Another week has passed

And I achieved...nothing. At least in the ways of fitness. Last weekend I had a little sore throat. I felt fine other than that. Until I woke up on Monday morning. It felt like my face had been stuffed taxidermy style while I slept. I couldn't breath. I was sweating like a pig but I was freezing even under my two comforters. I felt light headed when I stood up. I felt groggy like I hadn't slept at all and couldn't walk very well. Aside from the cold sweats, I imagine it felt much like a hangover but being a non drinker, I can't know for sure. I tried to make it through a shower and my usual before work routine but I quickly realized I shouldn't be trying to go out into the world feeling the way I felt. I sent a text to my boss and she let me know I would be covered. I gratefully crawled back under the covers and slept through the morning.
I woke up sometime in the afternoon still feeling like a taxidermied drunk. Somehow I managed to crawl to the couch where I watched mind numbing tv for an unknown amount of time while drinking Dayquil Cold & Flu straight from the bottle. I drank water too. I think I ate some food. I caught up on a lot of shows that mean nothing to me (who's the daddy Maury?!). I crawled back into bed around nine and hoped for the best.
Tuesday morning I woke up and still felt crappy. I had a cough that made my head throb and my nose was so stuffed I could feel it backing up into my brain. Not a good feeling. Somehow, I managed to get through a shower. My thought process told me something about how taking a shower when you're sick can really make you feel better. I basically stood in the shower just to feel the warm water. I do really love the rainfall shower head my new house came with... I had to sit down for a minute after my shower in my cozy robe with my hair wrapped up in a towel, just to catch my breath. From standing. That can't be a good sign... I did basic makeup, pausing to catch my breath and hack out some brains. I put on comfy clothes, grabbed a breakfast bar and my bottle of Dayquil and headed to work.
My coworkers all asked if I was feeling better. They told me my cough sounded bad. They told me to go home. My boss called and heard my exhaustion and suggested I take a lunch lounge on the office couch. That idea sounded delightful. After covering my face with pillow to shield out the light, my coworkers had finally had enough and they forced me to go home. They promised me they would be fine and even offered to email the boss for me so I could just leave. I gave in and went home that afternoon. I took advantage of no rush hour traffic and hit the store to replenish my Nyquil supply and get some real food on the way home. Once home I wasted no time in putting on my coziest clothes and crawling into bed.
I was bummed because I had a blind date set up for that night after work and I had to cancel. I think that's why I tried so hard to be ok enough to go to work. If I was ok enough for work I was ok enough for a date right? Who wants to make the first impression of Snot Queen, the Great Sneezer? Not this chick. Instead I slept. I laid in bed coughing, tossing and turning and feeling miserable until I was finally able to get to sleep for the night. My alarm went off and before even trying to get out of bed I knew I couldn't go in to the office again. I sent my boss another text and was again reassured things would be fine and to worry about getting better. I fell immediately back asleep. Around 2 that afternoon I woke up and had to shed a layer of cozy to get comfortable. I got a text from L, responded and fell back asleep without really meaning to. I woke up around 5 to the sound of a text from A. How was I still sleeping? Even on my laziest of days that's too much sleep. I thought of all the things I could have done with this lost day. The things I wanted to accomplish at the office. The projects I have around the house. Will there ever be time?

