Happy Monday! All day, for some reason, I felt like it was Thursday, but no such luck. I'm going to talk a bit about food...
Breakfast: Grape nuts, 1/2 banana, 1% milk
I measured for the first time in years. I was worried I was eating way too much but the measured amount wasn't that much less than I've been eating. I sliced 1/2 banana (fruit are 0 points on the new 2012 WW program) on top, something I haven't been doing lately, to bulk it up a bit.
Snack: other 1/2 of banana from breakfast
Lunch: Chipotle with a co-worker
I ordered a taco kit from the kid's menu and chose 2 corn tortillas with barbacoa (shredded beef), black beans and onion/bell pepper mix as my 3 choices. It comes with a 1% chocolate milk (which I saved for a snack on another day). I skipped the chips altogether. The kid meal is actually a quite fine amount for an adult.
Snack: 1/3 of a clif bar (maple nut) and an apple
Dinner: Tacos, sauteed zucchini
I made the taco meat from ground beef and sausage. I wanted ground turkey and turkey sausage but the store I went to had neither. So dinner ended up being WAY more Points than I planned. But the tacos were seriously good. I cooked the meat, drained off the fat, and then mixed in a can of refried beans. Lots of taco seasoning later and it was so yummy. I built my two tacos with a bit of the meat, grated cheddar, pico de gallo and a tiny bit of sour cream. I sauteed two zucchini in a tiny bit of olive oil and ate those too. I tracked all of this and dinner turned out to be 18 points. Remember, I get 26 for the day!
It's a darned good thing I exercised today! I earned 7 activity points and they all went toward dinner. And of course I had to dip into the "extra" points too. I now have 13 extra points left until Friday. Should be interesting. I find myself doubting if I can lose weight eating these AP points but I need to trust the program and see what happens this week. Then I can make adjustments if I need to.
Speaking of exercise...I went to the gym after work and did 25 minutes on the upright bike followed by strength training - chest/triceps/core. The bike was a challenge but doable. Strength training felt good, I like doing chest and tricep stuff. I have some serious triceps - it's too bad they are hidden under an even more serious layer of arm-fat!
p.s. I really want something to eat, preferably something sweet, but I'm having tea instead. Night all!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Weight Watchers Online vs Meetings
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(If you're just here to read about WW meetings vs online, scan down to the Jennifer Hudson image).
Things are cruising along with the Weight Watchers. I'm tracking everything I eat and already have reigned things in quite a bit in an effort to stay within my allotted points. Today started off with a whimper when I missed a bike ride with a friend. We had plans to cancel if it rained and I was so sure it would be raining that come morning I didn't even bother to get out of bed to actually check. And Miguel got up with the kids and let me sleep so I was even more motivated to stay put. I finally got up around 9:45am (can you believe it?!) and saw a bunch of missed text messages from Melissa. All day I kept glancing out at the dry sky and feeling bummed I missed an opportunity to ride. Melissa went on a short ride on her own and was nice enough to tell me that with the cold it was miserable.
Anyway, I got on with my day, which mostly consisted of converting Marek's crib into a full size bed. He's having a hard time going to sleep tonight, which is to be expected I guess, but I'm really ready for him to stop calling me in to his room every 5 minutes.
Ok, on to the food/exercise update. I went to the gym this afternoon and had a feeling that I'd have a good run. And I did. I ran 3 miles in 32:30, a tad over 5.5 mph. And, more importantly, I felt great. The run was easy and relaxed. I found myself thinking about the 10k that's coming up in two weeks. There are a lot of hills on that route. I mapped it and this is the elevation profile:
Looks like fun, right? So during today's run I was wondering if I would be suffering during the 10k because of all the hills. I suppose the amount of suffering is totally up to me. I can always walk, and likely will. I've ridden my bike on those hills plenty of times and at least one of them I don't think I can run up and over. Anyway, I finished up my run feeling fabulous and then started into weights - back/biceps/core. I had a good workout and, after stretching, headed back home to my family.
