Day Ninety-Six: Gorgeous Fall Day!

I had Finn home with me today, so we took a long lunchtime walk around the neighborhood to burn off some of that little boy energy. We walked to a friend's house, took a little break, and walked home. Finn made it all 2.48 miles all by himself, which made be crazy proud. And the weather was absolutely glorious! Couple that with me actually making it to my morning barbell class, and I feel like today was pretty much a winner.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength class with Joy at the Apex gym
• Big walk in the neighborhood with Finn: 2.48 miles
• Short evening walk to finish miles/steps: 1.01 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, 2 pieces of Applegate Farms sausage, 2 cups of tea with raw sugar and milk
• Lunch: leftover stir-fry with skirt steak and greens (not enough, but too good to waste!), half a honeycrisp apple
• Dinner:a small amount of meatloaf (Paula Deen's basic meatloaf recipe), roasted parsnips, green beans cooked in tomato sauce with onions and bacon
• Snacks: 1 Mozzarella Babybel, 1 can of Steaz green tea with coconut water, 1 piece of irresistible bacon handed to me by a so-called "friend" :-)

Stats:

• Steps:12,803
• Calories: 1213 consumed, 745 burned
• Weight: 191 lbs (Boo--it went the wrong way!)(Yes, I realize fluctuation is to be expected, but I don't have to like it.)

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Ninety-Five: What a Day!!!

Kieran's school was closed today for Veterans Day, so Jason and I both worked at home to field our rowdy kids and still get work done. We both ate lunch while working, and then decided to take the boys on a walk in the woods so they could burn off some energy. Unlike most of our family walks, which are awesome, this one seemed to consist of one annoying thing after another, culminating in Finn throwing a huge tantrum in the middle of the woods. So we cut the walk short and headed back to the car to discover a big puddle of coolant underneath it. It overheated on the way home, so we located a mechanic close to home, and now, it's in a garage. This means working at home tomorrow (again) because we're down to one car till this mess gets worked out. And none of that has anything to do with getting in shape, but I am brimming with frustration, so here we are anyway. 

By the time we got everything settled, the timing had derailed my dinner plans, and we ended up at our local pub, where there is, thank goodness, something relatively healthy for me to eat. I had to work hard to resist drinking about 100 beers instead of going to the gym. Thank the sweet baby Jesus it was Tiffany's Zumba class tonight, or I would never have made it. That said, I feel a lot better after going! Zumba = stress relief. Now, I'm off to bed so I can hopefully make it to barbell class tomorrow morning, too--that's the hardest one to make it to by far. I like the teacher a lot, but man--sleep is dear. Y'all say a prayer.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Family walk in the woods: 1.74 miles
• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs with cheese, 1 slice of banana bread, 2 cups of tea with raw sugar and milk
• Lunch: butternut squash soup, muhammara with TJs pumpkin cranberry crisps
• Dinner: Salem Street Pub's tuna salad wrap with a garden salad and thousand island dressing and a boatload of pepper
• Snacks:N/A

Stats:

• Steps: 14,170
• Calories: 1404 consumed, 1070 burned
• Weight: 190 lbs and holding

Pretty Thing from My Walk

What's In An Average?

This is one of the most interesting articles I have ever read about body image and how we see ourselves: http://nicolepartridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MC05_FEAT_70kg.pdf. It's by Nicole Partridge and from Marie Claire magazine, of all places. I generally despise Marie Claire for photoshopping the women on their covers to near-unreconizability. However, this is pretty great. Each of these woman weighs 154 pounds, which is average in Australia. The article includes an interview with each one about how she feels about her body. Worth a read for sure.

Day Ninety-Four: A Break in the Rain

When I woke up this morning at 5am, it was POURING rain and cold outside. I almost can't believe that I made it to the gym this morning--it was a close thing, and the warm bed nearly won over the freezing rain. Utterly proud of myself for pushing through and making it to my barbell class, and even adding some weight for some of the workout today. I think that Tracy must have had something extra-energizing for breakfast, as she was extra mean today. She was even laughing an evil laugh and everything! I made it through class, but wow.

At lunchtime, the rain stopped right at the time when I generally walk, and I actually got to go! OUTSIDE! I can't tell you how glad I was to be outside for a walk during daylight hours--I have gotten so addicted to that. In fact, I just got my labs back from my physical last week, and this is the first time in years that my vitamin D levels have been good--apparently all the outdoor hours have been good for me. :-)

Log: 

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Lunchtime walk: 2.08 miles
• Evening walk to finish miles/steps: 1.56 miles (I didn't log it on MapMyWalk, but my fitbit doesn't lie!)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar, sliced almonds, 2% milk and half a banana, 2 cups of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: turkey and avocado wrap on whole wheat tortilla with lettuce and havarti, a small honeycrisp apple, muhammara with sliced cucumbers, red peppers, and TJs pumpkin cranberry crisps
• Dinner: stirfry with skirt steak, bok choy, tatsoi, chocolate peppers, ginger, garlic, soy, peanut oil, shallots, and scallions, served with steamed jasmine rice
• Snacks: a super-decadent chocolate duet cookie from Panera (which I regretted after it made me feel a little nauseated)--I don't need anymore chocolate anytime soon. Ugh.

Stats:

• Steps: 11,085
• Calories: 1756 consumed, 561 burned (plus tonight's walk, which I failed to log on MapMyWalk)
• Weight: 190 lbs

Playlist

Music is crucial to working out. Over the course of the past few months, I've created a playlist that fits my natural walking rhythms, and it's super helpful for maintaining focus and speed when I walk alone. My lunchtime walk today was a little faster than usual, thanks to this song, which I heard on the radio last week and immediately bought for the playlist. I think this was the soundtrack of my entire second mile today--I love when the music makes you feel like you're dancing down the path!