A Little Whine, A Bit Of Cheese, And A Spot of Yay Me!

Once again with moving the training schedule around! The plan called for a run today. Three inches of snow yesterday and today being a high of 20-something - uh, no. I don't own or have access to a treadmill - so another uh, no. Bike trainer it is! On the upside, Thursday (the day that was supposed to be a bike trainer day) is supposed to be beautiful and warm. Total win-win situation to flip those two workouts, I think.
On the downside is the fact that the trainer ride called for ILT. Have you done that?! Jeez oh Pete it's hard!! (The instructions say to put your resting leg on a chair but I thought it was easier to put my foot on the piece of the trainer that sticks out in the back. That kept my leg out of the way of the pedal and didn't seem to change the angle of my hips/leg as much as when I put it out to the front/side on a chair. Any reason anyone can see not to do it this way?)

But back to how surprisingly hard ILT was for me. It took me a few attempts to even get my right leg all the way around in one circle. It was nothing approaching the smooth action of those pistons on locomotives! I had to seriously gear down to be able to make one circuit and then I concentrated so hard on making smooth circles that I thought I was going to burst something. I assumed my left leg would be even worse (because I am right handed) but it wasn't! It was MUCH easier, much more balanced on my left side. On the right side I have a strong push and almost zero pull up to get back around. On the left side I have about the same amount of both. I have no idea if that's because my left leg is weaker all the way around but more in synch with itself or if the muscles responsible for lifting up on the right leg are the weak spot in the whole picture. (I have a marked difference between the two sides doing pigeon pose in yoga. I need a bolster when my right leg is forward and I'm perfectly positioned and able to stretch out when my left leg is forward. Does anyone else have that big of a difference between their two sides - or am I a total freak?)

I've been a little up and down with food recently. I love the Zone. It completely works for me. I feel nourished and usually not hungry. So after losing almost nine pounds, it freaked me out to gain three of them back in two days (with no hormonal or food explanation) and have them stick around with no sign of budging for a week. I got a little discouraged which led to some emotional eating. And then I had some (more) grief in the contentious co-parenting realm with my ex. And that led to some (more) emotional eating. The out of zone eating happened several times and was more limited/healthier than any "bingeing" I've ever done in my life. And I was very aware that that was what was going on. (Which may sound weird but paying attention is a big, healthy, and relatively recent step for me.) I was aware that the bowl of mac n' cheese I was savoring was not in the Zone. I could not bring myself to care for a few days. Strangely, the minute I started saying my affirmations about releasing the struggle, about letting go of my grief, about being my goal weight, about being strong and faithful - the scale started skooching it's way down again. THAT gave me energy to get completely back in the Zone.

I am progressing towards my goals - physical, emotional, and spiritual - still by fits and starts, but also in noticeably smoother cycles. It's like ILT for my whole entire being. I may whine about how haaaaarrrrd it is sometimes, but I'm so grateful for the chance and ability to do it - and so lucky to have the love and support that I do. Yay!

TODAY I LOVE: (in addition to all that stuff I just said up above!) the tiny little plate shaped like a carrot my mother gave me a few years ago. (I've just gotten it out again and it's made me smile at least three times today!)