Wednesday, March 30, 2011

it's a baby!

As I putter around the kitchen this morning, I noticed that my aloe plant has a new shoot! Grandma is having another baby!


Yes that is a foil-lined pot. Don't ask. I'll be repotting Grandma after the baby is given her own pot.

Any little moments of joy in your life lately?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Monday, March 28, 2011

green - growing - life - living

I heard someone say once that plants make a home feel lived-in and loving. That, in order for the plants to be there at all, there must be someone present to nurture them. I've never looked at a household the same since then.

Can't you just feel the difference??














What grows in our home?
  • 1 syngonium on the butcher cart in the kitchen. Very happy. In a beautiful mosaic pot, given to me by Able-Bodied Boy.
  • 1 aloe plant on the window sill in the kitchen. Looking worse for the good wear of use, but happy. I'm hoping I can convince the old girl to sprout some new babies this year.
  • 1 philodendron (I believe) on a shelf in the master bathroom window. Currently unhappy. My first attempt at a water-only growth, and I'm thinking it might be time to find a pretty pot with some good soil. It's a south-facing window, with a thin white curtain blocking direct sunlight, so I think that's a good thing.
  • 6 baby spider plants in the upstairs spare room, south-facing window. Looking meh. Pretty soon I'll transplant these into a couple pots for throughout the house. Hoping for more life that is hearty (ie, I can't easily kill it)
  • Countless baby worms and soon-to-hatch eggs. I just made another bed in the vermicomposter and pulled out the semi-mature compost, and found them while transferring everything around. While some of the eggs and young worms made it into the fresh bed, I'm sure plenty are going into the garden soon. Which will make for a very happy garden!


I think that's it. Not really the extensive list I'd like to have. We've tried other plants and they've all managed to die. Our living room is north-facing, with a covered porch over the front windows, two skylights for ambient light, and no florescent normally in use. Not the best of lighting situations, and I have yet to find anything that stays happy for very long. Of course, it's probably me :)
I'm hoping the spider plants are an exception! I want them hanging off the tops of bookshelves and on end tables and on the top of the hutch-style desk and in guest rooms and everywhere making everything look alive.

Of course, that means remembering to water plants that are out-of-sight-out-of-mind.

 Spider plants in the living room. Baby steps.

What grows in your home? What have you had great success with in low lighting?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


ps. have you signed up for email updates yet?

Friday, March 25, 2011

more news briefs: added reader convenience and the weigh in

Me again, with brief bullet points, again...

If you turn your attention to the right-hand column there ------------->
you'll see "Emailable" with a text box and Submit button. Enter your email address and receive a notification of new posts! Infinitely more convenient that catching my FB/GTalk links, if that's how you've been keeping up. I'll be moving the box down below after a few weeks, so sign up now before you forget! Blogger's summary:
The Follow by Email gadget provides blog authors a simple way for their readers to subscribe to the latest hot-off-the-press updates, which are delivered directly to the reader’s inbox. When new blog content is published, all subscribed readers will receive a daily email notification of the new published posts, which includes a copy of the new content as well as links back to the actual posts.

Also, I did my weigh-in this morning and alannariva was right... I shouldn't have been such a Debbie downer.  I have lost 2 pounds since the last weigh-in!!! Go me!

Posts of substance will be coming soon, I promise :)


Did you sign up for email notifications yet?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl



ps. how about now?

  

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

a quick "i'm back! stay tuned! oooooh prius!"

As much as I missed the Able-Bodied world, fun and sun in Florida was a welcome reprieve to life. But that's done and life is moving on quickly...

~ I planned a weigh-in tomorrow to assess damages of home-cooking, booze, and dining-out (countered with a bit of walking, kayaking, biking, days of very light eating, and hauling of sails). Stay tuned, this could turn ugly :(

~ I'm considering a big parallel goal this year, to go with my weight loss. Stay tuned, I think this will be a great positive new direction for me!

~ In another amazing coincidence of fate, Jill over at Lost and Not Found was also out adventuring last week, and has some cool reviews and photos to share. Go check it out and read about Paris and Oxford and all the other places they visited.


