Toronto and the Flu

So, while I was in Toronto, I finished week 4 day 3 of the Couch to 5K. That was Tuesday. I haven’t run since. I planned to run on Thursday but had an unexpected meeting. I planned to run on Saturday (my first day home) but I have the flu. So I am repeating Week 4 this week. No big deal, I have plenty of time to finish. A little disappointing, but still, no worries.

I ate fairly well while I was in Canada: the food was light enough and there weren’t buffets to derail me. I got back weighing one pound more than when I left. I’m happy with that.

So Week 4 x 2 Day 1 tomorrow. Wish me luck. I hope I don’t have to go back any further than that.

Super-Tracker

So to add to my things to be obsessed with: this week I’m obsessed with tracking my food. Which is good and it is the first time that I can say that I’ve been committed to writing my food in months. And it feels good. The scale is not showing anything yet (I’m worried that that is due to the Celexa) but I feel better and I feel like I look better. Tracking has helped a lot though, and the better I eat, the better I feel during my run.

I’m in week three out of nine weeks of the Couch to 5K now. I really feel like I’m making progress. On Saturday I challenged myself to run a mile without stopping and I did it: I ran a mile without stopping for the first time in my 31 years. I also ran in it under 10 minutes. I tried finding data about what percentage of Americans can actually run a mile and couldn’t find any so if you have any details, I’d love to know.

Next week will be a challenge: I’m traveling to Toronto for work. I’ll be at the mercy of buffet meals, mixed with a plethora of alcohol and hangovers. I have an exercise plan in place: I’ll run on Sunday at home and Tuesday & Thursday at the hotel. Thursday will be easy (I won’t be out late the night before because I have to present at the conference on Thursday.) Tuesday will be tougher and I may try to run on Monday instead as soon as I get to the hotel. That would feel great after sitting on a plane all day, plus it only takes a half-hour or so and I could shower and head out to dinner. I think I just might do that….

Perfection.

Today is day three of tracking every bite and I’m doing great. I’ve written every thing and cooked every dinner and I feel great about myself. I also finished Week 2 of the running plan and have noticed a huge difference in my endurance and breathing. I plan on getting on the treadmill today and after a five minute warm-up, just seeing how far I can actually jog. I’ll try to do that every Saturday to check my pregress with the Couch to 5K.

This week, I have also began taking Celexa to treat my anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. The panic is getting out of control: I missed the bus last week because I was making sure that the dog was inside (I go back almost every day to check this). I haven’t been sleeping well because I’ve just been overridden with worry and panic. I’ve also obsessively counted fours since I was about nine years old and never thought too much of it. But now I can’t watch TV or read because I’m too busy making syllables or words into mulitples of four. As I write this, I’m counting fours by tapping my toes. I start therapy next Thursdy, thanks for asking.

Arghh!

So I’ve been drinking that smoothie that I posted about last week. Only to realize today that it isn’t the 4 points that I thought it was! It’s 6 points! Damn it! I am only supposed to eat 21 points (about 1300 calories) per day. And I’m eat more than a third of them for breakfast. This infuriates for many reasons, the most infuriating being that when I was losing weight the first time, I was so, so good at measuring and keeping track and now I’m a insane mess about it.

The remainder of this week I will be tracking perfectly. And then Thursday, when my week starts over, I will track everything for a full week and eat only my allowed daily & weekly points. I will. I swear. So help me god.

Still running… yesterday was Week 2 Day 1 of the Couch to 5 K Running Plan.

I was just running…

So, I’ve now completed Week 1 Day 2 of the Couch to 5 K Running Plan. I love and hate it all at once. I feel great to have worked out twice this week, and I’m not bored… yet. I’ve running in the AM and watching / listening to A MTV to quell my boredom. However, I’m not sure how long this not-being-bored will last. At least it’s a short workout and I might grow to love it as I continue to up my speed and incline and push myself harder. I feel empowered by the treadmill: I can run faster and harder than I thought and all those ticking numbers in front of me (distance, time, calories burned, etc.) push me to do a little more and then a little more again.

As far as diet goes, I’m doing okay. I watched Good Eats the other night and have focused on some of the points that Alton Brown made on his own recent 50 lb loss, including his smoothie recipe, slightly adapted for my own needs but just as good, I’m sure. His recipe below. My changes including eliminating the peaches and the juice and using almond milk instead of soy (almond is so much better.) Oh I also don’t refrigerate mine overnight. I don’t think it’s necessary. I love the part of the directions that says “until you achieve a vortex.” ha. I am also attempting to add things like avocado and oily fish.

Buff Smoothie
* 4 ounces plain, low-fat soy milk
* 4 ounces acai, grape, or pomegranate juice
* 4 ounces frozen banana
* 4 ounces frozen strawberries
* 4 ounces frozen blueberries
* 4 ounces frozen peaches

Combine the soy milk, juice, banana, strawberries, blueberries, and the peaches in the carafe of a blender. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 8 hours.

In the morning, or when the fruit is partially thawed, put the carafe on the base of the blender, start at the lowest speed and slowly accelerate to medium, until you achieve a vortex. Blend on medium for 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and blend for an additional minute. Serve immediately.

Yay!

I got a treadmill! This is going to change my life. 5K, here I come. Plus, it has Google mapping and iFit Live so if anyone else has those things, let me know how you like it. I can race against my Facebook friends in virtual 5Ks, so let me know if you want to race!

