Taking Care of Myself – Day 3

Day 3/100

Monday, August 25th

Exercise:

Today, instead of getting dressed for work, I got dressed for exercise! I put on my running outfit, put my work clothes on a hanger and packed a bag for freshening up post work out. The clothes, the bag, and my work shoes all went into my car. I then made breakfast for the kids and  myself, though I saved mine for after the workout. So that also went into the car, along with my lunch. I did eat a few slices of pear and made coffee for the drive. After horrendous back-to-school traffic, I finally dropped the boys off at school and went to the park to do my 5K Your Way training. My kids have been in school since last Wednesday, but the rest of the city's schools started today, so traffic was extra crazy. Oh how I miss my 30-35 minute commute as it took us close to an hour today. I hope that settles a bit during the course of the week. We will see.


Not far from the boys' school is the a trailhead of one of several greenways here in San Antonio. The school itself is just one mile from my job while the trailhead is maybe another mile away. So I drop off the boys, walk/run on the trail, then go to work. I would not have time to go back home and shower, so I bring my change of clothes as well as some essentials to freshen up with (wash cloth, towel, deodorant) to work and lock myself up in the restroom to get ready.

I could, of course, work out before I leave to take the boys to school, but since we already leave the house at 6:30 and I get up at 5:30 for that, I really don't want to get up any earlier than that. Besides, I like that particular trail a lot and by then the sun is out while it is not hot yet. The perfect way to enjoy the outdoors, get some sun and not get scorched. You will get eaten alive by mosquitoes though, should you forget your repellent. I was glad I had mine! As soon as I opened the car door, one of those little boogers flew right in. Oh no. I was not going to be your breakfast. Let's just say I got out of the car pretty fast to access my little bag in the trunk and spray on  the repellent.


My 5K Your Way training was the same as yesterday on the treadmill: 3 minutes walking, 1 minute running, 4 times for 20 minutes total. I covered 1.1 miles this morning, plus 0.2 miles warm up and cool down. So I walked 1.3 miles total. I felt great, having started my day with exercise and outdoor time! The trail is very tranquil and relaxing. I even saw a deer, which always excites me. I actually see deer quite often when in the parks or on the trails. On Sunday I actually saw a doe with her fawn on and later on a young buck. I was glad he seemed relaxed and did not pay me much attention, I sure do not want to meet those antlers up close.


Back to Monday. While eating my lunch, I had this crazy idea: Let's go for a walk in 100+ degree heat and lots of direct sunlight. Yeah,  crazy idea. I should have known better. I actually ended up walking 1.3 miles around the neighborhood of the office in 27 minutes. I returned to the office drenched and did not have another change of clothes. I also caught a very light sunburn. Yes, I burn in less than 30 minutes of sun exposure. Again, crazy idea. Lesson learned. No more walks during lunch hours. At least not any time soon while it is hot and sunny here, which is most of the year. I live in South Texas, after all.

For Me:
My lunch walk actually was my "me time" for the day. I wanted to do something to purposefully leave my desk and work area during my lunch. Since I always bring my lunch, I tend to eat it at my desk, which is not good. I need to get away from the desk during my lunch and actually relax. So the idea was to eat my lunch at the office and then walk for 30 minutes. While it was a nice break, it was too hot outside, so I need to figure out something else for future lunches.

Taking Care of Myself – The First Weekend

Day 1/100
Saturday, August 23rd

Exercise:

Today I slept in because this week was exhausting. By the time I got up it was too hot to walk outside (above 100 degrees). In the evening I got on my treadmill and walked:



1.571 Miles

31 Minutes and 36 Seconds

For Me:

I finally watched a movie I have been wanting to watch for a while: The Hours. Powerful and thought provoking. I started while on the treadmill and finished it on the couch. :)

The Hours

Day 2/100
Sunday, August 24th

Exercise:

I finally got new running shoes, professionally fitted for the first time. I broke them in with a 1.3 mile walk in the park (27 minutes and 23 seconds). I would have went longer, but it was too hot (it was mid day and the sun was merciless even though I was mostly in the shade of trees). I also got insoles that I could mold to my feet (I have low arches and need extra support). I decided to give SparkPeople's 5K Your Way program another shot. This is similar to C25K (Couch to 5K). I started it twice before and never finished because of foot pain The new shoes and insoles should help with that and this time I will modify the program to doing each phase twice as long to adjust better. I hope this will help me stick to it. After my resolution of soon starting this program again I just went for it and started it today on the treadmill. It consisted of four intervals each of 3 minutes walking and 1 minute running for a total of 20 minutes and 1.1 miles, plus cool down.

