Category Archives: 100 Days

DAY LXXXV

100 Days,

Walked, did not run, a very, very slow 4 kilometers. I was going to run again in the afternoon, but decided to work on organizing and decluttering instead.

I ended up wasting a lot of time, as is usual for me. The decluttering project turned into “reading about decluttering” online and looking at decluttering books on Amazon.com. Of course I ended up purchasing one, but it was only a Kindle eBook and it cost only two dollars. I did, however, manage to request fifteen books from the public library, including several by Don Aslett, whose Clutter’s Last Stand (which is among those I requested) is the most direct and useful book I’ve read on the subject.

The time is now 2:30 p.m., and I intend to spend the next three hours or so working on organizing and, I hope, discarding some unneeded items. I should make it a point to update this post with a note about my progress. So…

NOTE REGARDING PROGRESS: (To Be Continued)

DAY LXXXIV – Stuffocation

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On a work trip to New York or London, your boss announces that you are not needed today and can have the day off. Which would you do?

The above question appears on the Stuffocation.org web site as part of an online quiz. I ran across an article by James Wallman online today about his book and concept of “stuffocation,” of feeling suffocated by our stuff. Regular readers of Chamber of Chaos know that feeling suffocated by stuff, or “stuffocation,” is one of the ongoing issues around here. Wallman suggests that perhaps those of us who are overwhelmed by “stuff” should look at replacing owing things with having experiences, or to use his term, becoming an experientalist. Wallman is getting a fair amount of press for his observations.

To me, however, Wallman seems to dwell in the rarified atmosphere of those who have plenty of money and plenty of time. When was the last time my boss sent me on a business trip to New York or London? Let me think for a moment… oh, of course; that would be… NEVER!

You see, it’s not the well-heeled or the more-than-adequately compensated people who drown their sorrows in stuff. It’s the poor people. It’s the working class who actually have to work for a living. In an interview in Forbes, Wallman suggests that sharing current experiences via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have become the new status symbols:

“But with all your friends, fans, and followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, many more will know that you’re at TEDxHOP, on a chairlift in Chamonix, or you’ve just got round a Tough Mudder course.”

On a chairlift in Chamonix. Yeah, right. I was in a big city WalMart once that had a wheelchair lift up to the second floor. That was pretty cool. But I don’t think tweeting about it would have helped my social status.

When it comes to books about hoarding and decluttering, and I’ve read quite a few, my number one recommendation is Clutter’s Last Stand by Don Aslett. Originally published in 1984 and updated in 2005, Aslett’s book addresses both the causes and the cures for clutter, for hoarding, and for finding yourself unable to let go of the stuff with which you’ve surrounded yourself. Thirty years before Wallman and his “experientalist” philosophy, Don Aslett was making the same suggestions to replace things with experiences; as an added bonus, Aslett’s writing style is hilarious and engaging as well as being inspiring.

The upside of reading about Stuffocation, and mentally comparing it to Clutter’s Last Stand (great pun, that title; I don’t know how many “of these kids today” would even get the reference), is that I’m finding myself re-inspired to continue my own assault on clutter… and I hope make a few bucks via eBay while I’m at it!

Back to jogging today: jogged 14k without walking, average pace 7:05/km. Weight is around 202.

DAY LXXXIII

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Friday. Still didn’t feel like running. Weight was down a tad. But then I had “Ice Cream Night,” but I went a little easier on the toppings than usual.

Good post on the SingleDadFitDad fitness website about becoming discouraged when surrounded by people who are fitter, stronger, and better (at everything) than you are. Finally, a fitness blogger who recognizes that yes, this is a real challenge, and who does not simply gloss over the issue with a blithe comment about “other people don’t matter” or “focus on your own goals.”

A stupid article on a web site called Movoto used one of my Flickr photos, a photo from the time a few years ago when I climbed the Haiku Ladder aka The Stairway to Heaven on the windward side of Oahu. Apparently, probably because the article had the word “Hawaii” in the title, it has been circulating among local Facebook users, including a number of my co-workers. Three people at work asked me about or told me about seeing my photo on Facebook (I don’t have a Facebook account) today, and another one emailed me about it after work.

Fortunately the article did not directly link to my Flickr account. I don’t necessarily want to share my “outside of work” life with my co-workers. I removed the photo from Flickr.

