As I looked at the calendar this morning, I noticed it was the 7th of August. We all probably have some "landmark" time that we use as a goal for losing weight...for the past 2 years for me, it's always been losing "xx" amt of pounds by my birthday. This year, more than ever, I would like to have a set goal of weight lost by my birthday on Dec. 7. But I want to be realistic also. My "ideal" goal would be to be at 199 on my birthday...just into Onederland! Whether that is realistic or not is questionable. To get to Onederland by my birthday, I would have to lose almost 9 lbs. a month, which would be just over 2 lbs. a week. With my medication-slowed metabolism, and any other combination of factors between now and then, that would be hard to maintain consistently for the next 16 weeks. So, although that will be my ideal goal to aim for and keep me motivated to stay on plan, my more realistic goal would be 205-210...I would be more than happy to be in the 2-single digits by then!
My final calories for Tuesday were 1200 on the mark. I walked my 4.42 miles Tuesday night. Temps were around 96, but humidity was down some, so conditions were a bit more bearable than last week. Once again, I "tested" my Nike Plus software on my Ipod to see if I could get it to measure closer to accurate to the distance markings on the trail(s) I walk. I attempted to recalibrate, and set the 1st qtr. mile marker as my test distance. I walked that distance at my normal stride(if there is such a thing! ) When I got to the marker, my Nano said I had gone .27...just a bit off, so I ended the calibration. I didn't realize that distance didn't get counted into my total distance, but I didn't have time to head back to the beginning of the trail, so I just started my Nike plus record from the qtr. mile mark.
Like before, it seemed as I hit each 1/4 mile marker, my Ipod had me hitting that marker increasingly earlier than the actual marker for each 1/4 mile I walked. I noticed a bit after jogging down one of the hills, that my carry pouch that clips on my waistband had fallen off, so I had to turn back about 1/8 mile to go find and pick that up, and forgot to "Pause Workout", so by the time I got back to the place where I realized I dropped my carry pouch, the Ipod actually matched pretty closely the distance I had gone since the 1/4 mile mark...go figure...I had to retrace almost 1/4 mile for that to happen!
I let my Ipod record the rest of my 4.42 mile walk, although even though my turn-back had "slowed" my progress to match the Ipod, in the end, the Ipod still said I had finished my distance earlier than the actual distance. LOL...so I will continue to test and recalibrate...I went to the Nike Plus forum, and it had an entire thread on calibration, so I will try the tips I read there besides what's in the owner's manual. I really want to see if I can get the Ipod to read closer to actual distance marks, because as I venture off the "beaten path" to increase my distance in the weeks going forward, I would like for it to be as close to accurate as possible. I actually much rather it read slower and find that I've gone further than the Ipod says, than for it to say I've finished 6 or 7 miles when I clearly haven't!
Yesterday's calorie total wound up at 1390...and then some! Yes, after finishing my dinner last night, a little later I went on a "Triscuit" Binge! I don't know how many servings I ate...I DIDN'T polish off the whole box and there's still about half the box left...but it was more than one serving! So I will approximate that was about 400-500 calories on top of the 1390! I could kick myself...it was "mindless eating", and I let an emotion get the best of me!
That "emotion" was not really bad though! I believe I've mentioned in the past that although I'm a "girly-girl", I have loved my sports from my tomboy days as a kid! Well, I grew up in Mississippi, so even though I'm a TN Titans fan, I believe many people in MS have a soft spot for Brett Favre no matter who their favorite team is. Although I had heard it rumored over the last week places that Brett might play if the Packers didn't keep him, I honestly thought the Packers would work something out with him. I hadn't slept well on Tuesday night(lol...not because of Brett!), so instead of doing the non-walking day workout I had planned, I "planned" to go home and get in bed early. However, I kept flipping back between the NFL Network and ESPN for all the coverage on what Brett might do, and got engrossed in that! At just before 11pm Central, there was breaking news that Brett had been traded to the NY Jets! But it wasn't totally confirmed at that time, so while I watched all the commentary and speculation, out came the Triscuits box! And before I realized what I had done, it was midnight, and half the box was gone!
As you might remember, a few weeks ago, I bought my single game TN Titan tickets when they went on sale, and got 4th row seats from the field on the visitors side. Yep, one of the games I got was against the NY Jets! So probably what was considered a "so-so" game will now get a lot more interest, and I'm so looking forward to it! Although this is my first time to sit on the 'Visitor' side of the stadium, I believe with the "view" I will have of Brett Favre from my 4th row seat, I can deal with that!
