Falls and Rolls today

Quick WW fly-by...didn't hit the meeting but I was up to 200.5. I know it's not good but it'll get better. I'm thinking positively. I'm not accepting it. I've watched it go up and down this week and I'm sure it's the lack of drinking water. I can't sacrifice *my* health and not drink water just because of a shortage of co-workers, etc. That's not happening anymore. Uh-uh. I *will* drink water and I WILL see a loss next weekend. Anyone want to guess the amount? I'd be happy to get back my 43 pound loss. So far today, I've had 84 ounces of water.
Class was a lot different today. We worked on falls, rolls and of course, the Ho Sin Sul. I am not a faller. I despise falling--mainly because I am so big and I feel clumsy and awkward. I have to work on that...I won't get where I need to be if I keep thinking that way. It's very hard work but it's good. We did sweeps today--the one I had the hardest time with was the dragon tail sweep. We weren't working on each other, so that's a good thing.
Ho Sin Sul was a bit different. We didn't have enough people to partner up, so we got into sparring formation and everyone rotated through the lines. I worked with little kids as well as the teenagers. I tell you, there are two of the teenagers who picked *me* up! That was an "eek" moment. They're good at what they do. Sa Bu Nim told us that if we were working with a smaller person, that we should work on our side falls. The little ones could get into position for the actual throw since some of them didn't have their usual partners today. That was most interesting. My entire right side is sore from falling (but I slapped out every time and landed the way I was supposed to.

The tendonitis is acting up today big time. I've taken my Naproxen and we'll see how it responds to me resting it for today. I'll be doing a lot of walking tomorrow--my daughter and I are going to see the Royal Lipizzan Stallions with a friend of hers and her mother. We're riding the train into Dallas so I don't have to muck about with traffic (YAY!) on the highway. I like that idea!
We do have to walk from our train station to the American Airlines Center, but it'll be okay. .

Visit to a Cardiologist

Today I took Mr. Aidan to his cardiologist's office for a regular checkup. He hasn't been to see her since 2006, so it was time. According to everything everyone said, he's just fine.
He had an EKG and they took his blood pressure. The cuff they used just kept squeezing and didn't give a decent reading, so they stopped and started it again. Then they took him in and gave him an Echo.
The radiologist took the time to explain things to me while he was administering Aidan's echocardiogram. He showed me where the patch for the AP Window (aortopulmonary window) was-that was the hole between the aorta and pulmonary arteries. As he was developing in utero, it didn't develop properly. As a result, he was born with a hole called an AP window. It's not overly common according to the radiologist. They patched it and he goes in for follow up exams once every few years. The last time we saw the cardiologist was in 2006. Now we won't see her again until 2011.
While we were there, the radiologist showed me the patch (it's a white area in an otherwise gray area), he showed us Aidan's liver (he went "ewwww!" at that and his intestines!), his windpipe (he was really concerned about his Adam's Apple?!) and we looked at, of course, the heart. My little guy got to see his heart beat on the monitor and we looked at the blood pumping through the chambers. They looked for a "dropped heart beat" because I was worried about that. (he's fine)
They looked at the Doppler and we talked about that. We talked about the ability to look at the arteries to see if there was any blockage. So far, nothing can be done with Doppler. That's reserved for an angiogram.
I came away with a great feeling about this visit.

Dr. Kao did tell the little guy to exercise more. He needs to listen and actually follow instructions!! I'm just glad he's healthy and happy.

Weight update

The pre-test was this morning at martial arts, so I didn't go to WW. In fact, I've had a horrid week. I went UP 2 pounds and was at 200 for two days. That freaked me out. I drank a LOT of water and went down to 199 and then up to 199.5. After modifying my behavior more (more veggies, more fruit, more water, less salty garbage), I managed to hit 198.5 this morning. I'm right back where I was. I can't take my Naproxen for the tendonitis because I don't drink enough water and am, in the words of the mother of my daughter's good friend, "a water retaining cow".
I don't drink enough water WHY? Because I've let my job interfere with what is good for me. If I drink more water, my mentality kicks in that I'll be away from my desk too many times and gosh, the department will fall apart without me. This is blatantly NOT true. Okay, they do hurt whenever I'm out for a day or two. Why that is, I don't know. It shouldn't BE that way, but it is. Oh well.

