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.

One Month

WooHoo! I knew that the scale would do it one of these days. I was down almost 2# when I stepped on the scale. I didn't actually 'lose' 2# in one day, but I have been plateaued for about a week now. I think my body was adapting to things and making sure, before it 'released' this weight. I've seen it happen this way before, so I was just waiting on it.

The best part is that I have been doing this now for one month - started tracking on 5/29. I am down just over 10# in that window. That means that I am well on target of reaching my interim goal of being down 17# by my birthday. I would love to be ahead of that, but recognizing that the first few pounds are easier to lose, I am not yet ready to accelerate the timeline.

No run today - it is raining. We are going to spend our day with swimming lessons, soccer, and t-ball - so I'm guessing there won't be a work out today, but I am okay with that. I was able to run all five days last week, so I can afford a break in my routine. A chance for my body to recover and re-energize.

The Weekend

Off to another busy weekend.

Yesterday was a good day. Ate well. Went out with friends for some night time music and saw the fireworks from the baseball.

Not sure, again, when I will find time for some extra activity, but if there is a chance, I will take it. I am definitely realizing the benefit of fitting in even 1/2 hour of extra activity and I want to keep my momentum going.

The Weekend is Here!

I am so glad that it is finally the weekend. I'm not sure what it is about short work weeks, but they seem somehow longer than a regular week. Is it because we just got back from an extended time off or is it that we all try to get a full five days of work into the four days - whatever it is, it makes them the most crazy, tiring weeks I know of.

Yesterday, eating was really good. I was a little rushed in the morning with meetings and only had my banana. Let me tell you, without my oatmeal, I was HUNGRY. I tried a new chip (at least new to me) at lunch. It was Smartfoods Selects Popped Chips. They are hummus based! I tried the Garlic Basil Tomato flavor. They were yummy and the small bag that I got was only 100 calories. I had been eating the Cheddar Baked Lays lately, but they are 140 calories. I'm thinking that if I make this trade, I can have one of those 35 calorie chocolates as a treat later!

I wound up not fitting in a walk or other workout yesterday. I feel bummed about it, but life happens. I can't control the rain or my neck. Speaking of which, the neck seems to be better, in that I can turn my head without pain in the neck, but there still is tendon/muscle strain of some sort, because where I don't feel the pain in my neck, I still get some in the 'scalp' area when I move or stretch in a certain way (yawning and sneezing are the two that catch me off guard and I can't avoid).

I have noticed that I eat more on Saturday. I think it is because I love to take the time to have a bowl of cereal and milk with my banana chopped into it for breakfast. I had almost 200 calories more at breakfast today than I normally do. I guess I will have to see how that balances out through the rest of the day. Not sure how I will fit in a workout today...lots of stuff on the calendar with two kids with two sports each, plus tryouts and all-star games on the calendar. On a positive, they did remove the rain from the forecast, so maybe we can find time to fit in a walk.

The scale continued to move in the right direction - and that is a good thing!

Hope you have a wonderful Saturday.