Why do we do this to ourselves? I know that going to work sick risks the other people at work getting sick (though none of the people I hung out with over the weekend were sick and I assumed I wasn't contagious). I know that I can't work my best when I feel like I've been novocained all in the face. I didn't sound good at all, and I'm the one that answers the phone so that's no good. So why, why would I go to work despite being obviously sick? Because I feel like I have no other option. Now, I'm in a really good position when it comes to this stuff because I'm a salaried employee. If I miss a day of work for being sick (or going on a long weekend beach trip) that doesn't mean I miss out on a days pay. With that, I have even less excuse to go to work when feeling like crap.
I've always been this way. In school I was almost fanatical about going to school no matter what (perfect attendance in elementary school ya'll!) until high school when I had a minor mishap with a disease known as "Skipsies" freshman year. After mom sorted that out I was back to my usual self. I didn't strive for perfection or anything like that. I was happy getting mostly A's and B's and once I got into the working world I was all about timeliness and attendance. I'm one of those people that's almost always early to everything, or at least right on time. To me, on time means being about 5 minutes early though. I've become a little more lax with my timeliness in the last few years but mostly just with personal type stuff like parties, where it doesn't really matter if you're right on time and sometimes stuff happens and I can't always be on time. But I do try.
So there's this crazy random work ethic thing that's ingrained deep in my brain that keeps me getting up for work every day, whether I feel up to it physically or mentally, or not at all. But there's something else that makes me go to work all the time. Something that made me miss out on all of my vacation time for the first few years of my working life. I make excuses all the time to make myself go to work. Doesn't it usually go the other way around? People come up with excuses to get out of work right? Not me. I have to go to work because I'm the only one at the office that does my specific job (though my job isn't very specific). I have to go to work because I'm expecting a toner shipment and the office will freak out if the toner doesn't come and the machine runs out of it's current toner and then they can't print. I'm the only one that will clean the kitchen on Friday. I'm the only person that can do this and that and the other thing. I've been doing my job for so long I can basically do it with my eyes closed. I transfer calls like a ninja. I am the machine whisperer. The Office Guru! No really, that's my title according to the website. I know everything about everything and if I don't know, I can figure it out. That's who I am at the office. When I'm away from the office things break and filing piles up and things get dirty because it's my job to take care of those things. I don't want things to pile up. I don't want my coworkers to be frantic because of broken machines, lost passwords and misplaced transferred calls.
It's not the end of the world. I know they can survive without me.
But that right there is the other part of the problem. They can survive without me. If they can survive without me they don't need me. If I'm gone they might realize they don't really need me....if I'm gone, the things I don't do so well might become apparent. They might see the things I've put off...They might realize there is someone better for the job...They might see the spot I haven't cleaned in a while because I'm the only one that sees it and I put it off. They might suddenly realize that the things they need me to do for them are actually not that hard or time consuming to do on their own. Maybe they'll realize I don't really know as much as they think I do. They might....They could....what if?

What the..... Why am I thinking like that?! I don't know, but it's what makes me go to work when I'm sick. Even though every single time I come back from any length of absence, even a lunch break, they tell me how glad they are that I'm back. How they just don't know how I can do this job every day. They ask me to please never leave again, jokingly but not really so jokingly. Even though I work for one of the best companies to work for in Oregon. Even though I have an awesome job and work with awesome people that I truly care about and who care about me back just as much...I still have these paranoid random mental ramblings and make myself go to work when I should be resting.

It seems I'm suddenly talking about things that make me think more than the silly things I do, here on this blog. I guess that's just where my head is at lately. I'm still having fun of course. I'll write about it. Promise.

