Back up to Lake Ramona

What a fantastic day for a morning hike. Clear skies, semi-warm and a nice breeze. Devonay and I hiked from the Blue Sky Reserve parking lot, took about 45 minutes to get to the top, keeping a good pace the whole way. But, man oh man that last hill is a grunt. We kept hiking around the lake a bit, looking for shade to sit in, finally just plunked down on the trail. We both ate our apples and enjoyed the view. It is so quiet up there, I love the stillness.
Coming down I took it easy, after my experience on Mt. Woodson, I didn't want to knock myself out. Along with sore thigh muscles from doing a bunch of squats and lunges the day before, I knew my limits. Taking me a bit to realize just how hard I can push this old body.

The rest of the day was spent sitting in front of the computer. Blah! But this evening after going out to dinner I went by the Iceoplex and photographed our kids from school playing broomball. I'm sure I loooked quite funny out on the ice dressed and in high heels. Couple of times I had to yell out "Don't hit me!, I'm in high heels!" My feet took a bit to thaw out, but I'm warmed up enough now to hit the sack....Good Night!

Breakfast
1 lean sausage
1 scrambled egg
water

Lunch
turkey slice, cheese slice and some peperoni slices

Dinner
Wonderful creamy asparagus Thai soup and a wonderful green salad with feta cheese.

Snack during the day
1 cheddar cheese stick and some dried fruit. Also ate about 8 gummy bears.

Today's Eats:
Pre-Breakfast snack- Apple
Walked with Lee for about 45 minutes this morning.
Breakfast - 1 scrambled egg
Lunch - BIG salad, with turkey, cheese, lots of veggies, dessert- 1/2 dark chocolate bar
Snack- 1/2 cup potato chips (after my hike)
Dinner- 1 Brat and 1/2 cup"rice" mac and cheese

Got a great hike in with Devonay, we hike up to the top of Bernardo Mt. The views up there are great, all the way to the ocean. You can see most on Lake Hodges, just the dam area is out of sight. Coming down, I had a stepping stone roll out from under me and I fell. Not to bad, but banged up my arm and pulled a muscle in my arm.
This week end will be my 2 month mark, I'm really hoping to be down 20lbs total by then, I hope so! So stay tuned!!!

What I ate today...

Just wanted to post what I ate, so I'd start thinking more about it.
Breakfast
1 lean sausage
1 scrambled egg
water and vitamin

Lunch
Big green salad with spinach, apple, cranberries, dried cherries, tomatoes, feta and pinenuts

Dinner
Pretty much same as lunch

Snack during the day
1 dark chocolate candy bar, (WHY)

I'm still here!

I'm still trying to get in shape! I really had a bad time of it with my back. It took a little over a week to get to where I could go from sitting to standing with out pain. I haven't done any core work, so afraid I'll throw my back out again. But tomorrow I'll try doing some light stuff along with some stretching. I did get a few walks in this past week, I walked in the San Pasqual Valley with LaVonne, we did probably 4 miles. Then I walked with Honey on Friday morning down at Lake Hodges, that was probably only 3 miles.

I find that if I'm not posting what I'm eating here, I eat more!!! Maybe be not so much more as the wrong stuff. It really helps me when I have to think about what I'm eating and what kind of example I'm being to my friends. Even with the lack of hikes and not eating as well as I'd like, I've still been able to shed some more weight and inches. See new stats listed to the right. So I'm going to try to be better about posting, this past two weeks have been crazy. Hope and I had to finish up the school yearbook, I knew we'd get stuck with the job of finishing it and it'd be a full time job, and it was! I'm soooo glad it is finished and off to the printers! I hope it meets the expectations of the students.

Once I find the surface of my desk, I'd love to start walking, hiking exercising and fellowshipping with some of you. Let me know if you want to go out for a walk. Please, don't think that just because I love to hike the mountains that I wouldn't just as much enjoy a walk around the park! CALL ME!

