28-Day Boootcamp? I'm in!

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions? For me, I set a big goal: This year I will run a half marathon ... on April 10, if I have my druthers.

The funny thing is, after walking 20 miles a day for three days straight last summer, 13.1 miles isn't that intimidating to me. Maybe it should be, since this will involve the move I hate the most: running. But if I learned anything in 2010, I learned that I am capable of doing whatever I set my mind to doing - so long as I plan and prepare adequately.

So, since the race I want to run is in 14 weeks, I've spent this morning coming up with a training plan for the half-marathon. Most of the plans I see online are 10-week plans for people who can run 3 miles without stopping. Because I have only done that once and it was months ago, I figure I need a bit more time.

My plan involves spending the next 4 weeks getting my body back into running shape. This, of course, involves training my brain that running does not mean Death himself is after me and is no need to panic. It involves reminding my heart that it's ok to pound a bit quicker for awhile. And reminding my lungs that they need to work while I run - the entire time.

So, imagine my glee when I saw a 28-day Bootcamp program in my inbox from Sparkpeople. Ladies, I forwarded it to you in case you wanted to join too.

I just finished the video for Day One and, um, yeah. I'm a lot more out-of-shape than I realized! But that's ok. With the 28-Day Bootcamp program, and cardio 5 days a week, I still think I can be running 3 miles by the end of January and then ready to build miles for the half-marathon.

The video was quick and really did get my heart rate going.  The dogs, watching the entire time, thought I'd lost my mind and were very concerned. But, I already feel like I accomplished something this year and that's all that matters!

Seriously, check out www.SparkPeople.com if you haven't already. It is GREAT for tracking fitness, counting calories, and reading healthy recipes. If you have joined, post your user name so we can find you! I'm Nallie01 and can use a few more friends on there.

Project: Good Gobble

I just had a thought. Since I'm all about small goals, I thought it might be interesting to focus our collective weight loss sights to the immediate future and concentrate on getting through the holidays.

We are all about to face the usual food challenges stuffed in the Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas cookies. However, this year is different for all us - we now have each other!

How about we each set a a goal to get us through the holidays? If we start now, we have 8 weeks of holiday wonders to endure. So, for Nov. 4-Jan. 6 I think we should each set up a plan to help us stick with our goals.


MY PLAN:
I don't want to miss out on the pleasures of pumpkin pie and egg nog, but I also don't want to negate the hard work I've put into the past 6 weeks. Since my overall goal is to lose one pound a week (duh), I think I can easily stick to it. That means I need to focus on losing only 8 pounds between now and New years - totally doable!

I will weigh 181 pounds on Jan. 6.

I'm going to continue with the calorie counting, but add in (some) more exercise to balance with the extra eating. I will also have to balance out my calories. Currently, I allow about 1300 calories Sunday-Thursday and 1500 on Friday and Saturday. However, for the holiday weeks, I am going to focus on the entire week, rather than each day. That gives me 9500 calories for the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years (how many calories are in champagne???). Again, totally doable!

So, what's your plan???

Interesting NYTimes blog from a couple of years ago that is somewhat encouraging ... sort of.


Totals: 1,390 calories 163.5 carbs 37 fat 109 protein

Catching up

I've been catching up from a month or so of chaos and my inbox is manageable, my tasks are getting accomplished, and dilemmas are working themselves out. I almost got coaxed into finishing more things, but know I must take a break and keep the activities diverse, so I stuck to my calendar and went running. I ran for :25, falling short of my :30 goal, but rode myself hard at a 6.5 pace. The treadmill says I went 3 miles, but I don't think that's possible. I think it must miscalculate distance because when I hit the trail, I swear it's only a mile for the same time.

During my run, I have all these revelations and thoughts about accomplishing things, which usually digresses into counting the minutes and time and keeping the run going.

What's more? I do believe I run again tomorrow. I think this is the most consistent workout I'll have had since we started this program. Maybe I'll finally lose a pound, but not if the peanut butter cupcake does any talking.

Tape measure and scale

I can take no credit whatsoever.

Yes, I didn't lose another pound, but I didn't gain any either! This, however, is only because I have been sick the past two days and haven't eaten much. Clearly it made up for my four days of BAD CHOICES.

I went ahead to tracked my measurements since it's been a month and feel pretty good after reading them.

Measurements taken September 21:
Weight: 195 lbs (sigh)
Waist: 40 inches (not sucking in)
Hips: 47.25 inches (junk in the trunk, much?)
Thigh: 28.5 inches
Upper Arm: 15.5 inches
Calf: 17.25 inches (a real target area for me ... I HATE my killer calves!)

