Weight: 323.4
Total Weight loss: 26.6
Reporting back to you after the first day of week 2 on the Couch to 5K program. I was so excited to get back to my computer, map my run and see how I did, because I just knew that with this run I totally surpassed any previous achievement so far. Boy, was I right, too!
My pace was 19:28, with a speed of 3:08. This is a huge improvement over last week's stats! I could really tell a difference in the quality of my movements today. My jog segments weren't nearly as sluggish, nay, I could even maybe call them honest to god jogs! I noticed, too, that during the walking segments, my arms started moving in broader motions naturally – I was moving faster without really deciding to. I just was.
The human body never ceases to amaze me. And I am sorry if I say this over and over again, but I am still amazed that someone of my size can do this. I am so freakin' proud that I am doing this.
I did have my first heckler today, though. Just as I was starting down my street at the end of the workout, some yahoo driving past on the main highway yelled out the window, "HEY!" When I turned around (rather perturbedly, I might add, since it scared the crap out of me), nothing. They had paused, but then just kept driving. Whatever. Did nothing to make me feel bad about myself or what I am doing, just further proves that there is no shortage of idiots in this world. Too bad for them.
I also want to note that I totally did not want to do this today. I really didn't feel like it, plus I had gotten some exercise in with an hour and half's worth of spring cleaning; I was tired and slightly achey and cranky from PMS. But, I did it anyway, because that's what you have to do to achieve your goals. That's what separates those who succeed with those who fail. Now, would I still like to be saying that I am exercising every single day? Why yes, I would, but for now at least three days a week of interval training is enough to make me feel like I am light years away from where I started. I am still a believer in taking it step by step. I will become superworkoutwoman someday, no doubt, but not today and not this week. For now, I am concentrating on becoming a 5K runner.
Book note: I skimmed through Body for Life for Women last night, and found some bits useful. Seems a little fussy for my taste overall, and plus, all of the before and after success stories involve women rarely over 200 pounds to start. Not that it's bad per se, but I feel as someone much larger a bit... marginalized, perhaps? I'll tell you about the bits I liked, and also the bits I thought were annoying, in another entry.
Finally, today I had one of those so-called NSVs, or Non-Scale Victory for those uninitiated that may be reading. It involved my fitness level. The aforementioned house cleaning? I started with the bathroom and moved on to sweeping, and cleaning some windows and even wiping down some of the vinyl siding on our front porch. For the record, previously I generally get pretty winded and sweaty when I am housecleaning. Today, though, was totally different. It was barely tiring, and I don't think I even broke a sweat! All I can say is, wow. Just, wow.
Yours plain old just truly,
r.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The Quiet Life
Weight: 324.8
Total Weight loss: 25.2
It's been a relatively quiet, uneventful past few days. Sort of. Yesterday after work I drove straight to Hamilton, ON to meet up with one of my best friends and her cranky but adorable hubby for AYCE (that's All-You-Can-Eat, in case you didn't know the lingo) sushi. Since that city is about halfway between where I live and where they live, we try to have dinner together every so often (though not nearly often enough!) and enjoy the indulgence.
Here I must say that E. has been one of my most inspiring folks... she's lost over 80 pounds so far doing an Atkins-like diet that has helped her totally free herself of diabetes, and she even wears PANTS now! While I could never follow her plan of eating, it totally works for her and her hubby, who's also lost quite a bit of weight. So yesterday we were talking a little bit about that, how it truly IS that there will never be one magic bullet for losing weight. Just like what I'm doing isn't necessarily going to work for someone who has to keep an eye on sugar, or other considerations, I cannot deal with a low-carb diet well (been there, done that – it made me feel ill after a few weeks) and would never be able to make it a lifetime proposition.
And how long did it take for me to find my personal magic bullet? Most of my life, about 30 years. But hey, better late than never, right? I also really had to come to terms with a lot of emotional baggage before I could really set myself out on this journey. I'm still dealing with it, and probably will for a long time. I should probably get some more therapy, too, eventually. For now, though, and for the next couple years until I meet my goal, I'm relying on sheer will and determination to get me where I want to be. It won't be over after that, but hopefully by then this will all be old hat and the mindset won't be so put-on, but totally naturally occurring. (You know, that old "Fake it 'til you make it" technique? That's what I am relying on.)
