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My healthy-living blog |
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My "health kick," as I affectionately refer to it, started on the first day of spring in March 2009. I'm not sure where the motivation came from, but something in my life needed to change. I had modest goals. I wanted to control my stress and stay healthy during a very busy period at work. I decided that I needed to offset the stressors by eating better, reforming my sleep patterns, and making more time for outdoor activity. I had small successes and those motivated me to make further changes. By the first day of fall, I was at a healthy weight, I was exercising about 5 days each week, and I felt great. Over the holidays, I neglected the exercise, and my sleep habits got out of whack, but I kept up the healthy eating (mostly). It made me realize that my old habits are much more strongly engrained than the new habits. So, this is the place where I'll keep myself honest and accountable and participate in spidey  's "Healthy Living Blogring"  |
| There really is a whole lotta shakin' going on . . . in my legs. I'm seriously shaky after my run tonight. When I met with Greg on Monday, he'd advised me to practice running, but not to run for very long. I laughed and assured him that I didn't have the stamina to run for very long so everything should be kosher. On Monday night I did a half hour on the treadmill I ran 2 minutes, walked 4, and repeated that 4 more times. According to my running book, I was supposed to do that three times in week one. Well, I was feeling precocious tonight and jumped ahead to week two. So I ran 3 minutes, walked 3 minutes, and repeated that 4 more times for a total of 15 minutes. Oh, and per Greg's advice, I did it on an incline. Well . . . that took it out of me, and my calves are definitely feeling the shift in my stride. I suspect that is why he told me to keep my runs short. After running I did some yoga to make sure I was nice and loose. I'm feeling pretty good now, but my legs are still pretty shaky. I've been so focused on the running thing that I haven't worked in Kettlebells at all this week. I need to get better about that. I might try getting up and running in the morning especially now that I've cut my time on the treadmill back to 30 minutes (excluding warm up and cool down time), but . . . I'm just not a big fan of mornings. My follow up appointment with Greg has been pushed back to next week, so no new drills to practice yet. I will wait til Friday to run again, and I'll try to get in some kettlebells tomorrow and again Saturday so I will still be able to count two days of strength work this week.  |
| Met with Greg at the gym today. He watched me run on the treadmill, and had plenty of suggestions. He says I'm coming down on my heel and rolling forward to push off my toe. His suggesting is to stay on the balls of my feet taking quicker shorter strides and keeping my arms higher and closer in to my body. So for now, I'm supposed to practice running on an incline because the incline forces you to do exactly this. Shorten the stride and stay on the balls of your feet. I ran about 2 miles at the gym, and noticed that I felt less impact in my legs, and was able to run longer (albeit slower) as a result. So pretty well convinced that he knows what he's talking about. Greg wants me to come in for a follow up appointment later in the week so he can give me some drills to work on. I may try running again tonight. I'm skipping Tony's kettlebell class because my daughter isn't around to watch the boy-child, and because it is starting to snow here and I don't want to be driving around in the snow if I can avoid it. |
Tonight I did a mish-mosh for my workout. I did some abs, some yoga stretching and some other floor exercises. I also did about 30 minutes on the treadmill alternating between walking forward and backward. I'd never tried walking backwards on the treadmill before, and it took some getting used to. I couldn't walk at a normal pace, but as long as I kept it slow, I didn't seem to be at eminent risk of breaking my neck.  The backward walking is said to improve balance, and running performance. I also read that it can improve brain function. I'm not quite sure that I buy it, but I'll let you know if there's any noticeable improvement. Next Wednesday I'll have completed my first six weeks of consistent exercise. I'm going to assess my progress at six week intervals. The next six weeks will take me to the end of March, and then the third 6 weeks will take me almost to my birthday. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about what I might accomplish in the next 12 weeks. As far as eating goes, I'm doing okay, but there is room for improvement. I need to be more diligent about drinking enough water. I also need to try to focus on getting more fiber daily. I can be really lazy about cooking when I get home from work. Tonight I did an easy but yummy favorite of mine. Tony calls them Bruschettizza. I use the Arnold whole wheat sandwich thins and throw one in the toaster. Once it is toasted up, I put about 1/8th cup of shredded Italian cheese on each half. Then I spoon on a pretty generous topping of fresh bruschetta. I top that with a slice of mozzarella and throw them under the broiler for about 2 1/2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and browning on the edges. That and a piece of fruit makes dinner. |
| Tonight I did a mish-mosh for my workout. I did some abs, some yoga stretching and some other floor exercises. I also did about 30 minutes on the treadmill alternating between walking forward and backward. I'd never tried walking backwards on the treadmill before, and it took some getting used to. I couldn't walk at a normal pace, but as long as I kept it slow, I didn't seem to be at eminent risk of breaking my neck. The backward walking is said to improve balance, and running performance. I also read that it can improve brain function. I'm not quite sure that I buy it, but I'll let you know if there's any noticeable improvement. Next Wednesday I'll have completed my first six weeks of consistent exercise. I'm going to assess my progress at six week intervals. The next six weeks will take me to the end of March, and then the third 6 weeks will take me almost to my birthday. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about what I might accomplish in the next 12 weeks. As far as eating goes, I'm doing okay, but there is room for improvement. I need to be more diligent about drinking enough water. I also need to try to focus on getting more fiber daily. I can be really lazy about cooking when I get home from work. Tonight I did an easy but yummy favorite of mine. Tony calls them Bruschettizza. I use the Arnold whole wheat sandwich thins and throw one in the toaster. Once it is toasted up, I put about 1/8th cup of shredded Italian cheese on each half. Then I spoon on a pretty generous topping of fresh bruschetta. I top that with a slice of mozzarella and throw them under the broiler for about 2 1/2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and browning on the edges. That and a piece of fruit makes dinner. |
