Pluggin' along...

Work's been good, busy and productive, and spent the day yesterday in a seminar about forensic interviewing. Very enjoyable way to spend a day-- watching video clips of criminals trying to lie their way through interviews/interrogations and learning about all the verbal and nonverbal clues to deception.

Jits of course is always good... missed a class here and there but I'm finally feeling acclimated to the hot weather. It's not pleasant putting on a gi that's been sitting in your 105+ car all day, but you get used to it. Our warmups have been scaled back which helps-- we run about a mile, then do bear walks/frog jumps/bunny jumps/one-legged hops and all kinds of rolls across the mat, carry or drag each other across the mat, then pushups, ab work, and stretching. Takes about 30 min and if you stand in front of one of the fans afterwards you can almost feel chilly with all the sweat you work up. I find that I'm playing a consistently defensive game with the majority of my training partners, but when I play with someone my level or lower, a more offensive side pops out. I'm also noticing that moves I'd shelved long ago are more feasible now... I never think of going for kimuras and americanas, having checked them off as too easy to muscle out of, but if my position is improving, their ability to muscle out diminishes. Yay.

Still trying to hit at least 4 of my crossfit-like classes a week. Yay. And of course still teaching salsa on Friday nights at Copa.

Looking forward next week to a visit from my girlfriend Shelley and her daughter Reagann. They're doing a driving vacation together, coming down from Little Rock and hitting Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.

-8.6 and healthy

Wheeeew, it's been so hot! 104-105 outside usually feels like a crockpot on high inside the academy.

Thursday I missed morning class because my car wouldn't start. Apparently there's a little piece of plastic under the brake pedal which turns off the brake light unless you're pressing the pedal... alas, in my wonderful little 14 year-old Acura, the piece broke and so my brake lights were on all night. My husband jumpstarted my car, and my mechanic fixed it (FOR FREE!!! so if you're in Austin and have a Japanese car, go to Dealership Alternative and tell Bill you heard about him from me.) Anyway, I took it easy during lunch crossfit, did an hour of nogi, and just couldn't bring myself to bake for another 3 hours at the night class. Instead went shopping with my husband, had sushi for dinner, and watched a movie about Jane Austen.

Today's another scorcher, high 105 again! but I will be rolling at lunch open mat and evening open mat. Nogi-- not even bringing the gi top.

I will say, I rolled with my friend Tom and almost butterfly swept him, and I was happy.

-8 and yucky

Staying home sick today, think I ate something that disagreed with me yesterday. But before I started that whole thing, happily, I was down eight from June 12. Not the stunning progress I'd wished to be reporting, but I'm back on track with working out now so no biggie.

I did have some fun with Jordan last night, learning a nice alternative to an armbar (essentially a forearm crush-elbow-expansion sort of thing) and attempting to learn an improved scissor/push sweep from guard. That didn't work as well because while controlling one of their sleeves with both your hands, you get up on an elbow and scoot parallel to their body. I couldn't seem to master scooting on that axis-- I kept including an "away from them" vector as well, which compounded the difficulties of having short legs. It will take practice.

My whole body is sore today. My last crossfit class was unusually heavy on arm work, and I've done a lot of nogi in the last week, so I'm not surprised my arms right down to the fingertips are busted.. but what's up with my legs? If I feel better today I might get into the pool and swim a little bit.

Hope you are enjoying your summer...

Back from the Fourth..

We had a fantastic time staying at the lake with friends Jeff and Laurie. They have a 42' boat with two cabins and a nicely set-up boat slip that's like a home away from home so we just hung out, read books, ate, played in the lake, and enjoyed the company. I'll post some pics soon. We also had a nice morning with family-- we'll be having our niece Sarah stay with us for a week in August and I'm looking forward to seeing Austin through the eyes of a smart, active, fun twelve year-old.

Alas as always I ate salty foods I shouldn't have been eating so I won't post my weight-- but I know it's water weight and will go away shortly. I'm determined to get back to my old routine of morning and night jits, and lunch crossfit daily. Work is definitely keeping me busy but I have plenty of things I can bring home with me at night; I'm just starting a new pleading and that always involves a fair bit of reading at the beginning.

Our crepe myrtle out front of the house is just COVERED with lavender blooms this year... it's a full two stories tall and really looks impressive. I'm convinced it's bloomed so lushly because we're watering twice a week. The roses in the backyard are doing better this year, I'm sure because they're not shaded out by the crazy tomatoes. I am thinking about changing one of the patches of lawn into a raised bed for vegetables because I have a craving for sweet summer corn, freshly picked. Did you know that when you pick corn, the sugars immediately start turning to starch? By the time you buy it in the grocery it's already stale! And cucumbers, peppers, watermelon, squash... mmmmm. Of course I'm thinking gardening thoughts because it's cloudy and "only" going to get up to the mid-high nineties today. If it were its usual sunny and 105ish, I'd only be thinking about the books I want to read indoors.