One interesting note from Florida: we rented a Prius. Oh how much fun was that! Of course, Able-Bodied Boy might not agree, as he was the poor sucker trying to figure out all the bells and whistles and buttons and levers. But once we got the hang of it, we had smooth high-mpg quietly-electric sailing. ~200 miles later, we filled it up with 5-gallons of gas, FTW! While I'm not 100% convinced of the extraordinary "savings" of electric and alt-fuel vehicles, it was a very nifty drive, comfortable, and very roomy.


What did you do over the weekend?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

when it's all too much

I was in one of those places this weekend. Those closed-in, woe-is-me places. Everything feels wrong, life is hard, and no hope in sight. You know...

We must all find ourselves in this spot at times, right? The world has passed us by. We got passed on that job opportunity (*coughcough*), our new hobby isn't turning out as expected, a friend is being less than friendly, a spouse doesn't agree on how to spend that tax refund. Things come to a standstill. We come to a standstill. No progress. We are a failure, or we have been failed. Everything is wrong.

I hate these moments. I'm so low. Angry at the world and hoping for a get-out-of-jail-free card that will help me push that reset button so I can make everything perfect. Except that's never going to happen. So I wallow in that self-pity. *dramatic hand to forehead*

"I love how this woman handles her self-doubt. She just sees it as part of her process and doesn't get stuck in it. I got to remember that." - friend Amber LS, regarding something she read

I want to be that person she's talking about. I'm trying so hard, and there are some things I need to remind myself...

Take a step back: it could be as easy as distracting yourself with some upbeat tunes, or conversing about something else for a while; bottom line, try to stop dwelling for just a little bit

Remember your place in time: life is not ever going to be a flat line of happiness; there will be moments of great growth and prosperity, and others of weakness and dissatisfaction; this too shall pass and become part of the natural cycle of life

Have self-compassion: do not beat yourself up for not being good enough or strong enough or perfect in every way; you are quick to uplift your loved-ones, and you should treat yourself the same way

Embrace the opportunity: in the midst of your self-pity, you may find a nugget of truth or inspiration or enlightenment; if there is something positive to come from that, then take that with you; you might not have to re-invent your whole life, but you can learn something from the moment

Know your way out: most of the time, we recognize if it is solutions or venting that work best for us; share with a person who will understand your needs and provide the appropriate support, whether that is suggestions or hugs; but...

Don't allow yourself to be enabled: if your thoughts or behaviors are unproductive, unhelpful, or even harmful to yourself or relationships with those around you, it's probably not the best time to seek out that friend that agrees with everything you say; if you need to talk it out, find a friend (or therapist) that will challenge and uplift you


Anything to add? In this time of turmoil in the world, I'd love to have more mantras and flashes of insight to add to the mix.

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Monday, March 14, 2011

w/mo2h #3: no poo, week one

Well, I talked about going no-poo, and I did eventually start out pretty well! So, what's the state of the hair now? What about those little hiccups I was having?


Baking Soda crystallization: my Girl-Science (a mix of real science and phenomenology-style observation) has decided that the water could not dissolve all that baking soda in the 6:1 ratio. So, I changed my method.
Boil your six parts water (microwave would probably work, but I did it on the stove). Take it off the heat, pour into a heat-safe bowl, and add the 1 part baking soda. Mix around until most/all has dissolved. Then let it sit and cool completely. Some crystallization will occur on the bottom; do not mess with it! Pour off the liquid into your bottle, and then top off with a little extra water. Viola! You've only got as much baking soda as the water will handle.
How often? I washed it Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday last week... overkill! So, here's what happened. Monday, I accidentally-on-purpose (one of those momentary instances of stupidity) put oil in my hair, oily hands to dry hair. Ewwww greasy grossness! So I had to start over on Tuesday. Then I held off until Thursday morning (through 2 morning workouts and a yoga class). I did it again this morning. I haven't found that my hair gets gross in the least from the waiting. So I think I'll stick with my Monday-Thursday schedule, unless circumstance dictates otherwise.