Food-wise I'm doing great. The good thing is that WW does not mean you have to be restrictive. Last night I went to dinner at a friend's house (Hi Joan!). Joan makes a fabulous risotto. It's so good I pretty much demand her to make it when I go there. This time she made a mushroom, sausage risotto and it was as good as ever. I had that with garlic bread, and super yummy roasted brussell sprouts. Top it all off with a healthy slice of lemon tart and a small glass of wine and I was stuffed! My stomach hurt so I know I ate a bit more than needed but I was "fat and happy" as they say and I had no regrets.
This morning I tracked it all and went about my day. Today I only went over my points by 3 and with my APs I could even eat more if I wanted. But I'm not hungry and about to head to bed so that means no more food.
This is getting to be a long post but before I wrap up I want to share some of my thoughts on WW meetings. Nicole (aka Running While Mommy) asked what I thought about meetings vs. online. When I re-joined this time I thought about doing online-only because finding time to go to a weekly meeting seemed too onerous. But in the end I decided the meetings were important. When I started WW in 2005, for me, the meetings were the foundation of the program. I committed to going to that weekly meeting come hell or high weigh-in, and that was key. Before I go on, I have to add a caveat to what I'm about to share. If you are not a food junkie like me and are doing WW to lose a stubborn 10-20 pounds but have never been really fat, the pros I mention might not apply to you. Then again, maybe they will, who knows? Well, I suppose you do, right?
What it comes down to, for me, is merely getting information vs. getting support, accountability and making it very, very real. Something about going to the meeting, seeing others on my same journey, getting on the scale in front of another human being (the weigh-ins are private, the person checking you in sees it and writes it in your book) and being inspired by the success of others - it all has a way of putting my week in perspective and helping me to stay on track. If it were just me and E-tools I could see myself quitting when the going got tough. And it will get tough (and better, and then tough again - it's the nature of the game).
The meetings are not group therapy, you never have to say a word if you don't want to and some people never do. I do more listening than I do talking, that's for sure. Different leaders bring different things to the table so if you don't like the leader try a different meeting. Each week the leader will cover a different topic and I'm often nodding my head in agreement. There are no group hugs, though there is sometimes clapping. When someone passes a 5 pound mark of weight loss they get acknowledged and everyone claps, "Sally has lost a total of 26.4 pounds!" Clap, clap. That happens at the end of the meeting so you could leave if you wanted. And if you didn't want to be acknowledged you just tell the person checking you in. But who doesn't want to be recognized for your hard work? The clapping is nice, I think.
Weight Watchers materials often point out that "people who attend meetings lose 3 times more weight than those who go it alone." I read the study on which this is based - turns out that at the 1 year mark people who attended weekly meetings had lost 9.5 pounds and those who did not had lost 2.9 pounds. Yes, technically 3 times more weight but not exactly 60 pounds vs 20 pounds. In any case, it all comes down to you. You can try online-only and if it's not working, or more importantly, if it stops working, you can try meetings. Or, if meetings won't be too hard to get to, I say go to the meeting. You might like it more than you expect.
Update, 11/2014. I wrote this post in 2012, five years after I started WW. I slowly stopped going to meetings after being a Lifetime member for a while. I would go now-and-then but mostly I didn't. Eventually I stopped altogether. Things were going great and I was maintaining my weight. Then I hit a bump in the road of life and the pounds started to slowly come back. I tried using a calorie tracker (My Fitness Pal) but that didn't stick. When my weight gain was closing in on 10 pounds, I decided it was time to go back to meetings. I've been back for a couple weeks now and I love it. I'm back to eating better, tracking (for as long as I need to) and feeling great.
(If you're just here to read about WW meetings vs online, scan down to the Jennifer Hudson image).
