Still running!

I have some shocking news: I haven't given up on running yet! I have not missed one session of my running group, which meets twice a week, and I had another race last weekend! This time, I did a 5k.

Happy because I'm near the finish line!

I had a crazy notion that I would try to run the entire thing, which did NOT happen. I did run most of it though, albeit very slowly. At one point, I was passed by a man carrying a full-size canoe. Yes. Man with canoe was faster than I was (as were LOTS of people pushing strollers and pulling wagons with kids in them).

But I'm really pleased with my time - 42:49. That's faster than I expected to do it, AND I was more than twice as fast as the 2.5k race I did two weeks before (my time was 22:05). So, even though I'm slow, I'm improving. :)

Eating well remains, as always, a struggle. But I just had some lentil soup, so that's something. All I can do is keep trying!

In other news, my 60s birthday party was lots of fun. After a few Youtube videos and an hour of teasing/hairspraying my hair, this was the end result:

It wasn't perfect, but I was satisfied.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Bye for now!

New Running Adventures

Last year, during my university's Homecoming weekend, I watched three of my closest friends run a 5km race. It was really fun to watch, but I was also very jealous that I wasn't running with them.

As I've mentioned, a few weeks ago I joined a "Learn to Run" group. Seeing as it had only been a couple of weeks since I got back into running, I was planning to watch my friends run that same 5k again. But then, my running group leader suggested that run/walking the 2.5km loop of the same race would be a good idea. For some reason, this had never even occurred to me. After he put the idea in my head, I quickly signed up - and two more of my friends decided to do the 2.5 km loop as well!

So, one week ago, all 5 of us participated in the Laurier Loop! I really pushed myself, and I was very surprised when I was able to run all the way to the water station (which I think was at the halfway point, about 1.25km).

Feeling good around the 1 km mark!

With my besties after the race! I wish someone had told me about my hair situation.

It was pretty brutal finishing the race. The last leg was to run around a stadium track to the finish line, and I had decided I wanted to run that whole section. It was really hard, and I think I was definitely running slower than a walking pace, but I still managed to finish. My time was 22:04 - not too shabby, in my opinion! :)

It was so fun to be in the race atmosphere, I've signed up for a 5k on October 20... 2 days after my 28th birthday. I know I won't be able to run the entire thing, but that's okay. I'm just so happy that I'm feeling excited about running again.

Amazing Week

I know you're all dying to know how my massive meal prep adventure ended up. I'm pleased to say it was a success!! I didn't eat perfectly all week (I may or may not have had all you can sushi last night), but it helped a LOT having so much stuff ready to go. The dinners I made didn't turn out all that great for some reason, but my breakfasts and lunches were really good. I saved a lot of money because I wasn't constantly buying food, and I know I ate WAY healthier than I have been lately.

I also exercised a lot this week! On Wednesday I had my second Vinyasa Yoga class, and on Thursday, I went for my second run with my learn-to-run group. This morning, I ventured out all by myself. It was a very short run (maybe 15 minutes, and I alternated running and walking), but as you can see, I was still very sweaty afterwards:

I knew I wanted to do some more meal prep today, but I wasn't sure I had the energy to do as much as I did last week. Here's what I ended up with:

I have stuff for five lunch salads, ready-to-go baggies of cut up veggies, and spinach, berries, and flaxseed ready to go into smoothies. In the back right corner is my rice cooker, with a huge batch of steel cut oats. I was also planning to make lentil soup, but I forgot to get potatoes at the grocery store (I was going to use this recipe). So, I chopped up the veggies I needed and put them in a big bowl to cook tomorrow night or Tuesday (I was already in my pyjama pants when I noticed the missing potatoes and was NOT willing to venture back out of my apartment).

I am feeling really good! Let's hope I keep this up for another week. :)

Outside my comfort zone

Hello, friends!

Today has been AMAZING. It feels like I was eating constantly all day (and I pretty much was), and I still haven't finished everything I'd prepared yesterday. And it was a pretty relaxed day at work - tomorrow I will not have as much time to leisurely munch on my salad for an hour!