So we enjoyed the sushi and the company, as usual. I gave myself some license to not think too much about what I was eating at dinner, but I bet if I broke it down it wasn't all that out of bounds, mango ice cream included. Afterwards, our little trio went for a short stroll down the street, and I didn't even get one ounce of winded. Progress!
You can see in my weekly stats that I am down just over two and half pounds from last week's, which is nice, but I am still a little grumbly because I've seen the numbers lower this month (OK, just for like two days, but still). I have another week to meet my monthly goal of ten pounds lost, and I am not sure it's going to happen this month. BUT! OK, so I am whining a little. BUT! Seriously, I am happy to have lost five pounds, or seven, or whatever it will be on April 7th. It's been admittedly hard to remain optimistic and excited about the changes I've made, lately, since the results haven't been quite as good as I'd hoped. It is at times like these, though, when I need to persevere and really keep focused on my goals. I've already achieved too much to give up now. While I do have so far to go, I'm well on my way, and I need to keep that in mind -- NOT how slow it seems to be going. Slow is good. Slow means that it will be easier to keep off once I arrive at my goal.
Today was a weird day, full of bickering and bad moods (PMS, anyone?). C. and I ended up designating today a Treat Day, but I actually stayed under calorie limits, I think. Apparently the thrill of eating pizza no longer requires me to eat the whole thing, but two slices plus a salad suited me fine. Kind of funny when that happens. It was totally automatic. It probably also helped that we slept for a good portion of the afternoon, and then ate fairly late -- and I don't like to go to bed with a full stomach. No more eating for me tonight.
I haven't bought the iPod yet, but plan to order it tomorrow. I'm starting Week 2 of C25K tomorrow, and will finish it out on Tuesday and Thursday this coming week. My Tuesday run will be the first, hopefully, accompanied by music! Excited!
Finally, today also included a trip to the city library, where I checked out a bunch of books that talk about money and fitness (separately, I mean!). I'll probably write some mini-reviews about them in the coming days and weeks, so be on the lookout!
Hope this finds you all well, happy, and healthy!
Yours in lettuce and hardcovers,
r.
Total Weight loss: 25.2
It's been a relatively quiet, uneventful past few days. Sort of. Yesterday after work I drove straight to Hamilton, ON to meet up with one of my best friends and her cranky but adorable hubby for AYCE (that's All-You-Can-Eat, in case you didn't know the lingo) sushi. Since that city is about halfway between where I live and where they live, we try to have dinner together every so often (though not nearly often enough!) and enjoy the indulgence.
Here I must say that E. has been one of my most inspiring folks... she's lost over 80 pounds so far doing an Atkins-like diet that has helped her totally free herself of diabetes, and she even wears PANTS now! While I could never follow her plan of eating, it totally works for her and her hubby, who's also lost quite a bit of weight. So yesterday we were talking a little bit about that, how it truly IS that there will never be one magic bullet for losing weight. Just like what I'm doing isn't necessarily going to work for someone who has to keep an eye on sugar, or other considerations, I cannot deal with a low-carb diet well (been there, done that – it made me feel ill after a few weeks) and would never be able to make it a lifetime proposition.
And how long did it take for me to find my personal magic bullet? Most of my life, about 30 years. But hey, better late than never, right? I also really had to come to terms with a lot of emotional baggage before I could really set myself out on this journey. I'm still dealing with it, and probably will for a long time. I should probably get some more therapy, too, eventually. For now, though, and for the next couple years until I meet my goal, I'm relying on sheer will and determination to get me where I want to be. It won't be over after that, but hopefully by then this will all be old hat and the mindset won't be so put-on, but totally naturally occurring. (You know, that old "Fake it 'til you make it" technique? That's what I am relying on.)
So we enjoyed the sushi and the company, as usual. I gave myself some license to not think too much about what I was eating at dinner, but I bet if I broke it down it wasn't all that out of bounds, mango ice cream included. Afterwards, our little trio went for a short stroll down the street, and I didn't even get one ounce of winded. Progress!
