Weighty Wednesday -- Working for the Weekend

Yes, I'm dating myself by mentioning that I know this Loverboy song. It was big when I was in college, with the lead singer wearing red hot leather pants.

On a side note, I saw them at a company function in the late 1990's . . . er, dude was fat and poured into his pants. Years later, I saw them again on TV and he fit in his pants, but he looked really, really old.

Back on topic--do you watch what you eat all week, but not bother on the weekend?

If you don't bother, then you aren't alone.

And you'll also notice that you'll do well with your weight loss one week, while you seem to gain most of it back the next week.

So, what's up?

Weekend rebound. 

As my WW leader, Julie, pointed out in our meeting this week (Yay! I made it after missing the previous two meetings!) that weekends and holidays make up roughly 1/3 of all our days in the year.

Think about it.

One-third of all the days in the year

So, if you watch what you eat during the week and blow off what you eat on the weekend, it makes perfect sense that you are sabotaging yourself, derailing your weight loss efforts, which in turn, would cause a weight rebound.

Here's a thought for this coming weekend:  Plan a little more for the weekend. 

If you plan to eat out, then go online and look at the menu to help you make better choices.

If you're going to the movies, do you really need to eat the theater popcorn/candy?

If you want to drink an alcoholic beverage, limit yourself to one, and drink a large glass of water before you imbibe.

Decide where you want to spend your points.

And the big question you need to ask yourself -- is it worth it? 

Something to think about.

Later, Peeps!

A Long, Relaxing Weekend

Today is the start of a long and relaxing weekend by the pool.

We pick kidlet up from camp this afternoon--don't worry, we'll hose her off before she's allowed to come into the house--the hubby's birthday is tomorrow and Father's Day is on Sunday. And on the 20th we'll celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary.

Time flies, doesn't it.

As the hubs and I were finishing the last bit of gardening, trimming, mulch fluffing, etc., I was thinking about marriage.

Why do some marriages stay together while others fall apart?

Why are some couples able to work together all day and yet still enjoy each other's company on their off time?

Why do some couples lose their identities during the child-rearing years and end up a divorce statistic when the kids are out of the house?

I don't have the answers, but I do know that my husband is my best friend. He makes me laugh, and I think I can return the favor. It's a big part of who we are.

We enjoy being together. We enjoy sharing the yard work. We enjoy each other's company. We enjoy doing things together.

Sometimes parents tend to get so involved with raising their children that they forget to nurture their own relationship. This is one of the wonderful things about sending the kidlet to camp. While she was at swim camp, I was at a loss with what to do with myself. But this last week, while she was at Girl Scout camp, my hubs and I enjoyed our alone time. We talked about everything, just like we did before we were married.

Though we are connected every day, we reconnected on a deeper level. It's nice to know we're still in sync.

I don't know what you have planned for the weekend, but enjoy the time you have with your loved ones.

Later, Peeps!

Swim Meet

This last weekend, we attended the kidlet's swim meet at a local venue.

Yes, I used the word 'venue'. Because it's an Olympic-regulation sized pool at a local high school. This place is amazing with 8-50 meter lanes, state of the art air circulation system, and the water uses 'cutting edge' technology for sanitation.

It doesn't seem to be chlorine because the kidlet didn't smell like she'd been in a swimming pool all morning! It's really, really nice. . . though it still has bleachers in the balcony for the parents to sit on.

Alas, it's not the pool she normally swims in. :-(

Which meant we went to the local Academy to buy some sproingy stadium chairs with backs.

It made all the difference. In between heats, the hubs worked on his computer and I crocheted. Usually when I crochet, my hands will start to sweat because the humidity is so high, but not at Jenks.

Anyhoo, last year was the first time the kidlet swam competitively and Jenks was her first short course meet.

What is short course?

Good question. In fact it was one that I asked when we went to our first meet. Short course season starts in September and ends with Age Group finals/Sectionals during the first of March. Then water polo season starts, March-April. Then long course May-July. August is usually Long course Age Group finals and Sectionals.

Short course is 25 meter or 25 yard pools. Times will be higher because there are more turns involved.

For example: the kidlet raced her first 500 Freestyle race. She psyched herself out about it. Trying to tell her that she routinely swims that in practice didn't matter. She was freaking . . . and it took place right after the 200 Free relay. In the 500 Free, you have to swim 20 laps, which means 19 flip turns. I can imagine the counting must be tough. Luckily, her teammates helped out. At the non-starting block part of the pool. they had a plastic placard that they put in the water to let the swimmer know how many laps they did (1,3,5,etc) When the red square is up, then it's a 25 yard race to the finish!

For her first 500 ever, she had a very respectable time of 7.20.37 minutes, and ended up 15th out of 20.

This year, they had the boys compete on one end of the pool and the girls on the other end. Thank goodness! Because we would have been there all day! Every day the boys finished about 1-2 HOURS before the girls did. Yes, there were that many girls.

Many of the events had around 21-23 heats with 8 girls per heat. Do the math.

That's a lot of kids!

Even with separating out the 10 & Unders, there were still up to 73-78 11/12 year olds.

Last year, the goal was to establish times in the events. This year the goal is to shave time off her previous times. Here were her events:
Saturday:
500 Free--first time to ever swim this.
100 Free--remained the same--paced with kid next to her instead of pushing past.
100 Back-not timed previously. Only 2 seconds off 'B' time goal.
200 Medley (IM)--took 5 seconds off time
Sunday:
100 Fly-- took 9 seconds off previous time
50 Free--took 1.5 seconds off previous time which put her at "B" time. Now goal is to get "A" times.
100 Breast--took 13 seconds off previous time
200 Free--took 23 seconds off previous time

The kidlet didn't win any ribbons, but she shaved seconds off her every time she'd been seeded in. In many events she was barely out of 'B' standard times by only one or two seconds, BUT she did make "B" time for her 50 Free. That was an exciting heat since most of the girls were neck-and-neck the entire race!

I don't know when she'll have another meet. We have to look at the schedule to see what works for us.

I'll post about it when it's relevant!

Later, Peeps!