Nazca

View of the Nazca line drawing called "El Arbol"

After a night of air-conditioned sleep, we hopped back on the Peru Hop bus.

Some Peruvian scenery through the bus window

Today, the group stopped at a Pisco vineyard and distillery (and tourist stop). We were given a brief tour and talk of the pisco-making process. Apparently, people had been making pisco in that spot for at least a hundred years. Pisco is the type of grape used to make the local sweet wine and hard liquor, also called "pisco". The national drink is the 'pisco sour', which reminds me a little of a margarita. The tour was kinda interesting, learning how it was similar to and different from the whiskey distillery tour we took last year. For example, pisco is distilled in a huge, copper-lined vat buried underground, then stored in clay "kegs". I only wish we could've seen the grapes.

The wine-taster

Froody, el catador

Pisco is aged in clay "kegs"

Eventually, we made our way to Nazca. It only merits a dinner stop on our bus route, but we wanted to stay a couple of nights and see the famous Nazca Lines from the air. Nazca is a small town in the desert and has been inhabited for over 2000 years. Being smaller, it is also much quieter than Lima and much cleaner.



We got up a little early and enjoyed some fresh juice and tea for breakfast, provided by our hostel. (Of course, Froody had bread with butter and jam. I got the lunchmeat and some cheese.) The airline we went with, Movilair, picked us up from the hostel. Once at the airport (pretty much dedicated to companies that gave tours of the line drawings), we got weighed, paid for the flight, then went to another window to pay the airport tax, then sat in front of a video about the lines. Finally, a small group of us were called together and eventually boarded the small plane.

I liked the flight. There was a lot of banking and flying at almost 90 degrees so that both sides of the plane could get a good look at the lines. The Nazca Lines encompass a huge area and, I think, were made over the course of a few hundred years. There are animals shapes, which are older, and geometrics, which are younger. I thought they were carved into the ground, but basically the dark rocks were moved over and the lighter-colored dirt was revealed. They've managed to last so long because it hardly rains in the area. The people, then and now, depend on a river that flows through the region.

Since we had an entire day and a half to spend in Nazca, we hired a guide to show us some of the local ruins, including the aqueduct.








Sorry for no pictures. Something's up with the Internet.

Lima --Paracas--Huacachina

Of course, we had to try some Inca Cola

We spent another couple of days in the historic Downtown area of Lima. SO HOT. But, we found some relief inside two museums and an historic hotel. The Mineral Museum (aka El Museo de Andres del Castillo) was situated in what was once an elegant home built in the 1860's. The tall ceilings, tile floors, windows and arches all over the home allowed for some respite from the heat. Not only was there an amazingly huge collection of crystals, gems, and metals, but also a small collection of pre-Colombian textiles (small) and pottery (bigger). The crystals were neat, but after a while it all looked the same, probably because they had about 50 examples of each one. There were some cool examples of native gold, silver, and copper. Not just the ore, but the actual metal attached to rock. There was also a phosphorescent room. The pottery came in fun shapes, and we were delighted to be able to recognize so many animals! There were cups, jars, and dishes that looked like penguins, birds, dogs, monkeys, even a flat fish and sea cucumber! Unfortunately, we could only take photos in one part of the museum, so you'll just have to go to Lima to see for yourself. 

That's one big piece of pyrite and galena

We also went to the Lima Museum of Art (Museo de Arte de Lima), where they displayed artwork from pre-Colombian times up through the colonial period and into modern times. Also housed in an enormous colonial building, my favorite part was the textile room. Not only because I work with textiles (knitting!) and could relate to seeing yarns, fabrics, and even an box belonging to a spinner, complete with a set of drop spindles and roving, but because it was the only room that was air conditioned.  

 Woman with spindle--pre-colombian

 Museum window overlooking a park

Entrance to Lima Museum of Art 

Incan Quipu, or talking knots

 Pre-colombian spinner's box, complete with roving and spindles

Pre-colombian snail pottery 

Enjoying some functional art

Not hot enough, we decided to spend part of the early afternoon watching the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the presidental palace. 

Just a snippet of excellent, precision marching.

Then we tried to cool off in the Gran Hotel de Bolivar. I was soooo happy for the pitcher of frozen lemonade! 

Air-conditioning and a pitcher of frozen lemonade! And our first taste of papas de huacachin.

 Grand Bolivar Hotel- Lobby

Grand Bolivar Hotel-- Lobby Ceiling

We caught the evening Magical Water Fountain Show, not realizing that everyone else in Lima was going to be there. Fortunately, it is a big park and the evening was cooling down. Watching the fountains was refreshing. 

This isn't the show, but some nice effects.

