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.