routine

Today, after 2 weeks of holidays, I went back to work. I was really nervous last night and this morning getting ready. I mean, it was only 2 weeks!

What had me going in circles is the weather. It was -25 C with the wind chill today. There were snow drifts all over from the weekend's blizzard. I knew it was going to be a tough day. Plus, it is amazing how quickly our bodies lose our muscles when they aren't used!

This winter has been a struggle for me to keep my hands and feet warm. I think I have mild frost bite which means that as soon as they get a little bit cold, they hurt and freeze and are very hard to get warm. Most people tell me that after they have been walking about 10 minutes, their hands are warm. For me, it is almost 30 minutes before my fingers are warm from moving my body. Then, if I stop, for as little as 5 minutes, I have to start the warming all over again. It is so painful! The worst part is that I can't just bundle my hands in super huge mitts. I need my fingers constantly checking my mail and adding flyers at each house.

Yesterday, I went to Mountain Equipment Coop for new gloves. Right across the street is Atmosphere, so I went there first. I ended up buying 2 liners there - gloves that are supposed to go inside mitts. The price was ok. Then I went to MEC. I thought that if MEC was a better deal, I could just return the first ones. I ended up buying 2 more liners there. The liners that I got at Atmosphere were better quality than the ones I bought at MEC but I think they were a better price for similar quality ones at MEC.

So, today, I wore 2 of my new liners (the ones from Atmosphere) with another fleece/thinsulate pair on top. I put the gloves on before I left work so my hands would stay warm from inside rather than getting cold from walking outside and opening car doors before I put them on. BTW, I had on 2 pairs of socks (and an ankle brace on one foot), my new -40C boots, long underwear, pants and overpants, a long sleeved shirt, a short sleeved shirt and my winter parka on. Then I had a hat, a head band, a dickie and a neckwarmer. Then I pulled my hood over top.

What I learned from today is that the 3 layers worked well. I was able to remove and add layers as the wind changed or I warmed up. I also learned that I don't think there will be anything that will truly keep my fingers warm for that first little bit. Today, my fingers were all the way warm by 20 minutes, which is much better than before. But that is still a long time for cold and pain! Oh well. At least I live in the land of Chinooks! Hopefully by next week it will warm up again.

But all in all, I am glad to be back at work. It is good for me to have forced exercise, and routine. Over the holidays, I gained 7 pounds. Some of that is from over-indulging, but a lot of that has to do with not walking for 4 hours everyday. Since I get a great cardio workout at work, I don't have a regular gym schedule. Then when I don't work, I don't exercise. That is a good chunk of calories that I usually burn that I don't. In addition, When I am working, I don't have time to eat. When I am at home, I have all the time in the world to eat! So not only am I not burning as much, but I am eating more.

Last week, I spent a lot of time watching old Intervention episodes online. I really like that show. I can relate to so much in the addicts. Especially last week when I was making a lot of sweets and eating a lot sweets and gaining weight. It really felt like I had gone back to old times when I would go back and back and back to the food even though I was full, sick, tired, or any of the other feelings that should make me want to stop. I think that was why I had to choose the weight loss goal for 2011 instead of the mature route. The weight loss will be tricky for me. I will need to learn more about saying no to myself and feeling feelings and taking up the fight rather than lying down and letting it trample me all over.

At least I have no more holidays booked until April!!! That's 3 months to guide me with my routine!