Achoo! and 3 and 4 miles

It is cedar season in Austin and the newspaper has been lying about the pollen levels. My nose knows it's in the Ultra High range this weekend, not Medium as reported. Cedar Fever, as it is called here, is the one downside of winter in Austin. Other than the cedar fever you can't complatin about the usually sunny and warm winter weather in Austin. I love the opportunity to go Christmas shopping with short sleeves, and not all bundled up in coats and scarves. We usually have a few days of official winter, and those are over by mid-February.

If you're prone to pollen allergies, you can live here for a few years before it hits you, but when it does, you'd better know a good allergist. This year it started late, after Christmas and came in like a lion! Steffi gets it but Duncan doesn't. Mike doesnt' have it either, but his daughter Meg does. That link from Steffi is her blog from a few days ago dedicated to the subject of cedar. Last week I was on the east coast and my allergies went away for a few days. I have a couple more trips planned and I am really looking forward to them! Usually by early February the pollen starts to decline and life can go back to normal. Until then my purse and pockets are stashed with Kleenex. Ok, enough about allergies!

So the other topic around here these days and probably everywhere else is New Years resolutions to take off those holiday pounds or start an exercise routine. We've just started a Fitness Challenge at work and I think I am going to participate. Mike and I decided that we would get into an exercise routine together too. I have a treadmill and am going to report through this blog my miles each day. Yesterday I did 3 miles and today I did 4. I have to use the treadmill at least until the cedar is gone. Usually it is too boring to use a treadmill that long, but I got a really long extension cord to connect my headphones to the TV for distraction.

There's a guy at work (I'll call him Dave since there are a lot of guys named Dave at work you won't know which one) who decided to lose weight by walking in the morning and in the evening. He eats whatever he wants at lunch, and skips or has a very light evening meal. He has lost a lot of weight and with the exercise is much healthier. I am telling you this because that Special K challenge advertised everywhere in the grocery store has some similarities to that routine, at least as far as eating, so I am giving it a try for 2 weeks. I've done WW successfully in the past and figured out that the Special K challenge is 2-3 points for 2 meals and a few snack points throughout the day. Two meals are Special K products, but the 3rd meal, which can be whichever meal you want, you can eat whatever you want. By combining this with WW I know how many points I can have in that 3rd meal. Anyway, today is day 2 and I am only a little grumpy. After the Special K products are gone, I'll just switch to normal food and counting points. As they tell you at meetings, WW is not a diet, it is a life long way of making good choices and eating the right portions. A little boring but it works if you stick with it.