Where Does the Time Go?

Okay, so clearly, I missed providing an update on my progress for several days - Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to be exact. Crazy! My life that is. I have been so busy that I have been sleeping in in the morning. In an attempt to fit in some level of exercise, I have had to squeeze other stuff out of my day.

Let's start with today. I finally was up at the right time. I got some laundry done and headed out for my run. It felt great. I went up to the track and was able to fit in 9 laps, I alternated between running and sprint intervals on a 1-1-2-1-2-1-1 pattern - starting and ending with a run. I must say that getting up there much earlier would have been tough. My 'normal' time is starting to be on the cutting edge of dawn, much earlier and it would have been still more dark than light out. I am going to have to see how much longer 'normal' will work. They installed new lights by the track, but they weren't on this morning.

Last night, I was able to go to Zumba. It really is a fun work out. The more I go, the more comfortable I become with the regular songs/moves. Of course, last night, she introduced some new moves and my body can feel the changes. I am sore in new places. Felt great. Yesterday morning, my run was short. I only went to the track for 3/4 of a mile. I did one lap of running and two of sprint intervals. I was just glad to do what I did, since I had slept in past when I would normally head out for a run. Eating was good yesterday. The family went out to dinner while I was at Zumba (less temptation for me) and so I had two eggs over easy and toast for dinner. That really is a favorite meal for me and the protein was a good choice after my Zumba workout.

Over the weekend, Friday included, there really wasn't any working out. It was raining on Friday morning and the weekend was busy with baseball tournaments, going out with friends, grocery shopping, Bible study and more. Eating was of course a challenge because we were on the go, plus two of my meals were at a Winery - lunch one afternoon for work and dinner out with my husband and some friends. So, of course, there was wine! I also fell behind on the 30 Day Ab Challenge. I hope to pick up day 25 tonight (I was already a day behind, now I am 5 days behind).

Overall, the scale is hanging tight. I am hoping to overcome this plateau and start moving in the right direction again.

Wednesday & Thursday

Well, well, here it is Thursday already. The time seems to go so fast. I always feel like I have a lot I want to accomplish but never seem to have the time to actually make it a reality. Of course, some times, I am my own worse enemy when it comes to time. I have this ability to get lost in something and realize that what I had meant to do for a few minutes turned into a lot more.

Wednesday when I woke up, I was thinking to myself, I need to mix it up. I thought, you know I have heard that interval training is more effective at losing weight and burning fat. I decided that since I have been plateauing for a couple of weeks now that I needed to find something to make a difference. I headed up to the track and formulated a plan. I decided that rather than running the whole time, I would walk some. Then, I decided that I would walk, but I would do sprints intermixed with it. By the time I arrived, I had a plan. I decided that I would alternate a lap of running with a lap that I alternated Sprint-Walk-Sprint-Walk. I was at the track for a total of 6 laps. I was able to 'make up' enough time in my sprints that even with walking, my pace was the same for the total outing as when I run the duration. And, it felt GOOD! I can't remember the last time that I ran all out. There was something about feeling the wind in my face and feeling my legs strive to make it down the straight away, that was amazing. By the time I was done with the 6 laps, I was spent. It was great. Scientifically, I can't demonstrate that the workout was better or worse, but it sure felt like I burnt more calories.

Eating wasn't bad yesterday. I had sushi for lunch, it was yummy, but more calories than I normally eat for lunch. It also left me hungry and mid-afternoon, I had a snack of cheese and crackers (fortunately I had a meeting with a snack break). This of course, was also out of character and suddenly, it was dinner time and I had not as many calories available. We were grilling out, so I went with a hot dog with no bun for my main dish. It saved me 110 calories over a burger, saved me the 90 calories of cheese and the 140 calories of bun - 340 calories saved.

Wednesday was a recovery day for me on the 30 Day Ab Challenge, because I am off by a day. I think that I might have tweaked a pectoral muscle the day before doing the plank with a grab a ball move. It was sore (still is), so it was probably best that I had the day off.

Thursday I woke up at 1:30 am in the morning to the sound of rain and thunder. I got up at my normal time and was planning to work out at home, but when I checked the weather and it was not supposed to rain for a while, I decided I should get out. Since it was 77 and VERY humid, I went with a walk for today. I think this was wise, I was splashing my leg with the water that was on the track.

