Day 42: Going Back with my Runs & Weights

Hello one and all! Today I did a split workout. I don't mean I'm the typical sense. I just worked my legs this morning, then my arms and abs tonight after work. I feel a bit better today. Still a big headache. But tomorrow is results day! I'm really excited to see how things have continued to change. On a bit of a "bummer" note, I sought advice about my running times (not being able to run the full amount I'm supposed to) from a runners forum, and it looks like I'll be repeating Saturday's run until I can do it before moving on. While it sucks, I'm okay with that. I would repeat the run before, but the fact that I ran twenty minutes Saturday makes me think it's unnecessary. It's lame though! I've been working so hard, this kind of feels like a step back. I feel like it'll be better in the long run though. If I'm going to continue with running, I need to get serious. And even though while I'm running sometimes, I'm totally miserable, running makes me feel awesome. I get this sense of accomplishment when I make it through a tough run! I don't get that with weights as much. So I'm going to definitely try to stick with it. Also running related, my dad thinks I should up my speed. I researched and asked again online, and the overwhelming response was to keep it slow until I have built up endurance. So I think I'm going to hit the point where I can run 3 miles (36 minutes) and work on my speed from there. If I do it at all. For me, distance and endurance are more important than speed. But maybe I'll reach a point where I want to race. Then speeds will be most important! All for tonight, folks. Stay tuned for results tomorrow!

Day 40: Sick As a Dog

Hello one and all. I've been up since 4 AM, making friends with the porcelain goddess. I feel so sick. I've got cold sweats, dizziness, headache, nausea, an upset stomach... And I work a nine hour night shift that starts in about an hour. And I start another nine hour shift at 7 AM tomorrow. I feel disgusting. I really hope it's slow tonight some can try and leave early to hopefully sleep this off. Oh joy, can this week get any better for me? I tried to work out today. I did a couple of exercises, nothing compared to what I should be doing. This cycle is just totally draining me. I hope I get my motivation back when my period is done. The running is hard. But the weights are so beyond difficult it's ridiculous. I've been struggling to do half of what I was doing last week. It's frustrating. Anyways, have a good night folks. Be safe this weekend.

Day Seventeen: Food Hangover and Tough Supersets

Hello one and all! Last night, I learned a very valuable lesson. Well, I should say this morning, because I woke up with a food hangover! I went pretty wild last night. I had chicken strips and fries (I ate two strips and half the fries, so not terrible) and some popcorn (which I only ate a couple handfuls of). So relatively speaking, not awful, right? Wrong! I woke up feeling so sluggish and lazy. It took me an hour and a half to get to working out! I had to push really hard through my weights today. It was rough! So I definitely learned my lesson for sure!

In other news, Sunday is my progress post! I'll include weight loss (including my starting and current weight), measurements (starting, current, and total lost) as well as progress photos so we can scope out my shrinking act! So stay tuned for that.

Also, my mom and I are contemplating trying the 17 Day Diet together. I read the ebook yesterday, and it was interesting. It seems quite similar to clean eating to me, except you get more protein. I'll keep you posted on that!

Time for a protein shake and some Food Network watching. Happy Wednesday!

Day One: Good Eats and Lots of Sweat.

Hello one and all! So today was day one of eating clean and exercising. My original intention was to alternate weights and cardio six days a week. Cardio was (and still is) training for a 5k run. Weights was supposed to be alternating upper body, full body, and lower body super sets. Instead of doing super sets this morning, I sweated along with Tony Horton in the Sculpt 3/4 DVD from the P90 program. It was hard!

The very first move had me feeling completely discouraged. A decline push up. I couldn't even do one, getting down as low as Tony was telling me to. I was feeling really bummed out. Then I realized that I was starting on Sculpt 3/4, not Sculpt 1/2. I didn't have a chance to build up my strength and whatnot like most people following the program would. So I stopped beating myself up, and I got down on the floor and did some push ups. Knees on the ground, but still. I did some push ups!

I pushed through the entire workout. But I made sure to know my limits. Although once or twice I definitely did pick up weights that were way too heavy. But I corrected that pretty quickly!

My eating was pretty good today. Breakfast: Steel cut oats with thawed strawberries (and their juice, yum) with a hardboiled egg and two big glasses of water (equal to one litre, I measured). For a post-workout snack I had some frozen red grapes and another big glass of water (two cups right there). For lunch, I had a mixed green salad with cut up chicken and a balsamic vinaigrette and another big glass of water (another two cups). For an afternoon snack, I had twelve almonds and a small Granny Smith apple with peanut butter. For dinner, I had half a chicken breast, sweet potatoes roasted with cinnamon and a pinch of brown sugar, and broccoli and baby tomatoes steamed with oregano and basil. With dinner, I didn't have water. I had a small glass of 1% milk. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good today!

Something not so good today: I decided to weigh myself, do my measurements, and take some pictures to compare my progress to. Everything in that regard was awful. I cried a lot, wondering how I let everything get so out of control. Lucky for me, I had my amazing boyfriend Dan to help pick up the pieces! I'm so glad to have such a great person in my life. He always knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. Even when I've squished myself into a bikini that barely holds the girls in, when I look like a stuffed sausage with tiny stubby legs, he tells me that I'm beautiful, and I always will be. Talk about a great guy! So I got him to take the pictures for me. And to bring myself out of meltdown mode, I kept telling myself:

You are not trapped in this body. You will not always look like this. You're taking steps in a great direction.

That thought definitely helped calm me down. So now, to bed. I have a really early wake up tomorrow morning for work. After work, the running begins!

Have a fantastic night, everybody!