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.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Half Way through the Week
I need a serious shot of energy. Okay, maybe not energy. I overslept again today. I'm thinking that the biggest culprit is that I have allowed bed time to sneak later on me. I have good intentions of getting to bed by 10, but sometimes the schedule just doesn't allow for that. Like last night, our baseball game went to 8:30, then there was a child's birthday that the kids shared cupcakes with and then it was home and shower. So, they didn't both get to bed until after 9:30. That is when I come down and try to get things done. So, suddenly, making it to my room by 10 is a challenge, let alone in bed by 10.
On the upside, even though I have overslept the past two days, I still have headed to the track to get in a shortened walk. I figure it is better that I walk/ran 1.25 miles at the track (plus walked a nearly equal distance there and back), than just skipped it because I overslept. I'm hopeful that reflects on the formation of a habit and my dedication to success.
Eating was good yesterday. I actually ate dinner after the game though, so that was a drawback to go to bed on such a full stomach. I'm still eating the same combination at lunch, which is good for now because I find it flavorful and satisfying. I hope that the ever changing dinner menu allows me to not get bored.
Things are going well. Now that I am started down this path, I need to focus on not getting derailed. If I have an off night or a bad couple of days, I can't let it make me forget my overall goal. I can't let one bump in the road cause me to lose momentum.
On the upside, even though I have overslept the past two days, I still have headed to the track to get in a shortened walk. I figure it is better that I walk/ran 1.25 miles at the track (plus walked a nearly equal distance there and back), than just skipped it because I overslept. I'm hopeful that reflects on the formation of a habit and my dedication to success.
Eating was good yesterday. I actually ate dinner after the game though, so that was a drawback to go to bed on such a full stomach. I'm still eating the same combination at lunch, which is good for now because I find it flavorful and satisfying. I hope that the ever changing dinner menu allows me to not get bored.
Things are going well. Now that I am started down this path, I need to focus on not getting derailed. If I have an off night or a bad couple of days, I can't let it make me forget my overall goal. I can't let one bump in the road cause me to lose momentum.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
It's Tuesday!
I overslept today. It was only by 30 minutes and it won't make me late for work, but it did mean that I didn't have as much work out time as normal. Yesterday, when I went up to the track, I found a padlock on the gate and wound up walking in the neighborhood. I was so worried that maybe the city schools had changed their mind on allowing it to be open to the public, so I was glad to see the gate open when I arrived at the track this morning. It was especially good since I had less time available. I knew that the time at the track splitting my team between running and walking would be more effective than the same time walking in the neighborhood. It felt good, but for some reason, after my second 1/4 mile run, I felt a little nauseous. I took time, caught my breath and was able to complete my work out. I think I must just have been pushing myself. My overall pace was 10 seconds per mile better than it was on Thursday (last time I ran). That may not sound that great, but I ran half the distance that I normally do and had the same walk up and back, meaning that if I had doubled up on my run, I would have expected it to be even better. I wound up with just over 2.5 miles of workout today, in just about 35 minutes.
I finally learned how to effectively edit my route on RunKeeper. When I walk in the neighborhood, I sometimes have serious noise in the route. I learned how to delete data points to smooth the route. It worked great and I wish I had known how to get rid of the ghost marks long ago. It makes me more confident in the numbers - if it is out of whack, I can realign and get it much closer to reality.
Eating was pretty good yesterday. I splurged on a cup of onion soup yesterday. I should have skipped the croutons and cheese, but the soup was so yummy and only 140 calories (I didn't look closely enough to know if that was with or without the toppings). I have a new favorite chip. I mentioned last week about the Smartfood Selects, they are just such a tasty snack and meet that need for crunch without being too much. The 100 calories fit perfectly in my day.
I also have discovered two favorite evening snacks that I seem to alternate between - except last night, where I had both! I have some Wheat Thins Sundried Tomato Basil crackers and a string cheese - this is a 220 calorie snack. I like to have it on days where I feel like my protein is low for the day. It's only 8g in total, but it can be the bump I need to meet the target level of daily protein. The second is the Weight Watchers Giant Cookies & Cream Bars. At only 130 calories, this is a great sweet treat to end my day.
Time to start the rest of my day.
I finally learned how to effectively edit my route on RunKeeper. When I walk in the neighborhood, I sometimes have serious noise in the route. I learned how to delete data points to smooth the route. It worked great and I wish I had known how to get rid of the ghost marks long ago. It makes me more confident in the numbers - if it is out of whack, I can realign and get it much closer to reality.
Eating was pretty good yesterday. I splurged on a cup of onion soup yesterday. I should have skipped the croutons and cheese, but the soup was so yummy and only 140 calories (I didn't look closely enough to know if that was with or without the toppings). I have a new favorite chip. I mentioned last week about the Smartfood Selects, they are just such a tasty snack and meet that need for crunch without being too much. The 100 calories fit perfectly in my day.
I also have discovered two favorite evening snacks that I seem to alternate between - except last night, where I had both! I have some Wheat Thins Sundried Tomato Basil crackers and a string cheese - this is a 220 calorie snack. I like to have it on days where I feel like my protein is low for the day. It's only 8g in total, but it can be the bump I need to meet the target level of daily protein. The second is the Weight Watchers Giant Cookies & Cream Bars. At only 130 calories, this is a great sweet treat to end my day.