The scale did respond to my workout yesterday (at least that is what I will claim). After a couple weeks of plateaus, I was down 1/2# since last time I recorded my weight - but 2# from yesterday.

Tuesday

When I got up this morning, I headed up to the track and it was crazy warm. It was already 77 at 6 am. The sky was very cool looking - to the East was beautiful with lots of pink, to the West dark and ominous.

(dark and ominous didn't photo so well)

Ever hear that saying of Red Skies in the Morning, Sailors take Warning? The phrase certain felt appropriate this morning. I decided that the skies, coupled with my early morning meeting, meant that I should shorten my workout. I set a target of 1 1/4 miles and decided to start running from the beginning, like I did yesterday. It felt good. I probably could have gone farther, but again the skies and the meeting had me confident in my decision to stop after 5 laps.

Eating was good yesterday. We even had fast food (I fed the family for $2.56) - Arby's Roast Beef and 1/2 a value curly fries - only came in at about 560 calories, including the Arby's and Horsey Sauce. I had some cheese as a snack, because I was just shy of my daily calorie target and about 10 g shy of the protein target. I finished the day just within all targets and 2 g shy on protein.

Monday

I let myself do it again! I checked the weather before bed and there was a 40% chance of rain starting around 3 or 4. I internalized this and when it came time to get up this morning, I kept hitting snooze. I knew that I wanted to get up and run because I think that I am skipping Zumba today. My friend is out of town and things have been so busy lately that I feel like I have a lot to catch up on at home and while I love the class, something has to give - we have plans every night this week (at least someone does). By the time I got up, it was already 6 am, I was already behind schedule. Then, I had to get dressed and get some water to drink. By the time I laced up my shoes, it was already almost quarter after. I decided that although I only had 15 minutes, that I would allow myself to stretch it so that I could fit in a full mile. I knew that if I wanted to do this and not be late that I would need to skip my warm up lap at the track. I decided that the 1/2 mile plus walk to the track was a sufficient warm up. So, today, for the first time ever, I ran every lap at the track. It was only a mile, but it was still something I had not ever done before. I have always walked a warm up lap and frequently a cool down lap, but not today.

It felt good and I am glad that I got the mile in. There is something so energizing about starting your day with a good run (or other workout). I just feel more awake, more alert, ready to think through things and tackle even the most challenging of problems. I'm also in a better mood.

I missed last night's 30 Day Ab Challenge workout. We got home late and I didn't have it in me. I will try to do two tonight, I guess or I could just be a day behind.

Eating was a challenge for me yesterday. Since we were out, we picked up pizza for lunch. Then, another birthday party - I was pretty good there, only a bite of cake and a popsicle. Then, dinner and Bible study. At Bible study, one woman brought a spinach artichoke dip that was garlicy and addictive. Another, rice krispie treats. Yum - one of my weaknesses, there is just something about that marshmallow goodness.

Hoping for a better eating day today.

the Weekend

Well, Friday was a crazy sort of day. I got a late start (I actually was up on time, but it was supposed to have been raining, so I came down and logged on to check the weather and suddenly, it was 6 am and I was still sitting in my kitchen), so I had a very short run at the track. I was only up at the track for 4 laps and ran half of them. A busy day and a late dinner made for a strange eating day. I had a lunch meeting with ice cream for dessert - it was so yummy, I had toppings and everything. I had that heavy feeling after eating it, but it tasted so good when I was eating it. As a result, I wound up exceeding my calorie target for the day but managed to be within all of the other targets.

Saturday was another busy day. I had planned to allow myself to sleep in, which I did. I knew that I had to be on the road by 9:20 and didn't want to be running behind. It was good to have a break. Eating was a challenge again (story of my life!) with a birthday party (they had barbeque pork from Old Carolina Barbeque) followed by dinner out with a friend whose family is relocating to the area. I exceeded my calorie target, but not by as much as Friday.

The bad thing is that based on the scale holding steady for the past couple of days, my body was in a 'recovery' sort of mode and if I had been on target instead of over, I would have lost weight - I guess I should see the positive of not gaining, but am bummed over not losing.