The difference in hair? I found on Tuesday and Thursday mornings that my hair was pretty dry after I let it air-dry (despite that residual oil from my hands during my shower). Like, static the instant I brushed it. Soooo, this morning in the shower I applied a bit of oil (1/2 tsp?) directly to my wet hands and then onto my very wet hair, rubbed it throughout (but not too close to the scalp), and followed that up with a post-shower hair rub with a towel. And that seems to have helped quite a bit today.

Other experiments in technique: To combat the dryness and harshness of the baking soda, I may experiment with vinegar-only for my Monday wash, or adding more water to the bs mixture to dilute it further.

A hurdle to the routine: We head out on a mini-cation on Thursday morning, and I'm not sure how/if to transport my new hair products. I have always found travel bottles to be unreliably leaky.  So I guess I have two days to figure that out. With the possibility of swimming and the salty air (which I hate the feeling of in my hair), I will probably at least want my Monday wash.

Overall, I am very very happy with this switch. Not only for the lack-o-chem in my hair, but the fact that it's really not taking much effort at all. In fact, it takes less time and less money to do this than the traditional way. Go figure!


So, is anyone else contemplating this change?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Saturday, March 12, 2011

making sustainable choices a bit easier

Let me face it, I am not a leader. I am very solidly a supporter, a follower, a hop-on-the-bandwagon sort of girl. That's not to say that I'm mindless about it. But when I set my sights on something that I believe or want to accomplish, I don't do so of an independent mind. I want others to guide my way. Maybe it's fear of failure, or I could very well be mindless and not know it :)

But I do know that life is better knowing that there are others like me out there, and goals are easier to accomplish when you follow the beaten path of knowledge and advice.

So why did I try giving up shampoo? Why do I use aloe? Why do I can foods, prefer homemade bread, dream of having chickens, turn down the heat in the winter, use a cup of water while brushing my teeth, compost with worms, try to use baking soda and vinegar instead of chemicals? Why didn't those choices feel like a great leap of faith into the unknown world of sustainable living?

I do because I read about these things all the time. My Google Reader is full of Crunchy Chickens and Chile Chews and Cage Free Family and a ton of other blogs that don't start with C. I read daily about their lives, their choices, and how it all works together. I have a few friends who live in sustainable ways, and I see it being done, taste the fruits of their labors. It is not an unknown world. It is as familiar as your mother's kitchen.

And it all becomes the norm. The way things can be. Or should be. Or will be when we have the opportunity.

I have no green thumb, as I'm sure I've mentioned. But I read their posts and have conversations about seed collecting and seed growing and transplanting and cold frames and greenhouses and harvests and pests and fertilizer and compost and plant food... and I start to get a better sense of the process. And maybe I kill a few less plants because of it. Or I ask my dumb questions. Or I try a simple project based on something someone else did, or linked to.

That being said, here's a bit of a blog roll for you, in case the sustainable concepts I talk about appeal to you, but you don't know where to start. Just read. Not religiously. Not mindlessly. Not every word of every post. But maybe something here or there will seem feasible, or will catch your eye, or you'll just hear so much about it that you can't dream of life any other way...


MOSTLY ENGAGING: Blogs like these are great, because you can decide based on the subject if it's relevant/interesting to you. And if it is, you're sure to learn something!  Lots of tips, recipes, and information summaries in an engaging format.
One Green Generation: Melinda's got a great thing going here, with tips, reviews, and giveaways. Very informative!
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op: About a dozen bloggers whose co-op blog provides tips, insights and resources for the budding homesteader.
Crunchy Chicken: Live Crunchy. Love Crunchy. She is the mother hen. Living an urban homestead life, finishing a book on toxins, and giving away all sorts of fabulous stuff. She's just awesome.
The Green Phone Booth: Another co-op blog with information and commentary on green living. A nice mix of topics and types of posts.
Living the Frugal Life: Kate provides a fabulous mix of window-into-the-life and recipes and tips and reviews, AND she lives in my region of the world!
Rowdy Kittens: A simple living blog. Mostly tips-based.
The Greenists: A green-living tips blog. Giveaways too!
Tiny Choices: Mostly tips, but also has some interesting essays and "Eco-News Friday" news summaries.
Toward Sustainability: Julie's blog, straight from Australia, about trying to leave a better planet for her kids. Gardening and choices in consumerism. In both the Engaging and Windows sections.
Two Frog Home: A window-into-the-life of Kathie's simplicity: gardening and canning and the like. Also with recipes, a Friday summary of good things she's read, and some giveaways.
 In both the Engaging and Windows sections.


