Wednesday, February 29, 2012

You get stronger

This morning I woke up and headed to the gym.  I felt like I needed to run so I did a bike warm-up then headed over to the treadmill.  My goal was to do 30 min of running.  I started out at 5.2, which seems to be my pace when I run longer distances.  When I got to the end of the first mile, I felt like I was running too slow.  Like my head was always 2 steps ahead of the pace my legs were moving.  So I kicked it up to 5.3.  Still felt that way.  Kicked it up again, 5.4.  The last 10 minutes I kicked it up to 5.5.  That felt like the pace where I needed to be.  When I got close to the 30 minutes I asked myself why stop at 30 minutes?  Yes I should leave by 6am so the husband has his time at the gym, but would I quit a 5k when I was just shy of the finish line?  No.  So I kept on going until I got to that 3.1.  When I got home I was glad I didn't cut the run off at 30 min because the husband was still in bed and by the time he was dressed to go, the little one was awake and attached to him so he never made it to the gym this morning. 

So today marks the end of February.  I'm determined to make March an amazing month.  February was an off and on month for me.  So my goal is to stay focused.  I have the Fluff to Fit competition as well as the competition between me and the hubs (we decided to extend our competition) coming to an end the first week of April.  My eye is on the prize and on feeling healthier.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Well it's Tuesday

and normally that means Try it Tuesday, but really I can't think of anything to post.  So instead, I will post my treadmill PR from last week.  It was this past Friday.  After 30 minutes on the Arc trainer, my legs felt loose, which was much better than the day before when they did not want to wake up for a run.  Instead of hitting the weights for a longer time, I headed over to the treadmill area to get a quick 1 mile in.  9:08.  Best time yet for me.  I had to take a picture of course. (It took a few seconds to grab my phone)  My next goal is to get it into the 8's. 

Thursday, February 23, 2012

trying something new

So this week I'm trying something new and not counting calories.  Instead I am just eating when I am hungry.  I feel like when I count calories I'm obsessed with food.  I'm constantly thinking about what I can eat next to stay within my calorie range (either high or low depending on my workout).  So I'm taking a break and following the lead of my body.  Oh it's noon?  Time for lunch!  Oooh 2:30?  snack time!  The only meal I am eating even if I am not hungry is dinner, because we do dinner as a family.  I have a hard enough time some nights getting the kids to eat dinner that I need to be the example.  When I am eating, I'm trying to make conscious choices of natural foods with little processed foods.  I guess it's my own spin on what I've read of the paleo diet.  I also found a just that holds 1 gallon of what so I've been making sure to drink enough too.  So we'll see how this works and see if I can finally get passed these numbers I keep jumping around on the scale. 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Try it Tuesday

I've been getting my share of burpees lately while doing the Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack.  It does feel like it works for me!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Well that was ugly

This morning I woke up and headed out for a run.  My normal run for a Saturday until I start training for the half is between 5-6 miles.  I do the same route every time.  I'm in South Jersey, which is pretty darn flat, but I swear I picked a route that has every possible incline in the immediate area.  My head was in the run.  My heart was in the run.  But apparently my legs missed the memo on what they were supposed to be doing.  They did not warm up and get loose the entire time.  During the run I was blaming it on the lack of real exercise the past 2 weeks, but when I got home and was fixing myself breakfast, I realized what the issue probably was.  This week I ate not very good and lacked in the water intake.  So all those factors probably contributed to a miserable hour.  But the good news is that yes I put the miles in.  So I had to walk up pretty much every incline.  But I finished.  And that is what is important.  Now I can eat some Chinese food for dinner and then start afresh with getting my healthy eating habits back and drink drink drink that water.  I need to get another gallon container that I can fill up and leave on the counter every day so I am aware of how much I am drinking (or not drinking).  When I did that I really felt great and had some great runs.  So there it is, that was my bad run day.  Here's to a better run next week and a good week coming ahead.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Get out of bed sleepy head