My New Shoes: Saucony – Hurricane 16

1.211 Miles

23 Minutes and 15 Seconds

For Me:

Finally getting professionally fitted running shoes. I went to Soler's Sports at Old Bandera Road, which was a great experience. If you are looking for a running store, this is a good one. They are a local business with four locations in the San Antonio area.

Also, some Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey – banana ice cream with walnuts and dark chocolate chunks. It is one of few gluten free, corn syrup free ice creams I could find (note that most Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors contain gluten, either as an ingredient or possible traces due to shared equipment – this one does not). The bananas, cocoa, and sugar in it are also fair trade which is wonderful. And then it was on sale, so yeah, I got some.

Good Stuff

Taking Care of Myself – A 100-Day Challenge

So it has been quiet around here again for a while *sound of crickets* Well, I am back now. :)

I have just recently realized that what I have been struggling with for the past year and with increasing difficulty is in fact depression. I have been experiencing major struggles in life as of the last few years related to professional growth, family life, health conditions, and some other quite essential things. In many ways I feel trapped. Last weekend I had a very long Skype chat and phone call with my sister in Germany and I finally opened up about a lot of my struggles I had previously kept to myself. I am trying to learn to talk to people without telling myself I am a burden. I am still working on this while trying to figure stuff out before making any decisions on how to change my life for the better.

One thing that is known to help with depression is regular exercise. So, other than the physical health benefits and getting me closer to my goal of becoming fit and healthy before I turn 30 years old, it also helps me with my depression. I have felt this effect before several times. I am going to be honest. Since being at my all time highest weight (again) earlier this year, I have lost 16.4 pounds so far (12.3% of my total weight loss goal of 133 pounds). This did not happen fast, but slow and steady. I attribute 95% of this weight loss to my healthy eating habits and I give 5% credit to exercise, maybe even less. See, I love the feeling after working out. I even enjoy working out most of the time. Somehow I don't do it consistently. I usually have a phase of about one or two weeks where I work out every day or almost every day and then I just stop. Why? No clue. Well, hold on, I might actually have a clue. In recent years, I (almost) always put others first, mostly my children and my husband. The same goes for other people as well, just not to the same extent. I have realized that I am not taking the time to take care of myself. I have made everyone else a priority and told my own needs and wants to wait in line. Then I let others' need and wants skip the line, pushing taking care of myself toward the back again ...and again. Having realized this and the fact that, to be able to care of others long term, one has to take care of oneself first, I am determined to work on taking care of myself. This starts with regular exercise.

My friend Amanda created a 100-day challenge in which participants exercise at least 10 minutes each day. I was hesitant at first and that showed me just how much I need this challenge. So I am in. For me personally, I am expanding this challenge. Not only will I exercise at least 10 minutes each day, I will also do one thing strictly for myself every single day. This can be anything. Reading a book, working in the yard, doing something creative, treating myself to some gelato, cuddling with my cats, writing in a journal, meditating, planning a vacation, working on my Spanish skills, reviving my French, learning something completely new. Anything. As long as it is for me and brings me joy.

I hope that, by doing this challenge, I can create healthy habits which will become natural by the end of the challenge. I am starting the challenge this Saturday, August 23rd and will finish on Sunday, November 30th. I chose a Saturday to begin the challenge so that I can start it off with a long walk or hike in the park and so that both my start day and finish day are on a weekend.

I will update here on a weekly basis with a summary of my workouts and feel-good activities. I will try to snap a picture for each one and include them in my post.

Fußballfieber & Fourth of July

Fußballfieber – rauschhafte Begeisterung für den Fußballsport
[ecstatic enthusiam for the sport of soccer]

I am so excited about this year's soccer world cup! Admittedly, I always get excited about the soccer world cup. This time has been especially exciting though, because Germany and the USA were both in the same group (Group G), which was considered the "Group of Death" during this year's tournament. Of course, I am rooting for Germany, but I have long been a supporter of the US team as well. They have been the underdog for quite a while and it seems they improve a bit with every world cup. I love seeing an underdog team becoming more and more successful and getting more attention.