MOSTLY ESSAYS/COMMENTARY/RANTS: These types of blogs give you the "why" of what makes all this relevant. Some get a little long/tedious, others are more engaging, but all will give you a bit more voice for your own thoughts.
Arduous Blog: Ruchi's commentary on living an "eco-balanced life".
My Plastic Free Life *formerly known as Fake Plastic Fish: I haven't quite wrapped my brain around how to live a plastic free life, but Beth's got a lot to say about it and I read for those pearly tips that may help me make a step in that direction.
Green Couple: They don't post very often, but they mostly post on energy reduction in their lives and similar topics.
Surviving the Middle Class Crash: Barbara's premise and politics are quite a bit beyond what I am ready to believe, but her tips and information are very useful so I politely ignore the apocalyptic depression stuff.
The Chatelaine's Keys and Casaubon's Book: Sharon's two blogs are quite well-known in the eco-blogging world. Keys is going to give you a bit more practical stuff, while Book is a bit more global/political. In either case, the posts get a bit long. Tough to read at times, but there are gems in there - especially when she gets funny :)
Little Blog in the Big Woods: A grandfather's ranting from off-grid life. Pretty interesting stuff :)
Powering Down: Aaron's politics are also a bit beyond what I believe, but he's got some great information and advice. His recent neighborhood farming post really struck me as amazing.

MOSTLY WINDOWS-INTO-THE-LIFE: Most of these blogs are just homesteaders writing on whatever is relevant at the moment. The thoughts aren't always organized, but it gives you a sense of the choices and challenges that go along with their lifestyle.
Chile Chews: Chile is a homesteader in Arizona, experienced in off-grid living, but currently living on the grid. She's probably five steps ahead of me on a homesteading-knowledge scale of 0-5.
New to Farm Life: Just my sort of fairy tale: they gave it all up for farm life. They haz goats!
Frugal Homesteads...Not Just For Hippies Anymore: Another family homestead, posting about daily life. Mostly a window-into-the-life, but lots of great tips and insights in there. Recipes too!
Adventures in Urban Sustainability: Australian-based, mostly a window-into-the-life but some great insights and showcases of the lifestyle.
My Fair Share: Brian lives in Australia and is part of the Fair Share International group. Interesting to see how he integrates their goals into his life.
Throwback at Trapper Creek: A window-into-the-life with recipes and photos galore. Which is sometimes bad because she has Australian Shepherds and I want to steal them :)
Two Frog Home: A window-into-the-life of Kathie's simplicity: gardening and canning and the like. Also with recipes, a Friday summary of good things she's read, and some giveaways. In both the Engaging and Windows sections.
Toward Sustainability: Julie's blog, straight from Australia, about trying to leave a better planet for her kids. Gardening and choices in consumerism. In both the Engaging and Windows sections.


OTHER:
Farm to Philly: A lot of great news and event information about classes and projects going on in the Philadelphia area. It's how we learned about the PASA chicken class. And they have a lot of great links to locally-grown food sources, if you live in the area.
Cage Free Family: Follow along as this wonderful little family lives their dreams and gets down to the things that really matter.
Contemplating Change: Willow lives in southern England, has a beautiful garden, and posts the most peaceful nature photos. It's a nice change of pace from some of the other blogs.




What else do you recommend in the eco- simple- homestead- garden- living blogosphere?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

... like they do on the discovery channel

          2:30a last night...


