Friday!

It is so nice to be able to go outside and not feel like you are freezing. The dampness of the rain has made it feel cooler than it is, but even that is better than the sub zero temps that we seemed to have regularly over the past two months.

Yesterday was boot camp day. I thought last night that I was going to be a lot more sore when I woke up today than I was. I feel silly saying it, but I was a bit disappointed by that. Oh well! Today was another boot camp class with a different teacher. It had a slightly different focus - more arms and core.

I like the 30 Day challenge, but am not yet convinced that I like the ab portion of the one that I chose. The other ab challenges that I have done were more diverse in movement. We will see though, with time the quantity of each exercise increases, so maybe it will prove to be better than it seems. Either way, I'm going to finish it.

Today is Day 5 of the 30 Day Plank, Ab and Squat Challenge. Have you been joining in? The 5th day is a day of rest on the Plank challenge. So, today there will just be ab and squat exercises.

30 Day Plank, Ab and Squat Challenge
Day 5 - 5 sit ups, 10 crunches, 20 squats

I am not a diet or fitness expert. I am a mom, just trying to be healthy and fit. All opinions expressed are my own.

Disappointed!

What a disappointment. I must have been tired, as I forgot to set my alarm last night. So, this morning, I rolled over and looked at the clock to see how long until my alarm would go off and discovered that it was already 6:30. I had not only not gotten up when I needed to, but I had already completely missed my spinning class - it was just ending. I was so disappointed to miss my Spinning class. It is so much fun and such a good workout.

It might not have been so bad to take a break from my workout, but then I went and had a stressful day at work. Working out always helps me relieve stress, so to have missed that relief, made it that much more stressful. Now, I just want to sit down tonight with a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge. If I had at least worked out, I would feel less guilty.

I definitely think that I will have to make a point of going to Zumba tomorrow, to make up for today's missed workout.

Overall, otherwise, things are going well. I know that I will get past this missed workout, but I just wish that I didn't have to.

By the Light of the Fridge...

Sort of sounds like a late night eating binge story, but in reality it is the story of my Friday morning workout. I headed to the Y and was there in plenty of time to sign up for the classes that I will take and to head to Spinning. I got there and there were about 8 people standing in the lobby. The rest of the building seemed to be dark. Turns out that they had lights in the bathrooms, the lobby and a small lobby upstairs. Everything else - the pool, the fitness center, the fieldhouse, the Spinning room, the main hallways - was dark.

After standing there for a while, the Spinning instructor reminded them that we did the class on Wednesday without lights in the room and asked if the bikes could be moved out into the hallway or somewhere that had some light so that the class could go on. We all used our phones as flashlights and proceeded upstairs. Someone opened the door of the fridge to provide some light in the Spinning room. The instructor said that is enough light and proceeded to adjust the temperature, so that it wouldn't run too much. We set up our bikes and proceeded to work out. When we were about 35 minutes into the 45 minute class, the lights came back on. We had a late start, so hence a late finish, but I was glad that I didn't give up and leave before they decided to hold class in the dark. It felt great and I did a better job of staying out of the saddle for longer periods with the rest of the class. I followed up the workout with a 1/4 mile cool down walk.

Speaking of class, I decided to sign up for two Spinning and one Zumba class. I figure the other two days I can do some walking/running and some swimming. I could also use those as the days that I use the weights in the fitness center to do some more toning. The session is only like 8 weeks long, so I can always bump to four or five days of formalized class if I think it will be a better fit for me.

Eating was not so wonderful yesterday. I did great until mid-afternoon. I was in a meeting and the meeting lead brought along a Chex mix - with Bugles and Fritos in it. Well, I thought I would only have a couple, but I found myself periodically picking. That part wasn't so bad, but when the meeting was over, that salty taste in my mouth had me wanting something sweet. Conveniently, there were still some Christmas cookies and candies set out by others, that I picked at.

I am on the right path. I am being active and being more conscientious about the food decisions that I am making. I am still tempted and still lack full control to stop at one taste of a treat, but I am making the right choices 90% of the time and that will go a long way to helping me reach my goals of being healthier and more fit (and lose some weight along the way).

Friday!!

Well, where did the week go? I actually made it to the track each morning this week, but I was trying to wait on light and eventually concluded that if I continue to wait for light, I will have no time to exercise. I talked to the two women that I see up there every day and they told me when they get there and I said that I would target that time and if I saw them, I would stay and if not, I would go. It sounded like a great plan, but still life gets in the way and I didn't get there quite that early. The good news though is that I did get there early enough today to actually fit in 5 laps. Of course, I felt completely out of shape and only ran 3 of the 5 laps. I could have probably done 6 if I had actually run them all.