DAY LXXXI

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At 203 pounds today, I’m pretty pissed off. Yesterday I took a day off from running and had ONE extra bowl of Cheerios — it wasn’t even Cap’n Crunch or Cocoa Puffs — and the scale told me I was up THREE POUNDS over yesterday. One day and one bowl of Cheerios has cut my two-week weight loss in half! Both my morning and my after-work weigh-ins showed a three pound increase. In fact, the after-work weigh-in pegs at 204.4 pounds!

Yes, I know a two to three pound swing can simply be water or something, and is within the normal fluctuation range, but seriously, ONE bowl of Cheerios undercuts two weeks of almost nothing but celery and carrots? That ain’t fair!

Only one Coca Cola today… but I’m not running. I’m going through a what’s-the-effing-point pouting phase.

DAY LXXIX

100 Days

My legs are stiff following the “hill run” of a couple of days ago, so I only managed to hobble through 8km today, at an 8-minute per km pace.

I drank 2-1/2 large cups of Coca Cola today.

I’m working on sorting photos for the house project.

DAY LXXVIII

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Walk-jogged 12 km today, at an average pace of 7:30/km.

Sadly, I didn’t do as well avoiding Coca Cola, downing three and a half large glasses of the stuff while working on shuffling boxes around the house today. I get annoyed and depressed while shifting stuff around, as well as hot and thirsty, so there was a double reason for the cola.

Before and after photos of one of the rooms in the house:

Guest Room – Normal Appearance

Guest Room – Decluttered

And a bonus view of the lanai (porch or covered deck) at sunset this evening:

Sunset Lanai

DAY LXXVII

100 Days,

Back to it: only one glass of Coca Cola today; celery with peanut butter for lunch; jog-walked 22 kilometers, including a loop up Long Road (Mokuleia Access Road) from the bottom to the Peacock Flats campground gate. Average pace: 9 minutes per kilometer.

I made the mistake of looking at a couple of running blogs this afternoon. Nine minutes is the easy pace at which slow runners run a mile. Slow girl runners! My nine minute per kilometer pace is equivalent to 14:30/mile, or walking pace.

Here’s a fun* running blog: My Endless Summer: Adventures, Marathon Training, and Good Eats while Island Living. Yeah, it’s another blog by a gorgeous girl who bombs ultras like they’re nothing.

*Or, “discouraging,” when I consider my waddling fat-guy efforts.

DAY LXXVI: Triple Cheat Day

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When I’m on a “healthy eating & exercise” program, I generally set aside one evening a week, usually Friday, as “Cheat Night,” meaning I can eat whatever I want without guilt or repercussions during a set period. I limit myself to a time block, because I could, and would, very seriously abuse an entire “cheat day.” I like to set 8pm until midnight as my “Cheat Night,” which usually consists of some sort of serious concoction of ice cream, cookies, candy, and basically anything resembling chocolate or sugar. Then I sit down in front of the TV and watch old “B” noir or sci-fi movies from the 1950s. It’s awesome. The next morning I go for an extra-long run or walk.

Today, though, I kind of started early. As in, at lunch time, with an extra Coca Cola. You see, I was stuck in a work-related “training” all day today, sitting in an alternately freezing cold or stuffy and hot conference room being bored out of my mind and feeling irritable and annoyed by my not-so-professional peers. I mean, c’mon, people, can you just shut up already and politely listen to the presentation? It got so noisy the last half of the day with all the “side-bar conversations” and people messing around on their phones that I could barely hear parts of what the speaker was saying. And it just so happened that the last part of the day was the “important part” we were supposedly there to learn. Ah, but I digress. In short, I resorted to Coca Cola to keep me going through the day, and then, on the way home, I drove through the drive-up window at McDonald’s and picked up two double-cheeseburgers and a small fry, which I devoured at home along with yet another Coke.

And boy, did it taste good! And that supposedly unhealthy meal dramatically improved my mood and my general sense of well-being. Most of my frustration and despair evaporated. I say “most” because I’m feeling a little bit badly about not running now for two days.

But it’s the weekend! I can sleep in tomorrow morning. Then I will run. Or walk-jog. I’ll go further than I have been. No, it won’t entirely make up for the higher-calorie, lower-quality food or for the two days of not exercising. But I’m not giving up. And unlike previous times I’ve “fallen off the wagon,” I’m not going to let one blown day totally derail my efforts.

Oh, as for “Triple Cheat,” yeah, one was the extra Coca Cola; two was the McD’s; three will be the “regularly scheduled Cheat Night” ice cream and chocolate feast later this evening.

For now, I’m going to take a nap.