin. That and the walking tour we took our first day in the city. If you're ever in Berlin, I recommend looking up Berlin Walks. Our guide walked us past the Brandenburg Gate, the site of Hitler's bunker and to various memorials dedicated to the victims and survivors of World War II:



It was a thought provoking and emotional way to learn about and see the city. We spent the next two days exploring East Berlin further, looking for art and returning to some of the places we passed during the walking tour.

And eating chocolate for breakfast.

Can you say chocolate croissant? Almost as awesome as a jar of Nutella!

Grateful

Things for which I am grateful:

Family and friends who sent love, hugs and good thoughts to The Professor and his family this past week.

Uncle Roger and Aunt Doris, who fed and housed us for a week (and didn't cringe when I attempted to destroy their clothes dryer).

Acetone, which removes chewing gum stuck to the inside of a clothes dryer.

Rachel from the emergency hotline who stayed on the Skype line with me for more than two hours to re-book our immediate return from Germany.

Joe's dad, who made a midnight run to the airport to pick us up, and Joe's mom, who had dinner waiting for us when we got there.

Robert and Jana for keeping things running after I disappeared from the interwebs and e-mail for a week.

Free airport wifi.

Xanax (self explanatory).