Time to start the rest of my day.
Monday, June 4, 2012
a new week
Well, I suppose that technically, it is not the start of a new week just yet, since I began this new journey on a Tuesday, but since I like standard structure and it is Monday, we will call this a new week.
I am very pleased with my accomplishments from this first week.
I was able to do cardio (walk/run) every day this week with the exception of Friday when it rained. I even included my 5 year old on two of days - once on foot, once on scooter. I was disappointed to not do strength training, but feel that risking injury while I was trying to mend from a kinked neck was not worth trying to strength train. I bought a Groupon for Zumba, in the hopes that I can do that a couple of evenings a week, in addition to my morning routine.
I was able to stay within my calorie target most days. There were a couple that I was out, but not by much. I felt good with what I was eating. I learned a bit about choices. Like yesterday, the Mac'n Cheese at lunch was yummy, but at almost 500 calories, it was close to 1/3 of what I should eat all day. As yummy as it was, it wasn't worth this much to me - it wasn't satisfying enough to make me rush to have it again.
The scale smiled kindly upon me as a result of my effort in both activity and food.
#s to Go: 30.6, down 3.4#
I am very pleased with my accomplishments from this first week.
I was able to do cardio (walk/run) every day this week with the exception of Friday when it rained. I even included my 5 year old on two of days - once on foot, once on scooter. I was disappointed to not do strength training, but feel that risking injury while I was trying to mend from a kinked neck was not worth trying to strength train. I bought a Groupon for Zumba, in the hopes that I can do that a couple of evenings a week, in addition to my morning routine.
I was able to stay within my calorie target most days. There were a couple that I was out, but not by much. I felt good with what I was eating. I learned a bit about choices. Like yesterday, the Mac'n Cheese at lunch was yummy, but at almost 500 calories, it was close to 1/3 of what I should eat all day. As yummy as it was, it wasn't worth this much to me - it wasn't satisfying enough to make me rush to have it again.
The scale smiled kindly upon me as a result of my effort in both activity and food.
#s to Go: 30.6, down 3.4#
Sunday, June 3, 2012
the busy weekend
Saturday was an incredibly busy day for us. We had soccer and baseball and an 'unplanned' visit from friends. All of which had a net impact on my overall day of eating and exercising.
As I mentioned yesterday, I was a little surprised by how many more calories I consume at breakfast on the weekend, when I have milk, cereal and banana instead of oatmeal made with water and a banana. Well, we were on the move enough that much of the rest of the day, I didn't have the chance to eat much. Lunch we had sandwiches, to save a few calories, I ate it on a single slice of bread. It was still very satisfying. For dinner, I went with homemade pizza, which was reasonably okay with only 450 calories for the serving I enjoyed. My biggest challenge was sharing a bottle of wine with friends. It was a large bottle of wine and the three of us shared it, but it still added 350 calories to my day. One less glass and I would have been right within my daily target, but I finished my day up about 55 calories beyond my target.
Despite my concern that I wouldn't find time to fit in exercise, I found time for two walks. The pace was slower than normal for the first one (17 min/mile), and extremely slower for the second one (21 min/mile). My daughter and I walked up to the All Star baseball game in town for my son's age group. He wasn't playing, but my husband was coaching and some of my son's teammates and other friends were playing. After about 5 innings, she was ready to go and we walked home. Each direction was about 2 miles, although on the return trip we actually had a leave and return interval of just about 1/4 mile. On the way home, she was goofing around and fell down and scraped her knee. At that point, she walked so SLOW! It was still good. I am happy to have gotten in over 4 miles of walking on a day that I expected to get in none.
Overall, the scale inched down...better than the other way, but certainly a motivator to be more measured in what I eat.
Today, I'm hoping to fit in some gardening as my exercise. It certainly is late, but I need to get in my garden before it is too late for the season.
As I mentioned yesterday, I was a little surprised by how many more calories I consume at breakfast on the weekend, when I have milk, cereal and banana instead of oatmeal made with water and a banana. Well, we were on the move enough that much of the rest of the day, I didn't have the chance to eat much. Lunch we had sandwiches, to save a few calories, I ate it on a single slice of bread. It was still very satisfying. For dinner, I went with homemade pizza, which was reasonably okay with only 450 calories for the serving I enjoyed. My biggest challenge was sharing a bottle of wine with friends. It was a large bottle of wine and the three of us shared it, but it still added 350 calories to my day. One less glass and I would have been right within my daily target, but I finished my day up about 55 calories beyond my target.
Despite my concern that I wouldn't find time to fit in exercise, I found time for two walks. The pace was slower than normal for the first one (17 min/mile), and extremely slower for the second one (21 min/mile). My daughter and I walked up to the All Star baseball game in town for my son's age group. He wasn't playing, but my husband was coaching and some of my son's teammates and other friends were playing. After about 5 innings, she was ready to go and we walked home. Each direction was about 2 miles, although on the return trip we actually had a leave and return interval of just about 1/4 mile. On the way home, she was goofing around and fell down and scraped her knee. At that point, she walked so SLOW! It was still good. I am happy to have gotten in over 4 miles of walking on a day that I expected to get in none.
Overall, the scale inched down...better than the other way, but certainly a motivator to be more measured in what I eat.
Today, I'm hoping to fit in some gardening as my exercise. It certainly is late, but I need to get in my garden before it is too late for the season.
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