My best friend Heather had a healthy (BIG! 9 lbs 1 oz) baby boy last week and I can't wait to see pictures of him. His name is Owen and I know big sis Hannah is excited as can be. It was a lengthy labor topped off by a C-section so Heather is going to have to take it easy for a while.

Have a good day back in the routine!

Still smashed...-4.6

I took basically this whole week off work to use up some leave that I would lose if I didn't use it, and it's been phenomenal. I would really prefer not to work, if that was possible. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I like being a housewife too. What's not to like-- there's no kids, and no pets besides a fish, so there's virtually no dirt. We have a housekeeper once a month. I don't mind doing laundry, which is good since I go through at least a gi a day, and in this heat, I soak a gi every time I train. Granted, I haven't been doing as many 3-a-days as I used to, but still. I've been able to catch up on some pleasure reading, put time and thought into home-cooked meals, and train one-two times a day. I love it. I just wish someone would pay me to do it.

I'm enjoying training for training's-sake without pressuring myself or beating myself up when I get smashed. I wish the result would be some stunning unsmashability on my part. Alas, no. Oh well. It's a process and I'm patient.

However, still totally frustrated with the weight loss plateau even though I know exactly why it exists-- I'm only training once a day sometimes. I am going to be restrained over the holiday weekend, no pigging out on fried chicken and potato salad, and I'm only missing two days of workouts. Starting next Monday it's back to 3 a days whenever possible. I did 3 today and it was heaven.

Enjoy a safe, fun holiday weekend, ya'll!

Tagged, I'm it!

Grappledunk tagged me... and I'm slow to respond. Call me a dork.

What is your current obsession? Jits, but of course.

What is your weirdest obsession? Okay, so picture this: in 108 degree weather and no AC, instead of hanging out in my pool wearing as little as possible and sipping a frosty beverage, I'm putting on layers after layers (not just a gi, but rashie and athletic bra and bike shorts!) of hot, heavy, thick fabric which hasn't been updated with modern textile technology, then running in circles, picking up and putting down and pushing and pulling heavy things, then squirming around on a mat with other similarly-dressed people who often outweigh me by 20, 40, 60, 80 pounds, while they try their best to make me pass out... either by choking me out or suffocating me or with the manmonia of their not-washed-frequently-enough gis.... for three, sometimes five, sometimes eight hours a day, seven days a week.

What is the weirdest sub-obsession of the weird obsession you just described? Collecting instructionals and trading them with friends across the country, yet not taking/making the time to watch 99.99999% of them. Dork!

Coffee or tea? Tea (Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast) very strong, very sweet (love you splenda) with cream or at least half-and-half.

What was the last really exiting thing you bought and the next exciting thing you plan to buy? It's a tie: got a Lucky gi on Ebay for $67, and I'm still in awe of the fabulous induction cooktop in our kitchen island (though we've had it nearly two years, it is every cook's dream... ask me about it... magnetic energy cooks faster, uses less energy, produces less ambient heat, and was a perfect excuse to "have to" buy All-Clad) Next exciting thing? A car. That's a long way off though.

What are you listening to right now? Husband is watching Merlin episodes on Hulu, sitting next to me on the couch.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Butter pecan with TONS of caramel sauce.

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you? I'll copycat and proclaim that Grappledunk is creative, fun, intelligent, beautiful, and a certified aquabadass. But seriously folks-- swimming that far, in open water?! WHOA! Way cool.

Which language do you want to learn? Italian or French, for the accent; Brazilian Portuguese, so I can talk with our resident Fadda blackbelt from Brasilia, Ronny Lis.

What is your favorite color? Green.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? A sarong.

What is your worst habit? Snacking.

If you had $1,000 now, what would you spend it on? Savings for a new car someday. Boring, sorry :)

Describe your personal style? Simple, casual, no ironing required.

What is your favorite fruit? Ranier cherries.

What inspires you? When sheer effort and determination overcome a lack of native talent.

Do you collect something? Gis. Fourteen at last count.

What are you most proud of? My parents-- so cheesy but I owe everything I am and have accomplished to them.

Cats or dogs? Love 'em both but allergic, so for the time being I don't have either.

What’s your biggest fashion mistake? Knickers and a matching vest circa 1984. Gack.

Loving this weather... -4.6

It's that gorgeous, hot, sunny weather that makes watermelon, fried chicken, potato salad and lemonade taste their absolute best... that makes the chlorine-smell of the pool something akin to perfume... that makes you purr as you come out of the freezing-cold movie theater... that simply screams for some Beach Boys or Peter Gabriel on the radio. It's not even July yet but we've been seeing triple-digit temps for a while now and despite the lack of AC (got it, don't use it) at the jits academy, I'm really enjoying the full bloom of an Austin summer.

