Day 56 - Day 59

Day 56

Zumba Time! And it was a blast. Burns (supposedly) a shit load of calories and was fun. One of the classes I can do with my daughter at the Y so that helps make it more fun as well.
Funny that actual walking/jogging don't hurt my ankles or knees but I did have some twinges while doing Zumba. I am changing up my shoes next time and hopefully that will make a difference. I really do like doing it and it would kinda suck to not be able to because I have stupid old lady joints.

Day 57/58

What I am thinking of as well deserved break days. That actually wasn't the plan...But Friday I just couldn't get motivated (Work from home evilness) and it was absolutely pouring rain. I kept waiting for a break in the rain that just didn't come and I ended up sitting there like a big ole lump. Saturday I was slightly more active with no planned exercise but my daughter, me, and the grandbaby  did a double feature at the drafthouse. Ate a huge meal and drank too much. Then ended up going to a friends house and drank a little more (oops). 

Day 59

I don't understand anything about weight loss. So I bust my ass all week and the scale never moves. I lay around for 2 days eating and drinking and barely moving and I lose 2 lbs....Whatever. Just going to keep on keepin on. Had a great day...seriously great day.
Zombies Zombies and More Zombies.
I got out and did my Zombies, Run! 5K week 1 workout 3 redo and kept up the trend of faster and longer. So that made me happy.

First Week One Workout 3: 1.8 miles, 37:53 minutes, 21:03 pace

Last Week One Workout 3: 1.95 miles, 36:42 minutes, 18:51 pace

Last but not least I did and extra .75 miles walking to my daughters house to watch the season 4 premier of The Walking Dead...
Yes
Life is now made and I can enjoy my Sundays while I wait for Doctor Who to come back in Nov/Dec.

Tip for the week: We had Daily's Frozen Lemonade (includes alcohol) to drink. One frozen pouch is considered a serving...and 10oz = 280 calories. I turned my one serving into 3 and left enough for another one or 2 in the pouch. Added perrier to about 1-2 oz of the mix at a time. Didn't get plastered, didn't drink 1000 calories, kept a glass in my hand the entire time. I was happy.

Day 49 - Day 53

Well....This is the longest I have gone without writing at least every other day. Kinda missed it but the week was hella busy.

Day 49/50

-Phone finally came on Wednesday!! I spent that night getting it all set back up. What a pain. But...I have my phone and so I am back in with my apps. 

-Took the day off. I shouldn't have. But I just didn't have it in me.  Not sure why. Lame. I did get 5000 steps in. But none of it was hard core work. 

Day 51/52

It was my daughter's 22nd birthday! I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. For the entire day. Worked, took her to lunch, worked more, picked up my middle daughter from her ride from college, went to the gym and swam laps for half an hour, then picked my mother up, then birthday party time! I was really well behaved! I had some food within reason. And a small piece of cake. Too much wine and champagne though!
It was all worth it!

Nursed a bit of a hangover. Got my steps in and did some housework. No big exercise though. 

Day 53

And she is back! Runner 5 reporting for duty!

Yup...BUT...here is the deal. I completed through week 3 of training and just didn't feel like it was time to move on. I also didn't feel like repeating week 3 would be enough. So I started over at the beginning. Back to week 1! And I am glad I did. It was good to see that I had made some (small) improvements in my time and distance since I had started. It was a good motivator! I am going to do all 3 of the weeks over again and see if it will be time to move on to week 4!

Original Week One Workout 1: 1.57 miles, 35. 32 minutes, 22:39 pace

Repeat  Week One Workout 1 : 1.91 miles, 36.05 minutes, 18:56 pace

I am still slow as dirt but yay! A difference!

October Goals:

So October started with the first week not being what I wanted it to be. But I am going to make that up through the end of the month!

So the goals are:

1) Keep bringing the alcohol levels down

2) Keep bringing the smoking down (I don't smoke at all during the day now...only a few at night)

3) Keep my food on track

4) Start strength training! OUCH

5) Make sure my work from home days include a workout!