Owl #1: [thumpcrunchcrunchcrunch] (as he lands on the roof over the bed and settles in) WHOOOOOOWHOWHOWHOOOOWHOWHOWHOOOOOOO = "HI I'M HERE I'M BIG AND STRONG YOU KNOW YOU WANT ME TO BE THE FATHER OF YOUR BABIES!" WHOOOWHOWHOWHOWHOWHOWHOW

Owl #2: (from the tree line 50 yards outside the window) whoooowhoooowhoowhowhoooowho = "oh give me a break! we've had, like, 2 warm days and you're already horny?"

YOU KNOW YOU WANT ME
yeah right big stuff
YOU KNOW YOU WANT ME
you are sooooo boring me
I SEE YOU OVER THERE NOT FLYING AWAY
i like this branch

IT'S BECAUSE YOU no WANT i ME don't
COME just ON because IT'S it's SPRINGTIME springtime
YOU KNOW doesn't YOU mean NEED i ME want you

[crunchcrunchcrunch] (moving around on the roof over the bed, trying to show his better side)
LOOK HOW BIG AND STRONG I AM
so what? plenty of other owls are big and strong and dumb
OH YEAH? you I know BET it's I guys CAN like CATCH you that ALL think THE all FOOD weYOUR want  DUMB  is to BABIES have WOULD your NEED babies

YOU STILL HAVEN'T FLOWN AWAY
i like this branch
I DON'T SEE ANY SMARTER GUYS AROUND HERE
yeah, me either.
SO, so, DO do YOU you WANNA wanna GO go MAKE make SOME some BABIES babies?



         FML. They interrupted my fabulous dream featuring an uber-sweet Able-Bodied Boy and a very funny Jeff Winger following us around.


Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

w/mo2h #3: no-poo, day one

I mentioned that I was going no-poo, and the time has come...

Last week I picked up two little BPA-free plastic water jugs from the dollar store. Saturday, I didn't wash my hair after our first bike ride of the year, just to get those natural oils going strong. Sunday morning, I simmered up the baking soda mixture, and put both mixtures in their respective jugs. I also added some scent to the vinegar mixture.

FYI, I am not doing before/after pictures cuz, really, how can you capture what we're doing here in photographs? I mean, unless my hair is suddenly curly, the changes are going to be subtle but easily describable. I hope :) I hope a photo of my bottles will suffice!


Anyway, I jumped in the shower after dinner on Sunday (and again after my Monday morning work-out!), so here's the scoop...

The baking soda boil? I think I did it wrong. My baking soda got a little crystalized, so I put it back in the pot to reboil. That seemed to do the trick... just heat it up until all the baking soda bits all fizzle out.

The application? Well, it's not thick, so I found that flipping your hair over and splashing the bottle over works pretty well. Since the water is cool compared to the shower, you can really tell if the baking soda is reaching all scalp areas. For the vinegar, I again flip, and splash the hair I cradle in my free hand.

The baking soda wait? I'm so used to letting the conditioner sit that it's hard for me to let step one sit in my hair. So, that didn't really happen. But I'll try to adjust to the change in routine to see if it makes a difference.

That petroleum-slick feeling? You know the one. the conditioner makes your hair feel wet and silky and glossy while you're in the shower. Your hands run through your hair easily. It feels wonderful. Sorry, that's GONE. What you have is wet hair, not the flowing-behind-you-while-you-swim-underwater kind. More like the just-went-swimming-in-the-creek-with-the-fish feeling. I was very worried about my 12 inches of hair being a tangled mess.

A moisture-boost? I use almond oil - post-shower pre-dry-off - so I just ran the residuals from my hands through my hair. I figured it couldn't hurt, and if my hair was too greasy I'd stop doing it.

The air-drying? I don't blow dry. I wrap my head in the towel after I blot any remaining water off my body. I left it wrapped up for a couple minutes, then let it down, rubbed it with the towel a bit, and let it go. (Ok, not really "let it go"; more like "constantly and obsessively touched it"). Turns out, not any more/less tangly than with conditioner!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased so far! More updates as time goes on...

So, who's gonna try this after it's a big success for me??

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Saturday, March 5, 2011

a love letter on motivation

This is the first in my guest post series, to be released as intermittently as possible. I am asking friends and other bloggers to write on a given topic of which they have inspired or influenced me. I think of them as little love letters that I ask these folks to write to me and to you.

