Back in the fast lane...

...kinda.  I FINALLY felt a little better last weekend and got out for a 17.5 mile bike ride....a slooooooooow bike ride, but a ride nonetheless.  It ended up being more of a bar crawl than a bike ride, but I guess that's ok too, I suppose.  Sunday morning I got up and went to my first hot yoga class with my friend, Malia.  It was absolutely crazy, and I've never sweat so much in my life!  I took Monday off from any physical activity because I knew Tuesday would be a little rough.  We had Appropriate Use of Force training at work, which basically ended up being about 5 hours of low-impact activity.  I took Brooke to swimming lessons and then decided to go attempt an evening hot yoga session.  Turns out that wasn't the best decision I've ever made.  I made it through the first 1/2 hour but struggled.  After that, every time I stood up I got light headed.  I determined I would not make it through the rest of the class and called it quits.  I felt like a complete ass walking out, but I couldn't do it.  Later, I realized I hadn't eaten nearly enough food that day for the amount of energy I had exerted.  I use Weight Watchers on-line and for the entire day had only eaten 8 points of food.  I wasn't hungry because I had eaten plenty of fruits and veggies (zero points), but I certainly hadn't consumed enough calories for the amount of physical activity I had done.  Lesson learned.

My week ended on a particularly great note: shopping!  I'm typically not a big shopper, but when I get something in my head that I want or need, I set out to accomplish that goal.  I told myself awhile back that I was not going to buy any new pants until my pants in my closet actually fit me.  Well, over the past few weeks I've been able to wear all of my work pants, which is spectacular.  That being said, I got most of them on clearance 3 years ago and they are all either out of style or just not in good condition anymore.  So I set out yesterday to get some work clothes to replace the ones in my closet.  My favorite realization of the day was that every single pair of size 10 pants I tried on actually fit!  I don't think that has ever happened!  This is not to say they were the best style or fit for me, but they went on my body.  A-maz-ing.  I also realized today that I could use another pair of jeans.  My friend, Randi, had suggested D&B Supply as a place to get cute, long jeans, so I took her suggestion and set out that direction.  Best.jeans.shopping.trip.ever!  I came home with size 9 jeans!  I haven't had size 9 jeans since I was probably in 8th grade!  Whaaaaaat?!?! So awesome!!!

Ok, I'm feeling like less of a pansy

Yesterday at work was pretty miserable.  I was nothing more than a snot machine and as the day went on, my sinus pressure made me more and more whiny.  I worked late and by the time I got home I couldn't really stand it anymore, so I went to the local express clinic at the grocery store (yes, grocery store).  Not only do I have a sinus infection, I also have ear infections in BOTH ears.  Even though I don't get ear infections all that often, I can usually feel them coming on.  I didn't have a clue yesterday until the doc looked in my ears and told me they were angry...and then it all made sense.  He prescribed some antibiotics and I figured I could live through the night and another day at work since I had already made it through the day yesterday without dying.  Boy oh boy, was I wrong.  My ears started to ache as the night went on.  Thankfully, my mother-in-law gave me a heat/cold pack to warm up in the microwave which I remembered as I was tucking myself into bed last night.  I warmed that sucker up and took some old pain medication from my foot surgery last year (we were completely out of ibuprofen) and managed to sleep until midnight or so.  I woke up and went back to sleep fairly quickly.  I woke up again at 2am and laid there until 2:30 when I finally decided I needed more heat.  I trudged downstairs and heated up my pack again and slept for a few more hours. Needless to say, even though I had originally planned to be at work again this morning, I am on the couch at home.  I've found a pretty comfy position to rest my head with the heat pack and can still manage to use my MacBook and even watch The Price is Right.  Too bad I don't have a little personal assistant to go make me more coffee and heat up my pack!  I have a feeling I'm going to lose my position here soon, as both of these things are becoming necessities.  Sigh.

I am really, really hoping these antibiotics kick in soon and heal me up so I can get out and be active.  I know I've complained about it in the past few posts, but it's really killing me. 

I'm not there yet...

...the gym, I mean.  But on the plus side, I did feel even better today and didn't take any cold medicine.  I'm sure no one enjoyed the constant nose-blowing, but I don't really care.  I did take my gym clothes with me to work, but couldn't quite imagine how I would handle needing to wipe my nose while on the treadmill or bike, so I didn't go.  Lame, I know.  Maybe tomorrow?  I certainly hope so.

On the plus side, I decided to attempt to pull my skinniest khaki's on this morning, AND THEY FIT.  Woot!  After the Monumental 1/2 was Thanksgiving, my grandma's funeral (really, one big, crazy family get together with lots of eating and LOTS of drinking), Christmas, and the New Year.  Even though I was working out quite a bit, I certainly wasn't running as much as I had been and promptly gained a crazy amount of weight.  The County started weight loss incentive awhile back wherein if you lose 10% of your body weight in six months, they will give you $100.  If you keep it off for a year, you get another $100.  When they started the incentive program, I was sitting a pretty good weight for myself and knew that taking 10% of my weight off would leave me ridiculously thin and at a weight I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain.  Once I ballooned, I decided I was all for it!  I'm 8 lbs from my goal now, which is spectacular.  Plus, my pants fit. Double woot!  :)

I've been sick

Like, sick sick.  As in didn't-go-to-work-for-2.5-days-and-laid-on-the-couch-all-weekend sick.  The first 1.5 days were ok, even if I did get a little bored at home.  Now it's just annoying.  I can't do anything other than cough and blow my nose and apologize to people for not shaking their hands upon meeting for the first time and explain my sickness.  I'm cranky. Period.

Working out has become my own medicine, as in curbing cranky moods and trying not to yell at clients and family medicine.  I got really busy at work last week (before the sickness) and probably haven't worked out for 2 weeks now, which means my crankiness has been horribly horrible.  I've tried my best to keep my attitude in check, but I think I'm about to lose it.  I need to run or bike or row or do SOMETHING other than sit in a chair or on a couch or lay in bed, and seriously, if I watch another rerun of "What Not to Wear" or "Say Yes to the Dress" or oh, dear god, "48 Hours: Hard Evidence," I'm probably going to die.

I guess the fact that my dear, sweet, crazy dog tore up the carpet again today doesn't have anything to do with my crankiness.  Ugh.