GeekMoot and ChicMoot lessons

So, a couple weekends Joe's college buddy, Thad, and his S.O., Josh, were visiting from the beautiful (so I've heard) state of Colorado to the beautiful state of Maine, so we, along with Dave, went back up to Joe's parents camp to spend the weekend. We were just up there for GeekMoot for a week in July - which is a yearly vacation we take with Joe's geeky friends to play board games like Arkham Horror... really geeky, involved games, most of which are too complicated for me. We dubbed last weekend "Chic Moot" in response.

A little about the camp: Joe's parents built this beautiful home on Toddy Pond, not too far from Bangor, ME. They live there part time now, and it is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever spent my time. It's all rustic inside, log cabin-esq. There is a hot tub on the deck, and the camp is offset from the lake and relatively private. They have a really nice dock out on the lake attached to the shore, and another floating one a short swim away. Every time I am at camp (during the summer at least) I see loons. Loons happen to be my favorite animal!

During Geek Moot, I made sure to get the guys down to the water at least once a day. A few of us went hiking once, and we went on a nature cruise. But for the most part we sat around, ate, drank, and sat around some more. I actually spent a lot of time alone, just sitting at the dock or otherwise doing my own thing while the guys played games. I went into town a few times. I took a glorious long nap on the hammock. I went to bed at a reasonable time most nights, around midnight, and woke up around 9. After the weekend I felt rejuvenated and relaxed, which lasted a long time after I returned home.

Chic Moot: we spent a good portion of the day on the water. I showed off my canoeing skills with Joe and Dave. Thad and Josh coached me through kayaking... I almost lost my glasses falling into the water during my first canoe-to-kayak transition, but was impressed with being able to get back into the canoe from the water. We went swimming with my nephew. That night, we sat in the hot tub and went out to star gaze. It was only the weekend - flew to Boston on Friday, got to Maine at 4:30am Saturday, up at 9am, bed at 11, woke up at 6 to go on a whale watch, then drove back to Boston and almost missed our flight... but got home around 11.

Here is what I've learned from these two trips.

1. Sleep is important. This seems so simple but I really struggle with getting enough. I should be waking up in the morning around 6:30-7:30, depending on if I need to go running or not so I really should be going to bed between 10:30-11:30.

2. Eat less. Again, a no-brainer but in watching the guys eat during geek-moot vs. the guys during chic-moot... the food awareness in the second group was very different. Observing Dave was particularly interesting. He seems very aware of how much food he needs to eat, when he's had enough, etc. He turns down dessert. He is not an emotional eater. Dave manages to stay trim but doesn't really work out. If I could somehow emulate this (and add working out) it would make my losing weight a lot easier. I've been trying to be more aware of how hungry I actually am, and stopping when I'm almost full, even if the food is incredible, and even if there is a lot left.

3. It is important to balance out activity with "doing nothing". Geek Moot was a good indicator that I need more reflective quiet time than I give myself. Considering how wonderful I felt even after I returned home, this is something I've been thinking a lot about. I do tend to be on the go all the time but I want to work towards simplifying my life so I can be calmer as a norm and not just on vacation. I need to make time to breathe.

4. I shouldn't be afraid to try new sport-type things. Kayaking was so much fun, and I'd been hesitant to try it. Having Thad and Josh talk me through it was good for my confidence. Once I got in the boat and got going - the independent feeling was wonderful. I am excited to try doing a ropes course, learning how to surf, working on golfing... Our hike was really nice during Geek Moot, and I should do more of that, also.

5. I need to work out. Holy moly! Joe's mum took a picture of me in the canoe and I know I shouldn't dwell, but all I can see is my flabby stomach. I try and tell myself "OK, so you have a flabby stomach. You also have mad canoe skillz that everyone was impressed with!" but it's hard to do. The plus side is it was kind of a catalyst and I've started running again.

Sweet Tooth

I have recently (within the past year or so) discovered that I do not have a sweet tooth. It was a really surprising realization and I am amazed that it took me so long to figure it out.