You can see in my weekly stats that I am down just over two and half pounds from last week's, which is nice, but I am still a little grumbly because I've seen the numbers lower this month (OK, just for like two days, but still). I have another week to meet my monthly goal of ten pounds lost, and I am not sure it's going to happen this month. BUT! OK, so I am whining a little. BUT! Seriously, I am happy to have lost five pounds, or seven, or whatever it will be on April 7th. It's been admittedly hard to remain optimistic and excited about the changes I've made, lately, since the results haven't been quite as good as I'd hoped. It is at times like these, though, when I need to persevere and really keep focused on my goals. I've already achieved too much to give up now. While I do have so far to go, I'm well on my way, and I need to keep that in mind -- NOT how slow it seems to be going. Slow is good. Slow means that it will be easier to keep off once I arrive at my goal.
Today was a weird day, full of bickering and bad moods (PMS, anyone?). C. and I ended up designating today a Treat Day, but I actually stayed under calorie limits, I think. Apparently the thrill of eating pizza no longer requires me to eat the whole thing, but two slices plus a salad suited me fine. Kind of funny when that happens. It was totally automatic. It probably also helped that we slept for a good portion of the afternoon, and then ate fairly late -- and I don't like to go to bed with a full stomach. No more eating for me tonight.
I haven't bought the iPod yet, but plan to order it tomorrow. I'm starting Week 2 of C25K tomorrow, and will finish it out on Tuesday and Thursday this coming week. My Tuesday run will be the first, hopefully, accompanied by music! Excited!
Finally, today also included a trip to the city library, where I checked out a bunch of books that talk about money and fitness (separately, I mean!). I'll probably write some mini-reviews about them in the coming days and weeks, so be on the lookout!
Hope this finds you all well, happy, and healthy!
Yours in lettuce and hardcovers,
r.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Revisiting the Awesome
Weight: 325.4
Total Weight loss: 24.6
I'm reporting to you from my third run of my first week on the Couch to 5K program! OK, well, I'm actually sitting here at my desk after having completed the run and entering all the stats into my account at Map My Run. While I may be going at a snail's pace at this point (today's run was a 21:16 minute mile), I am making progress with each run, which is fab.
Yesterday I took a much-needed break from any exercise at all. My body was just ready to cave in, I think. So, no walk, no nothing. It was a good decision because today's run was really pretty great, for me, at least. I'm not saying that there is no pain involved, or that it is easy, but, most importantly? It's doable. I am doing it. It still amazes me (and probably all my neighbors who happen to be looking out the window as I stumble by) that a 320-something pound gal is out there running. Well, kind of. ;)
I've earned myself a new iPod by completing the first week of C25K! I told myself that if I could do that, that would be my reward, since neither of the iPods we have function anymore and I am dying for some music to run along to -- and C25K podcasts, too! So, sometime this week, I'll go and get myself a shiny new Nano or something.
But what about my budget? Yes, I could probably better spend that money on paying off credit card debt. I'm making an exception to fund my healthy lifestyle, which I consider a worthwhile investment. Ahem.
I'm feeling really darn snazzy right now. How is your stuff going?
PS Can I just say? Today was my first payday reflecting my raise, and man! It's really, really great to have that extra money. I almost feel like I won the lottery. Still quite chuffed indeed!
Total Weight loss: 24.6
I'm reporting to you from my third run of my first week on the Couch to 5K program! OK, well, I'm actually sitting here at my desk after having completed the run and entering all the stats into my account at Map My Run. While I may be going at a snail's pace at this point (today's run was a 21:16 minute mile), I am making progress with each run, which is fab.
Yesterday I took a much-needed break from any exercise at all. My body was just ready to cave in, I think. So, no walk, no nothing. It was a good decision because today's run was really pretty great, for me, at least. I'm not saying that there is no pain involved, or that it is easy, but, most importantly? It's doable. I am doing it. It still amazes me (and probably all my neighbors who happen to be looking out the window as I stumble by) that a 320-something pound gal is out there running. Well, kind of. ;)
I've earned myself a new iPod by completing the first week of C25K! I told myself that if I could do that, that would be my reward, since neither of the iPods we have function anymore and I am dying for some music to run along to -- and C25K podcasts, too! So, sometime this week, I'll go and get myself a shiny new Nano or something.