So, the upshot is, I'm maintaining right around 42 pounds off. I need to get lower. I set a date of April 17th to get another 20 pounds off. That may not happen at the rate I'm going. I have to up my workouts because I think I'm getting used to the current workout. My martial arts instructor had us doing plyometrics last week so that's something I'm going to work on.

It was a little easier...

Please bear with me. I am extremely giddy right now. I just got home a little while ago from class. I didn't work out. Instead, I taught the class. We have a new student and Mr. B worked with her. I worked with the rest of the class on the forms and one steps they need to know for the test on Friday. Did I mention that I am working at said test on Friday?
I took my son to class tonight, worked with a couple of kids (who knew me and whose names I will learn!) and then went into the LN/YW class. I was late for that class, but I was there, so that was a good thing for me. I had my little guy in his class, I was in my class and we each got some work done.
I went to the Basic/Leadership class afterwards and helped our advanced students work on Bassai. We didn't work on Sip Soo, just Bassai. Sa Bu Nim called class and invited my son and a few others to stay afterwards for a talk on motivation. He explained the two types of motivation-external and internal. We had a "meet and greet" type of thing where a couple of the kids stood up and introduced themselves to the rest of the class. They said their name and rank. I think this is a great thing.

Now you know why I'm giddy. I need to work on my confidence but I'll get there. It's a matter of jumping in and getting my feet wet, in a proverbial sense. It'll work out well. I'm just excited!!

Saturday in review

Today--no WW. No black belt prep class. My son's Cub Scout Pack had their Pinewood Derby today, so I was there. Registration started at 8:30 and ended at 9:15. My husband had to work today so I was elected to go to the Derby. I didn't mind. I enjoyed it. We watched the Tiger Cubs run their races first, then the Wolves ran theirs and finally the Bears. We left during the Bear races, but we watched some of the race. We'll find out later who won the all around best car.

I had a pass to get out of the class today. Unfortunately, next weekend is going to be VERY rough! I may have to get up really early, eat breakfast at 5:00-6:00 and then hit up class. I have my second pre-test next week. I don't know how the leg is going to hold up because it's been bugging me lately. Tendonitis is not fun! I'm not happy about it but I've been pushing the envelope a little more than I possibly should have. If it's still bothering me, testing is going to be an interesting experience. I've not been taking my Naproxen because I am a magnet for water retention, especially since I don't drink enough water to begin with. I Googled the side effects of Naproxen and guess what? "Fluid retention" is a side effect. Peachy.

My first class!!

I taught my first class last night! I have been helping and somewhat teaching the Little Ninjas and Young Warriors but...I taught my first ADULT martial arts class last night!
We lined up, bowed in and then Sa Bu Nim looked at me, said "Warm them up!" and walked out of the room. I was soooo freaked, it wasn't funny! The warm up was okay but I wanted to join in with them. I'm not used to being the one at the front of the room!

We did a quick warm up, then I had everyone line up in front of the mirror and we practiced all of our forms that we knew. There are 7 people in the class who are testing for their next belts on the first and I had to help them get ready and make sure they knew their material.
I should really get together with B and M and help them with their techniques. I will have to tell them that I'm available for them.

So today, I've been talking, ALL morning about it! I'm that excited! It was just a great thing and a HUGE show of Sa Bu Nim's confidence in me. It goes a long way in building MY confidence levels up too. I need more confidence and this is the way to do it. I don't have to have the "deer in the headlights" look. I also turned several shades of red last night and Tuesday night. Next Tuesday I have to teach BLACK BELTS their bong form. ME! Why? Because I moved during our last class, didn't step up when he told me to (my "other son" was my fill in that night!) and I'm taking CIT classes to learn how to teach. Open mind, here I am. I need the critique from these kids. What makes me nervous is that they ARE kids--these are all teenagers who have their second and third dans and here I am, a barely Cho Dan (first Dan) and I'm teaching. Plus, I'm in my mid forties. Wow!
Now you know why I need confidence!!

Oh so tired!