Todays calories so far are 700. I have drank 34 oz. of water so far. I will walk 4.42 miles tonight (if it's not raining), and test, test again! If it's raining, I will move my walk to tomorrow after work. Either way, it's cooled down here! Thundershowers moved through early this morning, and then again a couple of hours ago, so when I went out an hour ago, my car's external temp said it was 79! I can SOooo deal with that after the horrid heat we've had!
LOL...I'm definitely not to "Senior" status yet, but it's just one of those days where my mind drew a blank for any type of clever title!
First off, I'm back into my regular work routine today...YAAAYYY! I made it through four days of coworker being gone without any binges....not that late yesterday afternoon/last night I wasn't getting close! Yep...worked until 8pm last night trying to tie up some loose ends for coworker before she came back this morning, so my planned non-walking day plans didn't work out. Sure, I could have gone about 9pm or later, but I'm one of those people that needs 3-4 hrs. after exercising to wind down, so that would have put me about 3 hrs. before I get up actually getting to sleep! Will try that plan again tomorrow night.
Yesterday's calories ended at 1385. I drank 68 oz. of water, so did a little better with the hydration. So far today, I've had 730 calories. Water....not so much....unless a 20 oz. Diet Coke is considered proper hydration!Kache, I'm racking up the Coke Rewards...I've got a grand total of 15 as of today! Honesly...I've had maybe 16 oz. of water today, so need to keep working on that.
I'll definitely up the water intake a little more when I go to walk in a while. As of right now, it's 94 with a heat index of 101...so hoping those values will lower just a bit in the next couple of hours! Thankfully, today was supposed to be the last really hot day for the rest of the week....by Friday, it's only supposed to be around 90, which after 2 weeks hovering just under 100 with heat indexes almost to the 1-teens, will seem like a cool spell! Walking today will be 4.42 miles. In fact, if I'm going to start upping my mileage on the weekend to work up toward 13.1 miles over the next 2 1/2 months, I will probably keep my weeknight walks at that distance. I'm also going to try round 3 of my Nike Ipod accuracy test tonight! After reading the manual, and getting Bethany's comment on her experience with it, I will re-calibrate the shoe pod/transmitter to my present stride/gait. I hadn't done that since I last used the Nike Kit almost 2 years ago!
Hope everyone's having a good week so far! Tomorrow's Hump Day!
Managed to work my lunch hour in, so thought I would give an update of yesterday and today(so far!).
Calories yesterday were 1560... a little higher than the top of my range, but as I've done before, I think I can work that off somewhere! I also wanted to work in a couple of things I'd been craving, so I though yesterday was the day to do it since it had been my WI day. My breakfast was 180 cal(yogurt and 1 granola bar), so for lunch I had a California Pizza Kitchen thin crust "Pizza for One" at 450 calories. I had read on someone else's blog last week that they worked in takeout tacos into their daily plan because they had enough calories left, so after reading that last week, I was craving my Taco Bell tacos, so I ate 2 Crunchy Tacos for dinner last night for 340 calories. I won't do that every weekend, but since I was craving some comfort food, I thought yesterday would be the best day so I can work off the extra fat and sodium from today on. All the rest of my calories was low cal snacky stuff...I really had the munchies yesterday! (GASP!)Could TOM actually be coming to see me 2 months in a row, and even close to on time? That remains to be seen, but haven't had that feeling like I'm always hungry in a few weeks when TOM made a surprise appearance after 10 months!
Calories up through lunch today: 775. Still working on my water...starting on 2nd 34 oz. container. Coworker comes back tomorrow....WOOHOO! Today's been really stressful with her stuff, but haven't given in to the stress eating....YET! LOL! Still about 3 1/2 hrs left, and around here, everything can unravel in that time! I'll be positive though, and just stay out of the breakroom!
Since I walked the last 2 days, today is a non-walking day for me. If I get out of here at a decent hour, I may go to my complex's fitness center and use some of the upper body machines, and if I can force myself, get on the elliptical! I don't know why...I've been able to conquer just about any cardio exercise or cardio machine, but for some reason, the elliptical has always kicked my behind, and I'm panting like a thirsty dog on a hot day 3 minutes in! So I've always stayed away from it. But it's time to face my fears! If I'm able to even go to the complex gym, I will aim for 5 minutes on the elliptical. It will all depend on how long I have to stay here tonight.
