3-day weekend

I'm happy that I get three days off and I hope you are happy as well. I know for me that three day weekends = food, lounging and being comfy cozy at home. I plan on doing that this weekend, but want to spice it up a bit and integrate some movement and healthy energy.

My ideas for breaking up the fatassness:

• Take a yoga class on Sunday and do some rowing.
  
• Coming up with 3 new healthy meal ideas for the following week
• Spend some time “cleaning house." This is intended to be both literal and figurative. My house has started to become a cluttered mess, it’s impossible to function well. Ditto for my work and school schedule too.
• Re-evaluate and stock up my healthy snack options at home, in the car and at work. I'm way more likely to eat healthy snacks when I don't have to choose healthy versus non-healthy.
  
• No sleeping in. I want to see how many hours my body actually needs so that I can go to bed and wake up at the same time, regardless of what day of the week it is.

I know that I don't want to overindulge in "bad" food, so to keep things balanced I will allow myself some goodies. I have been trying to not beat myself up over eating certain foods. This type of mentality isn't good for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I've been trying to be more in tune with how eating certain foods make my body feel (full, gassy, bloated, sluggish, energized, etc.). This has helped me over the last few weeks to train my mind to think about food differently, but to still enjoy it.

Happy three days, folks! I leave you with this image for the start of a wonderful weekend:

HEY?!?! WHO'S FIRED UP?!?!

C'mon people, how are we doing?!?! This blog is not just for the good things, but for the tough times too - what's going on people? Would you share your experiences? Please? I'll start. Oy, I'm crampy. But on the other hand, I haven't been drinking any liquor for several weeks now, so I think I'm probably LESS crampy than I would have been. My period seems to be lighter which is good. I crawled to the gym this morning, but did my second official training workout. Woohoo! I do need new shoes, but that may have to wait a little while until I get more money. I'm down 7 lbs since we started the blog, but still over my old set point of 150 by 5 lbs. Slowly but surely getting there. And I'm sweating disgusting amounts every day. I guess that's my metabolism kicking up, but its totally gross. But my skin looks great. So everything's good and bad and up and down. What is going on with y'all?

14 Weeks Today

Hey Friends,

Today is the first day of the 14-week half marathon training. I know I've been getting my body moving and into the rhythm that is running, but I haven't really buckled down and committed myself fully to it.

Today I am committing. I have printed out the training schedule and am ready. I've started my day with a protein shake and am committed to mindfully fueling my body to the best of my ability. I've stocked up on an extra pair of running shoes and insoles. I AM READY!

How are you guys doing?

A cool new documentary in production

The website is www.inspiredthemovie.com and I liked the blog section. Plus in the media section there are some interesting interviews from the movie. Cool stuff.

Laser time again - plus my progress

HELLLLOOOOO Folks!!
Haven't posted in awhile. Glad to hear everyone's doing well again. I'm a little disappointed that i haven't been able to increase my mileage of late - I've had to regroup so as to not injure my knee, which was protesting the running. I've been steadily running at least 2X week, with some other exercise about 1X week. i guess that's ok, but i need to kick it up to make progress. i had a 2 hr walk on saturday and was going to run the distance on sun, but had to bail b/c of potential heatstroke!!! i was really about to lose it - i was so hot - couldn't get rid of the heat. but i got in a 3.4 mi run nonetheless... i probably would have run slower if alone, but i was with my friend jackie, so i pushed myself a little harder. i think that's something i need to be aware of in the future - really listen to myself and go at the pace that will let me keep going!
I got back on it this tuesday - went to the gym after work (first time in the gym in months) and ran the treadmill - 2.0 mi at 15 min/mi pace!!! interestingly - i went to the gym b/c i wanted to weigh myself, but the scale wasn't there -!
i've been tracking everything i eat on sparkpeople - for the last 2.5 weeks - this is a pretty major deal for me. even on the days where i keep going back to the fridge at night. thanks Lisa for introducing me to that site!
i'll be taking it easy this weekend. today i'm getting my right eye LASIKed to retouch from my surgery 3 months ago. i have to be careful about getting sweat in my eye for a few weeks. imagine me running with one one of those big ole 70's sweatbands on my head... DYN-O-MITE! maybe i'll get one in red white and blue!!
keep up the good work gals - and guys.
WE ROCK!!!!

Marathon Gear

Check out the link below and buy some gear! It's on-sale, but some of its from 2006.

http://store.devinesportsstore.com/lasvegas.html

Where My Peeps At?

Hello sucka mc's - where are all the postings?!?! OK, I'll start.

