March 1, Success!

Today, after enjoying a delicious cup of coffee and a quick breakfast, Kevin and I went to the gym.  I was feeling very energized and ready to conquer this workout!  I ran two miles in 21:36, with splits 11:03, 10:33 on the random setting.

BAM!

We got Jimmy John's for lunch.  I got my usual Vegetarian, with no mayo, add sauce.  Today I got no tomatoes too.  Yesterday, I had tomatoes on my taco I made, and BAM!  Horrible heartburn, so today I wanted to play it safe.

I have to close at work all weekend, so I needed to pack a lunch for tonight.  I brought baked potato and kale soup, an orange, and water.  I knew this wasn't going to be enough when my stomach started growling as soon as I got to work.  On my lunch, I ended up getting a bag of cheeze-its and a grape juice that tasted like a grape popsicle (not a good thing).

I bought these tiny little notebooks and a pack of colored pens so Kevin and I can track our foods through the day.  I like these, because it is way easier to transport in my purse.  It's always fun to get new things and use them for awhile.

Tracking in my new notebook.

On a random note, I can never successfully paint my nails.  I do not have the patience to wait until they are fully dry to do things.  It's like as soon as I paint them, I think of about a million things I need to do.  I painted them a pretty lilac color.  It seems very springy and Eastery.  Here's a picture before I wrecked them.

I better get to bed! I have to get up to run tomorrow!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Track-a-Lackin'

I have successfully tracked for a whole week!  It was hard, especially when I ate like garbage, but it was definitely eye opening.  It has helped me adjust my eating throughout the day to stay on track.

After making it through my first week, I was rewarded with a 3 lb weight loss!  I was really excited about that.  I feel like it always takes me forever to drop the pounds.  That was definitely the motivation I needed to keep going.

Unlike last week, I still have some Points Plus left after 3 days of the new week.  Last week I was out of my weekly points after 1 or 2 days - and way over.  I am finally getting the hang of this again.

My new favorite thing to eat is my version of a Q'doba burrito.

It's made of one giant tortilla, lettuce, rice, black beans, green peppers, mushrooms, salsa, and of course Taco Bell mild sauce.  When I wrapped it up I didn't think I would be able to finish it all, but I gobbled that bad boy down!  It was really good.  I only ate half of what I made, so I have enough to make another burrito wrap tomorrow for lunch.  

I love pretty much anything that involves a tortilla and/or rice.

What is your favorite food right now?

Weekly Goals

I've really been struggling with my New Year's goals.  So, I thought it would be easier to focus on the smaller picture.  I will make small, weekly goals to help me along.

This week my goal is to track all of my food.  I have been using Weight Watcher's Points Plus system.  Oh, no.  I don't pay for it.  I found some free sites from a blog called Freckleberry Finds.  She had a blog post about free WW calculators.

I did Weight Watchers years ago.  I lost 50 lbs doing it, too.  My problem was that I would still binge right after the weigh in and then spend the rest of the week trying to drop extra pounds.  I never really grasped the whole healthy eating for the long haul until I started to take running a bit more seriously.  What I eat directly affects the way I feel while running, so I had to eat (relatively) healthy.

I needed something different to get me excited about logging my food again.  I had been using Spark and still use it to log my fitness, but I had really fallen out of logging my food.  So, I thought maybe using WW would make it fun again.

I started yesterday and logged everything.  I get 32 points a day.  I was right on until Kevin brought a giant baked potato home with melted butter, sour cream, and shredded cheese on it for me.  Yes, I could have said no, but obviously I have a problem with self control.  I ate it and it was delicious.  And then I had some sherbet ice cream.  And some hot chocolate.  So, I used 24 extra points!

What I've learned after 2 days of tracking?  I am eating way more than I thought (NEWSFLASH!).  So, I am already out of points; weekly and daily after today.  Thankfully, I have running to do this week to balance it out and I can earn some extra points back.  I guess I am not as healthy as I thought I was!

Here is my workout schedule for the week:
Mon: off
Tues: Run 3
Wed: Speed Work 5x400s (Depending on the ice situation)
Thurs: Run 3
Fri: off
Sat: Run 3
Sun: Run 5

Do you track your food?  If yes, then how?

Knitting Machine!

Today I decided to really buckle down with my eating.  Ever since I made my New Year goals I really haven't made any effort to make them happen...story of my life.