Finally, we headed out of the city and to the quiet beach town of Paracas. It was a bit cooler, being on the water and smaller so no big buildings to retain the heat, but it was still hot! We took it easy for a couple of days here. We spent on afternoon on the beach, rented an umbrella and chairs, thinking that would protect us. (Froody still got sunburned staying in the shade!) I got burnt, even though I was being careful! I am in my Winter skin right now and I hoped to get a start on my Summer tan. Oh, well. 

We did take a boat tour of Ballestas Island (Isla de Ballestas). Not only wonderful to be on the water again, but so much wildlife!! Here's the list of what we saw: a South American many-rayed starfish, Peruvian pelicans, Peruvian boobies, South American Sea Lions--fathers, mothers, and pups!, Inca Terns, Magellanic Cormorants, red shore crabs, barnacles, and Humboldt Penguins!! 

Janola and Froody

Stinky but lovely rock formations (full of bird guano)

Inca Terns on the rocks

The next day we headed further south, to the oasis of Huacachina. On the way, we toured the Paracas Nature Reserve. Beautiful desert bordering the ocean. Unfortunately, Froody woke up with a case of Paracas Belly. Fortunately, he made it to Huacachina without incident. :-) 

So, Froody stayed in our quiet, air-conditioned hostel room to rest and I went out and lived!! I took a dune buggy ride! It was a huge machine and fit 9 of us eager tourists! And in the late afternoon, the desert was full of these buggies. Part of the fun was getting out and sandboarding!!! It was so fun!

The dessert above the oasis of Huacachina

Dune buggies

Sandboarding is exhilarating!

Sunset, Huacachina

The next day we left Huacachina and made it to Nazca. That will be in the next post. 

Lima, Peru --1

Greetings from LIMA PERU! 

We left Seattle on a cool Wed morning. Our first leg took us to Las Vegas, where we had a good time just wandering the strip in the evening.

After a good night's sleep, it was on to Mexico City, about a 6 hr flight. With only a 6 hr layover, we decided it was best to hang out at the airport. Did I mention we're waiting for a midnight flight?

We arrived as scheduled early on Friday morning. While there was a wait to go through customs, it was still pretty painless. Our hostel sent a taxi for us and, after a hot drive through traffic worthy of a city of 10 million people, we checked in and took a nap.

Once we woke up, I signed us up for the free city tour given by 1900 Backpackers Hostel. Having a couple of hours to kill, we took a short walk around our block, where we found a fairly nice-looking restaurant, Mesa Central. Although this was not our first opportunity to speak Spanish, it was the first time we were trying to get something and not just make conversation. We went in just wanting some juice and maybe a little ceviche. The very kind and patient waitress eventually got us to understand that they were doing set lunches, one at 14 soles and another at 18 soles. Nothing to do but order one lunch (and some yummy strawberry juice) to share. We orded the ceviche pescado and the arroz mariscos. Oh, my! The ceviche was just delicious, the best I have ever had and the rice with seafood was also tasty. The rice was seasoned, the color was deeper than saffron rice, and the seafood was chunks of crab, octopus tentacles, squid rings, fish, and scallops, all sauteed. It was a very good-sized portion. (I hope we go back tonight for dinner!) The price for our lovely  meal and 1/2 liter of fresh strawberry juice? 25 soles (about $8)

Everyone loves food pictures, right??

Back at the hostel, we had time to meet and chat with some of the other guests who were also going on the tour. A couple of others from America, a couple from Germany, an older woman from Canada, another from Japan. Our guide was a young woman named Alice, a Lima local. To be honest, I cannot really remember everything and everywhere we went, but we did see the more famous sites in this part of the city, old Central Lima.

Lovely buildings and great color

One of many beautiful colonial churches

Gold and silver alter, in another church

Sure, Froody is smiling now, but we think this is the source of his Lima Belly

So many pictures I could share, but the Internet is a bit spotty here, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Getting Ready

Wow! I can't believe we leave in a little more than 3 weeks! To be honest, this trip has been a long time coming. It's something we kinda talked about after our big RTW trip, because Central and South America just didn't fit our plans. We felt we had to make it separate trip. But when? and, for how long? Of course, we had just gotten back and had to re-start our lives here in the US. Then, there's the price of a ticket ($1000+ per person, round trip) and for that $$, we'd want to stay for at least a month. When's a good time? What about work? Should we learn Spanish? Is there time for that?

Anyway, late 2015 I think the idea of traveling to South America was brought up. Now that I was retired and Froody's schedule was becoming a little more flexible, it seemed the timing was right. Froody had just started with his new company, but felt pretty confident that we could take a longer trip, like a couple of months. Perfect! That gave us a year to pick up as much Spanish as we could.