Hope everyone's having a great Monday! It's steamin' here...hope it's cooler where ya'll are!
Thankfully, the scale moved again! I was down 3 lbs. this morning. I kept jumping on and off the scale before my shower, and I got equal hits of 3 and 4 lbs. down. After my shower, I said I would step on one more time and that would be my "final answer"! It had me 3 lbs. down, again, so 3 it is!
I made it to Shelby Farms this morning, and started my Nike Plus app on my Ipod at 6:21am. Before I left home, the TV weather info showed the humidity was down just a bit, so it actually was a bit easier breathing and moving. I let myself jog on all the downhills to move with the momentum that gravity forces going down a hill! It seems the couple of tender spots on one of my feet really rub when I go downhill, so I guess it's the friction of my foot sliding forward in my shoe as I walk down the hill, so I thought jogging down would counteract that. There's only 3 or 4 places in the trail with hills, so those were the only spots I jogged. I covered the Chickasaw trail twice for what the trail is measured, so 5.50 miles. That would be 11 miles for the weekend; 19.84 miles for the week since last Monday. I used the Nike Plus app again on my Ipod, and it was a little closer today in difference than yesterday, but still off. The Ipod said:
LOL...WHATEVER on the calories burned! I am much larger than the normal person, so I know I burn more calories when I exercise, but that seems a bit steep to me! I believe the calorie burn should decrease for me as I lose weight. When I got home, I pulled out my Nike Plus manual to see that I had everything set correctly. There was a section on Calibration, and after reading that, I probably need to recalibrate it to my present walk/gait. It has been almost 2 yrs. since I last used or recalibrated it, so my gait might have changed a little bit since then! At least the time was accurate though! Thanks, Bethany, for reminding me about recalibration! I read your comment just a few minutes after checking the manual!
I need to run a couple of errands, then head into work for a while to play catch up. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday! Stay cool!
As I mentioned last post, I went to the running store yesterday to get the "pod holder" that goes on my shoe laces to use with my Nike Ipod Kit. I used the kit a good bit back when it first came out, and I bought the $100 Nike shoes that I thought I was "supposed" to have. Those shoes just weren't a good fit for my feet, though, so I hadn't used the kit since I stopped wearing the shoes. I was a bit later getting to Shelby Farms this morning...it was 6:55 when I "hit the trail", so almost an hour later than the park opened. Before I stepped on to the beginning of the trail, I set all my Nike Plus settings on my Ipod(weight, distance, etc), and set out. Even as I made it to the 1/4 mile marker, it appeared that the transmitter and pod calcs were waayyy off! I kept on until I heard "1 KILOMETER completed"...I had set it for kilometers, and not miles!
I went ahead and finished Chickasaw trail, and when I got to the other end, reset everything and made sure I had it set for miles this time! I walked the trail in reverse because they were holding a 5k, and I knew because I got there later that I wouldn't be completely finished by the time it started, and didn't want to get mowed down by a herd of runners from behind! When I got to 1/4 mile this time, the Ipod said .27, so not too badly off. It seemed as I hit each 1/4 mile, though, that the difference increased. By the time I reached the end of Chickasaw, where the marker says 2.75 miles, my Ipod said 2.98. But....the 5k was taking place on the exact route that I had walked, which would be 3.1 miles, so in that case, if the trail is considered 3.1 miles, my Ipod was only off by a little over .1 mile, so I could deal with that difference....but WHICH IS IT?!? LOL!
I have emailed the Shelby Farms visitor center before and been told the length of the trail is as marked, but the start of the race was marked close to the entrance of the trail, which was definitely a lot shorter than 1/4 mile to the entrance of the trail. I passed all the water stations on the trail I walked, so someone is not correct! When I go tomorrow, I will try to ask at the reception desk and see how they calculate the 5K distance on that trail. If that is correct, Tatumsmom and I have been travelling further than we thought!
It was already warm and super-humid getting there later...i believe before I left home, the heat index was already close to 90, but a lot better than it would be as the day went on, as it got up over 100 today. Doing the trail twice, based on what is marked, I did 5.5 miles, and burned 532 calories based on my Ipod. I guess that is why it asks for the weight, and being heavier than most, I would burn more calories than someone smaller walking the same distance.
