Thursday

It is like Pea Soup outside. We had inches of snow on Monday night into Tuesday, yesterday was slight warming and today we are expecting near 50 with thundershowers. Not a typical three day cycle in the middle of February. I just wish that we could have 50 and no rain...then, I could get outside tonight for a bonus workout. With the rain, its just not an option.

Yesterday was a good active day. Spinning in the morning. Walked to lunch with a friend - not far, but we weren't in the car. Bokwa in the evening. 30 Day Challenge at night - with plank at the beginning and the end again.

It was a good eating day too. Even though I went to lunch with a friend, I was able to keep it healthier by getting the chicken fajitas with no beans, no tortillas, and just having a touch of the rice, which I wasn't supposed to get since I had also said no rice.

Today is Day 4 of the 30 Day Plank, Ab and Squat Challenge. Have you been joining in?

30 Day Plank, Ab and Squat Challenge
Day 4 - 25 second Plank, 10 sit ups, 25 crunches, 40 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.

Is it almost Friday?

I hate to be one to wish away time, but I am so ready for the weekend to get here. My husband and I have a date night with friends this weekend, which should be a good time. We only have childcare until 9, so then we will come back and hang out together playing games or just visiting at one of our houses.

Yesterday was an okay day, I even splurged a little on snacks in the evening, eating to the high end of the range. Which brings me to a question...I use SparkPeoople, my husband uses My Fitness Pal...I get a range of daily calories, he gets a number. Is his number the high end of the range? I assume so, but I like that I have a bottom to my range...a point below which, I'm probably not getting enough and my body will misinterpret the signal and hold onto fat. To that end, as well, I find that by varying what I eat and varying regularly through the entirety of the range, that overall, I am more successful. So, if they only have one number, what do they do? I don't really have an answer, I do know that unlike me, my husband has been very successful in losing and keeping off weight. He is somewhere around 50# lost in the past year (started in early March I think)...he toggles around a few pounds, but is pretty steady. I'd be glad to be at half that and able to maintain. I'm on the journey again, which is really what matters.

For fitness yesterday, I started the day with spinning class...it was the first class where all of the bikes were in use. We have had all but one before, but not all bikes. Then in the evening, I went to a Bokwa class. I had tried it last summer when my instructor was first getting certified, but schedule hasn't made it possible for me to go regularly. I really like it and it was the activity that finally helped her get off the plateau and she has lost several inches and 25# since adding Bokwa to her offering. That is enough to sell me that it can work, especially as an addition to what I have already been doing.

Happy Thursday!
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.

Uninspired Workout

So, this morning, I got up and headed to the Y to check out their Zumba class. I have only taken Zumba from one instructor and she is someone that has lost weight and achieved better fitness through Zumba. She has a true love of the program. I got to the Y a half hour before the class started, so I began with a 1 1/2 mile warm up walk. Then, I headed to the fitness area to the group class studio. No one was there yet. I signed up for the overview program for the equipment in the fitness center. Just a few minutes before class started, the instructor arrived. There were supposed to be four people in the class, plus me - I was just checking it out. I was the only one as class started. The routines were not too complicated - but I still stumbled on some transitions, since they were new. After a couple of songs, another person arrived for the class. As the class progressed, the instructor slowed down - I don't know if she was not wanting to do jumping jacks or really move or if she was trying to demonstrate the low side for beginners, but it seemed so uninspired. I left the workout not really feeling like I had done much. I have some muscle tenderness now, so I think that I might have actually done something, it just wasn't the 'fun' class that I was used to Zumba being, because the instructor was not as energetic. I am hopeful that it was a first class of the new year kind of thing and that next week it will be better. I really wanted that to be one of the morning classes that I took in addition to Spinning.

Eating was okay today, until it wasn't. I like to think that I made mostly wise decisions when we went out to dinner at a new Mexican restaurant, but the reality is that I picked at the chips (so I know I had more than the 12 that is a serving). My meal was one chicken taco and one chicken enchilada. No sour cream. There was that queso though...and I enjoyed dipping a few chips in it. Hopefully, it won't have an actual impact, but I feel a little blah from the food right now.

Hoping for a healthier meal plan and a more energetic workout tomorrow!

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.

Thursday

Well, I know that my legs were definitely feeling the sprint intervals from yesterday. When I headed up for my run this morning, my walk up pace was over 17 min/mile. That is slow! I am normally on the high end of 14 min/mile when I walk up. Today, I decided I would just run. I wound up doing 6 laps, 1 1/2 miles. As I was starting lap 4, I wasn't fully convinced that I was going to get the whole second half in. But, then, I found my groove. I think that if had the time, I could have gone double what I did. As I was completing the 6th lap though, I got my Run Keeper update and knew that it was time to head home and get ready for work.