We both have been using Duolingo to help us with the language. For Froody, it's all new but for me, it's been a great review of 6 years of Spanish (all through Jr. and High Schools). I like how well it's "chunked", the pronunciation on the site, and that they have seriously thought out when to review. I think the most helpful part, to me, has been the microphone, meaning that you can actually talk to the computer and it listens to you. Does it help with accents? Somewhat, but it mainly gives me a chance to actually use the language.

Another way I've been preparing for my 2-3 months of being immersed in Spanish is my novela (Spanish soap opera), La Reina del Sur.  Wow! In the past, I've seen a couple of minutes of an episode or two of some novela or other, and they seemed a bit boring. But La Reina is pretty awesome. Apparently, Telemundo (the TV station) spent a lot of money and took a big risk with this show as it's really different from the traditional novela. It helps that the main character, Teresa Mendoza, is not only attractive, but muscular and fit and vulnerable yet strong. Of course, like all good soap operas, there's lots of attractive women and men on the show, some skin, sex, explosions, etc. And, because she spends time around drug lords, pimps, and other shady characters, the vocabulary is nothing like what Duolingo would ever teach me! Ha! I've learned a few cuss-words and other bad words. Froody says if we every come across a drug lord on our trip, he'll have me do the talking. XD

Naturally, I can't follow the program 100%. But what's cool is that there are characters from all over the Spanish-speaking world: Mexico, Spain, North Africa, Colombia, etc. So, I kinda get a glimpse into what Spanish sounds like spoken by different people. Yeah, everyone talks way to fast for me to really get it (I rely heavily on the Spanish sub-titles, yet even they fly by), but the Spaniards and Arabs speak so fast, that the sub-titles show dropped syllables and are at times just flashed up and I can't even make out a single word before the next one is up!

Testing, Testing,....1..2..3...

Sheesh! There's a lot of dust on this blog! Just let me wipe it off.....

Hey there! So much has happened in the last couple of years. Froody and I now live in Seattle. I'm retired. And I have two new rats, Pork Chop and Pot Pie, helping me with today's blog. (Actually, they're sitting on my shoulders eating peas and leaving the pea-shells on my sweater.)

Well, Froody and I are about to embark on another great trip-- 2-3 months in South America! After much research on my part and discussion on our part, we chose to spend much of our time in Bolivia and Colombia, mainly because they seem to be off the beaten path, with emerging tourism industries. Later, we decided to add a quick visit to Peru, because, after all, it was right there. Other than that, we're trying to be pretty open about which sights we'll see. There are a few things that are definite.

1) Taking the bus to travel from Lima (where we land) to Cusco to La Paz. I like the idea behind PeruHop: a get on/get off bus, complete with guide, especially when we cross the border into Bolivia. For one ticket price, we travel from town to town with the option to stay overnight (or several nights) then catch the bus and continue on our way.

2) Machu Picchu. Oh, I'm really looking forward to spending the day at Machu Picchu. We're not taking a trek to the site. Instead, we're taking the train to Aguas Calientes then the bus to Machu Picchu. Looks like you need to purchase your tickets in advance, because they don't sell entry tickets at the site.

3) Taking a Spanish class in Sucre, Bolivia. Basically, I wanted us to stay put during Holy Week (Semana Santa) and not worry about possible changes to bus schedules, opening times, getting a room, etc. So, I thought it would be a great chance for us to continue learning Spanish with an actual teacher and stay with a local family. (I chose this one. Apparently, there are many good schools here.) Sucre seems like a beautiful city, with many language schools and cultural activities, plus very active during Semana Santa. Having locals and a teacher right there to explain the significance behind the events of the week is a big bonus.

4) Visiting the Salar de Uyuni. The pictures of this place are amazing. It just seems unreal, desolate, beautiful. And yet, birds, animals, and people call this place home.

5) Bogota. Well, I know we're going to fly to Colombia from Bolivia, and that means landing in Bogota. And, Bogota, like a lot of large South American cities, is a haven of wonderful things to eat!


So, you know about as much about our trip as I do now. Stay tuned, because I do plan on updating this blog regularly with pictures and observations of our South American adventures!

Target Training My Special Needs Rat

Don't be fooled by this sweet face. This rat will bite!!!

Froody and I spent a great day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I totally enjoyed the feeding show at the Open Oceans and the Kelp Forest exhibit. I also loved all the cool cephalopods in their Tentacles exhibit. But what got me thinking (and Froody) was the Albatross Encounter. Not that there are over 20 different species of albatross, or that an albatross can live for over 60 years. My big take-home message was target training. 

Yup, while the perky education staff member was filling our brains with albatross knowledge, the bird handler was target training the bird. Ms. Perky said they use target training to get this wild bird to move from one place to another, get used to different situations, and jump on the scale. Wow! Froody and I both thought of our own version of a wild animal- Silver Rat. 

