Three Things Thursday: Zucchini Ribbons, Pedometer, and Time Goals

1. Last night I made Zucchini Ribbons for dinner. Have any of you tried these? Basically, you just cut off the ends of your Zucchini, and use a mandolin to cut long ribbons. (You could do this with a sharp knife, too.) Then I sauteed them with a bit of olive oil and Italian Seasoning. Super Yummy and Quick! This will definitely be added to the rotation :)

2. Some of you made have read on my sidebar that I lost my pedometer last week. We had Family Night at the library, and with such a wild night, it fell off at some point without me noticing.We wore costumes, and when I changed into my costume, I noticed that I had already hit 10,000 steps with all the prep work for the event. I probably should have just taken it off then, but I didn't.  I am sure a child thought it was a toy (we were giving out many small prizes during the event) and took it home. I was using my husband's pokewalker, and it really did look like a toy. I put up signs around the library, but so far nothing. I plan to order a replacement this afternoon, and when it comes in I will continue my Power of 10.

3. Last night, I beat a PR for my one mile and finished in 11:43. I was really excited. I had not paid much attention to my 1mile times in a while, but after finishing Saturday with a better time than I had expected, I decided to do an official time. New goal will be to finish in 11:30 or better :)

Three Things Thursday

1. A couple of weeks ago, Tommy found a pair of toning shoes on sale. They were 40% percent off, and we had a coupon for an additional 30% off. In all, we got the shoes for $20. I had not really thought much about purchasing the toning shoes until we got such a good deal on them, but I am glad we bought them. When I first wore them, it almost felt like huge pieces of gum were stuck to the bottom of the shoes, but now I am becoming more familiar. Do any of y'all  have the toning walking shoes?

2. This weekend, I am doing another breast cancer race. This one is local and I will be running with my 6-year-old niece. We will be doing the 1 mile fun run together and she is really excited.  She really wanted to do the event last week, but since it was out of town and something new for us, we weren't sure if children would be allowed. She told her Mom that she wanted to do something to help Aunt Rosie too, so I found this little local race. I am looking forward to doing this with her, and hope it is a memory that will last with her a long time.

3. The Power of 10 challenge has been going well for me. So far, I have reached or exceeded 10,000 steps every day except the day we traveled for the "Race for the Cure." I worked half a day, and then spent quite a bit of time in the car...and at the end of the day I only a a little over 7,000 steps. But that's okay...I exceeded 10,000 the next day. There have  been a couple of  nights when I was 1000 or so short and just wanted to call it a night, but made myself  hit the driveway until my 10,000 were complete. This has been a great challenge, and I hope to continue with it even after October.

Three Things Thursday

1. Spaghetti Squash is rocking my world! Last night I baked it, and served it with marinara and turkey meatballs yum! I made noodle for T, but I didn't want any the squash was so good :)

2. Yesterday after work, the treadmills at the gym were full ( they are doing some kind of incentive program right now, and the gym is crazy...I am glad people are trying to live more healthy lives, but I miss being able to jump on the treadmill whenever I want...). It was a nice night, so I decided to do the "Road Kill Run." at home. As I ran, a heard of dogs started following me. I am sure it was hilarious for anyone driving by to see an overweight woman running on a country road with 5 dogs following behind. One dog actually ran all the way home with me, so I had to try to remember where he joined me and walk him back to his house. Then he followed me home again! Tommy thought it was hilarious and called me a dog thief, but I felt really guilty. After he followed me home again, we closed the shades and turned off all the light hoping he would head back to his house, and eventually he did....poor Humphrey (my pup) was having a complete fit in the house! Oh what a night! Two dogs barking, the fire alarm beeping (decided it needed new batteries during the chaos) and Tommy cracking up!

3.  Still having a good time with the Power of 10 challenge. Yesterday, I put the pedometer in my pocket instead of clipping it on...big mistake because at the end of my work day I only had about 2000 steps (and I had walked a mile on my lunch break). When I realized that it wasn't counting all my steps, I clipped it on for the rest of the night. Good thing I did the 5k walk/jog followed by walking the other pup back to his house, or I would have had a hard time getting in those 10,000 steps. I can't imagine what kind of number I would have seen had it been really tracking my steps all day! :)

The Power of 10!

When I decided to join Mary's "The Power of 10" Challenge, I didn't think it would be that difficult. Sure, I thought I would need to park further away in parking lots occasionally or use the restroom upstairs instead of the one near my department at work. But, I had no idea how much of a challenge this would be, or how much I would enjoy finding ways to get in my steps. On my regular running days, getting my 10,000 steps in shouldn't be much of an issue. But on days when I am cycling, doing a DVD at home, or have a scheduled "off" day this becomes a true CHALLENGE!

Saturday consisted of going to my University's Homecoming Parade, and walking to the parade route, a bit of shopping, lots of window shopping, and chores around the house. At 7 PM when I took a look at my pedometer, I just knew I would have completed my 10,000 steps and could enjoy the rest of the night watching football, but instead I was  walking up and down my driveway in order to get in my last 3000 steps(and thinking about Valerie and her lawn walking).

I am loving this challenge! I love finding new ways to get in my steps at work. Today I cut my lunch break shorts and walking three times around the library ( +1000 steps). When I was doing my afternoon shelving, I would purposely only take half loads so that I would have to make extra trips back to my shelving cart. It is really fun trying to earn more steps. At 4:00 at have 5,500 steps taken...glad I will be hitting the gym after work for a nice run :)

If you have never looked at how many steps you take in a day, I think you should! Then try to think of ways to add more steps to your day!