Tag: exercise

fun

Midweek – May 30 – Hail and Indulgence

Angela Pea4 Comments

Summer is upon us.

We rolled out of bed this morning to the sound of distant thunder.  Within ten minutes it was extremely loud and by minute, oh, twelve, the winds picked up and the sky exploded.  Buckets of rain and another pummeling with marble size hail. It was coming down so fast and furious that the hail piled up in the corners of the patio.  It sounded like buffalo stampeding across the roof.  Thank goodness for the invention of 50-Year Hail Resistant Roof Shingles.

Some of you may know that I’m into mountain biking.  I picked it up when The Architect first started riding off-road.  He was only 13 at the time, so an adult had to go with him.  Mr. Pea and I have been road bikers since we were dating, so we figured, “Hey!  How hard can it be to ride in the dirt?”  It’s hard.  Mr. Pea hated it, I loved it.  I got voted as the official chaperone for off-road biking and I’ve been tagging along with The Architect and Cherry Ames ever since. (Mr. Pea sticks to the road with Princess Pea and DirtBike.)  I don’t ride with The Architect anymore because I can’t keep up and I don’t care for jumping over things.  I go ride the green and blue loops while he crashes through the rest of the woods with his team.

Up until just a few weeks ago, I’ve been riding on a borrowed mountain bike. Friends of ours were rebuilding their garage/guest house, and we kept their bicycles and other outdoor stuff in our storage for the 18 month duration.  I used my friend’s mountain bike that entire time.  It’s a fabulous Specialized model, light and strong.  Their remodel was now complete, and after cleaning up her bike, replacing the saddle and grips and buying her a new set of tires, I had to give it back.  Lady Penelope, my cruiser bike, just isn’t suitable for dirt single track or climbing.  I was about to lose my ride, as a new bike of a similar caliber to the Specialized cost more than I was willing to pay on a bike for myself.   Seriously.  A new bike?  Or a month’s worth of groceries?  Yeah. you get the picture.  So I started stalking Craig’s List.  Every day there were dozens of bikes listed, but they were either too expensive, too broken or (mostly) too big.  I’m short. VERY short. But not short enough for a kid size bike.

The Architect and a friend of mine were helping in the search. The Architect hit pay dirt. he emailed me at work.  “MOM!!!  You HAVE to see this! It’s the right size!! It’s in the price range!!”  I clicked and pulled up the link, and just about screamed out loud.  I was on the phone immediately, bargaining the price down then begging them to hold the bike because I was on my way.  I took an early lunch and drove to the complete other side of the Metroplex to check it out.  It’s an older model, hardly ridden and in pristine condition.  I handed over the cash to snag this sweetness:

Yes.  It’s PINK!!!!  A grown-up’s mountain bike that’s just my size with awesome shocks and hydraulic disc brakes and it’s PINK!!  And the Pea Family still gets to eat this month. Which is good, because this one:

keeps growing.

Splurge on something ridiculous.  Keep the Faith.

EMail Anglea Pea

healthy

Minutes – May 27

Angela Pea7 Comments

::faithful

Praying for

  • friends who have each lost their husbands, one to disease and one to accident, for strength and fortitude as they move forward in the following days as single mothers
  • Michelle, as she takes up her pink banner once again and fights the breast cancer monster…after she returns from her trip to France!

Grateful for

Pea Family Portrait

Princess Pea has graduated from high school! Cherry Ames is home for the summer, DirtBike and The Architect only have eight more days of regular classes.

::healthy

Exercise was on this week, as the weather is fabulous.  I had three great bike rides – a solo run on Monday, the Mayor’s rolling town hall from LaGrave Field on Wednesday in celebration of the opening of Cats baseball, and a twenty miler with the family on Saturday morning.  The boys are both training for a time trial in September.  The rest of us are tagging along for shucks and grins.

Weight Maintenance – up a few pounds, but still maintaining!  I love this part!  The up part may be water retention due to some majorly intense CrossFit training.  I did 231 push ups in one workout and 210 squats.  My muscles are still achy!