The food I prepped yesterday was great today. The "blanched" asparagus was delish, as was the black bean soup that looked suspiciously watery yesterday. Now I'm eating the chickpea curry that I threw together (and accidentally dumped too much turmeric in), and it's quite good (and spicy)! I decided to have the food I was least looking forward to today, in the hopes that my "first day motivation" would help me power through. And it did!

After work, I walked home, gulped down a green smoothie, and threw on my running clothes:

Yes, that's painter's tape around the door behind me. What of it?

Then I bravely rushed off (read: walked slowly) to a local running store to join a "Learn to Run" group! Now, according to this very blog, at one point in my life I could run 5k without stopping (which I only did once ever, but you know. Still counts). Tonight, we ran for one minute/walked for one minute, and went a VERY SHORT DISTANCE (about 4 long blocks total. I think it was around 1.5 km). And I DIED. My lungs were burning and I think I was the second-last person back to the store at the end. But I did it! And everyone was really nice. As some other slowpokes and I crested the hill to the halfway point, we totally got applause.

It was really motivating to be in a group. When the leader addressed us all at the beginning and gave us a bit of a pep talk, I found it really inspiring! It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but sometimes you just need to hear that kind of thing ("you'll be amazed at what you are capable of," etc).

I was so glad on the walk home that my dinner was prepared and waiting for me in the fridge. If that hadn't been the case, I am 95% sure I would have picked up dinner on the way, thinking I "deserved" it because of my running. But really, do I deserve to load up my body with fat, give myself stomachaches, gain more weight, and get heart disease? No! I deserve lots of veggies and whole foods that will give me energy and make me healthier. But seriously, if my food wasn't waiting for me, I totally would have gotten two slices of pizza. Not one. TWO.

AND I am SO happy that tomorrow's meals are ready too! I can now chillax with the new Breaking Bad and my knitting (HELLO, best night ever) and get to bed early. (Um, of course those dishes from my cooking marathon aren't still in my sink. I'm totally a responsible adult who keeps a tidy home. Totally.)

Adventures in Exercise

I have a secret that I think it's time I shared with you.

A few months ago, in a fit of optimism (and perhaps temporary insanity?), I signed up for a race in early May. A couple of my friends were signing up, and I thought it would give me some motivation to get back to running. There's only one catch - it's a 10K race.

I have been running on and off since then, but I'm definitely nowhere near where I should be at this point. I have about 8 weeks left, and I've been thinking about switching to the 5K race instead (which I'm also nowhere near ready for, fyi).

Anyway, last week I was Skyping with my friend Eszter, and happened to mention my dilemma. Now, Eszter is a personal trainer and runs her own fitness business in Halifax (Sculptura Women's Fitness). She had lots of suggestions and set me up with a training plan to try and get me ready for the 10K. It involves interval training on the treadmill, lifting heavy weights, and a kettlebell. Scary stuff.

I couldn't let Eszter down, so on Wednesday morning I ventured into the weights area of my gym (which was much more crowded than it should have been at 7 am). Thankfully, it was made less intimidating by the fact that I went with my new gym buddy, a male colleague who was willing to show me the ropes. Thursday I attempted the intervals on the treadmill, and yesterday I was back in the weight room - alone. I had been told that Saturday mornings at the gym would be empty, because everyone is hungover (I work out at a university gym). Unfortunately, it was still crowded, but I braved the weights and got through it just fine. :)

In other news, I bought a foam roller! A foam roller is a tube of dense foam that is supposed to have the effect of a massage when you roll your muscles over it. I must admit, I felt pretty foolish rolling around my apartment on this thing. I'm not sure yet how I feel about it, but at the very least, I think I'm building some upper body strength trying to hold myself up with my arms while rolling my legs on it! Here's a video of some foam roller exercises so you can picture how silly I look doing it.

Well, I'm off for an outdoor run! Wish me luck!

Eat to Live Day 8

This morning, I stepped on the scale to see the results after one week of (mostly) following Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live program.