So far today, I've consumed 528 calories between breakfast and lunch(only 120 calories for breakfast...a 2% cheese sandwich on a 70 cal. whole wheat bun), so I need to eat a good supper! Update: I came up with enough calories to put me just over 1200 @1221. I would have liked to have been higher, but slept a lonnng time after I showered this morning, and seemed like I was behind on my food all day!
I will try to get up earlier tomorrow, and walk my same route again.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Stay cool!
Wow...I made it to 'Most Active Blogs' with some of my other blog buddies....cool!
Yesterday(or REALLY early this morning!), I posted the positive things that happened in my weight loss journey through the month of July. Thanks for the encouragement, ya'll! Now it's time to post some of my goals for August. Through July, I started some things that I didn't know if I could continue. I have some Adult ADD tendencies, so the fact that I was able to be consistent with anything for more than a couple of days is a real accomplishment! So some of my August goals may be continuations from some of the new "habits" and behaviors learned in July! Here goes!
Continue to journal my food. I've felt so much more in control doing this! Over the 21 days (yeah! it should be a habit now)that I've written down everything that goes into my mouth, it's helped me not only realize how many calories I've consumed at any point in the day, but after several days of keeping my food journal, helped with planning my meals-- knowing what I had already eaten and what it cost calorie-wise, then incorporating it into another days plan.
Take my measurements! I'm not going to do this today, but probably Sunday/Monday morning when I do my "official" WI. Between 2 weeks ago, and a week ago last Sunday, I lost nothing pounds-wise. But Wednesday and Thursday, I was able to get in some pants and capris that I'd been able to wear since before Christmas of last year, so something shrunk a little...either in my tummy, or my behind...even though I lost no weight over the week before.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! I've been too hit-and-miss with this! I've got to make it more of a priority each day, not only just for weight loss, but for some of the other added benefits of water.
Try to find some other cardio or resistance training to do on my days I'm not walking. The object of skipping days walking as I build distance is to give my legs time to recover, but I'd like to be doing something to burn calories or build muscle in other areas! Haven't quite decided if I want that to be a DVD, cardio machine, or just sets/repetitions of strength training exercises from several books that I have.
Look for area 5K/10K's to enter. I've ran, ran/walked, walked/jogged, and walked 5K's and 10K's since my late teens and early 20's, and have never felt uncomfortable walking either! When I got too heavy to run 5K's anymore(during a lot of my sedentary, caregiving years with my parents and aunt), I never thought I couldn't do it because I couldn't run it, or run the whole thing...I saw it as a means to participate in something that I loved as a runner, and saw it as motivation to keep moving whether it be running or walking. Now, as I'm moving back closer to my goal of being able to run again, doing a 5k or 10k at whatever level I can will stir the excitement more to not falter in my plan to better my health, and get back to my running! All that being said, I will register, and maybe volunteer for the "Race for the Cure" in late October...a race that is close to my heart.
In relation to the last goal, I went into Fleet Feet mid-afternoon today to get the "pod holder" for shoes laces for my Nike plus kit that I haven't used in a while after finding that the Nike shoes I bought special to go with the Ipod kit were not suited for my feet at all. My goodness...you couldn't stir the people with a stick in there! It's not a very big store anyway, so I was glad I didn't need shoes today! I bought my pod holder and a pair of socks, and on the way out of the store, stopped at the table by the door where they keep all the flyers for all kinds of running events. I scooped up several and put them in my purse to look through during my late lunch.
One that really caught my eye said "Walkers welcome in all races!" It was for the Route66(Full/Half/Quarter)Marathon on November 16 in Tulsa, OK. Since I've been using a 10K training schedule to increase my endurance just to challenge myself, I at first thought about the Qtr. Marathon, but since in the next week or 2, I will be at slightly above 10K distance, I'm thinking why not work toward walking the Half Marathon! My niece and her family live just a couple of hours east/northeast of Tulsa in MO, so I'm thinking of seeing if she might not want to do it with me! My niece is just a few years younger than me...in fact, Shelley, I think she's your age(that I think I've seen you post)! She is a 2 yr. breast cancer survivor, and one of the most upbeat and encouraging people I know, so it would be great to have her there so we can spur each other on! Whether she would do it with me or not, I can stop there coming and going for her encouragement! The site where I found my 10K training schedule also has a training schedule for walking a half-marathon, and as of my 2 weekend days this weekend, I will be between the 4th and 5th week of the 12 week schedule, so I still would have plenty of time to work that schedule. I'm going to think about it, work the schedule, talk to my niece, and try to decide in the next few weeks....the entry fee doesn't go up until the end of September. Since I've done 10k's before, I'm excited to maybe have the next level that I haven't done as a concrete goal to work toward! If any of you have walked a half marathon, I would appreciate any advice or tips you have on how you trained and prepared!
