Weight loss and running…

This past week was a successful week for me. I stayed on plan all week with Weight Watchers. OK so I deviated a little bit, but I stayed within my points and that’s what really matters. I logged every single item that I ate, even the 2 fudge striped cookies that I wolfed down while staring into the pantry closet. I truly believe that being successful at weight loss requires a person to be realistic about what they can give up, the changes they are willing to make and to log everything they eat, even the “bad” stuff. The nice thing about Weight Watchers is that it truly promotes a lifestyle change, not just eating less for a short period of time until you lose the weight. This is of course if you actually follow the plan as it is intended and read the various suggestions the plan has for you. My loss for this week was 3.6 pounds, which puts me at a total loss of 45 pounds on this journey. I still have quite a ways to go on my journey, but I know that I will get there in the end. It may take another year or may two, but it is all worth it.


Another thing I’ve learned on this journey is the importance of reflection. When I hit a plateau or just have a rough week, I reflect back on where I was a year ago, 6 months ago, or even 3 months ago. Reflection really puts the journey into perspective and helps me recognize what I’ve accomplished. I knew going into this that it was going to be a long road ahead. When I started this journey I sat down and realistically made a map for success. Taking into consideration vacations, plateaus, and other unplanned events, I gave myself 3 years to accomplish my goal. So far so good, I am on track. I am 1/3 of the way and one year into the journey.

Sunday I ran. It was on the schedule to do 6 walking/running intervals of 3/2. Before I started I was thinking there was no way I’d be running for 2 solid minutes after only a 3 minute cool down, but guess what? I did it and it wasn’t too bad actually. I completed a distance of 1.9 miles in 29:45 minutes which puts me at a 15:39 minute mile. Three weeks ago I was walking 21 minute miles. Almost forgot to mention that I took my dog on my Sunday run. It was pretty funny actually. The first 2 intervals it was like she had forgotten how to heel; she was pulling and sniffing and doing all those things that many dogs do. However, midway into the 3rd interval she was getting a little tired and kept looking back at me like I was punishing her. And by interval 5 she was heeling like a good dog. We walked in the door and both ran for our water, it was a good run.

This week’s plan is pretty straight forward:

Tuesday – Walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes
        Repeat 4 times
Wednesday – Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday – Walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes
        Repeat 4 times
Friday – Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes
        Repeat 6 times

Hmmm… kind of curious what the plan is for next week. I better look that up.

Power Bleaching = Conscientious Dieting… Who knew?!?!

On Wednesday I went to the dentist for a procedure called power bleaching. If you’ve ever considered this procedure be aware that it takes about 2 hours and your mouth is propped open pretty much the entire time. It isn’t painful, but it tends to be uncomfortable at times. However, the results are pretty darn cool. (of course, results vary depending on teeth and habits) My teeth are so white right now that I no longer need a nightlight or cat-like vision to find my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. All I need to do now is smile and even the slightest amount of luminescence reflects off of my teeth and lights the way for me. Ok, so maybe not quite that bright white, but they are pretty darn close. One thing that they emphasis after the procedure is that you avoid any teeth staining foods or drinks so that you don’t completely undo all of that hard work. The rule of thumb is that if it could potentially stain a white t-shirt it could potentially stain your teeth. For me this has been a bit of a godsend because it has brought my awareness for what I am eating to a whole new level. I consciously think about each individual food choice before it goes in my mouth. There is absolutely NO way that I am going to waste $250 by eating or drinking something that could stain these teeth. Not only have I been avoiding teeth staining foods and drinks due to the procedure, but I’ve pretty much cut out anything bad for me all together. Generally speaking if I eat something that I consider bad it is simply because I am mindlessly eating. Now that I’m conscientiously eating this is not an issue. Plus it helps that my biggest mindless eating food is chips and salsa. Guess what? Salsa is tomato based, therefore it is a major teeth staining food. I’m kind of wishing I would have got my teeth bleached when I first started my weight loss journey. It sure the heck would have helped me get an amazing jump start on a this lifestyle change.


Running Update:

Yesterday I went running with the hubs. We did walking/jogging intervals of 4/2. I had thought that the 2 minutes of jogging would kill me, but in reality it wasn’t too bad. The first interval was a bit difficult because he kept making me laugh. As I’m sure you are aware, laughing and running do not mix for a first timer. Long story short…I was setting the pace for the run/jog portion and I was going a bit slower than his normal speed. Therefore, he decided to do like a slow motion run. It was kind of like those scenes in Baywatch where they are running on the beach and the editors slow down the frame rate for effect. I kept laughing because he looked a bit ridiculous and he’s kind of funny. He looked at me and was like, “What? You didn’t say that I had to have the same form as you just the same pace.” What a goof. :-)

Ending week 1 of running and beginning week 2...