Getting up and out at 7:30-7:45 am when it's 24 degrees is NOT an easy thing! It's really hard when you were previously snuggled up all toasty and warm under a bunch of covers, with a cat purring in your ear.
Class this morning was...COLD and challenging! We ran through a warm up to warm us up. There's a very bad pun there, I think.
We had a good workout. Sa Bu Nim had us run through techniques and Ho Sin Sul today. Ho Sin Sul is self defense. That includes wrist locks, shoulder throws and hip throws. I need to work more on those. The major problem is that working on them outside of class involves either children or hubby. Hubby likes to show me that he knows more than me and gets into a "I'm going to stop you here" mode. He isn't the best possible partner for working on Ho Sin Sul. I'll have to work on it with the kids. It'll help teach all of us and we'll be able to get some additional practice in at the same time. I SHOULD stay around for the Leadership Team classes at the end of the Basic classes so that I can work with them. That's another idea.
I have to miss a class next weekend because of a prior commitment for Cub Scouts. Hubby's working, so I have to take the little guy. I'll have to attend an extra class or something. I have classes at least two nights a week, so a third night is definitely a possibility. Have to convince hubby to get the kids fed. I'll hit up the Black Belt class on Tuesday. I have to be there for class at 7:00 anyway, so...6:00 isn't that much extra, only an hour. It's worth thinking about. I don't THINK it's my second pre-test but we'll see. I have to talk to my friend DB about it too. The really bad thing is, we're supposed to work on Bong Hyung Il Bu in that class. EEK!!

I think I've figured out that being dehydrated has something to do with the fatigue I'm feeling. I have just drunk 60 ounces of water and feel SO much better! I didn't drink nearly enough yesterday and it's affected me today. Then to have class this morning--only had a litre of water this morning and then nothing but coffee for the rest of the day. No wonder I'm worn out!! I need to watch that and improve that!!

50 days until Re-Certification

50 days until re-cert. I did get a chance to work on my forms last night and that was a good thing. The ONLY real issue I had was that my stances were really poor. I don't care HOW sore my leg is (did I mention I have tendonitis in my left hip?), I have absolutely NO EXCUSE for not holding a good deep front stance. For Pyung Ahn Sam Dan, there is a stance that requires you to step into a bent-knee, crossed foot stance. That stance about killed me last night! I had even taken an anti-inflammatory and it STILL hurt!! The boy I was working with had his stances right, but he had a few things to work on too. I wasn't alone with needing minor tweaks to the forms. Bassai was another weak spot for me last night. I was also off on my count for Sip Soo and THAT is totally unacceptable to me! I'm very fussy about my forms and want to do them at 100% accuracy. However, as Master St. James says, "the only room is room for improvement." so I know I was there. I definitely was in that room last night!

I also worked on Bong Hyung Il Bu last night. I got it down, I think. It was a good thing that I got to practice it. I feel a bit more confident in the form. I just need to make sure I get myself to run through it tomorrow too. I have the day off, so I'll work on it for a little bit. I want to make sure I get the forms worked on tomorrow. I do have a meeting at my son's school in the morning, then an appointment with my old cat at the vet's office.
Then it's home to rest again for an hour--I'll have two giggling girls in the house for the afternoon and that'll be fun. I've got to decide what to do with them. I may set them up in my room with movies and popcorn. They'll like that!!

Setting goals

I am going to set myself some goals. I have issues with keeping myself on track with water, so one of my goals is to drink no less than 48 ounces of water in a normal day. Today, I've made that goal and have had 72 ounces of water. Not too bad. I think it's okay. That's one goal.

Another goal is to practice my forms daily. I need to make sure that I am doing everything correctly. Yesterday I actually ran through Nahainchi Cho Dan and Sip Soo. Today I have only worked on technique, but it WAS a practice. I practiced high knife hands, cat stance and moving forward in a cat stance. That's a new "game" I've created for the kids called "Ninja walk". You get into a cat stance, where you've created an 'L' with your feet--you put all of your weight on your back foot and have just the toes of your front foot or the ball of your front foot on the floor. The point of it is to be able to spring forward to pursue an attack if needed. If you turn your front foot, almost into a ballet stance, then ROLL as you shift your weight from the back foot to the front foot. This puts you into the correct position to perform a middle chop or something along those lines.
It's another technique that requires exact form. I *finally* have the "ninja walk" down!!

