Wednesday weigh in!

This is gonna be quick! I had a super busy evening after work I had to go food shopping AND cook. I made fish, threw it in the oven an let it take care of itself. We had left over roasted green beans and that was it. Blah, Wednesday..

I did weigh in and I'm happy to say I'm down another 1.2 lbs! I lost a total of 4.4 lbs since Jan. 9, 2013. I got a late start getting myself focused and hyped up in the beginning of the month. I'm happy I didn't gain 4.4 lbs! Which could've easily happened if I wasn't making any effort to be Super Fabulous by my 40th birthday.

The Sparkpeople weight tracker says, I should have lost 3 more pounds than I have. I hope to catch up. If I can fix my leg pain I can work out better.

I am going to get a sport massage on Friday to see about easing my calve pain. I found this article about low back pain and how your calf pain could be causing it. This article explains exactly what I've been feeling. I used to have plantar fasciitis really bad, wore orthotics for a long time. When I was thinner it stopped bothering me. I'm wondering if it could be related, when I had that pain I felt it more in my arches than up the back of my leg. I will be calling my podiatrist too to see when I can get an appointment.

Yay! 4.4lbs GONE!!

The Funk Phenomena

I gave myself a pass this weekend after the 5k to not walk/run. I have a huge project going on at my house which involves lots of furniture moving and going up and down stairs, repeatedly.  So I got my activity in for sure. But with all the commotion I didn't really get to cook or track my food both days. I did the best I could to eat right but with out having time to cook, a pizza was ordered!

The first day I had 2 slices & 2 garlic knots, the next day I had one slice with a very sad salad cos my greens started turning to mush! I had steel cut oats for breakfast both days. I just felt guilty eating the pizza cos I'm trying to keep my carbs low.

So Monday rolls in and I should be back on track. I didn't get to log my food yesterday because I didn't measure any of it I just eyeballed it. Which could be fine but I need accuracy to get some weight loss going. I planned on getting my C25K training in but a friend stopped by and before I knew it my hubby was home looking for dinner. I was starving so I cooked, we ate and hit the couch. We were both exhausted from this weekend.

I feel The Funk Phenomena is setting in! (You don't have to listen to the whole thing! He says the phrase over and over, it can be applied in many different ways) I did good last week, I felt strong and focused. Today, I feel like I'm losing interest. WTF! Why/how can it slip away so easily? I feel so tired and the 'it's just not worth the effort' voice is chiming in.

I'm getting on that treadmill today no matter what. Tracking is so tedious and I always feel like I'm trying to beat the clock, those minutes are precious!

Let's not forget, there's only 170 days til my 40th birthday!! I've only lost 3 lbs, Yikes!

If you track your food how do you do it? website, notebook, smart phone?

Virtual 5k results!

get ready to race!

On Friday night I completed the Runs For Cookies Virtual 5k. I warmed up and stretched before starting off to do 3.1 miles but my lower calves & achillies tendons were still really tight which lead me to take more walking breaks than I planned on. I ran a good amount and my legs feel good today kinda tight just letting me know "hey! we ran more than we have in a week"

The odd thing was when I first started off my calves felt like they could burst. It's a feeling I can't explain and don't understand why it happens. Once I started running it let up a bit but half way thru my ankles and achillies were getting tight and my legs felt like 100 lbs each!

Overall I had fun and the right music always helps me to push thru the rough patches. Here's my time summary. The calorie burn is bogus it's based on a "national average" I called Epic asking how I can set it to my weight and they said manually on the treadmill you can't but once iFit is set up I will be able to set up a profile. I won't be able to do that until next week.

I had a 17:09 minute mile. It's much slower than my 5k times from last year, but I've been sedentary since September. I completed the 5k and I'm really happy about it!

How did everyone else do?

Virtul 5k Today!

Runs for Cookies Virtual 5K

Today I'm running/walking in Runs for Cookies Virtual 5k. Katie's husband made cute race bib, I added my name. Katie hand made many of the prizes, which is so awesome, they are all so cute! I'm going to do the best I can during the race. Since I've been inactive for so long I really don't know what my pace will be. I just want to do it to get my 5K mojo going. I plan to do a few this year.

Last night I did an easy paced walk/run. It was supposed to be day 2 of the C25K program but I didn't want to over do the training the day before the 5k. I completed 1.80 miles in 35:32 min a 19:44 min mile. I only ran about 5 minute intervals total. My achilles tendon in my left leg has been really tight, it slowed me down a bit cos my leg/ankle started hurting. I just did a fast walk to finish out the half hour.

This time includes the warm up & cool down, do people usually include that in the total time?

Wednesday Weigh In

Holly, the scale monitor keeps me in check!

I like to weigh in on Wednesdays. To me it's the best midweek day. 2 days after the weekend lets you make up for any extracurricular eating that may have happened. Then you have 2 days before the weekend to get some good work outs in in case of any weekend splurges. I need to focus on tracking on the weekends, a non structured schedule throw me off track. I find I'll eat a 1-2 big meals rather than a few small ones through out the day.