My husband can be very blunt and to the point. I was complaining to him the other day about my butt. It's gotten smaller, but it is rather flat and bit lower than I'd like.  Tony's response to my complaint was the simple question "What are you doing to target those muscles?" Well . . . what should I be doing? Turns out that running and walking don't really work the butt. When I do lunges, I feel them in my quads. It gets a bit frustrating really. So I did a search on the internet and tonight I tried out a bunch of different exercises that promised to "lift" the rear and I took them out for a test drive. Some of them seemed to really work the muscles, others just seemed off target, others were just too awkward to do. The ones that seemed to have the most promise were: Plié squats Sliding squats Exercise ball bridges Exercise ball extensions I wanted to do step ups to, but I didn't have a box to step up on. I also didn't do try straight leg deadlifts tonight, but I'll be sure to put them both on my "to try" list. I'm finding it very helpful to track what I'm doing in writing here. I've never been a good record keeper, and I have really terrible recall. It helps me to look over the entries and see how many times I actually did cardio or strength work outs during the week. It helps keep me honest. |
| I'm still feeling Monday's kettlebell workout, and I thought maybe I'd take tonight off, but I was feeling restless so I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. I followed that up with some yoga and stretching. Since I had a snow day from work today I had time and motivation to cook a more involved dinner. I made sesame chicken and stir fried asparagus with cashews. My kids wouldn't touch it of course, but that was to be expected. Tony has a friend, Greg, who has taken some trainer's courses on endurance. Long story short, he knows a lot about running efficiently. I asked Tony if Greg might be willing to give me some feedback on my stride and make some suggestions. Tony told me today that Greg is definitely willing and has been wanting to meet me anyway, so now we just have to work it out so that Greg and I are in the same place at the same time. I'm pretty excited about that. |
I did 6 miles on the treadmill tonight. The last mile was just a nice, slow, cool down. I managed to finish the first 5 miles in almost exactly 58 minutes.  Not sure what I'm going to do for a workout tomorrow. Maybe yoga. |
| I took Sunday off from exercise, and then yesterday I went to my husband's kettlebell class. Tony is a kettlebell instructor, a martial arts instructor, and a certified cross-fit trainer, but this is the first time I've ever taken one of his classes. In truth, it is the first time I've taken any sort of group exercise class since the days of PE back when I was in school. I tend to shy away from group participation, but at the same time, I'd like to broaden my social world a bit and meet some new people. It was a very small class, and a good work out. I'm feeling it today, and I know from experience that I will really be feeling it tomorrow! I think I'll go again next Monday. |
| Yesterday I did an hour on the elliptical, and today my legs aren't the least bit sore. I was kind of surprised by that given how badly they hurt after the last time. Today I didn't get in any sort of workout. The day just kind of got away from me. This evening we went over to my mother's house to celebrate Zack's birthday and watch the first half of the Superbowl. I didn't eat a cupcake or have any ice cream. The ice cream was easy to resist because I was freezing cold. Seems like I'm always cold. Tony says it's because I've lost my insulation. Anyway, the ice cream was easy enough to resist, but the cupcakes were tempting. If I thought I could eat one and be satisfied, I would have had one, but I knew that if I ate one, I'd crave another and probably another after that. Certain foods just trigger cravings and cakes, brownies, and cookies are among the worst for me. Today was a beautiful day here, and this evening I noticed how much longer it is staying light out. I'm looking forward to longer days and warmer weather, and I've already started thinking ahead. Last year, and probably the year before that too, I entertained the idea of riding a bike to work. I only work about 2 miles from my house after all. I haven't tried it because: 1. I'm afraid of the crazy drivers on the road. There is a back way I could take, but it would require that I cover some off road terrain, and my bike is not designed for off road. I have a beach cruiser type bike. Which brings us to number 2. 2. There isn't a way to get to my office that wouldn't involve going up a big hill. Since my bike is a standard beach cruiser, it doesn't have gears which would make hills very difficult. 3. I'm not an early riser, and I'd need to be up and ready for work earlier in order to have time to bike there. 4. There isn't really a good place where I could secure a bike once I got to work. 5. I wouldn't be able to go home for lunch on days I rode my bike to work. That means I would have to plan in advance, pack my lunch, and eat in the office on those days. I know from experience that I'm not too good about planning out meals ahead of time, and it would take some doing to think of lunches I could pack ahead of time and enjoy. I've also considered the possibility of walking to work. That would eliminate many of the drawbacks mentioned above, and I could possibly get in a run on the way home (Although I'd have to be carrying a pack of my stuff while I ran). Unfortunately, it would increase my commute time significantly! But maybe I could try it just a couple days per week. It seems kind of a silly to drive those 2 miles twice a day when my goal is to be more active. |
| I went to the library on Thursday night and checked out a bunch of books. I got three novels, a cookbook, and a book about running. Running? Well, it looked interesting, and I really have been wanting to increase my stamina and endurance to be able to run more. Ironic that on Friday my friend Bonnie stopped by my office and and told me about her plans to run a 10K over in Jim Thorpe this spring. Bonnie once did a 5K, and has talked sporadically about wanting to run a marathon at some point, but in truth, I'm never really sure how much she really runs. Anyway, she wants someone to do this with her, and so she starting trying to sell me on the idea. The timing was an interesting coincidence. I'm really not sure if I have a 10K in me. I guess I should qualify that. I know I could complete a 10K. I'm just not sure I could run a 10K . . . or even if I want to. But . . . I guess we're going to find out. |
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