High on Hiking

This week has had it's highs and it lows. After the previous week, of great hikes. I thought I'd keep it going. But the weather and my body decided differently. On Monday it rained to much to really get out. But, on Tuesday both Devonay and I where ready for a good hike. Problem was we didn't start out early enough, ended up starting out at 2:30. We met at the Poway Lake parking lot and spoke with the Ranger. He said the gates would be locked at 5:30, would we have enough time to get to the top of Mt.Woodson and back in three hours? The trail map says it's a 5 hour hike, but we figured the 5 hours was for people that don't hustle, so we set off to see how far we could go. We did hustle, watched the time closely, we made it to the top in 2 hours. There where a few spots where we were huffing and puffing but it felt good to put my body through the stress. Then we realized we only have 1 hour to get back down, so off we ran, yes ran. We ran probably 3/4 of the way down, I had forgotten to wear my knee brace, dumb! But really dumber to run with out it. I was feeling okay until we got pretty near the last 1/4 of the trail, that was when we had to slow up and take it easy. Slowly but surely more and more muscles told me I had over done it. I was feeling pretty wobbly by the time we got to the bottom. But we made it in 45 minutes! That night I slept like a baby, I was soooo tired!
The rains and sore muscles kept me off the trail the next day, but I was looking forward to good weather and happy hiking.
Thursday morning I had to go in to Hope's school and get some photos for the yearbook, as I was waiting for some of the teachers to get out of class, I started photographing stuff in the chem lab, I squatted down to take a counter level pictures of some beakers and I felt this sudden, painful twinge in my lower back. That was it, I've down since. I've never had a back pain so painful, I could hardly shuffle back to my car. I came home up ice on it, heat on it, and took Ibuprofen, I've been really slow ever since. You have no idea how frustrating this is!!!!
I've been eating well most of the time. I'm trying to follow the theory I shared earlier of eating proteins and carbs separate. I can't always do it, it sometimes makes it difficult to plan meals. But if I took a bit more time and actually planned the meals I'd have a better chance of succeeding. I did eat some chocolate this week. I had some M&M's and then I baked Hoe a gluten free chocolate cake, I had a really small piece. But last night Hope and Steve made me a Valentine's dinner, yummy. Hope mad chocolate dipped long stem strawberries, WOW!!! They where good, I ate 3, but I could have eaten 4, but I gave my extra on to Hope's friend Dalton, so I did show some restraint.;-}
My weight is still hovering between 149 and 150, I'm on one of those frustrating plateaus. I'm hoping that by early next week I'll be able to start my walking again, but as of this morning, I still have a painful area in my back and right hip. I'm going to really try to let it heal!!!

Early Morning Hike Between Rain Showers

This morning Steve joined Devoany and I on one of our hikes. We didn't do a long hard one, just one to get the blood pumping before a day spent at the computer. Lucky for us the air was crisp, the puddles were manageable. We had a few really light sprinkles, but other than that it was awesome. We could see the snow on the mountains and big dark clouds off in the distance, but where we were was pleasant. We hiked up to the top of Raptor Ridge, not to long of a hike about 3 miles total. On our way down the steeper part near the top, Nari suddenly jumped back from near the edge of the trail, she had been in a rocky outcrop, I thought she was jumping back from a snake, she has done that before, but on further, quick examination, I realized that she had put her nose in to a large bee hive. When I got her away from it, there was still a bee on her neck, but it didn't get through her fur to sting her. She may have gotten stung on her face, but so far I don't see any evidence of it.

Steve and I had a good breakfast before leaving, had scrambled eggs with pepper jack cheese melted on top served with salsa and some lean sausages. After coming home I had 2 tangerines and then a small handful of nuts. That is where I'm at now writing, so stay tuned, have a blessed day!

Woo! Hoo! I'm in the 140's, just barely!

Today feels like a mile stone! The scale read below 150, it was 149.5. It feels so good, I've lost 14.5 lbs in the past 5 weeks, but more than that, Ive gotten stronger, healthier and slimmer! And if you look at my measurements, they tell the tale even more. I've lost overall 10.6 inches, Wow, that is noticeable. If you notice my neck these days, it is 1 inch smaller that new years day, too cool! It really bugged me to see my neck in photos, always having more than enough for a double chin. Now I know I'm not where I want to be yet, but it is getting there. My pants fit better, my shirts aren't as tight and as strange as it might sound, my shoes are getting really loose. At first I thought I just was wearing socks that where thinner, but all my socks are to thin now, I'm sliding around in my shoes. Can't wait for the pants to be to big!

This past week was fun, Devonay and I did a couple of really long hard hikes. First on Sunday, as I posted before we did the hike up to the Olivehain Dam, then on Tuesday we hiked every trail we could find at Torrey Pines State Park, did about 9 miles of good steep climbs, (see picture) going down to the beach twice. Then on Thursday we did Ellie Lane, which is a very strenuous hike up around Iron Mountain. At first we where both a bit pooped out from the previous hard hikes, but as usual or second wind kicked in and it was a blast! On this hike we set out early anticipating the rain later in the day, it was lovey with the clouds building all morning, getting cooler and cooler, especially as we got hotter and hotter from trekking at a quick pace. This hike took us along 9 miles of major ups and downs. Boy was I glad to get back to my car and sit!!! I've worn a knee brace the last two hikes, seems to really help, I don't have pain, even though the next day I can feel the need to really stretch out the legs.

