Regulars

21 September 2010

Well.


Hail, day!
Hail, sons of day!
And night and her daughter now!
Look on us here
with loving eyes,
That waiting we victory win.
-
Hail to the gods!
Ye goddesses, hail,
And all the generous earth!
Give to us wisdom
and goodly speech,
And healing hands, life-long. --Sigrdrifa's Prayer
Much has happened since last I posted. A good deal. I fell off the fitness wagon--and it's my own fault, because I was inattentive. I've gotten back on the horse and rededicated myself to my old oath, which task has been made easier now by one person:

My husband.

This past week he got the results of his latest round of labs back, and the news was not at all good. Our doctor had a long conversation with him (and then with me) and told him that he had to make changes to his lifestyle and eating habits if he wanted to avoid a heart attack and diabetes. He had to drop the pop (for my friends in the South, that'd be sodas), stop treating peanut-butter M&Ms as a food group, and start exercising. In other words, he needed to start listening to me or he'd wind up six feet under and pushing up petunias sooner rather than later.

So now I'm trying to educate him about what is good to eat--at least, from things he is willing to eat--and I'm trying to see if I can tweak some old classics to be more agreeable to his health and mine. For example, pot roast. He and I both love it, and I do try to go with lean cuts to make it so that the fat content isn't egregious but still enough to give some flavour to the meat.

I've also been trying to perfect a spice rub made with ground ginger, cinnamon, dry mustard, and Montreal Steak seasoning. Hubby seems to like it, and the salt content isn't egregious because the Montreal Steak seasoning has salt in it (and I only use a tablespoon of it if that in the rub). Of course, my definition of "egregious" is a tad lower than what most doctors would consider "egregious"--but that's an old habit from when I lived in North Dakota. My hometown was getting its water (at the time) from wells that were, for lack of a better description, going through salt deposits. So the sodium content of the local was the highest of any town in the state, and the town's residents had the highest rates of hypertension in the state too. Gee, wonder why?  They get their water from the lake now, and the salt content is way low as a result--but I still tend to under-salt (or not even salt) food, out of habit.

Aside from the food changes for him, I've also convinced him to go to the gym with me--even if he doesn't walk very long before his asthma decides to give him trouble, he'll at least be walking and he'll get his gym membership on the cheap because of a promotion they're having right now where I can refer a friend or relative and they get a great deal. We'll be going later today, after he gets home from work.

Moving right along. My weight's hovering at around 400ish now (I say "ish" because it ranges from 395 to 405 from week to week), which makes my total weight loss since January around 50 pounds. Go me, go me. At work they've started a "Fall Into Fitness" event...and I am apparently the only person who cared enough to sign up for it. Which is very sad, if you ask me. I even sent out a challenge to my teammates, where all interested parties put $30 in the pot. Whoever beats my weight loss at the end of the promotion wins the money. If I win, the money goes to the American Diabetes Association. Nobody cared to respond. I was saddened by it, to be quite honest.

But we'll see. Perhaps when I get to work Friday (after my four-day weekend), I'll be pleasantly surprised. I hope.

And in a month, I'll be going out to the Bay Area to see the Hurricanes take on the Sharks in San Jose and hang out with several friends that I have there (including a few heathens--hail the folk!) It'll be a grand adventure, and I'm gearing up for some serious walking around and picture taking and possibly some video too. I'm really looking forward to it.