Back to the Grind

Man oh man, I never thought I would say this, but I am ready for the grind.  I have never had two weeks straight off like this with nothing particular to do like a vacation (last year was close but not quite), and I can honestly say it’s good to be back to work, back to normal workouts, back to eating like a normal human bean, and uh, quix-ing like a normal Quix.

Although I pitched a fit and whined and moaned and complained a lot in 2009 and some in 2010, I don’t want to just stay at home and do nothing.  I enjoyed a few days of it, but then I was ready to rock.  Then I went crazy and did lots of fun stuff when my Zliten was also off, but somehow that also lead to really crappy eating, not much exercise, and not much productivity.  In fact, beyond some of the epic experiences I will start detailing soon, I can’t really tell you what we did.  There was a lot of TV watching, shopping, napping, web dorking, web gaming, some drinking around the fire, some hangin’ out, and some cleaning.  Can’t say that I really felt I made huge use of my time off to be productive/epic/whatevs, but I got a lot of rest and relaximication, and that is absolutely what I needed.

This is relaximicated,  happy Quix.  Photo courtesy of Tiny Glow who ended up partying at mi casa (g00d times, good times….).

So now, back to life, back to reality.  Definitely with a clearer head, a sunnier disposition, and less crispy crunchiness from being brain fried.  It definitely helps that we’ve got a vacation planned in, oh, 46 days (not that I’m counting… oh wait, I am…).  Even though the last two days of normal life have been hectic (we don’t do easy break ins back from vacation here!), I love my life, so it makes sense that getting back to the norm ain’t so bad.

I do miss the 11am wakeups though.  Dear fluffy lord, why can’t the world operate a little later?  Ah well.  C’est la vie.   Numbers below…

Vacation Rest Week Workouts:

Monday: off
Tuesday: roller skating
Wednesday: trapeze lessons
Thursday: off
Friday: swimming, full body weights
Saturday: off
Sunday: bike sprints

Back to the Grind Week:

Monday: swim workout #1 Season Prep – 3000 yds (1.7 miles…yeah) 15 mins warmup IM (butterfly, you are so awkward), 5×200 yd repeats in about 8 minutes each with 1 min rest in between, 5 mins cooldown.
Tuesday: group power
Wednesday: run workout #12 – Faking the Long Run – 15 mins warmup, 4×5 minute hill repeats, 5 mins cooldown
Thursday: 30 mins cardio, abs + legs
Friday: bike sprints, arms + back
Saturday:  off
Sunday: off

Foodwise… we don’t even want to go there last week.  It’s not as if I intentionally went hog wild.  I didn’t.  However, I definitely did not eat like my normal self.  My body is telling me that this week.  The scale is telling me that as well.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t gain 5 lbs in one week and I feel like a helium balloon, and uh… my body is trying desperately to get all the yuk out, so I’m not putting much stock in the number, but suffice to say – I’m not content with it.  However, I’ll leave the harsh judgment for next week.

However, it’s true – scale, this is what you make me do… because I also am the heaviest I’ve been in 2 years.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m also the fittest I’ve been in 2 years, but my clothes definitely let me know that it’s not all muscle.  I would do well with some fat loss.  I know fat loss is slow, where weight loss can be quick. I’m not giving up an INCH of these muscles if I can help it, thx u very much.  157 may not be reasonable by my cruise.  I just need to stay on top of it and continue to make forward progress.

I didn’t gain during tri season last year (sadly, the extra 15 on me can be pinpointed to half marathon 1, 2, and 3 – 5 each time), even without being terribly conscious of my food, so I’m going to try to stick to less lengthy swim, bike, and run workouts, and continue at least 2 hours of weights this month.  I think yoga may perhaps fall by the wayside, but something’s gotta give.

This week – I return to no sweets for January as I did in July.  That’s one of the major ways my eating changed – I normally don’t have issues controlling myself around sweets (a dab’l do me) but occasionally I’ll notice it’s a nightly occurrence.  Or like December, when it was ALWAYS around – I tried to be discerning, but so much of it WAS homemade and delicious and worth it.  And January is the season of bringing the leftovers to the office to get rid of them.  I figured the best thing was to just swear off them altogether for a while.  And honestly, they don’t even look good to me – the homemade fudge and candy caramel corn and the like and puppy chow and christmas chocolates?  Bleh.  Over it.  I’m not making a big deal about sugar content of stuff (like ketchup or dressing or crap – that would drive me batty), but anything that’s a sweet treat?  Call me in February.

Calorie-wise?  Trying to average at or a little below 1500 cal/day over the week.  That means probably 1300-1400 weekdays, a little more weekends.  I forgot that pain of calorie restriction and am not enjoying it thusfar, but hey, I guess you must bleed for your art, right?  I always get the comments that it looks low for my activity level/weight – but I just can’t lose on more.  I wish I could.  But my body is greedy with the food and wants to keep it allz.  I’ve tried more fat, less fat, more carbs, less carbs, zone ratio… the only thing that works is good old fashioned deprivation.  Bleh.

So, how’s your first week back to reality?  How are doing with your January goals?