I'm here! I'm here!

My last update was the letter to our members about the system failure last week. Gratefully, we were able to recover the data and got things back to normal after a few days. Needless to say, updating the blog with the 10 pound quest fell to the bottom of the list during that time. A few observations from the last week or so and then on to my Move.Eat.Be. plan for this week:

Observations:

• I've never been a person who turns to food as a way to deal with stress (thankfully). My body responds by not wanting food. My stress is always centered in my stomach which zaps my appetite. 
• I also don't sleep much in times of turmoil. My mind works overtime and if, I wake up, I'm up. I had several very early mornings last week which provided me some benefit of sticking with my exercise routine. I will say waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 AM for a week isn't really fun. I love sleep and I really, really miss it when I don't get enough. 
• By Friday the scale was 127 pounds and I was exhausted. Cybercise sponsored a great event on Friday, HealthCampDC 2010, so I was distracted from my exhaustion by spending the day with smart, innovative and creative people (more on HealthCamp later!). 
• The weekend was recovery time. I managed to get more sleep, get myself re-organized and catch up on some of the work that was put aside last week. Plus, I kept an eye on our AnyLuckyDay contest on Saturday and had great fun reading all of the comments about us. I also ran 2 miles on Saturday and took my dog for a nice long walk on Sunday. It was a welcome break to be outside and away from computer screens for a few hours each day. 
• And, the scale this morning? 130. Ugh. Just in case the Universe gets any ideas, I'll deal with the extra three pounds in a healthful way... I do not desire any more catastrophes this week to help with the weight loss. 
• What have I learned? 
• Be more vigilant about how our website is managed so as to avoid major issues.
• Keep exercising, no matter how bad things get. It was truly the only thing that kept me sane.
• Water not coffee.  
• Spend more time with smart, innovative and creative people. It was so energizing!
• Use time in nature to balance too much time with electronics.

Today's Thoughts:

• Most of the many things on my list last week got delayed. I now have four days before departure for my trip and 10 days worth of work to do. Plus, an all-day meeting on Wednesday (an hour away and which starts with breakfast at 6:30 AM -- who does that??) and the pesky details like packing. Efficiency is king this week and I'm facing the very real reality that this holiday will include significant work. 
• My right hip and lower back is a bit achy this morning. I skipped the run this morning and did some extra stretching and core work. I also did upper body strength work and will do more stretching this evening.
• My right arm and elbow is also very painful today. I have "mouse elbow" which is tennis elbow from mousing/keyboarding. I have been through our medical system and there is no "cure." I know what works... staying off of the computer. Since I have much work to do, I've set a reminder on my Cybercise calendar for an upper body stretch every two hours today. Wrist and forearm stretches help a great deal so I'll go that route today. 
• Last night, I tossed together a very quick and easy Chana Masala. It was a great light and warming dinner for a Sunday evening. Will enjoy what is left for lunch today. The rest of the Eat. plan this week is mostly fruits and vegetables with a few hard boiled eggs for protein. Arugula, sauteed kale and organic, frozen blueberries are my best food friends. 

And, now back to work. I'm so excited to write to the winners of our AnyLuckyDay contest! A great website and if you're not familiar, find them on the web, Twitter and Facebook. Enjoy!