Weigh-in

Another successful weigh-in this morning - down 1.8, which puts me back to where I was two weeks ago, before I got sick and took two weeks off.  I had wanted to run last night, but went to a baseball game instead.  I managed not to eat any ballpark food - did have some soda and later hot chocolate because it was so cold.  I got home late and had a couple hot dogs, which I thought might skew today's results, but if they have I am still happy with the number.  Plus, it's a nice sunny day and might hit 65 degrees!  Maybe I'll get an outside run in.

Weigh in 4/22/2011

Total lbs lost since last weigh in day -- .7 Total lbs lost since high point of the week -- 2.0 Culmulative lbs lost : 28.5 Pounds left to go til goal weight - 14.3 Comments : This week was a mixed bag on workouts. The weather definitely wasnt favorable. I got in two runs and two bike rides and two rest days. Overall I did okay. Hopefully as the weather improves -- I can be more consistent.

A New Plan

While I wouldn't go so far as to say "running is comfortable," even after a year, it is certainly more enjoyable than it was a year ago.  I have a pace that is comfortable; it hovers around the 11'04" mark.  I've run faster on several occassions, but this is probably my average now.  I would really like to bring that down a bit, maybe around the 10'30" mark.  I'm kinda lost on how to do it.  I did try that one trick of running faster during the chorus of songs, and that helped.  But I haven't been in the mood to do it since.  So my new idea is to re-do the couch to 5k program, but only when I have to workout on the treadmill at the gym (rainy days, which are in abundance here in Seattle), using a higher speed than I am used to on the running sections of the program.  I cannot for the life of me run much faster for any length of time than a 4.5 on the treadmill...even though the pace for tht is much slower than what I run outside!  So, I think I will bump it up to a 5.5 or 6.0 during the running sections and see what happens.  I am hoping that it improves my pace, although if that's the pace that I tend to run outside...maybe it won't.  But it's worth a try!

I'm on pager this week, so no swimming for me.  :(

Does the gloom equal doom?

Its amazing to me, how much harder it is to get out and exercise when the weather is all gloomy. Here in Minnesota, spring has lost its way and they are predicting snow for tonight. Its not even sunny out and my mood is reflecting the gloom. It just feels harder to get out and exercise when its cold, and gloomy and snow is on the way. It was a mixed weekend -- not so good on the eating front. I overate Friday night and Sunday night but had one good day on Saturday. I was able to get out and bike on Saturday and run on Sunday. Saturdays bike ride really was hard. It was 35 degrees out and 20+ mile an hour winds. It took me longer to ride 8.9 miles than it normally does for me to bike 12. Sigh .... at least I was out moving! It really wasnt surprising to be up after this weekend. Yesterdays bike ride was far more satisfying :) I made a new pace record, 4:04 average for 12 miles. That translates into 14.8 miles per hour-- wicked! The weather wasnt really fun to walk in today, so I skipped that. I hope I can do at least some wii fit later. Today, technically is one of my rest days -- so light exercise is fine. Its the getting back on track with eating thats the more challenging thing of the day. Megamom

Back on Board

Well, considering that last week was just as abysmal as the previous week, I still managed to lose 1.3 pounds.  I am still up 1.8 from two weeks ago, but I'll take  what I can get.  The loss (along with cleaning my kitchen and fridge) has helped motivate me to get back up, dust myself off, and "be good" again.  I picked out two Hungry Girl recipes and went grocery shopping last night.  This morning I had my usual cereal with a banana for breakfast.  The usual Sushi Thursday turned into Sushi Monday since I didn't have time to cook what I want to bring for lunch this week.  Yesterday I even went for a run.  I already feel much better.

It turns out, when I am not working out and eating well, I start to feel bad.  Like there is sludge in me.  Things that bother me REALLY start to bother me.  I sleep a lot.  It's good to know that I can manage the bad feelings better with a healthy lifestyle.  Even if weight loss isn't a goal, I have mood as a reminder to stay on course.  However, it does put a little pressure on.  Everyone has periods when it just doesn't happen, for whatever reason.

It's just never easy.