Things are cruising along with the Weight Watchers. I'm tracking everything I eat and already have reigned things in quite a bit in an effort to stay within my allotted points. Today started off with a whimper when I missed a bike ride with a friend. We had plans to cancel if it rained and I was so sure it would be raining that come morning I didn't even bother to get out of bed to actually check. And Miguel got up with the kids and let me sleep so I was even more motivated to stay put. I finally got up around 9:45am (can you believe it?!) and saw a bunch of missed text messages from Melissa. All day I kept glancing out at the dry sky and feeling bummed I missed an opportunity to ride. Melissa went on a short ride on her own and was nice enough to tell me that with the cold it was miserable.
Anyway, I got on with my day, which mostly consisted of converting Marek's crib into a full size bed. He's having a hard time going to sleep tonight, which is to be expected I guess, but I'm really ready for him to stop calling me in to his room every 5 minutes.
Ok, on to the food/exercise update. I went to the gym this afternoon and had a feeling that I'd have a good run. And I did. I ran 3 miles in 32:30, a tad over 5.5 mph. And, more importantly, I felt great. The run was easy and relaxed. I found myself thinking about the 10k that's coming up in two weeks. There are a lot of hills on that route. I mapped it and this is the elevation profile:
Looks like fun, right? So during today's run I was wondering if I would be suffering during the 10k because of all the hills. I suppose the amount of suffering is totally up to me. I can always walk, and likely will. I've ridden my bike on those hills plenty of times and at least one of them I don't think I can run up and over. Anyway, I finished up my run feeling fabulous and then started into weights - back/biceps/core. I had a good workout and, after stretching, headed back home to my family.
Food-wise I'm doing great. The good thing is that WW does not mean you have to be restrictive. Last night I went to dinner at a friend's house (Hi Joan!). Joan makes a fabulous risotto. It's so good I pretty much demand her to make it when I go there. This time she made a mushroom, sausage risotto and it was as good as ever. I had that with garlic bread, and super yummy roasted brussell sprouts. Top it all off with a healthy slice of lemon tart and a small glass of wine and I was stuffed! My stomach hurt so I know I ate a bit more than needed but I was "fat and happy" as they say and I had no regrets.
This morning I tracked it all and went about my day. Today I only went over my points by 3 and with my APs I could even eat more if I wanted. But I'm not hungry and about to head to bed so that means no more food.
What it comes down to, for me, is merely getting information vs. getting support, accountability and making it very, very real. Something about going to the meeting, seeing others on my same journey, getting on the scale in front of another human being (the weigh-ins are private, the person checking you in sees it and writes it in your book) and being inspired by the success of others - it all has a way of putting my week in perspective and helping me to stay on track. If it were just me and E-tools I could see myself quitting when the going got tough. And it will get tough (and better, and then tough again - it's the nature of the game).
The meetings are not group therapy, you never have to say a word if you don't want to and some people never do. I do more listening than I do talking, that's for sure. Different leaders bring different things to the table so if you don't like the leader try a different meeting. Each week the leader will cover a different topic and I'm often nodding my head in agreement. There are no group hugs, though there is sometimes clapping. When someone passes a 5 pound mark of weight loss they get acknowledged and everyone claps, "Sally has lost a total of 26.4 pounds!" Clap, clap. That happens at the end of the meeting so you could leave if you wanted. And if you didn't want to be acknowledged you just tell the person checking you in. But who doesn't want to be recognized for your hard work? The clapping is nice, I think.
Weight Watchers materials often point out that "people who attend meetings lose 3 times more weight than those who go it alone." I read the study on which this is based - turns out that at the 1 year mark people who attended weekly meetings had lost 9.5 pounds and those who did not had lost 2.9 pounds. Yes, technically 3 times more weight but not exactly 60 pounds vs 20 pounds. In any case, it all comes down to you. You can try online-only and if it's not working, or more importantly, if it stops working, you can try meetings. Or, if meetings won't be too hard to get to, I say go to the meeting. You might like it more than you expect.
