The Ramblings of a Mental Meanderthal

Warning: please don't expect me to be 100% coherent at 4 am. After four weeks of having a stationary bike and riding it most days, I finally sat down and Googled a few exercise terms to find out what kinds of cardio workouts there are and which ones I think would be best for me, how often I should do them, and all that. (The bike has an odometer to keep track of how many "miles" it's been ridden. I hit 75 miles tonight. 75 miles in less than a month; I am a boss . And then I Googled how many calories in a pound and in an ounce, and according to the bike's calorie counter, I lost a single ounce. That brought me back from any grandiose sense of pride.) My goal tonight was to maintain a speed of 10-11 mph in sixth gear (the bike has eight settings, with eight being the most difficult), and I probably managed it about half the time. The bike has pulse sensors in the handles, so if I grip it steadily for a full minute, I can get an idea of my pulse rate. (I hat...

I see weekend and morning bike riders on their ten-speeds with the bike shorts and helmets and looking all sleek and cool and zooming down Pacific Coast Highway. I want to be one of them. I haven't ridden a bike since 1994, though. I rode daily from when I was 6 to when I was about 16, though, so I hoped the adage "It's like riding a bike; you never forget" was true ... about riding bikes. I'm working as a temp at City Hall. The department I work in does several different things, including overseeing the city's bike share program. Once I settled in and learned most people's names, I asked one of the people who oversees bike sharing about it -- specifically, the weight limit for the bikes. Excess weight can pop a tire or cause damage to the frame, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to murder a bike by riding it. He gave a number that is more than 100 lbs more than my current weight, so I created an account with the website. And then I d...

My background check came through on Wednesday. The job recruiter called and asked whether I wanted to start work on Thursday or Monday. I didn't even think; I blurted out, "TOMORROW" rather emphatically! I got the link to the timecard system, who to report to, and what time and all that. Part of my motivation for starting work asap was to get a paycheck this coming Friday, even if it's rather small. The more I can chuck towards rent this weekend, the less I'll have to pay in late fees when I pay the remainder. And it was nice to start a job on a day when everyone was already in their groove and more relaxed, rather than having the stressful MONDAY energy people often have at high-pressure jobs. This is certainly higher pressure than I've dealt with in over a dozen years, but I welcome it. I learned enough about the phones on Thursday and Friday that I was able to handle a few calls on Friday without having to ask my supervisor what to do. I let her handle ...

Update on Freshman Composition: I got an A. I did burn out after the midterm, which means I started to get less than perfect scores on assignments. But I did everything that wasn't extra credit, and I got a perfect score on the final exam/essay, so I'm good. Not doing spring semester because I have no money, so I've started learning Spanish on Duolingo. Update on the job hunt: background check is processing. As soon as that comes through, I'll get a start date to work as a temp downtown. I think it's three months, which gives me a reprieve as far as my Unemployment Insurance benefits running out. I don't have much hope that it'll turn into a permanent position, but it's a job, it pays almost as much as my last job (without a commute that costs $140 for gas each month), and I am thrilled to have it. Update on books read in 2018: you can go to Goodreads to see how I did. I'm pleased, both with the number of books read and the average number of pag...

Trina update, because it's been a while since I've blogged here. I developed plantar fasciitis last October while volunteering at my favorite community theater.  They put on The Rocky Horror Show every year, and I help with sales.  As a result, I ran around a lot, four nights a week for a month.  Sometimes they had two shows in a night, too.  So I've spent the last ten months wearing flats, boots, and athletic shoes.  No long walks, either, which is a bummer, but I kept myself from gaining weight by doing yoga.  I finally returned to Curves last month and have regained some of the ground I had lost.  (Or lost some of the pounds I had regained ... same difference.) Work continues as it has these last nine years.  I'm very grateful for my job, flexible hours, and amiable coworkers.  I don't mind not being able to advance anywhere else.  I help out with extra duties, including Library birthdays.  This month is my responsibility, s...

