Nice walk today!

I have been riding the bike between 2-3 miles with my husband.  It's really hard, so much more difficult than walking and running.  I just have not built up the muscles used for riding a bike, I will keep it up and I know I'll get better.

Today we went on a walk/jog around town, we went 5.2 miles!!!  It felt great!  My new Asics are perfect for these longs walks, perfectly cushioned.  I walk mostly with little spurts of jogging throughout, I can't wait to say I actually jogged the entire way.

It has been almost 7 weeks that I've been eating healthy and exercising.  What stinks is that I've only lost 7 pounds, and what's worse is that those pounds came off in the first week.  It's very frustrating!  I don't even want to hear "oh you're building muscles".  Sorry, but I'm just not buying that.  I went through this back in January and February, I ate perfectly and exercised every single day and didn't lose a thing.  I am stuck.  If I could just take off 5-10 pounds in the next few weeks, I would at least feel like all of this is worth it.

Well for now, I'm sticking to it.   My goal is a healthier me, and although I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with all this healthy stuff - at least my heart has got to be loving the activity.

Replaced the Saucony's with Asics

I wanted the Saucony's to work, but after wearing them around my house they hurt.  My feet were being squeezed at the sides, and I just knew they weren't going to work.  So I returned them, this time the salesperson didn't give me any other options.  I know I should've pushed, but being overweight and them being runners, I just sort of went with their advice.  After bringing my 2nd pair home, I decided I wasn't happy with them either.  I went back today for a 3rd time and ended up with the most amazing salesperson.  His name was Patrick, and he spent so much time trying on different shoes.  Even when I found one I somewhat liked he would say "ok we're headed in the right direction let me pull a few more shoes".  I was so impressed with him, and it made me have a whole new respect for the company itself.  I walked out with a pair of Asics Gel GT 2150 DuoMax .  I am happy!  They fit great, and I cannot wait to get out and run in them.  Here's a picture of my new shoe....

Saucony - my new running companion!

I got my very first pair of running shoes!  I am so excited and cannot wait to get out and run in them.  The problem...I injured my feet wearing some awful cheap flip flops....so I can't even run in my new shoes.  Oh well, soon I will be able to and I'll have some awesome new shoes waiting for me.
here's a link to the ones I got.
Saucony ProGrid Ride 3

Couch to 5k: week 2 day 1

Today was day 1 of week 2.  I walk/jogged for 30 minutes and went 1.812 miles.  That actually wears me out pretty good.  I'd like to do twice that distance in near half the time, seems impossible right now but I will keep pushing forward.

July 8, 2010

Breakfast was nothing special, same as yesterday - coffee and banana.  I need to add in some oatmeal and yogurt to make it more of a meal.  Its hard to eat in the morning.  For lunch I made a sandwhich wrap with a Flatout, and it was delicious!!!   So much better than the "snack" I had yesterday.  I filled the flatout with garlic hummus, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, onion, garlic feta and drizzled with a tiny amount of the Paula Deen salad dressing.  It was delicious, the only thing that could've made it better would've been an avocado. 

I took a short bike ride, approximately .75 miles in 12 minutes.  I went out right in the middle of the day and it was so very hot.  I couldn't make it far, it was just too miserable for me.  I plan to do some time on the treadmill later this evening.
A few hours after lunch I was starving, after all I've only had a banana, coffee, the wrap and a pickle.  I knew at dinner there was no way I could get in the additional 800 or 900 calories (minimum) more that I need today.  So I made a salad, with a deviled egg and pickle on the side.  I topped it with hummus, and the crackers are also topped with a small amount of hummus.

The crackers are Sesame Ry Krisp, and I am in love with these things!  It's my favorite way to eat hummus!

Well something went wrong with our AC and its burning hot in our house.  So I didn't want anything cooked for dinner.  I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread. 

It was so hot I had to eat one of these Edy's Fruit Bars.  They are delicious with only 80 calories and no fat.

July 7, 2010

I love visiting blogs that show pictures of what the blogger ate that day, and that's what I envision doing here.  I'm not sure I'll blog every single meal every single day, but I hope to keep up with it a few times each week.

I know breakfast today wasn't the best, but at least I ate something.  I only had a banana, and coffee.  I adore coffee, and am not ready to give up my flavored cream.  I do not add any additional sugar to it though, and that's an improvement. 

I had class and wasn't able to eat anything until I returned home.  I made a yummy salad with a pickle and deviled egg on the side.  I did put mayo in the egg, but it was such a small amount...maybe 1/4 tsp.

I added this yummy Paula Deen salad dressing, 60 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. 

Not in the picture with the salad is the tablespoon of hummus I added to the top.

I'm not sure what's for dinner, but I did stop at the grocery store today for a little shopping.

After lunch snack was NOT impressive.  I decided to try a multigrain w/ flax FlatOut, I topped it with garlic feta and broiled.  I was going to have this along side my salad at lunch but saved it for a snack instead.  It was pretty boring, but had a lot to do with how I prepared it.  I can imagine it as a wrap with avocado, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, a Laughing Cow wedge of cheese...and who knows what else.  Today was the first time I had a FlatOut so I really didn't know what to do with it, I may even make a pizza out of one in the future.  They are just 100 calories, and the light version has even less.

My walk for the day....

Dinner was yummy, I had Quinoa with steamed spring vegetables, and mushrooms & onions that I sauteed in olive oil.  It probably looks like I'm missing the meat to most people, since I'm a vegetarian you won't be seeing that.  The quinoa has protein but I guess I could've added a veggie burger or beans.  I was satisfied with the meal, it was filling.  It can be difficult getting all the nutrition you need in a day.  Plus, I wasn't well prepared to blog about this today.  I didn't plan to do it until next week, but needed the motivation.

Couch to 5k: Week 1, Day 1

I am thinking of running a 5k in October.  I have never ran a race before, and I am not a runner.  I am in need of losing 85 pounds, and although I can walk 2 or so miles I'm not so sure about running 3.1 but hey...why not?!  I think its a great goal to set, and might just give me the motivation I need.  So, today I am starting the Couch to 5k program in preparation for the big day.  This should take me 9 weeks to complete, and there are 14 1/2 weeks until the race.  Of course it might take me a little longer than 9 weeks, but its a great start.  Wish me luck, I'm off to complete day 1.

Post run update:
Day 1 went great.  I'm posting a pic below of my treadmill screen.  The walk/run was a 5 min. walk to start with then I alternated 60 seconds jogging with 90 seconds walking for the next 20 minutes.  The schedule stops at 25 minutes, but I decided to walk an additional 5 minutes to cool down.

Exercise for Monday 7/5

Well today I went on a bike ride, something new for me. I haven't ridden a bike in years. This was my 3rd attempt at riding the bike, the first 2 attempts were very short. I think I made it about 1/4 mile the first day. I was so proud of my distance today, I made it all the way to the park near my home.

The first mile was tough, it was pretty much all uphill. Of course the hills felt like mountains to me, funny how in my car I never thought of the road as hilly. The second mile was all downhill, so it was easy and the wind felt fabulous!

That was it for today, of course my new activity has given me a boost of confidence and I'm considering running the Peachtree Road Race next year. Hmmmm....I think I better slow down...that first mile on the bike today almost killed me. However, I do have a year to prepare plus it might be nice to have a goal like that to work towards. Could there be a 10k in my future?