Running Backwards W2D1 C25K

I am coming to terms with understanding that this couch to 5K journey is going to be an eventful one. :) Today I had everything ready to go, I fixed my favored timer app, had my music set, I’ve been really pampering my shin splints, I’ve been doing everything I can to push past my cold & the weather was beautiful, I was headed out for my first day of week 2, looking forward to the challenge. Challenge is what I got; I didn’t realize I programmed a 3 minute warm up timer until I was 2.5 minutes into running it & thinking “this 90 seconds is killing me!” No big deal right, I would just adapt & walk the remaining 30 seconds then walk the upcoming 90 second jogging cycle then jog the walking cycle since this week was 90 sec jog/90 sec walk. Wrong. This week was 90 sec jog followed by a 2 minute recouping walk. I kept wondering why my timer wasn’t matching up with my watch & why 90 seconds seemed to be so much harder than 60 seconds, which I jogged fairly easy last week. I pushed hard and did my best to stay on track with the training schedule though. Then it all dawned on me to verify the times. So the last 2 cycles of jogging I got everything back on track with the correct plan & finished up.

I have to say I am proud of myself though for doing my best & really pushing hard to complete today’s backwards training. I am hoping that day 2 of week 2 done properly will be easy breezy compared to today. I am also proud of myself today because it is Secretary’s Day and my boss and a co-worker got me a cup full of candies (that will probably go to Landen) and offered to take me to lunch if I wanted as well, I declined because I would rather continue spending my lunch break exercising. I didn’t take the easy way out or a day off to go eat, I made the healthy, dedicated decision & he fully understood. I may have a little glass of wine to celebrate myself tonight though. I think I deserve it today.

W1D3 C25K

I am starting to feel that something is against me in this C25K training. Today again was a struggled success, my timer app removed itself from my phone, but luckily I had more than one kind downloaded to try a few, so I just programed a different one. I didnt like this one nearly as much you really had to pay attention to the clicking & I couldnt listed to music over it. Oh well. The crazy Florida weather and decided to play a trick on those of us who were getting use to the warm weather, it was around 55-60F out and super windy, not real ideal for the cold I am now battling. All complaining aside though, my lungs didnt completely fail me today, they made it a little harder than normal but over all I finished my week 1, day 3! On to week 2 if this cold subsides or at least doesnt get any worse.

W1D2 C25K

I had no complications today, I got outside before the rain and my phone worked as my interval timer and tunes. I didnt die either! I had to push myself, reminding myself that 60 seconds would be over quicker than I knew it, and it usually was, I did well and finished the whole program today successfully today. I am looking at moving to week two with optimism.

My Arms are Noodles

Today was my strength training day. I look forward to these the most, it is easy to see my progress when I can do more reps or a new harder exercise, or for the old ones to get easier. Push-up are one of my favorite pushing and bragging points, when I started and as far back as I could remember I could never do  even one modified (on my knees) push-up. I am now working on doing regular (on my feet) push-up, and today I did 5, and then did another 20 modified push-ups. Planks are another huge pushing point, I have been doing planks for 30 seconds on my forearms and today I cranked out 45 seconds in full push-up position!!!! I’m darn proud of myself today! I tried not to over work my legs since I am pushing myself on the Couch to 5K and running is hard for me, but boy, do my arms feel like noodles. Feeling good.

W1D1 C25K

First day of my couch to 5K training was good, I don’t feel like it was overly hard & it was right with where I am with running. I had a few malfunctions with the app I was planning to use to train but I worked best I could around it & didn’t let it stop me. I did 1.5 miles in just under 30 minutes, so I think that is pretty good to start out with. I didn’t feel right just stopping with my 30 minutes of cardio so I of course had to get some strength training in there, so I put some extra effort into my core. I did a variation of 150 crunches and then a 45 second plank, which is my best time yet! Yea! I have been topping out around 30-35 seconds with it & would love to work my way up to a minute, so here’s to move on up.  I also decided to just use an interval HIIT timer which I preprogrammed and tested, so I should be set to rock & roll tomorrow.

I am Active & Excited

I’m excited. I’m excited today for my workout. Boy, I never thought I would say that! I’m excited today for more than just my workout though, I have set some new goals and changed a few things around for me. I have been doing great with my weight loss, I FINALLY broke under 200!!! It has been years since I have been under 200 & not struggled to stay there. But, now that I am here I am stuck between 197 & 199. I have hit a plateau of almost 5 weeks now. I have not lost motivation or determination; I have tried several things to break it. Working out harder, eating more, eating less, but I remain stuck. I do know that a little part of it is gaining muscle I didn’t have before, which I am so proud of but most of it is just being stuck. Well, I’m DONE! I’ve put on the gloves and am determined to get over this hump.

I have put the scale away in the closet so I don’t have to face the same daily frustrating weigh in. In the last 30 pounds I would weight myself every day for a guide of how I was doing since I wasn’t counting calories or tracking much. I will pull it back out when I do my 1^st of the month measurements.