To summarize, Silver was abandoned and I was naive enough to adopt him. After I brought him home, I realized why he was probably given up- he's a biter. Not a nipper; I've been nipped before and it's not a big deal. He bites with all of his being, and it's nasty and hurts like a mofo. He lives on our dining table, loves food, and is extremely cage aggressive to boot. 

Anyway, we thought target training would be a nice way to safely interact with him. Since I wanted to begin right away, I took a metal knitting needle and attached a ball of foil to the end. Fortunately, I already have a clicker and he loves to eat corn. We were ready!!

In my rat training book, you should keep training sessions short. Basically, when his nose touches the ball (target), I click the clicker and give him a kernel of corn. Of course, it was very easy at the beginning. I had the target right at the door to his cage. The click made him jump, but after 6 minutes he was relaxed enough not to jump after the click. After 4 minutes, he was pretty much spot-on, so I had the target about 7 inches off the table, making him stand up on his hind legs. No problem for this smart guy!! After our session, I let him explore the table top (as normal) and eventually he put himself away in his cage. 

Finally, I can interact with this bitey rat in a way that is fun and rewarding for the both of us!! I can't wait to begin teaching him tricks. :)

Things I Think My Rats Believe

As a pet owner, you probably wonder what your little animal children are thinking. I've pondered this as well and have come up with a list describing how my rats must see the world.

A Few Things My Rats Believe
1) All pet rats are spoiled. In other words, you have a rat in order to kiss him, cuddle him, talk to him, and give him cookies.
2) All wild rats are just rats with bad manners. Sadly, they have no one to teach them how to be cute and nice.
3) My poop is pretty amazing. Everyday my momma comes and gathers my poop and puts it in a special place.
4) I love being on my favorite shelf with my brother/sister, my best friends, and my favorite stuff.
5)  If I can reach it, it's part of my stuff.
6) Sniffing, climbing, touching, and chewing are all important ways to explore.
7) Rats are not 'fat'. They can be regular, round, or extra-round.
8) When my momma talks to me, all is right with the world.

Processed Foods I Am Willing to Eat

I eat unprocessed foods. That means meat, fruit, and vegetables that I buy WHOLE from the farmer's market/rancher/store. I also try to make sure it is grown/raised locally if possible. A lot of folks can't wrap their minds around this, because eating this way means no fast food. No frozen foods. No boxed food. No canned food. A "quick and easy" meal still means choppin' up stuff and cookin' it (unless it's salad).

Well, that said I will admit to you all that there are some processed foods I am willing to eat. I understand that my definition of a "processed food" may differ from yours.

So, here it is--

Processed Foods I Will Eat

1) Kelp noodles- sometimes I just gotta have noodles
2) Ketchup- I only buy ketchup once or twice a year. I get organic ketchup w/o the high fructose corn syrup
3) Tomato sauce- at least it's organic
4) Coconut aminos- ditto
5) CHOCOLATE- man, I should've topped the list with this one! I buy the 72% or more cocoa
6) Hearts of palm- well, it does come in a can
7) Applegate Organic Hot Dogs- because sometimes a girl just wants a big weiner XD
8) Mustard- again, organic and w/o a lot of strange words I can't even pronounce
9) WINE-again, should've topped the list :) And, it's fermented but since I don't do gluten (ie: no beer) I have become more of a wine drinker.
10) OMG- Diet Coke! I give you up for weeks or months, only to fall off the wagon. 


What about sauerkraut? What about balsamic vinegar? What about olives? Yeah, I buy them but they are fermented or brined so I'm not sure if they belong on this list or not.

Why share this list? Because I've run into some folks who hear that I avoid wheat and gluten and so try to be helpful by suggesting gluten-free this and gluten-free that. I smile and say I'll look into it, but usually these have a lot of added fats, chemicals, or sugar I can do without. It's important that I eat as much unprocessed foods as possible AND as little processed foods as possible.

But, I will have a gluten-free beer once in a while. :)

Good-Bye, Lily Rat :(

This morning we said good-bye to Lily. Lily was a very sweet, determined rat. She out-lived her best friend, Black Rat, so it's comforting to think that they are re-united and can sleep together under the Rainbow Bridge.

Lily was an explorer. She loved out-of-the-cage time. She would sniff, climb, run, and waddle, sometimes finding a snack, sometimes finding her way to parts of the apartment we thought we had blocked off. While very patient when receiving cuddles and kisses, she was happiest when we let her run off on her own. She would always come back and say hello, then be off.

Lily loved snacks. She also believed that the crust was the best part of the bread and that blueberries and grapes were very yummy.

Artsy photo of a very sweet rat. I miss her. :(((

Her patience was a lesson for me. While other rats might show a bit of restlessness, she would calmly rest her chin on her crossed paws with her tail wrapped around her, just patiently waiting for her people to get a clue about rat needs (salad, out-time, snacks, kisses, etc.).

