Sunday, September 5, 2010

Woot! 5K achieved!


5K Complete! My official time of 44:56 completely blew away my expectations! It's not a good time by any stretch of the imagination, but it's good for me! So, that being said- I think I am going to take a break from running for a while. It seems I am hurt more often than I'm not. I need to drop some more pounds before I start pounding the road again. Believe it or not, brisk walking is more of a fat burning exercise than running. So far I am down about 20 pounds, but I need to be down some more to make it easier on my joints. Pete is doing so well with his running! When he goes running, I go walking and it works well for us. We did it this morning and the weather has been so beautiful!

Eating well is going pretty smoothly. Of course we are enjoying some delicious bad stuff every now and again, but still being mostly good. We took a road trip to Okarche, OK and had some delicious Fried Chicken at Eichen's. Today we are going to roast a turkey breast and have a good old-fashioned holiday meal. :)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Back on Track!

This is me- trying to keep up my blog. Originally this was supposed to be a fitness blog. This was going to keep me accountable and on track. It may have evolved into something a little different. I'm running, still- and it's been so freaking hot! Every other day we go. I still end up doing intervals of running and walking, but I'm getting there on distance. Two weeks until the 5K! Regardless of how busy "real life" has been and will be over the next few weeks, we are making time every other night to go run.
I must find all this running talk boring, because I don't really find the need to write about it. What I really enjoy writing about is food and cooking!
We have not purchased bread yet! I've been baking more every week. From my previous posts, I was working really hard on a 100% whole wheat bread. It's awesome. One weekend, I made some marble rye after we found a great deal on some rye berries at Dodson's. For a change up, I've made potato bread the past 2 weeks. It's really soft and delicious! Not quite as nutritionally dense as the whole wheat, but it's still natural and doesn't have any unpronounceable ingredients or unnatural preservatives.I love milling my own flour! I made some coffee cake this weekend. Not healthy at all! I'm testing out a cupcake recipe I might try for something. We ended up taking cake over to some family, just so we have a lot less of it in the house. Everything in moderation!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Took a break

I guess I took an unintentional break from blog posting. We have still be running and training for the 5K at the end of August. It's still HOT. I've been baking bread like crazy! We haven't bought any bread at all. I made some potato bread this weekend and it's delicious!

The 5K is getting so close! Hopefully, I'll be able to run the entire thing...but if I can't, I'll run as much as I can and walk the rest. We've been going to the park every other day. Pete's been improving by leaps and bounds. My progress is a little slower. Hey! Progress is progress, right? I have not much to report. I haven't been eating great, but I've still lost a little bit of weight the past two weeks.
There's a ton of stressful stuff going on right now, which makes it extra important to keep up our routine and exercise. I wish I had more to share, especially since I haven't blogged in a few weeks. We've been keeping very busy, but still making time to run. I hope this heat breaks soon! I really think the nasty hot weather is hindering my progress!

Here's a video of my first attempt at 100% Whole wheat bread I milled myself.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Happy Birthday to me

Add another 2 pounds to the loss column! We are back on track and keeping our running schedule! We have 7 weeks until our 5k and I'm starting to get excited and apprehensive! I'm not quite to the point of running for 30 minutes straight yet, but I'm working on it. Hopefully, it was get easier and easier. I can tell that I am getting in better shape, but I keep asking myself "Is it good enough?"

We are still watching what we eat, for the most part. I'm not quite as militant as I was in the beginning, but we are 12 weeks in! Our plan to try a lot of different activities hasn't exactly panned out, yet. We've tried a few, but our regular exercise still comes from going to the track at the local park. Today was our recovery day, so we went and walked 2 miles. It was so humid and a thunderstorm rolled in just about as soon as we finished.

I'm getting a Kitchenaid Grain Mill attachment for my birthday! Hopefully, onces it comes in, I'll post pictures and maybe some video if making my own fresh flour! I'm a dork, but I am so excited!

Monday, July 5, 2010

A Rolling Stone...

In some ways I have been busy busy! This last week was one of my busiest at work, with the beginning of our new fiscal year. I've been running 2-3 times a week, where it really should be 3-4. I'm starting to feel it.
When it comes to heat, I am the biggest whiner ever. So, since Summer has officially landed in Oklahoma, I have been trying to run on the cooler days of the week, or run late at night. That just doesn't work for keeping up our training schedule. I am just going to have to buck up and go! For now, it's just 30-35 minutes and as long as we stay out of the hottest part of the day, I'll live.