Sunday morning, time was tight but I found 1/2 hour to get up to the track. I ran 1 1/4 miles and then headed home. I quickly fit in my ab workout from yesterday (will do today's tonight). Today we have (hopefully) two baseball games, a birthday party and Bible study this evening. Plus, I have to make a snack to share at the Bible study and two dozen cookies for my daughter for Safety Town tomorrow. Whew!

Well, I am off to have another busy day. Enjoy!

Thursday

When I went to bed last night, I checked the weather and there was a 30% chance of rain this morning. So, before I really 'got up', I came downstairs and checked out the weather - both by looking outside and pulling up the radar on my computer. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get drenched if I headed out. Fortunately, the radar looked clear, but here I was downstairs, not in work out clothes. I started to fiddle with a few things on the computer, like respond to some e-mails, check out my friends' pictures on Facebook. I found myself not feeling very motivated. I finally decided that I better get upstairs and get myself dressed and get moving - or there would be no time. As it turned out, I left really late and only really had time for about 30 minutes. When I got to the track, it was crowded. The woman that runs many mornings with me was there, I like that we run about the same pace - so neither of us generally passes the other (except on cool down/warm up laps). Then, there were these three men (boys?) that were doing some sort of interval thing. As I approached, they took off and ran a lap. As I arrived, they stopped and then moved off to the side to do push-ups. I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I started in lane 5. By the time I came around to start my first lap of running, they were in lane 8 picking up the hurdles - I asked which lanes are you using and they told me that they were done - so I promptly moved over to lane 2 and started my run. I was originally going to do something more interval like, but decided to see if I could run 1.5 miles. I knew I 'could', I didn't know if time would allow. I actually pushed my workout an extra 3 minutes to allow myself to get in the full 1.5 miles. It felt good.

The scale was holding tight this morning. Overall, I think that is a good thing. Life happens (like travel, eating out, imbibing) and knowing that I can stay constant through that is a good thing. Plus, it makes me hopeful that a return to normal will kick-start the scale to moving the right way. Which makes me think that there is some merit to those diets that have a 6 days on, 1 day off approach - I think the day off has to still be reasonable, but I think your body needs the shock of change to lose weight. I have always found that to be reasonably true for me. If I'm plateauing, sometimes the best thing I can do is allow myself a little extra one day and then back in motion I go.

Wednesday

It occurred to me yesterday morning that I never actually posted about my run on Tuesday morning. I did run, I did an alternating 1-2-1-2-1 approach to the outing. Again, I had done over 2 miles the day before, so I wanted a bit of a break.

Eating was a challenge for me on Tuesday. I had a catered lunch meeting at work and then traveled for work, having a team dinner out. At lunch, we had tacos. I knew I could just make a salad, but the tacos looked so good, so I compromised with both a taco and some salad. Dinner, well I had seared scallops (awesome!) and a bit of pasta. Unfortunately, it took forever to come and i wound up having some bread and two glasses of wine. Both were very tasty, but had me finishing my day about 300 calories over target.

With traveling, I wasn't able to do my Ab Challenge for Day 17 - working out on a hotel room floor gives me the heeby-jeebies. I did the Day 15 moves, cause I could do those on the bed. So, I will see whether I try to do Day 17 after Day 18 tonight or how I fit those in.

I was very proud of myself for running this morning. I'm not a big fan of treadmills and started out with a plan to walk, but found myself wanting to run. The stop string on the treadmill was very sensitive and stopped my workout several times. The first time was about 12 minutes into my workout and I managed to reset the treadmill. So, I restarted and did 30 minutes, plus a 5 minute cool down. I wasn't expecting the 5 minute cool down and had already cooled down the last few minutes. Either way, I got my 2 miles plus of running in.

I needed it too! Once again, traveling left me less in control of my eating. I made wise decisions, but even at that, it was more calories than I normally would have at the respective meals.

I am home now, so tomorrow will be back to normal for workout and eating (I hope).

Tuesday

Yesterday was a great day. I started my day with an awesome run and then in the evening, I had the chance to go to Zumba with my friend. I really am enjoying the Zumba. It is a decent workout and I don't feel completely uncoordinated in the class - which in most aerobics type classes I have taken before I am completely uncoordinated. Next week, if I go, I am on my own because my friend is out of town.