She was the boss-rat of this colony in spite of being smaller than WhiskaRat and Shy Violet.

Last year she had a tumor removed. Earlier this month, two more were removed. She seemed to be quite strong and active for an old rat (over 2 years old) so I felt she would survive the surgery and recovery. She did, and was her old self again (after 3 trips to the vet to re-stitch her owie) for a few days. Then, Lily seemed to slow down. I thought she was taking it easy after perhaps pushing herself a little much so soon after her recovery. But last night, we noticed she was trying very hard to breathe and was unresponsive to the snack sound. This morning we brought her to the vet who said she had pneumonia. :( She was just getting weaker and weaker. We decided to say good-bye and spent about 20min in an examination room, just holding and talking to her. I know she appreciated it, and gave us a final happy-rat face. At the end, I broke down and even though we knew it was better for her it was very, very hard to give her to the dr.

I loved her very much, my special girl.

No Coffee o_O

Honestly, part of me still doesn't know why I chose, actually chose, to stop drinking coffee. After all I had given up- bread, pasta, cake, pastries (i.e.: nothing to dip in my coffee), ice cream, dairy (no cream in my coffee)- why was I letting go of my only comfort, my friend coffee? First of all, it's for 30 days. But, let me try to explain this to myself. again.

As we all know, coffee has caffeine. Even decaf coffee still has an appreciable amount of caffeine, and this caffeine affects our brains. Most of us, myself included, LOVE THIS AFFECT. THAT'S WHY I DRINK COFFEE. *ahem* Anyway, caffeine blocks hormones that make us feel sleepy, so we don't get quality sleep. And, caffeine other hormones in the brain that make us feel good and alert. This "alertness" is for danger, so your body is in "fight or flight mode" every day which is not healthy. Also, if you are prone to panic attacks, caffeine makes them worse. I am not prone to panic attacks, but who knows what-all types of mental woes I've inherited (and I've inherited quite a few).

And *sigh* I almost hate to admit this, but my weight-loss has been non-existent. I been trying for a year now, seriously since July, to lose the extra weight I've gained being back in America. Healthy eating and exercise don't seem to be working so maybe, just maybe, too much coffee is hindering my weight-loss. Since it does increase cortisol levels there may be something to it.

So far? Well, today is Day 3. On Day 1 I felt lousy. Huge headaches, tummy ache, couldn't focus on any one task, couldn't sit still, couldn't do anything! Napped for about an hour. Day 2 I subbed and that was not good. I was a bit scatterbrained and still had difficulty focusing. Today, my headaches are better but I've been tired all day. I did take a nap, but it was short. I still have a hard time focusing on tasks.

But, I'm hopeful and am looking forward to meeting myself at the end of the month.

I've Become THAT Person

I've spent almost my whole life as the type of person who can, and did, eat almost anything. I felt fortunate in that I didn't have any food allergies or religious restrictions or new-age ideals against any types of foods. Sure, there were those years of "dieting" to lose weight with the occasional indulgence. And, yeah, I did discover a slight intolerance to lactose, leading me to greatly reduce (but not totally eliminate) my cheese and ice cream intake.

When I began the Paleo/Primal lifestyle I was delighted! Food was full of flavor and I still got to eat many of my favorite foods. It was a relief to eat bacon and eggs without the guilt. Steak became a healthfood (as long as it was grass-fed, of course). Trips to the farmers' market were an adventure as Froody and I harvested familiar and new fruits and vegetables. I was eating things like chard, kale, and kohl rabi along with organic heirloom tomatoes. Ah, life and eating were good!

The only downside was the fact that I wasn't losing any weight. Granted, I hadn't gained any, either, but I really, really, really wanted/needed to lose at least 25lbs. So I became more strict. In doing so, I changed. No longer the person who ate anything I was the one at the restaurant who asked all those annoying questions: "Is it unsweetened?", "Can I get that without the bread?", "There's no rice or pasta in it, right?", "No cheese, please, and can I just have oil and vinegar on the side?" "Can I have the side salad instead of the french fries?"

Seriously, it's that strange for me. We even had dinner with some friends, one of whom only eats raw fruits and vegetables. While she was making the salad she asked me if I wanted corn in it. I said I could pick it out, but she basically said it was the first time she had to deal with someone else's diet. For a change. That really got to me!

Honestly giving up the breads, cereals, rice, pasta, corn, tortillas, etc. wasn't all that hard. Cutting my alcohol back to a drink once or twice a month isn't that terrible, neither was giving up sugar and chocolate. The most difficult thing was cutting out all dairy (you've already messed with my coffee MoFo!! curse you for taking my creamer!!).

