Wow. I put a LOT of effort into this yesterday. I'm glad to see it paid off. After our Christmas dinner on the 24th, I gained 2.8 kgs (around 6 lbs!). Of course, it was also Indulgence Day, so it was a good day to do this. Normally, I have a 2nd day of weight gain, but this time I decided to see if I could do something to avoid that.
I had plans to go walking with Wife, but she wasn't feeling well. I decided to stay home with her and get on the exercise bike instead. I just got on it, not too much weight on it, but just enough to feel resistance. I didn't want to wear myself out, but I did want it to have an impact.
Well, I went on for 150 minutes! Two and a half frickin' hours! Time just zommed by, and I figured that as long as I wasn't tired, I might as well keep going. It was fun too.
Another thing I did was to REALLY stay on top of my water intake. I'm great a remembering to drink my water at work. It's a whole different game at home. I tend to forget, and just not get to drink enough. well, I decided to put a timer to remind me every hour, and then go get a large glass of water. I did this all day. I even had to stop my biking twice for potty breaks and "refueling". LOL!
The result, you ask? Well, instead of having a 2nd day of gain, I lost 1.3 kgs since yesterday, and I am now on my way towards a new low. It's pretty far away still, 1.4 kgs, and there is a LONG way to reach my self-imposted new year goal of 80 kgs or less, but I am working on it. Let's see if I make it. It's quite a challenge, but I haven't given up, though the goal IS kinda far away.
So, yesterday I teased a little about an awesome Christmas present. It's actually several things in one.
Daughter, who really is my stepdaughter, is a very gifted artist. She does digital drawings and also hand drawn sketches,and she has crazy talent. She will lock herself up in her room for a week and come out with a masterpiece. I posted one of a little rocker boy the other day. I'm amazed.
Anyways, as our Christmas present, she did a portrait of Wife and I. And not only did she capture us perfectly, and with some cool modifications, but she made them in the style of our ancestry. I love this. She made me a Viking, and she made Wife in the Mexican Dia de la Muertas tradition.
When I saw it, it REALLY made me happy. I can't believe the details she puts in these things, and the face that she made this for us is overwhelming. It will be printed on canvas and hung in the living room.
Now, here is another thing that made me incredibly happy about this:
When Daughter introduces us, she always says "my mom and step dad". Which is true. I know she thinks of me as family, and I see her as family, and of course she has her real daddy out there in the world. When she does stuff for us, names files etc. she always writes our names.
Not this time. This time, the file name of the file she sent me, was "parents.jpg". I can't describe the warmth that gave me. This is the first time she has actually referred to me as parent like that. She's a great girl, and I know she never thinks of me as anything less than a dad, but this is the first time it's actually insinuated. I'm sure you parents and step parents out there can relate to this.
So, I'm guessing by now you'd like to see what she did? :)
This is it, low resolution, to fit this page. I put a link to a high resolution version
here.
I just love the warmth, the colors and the way she has captures the essence of us in this painting. Thanks, Dee Dee!
So, what's in store for today?
Wife and I will be going for our walk shortly. We have plans to make an attempt of doing low calorie Egg Nogg if we can find the ingredients. Sadly, you can't buy egg nogg in Denmark, and we miss it! I am curious how it will taste in a modified version. We'll see. I'll make sure to let you guys know.
It's still Christmas in Denmark. Today is what we call 2nd Christmas Day, and it's a bank holiday. Everything but a few store are closed, and it's a another family day.
We are just gonna hang out at home after our walk, and enjoy ourselves. Maybe a few other movies, and I will probably watch at least one of the from the exercise bike.
Today I am thankful
- for Daughter calling Wife and I "parents" for the first time.
- That AMAZING painting she did.
- Wife wanting to go for a walk.
- Wife trying out my exercise DVD for the first time, and liking it! I'm hoping she'll keep coming back. It's good for her.
- Coffee!
- Christmas vacation!
Take care, my friends. Life is good.
