Day 168: Half-ass Day - SO Sore!

I woke up this morning to go to barbell class, but my legs were so sore that it really felt like a mistake. I slept longer. I did some stretching. I did some more stretching at work, and then opted to skip my lunchtime walk. It's been a long time since I wimped out on exercise because of overdoing it, but today, I did. Whew. By the end of the day, I had stretched enough to at least walk some, but it was late, and I was alone with sleeping kids, so I just walked in the house--so boring, but way better than nothing.

My eating was ok today, but I could have still eaten more veggies than I did. I tried to keep the calories a bit low since I didn't do very much active. Tomorrow, I will be eating lunch out, so we'll see how that goes. At least it's a Zumba day.

One other note: my friend Meredith was talking about doing the 30-day Abs challenge, and I decided to do it again with her. I have gotten out of the habit of doing evening ab work, and I need to re-add that. It was really making a big difference in my shape and my post-C-section belly fat. So, today I started back at day one of that challenge. The big difference this time is that I can actually DO the exercises from the start, whereas the last time I had to build up to them. It was nice to have a decent leg raise on day one this time.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Day 1 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 15 sit-ups, 5 leg raises, 5 crunches (I did 10 because 5 felt too wimpy), 10 second plank
• Walking around the living room for roughly ever

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oats with brown sugar and cinnamon, sliced almonds, and fresh blueberries, milk, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: roasted chicken and tiny potatoes, brussels sprouts with garlic
• Dinner: turkey and havarti wrap, sliced cucumbers and carrots with honey mustard
• Snacks:two leftover bites of Kieran's peanut butter and elderberry jelly sandwich on TJ's honey whole wheat bread

Stats:

• Steps:8,045
• Calories: 1064 consumed, 0 burned
• Weight: 190 lb

Day 167: Working Through It

Today, I had to have some dental work done instead of taking a lunchtime walk. It wasn't too bad, except for the mouth numbing part and the ensuing soreness as the anesthesia wore off. Given that, and the fact that I may have overdone it at barbell class yesterday, this day was all about working through some pain. Yay for Advil!

My eating was also a little odd today because of the teeth issue. I definitely ate too many carbs and didn't eat enough vegetables. I'll do better with that tomorrow after my gums have had a chance to recover.

I won't lie--making it to Zumba tonight was a near thing. I was tired and sore, the kids were off the chain, and the couch and the Netflix and the cat and the knitting were calling my name. But I am glad I went--check out my steps before and after class:

You can't argue with that, folks.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: Starbucks breakfast sandwich with egg whites and turkey bacon on a whole wheat English muffin, tea with 2% milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: 1/2 a turkey and havarti sandwich on whole wheat with organic mayo, a handful of grapes
• Dinner: the other half of the turkey sandwich and a little bit of homemade chicken noodle soup
• Snacks:a slice of whole wheat toast with almond butter and sliced banana, 1/2 a cup of 2% milk

Stats:

• Steps: 12,041
• Calories: 1359 consumed, 1050 burned
• Weight: 190 lb

And in Fitbit News...

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day 164: Hitting the Life Reset Button

Despite the best of intentions, life gets in the way of your goals sometimes. The best you can do is move on from setbacks, try not to beat yourself up, and get back on the path you've set for yourself as soon as you can muster the strength to do it. Last week was the first week back after the holidays--hard enough on its own. But then I was also still sick, so that kept me from the classes I love. Then my aunt passed away, which meant leaving town unexpectedly in the middle of the week, just as my cold was backing off. I ate well Monday through Wednesday, but then I was utterly out of whack for the rest of the week. And I won't talk about my level of exercise Wednesday through Saturday, as it was basically non-existent. What I did do was see a ton of family and old family friends that I seldom see. And I sat down for some treasured moments of stillness with my mother. And I slept and slept and slept. And when I got home, I drank some wine, chilled out, and cooked All The Foods. This week, I am ready to get moving again!

I made it to yoga last night, but I failed to log my day. Things were just too busy. This morning, I went to my barbell class, which is seriously a relief to be back into! I sucked, and I struggled, but I made it through, and I am so glad I did! Lunchtime was a good walk out in the sun--chilly but beautiful, and nowhere near as cold as last week! I won't be able to walk every day this week, but I'm definitely going to do it as much as I possibly can!

Log: 

Exercise:

• Barbell strength class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Lunchtime walk: 2.06 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, 2 pieces of Applegate Farms chicken sage sausage, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: a small piece of grilled NY strip steak, grilled asparagus/peppers.mushrooms, 1/2 a sweet potato, and a small red pear
• Dinner: knitting night at Panera--1/2 a chicken soba noodle salad and a small fuji apple
• Snacks: ugh, a little fun-size Butterfinger

Stats:

• Steps: 11,049
• Calories: 1204 consumed, 543 burned
• Weight: 190 lb

200 Calories

Sometimes it's really helpful to have a visual. This image is what 200 calories worth of many common foods looks like. If you've never counted calories, it's pretty eye opening! (Click here for the full resolution image.)

Pretty Thing From My Walk