Update, 11/2014. I wrote this post in 2012, five years after I started WW. I slowly stopped going to meetings after being a Lifetime member for a while. I would go now-and-then but mostly I didn't. Eventually I stopped altogether. Things were going great and I was maintaining my weight. Then I hit a bump in the road of life and the pounds started to slowly come back. I tried using a calorie tracker (My Fitness Pal) but that didn't stick. When my weight gain was closing in on 10 pounds, I decided it was time to go back to meetings. I've been back for a couple weeks now and I love it. I'm back to eating better, tracking (for as long as I need to) and feeling great.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
I Believe
I haven't blogged since Wednesday! When that happens it either means I'm veering off course, I'm too tired to blog or that I'm too darned busy. In this case it's the latter. I've been going this week and I've also made a fairly big decision.
First, to catch you up on my gym progress. I have several "rules" for my gym attendance. Maybe rules isn't the best description, guidelines might be more accurate. They are:
1. Ideally, attend the gym 5 days per week. 4 if that isn't possible. 3 is the bare minimum (unless I'm *really* sick).
2. Do not go to the gym more than three days in a row (because I've learned that 4 days in a row does not make my body happy).
3. If I do something strenuous outdoors (long run, long bike ride), that usually counts as a gym day.
Items 1 and 2 sometimes cause problems and they did this week (and last too actually). So, for the second week in a row I broke rule #2 and went to the gym four days in a row. This decision included my gauging how my body was feeling and thinking I could do it without much consequence. And I think that's true. So this week I went to the gym on Sun, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri. I am taking today (Sat) off and plan to get back to my somewhat normal schedule of Sun, Mon, Tue, Thur Fri starting tomorrow. I'm supposed to go on a long ride tomorrow but rain is in the forecast so that's not likely to happen.
Anyway, to catch you up on my gym progress this week...on Thursday I started out with a 25 minute run on the treadmill. Set to 1% I rotated between 5.0, 5.5 and 6 mph. In all I did just over 2.2 miles and felt happy with how I felt. After that I did chest/triceps/core work. Pushups, tricep presses, dips, dumbbell flies - you get the idea. Core work included the plank and decline crunches.
Yesterday, Friday, I started with the upright bike for 25 minutes. Level 7 felt a smidge easier so I'm moving in the right direction. Then I did legs/shoulders/core work. I had fun doing the jackknifes, I still really like those. And lunges felt particularly good, my balance and strength have come such a long way since I started. Ok, enough about all that...on to the big news!
A tiny bit of back story first...earlier this week it occurred to me that it's actually getting pretty close to the mother's social. This is the big shindig my mother's club puts on every year and it's where I won the year gym pass last year. And I'll need a dress. And I want to look my best. Soooo, I was newly motivated and inspired to work hard in the next 7 weeks (now 6.5 weeks). As the days went by I decided what I really need is something to nudge me when I'm tempted to make poor choices. And that led to me going back to Weight Watchers!
I went to a meeting on Friday and I have to tell you, it was like going home. It was familiar and comforting, motivating and inspiring. My official starting weight is 173.2 (I think) but I decided that for my blog's weight log I'm going to keep with my morning weight on my home scale. That way I don't have to worry if I go to a meeting on another day, etc. More important, my weight first thing in the morning, sans clothes, is better :)
So I started tracking yesterday and I am quickly seeing why my weight yo-yo'd this month. I've been eating too large of portions and the snacking was sort of indiscriminate and unmonitored. Now that I'm entering it all in e-tools, andhave to want to stick to the allotted points, it's hard! I get 26 daily points plus 49 weekly extras. Yesterday, on my first full day, I used 37 points. I swapped 7 activity points (APs) so I ended up using only 4 "extra" points. But I think if I always "eat" my activity points that makes it harder to lose. On the other hand, I know I'm eating less than I was before so I expect I will lose in spite of eating my APs. The only thing to do is wait and see what happens with the numbers and make adjustments.
