southern fried fitnessgetting fit and living well, one day at a time

Monday, April 25, 2016

Pretty Thing From My (Evening) Walk

Day 1: Let's Just Start Over, Shall We?

I am really re-setting over here. I am going back to Day 1, because it really feels like I have gotten so far off track that I just need a new track. Something about that feels refreshing and motivational to me, so I am just going with it. How far can I get toward my personal goals in the next 90 days? I can't wait to see!

Log:

Exercise:

Lunchtime walk: 1.71 miles
Day 1 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 15 sit-ups, 5 leg raises, 5 crunches, 10 second plank
Yoga class with Vicki at the Apex gym
Evening walk to finish steps: 1.45 miles

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Kashi Oatmeal Flakes with Blueberry Clusters with 2% milk, tea with milk and raw sugar
Lunch: roasted chicken breast, about 1.5 oz. of good hard aged gouda cheese, a pear, a few Trader Joes raisin rosemary crackers, and half a homemade cupcake*
Dinner: smoked Gouda and tomato sandwich on La Farm's Asiago Parmesan bread. Holy crap, it was good!
Snacks: yeah--I finished Finn's half-eaten cupcake.

Stats:

Steps:11,347
Calories: 1659 consumed, 631 burned
Weight: I didn't even think about weighing this morning--we'll see how bad the damage is tomorrow.

* This was truly to see if they were good or not--I made a new recipe for Jason's co-workers and brought a couple of extras in for work friends. I made my friend Lisa eat half so I didn't eat the whole thing. They were really good, by the way--homemade cupcakes are The Best.)

Catching Up Again: Pretty Things From My Walks

Mental and Physical Re-Set

I am again re-setting my fitness goals. I am not apologizing for the gaps--this is just life, right? This whole journey is about making long-term lifestyle changes; not JUST working to lose some weight, but working to be a healthier person overall. I've changed the header of the blog to reflect this. What started out as a 90-day challenge has definitely morphed into something greater than that, which was the whole idea from the beginning. And life will cause periods of inactivity or over-eating or sickness, or any one of a thousand things that can get you off track. I will be glad to re-set as many times as I need to to keep heading toward the goals.

It's been a tough year for getting in shape. I've been sick a LOT, which has been quite frustrating. And then March--well--that was a wash in the name of high end eating and eating. It wasn't intentional to cluster so much high end dining all together, but that's just how it worked out. I can't say I regret that part--food and food experiences can be amazing, and Jason and I have been to Poole's Diner, Chef and the Farmer, The Boiler Room, Beasley's Chicken and Waffles, Mother Earth Brewing Company, and The Oakleaf, all during the month of March, in addition to a few trips to our local pub and out for good local sushi. Whew! April has been about getting back to cookingand eating at home, but we've been really off-schedule, which affects everything. Here's some of what's happening right now:

You'll see that I've posted all of the pretty things from walks that I've taken since my last post. I like having those recorded here for posterity, and they make the blog way prettier than all my words do.
I am back to the farmers market every weekend for fresh veggies. Yay for Spring! It makes such a difference in how I think about food, and how I cook and eat to have this wealth of local produce and meat available to me!
We took the kids for a hike yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks--we ALL needed it, and it was glorious to be in the woods! Hiking on the weekend really motivates me to keep moving during the week!
The boys have started swimming lessons. I am giving that a little bit of time to see how it goes, but it sure would be cool if I could swim laps while they have their lessons. Something I am considering.
This week is Make-It-To-Your-Classes week. I am seriously going to try to get them all in. I have been slack about that the past month because of some relentless stuffiness that MUST be allergies, even though I've never had them before. I can't let whatever it is stop me, though--I am starting to feel gross and sluggish again, and I DO NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT!

Here's what I have realized: I have to track. And the emphasis there should be on the word, "I." Some people don't need to do it. Some people HATE doing it. Some find it DE-motivational instead of stimulating. But for me, tracking brings discipline. For me, if i don't track my workouts and my eating choices, then I somehow don't feel like I am getting credit for them. This may go back to my childhood and my need to get points for all my right answers. I don't know. What I do know is that, when I am actively tracking everything, the self-inflicted accountability keeps me motivated, and it makes me not want to mess it up. So prepare to be re-inundated with everything. I will never meet my goals if I don't record my actions.

With all the craziness of the past few months, I've re-gained some weight. My goal is to get that back off, get headed back in the right direction toward the weight I want to be, and most importantly, to get to a place where I feel strong and healthy!

Monday, April 4, 2016

Catching Up: Pretty Things From My Walks

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Rising Up

Goodness. What day is it? I've lost track!

After all my good intentions, I was brought low once again by a bout of acute bronchitis. I am still coughing, but it's finally starting to get better, and I have been trying to ease back since the weekend by walking and walking and walking. And stretching--I went to yoga class on Monday night, and it felt amazing to stretch out my very stiff muscles. I am trying so hard not to over-do it, but that's not really in my nature. I tend to be all in, or not in at all--and i am trying hard to accept that this is not always the right way to do things. I think I keep getting sick because I keep trying to jump back in full throttle before I am really better. Walking and yoga, I can do, though, so I am. And I am trying to rest and make decent eating choices. It's very frustrating! I am finally to the point where I WANT to exercise, and my body is pretty much betraying me.

So. I am walking and walking and walking. And I am stretching and stretching and stretching. And that's it for right now. Next week, I am hoping I can add back all my classes, and really get back at it.

As part of catching up, I posted all the pretty things from the walks I have taken since the last post. And I'll tell you, we went for a huge hike this past weekend that was just amazing. The boys made it 6.24 miles, which is just great! We have come a long way as a family since we started with a mile and a half at a time last January. I hope we can hit 10 by the end of the summer. Still loving getting us all out into the woods, and I certainly plan to do more of that.

For the next week or so, I am not really logging things, but I am moving. I am working my way back to being back on track. I am trying to kick out the last of my lingering congestion. And once I jerk all the wheels back on the bus, I'll be back to writing more regularly as well.

I am so glad spring is in the air!