But what about my budget? Yes, I could probably better spend that money on paying off credit card debt. I'm making an exception to fund my healthy lifestyle, which I consider a worthwhile investment. Ahem.
I'm feeling really darn snazzy right now. How is your stuff going?
PS Can I just say? Today was my first payday reflecting my raise, and man! It's really, really great to have that extra money. I almost feel like I won the lottery. Still quite chuffed indeed!
Monday, March 24, 2008
It can't always be *AWESOME!*
Weight: 324
Total weight loss: 26 pounds
I just returned home from my evening walk. It was worst one so far! I think it's because my body is just tired and sore, but I only managed just over a mile in 24 minutes, and it was tough, I tell you. I was ready to give up at ten minutes out, but by then that wasn't really an option short of crawling home, so, I stuck it out and it was better than lint in your pocket. But not much.
Well, they can't always be awesome and exciting, can they? I think in light of feeling so fatigued, I will adjust my 3rd day of C25K to Wednesday instead of Tuesday, and give my legs a day off tomorrow. Maybe I will do some arm strengthening exercises -- I found my hand weights last night, tucked away in the basement. I have yet to get a pilates DVD, but that's coming soon. If nothing else, there's always the trusty Wii Sports to play, which was my only form of "exercise" when I first started on this little journey of mine.
You can see I had some more scale success this morning. We seem to be on a steady decline, which appears to be predictable if last month and this month are representative of my body's cycle. It'll be interesting to see if that continues each month. My Physics Diet chart has two little pointy red spikes that look like boobies from my recent weight gain,
see? Ha ha. I'm firmly back in the green now, though. I like those little boobies -- they're funny!
On the way home I had to stop at the store for just a couple items. To celebrate my raise at work, I decided to purchase half a dozen magazines, mostly of the cooking variety. Since we've been losing weight, C. and I have been cooking almost every night together, which is great -- no more bickering over what crappy take-out to get. He's been on a BBQ chicken kick lately, which is fine with me. It's fast, easy, tasty, and not half as bad for you as you would think. We throw breasts of chicken in the oven to roast, along with hand-cut oven fries and usually some sort of roasted vegetable, like brussels sprouts (my fave) or asparagus. But I am getting a little tired of the same thing every night, and despite owning plenty of cookbooks and cooking magazine back issues, I thought I would treat myself to a few more for inspiration.
Hey, it's not exactly sticking to my budget, but at least it's useful stuff, right?
Yeah, sure.
I especially love Cook's Illustrated and its offshoots, Cook's Country and these other volumes I've been finding, like one I bought today about lighter cooking. I figured, hey, they do all sorts of experimenting to find just the right ingredients, and taste does matter to them, even with healthier dishes. That one's going to come in handy quite a bit, I think. Plus, I am in love with the descriptive prose they use to talk about the process of arriving at just the right recipe -- the hows, the whys, the whats. I read aloud to C. about their version of oven fries, to which he replied, "Someone has way too much free time!" Ha ha. Well, that is their job, isn't it? I for one can't wait to see if the lighter meatloaf and the lighter fettucine Alfredo and the lighter cheesecake and the lighter oven fried chicken are really worthwhile... it'll be a rare, happy occurrence if so. And I will keep you posted and share those recipes I find worthy.
I guess my conclusion for today is that while I am enjoying the scale readings lately, I truly most happy about how the lifestyle changes I've been making are affecting my whole life all around, not just my weight. It's really been a pleasure, bumps and all.
Yours in 1% milk and Rice Krispies,
r.
Total weight loss: 26 pounds
I just returned home from my evening walk. It was worst one so far! I think it's because my body is just tired and sore, but I only managed just over a mile in 24 minutes, and it was tough, I tell you. I was ready to give up at ten minutes out, but by then that wasn't really an option short of crawling home, so, I stuck it out and it was better than lint in your pocket. But not much.
