And Now It Is Conquered

I would like to report that things have been perfect.

But I can't.

And that's ok because things have been good. I got up on Saturday morning and had some brekkie. I've been eating the Kashi GoLean lately. For nearly 1.5 years I was strictly a Special K Protein Plus girl. But when I went to visit my friend Kelly in Ventura they had the Kashi GoLean. [Note: this is not the GoLean Crunch that people refer to as Crack...I'm too scared to even try that stuff!] The Kashi is bland on it's own but Kelly puts Cinnamon on it so I tried it. Perfect! Here are the stats:

......Special K / Kashi GoLean......

• Serving Size: 29g/39g* (*this is the Calorie Watchers serving for Kashi)
• Calories: 100/110
• Fat: 3g/1g
• Fiber: 5g/8g
• Sugars: 2g/5g
• Protein: 10g/10g

As you can see they're pretty comparable. Special K has less calories, but not by much. Kashi wins on the Fat and Fiber fronts. The Points are the same, 1 Point per serving! Yeah Baby! So I switched to Kashi for now but I know they'll be some Special K in my future when I get tired of the Kashi. It's nice to have options. Throw in a 1/2 c of FF milk (or 3/4 of a cup and call it a cup!) and you've got yourself a 2 Point breakfast. With lots of protein so you're not starving an hour later.

Alright, that was a bit of a tangent. Back to Saturday morning. We cleaned some to let breakfast settle. It was an all out Spring Cleaning type deal. We cleaned the fridge and freezer and sprayed the oven and then went on our bike ride. We rode 11.8 miles in a little under an hour. I didn't get my full 59 minutes in but I was okay with that knowing I had a full day of cleaning ahead of me. We returned to the condo and dug in full force with the dusting, vacuuming, windexing, etc. We did the kitchen, bathroom and both bedrooms. Whew! By the end of the day our happy little condo was clean again. It's times like these I'm glad we don't have a big ol' house to clean!

On Sunday I was supposed to do a 29 minute run. Notice the supposed to part. It didn't happen. I was also supposed to do weight training. Nope. I sat at home all day and watched movies and relaxed in my clean condo. This is the part where perfect breaks down. I felt appropriately guilty. Would you like to know my main excuse? It was too hot outside. Yep, pretty lame I know.

I went to bed last night determined to get up this morning and get my swim in. I slept too long and didn't do it. Time to call in the reinforcements. I called Miguel midday today and asked him to please train with me this afternoon. He agreed, thank goodness. So after work we saddled up on our bikes and rode to the YMCA pool. He watched me swim for 29 minutes and then we biked home. I got in my training! Yay! Having a supportive partner is sometimes like having a miracle land in your day. I thanked him profusely but he still probably doesn't know how much it meant to me.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a day off but I'm plotting to hit the gym to at least make up my weight training from Sunday. Since I only do the weight training twice a week now it's really important I get it in.

What a difference a workout can make. I was feeling down, depressed, ineffectual, guilty...all of the above, at work today. After my workout tonight I felt energized, alive, hopeful. Exercise is miraculous that way. It can lift you out of the lows of exhaustion and misery. The problem usually is, when you're in the lows of exhaustion and misery the last thing you want to do is exercise. And yet, it is our salvation. Ain't that a bitch?

Oh! I almost forgot the meaning of my post. On our way home from the pool I faced the big a$$ hill for the second time. Here is what I had to say the first time I faced it.

On the way home Miguel wanted to take this shorter route over this big a$$ hill. Ah! No! Can't do it! Well, after a few minutes I started feeling like I could give it a try. I made it about 1/2 way up before needing a break - but I made it. Pretty amazing. Miguel declared the hill conquered but I will declare it so when I can ride up with no break :) At its worst it is a 12% grade according to Garmin.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I made it! And it wasn't too bad. I was breathing pretty hard by the time I got to the top but now I can declare it conquered :)

I want to thank you all for your support regarding the ice cream incident my food choices. I know most of you know what food demon psychology is like. It sucks. Being reminded to stick with the positive attitude, that in the long run one pint of ice cream mistake won't fell the tower, well, that's what I needed to hear. Thanks.