So, today I only worked on technique, but tomorrow, to escape the frustration of the people I work with (very stressful, that group!), I'm going to work on Bassai and then work my way back. I need to practice Oh Dan, Sam Dan, Sa Dan (and do Sam Dan correctly!), then Ee Dan and go backwards to Pyung Ahn Cho Dan, etc. I also need to practice Bong Hyung Il Bu at some point.

January 12, 2008

Class this morning was MOST interesting, to say the very least. We ran over by about 45 minutes because we were testing. We had to go through techniques--hands, kicking, jumping and forms. I was able to do the hand techniques and of course the usual jumping jacks, push ups and sit ups. The entire point of this pre-test was to weed out those who needed additional work on their forms and those who needed a LOT of work on their forms.

I did the hand techniques but was told to sit out once he started everyone on the kicking techniques. He was informed yesterday that I'm on limited physical activity for a couple of weeks. I still managed to give a good showing of the hand techniques. One of the instructors told me after class that I did pretty well with my techniques.

This was the first point of me observing a test from an instructor's standpoint. I enjoyed it because I watched the kids who are in this cycle and saw where improvements could be made. I don't know these kids personally, so there's no favoritism there. I was able to constructively remind them to watch their "silent hand", pull their knees up when kicking, etc. There are a pair of brothers who are re-certs and I see HUGE improvements in their techniques. Lucas in particular, is very much improved.

We had to pull some of the kids out to perform the forms individually. It's a distressing thing to see a kid who has made it to Cho Dan Bo go through a pre-test and either fall apart because of nerves or because they really and truly don't know what they're doing. One of our kids was in that boat today.

I skipped WW this morning so that I could be rested and have breakfast before this test. When you have to do 75 jumping jacks, 30 regular push ups, 20 wide-arm push ups and then 15 diamond push ups, followed by techniques, then another 100 jumping jacks, then 45 seconds of push ups (I did 28!) and then 45 seconds of crunches (I did 40!!!), if you don't have the energy, you'll be passed out on the floor and they'll be pushing you out of the room because you're in the way.
Even though I didn't go for an OFFICIAL weigh-in, I was still down to 197.5. According to my doctor yesterday, in 9 years, I've managed to lose 58 pounds. He said that was the BEST thing in his opinion. He pretty much patted me on the back yesterday, so I won't complain about my weight anymore. I'm where I need to be for my health.

The verdict is...

Sigh. I have been fighting with pain in my left leg/hip for about two months now. I FINALLY went to the doctor today and guess what?? I have tendonitis. He originally was worried about my actual hip (the bone) but it's not that. He's thinking that since it's been so long and because it's associated with any kind of...I think he said "external rotation" (I'm badly paraphrasing) causes pain, it's tendonitis. Yeah. Yay. I am SUPPOSED to be "taking it easy" for the next two weeks. He gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. It's a different one than the last one, which causes me to swell up. I haven't filled the prescription yet. I'll be doing that here shortly.

I'm on vacation today. I'm just hanging around, not doing much of anything. I have laundry to do but that's it. I have my prep class tomorrow with a pre-test and I'm going to be rested up for that. I kind of got a bit panicky with my doctor because this upcoming test is sooo important to me! I really need to do well for this test. I have to work on my physical conditioning too, so I've got to get busy with that. I should start walking a mile this weekend to see if I can get it done within 7 minutes. I think I'm supposed to be able to walk a mile in 7 minutes or less. I do believe he said that we're supposed to run a mile in 10 minutes or less, so a 7 minute or less mile, walking, is a good goal to strive for. When I can hit that goal, I'll work on another goal. I didn't walk or run any marathons last year, so maybe I can look toward that this year. Just another thing to put on my potential agenda!!

Prep class review and random thoughts

If you THINK you're working hard, you probably aren't. How do I know this? Because after the workout yesterday, almost every part of me aches. I only *thought* I was working out hard in class!!!
Yesterday was the first of my black belt prep classes. Yes, I've already achieved the rank of black belt, but I have to re-certify for the Federation, so I have to take classes to make sure that I know the forms and the one steps and do them correctly. The importance of doing the forms correctly is emphasized here. Plus, this time around, they've added physical fitness test to the mix, so you have more work to do.