 I'm not comfortable enough yet to say my actual weight out loud to the world. I can barely speak the numbers to myself. But, I will share my weekly losses here by sharing how many pounds I lost or gained that week. I will be truthful always and if you don't believe me you can check in with Holly she helps me keep it real, at least when she lets me use the scale!

This week I lost 1 pound. I'm happy about it. I only really focused on tracking the past 2 days. I ate out on Sunday and don't even recall what happened over rest of the weekend. A pound lost is better than a pound gained. Yay!

How do you manage your weekends? Do you find it easy to stay on track or does weekend spontaneity throw you off your plan?

2012 Fitness Review

In 2012 I did make efforts to be more active. I started walking in late Feb. to lose weight, this was also to get myself prepared for my hiking vacation in Peru.

I completed 3 5k's!!!! 

I ran and walked during these races.

1. Miles With Mom's on April 28, 2012. My time was 49:21 a 15:53 mile pace.

2. Bay Head 5k Memorial Run on May 19, 2012. I was part of a team, we did not come in last but for some reason many of us aren't on the race results page. I can't recall my time at the moment.

3. The Valerie Fund on June 9, 2012 my time was 47:56 a 15:27 mile pace.

After the Valerie fund 5k I was laid up. I hadn't walked/ran in a while and tried to 'cram' in some training a few days before the race. Bad idea, I rested the day before the race. On race day even after warming up and starting the race off walking as soon as I started to run I got fire hot, shooting pain in my shins. I walked, ran and hobbled my way to the finish line. I never had pain like that before. I had shin splints for the first time. Walking or moving using my legs/feet was out of the question, it was that painful I could barely stand to put ice on them!

While recovering my mom got very sick and had an extended stay in the hospital. This derailed my training and good eating habits. I started walking and getting in some long hike with my husband in July but September was getting closer by the day and that meant my big hike was too.
  

I HIKED 26 MILES ON THE INCA TRAIL!!!

I did the best I could to prepare for Peru, I enjoyed hiking and camping along all 26 miles of the Inca Trail. The altitude was challenging and made everything more difficult but the beauty of the mountains made it all worth it! It was an active vacation we had to walk everywhere and usually uphill!

Besides Peru, my husband and I went on 7 other hikes in 2012. Most of them were to train for vacation and some we did after we came home.

After the trip, I came home and rested and just forgot about exercising. I worked hard huffing up those mountains but I put the weight I lost for the trip back on. Thankfully, I didn't let the gaining get out of hand and go beyond where I was when I started.
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Today, I started the Couch to 5k for treadmill program. I have to figure out what speeds will work the best for me. I think when I was walking after running I was setting it way to slow. When the 30 minutes were over I felt like I should've felt like I worked harder. But when I was running that 1 minute straight towards the end it seemed like a really loooong minute. Let's see how I feel tomorrow and I'll adjust it on Thursdays walk/run.

In today's 31 minutes I completed 1.5 miles!

Madien Voyage?

Today I did my first work out on my new treadmill! My treadmill is super sexy, really it is! It's an Epic A35T. I haven't signed up for the iFit yet, I want to check out all the built in programs that came with it first. I'm very glad I decided to buy it. It was a big decision and I chose to treat myself to a nice one. My husband has been teaching me thru the years that I deserve nice things. In the past I'd get something I wanted but I'd get a low end one. Having nice things makes you feel good and appreciate the item more.

Living in NJ, I have a hard time dealing with the weather when walking and trying to jog outside. I have asthma so I have a very small window of 'good weather'. The super cold winter air takes my breath away and the humidity makes me feel like I'm drowning. As much as I love to be outside it's better for me to use the treadmill inside on a regular basis. This way when I go out for long hikes I can enjoy it more.

Today, I completed 2 miles in a total of 37:49 minutes. It was a slow pace, I'm starting off slowly because I've been inactive since early November.

Introduction- 180 days til my New Year begins!

First thing to know about me is that my birthday begins my New Year. Yea, I celebrate with everyone on Dec. 31/Jan. 1 but those days hold no meaning for me. I like to celebrate my birthday like most people celebrate New Years Eve.  There are 180 days til my 40th birthday. I promised myself the day I turned 39 (185 days ago) that this would be the year I would 'do it' get myself together and really eat clean and be more active. Not just because I want to protect myself from disease and illness but because I do enjoy it. I enjoy the things being healthier allows me to do like hiking/adventuring, bike riding, dancing and going on amusement park rides (something I haven't done in years) to name a few. I let things overwhelm me and then I get derailed.

I want to say I gave it all I could but it's not true. There were family commitments/illness that couldn't be denied and needed my full attention. BUT what I didn't do while that was happening was make time for myself. I didn't allow myself time to prepare healthy food or exercise regularly. I didn't take care of me while I was caring for others and at times I let food take care of me when I was feeling the most sad or stressed.

In this blog I plan to record my thoughts, discoveries and success as I regain a hold on eating healthier, being more active and possibly even becoming a runner. I have 180 days til my New Year and I am committing to making each one count!


"...with this line I mark the past as a symbol of beginning..." ~ VNV