Eating was good yesterday. I actually found myself below target for the day and relaxed and enjoyed a little cheese and crackers and a small drink with my husband, while we watched the pilots for The Food Network Star. Which reminds me, I need to go vote. I think that I like Justin - he is just wacky enough to be entertaining. Second choice, not sure if I would go with Martie or Yvon. I just know that Michele is my least favorite, just couldn't see myself watching her show.

Travel enters the mix tonight and tomorrow. I will have to see how I manage the eating out and limited options for working out. Ab Challenge Day 15 (which I did on Day 16 because I flipped my recovery day due to schedule), wasn't too bad. It is always refreshing to find one that I can do. I will have to see about Day 17 at a hotel - that might just have to wait until Day 18 when I can lay on my own floor.

A couple of days off, but right back in the groove

So, Saturday, I planned to take the day off. I decided that since I had a busy day, that I would allow myself a little extra sleep and didn't want to try to squeeze in a run and find myself running late to start the day. As promised, it was a busy day. We had lunch out, I went with the Chicken Fajita, hold the rice, the beans and the tortillas. It was pretty tasty. The place that we went doesn't seem to use much oil, as the chicken and vegetables were 'dry' - not to say they were overdone, but there wasn't that oily mess that you sometimes see on fajitas. Dinner was a bit of leftovers - I was sort of glad that no one really wanted much for dinner, as I was worn out from the day. I did manage to fit in my 30 day Ab Challenge workout, but learned that I am weak. I was barely able to do either of the ab exercises. I hope to do better at them next time I try them.

Sunday morning, I woke up with a headache. I got up got the kids breakfast and went back to bed. I had bouts of nausea, but when I got up, I felt much better. I guess my body decided that it needed another day off. Sunday for dinner we had Marlin on the grill. This is one of my favorites. We had originally planned to have Chicken Caesar salads but they were doing a recipe demo with Marlin, which meant that they had this not always available fish in. I couldn't resist. It did not disappoint. We still had salad on the side, as well as a little bit of rice. A late evening caused me to miss my Abs, I will make them up today. I think that today will be a recovery day, so I will just have bumped the days.

Monday morning I got up and my hamstrings were tight. I guess because I didn't do any running, I didn't do any stretching over the weekend and this must have led to them getting tight. I just wasn't sure that I was going to get far at the track. I headed up anyway and figured that even if I do a full alternating workout, that anything is better than nothing. After I completed my first lap, my legs were feeling better, so I decided I would try for a 1-2 pattern. Next thing I knew, I had completed 4, then 6 and I decided I would go for 8. When I got to 8, I thought, why not try for 9, just to show myself I could do it. I did! Yeah! It felt awesome. My legs felt much better after the workout than they did before. I stretched when I came home, but I think that I will stretch again after my shower. I don't want them getting tight on me.

The scale was down nicely on Saturday, now on Sunday and today it was up about a 1# from that low - so maybe it was a false low, but now I have a goal to get back to it. That should keep me moving.

A Little Recovery

When I got up to the track today, there were four people there already and they were running backwards, so I decided a clockwise day would be appropriate and joined them. I had pretty much decided that I would treat today a bit like a recovery day (at least by my definition) and not go the distance. I decided that a 1-3-1-3 pattern would work for me. I knew that I could do 2 miles at the track and still be home at a reasonable time. I sure am glad that I had already decided that I would not try to go for distance today. As I was completing the second lap of running, I was really pushing myself to stick to my guns of running 3 laps. It was a good workout and I think that alternating between days of distance and days of intervals might be a good way to improve my endurance and speed. I did also come to the conclusion today that if I think I want to get to the point where I can run a full 5K, I'm going to need to start to move earlier. I am up in plenty of time, it just takes me a while to get out the door. I figure even if it is only 3 or 4 minutes earlier each week, it would allow me to progressively lengthen my overall workout.

Eating was a little rough yesterday. I wound up in my target, but made some poor for me decisions. It wasn't even really a question of calories, but rather a question of how it made me feel. I had a chipotle shrimp quesadilla for lunch. It was tasty - shredded cheese, chipotle grilled shrimp, fajita peppers and onions and some fresh diced tomatoes on a tortilla. The problem was that my body isn't used to that type of food anymore. It made me feel like I had a weight in my stomach - I felt miserable. I drank lots of water in the afternoon trying to get rid of that feeling. I need to clearly think before I eat. It would have been better to have that same chipotle shrimp on a salad. Dinner was on the go, as my son is playing in a ball tournament. It was a sandwich and a rice krispie treat.

