We used to sleep. Really, we did.
Look, there is even pictorial evidence!
Then we acquired a couple of these.
See the little smirk? She knows.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Renaissance Festival
We had so much fun!! This weekend was pirate weekend. Here's a scurvy bunch! 
Our own merry little band. Those pirate hats stayed on approximately long enough to take two pictures.
Check out this guys costume!
We were watching a show called "Birds of Prey". Falcons, owls and vultures kept flying out over us! Myra LOVED it.
Logan wanted to ride on this cool spinning ride. He liked it at first, but it got a little fast for him. Good thing Daddy was close by.
We spotted this sweet little faery and her Dad while we were having lunch.
Then we wandered through the enchanted gardens, where the kids got to make friends with a mermaid...
see the Tree of Life...
some cool dragons...
and an Asian temple.
Myra loved that. too!
These benches were pretty awesome.
Anna and Logan stop for a kiss.
And again in the wedding chapel. Should I worry about this??
While we were hanging out in the wedding chapel, we saw this beautiful butterfly.
And a real wedding, Renaissance Festival style!
But the coolest part was the faeries!! They came in and played Hide and Seek with the kids!!
Here is one faery counting to ten. Logan helped her when she got stuck.
Here they are hiding.
Our last ride was the carousel. Logan had fun on this one.
The coolest show was one that we totally didn't get any pictures of! We saw a troupe of belly dancers perform. It was awesome! The kids really loved it. Both Logan and Myra were dancing and clapping along.
Here is a shot from the troupe's website. They were amazing!
I love the Renaissance Festival!
Our own merry little band. Those pirate hats stayed on approximately long enough to take two pictures.
Check out this guys costume!
We were watching a show called "Birds of Prey". Falcons, owls and vultures kept flying out over us! Myra LOVED it.
Logan wanted to ride on this cool spinning ride. He liked it at first, but it got a little fast for him. Good thing Daddy was close by.
We spotted this sweet little faery and her Dad while we were having lunch.
Then we wandered through the enchanted gardens, where the kids got to make friends with a mermaid...
see the Tree of Life...
some cool dragons...
and an Asian temple.
Myra loved that. too!
These benches were pretty awesome.
Anna and Logan stop for a kiss.
And again in the wedding chapel. Should I worry about this??
While we were hanging out in the wedding chapel, we saw this beautiful butterfly.
And a real wedding, Renaissance Festival style!
But the coolest part was the faeries!! They came in and played Hide and Seek with the kids!!
Here is one faery counting to ten. Logan helped her when she got stuck.
Here they are hiding.
Our last ride was the carousel. Logan had fun on this one.The coolest show was one that we totally didn't get any pictures of! We saw a troupe of belly dancers perform. It was awesome! The kids really loved it. Both Logan and Myra were dancing and clapping along.
Here is a shot from the troupe's website. They were amazing!I love the Renaissance Festival!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Dispersion
So it seems that change is coming more gradually to the scale. Several reasons exist:
1. 12 days of 16 hour shifts, then two days off, then another 12 days of 16 hour shifts. (Those keeping track of my adherence to the mandatory maximum of 80 hours per week should probably jump to the next reason and avoid any mental math right now.)
2. See #1 above, cf. inability to exercise
3. See #1 above, cf. inability to obtain sufficient sleep
4. See #1 above, cf. inability to do anything other than the ICU.
Hard to stay motivated to lose weight when you have precisely enough extra time to eat dinner, then put the kids to bed, prior to collapsing. However, I am hoping that my next rotation will offer opportunity to refocus my currently dispersed (nay, hopelessly lost) aspirations.
I dug a little more into the BMI, and there is an interesting article from that fount of all human knowledge, Wikipedia. Suffice to say there is a large disparity between current use of the BMI and the appropriate use.
I am not trying to "diet" per se, as that is a temporary and ultimately self-defeating concept. I am trying to change my approach to food, and resist what I consider to be one of the worst and most pervasive aspects of American culture: the attempt to disconnect actions from consequences. I shouldn't be surprised that I can't lose weight as long as I keep dosing myself with the occasional handful of Peanut M&Ms (the so-called "extended release" version of M&Ms). Can't get skinny eating the same foods that made me fat.
Mentally, this is quite challenging. I am reminded of a talk by Dallin H. Oaks about repentance. He uses the analogy of a tree being blown in the wind. If the wind is strong enough, the tree bends down and gets mud on its leaves. The process of "repentance" for this tree is not designed to clean the leaves, for with the next strong wind it will bend just as easily. Repentance implies strengthening the tree itself, so that the next wind will not bend it.
So how does one become mentally strong? I already have lots of random, self-defeating thoughts banging about the back of the brain, telling me that I'm going too fast, that somehow this is bad for me, questioning whether this represents some oddball fad or eating disorder. Some days I wish my brain was susceptible to a good dose of "SHUT UP!"; however, it seems impervious to such potions, much like my 3 year old.