Anyway, that's the big update. I went to a kiddo birthday party this earlier today and WW helped me stick to one indulgence, a super yummy mini cinnamon roll. And tonight I'm going to dinner at a friends. She's making her famous risotto that I LOVE. I think I'll stop off and buy a veggie plate to bring. I plan to stick to one cup of the risotto and double up on the veggies and salad. Let's see how that goes.
First, to catch you up on my gym progress. I have several "rules" for my gym attendance. Maybe rules isn't the best description, guidelines might be more accurate. They are:
1. Ideally, attend the gym 5 days per week. 4 if that isn't possible. 3 is the bare minimum (unless I'm *really* sick).
2. Do not go to the gym more than three days in a row (because I've learned that 4 days in a row does not make my body happy).
3. If I do something strenuous outdoors (long run, long bike ride), that usually counts as a gym day.
Items 1 and 2 sometimes cause problems and they did this week (and last too actually). So, for the second week in a row I broke rule #2 and went to the gym four days in a row. This decision included my gauging how my body was feeling and thinking I could do it without much consequence. And I think that's true. So this week I went to the gym on Sun, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri. I am taking today (Sat) off and plan to get back to my somewhat normal schedule of Sun, Mon, Tue, Thur Fri starting tomorrow. I'm supposed to go on a long ride tomorrow but rain is in the forecast so that's not likely to happen.
Anyway, to catch you up on my gym progress this week...on Thursday I started out with a 25 minute run on the treadmill. Set to 1% I rotated between 5.0, 5.5 and 6 mph. In all I did just over 2.2 miles and felt happy with how I felt. After that I did chest/triceps/core work. Pushups, tricep presses, dips, dumbbell flies - you get the idea. Core work included the plank and decline crunches.
Yesterday, Friday, I started with the upright bike for 25 minutes. Level 7 felt a smidge easier so I'm moving in the right direction. Then I did legs/shoulders/core work. I had fun doing the jackknifes, I still really like those. And lunges felt particularly good, my balance and strength have come such a long way since I started. Ok, enough about all that...on to the big news!
A tiny bit of back story first...earlier this week it occurred to me that it's actually getting pretty close to the mother's social. This is the big shindig my mother's club puts on every year and it's where I won the year gym pass last year. And I'll need a dress. And I want to look my best. Soooo, I was newly motivated and inspired to work hard in the next 7 weeks (now 6.5 weeks). As the days went by I decided what I really need is something to nudge me when I'm tempted to make poor choices. And that led to me going back to Weight Watchers!
So I started tracking yesterday and I am quickly seeing why my weight yo-yo'd this month. I've been eating too large of portions and the snacking was sort of indiscriminate and unmonitored. Now that I'm entering it all in e-tools, and
Anyway, that's the big update. I went to a kiddo birthday party this earlier today and WW helped me stick to one indulgence, a super yummy mini cinnamon roll. And tonight I'm going to dinner at a friends. She's making her famous risotto that I LOVE. I think I'll stop off and buy a veggie plate to bring. I plan to stick to one cup of the risotto and double up on the veggies and salad. Let's see how that goes.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
My 5 Year BLOGiversary!!
Ok, into the heavy lifting. Thanks for the advice and support about my post-workout food choices on Sunday. It's weird to be so focused and doing well in the exercise department and have the food department be such a mess. I'm seriously leaning toward joining Weight Watchers in the near future. At first I thought I'd do online only to avoid yet another weekly commitment but then I had the idea to find a lunchtime one during the week so we'll see. I just got so much out of the actual meetings. By May it will be one year since I won the gym certificate. June will be one year since I actually started exercising again. I'd love to have that year roll around and be firing on all cylinders.