Scale is holding steady for now. But, I am okay with a plateau, drop, plateau, drop, pattern. I figure it means that my body is adjusting to a new normal and will return to weight loss once it has.

Going the Distance

This morning, I finally got up to the track at a reasonable hour. I wasn't sure if I would get to 6 laps like I had the other day, but I figured that since time was not as much of a constraint like the past couple of days, I would like to at least try. Well, I wound up running 9 laps - in a row! I couldn't believe it, 2.25 miles of consecutive running. It felt awesome. When I was done, I walked a slow lap and wandered home.

I loved last night's Ab Challenge workout. Finally, it was a workout, that although tough, I could do. I didn't do the advanced versions, but I successfully did the beginner version and did the reps that she recommended. I even did the metabolic move - the prior night I skipped because my toe was bothering me.

Eating was pretty okay yesterday. I had chips at dinner, but stuck with just a serving. I even splurged on a glass of wine and stayed within my target.

I am not sure that I will/should run that far tomorrow. I will see what tomorrow brings, but I am just happy to say that I am over 2/3 of the way to being able to run a consecutive 5K.

Wednesday - back on track!

Is it just me, or do you sometimes feel lighter on your feet just knowing that you have lost a little weight? It doesn't seem to matter if I am down even just 0.1#, there is something mental about knowing I have lost weight. When I went for my run today, when I got to the run, I just felt much lighter on my feet.

I didn't sleep in today, but I didn't have my workout clothes upstairs and when I came down in my pajamas and got started on a project, I suddenly lost track of time and discovered that it was after 6! I didn't want to completely skip my workout, after all I had finally gotten back on track with the scale moving the right direction. I decided to head up to the track and do a mile. I knew that it was about 10 more minutes than I should have gone for based on my starting time, but I also knew that 1 mile at the track was better than nothing and would be over 2 miles in total workout. I'm glad I went, I feel better for having gone. It was almost like taking a break, not pushing my body with an extended run - in fact, I only ran 2 laps total and they weren't even consecutive.

Eating was good yesterday. Lunch was my standard and dinner was homemade pizza. There is just something so amazing about homemade pizza. It has a flavor that no other pizza can compare to.

I did Day 10 of the Ab Challenge last night. I really struggled with the 'rockers' that she did. I can barely do a v-up, let alone hold my body in that position and rock back and forth. I'm not sure if I'm just a wimp or if I am just that much out of shape. She makes it look so easy! I did like the move she did for the obliques though. I really think that when I am done with the 30 days, I will take a day or two off and try it again. I am convinced I should be able to do these exercises and maybe if I build up this month, next month I can rock it!

The scale, as I mentioned was down. In fact, compared to where I was after one month (a week ago Saturday) I was down another 0.8#. Awesome. Based on the Spark People chart which tracks my weight against the goal line (a straight line from my starting weight on Day 1 to the goal weight I set for January), I am still ahead of target, but the gap is closing. I need to stay focused and not lose entire weeks to recovering from bad choices and/or busy life.

Just in the Nick of Time

When I woke up this morning and checked the weather, there was rain showing up to the west. It seemed to be almost on top of us, so I decided I would wait a few minutes before I headed out. Well, a few minutes turned into 15 and still no rain, so I checked the map and it seemed to have moved south but not east. I decided I would give it a go and hope for the best. Well, it was a good decision. I got up to the track and resumed my counter-clockwise approach to the track. I started with my standard 1 lap of walking to warm up and then moved onto running. I wound up running 6 laps, but could have run more. Well, except for the fact that as the sun was getting higher in the sky, the dark blue sky to the west became more and more ominous looking and then as I was finishing the 5th lap, I noticed a rainbow. As I finished the 6th lap, I decided I would capture the rainbow and sky:

As I headed home, I could feel the breeze picking up against my back. I was hopeful that I would get home before the rain started. After opening the garage door, I snapped this picture of the rainbow, now more fully developed and a hint of second rainbow starting:

Then, it started to sprinkle. I headed inside, content in knowing that I had run 1 1/2 miles straight and had seen a beautiful rainbow at the end of my run. It was a great rain too, the sun was shining and it was coming down. Beautiful to watch from the dryness of my home.