Happily weight still moving in the right direction though I have a ways to go to reach my goal by August 14. Tonight a local news crew will be filming part of a story on alternative ways to exercise at the academy, so I'll be trotting out my green gi in all its glory. (And as usual, within 5 minutes, the sweat soaking into my pants will make it look like I peed in them. Nice.)

Ahh, the weekend... -2.6

I had a great roll with Scott yesterday-- great for me because I was just playing around, wasn't really trying to win, trying to get in good positions and observe what he did... improved my halfguard passing, saw two armbars, survived some choke attempts, and he was extravagantly complimentary, which was nice to hear even though I believed about half of it.

Last night had some jits friends show up for salsa, and of course, they picked up so quickly! There are neural pathways they've polished so the new movements seem to get into the brain more easily.

My weight is going in the right direction again, which is to say DOWN, hooray! I need to be a little more resistant to the late night snack (last night after salsa, my hungry husband fried some eggs, made rice, and cooked up little sausages, so I was compelled to eat at least 8 of the sausages. Woe.)

The garden is doing nicely-- lots of happy roses, agapanthus, hummingbird bush, butterfly bush, and even some ripening tomatoes. But my gardenia lost about 5 buds to some kind of strange black speckles-turned-to-rot. So I sprayed with some organic insecticide/fungicide/miticide and we'll see what happens. I needed to spray the roses for rust and the zinnias for powdery mildew anyway.

Today is a very exciting day-- I hope my best friend has her baby today (she's not in labor yet to my knowledge) and I am going to an event tonight that I will discuss tomorrow... but it's a happy event :) :) Anyway, off to jits soon. Phew.

SORRY SORRY SORRY

I haven't been posting because I've been tearingly busy. Have a deadline at work for Friday that's kept my mind very occupied, then when I get home at night I'm too pooped to pop, even to pop on the internet for five minutes.

I've been training when I can, but it's not enough. Weight is going back up, up, up and it didn't help that I went out of town for a work conference, so I missed workouts and ate things I shouldn't have. So, now I'm back home and really motivated to get back on the strict bandwagon with that "biggest loser" contest firmly in mind. I'm not even going to post where the weight is relative to the start, at least not till I'm back on the right path.

Jits has been great lately-- despite the triple-digit temps-- and I'm starting to get sweeps on a mental level. I swear I have to see things/have things shown to me at least five separate times before it has a chance of clicking. But I'm keeping on with the practice. I have a couple minor ows-- the fourth toe on my right foot just started hurting for no apparent reason, and my neck is tweaked again-- but otherwise I'm in good condition despite carrying all the extra weight. I need to start Robert's crossfit class every day again.

My garden is liking the summer weather but my tomatoes are still not ripe, and my gardenia buds still haven't opened.

I'm busy thinking about my best friend Heather who is officially due tomorrow for the birth of their second child (their first is adopted, so it's also kind of their first.) Very exciting!

Way cool website.

Best video clips on the web, sorted by day, with subject titles. Amazingly cool.

Killer judo counter...

Amazing... Check it out here.

-5.6 and wanting sweeps...

I'm trying to start every sparring session by imagining my opponent as a table, and all I gotta do is control one or two legs of it to knock it over. Being smashed (flat, or on my side) by the table is getting in the way, but I am eternally optimistic. However if I don't leave the house pronto, I'll miss my first opportunity of the day-- so I'm off.

And yeah, that's -5.6 lbs since 6/12. Yay. Last night I made some really good spaghetti sauce (fresh basil, oregano and a tiny bit of rosemary from the garden) and I'm looking forward to dinner tonight-- probably outside the diet but I'll only eat half-- a Cuban roast pork sandwich at Havana Calle 6. Yum.

It's not as hot as I thought... -4

Finally made it to an evening class yesterday (as well as the morning roll) and it wasn't so bad. With this "biggest loser" competition I need to be burning up as many calories as I can so I predict I'll be there more evenings than not.

Competitive... -3.6lbs

I realized that I found losing weight and eating healthily pretty easy when I was doing it to reach a goal-- making weight for a tournament-- and was motivated by something outside of "looking better" or whatever. For example, at NAGA the weight cutoff was pretty easy to make but there were only two classes, so I was motivated to make sure I didn't have to get in the "heavyweight" class. (However, now I've seen how they do brackets, so I'm motivated to be on the lighter side of the lightweight class, because those littler girls get paired together, whereas the girls like me right on the cusp actually walk around a good 10-15 lbs more than I do on an average day.) At other tournaments like the Texas Open they had <119, 120-138, and >139, for example. I know <119 is reachable for my frame, so that's on my list.