Not so good thing yesterday: According to the scale at Curves, I've gained two and a half pounds in the last two weeks. Good thing today: My usual 5K walk with three hills usually takes me 70-ish minutes.  68 is my best time since I started.  Today I managed it in 65. I'm cool with this.  Having said that, however, I need to stop smelling roses and petting cats and see what I'm really capable of doing.  Consistently walking three miles an hour -- 62 minutes on this route -- is my Holy Grail at the moment. I'm wearing a new dress today.  The weather is drizzly and clouded over, so I decided to wear something bright.  It's the one that looks like how I imagine an acid trip would look.  Brightly colored vertical streaks, and a kind of keyhole neckline created by bands of fabric over the bodice.  A few of the colors are hues I normally wouldn't be caught dead in, but others are.  I've got double takes from a few coworkers and compliments fr...

So I've been walking a lot lately.  I try to get in three trips to Curves and three walks of at least five kilometers each week, but it's usually more like two walks and a trip to Curves.  *sigh*  It's got to be done, though.  So long as I get my butt in gear at least four hours a week, I consider that week to be a successful one. I'm allowed to set my own hours at work.  (I'm trying not to abuse the privilege, but I have a tendency to push limits and not stick to routines because I have the emotional maturity of a four year old.)  I come in roughly at noon, which gives me time to sleep from midnight to eight, spend an hour and a half waking up and eating breakfast, an hour working out, then an hour getting ready for work before spending half an hour on the road.  But the "Just five more minutes" tendency rules in my funny little brain, and I finally considered working out around 10:15 today.  I was putting my shoes on when I looked at the clock...

A few years back, I decided to give up meat for Lent.  The LDS Church doesn't observe it, but quite a few Mormons with whom I'm acquainted do.  I decided to do it again this year, though I wasn't sure what to do.  Give up something again?  Or start doing something good that I haven't been doing before? Finally, I decided on one of each. I've been working out sporadically for the last three months, and the local Curves is having a month-long workout/weight loss challenge, so I figured going there three times a week plus taking three walks a week would work.  (Walking is a lot less boring since Christmas and Mom's present of an iPod Shuffle.)  So there's the taking on something I've been rather wishy-washy about. As for the giving up thingy, I've decided to stop swearing.  This resolution only lasted eleven hours, as the last episode of a radio sitcom I like ended with a wicked cliffhanger: "$&@#!!!"  I failed at abstaining, so I modi...

A friend at SparkPeople blogged about visualization. She laughed at that because she's always been fat, and she can't imagine what she'd look like if she was more slender. I haven't been thin since I was eleven, so I have no idea what I'd look like. I have dreams of coming out of this having a body like Joan Blondell's or Betty Grable's (though to be realistic, she's a little petite). Curvy, a little plump, and hourglass-ish. I love vintage clothing -- styles from the 1910s, 1940s, and 1950s especially -- and I want to make some of those outfits for myself. Dad's family genes make me worry (we're narrow of shoulder and heavy in the bum and hips), but I'm hoping Mom's genes are strong enough that I still have a rack two or three years from now. One good thing is that I do have legs. Big, but curvy. If all else fails, I will still have my legs to fall back on. Compliments about my looks (as a whole or anything specific) over the la...

A month to six weeks is usually when I lose motivation and give up on losing weight and exercise and eating better. I just get discouraged because I haven't lost half my weight in the few weeks since I started. (I am aware that this isn't a realistic goal, but I never claimed to have a realistic outlook on things.) Or at least that I never made much progress in that month. A lot of things are different this time. I'm not just getting up at the crack of dawn and stomping around the neighborhood where I've lived for twelve years for the sake of stomping around. (Boring.) I'm not exercising for some lofty, vague, hazy goal of "lose weight" and "be healthy." I have a specific goal* now: Dance my butt off. It's all about the dancing. I have such a good time every week in class. I feel graceful, feminine, strong, and -- dare I say it -- even a little sexy when I practice. And I want to make sure I can keep up with everyone else and have t...