Last night, I fit in both Zumba with my friend, as well as Day 9 of the Ab Challenge. I am not yet feeling the Ab workout, which has me worried that I am not giving it 110%. I will just have to be sure to give it more.

Eating was good yesterday. I tried a new recipe at dinner - it was shrimp and pineapple kebobs with a brown sugar and lime glaze. Very tasty and pretty healthy too!

The scale is finally starting to respond and I have almost fully recovered the last week and a half of intermittent picnics, parties and nights out.

Monday

Why do we run around the track counter-clockwise? I can tell you that after months of doing that, running clockwise feels very strange. It's like being on a new track - I noticed things that I had never seen before, and I struggled to motivate myself based on track markings. When I walk/run in the neighborhood, I make a concerted effort to balance the number of cul-de-sacs that I turn to the left and to the right, but at the track, it is always the same and I worried that I was doing my body a disservice by always stressing the same joints as I rounded curves.

I got a late start this morning, as I had to fold a load of laundry to find my exercise clothes. I had intended to do it last night, but headed off to bed because I wasn't feeling well. I am proud to say that I was able to complete a 1 1/4 mile run while I was there. That simply was all the time that I had, or I think I could have run further. It was so refreshing to have the temperatures be under 60 this morning, although still very humid, it sure beat the mid-70s that I had been running in. I felt really good after the run.

Eating was good yesterday. I was at the lower end of my target for calories and at or just below the target for Protein, Carbs and Fat. I was planning to have a small snack, but when I started not feeling well, I headed to bed without a snack. I was worried that I would be hungry when I woke up, but I was not.

Yesterday's 30 Day Ab Challenge was a recovery day, so that was a nice break. I will of course, do Day 9 tonight. Also, tonight I am planning to go to Zumba with my friend. I can't wait to exercise with someone and to get in a bonus workout.

Sunday

What a day! Yesterday was ridiculously hot. We were outside briefly, while we ran errands and it was amazing how that wall of heat just hit you.

We went out to dinner with some new friends. My husband went to college with a woman that is moving to the area because of her husband's new job. They arrived in town yesterday to start exploring and house hunting, but he starts work on Monday. We met at the Melting Pot. It was a great evening of visiting, eating and a bit of wine drinking. As we walked back to the car, in a much cooled down temperature, my husband commented that he didn't think you ate as much food there as you normally would. I think that the fact that you eat over a 2 hour plus timeframe allows your body to feel full sooner. I did my best to be conscientious about what I chose. With the cheese fondue course, I stuck with broccoli, cauliflower and apples for dipping in the cheese. I know that the cheese may not have been healthy, but by choosing fruits and veggies over bread, I reduced total calories in that course. For the salad course, I did the dressing on the side and used very little of it. They have these Parmesan encrusted pine nuts that they put on their Ceasar salad and they were wonderful! For the main course, we used vegetable broth for cooking - again a healthier option than oil or wine. I focused on the shrimp and only had a couple pieces of the filet and chicken. I had mostly broccoli and just one potato. Dessert - well, it was dessert and I allowed myself to indulge. I sent them an e-mail asking for nutritional data, but based on a chart that I found online - the cheese fondue was around 300 calories, the salad around 154 (plus a bit of dressing), the protein prepared in the broth was around 335, and the dessert about 400 calories. I certainly went over...but it could have been worse!

This morning I struggled for motivation, but I knew that I had splurged last night and the scale didn't show it, so if I moved, I could recover and be on the road to losing again. I got going and surprisingly, I was able to push myself to do 5 consecutive laps - 1 1/4 miles. Then, I was only going to do one more lap, but pushed myself to do 3 consecutive laps. So, I wound up running over 8 laps of the 10 lap workout at the track. I was very proud of myself. When I walked in the door, my daughter reminded me that I had promised we could mop again soon. So, I got the opportunity to fit in a quick vacuum and mop. Then, I did Day 7 of the 30 Day Ab Challenge that I had skipped the night before. All of this before 9 am!

