two dolla

running is 54185% mental

Pretty sure that’s what running is all about. I suppose you need legs, but I’m pretty sure that’s the only damn thing that’s physical about running. Tonight marks the second time in this whole C25K process that I’m absolutely certain I’ve psyched myself out of running.

Last week, for example, I ran the 2nd day of C25K’s 5th week. That’s a brisk five minute warm up, eight minutes of running, walking for five minutes, eight minutes of running, and then a five minute cool down. I blew through that thing like nobody’s business. At one point in the final 8 minutes, I had the speed on the treadmill 0.5 miles faster than I had when I started. I was done and almost wanted to run out to the car. Almost.

Tonight, I was supposed to run 20 miles and did not do that. Hardly one bit. And it frustrated the holy hell out of me. There are a ton of variables that probably effected it. I’m so not rehydrated from the weekend. I slept on the ground for two nights, which would explain the lower back pain I felt when running tonight. The last jogging-type activity I did was almost a week ago.

I’m pretty sure I had talked myself out of running about three days ago. I know it’s all mental, because I don’t feel any pain or awkwardness or anything like that in my body; I could physically keep going. If I could just turn my brain off for 20 minutes, I could probably do this 5K thing without a second thought. But until that happens, I’ve gotta figure out how to get over this stupid mental roadblock before I drive myself insane.

’bout to kick c25k’s week 4 in the ass

I quit C25K for a while, mainly because it was kicking my ass and I couldn’t get past Week 4. Those of you not familiar with the program, Week 4 goes like this:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

• Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
• Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

For me, I’m definitely focused on following the amount of time as opposed to the distance, because who has two thumbs and has never ever been a fast runner? THIS GIRL.

In any case, thanks to some advice from my cousin-in-law, I’ve slowed my roll(s) on the pace and taken it down half a mile an hour. That seems extreme, but that’s always something I can increase down the road. Besides, for me, completing my first 5K (on June 26th, in case you were curious) isn’t about time or speed; it’s about finishing it and doing it. So that’s my focus.

I knew I was feeling pretty good tonight when in the midst of my last 90 second walk, I had to stop myself from doing a little pop and lock action to Mystikal’s Shake Ya Ass. Wobble, wobble, I’m infatuated. If I’m not careful, I’m going to wind up like that little kid on About a Boy.

10 percent and a bmr calculator

This morning, I hit the scale as I’m wont to do on Monday mornings and realized I’m down 29 pounds again. That’s over 10% of my body weight and the internet seems to think that’s a BFD. It can supposedly lower my cholesterol and reduce my blood pressure, along with lowering my risk for type 2 diabetes. (All this according to WeightWatchers.com.) For me, having lost over 10% of my original body weight has lead to healthier habits, like skipping a soda at lunch or feeling like I’d rather rake leaves than lay on the couch. That’s pretty impressive for me, because yard work can suck a dirty you-know-what. Not gonna lie. It’s taken 9 months, but now it’s done and keeps on going.

I’ve recently been very intrigued at how many calories I really need every day. This stems from me doing things like eating like crap and then wondering why I can’t finish 45 minutes on the elliptical. Food = fuel, as I’m learning, and mama needs the premium stuff! I found this BMR calculator and plugged in the appropriate numbers. My BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories I’d burn if I stayed in bed all day, which I am totally down for, by the way.

I can use a little formula to determine my daily calorie needs. Right now, I’m considering myself  ”moderately active”, which is considering doing a moderate exercise/sport 3-5 days a week. I’d take my BMR and multiply that by 1.55, which I’m pretty sure is just some random number that a really smart scientist made up. This tell me I need over 3000 per day to maintain my current weight. That seems like a ton of calories to me.

Here’s the scary part. I’ve been maintaining my old weight for a good three years, which means I was 1) lazy and 2) eating 3000 calories regularly! Thanks, Taco Bell, for always being there for me when I need it! Now, SparkPeople, which I’ve developed a slight obsession with lately, tells me to stay between 1600-2000 a day, which I generally do with great ease.

Watch how I wrap this whole thing up. Seeing myself lose 10% of my body weight through maintaining a healthier diet and exercising more has very convincingly showed me that the calories I do eat need to be worth something. This 170 calories of Mountain Dew I just poured down my throat, while tasting very delicious and giving me the much needed caffeine boost I needed to not fall asleep at my desk this afternoon, wasn’t very conducive to give my body some actual nutrients I’m gonna need to try that third day of the fourth week of the Couch-to-5K again.

i feel good about this

Here’s how I know I’m not messing around anymore when it comes to this whole fitness business:

Three months ago, a normal Sunday morning would have included laying on the couch to watch TV and maybe thinking about leaving the house for the day.

