Cardio – bane of my existence

Okay, I have a confession here. I read a couple of blogs where women did triathlons. Last winter I was bored out of my skull, sick and tired of walking on the “dreadmill” or the elliptical. I needed something to give my mindless hamster-like cardio routine meaning. Other people did it, so I figured I could too. And so I went forth and trained for a triathlon. The purpose wasn’t to complete a triathlon (although I did). The whole point of this exercise was to add variety and purpose to my cardio workouts. Which it did. Naturally, I had to actually do the triathlon at the end, otherwise I could just quit.


Well, that’s the point of the marathon too. Although I have to say it’s a little nearer and dearer to my heart than the triathlon was. It sounds more daunting I guess *lol*. But I needed some motivation to actually run more – to do more cardio. So, imagine my feelings when, confessing my routine of late to my trainer, she confirmed my suspicions: I’ve slacked off on my cardio. How is such a thing possible while training for a marathon? Here’s the scoop:

I am following the Galloway training program for beginning runners. (You can check out his web site if you want the specifics). In a nutshell, he has you run 3 days a week, 2 short and one long (which I’ve been doing). Then for 3 other days you are supposed to be doing 30-40 minutes of walking or some other form of low impact cross training (biking, swimming, elliptical etc). He does say you can sub 1 day of upper body weight training for one XT session. That still leaves me missing a couple of cardio workouts. I’m lifting 3 days a week, doing yoga once a week, running 3 times, but lately that’s been it. No biking or swimming. Just the occasional walk here at the office.

So, this week I’ve gotta re-focus and work on getting in more cardio. I plan to swim after weights on Wednesday & Thursday. Just when I think I’ve got a handle on something, it seems like I lose control. ALways juggling - thats me.

The weekend that was

I don’t know about you, but I had a nice weekend. I have gotten a little more perspective on the whole financial thing. I reached acceptance and am ready to deal with it and move on.

We did a whole bunch of stuff around the house – yard work, plus painted and steam cleaned the boy’s room, got his furniture re-arranged…. Just a bunch of stuff! And as an added bonus, not only did all that stuff burn calories, but I ate totally on plan until Sunday night. Hello!!!! That’s like the first weekend in forever – so being good busy helps.

I had a planned treat Sunday night (beer and taco chips) and an unplanned treat at lunch today (wound up having pizza with hubby when we bumped into each other running errands at my mom’s place). Oh well, deal and move on. Eat clean the rest of the week.

My run yesterday was .. long. 10 miles to be precise. I may need new shoes – one foot was hurting. And I was getting tired near the end. But did you read that number? When was the last time I ran double digit mileage. Was it in this lifetime??? I am very proud that I hung in there, even though I was tired the last mile. I rock.

And I will not skip weigh in this week. I had stress, I succumbed for a couple of days, I dealt with it, and now its back to life.

Today is a new day

I left work, went to the gym, had a good workout (legs and shoulders), then went home & cried. I heated up an emergency dinner from the freezer (homemade Brunswick stew) and finally wound up sitting on the sofa, having a couple of beers, some chips we had in the cupboard, and then some of the ice cream my sister left at my house last week. Needless to say, I skipped weighing in today.

I just feel so profoundly sad and when you are grieving it seems like it will last forever. That’s where I am right now. I have stuff to do this weekend – paint my son’s room, steam clean his carpet, re-arrange the furniture in his & the guest bedrooms. There is still some yard work that needs to be done as well. My joy for everything is gone. I know it will eventually come back. I just hope I don’t sabotage myself too badly in the interim.

This is just so outside of how I normally am it feels like there is an alien who has taken control of my emotions. I hate this, and I hate wishing my life away to be at the time when it has passed.

Is it the weekend yet?

Ugh. Still down in the dumps. Eating was okay yesterday, although I did have a beer while watching some 80’s hair band show on VH1. And I didn’t get up to run this morning. I just laid there, feeling like my whole body was made of lead. Since I can’t really talk to my mom or friends, I have decided to talk to a professional. I just feel so angry & sad and I really need to let it out and not take it out on my husband.

