All posts in category Exercise

Wednesday Weigh-in

Things have been really weird this week.  I’ve added back in daily salads with half an avocado and some olive oil, plus I have been roasting and sauteeing veggies for dinner.  I sauteed some kale on Sunday and added soy sauce – must have added too much because my weight shot up for a few days!  It came down a little today and I am almost back to where I was last week.

Last week – 135.4

This week – 136

Gained .6 pounds

I am fully prepared to see the scale go kind of crazy the rest of this month.  Starting back in on the exercise and weights is likely to throw me out of whack :lol:  So I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and see where I am at the end of the month.  I’ve been counting calories for the last 11 days and pretty much staying right around 1700 daily, I’ve been getting around a 500 calorie deficit every day from what I think will be my maintenance number at my goal weight.  Who knows if this will work but I’m going to try and stick with it and see what happens.  Anyway, I hope next week will put me under 135.  Maybe?!

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by Lauren on March 20, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Diet, Exercise, Food, Goals, Happiness, Health, juicing, Life, Losing Weight

Posted by Lauren on March 20, 2013

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/wednesday-weigh-in-8/

Wednesday Weigh-in

So how was my first week off of all juice?  Pretty good, I think.  I am still drinking 1 1/2 quarts of juice most days, and have added protein powder in 3 different ways.  I mix it with almond milk and ice, another drink is Naked green machine with pp, and then I have been having a fresh green smoothie for dinner with berries, banana, almond milk, and pp.  The emptiness is gone!  I am starting to feel like I have LOTS more energy, and my weight is still down!  Just because I’ve felt like doing it, I’ve been adding up the calories for the last few days and it’s been around 1700 each day.  I guess I am curious to see just how many calories I can eat and still lose weight, so maybe counting is a good thing right now.

Anyway, this week it seemed like my body didn’t quite know what to do.  There were four days when the # stalled and then inched up, then finally today it went back down.  I haven’t seen today’s number in probably 3 years!!  And before that, it had been another 3 years I’m sure.  So glad to finally be back in the 130s for good, and I’m looking forward to leaving those, hopefully in the next month!

Last week – 136.8

This week – 135.4

Lost 1.4 pounds :D

So this week I am adding a lot of things!  I have mapped out a running schedule in hopes that I will be training for a marathon once again.  The running starts today, not much, only 1.5 miles but I haven’t been doing much of any running since October.  I have done a few runs here and there but nothing consistent.  The plan is to start out and see where I am in a few months, then decide about marathon training.  Strength training starts today too.  I plan on doing it 2-3 times per week, probably 3 times right now since I won’t be running longer than 3 miles for a while.

I’m also adding salads this week!  Or cooked veggies.  I’ve decided too that if I want some fruit I can have it too, but really I’m getting plenty in my juice and smoothies.  I’m probably going to finish off the bulk of the fruit that I have left in juices and then switch it to mostly veggie juice because I think I might be getting too much fruit.  Sometimes I feel a crash and I suspect it is too much sugar from the fruit.

So that’s that.  I’m so glad that I didn’t automatically put on pounds since I added more than juice, but we’ll see what happens now that I will be eating actual food :lol

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by Lauren on March 13, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Diet, Exercise, Food, Happiness, Health, juicing, Life, Losing Weight, Running

Posted by Lauren on March 13, 2013

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/wednesday-weigh-in-7/

January Goals revisited

How did I do on my January Goals?!  Here’s what I wrote:

  • Finish M’s curtains.  These have been ‘in progress’ for a long time, over a year!  I actually only have to add binding to it and then it will pretty much be done.  That and figure out just how I am going to hang a huge quilt on the window.
  • Finish hemming all of the curtains I made when we moved in this house, and start on the ones for the bathroom.
  • Start knitting Different Lines.  I bought the pattern last week and I really like it and want to be knitting again.
  • Do weights 3 times a week and run 4 times a week.
  • Hopefully lose 5 pounds?!
  • Make this roasted corn pudding in acorn squash.
  • Get a weaving book from the library and set up my loom for a project.
  • Read a non-diet book.
  • Have more fun :)

Well I did not, once again, finish the curtains.  I didn’t even work on them?!  Oh well.  I really just need to sit down and get it done one of these weekends.

