My Geekiness Knows No Boundaries

week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	total
10/4/2010	walk 2	strength	run 1 walk 1	strength	off	run 1/walk1	cross	2
10/11/2010	walk 2		run 1 walk 1			run 1.2/walk 1		2.2
10/18/2010	walk 2		run 1 walk 1			run 1.4/walk 1.25		2.4
10/25/2010	walk 2		run 1 walk 1			run 1.5/walk 1.25		2.5
11/1/2010	walk 2		run 1 walk 1			run 1.75/walk 1		2.75
11/8/2010	walk 2		run 1 walk 1			run 2/walk 1		3
11/15/2010	run.3 walk 1.5		run 1 walk 1			run 2/walk 1		3.3
11/22/2010	run .6 walk 1.5		run 1 walk 1			run 2/walk 1		3.6
11/29/2010	run 1 walk 1		run 1 walk 1			run 2/walk 1		4
12/6/2010	run 1 walk 1		run 1 walk 1			run 2.4/walk 1		4.4
12/13/2010	run 1 walk 1		run 1.25 walk 1			run 2.5 walk 1		4.75
12/20/2010	run 1 walk 1		run 1.7 walk 1			run 2.5 walk 1		5.2
12/27/2010	run 1 walk 1		run 2 walk 1			run 2.7 walk 1		5.7
1/3/2011	run 1 walk 1		run 2 walk 1			run 3.3 walk 1		6.3
1/10/2011	run 1.6		run 2 walk 1			run 3.3 walk 1		6.9
1/17/2011	run 2		run 2 walk 1			run 3.6		7.6
1/24/2011	run 2.5		run 2 walk 1			run 3.9		8.4
1/31/2011	run 3		run 2 walk 1			run 4.2		9.2
2/7/2011	run 3 walk 1		run 2 walk 1			run 5.1		10.1
2/14/2011	run 3 walk 1		run 2.5			run 5.5		11.1
2/21/2011	run 3.5		run 2.5			run 6		12.3

That up there?  That's my training schedule.  I made a schedule based on starting at 2 miles per week and increasing by only 10% a week.  Which is going to be the hardest for me.  If I feel good, I want to keep going.  And besides, the first mile is always the worst, so it isn't fun to stop there.  But I have to be disciplined about doing it and not over-doing it.  Who knew Excel could get me so excited?

This puts me in a perfect position to start training for the half at the beginning of March.  So it looks like we will need to go to Mad-town for Memorial Day.

I'm going to miss the berries

I've eaten more berries in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years combined.  Oh, so yummy. 

This is been my standard breakfast for at least a month now. Berries (raspberries or blue), Kashi Go Lean Crunch or granola, vanilla greek yogurt, and flax seed and chia seed.  But I think it may be time to try something else.  This just seems like such a summer dish.  I've yet to make the kasha, so I'm still planning on trying that.  I just HATE oatmeal, so I don't think the odds are too good. 

Since it was raining last night, the evening walk with Isobel had to be postponed.  We'll try again tonight.  Off to do weight training in just a minute.

I'm an ostrich, but a Plan is coming together

I was reading Emily's blog this morning and her post about hearing Jonathan Safran Foer struck me: 

His talk delivered a number of points that truly gave me chills.  The most memorable being this one:  if every person reduced the number of meat dishes they consumed each week by just ONE meal (just ONE!), it would be the equivalent environmental impact of taking FIVE MILLION cars off of the roads.

 His point was that we cannot realistically sustain the level of meat that we are currently consuming.  His argument isn’t against eating meat entirely, it’s against the current manner in which our meat is produced – 99% through factory farms.

I'll admit that I haven't read this book or any of the other "biggies" about factory farming.  I've gleaned enough from the snippets I've read or other commentary to make the purposeful choice NOT to read them.  That may sound weird, but let me explain. 

I'm at the first step of what I plan on being a MAJOR, and therefore, lengthy conversion of my diet.  I feel like if I were to read the "biggies" about factory farming, particularly as relates to meat, I would be forced to make sweeping changes for which neither my family or bank account is ready.  So I'm actually sticking my head in the sand for now.  And I'm okay with that.