Can I just say I am so ready for this week to be over?  These past 2 weeks of having my regular workout routine being off is really starting to take a toll on me.  I'm really trying to stay motivated but it's starting to wear very thin.  I'm ready for Saturday when I can get a good workout in and get my mojo back.  I need a workout where the sweat is pouring off of me.  I think this morning was the first morning that I got my butt out of bed for the Jillian Michael's 6week 6pack.  I've slacked.  I always say I'm going to workout at night, but when that night comes I'm just tired and lacking the push I need to change my clothes for a workout.  This morning I brought my butt out and got the workout done.  And it felt great.  Why can't I remember how great that feels?  And why do I have such a problem getting out of bed to workout at home but such an easy time to hop out of bed to head to the gym?  I have a goal reward for finishing the 6 week 6 pack - a new haircut and highlights.  That is what I try to remember when I feel like putting it off just one more day. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

After all these years

I realized I've been tying my shoes the wrong way!  I stumbled across this video fro Runner's World on where else ... pinterest.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love is in the air

Here it Valentine's day!  I hope everyone is able to spend it with at least one person who is special to you.  So ... calories don't exist on Valentine's day right?  I certainly hope not.  I'm going to need to do a good workout tonight!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Weekly Weigh-In & other ramblings

Today the husband is home from work, which always throws off my morning routine.  That results in me not doing a weigh-in.  BUT as of Friday when I last weighed myself - 159.6!  The lowest I've been since 2008.  7 more lbs to go to be out of the obese range on the BMI scale. 

This weekend was an ok weekend.  Not the best but yet not the worst.  I took a break from calorie counting.  That doesn't meant that I went crazy eating, actually I think I pretty much ended up where I should be daily, if not at least it was pretty close.  Saturday is normally my longer workout day.  I ended up sleeping in which did not allow time for my morning workout since we take the boys to the Lowe's Build and Grow clinics.  I did muster up the energy at the end of the day for a Jillian Michael's 6 week 6 pack (JM 6W6P) workout.  The husband walked in at the end of the workout and commented on how he can really see the muscles in my legs & arms now.  Yesterday was a rest day as scheduled.

Today I will be doing my workout at night.  I normally do not like night workouts, but I will do my est to enjoy it this one time.  The workout portion of the week should go as follows.  It's a crappy week with really no gym time except for today and Saturday:

Monday - elliptical, upper or lower body (whichever machines are open the most at the gym), JM 6W6P
Tuesday -JM 6W6P
Wednesday - JM 6W6P, KenpoX
Thursday-  JM 6W6P, upper body
Friday-JM 6W6P, CardioX
Saturday -RUN - (after the long week of no gym time I might just never want to stop running)
Sunday - rest

Friday, February 10, 2012

Funny Friday

 One of my cousins posted this on Facebook:
You know you're overweight when...
the clapping you're hearing while exercising is not your imaginary cheering squad, it's your fat!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

My newest toy

Last week I got a package in the mail - my new HRM!  I've been wanting to get one and found a very good price on ebay so I bought it as a Valentine's Day present to myself.  My favorite feature is the calorie counter so now I will have a bit more accurate count. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Head on over

to The Studly Runner for your chance to win a silver necklace!  

'Just a little heart attack'

A friend of mine shared this after watching it at her MOPS meeting.  Good reminder to make sure you take care and pay attention to yourself.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Fitness Calendar

I won a calendar from a friends blog contest at the beginning of the year.  Last week I picked it up at my friends house.  I already have my Chic Fil A calendar filled out for the year so I didn't want to replace that.  I was trying to decide what to do with this new calendar.  One day it hit me - a fitness calendar.
 On the calendar I will plan out my workouts and keep track of what that pesky scale says.  Then I can compare weeks to see if there's a pattern to my up and down on the scale by the time of the month or my workouts.  I already have to do some adjustments since I switched this past weekend up due to needing some extra calories for the Super Bowl party munchies.  The rest of this week should run as planned.  And I plead guilty of avoiding the scale today.  No sense of ruining the beginning of what will be a good week. :)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

6 more weeks of winter?

If it's like our current winter I'll take it!  Yesterday the boys and I spent the day at the park with some friends.  When I got in our van to leave this is what the thermometer read:
 Love Love Love it!  Now if only I would have been able to get a run in with that gorgeous weather life would have been grand.

I've been neglecting my abs and core a great deal recently.  Last week I found a good price for Jillian Michael's 6 week 6 pack on ebay.  Monday it arrived in the mail. I started doing that Tuesday morning.  My plan is to do that workout 5 days/week for the entire 6 weeks in addition to my normal workouts.  So we'll see if we can turn this one liter of mine into a 6 pack.