I feel like I'm the weird one making sure what I eat is gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free; that it's wholesome and organic; that it's locally grown (a plus). If I eat gluten or dairy, I feel bloated and nauseous. Even if it's a little bit. :( Now, I have to think about each bite of food and ask myself 1) Will this make me sick? and 2) If so, is it worth it? Because I will. get. physically. ill.

The longer I follow this lifestyle the more I come across folk who also have wheat and dairy sensitivities. (OK, lets' call them what they are: allergies). I've even heard of some restaurants having allergy-free menus. Gee, if so many are sensitive to gluten, maybe it's time to put down that bagel and have some more bacon.

The 12 Days of Christmas- CrossFit Style

Merry Fitness to All, and to All a Good Workout!

Today, our gym co-hosted a Holiday Workout and Pig Roast. At first, I thought it was so awesome that our gym has created this amazing and fun community, one where we'd love to participate in a sort of "workout/party".

When we arrived, we discovered that this Holiday Workout had a theme: The 12 Days of Christmas. This is what was posted on the board when you walked in:

1. Weighted 100m run- run as fast as you can carrying a weight (I used a 10lb medicine ball. One of my trainers carried a 50lb keg)
2. Pistols- one-legged squats
3. Knees-to-elbows - hang from the pull-up bar and bring your knees to your elbows or as high as you can
4. Box jumps
5. Burpees- ugh... basically, fall on the ground, do a push-up (I do planks), bring your feet under you into a squat, then jump up and clap your hands above your head
6. Pull-ups
7. Sit-ups
8. Ring dips- I did regular dips on a tall box
9. Kettle bell swings (I used a 12lb kb)
10. Tire flips- flip a tractor tire. Choice between large and super large (I did the large one)
11. Hollow rocks- lie on the floor and curl up, keeping your abs tight, then rock back and forth. Is harder than it sounds
12. Hand-stand push-ups- yup, get upside down and do a push-up. (I did it kneeling on a box)

So, you had to do the workout like the song: 1 100m weighted run; 2 pistols and a 100m weighted run; 3 knees-to-elbows, 2 pistols, and a 100m weighted run....

I think you get the point. And you should've seen everyone's face as soon as this workout sunk in. I was none too happy about it, but I was determined to do it.

Man, there was a lot of cursing involved. At least on my part! (Hey, isn't Jesus the reason for the season anyway??). The trouble is that at first it's not so bad, but that 100m weighted run gets harder and harder. The worst part, for me, was the 10 tire flips. Jesus Christ... Goddamn f***in' tractor tire... Yeah, you're flipping a tractor tire 30 times!!!! Some of the middle ones also were deceptive. You're like, "*pshaw* 7 sit-ups... that's cake!" But you're doing 6 sets of 7 after all the kettlebell swings/pull-ups/and tire flips which are all things that require solid cores. It was also hard on my hands because you're doing 7 sets of 6 pull-ups and 10 sets of 3 k2e. For the first time in my life, the burpees were not the suckiest part of the workout, and that's saying something!

In the end, a lot of people showed up for this workout and we had to do it in two heats. I joined the first heat. It took me 50 minutes to do this 12 Days of Christmas Workout, which is very long for a Crossfit workout. But, after a little cry I felt better and am very, very glad I did it. :)

Farewell to Cream

Dear Cream-

We've been together for a while now. Without you, I don't know if I could have dumped sugar out of my life. But my friends are telling me that you're no good for me and that I should give you up. :(

This is hard for me, too, Cream. It's not you- you're great- it's me. Somehow you're keeping me from reaching my goals. I decided that losing my excess weight is more important to me than how you make my coffee taste in the morning.

I see this as a temporary split. Maybe, in a month's time, we can try again. I hope that in the meantime we can still be friends.

Good-bye and God bless,
Janola

So Sensitive

Well, the first month is almost over. How did I do?

Oh, man! I feel like a new person! Life is great and food tastes better. Ripe fruits taste like candy! I never knew how sweet tomatoes and carrots could be! Unsweetened sun tea is my new indulgence! Yes, life is sweet!

Last weekend, I had a glass of wine and dinner with friends where they cooked so I ate what they made. I didn't want to be "Oh, thanks for cooking but I'm not going to eat it." We had summer rolls, good conversation, and homemade brownies for dessert. They offered (and I accepted) tequila and juice. The next day my tummy was a little upset. But, it went away and I still felt good.

Yesterday I did Happy Hour with my friends. I started out with a diet soda and said no to the chips for about 45 min. But then, I ended up having 2 beers and about 2 cups of nachos/chips/salsa. Later on that evening I felt completely annoyed, angry, and frustrated. Fortunately, a part of me realized I was being irrational so it kept me from picking an argument with Froody. I felt so bad I just wanted the day to end. So, I went to bed early. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a tummy ache. This morning I'm feeling a little better tummy-wise, but my mood is altered. I'm not as positive as before. :( What happened? Was it the nachos? Too many beers? Hormones?