For the interested, here is my workout routine for Mon & Wed. Today is legs & shoulders.

Monday (chest & triceps):
Bench: 100/8 100/8 110/5
Incline press: 25/12 30/8 35/8
Dumbbell flys: 12.5/12 15/10 20/8

Dips (between benches) 3 sets of 20
Total arm tricep 2.5/12 5/10 5/12
Tri pull downs 45/12 60/10

Wednesday (back & biceps):
Dumbbell rows: 30/12 35/10 40/8
Seated rows: 60/12 65/10 65/10
Total arm lat pulldown 50/12 60/12 70/10

Preacher curl: 20/10 20/8 20/8 (that’s plus the bar – I dunno how much it weighs)
Dumbbell curls: 20/12 25/6 25/6
Cable curls: 40/12 45/10 45/10

Thank you for the kind words

I have gotten not just a very nice comment, but also e-mail regarding my last message. First of all, thank you. Kind words from someone you only know via the computer are still kind words. And much appreciated.

The bad news is financial in nature. And while bad, needs to be kept in perspective (by me). My family is well, we have our house, we have our health, and we have the ability to fix this. Its just going to be a while and some of our plans (new deck, trip to Miami) will just have to get postponed for a couple or 3 years.

On the bright side, I like beans :-)

Major Stress

Well, I got some bad news that night and I can't say that I handled it very well. Hubby and I had just gone out for a nice dinner out our favorite mexican restaurant (and I had a beer with dinner as well) for my "treat Tuesday". After said news I wound up spending the evening crying and drinking another 3 beers.

Right now fitness doesn't seem very important and I would very much like to crawl into a hole and die. But I think I'll just see if I can't plod on to preserve my well being.

Kicking it up a Notch

That seems to be my theme for the next couple of months and I got a head start yesterday! Now that my son is out of school, my schedule is a little more flexible and I am using that time to get some chores done around the house, work on my yard a little (although nothing compared to kick butt yard ovehaul going on over at Diet Chick’s house!), and power up my workouts.

For June and July I plan to lift weights three days a week rather than my usual 2 I have been doing for over a year now. Yes, I’ve made some great gains in both strength and muscle mass, but I certainly can afford to add a little more. Yesterday was chest & triceps. I was driving to the gym, not really wanting to work out. Sonja wasn’t there, and a part of me was hoping she’d be late so I could bail (some days I am so pathetic). But she showed up and we had a totally awesome workout!

Chest: 3 set of bench presses: 100/8, 100/10, 110/6
Incline bench: 20/12, 25/10, 30/8
Dumbbell flys: 12.5/12 (too easy), 15/10, 20/8

Tricep: (cue the Rocky music)
We set up the benches, each took an end, and did 3 sets of 20 tricep dips. I know it sounds dorky, but I usually only do 15, but having her doing them on the other end of the bench really fired me up to push that extra bit. My triceps were singing “Ave Maria” when that was done. Too awesome!
Hammer strength total arm: 2.5/12, 5/10, 5/12
Cable push-downs: 45/12 (too easy!), 60/10

Abs: 2 sets each of the ball, bicycle, and side planks.

I went home feeling on top of the world!

Food yesterday was back to normal after the weekend of doom *lol*.

B: had scrambled egg beaters with bell pepper, mushrooms, and a little beef chorizo for breakfast. (W-M had my beloved soy chorizo but I already had the beef at home in the freezer. I hope they have it again this week!)
S: 2 lowfat string cheeses (I could eat these forever!)
L: leftover creamed spinach (homemade, don’t worry!), poached salmon, and half and ear of corn on the cob.
S: an orange and the whole payday (gotta keep up the strength for that workout!)
D: Cookout at neighbors. 2 pieces of grilled chicken (I removed the skin), ½ c baked beans, and a helping of their homemade potato salad (Grandma E’s recipe). I haven’t had potato salad in ages – oh my gosh! Yum! And a berry crisp for dessert (made with whole berries, oatmeal, and a little brown sugar). Thankfully there was no vanilla ice cream.

