Positives and Negatives

So, on the positive side, I've exercised for five days in a row.  That's way better than I've done in a long time.  I've been recording my walks with the Map My Walk app, and other than a slight misstep yesterday with the app (my battery was low so the GPS ceased functioning properly, failing to register at least half a mile of my walk), it seems to be going ok.  I was really sore at first, but that's gotten better.  I did have to get new shoes on Thursday after the other two pairs I own blistered my pinky toes and my heels, but the new shoes seem to do the job pretty well.  My mile split time hasn't really improved yet, mostly because I was gimping along with the blisters, but I hope that will get better as well.  I probably won't ever get much over three miles (about a 5K), simply because I'm not dedicating more than about an hour to the workout, but if I can increase my speed...we'll see.  Anyway, I also went for two bike rides this week, although I neglected to record them with any apps.  I did download the sister app, Map My Ride, but haven't used it yet.  Both times I didn't ride far or ride fast, but I was lugging little brother in his bike trailer, so that probably increased the workout.

Another positive is that I finished the required work for this AP training I'm attending next week.  We were notified three weeks before the start of the workshop that we had to read and bring with us four short stories and three out of four novels.  I will need to go back over some study guides for the novels (especially Heart of Darkness, which took me forever to read even though it's really short) to remind myself of some stuff, but I actually read all the stories and am even working on the fourth novel even though we only had to read three of them.  I saved the longest for last, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, but I actually find this one the most interesting of the novels.  Oh well.  I won't have it finished by the time we go to the workshop (we leave tomorrow evening), but I'll probably be at least halfway through it.  I printed off and compiled a huge binder full of study guides and lesson plans for the stories and novels as well.  We were supposed to bring an English literature curriculum, so I printed one off as well.  I really don't know what to expect from this training--I've only attended one other AP training, on teaching rhetoric.  I really need to pull those materials back out and look them over again, as I never really did anything with them.  I'm glad to be attending this workshop with friends, three other English teachers from my school.

I'm glad I got my reading done, and I'm proud of having worked out for five days in a row...but on to the negatives...

I gained two pounds this week.

Yep, 233.4. 

I was 231.6 on Monday.  I've exercised seven times in five days.  I've walked nearly 10 miles.  And yet I gained two pounds.  That is so very disappointing.  I'm pretty sure I know why, academically I mean.  Getting up early and exercising makes me hungry.  So instead of just having a cup of coffee and not actually eating anything until later in the morning, I end up having toast or a bowl of cereal.  My metabolism might be cranked up, but I'm also feeding it more.  I've also eaten some things I shouldn't have, like popcorn and candy at a movie on Tuesday, ice cream a few nights of the week, and cupcakes which I made for the boys.  But I would have hoped that the exercise might at least mitigate some of that.  I really expected to be sitting at the same weight from Monday, at the worst, so this really is a disappointment. 

I should do better about eating this week, since I'm at this conference and can't really snack much, but I am probably going to be eating out a bit as well.  I don't know about exercising, either.  I hope the hotel we're in has a gym or something I can use, because I don't know anything about the neighborhood we'll be in and whether or not it would be a good idea to walk there.  I also don't know if altitude will have any effect on me.  Bozeman is about 1500 ft higher than Billings, and I do have a noted sensitivity to altitude.  We'll just have to see. 

Also on the negative side: potty training.  Ian is starting preschool this fall, and they require the kids to be potty trained, no pull-ups or anything.  They start school in September, which means we still have two complete months to work on this, but he's really not interested at all.  I think I'm going to have to put him in underpants and carry rug cleaner around with me so that when he does end up peeing on the floor I can clean it up.  The trip we took didn't help at all--we couldn't stop that often for him to potty, and although we did put him on the big potties when we would stop, he usually had already used his diaper.  We also brought his potty with use and tried to use it as often as we could, but with the schedule we were on, it just didn't work out well.  That means we really need to get on it.  He does OK at his sitter's house, but she takes the potty everywhere in the house they go (including the yard) and puts him on it.  Well, I do that at home too, but he cries when I do it, and like I said somehow I miss the timing and he's already used his diaper.  And it means we really can't go anywhere, like the playground or the spray park, until he's gotten better about the potty.  Sigh.

So anyway, there have been positives and negatives this week.  I just need to get more positives.

My first "real" day of summer break

School has actually been out since June 5, but with company in town for my younger son's birthday and then a 10-day trip to visit family and friends in the south, today, Monday, June 22, is really my first actual day of summer.  Today is the day we try to establish our summer routine.  It shouldn't be too bad; the sitter is taking the boys Tuesdays through Thursdays, so I'm only solo on Mondays and Fridays.  But the boys are definitely testing my patience.  It's only 1:30 in the afternoon and I'm already completely done for the day. 

I did get up at 6:00 this morning even though it's summer break, so that I could get a walk in before the boys got up.  My weight was 231.6 this morning; not bad, considering how much unhealthy food we've eaten in the past two weeks: fast food, snacks in the car, and lots of southern barbecue and other yummies.  I started out easy.  I only walked about 25 minutes and did about 1 1/2 miles.  I'll add a little each day.  I would also like to hit the gym a few days a week.

Anyway, I've got lots of plans for the summer, most of which probably won't ever get started, let alone finished, but at least I've got a few goals.  For now, I've got to get some reading done; I'm attending an AP training workshop next week and I have three novels and four short stories to finish by Sunday.  Right now, I've only read 1 2/3 of the novels... O.o