6 weeks in, 9 pounds out

I had my 6 week check in with my health coach.

The first session I didn't like my health coach. He made to much eye contact. He would just stare at me, not breaking eye contact, and the worst part, not blinking. Oh it drove me crazy. I thought "how could I continue seeing this guy". Then he would say things to me like "Food is neither good nor bad. It's the choices we make that are good or bad." It was a bad thing for me to kill a brick of Les Trois Petits Cochons Black Peppercorn Mousse Pate. The pate wasn't bad. I have to tell you, he was right. That pate wasn't bad. It was so frickin' good. It was the choice I made that was bad.

My goal that session was to write down everything I ate until my next session. I wasn't to ease up on what I ate or drank. My only mission was to write it down. Funny thing, though. In writing it down, I found myself eating less. Writing it down made me more accountable. I didn't want that brick of pate to go on record so I didn't eat it.

At my second session I was a lot happier. There was a lot less eye contact and I thought I could work with this guy. We analyzed what I ate, how much I ate, when I ate. There wasn't a weigh-in at the second session so on the way out I took a little detour to the scale and weighed myself. I was happy to see that I had lost 4.2 pounds.
My goal after this session was to pick one thing to focus on until our next session. My choices were:
1- add 45 minutes of activity that sped up my heart rate on the days I wasn't running
2- eat *this much* vegetables a day (hold out your hands like you are describing someone with big boobs "out to here". The negative space in your hands is the amount of vegetables one should have every day)
3- limit wine to 1 or 2 glasses a night.
I chose option #3. I have to say that I cheated. The company Christmas party, Christmas and a few other "just because" days did me in. Plus working for a wine company doesn't help. Wine is ubiquitous in this office. New release? Let's try it! Guided tasting of Pinot Noir from 8 different regions? Yes, please! Friday at 3pm? Why not? I compensated by working on choice #2 more.

At my third and latest session, I thought I was done for. I caught a bad cold and was stuck in bed for 3 days. For the few days before my cold got so bad it knocked me out to the few days after the worst was over I hardly ate or drank anything. I also didn't exercise. When the cold was gone, I hardly followed any of the goals I set. I thought about them, and I guess half heartedly followed them. Whatever I did do worked, however lazy it was because at the weigh in, I found myself 9 pounds lighter. I was so surprised. Yay me!

My goal for the next month is to make sure I eat *this much* vegetables every day, and not just in one meal. I have to spread it evenly across lunch and dinner. I told him that I tried eating *this much* at lunch for a week and by the time I got home I was so super starving that I ate too much dinner. He said to fix that it's OK to throw on a few croutons to my salad and to have some protein with lunch as well. Also, have a little snackie of some nuts in the afternoon.

Losing 9 pounds, although I can't see it, and my clothes don't feel any different, was a boost of confidence. I'm certain I can incorporate this new goal in to my small but growing list of changing behaviors. I have no doubts that some days may be harder than others, but in the long run, I'll succeed.

Andrea's Gift Guide

I'm almost done with my holiday shopping.
For Christmas I have one more task to do for the presents we're giving my parents and my in-laws. I'm super excited about their present. I think they'll really like it. Other than that, I just have to wrap a few things and I'm done. I'm excited to see the The Girl and The Boy when they see what Santa brought them.
I have a few birthday presents to take care of. My oldest sister is celebrating a special birthday this year, plus another sister and a niece have some candles to blow out as well. I know I shouldn't, but I always seem to run a little late around Christmas-time birthdays. It's not their fault they were born around Christmas time, and in this area I miss the mark. I should pay more attention to their special day.

I admit I get caught up sometimes and don't think things through as much as I should or I get lazy but here are the guidelines I shoot for. Sometimes I miss, but I'm always mindful of  where I could improve.

I think gifts should be well thought out. Gifts should be something you want to give to someone because you want to make them happy or you want to celebrate something with them. Gifts are a reflection of how you feel about someone. How you present the gift, how you wrap it is a reflection as well. Gifts should not be an afterthought All that being said, one does not need to spend a lot of money on a gift, and it's also OK to re-gift, just make sure to take the old tag off. The gift just has to be thoughtful, and if you  are wrapping it yourself, as opposed to buying it online and having it shipped somewhere, it should be wrapped with the same care that you picked the gift out with. Gift cards are OK, especially if you don't know what to get, but don't just throw it in an old envelope. Put it in a nice box and wrap it or put it inside a card.

I think, above all, giving gifts shouldn't be a "have to," giving gifts should be a "get to." 


Just rambling.

