Sunday, February 21, 2016

The tortoise feels the burn...


It's been a decent week - not perfect, but good.  I really need to curb my expectations of perfection from myself.  It's nearly impossible to satisfy and leaves me unhappy.  So here's to embracing imperfections and satisfaction with the results!


Mom told me she read the whole blog this week, even the older posts.  She told me she really enjoyed it and reinforced my purpose for putting this out there.  Ultimately I see it as a guidebook for my future self - so I can look back and gain motivation from all the hard work and challenges and struggles along the way.  In light of that, I realized I probably need to be putting more of my weekly thoughts in here.  For example, the jogging has been extremely difficult, but it is getting a teensy tiny bit better each time.  As I jog I keep remembering Val's comment about the breathing.  She told me "once you get the breathing down, it gets easier."  That is soooo true!  The breathing is getting easier which means the whole jogging thing is getting easier as I don't feel like every 4th breath is a struggle.  I started jogging with one earbud in as well.  It gives me something to think about besides counting my breaths.
The Whole30 plan has been going fairly well.  I don't really struggle day to day, but there are moments of frustration because preparing foods that work requires more time and thought.  But the food is great!  As I ate my dessert of several strawberries, some pineapple, raspberries, and cantaloupe I realized how delicious it was.  The craving for rich deserts isn't there (at least not most of the time!).  I do find myself wanting to munch on popcorn, but I just grab a handful of nuts instead, and they do the trick!  (Orchard mix: almonds, cashews, pistachios)  The most difficult part of Whole30 is that I feel hungry all the time.  I have been struggling to eat enough calories, especially on weekends when I get most of my jogging in.  But at least it makes me feel better about a large dinner.  I eat a healthy portion of mean and then a ton of veggies.  If I'm still hungry, I'll dish up a bowl of fresh fruit.

My work week is pretty easy on this diet.  I usually eat (drink) a smoothie for breakfast: banana, almond flour, almond milk or water, and whatever other fruit or frozen fruit is lying around.  I usually drink on this all day.  Lunch is usually chicken salad or tuna salad in a cup bowl served with sweet peppers cut in half.  I eat the salad as a dip.  I also take fruit and nuts to eat.  I nibble on lunch for a while.  Then I grab whatever we might need for dinner on the way home (again, a protein and veggies).  I am really anxious to weigh in.  I can tell my pants are getting a little looser and I'm feeling good about myself.  I feel that I am progressing and am excited to keep going.

I am almost done with the couch 2 5k plan - 2 more workouts, including the "race" type event.  I'll just jog my usual route, but use the TomTom to tell me when I've reached 1.55 miles, then I'll turn around and try to push myself.  I plan to register for a 5 or 10K race in May, time permitting.  Hopefully the Sage Rat Run will work this year!  I am currently on track for the half marathon, but the thought of going that distance is a little bit daunting.  I'm glad I have until August!

Here are the stats:
Average daily intake: 1327 calories


Average daily exercise: 302 calories

Exercise Activity:
My distance is increasing but I'm still pretty slow : the jogs are averaging about 12:30/mi, but as I said earlier, each run gets a little bit better.  When I started my jog today I told myself I didn't have to race, slow and steady would get the job done!  As you can see, the distance on Sat was less than today, but the jog time was equivalent.  The length of the workout is skewed based on when I turned off my watch after I got home.  My next jog is 2 minutes longer, for a total of 30 minutes.  The couch 2 5k app assumes you jog 10 minute miles, but that couple of minutes is ok, I'm sure I can go the distance...


















Well, that's all folks!  Until next week, I'll keep on hoppin'!

Amber
The Marsupial Maven

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