I haven't really thought about the actual steps per se, but maybe it's time to do that.  First, I wanted to improve the quality of the foods I'm eating.  While my diet is not perfect and nor will it ever be, I can say without a doubt, that it's probably 100% better already.  I've quit the fast foods almost entirely and also quit the frozen dinner lunches.  I think my foods are now fresher, have more nutrients, and are more whole. 

Second, I want to drastically cut down on the amount of meat I'm eating and replace it with plant based proteins.  I've been eating quinoa and beans like no one's business.  Admittedly, my colon complained a little bit at the beginning, but after about a week, it settled down too.  So far, I suspect I've cut down my meat intake by about 40%.    I'm starting to think of meat as more of a garnish, something to be added to soups or other meals for flavoring, but certainly not the star of the meal. 

Circling back to my link to Emily's post, I had begun to get a feeling that our American obsession with meat was a unhealthy in a lot of different ways.  The quantity of meat and the quality of meat that we're eating cannot be good.  I feel confident in that even if I haven't read all the literature.  Yet.  So today when I picked a veggie patty at Subway (hey, sometimes circumstance forces your hand), I felt that I was making a better choice for me, but also for the environment.  It's win-win. 

I think step 3 will be incorporating more vegetarian meals into our family meals.  As part of this, I'd like to cut out some of the admittedly crappy meat we've been feeding the kids.  So my plan is to introduce vegetarian Tuesday dinners.  Hubby cannot cook on Tuesdays, so the menu on these days is pretty much up to me.  Also, he hates to eat a big meal before his soccer games on those nights.  So a light, veggie-concentrated meal would be perfect, no? 

Next steps will include eating better quality meat, better quality cheese, eating locally grown produce, growing my own produce(eek!), better eggs, stricter adherence to the dirty dozen/clean dozen rules and who knows what else.  Or in what order. 

It's a process, baby.

Weekend recap

Nothing exciting to report here.  We had a garage sale on Saturday morning and made about $75.  I was more interested in getting stuff out than making money, so that's fine.  Isobel had soccer Saturday afternoon.  Walking to the field and back was (sadly) my only exercise over the weekend.  Eating was kinda crummy too.  But I did manage to lose a little more weight, so my total is now -5.0.  It's slow going, but that's okay.  These are permanent changes.
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I've been trying to figure out how I'll get my walk in today and I think I may have a kill-two-birds solution.  We've been putting the kids to bed at 7:30 for at least a year now.  But at 3 1/2, I think Isobel doesn't need to go down that early anymore.  She stays up playing or sneaking out of her room for at least another hour.  So I'm thinking it would be a good idea to load her into the jogger and take her for a walk with me when I put Colin down at 7:30.  Hmmm.  I'll report back on how that goes.

Check the Label

So Hubby is in school right now getting his B.S. in Physical Education and Health.  As part of his practicum hours, he has to teach a high school class.  The lead teacher wanted him to do a lesson on reading food labels.

Hubby is not the world's healthiest eater.  He loves red meat and starches in a box.  One of the first changes I made to my diet was to start looking at the protein and fiber in my foods.  Making sure I get enough of those nutrients is as important and keeping the fat and calories down.

Hubby seldom reads labels himself, so going through and creating the lesson plan has been eye-opening.  I've been telling him for months how there's "no food in your food," but he has just blown me off.  But I swear after this exercise, I can see the wheels turning in his head.

So the first part of his lesson will be taking about the different nutrients and the recommended quanties of each.  Then he has them look at sample food labels and fill out a questionaire about the different foods and their components.

The last part was my idea.  I pulled the following items from our pantry (sorry for the crummy pic):  

 From left to right we have ramen noodles, red lentils, brown rice, Kraft Macaroni dinner, red quinoa, and rice a roni noodles.  The lesson calls for spliting the students into six groups.   Then, as a group they would need to determine whether or not they thought the above was a quality food or not and why. 

I was big on the use of the word "quality" vs. "bad."  I mean, I like some Kraft dinner.  But I know it's not a quality food, so I don't eat as much or as often anymore.  I think we should think about food in its varying levels of quality, rather than "good" or "bad".  "Bad" implies that you should never eat something, but good, REAL nutrition seems to be about making quality choices overall so that you can have some less quality indulges. 

For me, sometimes nothing but a real Dr. Pepper will do.  And you know what?  I indulge because that's what it is.  An indulgence.  Not part of my regular diet.