We had a very nice visit, but didn’t stay too late since I had to get up and run this morning.

The weather here has been a little cooler and less humid – and the running conditions this morning were optimal. Sunday I decided to try & make my 3 miles runs during the week a little more intense. So, I eliminated 1 walk break, shortened 2 others, and tried to run the running portions faster. Well, by the end my legs felt like “leads”! But in a good way. It felt good to really push it out. And with my son over at grandma’s, I wasn’t worried about getting home quickly to hustle. Hubby’s lunch was already prepared and he was in charge of his breakfast this morning (optimum cereal), so I only had to worry about myself and tidying up the place a bit. I still got to work on time, but felt a lot less rushed, and was so upbeat after such a great run.

I was reading Ron Harris’ daily pump this morning (he is a body builder and free lance writer on body building etc). A friend sent him a note which read “Danger: Cardio is a drug.” How true! He was concerned about doing too much cardio prior to a show and losing muscle - I don’t have that problem. But cardio makes me feel so good, it would be easy to do too much and overtrain, injuring myself. I know lately I’ve been feeling guilty about “only” lifting weights and doing yoga on Mondays and have toyed with the idea of adding additional cardio. But I think that might be too much, unless it was a morning walk. And I don’t want to get up early on any more days than I already do! I think adding an extra day of weight training was a smarter move. We’ll see if it pays off on the scale.

Victory is Mine!

I am not patient. I re-created my template (yet again). I will say blogger has some nice new templates out there for use - I really liked the cool black one. Alas, I am ignorant in the ways of html and could not figure out where in that template to put my side bar stuff, so I stuck with the basic design here.

Maybe someday I'll learn enough to set this up nicer. In the meantime, I'll be that hole in the wall you like to eat at where the atmosphere is so-so, but the food is terrific :-)

Blogger is a thorn in my side!

I am here. Blogger has deleted my template 3 times now, and I am tired of re-building it. I will work on it another day. So, sorry that my links & info are gone from the sidebar. Bear with me.

Note to self: save template somewhere else for when blogger eats it.

In other news, I made my 9 mile run yesterday. It wasn't the best run I've ever done - hubby didn't feel like riding his bike, and I felt safer sticking around the neighborhood. So I ran my 2 mile loop, then 1 mile loop a total of 3 times. Kinda boring, but I feel better staying in the development and off the country roads early in the morning.

We had friends come & spend Friday night with us - we stayed up late, drinking beer & watching movies. It was a lot of fun! Eating was fairly crappy this weekend (ooh - do we have a theme going here?). I am getting tired of doing this to myself, I say every Monday morning.

I think I'm going to try & have a healthy weekend every other weekend. I dunno - I'm trying to figure out a way to ease into doing better on the weekend. Mystery of the ages. Telling myself I can't sit & have 3 beers with a movie makes me rebel. Against myself even - argh. I am so weird.

Okay, thats enough of this crud. Hope you all enjoy your day. I will fix my template tomorrow.

The Whole Enchilada

I actually lost a whole entire pound! In only one week! Amazing, huh?

Yes, I am happy I guess. Well, mostly I’m just frustrated. I’m tired of being overweight. I did at least lose, right? So why do I feel so grouchy?

I’m writing it off to PMS.

Great dinner last night, BTW. I made chicken kebabs, roasted sweet potatoes, and “tomato bake” – where I layer sliced fresh tomato with chopped fresh basil, and top it with a mixture of mayo and shredded cheese. It sounds decadent, but its not a whole lot of topping, so if you use lowfat its not bad at all, calorie wise.

This weekend is a 9 mile run, plus a bunch of running around I really don’t want to do. Ugh.

Don't mind me, I'm just being an ungrateful wretch.

Blah blah blah food

I only ran 2 miles yesterday instead of my usual 3 (walkman batteries died, and my motivation followed). Food yesterday was okay, some good new stuff, but a planned higher calorie dinner.