Here is the machine that I got: Nordic Track A2550

I got mine at Sears Scratch & Dent for $549 and bought the 3-year protection plan and still paid less than this. Definitely the way to go.

Resolutions, I will accomplish you.

It’s time….

… for that New Year’s resolution where I say I’m going to exercise every day and eat only organice things, etc. But I can’t do that, because it wouldn’t be the truth. So here’s what I’m saying this year: this year I’m going to get back to 140 pounds and stay there. This year I’m going to walk to work as much as possible. This year, I’m running that damn 5 K that has eluded me for the past two years. Oh and I’m going to learn to better manage my finances. These are reasonable things that can be measured and attained. And they are things that need to be done.

Here is how I’m going to do it:
1. Buy a treadmill and use it to train to run the 5K.
2. Cook more meals at home. Pizza = body fat. It’s true.
3. Not buy clothes or extraneous personal items more than once every 12 weeks.
4. Pay off credit cards and not use them. Imagine a world where I didn’t use credit cards for everyday things like coffee. Wow.
5. Go to at least one Weight Watchers meeting every 2 weeks. I can’t commit to going each week because of my work schedule, but I think I can go every other week.

It starts today. It’s a revolution that I started with myself years ago. Now it will come full circle. For my health and the health and well being of my family.

Oh and do you want to join me? Motivate each other and get through another year of health and wellness? Comment below or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter.

FB: GO NOW!
Twitter: GO NOW!

Another month…. 150.6

Another month has gone by and I’m still hovering at around 150. I know why and I don’t have any excuses and I really want to get my act together and get down a few pounds. But I can’t: I snack on junk almost every night, I don’t walk as often as I used ot (or should) and working out cuts into my TV watching time. I need to just suck it up and buy a good treadmill. That way I can watch TV and walk / run at the same time. I still want to run that 5 K, in fact I still want to be able to run a mile in 10 minutes, period (something I couldn’t even do in elemnetray school for the Presidne’t Physical Fitness Challenge!). I’m gonna do it though, and I’m gonna do it soon. I’m gonna charge that damn treadmill and just get it over with.

Other than that…. my new favorite beverage: almond milk. Almond milk is completely delicious and is only 60 calories per cup! That’s about half the calories as in skim milk and 1 less than in Silk Soy Milk. And it tastes better than either of those and it makes the most amazing chocolate milk! Whoopie! I also use it in smoothies. It does have a sweet taste so I wouldn’t use it in sauces or anything (except maybe to make an almond chocolate sauce…. hmmmm….)

147.8 – Right where I was 2 weeks ago!

I will take that, even if I was hoping for more. I’m down 2.8 this week, but then we ate at Peppi’s for lunch (home of meat on white bread covered in cheese, cooked in grease…. no, really, that’s all they have. You choose the meat.) So I’ll be diligent today and tomorrow and will eat well until Saturday afternoon, when we are going to my mom’s for dinner.

I worked out a lot this week: I did the Jillian Michael’s Shred once or twice, I did a couple of different yoga and pilates videos and I walked at least 14 miles. And I can see it in my self: my collarbone is more pronounced (one of my favorite weight-loss things) and my clothes feel & look better. I love that I can see results like this in just a week. Imagine how I’ll look next week and how I’ll look at Thanksgiving when I’m 3.2 pounds lighter than today (as part of my Healthy Holiday plan, see previous post.)

I made a crazy good smoothie this morning that sounds totally nasty. Very easy. Recipe below. It’s sweet and does not taste like kale or celery at all. It is pea green though which is a little off-putting, but the taste makes it worth it.

Kale-Celery Smoothie (Or Pear-Pineapple Smoothie, if you prefer)
3 giant kale leave, with the stems stripped out
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 pear, cored and sliced
1/2 c. pineapple (with some of the juice for swetness, if you like)
1 1/2 c. of water

Put it all in a blender and blend until completely smooth and frothy.

This post brought to you by parentheses.

I feel great today. — 150.4

So I was up a couple squajjans yesterday (or 2.4 squajjins to be precise). Bad but not terrible considering all of the drinking and eating that we did while we were in Columbus this past weekend. So I’ve walked about 10 miles this week and did a Jillian Michaels Shred 1 yesterday and some Cardioke today. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Cardioke, it makes my heart super happy for a few different reasons. One, Billy Blacks Jr is kind of hot. Two, I get to do karaoke and cardio, so yay. Three, it’s actually a great cardio workout. So here’s a link to the site: CARDIOKE! but I get mine free on Comcast Exercise TV On Demand. The Cardioke website is super awful (like a Myspace page) but you’ll get the gist.

So the plan for the week is too eat tons of veggies, workout a couple more times, walk as much as possible (weather permitting) and not drink. These are pretty easy things and should help me on my Holiday Plan. The holiday plan is pretty easy and low key: lose 6 pounds by Thanksgiving and keep it off through New Years. I think I can do that.

Another recipe:
Roasted Brussel Sprouts
1 1/2 pounds of fresh brussel sprouts
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Cut brown ends off of sprouts. Put sprouts in bowl drizzle with olive oil. Salt and pepper liberally. Toss. Put on baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes or until brown. Toss them every so often, so that they brown evenly.

Super delicious. Will make non-brussel sprout eaters stand up and cheer. 2 points for about 1 1/2c of sprouts.