My knee is feeling MUCH better - finally. I went for some long walks and a strenuous 3 mile hike with Lisa when I was in San Diego and that helped push things along, and then yesterday I went on an 8 mile/3 hour very steep hike with my friends Sandra and Annette and that was great. It kicked my butt, but totally doable and I was able to get up and go to the gym this morning and do my first upper body workout in forever. Then I did 3 massages today in my new studio. So lots of exercise!

My back is a bit sore, but my legs feel good - tomorrow I'm gonna go for a run outside with Tom in the am. I'll let you all know how running goes. BTW - official start of the training program is I think next week - where are we all at? Teresa and Michelle have both been struggling with some injuries, how are those coming along? Lisa, how's running when its hotter than hell? Tom, wake up and post! I'm looking forward to hearing from you ALL.

PS - I had a really good time in San Diego with Lisa Lisa (formerly of Cult Jam). It was very healing for me and we had a great time together being girlie. Just what I needed and I got to get firmly anchored in my not drinking. I've been feeling really toxic and the fall I took was a big reminder that I have goals that are not furthered by drinking, overeating and being hungover. I'm really enjoying the subtle and not-so-subtle differences in my body and sleep and mindset while not drinking or drugging. So that's where I'm at. And thanks Lisa!

Well I should probably post...

I've been struggling over the last week since I hurt myself - I went to the gym once last week and barely moved on the bike, and that was a lot of effort. My hands healed and the skin on my right knee is better, but my left knee that I wrenched has been giving me problems even walking. So yesterday I went to the gym and walked and today I went to the gym and started walking and I was in pain just on that knee. So me being me, I start to track down what the muscle is that's hurting and I realized that it feels better when my knee is bent and moving, so I started a slow slow run and that was less painful than walking. I ended up increasing my running speed to a normal run and did 2 miles of running, but afterwards I couldn't walk so well. So I worked (massaged) the attachment site for one of my quadriceps muscles (vastus medialis!) and it loosened up quite a bit. Still sore and tight, but I can walk on it again. I think I just tore one of my quads and its gonna take a while to heal. But I don't want to lose my training, so I'm going to continue to move, stretch, ice and massage. But its been pretty frustrating. But you all doing so well with your training is really helping me to remember to STAY ON TRACK!!! Even when I really don't feel like it. Thank you!

OH YEAH - I have been really struggling with the diet thing too - mainly in the arena of alcohol and nighttime eating. So, I realized I gotta lay off of that stuff. The alcohol is completely detrimental to my training and recovery. And I don't even drink that much - but I think I'm so toxic right now that anything puts me over the top, you know? Last night I didn't have a beer at the end of the night and this morning, it was easier to wake up and my joints weren't sore. Other than the obvious injury. I think I'm allergic to that shit... Which kind of sucks.

I just ran 5 miles!!!

Yay!!! It's no half-marathon, but I'm super stoked. I had a little walk warm-up BEFORE I started the 5 miles. Ran 2.5, quick bathroom break or I would have kept going. Then another 2.5 miles and a little cool-down and some stretching. About 2 miles into the running I was thinking of a quick break. Just then, a man running in the opposite direction put out his hand to give me a "hi five" and said, "Keep it up girl!!!" What a boost, just when I needed it :). And I didn't even have my mp3 player which usually helps with the mental stamina of it.

I really need to get some cross training back in the mix and some weight training too. However, my weight is still dropping. I'm the lightest I've been in probably a decade, or close to it. AND, I when I put my belt on this morning, I had to go down to the next smallest hole. Whoo hoo!!!!

I still get wary about 13 miles, but I'm trying not to think about that too much. Just my next step and my next one and so on. I need new shoes though. Now that I've been doing longer runs, I've realized my shoes might not be supportive enough. How is everyone else doing? I'd be down for doing some group runs too, if anyone is interested. I know Amy and I talked about it too. Okay, a shower is in order. Hope everyone is doing great!

Why do we overeat?

Here's an article that talks about a hormone that may trigger overeating.

YUMMY!

How's everyone doing? Any goals for the week that people want to share? I would like to consume more water and get more cross training in.

my new motivation to get up

i'm making a deal with myself that if i don't get up and exercise in the morning, then i must bring workout clothes to work and go at lunchtime. way more painful - its hot, for one thing, plus i'm not that keen on my coworkers seeing me all sweaty and in my stretch capri workout pants --- and --- it messes up my hair for the rest of the day! i was able to rinse off, since we have a shower.
i'm on day 4 of tracking food intake and exercise on sparkpeople!! there's something about this site that really drew me. i'm not really doing their plan, but there's all sorts of ways to make sure that my diet is balanced - it breaks out the fat/carb/protein and gives me a range to shoot for -- also a range of calories, which really helps.
i registered for the paloaltoweekly moonlight run - its only $20, and you get a T-shirt.
next step - conquer my fear of Gold's Gym!!!!

