It was a very nice day today weather-wise; it was about as good as you can ask for from Ohio in March. It was sunny and almost 60. To take advantage of the weather and get rid a little of my spring fever, after work I went out for a walk/run. I also wanted to see how close I could get to running since I'm supposed to be doing a 5K next weekend (It looks like I'll be doing it, but I'll be speed walking it with my sister-in-law. She and I are both in need of support for our first go round). Wow is running outside totally different from running on a treadmill. What seems ridiculously slow running outside had me winded in no time. I did do 5500 steps which according to the pedometer is approximately 3 miles. So, distance not a problem, the speed at which I do the distance is a problem. Not sure where to go from here. I guess I need to read some more about running outside.

Things I never thought I'd be able to do...

I totally had an "Omigod I did not just do that" moment in pilates tonight. The good kind. The kind where you manage to do a move you never ever thought you'd be able to do.

Backstory: my regular pilates teacher had been off last time I had been to class, and I took last Saturday off from class, so it'd been a little while since I'd attempted what she calls the "rollover prep". This is basically where you lay on your back with your legs straight up in the air and attempt to bring your feet toward your head --like you would do a plow in yoga. I typically had only been able to lift my hips a few inches off the ground.

So she queued us into the move....imprint, table top, legs up, lift.....and omigod, my legs were at my face! I did not just do that! You're kidding me! And I was able to roll back down with control! This is amazing! I was also able to keep my legs straight up for the entire hundreds sequence for the first time. I actually think this has been helped by doing squats, I'd been struggling with this not because of my ab strength, but because it was difficult to keep my legs together.

Needless to say that it helped my motivation tremendously. I'm definitely gaining strength and continue to lose inches.

March Goals

I'm sticking with this. :) Last month was a struggle, but last week, things eased up. Somehow I felt guilty about wanting to weigh less. Yes, I know it's healthy for me, but somehow I had resistance to it. This week, that seemed to relax. It's ok to want my body to be healthy and be smaller. For some reason it also seems more realistic. Probably because I've stuck with it this long and continue to feel proud about the goals I've accomplished. So.....for March (yes, I know it's already started):

• Exercise 18-23 times in March for 45-50 minutes. I'd also like to get my cardio minutes up, but I think that will come with the weather getting better, I'll be more able to walk outside.
• I'll be doing the 30 day plan again for at least the first 2 weeks of the month to get my eating back on track. This seems to be the hardest part for me, but eating fish and veggie food was a step in the right direction for me.
• Since it's Lent, no meat on Fridays for me and I also gave up red meat. I'm actually enjoying it this year, it's caused me to be more creative about what I'm eating (I wish papa johns would stop running the 3 kinds of sausage pizza, it looks sooo good). I appreciate that it's asking me to be more flexible. It's also meant I found a great recipe for low fat mac n' cheese (with spinach and green onions).

yay march. I feel like I'm finally on my way!

February Report

February has been a busy month. It's also been a little bit of a struggle for me. I've been so busy and the energy had been a little low. I didn't really feel the motivation to exercise. However I did accomplish the following:

• I did barely squeak by to my exercise goal. I exercised 16 times in February for an average of 58 minutes. The average time is down from last month, but considering where my motivation level was this month, I'm glad I pushed through. Besides the time goal was 40 minutes average, so I still beat that.
• eating....I'm not sure what to say here. It was probably a mediocre. I didn't eat horribly, but it wasn't fabulous. I did however actually eat fish this month. Anyone in my family who reads this will probably drop over dead reading that. I also actually enjoyed it. I'll still a little skeptical, but I'm working on that. I also ate a vegetarian meal and enjoyed it. So eating was pretty much a wash.
• I did 495 minutes of strength training (including pilates) and 448 minutes of cardio. This is not as uneven as I thought it would be, but I think I need to work on getting in some more cardio minutes as this probably resulted in....
• ...My weight remained steady. I was up and down with in a 3 lb range. I didn't lose any weight, but I maintained, which is pretty good for me. This is also impressive as I ate an entire box of Trefoils cookies in 3 days.
  
• I'm also very proud of the fact that I managed to do my first running without stopping workout this month. I did another one this week. I had to stop briefly for about a minute in the middle because I had an awful stitch in my side. But it's also taking about 10 minutes of running before I even break a sweat. I also came very close to breaking the 4 mph average. I also got to 2.32 miles in 30 minutes which is much better. I'm not sure I'm going to run the 5K on St. Pat's Day, I'm not sure I'm ready. I only have 2 more weeks to get in another whole mile. I'm not sure my cardio endurance is there yet.