6) Cut Splenda from my diet (usually only with 1 cup of coffee in the morning but it needs to go)

7) Seriously up my water intake

Day 47 - Day 48

Day 47 Last day of September

I have completely lost my motivation. I did nothing. Well not true. I tried to do so and mething. I knew that I wasn't going to get a workout in so I figured I would take the little one swimming and at least run around the pool for an hour. We got there and she fell apart. Didn't want to swim. Missed her daddy and wanted me to take her back to her mom to wait for him. I turned around and went home instead of doing the right thing and dropping her back off at home and then going back to the gym.

Part of the reason (not an excuse) was a ridiculous woman at the gym. She completely deflated anything I was thinking about myself. A woman was there doing what looked like PT with another woman and was wearing vibram 5 toes. I have heard that these are great for flat footed people and asked her about it. Said I was thinking about getting them for my walk/runs but wanted to get some real world reviews vs ones found on the internet....She turned around and looked at me and said... "Someone your weight should not be running".... UHM. I asked about your f*&king shoes not your opinion on my weight. Also....she was about my size. Maybe a little taller...but definitely NOT a small woman. But still it really was a blow. Here is this woman who doesn't know a thing about me or my exercise level OR how I am doing it telling me I have no business doing it because I am too fat. 

Day 48 First Day of October

Woke up still feeling really put off about what that woman had said to me. Amazing  how someone can be so callous and no matter how you think you can handle anything it really effects your thinking. This was one of my work from home days and I just sat in one place all day feeling sorry for myself. Power inhaled Mike & Ikes and just felt like shit. At some point I realized I needed something from my car and ran down the stairs grabbed it, ran back up and while I was out of breath I didn't feel like I was dying. A month ago that wouldn't have happened. I would have gotten out to the car and back up the front steps and had to stop...and then slowly walked back up my stairs room and STILL been out of breath and feeling like I was dying. 

So...I threw my workout clothes on, went for a 2 mile quick walk and then took the baby swimming for the night. 

Basically I spent the evening giving that nasty woman and my own internal insecure woman the finger.

Some days you just have to give the bird to all out there who have something negative to say. Will I ever run a marathon? Probably not. I may never get below a 19 minute mile. I hope I do and I am working on it..but that doesn't mean I can't run. Be careful what you say. You might think you are helping and end up being the person that completely breaks someones confidence.

Be strong. Mentally. It will do more to change your physical health than you realize!

Day 38 - Day 39

Day 38

Can we just pretend that this day never happened? Too much food. I did get my steps in for the day. But no serious exercise.
We toured a neat restored lighthouse boat, played in the park, went and saw a Midsummer Night's Dream at the Lewes Public Library performed by the Brown Box Theater Project...so it isn't like we were completely immobile. Just lots of unhealthy food that went along with it. 

Day 39

Over 11k steps logged on the Fitbit! Took a great walk with my daughter and granddaughter along the beach and later did my Zombies, Run! 5k Week 3 Workout 2 training. I am definitely going to have to redo Week 3. My foot was killing me yesterday so I ended up walking way more than running during the 3 freeform runs. The foot is weird. I think it has to catch up more than any of my other muscles whenever I change my workouts.  It was disappointing that I couldn't push myself a little harder than I had been. I always try to do just a little more. Even if it is just 5 steps more running instead of walking. Instead I ended up doing less than I normally do. Bummer.

Join me on Zombies, Run!

Day 36 - Day 37

Day 36

Got my minimum steps in and walked the stairs at work 2x for a total of 10 minutes. But that is about it. After that...Drive to the beach! I did go on a short walk when I got here. Just around the neighborhood. This weekend is going to kill my last week of weight loss...