It's been a week

And not much has changed. No zombie invasion pending, and sadly, no change in weight according to the morning weigh in. I've been sticking with my plan. Last Friday I went for a walk at lunch. I went for a walk with A last weekend. All this week I've walked 40 minutes or more on my lunch and gone for a half jog/half walk after work, lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. A couple of times followed by yet another walk with L when she gets home from work. I have noticed my endurance is getting better. I can run for longer periods of time and spend less time walking on my after work jog/walks. I love getting out of the office and it's been a really nice week so I've been enjoying some sunshine while I can. I feel productive, doing something for my health every day. I even downloaded an app to help me track my calorie intake and exercise. I take the stairs whenever possible (because when the zombie apocalypse happens, elevators won't be working) and have continued taking my vitamins daily. I drink a ton of water and pack my workout bag at night so it's ready to go in the morning without having to think about it.
According to my tracker app, I'm eating just the right amount of calories and burning far more than I need to in order to reach the goal I have. Yet no physical changes are apparent. I have been allowing myself a daily dose of chocolate and this week my indulgence has been chocolate cake from Costco (brought into the office for a coworkers birthday and left here to taunt me). It's the stuff my chocolate coated dreams are made of and according to my tracker app, is actually fine calorie-wise for my "diet". But, after getting on the scale and seeing no change this morning, I'm thinking it's time to change tactics.
I'll be going from a small daily chocolate allowance to a small weekly chocolate allowance. I want to go to bed earlier so that I can get up earlier and get to the gym before work, for a swim or a stair climber session. I'm going to try to jog the trail by my house on the weekends at least once and get as much activity as I can in each day. I'm going to watch my food even more diligently even though I feel like I've actually been doing really well there.
It's discouraging not to see any changes but it's only been a week, and I'm certainly not giving up. I might not even really need to make many changes to see results, but I don't know if I can wait it out any longer before taking some kind of action. It makes me feel silly that something so small can affect my mood so greatly, but sometimes that's the case. And this is one of those times. Yesterday the world seemed so bright and full of hope. Today, even though it's sunny, I'm feeling gloomy and sad. It's still better than a few weeks ago when I was losing my grip on life all together.
I know I'm not the first person to feel this way and it might not be the last time I encounter a mental roadblock like this. I've dieted before and have been successful at losing weight. I know I can do it again. Maybe other things in my life are affecting my mood more and I'm assuming it's this instead. I've been dealing with feelings of loneliness, inadequacy and a general feeling of being lost in life. When I look at the facts, it's obvious that I'm doing fine. I have a house of my own to live in. I have a car to get me to and from the places I need to be. I have a full time job with a great company. I have amazing friends in my life that encourage me and love me just as I am while still pushing me to be my best self. So why all the negativity in my mind?
Sometimes emotions blind us from the facts. All I know for sure is I'm not stopping.
I walked today at lunch and tried for another after work jog/walk. For some reason, today, I wasn't able to jog. Not that I was physically incapable. I managed a short burst of running but when I couldn't make it as far as I hoped, I broke down. I felt like a failure for not being able to jog long distances (to me a long distance would be 10 minutes of jogging without stopping). I felt like I was letting myself down. I was angry. Angry that I let myself get so out of shape in the first place. Angry that I wasn't being more diligent in my efforts to get back into shape. Angry at all the people running by me like it was the easiest thing in the world. Angry at the people that seemed to have no care in the world (though I know we all have worries and doubts and moments in our lives where we feel less than).
I kept walking though. As fast as I could manage. I'm hoping tomorrow seems a little brighter.

Zombie Apocalypse

I've been getting a little more obsessed with the possibility of the zombie apocalypse. I've always had a thing for zombies thanks to my mom and her love of old school horror movies. Then Shawn of the Dead came out and ever since, I can't get enough. I've always loved the Resident Evil games and movies. It's kind of strange actually, I can't watch horror movies on my own. I'm too much of a wuss and sleeping by myself in a mostly empty house that makes sounds at night...well, not much sleeping will happen if I watch a scary movie. I still see scenes from Arachnophobia when I shower every morning. Sometimes I swear I can see that creepy girl from The Ring crawling around in the dark. But zombie movies have never been a problem for me, though they do usually give me weird dreams. Zombie games are intense but fun.
It's not like I'm the only person that's into zombies and there are people who are way more into them than I am. What's the point of all this zombie rambling? Well, I've decided to start a training program. That I made up in my head. It's the "get fit for the zombie apocalypse" program. See, you have to be able to run to stand any kind of chance at living when the apocalypse comes and in my current state, I wouldn't get very far. You need to be strong to stand a chance at survival, and at this current moment in time, I just don't feel I'm strong enough to make it very long.

Plus, I'm planning on visiting J in Florida this summer and I'd like to feel comfortable in a swimsuit since summer in Florida means long days at the beach.