I've been doing decent on the food part (I don't like calling it a "diet"). We have had a few treats, but I lost 2.2 pounds this week, so I don't feel guilty about enjoying my favorite treats. I am on Week 3 of making our own bread. Each loaf gets better and better! We took a trip to the health food store so I could get some dough conditioners. While we were there, I got some wheatberries. So, this loaf is a Honey Wheatberry loaf. Yum! I'm working on getting it "store-bought" fluffy and each time it's poofier. The main thing I enjoy is the heartiness of the bread and the healthiness. It's not low-cal, but it's made from all ingredients I can pronounce and find in the grocery/health food store. No corn syrup, no weird preservatives, just delicious Wheat bread. Right now I am 2/3 wheat and 1/3 white. I started at a 50/50 mix. The main reason is trying to get the bread fluffy. Once I can figure that out I'll go to 100% whole wheat. My goal right now is to get a grain mill, so I can make my own fresh flour. I would also love to experiment with other types of flour.I would also like to go out on a limb and make some other bread, like sandwich buns, but we have to be careful about the amount of bread we eat. We are still trying to drop the pounds. :)

Both of us are pretty good about only bringing "good" food into the house. We don't buy tempting things and we try to keep a lot of healthy snacks and easy dinners on hand. We buy plenty of delicious, healthy foods to take for lunch everday. This morning we ran some errands and stopped by Subway on the way back to the house. It's sitting in the fridge, waiting for lunch. I am pumped for one of my favorite dinners (healthy or not) Fajitas! Pete will grill and we will add some veggies and enjoy an awesome flavorful dinner tonight. Yum!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Run for your lives!!!

Weigh-in day was slightly disappointing. I gained almost half a pound. That's not terrible, but I've really been on a roll lately and I was hoping for another 2 pound loss. I shouldn't have expected it, because I really ate like crap 3 out of 7 days last week.

Running went really well. I am finally getting into it and enjoying it! The last run of week 5 was a 20 minute run, with no walking. It was tough and I did walk a little bit, but only after the 10 minute mark (which is longer than I've ever run in a single stretch). I think I made it tougher on my legs by trying to hold back and go slow. It isn't my natural stride and cadence, so it felt unnatural and my calves tightened up quickly and without relief. Next time, I just need to go at my natural stride and it should be better on the legs.

Besides just counting calories, I am trying to pay attention to what I am eating. After watching a slew of food documentaries like "Food Inc", "King Corn" and "Killer at Large", we decided to pay closer attention to what is IN the food we eat. We have been to the Health Food Store, but it was pretty overwhelming if you don't know what you are looking for. They carry vegan, gluten-free, diabetic, grass-fed, non-dairy, whole wheat, low carb, organic...you name it. Mainly, we are looking for locally grown food with all natural ingredients.
We took a trip to OSU-OKC Farmers Market Saturday morning. It was great! Produce was aplenty and they even had local chicken, beef, lamb, eggs, milk (and milk products like yogurt)! We only purchased some grass-fed beef short ribs and some local raw honey. We will definitely return.

The next best way to know what we are eating is to make it ourselves. So, with some encouragement and advice from a co-worker, I set out to make some delicious wheat sandwich bread. I found a wonderful recipe that I tweaked a little. I substituted some Flax meal for some oil and added some rolled oats and sesame seeds. It came out pretty good, if I say so. There are no unpronounceable ingredients or secret sweeteners, just good old-fashioned bread. It costs about $.50 a loaf, so even if some of it goes bad, it is really cost effective. My next try will be making some sandwich rolls for our turkey burgers. Yum!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

High Flying Day

We had a high flying day! We went to Rocktown Climbing Gym in Bricktown and had a blast! I am so glad many of our oldest and best friends were there to share in the fun! Everyone was encouraging and supportive. I hope to do it again, soon. Okay, maybe in the fall when it's not as hot. :)
 It was hard work, but completely fun. You don't even realize how much work it is, until you're done. I posted a bunch of pictures on facebook.One friend took some video, so hopefully I can post one before long.

Today was weigh in day. I lost 2 more pounds this week. That's the best pace I can shoot for. Fast enough that I feel like I am making progress, slow enough that it's not like a fad that I will just bounce back from it if I stop being diligent.