Day 37

Ah...bagels. Yup. Had one for breakfast. Went out and did my Zombies, Run! 5k training though. Week 3 workout 1. Ass officially kicked. I may have to go back and redo week 2. Just not up to a 5 minute run even though it is run at your own pace/ or walk. The good news is that I got up to 2 miles! Mostly kept up my current pace. Not really getting any faster. But at least I am not slowing down. Would have been a great day if it hadn't ended with all you can eat crabs and a couple of PBR's! But when at the beach....




The rest of the weekend is just going to be bad. We already have brunch planned for saturday, ice cream...the list goes on.

As much as I am trying to get healthy the occasional beach weekend is something that, while I may alter parts of it, I won't completely shut out. The hours of crabs, and great brunches and fun with my oldest daughter and granddaughter are just something we treasure. Other than the crabs I cut my usual dose of food in half. Considering how much I did eat I am kinda grossed out about how much I was eating before! Times like this I really realize how absolutely ridiculous restaurant portions of food are. Because I am talking, and having a drink, and fun...I don't realize how much I am really eating... I recently have started cutting all restaurant portions in half before I even start eating. Once that portion is done the rest goes into a box. It is still too much food.

Ah well...
Wish me luck. I can deal with a little gain...I just don't want to get home and step on that damn scale and go WTF...

ALMOST FORGOT!!!
I have walked 50 miles since I got my fitbit! WHAT?!?!?! That is since September 3rd! I know that in August I didn't even come close to that much let alone any of the months before. What an incredible motivator the FitBit is!

Day 34

Tuesday work from home ultimate lazy blahs.
Went from almost no steps at 8pm (work area -->bathroom--->work area) to just a bit less than 10k by 930. Unexpected double walk. Whoo hoo!
I got lost in my music and listening to the Zombies Run5k (find me  Leave a comment with your user!) stuff and forgot to turn around 1/2 way through. So by the time I finished my run I was more than 1.5 miles from home. Did a swift walk back and even added another .5 mile to get my steps up closer to 10k.
Weight is down another 2 lbs since last Monday!
Still need to check the inches. But I think the clothes are a tad bit loose! (It's the little things)
So while I sat on my ass for the majority of the day I don't feel bad since I busted it out in the evening.

I think this is going to be the recipe of the weekend!
Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos...they look divine!

The recipe is from:http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/Recipe/grilled-fish-tacos-ii.aspx

• 1 mango, peeled, pitted, and cubed

• 1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and cubed

• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped

• Juice of 1 lime, plus wedges for garnish

• chopped fresh cilantro

• salt and black pepper

• canola oil

• 2 large mahimahi fillets (1 1/2 lb total)

• 1 tbsp blackening spice

• 8 corn tortillas

• 2 cups finely shredded red cabbage

Mix the mango, avocado, onion, and the juice of 1 lime in a bowl. Season with cilantro, salt, and pepper.
Heat a grill or stovetop grill pan until hot. Drizzle a light coating of oil over the fish and rub on the blackening spice. Cook the fish, undisturbed, for 4 minutes. Carefully flip with a spatula and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove.Warm the tortillas on the grill for 1 to 2 minutes or wrap in damp paper towels and microwave for 1 minute until warm and pliable.Break the fish into chunks and divide among the warm tortillas. Top with the cabbage and the mango salsa. Serve with the lime wedge

CALORIES

405.1 CAL (2 Tacos)

FAT

11.3 G

SATURATED FAT

1.7 G

CHOLESTEROL

124.2 MG

SODIUM

614.5 MG

CARBOHYDRATES

42.6 G

TOTAL SUGARS

10.2 G

DIETARY FIBER

8.1 G

PROTEIN

36.5 G

Day 32

Sunday Sunday Sunday...This might have been one of the hardest days in the last 32 days that I have had getting up and just moving. I think we have been fighting a bit of a tummy bug, along with stuffy nose, along with sore throats, along with allergies along with....blah blah blah... Sunday rolled around and it was absolutely beautiful. I looked at the bright yellow sun through my window, the stunning blue sky, the white fluffy clouds floating on by...and said screw this (not as nicely) buried my head in the pillow and promptly marathoned through more episodes Master Chef than I care to admit. 4pm and the only walking I had on my fitbit were trips from in front of the tv to the bathroom and back.