Our first comes from Jill, whom I quote (and sometimes accidentally steal post topics straight from her brain from 700 miles away) quite often. She and I were involved in the publications department while at Winthrop University, which might explain why we enjoy our blogging so much. I recently stumbled upon her blog (probably a Facebook link?) and was immediately inspired with all she was accomplishing and writing about. Able-Bodied Girl would not exist without Jill, and I asked her to be the first in this series...



When you need to lose weight, motivation is usually not hard to find.  It lurks everywhere.  Unfortunately, it’s a slippery little sucker that is hard to hold on to day in and day out. 

Everyone has felt that spark of motivation before.  Maybe it’s when you realize your favorite pants are a little tighter than usual.  Maybe it’s when it clicks that you’re going to be in a friend’s wedding in six months and weddings mean lots of pictures.  Maybe you’ve had a doctor tell you that you need to make a lifestyle change if you want to avoid diabetes or heart disease or some other horrible condition.

The spark of motivation that set me on my journey was when I realized I was just 10 months from turning 30, and I didn’t want to be 100+ pounds overweight when that big day rolled around.

No matter what your motivation is, there are two parts to motivation. Both are essential to your success.
1)      The moment when you realize that you need to change and set a goal.
2)      The movement you make towards that goal.

A lot of times we have the moment of inspiration, but not the energy to make it more than just a moment.  That’s where the goal comes in.  Set an achievable, measurable goal with a time frame and then believe that you can accomplish it and take steps towards accomplishing it.

The crazy thing I’ve found is that you just don’t find motivation once, latch onto it and it keeps you going for months.  For weight loss, especially, I have to find motivation daily, hourly to keep myself on track.  I have to have lots of different ideas motivating me at the same time, and I try to continuously keep my motivation in front of me, mentally and sometimes physically, so that I don’t lose sight of my goals. 

If you love quotes, write some of your favorites on notecards and post them around your house or in your car or cubical.  If you’d like to be back at the weight you were when you graduated college, then tape pictures from college to your bathroom mirror.  If you love clothes, find an outfit you’d like to be able to wear and put a picture of it in your pantry.  These visual cues help reinforce your mental motivation and keep the slippery son-of-a-gun from getting away.

What motivates you and how do you keep ahold of it?


Jill is trying to lose 100+ pounds and never find them again, by eating healthy and working out like she gets paid to do it. Follow her journey at Lost and Not Found.




Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl




  

Friday, March 4, 2011

the commuting dilemna: time? money? happiness? environment?

I rarely like speaking about my job in this type of public forum, since it's accessible to my employers, but I'm going to this time. It is not a topic of concern that I've kept secret from anyone at work.

My daily commute is 62.9 miles, about 40 minutes each way if the route is delay-free.

My morning commute is 29.8 miles. This is the shorter and cheaper route to work. It has a moderate risk of traffic delays (traffic = higher mpgs and more headaches), but is overall the more efficient route. It also saves me $3-4 daily in tolls. Because of the possible delays, I leave home 10-15 minutes earlier than I should need to so I can always be at work on time; I have a pet peeve about being late.

My afternoon commute is 33.1 miles. This is the most trouble-free route home. It has a very low risk of traffic delays, although I do drive through one town with quite a few stoplights along the way; I avoid one other town's stoplights by using other highways. I do not take my morning route home because of the high risk of traffic delays.

Time: I hate being away from the house for so long each day. I leave at 7:30a and I don't get home until 5:45p; that's 10:15 away from home, during the sunlight hours. It means Able-Bodied Boy does a lot of the outdoor work after he gets home, before sunset in spring/fall, which I feel guilty about.

Money: I make money at work, but I spend hoards of that money on gas. It's a tank each week just for work, not including weekend excursions. That comes to about 10% of my take-home pay (after taxes, healthcare, and 401k contributions) for just traveling to/from work. More as gas prices rise...

By working so far from home, but with work being closer to many of my friends, I often have to make choices like these: do I spend time with my friends after work but spend money on dinner (don't forget that diet too!) and the extra gas to get around, or do I go home where dinner is cheaper and healthier?

