Planning & Preparation

I had forgotten how much planning goes into my training and into losing weight.

For training, I have to think ahead into the next day. For example, last night I checked my schedule and my coach had me swimming and cycling today. Fortunately, both workouts were relatively easy, only about 30 minutes each for a total of 60 minutes. But it took me another hour just to get prepared. I had to collect all my swim gear: swimsuit, towel, goggles, chest strap, and cap. I wear my swimsuit to the gym, so I won't need to change into it when I'm there, so I also wear a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt over it along with my flip-flops.

Since I'll be going to work straight from the gym, that also means I have to make sure I have everything I'll need to clean up after the swim and get dressed. So, the litany goes something like this:

panties -- check
bra -- check
top -- check
pants -- check
stockings -- check
shoes, can't forget the shoes (or the undergarmets for that matter) -- check
make-up (blush, mascarra, lip liner, lipstick, powder)-- check, check, check, check, check
soap, deoderant, shampoo, moisturizer (hey, I'm almost 50--I need the moisturizer -- more checks

Whew. And that's just to do the swim and go to work afterwards.

Now I've decided I want to ride my bike during lunch so I can avoid riding the trainer at night. That means not only do I need to coordinate which car I'm going to drive (bike doesn't fit well into my t-bird), now I need to collect all my bike gear. Here goes another list:

Bike in car -- check (including front wheel, not like Commodore)
Helmet -- check
Shoes (there we go with the shoes again) -- check
Bike pants -- check
Bike socks -- check
Bike bra -- check
Bike top -- check
Bike top (it's cold out so I'm doubling up) -- check
Bike jacket (told you it was cold out) -- check
Gloves -- check
Bike glasses -- check

Whew, again! Everything except the bike gets loaded into a bag and that gets put into the car, along with the bike. And it's loaded the night before. I don't wait for morning.

Okay, so I'm swimming in the morning and cycling during lunch. Ack! That means I won't get to eat, so I need to take something to work. *sigh*

Since I'm trying to lose weight, I must be careful about what I take. If I allow myself to get too hungry, I'll eat things I shouldn't, like the Tootsie Pops that are kept on my desk.

So, the next list:

Lettuce -- check
Black olives (this means opening the can and finding an appropriately sized container to put them in) -- check
Tomato (slice and dice and find another appropriately sized container) -- check
Chicken breast (thank goodness for Louis Rich, but it requires weighing, cutting, and another freaking container) -- check
Container *sigh* in which to put all of the above -- check
Lids for everything (well all except for the container that will hold all the containers; it's missing so for that I use foil) -- check

Hmmm...something to tide me over between breakfast and lunch.

Luna Bar (orange bliss, yum) -- check

And just in case a Luna Bar doesn't hit my fancy:

Oatmeal Raisin Baker's Breakfast Cookie -- check

And for afternoon snacking, assuming I can resist the cookie:

Baby carrots (oh, boy!) -- check

OMG! Finally, I'm done. Everything is ready. My food is in the fridge (will need to remember to take it out in the morning), my swim bag and bike bag, along with the bike are already loaded in the car. NOW I can prepare my dinner.

When I got up this morning, I was so pleased with myself for having everything ready. All I needed to do upon rising was get my clothes on, brush my teeth, put the coffee on, pop my bread in the toaster, kick back, check my e-mail, and try to wake up. (I fear the days when I could just hop out of bed and be out the door in 15 minutes are long gone.)

After consuming breakfast and pouring my coffee, I was out the door, ready to go for my swim. Wouldn't you know, though, in spite of all that planning and preparation I managed to forget something after all. I walked out of the house and got a mile down the road before I realized I didn't have a watch on. The watch that serves as my heart rate monitor. What good is the chest strap, which I already had on, without the darned monitor? Fortunately, since I was only a mile away, I could easily turn around and go back to get it, which I did.

I'm sure glad tomorrow is just a run during lunch. That should be easy to get ready for as the clothes are already in the wash. Now, for that list...