Yesterday was a good day for eating, right up until it wasn't. I had my protein shake and banana for breakfast. I had my toasted wheat thin with goat cheese, cucumbers, spinach, tomato and banana peppers for lunch. My afternoon snack was an apple. My dinner was late and it was Mexican. We took my son out for his birthday, but it was after soccer practice. I made a reasonable dinner choice of one chicken taco and one chicken enchilada, no rice. Unfortunately, because we were late at eating and because I was feeling famished (should have had a snack when I got home), I ordered the queso. They brought out a big bowl, not the little bowl that they normally do. I ate way too many chips and cheese.

Today should be easier. I know that I am having pizza for dinner and will plan accordingly.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I Ran A Straight Mile!

So, my title might be cheesy, but I am excited. I mentioned yesterday that my goal was to be able to run a straight mile, 4 laps and that I hoped to do it by the end of the week. On Monday I was at doing 3 laps in a row and did that twice. So, stretching to a full 4 laps may not sound like much, but trust me, for me it was quite a stretch. I essentially added about 1/4 lap each day. I wasn't convinced that I could finish the 4 laps today, but I was determined and I did. I even allowed myself to walk a full lap since I ran the 4. Then, I wrapped up with 2 laps of running. So, I actually ran 4+ and 2+ of 8+ laps. My plus is equal to about 11 strides (or the distance from the start line to the first big arrow on my track). Continuing my recent practice of running home instead of walking, I was able to complete my journey today in just 37 minutes. Not bad for a 3.2 mile journey. Now, I think I will stay at the run 1 mile thing for a while, but will try to get going earlier so that I can increase the second run interval from 2 towards 4. That would really only need about 10 more minutes, I just need to get moving faster in the morning. Well, that and the fact that it was really a challenge to finish the 2 after running the 4. Then, I want to get back to the point where I am at the track for the equivalent of a 5K. By the end of summer, I want to be able to run a 5K. I have a ways to go.

Eating was good yesterday. I was so proud of myself. I was in a meeting and the cookie tray was sitting beside me. I picked at the fruit and after about 2 hours, I had a small piece of a brownie, but that was it. Hours of staring at cookies and brownies and only having a nibble is a great stride in self-control. I just need to keep that up. Ate within my target calories, even with having bread and olive oil dip at dinner. This bread that my husband buys is just airy enough that I can have 3 decent slices for only 120 calories. It makes me feel like I am really splurging and yet, am not.

Scale is still holding steady in the morning, but the night time is coming down. Hoping that means I am ready for the morning to start moving again. Plateaus are discouraging.

Thursday

It was a really warm morning for a run/walk. I was a little bit surprised, to fine it 70 and 90% humidity. I was just glad that I don't walk in the afternoon or evening. It is supposed to get up to 92 again today. I did really well. I think that although not ideal, taking the break yesterday was probably a good thing. I wound up running 3++ laps and 2+ laps, out of a total of 7. It was a little strange to walk almost a full lap between the two stretches of running. I only was planning to do 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 laps the first time, like I normally do, but I had started a bit late and I thought to myself, if I run 2 laps then I will be done sooner. Then, as I was completing the second lap, I thought, if I push a little harder, I can get a little further. Then, as I rounded the 2 1/2 lap point, I thought I really should see if I can finish this lap. As I approached the 3 lap point, I thought my app should tell me I've completed 5 more minutes, I can run until it does. So, I wound up several strides past the 3rd lap. It felt great. I took the rest of the lap to walk, although I had debated running at the 3/4 point. It really felt good. I actually spent the same amount of time as Tuesday, but since I ran 1/4 lap less, meant I must have moved a little faster this time.

Eating has been well. I don't have bananas, as they were all over-ripe and I turned them into chocolate banana bread, which I have been eating every morning. Awesome! I have been getting my workout protein from bars lately. I used up all of my shakes. After I use up the bars, I have some powder that I will use for some smoothies and then I will need to buy more. I just want to make sure that I use up what I have on hand. For lunch yesterday, I had this really yummy Rainbow Trout Oscar with a side of string beans. I just wish that there was an option for the asparagus on the side too! It was really flavorful and left me wanting more. Dinner was eggs over easy, toast, pierogie and sausage. It was a very satisfying meal and one that we haven't done in a while.

The scale responded favorably today. I have been back in the groove for under a month and pacing well. It is so motivating when your efforts pay off.

Two Days...

So, yesterday morning, the internet was down at my house. It sort of surprised me how much I use the internet in the morning. I missed posting about my daily results, I missed being able to go online and check things out at SparkPeople. I had to 'turn off' WiFi on my phone so that I could at least get online through my phone to be able to read e-mails and play games.

So, yesterday started out really good and then, well I wasn't as good as I should have been. I started my day with a run/walk. It was great! I went further than I had the other day, in total laps and in continuous laps. I started with a 1 lap walk, 1 lap run, like I normally do. After the next walk lap, I decided that I wanted to beat Tuesday, so I decided that I would try to get in 3 full laps. And, I did! Then, 1 lap of walk and 2 more laps of running. It was invigorating, as I walked home, I thought to myself, I think I could really enjoy becoming a runner.