Perfectly sore, perfect avocado

I love feeling slightly sore the day after weight training.  The soreness makes me feel like I really pushed myself instead of just going through the motions.  Right now my rear is very sore and my stomach is a little sore.  I really thought that my back/trapezius(?) would be too because I upped the weight for one arm dumbbell rows to 20lbs, but I don't really feel anything there. 

After I finished with the weights yesterday, I thought I'd hop on the treadmill and do some toes in/toes out walking for the shin splints.  But apparently I had already worked my calves enough because they rebelled.  They almost immediately started cramping, so I just stretched instead.  They feel fine today though.
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Last night Hubby made burgers which I have to admit were pretty darn tasty.  They certainly weren't lean (85/15 I think), but I had it on an Arnold's whole wheat sandwich thin (love those things - they're so versatile) with a side of homemade vegetable bean soup.  I'm so ready for fall weather so I can make tons of soup.  So easy, so healthy, and so many options.  Especially zuppa toscana.  I bet I could lighten it up a wee bit by subbing turkey sausage and whole milk, no?

Lunch today was kinda blah.  Quinoa with steamed broccoli.  I brought an avocado too but ate that at 10:30 because I never got a chance to have breakfast.  I think I've discovered the key to good avocados - buy them very green and let them ripen at your house.  I bought two the other day and one was green and one was semi-ripe.  The semi-ripe one was all yucky when I did cut it open a few days later, but today's avocado was perfect.  Nothing needed but salt and a spoon.  Yum.

I didn't squeeze in a walk yesterday, so I've got to do it today.  I brought my workout clothes, so maybe I can swing by the park today after work.  I have got to get more disciplined if I'm really going to start training for a half.  But you know what? I'm doing way more than I was a month ago, so I'm not going to beat myself up.
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I'm super excited to write about Hubby's lesson plan.  I helped a good bit and it goes with the theme of this blog. I would write about it today but I left the phone, with the picture on it, at home.

My True (Food) Love and A Goal

I think that salmon is probably my most favorite food.  I like it served every way - raw, grilled, baked, smoked, or fried.  I like it fresh, frozen, or from a can.  Hubby can almost always "guess" what I'll be ordering when we go out to eat. 

Tonight, it was simply baked with nothing on it but a little sea salt.  Quinoa on the side and some steamed broccoli.  Yum.  And super clean.

When I decided to clean up my diet, I knew that I could do it because I like healthy foods.  Tonight's dinner is really very tasty to me.  But I think some people have really narrow palates and only like the pre-packaged or fast foods they grew up eating.*

We grew up eating a fair amount of processed food, but a lot of whole foods too.  My mom did cook dinner just about every night (or we had leftovers), but we rarely ate pre-packaged (think Stou!ffer's Lasagna).  We did eat out a fair bit, but the fast food was pretty limited.

So I realize that changing your taste buds can be really hard for some people.  But my challenge is in the preparation/planning/TIME issue.  I'm trying to cook meals to bring to work or cook something healthy when I get home, which is so hard.  Hubby almost always cooks since he gets home earlier and he doesn't cook how I'd like him to.  I don't feel like I can dictate what he makes if he's the one doing the actual work.  So I've been making myself separate meals which is really annoying. I gotta find a solution to that. 
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No workout today since I forgot my bag, but my goal is to walk in the morning and do weight training in the afternoon at the office.  Healthy Ashley had a great bunch of posts about dealing with shin splints, so that's been really encouraging because...

I'm going to run a half-marathon.

Which may sound kind of odd considering that I'm not running at all right now.  But actually, I think this is a great plan.  I don't plan on running it until March or May, so I've got forever to train.  Knowing that, I can make a very long term plan, building my runs by only 10%.  That will work, right?
*Hubby is like this.  He would probably choose to have potatoes au gratin from the box rather than the real thing.  You can imagine how frustrating that is for me.  Oh, and he HATES salmon.  Urgh.

Weekend Recap & Week Ahead

Friday night I spent doing laundry for camping and soccer.  I realized I will probably be doing soccer laundry on Friday nights for years to come.  Right now it's just Hubby and Isabel who play, but next spring Colin will be joining them. 

