Family Man, Support & Software Engineer
Today we are visiting Ross Farm Museum for their annual winter frolic event. As we were walking from the car into the snow we were talking to the kids about the different activities that were on.
There is sledding, snow shoes, horse sleigh rides, and hot chocolate. At the mention of hot chocolate Caile pipes up:
That’s my favourite winter activity!
If there is one thing I can take away from today is that I finally think I’m making progress. For the past couple weeks the scale has been seeing a steady decline, although not huge. I’m putting in lots of km’s running, and tracking my calories has helped me stay on top of my eating. But this isn’t the main progress I’m pleased about right today.
For some reason today I woke up with a poor attitude. Without even knowing the reason I’ve just felt down all day. These days happen sometimes and they go away fairly quickly thankfully. Normally when these days happen though my default to get through them is by eating. Eating a pile of food that is not good for me and not needed. In the end it always makes things worse because then I feel down about all the food I just ate for no good reason.
Today, even though I still feel the same way, I stuck to eating the way I should. Just a few minutes ago I came very close to grabbing a bag of chips along with a homemade muffin and cookies, but instead I grabbed a little container of yogurt and am now done eating for the day.
The plan is to wake up tomorrow feeling like myself and make sure I force myself out for a run, as that in itself has a way of clearing my head and making me feel better. All the while keeping my eating in check so the progress can continue.
Awoken shortly after getting to bed
Winds from the winter rain storm trying to get in
Windows rattle and the whole house sways
All glowing lights suddenly flash off
Laying here awake, thankful
Thankful for a warm safe home
Thankful for a still sleeping family
Thankful it’s all rain and not snow
Morning will come soon
Hopeful sleep will as well
That dawn will bring peaceful weather
And the lights and heat will once again be on
This morning I was awake right about 5:30am because I had managed to get to bed at a decent time last night. It looked like a beautiful morning out even though it was a bit chilly I decided to start my morning the way I used to all the time.
Early morning used to be my favourite time to run but I had fallen away from that. Granted that used to be in the summer and warmer periods where it was pretty much light out already and I didn’t need a bunch of layers to stay warm. However this morning reminded me why I liked it so much. The world is still fairly still and quite that time of morning except for a few people likely making the commute to work. It also gives me quite time in the morning to just clear my head and start the day on a positive. The sky was very clear with the moon and the stars still out so the scenery was nice to take in as well.
Not sure I’ll keep this up especially as the weather gets even colder, but if I do it’s also a great way to get my Fitbit steps in. This morning before 7:30 am I had over 8000 steps in!
So far I’ve been wearing my Fitbit for almost three weeks and have come up with a few interesting observations about it. For the most part I really enjoy tracking everything and having a record, but at the same time there have been parts which have been depressing.
My water intake is really good, I drink plenty each day without even trying. I get more sleep than I thought I did, but I’m not confident in the awake restless times it tracks. It could be something that is built into me from all those years of pretending I was still asleep in the morning so I could get five more minutes before school. Now I’m so good at it Fitbit can’t tell I’m really awake.
There have been a few instances where the GPS when tracking runs has been off by a bit, but nothing enough or frequently enough that will stop me from going to it only for tracking my runs soon.
The biggest observation which I’ve make that is depressing is the lack of movement I do in the run of a day if I don’t specifically force myself to do something extra. Most days I’ll go for a run. A 5k run typically takes me about 30 minutes and I get about 5000 steps in during that time. The rest of the day combined, especially on days I’m working, I struggle to get that other half by the end of the day. If I don’t run it is almost impossible. The other thing is it is far to easy for me to go grab something extra to eat that I don’t really need.
If I don’t watch myself every single day and be extra vigilant it is now very easy to see why my weight can go up so quickly. Since starting to track I haven’t really lost any weight, but I haven’t gone up either. To get down to where I want to be I’m going to have to cut out the snacks all together and focus on moving even more. It’s probably about time Jillian Michaels and I get reacquainted again.
Many things in life seem to come in twelves. The number really does seem to have a hold in our daily lives. When I wake up in the morning and look at the time it is in the twelve hour format. Most clocks analogue or digital have twelve hours. Continuing with time there are also twelve months in a year, twelve signs in the zodiac, and twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. Along with time there are also other measurements like 12 inches in a foot.
Many things come in twelves. One common item is going to the store to pick up a carton of eggs. You can then use those to bake many delicious things like a dozen cupcakes. Road trips used to include a box of twelve donuts. A case of pop comes in twelve, or one of my old favourites a case of beer. Most of these things I try to severely limit or have given up entirely.
This time of year we end up doing a lot of celebrating. We have Christmas and New Years and as part of that you often hear or sing about the twelve days of Christmas, but that isn’t the twelve I’m thinking of right now. Today I should be out buying a dozen roses, and I would but, Jen doesn’t really like when I buy her flowers. Today marks our twelve year wedding anniversary!
