Friday, March 23, 2012

Yoga

I FINALLY made it to yoga class yesterday!  Yay.  I have been trying since the beginning of the month when the class started to get there.  The first week I was on a field trip with Kinsleys class.  Then we had a lunch for someone at the gym, and so this was week 3 and I made it!  I am so happy that I went.  I have been having alot of personal struggles in my life.  Most of them are stemming around our upcoming move.  It was stressing me out, BAD!  To the point that some days were filled with tears :-(

Her information she put out was about finding peace in change especially change that can come from military moves and the end of deployment stress.  Wow, did you design this class around my life?

I was able to relax and enjoy the class, but wow is my upper body out of shape!  My arms are weak and almost gave out on me a few times.  We did a position though that was amazing.  It really helped me to relax.  I thought that it would be awkward, but I am pretty sure that I fell asleep while we were doing it for a few short seconds.  I am for sure going to be doing that one at home!

My entire upper body hurts today, but it is spin class day so there is no rest for me. or my muscles.  I am anxious to see what my new HRM (heart rate monitor) is going to tell me as far as calories burned.

Well my munchkin is awake and I need coffee, and water before I head to the gym in an hour.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Heart Rate Monitor

On Monday I decided that if I was going to get more accurate with my weight loss and my running that I needed to order a heart rate monitor.  I decided to order a Polar FT4 from Amazon.  It was on the lower end of the nicer models, but had all the features that I wanted.  It allows you to input your age, weight, and height and it gives you a target heart rate and will beep if you are outside of that heart rate.  You can even wear it while swimming.  I had read that it would not give you calories burned while it was active that you had to wait until you had ended you session, but I found that was not true.  I was able to press the button during my workout and see how many calories I had burned.

The monitor comes with an online program that allows you to register online and enter your info after each workout so you can see if you are improving. I personally do not find the need to do this as my times will show if I am improving, but I did register so that I could see what it calculated my BMR to be to see what it had my calorie consumption to be at. 

When I first started working out I started logging my calories on a website called myfitnesspal.com  While I still use their website and their app on my phone, they grossly under estimate the calories that I need by about HALF!  I was under eating my calories by about 1,000 a day so my body was starving!  Now that I am trying to eat more it is hard to work up to those calories, but at least I have an answer as to why my hair was falling out, and why I was holding on to all my weight, and gaining some :-(

I am hoping this new "toy" helps.  I wore it yesterday and I was actually shocked that it was pretty in line with what my treadmill had said I was burning.    I really thought that it would be way off.

I planned to wear it last night while riding my bike, but the tires are flat.  I was going to ride it today but now it is raining.  I am going to do the treadmill today, and yoga later today.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Phone fun Friday (late)

This week has been very challenging week so excuse the fact that this is late.
Kamden and puppets from when I was a kid....Jim on the ladder painting the stairs, Jim shopping and modeling clothes for me, our yard after I pulled weeds and put down 18 bags mulch.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The sad reality

of what I look like after I have been on the treadmill and did two of the weight loss workouts.




Friday, March 16, 2012

zumba day and nothing fits

I went to get dressed yesterday and I have one pair of capris that fit, thats it.  Wow :-(  I have been working out for a good solid two months, I watch EVERTHING that goes into my mouth, and I feel like I am gaining weight, ugh!  I am ready to cry.  I just do not understand.

Yesterday was zumba day.  It was a rough day mentally for me.  Not because of zumba but because of a fall out with a "friend".  Wow what a wake up call.  :-(  I am not really even sure what to feel anymore.  All I know is that I wanted to run away.

I hate mexican food yesterday for my "friends" birthday lunch.  I ate rice, a taco and something else that I didn't finish.  I was just not hungy.  Then I didn't eat dinner.  I was not even hungry  We didn't eat lunch until about 2, so well, I just didn't eat.  I know terrible for me, but I am not used to mexican food anymore, and well, I didn't want to eat.  I did drink a ton of water with luch though.

More exercise consisted of  gymnastics class with Kamden. It is not alot, but I do all the war ups and stretching stuff with him.  Even though it is a "parent participation" class, mos of the parents just walk next to their kid.

I am beyond frustrated in this weight loss journey.  It is so hard when you are working so hard and nothing works out.  Why was I able to kick but a year ago and now things are so hard??????  The frustrations are growing.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

week 1 day 2 re do

Well thanks to my shin issues I had to put off running.  Now that I have new shoes I decided to try and run last night.  I started back with week 1 day 2 because that day was so hard  for me.  It was hard again and this time I did NOT do cardio before hand although I did do some upper body stuff.   I am thinking that I am going to be stuck on day 2 for a while.

I ran/walked my 25 minutes and then I continued to walk/jog until I got to the 45 minute mark.  It has been warm here and my playroom was horrible hot.  I was going to try and make it to an hour at least, but my phone rang and I took that as my sign to stop.  I was already so sweaty that my ear buds were falling out of my ears.