After Rock Climbing, we went to Louie's for some post climbing food. I think there are four of us who may try to run a 5K- just for the heck of it!  I'm excited. I think it will be a blast!

Progress is slow but steady and I'm happy with that. Thanks again to all my friends and family who are all super-supportive! It helps so much!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Wellness Champion

During my exploration of the Healthy Sooners website, I see a bubble "Want to promote wellness? Become a Wellness Champion!" So I did! I am now the Wellness Champion for Financial Services at work! Cool, huh? I'm not sure what my duties will be, however I am hoping they will set up contests and rewards I can use to motivate my co-workers.

Running has been going so well- extra well! Our last run of Week 4 was Wednesday evening and we both did awesome. It was my best run yet! I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. Tonight I was motivated to exercise, even though Pete's on night shift. Normally, I'd just walk, but this time I ran a light run- by myself. That was a pretty big deal for me. I went to the park and ran- with no one watching. :)

I am feeling optimistic this week. Tomorrow morning is official weigh in day, so we will see if my progress matches my mood.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A Lofty Goal

A lofty, yet tangible goal has been set. It was like a sign sent from e-mail heaven delivered right into my inbox
"Register Now for the First Healthy Sooners Fun Run!" August 28th Pete and I will be participating in a 5K! My C25K program is finally coming together and meshing with an actual 5K in Norman! I am so excited to keep plugging along with our training regimen. It's the first annual run, so maybe we can make it a new tradition for us! I'm stoked!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Hello, Summer!

I will probably mention how HOT it is 100 times until September. Sweaty, yucky, humid hot. I'm not going to let that stop me. I managed to lose a little more weight this week (2.2 pounds altogether). That made me happy and proud. It is also boosting my confidence. I always try to have good self-esteem, but my body confidence is growing. We went to a wedding Saturday night and I dressed in a cute strapless dress. We danced the night away and did the Electric Slide, the Twist and several other dances. Pete was twirling me around the dance floor like never before! It was more fun than I have had at a wedding in a while...and I LOVE weddings. :)

We ran at 11am on Saturday. It was not a good time, weather-wise. It was already steamy hot. From now on, we are going to have to go near dawn or dusk. I'm wimpy in the heat. Tonight, while Pete is working, I went our for a dusk walk around the neighborhood. It's a good moderate exercise to do on my off days from running. It may seem boring, but I enjoy walking. I'm hoping to keep improving in my C25K. I didn't finish the last 5 minute run Saturday. Hopefully, by the time we run again (Probably Wednesday), I'll have the stamina and the weather will be slightly more cooperative.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Quickly

I haven't posted since weigh-in day this week. It's been hectic! I'm down another pound. It's going slowly on the scale, but I did buy some new clothes- a size smaller!! woot

I participated in a Research study last month, and was paid for my time- so I went out to get some summer clothes and get a pedicure (my favorite indulgence) with my windfall. I bought pants a size smaller than I have been buying, so that was encouraging. I'm feeling so confident I might actually get some shorts to wear running. I currently run in capri's (like Yoga pants), but it's getting so hot!

Pete and I re-ran week 3 and now it's time to move on to week 4. I am apprehensive, but optimistic. We are going to have to start scheduleing our runs either early in the AM or late in the PM. I am a wuss when it comes to hot weather. We are looking at 100+ temps this weekend.

Right now, drinking enough water seems to be my biggest issue. I really need to get some discipline on that. If you have any ingenious suggestions, let me know. Thanks so much for everyone's encouragement and support. It means the world to me!

-Di

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Keep on Keepin' On

This has been a super busy week. One thing Pete and I did was try to refine our running technique. We read some good articles and watched some videos because our legs seemed to be giving up before our lungs. In order to practice proper technique, we are going back to last week's C25K run just to get our legs used to running correctly. We checked out Little River Park, which was really nice! I'd like to go check it out again sometime.
On Tuesday we went kayaking at Lake Hefner. It was extra fun since we went with a group of friends. I think it was a 2 mile sort of guided thing.

After dinner we went to Louie's where I enjoyed a decadent burger. I haven't had a burger in a while and it was a nice treat after the trip on the lake.