This morning I faced the dreaded scale.  It wasn't a big surprise that I had gained a couple of pounds.  It's a starting point, right?
I then recorded my measurements in this cool tracker that Becky got me at Barnes and Noble.

You record all of your body measurements and it even has some fitness tests.  You record how long it takes you to run a mile, how many push-ups, sit-ups, squats, balance that you can do at the start.  Then you record for the whole year and you see the results!  It also has a workout and food journal.  At the end of each month, there's a page where you summarize everything and see your progress.  I am pretty excited about it.  I really like these kinds of things.

I also needed to look for a running plan to follow.  Otherwise, I really don't have any motivation to hit the pavement.  I looked at my race schedule and my next race is in March, the Blarney 5K Run/Walk.  I printed out Hal's 5K Intermediate Plan.  It is exactly the number of days until the race and this way I can work on getting faster (in theory).

Yesterday, I started knitting a blanket.  I really don't knit and wanted to try and make something.  I decided to make squares using different stitches.  That way, I make a blanket and perfect different stitches.  I have a book with a bunch of knitting stitches in it.  I finished the Stockinette stitch square (top) and the Moss stitch square (bottom).

I'm going to make the blanket 3x4 squares.  I'm using wool and it is going to be a really warm blanket.

My cat was not a fan of me knitting, though.  Every time he would come lay on my lap he would get bopped with the knitting needle.  Then, he would get up and give me the stink eye.

What's your favorite hobby?

National Coffee Day!

I usually forget that it's actually the weekend when I have to work straight through until Tuesday.  All day I kept forgetting what day it was.
This morning was a pretty big struggle to get up.  I had cereal for breakfast and some green tea.  Yes.  Tea.  It is national coffee day and the irony is that I ran out of coffee yesterday and forgot to buy more.  I was dragging until I felt it was an acceptable time to down a soda...10ish.
My food choices were not the best today.  I only went over by a little, but that's because I didn't eat much, just badly.  On my break at work I had some diet Pepsi, king size Twizzlers, and Doritos.

Not my proudest moment, but lunch wasn't much better.  I had a pretzel with butter and salt on it and some cheese.  When I got home I had a better lunch.  I had a cheese and tomato sandwich, a salad with balsamic vinegar and EVOO, and a pear and banana.  

A little while later I really wanted an apple with peanut butter, so I told myself to go for a walk and then afterwards I could have one.  It was a beautiful afternoon, in the mid 60s with a light breeze.  I listened to Jillian Michael's podcast for the first time and really liked it.  I figured I would, but it wasn't what I was expecting, what ever that was.  I ended up doing just over 3 miles.  I am planning on doing a longer run tomorrow after work, just not sure how long yet.

I took a couple of pictures of the leaves changing.  I also tried to get a picture of how huge the moon was tonight, but this doesn't do it justice.

I got home in time to watch The Sitter.  It was an okay movie.  Funny enough to keep me watching.  I'll be heading to bed soon.  I have to be up bright and early on Sunday!

What are your weekend plans?

Rest Day

Today I finally stayed in my allotted calorie range.  I have been tracking diligently for the past week and had constantly gone over...by a lot.  Not today!  I had about five calories to spare.

For breakfast I had an apple with 2 Tbsps. peanut butter and some green tea.

For lunch I had the rest of the vegetables and rice I made yesterday with some salsa.

I had dinner at work.  I didn't bring anything, but bought a Smart One.  It's called mini rigatoni with vodka sauce or something close to that.  I get it every time I have to buy my lunch.  I also bought some Boca Chk'n Patties.  I brought some of my tomato and cucumber salad I had made, but really didn't eat any.  I was hungry when I was buying the food and also bought a king size Hershey bar with almonds and a bag of salt and vinegar chips.

Thankfully a coworker came into the break room and I gave her half of my Hershey bar, otherwise I would have most definitely eaten the whole thing.  I liked the chips I got.  They aren't too salty and have the tanginess from the vinegar.  They are also baked, so not too bad for you.  

After work I was hungry again.  I didn't want to go to any fast food joint, so I stopped at the grocery store.  I got some apples, pears, cereal, bread, and apple juice.  I felt fine after I ate an apple.  I was very glad with my choice of that instead of the usual Taco Bell!

I got my race pictures back from the Brewer Mini Marathon on Saturday. I always find them funny.  When I'm running I always feel like I'm really pushing hard and I feel athletic, but then I see my pictures and wonder if that is what I really look like.  Here are a couple.

I'm going to spend the rest of the night watching Bridesmaids.  I just love this movie!