Back in high school, I was HUGE on sugar. Breakfast was a cup of earl gray tea with (whole) milk and one and a half teaspoons of sugar. Obviously this wasn't enough to really get me past 10am, so between classes I'd stop at the school store and grab a Nutty Buddy. Lunch, at least senior year, was a half of a sandwich and a cup of soup and chips from Nuts About Ice Cream, and usually i got a extra thick mint chocolate chip milkshake for dessert. Also, we had soda machines at the school and you could rarely find me without a bottle of Cherry coke. After school, I'd visit my elderly neighbor, and she always had hot chocolate and cookies (which I'd eat with whipped cream). And, after dinner (spaghetti was, and still is, my favorite) there was usually ice cream or some other kind of treat. Gym I believe was twice a week? Because I went to a large high school, our gym classes were grouped together - so three gym teachers would split up the classes based on what each student wanted to do. Usually I chose to walk the track with my friends, and we didn't exactly keep up a good pace. During the school week, my only other exercise was band practice in the fall (marching up and down the street with a Baritone horn... harder than it sounds but, again, not exactly a calorie burner). Also, I had a paper route that I walked in the mornings, which took about 45 minutes. On the weekends, I worked at Planet Trog, a laser tag arena. From noon until 6 I wandered around the arena after kids birthday parties and such, and then from 6 until midnight(or later) I hung out with my coworkers and played a bunch of games. At least I got a little bit of exercise. It still isn't surprising that when I graduated high school, I weighed 220 lbs and wore a size 18, which you can see in the photo before senior prom.

Freshman year of college wasn't much better: I remember drinking lots of soda, grabbing stuff from the vending machines (there was a french fry vending machine right next to the ice cream bar vending machine... dangerous) and the dorms "corner store" (where I had my first Wonka candy bar... chocolate with graham cracker pieces). I still managed to lose weight in college, due mostly to the meal plan and walking back and forth to the dorms. I transferred out of RIT to go to the community college the following fall, but before the end of the year, I managed to get mono. It was terrible, I was exhausted all the time (right during finals, no less), but I did lose another 10 lbs, putting me under 200lbs, before heading home for a couple weeks before starting my summer job as a camp counselor at Adirondack Camp on Lake George in NY.

While my employment experience was less than desired (for a number of reasons, which I mostly credit now to my immaturity at the time), that job was a huge life changer. At the beginning of the summer, I bought a dress from Lane Bryant that was a size 16. At the end of a summer filled with a regular schedule of 8 hours of sleep, chasing kids around and teaching them how to canoe, swimming almost every day, and only having food available to me at mealtimes (and only being able to eat after the kids had eaten) I was practically swimming in that dress. (too bad, it was really pretty). I was down to a size 12, and I think about 175 lbs. This was 2001.

I gained a lot of the weight back. When I met Joe in early 2005 I weighed around 195. (The picture on the left is from October of 2005.) I dropped a bit of weight but it wasn't until we got engaged and moved to Virginia that I really started making an effort. I started running, I did a "bridal boot camp". I discovered pilates and loved it. I weighed 172 the morning of my wedding in 2008, and I'm between 175-180 now. So, from my heaviest, I've lost around 45lbs, which isn't too bad! The picture to the right is from the summer of 2008, at the same cafe in Boston! Best Tiramisu ever!



One of the life changers for me was this seminar I went to, put on by Jennifer of Howe to Eat called "Getting off the sugar roller coaster". She talked about that 3:00 slump at work, and how eating sugar becomes addictive and a vicious cycle of sugar highs and crashes. How artificial sweeteners are actually worse for you than real sugar (because they are sweeter, so you teach your body to want more regular sugar to obtain the same amount of sweetness), and how basically, they are chemicals, when what your body really needs are foods closest to their natural state as possible. (so, evaporated cane juice is better than white sugar, etc.) Instead of having a candy bar at 3:00, I'd have a sweet potato (less calories, still sweet, and you get the benefit of all the fiber, vitamins and minerals). I emptied our pantry and fridge of anything containing HFCS and Joe and I are pretty diligent at reading labels at the grocery store. Naturally sweet things now taste sweeter, and sweets like milk chocolate are just too sweet. If I eat a cupcake during our birthday celebrations at work, I feel gross for the rest of the afternoon. If I want chocolate (Joe keeps emergency chocolate hidden in the house for when I'm having one of "those days") I opt for a piece of really dark, high quality chocolate instead of a cheap-o Hershey bar, and I try and savor it.

When I see people who are dieting buying things that are sugar free... Its hard for me to comprehend. Splenda and other artificial sweeteners just leave this terrible aftertaste in my mouth and give me a headache. I'd rather have a few spoonfuls of real, full fat, real sugar ice cream than an entire bowl of something chemical laden and overly processed. Sometimes, I'd rather have an apple with peanut butter (the natural, nothing added to it kind). Or a cup of blackberries.

The idea is, eat things as close to their natural state as possible. Maybe not to the extreme of eating a raw diet - that's a little too much for me - but, why drink apple juice when you can eat an apple, and get the benefit of the fiber in the apple?