The morning started out with a minute's worth of jumping jacks. I am happy to say that this old lady can knock out 70 jumping jacks in a minute. (While that may not be overly spectacular, given my impression of jumping jacks, I think it's actually rather good!!) After that, he made us do 30 (I think) push ups, then we did another 50 jumping jacks. We also did one legged squats. There was also an exercise where we got into a push up position and brought first one leg, then the other up between our hands. It's like a split, but not quite. Those I can't do, courtesy of my left quad. (note to self--get thee to the doctor to have that checked out ASAP!) The one legged squats were the hardest, I think. You have to basically go into crane stance, but keep your hands up by your face. The foot you are NOT balancing on cannot touch the ground. Sound fun? Yep. Try maintaining your balance being still 50+ pounds overweight! I digress...

I was fairly pleased with my performance on MOST of the forms. I still have issues with joon be on Bassai, Nahainchi Cho Dan and Sip Soo. I know that Bassai is left foot raised, Nahainchi Cho Dan is right foot raised and Sip Soo is left foot raised. Then you have to add in your hands as well. It looks really neat when it's done correctly by someone who isn't balance challenged. I stood next to a 14 year old from my belting class and watched him out of the corner of my eye. It's obvious, even to me, that he practices. I see major differences between him and myself. I need to work more on practicing on my off days from class. (Off days? What off days? I practically live up there--classes four days a week plus the prep class on Saturdays.)

This morning I feel older than my 42, almost 43 years. I'm stiff and sore in places I didn't think would be stiff and sore!! I don't mind it though. It reminds me that I got an excellent work out in yesterday. I decided this morning that I'm taking the family to one of the local parks and I'll work on Bong Hyung Il Bu since that's something I want to nail. I am determined to go to the next class having my forms look better than I think they look now.

I had a talk with Sa Bu Nim McGee a few weeks ago and mentioned to him that I felt like my stances had gotten better. I said I was seeing improvement in myself. He said that it's possible that I'm seeing where people are making their mistakes and that I've been making the same ones, but now I'm correcting my mistakes automatically. Must be because I'm learning how to spot the mistakes and correct them in others, so I can correct them in myself.


Sa Bu Nim told us in class yesterday that we needed to keep a practice record and have our parents sign it. Well, I'm the parent, so I have no one to sign mine. I asked Mrs. T if she'd sign mine for me. She's my 'boss' in the LN/YW class and is one of my best friends. We had a good giggle about that.

Looking forward, I know what I need to do to make improvements. Next week is the first of three pre-tests for this belt test. It's on forms and I'm going to have a good pre-test.

First re-cert class-January 05, 2008

The first of 8 weeks' classes is over. I'm wiped out too! This morning has been VERY busy! I got out and went to WW (lost what I gained last week so I'm back on track!). I stayed for 20 minutes of the meeting, then raced out to the car and headed back to Allen. I made it to class with *minutes* to spare. I had my uniform in the car, so that was an easy thing to deal with--just grab and go! I got changed in nearly record time and was a minute or two late to line up, but not enough to freak out. What's really embarrassing to me is that I am an instructor and can't be late as I'm in the front row. The Cho Dan Bo's see me walk in and they must be wondering why I was so late! I've got to refine that process. I can do it.

We worked--HARD--for two hours. My friend Susan brought the coffee, so I was thrilled to pieces with that! I didn't have breakfast, so there were a few points where I got light headed and dizzy. Today's work out was advanced forms and weapons. I hadn't picked up a bong until last night when I was showing the guys at work how we worked with it. I now have to create a work out schedule/log and stick with it. I want to ace that form (Bong Hyung Il Bu). I have to work on the other forms too, the non-weapons forms. I can do Sip Soo well. I should as it's my newest form, but I REALLY need to work with it. We did Sip Soo, Nahainchi Cho Dan and Bassai today. Wait, we also did Pyung An Sam Dan, Oh Dan and Sa Dan. I know where I need to improve and that's something I'll start doing on my own at home. If he expects an hour a day from the kids, he'll get it from the adult in the class too.

I'm excited. I can already see how this is going to work. I am able to get many of my chores done Friday night, so I'll have Saturday as a "free" day after my class. Just need to figure out WHAT to eat that will give me energy and not sit heavily on my stomach when I go to class. I can't take another dizzy day! I ate when I got home and have finished my first 30 ounce glass of water for the day. MORE water! LOL!
I'm in a great mood and I'm sure this is going to carry over into the next week.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! May you have a year full of success and happiness in every endeavor you undertake!