Now, that the US are my home, I root for them even more. I was thrilled that they made it into the Round of 16 alongside Germany, even though we beat them in the group game. ;-)

For the longest, soccer has not received much attention here in the US, aside from being a popular team sport for school age kids (mostly girls). Funny, because in Germany soccer is considered quite a manly sport, if not the sport of men. Anyway, the US men's national team and the soccer world cup as a whole seem to have received more attention than usual. I like that. I like soccer.

I love the world cup and how it brings all kinds of people from all kinds of countries and all walks of life together.

I also like basketball and have become a San Antonio Spurs fan. How do you not love this team? They really play as a team and I love that they are such a great mix of players from all over the world. This year they finally won their fifth NBA championship. The Spurs have a pretty solid fan base here in San Antonio and  this city went crazy during the finals. So much fun!

I might enjoy baseball and even American football one day, provided someone explains these sports to me (I am clueless).

Back to the soccer world cup. Unfortunately, I was only able to watch one game live so far (Germany vs. Ghana), because all the other games were usually played while I was at work. I had a live feed on my computer though and my coworker Rob and I got a little crazy during the US vs. Germany game. I was working on a report, not paying attention to the live feed when Germany made their 1-0 goal. I heard Rob in his office next to me exclaiming, "Nooooooooooooooooo..." when I realized what happened. So I walked to his office, saying, "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssss!" to "rub it in" and tease him a little but also to let him know that Portugal was not making enough goals to beat the US in terms of goal difference meaning the US would advance alongside Germany. So the Teuton (me) and the Texan (Rob) were both happy.

Too bad that the US lost against Belgium yesterday. They should have put Julian Green on the field sooner; I think he could have made more goals had he been given more time to play. Tim Howard did an outstanding job of course. I believe the US national team will continue to improve and hope they will advance at least one more level in the 2018 world cup!

I am really happy that the quarter finals game Germany vs. France is on July 4th and the semi finals and final match are on weekends, so I can actually watch them. If  When they win, it will be a double celebration that day. We plan to go downtown to watch fireworks at an event called Stars and Stripes Over San Antonio. Due to the drought here in South Texas, we are not allowed to pop our own firecrackers so this is as good as it gets. We will probably ride the bus to get there, since I anticipate parking will be packed and expensive ($8.00 or more). The bus might take a little longer, but it is cheaper than parking alone (not even factoring in gas prices) and I will get there and back home relaxed.

What are your plans for July 4th? Will you watch the quarter finals? My American friends, will you celebrate Independence Day at home or will you go somewhere?

A Dozen Moves

I just realized that I have moved a dozen times in my life already and I am only in my 20s!

1986/1987 - Move Number One
Oppenheim. A bigger apartment for my Mama, my sister, and me. I was still in diapers and have to ask my Mama to verify the year. Not that I could remember...

1999 - Move Number Two
Oppenheim. From the apartment to my Mama's own house. I was 13 and learned how to lay down laminate flooring, PVC flooring, strip old wallpaper off walls, prime walls for new wallpaper, apply wallpaper, paint walls, and so much more. This was actually a lot of fun. Can you believe I laid down PVC flooring in my bedroom with a black and white cow pattern? Being 13 years old might explain that. I have to give my Mama credit for allowing such a thing. After all, we left the original hardwood floors underneath.

2005 - Move Number Three
Mainz-Marienborn. Out of the nest into a shared "apartment" (basement) with my friend Steffi. We were both 19 and pretty naive. This was a horrible learning experience, thanks to our wicked landlady. More on that later.

2005 - Move Number Four
Bodenheim. My own place. A small subterranean studio in the home of a really nice family.

2006 - Move Number Five
Nackenheim. A rental home with N whom I was dating at the time. This was a gradual move-in. He rented the home through the Army housing office and I stayed there with him. I still had my little studio but was never there.

