Walking in Wonderland

Recently I had an unexpected injury and I popped a muscle in my calf.  I checked in with the doctor and she suggested taking a break from running for about 2 weeks.  Thankfully I was still able to get in some exercise using the elliptical at the gym but tonight I headed out for my first trek on the trail since the injury.   Sadly, this time period definitely affected my ability to run without becoming to winded so I mostly walked, but I can tell I should be able to hopefully get back to where I was in a week or so. 

It was a beautiful day today, cool but sunny and just right for being outdoors.  I decided to head out to a local forest preserve for my walk/run and found some delightful sights.  First, I encountered a beaver!  He was cute! I didn't see much of him but it was still a treat.  Spring has provided sprouts on all the trees, baby flowers popping out of the ground to reach the sun rays and the grass is pretty much green everywhere you look. 

One especially cool sight was some mushrooms I found, though they weren't where you might usually find them.  They were growing from a tree!  This is when I thought maybe I had visited Wonderland (only I could not find that rabbit with a vest on screaming "we're late for a very important date! ")  It was really cool to see these large mushrooms growing sideways out of the tree.  Thankfully I had my phone with me so take a look:

After I saw this I thought sure the Mad Hatter would come around the corner to offer me Tea.  Alas, he did not but maybe I will catch up with him next time  ;-)

Dreaming of an Education

I have been thinking lately about how many things I would like to learn to do.  There is quite a list actually.  Take a look:

1. Learn to play golf
2. Learn how to keep this webpage looking the way I want it to without getting so frustrated I could scream
3. Learn to play guitar (i.e. learn web languages)
4. Learn how to do home improvement projects myself (mostly because I am annoyed about how much it costs to have others do them!)
5. Learn how to save money with coupons the way some amazing people do ( I went to the grocery store and got 6 bags of grocerys for 8 dollars - really?)
6. Learn to read music (it is just stupid that I don't know how to do this already)
7.Learn how to latin dance
8. Learn how to eat healthy meals without missing things like McDonalds, Pizza or The biggest Cold Stone Creamery ice cream you can get :-)
9. Learn what it takes to audition for a local musical play
10. Learn how to get up the courage to actually audtion for a musical play
11. Learn how to bake yummy deserts (hmmmm  - that may not work with #8)
12. Learn how to play tennis ( i don't get the scoring at all)

That is all I can think of tonight,  But I am sure there is more.

The problem is it seems all of these either take time or money.  I can't seem to figure out how to fit either one of those things in (especially the money part)  I am currently on plan for financial improvement and there is not much room for extras at all.  So ho hum, it stinks to think about all the things you want to learn and can't quite figure out how to fit them in.

The one thing I do know is that eventually I am going to fit some of these in. Like Tennis for example, I just bet if I really wanted to, surely I could get my mom to show me the ropes in Tennis. The only problem with that one is time. It is hard for us to ever have time to spend on something like this. 

Another would be Guitar.  Surely if I really tried I could learn to play the guitar just by practicing at home on my own.  Again time is part of the issure here and actually a second one is when it comes to things like this for me there is just no stubstitue for learning from someone.  I have found that I dont learn things well just by reading up on something. I need to be shown how it works etc, at least at the beginning. Which is really what I need, I need that beginning instructions to make sure I am holding the guitar right, hands right, strumming right etc etc. 

One day I should be able to fit all this stuff in.  I hope sooner than later.  Maybe I will keep you posted when I actually do :-)

Trying to get back on track

It always seems to be something, right? 

I have been working out like crazy these days.  Running, walking yoga, all kinds of things. But unfortunately I have fallen off the wagon of following my appropriate diet for about a month now.  One would think with all this exercising it might not matter and I would still see some weight loss BUT OH NO NOT ME.  ARRGH.  Thankfully I have not gained any weight but it just goes to show that my body does not allow me to LOSE weight unless I do it all the correct way ****sigh****

So I am trying to spend the time to put together meals and plan ahead for the rest of my week because plannig out what you eat really does seem to be the key. It keeps you from the "grab and go" mentality of eating. 