Tomorrow is my first class after the Christmas break. I'm really excited about it. I want to get in and work really hard. Unfortunately, with my left leg acting weird, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to do the kicks and such. My daughter body-slammed me on Sunday and it's been acting up again. I went out walking today to try to get an idea of how it feels. I'm still thinking of going for another walk this evening. That's just a thought. Mr. M told me a week ago Saturday to rest it and not worry too much about it. Rest it I have, but...it's still bothering me.
I can't let it bother me since I have to get busy and work on my re-certification.

After gaining six tenths of a pound last week, I've been really conscious about my eating habits. I don't want to be overly paranoid, but...I HAVE to eat "clean" and stay on plan if I intend to get another twenty pounds off. I haven't set a time frame for that twenty, but...that's another ten percent and I am determined to make it. I still haven't figured out the logistics of Saturdays...get up and dressed, get to McKinney for weigh in, then attend at least 15 minutes of the meeting (meetings are 30 minutes long. They start at 7:30 and I have to be at the dojang at 8:00). I'll have to sprint out, get to the car and zip down to Allen to the dojang by 8:00 to attend the training classes for two hours. Hubby will bring the kids up to the dojang for their classes, which I'll probably assist with. Then it's clean the dojang and head for home. Somewhere in that time, I'll have to eat too. Haven't figured THAT out yet. I'm going to work on it...I usually don't eat before weigh in because I'm paranoid. I think I'll take something with me to eat during the meeting (peanut butter sandwich and an apple??) or in the car on the way to class. Just have to figure it out.

So, right out of the box, I go to work, then to teach and then to my class. Thursday, I have to teach. I'm probably going to skip Thursday's class and help the kids with homework. They'll be back at school that day and will need to have the help with getting back into the swing of things.
It'll work out.

Introspection

This morning I spent some time thinking as I drove in to work. It's no different from most other days, but for some reason, today I was thinking about how lucky I have been this year. I have been lucky enough to have a job, even though I hate the fact that I have to go to work every day. I have been lucky enough to have good friends who help me get through rough patches. I've gotten to meet a friend from the Internet, I've corresponded with people from a group whom I think are just wonderful friends. It's been an interesting year.
I can't say that it's all been good, but it hasn't been terrible. I earned my black belt. I am watching my children grow up and learn about how rough life is. I've had to put one of my children on medication and have endured my husband's unhappiness over it. I've put aside MY unhappiness and take great joy in seeing his successes.
I had a compliment from Master St. James in September, after my belt test--he said that I had a good attitude. That gave me a bit of a smile. I worked hard and I wasn't going to let a little bit of discouragement over doing a form incorrectly set me back.

Looking ahead, there are many things planned. I am re-certifying in March for my "official" belt with my name on it. I'm one of the instructors for the Little Ninjas/Young Warriors classes and I'm enjoying that. My kids should, with any luck, achieve their next belts (green/black and orange/black respectively) in the next month. I will be there to assist at that test. I am a member of the CIT program at MA and loving that. I have more responsibility at work and am less stressed out there too.

I'm losing weight (albeit slowly and with some minor setbacks) and I'm happy. I feel like I'm accomplishing a whole lot more than I've ever done in my life. There may be truth to the saying that "Life begins at 40". I feel like I'm becoming successful.

Merry Christmas

It has been a wonderfully relaxing day. We spent a quiet day here at home. The kids played with their new things while hubby and I watched a couple of marathons on television. TBS played A Christmas Story and SCI-FI played Stargate SG-1. I enjoyed that!

I'm going to print out my bong form tomorrow and will work on it during lunch. I've pretty much decided that my best practice time outside of class will be during my lunch hour. I don't need to spend the entire hour on the Internet when I can work on my bong form. I think it'll help a lot. I am determined to go back to class knowing that form, so it'll be a good goal to work on.

I also need to get the kids learning their newest form. If I can get them to the point where they're proficient at all the forms and where their stances are good, they'll go in with an advantage after the break. Tomorrow, that should be something we work on. It will help them to have some time to practice their forms again. I just need to convince the Young Man that he is NOT learning Sip Soo and will learn Ee Dan instead. When it's time for them to learn Sip Soo, they will learn it.