Starting Weight: 262.7 pounds
Current Weight: 255.9 pounds

I am down 6.8 pounds! Yay! Let me point out that this week I did NOT track or measure my food (for the most part - some foods are limited) and I was NOT starving all week. I was usually quite full after meals and I ate tonnes of food. I haven't had many cravings, but that might just be because I'm still in super-motivated mode. :)

In other news... I did the first run of Couch to 5K today! Lately it seems that a lot of my friends have the running bug and are signing up for 5Ks, so I thought I should stop thinking about getting back to running and just DO IT. Let me tell you, it was tough! I was sooooo hot and exhausted afterwards. And this was just Day 1 - the next step after "couch"! Despite being worn out, I felt really really good.

Breakfast and lunch today were pretty boring. For breakfast, I had a green smoothie (surprise, surprise). For lunch, I had salad and leftover scrambled tofu.

I had black beans cooking in the slow cooker all day, but come dinnertime, they still weren't cooked. So I had to use canned beans to make some black bean burgers for dinner.

I ate mine on an Ezekiel tortilla with avocado, tomato, and spring mix. Yummy!

I also threw together some cauliflower soup. It consisted of vegetable broth, cauliflower, onion, chives, roasted garlic, and cashews (for creaminess) all blended together.

Not the most attractive soup!

I still have room for improvement in terms of cooking delicious, oil-free meals, but they have at least been highly edible! Overall, I haven't felt deprived. Of course, it's easy when I'm at home and in control of my environment. The real temptations and challenges will come when I have to deal with less than ideal circumstances...

Anyway, I am writing this post from my bed (ooh la la!), so I'd better actually get some sleep! It's back to work tomorrow for me. Good night, all!

Yoga at the Ritz.

Happy Thursday, all!

A couple of weeks ago, I bought Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. It encourages a vegan lifestyle with lots of green drinks. I loved the book, and while I'm not going vegan (at least not any time in the near future...), I have been trying to incorporate some new habits... like lots of green juices and smoothies!

In February, my colleague gave me an extra juicer she had lying around. I used it for the first time when attempting the liver flush on Joshi's Holistic Detox. Lately, though, I've been using it for more delicious pursuits!

On Tuesday, I gathered up some produce from our fridge that was on the verge of going bad.

The mix of cucumber, romaine lettuce, celery, ginger, kale, pear, and lemon made four cups of juice!

I drank half right away, and put the rest in my new glass juice bottle, which I drank on the way to work Wednesday morning. So far my combinations have all been drinkable, although some were definitely tastier than others.

The only drawback is cleaning the juicer... ugh.

In yoga news, last week, my friend Megan and I each bought a Passport to Prana. The Passport to Prana is a $30 card that allows you to attend one drop-in yoga class at each participating Toronto location (there are TONS). For our first class, we went to a Level 1 Hatha class at yogagurl studio in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. We felt a bit out of place going into a super-fancy hotel in our yoga gear, but we were treated very well.

To our surprise, we were the only students attending the class! It meant we got a lot of personalized attention. We even did some partner work! I'm really excited about all the yoga in my future. :)

I've also been getting back to running, for the first time in AGES! I recently bought the Nike+ iPod sport kit for my iPod Nano, which I've been wanting to get for a couple of years. Today I went for my second run along the waterfront (which I live conveniently close to now).

Now, I'm off to swim in/lounge beside the outdoor pool! Jealous? ;)

Operation: Buff Week 1

Hello! Well, even though I only began this challenge on Thursday, the first week of Booty Camp is coming to an end... so also ends the first week of Operation: Buff!

How did I do? Well, I KILLED it!

My goals were to do 1 strength workout and 1 cardio workout in addition to my 2 Booty Camp classes. I also wanted to have a green smoothie or salad every day.

Here are my workouts from the week:

• 15 minute run + 45 minutes on the elliptical (Monday)
• 2 Booty Camp classes (Tuesday & Thursday)
• Beginner workout from the Booty Camp dvd (Saturday)
• 37-minute run (today - Sunday)

So I exceeded my exercise goals for the week! I also had a green smoothie (they've been purple, actually, because I'm using blueberries lately) every day since I started the challenge on Thursday.