In other news, I had a major car repair pop up.  I think it is very interesting how this happened right when I just happened upon enough money to PAY for the repair. Isn't that a little interesting?  I think so. Nevermind that I had big plans for the money, I suppose there was another plan in place I was not aware of.

Not much else to report.  I am already looking forward to my next trip home to visit friends and family at the end of May just really sad it will be nearly two months from now.  I wish I could visit sooner but its just not possible. 

Happy Easter all!!

A new goal?

It is hard to remember to post a blog and keep up with it all. But its been a while and I felt it might be time for an update. 

In Feb I had a wonderful trip out to CA to visit family and get away from some winter. It was absolutely grand and I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was wonderful to see the family and take some time to relax. 

While I was in CA,  I borrowed a GPS my brother had so I could track the walks I have been doing.  I have been walking pretty regular now for more than two months and I had always wondered, how far I am actually going.  I was surprised to see that I was making it about 2 miles. Not bad!  I also noticed maybe I wasn't feeling as challenged these days. Maybe it is time to up the ante. 

So I got myself an attachment for my ipod that tracks my distance.  Now I know how far I am going and how fast.  I have also started doing a run/walk combo.  I can't believe I am doing it but I am! 

So the next thing is to make a decision.  Do I sign up for a race?  I have almost reached a decision, but I am not quite there.  I really do not want to commit to something unless I KNOW I can do it.  And when i say do it I mean actually run the entire race.  My speed makes very little difference to me because honestly just running for any period of time is an absolute miracle. 

The other concern is making sure I know I can fit in the proper amount of trainng time.  I think I have the motiviation and drive now but I have not yet decided. So in the coming weeks I will make a desicion.  Am I a runner?  Can I run a 5k ?  Only time will tell.

And I ran

At the gym these last few days I have started out with my normal walk around the track. I have been trying to walk for at least 30 min each time I go.  I have determined there is a particular heart rate I need to reach and stay at to burn fat the best.  These last few gym visits I have had trouble keeping my heart rate there. I actually had to RUN to to keep it right.  That's right, I said run. Me - Kristal - was running.  I don't run, I have never run.  I can't even believe my legs do that actually.  Well I guess that means I am actually improving my health. Must a be a good sign.  I still can't sustain a run for long but I am just amazed I was actually running.  Maybe I should consider a race in the future? 

Finding a pot of gold?

I have something I feel I need to write about but I am actually afraid to.  You see I have lost 7 lbs. Great news right?  Only I am actually afraid to write about it because it seems like when I say that I am doing well with my eating and exercising, things go south.  But this time things seem a bit different, like maybe I found a pot of gold. That gold is an eating plan I can actually live with, but let me start from the beginning.

I had some medical things come up which led me to have a blood test. Turned out I had a hormone out of whack. I started reading up on what this meant and saw a doctor.  It seems that I have a mild form of a possible hormone imbalance that amazingly can be helped mostly by eating a certain way - low carb.  Now, I was on the wave of trying the Atkins diet back in the day when it resurfaced as all the rage and after one week I could tell that it was NOT for me.  But as I have read about and put into action this recommended eating plan I am in awe at what's possible.  I have found a way to eat less carbs than what I did before AND even still enjoy some Cafe Mocha's from Starbucks, chocolate from time to time and still eat BREAD!  I can't tell you how amazed I am by this because I have lost that 7 lbs in about 3 weeks. Every other time I have tried to curb my eating, weeks would go by I would see no results Obviously this was frustrating.

I hope I can keep it up and continue to see results.  I will try each day.  In the meantime, I am just enjoying looking at the rainbow that came with my pot of gold  :-)

Winter Beauty

It isn't often that I speak the words winter and beauty in one sentence but recently I woke up to some amazing scenes. Something I don't remember seeing before. I stepped out my door to head to the gym pretty early in the morning and as Looked around everything was covered with what looked like can only be described as iced frost. It wasn't regular frost and it wasn't ice. It almost looked as if someone painted everything you could see white. It was really something. It was nice to be able to find the beauty in winter. Scenes like this make the 8 more weeks or so of winter yet to come more palatable.


I took a photo, however I doubt you will really be able to see what I am talking about. Hopefully you can and hopefully you can find the beauty of winter somewhere near you!