On the upside, I discovered that cheesy hot dogs are only 4 points a piece...and that seems worth it.  :)

Weigh in 4/15/2011

Total lbs lost since last weigh in day: 2.4 Total lbs lost from high point:2.4 Culumative lbs lost : 27.8 Lbs left to go til goal weight: 15 I was very pleased with this week. I worked out 6 days in a row counting my walking day. The scale really reflected how hard I worked. It was easier to stay on track, food wise, when I saw the scale going down. :) Megamom

I might just be crazy or maybe its just dedication

I knew that my schedule today really wouldnt lend itself to running this evening. So I planned a short two mile run over hubby's lunch hour. I knew that would really be my only time to get in some exercise today and I wanted to keep my workout streak going. So as my husband arrived home -- the rain/sleet mix started. It wasnt enough to have 38 degree temps(esp after hitting 70 earlier this week). It wasnt enough to have grey, gloomy overcast sky. Nooo ... it has to sleet!!! I suited up, grabbed my gloves that havent been used in a month now and headed out. This is when I thought I might just be crazy or dedicated. Im not sure which :) My husband is leaning toward crazy. He thought that, last november, when I tried to get to a race in a snowstorm. Oh well ... crazy just makes life more fun! I made great time, 2 miles in 21:12, 10:36 pace. Some of that might have been the sleet pelting on my cheek. I also knew that I only planned to go two miles , so I could push it a bit as well. My heartrate averaged 151 as well. So a great run! It was well worth enduring the cold sleety rain to get out there! Thats all for now folks Megamom

So Easy

No, I don't mean that dieting/being healthy is so easy.  I mean that it's so easy to get off track.  I spent four weeks doing really well and then I got sick last week.  So I "took the week off" and promptly gained nearly three pounds!  This week has been erratic and busyish and it's making it hard to get back on track again.  It really sucks.

I can tell the difference, too, in my attitude, energy, lethargy, and of course the scale.  I would feel better if I would just get the endorphins going.

The weather also has not been cooperative, which makes running difficult.  Excuses excuses.

Things I need to do: clean the kitchen and buy groceries so I can actually prepare lunches for the week and dinners, go to the gym, blah blah.  Everything I know I need to do sometimes feels really hard.

Wednesday

Blogger hasnt been cooperating with my post layouts -- I put line breaks in when I type it but when I post it crams it altogether. I'm still trying to figure which setting got switched on me. So in the meantime -- I guess you get to read all crammed together. This week has been great -- eating wise. My husband was out of town for two days and brought me home a small blizzard when he got back last night. I didnt eat it!!!! Earlier in the night, I probably had enough calories left that I could have had some. I had already eaten my snacks for the night and knew that more food at that point wouldnt be good. Im so proud of myself that I made that victory. Turning down a blizzard is no small feat! Yesterday, between three different times of walking -- I netted 4.5 miles of walking. Not too shabby for a rest day. Im pleased I was able to stay active and do a less intense exercise! That makes 4 days of workouts in a row. Im loving the scale these days! My 10 yr old has been struggling with after school time, so for the time being, I need to shift my exercise time. It worked well generally after school, so then I was home later in the evening when hubster was home. So now I will have to shift to early morning(blech) or later evening, after supper. Since summer supposedly(we have snow predicted for the weekend, sigh) is coming, I need to shift to morning workouts anyway. Its generally too hot in the afternoons to do intense runs. It seems as if we have lost Knitter ... I know she is out there somewhere. So everyone -- shout a call out to Knitter and tell her to check in! Megamom

Consistency

I have been able to work out really consistently this week and the scale is starting to show results! Woohoo! Counting today, I have worked out 4 days in a row. Saturday was a 3 mile run, Sunday 7.75 bike ride, Monday 5 mile run and today - 2.6 mile walk. I thought I would take today as a rest day and just do activities like walking or taking the kids to the park to keep my activity leval up. It worked out well to walk while my one son was in therapy and I could push the 2 yr old in the stroller. As long as the weather is nice, Im going to try to do that on a regular basis on Tuesdays. My evening schedule on Tuesdays is a bit tighter anyway and it takes the pressure off from trying to squeeze in a workout. I ran 20.9 miles in Feb, 15.4 in March and so far 15.3 in April. The weather definitely should help those totals :) I ran around 400 miles last year and didnt make my goal of running 500. Id love to hit that this year but with a slow start, Im not sure if its possible. Time will tell on that front. I biked 42.7 miles in March and so far in April, 39.5. Im still trying to figure out what a good biking goal would be. I thought bout 700 miles but that might just be pushing it out of the realm of reality :) Eating went well yesterday -- of course a good calorie burn from a long run helps! Weekdays are certainely easier than weekends for sure. Thats all for now folks Megamom

Weekend recap

I had company from out of town this weekend, so I was unsure how it would go. Typically, its eat more than I should and not really be able to get in some exercise. It was a mixed result. The good news is I got a run in on Saturday and a bike ride in on Sunday. The bad news is I did overeat on Saturday and Sunday. This morning though brought a maintaining result. I was thankful for that! I was able to make some good choices at mealtimes to not have seconds but it was particularly difficult not to eat that 2nd grilled burger~!