I didn’t work on any of the other curtains either.  Fail!!

I did start and finish Different Lines!  I need to sew in the ends and block, and then get a picture of it.

I didn’t end up doing weights 3 times a week, and the running didn’t happen because of all of the pollution in the air here.

I didn’t lose 5 pounds.  From my weight as February 2nd, I only lost .6 pounds.  I was doing better before we went to Vegas, but oh well.

I made the corn pudding in acorn squash.  It was good!

I didn’t get a weaving book and set up my loom.

I did read a non-diet book – The Happiness Project!  I loved it and want to re-read it again and do my own happiness project.  Maybe I will re-read it this month.  I also read most of another book I picked up at the library on sale that looked interesting, These People are Us.  It is a bunch of little stories about different people, very quirky and weird and I like it.  I hope to finish it this month.

I would say that I had more fun.  We went to Vegas, always fun!  We had friends over for a game night that was a blast.  We played lots of games just by ourselves.  I tried to be happier and just generally enjoy myself more.  Success!

I want to make some goals for February but I need some time to sit and think about it.  I will post it when I come up with some, even though there will definitely be some repeats :lol:

Got any goals for February?!

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by Lauren on February 7, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise, Goals, Happiness, Health, Knitting, Life, Losing Weight, Random

Posted by Lauren on February 7, 2013

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/january-goals-revisited/

Wednesday weigh-in

I’m going to try this out, weighing in here on the blog every Wednesday.  I have actually been doing pretty well with exercise and food.  Making the commitment to eat just real food (with only a few cheats) has really helped!  It is kind of amazing how much it helps me to NOT think about food all the time.  I guess the more processed food I eat, the less I notice how un-filling it is.  With real food I just eat a meal and forget about it until the next, because I am satisfied.  Funny how that works ;)  I am not counting anything and not using any other rules besides just eating real food.  I do try and focus on produce and protein, and shoot for 4 meals a day with a treat too.

Exercise has been good!  I’ve been waking up at 5:30-ish almost every morning so I can get a cup of coffee in before I go downstairs and walk a half hour on the treadmill.  This gives me 1.5 miles and about 3000 steps for the day.  I aim for at least 10,000 every day and most days I pass that easily.  Working on my feet for a living has its benefits!  I set goals for this month and one was to lift weights 3 times a week and run 4 times a week.  I guess I wasn’t thinking about how dirty our air would be all month.  I’ve only gotten outside 3 times to run this month.  I can’t do it on the treadmill because it squeaks and drives me nuts.  I thought about getting a gym membership for a couple of months but I think I will just do the elliptical until running outside becomes more feasible.  I’ve been doing the weights too, but only twice a week.  I think my body needs time to adjust.  I’ve been lifting pretty heavy, for me anyway, and by Thursday my legs have been SO sore!  (Lifting days are supposed to be M/W/F)  I hope that next month I can work up to 3 per week.

After all that, here is my weigh-in!

  • On January 1st I was 154.4
  • 1 week in I was 154
  • Today I am 152.6

It’s kind of slow going but I’m really fine with that.  Lately I have been down .2 a day.  If I did that every day I’d be down 6 pounds in a month.  And when I lose like this I generally have an easier time keeping it off.  I’m not really setting a goal weight, though I think I will probably end up somewhere under 130.  I’m going to do my best to keep maintenance on the brain, so as I keep losing I need to be focused on maintaining my losses (however small they may be!) instead of bouncing around.  This time around I am going more for looks and benefits.  I want to have muscles and be fit.  To not get injured from running.  To not be winded after a flight of stairs :lol:  I figure that when I get there or close, I’ll know it and can start tweaking what I do.  I will only take diet changes so far, and only exercise so much.  Wherever my body ends up is what I’ll be happy with.