Well, they can't always be awesome and exciting, can they? I think in light of feeling so fatigued, I will adjust my 3rd day of C25K to Wednesday instead of Tuesday, and give my legs a day off tomorrow. Maybe I will do some arm strengthening exercises -- I found my hand weights last night, tucked away in the basement. I have yet to get a pilates DVD, but that's coming soon. If nothing else, there's always the trusty Wii Sports to play, which was my only form of "exercise" when I first started on this little journey of mine.
You can see I had some more scale success this morning. We seem to be on a steady decline, which appears to be predictable if last month and this month are representative of my body's cycle. It'll be interesting to see if that continues each month. My Physics Diet chart has two little pointy red spikes that look like boobies from my recent weight gain,
see? Ha ha. I'm firmly back in the green now, though. I like those little boobies -- they're funny!
On the way home I had to stop at the store for just a couple items. To celebrate my raise at work, I decided to purchase half a dozen magazines, mostly of the cooking variety. Since we've been losing weight, C. and I have been cooking almost every night together, which is great -- no more bickering over what crappy take-out to get. He's been on a BBQ chicken kick lately, which is fine with me. It's fast, easy, tasty, and not half as bad for you as you would think. We throw breasts of chicken in the oven to roast, along with hand-cut oven fries and usually some sort of roasted vegetable, like brussels sprouts (my fave) or asparagus. But I am getting a little tired of the same thing every night, and despite owning plenty of cookbooks and cooking magazine back issues, I thought I would treat myself to a few more for inspiration.
Hey, it's not exactly sticking to my budget, but at least it's useful stuff, right?
Yeah, sure.
I especially love Cook's Illustrated and its offshoots, Cook's Country and these other volumes I've been finding, like one I bought today about lighter cooking. I figured, hey, they do all sorts of experimenting to find just the right ingredients, and taste does matter to them, even with healthier dishes. That one's going to come in handy quite a bit, I think. Plus, I am in love with the descriptive prose they use to talk about the process of arriving at just the right recipe -- the hows, the whys, the whats. I read aloud to C. about their version of oven fries, to which he replied, "Someone has way too much free time!" Ha ha. Well, that is their job, isn't it? I for one can't wait to see if the lighter meatloaf and the lighter fettucine Alfredo and the lighter cheesecake and the lighter oven fried chicken are really worthwhile... it'll be a rare, happy occurrence if so. And I will keep you posted and share those recipes I find worthy.
I guess my conclusion for today is that while I am enjoying the scale readings lately, I truly most happy about how the lifestyle changes I've been making are affecting my whole life all around, not just my weight. It's really been a pleasure, bumps and all.
Yours in 1% milk and Rice Krispies,
r.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
My First 5K
OK, OK, so I am probably getting ahead of myself, but I've been looking around online and found the 5K I would like to run as my first. It's called the Run in the Mist in my town, Niagara Falls, on June 25th. It starts at the top of the falls, how cool is that? It also benefits the local Boys and Girls club.
Maybe I'll also run the Italian Festival 5K in town on August 3rd.
Or how about the RUT Race in Lewiston on August 11th? That sounds pretty cool!
Shea's 5K Run For The Arts on September 21st in downtown Buffalo...
10th Annual Flexcare Jack O’Lantern Fall Classic 5K on October 21st in Niagara Falls...
We'll see!
FYI: I did my second day of C25K about an hour ago! My pace improved slightly, going from 22:36 to 21:40; my speed from 2.65 to 2.77. Still a snail's pace, slower than when I do straight walking, in fact! But an improvement's an improvement. I am TOTALLY going to do this!
Maybe I'll also run the Italian Festival 5K in town on August 3rd.
Or how about the RUT Race in Lewiston on August 11th? That sounds pretty cool!
Shea's 5K Run For The Arts on September 21st in downtown Buffalo...
10th Annual Flexcare Jack O’Lantern Fall Classic 5K on October 21st in Niagara Falls...
We'll see!