I made a terrific breakfast: I took yellow bell pepper & sautéed it with some mushrooms. Then added egg beaters and about half an ounce of beef chorizo (lower in fat than the pork). Topped it with a little 2% shredded cheddar and I had a breakfast that tasted decadent, but at less than 200 calories, was lower in calories than my usual cereal & milk!

Lunch was also a new (and very yummy!) idea: I took some fried chicken (left over from a picnic at my son’s school). I removed the skin & fat, picked the meat off the bone, and diced it. I took mixed greens (various lettuces plus spinach), a few cherry tomatoes, and some raw broccoli and added some of the diced chicken. I covered it with salsa and “brocomole” for a delicious Mexican style lunch salad! It tasted so flavorful, but was very healthy. I used a lot of cilantro too.

Since avocado is good for you but high in fat, here’s how I make my guacamole to stretch it out: I steam some broccoli (I used about ½ cup for 1 avocado) and add that to the food processor, then make my usual recipe. If you don’t overdo it, the flavor isn’t really changed, but you’ve made it healthier.

It was our anniversary, so we went out for sushi. And I had a couple of beers. I have decided that Tuesday is going to be my mid-week cheat night, with calories a little higher, but not a total free for all. I enjoyed dinner, but didn’t pig out too badly and was ready to get back to usual today. I figured a moderate higher calorie meal, or after dinner snack would help prevent me from going so overboard on the weekend. This is my first week testing it out, so we’ll see how it goes.

Exercise today is going to just be 2 walks here at work (one for 20 and one for 40) as I have several errands to run after work. But I do have my gym bag in case I feel like I have time to run by there.

Tomorrow hubby is taking the boy to the local Harley shop – one of the OCC motorcycles is going to be on display. It’ll be a chance for them to do something fun together.

This is my “water retention week”, so I have no idea what to expect on the scale. A part of me is discouraged, but I remember last fall when I gained 10 pounds. It took me forever to get that 10 pounds back off. Had I not done that, I might be at goal. I do not want a repeat of that experience. To get within 10 pounds of goal and then gain a bunch is just depressing. Even though I am discouraged, the truth is the way I eat is pretty much a part of my life now. I can’t imagine not planning meals, or eating crappy all the time. Even though the weight is coming off incredibly slowly, the scale continues to move in the right direction. And like I’ve said before, what are my alternatives?

Still Keeping On

Well, I’m still here, still plugging away. I went to a terrific wedding this weekend and had a great time. I figure I consumed roughly 1500 calories in beer alone, but I can’t undo it. I did well with eating food though (grin), and got up and ran my 8 miles on Saturday morning.

I had two cheat meals (eaten on the road) - I didn’t eat a lot of food, but pretty void nutrition-wise. But I was back at it Monday, lifting weights and eating healthier foods.

After talking to my trainer, as well as a friend, I made an appointment to have my thyroid checked. I have no idea if there is an issue or not – I know my aunt had thyroid troubles. But I figure that for the $25 co-pay, I can know for sure and get treatment if I need it. I do have some other symptoms besides incredibly slow weight loss. The only down side was I couldn’t get in until July 1 for blood work and July 7 for an appointment, so it’ll be a while before I know anything. Still, it’ll be nice to know for sure.

Heather (see link on side) wrote about that magic “thing” that successful losers have, and how she doesn’t have it right now but wishes she did. Its funny – I don’t think I have that “thing” either. This isn’t easy. I ate lunch a little while ago and I could easily go upstairs and get something else, even though I’m not truly hungry. This hasn’t clicked for me.

What it comes down to is that I feel good when I exercise and eat good foods. Its very frustrating that I don’t look like the fit person I feel like. You would think someone training for a damn marathon wouldn’t be a chub! Its very discouraging to hear people write about being able to wear 8s, or just fitting into smaller sizes when I seem to be trapped in my size 14 pants. But the alternative is too unpleasant to think about, so I just keep going.

An Exercise in Futility

I am soooo frustrated! I did a good job with both eating and exercise this week, for another 0.5 pound loss. That’s two weeks in a row! WTF!?!?!