In what seemed like a month of downs, I feel like I did pretty well and I'm also very proud that I stuck with it. Onto month three....

I'm Jack's festering boredom

Well, thus far February has not been a stellar month, diet and exercise wise. It looks like I *might* just make my exercise goals and I'm trying not to allow myself the excuse of February being a short month. I flopped somewhere in the middle of the month. I went 4 days without exercising for no particular reason except that I didn't want to. My diet hasn't been awful, probably short on fruits and veggies but not overly awful. I've maintained my weight with in a 3 lb range. I've not even really eaten junk for lunch. However, I ate out way too much and ate way too much sugar. I suppose this is about finding the happy medium, but I"m not really in a happy medium place right now.

I finally understand....

As a warm up for the work writing I need to do while I'm stranded at home in the snow today, I thought I'd update. It's cliche, but it's been too long. Things have been going fairly well. The number on the scale has stalled and I've crashed on the eating front, but have been slowly steering myself back on track and I've also stuck with the exercise. I'm very proud that I finished my first full 20 minute run yesterday without stopping. It was very good. go me. 1.9 miles. I feel very accomplished, if you ever told me I'd even come close to running 2 miles I would have called you crazy. But I did it and only marginally wanted to die at the end of it.

However, I now know why people toss their cookies when they finish a run or in the middle of a run. Last Thursday and last night before I ran I clearly had too much for dinner. Thursday was the worst, I was nearly doubled over in pain from the stomach cramps. Clearly, a burrito (even a homemade small burrito) was not the best choice before working out. I thought I was going to die. Last night when I was done I just thought I was going to throw up. I thought I had eaten a small enough dinner last night. I guess I need to try again. I'm usually fine on Saturday mornings when I run before pilates, I have just oatmeal or 1 toaster waffle and a couple of breakfast sausage.

It's both good and bad that I'm totally feeling the effects of what I'm eating. I know when I've had too much sugar by the fact that I drag all day or just feel like I have no energy. There's a world of difference when I'm eating well and healthy. I have more energy, I need less sleep and the exercise is easier. It's just been difficult for me to get back on the wagon after crashing. I know I need to, it's just better.

In other news, I updated my workout play list and that has helped keep me motivated to keep running. I'd definitely love suggestions for great upbeat songs to add, as I seem to be stuck in a music rut. Current favorites on the list are:

-Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me, The Killers
-Copa de la Vida, Ricky Martin
-Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow, Fleetwood Mac
-Shoebox, BNL
-Maria, Blondie

I need something with a fairly fast, consistent beat. It helps me feel more like I'm dancing than running. I'm totally that person on the treadmill lipsyncing along to my music. There are days where I feel like Phoebe from that episode of Friends where she does the crazy running through Central Park. I think I need a shirt to run in that says on the back "I'd rather be dancing."

Even with minor set backs on the eating front, I feel like I'm working toward my goal of being healthier. I feel like I have a pretty good picture of what that feels like as far as exercise and eating. Even if the number isn't moving, my body really is reshaping. Other than a few very stressful days last week, I've not put off going to the gym and have really begun to enjoy my pilates classes. I also get annoyed when all the treadmills are full and I have to do something else besides running. Sticking with all of it is a little harder, but I think it will come with time as I enjoy feeling better as I eat better and exercise.

February Goals

So, since I continue to feel pretty good and notice I feel icky when I don't stick with my good habits, my February goals will be as follows.

• Add an additional day to my days of exercise. Making that over 4 weeks 16-21 days of exercise.
• Add 10 minutes to my total time, so the workout time is 40 minutes. I'm very close to this already, but I definitely need to do more cardio. I also want to start tracking how I'm splitting my time cardio vs. strength training. Once I know where I'm at with that, I can set a goal for that in March.
• Continue eating healthy. Which means continuing to make healthy choices while eating out, and following the general healthy eating plan at home and during lunch (lots of fruits and veggies, lean protein, and whole grains when I eat carbs) and staying away from sugar in general (I definitely get the sugar sleepies anymore and it's almost too sweet for me as well).

I've actually gotten to the point where I may not enjoy all of this all the time, but I definitely feel better for making healthy choices. I just need to remind myself this when the devil plops itself on my shoulder and says "eat it, you know you want to" or "you don't *need* to exercise today." I did well with a Light Turkey sub today with a work lunch, it was the right amount and was still tasty and the pasta salad and cookie definitely made me sleepy.