Then I saw this

Then I did this (walking)

I felt better

That is all.

Day 31

So first lesson of the day. Do not OVER hydrate. Got to where I park to do my walk/run (my neighborhood is WAY to hilly for my level) got out of the car was 2 minutes in and....had to pee. BAD! Stop workout, quick trip back home to the bathroom and then off to start again. Got halfway through and had to go again! Luckily I was close enough to my local gas station and he handed the key over with no questions. So...hydrate well before you plan on doing your workout!

Zombies, Run! Add me!

Week 2 Workout 2 of the Zombies, Run! 5k workout...DONE! Note: The first one was a red herring! I thought...Oh! I got this! The 30 second run and toe lifts not bad... I lied to myself! I have learned the hard way that nothing in Abel is as simple as it seems at the beginning. Even in the 5k. Lesson learned? Keep on your toes! I made it through but I will definitely be repeating the Week 2 workouts. Good thing I was not delusional enough to think I could actually do this in 8 weeks. I would be seriously bumming right about now if I had. 

Find me on Runkeeper

Surprise walk of the night! And the one to push me over 10,000 steps on Fitbit (join me there!)! My daughter and granddaughter joined me for a before bed stroll. Thought it was going to be super slow since we were walking with a 3 year old. I was wrong. My daughter comes out of her house with the babes in her stroller (which never happens...we keep that girl on her feet). Now...my daughter walks fast. Super fast. We were 2 blocks in and I was already huffin and puffin. We came to a bit of a compromise. I picked it up a little and she slowed it down a little. 2.02 miles!!!

My motivation for starting the next (leg) week of this challenge???

Everyone have a great week and keep up the good work!

Day 27 - Day 28

Day 27

I finished Week 1 of Zombies, Run! 5k and actually feel like I can move on to week 2! Yay!!!!
Ordered per the app to take a day off so that is what I am going to do. So I will start that on Thursday (Day 29). Went for a nice 45 minute swim with the little one after and had just a nice evening. 

Day 28

Well....not all days can be great. In fact food/exercise wise this day kinda sucked. I didn't even make my 5000 step goal on fitbit. 

The fun thing is....This was my granddaughters first ballet class... So I went to go watch her class and then well...we had to celebrate...so we went to lunch. (Damn margaritas) Food wise I had 2 rockfish tacos, NOT FRIED! WHOO HOO! only 3 chips, a couple of bites of the rice...you know the drill...but I did have 2 margaritas with everyone else there. I just have to stay home! I keep saying it....one day it will sink in.
Oh...I did decide to start doing the stairs at work. So I did once up and down the 7 floors of my building. The only exercise I got....

So my question to anyone who wants to answer today....

How do you lose weight? 

I can step on the scale every day for 6 days and it won't budge at all...come day 7 all of a sudden 3 lbs lost or gained. I would expect a daily fluctuation, however I don't even get that usually. Just there, there, there for days...then bam. Surprise! Because of this I tend to only weigh myself about once or twice a week and not obsess over an ounce here or there. 

How about you? Daily fluctuation? One big change? 

Also...would love to get some new inspiration for music to listen to while working out! Share your favorites!

Day 26

 Another revelation: I am a lot more social than I realize. Going out to dinner will end up being the death of me. So...I need to get that in order. Took the grandbabe and her mom to our local drafthouse to see Monster's University... It's a drafthouse...I had a margarita and a cheeseburger. I did ditch the bun and subbed out grilled veggies for the fries...so...that is something right?

I got in a decent move. I am not going to say workout because it was a quick 1/2 hour walk and then 40 minutes in the pool with the baby after dinner. 