This morning, I’m up by 8:30, dressed to go biking, and doing some research that includes:

• The best route for me to get in 10 quick miles before it rains today.
• Which heart rate monitor I want to get in the upcoming weeks, since I’m over halfway through C25K and I promised myself one.
• Whether or not I should get a new pair of workable running shoes now or wait a bit longer and get fitted for super nice ones.
• Finding out whether or not the electrical fault my car is having with some type of solenoid D pressure control is either something I can fix or something that was on recall.

But I’m done researching. The sun it out. I’m about to hit the road.

let’s vote!

I made this on Monday, but then didn’t realize how to publish it.

 Loading ...

my work in progress

Here’s a line graph demonstrating what I’ve been busting my hump for… since July 2010:

Clearly it’s not going very fast. But then again, it wasn’t like I made just one trip through the drive thru line at Taco Bell and ended up gaining all of these 75 (for now) pounds I’m trying to lose, right?

The big spike as over the holidays; the awesome dip to -30 pounds was a couple of weeks ago. I’m pretty sure I can attribute to gains to things like forgetting to buy groceries for a while or eating out more than a couple of days in a row. I’ve really been struggling to get back down to that -30 point. I’m hoping a trip to the grocery store this week and continuing to work through the Couch to 5K program will be a good combination to get me back down there again.

Fact: It’s awesome when your pants start to fall down. It’s not awesome when that takes place in public.

i made another recipe

I had a recipe, but basically used it as a guideline and threw most of it out the window. It called for onions, but The General is allergic, so I had to find some other things to throw in the pico de gallo recipe for our housewarming/my birthday party.

5 tomatoes
2 tomatillos
1/2 poblano pepper (the other half of mine was gross looking)
2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
a handful of cilantro
8 ounces of black beans
juice from half a lime
salt

It could use some more kick, but I’ve also been eating it by the bowl for lunch the past two days, so it obviously can’t be all that bad. And it’s all vegetables and a little bit of protein, so it’s, oh, wait for it… HEALTHY.

a completely unsolicited fitness tip

I’m offering this tip up, because it’s worked for me for the past three weeks. I know that’s not a long time, but for me, someone who’s never been committed to working out for more than two days, that’s kinda huge.

I found a pair of tennis shoes that I love. They look awesome. They feel awesome. During the week, I change into gym shorts and put them on as soon as I get home. On the weekend, I put on my gym shorts and my tennis shoes before I do anything else. And then, you know what? I can’t use the excuse of “Oh, I don’t want to change clothes” or “I’m already dressed for the day” or any of those tiny, tiny excuses I’ve been known to use to get out of working out.

So now that I’m out of my pajamas, I’m into my sneakers, my man-pris (because when I buy my size in  men’s gym shorts, they come down to the middle of my calves, but that’s how I like to wear them anyway) and the only thing I need to head to the gym is the car keys.

a sampling of my evenings at the gym

As I sit here, still smelling my own sweaty funk, I felt it important to give you an example of what I’ve been doing at the gym the past couple of weeks:

Elliptical Trainer
Time: 23:00 minutes
Distance: 1.57 miles
Calories: ranging from 270 to 467 depending on where I look

Stretching
Five minutes of nothing but stretching my back. SO GOOD.

Weights
Leg curls: 30#, 2×10
Leg extensions: 40#, 1×12 and 50#, 2×10
Leg press: 90#, 2×12
Seated calf raise: 45#, 2×12

Recumbent Bike
Time: 12:00 minutes
Distance: 2.27 miles
Calories Burned: ranging from 140 to 190 depending on where I look

And then an hour later, I come home and am so jacked up I feel like bench pressing my car.

I’ve been posting all of this through DailyMile, but it irritates me to no end that I can’t put all the components of my workout into one entry. And then it just looks like I’m spamming Twitter and Facebook, because it updates there, too.

In any case, I haven’t had a soda since Friday and REALLY I DON’T MISS IT. Except yesterday when our sales manager walked in with a 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew and I wanted to see how fast I could drink the whole bottle. I’m guessing 20 seconds.

couple of healthiness related things

I went a whole day yesterday without any caffeine. A major part of the day was spent helping The Kid with his History Day project, so the caffeine would have been very, very helpful, but it wasn’t until 9pm that I noticed I hadn’t had any. I had a headache when I woke up this morning, but it wasn’t something that a few ibuprofen couldn’t cure.

Also, since we’ve been on this health kick, we just went grocery shopping for one week this week. That way we get more fresh produce and all that jazz. here it is Sunday morning and our cupboards are kind of bare. That made breakfast a little rough this morning. But I battled through and had the following:

1/2 cup refried beans

2 tablespoons of salsa

1 ounce of cream cheese

And then I threw it in a bowl, put it in the microwave, and had a breakfast/brunch type dish that was only about 220 calories. I don’t know how many Weight Watchers points or whatever it is, but I do know that it’ll fill me up until we get to the grocery store this afternoon with the rest of the masses and find out what’s on the menu for the rest of the week.

If you have healthy recipes you want to share, I’d love to give them a whirl!