Eating has been good! I am trying to follow the idea of not mixing the carbs with the proteins. Not always successful, but I do see a difference in the way my hunger is abated while following that plan. I must admit, with a family to feed, a teenage with friends stopping in for meals, it is not always possible to follow. As well as my desire to have things like berries on my granola with 2% milk. And hardest is my trail mix, love the dried fruit with the raw nuts, but if you follow Suzanna Sommers book, she says to not mix fruit with anything. Well, so far I say bah, humbug!

We are eating a lot more salads, steamed veggies and good proteins and a lot less carbs. I notice that the loaf of bread I bought at the beginning of the week, is still sitting on the counter and only two slices are missing from the package. I don't crave carbs as much, well at least not the starchy things, I do still crave chocolate, but I've been able to really moderate it. I'm not into total denial of all yummy things!

Check out my new stats on the side bar. Also I plan to change the slide show in the next day or two, so check out the pictures from the last couple of hikes. Any of you thinking about doing something like I am, I totally encourage you, it feels so good to be back in control!
Hope to see you out on the trails! Come join me, seriously, call me or e-mail me!

Super Hike and Super Bowl!

Last week was tough for me, my knee was still hurting most of the week so I didn't get a good hike in until Friday. Honey and I did about 3+ miles down at Lake Hodges, not much for elevation, but a good fast hike. What a beautiful part of the country we live in, we need to get out more and see the beauty God as given us!
Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday, I met up with Devonay between church service and the game. We hiked up to the Olivehain Dam,(see pictures above) above Lake Hodges. We started down at the parking lot on Harmony Grove Rd., it was a 7 mile loop, there is about a 700 foot elevation, done with switch backs most of the way, it is strenuous but not difficult. We passed many families with small children working their way to the top. So, girls if you want a beautiful view along with a good work out, this is the place. Devonay and I kept praising the Lord for such a sweet spot to be hiking. There is shade at least half of the lower part of the trail and an awesome flowing, and I mean really flowing stream at the base of the hike. Devonay and I decided to do the botanical trail at the base on our way back to the car. When we got to the stream we realized we'd have to rock hop across the stream, it is quite wide. So I had to confess to Devonay that I had no sense of balance. We must have looked hysterical, here I am not able to navigate a bunch of rocks in a stream and her with her purple cast holding my hand. I kept having this horrible fear that I'd take her down into the water with her cast. Thankfully we got across. SO heads up to anyone that wants to hike places that you need balance, you either leave me at home or help me, please!

As far as eating goes, things are good. I did fall of the wagon a bit with some milk chocolate chips in the house, but other than that I've kept to not eating big portions and not snacking all day. It seems to be paying off. I can feel that my body is changing shape, my neck feels thinner, my legs are totally get thinner and toned up, the muscles are taking over the fat space! Now the tummy is another story, I don't know if it is just the last to start burning off or am I doing my sit-ups wrong or WHAT?! But I'd like it to be different!

That has brought me to a book I'm reading now. It is written by Suzanne Sommer, I like the theory she is sharing. The book states that if you are "thick" in the middle, if you are a woman with thickness around the reproductive areas, such as the stomach, hips, thighs and buttocks, then you have raised insulin levels. That means your cells are filling up with sugar and will eventually not accept any more! That means any sugar you eat from that moment on will be stored as FAT! She basically says that you you should eliminate sugar and foods high in starch. At each meal choose either a combination of proteins, fats and veggies or a meal of whole grain carbs and veggies. East as much as you want until you are full. Eat fruit alone on an empty stomach. She writes about how hormone imbalances affect weight gain and how to maintain your weight though what you eat. I've just started the book, done some skimming to see what it's about, but I'll let you all know if I think it's a good idea. I'm going to at least try the idea out. But I can already see where our eating habits will have to make some marked changes and will my family go for it? I made a breakfast this morning that was the protein and veggies, Hope thought it was to heavy for a breakfast. I sauteed onion, bell peppers and diced tomatoes then made wells on it, added eggs to poach and when they where almost finished I added shredded cheddar cheese on top. Served it with some lean sausage. It will be interesting to see how long that meal hold me over today.