I have also started back with tracking my diet with Weight Watchers, since it has worked well for me in the past. Since I have been cutting out a lot of processed foods and all wheat I didn’t know if I would be able to make enough Points daily for the program to work. I think after really looking at it and giving it the time, it is going to work just fine for me, maybe even give me a little more freedom. I don’t mind either keeping up with the Weight Watchers Points, but I hate counting every tedious calorie.

The thing I am most excited about is I have planned to run my first 5K on July 4, it is the Independence Celebration run, how fitting, right?! I am starting a couch to 5K program today since I am not a runner and will be aiming for a 30 minute 5K by July. I have 11 weeks to build myself up. It is a big goal but I want something I have to push myself to strive for. I though am not going to be disappointed if I don’t do a 30 minute 5K, I am just going to be thrilled to actually RUN it. Then, in mid August the Hubs and I are planning on doing a 5K mud run. It looks a little intimidating to me, but in a good way. If I could finish the mud run and all the challenging obstacles, that would be the ultimate accomplishment.

So, I’m excited, I’m motivated, I’m encouraged, I’m driven and excited proud.

New Things are Happening

I have started a new way of life, a new way of knowing and understanding food and tried to cut out a lot of unnatural things from not only our family diet but also our lives. It has been an exciting journey so far & I am excited to keep going.

I will start off with the most exciting part of this new life, getting healthier & stronger. I have changed my way of thinking and my visions of stride. Healthy is the new skinny. Instead of striving to look like a current actress or skinny girl, I am aspiring to be like the girl at the gym that can do pull ups, crank out push-ups with perfect form, enjoys cardio, has great flexibility and eats and drinks clean. I want to be strong. I have already done things physically I could never do. I can do 20 push-ups (on my knees, working my way up though) when I could not do one, I can do a 30 second front & side planks and my back doesn’t hate me the next day, I enjoy my cardio – youtube zumba right now or walking, and best of all I have energy after 30-45 minutes of cardio then 20-30 minutes of strength training I still pep through making dinner, washing dishes/house work/ enjoying Landen, getting Landen in bed and can enjoy my evening with my love. I can work hard without dying.

Eating healthy has been fun as well. It has been exciting to try new things & not be scared of calories. Now when I turn a product over I look at the ingredients first not how many calories it has. I don’t mind 300 calories when it consists of fruits, veggies and is packed with protein. I am really proud of what I eat on a daily basis. Fruits and veggies don’t stick around our house too long anymore. I find myself running to the store weekly to refill fresh items that we have ran out of. I have tried new things that I never thought of trying before, that I didn’t even really know were out there & so great for you. Some of our favorites have been star fruit, kale, almond milk, flaxseed, cacao powder, bee pollen, raw apple cider vinegar and tofu.

We have also added some new gadgets to our kitchen.  My favorites have been my ninja blender; it is so easy to use and easy to clean. Now it takes mere seconds to chop vegetables so there is no trouble adding them to our meal due to laziness, and the options for smoothies are endless. One of the best gifts I ever received. I also love my juicer, I have never even thought about getting a juicer, we are not big on juice anyways. But if I could have juice that is not full of sugar, packed with fresh nutrients, free of preservatives and fills me up – I’m game. Carrot juice right now is easy, there is a lot more juice in a carrot than I thought, and it’s cheap, add an apple or orange and bam an instant after work, guilt free pick me up or a late night satisfaction.  A few other things that are not everyday gadgets but super fun to have are our dehydrator, we made some peach, pear, mango and banana pieces to add to flavor up oatmeal or yogurt or just for a snack. We also made some granola bars; they are coconut, date, oats, and nuts bars & are the perfect snack, just enough crunchiness and a slight sweetness to tame that growling belly. These I don’t think are going to last a full week in our house. Lastly our guilty pleasure is our ice cream maker, though not so guilty. It is amazing knowing just what is put into your ice cream, frozen yogurt or sherbet. It doesn’t get too much easier than strawberries, water and sugar or other sweetener.

I am proud of what I am eating and doing now. {Today’s menu: breakfast - ½ cup oatmeal made with almond milk and dried peaches, lunch – purple cabbage and eggs, snack – cucumber and 2 oranges, and for dinner I’m thinking cauliflower pizza.}

As well as changing what I am eating, I have changed items around our house to more natural items. I have jumped on the no “poo” bandwagon and stopped using conventional shampoo and conditioner. I now use baking soda to wash and vinegar to condition my hair so it can natural cares for itself. This is one of the best things I’ve cut out, my hair takes very little styling now and doesn’t frizz in the humidity like it use to. We have stopped buying store made laundry soap but instead started using a very natural and economical homemade mixture, with a few scent beads thrown in. We have started using fabric napkins around the house, though we keep a roll of disposable ones for events or times then it should just be thrown away. This is a major cost savings not to mention less disposable waste. Lastly we have been recycling, which seems like a common thing, but fairly new to us. We actually started not mainly for environmental reasons but because we wouldn’t use as many trash bags therefore saving us money. It does feel good though to use more natural items and to be cleaner, personally and for the world.

More changes and discoveries to come.