So a quick gym re-cap before I head to bed. I'm reading The Hunger Games (who isn't?) and it's a page turner! Anyway, I took Monday off from the gym since I'd already exercised 4 days in a row. Back to it on Tuesday (yesterday) when I went for a lovely 25 minute run. My body was feeling a bit stiff and I wasn't up to running my (somewhat) usual 3 miles. After the run I did legs/shoulders/core. The run and workout were fantastic and I made all sorts of resolutions to clean up my eating. And then didn't.
The good news is I have not lost all semblance of sanity and I'm not gorging on fast food or anything crazy. I'll spare you all the food horror stories, I'm just making crappy choices (mostly late afternoon) and eating more volume than I really need (mostly at dinner).
Today my mom came to visit and stayed during the kids nap so I could go to the gym. I did the bike for 25 minutes and then did back/biceps/core. My lower back is still hurting off and on so I skipped any back extensions. I think it was all the new core work I added that stressed it out. It's almost back to normal, another week or so and I think I'll be totally pain free once again. A hurt back is a big reminder of how precious the back is. In the meantime I'll keep the ibuprofen going and be reasonable with the physical activity.
Speaking of physical activity...the metric century is less than 2 weeks away! Holy bike lanes!! I am at a total loss as to how things will go. You might have noticed the near non-existent amount of training going on around here. It's all gym visits and the upright bike for 25 minutes. If the weather's nice (as in no wind) and the route is relatively flat I think I'll be fine. I'm bailing if it rains so I'm not worried about that. If it's windy and hillier than I'm expecting I might not finish. I'm not putting any pressure on myself. I know once I'm out there my stubborn-ness will kick in and I will want to finish, but if I don't I hope I don't cry about it. Besides, a mere 7 days later I'll be running in a 10k. A very hilly 10k. At least I hope to be running. The hills are no joke so we'll see.
Ok, that's it. Happy BLOGiversary to meeeee!!!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
On the Upswing!
I am feeling a lot better, though I am surprised by how long that bad mood hung around! Kristy, Alice, Meg, Irene, Ingi, Cherelli and Julie - I appreciate the supportive comments and you guys give me good stuff to think about too. I'm guessing my better mood has to do with a whole bunch of trips to the gym. On Friday I went and rode the bike for 25 minutes. Level 7 is still kicking my butt. After that I did legs/shoulders/core. For some reason shoulders were super tough! Oh, and I'm doing these cool jackknifes/pushup things where you...oh I can't explain it, let me post a picture:
So you get into the plank position, only on the Swiss ball. Then you shoot your butt in the air (I don't get anywhere NEAR as high as the guy in #2 gets, I'm more like an inverted V when I do it) and then back to plank, then do a pushup and then back to plank for 1 rep. I did 7 reps on Friday, and that was in addition to 3 sets of 10 of the regular jackknifes. I'm loving it! Such a fun, new challenge.
I almost forgot about weigh-in on Friday morning. I weighed in at 172.6, a 2.2 pound gain from the previous week. No mystery there - it was all the camping and birthday food. Of course I found myself thinking maybe it's time to do WW again. And after this weekend I should probably sign up. Two more birthday parties and tons of "bad" food (hot dogs, cake, cupcakes, tacos, nachos - you name it, I seemed to have eaten it this weekend). Something is simmering in my brain though to make some changes.
Anyway, at least the exercise is on track. Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the gym (after birthday party #1 of the day, one of Marek's friends). I was lucky to have good enough weather for an outside run so I hit the road and ran 3 miles in 32 minutes!! Oh yes, I am that fast. I felt so. damn. good. after that run. Then I did back/biceps/core for strength training. I tried a one-armed plank (on the ground, not the ball) and that was cool, I held the normal plank for 10 seconds, lifted my right arm and held that for 10, then switched arms for a final 10 for a total of 30 seconds. I liked it so much I did it twice! I also did my normal two planks for 40 seconds each. Oops, that's changed too. I do normal for 20 seconds and then I lift one leg for 20. For the second set I lift the other leg. Fun times with the plank.
