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!

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!

/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.

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!

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. :)

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!

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?