However, I'm fairly certain that I'll be all perky again after another few days of eating right. Will I do Happy Hour again? *scoff* Of course! But I'll be sure to avoid the chips and stick with a glass of red wine and water.

No Sugar Week 1- Done!

Well, I finally made it! When I first thought of going a week without sugar, I thought it would be hard, that I'd be dying for chocolate or unable to enjoy unsweetened coffee.

But, I did it!

OK- I did have 2 glasses of wine on Friday and two more on Saturday. Eh. I'm still calling it a success. And I'm still riding that wave of positivity. What other differences have there been? Not too many, but I'll tell you anyway.

1) My "digestive system has been, shall we say, busier. Not wanting to get into any details, I've been going to the bathroom a bit more often than before. 'Nuff said.

2) I've been feeling "friskier." Again, not to get too personal but I do want to make note of this for myself at least. I think Froody has noticed and responded. ;-)

3) Not sleeping as well. It's been taking me longer to fall asleep and then I wake up in the middle of the night and it takes a while to all asleep again. :(

I talked to my trainer about the sleep problem and he suggested I give it three weeks. That should give my body a chance to readjust to the new sugar-free diet. I'm not entirely sugar-free. Some nights I've chosen to consume two ounces of fruit. Believe me...I savor every little bite.

Oh, and, yeah, I'm going another week without sugar.

NO SUGAR- DAY 3

In case you forgot, this is the band Sugar Ray. "Every morning there's a halo hanging from the corner of my girlfriend's four-post bed."

OK. As you know, I've been trying to do two things: Follow the Primal Diet and Lose This Friggin' Weight. Again.

According to the PD, if you consume between 50-100g of carbohydrates a day, you should easily and effortlessly lose weight. So began my month-and-a-half long journey of weighing and measuring everything. Which I did. And I was good about it; just ask Froody.

Well, I didn't really lose any weight. OK- I lost 3 lbs for all that effort. Not the 8-10 that the PD leads you to believe. So, like any other normal, American woman... I got desperate.

Just how desperate????

So desperate that I figured I needed to be eating less than 50g of carbs a day. Like 30-40g. But, I didn't want to eat any less than I'm already eating. (Seriously- measuring out 1/3c of mushrooms or 2 oz of chicken per meal is kinda depressing.)

So desperate that I chose (ugh) to stop. eating. sugar. *groan* And wine. *gasp* And chocolate. *sob*

I KNOW. I KNOW. As a normal, American woman that's unthinkable. Especially since I only used 1 3/4 tsp in my coffee (morning and afternoon). And I would only eat 1 square of extra dark chocolate most nights. And I would only have 4 oz of red wine at night. (Yeah, when you pour wine into a Pyrex measuring cup and then into a wine glass, a lot of the romance goes away.)

But, let me reiterate: I. AM. DESPERATE. And I decided that cutting out those things would accomplish 2 good things: 1) I'd finally be strict PD and 2) I'd be cutting out 14-24g of carbs per day.

So that's what I did on Tuesday. I figured I'd give it a week and then reassess.

Now that it's Day 3 I have to say that so far, everything is pretty OK. I actually like unsweetened iced tea. Unsweetened iced coffee isn't that bad, either. I haven't heard the chocolate sitting in my fridge calling my name, either. But do you want to know the weirdest and strangest thing to happen since I stopped eating sugar?

Those negative voices inside my head have stopped. My self-esteem has climbed and my attitude is pretty positive. I know, I know...this sounds crazy. But I did come across an article that says there has been some research that suggests link between sugar and depression and anxiety. Obviously, there are all sorts of variables at work here, but I felt so good yesterday that it made me wonder. Some of you don't know this, but depression (and addiction) seem to run in my family. What if my body is just hyper-sensitive to sugar? Or, with my decreased carb-intake, the relatively high percentage of sugar was messin' me up?

Anyway, I'll continue to monitor myself. If there really is a link between sugar and feeling "happy", it may make giving up these things a bit easier to do.

Still Counting

Well, one and a half months in and I'm still weighing and measuring. Go me!

Have I lost 25lbs? Gone down several dress sizes? Full of vim and vigor???

Sadly, the answer is no.

But wait! I have noticed changes in my behavior towards food, and that's what I want to tell you. It'll be good for me so that I don't focus on what isn't happening.

1. Tummy talk- This time around, I realized that I use to my mouth or eyes and not my stomach to determine whether or not I'm full or satisfied. My mouth tells me how tasty something is and how it's a shame to not finish it, because who knows when I'll have it again? Then, my eyes notice how there's not that much left on my plate, so go ahead...finish it. Now, I've decided to give my stomach a good listen and if it says it's full, then I stop. At first this was hard, because, hey, who doesn't like to eat tasty food? But it's gotten easier.