Quick question/poll: Do you eat back your workout calories? I am having an issue with this at the moment since I don't use a HRM yet so I am not positive just how many calories I am burning off as well as unless I am eating a pre-made meal I am not 100% on just how many calories I am taking in. 

Leave answers in the comments! I would love to know what everyone else thinks. 

Day 20

Guess who got a Fitbit Flex?! This girl! I just may love this thing more than anything in my life right now. Well maybe not that much but we will see. It feels good to be motivated. Really good. Having goals and being able to see them be completed or not and having no excuse for it is really a glorious thing.
Come find me on FitBit and add me as a friend if you use it as well!

Me on FitBit

Me on Runkeeper

Did a quick walk/jog before taking Emily (The 3 year old grandbaby) swimming last night. Scary thing is....these are starting to feel good! The thing I am working on now is time management and exercise. Trying to get from point a to point b mixed with c , d, e and f throughout the day isn't the easiest thing to do. I have gone from almost completely inactive to finding that I have almost zero time. We are probably swimming from 4-5 nights a week for 1-2 hours average. Great time to spend with the babe. I think in the end that is going to be the big thing I take away from this. She likes to "help" me exercise and we run around playing different games that keep us moving the entire time. I have been logging these swims as Water aerobics, water calisthenics on MyFitnessPal. The calorie burn seems a bit high...but I am not "eating back" my workout calories so I am not too concerned about it. I need to get a good waterproof HRM so I can accurately measure all of my workout calorie burns but until then...just knowing I am moving is doing me good!

On a personal note...went to my local cinema and drafthouse last night and saw This is the End. Good, raunchy fun! Splurged and had 2 margaritas... One of my goals for September is to lower my alcohol consumption. So nothing Monday, Tuesday 2 margaritas...gonna try to keep the trend to none for the next few nights.  It is mostly a matter of just keeping myself at home. And broke til the end of the week so it shouldn't be a problem!

Day 18 Happy September and Monthly Goals!

Happy September!

Day 18 brought swimming in the ocean a brunch with way too many mimosas and a wonderful ridiculously long nap!

While August was my lets get this started month, September is going to be my "this is serious move your ass" month.

Goals:
Exercise....
1)Keep up the calorie goodness but improve the quality of the food I eat
2)Reduce the amount of alcohol I drink. Amazing when I see it logged just how much I drink. Silly empty calories that I just don't need.
3)Buy and start using Fitbit Flex as soon as I get back to town. I am sure it is going to take a day or so to figure it out and set my goals on there....Then STICK TO THEM!
4)Restart Zombies Run! 5k! I doubt I will be ready for a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot...but maybe I will be up to a walk/run one. I had hoped to be up to a Zombie one by Halloween but I don't see it in the cards with how my ankles have been responding.
5)Drink more water! Seriously....how hard is it to just drink water all day? Well...according to my food log...pretty damn hard.

Personal
1)Get my personal life in perspective. It is way to focused on other people right now. Priorities are family and self and that is it.

The picture above is my motivation for this month (and maybe this whole journey). I love everything about the picture....but me. I want to be able to come back next September 1st and be able to recreate this image and be happy instead of just wanting to hide a beautiful image away. Thanks to my lovely daughter Clarice (Her blog-- Love Inspired) for taking this picture!

What are some of your goals for September?

Day 17

Unfortunately the days at the beach are starting to come to an end. Tomorrow and then heading home Monday night.
Eating today was a true test of will power. Breakfast and lunch were under control. Dinner could have been a disaster.

This is The Bobbie.... I am posting the pic of this for a couple of reasons. One it is an amazing sandwich. 2...I was really well behaved. We took half and then cut it into 4 pieces. I only ate one of the 4 pieces.









After we went for a sunset swim in the ocean. 30 minutes of bouncing around with the grandbaby, constantly water jogging the entire time or actually swimming. No clue how many calories that might have burned but I was moving.