After soccer Saturday morning, we loaded up the kids and went to Raccoon Mountain Caverns.  The cavern was interesting but the kids were not on their best behaviour.  I thought they'd be interested enough to make it through the 45 minute tour, but not so much.  I was hoping to do an easy hike/walk with the kids too, but we just didn't have any time.  Of course it took some time to get the site set up, but we really miscalculated with dinner.  We were having deconstructed shish kabobs (cooked in one of those grill bowls).  Well, we prepared way too much, so it took forever to cook.  We ended up taking about half out and it finally cooked.  But by that time the kids were exhaused and we still needed to do smores.  We did manage, but it was hard.

But hey, I did look good, right?

Hubby is a big camper and really wants to make this a regular family event.  I'm on board so long as I've got my air mattress.  But from now on, we're going to camp for at least two nights.  All we did was unload and reload and it was exhausting.  I feel like I yelled at the kids way to much this weekend and broke down by yesterday afternoon.  I need to recognize that I'm not a good parent when I'm tired and hungry. 

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Since I'm on a running hiatus, I've decided that I'm going to take the next two weeks to walk and do lots of stretching and strengthening of my lower legs.  And then start it back up with maybe 1-1.5 miles 2/week and build slowly from there.  Part of me hates to spend this much time in recovery, but I have to do it if I really want to start running seriously again. 

So, MWF I will be walking with weight training on T&H.  I'm going to try biking on Saturdays during the kid's naps.

I had jambayla for lunch today from my frozen leftover stockpile.  Breakfast was yogurt, banana, and my very favorite granola:

I cannot tell you how much I love this granola, but the nutritional information kinda scares me:

I understand that they're quality calories, but it seems to be on the high side for fat.  Also, I think the portion size is off.  The package states that it contains six 2 oz. servings, but I can make it stretch to at least 10 servings.  So it's probably not that bad, but I'm still not going to buy it every week.  Maybe I just need to do a little comparison shopping with granola.

Also, down 3.6 pounds since I started tracking three weeks ago.  I bought a scale - I've never owned one.  I know most people throw out their scale if they are truly trying to commit to being healthier, but I need the reality check.  Naturally, I wish the "lost" number was higher, but it's a good start.  But most importantly, I've done it in a way that I can continue indefinitely.

Ew, I was not a healthy girl yesterday.  I definitely overate, but at least it was reasonable food.  I don't think I've had fast food in over 3 weeks now.  Woo hoo.  I did have two real cokes yesterday, but no coffee so that sort of counterbalances, right.  Eh, rationalization, whatever.

Today, I'm finally posting the QUINOA.  How sad that this is the first time?  I made a batch Tuesday night and topped it with sauteed kale and onions.  I had some last night and it's super good.  I make my quinoa with a veggie bouillon cube and YUM.  Those onions may look like a bit much, but I use sweet onions and I think they counterbalance the (somewhat) bitterness of the kale. 

Sadly, I left my gym bag at home, so I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing for working out today.  I ran over to Tarjay just now to pick up a helmet.  I'm still on the self-imposed ban from running.  But I also picked up an inflatable mattress while I was there because we are going camping tomorrow.  Supposedly.  But since we're not at all prepared, I question if it will really happen.  No laundry is done, no bags are packed, no groceries bought...so, we shall see.

Also, no Whole Foods trip today.  Sniff.

I'm a quitter

I think I'm going to have to quit running.  The shin splints are getting worse, and everything I've read has said that you have to stop and let them heal.  And then come back at 75% of what you were doing.  Which mean I can start back at 1.5 miles twice a week?  Ugh.  That doesn't even sound like a work out. 

But I really do want to be able to run and I need to keep in mind the long term goal.  Just kinda sucks when I'm full of motivation RIGHT NOW. 

So, I think maybe I should suck it up and buy a bike helmet.  I have a bike sitting in our garage (thanks ex-fiance!) so why not?  The main reason is that sitting on that seat hurts my rear, but I hear your butt toughens up.

Sweet Tomatoes

I had planned on eating leftover mirza ghassemi, but a colleague invited me to lunch and I felt obligated to accept. I wasn't looking forward to eating out, but was terribly pleased when she suggested salad.  Sweet Tomatoes is across the street.  I like their options and they have some very tasty vinegars for dressing.  I had romaine, spinach, zuchinni, jicama, carrot, egg, feta, black olives, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, green peas, chick peas, and onion.  Yum. 

I also had a bowl of their curry lentil soup and it was great.*  Overall lunch was probably a little higher in calories than necessary, but I still feel like they were quality calories. 

*I didn't really need to eat it, but the co-worker was following my lead and since I was paying (she's lost her wallet), I felt like she would feel like she "couldn't" get the soup if I didn't. Is that weird that I over analyzed the situation that way? That thought process and my needing to make my food choices based on what is "polite" is probably a whole can of worms to be discussed in the future.

Weekend recap

Pretty good weekend.  Very low key, but that's how I like 'em.  I did weight training on Friday, ran IN THE RAIN on Saturday, and we went for a hike with the kids on Sunday.  "Hike" is a little bit of an exaggeration, but we did go to the Red Mountain State Park.  That's a good hike for kids who are 2 and 3 1/2.  Besides, yesterday was gorgeous and we were just trying to get outside. 

But yes, I did run in the rain on Saturday.  It's so hard to find time to squeeze in a run with the kids.  I had gotten them bathed and the set up in our room for pre-bedtime Dora.  I changed clothes and grabbed my ipod, but I got ten feet down the road and it started sprinkling.  I came back in and though that I'd just skip it, but hey, a little rain never hurt anyone.  So I left the ipod behind.  It was actually kind of fun.  I haven't been out in the rain on purpose like that since I was a little kid.  I only did two miles, but it was really enjoyable.

The shin splints are still lurking though.  I'm not hurting, but I can feel them, which is why I haven't increased my mileage even though I could probably run double what I'm doing now.  I probably need to quit for a while and then come back with a reduced mileage, but geez, I'm only at two miles 2x week.  Maybe if I'm super vigilant about stretching, warming up, and iceing afterwards, I can avoid having to quit completely.  Besides, this time of year is the BEST for running - probably the only time of year we have down here in the Deep South without 1000% humidity. 

Nutrition this week was so-so.  The Hubby is really not very helpful on this front.  He wants to eat out all weekend or at least cook yummy stuff that's not really friendly to me.  I think I'm going to need to cook/plan ahead better on the weekend.  That and a little heart to heart about what he can do and how if I choose not to eat the food he makes, it's not a reflection on him.  Sigh.

Whole Foods Friday! Jackfruit! Green Monsters!

I've gotten in the habit of going to WF on Fridays during lunch. I love to just go and roam around by myself.  And I didn't have anything prepared for lunch today, so I'm excited to try out the cold bar. 

I'm going to get some grains to make Uncle's John's Kasha (don't you just love Rebecca's mom?)  As much as I love my greek yogurt and flax/chia seed breakfast, I need to try somthing else.  I've tried and tried to like oatmeal, but ugh.  I love eggs for breakfast too, but they are way too convenient for weeknight dinners, so I'd like to keep them as a dinner option. 

I need to plan some meals for this weekend.  I still have that summer squash to cook.  Chad bought a whole bunch of tenderloin at the international supermarket yesterday ($4.99/lb!), so I know he'll want to cook that up.  And we bought this!

It's a jackfruit.  I think I will actually have to cook it to eat it, but hey, I thought the kids would think it was fun.

Speaking of the kids, I need to get some spinach tonight for green monsters.  Fridays are now Movie & Monsters night.  It was Movie & Pizza night, but they love GMs and they're healthier than pizza.  I just need to find some wide straws so the kids can have cups with lids - we always put blueberries in our GMs and those buggers will stain. 

I haven't worked out or run since Tuesday, so I'm going to to some weight training this afternoon and hopefully a run in the morning.

Salad - literally and figuratively

That picture didn't turn out very well, did it?  Oh well, doesn't matter because it was pretty tasty - this weekend's roasted edamame salad with the addition of some avocado.  I love avocado.  I could eat it everyday.

I'm not working out today.  Our trainer called in sick, which worked out fine since I had left my workout bag at home.  I'm hoping to get a good run in tomorrow. 

I've got a spaghetti squash at home that I desperately need to cook before it goes bad.  And some spinach.  But I need a little white wine for the spinach and I don't have any. 

