Vacation ~ Snow ~ and so not running

Well I am still on vacation and will be through Monday. I had the best of intentions when I came out here.. to go running a few times. However one thing after another has came up and running has taken the backburner.... When I first got here (Friday night), well I was tired etc from driving so no running then. On Saturday we went hiking in the mountains a bit, did a haunted hotel tour, and in general walked around looking at the scenery. Sunday, we went tubing and did more walking and driving through the mountains. Monday and Tuesday, I spent plenty of time walking around doing this and that at various sites/tours out here. So in reality I am staying active, just not actually running. Today though, I seem to be coming down with a sinus infection and fell like crud. I am currently curled up on the couch.. nice and doped up. Later we are supposed to go shopping and then out to eat. So it may be a bit of a calm day here.

Healthy eating wise, I am not doing horrible, but not stellar either. Still no pop so that is a good thing. I have drank a ton of water, so that is a good thing. Just meal choices havent been that great...

25 minute run is complete... time for vacation!!!

Well I completed Week 6 tonight. The run was okay, but I wasn't pleased with the workout. The cold I am battling (for the first time my asthma flared up during the workout), lack of sleep last night, and possible the effects of staying out too late were all working against me tonight. So I think I will redo Week 6. I really don't like that I wasn't pleased with 2 of the 3 workouts this week. I plan on taking at least 3 days off before redoing the week. Figured I would pick it back up on Monday. I am hoping by then the lingering cold will be gone and I will have had plenty of rest.

I am still on the hunt of some type of workout to supplement on my rest days or as I want (sometimes my schedule barely allows for the 3 days of c25k). I was looking at the p90x workouts, however with bad knees and no equipment most of the workouts won't happen. I have heard good things about 30 day shred by Jillian Michaels. It is a 20 or 25 minute program each day. That would be enough to get me moving and stay active all week and may also be enough to get my over this weight limit plateau.

Green Beer and No Running ~~~ But I think I found some leprechauns....

Aww so yesterday didn't go as planned... I worked for 9 hours, headed home changed (I live 30 minutes from work), back into town to pick up friends, dinner, and out on the town. Aww the joys of celebrating the patron saint of engineers. We were out till around 2 am and I am totally dragging today. The workout didn't happen yesterday, however it will happen today as tomorrow is the start of my VACATION!!!! Skipping the workout last night was totally worth the fun I had last night. I haven't went out much since beginning this health kick. So it was a nice break, and I still stuck fairly well to my normal eating habits. Only had a couple beers (just enough to celebrate).

Colorado seems to be having some nice weather (we keep getting rainy crud here). So I may be able to do a few runs outside there.. I can't wait. I really want to see how far I can legitimately run.

Happy St. Patty's Day ~ Looking for my a leprechaun

Happy St. Patty's Day to everyone. I got to say I am in a much better mood today than I was yesterday (possibly a lil luck on my side??). The frustration has passed and I am ready to conquer another day of the c25k program. Tonight I will be doing W6D3, showering, then hitting the bars. I am sure somewhere in my healthy eating plan it calls for a few glasses of green beer... if not I am adding the amendment to it pronto.

I totally forgot to wear green today and have been "pinched" a couple times. The saying "I am wearing green, you just can't see it" totally doesn't work. However being as I will be in the company of drink adults this evening, I will have my green on. I have a couple vintage lucky charm shirts, or maybe the shirt that says "Tails I win, Heads you loose" with a coin flipping on it. Either way, I will have my green covered.

Though I seemed to have plateaued as far as weight, the pants keep fitting looser and looser. So I know I am getting muscle, I just like to see that overall number continue to drop. I have been researching other things to add or eliminate from eating to aid in the achieving this task. So far it seems my food intake etc is just about right. So I may be looking at working out a bit more to kind of start the drop again.

Would it be impractical to wish for a set of 6-pack abs? It seems all the running has really toned from the waist down and up north while it has slimmed some hasn't really been toning much. I am thinking one my "rest" days, maybe I will throw in some other fitness fun.... The schedule the last two weeks has made this impossible, however upon my return from vacation I think I will work this into the routine. I guess I could just do them on the nights I am running, so push all the fitness to those three days (would work better with my schedule)... however I think that may kill me on the nights of a 30 minutes straight run.