2008 - Move Number Six
Wiesbaden. N had to go back to the US on military orders. The boys had to go, too, and stayed with their Grandma while N was deployed in Afghanistan. This was the hardest time in our family history. The deployment was hard enough, but not having the boys with me was the worst. Unfortunately there was no way for them to stay in Germany since I am not their biological Mom and there was not enough time for me to legally adopt them. The military orders came (almost) out of nowhere and were very short notice, because the post where N was stationed in Germany was being shut down. There had been rumors about the post being closed for a number of years, but it never happened. Well, it eventually did happen and N was one of the last soldiers at that post. I was staying in Germany for two reasons, one being that I was still in the process of getting my visa, two being that I was almost done with my professional training (I had less than a year left). I figured I should finish what I started and also gain some actual work experience before moving to the US. I moved into a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate to be closer to my workplace.

2009 - Move Number Seven
Frankfurt. After I finished my training and having commuted to Frankfurt (new job location within the same company) for almost half a year, I decided to move there. This was my own apartment in a high rise and actually pretty neat.

2010 - Move Number Eight
Fort Campbell. This was the big one. Leaving Germany and moving "across the big pond" to the United States. This move is what motivated me to start this blog.

2011 - Move Number Nine
San Antonio. After N got out of the Army, we moved in with his Mom until we would find work.

2012 - Move Number Ten
Live Oak. Our first rental (duplex) once we both had found jobs and sufficient income.

2013 - Move Number Eleven
Live Oak. A similar rental which was slightly better and slightly less expensive, yet still a duplex, just up the street from the previous one.

2014 - Move Number Twelve
San Antonio. Our current move to an actual single family house which is a lot nicer and slightly more expensive. This home is also literally across town. We are moving from the far northeast area of town to the far northwest area and back into the actual City of San Antonio.

Looking back, I realize that I have moved every single year since 2008. I guess I can say that I am a pro by now. I definitely learned how to prepare, pack, disassemble, load, unload, unpack, and deep clean a home. Am I tired of moving? I would say so, but the last place has become unbearable thanks to an extremely unprofessional, rude, and incompetent property manager. I am glad when we are gone and this ordeal is over with. I hope we will not have to take legal action because of some unresolved issues. Maybe she will come to her senses in time. I sure hope so.

The new place is very promising and I will post more details about it soon. We have already cleaned the new home, moved a bunch of boxes, and will move all the big stuff on Saturday with a rental truck. I cannot wait to be done. We are trying to finish it all up this weekend.

Here is to a New Year

So we had a pretty awesome start into the year. Riding roller coasters and watching fireworks while riding a ferris wheel. We actually went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for New Year's Eve this time and we had a blast!

Here they are, my obligatory new year's resolutions:

1. Further my education. I would like to enroll in college and study Business Administration (AA), followed by Real Estate Finance and Development (BA) in order to advance with my career and eventually become a commercial real estate appraiser.

2. Get healthy. Eat better and exercise more to essentially lose weight and improve my overall health and fitness.

3. Make financially smart decisions. I would like save more for retirement. There is no such thing as starting too early. I have already been saving a bit every month, but I would like to increase the amount that I am saving.


I hope you had a great start into a happy, healthy new year as well. Do you have any new year's resolutions? If you do, what are they?

♥ ♥ ♥

Why three hearts? Today is our 3rd Anniversary and actually the first one we got to spend together. Today is also Mother's Day which reminds me how lucky I am to have my three guys.
The boys surprised me this morning with "Best Mom in the World" certificates which they had made for me. Melts my heart. For the most part, we just stayed at home today spent some quality time.
Later on, my dear husband and I went out for dinner. He let me pick, and I chose Joe's Crab Shack. I always wanted to go there, but we have never made it, until tonight. We picked a table outside on the porch and had a wonderful evening. I love seafood, but I have never tried crab before, so I learned how to crack some crab today. It was delicious. I had a "steam pot" with snow crab and king crab, with an awesome cocktail on the side. Hubby had, well, steak. It was really good though. He was hesitant to try seafood that was not fried, but then he loved my crab, so we ended up trading a little. For dessert, we went to a small ice cream place where I got the best dairy-free pineapple ice cream ever.
After all, it just felt really good to spend our anniversary together for a change. I do not need any big gifts, I already have the biggest gift I could want and that is being with my husband and children, the loves of my life. What more could I ask for?