Today should be an easier day for eating. There are no social plans or crazy schedules. It will be good to get my body back to normal intake. There have been enough things - 4 picnics, 1 night out and friends visiting this last week to leave my body unsure of what 'normal' should be. I am sure that I will find my belly growling at strange times, since I haven't had a normal schedule of eating in a few days. I will be strong and ignore it if I know that I have eaten well.

Hot and Muggy!

That has been the theme around here lately. Thursday we were in the 90s, yesterday we were in the high 90s, today we are going to be in the high 90s. It certainly has had some impact on my workout.

Thursday morning, as I was lacing up my shoes, I heard the siren going off outside, so I logged on to check out the weather. Sure enough, we were under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. I looked at the radar and was convinced that I could still fit in a quick workout, but would just stay in the neighborhood. My husband disagreed, so I skipped the run. Later that morning (I had the day off), I did a three mile workout using a Leslie Sansone Walk at Home video. In the evening, when it cooled to 80-something, my daughter and I went for a walk around the block. It was nice to get in an extra mile walk.

Friday morning, it was already 70 and over 80% humidity when I went out for my run. The air was too heavy, I just couldn't run for long. It also didn't help that some random guy, who I haven't seen at the track before, showed up, I dropped to walking so that he would pass me...I like to have strangers in front of me so I could see him, not behind me. It was broad daylight and there were workers at the construction site, so I wasn't really that worried, but still my friends weren't there so it was just me and this guy. He only did about a mile and left. I wound up running a total of a mile, but I did it one lap at a time.

This morning it was already mid-70s and 90-ish% humid when I went to the track. The drawback of going at 7 is that the sun is higher in the sky and makes it feel warmer. It dawned on me as I was running this morning why they start all of the runs so early in the morning, as the sun continues to rise it starts to really feel hot. Today, I wanted to do better than yesterday, so I decided to push for two laps of running each time. I wound up doing 2-2 1/2-2 running of a total of 9. So, just over 1 1/2 miles of running and less than 3/4 mile walking.

I continue to complete the 30 day Ab Challenge. It is amazing how out of shape my Abs are. She recommends doing 15-20 reps, 4 rounds on most exercises - I am lucky to do 10-12 reps. I can tell the day after a workout that I did something with my abs, so I am hoping that means that they are getting stronger.

Eating has been pretty reasonable, aside from the 4th. Unfortunately, the scale isn't recovering. I have faith though that it will all come back together and I will start to see improvement on the scale. The good news is that I am feeling better, feeling healthier.

Happy 4th of July!

So, normally, I like to think - it's a holiday, I can take a workout holiday - but not today. Despite it being a holiday, I decided to get up and go for my run. Granted, I allowed myself to sleep in over an hour, which felt great, but the point is I went and ran. It was 73 and 86% humidity when I checked. The sun was higher in the sky. I was very surprised to arrive at the track and see a bunch of cars parked at the school. I guess one of the teams meets for the weight room, sprints, etc. in the morning. I think I see the first few arrive normally when I am at the track, but today since I was an hour later than normal, they were in the thick of their workout. There were a few others at the track as well. I like having a little bit of company, gives me incentives and allows me to push myself on different guideposts.

As usual, I walked the first lap and then started into my run. I wasn't even 1/2 way around that first lap when I started thinking, I'm not going to be able to go 5 1/4 laps like I did yesterday. I'll be lucky to finish 1 I thought, but at each turn, I had another milestone that kept me moving towards the next. As I entered the second lap, I was close to passing a woman that was walking at the track. Then, RunKeeper gave me a 5 minute update. Then, I was half way through my goal of 5. Then, I finished 3 laps. Then, I got another five minute update. Then, I finished 4 laps and told myself the rest is gravy, if I do it, I do it; if not, I still ran a mile. As I was approaching the 3/4 point on that lap, I thought about stopping, but realized that was 1/2 lap shorter than the day before. Then, I was thinking, I will get a five minute update shortly. Next thing I knew, I completed the save 5 1/4 laps as yesterday. Then, I thought I might just walk out the last lap and head home. As I was reaching the end of the lap, the guy next to me passed me and I decided to run and see how we paced. He was faster, but I finished the lap and that was what mattered. I did walk home though. The sun was making that 86% humidity feel very sticky.