I'm also feeling very accomplished, exercise-wise, because today I had my best run ever. Up until now, I've always run a certain amount of time (not a certain distance). The most I'd ever run was 30 minutes without stopping (that I can recall... maybe I've done a couple minutes extra once or twice in the past).

Today, I decided to try and run 5k without stopping and see how long it took me. I went to the track near my house and ran 13 laps! This is about 3.25 miles (if it's a standard track, which I'm assuming it is...), which is about 5.2 km!!! It took me 37 minutes.

So, not only did I run more than 5k, but I ran 7 minutes longer than I ever have before! And it was not impossible! I felt pretty good for most of it. :)

When I started this challenge, I was undecided on what my reward for completion should be. I had been thinking along the lines of a magazine subscription, but as I was walking home the other day (with sore muscles), I started fantasizing about getting a massage. I've NEVER had a massage before, and I think after 4 (or 8) weeks of Booty Camp, I'll definitely deserve one. SO, I declare my reward to be such!

I hope you all have a fabulous week! I know that I'm planning to! :)

Easter Run

Last week, I made my first ever purchase from lululemon: the Run To Work backpack. It was on sale, and I'd been looking for a way to carry things while running... and I figured, if it was too uncomfortable to wear while running, I could use it for biking or walking instead.

I live near Taylor Creek Park, and for awhile I've been wanting to run there. I hadn't gone yet, though, because it's far enough away that I wanted to be able to bring my wallet, cell phone, and some food with me (always be prepared!). With my new backpack in hand (er, on back?), I set out on Sunday. I took the bus there (I didn't want to wear myself out walking over) and packed a lunch for afterwards.

I'm not gonna lie -- the backpack was pretty annoying to run with. But I persevered and made it through a full half hour. Some pictures:

I tried to sit at these empty benches, but discovered (too late) they were surrounded by super-marshy grass!

Stairs up to Stan Wadlow Park

Funny-looking hair!

Then, I ate my lunch in the "Big Park" (my family lived in this neighbourhood until I was 7... we had a Big Park and a Little Park nearby), better known as Stan Wadlow Park: egg white & cheese wrap, carrots, and chocolate pudding (which I didn't end up eating).

Rather than take the bus again, I walked allllll the way home (past my family's old house!). It took me a good 40 minutes!

Lots of activity points to TRY and balance out some Easter goodies later that day:

I hope you all had a nice Easter!

Cookin' (and Lookin') Good!

I am a proud Weight Watcher! I wore my name tag from Saturday's meeting all the way home (under my jacket...):

Do you ever forget that you live alone and buy enough groceries throughout the week to feed a small army? I do. Often. So I've been doing some cooking & baking (which means I pick recipes that necessitate me picking up a few MORE groceries, and the cycle continues...). Here are some of my eats from the past couple of days:

Loaf Potion # 9 from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry! It has cranberries, walnuts, carrots, and zucchini in it. SO DELICIOUS!

I made it a double-loaf day with some banana bread.

(I know, I know... it doesn't really look like banana bread. It's a weird recipe, I think). The recipe is from The Duke Diet. I think the best part is the brown sugar and walnuts on top.

I brought some of each loaf to my parents & my sister and froze some more. As I mentioned above, I live alone (and as much as I'd like to, I probably shouldn't eat vast quantities of baked goods in short periods of time).

One of my impulse grocery buys was some fat-free ham. I hemmed and hawed over the high sodium content, but decided to treat myself (in small portions). And so the past couple of mornings I've been enjoying a healthified egg mcmuffin for breakie (with egg whites, light cheddar cheese, and a whole wheat english muffin! And the ham, of course).

And today's lunch creation:

My first time making cream of broccoli soup! It was pretty good. I got to use my immersion blender, which is always a good time. :)

I had it with some black beans, corn, and cheese on a tortilla (with greek yogourt)!

Tonight: pad thai! Seriously! More cooking!

I've also already gotten TWO workouts out of the way this week! Yesterday I went for an awesome treadmill run. I reached NEW SPEEDS (I think). I definitely had some (short) intervals that were around level 6.5. I covered 2.75 miles in 30 minutes. I don't think I've ever run that much before in that time period! It felt great!