Obviously this cat overtrained....

The Hacker's Diet

Cause sitting on your ass all day in front of a computer totally contributes to fatassidous...

some good links though

Article is here

also, don't do the Master Cleanse diet. See here for why not.

4 miles!!!

Hello everyone. If I don't blog about this Amy will come after me. I ran 4 MILES on Friday! Whoo hoo! That's my longest run yet. I parked, and walked a little to the "start" point, 2 miles from Natural Bridges. So I ran the 2 miles to NB and the 2 miles back. I only slowed to walk maybe 3 times and just long enough to drink some watter and catch my breath a little if I needed. But that was kept to a minimum and I'm super stoked, considering not that long ago I ran my first mile EVER.

I also managed to get in some exercise while visiting family this weekend. Which is harder than it sounds, because they aren't exactly active. My oldest nephew wanted to come with me, which was great. I just made sure he knew I wasn't going for a leisurely stroll. But I did map out a shorter route. About 1.6 miles, slightly more. We were out in the country near their house, so it was nice to run off the pavement for a change. Still got the exercise, but a little break for the knees was nice :). I went sort of slow. He walked when he needed. He'd run to catch up if I got ahead or I'd jog ahead and jog back to him. It was great. Later that day was a huge pool party for my other 2 nephews. And by huge, I mean the pool, more than the number of people. They rented the town pool where they live for a private party, so we had this HUGE nice pool all to ourselves. I even had a huge section of pool to do some laps and no one even came near me. So I got a little bit of an upper body workout that day too. So even though Sunday was kind of easy going with the exercise, it felt great to get out there and move and to have fun while getting exercise in the pool. I need to make an effort to do more active fun things. Even though I love the feeling after a good hard workout, it can really feel like a chore while you're doing it. But it's easy to forget that exercise doesn't ALWAYS have to feel like a chore. So yeah, that was my weekend. I overcame that 4 mile mark and I overcame the inactivity that so often sucks me in when I visit family.

My focus now is to keep up with the running and to get my weight training and crosstraining back into the mix. Hope everyone is having a fine Tuesday!

Oh yeah, just on a personal health/goal note: I have been focusing my thoughts whenever I can on fitness rather then weight loss. But I do get on the scale here and there to keep myself updated on where I'm at. As of this weekend, my weight is the lowest it's been in YEARS. At least 5 years, maybe as much as 8. I've got a ways to go for my ideal weight, but I'm very close to passing a huge milestone in the weight category. But this time, the numbers are going down instead of up :). Several people I saw this weekend noticed and commented on the changes as well. That was nice. I made sure to mention that I've been running and exercising. I'm all for the healthier food choices, but I wanted it to be known that activity was a part of my improving fitness. Okay, I maybe I should do some actual work now...haha.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY LISA!!!!

Ahem, it came to my attention this morning when I was looking at the calendar in the kitchen that AUGUST 1ST was Lisa's Birthday. CONGRATULATIONS MISS LISA - on being alive and healthy and well and no weird brain viruses!

Much love (and chagrin at missing it) for your birthday. :-)

Amy Fall Down and Go Boom

Well, as it turns out, I am kinda clumsy when I'm hung over and trail running...

Saturday - went on a long hike and run with Tom and a new friend.
Saturday night - invited new friend over and drank margaritas and ate chicken fajitas made at home (yum!)
Sunday morning - hmmm.... no headache, but feeling kinda foggy and slow - lets go for another hike run
Sunday afternoon - finally get out there and climbed up steep ridge - nice view, want to hurl, feeling shaky but good to be outside, running down the other side (after the steep part, during the long part) - I go to pass a couple walking on the trail, say hi, do a little maneuver and BAM!

So I wrenched something in my left knee and my right calf is all scraped up and my hands are roughed up too.

But I ran all the way back to the car (2+ miles). Which makes me a super stud.

Today I'm pretty sore, and a little bit concerned about the left knee. And I had to reschedule my massages for the day (what with the open wounds and all). But I'm moving around and that's good.

And apparently the 5 lbs I lost last week was entirely water weight, cause now I'm back up. What.Ever.