Oh a side note, I would love to know what everyone wears in their ears.  I know weird questions.  I was considering buying the buds that go over the ears but I loved the ones that fit in the ears.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

New running shoes

So I have been giving my legs a rest.  I went shopping for new running shoes and took the day "off" from all exercise yesterday because I it was my anniversairy and well, I guess we all need to rest.  Instead I spent the day pampering my feet by getting a pedicure, and shopping for new running shoes.

I am excited to try them out but I am wondering if I should give myself one more day to rest my shins.  I am just so unsure.

I debated over and over again barefoot running.  I have decided that if these shoes don't work that I am going to try semi barefoot running.  Wearing special shoes that protect your feet but that allow you the advantages of barefoot running.  Just praying the new shoes help.

So, I will update later today and let you know if I run.  In the mean time I need to run and shower.  We have someone coming to measure for flooring today.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Short term setback

I have shin splints.  I am not even on day 3 and I have shin splints!  UGH.  Its my shoes, I know it.  I am going back to my old ones until I can buy new ones.  I am going to have to not run for a few days.  In the mean time I am going to work on my regular daily workouts and not let this become a major setback.

Am I disappointed yes?  But I will chug along.

I did kickboxing today, awesome class!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

What the heck is Gait check?

I kept hearing people ask if I had gotten my gait checked????? HUH????? I had no idea what the heck a gait was.  It was suggested that I go to a professional running store.  Problem is that I live in a city that well, has next to nothing.  So I did what every well respected human being does when they have no idea what anyone is talking about....I went to google.

I came across this article here that tells you how to check your gait if you do not happen to live in an area where there is a well respected running store.  Of course you have to have an old pair or running shoes, but I fully intend to check out my old shoes tomorrow.

So, if you are like me and have no idea what checking your gait is all about.  Check it out. Now that I know hopefully I can narrow down what types of shoes I will need to run in.  The current ones are not working.

a little inspiration

week 1 Day 2.5

I am calling this 2.5 because my plan was not to run today and I was not following the C25k plan. I just ran on my own.

My plan for the day was to rest because I start kickboxing tomorrow and my shins are killing me but once my husband got on the treadmill I knew I was not going to be able to stay away.

Anyway, I did a mile.  Not alot but I wanted to do something.  I took a minute off my mile today!

Stats for the day

Run 5.2
Walk 3.2-3.5
Distance 1 mile
Total Time 14:04

Not great, but it is still week 1. 
I do not think I will be running tomorrow my shins hurt :-(

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Day 2 week 1 (Friday March 9 2010)

I knew this day was going to be hard for me.  I was wondering if I should wait until Saturday to run or to do day two on Friday after I went to spin class.  I opted to run.   Day 1 was easy, who would day two be that much harder.

Well, it turns out when you do a high endurance class like Spin you sort of get the energy sucked out of you.  Running is not really something you should be doing after a class like that unless you are really in shape.  I guess I am not.

Needless to say when I started running I was feeling REALLY good for like the first 10 minutes after that it went down hill.  I tried to run faster then I did two days prior, and well, no bueno.

So, I finished my two miles.  It took me 30 minutes and 33 seconds.  I wanted to finish in under 30 but that didn't happen.  Maybe tomorrow?  And now, my shins are horrible sore.  Hope that if I rest today tomorrow they will feel better?

Oh, and turns out the belt on my treadmill was loose!  I was having some issues running but we didn't really notice until my husband got on and the belt kept slipping.  Got online and read how to tighten it.  Problem seems to be solved, but I am not running today, so we will see how it feels tomorrow.

Day 2 Stats
Total time on treadmill 30:33
Incline I think 2.5
Walk speed 3.5
Run speed 5.2 and 4.7  I started off trying to run faster.....I did get up to 5.8 when I was trying to finish in under 30 min flat

Friday, March 9, 2012

Day 1

When I started on my first day I was scared. Scared that it would be too hard and I would fail miserably. Good thing for me day one was easy! I give all the credit to the spin class I have been doing. I was able to not only run but I ran past what the program said to run.

Day 1 Stats
Total time on treadmill 35:33
Incline I think 2.5 I need to check
Walk speed 3.5
Run speed 4.7

I plan to update all the same information each day that I run.

Why I started this blog

For years now my husband has wanted me to run with him.  For years my friends have looked for someone to run with.  For years, I did not run.  For years I would get 1/2 a block from my house before my throat and lungs were burning and I just could not do it.

In Feb 2012 my husband returned from deployment and again was asking me to run with him.  I again said "I am not a runner".  I started thinking about it, and I had been working out almost daily for a while, why couldn't I be a runner?

So on March 7, 2012 my journey to become a runner came to life.  I read up on a Couch 2 5 K running program and decided to give it a shot.

This blog will be my journey into not only a healthier me, but the Wana B runner that is coming out of me.