I have quite decided that having two kids learning martial arts at the same time is fun. I'm still training and am learning to be an instructor. They're learning to be martial artists. It's a lot of hard work but I am spending time with them that I wouldn't trade for anything. Plus, I see them developing as people and that's a heartwarming thing. I am watching my kids grow up.
They'll earn their Cho Dan Bo's around the same time. The Young Man will earn his first and then the Young Lady will earn hers. She's about 2 belts behind him, but that's because she started mid-June and he's been doing his martial arts since LN/YW. He graduated YW as an orange belt. Now it's time to knuckle down and do lots of hard work!!! As for my Young Lady, I fully expect that she'll outshine me in how well she does with her classes.

Christmas Eve...

I'm in a fairly good mood, all things considered. Saturday was w/i. Not too bad. Not great but not bad. I lost .4, bringing my total loss to 43 pounds. In a year and change, not too bad. I can deal with that! Since then, I've lost another couple of pounds. I weigh daily, which I know you're not supposed to do, but I record it for my own mind. I feel like I'm doing SOMETHING right.

On Thursday, during the black belt class, I managed to do something to my left quadriceps (again!). He had us go to a push up position, then you were to bring your right knee up to your chest, push off and run to the opposite end of the room. I couldn't even get into the push up position--that's when my leg went "PING!" and gave up on me. It HURT! He made me sit out the rest of class. So much for my 2 hours that week!! I couldn't even spar because I'd have put too much strain on it. Of course, Saturday I went walking for 3 hours so that was a world of good for it. NOT! Now I'm working on rehabbing my leg. I have to re-certify for my belt and we start the training, the really intense stuff, on January 5th. I want to get into the most excellent shape ever because we're doing a PT test with it!! I have to pass this PT test. You have to run (or walk) a mile, push ups, crunches, I'm assuming there will be jumping jacks too.
I just want to get to the point where I'm not injured. I don't like it! It happened, fortunately, AFTER the black belt test, but before my re-cert, so I'm freaking out!!

I figured out how to teach the Young Warriors how to do an Inside/Outside block. Since you have to chamber, I told them to make like they were hugging themselves. You put your right hand on your left hip and bring your left hand up to your right ear. Then you make like you're drawing a sword from your left hip and you stop in front of your shoulder. I told Mr. M about it and he said that it was a good way to describe it. I'm going to perfect it on my son. He's not that long past Young Warriors and will benefit from the additional work. I'm going to try it on my daughter too. If I can get them doing that correctly, I won't freak out over their forms at the next Gup test. That test is now about a month away--it's February 1st. I want to make sure both kids are ready to go and that they're significantly improved. My silly boy wants me to teach him Sip Soo, but that's not on the plan. The lesson plan is to teach Pyung An Ee Dan, so that's what they're going to work on. Of course, it never hurts to refresh all of our memories on the older forms, so I'll work with them on the KeeCho forms as well. I have to practice my bong form and intend to have it perfected before the end of this break. I can go outside and work on it. The weather is perfect, we have the room out there and I think everyone will appreciate getting outside in the fresh air. That's going to be a goal of mine for the next few months. Whenever the weather's cooperative, we're going to pack up and go to one of the local parks for a workout.

Tuesday WW update

I ate truffles yesterday at work. WOW! 3 truffles=6 points. Am I obsessed? I like to think NOT. I like to think that I'm only trying to be mindful of what I'm eating. I didn't do so well yesterday--I've gained .5 pounds overnight. Well, I'll get over that. :) I'm back to watching everything I'm eating. The guys at work are telling me that I'm "obsessed" by my weight and by counting points. I have to remind them that no matter how dorky they think it is, I've accomplished a huge loss in a little over a year. I do NOT want to backtrack!!

I allowed myself to have 2 of the homemade cookies one co-worker's wife sent to work with him. According to the WW site, 2 small homemade cookies are 3 points. I am not eating any more. I'm going to be careful because I don't want to backslide. I expect to see something good happen on Saturday and I need to get UN-complacent (is that a word??). I don't want to just slide by and go "Oh, I'll get on the wagon tomorrow" like I have done so many times in the past. I need to keep going and I really need to be conscious of everything I am doing, whether it's eating or drinking water.

