Tuesday

WooHooo! What a run/walk. I am so glad that I went out for my morning activity today. I was so tempted to not go or cut it short or just walk. It was a little bit late when I got up. I actually was up when my alarm went off and then, decided, I really just want to lie here for 5 more minutes - 30 minutes later I got up. Then, by the time I had my shoes on and ready to go, it was already 45 minutes later than I normally start. I got outside and it was muggy, but fortunately not warm. I decided to head up to the track. I figured that I could still do 1 mile at the track at least, most likely walking I thought. Then, after I did my first lap, I decided, I'm at the track I may as well at least run part of a lap, even if I don't complete it. Well, I completed that lap and even ran about 10 paces beyond. Then, after the next walking lap, I decided I would run another lap. As I started, I thought, I might as well try to run 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 laps. The extra few minutes won't be that much of a problem. Then, I got my five minute update. I completed the lap, passed the 1/4 turn and then the 1/2. Then, I thought, I wonder if I could actually run the full time between updates, knowing I had started running before the start of the first one. I completed lap 2 and then passed the 1/4 turn and then as I approached the 1/2 turn, I got my update. I finished running at the 1/2. So, I went from maybe not going, to walking, to running 3 1/2 laps with 2 1/2 of the laps being continuous. It felt so good. Then, I was walking home and about 1/2 way up my street, it began to sprinkle. As I entered my garage, it began to rain. Talk about timing!

Eating was good yesterday. I was back on track with a normal breakfast, a reasonable lunch and a good dinner. I even had an evening snack and stayed near the lower portion of my target. It was good to eat normal - to not feel stuffed, to feel satisfied (ie not empty calories).

The scale took two days, but this morning, I did return to where I was Saturday morning before my very social day. That is not too bad. Two days to recover, tells me that I can have days where I enjoy myself and not get off track, as long as I don't make them too frequent.

#s to Go: 28.6#

Monday

It is so much so a Monday today. I awoke, late, with a splitting headache. Knowing that I had two loads of laundry to fold, one to dry (and fold) and one to wash and hang to dry, I decided that I would take an extra 15 minutes of sleep and do housework for my morning activity today. Oh, I so prefer walking and running to housework, but the thought of moving my head with each stride sounded like it would make my head explode. Speaking of explosions, when I did come downstairs with my load of laundry, our lights flashed and I heard two big booms - like something may have happened at the distribution center. I'm actually glad I wasn't outside, I think that the explosion sound would have sent me into a panic.

The weekend was a busy one. Unfortunately, the net result was that I went over on Saturday - there was cake and ice cream and one too many meals. We started our day with a normal breakfast. Then, it was off to soccer for my son. Then home, for a quick lunch before heading to my daughter's preschool graduation. Graduation was followed by a cake and ice cream social, complete with toppings. Then, it was home for a bit of a break and then an early dinner (3:45) before heading out to my son's baseball game. At the game, we nibbled on grapes - it was close to 90 and we needed something cool and wet for snacking. When we got home, we needed something because dinner was a bit early. We went with cheese, pepperoni and crackers. Of course, cheese and crackers need wine. In the end, I probably could have better managed the day. I should have had the presence of mind to skip at least the cake or the ice cream. I would have enjoyed either fully and really didn't need the second one. I probably could have sliced some apples to enjoy with the cheese. I love an apple paired with a good sharp cheddar, and it would have been both filled me and been lower in calories than the equivalent crackers.

The real opportunity here is for me to show myself how quickly I can recover from a day like that. Let's face it, in the course of life, there are going to be celebrations, busy days, and times where I want to relax with a glass of wine and cheese. I need to realize that one bad day doesn't mean I've thrown in the towel. The scale was up a couple of pounds the next day, I know that isn't real weight and that returning to normal will help.

Sunday, I ate at the high end of my calorie target. It was a better day than Saturday, but having a meal out made it more of a challenge. Now that we are back to a regular old day, it should be easier.

Unlike last weekend, I really didn't find the chance to fit in a workout mid-day. It was a little bit too warm to walk up to the baseball game with my daughter on Saturday and Sunday, we simply ran out of time.

It's Monday, time to get back on track!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.