I was greatly entertained by the contest in Austin running from June 12-August 14, where whoever loses the greatest %age of their body weight wins $1000-- so I entered. (Last year's winner lost "only" 10.4% of their weight, which I can top no problem... actually shooting to double that.) Hence my competitive nature will help me reach a goal that ends up positive for me not just in terms of finances, but health and fitness and fitting into clothes more nicely, too.

I'm going to start posting how many pounds I'm up or down from my starting weight on June 12. Since I somewhat overdid it with the salt the day before, ya'll don't need to know what my actual starting weight was (except for me to say no, Tom, it wasn't 180, but thanks. Not. At. All.)

Got my head slammed into the mat (accidentally) while sparring this morning (nothing fun, just a failed sweep) so I'm still a little headachey. I'll still train tonight though. I want to practice the o soto gari if I can find someone who will drill with me.

Ears, rears and hearts...

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted.. I don't really blog at work any more and by the time I get home I'm pooped, and that's without doing night class. I do think I'm going back to the morning, noon and night class routine for a while though, at least until I get this weight thing under control. Ummm... yeah. Getting the weight thing under control will involve me EATING LESS and EATING HEALTHY FOODS! God I'm stupid sometimes. Like the turtle brownies I made for the UFC party. Hence the "rears" part of my title.

The rest of the title refers to some other issues I've been dealing with. My ears-- had to get one drained again last week. It seems fine, though painful, at this point (which is amazing since I don't let it rest like I should.) I think it's funny that one of our strikers is actually my gynecologist-- of course that's who I picked to drain my ear! Lucky me-- one of my fave training partners took his fat ear to a doctor's office (because the pharmacy wouldn't sell him a needle to do it himself! and he doesn't look disreputable!) and the doc there charged him $145 AND DIDN'T EVEN DRAIN IT! Just told him there wasn't much fluid, go let it rest, maybe could have surgery later, etc.

After looking around the academy and talking to people who wear headgear, I think I've settled on the Asics Half Moon. Right now I can only find it in zebra stripe so I'm waiting a day or two-- not that I have a problem with looking different.

Last, the heart issue. Not my cardiac heart, my emotional heart. I'll just say there's a person involved in jiu jitsu who lacks people skills and I seem to fall afoul of this person on a semi-regular basis. I don't know if they particularly dislike me more than others or just they hate people in general, but their insulting, rude, snide comments to me really get under my skin. On the plus side, they are not always present. On the minus side, when they are, the best thing I can do is be polite and not engage with them as much as possible. I hope I'm not depriving myself of someone valuable to learn from in my desire to avoid them; sometimes the poop is so stinky, you gotta quit fishing for the diamond inside. I think this might be one of those times.

Pulling guard to sweep to armlock...

Victor Estima. (Don't worry Dad-- I'm working on basics. Doesn't mean I can't admire superior skills tho'.)

I love it.

Back home..

Spent two days in Beaumont, TX for work and got back last night. It went well, and I had plenty of time to read over some stuff for another hearing in two weeks, so that was nice. Unfortunately, in my absence the weeds decided to take over the garden. I really need to get out there and go to work.

Tonight Relson Gracie will be giving a seminar at the academy so that's exciting. Also on the exciting side of the ledger-- Shama won silver in her division at the Mundials! She dominated Carla Franco (who won everything- European, Brazilian, Pan Ams- last year) something like 17-3 in her first match. I don't know when she's coming back home but it will be exciting to welcome her back.

I've been enjoying the last couple weeks'-worth of not training as hard. Unfortunately, I have been eating everything in sight, making homemade icecream, going out for dinner, and of course when I travel for work my nutrition goes doooooown and my laziness goes uuuuuuup. As a result, I weigh more than any self-respecting shortie should weigh. This poses a conundrum for me... I feel fat, so I don't want to go to the gym and let everyone see my tum (for example) and I don't want to go roll. (Damn, if there's a group of people who excel at guessing your weight from looking at you or rolling with you, even for a little bit, it's jits people.) I can't just sit at home and diet, I know exercise is a central part of getting back to where I want to be... I'm just not happy about it.

On a happier note, check out this fawn. Mitch came out of the garage one morning and s/he was parked in the grass next to the driveway and the stone path leading to the back yard. He took a bunch of pictures and s/he never moved.





While I'm thinking about it... this blog post over at BJJNorCal dovetails nicely with my last private with Donald, and with the philosophies Randy is trying to teach me...

Bouncing back after epic failure....

I liked this article which includes 9 thoughts on how to fail more successfully... check it out HERE.