This morning I started my day with the Intermediate workout from my Booty Camp dvd. Does anyone else find it easier than the Beginner workout, or am I just getting stronger? ;)

In other news, apparently I look great:

• Last week, one of my students from last semester noticed I'd lost weight.
• Today, I went to a coffee shop where I like to work sometimes, and the girl working there said I look really good and I should keep doing whatever I'm doing! I didn't even know she knew who I was!

I'm used to people who haven't seen me in a couple of years telling me I look different, but I'm not used to people who only know the "new me" noticing new changes (does that sentence make sense?).

I haven't lost much weight in the past couple of months, but I think my body composition has changed (thanks to Booty Camp!) and that must be what they're noticing. Yay! My clothes are fitting pretty well.

I have a cockeyed idea that I'm going to get up at 5 am tomorrow to squeeze a workout in before work... yeah, wish me luck with that. (Don't worry, if I can't do it, I'll work out sometime in the afternoon instead).

Have a nice night, all!

What else is new?

I'm feeling like myself again, and I couldn't be happier about it. Whenever I have bad days, I have to have faith that everything will click back into place again.

But is it enough to just be feeling good now? Chezjulie made a very helpful comment after I posted about my poor habits of late:

So what was different this past week? Did you plan? Did you have some special events crop up? Did you stop tracking? Were you stressed?

There's got to be reasons why one week is so different from the next. Or do you think you're just getting bored with making the effort (honeymoon period's over?) or scared of getting to goal?

I definitely need to ask myself why I go so far off-track. I don't see a problem with having the occasional day where I go over points or skip a workout. But my recent trend of big gains followed by big losses just shows how erratic my eating has been (note: I'm never UNDER-eating, just over-eating like crazy, then eating healthfully).

I came up with some possible reasons that I have been self-sabotaging (many of chezjulie's points are right on the mark!):

• Afraid to lose more weight/get to goal. I've been in the same weight range (between 190-200 pounds--right now I'm in the mid to high 180's) for almost a year. I'm comfortable where I am, people keep complimenting me on how great I look, and I've accumulated some new clothes that fit me well. Maybe, deep down, I'm afraid of more change?

• Not always getting enough sleep. When I am tired, I get cranky and emotional. The littlest thing can have me in tears. In this state, I'm liable to eat anything and everything instead of just GOING TO BED. I have to wake up around 5:30 or 5:45 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays for work, which is really tough--especially because I don't wake up that early every morning, so my body is not used to it.

• Lack of routine. Last week, I was off from work, and I had friends visit over the weekend (one friend stayed all weekend). Obviously, it was wonderful seeing my friends, but it threw my usual routine out of whack. Now, the friend who stayed with me knows I am on Weight Watchers, and is extremely supportive. She always suggested we cook instead of going out, and even took the Points quiz for herself and half-considered tracking along with me (she is AWESOME). Of course, because I was so hellbent on self-sabotaging, I insisted on going out for meals/ordering pizza/not exercising way too often throughout the weekend.

• Giving myself permission to overeat for any reason I could think of. As you can see, when my friend was visiting, I had even MORE incentive to eat well. She did not pressure me to eat badly at all. But because I had a friend visiting and I put myself in FUN CELEBRATION MODE, I gave myself permission to go off-plan. And I did. And once I go off-plan, I always know I will be back on plan soon. This is good and bad: while I am "allowed" to, I eat as much junk as I can because I won't be able to eat it again soon. It's like a switch in my brain is flipped. Somehow I have to train myself to just do everything moderately all the time, instead of having these two extremes.

• Not enough me-time. I need to have some time to myself to regroup, look through recipe books, make grocery lists, and things like that. Despite being off of work last week, I did not have much time to myself. Sometimes, when I'm stressed out and have not planned any non-food treats or me-time, I get through the day by thinking of what delicious thing I can eat next. It goes something like this: I'm not having a very good day. I need something to look forward to. Hmmm, what can I eat? Then I think of all the delicious possibilities (that are not even really that delicious, to be honest) and cram as many of them in as possible. If my day is full of enough things that I enjoy (or healthy delicious food to look forward to), I won't fall into this trap.