All Because of the Elevenses - A True, Yet Pointless Story About My Encounter with Mike Rowe

This morning I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat the yogurt I brought to work with me to have for breakfast. Later that morning though, I got a little peckish. I pulled my yogurt out of my backpack and had me some Elevenses.
Indulging in this late morning snack, thus staving off my hunger coupled with the project I had to finish before a 1pm meeting, I didn't get to lunch until a little after 1:30.
For lunch, I decided I needed to go to the employee cafeteria to get me a turkey burger. Their turkey burgers are pretty OK, and after 1:30pm are only $2, a price I'm totally willing to pay for a turkey burger made at the employee cafeteria.

On my way across the courtyard I saw a man walking towards me blowing dust off of and polishing his glasses. I thought to myself "that guy blowing dust off of and polishing off his glasses looks like Mike Rowe." As we got closer to each other I realized it was, in fact, Mr. Dirty Jobs himself. We walked by each other. He went his way, I went mine.

True story ends, or does it?

I got across the courtyard and opened the door to the building that houses the employee cafeteria. I admit it. I was in my own little world, being rude and tweeting about having just seen Mike Rowe. I didn't look behind me when I opened the door, y'know to hold the door open a bit for the person who is 2 steps behind me. I wasn't thinking. The door started to slam shut and it shut right on Mike Rowe, except I didn't know it was him, I only know I slammed the door shut on someone. I turned around, while saying "oh, gosh, I'm sorry." He looked up, smiled and said "it's OK."
Then I turned left to go into the employee cafeteria and he turned right to ask someone at the security desk a question.

End of story. Not as exciting as the time I scolded Danny Glover in public, but more exciting than the time I cracked 3 crabs for Tracy Chapman.

Tree Trimming

It's always exciting to set up for Christmas! We got our tree last Saturday and decorated it the other day.

Last year I writing about setting up our quirky Nativity Set and its broken bits. This year I thought I'd focus on the tree.

Our ornaments are a mish mash of pieces we've collected over the years. Just like our Nativity set, some of the ornaments were given to us by Hubby's mom. A lot of them I got from a former employer's employee sale, and a good handful are from The Girl's handiwork at school. They all have their own sweet characteristics. They all bring back fond memories of Christmasses  past. There's the pine cones given to me by an old co-worker, the wooden salmon, the seahorse with the almost broken nose, the paper mache balls that open up. My favorites are the ones that The Girl made at school. I love macaroni and picture-frame art -turned ornament.

This year one ornament stood out more than others; the blown glass cat.

The Girl picked it up out of the box and was about to hang it on the tree and paused, smiled, turned it around to us and asked "why does this cat have a butthole?"

Merry Christmas!

On Marrying Hula

I'm always surprised at the hula steps that come easy to me and the ones that give me grief.

Some moves I get right away. When I attempt them and conquer them I think 'wow, that sounded hard and I pulled it off. yay me.'

Then there are other moves that sound easy, that seemingly everyone in class, but me figures out and executes perfectly. Both dances we are learning in class this month (and next) have both kinds of moves.

My right 'ami is stronger than my left 'ami, but there is this one part in the current kahiko we are learning where my arm movements and my right 'ami don't sync, but strangely, when it's time to do the left 'ami, I do it just fine. My arm movements and my left 'ami work just fine together. Go figure.

In the 'auana we're learning, in one part we go from two right kawelu to two 'uwehe. Easy peasy, right? When I get to that part I get all  hmmm, what's the word? The only thing I can think of is 'tongue-tied' which isn't the right phrase, but I think you get my point.

Last night at hula I think Kumu got a tiny bit frustrated. Although the class was following his instructions, we weren't really doing what he wanted. He finally stopped class and said "Will you marry Hula?"

When I got home I started thinking about that phrase. "Will you marry Hula?"

I can think of a lot of idioms that mirror the same sentiment. I don't know who said it but everyone has either used or heard the phrase "jumping in with both feet." People have made quotes based on the same sentiment. Robert Mondavi said "Whatever you do, pour yourself into it." MC Hammer said "Either work hard or you might as well quit." There's even a bible verse (Colossians 3:23) that says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart."

I understood what Kumu meant when he said "Will you marry Hula?"

The hard part is putting it into practice. I think 99% of the people in my class agree that hula class is not like other dance classes.  Is not an exercise class. We are not there to tone our booties, we are there to feed our souls.  Sure, after a night of learning a new kahiko that is full of nothing but 'uwehe we go home with tingling hamstrings and wake up the next morning reaching for the ibuprofen to calm down those sore muscles, only to emerge stronger and more able to endure another night of 'uwhe, 'ami, 'oniu, kaholo and hela. But physical strength is only a byproduct of class. It is not the intent.

We are there to learn an art form, absorb the culture and perpetuate a lifestyle. We wear our hearts on our collective sleeve, showing each other (and sometimes an audience) our emotions, our confidence, and while we're learning the hula, our insecurities.
Hula deserves and needs a wife; someone to take care of it, someone to learn its stories and be willing to retell them.

November Wordle