 

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by Lauren on January 16, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Diet, Exercise, Goals, Happiness, Health, Life, Losing Weight

Posted by Lauren on January 16, 2013

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/wednesday-weigh-in/

Working my way up

I did strength training 3 times this week!  I was very tempted to blow it off today, but I sucked it up and did it.  I’m just doing basic stuff, push and pull.  Here was today’s workout:

  • Goblet squats – 1 set 25#, 3 sets #30 – 5 reps each set
  • Dumbbell bench press – 1 set 15# (30# total), 3 sets 20# (40# total) – 5 reps each set
  • Dumbbell bench rows – 1 set 20#, 3 sets 25# – 5 reps each set
  • Back extension on stability ball, 3 sets 10 reps

Not much but it was pretty tough.  I’m really glad I got 3 workouts in this week!  Since I decided to start strength training again it has taken me 3 weeks to do five workouts :lol:

This week I’ve been doing a lot of walking too.  Yesterday we did a walk up in the avenues which was really more of a hike.  My Fitbit said I climbed 46 floors!  It was tough and my legs were kind of freaking out this morning but now everything feels more normal.

Tomorrow is a rest day – I need it!

 

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by Lauren on December 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise, Goals, Health, Life

Posted by Lauren on December 1, 2012

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/working-my-way-up/

Thinking about resolutions

So, I made some resolutions this year and since it is pretty much the end of the year I am thinking about how I did and making some more resolutions.  From my post in December:

  1. Lose 52 pounds – yes, unfortunately I have them to lose.  A pound a week should not be all that difficult to do.
  2. Exercise every day possible.  Even if it is just some walking on the treadmill.
  3. Do the 100 days unprocessed challenge, beginning January 1 and ending April 9.
  4. I am not going to drink alcohol in 2012 – seriously!!
  5. Save some money every month.

How did I do then?

  1. So far I’m only about 12 pounds down for the year.  This could have been much better had I not screwed around so much, and if I had been willing to actually give up drinking.
  2. I didn’t exercise every day, but I sure did a lot of working out – until I got hurt.  I’m not going to worry too much about this one, I mean, I trained for a marathon!  Again though, I did goof off too much so it could have been better.
  3. I did do the unprocessed challenge!  And I didn’t drink anything in that 100 days.
  4. Epic fail here.  Though I did do that 100 days and I was mostly good while training for the marathon.
  5. I did save a lot of money.  Too bad I spent it all on our vacation to Portland!!  It was awesome though and totally worth it.

So what is in store for 2013?  Here’s what I want to do.  Maybe a little more realistic, for me anyway.

  • We have talked about doing an Unprocessed Challenge again and this time we are going to do 150 days!!  This will probably make the next one a lot easier.
  • Lose 20-25 more pounds.  This would put me at 125-130, where honestly I would probably be perfectly happy.  I got to this weight before and I looked pretty good.  If I focus on strength training I could probably look even better at that weight.
  • Pay extra on my car every month.  I have been doing about $80 extra every payment but I would like to do a little more than that.  I will shoot for at least $100 extra on every payment.  I am also going to put the money I get back from taxes toward my car.
  • Save some money every month.  I was putting $300 away every month for the vacation but I don’t know if I can make that work now.  I will aim for $200 a month and see how it goes.
  • Seriously cut down on the drinking.  I am planning to only drink when we are doing something with friends or out of town or camping.  Special occasions.  I have been drinking too much, letting a fun weekend turn into a hungover week.  It’s really not healthy, and isn’t helping my weight loss goals at all (DUH).  I don’t think I could realistically commit to not drinking at all either though.

I am pretty proud for not letting myself feel like a failure, even though I didn’t follow through with a lot of what I wanted to do.  Things changed and I made the marathon goal – that is a pretty big deal for me for how far I made it into the training.  I DID keep some weight off, even though I had lost another 5.  But still, not regaining it all is a pretty big deal also.  I could have done better sure, but I did try and make some changes, and as long as I keep trying then I will eventually get where I want to be right?

Anyway, I’m looking forward to an even better, healthier year.

Will you be making any resolutions for 2013?