I certainly feel better. I have now moved to a separate section of my closet which contains pants from approximately 3 years ago. I am never really hungry, although this is by careful design, as if I allow hunger I will engage in a hugely disgusting binge. I haven't noticed any change in my running, but I haven't been running in 4 weeks, so it's hard to tell.
As far as I can tell, one of the keys was a desparation move I made about 8 weeks ago. I had decided I would actually comply with our church's recommendation to fast once per month. I haven't done that in, oh, years. I started out in the morning and (critical error) forgot to pray. Just a few hours later, I was literally on my knees trying to fight these insanely powerful hunger pangs that have sabotaged every previous attempt to eat properly. From past experience I know that these pangs are not satisfied regardless of the amount of food I eat; only if I eat large amounts of junk food will they go away. Katie asked me if I had tried praying; I did so in short order, begging almost randomly to let this fast provide me with "willpower". Said hunger pangs almost immediately went away, and from that day I have been much more able to fight back against these crazy binges that occasinally consume me.
Junk food is addictive, in the same fashion that cigarettes and cocaine are (See also here, and here). And it's nice to know that God has power, even over that.
1. 12 days of 16 hour shifts, then two days off, then another 12 days of 16 hour shifts. (Those keeping track of my adherence to the mandatory maximum of 80 hours per week should probably jump to the next reason and avoid any mental math right now.)
2. See #1 above, cf. inability to exercise
3. See #1 above, cf. inability to obtain sufficient sleep
4. See #1 above, cf. inability to do anything other than the ICU.
Hard to stay motivated to lose weight when you have precisely enough extra time to eat dinner, then put the kids to bed, prior to collapsing. However, I am hoping that my next rotation will offer opportunity to refocus my currently dispersed (nay, hopelessly lost) aspirations.
I dug a little more into the BMI, and there is an interesting article from that fount of all human knowledge, Wikipedia. Suffice to say there is a large disparity between current use of the BMI and the appropriate use.
I am not trying to "diet" per se, as that is a temporary and ultimately self-defeating concept. I am trying to change my approach to food, and resist what I consider to be one of the worst and most pervasive aspects of American culture: the attempt to disconnect actions from consequences. I shouldn't be surprised that I can't lose weight as long as I keep dosing myself with the occasional handful of Peanut M&Ms (the so-called "extended release" version of M&Ms). Can't get skinny eating the same foods that made me fat.
Mentally, this is quite challenging. I am reminded of a talk by Dallin H. Oaks about repentance. He uses the analogy of a tree being blown in the wind. If the wind is strong enough, the tree bends down and gets mud on its leaves. The process of "repentance" for this tree is not designed to clean the leaves, for with the next strong wind it will bend just as easily. Repentance implies strengthening the tree itself, so that the next wind will not bend it.
So how does one become mentally strong? I already have lots of random, self-defeating thoughts banging about the back of the brain, telling me that I'm going too fast, that somehow this is bad for me, questioning whether this represents some oddball fad or eating disorder. Some days I wish my brain was susceptible to a good dose of "SHUT UP!"; however, it seems impervious to such potions, much like my 3 year old.
I certainly feel better. I have now moved to a separate section of my closet which contains pants from approximately 3 years ago. I am never really hungry, although this is by careful design, as if I allow hunger I will engage in a hugely disgusting binge. I haven't noticed any change in my running, but I haven't been running in 4 weeks, so it's hard to tell.
As far as I can tell, one of the keys was a desparation move I made about 8 weeks ago. I had decided I would actually comply with our church's recommendation to fast once per month. I haven't done that in, oh, years. I started out in the morning and (critical error) forgot to pray. Just a few hours later, I was literally on my knees trying to fight these insanely powerful hunger pangs that have sabotaged every previous attempt to eat properly. From past experience I know that these pangs are not satisfied regardless of the amount of food I eat; only if I eat large amounts of junk food will they go away. Katie asked me if I had tried praying; I did so in short order, begging almost randomly to let this fast provide me with "willpower". Said hunger pangs almost immediately went away, and from that day I have been much more able to fight back against these crazy binges that occasinally consume me.
Junk food is addictive, in the same fashion that cigarettes and cocaine are (See also here, and here). And it's nice to know that God has power, even over that.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Dropping
Today the scale broke the 175 pound mark.
That's not bad. This process begin with the post of me running--so you have the time frame.
From 198 to 175 is pretty good.
Goal? The medical literature argues that my ideal body weight for my height is about 155. I don't know that I will get that low, but certainly there's still plenty to lose.
That's not bad. This process begin with the post of me running--so you have the time frame.
From 198 to 175 is pretty good.
Goal? The medical literature argues that my ideal body weight for my height is about 155. I don't know that I will get that low, but certainly there's still plenty to lose.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)