I do the Wii active or Wii fit occasionally and I still not sold on these being a legit workout. I think maybe I should add some weights to the workouts and that may do the trick. I fly through the workouts and never feel a thing, nor did it seem to tone much when I started (I did do them both 4 to 5 times a week for 5 weeks). The Wii active has you do lunges like none other, so that could be the reason my legs weren't overly burning from all the running. However the active didn't do much for the rest of the body...

W6D2 and I am drained.....

For the first time since starting the program, I am actually drained. I did W6D2 last night and this morning, I am totally dragging. I have some tightness in my legs. The workout was okay. I still burned over 400 calories, however W6D1 felt like a better workout. I struggled through the last 5 minutes of the run last night and couldn't wait to sit down and relax. Not sure what the deal is. Could be a combination of the weather (rainy and dreary here), my schedule this week, and lack of sleep... I am hoping W6D3 does a bit better... I may actually repeat week 6 while on vacation. I really don't like the way last night's workout went. Could just be in a funk... only time will tell.

I also seemed to have plateaued as far as weight loss.. I am holding steady at 168. I am guessing the last bit is going to be the tough pounds to loose. Not really frustrated with this just yet. I am still getting more toned and as they say muscle weighs more than fat, so I think I have just hit the trade off point.

I did however go on a bit of a shopping spree.. Needed a couple new shirts, I was starting to swim in my old ones. I tend to buy baggier clothes and loosing 15 lbs made them a bit too baggy. Anyway, my ultimate hatred is shopping for clothes. I don't mind shopping for anything else, but hate shopping for clothes. So I went to target and kohls, found a couple tops. Came home, went online, and proceeded to order one of almost every color in the same styles. So for now I should be set on shirts.... Pants.. I really should buy new, but for now I am settling with a belt. .. HAHA

Behind on updating.. ... have started Week 6

Yesterday it must of slipped my mind to update. I worked out first thing in the morning, then ran some errands, and started packing.

The workout was nice and by the end of the day I was totally wore out (thinking it was a combo of the workout and running around all day). I have managed to increase the resistance on running to 2 and on walking to an 8. I am now consistently burning over 400 calories per workout. I am slowly making improvements. I must also be running a lil faster because the distance complete keeps increasing. All in all I can honestly say I am still pleased with the workout routine.

I can also say this "healthy eating" or dieting is also going splendidly. I have cut out fast food, pop, and most high fructose corn syrup (there are a few things I purchased that I am going to eat.. but once they are gone.. I am done). I routinely consume more than the recommended daily allowance of water and have increased the amount of veggies and fruit consumed on a daily basis. I have found ways to "hide" veggies in meals, making them more filling and less calories per serving. My calorie intake has decreased significantly (okay cutting out the pop alone managed to account for a large portion of this).


The plan for the week is to finish out week 6 and try to fit in week 7 on vacation. We will see how that goes.

Holy Crapola... I finished the 20 minute run and didn't pass out...

and next you are going to tell me I am getting in shape.. HA..

Well as the title says it, I managed to run for the whole 20 minute jog. I got to say it was a struggle with about 2 minutes remaining, but before that I was concentrating on learning the alphabet backwards... amazing how time flies when I am trying to do something that is utterly pointless. I did manage to keep a pace of around 65 and for that I was kind of proud of myself. This would still be considered slow by marathon standards, but hey I was moving.. ha..

Well I am looking forward to starting week 6. I would like to get it in before I leave on vacation for a week. I am guessing while on vacation the workout schedule will be put on hold. I plan on skiing, tubing, and all around having a good time.. not sure running fits into the schedule ;-)

I think once I return from vacation, I will likely repeat week 6 then continue on with week 7 8 and 9. Holy crap, just when I typed that out did I realize I have survived the first half of the workout schedule. WOW...

I ran for 8 minutes straight.... twice.. WOW

The title says it all.. W5D2 is complete and I managed to run for 8 minutes straight... two different times during the workout. Resistance is still at 0 for running, but I bumped walking up to 8.

I am still anxious about the 20 minute run. That is really going to push me... I am sure I will have a great sense of accomplishment once I complete it, but the impending sense of doom is making me anxious.. haha

I plan on running it tonight or tomorrow (depending on schedule)... so we will know soon enough whether I make the cut or not...

W5D1 is in the books ~~ Time for a new belt!!!

