Yankee Frost

I was reminded on Tuesday just how accurate Winter’s pseudonym really is. For some, it might be a stretch to live up to the name ‘Black Hole of Death’, but Winter doesn’t seem to have much trouble doing just that. It was a frigid 35° when I headed to the gym in shorts and a t-shirt. Although it’s much colder in some parts of the Universe, knowing that didn’t make climbing into an arctic automobile any easier. If it wasn’t for tonight’s work-related Yankee Swap, I could have spent the evening snuggled warmly below a heap of Lindt Dark Chocolate wrappers! Or not.

Sliding across a frozen leather seat at 9pm was the last thing I wanted to do, but I did it anyway. I did it because the benefits far out-weigh the momentary inconvenience of freezing my ass off. I did it because it’s what you do when you’re actively engaged in your life and hold yourself accountable for your actions (and in-actions). I’ve been making the blog rounds lately and it seems like a lot of people are under the impression that there is some sort of ominous party making decisions for them. It breaks my heart and angers me at the same time.

It breaks my heart because I know first-hand how hard it can be to ‘break-through’ the mental and emotional barriers long enough to string together a bunch of good decisions that produce results. This is something I can totally identify with and sympathize with. On the other hand, it angers me because some people seem to be waiting for an inspirational blog or an inspirational quote to rescue them rather than doing the work it takes to step out of their comfort zone and engage in honesty and accountability.

I don’t want to make a sweeping generalization, but I seem to be stumbling upon more and more blogs written by those who are easily ‘inspired in the moment’ but do little to nothing in terms of follow-through. They hunker down for a day of ‘saying no to everything they love to eat’ (except for that one triple cheese burger and large order of nachos) and move their workout to tomorrow (…since ‘there’s always tomorrow!’). I understand that each journey is a deeply personal experience and I have no right to crap on other people’s efforts — I get that. What I don’t get is how someone can blog about ‘wanting to lose weight so fucking bad it hurts’, yet in the same breath do absolutely nothing to facilitate it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever really fallen into this category. I would have those days where I feverishly grasped at straws and ‘made up my mind to change’ (usually after breaking a chair or not being able to fit in the backseat of someone’s car), but I never really tried.  Perhaps deep down I was waiting for my Weight-loss Knight in Shining Armor to come and rescue me, too. I just never went public with it.

Anyhow.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been adding a slight incline to my short interval session (3 min jog / 2 min walk) rather than upping the speed. I was surprised to find that adding just a 1% incline can make such an impact on my workout. Different muscles were a-burning and I was a-huffing and a-puffing more than usual. It was a nice departure that I hope to include in future workouts.

Tonight is my work-related Yankee Swap. We are a relatively small group of designers, front-end developers, and user-experience engineers with a penchant for keeping to ourselves for the better part of our work day. The eleven of us are guilty of being married to our headphones and so unbelievably engrossed in our work that we don’t normally socialize in our open-office environment. Since the company I work for is extremely team-oriented, each group is allotted $20 per person each month to go out and socialize together. Some groups use this money to buy groceries for breakfast potlucks, some partake in a group lunches, but my group normally hits up the bowling alley across the street or goes down to Whiskey’s for $0.20 wings and pitches of Blue Moon. I have yet to purchase a gift for said swap, but I’m not too worried. I work sixteen stories above a mall in Boston’s Back Bay. I shouldn’t have a problem finding a trinket for $10. Then again, I’m not sure how swap-friendly a mall full $200 shoes and $100 tea pots will be.

I am looking forward to braving the -2° weather (literally) for a half-mile before I am awarded with a free meal in the company of people I spend forty hours a week sitting next to yet do not interact with. It will be a welcomed change of pace to an otherwise monotonous work-week. The menu is littered with tantalizing options such as Crisped Point Judith Calamari with tartar sauce, Beer and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese with crisp shallot crust, and Native Sea Scallops with succotash and bacon confit, but I think I’ll stick with the tried and true chicken (Roast Lemon Garlic Chicken with spinach and salad instead of sour cream mashed bliss potatoes). Yum, yum.

Here’s to hoping for another Balloon Animal Kit to match the one I got last year. Legit, best gift ever.