I'm proud to say that in the third day of four of my coworker being on vacation, I have not binged once! The first day she was gone was a bit overwhelming, but I finally just determined that everything would get done when it gets done, and decided not to let it overwhelm me. My calories for today were 1205.
Yikes...it's midnight, and I need to be up(or in the process of hitting "snooze"!)in 5 hours to be at Shelby Farms when it opens. Ya'll have a great night! I will try to get back and check on ya'll and comment sometime tomorrow!
That is the number of days that I've heard it takes to form a habit. As of tomorrow, August 1, I will have logged my food for 21 days straight. Let's hope I don't flub it up tomorrow and forget! I don't think that's going to happen though! I never knew the difference keeping a food diary/log would make in my motivation to stay on plan.
July has been a very productive month for me...finally getting my head back in the right place and doing those things that I need to do to be successful in my weight loss journey! Although it started out a bit shaky, when I realized the steps I needed to take to stay motivated, doing those things has made such a difference! Here is a summary, and some of my reflections on the month of July for me!
I moved from one "decade" down to the next...from the 240's down to the 230's! Although I was tempted to get on the scale to have a "final" total for the month of July, I really don't like weighing at night, so my WI's through this past Sunday will have to suffice! Total lbs. lost in July: 8
I moved from one size down to the next. Although I had been in the lower size just before the holidays last year, my "wandering in the wilderness" for a few months took it's toll, but what did I expect? I thought yesterday might have been a fluke, but tried on a totally different type of pants today, and yep...I'm moving into my new "size home" for the next several lbs! Size change in July: 20 to 18
Although it's been a hot July, I've been able to stay consistent for the most part in my fitness goals. Finding a 10K training program online back in June was the perfect model and motivation to help me gradually up my intensity in my walking. By cutting my consecutives days of walking and walking every other day with the 2 consecutive weekend days, the problems I was having with my ITB that had been hanging around since late last summer have all but disappeared and allowed me to quit using my knee brace, and also allowed my legs to recover more quickly from my walks as they have gotten longer. I have been logging my miles in my datebook/journal since I got my shoes on May 24 for shoe replacement purposes, as I wore my last pair way too long, and believe my hip pain I had back in the late spring might have been caused by the breakdown of support in my shoes. I was shocked when I added up my miles for July, and went back and compared between my blog entries and my paper record to verify. Including the 4.42 miles that thankfully I was able to get in after the thundershower that passed over Shelby Farms, my miles accumulated for the month of July: 57.26. LOL...no...I didn't run them like you running EP'ers, but I got the results I wanted from them...maybe not in time, but in the areas that mean most to me right now, of my weight loss and health. Those results, in turn, will allow me to become the "runnin' fool" that I once was!
After an incident that made me want to crawl under a rock, I decided that even though I might not be at my goal weight, I still needed to take pride in my appearance, and not settle for not looking pretty and being the "girly-girl" that I am just because of my weight! The make-up, contacts, and properly fitting clothes have definitely helped my confidence, and the reactions from other people are always nice too!
One of the most fun parts of my July was getting to meet other Memphis EP'ers Bethany, Angela and Kristin! Although I was nervous to meet them because I am the largest of the "Memphis EP'ers" by far, they were all so sweet and so much fun to talk to that the three hours we spent at lunch just flew by! It was a fun time that I hope we can do it again! EP Friends met in July: 3
I will work on the goals that I want to accomplish for August and will work on posting them tomorrow, or over the weekend. I was wide awake, but think I'm beginning to get a bit sleepy now(as I should, at 1am!). Wednesday calories:1462. Thursday calories:1395. Although I wondered if I would be able to get my walk in today, the rain moved south of Shelby Farms just in time! As mentioned before, miles walked today were 4.42.