So I did W5D1 on the elliptical. I dropped the resistance for running back to 1, however kept the resistance of walking at 7. I managed to finish it and felt great... However the left knee is a little stiff today. This could be a total fluke (sometimes it just happens) or could be the result of the workout. Only time will tell... I am hoping it passes quickly though :-)

and in other news... I need a new belt.. I have my current one as tight as it will go and well, that just isn't helping anymore. I guess this is a good complaint to have.... :-)

Week 4 is complete... and I soooooo felt the burn~~

So I was on the last day of week 4. Unfortunately we had rain on and off for most of the weekend, so I didn't get to run outside. I decided to run at a resistance of 2 and walk with a resistance of 7 on the elliptical. Burned over 400 calories and my legs were on fire by the end. After about 5 minutes, the sensation passed and I was good to go. No soreness today either, which is a good thing.

Now onto Week 5. Not sure I am going to keep the resistance setting for running... Not sure I would make it to the finish line. The workout looks like the following.

W5D1
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

W5D2
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

W5D3
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

YIKES... 20 continuous minutes by week's end. I must be crazy.....

W4D2~400 calories burned ~ Feeling Great

Well as you can see based on the title, I complete W4D2. This time the resistance on walking was 6, running was still 1 (though I may increase this next time around). Calories burned at the end of the workout was 397, so I walked a little more to hit 400. Wanting a nice round number, gave me the motivation to go just a bit farther.

On the healthy front, I am down to 168 lbs. Right at 15 lbs of weight loss since the beginning of January. Slow and steady it has been coming off, but more over I am started to get toned again. My legs are the most notable difference with my stomach next. The stomach still has a long way to go, however the legs are looking nice. I guess I will go one body region at a time.. HA. But it does provide me with motivation and a boost to the self esteem when I notice the changes.

I am going to start throwing in 30 minutes on the Wii Fit or Wii active a day. I think this will tone my arms and anything else not toned by running. As I said before I am not counting on this for calorie burn, but more for toning. The Wii active in particular with its million lunges/squats etc, will tone the hell out of any couch potato as long as they stick to it and legitimately do it. The Wii fit will hopefully help me practice my skiing for the trip I am taking at the end of March.. HAHA... I think it is an unrealistic representation of what actual skiing is, but it is a start. I have never been skiing, this trip will be the first time. So I will rate the game after the fact.

No longer morbidly obese... at least according to wii fit....

So I hopped on the Wii fit this morning to play around a bit before work. Ya I was procrastinating big time.. I did not want to go to work today. Anyway, I did a body test and realized that according to the Wii, I am now just obese... not morbidly obese. Still not healthy, but at least it is progress and it provided me with some amusement this morning.. My lil Mii character is a tab big skinner... though she is still freakishly weird looking...

W4D1 is complete!!

So I set out to start week 4. I was a lil more anxious to start this week. The jogs are getting longer and the walks are getting shorter. I decided for all the walks I would put the resistance at 5 and during running the resistance would be 1. I have noticed as the weeks go by my running speed is increasing. Right now I seem to hover 68 to 70 (still not sure on the units. HA). Walking for warm up is always almost 35 to 40. Towards the end, I can pick it up. But it seems that this stretches me out (even though I do stretch before hand anyway). The rest of the walking is between 45 and 50.

Well I managed to complete the workout. I was a bit more winded this week, but it still felt good. I have had a bit of a cold, so that could be the reason I am more winded (on top of asthma.. its a wonderful combo). I am hoping the cold does not get any worse so I can continue progressing throughout the workouts. Total distance was almost 1700 with calories burned being 375. These are reading from the elliptical.

I am hoping this weekend it warms up enough for me to run around the local track. It is looking hopeful, however there may be a chance of rain.

Week 3 is complete!!!

Well I woke up early this morning and decided to try the whole working out before work. I really wasn't sure if this would be a good thing or not as I am totally not a morning person. It is fairly typical for me to not talk till around 10...maybe 11.

It was a rough start, I didn't want to be awake. But I did feel great after the workout. I think I will start to do this more often, however I need to be up for about 15 minutes before hopping on the elliptical. I am hoping that eliminates the sloooooow start.

I am definitely looking forward to Week 4. The weather is getting somewhat nice out (okay who am I kidding, it is still cold as hell and we have snow, but the sun was out and I am hopeful). I am hoping that maybe this week I can do a workout outside. I would like to know how much distance I can cover. I also need to calibrate my Nike+ sensor. This will also give me an idea of how accurate the numbers on the elliptical are.