::delicious

I’m getting back on track feeding my family well after what seems like a month of sandwiches and canned soup.  Actually, with the insanity that is the end of the school year, it actually has been a month of eating sandwiches and canned soup. This week we’re having ratatouille, with the leftovers going into a vegetable lasagna; fajitas one evening and burgers on the grill another.  Cucumber salad and grilled chicken.  And leftover cupcakes from the Graduation Celebration!

::creative

Bella Mittens

On the needles – a pair of socks that have actually been on the needles since, oh, Christmas!  A pair of mittens for next winter to match the scarf I finished as this winter was ending.

I also have some tailoring and mending to tackle in the coming week.  Lots of pants that need hems let down.

::fun

Angela and Mr. Pea

Okay.  This is from Mother’s Day – the Fort Worth Fat Tire Festival.  It was a day spent mountain biking, enjoying adult beverages from our favorite brewery, watching The Architect race in time trials and visiting with friends.  The Bacon Wagon was there, along with our favorite sponsors and bike shop traveling venues. I learned how to ride with my new clipless pedals, and only fell a few times.  The bruises are fading now…

I’m reading The End of Overeating by David Kessler and Highway Construction Program Detail Manual. Not really for fun; rather, I’ve volunteered to participate in a review panel for recommending new certification criteria.

::looking ahead

Finishing a condition assessment report at work and moving forward with the design on a challenging project; playing pattern tester and knitting up a pair of felted slippers; the wedding of an old friend; summer fun; rejoicing in 26 years of celebrating the sacrament of marriage with Mr. Pea.

 Record the Minutes.  Keep the Faith.

EMail Anglea Pea

healthy

PSA#9 – Stop the Insanity

Angela Pea8 Comments

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or fitness guru. I am sharing what I’ve learned through research and experience; you all must use your own judgment in deciding what is best for you and your own health, including checking with your doctor before beginning any exercise or dietary program.

I originally wrote this post for another blog I have authoring rights to.  I’m reposting here today, because I think many of you NEED to hear this!!

Self Bashing = using negative terms to refer to yourself, your behavior, or your actions

I think this little ditty is needed more this week than an essay extolling the virtues of exercise or an update on my own maintenance.  (Nothing has changed, by the way.  It’s maintenance!)  Note – there are some religious references here, because this is from my heart, and my faith is so ingrained into my being that I can’t deny it.

I checked in on several weight loss and fitness blogs this week.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I read ‘fail’, ‘I’m Bad’, or some other version of self bashing. Let’s get this straightened out.

STOP IT.
RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!

First, the greatest cheerleader in your life is you. Not your Mom, not your BFF, not your husband or boyfriend, not me. It’s all you, Sweetie. You live with yourself twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You know yourself better than anyone else on the face of this planet. You cannot go through your days slapping destructive, negative labels on your forehead every time you miss a workout session or eat something fattening.

They’ll get tangled in your hair and leave sticky goo on your face.

Would you berate a little kid for eating a poptart, shaking your finger in his face and calling him a failure? Would you tell your Mom “You’re a bad person” if for some reason or another she didn’t run a mile yesterday? Would you scream at your Boss for eating a donut? No, of course not.

Then why the heck do you treat yourself that way?

You are a sentient creature, perfect in your creation, and you have a free will. This means that you are good, beautiful and complete simply because you exist. Because you breathe, walk, talk and think, you are the most amazing being in God’s creation. You are not a failure because you ate x-number of calories yesterday. You are not bad because you put something sweet in your mouth. You used your free will to make a poor choice, but you are not bad. You are NOT a failure.

What would you say to a child who has made a mistake? You’d forgive them, help them clean up the mess and then get on with the day. That is exactly how you should treat yourself. Pick yourself up, clean up the mess and move on. If you need help getting up, then ask someone. If you need help with the mess, ask someone. Poor choices are part of the weight loss game. They’re going to happen. Learn from them.

“Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” 

I know I’ve said this many times here on the blog – the physical part of losing weight is actually quite simple and very easy to do – eat less, move more, repeat. The mental part is a bazillion times more complicated. It starts with loving yourself, deciding to care for the body God made, making it healthy and strong. It continues with loving yourself, developing good eating habits and exercising. It ends with loving yourself and reaching out to others to share that love.

Love God above all else – love your neighbor as yourself. As Yourself. YOURSELF.

Love Yourself. Keep the Faith.

EMail Anglea Pea