Aloha from Kauai

I know what you're thinking, what?? Kauai?? It was a somewhat impromptu trip, coming together in just the past few weeks. One of my backpacking girlfriends, Heidi, moved here last year and she's had an open door since. Here's a pic of she and I on our Desolation trip in 2013.

Look at that smile, I just love her. Why did it take me this long to visit? No matter, I'm here now.

So Heidi is as crazy active and fit as they come. She's a yoga instructor, among other things, and road bikes, runs, swims...she does it all. I arrived on Thursday morning to beautiful weather.

Before too long we were sitting on the beach, Salt Pond beach, watching the waves.

After some time in the sun we headed to her house and had dinner with she and the family. Up and at 'em Friday morning to head out to Hanakapi`ai Valley for an amazing waterfall hike. Here's a description I found at www.kauaiexplorer.com:

Cool Because

You get a river, a beach and a waterfall in an ancient pristine valley

Topography

Trail begins at Ke`e Beach traveling along high ocean-side cliffs.  Narrow path passes in and out of several valleys with steep inclines and declines.  Trail conditions may range from muddy puddles to dry, crumbly rock.  Path leads to Hanakapi`ai beach with option to follow along Hanakapi`ai river to waterfall that drops into large, deep pool.

Not Good For

Those that do not have strong endurance and are not in good physical condition.

Hazards

Extreme inclines and declines on uneven, narrow footpath on high cliffs.  Loose rocks underfoot and from eroding cliffs above.  Trail is slippery when muddy.  Strong sun, little shade.  Heavy backpacks can cause overexertion.  Filter all water.  Strong currents and flash flooding can occur at the river.  Dangerous shorebreak and riptides at Hanakapi`ai beach - use extreme caution.

Oh my goodness...you can't imagine the pristine beauty of it all. The pictures just don't do it justice but I'll post some anyway.

The first vista point after 2 miles, looking down at Ke`e Beach

Heidi and I loving life

Glancing down the Na Pali coast

Girls on the move

One of the many river crossings on the way up the valley

The hike was challenging but not hard. I wore tennis shoes but changed into teva sandals at the first of 5 or so river crossings. And then, after 4 miles of beautiful hiking, we came to the falls.

And we made it! This is just a tiny part of the falls, they are huge!

It's hard to give you a sense of how tall this waterfall is but this pic comes close.

Look how tiny the man is in the foreground

After a lunch of PB&J, and a bag of lychee fruit we started back on the 4 mile return trek. It started to rain and the drops of water felt just perfect. And it made the trail muddy, changing the hike altogether. I was scooting along, stomping in mud puddles, feeling like a kid at Disneyland!

On the return trek 

My mud-covered legs

At the 2-mile point we stopped at Hanakapi`ai Beach to take in the scene and snap a few pictures.

Hanakapi`ai Beach

Cairns at the beach, this IS the way

Our muddy toes

After the hike we headed to Hanalei. As we pulled into the parking lot at the beach I was awestruck. I've seen some beautiful spots in my time but this really blew me away. So picture perfect, I felt like I was on a movie set.

Sunset at Hanalei

Heidi and I having fun!

We swam, sat in the beach chairs, solving all of life's problems by realizing we didn't really have any that needed solving. Just be. And in this moment, being is perfection.

After the beach we drove home, starving, and Heidi cooked up some black bean and cheese quesadillas while I made homemade pico de gallo. I wish I'd taken a picture but I think hunger took over. That and a shared cerveza and we slept like the dead that night.

So that was Friday...Saturday we packed up to head to Polihale Beach for a night of camping. Yes, camping on the beach. And I mean on.the.beach. Heidi's boyfriend has a truck and we drove right up and slept feet from the waves. The Polihale beach is on the other side of the Na Pali coast from where we'd hiked the day prior.

Driving in

Our setup. These people know how to do it.

Pupus (appetizers) on the beach.

Sipping tequila (thanks Andrew!)

The beautiful sunset

And sharing it with Heidi made it all the better

More sunset

We played in the waves, sat in the sun, sipped tequila and laughed. Life doesn't get much better than this. The moon was so bright and the company so good, it was hard to settle down for sleep but we did eventually. The next morning was more of the same before packing up to head home for a much needed nap! I slept like a rock for a couple hours before heading out to The Beach House for a martini and some food.

The view from our table

I had a wonderful evening, enjoying the moment just as it was. I am the luckiest girl alive. I could go on and on about how grateful I am to have made the changes I did, that I got up and did it, that I continue to live it every day, in every choice, with every step and every breath. If you doubt yourself, stop doing that, if you are afraid you won't make it, do it anyway. Just take the next step. And after that, take the next one. You don't have to see the way to start the journey. Like I said, I could go on and on, but I don't really need to, this post does it for me.

On the Road

Ok, I'm going to split this into two posts. First, a quick catch up since my last post, and then I'll do a Kauai post.