Im still pondering my exercise routine. I know for sure I want to work out 5 days out of the week. I think one rest day is in order -- perhaps depending on how my muscles handle it -- maybe two. I like the flexibility of two, with a large family, my schedule has to be somewhat fluid. So even if I do two rest days, they arent likely to be on the same timeframe each week.

My run on Saturday averaged out to a 10:53 pace. I love having spring here finally -- its soo much easier to run in nicer weather. My bike ride on Sunday was going along splendidly; the first segment averaged 3:45 pace~! I was very excited and thought I might make a new record. Then I turned the corner .... into full frontal wind. Im not sure how fast it was but with the open Minnesota fields it was strong!I ended up averaging 4:57 for nearly 8 miles.

Today I plan to run 3 miles. I might cut it to two if my legs protest too much. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in the idea of wanting more and more miles. Too far, too fast is the way most runners get injured. So I have to take it slowly as I increase. Thats all for now folks Megamom

Checking in

Its been a busy stressful week -- sometimes life just simply takes over. Its been a mixed bag on the eating front. A good day here and a bad day there. My downfall this week happened to be rice krispie treats -- yummy! On a good note, my workouts have been fairly consistent. I ran 3 miles on Sunday, 7.75 mile bike monday, 4 mile run on Wed and 12 mile bike ride today. I feel pretty good about that. Thats the most consistent workout routine that Ive done in awhile. The 4 mile run felt fabulous. I havent run that far in a couple of months and I wasnt sure what the result would be. I really wasnt sore at all! So im encouraged that I can get back into a longer distance routine soon. My weight really isnt going anywhere. Im a bit discouarged by the plateau. Although I havent been consistent either, so thats likely it. Megamom

Bad Week

I'm not feeling the greatest this week and it has weakened my usual resolve to "be good."  I've been drinking Mountain Dew like crazy and eating fast food.  On Sunday I ate lunch at Taco Bell and dinner at McDonalds.  Yesterday I ate Taco Bell again.  Today I got Pizza Hut.  Sigh.  Fast food is such a slippery slope.  As I ate it I knew I shouldn't be.  But, I didn't feel like cooking anything.

I also haven't been working out.  I walked the 5k hilly route on Saturday and that's it.  I'm hoping by tomorrow I will feel well enough to go to the gym.

Tomorrow's a new day.

End of a Roll

Weigh in today was disappointing; the Wii said I was up .2 pounds.  Now I know that in the grand scheme of things, that's not really a lot.  It's more like I maintained than anything.  But I thought I did really well this week.  I ate well.  I worked out, although I didn't run at all.  I did two days of swimming 2000 yards, one day of belly dancing from a DVRd show called Shimmy, and one day of walking random hills on the treadmill.  Hopefully this week the weather will improve and I can get some running in.

I did accomplish both of my goals for the week, at least.  When my boyfriend and I went out he suggested either Mexican or sushi and I opted for sushi, which is by far fewer calories and fat.  And when we left, I felt satiated but not stuffed.  Later that night when he brought out the Girl Scout cookies, I only indulged in one!  And I logged it, too. 

Well, it's a new week and I'm going to try and not get down on myself about this.  I felt skinnier this week, so I think maybe this was a week I lost inches and just not pounds.  I'm going to focus on that.

Blah, Blah, weigh in day and the slippery slope

My weigh in wasnt good this week. I overate on two of the weekend days and overate on my husbands birthday wednesday -- so I half expected it. I was up .9 from last Friday -- all in all not bad. Its just not where I wanted to be. The later half of the week has been harder to get workouts in and my mood is reflecting that. Thus the blah, blah, blah. Its been rainy and gloomy and more basement woes as well. I started out eating okay today. Even though i didnt feel like eating the right snacks or meals. Then I had a hot dog for lunch, still not bad as I only had one. Then the slide started, next was a nap instead of a workout. Then a strawberry shortcake swirl instead of a yogurt. Then supper was leftovers. I chose shepards pie with extra cheese -- anyone else think Im trying to uplift my mood with food???? Sigh. I just feel sorta stuck at this weight. Stuck with workouts and bad habits that are hard to beat back. Im trying to remember tommorrow is a new day with new chances to make the right choices. Thats all for now Megamom