Maybe next time, Pete and I will try a tandem kayak. One of the guides said longer kayaks are easier to move through the water. I am looking forward to the holiday weekend. We are planning on doing some running this weekend, but not a whole lot else. I am trying to look forward to weigh-in day, Saturday. I'm not sure if I will drop much weight this week, but I am enjoying all of the activities we are trying. Maybe we will try something else new next week!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

It's gettin' hot in here

Summer is fast approaching. I hate hot weather! Pete and I ran this morning. It was warm, but not too hot yet. We started week 4 of C25K. This week really pushes the running to the limit with 16 minutes of running! Last week we were only doing 11 minutes. It wasn't pretty. We might end up doing week 4 for more than one week before moving on to week 5. We will see how the other two runs go this week.

Today was weigh in day and I lost 1.3 pounds. It's not worth jumping up and down over, but it is good solid loss. At that rate, I am much more likely to keep it off in the long run. As the temperatures start to climb, I worry that my motivation to get out and run will be diminished. I hope not. Maybe, if I can drop a few more pounds, the heat won't bother me as much. We will see!
Last night I did CardioX (part of P90X). It combines some Yoga, Kenpo, Plyometrics and other stuff to create a nice 45 minute workout that isn't boring.
Wish me luck in the next week! I am so glad to have my running partner back from night shifts to keep me on track!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

/pant

So, I finished week 3 of C25K on Monday. Since Pete is on nights this week, I did it alone at the park near our house. The first half was pretty easy because I went straight out after work and I was very motivated. The second half was much harder. I'm not sure if it's because I wore myself out in the first half or because I didn't have a partner to keep me accountable and pushing myself to my limits. I'm glad I did it, but I hope I don't have to run alone very often.
I did the elliptical machine at home yesterday and today I had 45 minutes of exercise during a clinical research study I am participating in. They used treadmill, bike and Wii Boxing. They made sure my heart rate stayed up, so it was a pretty good workout. We are going to try to make time to run tomorrow night. We have a wedding to attend, so...we will see how our running plans pan out.
The eating part has been so easy! I am surprised and I'm wondering how on earth it's so easy. Right now I have over 600 calories left for the day and I'm not hungry and I didn't deprive myself. I even went to Sonic for lunch. I give the grilled chicken sandwich a "meh" vote. For dinner I made some baked lemon garlic tilapia and steamed rice.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Still going

Well, I am still going! We are on Week 3 of c25k and we are running strong! I lost 1 pound this week, which was slightly disappointing, but any loss is a good loss! Its pretty good considering I didn't exercise outside of my 3 running days. This just means I need to step up my workouts on the other 4 days of the week. Staying within my daily calorie goal has been really easy.
My next step is to find something that is about the same amount of work as running to do the other days of the week. Nothing sounds like much fun, though. I did my Wii Fit Thursday night, but it barely gets my heart rate up. Maybe I'm not playing the right games. Anyway, I really need 20-30 minutes of exertion most every day. I will probably do the Kenpo X (from the P90X workout videos) one day this week. That's an hour, but I like it. Keep your fingers crossed for me next week! I am actually lighter now than I have been in close to 10 years. It's a little bit sad that I can't tell it in my clothes yet, though. Hopefully, soon!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Busy Busy Busy

The entire point of this journey isn't necessarily to lose weight, but rather to be healthier. However, weight loss is an important step in becoming healthier for me. Pete has designated Saturday to be out official weigh-in day, so we got up this morning and fired up the Wii. I didn't feel any lighter, so I went in pretty pessimistic, but I lost 2.5 pounds this week! It's proof that what I am doing is working! Yay! We also completed run 2 of 3 in Week 2 of 9 of our C25K running program. The running is getting a little (very very little) easier each time. More importantly, I am recovering faster each time and not spending the next hour gasping for breath!
I finally retired my old Nike sneakers...they were pretty sad. :( On the plus side, I got my some really nice Adidas running shoes. Sure, they are flashy. They make me feel fast!