FYI: I did my second day of C25K about an hour ago! My pace improved slightly, going from 22:36 to 21:40; my speed from 2.65 to 2.77. Still a snail's pace, slower than when I do straight walking, in fact! But an improvement's an improvement. I am TOTALLY going to do this!
One Month of The Forty Project
Weight: 326.4
Total Weight loss: 23.6
Yesterday was my one-month anniversary of blogging here at The Forty Project, and I didn't even realize it. So, happy late monthaversary to me! I'm clearly headed on the downward slope on the scale again, so yay.
This blog has really helped to keep me focused on my goals and acts as a constant reminder of why what I am doing is important, and shows me how far I am coming along. In the past month alone (plus the month and a half before I started documenting things here), I have made much progress, even if it's in ways that I can't easily describe to you in words. But here, I will try:
• I haven't given up, even when it's been rough
• I have money left over in my bank account when a new paycheck comes in
• I've started exercising
• I'm learning to take emotions out of the equation (this is REALLY important)
• I can wear pants I haven't been able to for months now
• I have a much more positive outlook on my future and life in general
• I feel like I can achieve just about anything I set my mind to (and write down)
I'm sure there is more, but these are the things that seemed glaring to me. Suffice it to say, I am very proud of myself indeed.
Today has been a fairly lazy one. We don't celebrate Easter, so it's just another day, really. I woke up at around 8am, and since both of us were hungry, we decided to have lunch super early. We ate our main meal around 10am (peanut butter chicken stir-fry, which is a rather high-ticket item), and by 11:30 I was ready for a nap – I slept until almost 3pm! I guess I really needed the rest. I'll be tackling day 2 of week 1 on the Couch to 5K plan later today, and hope I do OK. My body is actually pretty sore from the past two days' exercise. I did day 1 the other day, and yesterday, I just plain walked a mile and a half through my lovely neighborhood when I probably should have just allowed myself to rest, being new to exercise again and all. Well, lesson learned perhaps, we'll see how it goes later and if I make it through my little "run", er, walk and jog. I'm skeptical, but I'm giving it the college try.
Yours in clever salutations,
r.
Total Weight loss: 23.6
Yesterday was my one-month anniversary of blogging here at The Forty Project, and I didn't even realize it. So, happy late monthaversary to me! I'm clearly headed on the downward slope on the scale again, so yay.
This blog has really helped to keep me focused on my goals and acts as a constant reminder of why what I am doing is important, and shows me how far I am coming along. In the past month alone (plus the month and a half before I started documenting things here), I have made much progress, even if it's in ways that I can't easily describe to you in words. But here, I will try:
• I haven't given up, even when it's been rough
• I have money left over in my bank account when a new paycheck comes in
• I've started exercising
• I'm learning to take emotions out of the equation (this is REALLY important)
• I can wear pants I haven't been able to for months now
• I have a much more positive outlook on my future and life in general
• I feel like I can achieve just about anything I set my mind to (and write down)
I'm sure there is more, but these are the things that seemed glaring to me. Suffice it to say, I am very proud of myself indeed.
Today has been a fairly lazy one. We don't celebrate Easter, so it's just another day, really. I woke up at around 8am, and since both of us were hungry, we decided to have lunch super early. We ate our main meal around 10am (peanut butter chicken stir-fry, which is a rather high-ticket item), and by 11:30 I was ready for a nap – I slept until almost 3pm! I guess I really needed the rest. I'll be tackling day 2 of week 1 on the Couch to 5K plan later today, and hope I do OK. My body is actually pretty sore from the past two days' exercise. I did day 1 the other day, and yesterday, I just plain walked a mile and a half through my lovely neighborhood when I probably should have just allowed myself to rest, being new to exercise again and all. Well, lesson learned perhaps, we'll see how it goes later and if I make it through my little "run", er, walk and jog. I'm skeptical, but I'm giving it the college try.
Yours in clever salutations,
r.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Couch to 5K: First-timer Victory!
Weight: 327.4
Total Weight lost: 22.6
I recently wrote about my resolve to finally start the Couch to 5K running plan. My first "run" was yesterday(!), and boy, I was scared/apprehensive/doubtful, but it turned out pretty great.
