Enjoying the desert (really!)

Ah, this is the time of year that I absolutely love living in AZ. Of course, you will need to remind me of this frequently round about May or so. The temperature is absolutely perfect out - warm during the day and chilly at night. Now that we know for sure we're keeping the house, D and I have a renewed energy towards enhancements and improvements. With no budget, however, we are certainly limited. But we managed to take a lot of joy in just working in the yard yesterday. D focused on trimming the grass (we actually have some) and fixing the drip system and filling in the holes that were dug by our beloved boys. They may be gone, but their damage remains. Still made us miss them terribly. I was assigned bush trimming. Thing is, I tend to get a little carried away and before I know it I have a pile of clippings and some naked little bushes. But they look nice and clean and ready for their spring growth.

Other than the yard, yesterday was fulfilling in that I went shopping and literally bought us a month's worth of healthy meals and snacks. We were on a mission to drain our pantry and freezer and we did pretty good, so it was time to re-stock. We also got our first-run print of our flash-cards - they look AWESOME! Minor mix-up from the printer, but they've got it fixed now.

I'm actually home for the next 6 weeks, possibly. My goal is to spend a good deal of time losing weight and getting in shape. Seems the holiday season, travel, and the grieving process assisted me in putting on 14 pounds since September. That's a hell of a lot of weight. Especially on my 5'2" frame. Yuck. Grossing myself right out. I don't want to go anywhere because I can't fit into my clothes - even my fat clothes!! Who knew that eating like a pig, drinking wine, and not exercising would lead to weight gain???

Simple goal: 7 weeks - 2 pounds per week. This is the perfect time of year to do it. I decided not to do the psycho protein deal. It works but then as soon as my body smells a carb, it goes right back on. So I'm doing the sensible 1200 calories balanced food. Oh, and the pisser? No alcohol. No wine.... And let me tell you, with some of these beautiful sunsets out on our patio, nothing would make it better than a nice glass of wine. Oh well. I'd rather wear my skinny jeans!

The sprint triathlon is in 5 weeks / 2 days. Can I possibly get myself ready in that time?? I feel pretty good about the biking portion, ok about the swim, but horrible about the run. I'm hoping my blog will keep me honest. If I blog every day for the next 5 weeks about how I trained, it should keep me on the straight and narrow, right?

So today's training: Hiked White Peak with Sierra and worked out for an hour on the Wii. Hmmmm.... strangely not looking very "tri" related. Tomorrow I'll start the day with a bike ride and then maybe a run mid-day. The thing is, the girls are competing against me, and even if I don't win, I need to have a strong showing.

Some tips for people watching their calories:

Flatout flatbread is great - 100 cals, multi-grain with flax. You can make wraps or even pizza with it.
I love the veggie straws from Costco. Definitely hits the salty cravings. But watch portion size. I brought the bag home and divied it up into single serve bags that were the right portion.
Jello sugar free - 10 cals and hits the sweet craving
Green tea - we make at least a pitcher a day, if not two. We use 6 green tea bags and two herbal tea like Rasberry Zinger or Orange Spice. Yummy!

On another note, class last week in Phoenix was great - amazing people, as always. We have another three companies interested in our courseware and I have a feeling the self-study program is going to really take off, as well. We have a couple companies interested in on-site programs and a lot of exciting plans for the website.

School is going well - only a couple more weeks and I will have successfully completed my first class!