Tonight we have a concert at the school for my daughter. She's second chair flute, so we HAVE to go see that. I won't be working out tonight or tomorrow night (dinner with my department-mandatory, darn them, *at a Mexican restaurant!!*), so I'll have to be overly cautious and be careful about my choices. If they don't like it, too bad!

Another WW update!!

I had my usual Saturday morning meeting today. Now bear in mind that I haven't been to meetings since September 29th. I went back last week after making a promise to my best friend that I'd get back on track. I had gained 3.4 pounds in that time frame. I'm happy to say that I've lost it again. I'm back to 42.6 pounds GONE! This makes me happy because I didn't go in the wrong direction.

Today we talked about the Weight Watchers from the 70s. There were a couple of ladies who had followed that plan many years ago in the meeting. They had a lot of weird, probably not medically sound, "diet mentality" things they were doing...one of the things these ladies mentioned was the *6 meat servings* in a day, that you HAD to eat?! EWWW!! I eat meat but 6 servings *in a day* is too much for me!!! Some days I don't eat meat at all. It all depends on my mood. I guess that my peanut butter counts as a meat, but geez, eating THAT much meat?! I'm glad I have the plans I'm following now!!

The major reason we talked about this was that WW rolled out their new and improved meeting materials this week. We can all "start over" in a matter of speaking. We got a new Week 1 book and a booklet titled "KickStart Your Success". It's got information about the Flex Plan and the Core Plan. I personally follow the Flex plan, where you have a given number of points daily and 35 "flex" points a week. The idea is that you have the extra points, but that you don't necessarily have to use them. My goal is to eat my points (or stay under a bit) but not to dip into the flex points. MOST days I can stay within points. This past week, I didn't do so well because I actually went over on Thursday and on Friday. No matter how many fresh veggies and fruits you eat, no matter how much water you drink, if you go over on portions, you'll gain. I know this from experience. I'm not getting down about it. I've already gotten over that.

So this morning, at W/I, I went to the usual lady I go to. I absolutely adore Bernice. She's lost something like 150 pounds and is just one of the sweetest, funniest people around. She saw me and told me it wasn't that cold. I told her, "I'm that cold!" We laughed as I unearthed myself from my coat, gloves, and shoes, put everything down and got ready to get on the scale. When I stepped up, she told me I scared her! LOL! I had a really great week, despite not journaling and keeping up with it like I'd planned.
We got a laugh about me scaring her, but it felt good to see that number. I also surprised another lady, Doris, when she saw me there for the second week in a row. She asked if I was coming in next week and I said "YOU BETCHA!" I'm going back. 21 times makes a habit--I have 19 times to go to ingrain the habit.

I start training for my black belt recertification test on January 5th. That class is at 8:00, so I'll get into uniform, go weigh in and attend most of the meeting, then head to the class and work for 2 1/2 hours. Then it's home to drink LOTS of water and recover. We won't even TALK about the fact that for THIS test I have a PT test. (anyone want to be a "pinch runner" for me? I have to run a MILE and I'm NOT a runner!!) I think that over the holiday break from Martial Arts, I'll go out and either walk or run after work. Who knows, maybe I'll wind up liking it. It'll be a challenge, like my belt test was.

Mindfulness

I have been watching everything I do this week very closely. I have been drinking LOTS of water and making sure that I get in at least 2 or 3-24 ounce glasses of water in a work day. It's impossible to go wrong with water. I'm feeling MUCH better about myself. My daily weights have reflected the healthier eating. Yes, I know you're not supposed to weigh in daily but I keep a running total to see how I've done, foodwise during the week. I feel like I'm getting back to the right combination of food and exercise. I've been to two classes this week but they were both very vigorous classes. I went home last night feeling that I was well worked out. I didn't have goofing off time. It was wonderful!!

I went to the Black Belt class last night. I may start attending that on a regular basis on Thursdays. It was a good hard workout. My regular instructor taught and that was great. He worked with the First Dans and Cho Dan Bo's on Sip Soo. We also worked on the intermediate forms. I absolutely LOVE practicing the intermediate forms because we never practice them enough in class. I KNOW I can do better if I'm working on the forms on a regular basis. I'm also going to start working on the bong form on my own at home. That way I can at least get a basic grasp of it.