Yesterday was yet another running training day. I was scheduled to do 6 intervals with walking 5 minutes and running 1 minute. I did the first 5 intervals with no problems or deviations. However when I got to the running portion of the 6th interval I decided to just keep on running after the buzzer went off. I ended up running 1 minute & 45 seconds. Then I repeated this interval 2 more times. I was feeling good while I was running, my breathing was steady, my pace was good, and my muscles felt nice and loose. You may be wondering why I did 8 intervals instead of the 2 that they showed in the training program… Well I was going my usual 3.2 mile route and figured I might as well keep doing the intervals as long as I was feeling good. I ended the 3.2 mile route in 51 minutes, which puts me just shy of 16 minute miles. As they say slow and steady, slow and steady. I think my actual weight loss is following this same pattern, lost 0.4 lbs this week. Obviously not a huge loss, but at least it’s a loss.

This weeks training is as follows:

Tuesday – Walk 4:30 minutes, run 1:30 minute
Repeat 4 times
Wednesday – Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday – Walk 4:00 minutes, run 2 minutes
Repeat 4 times
Friday – Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Walk 3 minutes, run 2 minutes
Repeat 6 times

It was suppose to be 2 minutes walk and 2 minutes run all intervals, but I don’t feel that I’m ready for that quite yet so I modified it just a bit and will do the 2 and 2 next week. I’m thinking I need a longer cool down than 2 minutes. I know I should follow the training as it is laid out, but it seems crazy to go from 5/1 to 2/2 after only one week.

Thankfully today is a rest day, so I’ll probably just hit the gym and do some circuit training.

Running and DQ…Hmmm….

Well yesterday I did the third day of training for a 5k. It was somewhat different than day one. Overall, day one was pretty easy. However yesterday was not as easy. I was running with a friend of mine, so before we began the interval training we walked about one mile. This wasn’t bad and didn’t tire me out, however when I hit that first 1 minute run my breath was labored and I was feeling it. Not sure if this is because I had just ran a few days earlier, the pace had changed, I was trying to talk occasionally during mid run, or if it was because of the 20+ mph winds. No matter what it was, it really kicked my butt a bit. But you know what? I survived and I’ll do it again on Sunday like the plan tells me to. :-)

Today I had a super cool NSV (non-scale victory). I was offered a free blizzard in honor of a co-workers birthday celebration and I declined it. OK so I didn’t say no right away, but I did say no eventually and that’s what counts. Long story short… I was asked at 10:30 am if I wanted a free blizzard. I said Yes. At 11:30 I felt sufficiently guilty that I retracted my yes and turned it into a NO. Had it been a last minute off with no time to ponder this choice I would have totally devoured the small choco cherry lovers blizzard in a heartbeat. Thank goodness I was given a heads up. And not I don’t have to feel guilty the rest of the night for indulging when I wasn’t even craving. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who completely denies myself when it comes to food. I think that is an unrealistic choice for me. Instead I just make sure that when I’m going to indulge a bit that it is on my terms and it is something that I truly enjoy and crave.

5k training has officially begun…

I know, I know a 5k is only 3.1 miles so you are probably wondering why anyone would need to train for that short distance. Although I am an amazing walker and could easily knock out a 5k walking, heck I could do a 10k walking, the simple fact is that I don’t want to walk it, I want to run it. And no I don’t want to do anything crazy like 6 minute miles. My goal for my first 5k is to finish in 37.2 minutes, which is running at a 12 minute mile pace or 5 mph.

Here is my week 1 training schedule:

Tuesday – Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute
Repeat 4 times
Wednesday – Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday – Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute
Repeat 4 times
Friday – Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute
Repeat 6 times

Each day has a 5 minute warm up and cool down too.

OK so I did the Tuesday workout. I must admit that first 1 minute run was a bit of a pain, literally. My knee felts a small twinge right at the beginning, however being an active person in a previous lifetime I knew it wasn’t anything serious and just pushed through it. By the third interval my running got a bit quicker and I remembered how to breathe. And by the 4th interval everything felt good. For my first 24 minute session I was able to cover 1.58 miles, figured this was a pretty good start since last week I was walking a mile in about 18 minutes.