Twelve years ago today I was on a river boat on the Mississippi River in New Orleans getting married to my best friend. We’ve been through a lot over the years all of it making us stronger and my love for Jen grow even more. She brings out the best in me and I can’t imagine a better wife, mother, or friend in this world. I’m looking forward to many more years celebrating our life together.
It’s been a couple days since I’d been for a run and I was missing it. The weather has been cold and snowing so I wasn’t looking forward to going out. Today I was missing it though and decided I needed to go out.
Dressed up in a few layers and put on some of my new winter gear to head out and it was actually really nice. I didn’t feel too cold at all even though it was around -11. There was one short length in my loop where the wind was blowing the snow right in my face and that wasn’t great but other than that I didn’t mind it at all.
Things did go a bit slower as there were some slippery spots and snow built up where the plows hadn’t been by for a while. Took it easy and didn’t fall or even really slip at all.
Now that I have the first one out of the way, Jen is convinced I’m crazy, but I feel good about heading out running in the snow now. It was actually really relaxing and peaceful.
It was forecasted for a few days now, so we knew it was coming, but we were still hoping things would change. Unfortunately it finaly hit and we now have a fair amount of snow on the ground.
It’s still falling as I write this, but it slowing down and I think most of the accumulation is done. I’ll have to go clear the driveway soon.
We took advantage though and have been using this time to get our house back in order after a mad Christmas. I even went through all my closet and storage container to get rid of clothes that are too big for me. In the past I’ve always held on in case I went back up in weight. That’s like giving my self an excuse that it’s OK to do that. Not anymore they are all going. Part of my motivation for this was when I posted a comparison family picture from six years ago to this Christmas. I still had the same sweater I was wearing and I wore it a few days ago, even though it floated on me. Time for it to go.
Once all that was done it felt like a good time to make the most of the snow and get out for at least a short walk to enjoy it. I could only convince Noah to come with me, but he and I went for a little trek into a little wooded path. As much as I could do without it, the snow really is beautiful.
It’s amazing how much a difference a day can make. Yesterday was Christmas Eve, and it was a bit overwhelming. All the kids seemed to have too much stored energy and it was coming out and not always in the best ways. There was lots of bickering and arguing going on. It was a busy day with Jen and I working to get lots of headway made for today and meals last night.
Christmas for me is all about getting to spend time with family and friends. We are lucky enough to usually celebrate with multiple meals between getting together with my family and Jen’s. In years past though we have always had meals with Jen’s family at our house and meals with my family at my Mothers house. This year though we are doing both sets here.
There are lots of upsides to this because everyone gets to come to us and we don’t have to travel and hurry from one place to the next. It also means a lot of work getting meals ready, cleaned up, house presentable etc. Getting to be with everyone is worth it though, and the food is always excellent.
With all the prep work yesterday and the kids the way they were I ended up going for a run more or less to clear my head and get some time alone. I always feel better after a run and indeed it did help.
Today has been a different story. Because of all our hard work yesterday there wasn’t as much to do today. The kids let us sleep in until shortly after 7:00am which was lovely. We opened gifts with Jen’s family and celebrated my Mother In Laws birthday at the same time. My sister and her family came over for what has become our Christmas lunch tradition of enchiladas and quesadillas. Once we were done we took advantage of some amazing weather and went for a walk all together at the marsh. There were many other people out with the same idea.
When we got back I peeled some sweet potatoes for dinner and then, strictly because of the beautiful weather, I decided to go for a run again. For Christmas I had received a couple items of winter running wear but I’m very thankful I didn’t get to try them out today. Instead I went for my first short sleeved run in quite a while.
After a delicious Christmas/Birthday dinner in which I was able to control myself and not over do it on the desert, unlike last night, it was very nice to sit and relax for a bit.
Once everyone left though we did a final cleanup of the gifts so that we can make it through and sit in the living room without squishing anything. Now with the kids off to bed we can really relax, just Jen and I, with just the lights from the Christmas tree.
I’m very thankful to have so much family close by who we can share these special holidays with, it really does make the little bit of stress that comes along with the busy time of year all worth it.
For the past few days when I’m out running I’ve been tracking my runs with both Runkeeper and my new Fitbit Surge. Even if I was extremely happy with Fitbit’s tracking I would still be doubling up with Runkeeper at least until the end of the year when my goal is reached.
The first day I ran with the Fitbit I was impatient and didn’t wait for it to find GPS and hit quick start. It seemed to be taking a really long time to find and I just wanted to go. Since then I’ve waited for it to connect to GPS before starting out though. Today I started both Runkeeper and the Fitbit within seconds of each other and the results were pretty off. It looks like Fitbit didn’t really have a good GPS signal after the first km it seemed to catch up and track things properly.
You can see the difference between the maps above, Runkeeper on the right is pretty much bang on what I ran. Fitbit on the left should have started the same place as the ending is marked.
Has anyone else had issues with the GPS in their Surge? It’s not a really big deal, but I’d like to be able to depend on one and so far I love everything else about the Surge so I would like it to be it.
Sandy McFadden 