Going back two weeks already!...I went on the big road ride I was planning with a fellow road-cycler. We started near San Geronimo golf course in West Marin and rode out to Point Reyes. We hung out there for a bit and I ended up getting cartwheel lessons from a little girl. I could not do a cartwheel to save my life but the little girl was generous in trying to teach me and I felt like a rock star for trying. After a while we hit the road back. I got a side stitch during the return ride, which was annoying, but I made it. Here are a couple pics from that ride, which turned out to be about 28 miles.

My snack during our Point Reyes break

Suffering a bit from the side stitch but managing a smile

After the ride we went to Lagunitas Brewery for a beer. There was a band playing on the patio so I enjoyed a couple IPAs while listening.

What a spot, if you're ever in the area and love beer, this is a must see. So that was my Sunday. The following weekend was the Memorial Day holiday so I packed up the kids and drove to Palmdale to visit one of my dearest girlfriend and her husband and daughter. It's been WAY too long since we've had a visit (Marek was a baby).

We all had the best time, catching up, hanging out, and just generally enjoying the splendid company. I'm so grateful to have great friends. Here are some pics from that trip.

On the drive south.

All 6 of us heading out to go bowling

My girl Kelly!

And her beautiful family.

Bowling fun...

And it's a strike!

We all had so much fun. The kids spent time in their pool and Kelly and I managed to sneak away for a girls' lunch.

My lunch...plus we shared two desserts.

I had a grilled fish taco (had them hold the cilantro aioli (another word for mayonnaise)) and a couple martinis, my new favorite drink. I should probably post more pics of my routine meals, lest you get the idea all I do is splurge and somehow manage to maintain my weight. Speaking of which, I went to my WW meeting after that weekend and, as you can imagine, I was up by a couple pounds. Probably still am but I'll deal with that when I get home.

Oh, also during the trip to see Kelly I got out for a run. I planned to run three miles but things were feeling so good, I did five. I can't tell you how good it felt to run after all the driving, eating, drinking and whatnot.

Post-run selfie. I'm alive!

My workouts are all out of whack with all these trips I'm doing, and it won't change for a couple more weeks as there's more on the horizon. Anyway, I weighed myself this morning on my girlfriend's WW scale and I was 146.8 so that's reasonable. I'll work on those couple extra pounds before too long.

Ok, that's it for this post, I'm off to write a quick Kauai post and then we'll be all caught up.

Running, Eating and an MRI?

This past week has been, if I'm straight with myself, pretty good. I'm tempted to say it's been just okay, but I know better than that. Eating has been fair, but I'll start with what's really showing some improvement, which is exercise. Despite continued intermittent back issues (discomfort that rarely, but sometimes, rises to actual pain), I made it to the gym several times this week.

I started Tuesday's gym visit with an outdoor run. Lately, the weather has been perfect for running, mild temps with a slight breeze. I ran 3 miles, including Palmer hill, in a 10:16 pace.

Palmer Hill gym run

After the run I did an abbreviated chest and triceps workout. My back is still on the sore side, and in recent weeks (or months) I haven't lifted weights with any regularity so I need to go easy.

Friday's lunch, curry shrimp burrito from high-tech burrito

On Wednesday I rode the upright bike for 25 minutes at level 8, which involved pushing myself here-and-there. I followed that with back and biceps. I got a tip from a fellow gym-goer to not do core exercises on back day, he said you can't work both because one needs to support the other. That made sense to me so from now on, no core on back days. Though I'm not really doing core stuff right now at all while I let my back heal.

Yesterday, Friday, was another run. Again I ran the Palmer loop, adding a bit to close out a 3-mile run. But this time my last mile was warp speed!  I looked down at my Garmin as I was nearly done and saw I was running in the 8:30's - holy cow! So I kept it up and ran the third mile in 8:39. I don't know what to say about that. Except that I love the 3-mile distance.

After the run I did a bit of legs/shoulders for strength training. But my back was getting increasingly uncomfortable so I stopped. I'm actually thinking of getting an MRI. I've polled anyone who will talk to me and most people with back issues think it's good to know, if you can, what's causing it. Different origins (compressed disc vs muscle issues) are handled differently. So we'll see.

Eating has been pretty ok. A tad more indulgence than I think is ideal but life is good, and I'm not gaining, so I'm good with it. For now. My weight at Wednesday's WW meeting was an even 145. If you look at my weight since returning to WW on 3/4/15 I've lost a total of 8.2 pounds, an average of .8 pounds per week. Wow, I need to give myself more credit for getting back on track.

WW statistics for the last 11 weeks.

I've stopped tracking but I'm shooting for no more than two indulgent meals per week, and focusing on reasonable meals the rest of the time. Today for example, I had an In-n-Out burger (ketchup/mustard instead of "special" sauce) for lunch with the kids. I ate some fries (we all share one order) but not many. To me that's a reasonable meal.

@ Insalata's

But some other meals... and wine... This salmon was Friday nights' dinner. Note the empty pita dipping bowls. At least I had the lemon butter sauce on the side (and hardly touched it).

That was my second glass of wine, if I'm totally honest, which, why not, right? Oh, plus I had dessert. I'd had an equally, if not more, indulgent meal on Wednesday evening. Ribs, wine...and dessert. Ok, fine, two indulgent meals. 