I have always wanted to be a runner (they always look so FREE and easy!), but aside from a short stint of fairly unsuccessful participation in the cross-country team in high school, I've never pursued that dream. Now, if I stick with it (and I will!), I may be completing the plan by the end of the Spring into Summer challenge (mid-June) I'm participating in over at the 100lbs2lose LJ community -- that would be awesome. It's one of my goals.
That challenge was just what I needed to recharge my batteries, psych myself up, and really go full force on my efforts to become more fit and a heck of a lot lighter on my feet. It's such an encouraging, motivating group over there, pretty awesome.
Oh yeah, so I bet you're dying to know how my first day went on the C25K? I surprised myself! OK, so my jogging portions were pretty darn slow, but I "jogged" nonetheless. And I made it through the whole session, about 1.5 miles, without collapsing. In fact, it was more leg pain than being out of breath that made it hard, I think. So that's good, I guess. :)
(Oh, and just in case you're not familiar with the program, the first week of training involves a 5-minute warm up walk, then 60 seconds of jogging alternating 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes, and then I walked another 5 minutes to cool down. I'll be doing this plan three days a week on Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays.)
It's interesting because I find myself rather itchy to do something again today, but I will give my body a break and maybe just go for a regular walk or treat myself to a new pilates DVD and do that. Surprisingly, I'm not in too much pain. I feel an all-over low-grade pain with a bit more in the knees, which is understandable.
Another thing? I was not at all embarrassed about doing this in my neighborhood, which is urban-lite with lots of houses and light-to-medium traffic. I felt the contrary, in fact -- very proud to be doing it no matter how much jiggling occured.
I'm so excited! This is a real coup for me. I'm going to be a runner!
Yours in Ben-Gay and stinky socks,
r.
PS I did make arrangements with the electric company, so that's all better, and I worked something out with C. to pay my car off this week. Two financial things to cross off my list, hooray!
Total Weight lost: 22.6
I recently wrote about my resolve to finally start the Couch to 5K running plan. My first "run" was yesterday(!), and boy, I was scared/apprehensive/doubtful, but it turned out pretty great.
I have always wanted to be a runner (they always look so FREE and easy!), but aside from a short stint of fairly unsuccessful participation in the cross-country team in high school, I've never pursued that dream. Now, if I stick with it (and I will!), I may be completing the plan by the end of the Spring into Summer challenge (mid-June) I'm participating in over at the 100lbs2lose LJ community -- that would be awesome. It's one of my goals.
That challenge was just what I needed to recharge my batteries, psych myself up, and really go full force on my efforts to become more fit and a heck of a lot lighter on my feet. It's such an encouraging, motivating group over there, pretty awesome.
Oh yeah, so I bet you're dying to know how my first day went on the C25K? I surprised myself! OK, so my jogging portions were pretty darn slow, but I "jogged" nonetheless. And I made it through the whole session, about 1.5 miles, without collapsing. In fact, it was more leg pain than being out of breath that made it hard, I think. So that's good, I guess. :)
(Oh, and just in case you're not familiar with the program, the first week of training involves a 5-minute warm up walk, then 60 seconds of jogging alternating 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes, and then I walked another 5 minutes to cool down. I'll be doing this plan three days a week on Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays.)
It's interesting because I find myself rather itchy to do something again today, but I will give my body a break and maybe just go for a regular walk or treat myself to a new pilates DVD and do that. Surprisingly, I'm not in too much pain. I feel an all-over low-grade pain with a bit more in the knees, which is understandable.
Another thing? I was not at all embarrassed about doing this in my neighborhood, which is urban-lite with lots of houses and light-to-medium traffic. I felt the contrary, in fact -- very proud to be doing it no matter how much jiggling occured.
I'm so excited! This is a real coup for me. I'm going to be a runner!
Yours in Ben-Gay and stinky socks,
r.
PS I did make arrangements with the electric company, so that's all better, and I worked something out with C. to pay my car off this week. Two financial things to cross off my list, hooray!
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