Eating was good, until it wasn't. We decided to try this pizza place for dinner, that we had heard of and driven past, but never had. My friend and I went there to order it, since the owner told me the menu was too hard to explain on the phone. They only sell pizza we learned when we got there. We ordered one plain pizza and one that had tomatoes, green olives and banana peppers on it. While we waited, I had a glass of wine and she had a beer. When we came home, we ate the pizza with my family. The pizza was pretty average, but those toppings made for an awesome piece of pizza and I ate 3! Needless to say, three pieces of a 16" pizza are a good number of calories.

Today, my run was good, not quite as successful as yesterday, but I was at the track for one less lap and still ran 1 1/4, 2 1/2, and 2 laps or only 1/4 lap less than yesterday. It felt great. There were points where I felt so light on my feet and pace tells me that I ran stronger than I have so far. My average pace for the day was under 13 minutes/mile. That is great!

Hopefully, today will be a better day of eating. Thankfully, the scale is 'stuck' and whereas I didn't see the expected improvement on Wednesday, I was glad not to see the resultant penalty from yesterday.

WoooHooo!

I have a lot that I am happy about today.

1. This morning, I went for my regular run walk. I didn't sleep in, well maybe just a little, so I got up to the track with time to do some more distance than I have the past two days. I decided that I was ready to go beyond just alternating laps of walking and running. I decided that on the first run lap, I was going to run to the first arrow after the line (about 10 paces). Then, on the next one, I thought I would double it and went about 20 paces beyond the lap. On the third time, I had just got my five minute update, so I thought can I run for 5 minutes - I didn't but I did run 1 1/2 laps. Then, the fourth one, I wanted to run out the workout so I ran 1 1/4 laps. I hadn't gotten the five minute update and I wanted to complete at least 35 minutes before heading home, so I walked 1/4 lap, got my 35 minute update and decided to run out the last 1/2 lap. So, all told, I was at the track for 2 1/4 miles and I ran about 1 3/8+ miles of it. At my 35 minute update, my average pace including walking was under 13 minutes. My pace when I am running the full minute is 9:40 / mile. That felt great!

2. Last night, I went out to dinner with my family for Mexican. I nibbled at chips and ate a meal. This morning, the scale was flat. Awesome. That is what I am looking for. I need to know that by being active and making good choices - I had a chicken taco and a spinach enchilada for dinner - that I can still go out and enjoy myself without issues at the scale.


Overall, yesterday was a reasonable day with eating. I started my day with a protein shake and banana. I got a chocolate espresso - I need to figure out the calories for that one, as I haven't accounted for it yet. Lunch was a grilled chicken breast with barbecue sauce for dipping. I had apple slices and the Feta variety of those Smartfoods Popped Chips. I must say that they were yummy. I also noticed a brown sugar cinnamon variety - sounds like I have another flavor to try. Dinner was a chicken taco and a spinach enchilada. The hardest thing there was trying to decide how many calories. On SparkPeople, there are a number of entries for Spinach Enchilada - they range from 150 calories to over 500 calories. Problem is, there is no way of knowing what size, what ingredients or if it was for a full meal. Since mine had no cheese and enchilada sauce is relatively low in calories, I figured that the 150 calorie estimate was closer than the 500 calorie estimate. For the chicken taco, I selected Pollo Loco's Chicken Taco - I reasoned that it was an eating out taco, so they should be similar. For chips, I checked my bag at home and 1 oz is about 12 chips. This allowed me to use an eating out tortilla as a gauge - for all the entries on SparkPeople the serving sizes were in ounces, which struck me as funny because I have no way of measuring ounces of chips when I am eating out.

What was I thinking...

I should have known better. Yesterday, my husband had mentioned trying to do dinner with some friends. When we hadn't heard back, I had him take chicken out of the freezer so that we could have it for dinner. But, the seed had been planted, I kept thinking about the chips and salsa and the chicken tacos. So, we wound up going out for dinner. I looked things up before we went at least and had an idea of what everything was in terms of calories. In the end though, I went over my daily calorie target. No surprise, the scale reflected appropriately this morning. I will persevere though. I will return to managing my intake and will make sure to plan ahead better next time.

Dinner out aside, overall eating yesterday was pretty good. I was a little surprised to learn the differences in calorie content of like items. Take for example oatmeal. I take the little instant packs with me for breakfast. The Apple Cinnamon packets are only 130 calories, while the Cinnamon Spice are 160. The plain ones, only 100 calories. That 60 calorie difference between the Cinnamon Spice and Plain is 5% of the low end of my daily target, or as I like to think of it two pieces of chocolate. Seeing that both fill me equally, I suppose that I should stick to Apple Cinnamon and/or plain in the future. I'd rather add the chocolate to my day than eat extra calories in my oatmeal.

I got up a little late this morning, but still had time for my work out. I headed up to the track again to walk/run. The same two ladies from yesterday were there again this morning. I like having someone else there, it helps me achieve goals. I was able to lap them in my 4th lap and my 8th lap. It may sound silly, but that is my goal. It helps to keep me motivated. I did 12 laps again today and shaved almost 2 minutes off the total time. I ran a full lap more than yesterday, so that was a significant portion of the gain.