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by Lauren on November 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Diet, Exercise, Goals, Happiness, Health, Life, Losing Weight, Miskellaneous

Posted by Lauren on November 29, 2012

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/thinking-about-resolutions/

What’s going on

I just thought I’d share what I am up to lately.

Knitting.  I’ve been knitting!  I am working on an OpArt blanket.  Mine will be larger since I have and plan to use 20 skeins of Knit picks Shine worsted.  I think I’ve used about half the yarn so far?  I will share a picture soon.  I always forget how nice it is to just sit and knit, and it is especially nice to be knitting a blanket when it is cold out.  Cozy.

Walking.  The last few days I’ve gotten up early, had coffee, and then went downstairs to walk on the treadmill while watching TV.  I’m only doing a half hour in the morning but I like to mess with the incline so I get a good workout.  I also got outside today for an hour on the parkway.  It was so nice!  No music or anything, just me and my thoughts and the sort of fresh air.  We are having some air quality issues here ;)  My goal is to walk twice most days, once in the morning and then in the afternoon with M.

Cooking.  I was getting lazy there but it is all turned around now.  I’ve been making lots of good stuff and tomorrow I have plans to make carnitas!  And pumpkin donuts.  And peanut butter cookies.  And homemade spicy and breakfast sausages.  And my posole-ish soup.  I guess I’m on a pork kick :lol:  Speaking of soup, I can’t get enough of it!  I’ve been using up the squash in storage to make a pot of soup every week.  M won’t eat squash whole but when I blend it up in soup she really likes it.  Go figure!

On the weight loss front.  I have decided to give up on weight loss – sort of.  I’m not really giving up because I do know that I have fat to lose, but I’m going to change the way I think about it.  I bought an ebook called Lift Like a Girl and read my way through it all.  I don’t know why but it just clicked with me and things seem a lot more hopeful for me now.  I am going to focus on getting strong first and foremost.  So for my activity I’ll be lifting 3 times a week and my cardio will be walking or doing the recumbent bike.  I’d love to be running but it just isn’t in the cards right now.  As far as nutrition, I am going to keep it very simple.  I’m going to get more in tune with my body.  I’m going to eat real food most of the time putting a focus on protein, eat when I’m hungry, and not worry about it!  It has been working great for me so far, mentally anyway.  I am using my Zero scale so we’ll see how I progress as I go.  I will tweak things as I need to to get the results I want.  But honestly I don’t care how long it takes me.  I’ve lost 20 this year and gained probably 10 back – so ultimately I have lost a pound per month. So instead of going nuts and working hard for a few months and then totally slacking, I’m just going to make it as easy as possible for me to maintain changes and new habits.  If I only lose a couple of pounds a month, so be it.  And wherever I end up I will be fine with.  If I focus on getting strong and staying strong, and ultimately getting to where I love how I look, there is a lot more to shoot for than just losing weight.  There is also no end point this way as opposed to losing weight.  I will never be done because this is my life!   Anyway, I’m hopeful, excited, motivated, and feeling happier than I’ve been in the past month and it feels really good.  I’d better go knock on some wood :lol:

 

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by Lauren on November 15, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise, Food, Goals, Happiness, Health, Knitting, Life, Losing Weight, Miskellaneous, Walking

Posted by Lauren on November 15, 2012

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/whats-going-on/

Back to Reality??

We’ve been home since late Monday night from our vacation and I am just now getting to doing some dishes, cooking our own meals, and cleaning up the house.  We cleaned up really nicely before we left and then just trashed the place when we got home :lol  We had a great time!!  I thoroughly enjoyed having little to no schedule and just goofing off and eating lots of great meals in restaurants.  Seattle has some awesome food!  I will share more about our vacation later, when I get all of my pictures uploaded and in order.  The only bad thing was that I did not get to run the marathon :(  I had hoped that if I just stopped running, somehow I’d be able to run it, but that didn’t happen.  It was still hurting a lot and after hearing from a doctor that it might be cartilage damage I wasn’t willing to risk it.  I want to be able to run long-term and as much as it sucked that my marathon dreams were going down the tubes, I am starting to be glad that I didn’t do it and risk more damage.