These are all definitely things that I can work on. I know I also have some more soul-searching to do (and I will).

So, enough of the analysis! What have I been up to these past few days? How did I get back on plan? (I know you're all DYING to find out...)

Well, while my friend was visiting, we got haircuts!

Before (Ugh!):

After (Hott!):

Aside from the haircut, I also got some me-time in the form of shopping therapy. I picked up a couple of new books I've been hankering for: Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink, and Eat, Shrink & Be Merry! by Janet & Greta Podleski:

Last night, I got some healthy groceries to get me through the rest of this week:

Since Wednesday morning (when I got back on track), I have been focusing on filling foods and drinking water like it's going out of style (I'm trying my best to salvage Saturday morning's weigh-in)!

Today I actually got my butt out the door for a run! I realized it was March Break and that the outdoor track at a high school near my house would be free of teenagers.

But when I got to the track, there was a man there... not running (which I could have dealt with)... but golfing! I had no desire to be struck by a golf ball, so I moved on to jog on the street. I tried a new route than usual, and found another high school with a track a few blocks away! It first appeared to be impenetrable, but I found an entrance off a parking lot. Success!

After running for 30 minutes, I walked home... and did 20 minutes of strength training! Wahoo!

Sweaty & disheveled, but still damn cute!

Now I'm drinking a green smoothie and basking in that self-righteous "I just exercised" feeling.

Aaaaaaah, it feels good to be back! :)

Last Booty Camp Tonight!

Sunday was a bit of a write-off.

I tried to go for a run to take advantage of the beautiful weather, but instead I took a nap in my running clothes (seriously). Then I kind of pigged out during the Oscars.

Thankfully, it was back down to business on Monday! Yesterday, Kate mentioned that she had a sugar hangover... so did I. After I eat a bunch of junk, I feel really gross the next morning. It takes awhile for my stomach to get back to normal.

I never used to feel horrible after eating junk food (back when I would eat it all the time)... unless I did feel horrible, but didn't notice because I felt like that all the time? My body really notices now when I give it junk to eat. I guess it's gotten used to the good stuff!

I had a green smoothie to try and fool my stomach into feeling better, and then I managed to actually get out the door in my running clothes! I ran for half an hour, but I was struggling by the end. I barely made it home. I definitely needed more than a green smoothie before my run... I had slept in, so my blood sugar was running pretty low.

I had a huge pile of marking to contend with when I got home,

so I settled in with a coffee and one of Jess's two-minute flax muffins - you make them in the microwave! It was so easy to make, but I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about them. I'll probably keep making them just because they're so fast and healthy! Here are the ingredients all lined up (as you can see, I do a lot of shopping at bulk food stores):

And mixed up in my mug:

And the final product (I never said it would be pretty!):

I had it with some jam.

I barely made a dent in my marking, so that's what's on the agenda for today (good thing I'm up bright and early!). I also need to do some planning. I will be away from home (mostly in a car, and packing/unpacking) with my mom from Wednesday-Thursday, and I am DETERMINED to stay on-plan! I will let you know how it goes!

I also have my LAST Booty Camp session tonight. Wow, I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since I started. I really want to sign up again (and probably will). I'm pretty curious as to what my measurements will be tonight... hopefully I won't have gained weight again like I had at the 4-week mark! At any rate, I feel MUCH stronger and fitter than I did 8 weeks ago. I will let you know how the measurements go... probably. ;)

Last night was my last Pilates class, too... what will I do without these pre-paid classes to keep me motivated?!

Weigh-In & Good Day

So I was up 4.6 this morning. I was expecting it, but it was still hard. I had a few "episodes" this week of uncontrollable eating... but I am moving on. I felt frustrated with myself for a little while this morning, but the meeting helped me to feel better. The topic was positive self-talk, which I sorely needed!