Environment: I hate myself for driving so much, using precious fossil fuels which we so wantonly waste, which cause wars, which don't really break down into forms that are positive - or even neutral - to our environment, and which we finally seem to grasp are not infinitely available. I hate that we live so far away from civilization, making driving quite necessary. I would love to live in a place where I can walk to the grocery or the bar, bike to work and shops, and only drive when necessary.

Happiness: I really enjoy my job. Which is good because I don't have much of a choice about it; there are not really any other jobs near where I live. If I were to see a position I qualify for - whether within my company or with a different company - which was closer to home but with less job satisfaction, I would truly be torn.

All this comes up for two reasons. One, rising gas prices due to the turmoil in the Middle East. Two, it is entirely possible that my employer will have positions available closer to home this year. If I were to apply for and be accepted into one of them, it would save me about 6 miles each way but through very heavy traffic, so it may be a wash in terms of gas usage. So I'm not too sure that it would be a step in a positive direction, at least commute-wise.

There are no easy solutions to this mess of sometimes-conflicting priorities. Moving is not an option at this point. I don't see myself becoming rich and flippant about how I spend my money, nor do I see myself caring less about the environment or wanting less time for me and Able-Bodied Boy and the life we are making for ourselves. The only somewhat-solution would be a new company in a better location, but at the risk of my job satisfaction, and 40 hours a week of misery doesn't necessary sounds like a good option either.

At this point, I don't have much hope for progress, but do you have any solutions or considerations I haven't thought of?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

the state of the body

Tuesday:
I am really not looking forward to this. In. The. Least. I really don't feel very confident that I've lost any weight in the last few weeks. Not that I haven't been working out (actually been doing pretty good... 5/week), and I've been quite good with my breakfast and my packed weekday snacks/lunch. But weekends have been a mixed bag, and we've been out and about quite a lot lately, meaning more meals out. And I've really been splurging on alcohol.

So even before I get on the scale on Wednesday morning and do my report and all, I think I'm going to cut out the alcohol for the most part in this sort of arragement:

1) If, starting on Mondays, I manage to get in 4 ab workouts (Jill's 2 sets each of 20 crunches and 2 sets each of 20 side crunches) in addition to a minimum of 4 morning workouts - replacing the morning workout = cheating - then I can have up to two whatever-I-want alcoholic beverages on the weekend.
2) A half-glass of red wine (50 cal) up to three times per week is allowed; since we have no open bottles right now, I probably won't even do that.
3) If Able-Bodied Boy deems that I require a gin & tonic (a sure-fire way to get me out of a bad funk), I will have one (170 cal). But only if I'm in an unresponsive funk. No casual drinks. I think he can handle this, I haven't really had too many instances of gin-emergencies lately.

Wednesday:
Ok, I think this morning's scale-surf was exactly what I needed. Not bad, but not encouraging, and definitely the kick in the butt I needed...

I'm DOWN by another pound, for a total of six pounds lost. So, that at least put a smile on my face. But that means it's been 4 weeks and that's all the progress - or lack thereof - that I've made.

So, I'm going to try to add that ab workout. I'm going to significantly cut my alcohol. What else? Well, I can probably cut back on some of the mainly-emotional snacking. Granted, I grab a cheese stick or fruit half the time, but the other half of the time I'm "taste-testing" whatever I'm cooking - usually on the weekends.

Oh the weekends. They are so tough. If we're not out and about and eating out somewhere, I'm at home cooking something mouth-watering from a magazine or website we recently read. I do try to portion control and make good choices, but standing in front of a stove is really hard to do without eating.

Able-Bodied Boy has been encouraging, although his willpower is so awe-inspiringly perfect that he doesn't always get it when I need rewards or smaller dishes to get through. But as soon as I explain, he gets on board and helps me work through things and isn't critical. So yay having support at home :)

Moving in positive directions, just need to make sure I keep up the pace!

Is it just me, or is the Universe kicking and screaming this week and last for some reason? Everything seems harder than usual, yeah?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl