Somehow, I was misled by my teenage hormones to fall in love with a sports fan, and then later, marry him. I never liked watching or talking about sports so this was never part of my plan.

As a consequence, I get exposed to things that I wouldn't have otherwise seen, like this blog post from Joe Polanski about motivation, and how it is a strange and fickle thing. After a blood pressure scare where he tested in the "stroke range," he said:

I got the medicine, got the blood pressure machine, got my blood pressure under control fairly quickly. And you can probably guess what I did next.

Right. Nothing.

About a month ago, I put on T-shirt that used to fit me. It didn’t fit anymore. It wasn’t one of my favorite T-shirts. It wasn’t even a particularly nice T-shirt. But when I put that T-shirt on, and it didn’t fit, something just snapped in my brain. Something in there just screamed out, “ENOUGH!” Human motivation is as mysterious as love or the weather in Omaha.

I like working out.  But I hate the whole diet business, and I also have a lazy streak where I will want to just do enough to maintain my fitness but not really push myself to do more.  That's why I started racing -- to keep myself working hard, getting up early in the morning, and otherwise fighting the Blerch. Most people train so they can race -- I race so that I will train.

I'm running into a little problem, though. I've been able to one or two sprint tris every summer without being completely on point with my food and my training. It's feeling like Groundhog Day, where I keep doing the same race at about the same speed every year.  Every season I start out with an injury, manage to beat it back into submission enough to do a race or two, but never make any progress forward.

An Olympic distance (double the swim, double the bike, double the run) seems too out of reach. I had thought about trying a 5K swim, but I never felt ready to tackle that much extra distance. So I have been considering trying an Aquabike for next year -- a longer swim and bike, but no run.  And somehow, I'm excited about racing again.

This winter, my goal is to do all that foundational strength work that I'd need to keep from getting injured. And, of course, get my weight down so that everything feels a little easier. You know how cyclists try to make every component of their bike as light as possible? I'm thinking that lightening the rider couldn't hurt.

None of this is rocket science, but I need a reason to keep me focused.  Human motivation is a crazy thing.

A revelation:

This post contains affiliate links, but represents my honest opinions. It is not a sponsored post.

As an Enell Ambassador, I feel it is my duty to help you keep your bras looking and feeling new.  A few quick steps right when you return from a workout (or unpack your gym bag) is all you need to keep your bras in great shape. I take care of all my bras, sport and not, this way, and I have some that are 5 or more years old that still look new.



1. Spot-clean, if necessary, using cold water and a gentle detergent. Enell recommends Soak Wash. When I bought bras at {intimacy}, they recommended .  In a pinch, I have also used .  Remember that some residue from whatever you use might remain, so it shouldn't be anything irritating. If you are sensitive to fragrance, there is an unscented version of .

2. Fill your bathroom (or laundry room) sink with cold water and a small amount of the same detergent, and toss your bra in to soak. Follow the package directions for the amount if you are using one of the specialty products. For the baby shampoo, I use about a teaspoon.

3. Swish the bra around in the soapy water for a minute, then walk away let the bra soak for at least 5 minutes. Sometimes I forget to come back and this step lasts a little longer.

4. Drain the sink and rinse the bra completely. Unless you are using Soak, which, according to the package directions, needs no rinsing.

5. Hang to dry.

I used to use lingerie bags for my bras and put them in the washing machine, but that is terrible for them. Those little hooks can come unhooked and get bent, and then the bra is ruined.

Whatever you do, don't put your bras in the dryer -- it ruins the elastic. I have a clothesline in my basement so that the neighbors don't have to get an eyeful of my lingerie collection. I have been known to hang them on the towel bar in my bathroom, but that can be embarrassing in the case of unexpected guests.

When I was making the arrangements for my photo shoot for Gwynnie Bee, I learned that instead of sending a photographer to me, they would find a local photographer to work with me.  I was very lucky that they chose Gerri from Serendipity by Gerri, because she made the whole experience fun for me and took lovely, flattering photos.

She was nice enough to share some of the other shots that didn't make it into the Gwynnie Bee story in digital form, so that I can share them here. I'm hoping to figure out how to use these to make a new blog header and some About Me pages.  Classes just started, so that figuring all that out might have to wait.

There were 40+ photos, I enjoyed looking through them and picking my favorites.  Gerri did a great job getting me to relax and have fun, and I think my personality really shows through. I haven't done a photo shot by myself since my high school senior pictures back in 1988.

A lot of my favorites were of me in the Tart Collection Chloe dress -- the colors are beautiful and bright, and it looked good with and without the denim jacket. If I were wearing this dress to work, I'd definitely wear a slip or a cami under it:

My very favorite shot from the session. I love the way my hair looks.

I thought this one was cute and might make a great blog header.

This one shows more cleavage than I would like, but I thought the coffee might be a nice nod to my old blog header.

The Ilene Dress in Water Chevron was also by Tart Collection, and I loved the way it looked with the marble in the background of this photo. I wore my own belt, a silver one with an embellished buckle from ABS (another Gwynnie Bee brand):

I loved this one with all the columns. It was taken at the Toledo Museum of Art.

I liked how Gerri chose to use the gardens at the museum as the background for the Flor Electric Animal dress. The greenery harmonized nicely with the colors of the dress:

Another favorite shot. And my fancy purse is in it!

Once I figure out that custom header, look for a makeover on the blog.  Any suggestions or tricks of the trade you'd like to share are welcome.

Part of the purpose of the meeting topic was to promote the Active Link activity tracker, which gives the Activity Points value for the daily steps a user takes while wearing it. I wear a Jawbone UP to track my activity, but I don't give myself points for those daily steps, just for my conscious exercise.  Because Weight Watchers has a built-in check against people overestimating activity and underestimating food (Activity Points values are only about half what they should earn in food values) and because the Activity Points are not set up to tell the difference between a 12 mph bike ride and an 18 mph bike ride, I feel justified in using the ones I earn.

I know this topic is a controversial one and that there are a lot of different opinions on it. For me, the program that is going to be the most successful is going to be the one I can follow, so I use just about every point that I can beg, borrow, or steal.  But I'm interested to see what other people think. Feel free to weigh in (pun intended).

This was the better of two pictures. I really am "Not a Model."

Way back in May, I was contacted about whether I would like to be featured in Gwynnie Bee's "Not a Model" blog series. It has been hard keeping the secret!  I really like how the story turned out, and it has been fun to see the responses of family and friends who saw the feature on Facebook.

I took my responsibilities as a model very seriously. I researched tutorials on tight lining my eyes, and looked at features on bridal makeup because I wanted a soft, natural look that would photograph well.  My Sephora addiction came in handy, as I had everything I needed  already in my makeup kit.

I had my hair professionally styled by Chelsea at Rêvé.  Like a true blogger, I was about to take a selfie, but Chelsea offered to snap the photo instead. I closed my eyes in the first shot -- not a great start to my modeling career! Still, it shows off my eye makeup.

I was sent five different items for the shoot -- all but one worked, and the one that didn't was my fault, as I requested the wrong size.  I packed up my four outfits in a duffel bag, along three pairs of shoes, two sets of earrings and necklaces, and makeup to touch up my face.  I also brought a Coach purse that I bought at the outlet store way back before Christmas, and had never used because I was terrified that I'd get it dirty.  I waterproofed it this morning and it made its long-awaited debut. Interestingly, it did not show up on the feature, but it was handy for carrying my makeup and hairbrush for touch-ups.

This was the first (and so far only) really fancy purse I ever bought in my life.

The photographer, Gerri from Serendipity by Gerri, and her intern, Connor, were great and made me feel really comfortable. We met downtown and got a lot of Toledo landmarks in the shoot, including the ballpark where the Toledo Mud Hens play, the Toledo Museum of Art, and a lot of the great architecture on St. Clair Street.  I changed outfits in the back of Gerri's SUV.  Gerri gave great cues and was really encouraging. I am sure the pictures are going to be flattering.  I would never have thought to do something like this, but the whole experience was fun and made me feel beautiful.

Gerri sent me a link to the photos and I couldn't wait to see, out of the 44 images in the shoot, which ones would be chosen.  I liked the ones that were picked, though I had a few of my own favorites that were not included, and I might order prints of one or two of them.



If you'd like to feel like you have a model's wardrobe, try it out for yourself. (This is an affiliate link -- like all GB members, if I refer someone who signs up for the service, I get a free extra item for a month.)

It was hard to send the clothes back after the shoot. So many fun colors.  A couple of days later, I got a nice surprise in the mail -- a big Gwynnie Bee tote bag that I'm already using to carry my books back and forth to my real (non-modeling) workplace.

When I saw the reports in the media that "Losing Weight Could Make You Depressed,"I thought it was just another case of media misrepresenting the findings of a study to drive traffic.  Though weight loss makes us healthier, the articles said, it might be okay not to lose weight because losing it won't make you feel better and could make you feel worse.  People enjoy studies that tell them not to do things they don't want to do.

I don't think seeing this on a scale would make me depressed, but am I wrong?

Then I clicked through to the press release on the original study (the paper itself would not open for me) and found that it said essentially the same thing.  I also found a more in-depth article in The Daily Mail that included an interview with the study's authors, who speculated that unrealistic expectations and the rigors of dieting could be responsible. 

‘Dieting requires considerable willpower and it might involve missing out on special meals and eating in restaurants. It is not necessarily the most pleasant experience for people.‘Lots of people want to lose weight thinking it will fix all their problems. But while it will go some way towards fixing their health, it won’t necessarily make them happier in the short-term.’

The study was done on adults 50 and older, four years after their weight loss. I wonder if this group is more likely to feel the isolation of missing out on social opportunities to avoid temptation.  I wonder if the findings would be different with a different age group.

People who were actually clinically depressed were excluded from the study, so these were people who reported feeling down, not people with a diagnosis of depression. Also people who had major life events like a death in the family. I would have liked to see the paper, because it would be interesting to know how many of the original 2,000 people had to be eliminated for one reason or another.

I can see the point that people who expect weight loss to solve problems, like relationship problems, that aren't really caused by excess weight, they are going to be disappointed. It's also easy for people to make weight loss the "designated issue" that is standing in the way of happiness, and to be disappointed when the pounds come off but the unhappiness is still there.  And a lot of people seem to use food as a way to not feel sad feelings, so that when that crutch is gone they may feel more unhappy.

It's hard to tell. If A (weight loss) correlates with B (reporting depression), it could be that A causes B, B causes A, A and B are both caused by a third factor. Enough people have reported feeling a letdown after weight loss (including me) that it is worth thinking about.

I'm hoping that losing weight in a sustainable, realistic way is going to be satisfying enough in itself that I wouldn't feel let down -- but I have to get there to see.

What do you think? Does this study ring true to you?

I get asked so often "Is this your first race" that I don't even get upset about it anymore.  I know that I don't look like someone who has done multiple triathlons, but by my count, I have done 17, including two Olympic-distance races. Still, the body has not transformed itself into what people think a triathlete should look like.

I get it. I definitely see what they see when they look at some of my race photos.  I don't look like a superhero when I put on spandex like some of the other racers.  I have started telling people I'm "just the world's most experienced beginner." There are people in my triathlon club who make tri training their first job, and then whatever they do for money fits in around their training schedule. They are definitely admirable, but that isn't me. My goal is to be able to keep doing this for a long time. There was a man racing yesterday who was in his 70s. He wasn't moving fast but he was doing it. I'm racing to be healthy and fit and to have fun.

With my friend (and training buddy) Alicia before the race

Swimming is great, but why all this running? Glad I have my Enell...

Feeling confident on the bike

One of the better run photos

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

A little sunburned, but happy!

Love this design!

I was really emotional when I found out that I had come in 2nd in my age group in the swim and 3rd in my age group on the bike (and 9 out of 10 on the run), 8th in my age group overall (age group results link).  I really feel like I'm making a comeback from my injuries and other issues.  Overall, I was 73rd in the swim, 132nd in the bike, and 213th in the run, and 171st overall (overall results link).

The run is obviously where I need the most work.  There were a lot of race photos I didn't love because I could see the "hip drop" that the physical therapist at Fitbloggin' noticed. My knees seem to collapse inward, which is inefficient and also is probably contributing to my problems. I think if I can do some strength work to rehab my hamstring and strengthen my run, I can really see some big improvements.

This was a fun race. I'm looking forward to a great season next year.

Note: This is an unsolicited, uncompensated review of a product that I found on my own and purchased myself. Amazon Affiliate links are included so that you can find out more about the product. 

I always wear a lightweight moisturizer with SPF, summer and winter.  I have sensitive skin, so I need a product that doesn't irritate my skin For a while, I was using , but at $55 for a small (1.7-ounce) container, I thought it was overpriced. And I also didn't like that DDF is one of the companies that still does animal testing. I also tried (and loved) My Beauty Bunny's Cruelty-Free Moisturizer (developed by a fellow blogger), but my tube ran out pretty quickly and I was looking for something I could buy off the shelf.

The My Beauty Bunny product had a light citrus scent, so when I saw  on the shelf at my local Kroger (in the Natural Foods section), I decided to give it a try. I think it was close to the $15.99 list price there, which seemed reasonable.

Some of the best things about the product are what it is formulated without:

• 97% Natural
• SPF 15
• Petroleum, SLS, & Paraben Free
• Cruelty-free

I like the lightweight texture and the light grapefruit scent. Unfortunately, the product is not fragrance-free (I thought it was) but I don't seem to be sensitive to it. My skin randomly gets red and rashy in reaction to certain products.  I have never figured out what specific ingredient my skin is sensitive to, but because I tend to react more to very inexpensive products, maybe the ingredient is a petroleum-based fragrance?

I have noticed my skin clearing up and looking brighter when I use this product regularly. I have some small brown spots that I have probably gotten from all those years before I started using sunscreen, and those seem to have faded a little.

I took a photo of the ingredients list you can also find it on the product website.  You can also get a $3 off coupon to use in-store there.

My relaxation coach says not to worry.

Sometime this morning, the all-clear went out on the water crisis, though . I don't trust people to choose the long-term greater good over their short-term selfish needs. Witness the people who bought way more water than they needed not caring that they might cause others to go without.  The whole thing really took a toll on me, no matter how muh I tried to keep a positive outlook and remember how much we had to be grateful for.   

Photo by

Stories of Toledo's water problems are not just in the national news, they are in the international news.  The nutshell version: A toxin caused by algae blooms in Lake Erie, where Toledo gets its water, put us under a do-not-drink advisory as of 2:30 a.m. yesterday.  I woke up early and my husband told me not to drink water -- he read the stories on his phone seconds after having his first glass of the day. I had gotten up several times in the middle of the night and had a few sips too.

Note: This book was purchased by me as part of my Audible.com subscription (Audible is still not a sponsor of this blog, although they should be). Links included are Amazon Affiliate links.

 by Matt Fitzgerald

Author Matt Fitzgerald seems to specialize in the diet interests of endurance athletes, and is probably better known for  so as someone interested in endurance sports, my husband had come across this book and suggested I read and review it for the blog. 

Fitzgerald is being purposely provocative in his use of the phrase "Diet Cults" to encompass everything from raw foodism to Paleo. However, he does effectively use religious cults as a metaphor for diet fads and a reason for their success.

Diet cults, Fitzgerald says, (and the more traditional religious kind) are purposely extreme because that very extremism makes it easier to know whether you are in or out.  Most of the diets he labels as cults have strict "good food" and "bad food" rules. They also have their own insider language, rituals, and culture.  All of these things help to cultivate a sense of an identity for members, which helps to reinforce members' motivation to stick it out when things get difficult.

Though he is critical of the science behind so-called diet cults, he also thinks that the sense of identity  they foster helps to keep people on track in a world where more mainstream, less sexy advice often falters in a world filled with Krispy Kremes and all-you-can-eat buffets.

In fact, he wants to create his own "cult" of Agnostic Healthy Eaters, and includes a breathtakingly dull and arcane list of rules for a complicated healthy eating rules for his plan, and refers to daily scorekeeping and... a whole lot of other things that I zoned out while listening to. If I'm going to keep a diet score, I would rather count PointsPlus with Weight Watchers, which he also classifies as a Diet Cult, though he does praise its "no bullish*t," commonsense approach and group support.

I also call shenanigans on his assertions that endurance athletes don't fall for diet cults, and that a person who gets "lots" of aerobic exercise can't possibly overeat enough to gain weight.  He doesn't really specify how much "lots" is, but I have two examples in my household alone that disprove the latter assertion, and most of the endurance athletes I have met are just as likely to struggle with healthy eating as anyone else.

In fact, far from just lampooning most of the "diet cults" he discusses, he gives a detailed example of a person who has followed each to achieve weight loss and better health. They often don't follow the plans strictly (for example, the case study of raw foodism includes sardines in his diet, which are definitely not vegan or raw).

I read some of the reviews of this book, and they seemed to call Fitzgerald out for "recommending the SAD (Standard American Diet). I would like to say that the Standard American Diet as practiced by standard Americans is a lot different than the diet recommendations promoted by mainstream organizations like the USDA, though I agree that there is an inherent conflict between the "selling" part of the USDA and the "recommending" part, which is probably why we are supposed to be drinking all of that milk even though a majority of humans are lactose-intolerant.

To be honest, I nodded along with his criticisms of other diets and then was surprised he included Weight Watchers as a diet cult. Though it does have membership and plenty of its own silliness, and some members are prone to going to extremes.  I asked my husband whether he thought Weight Watchers was a cult, and he said he thought it was just a religion, not a cult.  To me it seems more like a series of simple tools than a full-fledged cult, but I guess that followers of any of the other diets discussed in the book might say the same about theirs.

I think if you want a more detailed, scientific discussion of the merits and failings of various diets, you are better off with  by Robert H. Lustig (reviewed here) or  by Yoni Freedhoff (reviewed here).

Even with its limitations, this was a fun read, though it did take some dull sidelines into the intricacies of wine, chocolate, and coffee as a discussion of how healthy foods can also taste good. Though I found these sections long-winded, they were a rare reminder that health is not always in opposition to pleasure from food and drink.