I'm grateful though, that I can eat like this and maintain my body at a comfortable weight. Today I went a bit overboard at a friend's housewarming party, having a couple glasses of wine and a bunch of snack food (plus ice cream). I'd already had my two indulgent meals for the week buuuuutttt...

...tomorrow I'll be on the bike for a long road ride so I used that as an excuse I plan to burn some of it off. I'm not entirely sure how many miles I'll be cycling, I just know it will be more substantial than anything I've done all year.

Ok, I did something I haven't been doing lately, I took a mirror selfie of my outfit. I felt really good getting dressed today. I wore this very summery white skirt, a pale pink t-shirt and a denim jacket. It would have looked cuter with heeled sandals but since I was corralling kids today, flats were in order. Anyway, the point is, I felt good. And I reminded myself that feeling good about my body, about myself, reinforces why this is so important, central really, to my life. I'll close with my selfie.

Holding Both

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how this maintenance journey is about holding seemingly opposing concepts. The first concept goes like this...

It is not ok to overeat. It is not ok to mindlessly eat a bunch of junk. It is not ok to engage in bingy behaviors that leave me feeling regretful and yucky. It is not ok to skip my workouts. It is not ok to eat in a non-goal-oriented way.

And the second concept is...

When it happens, it's ok.

This is a contradiction and our brains don't really like that. But it's a dissonance we have to get used to, we have to teach our brains to hold both, because both are true.

How do I do that? Part of it is about staying in the moment. When I was in my mid-20's I read Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. That was my first introduction to the concept of mindfulness. Mindfulness is about being in the present moment. If we stay in the present moment, we can really only hold one of the above concepts at a time.

In this moment, these choices are not ok, and I will not accept them. In this moment, I will hold that eating a ton of chocolate at the staff meeting, just because someone brought it, is not permitted. By who's authority is it not permitted? By my own, of course. I am the only one in charge here.

But an hour later, when my authority was compromised, by me, I must hold something different. It happened, it's ok. In this moment, it is ok. Because if it's not, I have to scold, point fingers and otherwise assign blame. Blame can lead to shame. Shame leads to weakness, hiding, fear. None of those feelings will help me make the next right decision.

So it's ok in this moment. And then not. Hmph, I started out by saying we have to hold both but I guess what I've described, by bringing in this mindfulness idea, is that we only have to hold one. At a time. No dissonance, no conflict. The question becomes, "what is true in this moment?" What do I need right now to move toward my goals? Whatever I need, hold that. Forget the other. The other is not here, in this moment. The other can be used in some other moment when it is needed.

Salami, Surgery and a Social Life

Things were getting better with my back, until they weren't. I'd hoped to get out for a run or something this weekend but it didn't happen. I've been averaging twice a week for exercise, which you know isn't making me happy. But I'm taking my own advice, focusing on a mix of patience and confidence. Things will get better, my body will come around.

El Dorado Kitchen, Sonoma

On the eating front...I'm eating. Some days too much but mostly staying within reasonable boundaries. I'm going out more than I typically do, building up a social life and finding ways to be out in the world, meeting people, trying to have fun. So much of being social involves food. I'm posting a couple pictures from recent outings.

So I focus on the at-home meals as being clean, whole, light meals which then allows me to indulge when I'm either restaurant dining or at a dinner party. Not that I can indulge at every restaurant meal or dinner party, the calories would add up. I use "calories" for lack of a better word - I think you know I don't count calories.

The view from the bar at Coqueta.

Still, I'm not sticking to this as well as I'd like, evidenced by, for example, my eating salami for dinner lately when I'm home alone. Salami, crackers, a string cheese...maybe a bowl of cereal. More salami. These "dinners" are more like grazed snacking and I have a couple problems with this behavior.

First, I don't feel so great physically when I eat like this. I notice my body isn't in the same groove. My skin doesn't like it and my "system" gets wonky. Second...well, second are the calories of course. If my plan is at-home meals that are clean and light - salami must be the complete opposite of clean and light. The good news? the salami is gone, I finally ran out last night. And I won't be buying more for the time being.

All that said, my weight is staying within range...I was 144 pounds last Wednesday. That was a 4+ pound drop from the week prior, which is crazy. I expect it will bounce back up by a couple pounds this week.

Ok, enough about all that... I have a tummy tuck update. After healing from the surgery I noticed my skin was a little funny where the incision ended, near my hips, kind of crinkled up. Apparently this happens a lot so the doctor said he could fix it when I'm ready. Also, I'd paid extra to have my love handles removed but they are still there, so he's fixing that too. I'm scheduled to go in for what I'm calling a touch-up, in July, going under the knife again, hopefully for the last time. I'm sure I'll post pictures after all is said and done.

Everything else in life is going well. The kids are doing great, Miguel and I are humming along with our new life, all working together for the greatest good... And I'm enjoying the ride. I might sign up for a tri training plan, just to give me some structure, even if I don't actually do the tri. More on this to come.