After the meeting, I had the best day I've had in awhile (health-wise). I went for a 30-minute run on the treadmill!! I haven't been running in a few weeks, so I was worried I may have lost some of my endurance--but apparently, booty camp is working wonders, because I was able to go faster than usual!! At least once, I hit that magical point where I feel invincible. I was listening to some good music (I just remembered that "I Can See For Miles" came on at one point and I was thinking to myself I CAN see for miles, I am awesome, I can do anything, etc, etc) and just felt like I was flying.

I never dreamed that I would ever run, and to actually ENJOY it on occasion is really wonderful.

We also ordered Swiss Chalet for dinner, which for me often means french fries, stealing someone's appetizer, and the like, but instead I picked a lighter option.

AND I managed to only use 28 points today!! I get 26 daily points, and I earned 5 activity points, so this is super incredible for several reasons:

• it's Saturday, and I often use up most (if not all, or more than all) of my weekly points on Saturdays (the first day of my weight watchers week).
• I ordered food! And stuck to my plan!
• I didn't even use up all of the activity points I earned today!
• I did not feel hungry or deprived or anything today. I had some really good "treat" foods (like toast with peanut butter and honey... and swiss chalet!)
• I was in control of my food today. I wasn't out of control (like I was last night... the night before weigh-in... eep).

I am all set for a stellar day tomorrow, too. I finally got a new PROGRAMMABLE coffee pot, and I have set it up to start brewing just before I wake up. You have no idea how excited I am about this.

I was feeling worried earlier, because even though I firmly believe I will have a good week this week, it seems that I alternate really awesome weeks with unbelievably horrible weeks. It felt like no matter how well I do this week, I will screw it up next week. I know this does not have to be the case, though. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. :)

There is no point worrying about next week, or the week after. I only ever need to get through today. The rest will follow.

Back on the Wagon

The running wagon, that is! Although, I suppose it might be more accurate to say I'm off the wagon... running beside it...

I started running in the summer by following the Couch to 5k program. I took a couple of months off, then I went back to it in September and finally worked up to running 30 minutes straight... but I hadn't been in a couple of weeks due to frigid weather (and, you know, laziness). BUT I am happy to say that I ran both yesterday AND today!! I used the gym in my parents' condo.

I was afraid yesterday of burning myself out (because I'm in SUCH DANGER of over-exercising...) so I ran 9 minutes and walked 1 minute twice, then finished off with 10 minutes of running. Not too shabby!

Today, I warmed up by doing 15 minutes on the cross-trainer, then I moved to the treadmill. I was afraid of trying to do too much (again, because I'm so hard-core, hehe) so I was considering doing 9 minute intervals again... but I didn't!! Maybe it was the music pushing me to keep running (Vengaboys, anyone? I know that I really stepped it into high gear when Boom Boom Boom Boom!! came on), or maybe I was still on a high from my excellent weigh-in this morning (more on that to follow), but I ran 30 ENTIRE minutes without stopping. BOO-YAH!

I finished off with about 15 or 20 minutes of stretching (my biceps are KILLING me from attempting the 30 Day Shred with 8 lb weights a couple of days ago).

One thing that I attempted yesterday and today was breathing in a more regulated fashion. It was MUCH EASIER than in the past--I think because I was indoors, not outdoors battling the cold air and runny nose. I've read that it's helpful to breathe in for 3 strides, and out for 2. It seemed impossible for me to breathe that way. I didn't understand how I could breathe out for less time than I breathed in and manage to get all the air back out!

I spoke to my friend Elizabeth about this dilemma (she's a runner!), and she explained that you exhale more forcefully than you inhale. Which makes sense, and also coincides with something I read once about alternating your exhales from the left to the right side so you don't put more stress on one side than the other, or something like that*. Anyway, it was much easier to breathe in this pattern on the treadmill. It also gave me something to focus on to help the time go quicker!

Last week I started Pilates class, and this week I'm starting Booty Camp, so I think I've got 2010 off to a good, healthy start! I'm going to start keeping track of the week's workouts in the sidebar.

Peace out!

*things like this are important for elite runners (like myself, with my 12.5- or 13-minute mile, hehe)