To assist me in this new endeavor I rounded up a few tool. The first is an amazing pair of Nike Scoops. I absolutely love these shoes. They are lightweight, fit my foot very well and are super breathable. The second is the Gymboss interval training timer. For $15 this thing was perfect. You are able to program two time intervals into the device, set the volume of the tone, the duration of the tone, and the vibration level. I attached the Gymboss to the same band that my Bodybugg is attached to, which in on my upper left arm, and it was quite easy to hear and feel. The third is my iPod. Until yesterday I’d nearly forgotten the type of music I had on there. I started out with a bit of Eminem, moved into some Green Day, No Doubt, Dixie Chicks, Dr. Dre, Christina Aguilera, and wrapped up the walk/run with a little Paula Abdul (not sure how that got on there).

Overall, it was a great experience and I felt really free. Although I really have enjoyed running with my kid a bit over the past few weeks, it is nice to now have a routine in place where I feel comfortable doing all by myself. Today is a nice easy 30 minute walk, which for me will probably turn into at least a 1 hour walk. Tomorrow I’ll be back on to the intervals. Next week I think the intervals are 2 and 2. Hmmm… doesn’t sound like a lot of recovery time. :-)

It's working...

As many of you know, I blogged about making some changes to my calorie intake and my exercise routine. Well to make a super long story short, IT WORKED! All week long I focused on ensuring that I was burning at least 1000 - 1500 calories just through exercise. I consistently ate within 50 calories of the 1500 calorie goal I set for myself. The results were amazing. I lost 5.2 lbs this week! I am totally stoked and looking forward to another productive week. Already planning on walking for lunch every day this week and have a friend that wants to start walking after work. I am so looking forward to doing some more walking OUTSIDE in addition to my circuit training this week. That’s all for now, hope you all have an amazing week!

I almost forgot to give you an update to the baggy pants story. I went out and got some new jeans. They are two sizes smaller than the ones I was wearing before. Definitely needed to get new ones, huh?!?!!? :-)

Jogging with teenager….

Last night I discovered that there is no better motivator than to jog with someone who is 1/3 your own age. After watching my daughter in the “Living Stations” performance, I decided I still wanted to go for a walk. Mind you I had already gone for a walk on my lunch break and had spent 45 minutes at the gym. Not sure what has come over me lately, but it might have something to do with that exercise high that I mentioned in a previous post. Since the hubby was busy studying for class, I asked my teenage daughter if she’d go with me. She *shrugged* her shoulders and said ok. While we were in our first block I had told her that I’d like to jog every 3rd block. It is important to note here that she is in 7th grade and participates in cross country at the high school level. Last night when I made this request/suggestion I seemed to have forgotten the aforementioned fact.

So we proceeded with my plan. We walked the first two blocks then jogged the third. We repeated this process for about 1.5 miles, which is our halfway point. We get to the halfway point and I’m thinking to myself that this isn’t too bad. Yeah there were a few close calls with the ice that is still on the ground in random places, but overall I was feeling really good. Then it happened, we turned around to head back and the kid decides to take off like a cheetah. OK so maybe not a cheetah, but she was going much faster than she had been during the first 1.5 miles. During those lovely moments when we were able to walk and not RUN she was able to shed some light on the subject. The increased speed is twofold. First, since she is a natural born runner, naturally she get’s the runners high and for her that kicks in around a mile or so. The second is a bit stranger. According to her, on the way back, she noticed her shadow in front of her when we were walking/jogging. I was thinking to myself WTF, because obviously she’s a young teenage so I couldn’t say it out loud plus I think my breathing would have gotten in the way, each time we’d start our next running portion. I must have given her a strange look because she turns to me and says, “Duh I’m chasing my shadow”. Huh?!?! What does that mean? I guess there is this little switch in her brain that makes her want to catch up to her shadow, plus she thinks it looks funny when she runs. This was the secondary reason for the increase in speed. Obviously I should NOT have let her watch Peter Pan so many times when she was a small child. Who knew it was going to make her want to chase and catch her shadow and that I would have to pay for that decision physically. Although it was a bit of a challenge for me to complete the 3 miles with the running added, it was such an amazing high. Not only was I doing something amazing for myself, I also discovered another activity that my daughter and I can enjoy together.

I am so looking forward to tonight’s walk/jog/run!!!