Why is any of this going into a blog post? I think it will help me stay accountable and maybe motivate some other people to start thinking about how they're going to survive when the first zombie wave hits. Having a short term goal helps motivate me because I know when I'll be able to take a break (summer vacation) and having a long term goal keeps me from falling completely off the health wagon when I reach my short term goal. I remember when we did the Biggest Loser challenge at work last year. I did so well because I knew I only had 3 months to get as much done as I could and at the end of that time I could ease up. I've maintained the weight loss I achieved then (25 pounds!) thanks to better eating habits that stuck with me from that challenge. I try to do something active when I can. At work, I park on the top floor of the parking garage and take the stairs every day. I take the stairs in the office building instead of the elevator. Little things that make me feel like I'm doing something good for myself.

I've had a rough couple of months personally and it put me into a funk I wasn't sure I could come out of. I withdrew from the life I loved and stopped hanging out with my friends as much because it's just been feeling like too much. I haven't been myself lately, and if anyone has felt offended by me being quiet or staying away from social events, I'm sorry. Sometimes people just need a break from life and this has been one of those times for me. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's amazing to finally start feeling like myself again. But, thanks to the rough months, I've returned to some of my not so great habits and have taken to resting when I have free time instead of doing something active. I think training for the zombie apocalypse will be a fun way for me to get back in the game. And if working out is fun, I'm more likely to do it.

So here's my plan so far: I work on the waterfront and have yet to really take advantage of that fact as much as I should. From now on I'll be spending my lunch walking along the waterfront. After work, I'll change into workout gear and take a jog on the waterfront. Since I'm just starting to get back into running for exercise I'll take it easy and work my way up to the point where I can run without having to stop for breath every 10 seconds. By planning on doing both of these things, I don't have as much pressure if something comes up that interferes with my plan. If I miss my lunch walk because I go to lunch with a friend or coworker, that's ok because I know I'll have time to jog after work. If I have something to rush to right after work, that's ok because I know I'm still going on a walk for lunch.
I still have a gym membership at Bally's so I'm going to try to get myself to go there more often. I want to get back to swimming as soon as I can. Since the weather is finally going to start warming up, and it's staying lighter out longer, I feel like my options are unlimited. I live right by the Springwater corridor trail. I love going to Multnomah Falls. I just feel more alive when there is more light. In the winter, I hardly see daylight because by the time I'm off work, it's dark. All this daylight has me motivated and energized!
As far as eating habits go, I'm going to cut back on the sweets. I know from my own personal experience that I don't do well without chocolate so I won't be cutting that out completely. But I am going to only allow myself one chocolate indulgence a day. Whether that be a cookie, a piece of birthday cake, or a truffle, it doesn't matter. I only get one. And "one tub of ice cream" will not count as one indulgence. Yea, maybe I've used that justification before. What? I like ice cream, ok?
I've also been taking a buttload of vitamins for the past few weeks to help with my mood and energy and will continue to do so until the day I die (or something like that). I take a multivitamin, fish oil, vitamin D (since we lack sunshine on a regular basis here) and St. Johns Wort. It's best to take vitamins with food so it really helps me eat 3 meals a day. I feel silly admitting it, but I have a bad habit of skipping meals. I tell myself I "make up for it" by consuming loads of calories from late night snacks but we all know that's not healthy. Thanks to the vitamins, that hasn't been much of a problem lately.

With all that said, I encourage you to think about what you can do to get yourself ready for the days of zombies. I also ask that you not feed this chocoholic or purposely taunt chocolate that you eat. If you want to do something active with me, just ask! I may not be able (or want) to do everything, but it never hurts to ask and isn't it always more fun doing things with friends? Come walk with me at lunch, or jog after work. Let's go to the falls or explore a new trail together. Or just sit back and do your own thing. That's totally cool too. Just remember, some day...the zombies will be here.