Eating - oh no! I'm not really sure why, but it has been a really tough eating week for me. I think that our busy schedules are a contributor, stress is a contributor and being tired. I had a bowl of Cheez-Its the other night and they were so good, I had more - when I went to get them, they were almost out, so as any (in)sane person would do, I finished them. I'm not sure why I would allow 3 servings of Cheez-Its for a snack, except well they are addictive. Then, last night, we switched around meal plans and went to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. That wasn't the problem, the problem was that it was after 8. So, I was hungry and ate more chips than I should. I had a reasonable dinner. But, it was so late, I still felt stuffed when I went to bed.

Needless to say, the scale was not moving the way that I wanted...but, I at least know why.

I am hopeful that today will be a better eating day. There are no specific evening plans, except perhaps a friend staying over.

Just Two Laps

Now on the surface, I am a bit disappointed when I say I only ran two laps, but in reality, I am glad that I ran even though it was only two laps. You see, a while ago, when I got busy doing something and wasn't ready to start my workout on time, I might have been inclined to simply skip it. I would have wondered at the value of only having a few minutes or only going a lap or two. The fact that it was suddenly 20 minutes after 6 and I hadn't left for my run yet would have been a deterrent. But now, I recognize that all activity is good and even better than the activity itself is maintaining a habit. If I allowed myself to skip the workout, then I might be more inclined to do it again the next day and progressively, I would get away from doing it all together. So, today I only did 2 laps at the track, but a total of 1.55 miles. It was good to get out. I need to get moving earlier so that I can fit in more in the future.

Yesterday, I was more successful - I did sprint intervals. I started with a one lap warm up run, did sprint intervals for 4 laps (1 mile) and then wrapped up with one lap cool down run. It felt great. I haven't had a chance to see how fast my sprint was, but I know that I was much slower on the walk between sprints - suggesting to me that I was going faster on my sprint. I really think that it is helping me with my overall speed and breath control. There is something about pushing yourself routinely that changes you.

Eating was a challenge yesterday. I did really good until we came home from the soccer game. I was feeling munchy and found some Cheddar Jack Cheez-It. Yum! Normally, I control myself and have just one small bowl of crackers. Last night, it was three! Not only that, but I had a glass of wine (a tall one, the bottle was almost out and I couldn't leave that little bit behind) with them. It was yummy and it is okay to have a treat on occasion.

Hoping that the eating is better controlled today. I don't think I can stay away from the Cheez-Its, but hopefully I can have just one bowl.

Finally Friday!

Okay, the other day I questioned why it seems that time goes by so fast and today I am cheering about the fact that it is Friday. Yes, I guess when it comes to time I am a 'have my cake and eat it too' kind of girl. There never seems to be enough time, especially enough weekend time - time to be at home, time to be with the kids, time to relax.

I skipped my run on Thursday morning - it had been a late night on Wednesday and I had an early morning meeting. I was a little bit bummed to miss it, but there wasn't much that I could do about it. Eating was okay on Thursday, except we ate out for lunch. I tried to manage my food, but it was Mexican and my friend ordered queso.

I got up on time this morning and headed out for my run. I decided that I would go with a goal of 6 laps or 1 1/2 miles of running. I got up there and walked the first lap, I needed some momentum I guess. I started running and by about lap two was fully convinced that I would never complete this goal. But, I kept on pushing and pushing. As I would finish one lap, I would think I can do at least one more lap. Before long, I found myself finishing my 9th lap of running. It felt good to run the distance. I have been enjoying the sprints, but they aren't helping me with endurance, which is another goal that I have.

I never did get back to the 30 Day Ab Challenge. This month, she is doing a Clean Eating Challenge, which I am not sure will work for me. I am thinking that next week, I will simply restart the Ab Challenge and hopefully, be able to finish it.

It is a busy weekend with company, weddings, and more..hopefully, I can at least try to stay within target and try to get in a little extra activity. The scale is still hovering and I am convinced that one of these days it will simply drop again. The plateau will be overcome.

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!

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.

Another Mile and then some!

When I went out for my run this morning, despite it being before 6 am it was already mid-70s and 80% humidity. I was immediately struck by the heaviness of the air. It was very evident to me with how slowly I made the walk up to the track. I started to question whether I would be able to run very well in this weather. My 'friends' were there when I got there and another gentleman, who I learned grew up in Virginia, joined us. I walked the first lap and then started into my run. As I was in my second lap of running, I passed my friends and they asked if I ran yesterday. I told them I had and said that I missed them. They told me that they had left because two strange guys had showed up and just seemed to be hanging out. They were still there when I got there, but by then they were doing sprints and steps and shuttle runs, but there were other runners too. They were glad to hear that I wasn't alone at the track with the other guys. It made me happy to think that they were looking out for me. Needless to say, our conversation slowed down that second lap, but I was able to complete it and then the third one and then I figured I would do what I could. I was able to complete the fourth lap and started into the fifth. I think I could have gone a little further, but didn't want to push too much, so I settled for 4 1/4 laps. I walked out the balance and followed it up with 3 + laps of running. I was very pleased with myself - I overcame the heavy, stagnant air and ran over a mile and then followed it with 3/4 of a mile more.