And I broke my policy of not going to the gym more than 3 days in a row and went today (Sunday). I was supposed to do a long ride with a friend but she had to cancel. I was already packed so I decided to go anyway, only on my own. But when I got ready to get going it was windy and cold so I decided to just hit the gym instead. I ate an AccelGel when I started because it was almost lunchtime. I did 25 minutes on the upright bike, level 7 is still really hard. Then I did chest/triceps/core work. I increased the pushups to 6 "real" ones and 2 smith machine ones, 3 sets. I am getting so close to my goal of three sets of 8 real pushups! And bench dips are getting more manageable too. I am getting strong, and I love it! Oh, and I did more of those jackknife pike pushup things, I did one set of 10 and it was killer. Of course I like killer (sometimes). I felt great after my workout.
When I got home I was hungry. Guess what I made myself for lunch? Nachos. Nachos?! Really? Chips, probably 2 cups of grated cheese, guacamole and sour cream. I don't deserve any sympathy if I gain weight this week. I bet if I were doing WW that wouldn't have happened. WW is just a little nudge to do the right thing, make a better choice as they say.
Alright, that's it from me. Please be impressed by all my working out and try to forget about all the junk eating. I know that's what I plan to do :)
So you get into the plank position, only on the Swiss ball. Then you shoot your butt in the air (I don't get anywhere NEAR as high as the guy in #2 gets, I'm more like an inverted V when I do it) and then back to plank, then do a pushup and then back to plank for 1 rep. I did 7 reps on Friday, and that was in addition to 3 sets of 10 of the regular jackknifes. I'm loving it! Such a fun, new challenge.
I almost forgot about weigh-in on Friday morning. I weighed in at 172.6, a 2.2 pound gain from the previous week. No mystery there - it was all the camping and birthday food. Of course I found myself thinking maybe it's time to do WW again. And after this weekend I should probably sign up. Two more birthday parties and tons of "bad" food (hot dogs, cake, cupcakes, tacos, nachos - you name it, I seemed to have eaten it this weekend). Something is simmering in my brain though to make some changes.
Anyway, at least the exercise is on track. Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the gym (after birthday party #1 of the day, one of Marek's friends). I was lucky to have good enough weather for an outside run so I hit the road and ran 3 miles in 32 minutes!! Oh yes, I am that fast. I felt so. damn. good. after that run. Then I did back/biceps/core for strength training. I tried a one-armed plank (on the ground, not the ball) and that was cool, I held the normal plank for 10 seconds, lifted my right arm and held that for 10, then switched arms for a final 10 for a total of 30 seconds. I liked it so much I did it twice! I also did my normal two planks for 40 seconds each. Oops, that's changed too. I do normal for 20 seconds and then I lift one leg for 20. For the second set I lift the other leg. Fun times with the plank.
And I broke my policy of not going to the gym more than 3 days in a row and went today (Sunday). I was supposed to do a long ride with a friend but she had to cancel. I was already packed so I decided to go anyway, only on my own. But when I got ready to get going it was windy and cold so I decided to just hit the gym instead. I ate an AccelGel when I started because it was almost lunchtime. I did 25 minutes on the upright bike, level 7 is still really hard. Then I did chest/triceps/core work. I increased the pushups to 6 "real" ones and 2 smith machine ones, 3 sets. I am getting so close to my goal of three sets of 8 real pushups! And bench dips are getting more manageable too. I am getting strong, and I love it! Oh, and I did more of those jackknife pike pushup things, I did one set of 10 and it was killer. Of course I like killer (sometimes). I felt great after my workout.
When I got home I was hungry. Guess what I made myself for lunch? Nachos. Nachos?! Really? Chips, probably 2 cups of grated cheese, guacamole and sour cream. I don't deserve any sympathy if I gain weight this week. I bet if I were doing WW that wouldn't have happened. WW is just a little nudge to do the right thing, make a better choice as they say.
Alright, that's it from me. Please be impressed by all my working out and try to forget about all the junk eating. I know that's what I plan to do :)
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