It's Friday!

Week in Review!

How was your food this week?
Food was in check. I eliminated my pistachios and almonds this week because I was having trouble with portion control. My evening snack (between work/workout and dinner) was carrot and celery with 2% plain chobani greek yougurt and 2 teaspoons of dry ranch seasoning. YUM!!!

How was exercise this week?
Really good. Started week 2 of Cto5k and it was great. Thursday I completed a 5k on the treadmill using the intervals. I also did Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds with the tension ribbon on Monday.

What is on tap for the weekend?
Tomorrow will be Zumba and Sunday will be a run at the gym, unless the weather allows for an outdoor run (fingers crossed). Food on the weekend can intimidate me because I am not in my regular routine and Tommy eats all meals with me. *During the week, we only eat dinner together. But I plan to jounal my food to help me stay on track.

Other new!
I signed up for my first official 5k of the year. I will be running  Feb 2. My goal is just to finish and improve through the year!

5 Pounds

Saturday morning I got up extra early so that I could get in a workout before we hit the road for Bowling Green. It was also my WI day. I was excited to see what the scales said because I had worked so hard during the week, committing to exercising everyday and being mindful with meals while on the road. Well I hopped on the scale, and I could believe my eyes. I stepped off and re-calibrated. I stepped back on...the result was the same as the first time I stepped on...A 5 POUND GAIN!! UGH! But I had worked so hard!!! I was angry as I got dressed for my workout. And I was angry as I started to workout. Why was I even doing this?? But as the intensity of the workout started increasing, I started feeling better. I know I put in the work last week, and I will put it in this week. And eventually the hard work will pay off!!

Friday 5

1. Even with two days on the road, I managed to accomplish my commitment to Shannon to exercise 30+ minutes everyday this week. Actually, the hotel workouts were two of my favorite workouts. Thursday I was exhausted (I think the trip/driving caught up with me) and the thought of going to the gym made me grumpy, but I came home and did a WATP DVD. Those are always a good alternative for me when I just can't get myself into the gym.

2. This morning at the gym, Katie, the manager, noticed my new shoes. This made me very happy for two reasons. A) Who doesn't like a shoe compliment. B) I thought it was kinda cool that I am at the gym so much that she notices when I change shoes :) LOL

3. I started Couch to 5k again this week. And a coworker started it, too. I have used the program several times and love it. This is her first time. We are doing two runs on our own and one together.

4. Tommy and I are heading to Kentucky this weekend for work and pleasure. We are going to visit Mammoth Cave on Sunday and I am stoked. We went in the spring for our anniversary and had a great time. We said then that we wanted to go back, and I am super excited about exploring the caves again! Fun workout!

5. I loved this! I thought I would share!

Girls Love Shoes

I have been needing shoes for months now...too many months now! And with this purchase, I wanted to get properly "fitted" again. I think it is very important to get your running/walking shoes fitted when you can. Unfortunately, I don't have a local running store that does shoe fitting, and haven't been fitted for shoes since 2010 when I first started running 5ks.
I am on an overnight business trip and decided to check in to running stores while I was in a bigger city. After a bit of web browsing, I discovered there was a running store a couple of miles from my hotel. After check-in, I headed over to see what brands they sold and what type of evaluations they did. I was so impressed with Montgomery Multisport! The awesome guy that helped me went above and beyond to make sure I was happy with my shoes. He started by asking questions about my current workouts and goals for the future. Then he measured my feet, did a digital foot analysis to measure my arches, and  watched me run on a treadmill (and gave me a few pointers on form). After all that the real fun started.  I got to try on a ton of shoes!  Seriously, he just kept pulling out shoes for me to try by walking around the store and jogging on the treadmill. I think I tried on at least 10 different pairs of shoes. It was a tough decision, but I chose......(drum roll please...)

The Mizuno Wave Enigma 2!! And I love them!
If you haven't been fitted for shoes, I encourage you to do it! So worth it!

Finding My Spark

I have always adored Shannon. Honestly, her blog is what motivated me to start my little blog several years ago (after stalking hers for many, many months). And when I finished my first 5k, she was my first person to msg. I was so excited, and I knew she was sharing my excitement all the way from Alabama to Utah.  And even though both of us have been away from "blogland" for awhile, we have kept in contact though Facebook.  I always love seeing little comments from her. Through thick and thin, she has been an inspiration to me!
Earlier this week, Shannon put out an all call to her friends and former blog buddies for us to make a comeback and be the community of supporters we once were. I wanted in on this! I do my best work when I have support from the blog community. But, when I would open my blogger window, it would sit blank. I didn't know what to say or what to share. (A secret, I feel this way quite often...I love reading blogs...and have never stopped reading what is going on with you guys for more than a week or so at a time...but often I feel what I have to share isn't very exciting or "read-worthy.") I sent Shannon a msg yesterday explaining to her that I was having trouble jump-starting my old blog. She was as encouraging as always. And shared this picture that had been shared with her. I love it!

So guys, I am here again!
I am up 7 pounds during the holidays, and a total of 15. My plan is to erase those 15 first, and then try to lose 30 more bringing me back to my  "happy early 20s weight." HAHA  Guess what? I will be 33 next month!

I also want to focus on running again. I only did two 5k events last year, and I want that number to increase again! Few things  feel as good as crossing that finish line feeling strong, and I want that feeling over and over again in 2013. Last year, I got really discouraged after the weekday evening Zumba classes at my gym got cancelled. I jumped from one activity to the next trying to find something I enjoyed as much. But now I am turning back to walking/running and Zumba will be my "dessert" on the weekends. There is a Zumba Studio that I will go to on Saturday mornings. It will be my reward for hard workouts during the week. The Zumba Studio has always been an option, and I have attended several classes there, but always felt guilty about spending the extra money on Zumba and having my gym membership. But I know there are other places I can cut back, and $5 a week for a Saturday morning Zumba class won't break me! Plus I know that I will love it and look forward to it!

Thank you guys for the support over the years. I appreciate it more than you know, and I am looking forward to feeling that support again!

Monday Monday a fresh slate!

I had a really great week last week. I had awesome workouts Monday-Friday including 2 zumba classes, 2 count down workouts, more cardio and some WEIGHTS! I am really trying to get in the habit of including weights in my weekly workouts, but I need to do better!!! I have printed out some exercises to do with the weighted bars, and will go from there. How do you make weights a part of your routine?

Now it is Monday and we have a fresh slate. I can be proud of the workouts I had last week, but I have to keep moving and have even better workouts this week.

In other new, the scale still hasn't changed. I have had 3 weeks of killer workouts that I am so proud of, and when I step on the scale and see no change, or a gain it is hard not to feel down. I have also been tracking my food very carefully...I so want to see a change!!! I just have to keep going!

Count Down Workout

I am always looking for ways to spice up my gym time and last night I had fun doing a "Count Down" workout. It looked like this...

12 minutes on upright bike
10 minutes on Incline Trainer  (this machine KILLS me...always has!)
8 minutes on upright bike
6 minutes on Incline Trainer
4 minutes upright bike
2 minutes on Incline Trainer

I didn't start the 12 minutes on the upright bike until I was at my target heart rate. I finished in about 45 mins which included the time to change machines (they were next to each other) and hit that initial THR.

I cooled down with about 5 minutes on the treadmill.

And according to my HR monitor I burned about 700 calories!

I will definitely be doing this again!

I also bit the bullet Monday and drove to the sister gym in the next town to get in a Zumba class. I MISS ZUMBA. I will do this atleast once a week, but I hate the longer drive home at night!