I did pretty well with eating yesterday. A lunch time tornado warning resulted in a later than normal lunch, but I was able to resist the temptation to get something not as good for me simply because I was feeling famished. I did well at the two picnics, generally avoiding chips and sweets. At the first picnic, we started out with a kickball game - a good active way to avoid picking at the food. They had pulled pork, which I enjoyed without a bun. I had a couple of chips with it. The brownies I had brought were already long gone by the time we went through the line. At the second picnic, I did pretty well. I stayed away from the food for a good while and then had a bowl of chips with some cheese dip and some wine. Based on my estimates, I was well within target and even had some room for error on my estimates of portion.

After our picnics, I did come home and complete the 30 Day Ab Challenge. I did sort of okay on the two exercises, but the metabolic exercise was too hard for me and I simply couldn't complete it.

Of course, the scale didn't respond to a good day. The good news is that the evening weight is moving down, so again, one of these mornings the scale will just respond.

Today, we are hosting a picnic, so I will just have to make sure that I have a good balance of food that allows me to indulge wisely. We are picnicking at lunch, which gives me some flexibility to eat a lighter dinner, if necessary.

I'm On a Roll

WooHoo! I was a little nervous about running today. Not only was it 70 degrees and 70% humidity at 5:30 am when I checked before going out for a run, but my sides were very tender from having completed the first two days of the 30 Day Ab Challenge. Even as I was walking up, I could feel the heaviness of the air and felt a bit like I was walking with a stitch in my side like you get when you over exert. I decided, as I frequently seem to do, that I would just do what I could. My first goal was one lap. My second goal was to get a five minute update from RunKeeper. My next goal was to make it until that next five minute update. Then, it was to complete one mile. Then, it was to give it all and see how far I could get on the fifth lap. Then, it was to get that next five minute update. In the end, not only did I do the 5 laps to match yesterday, I went an extra 1/4 of a lap. I was very happy. I slowed down and took this picture of the sunrise:

Then, I ran one more lap for good measure and headed home from my workout. I decided that I needed to water and rake my garden, so I spent a few minutes tending to my garden before coming inside.

I seem to be stuck again. I went a little beyond on Saturday and can't seem to fully recover. The biggest challenge is that again tonight, I will face challenge. We were invited to two picnics and I ran into one host at the grocery store buying a case of wine. I am just going to have to make sure that I plan today for an evening with more calories than normal. I'm not yet sure how I will do this. If it weren't supposed to be so warm, I would consider an extra walk at lunch time. I will have to see what I can do.

Monday

Well, Saturday on the run and a friend's engagement party had me well over consumed for the day. So, no activity and eating beyond my calorie target, quickly negated the fact that I had exceeded the 10# mark. I was a little disappointed with myself. I did really well, for the most part. I shouldn't have had the extra piece of pizza at lunch - I had packed a lunch that I knew fit into my calorie target, but after eating it, I foolishly accepted a piece of pizza. It was tasty, but I had already eaten lunch. Then, at my friends party, I stayed with the fresh cut veggies for the most part, but at one point I dipped them in the cheese dip and they had that veggie pizza made on a crescent roll with cream cheese. I couldn't resist.

Sunday was a little bit better. I didn't start my day with activity. I ate reasonably well, having a light lunch in anticipation of making homemade pizza for dinner. I even splurged on some Sierra Mist - why I ask myself. I was able to stay on target for the day. In the evening, I did Day 1 of the 30 Day Ab Challenge. The exercises were hard, I wasn't able to complete the number of reps that they wanted us to, but gave it my all. I did do 1000 jumps, sans jump rope. I had to break it up into 100 - 150 jumps at a time, but I did it. I can't wait to see what Day 2 has in store for me.

Today, I got up late and decided that I might just walk today. Well, when I got to the track, I was alone. I don't know what that has to do with anything, it is more so a statement of fact, I suppose. Anyway, after the first lap, I decided that I should probably make the most of the time that I have at the track and run some. After the first lap, I felt like I had to push myself to complete the second run lap. Next thing I knew, I was negotiating with myself to finish the fifth run lap. I ran 1 1/4 miles straight! So, I was at the track for 6+ laps and ran 5+ of them. Woo Hoo! It felt awesome. Of course, knowing that once the lap was done, I would head home made it easier to convince myself. I hope I can repeat it when I know that I will be walking a lap and then returning to running.