Since I still haven't figured out how to insert a photo into a post, I've put a picture on the front of my blog of the beautiful sky after a thunderstorm had passed through tonight at Shelby Farms. This was just after I had finished my walk...about 30 minutes before sunset.
Night ya'll, or to those on the other side of the world....G'day!
Last night had to be one of the hottest times that I've ever been outside to exercise. I didn't make it to Shelby Farms until 6:25pm, but before I got out of my car, the external temp said 101. YIKES! LOL...I had drank 2 small cups of coffee about an hour or so before I went walking to "wake me up", but I forgot the diuretic properties that coffee can have. It was hot enough that I didn't have to worry about a "potty break" along the way though, because I was sweating so profusely that whatever excess fluid was in me was sweated out!
I hit Chickasaw Trail at 6:30 straight-up. I was trying to walk briskly because I knew I wanted to finish both trails before the park closed, but I'm sure I probably sounded like a panting dog that first little bit while I adjusted to breathing that hot, hot air. Once I got about 3/4 to 1 mile in, I found my breathing rhythm, and it wasn't so bad then....right there at the first I thought I was going to hyperventilate! When I got into the "open range" of the trail(Tatumsmom and Bethany will know where I'm talking about!), I jogged just a short ways in the flat area of the back trail to try to speed up a bit to make sure that I was going to be o.k. to be finished before the park closed. No knee pain! YAY! Of course I wasn't going to try it anymore after I got back into hills. After finishing Chickasaw, I transitioned to the lake trail, and was far enough ahead that I knew I was going to have no problem finishing before the park closed. There was actually a slight breeze across the lake, but any movement of air at least cooled my sweaty skin just a bit! One end of the somewhat kidney bean shape of the lake is a little shorter than the other end, so I jogged just a short distance again...not the whole end. I finished my 4.42 miles at 7:42pm, so I had some time to spare before the park closed. With just upping my distance for my shorter walks during the week, I didn't know how close I would cut it with having gotten there later than I meant. When I got in my car to leave, the outside temp said 99....aaahhhh...a real cooldown!
With my legs and knees feeling so much better, I'm going to start working on doing some "step" work at home to begin to strengthen the muscles around my knees in preparation for when I can start joggingin about 20-25 more lbs. LOL...I'm a gal of the 80's and 90's, so loved my step aerobics back then, but that is really not the type of high-impact stepping I'm talking about. Anyone that's familiar with "The FIRM" from years ago might remember the steps they had back then...one 6 inches high, and one 8 inches high that could be used alone or stacked together for one "tall" step. I don't think I ever really used them as the 1 tall step, but the SLOW stepping onto either the 6 or 8 inch box and back off really worked the muscles of the leg, so since I've had knee weakness in the past, Im thinking the slow stepping might help to strengthen those muscles gradually. That will be my plan for tonight since I'm not walking...and definitely not very much starting out...I want to be able to walk tomorrow!
Yesterday's calories ended up at 1319. So far today I'm at 820 calories, and have been so snowed under, that I just ate lunch just now. I'm about halfway through my water for the day...working on the 2nd 34 oz. bottlle.
OH!! Big NSV this morning! I put on my size 18 Ralph Lauren capris that I got on clearance for $16 last fall, and they fit! No forced pulling on the zipper...they zipped right up! I had worn them when I had gotten down to my lowest weight before the holidays last year, but since I gained after the holidays, and the few months after, I was back up one size, so glad to be at this point this year 2 or 3 months earlier! Hopefully by the holidays this year I will have already pushed through the lowest weight that I was before the holidays last year, and be close to Onederland!
I wrote this on my lunch break, so I only got a chance to look and comment on maybe one blog this morning before I got into my day... so I will catch up with the rest little by little as I can! Happy Hump Day!
That's how today feels! I didn't leave work until 9:30 last night, and no way could I go home and just crash...I have to have wind down time for at least 2 or 3 hours after I get home from work before I can even think of going to bed. So it was between 1 and 2 am that I finally fell asleep. Coworker that I cover for is off for the next 5 work days, so I was staying last night to try to get all of the work on my desk done, because there is no way I will even get to touch my projects while she's gone. I'm down to the last project on my desk that I hope to finish before I leave to walk tonight. The reduced sleep has really hit me here since about 10 this morning, and I so hate that groggy, fuzzy headed feeling! I'm on my lunch, so I may lay my head down on my desk here in the next few minutes and get a cat nap so I'm not feeling this way after work when I go walking!