Once we got home from that instead of sitting down to another meal I got up and went for a 1/2 hour walk/run. This is the first workout one since my ankles decided they were fubar. But slow and steady. I wish I had done the extra 2.5 minutes for the full 30 minutes, but my feet/ankles hurt and I don't want to be completely down again so I listened to the old body and stopped.









I think I have decided to get something along the lines of a Fitbit Flex. It is worn 24 hrs and is able to be submerged up to 10 meters. This is the only one I have found that has that capability. Since I spend so much time in the pool I really need that functionality. Anyone have one and have an opinion? I would love to hear it. Other suggestions are more than welcome also!

Day 16

Well...this is what vacation is for right? I give up about now. I realize dinners are just going to be out of control so I am trying to keep the morning/afternoon under control. But life is too short to freak about the small stuff when on vacation with your family.

We did go and play in the ocean at night so I burned off a few calories...but not enough to make up for the amazing crabs and beer and margaritas....Thank goodness this doesn't happen very often. I think that once the sun goes down tonight (Day 17)
I am going to try and get in a walk/run.

I am going to start Zombies Run! 5K over on Tuesday when we get                                                         home from the beach. Again. The goal for September is to make it to                                                       week 2 of the app...

Day 12 - Day 15

Quick week recap! Monday saw me back in the pool! My ankles held out well which made me happy! Tuesday - BASEBALL! Took my mom, sister, and granddaughter to see a Nationals game. It was so much fun! I should have turned on my Runkeeper! App and set it to walk. Probably got a good 2 miles in between walking to and from the car and then around the park.  Wednesday....Just hell day all around. Not a fun work day, then my daughter had an issue with her hip so off to the doctor we went. 4 hours, x-rays, prescriptions later....she has sciatica. Poor kid is just always having some sort of thing go wrong.  

Thursday....DROVE TO THE BEACH! Whoo hoo! Seriously...I need this time. But...I am not just going to sit on my ass! Last night we went on an almost mile and a half walk. Slow...but we were moving. You can only go so fast with a 3 year old in tow.  I put a few 10-15 second runs in there, masked as races with the baby, to see how my ankles would hold up. Mixed reviews on that! They did great while I was out walking and running but later that night lots of ouches getting up to roam around the house.  

Day 6

Almost said screw it...but I didn't! Finally got home and got my phone recharged. 10pm by the time I headed out. All in all a very busy, productive, and fulfilling day. Got my girlie off to college. My oldest and her daughter rode with me down and back so it was about 5 hours of good talks and laughs with the grandbaby. Then home...quick Thai dinner (so lazy I know) Took about a 1/4 of each dish instead of the well usual inhale it all....then came home digested for 1/2 an hour while my phone charged...and then RAN!

I have decided to redo week one of the Zombies, Run! 5k training. I just felt like I hadn't made much progress doing it for just the 3 exercises. So....restart tomorrow morning. With a friend from work! Hopefully she will stick with me through the whole thing. We are about at the same level so should be good. Looking forward to the company. Even if it is at 6am...

Oh yeah...new running shoes. Feet hurt but in a much better way (is that possible?) than they hurt through the first 4 walks/runs with my cheap ass Target shoes.  Brooks Pure Connect. They were reviewed and recommended as being good for those lucky ducks (like me) with flat flat feet. Review on the shoes once I have broken them in and gotten used to actually having real shoes to work out in.

Day 5

Yeah....Sunday.
BUT... Now I have a plan. No more weekend days off. One will have an exercise day and the other will be a day to romp around with family. IF I have nothing to do with them then there will be 2 exercise days.
I can't sit in my house without snarfing all food and just laying on my ass. Which just widens all weekend as I sit there...

I did get to have a nice dinner with my family so we could say goodbye to my daughter. She is off to her Jr. year of college. Today I drive her. When I get back tonight it is off to do my 3rd Zombies, Run! 5k workout. We will probably be getting back to late to do a swim...but the run/walk will get me back in line!

via:http://www.downfallguild.org/