Yesterday’s Food:
B: smoothie
S: soy chips
L: side salad & a California roll
S: half a payday and an orange
D: sautéed chicken breast, some dressing, and sautéed squash

Exercise:
3 mile run in am, Weights (legs) in pm, followed by a short swim

The chicken breast was so yummy! I was starved when I got home from the gym, so I nuked it for one minute to thaw a little, then put it in a pan with a little evoo (extra virgin olive oil), some onions & garlic, and a bit of white wine. When it was done I put jalepenos, salsa, and a tiny bit of grated cheddar on top. It was awesome!

Yesterday’s Food & Exercise

B: cereal with berries & soy milk
S: 2 low fat string cheeses
L: tuna on a salad, piece of fried chicken with skin removed
S: orange and one snack bar square dessert thingie at company picnic
D: green beans, turnip greens, small serving mashed potatoes
S: 2 low fat string cheese (I was hungry!)

Exercise: a brisk 45 minute walk at said picnic on the nature trail with a co-worker. Very nice!

Summertime

Many people make New Year’s resolutions. Not me. Its winter people! Its cold outside! That’s no time to commit to exercise & eating healthier. Its time to eat a hearty bowl of lentil soup in front of the tv.

No, I make summer resolutions. Not the “look good in a bikini” kind. Summer is my time to try new exercise, spend more time outside, shop at the farmer’s market and eat more vegetables.

Besides continuing my marathon training, this summer I have 2 plans: 1) to increase my weight training program. Once the kiddo is out of school and spending more time at “grandma & grandpa daycare”, it means I can start lifting 3 days a week instead of 2. I’ve talked to Sonja and we are going to train 2 days a week, then lift as partners once per week. Then in the fall I’ll drop back to 2 days a week, but just consult with her once a month on my upper body program. Gotta wean myself off the personal trainer!

2) Healthier dinners. Our meals are a darn site better than what most people in this country eat simply because I actually cook a meal every night. But I want to make them better. More grilling out and more veggies are easy this time of year. Turkey burgers are yummy and marinated chicken is a piece of cake. Tomato pie is really good, although the tomatoes aren’t in yet. But fresh corn is – and the zucchini & squash are looking good. And right now greens are plentiful – the tender young kind. Perfect for sautéing with some garlic in a little evoo (extra virgin olive oil). I am hitting the farmer’s market this weekend and getting some. My husband thinks he doesn’t like greens. He’s about to learn. (Insert evil gin here).

Yesterday's Food & Exercise

B: egg mcmuffin no cheese (on way to WalMart to pick up Sudafed - ugh!)
S: 2 low fat string cheeses
L: Michelina Light brand cheese lasagna and a side salad
(Note: the meat lasagna is much better than the cheese in this brand)
S: 1/2 a payday and an orange
D: homemade chicken and dumplings and green beans
S: 3 beers (hey, at least I didn't eat any crap!) ha ha ha

Exercise: 25 min walk at lunch and the boy & I went swimming in the afternoon - I took it easy though. It did seem to help my sinuses.

Yesterday’s Food & Exercise

B: optimum cereal with berries & soy milk
L: salad with a can of tuna
S: 2 lowfat string cheeses and an orange
D: shrimp etouffee with brown rice

Exercise:
Ugh. I did chest and back, feeling like crap the whole time (I hate being sick!). I skipped yoga, and opted for a short swim with some time in the hot tub and sauna. It did seem to help clear my head, at least for a while.

Still Here

Still alive - blogger wouldn't let me log on Friday. :-( Evil. Thursday night I finally gave into the stress of the week. I was pretty PO-ed with myself for doing it, but it was otherwise a good week. Oh well, move on.

Only down 0.5 pounds - pretty disappointing.

However, I ran my 7 miles Saturday morning and after the first 3 miles, it felt really good. Hubby rode his bike so he could check on me - it was fun. We're going out of town this weekend and he is taking his bike so he can do the same while I do my 8 mile run. He's so sweet :-)

I won the bench press! It was not a personal best (I only did 110), but I was probably tired after the run. My trainer didn't want me to run before the contest, but honestly I felt my marathon training was more important than a contest I was doing for fun.