So now I’m trying to figure out what’s next!  I am hoping to be able to start running again soon.  I’m taking M out this morning for a run/walk and we’ll see what happens.  I am going to start doing weights again, twice a week, and if I can’t run I’ll just walk or use the elliptical.  It has been almost 3 weeks since I’ve done anything but walking and I’m ready to get back at it.  I gained about 6 pounds while we were gone and I’m ready to get rid of that too :lol

Other than getting back into healthy habits, I want to start doing more with M, listening to her more and not saying no almost every time she wants to play a game or something.  That sounds horrible doesn’t it?  I don’t say no all the time, but it’s hard sometimes to feel like I have enough me time.  I need to get over that.  She will only grow up once!!  I don’t want to regret not being there for her enough.

I want to start knitting and spinning and being creative again!  Instead of spending too much time mindlessly surfing the net or playing ipad games I will start knitting or spinning.

We are also ready to commit once again to just eating real food.  We have some random things like cereal and granola bars, but once it is all gone I won’t be replacing it.  It can be a pain in the butt to make every single thing from scratch, but it is so worth it.  I felt so much better when we were eating real food, even if I was still eating cookies every day!

So that’s that.  I hope to get some pictures of our trip together to share soon.

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by Lauren on October 19, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise, Goals, Happiness, Health, Injury, Life, Vacation

Posted by Lauren on October 19, 2012

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/back-to-reality/

Overworked

Yesterday I ran my 12 miles and about halfway into it my knee really started to ache.  I kept going, walking a lot and stopping to stretch but it didn’t seem to help.  By mile 10 I wanted to just stop and walk the rest of the way home.  At 11 I did stop and walk half a mile and then managed to hobble/run up to 12 and then I just hobbled the rest of the way home.  I thought an ice bath would help but after 20 minutes I was still in the same condition.

We had some friends over for dinner so I indulged in some beer because, you know, it is supposed to be a great recovery drink!  Not even that helped to take away my pain :lol:  So after a mostly sleepless and uncomfortable night my knee is really, really stiff and sore and in pain when I go to bend it.  I can still bend it though, and I can walk without pain, mostly.  It is more stiff and sore now than anything.

I have come to the conclusion that my body is just ready to be done with this marathon stuff.  For me, I am overtrained, overworked, just plain worn out.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all!!!!  I don’t know if I will be able to do my runs this week, again.  Last week I only did one short and the long.  I do feel like even if I can’t run until the day of the race, I would be able to finish the marathon, IF my knee is feeling good again.  I do want to finish the race, but honestly at this point I don’t care if I can’t do it.  I’d be happy just to go on vacation and enjoy myself and maybe someday actually do a marathon.  Okay I say that, but I don’t really mean it.  But what can I do?  It is what it is.  I guess all I can do now is wait it out, see if I can keep going with my training, and do the best I can.  This sucks :lol:

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by Lauren on September 24, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise, Goals, Injury, Life, Marathon training

Posted by Lauren on September 24, 2012

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/overworked/

20 MILES

I DID IT!!  I had serious doubts about whether I would be able to finish 20 whole miles today, but I decided to just push myself and DO IT.  I fully expected it to take 4 hours, but I did it in 3:34!  I kind of lost it after mile 12 and stopping at the house to refill my fuel stores, but I kept pushing and finally started to feel a bit better.  I did walk more than I wanted to but I didn’t really walk at all until mile 10.

It is time to taper!  What a lovely thought :D  I can’t believe the race is so close now, only 3 more weeks. I have a little more confidence in myself now with this 20-miler under my belt.  Of course my foot may act up again but I am going to be proactive this time and ice on and off all day.  Hopefully I will recover fine.

YAHOO!!!

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by Lauren on September 16, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise, Goals, Happiness, Health, Life, Marathon training

Posted by Lauren on September 16, 2012

http://cookeatrunplay.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/20-miles/

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