Yesterday was a good food day....1416 calories total. I totally washed out on my water...I just didn't seem thirsty, so I kept putting off going to fill my water bottle, and before I knew it, the day was just about over and all I had was 2 Diet Cokes...not good replacements for the water! I've had some water today, but not near enough. Calories so far today are 879, so about 625 calories left for the day. I just ate my yummy Pei Wei Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls...within my calories...159 for the 3 rolls, and 140 calories and no fat for the dipping sauce(which I didn't use all of),so 299 calories total. I'll sure be drinking my water this afternoon...want to get the sodium flushed out so I'm not worrying about it towards the end of the week!
Tonight is a walk night...it is supposed to be hotter today than yesterday, so my "hydration" is chilling in the fridge, although it will be warm/lukewarm not long after I get out of my car to hit the trails! Haven't decided what my plan for tonight is...I've tried to keep my workweek/weekend walking consistant for a couple of weeks at a time to make sure my legs are adjusting, so it's time to "kick it up" a little bit more for my weeknights.
I'm going to lay my head down on my desk for a few minutes and see if I can shake the grogginess! Hope everyone is having a great week so far!
Well, meeting Bethany, Kristin and Angela yesterday was so much fun! They're all so sweet and I really enjoyed the almost 3 hours that we sat talking and laughing at McAlister's Deli. I enjoyed listening and finding out how the others deal with the challenges that we all face in this weight loss journey! Hopefully we can do this again!
It was a bit harder to wake up early this morning, and it was around 6:30am when I made it to Shelby Farms. Conditions were much the same as yesterday...temp at 82, humidity at 86%, and cloudy...I'm thankful for the latter! It still was so sticky...it wasn't long after stepping on the trail that sweat was rolling all over! On these last couple of weekends when I've gone in the morning when it's still really humid from the overnight hours, I've been wearing one of the wicking tops that I got 3 weeks ago, and it does make a difference....it doesn't seem to stay soaked with the sweat like my cotton tanks that I wear, but quickly dries. I walked 5.01 miles, bringing my weekend total to 10.02 miles, and my weekly total to 16.7 miles. The legs seem to be adjusting to and recovering from the increase in distance over the last couple of weeks, so that makes the time pass a bit faster rather than having an aching leg and feeling like the end is never going to come! I finished in time to get to Target when it opened at 8am for my "yogurt run" for the week...it was nice to get my fat free yogurts before the crowds mix up the low fat and fat free yogurt slots....there's a 100 calorie difference between the two!
Yesterday's calories ended with 1187 calories. I stepped on the scale this morning...did the best 4 out of 5 "step-ons" this time...and the scale stayed the same at 237. With the exception of my previously blogged-about binge, I stayed on plan all week, drank my water, and recorded everything that went into my mouth! In looking back though, I stayed more at the lower end of my calories this last week, and a day or two was slightly below 1200 calories. I will work to stay closer to 1400-1500 over the next week...that seems to be the optimal level for me in the past that I have lost weight. I'll also watch the sodium...I'm watching fat, but don't always double check the sodium.
***Sigh***...as I thought, the bigger drop I had last week was probably from the water weight I lost that first week or so after beginning to log my intake again, so I'm not really surprised...I'll be fighting for every pound from here on! I would love to ditch my thyroid med that slows down my metabolism, but it's benefits outweigh this nuisance, so I'll just have to move more! My knee and ITB problems have improved so much from my change in the spacing and intensity of my walking days, but I'm going to have to come up with something on the alternate days when I'm not walking. Although I know the importance of resistance and strength training, and how it made such a difference when I got down to 199 (for the only time in the last 16 yrs) several years ago, I haven't really incorporated it like I should, so I need to plan to either use the machines at our work fitness center or apt. complex center, or use the variety of strength training DVDs that I've had over the years.
) When I got to the marker, my Nano said I had gone .27...just a bit off, so I ended the calibration. I didn't realize that distance didn't get counted into my total distance, but I didn't have time to head back to the beginning of the trail, so I just started my Nike plus record from the qtr. mile mark. 
I could kick myself...it was "mindless eating", and I let an emotion get the best of me!
Thankfully, today was supposed to be the last really hot day for the rest of the week....by Friday, it's only supposed to be around 90, which after 2 weeks hovering just under 100 with heat indexes almost to the 1-teens, will seem like a cool spell!