One day at a time is all I can do. The food part isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I'm eating more often during the day and eating smaller and eating smarter. Pete even took me out for Mexican food Thursday! We ended up splitting an entree and it was plenty of food for the two of us AND I stayed within my calorie goal for the day. Food is definitely my weak point, but if I can manage to have my favorite foods- in moderation- I think I will stay sane. Now I need to figure out how to get Pete some pizza without breaking the caloric bank. :)

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

This week has gone pretty smoothly. Our C25K runs on Sunday and Monday were awesome. I can't wait to start week 2 tonight! I took a break on Tuesday before trying the elliptical Wednesday evening. It kicked my butt- in a good way. I couldn't wait until the weekly weigh-in Saturday, so last night I hopped on the Official Rustin Home Scale (aka Wii Fit) and I'm down 1.8 lbs since Saturday. :)
More importantly, I feel good. I sleep well, wake-up refreshed, have more energy...Counting my calories is a bit of a pain, but at the very least, it makes me very aware of what kind of crap I have been putting in my body, instead of mindlessly eating empty calories. I've been off of sugary soda for over a year! Last summer I lost about 10 pounds (just from quitting soda) then I leveled off. At least I only gained back 1/2 a pound in those 9 months I quit paying attention to diet and exercise. I consider myself lucky.
I have made a real effort to eliminate drinking my calories. That's tough for a lifelong soda drinker. :) Diet Dr. Pepper is now my drink of choice (even though it should be water). My next battle is drinking more water! I drink water everyday, but it needs to be more. Whew! Diet, exercise and water?? Can I do it? Honestly, I don't know but I am going to keep trying.

I also want to thank my awesome husband for being so completely supportive and motivating me!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Working Hard

Thursday, Pete and I did the first session of Couch to 5K (c25k). I downloaded a handy dandy iPhone app and it worked wonderfully. I can listen to my own playlist and get cues and coaching from the app. If I am going to run (and that's a BIG if), I'll have to learn by doing interval training. I managed to do this session without having a heart attack. This session consists of 1 minute running then 1 and a half minutes of walking with a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. Pete and I went to the park and kept our paces together pretty well. I was concerned he would end up being faster to me, but he wasn't. The weather has been gorgeous, so being outside is a good motivator.

Last night, Friday- I had the evening alone at the house, so after I ate some Taco Bell (I counted the calories), I pulled out the PS3 media server and did the Kenpo X workout from the P90X program. For those unfamiliar with this, it is like a hyped up Tae-Bo. It totally kicked my butt, but I got through it. It's very entertaining yelling at the chipper instructor! Today will most likely be a rest day. I got up this morning and did my Body Test on Wii Fit. I'm down a pound. I was hoping for more, but a pound a week is nothing to sneeze at.
Here's hoping MY fitness blog actually makes it past 10 or so posts. I know this is a completely overdone way to build accountability into my system, but hey- Whatever works. Right?

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Where to begin

I've been watching what I eat for about a week now. I've done just a little teeny bit of exercise and I'm down .5 pounds. Slightly disappointing, but it's a decent start. It just means I need to make a few more changes for the better.
1. More exercise. In addition to more exercise, I need to stay on task. I did two laps around the neighborhood (1.5 miles) on my bike last night. Then I stopped. It was only 10 minutes and I really should have gone longer. Self-discipline is my biggest weak spot right now. Next time, I have a goal of 4 laps. Hopefully, a specific goal will help me stay on task.
2. Keep counting calories. I am using the "Livestrong" app on my iPhone. It's pretty handy and based on the amount of weight I'd like to lose, it gives me a daily calorie allowance and keeps track of all of the foods I eat, letting me know how many I have left. This is working great and I need to make sure I keep it up.
3. More meals and smaller meals. I often skip breakfast, but starting today I had some non-fat yogurt as soon as I got to work, then some unsweetened applesauce as a mid-morning snack. Hopefully, this will help.

Pete has been SUPER supportive and has joined in with me. He is really motivated, especially on the exercise part. He got me out to some Mountain biking trails. I am in worse shape than I thought. I didn't make it very far. I am excited to try it again, though. It was fun. We have P90x videos to do inside, and I also have Wii Fit. I throughly enjoy Wii Fit, but I don't get a great workout. It's like a mini-workout. P90x is an extreme workout, but I really like it, so I am looking forward to doing that sometimes (more once the summer reaches Oklahoma). Pete has come up with lots of good ideas for exercise. C25k, Mountain biking, Yoga...Maybe changing it up and keeping things interesting will be a good motivator. He even had me watch a great documentary on the Chicago marathon and I loved it.

Since Pete is the cook, he makes dinner most of the time. He has been wonderful all week in making healthier foods and especially helping with the portion control. Yesterday he made some Pad Thai noodles and grilled some shrimp. Yummy! Tonight we will probably "Eat Fresh" with Subway because we are busy. Busy is no excuse for eating poorly.