Eating was good yesterday. I had a couscous stuffed tomato for lunch. It was couscous, grape tomatoes, zucchini, squash and feta cheese inside a tomato, sprinkled with some bread crumb and bit of Parmesan. I also had a side of steamed broccoli and red peppers. It was very tasty and satisfying. I was a little worried there wasn't enough 'meat' to it. Dinner was pork tenderloin, but I skipped the bun, making it a better option for me. I finished my day with a nice cup of milk. Milk is a favorite treat of mine. I find that when I am watching calorie intake, I tend to drink a little less than normal, so when I can find the 100 calories at the end of the day, I am very happy.

I was a little bummed that the scale didn't respond at all today. Maybe it was by design....I had said that if I was down, I might skip the run and do the laundry and dishes. Turns out, I did it all.

It's finally Friday!!!

Of course, last week, Friday was even better because I was off! But, I am still very glad that it is Friday. I feel like I have so much stuff to do - nothing big, but still lots of stuff to do and it will be good to have a weekend to catch up on some things. It is a busy weekend, but perhaps a little less busy than the past few.

I started today with my run. On my walk up to the track, I wondered to myself, what if I don't do as well as yesterday, what would I say. I mean, being honest, eventually I won't 'best' myself everyday. Eventually to do it in less time or do more distance is going to get harder and harder. Eventually, sleeping in will not work because to continue to press, I will need to add time to my run. But, the good news is, despite my concern, I did do better today. I ran 3 1/4 laps and 2 1/4 laps of the total of 7 laps. The first lap is always a walk, so really, I have about 1/2 lap improvement before I need time! I actually even ran part of the way home too! I was about 1/4 of the distance home and when I got my update from RunKeeper, I was at 12:00 min/mile for my pace. I was so excited, I wanted to see if I could keep it, so I decided that despite my exhaustion, I would try to run most of the rest of the way home. When I got home, it said the pace was 11:59, but after it 'adjusted' down the .01 distance that it sometimes does on transmission, it moved to 12:01. Still pretty darn good! When I was running my pace ranged from 8:59 - 9:57 min/mile. And...I did the same distance that I have over the past couple of outings and did it in 2 1/2 minutes less time.

Eating was reasonable yesterday. I didn't do so well with tracking dinner. I had chicken bruschetta, but I completely failed to weigh my portion and then, I went with a user entered option, so I am not quite sure that what I ate was a serving of what they entered. Today, I have a lunch out, so I am sure that I will be more challenged than usual. I will just have to find something that is satisfying and not too high in calories.

Tomorrow, if the schedule permits, I would like to go to Zumba class. It is the first Saturday in a while with no soccer. We will see when baseball is - won't know for sure until the teams that play tonight finish because it is a tournament game and the game time depends on your seed.

Finally Friday

I am glad that it is finally Friday. The week wasn't really that long or that hard, it just was.

My head hurt this morning when I got up from over sleeping. As such, I did not run. After a few minutes, I did convince myself that at least going for a walk would be a good idea. I fit in 1.75 mile walk. I am glad that I went. I think I would have been disappointed in myself if I had just skipped everything altogether this morning.

Eating was good yesterday, even though it started out bad. I had a breakfast meeting and a lunch meeting. I had had my normal protein shake and banana and then allowed myself to have a breakfast in addition. Lunch wasn't too bad, I skipped the bread and ate the sandwich insides on their own. Dinner were some yummy crabcakes. Yum! I even found room for a small dessert before bed.

The scale continues to move, be it slowly, in the right direction.

Rain, Rain...Go away

Well, it is a rainy day this morning, so no walk/run for me. Perhaps it is good to give my body a break, I just hope I can jump back in tomorrow. I know that my plan was to use days like this to do some strength training. Well, a few days back I slept funny (yeah, yeah - laughed all night) and woke up with a sore neck. I have been trying to baby it all week (after my walk/run of course). Finally, it seems to be feeling a little better, but when I woke up this morning, I evidently was so careful of how I slept to allow the least stress on my existing strain, that I cause a different one in my neck. I figured it probably was best if I not try to lift weights. I'd rather not cause some serious damage. If it clears up a little later, a quick lunch time walk will be my activity for the day.

Yesterday was a good day of eating. No eating out was a major plus!

I have found a new lunch time addiction. I have been getting a Wheat Deli Thin with Goat Cheese, toasted, and topping it with banana peppers, spinach, cucumber and tomato. Packed with flavor and only about 200 calories. I usually have this with some grapes and apples on the side. Fresh vegetables on a sandwich have long been a favorite of mine. When I got to Subway, I almost always get the veggies and cheese sandwich and overstuff it with all of the vegetables. I will have to balance it so as not to get burnt out on having the same lunch every day.

I actually finished my day right at the lower end of the daily target. And, finally, the scale responded. I was glad to have a day where I felt satisfied and the scale responded. Now, to make sure that more of my days are like yesterday.