Having said that, I won two sweet 1st place trophies (weight and age), a nice leather workout bag, and I won a soft travel cooler in the raffle. So, I walked home loaded down with cool stuff - and a t-shirt of course!

I ate great Friday, crap Saturday (and too much beer), and pretty good Sunday. One special meal - the rest was okay calorie wise but not the best choices. Back to clean eating today.

We'll see how my weight does this week, I am getting frustrated. I feel like the Goodyear blimp.

I have a yucky cold - I hope I feel better soon.

Trying New Foods & Stuff

Sometimes trying something you think you don’t like works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I didn’t think I liked oatmeal, but after experimenting for a while I discovered I like it fine with berries & a little milk. But my latest (and last) foray into cottage cheese as a snack food has failed. I admit defeat – I cannot like the stuff. I’ve tried sweet, I’ve tried savory, I’ve tried weird concoctions off the “Body for Life” web site. I just can’t do it. Yesterday, I threw it out and bought a small snack bag of Wow Doritos (only 130 calories, but no nutrition at all). Hiding it in chicken enchilada casserole or lasagna is fine. But not as a snack.

My run this morning was really nice. Got up early despite having a beer right before bed and rolled out. Instead of using a stop watch for my walk/runs, I go by the distance. There are places I run and places I walk. I can tell my running is speeding up, as is my walking. Its hard for me to change the walk places because I walk the big hills (there are 4 of them on my 2 mile loop). My 7 mile route only has one big hill (at least that’s how it feels when I ride my bike), so I may go by time when I do my 7 mile run Saturday.

I am doing my 7 mile long run Saturday morning so that hubby & I can go for a bike ride together Sunday morning. The down side is I will be doing it before the bench press competition (which is at 9 I think), so I may be a little tired. But the running is more important. When I lifted Monday I only did 115 (I did 120 last Monday), so my strategy is to start with 110 (and easy weight), then 115, then try the 120. I don’t expect to win, but that’s not too shabby. And it should be fun – I’m sure there will be people there I don’t usually see in the gym – plus some of the other afternoon regulars.

I have a ton of stuff to do this weekend, and it has been a busy week. Hubby is working late to try & finish up a deck (he has his own remodeling/repair business), so that means I get very little help on the child/home front while he works until 7 or 8. Sigh. It seems like the laundry/cooking/cleaning fun never stops. But on his Mother’s Day card he made me, for the question “Name something nice your mom does for you every day” my son wrote “cooks dinner”. Who says a 9 year old can’t appreciate home cooking?

This weekend I have a bunch of yard work to do (hubby mows but that’s it) and I haven’t really gotten started yet this year! I won’t get it all done, but I can put in 2 solid hours on that. I have to make a batch of soup – I’m making the soup for a friend’s wedding dinner the next weekend and I want to test the recipe. On the girly front I am getting my eyebrows waxed and will repaint my toenails. I just did it but the paint got scratched on the bottom of the pool (there’s some weird lesson in there).

On the gym front: They are going to see if the existing staff want to pick up the extra hours in the weight room before they hire anyone new. And they don’t have any openings on the front desk right now either. Sigh. Send me good gym thoughts please! The good news is I am going to start working out independently with my trainer, so after the next few sessions I won’t be paying through the gym any more. The price is going up in June and I just can’t afford it any more. We already lift weights together, so it’ll be good. I could lift weights by myself (I hear some people actually do that - *lol*), but I really enjoy doing it with somebody. And she pushes me harder – and knows way more cool exercises!

Wednesday’s Food & Exercise:

B: corn flakes with berries & soy milk
S: Wow Doritos (note to self: don’t bring cottage cheese as you will pitch it & eat something you do like)
L: can of tuna on salad, with an orange & a 12 oz bowl of lowfat pasta & fagoli soup
S: half a payday
D: baked flounder, baked deviled crab, baked potato (with lf sour cream & a little shredded cheddar)
S: 1 sq in dark chocolate & a miller lite

Exercise:

30 min walk at lunch, swam 600 yards while son at tae kwon do