I think next week I'm going to try some of the yummy Indian recipes that I've found.  Red lentil dahl or this.  I absolutely love Indian food.  When I lived in NYC, my fellow law students and I would go over to the East Village and eat cheap Indian.  You got something like five courses for $10.  And you could bring your own booze, so it was pretty fantastic for poor students.  There's an Indian place that opened up right by my office, but I don't think that they'll be in business long.  Technically, it's a bakery, but they also serve a vegetable thali plate for lunch.  I think they'd be better off to scrap the bakery and focus on the Indian cuisine since there's not another Indian place around.  But I'm enjoying it while it's here.

Twenty-somethings

My company has a gym in our office and a full-time trainer.  I know!  The trainer holds group classes during lunch that are a mix of cardio and strength training.  I've been going occassionally, but I don't really enjoy them all that much.  I'm debating on just quitting, so here are the pros and cons.

Pros:  It's an easy way to mix up what I'm doing.  When I do weight training on my own, I seem to do the same exercises over and over.  I'd have to be much more pro-active about finding new exercises, and frankly, I don't have the time or interest for that.

It's sort of a no-brainer and very convenient (if I remember to pack my stuff).

Cons:  The trainer is as sweet as she can be, but she is really talkative.  Probably my most favorite thing about working out is the QUIET.  Can I get an "amen" from the other moms out there?  I love to work out or run all alone and not have to give anything to anyone else, even if it's just holding up my end of the conversation.  Exercise time is MINE and I don't want to share it with anyone. 

The Twenty-somethings from the Marketing department.  Again, they're also very sweet, but being around them doesn't make me feel good about myself.  They are all very thin, young, and well dressed.  And it's hard not to feel like Frumpy Mom next to them.  I fully realize that it has NOTHING to do with them - it's all me and in my head.  But still, it does make working out less enjoyable. 

So should I just quit going or just accept it? 
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I wanted to take a picture of my yummy lunch, but I was so hungry I scarfed it down before I thought about it.  I made roasted edamame salad (I'd link to it but the Food Network is apparently making you register to view recipes) for our family Labor Day gathering on Sunday, and brought the leftovers home with me for lunches this week.  It wasn't a huge hit with the family, but I was expecting that.  The salad didn't turn out quite as well as last time I made it.  I think it needs more olive oil and the basil I got almost had a minty flavor to it.  Anyhow, I just tossed it over some red quinoa and it was still tasty.  Breakfast was greek yogurt with chia and flax seed and blueberries.  Dinner will be a tomato and avocado sandwich on whole wheat.

Edit to add:  Dinner ended up being a tomato, avocado, and egg sandwich.  Sort of an odd combination.  It would have been better with more thinly sliced tomato and more salt.  And a Babybel gouda cheese.

Labor Day Weekend

Shockingly, I managed to lose 3.2 pounds this week.  I had been eating really well last week, so I was terrified that I'd lose ground this weekend.  I had planned on making my own healthy food, but that plan flew out the window in the face of barbeque, pimento cheese, and pie. 

I did run Saturday and Monday and they were really enjoyable runs.  The road up to the lakehouse is very hilly, which has put me off until now.  But the hills are actually great!  I started with a nice 8 minute walk, most of which was uphill.  But hey, if I'm walking, that's totally fine.  After that, the incline doesn't change all that much and even then, those segments are pretty short. 

I can feel the shin splints coming back though.  I've been struggling with shin splints for about a year now.  I know that I push myself to quickly, but it's so hard not to when I'm only running two miles at a time.  And those two miles aren't even difficult.  After Saturday's run, I did come in and immediately ice my shins and took some ibuprofen.  I hope that helps.  I think I'm going to try run again on Thursday.  I hope two days is enough recovery.

You know you're a blogger when you take pictures of your food.

I looked down at this salad and thought "who have I become?" 

It's really onlly been about two weeks since I decided to clean up my diet.  But I'm astonished at the changes so far.  I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER ALREADY.  And yes, I've lost a few pounds. 

I've been reading a ton of healthy living blogs and am really inspired by them.  They've provided a good gateway to this lifestyle.  I will look at a blog and think, "hey, I heard about those years ago.  I bet I'd like it."  Well, not only did I like it, my kids LOVED them - I have to say "them" because they begged for more after the first one!

So I've started this blog to for fun and motivation for myself primarily.   I may engage in the bigger HL community - I've been a blog reader forever, but seldom comment.  Maybe part of this journey should be breaking out of my social shell as well as my physical one.  Hmm.