2. Make it a choice- Not only am I tuning in to my stomach, but I'm putting a positive spin on this Primal Diet. I tell myself that, really, I can eat ANYTHING I want (chocolate, pasta, beer...) but I CHOOSE not to. It's my decision. That has really made a difference. I'd rather eat something (or not eat it) because I want to, not because I feel like I have to.

3. It's smaller!- OK, I'm not talking about my pants-size. I'm talking about portion size. You know, I really don't need to eat big meals anymore. Even with WeightWatchers, I'd eat large portions. I could stretch a "point" like you wouldn't believe! But on PD it's not points but grams of carbs and proteins, and sadly, I can't fudge those. :( To my surprise, that's OK because I'm ....

4. Less hungry- My trainer asked me if I felt hungry during this past month, and that's when I realized I didn't. Three meals a day and one snack is all I need, amazingly enough. I used to need to eat more often, snacking in the mornings and evenings, grazing in the afternoons. For me, a snack is a cup of coffee with cream and 1 3/4 tsp sugar and a hardboiled egg. Or an ounce of almonds. Sometimes my mouth wants to chew on "something", even if I'm not hungry. I try to drink water at those times.

Alright, body! Seems my brain is adjusting to these diet changes. Now it's time for you to drop some lbs. Pretty please. :)

Weights and Measures

bleh. As a lot of you know, I've been trying to lose weight for ever. Seriously. For a while now I've been half-heartedly following several diet tenets. Of course, that approach doesn't work. At least, not for me.

So it's back to focusing on one diet- the Primal Diet. What I like about the PD is that it's about eating food that's real food, not processed and full of bad chemicals. It means only consuming a certain amount of carbohydrates and proteins. That, in turn, means breaking out my trusty collection of measuring spoons and measuring cups, my food scale, and the Internet.

Part of me balks at all this fuss. It takes the fun out of eating. I can no longer just grab some of this and a handful of that and put it in my mouth. :( I have to actually think about what I'm about to eat. :-o

But, another part of me is all for it. At least when I'm measuring out an ounce of nuts, researching how many carbs are in 3 grape tomatoes, and deciding how many ounces of steak will give me 23g of protein I feel like I'm doing something towards losing this weight. It forces me to take control of this part of my life. I know that someday (next week? tomorrow?) I'm going to curse at my measuring equipment but right now it feels pretty good. Besides, I've already 1.5 lbs since I started 2 days ago, and that's very encouraging!

Is It Just Me???

While wandering around the internet I found an ad for Bonobos which looks like a fancy-pants men's store. It's got pics of good-looking guys in khakis and polo shirts, posing in expensive flip-flops.

But when I think of bonobos, I think of chimps. Seriously, doesn't everyone think of monkeys when they hear that word? Why would you name your male shi-shi company after a bunch of chimpanzees? Maybe it's just me, but the word "bonobo" does not make me think of adventures with a man wearing madras shorts. It makes me think of the only non-human animal that has face-to-face sex.

hmmmm.....sex.... Maybe the company's PR people did know what they were doing.

New Beginnings

"It's hard to think about your life when one life is made up of so many lifetimes."

Or something like that. I remember a friend of mine said this once. It made a lot of sense when I was 25. I was on life #3 or 4 by then, and I thought that was a lot!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that I have decided to change my life. I am leaving teaching (for now? for good?). I am a good teacher, but it has been very stressful. To be a good teacher you need to invest a lot of yourself, heart and soul, into your lessons, school, and students. After my year off and my year back in the classroom, I've discovered that I don't have much to give anymore. Even less to bring to my relationship with Froody. He's the main reason I've chosen to change careers. For 9.5 months I'm too tired to go camping, hiking, even out to dinner with family and friends. It would be so nice to be able to do all those things I like doing- alone and with Froody- for more than just 2.5 months out of the year.

Now is a good time to leave. Teachers seem to be coming under fire in this country. Even my current good and supportive district is planning on increasing class-size to 34 (hell, who wants to be locked in a room full of 13 year olds all day everyday for 9 months!?), not give us the next step in pay, and add more "furlough" days (no school = no work = no pay). Not only that, but did you hear about the school that fired all their teachers because the kids aren't scoring well?? True, I think teachers do need to be accountable, but so do the students, parents, and school district. How can the government expect me to teach these kids when they keep giving me less and less $$ and resources to do my job??? How can I teach these kids when their parents are unable or do not want to be positive contributors to their students' education?

bleh. I'd rather be an animal nurse.

End chapter 8. Start chapter 9.