The Switch

My riding lesson was delayed by 2 hours, so I decided I could get a few things done in the morning before I left for the barn.  "A few things" are always needing to be done when one lives in an antique house.  This morning, my goal was simply to install two dimmer switches for chandeliers in the master bedroom and the master dressing room.  The dressing room had the added complication that in an old house the wires are not colored or marked and they weren't much for following standards in those days like always putting the hot wire in the side with one wire on a 3 way box.  The other would be easier, a single pole, but the added complication was that the breaker for the bedroom is not marked in the breaker box.

I could have taken the easy way out and used a cell phone and a helper (the master bedroom is upstairs, the breaker box downstairs), but instead I used it as an exercise opportunity.  There were three options for the three way, and I exercised every one of them, resulting in six trips up and down the stairs to wire and test.  Finding the correct breaker switch took an additional 10 trips.

I hate the stairmaster and arc trainer at the gym.  I can't imagine the point of climbing stairway to nowhere (and I know heaven is not located above the cardio room in the gym), but getting my switches swapped was worth the effort and made the workout more of a game.

The light went on, and I hope to make that same switch with as many workouts as I can!

"Enthusiasm is the great hill-climber."  Elbert Hubbard

Habit @ Your Habitat

I saw the title of one of Bob Wright's lectures  and totally misread it.  In a previous lecture, he had talked about Brian Wansink's book Mindless Eating and about the studies that have been done showing how much our eating is affected by our environs. I think I was also affected by the fact that I had left my prescription glasses at home and wasn't seeing clearly.  Bob was intending to give a lecture about the "Habits of Successful weight loss Managers" but the word I saw was habitat.  It was at that point that I realized that a big piece of my success would be setting up my habitat.  I've begun the process over the last few days. The refrigerator has undergone a renovation and the pantry has been reborn.  I'm working on (and working out in) my basement exercise room.  My plates have shrunk and my crystal has been rearranged so that the tall thin glasses are in front.
What habits does your habitat encourage?

Lost and Found

I've lost this.  Have you seen it anywhere?  It happened sometime over the past two weeks while I was at Hilton Head Health.   I may have left it in Amber's cardio boxing class or perhaps someplace on the dance floor in Zumba.  I know I had it with me during Adam's outdoor circuit; I was pretty sure I carried it with me the whole time, maybe I left it along the trail.  Is it along the beach we walked every morning with Ashley and Alicea? I might have left it in the dining room while I was eating one of Chef Jen's creations.  It could very well be in Beth's conference room or in one of the lecture rooms that Bob frequents. Aha! I could have dropped it running between the the workout rooms during ULTRA circuit with Jeff and Alicea.

It weighs about 8 pounds and I've had it for a long time, but it doesn't have my name on it.  If you find it, keep it, I have plenty more I plan to lose....along with a couple of chickens, a cinderblock and a few bags of meow mix.  If your curious about this, you might check out this old post.

Resolution

I haven't posted in quite a while which is a great indication of how much effort has gone into my health endeavors...nada.

In November I decided I needed to kickstart something, or just plain kick something.  I decided to sign up for a two week stay at Hilton Head Health Institute for two weeks.  I decided to do this in January as it would be a great way to start off a new year, with a resolution to keep doing whatever it was that they would teach me to do.

This morning I left home in 19 degree weather and drove for almost eight hours east, till I hit water, then I stopped.  I am at Hilton Head.

Today, on the Eve of the beginning of our two week adventure, we had a great introduction to all of our materials from Adam, had a great meal from a different Adam, and took a 30 minute walk in the dark to the "reflector tree".  I met some great people and I think this will be a wonderful two weeks.

I'm supposed to fast from now until tomorrow morning when they will remove blood from me and learn something about me.  Why do they call it fast when it seems to go so slowly?

Below is the current weather map.  Note that the very southern tip of South Carolina is NOT white!!!