Measurements taken today:
Weight: 191 lbs (on track is good, even if it's because I've been sick)
Waist: 37.5 inches (still not sucking in)
Hips: 46 inches (I've been playing catcher - lots of squatting)
Thigh: 28.5 inches (see above regarding the catcher gig)
Upper Arm: 14 inches
Calf: 16.5 inches (a real target area for me ... I HATE my killer calves!)

In guy world, losing 2.5 inches from your waist would mean you wear a smaller size ... but in girl world not losing anything in your thighs means you have to just tighten your belt.

I don't really know how they calculate overall inch loss. Do I get to say I lost 6 inches of body fat (if you add it up I did) in the past month?

Damage control

Ok, the vacation is over ... and it's time to get back on track.

We just finished our fall break and, as I mentioned earlier, mine included a visit from my mom and one of her friends. As part of this, I found myself eating turkey barbecue, tandoori pizza, sweet potato chips galore and fried chicken. YIKES!!!

Then, I spent Saturday driving to Dallas for a wedding - enter road trip food (I tried to be good, lunch included Subway!) and a lot of caffeine. Add in the wedding food (wasted calories if you ask me!) and the wedding cake ... then the trip back.

Between worrying about Mom's visit, driving them around, the dash to Dallas, a late softball game last night and hours spent worrying about my diet, a serial rapist in the neighborhood, and the people from my past that might be at the wedding (but weren't), I am exhausted from my fall break. Is it any wonder I turned my alarm off this morning and didn't wake up until noon? Oops.

So, today I'm back to calorie counting. Egg whites for "breakfast" and coffee with fat-free creamer. Also, I am packing my gym bag and planning to check out the rec facilities at school tomorrow afternoon. I'll elaborate on that more tomorrow. Right now, I'm heading back to bed ...

It all counts

So, I started this thing hoping I could stop counting calories a month or so into it ... but now, I'm changing my mind!

I will admit that I am slightly calorie obsessed and have instructed the boyfriend to bonk me on the head when it becomes too annoying. However, I can't argue with the results. I have been consistently keeping my caloric intake below 1300 calories for the past 8 days. On weekends I let myself go to 1500 calories a day.

I truly suggest everyone try it out for a month. You will be surprised by how much you learn, not only about yourself, but about your habits and ways to create new habits.

What I use to track my calories

It really keeps me conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth when I track it after each meal! Plus, when I've gone a few days that week at, say 1100 calories, I know I can splurge a bit on date night (just a bit, of course!).

This week's date night took us to a local Mexican restaurant. I talked with the server, who also happens to be on a diet, as Renee suggested I do. She helped me by telling me the different ways I could order. I surprised her by ordering my veggie burrito with no sauce. She seemed genuinely concerned. But I explained that I planned to douse it in salsa - and it was YUMMY!

Saturday was my non-fat, fat-girl day. This means I stayed in bed most of the day watching cheesy romantic comedies and snacked. Instead of ice cream, however, I ate grapes. Instead of pizza, I bought Lean Pockets (but I didn't end up eating them). And I had baked tortilla chips and salsa on hand in case I got a salt craving - didn't want much of those either. Basically, the trick is to be prepared ahead of time so that you don't succumb to temptation or laziness.

Finally, Sunday was tailgate day! Bless the boyfriend for buying turkey brats just for me. The beer took me up, as did the gas station hot chocolate (nutrition info conveniently unavailable!) in my numbers, but overall, I think I kept it pretty reasonable (sauerkraut on brat - only 5 calories for 2 tablespoons!!!) Because the tailgate was before a noon game, I just grabbed a banana for breakfast and enjoyed the early lunch. Also, I know I burned a lot of calories cheering on the Cowboys!

My own 5k.

You girls are really inspiring me with all of this 5k talk!

My issue, however, is a bit silly.

If you were completely broke, would you take out a loan to sign up for your 5k? Everything I do is on loans. Based on my calculations, spending $25 to run a 5k will end up costing me ~$65 in interest and stuff (this is my new thought process about any money I spend in order to maintain financial fitness). So, I need a solution.

Here is my thought - I'm going to organize my own 5k!!! I'm going to set a date, invite my friends and take it from there. I know it won't go to a charity, unless others want to donate, but I am (sadly!) not in a place where I can feasibly donate to a charity right now ... OH WAIT!!! I've got it!!!

We run the 5k and make the end point a volunteer situation, that way we donate our time!!!

ABBY: Interested in this??? I know you have connections in the KC non-profit world!!! I think mid-December (after finals) will be the best time. What are your thoughts?

Bring on the 5k...

I have signed up for two 5k runs in November. Count that...1...2. They are both fundraisers for great causes. This is my first time running a 5k (that's 3.1 miles, in case you aren't a math whiz)...I've walked them before, but never ran. I think its a great motivator to get out and train. So far I've been running 3 miles at least 3 days a week. The idea that I have to do it in a big crowd with a lot of people watching will definitely keep me motivated to keep it up.