The Vacation Thus Far

Monday: Bought the newest Civ IV expansion at Best Buy. Ran some random errands with Aaron. Maxxed and relaxed at home in the AC and played my new game.

Tuesday: Lunch with Aaron and Mark at Ruby Tuesday. Spent the rest of the day at home in the AC. Paid a bunch of bills. Got all funky-depressed from not exercising (or was it PMS?). Thenl we watched the Henry Rollins Show DVDs from his show on the Independent Film Channel, and I ate some oatmeal (with real maple syrup), and that made it all better.

Today: Went to the bank with Aaron and withdrew spending money for Otakon. Got a bunch of low-carb goodness and a cheap set of iPod speakers at Big Lots. Packed for the trip — and, again, maxxed and relaxed in the AC.

Tomorrow morning, we head out for Baltimore. It’s about an eight-hour trip from here, so we’re starting out around 8am. We’ll get to our hotel around rush hour, park and check in, walk to the Convention Center to get our badges, then meet the Ninja Consultants for dinner.

After that, it’s a wild ride of otaku conventioning and anime craziness until Sunday, a day of rest on Monday, then back to the grind on Tuesday. But that’s not for a while yet. I’ve still got half my vacation to go!

Diet & Fitness Update, Week Ending 7/29/06

Considering my god-awful diet weekend with Aaron and Amy, and my lack of exercise this past week, only going up half a pound isn’t unreasonable. I’m now officially at 206.5 lbs. I’m still ahead of the game: I’ve lost 3½ pounds in two weeks. I’m OK with that. Gotta keep things rolling.

To review: for this week, I had been planning to do 60 minutes of cardio, drink a crapload of water, and get to bed by 11pm.

Cardio: Total bust. I only exercised once this week (besides my daily lunch walk, which I don’t even really count anymore), and that was to do a PUSH workout on Monday. I totally dropped the ball for the rest of the week. WTF.

Water: Good to go. I kept track for the first few weekdays, then realized that I was doing fine and stopped counting the tally-marks by my water glass. I easily drink at least 64 oz of water a day without even trying. To get up over 100 oz would be more of a challenge for me.

Bedtime: Improved. I didn’t get to bed by 11pm every night, but I did most nights. On the nights I didn’t, I at least made an effort to chill out by 11pm, and get to bed as soon as possible after that.

This week is going to be interesting. I’m on vacation, and Aaron’s on vacation. Otakon starts on Friday, and we’re driving out to Baltimore on Thursday. I know I need to set myself up for success and all that, but I really don’t know what kinds of goals to set for myself. I didn’t make myself a menu for the week, mainly because I don’t know what we’ll be doing, and it’s a lot easier for me to plan my meals when I’m on a rigid schedule, being at work. Helps to break up the day.

So, my goals for this week are to continue to eat five smaller meals a day, instead of the two large ones I’ll be tempted to eat instead; to exercise at least three days, one of those days being in the hotel at Otakon; and to continue to walk for an hour every day (at least Monday through Wednesday — I don’t know how conducive downtown Baltimore would be to a walk, especially at the weird times I won’t be in the con). I might switch up my times, like exercising in the afternoon and walking with Aaron after the sun goes down in the evening. Might make things easier for a vacation-week lifestyle. 🙂 Maybe the Marriott Inner Harbor has a weight room or something.

*checks website*

Looks like they do have a Fitness Center. Now I have to figure out how in the hell I’m going to get up early enough to actually use it. Oh, and they have an indoor pool, whirlpool, and sauna, too. There’s no way I’m going to manage to get Aaron in that sauna, though. 🙂

OK, so let’s amend #2 on my list: I’m going to use the Fitness Center at least once during my stay in Baltimore. I can do this.

*psyches self up*

Note to self: bring workout clothes and swanky new black swimsuit.

Learning My Lesson

I made a very poor decision this morning.

As I was nuking my Kashi Honey Cinnamon hot cereal, I spied with my little eye… Zebra Cakes. In the vending machine. OMGsnackies. So, I took my hot cereal and my glass of water back to my desk, and returned with dollar bill in hand to get an extra goodie for my breakfast. And I ate both the Kashi and the Zebra Cake.

And I felt SO sick for the rest of the day. The only time I felt better was when my cubemate gave me a stick of mint gum to settle my stomach. Not even Lipton tea helped.

Let that be a lesson to me. Don’t eat 30+ grams of sugar for breakfast. Your body will rebel against you and let you know you done a baaaad thing.

Ann Arbor Art Fairs

In lieu of a full rundown of the day, I present to you: The Dancing Man.

This guy was dancing in an alley, and attracting quite the crowd. It took me a moment of gawking in amusement before it occurred to me that my digital camera can record video. So, here is a little slice of fun for you, direct from the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.