May 31.. you know what that means!

The last day of the month of May and it's time for my monthly workout Recap!

(All Natural.. no makeup and wet hair day.. now you see why I need some fake lashes!)

Totals For the Month of May

I biked, swam, ran, did the cross ramp and lifted weights and planked. 

What are my totals you ask? Or maybe you don't care to know? I do.. so here it is!!!

Running = 148.4 miles
Biking = 54 miles
Swimming = 30 minutes
Cross Ramp = 21.5 miles 
Planks (4 minutes, 2/2) = 25 days out of 31
Total Miles for the Month of May = 223.9

That means I burned a whopping 19,650 calorie this month and that does not include walking, strength training or planks. 

Just Bike IT !

This knee issue is getting old fast. I had every intention to run just easy on the dirt road and home.. its  mostly flat to take it easy. I did my warm up lunges.. and I could just tell there was something off about my knee. No use attempting to run.. just bike it! 

What a beautiful summer morning.. 70*F which is the perfect temperature to bike and not feel chilled. I just went out for a leisure ride to enjoy the morning. I have't biked down this dirt road since last fall and really missed the views.. I love how we live on the edge of farm land and neighborhoods.. It won't be long before all is built up around us and that will be a sad day.

I couldn't resit stopping during my bike ride to take a few photos. All these baby cows in the pasture.. They all stopped eating to watch me. 

Three baby cows.. this is the first time I've ever seen them so close to the road. 

Can you see why I love this road? Just me, cows and the bike all alone on this stretch of road. 9 easy biking miles done in 41 minutes with stopping for photos..  

I did try running just around our little .31 mile block. I ran it slow just to do a brick run. Bike to run transition. I took it really slow 10:40 minute mile pace.. because that knee... I'm going to run a little every time I bike just to get my legs use to doing the transition.. I don't want to feel like I have bricks for legs... and this is a good plan to get rid of that not so super feeling. 

Lookie who I got to see last night, Evan!   Look how much he has grown this past three week! He just starts smiling as soon as I took out my phone to take a photo.

Celina was busy doing my hair out on the deck. The kids informed me.. my roots are darker then the rest of my hair and they see some gray hairs.. I think that's a sign if my kids are telling me to color my hair.. it might be time. I just am impatient and have a hard time sitting around with hair dye for 30 minutes. I do love my hair fixed.. even if Celina was making me look weird.. I can't even post the other hair styles they are that tragic looking! 

Sometimes I do get out of workout clothes.. I haven't worn this favorite skirt since I was in my late 20's. Every once in a while when I was 50 pounds heavier I'd try it on and I could never button it up. Glad to say.. I can easily button and zip it up... 

Last night, I made Thai Red Curry. I wanted to make it exactly like what we had in DC in that little Thai restaurant. Not sure I have it mastered but it was really simple to make. 

I had to Google a recipe but improvised.. 

1 can of lite coconut milk, 

1 can of regular coconut milk, 

1/2 small can of red curry paste

.. mix together and heat up, add bamboo shoots, slice red pepper and mushrooms. Serve over rice. (Add shrimp or chicken)

I'm back to my quick diet, Day 3.. Stuck to it yesterday, but I did have a slice of fruit tart after dinner. I think my calories were around 1500 for the day. A bit higher then I wanted. 

Eating my favorite Whole grain bread with Chunky Peanut butter. 
Plan for today... 
Breakfast - 2 slices wheat bread with PB
Lunch - 2 slices wheat bread with PB
Dinner - Rice and Salsa
Snack - Raspberries, blueberries and carrots w/ lite Ranch. 

Success feels good.

As you know if you follow along on this blog, yesterday I started an extreme pound a day weight loss plan. I have to tell you... it felt good to stick with what I set out to do. The only difficult part was dinner time. 

I tried to control myself at dinner with only eating what was on my list: 2 slices of whole grain bread with chunky Peanut butter, which I ate. I then gave into 1/2 a thin sliced pork chop and a half a chicken breast with potatoes. It definitely was not the end of the world that I went off plan and ate more. 

Afternoon snack time, I ended up eating a whole small bag of carrot sticks with 3 Tbsp lite ranch dip, all of which were on my list to eat for the day. Good snack choices and much better for me then a small bowl of ice cream which I had been having. 

I did something else yesterday, I biked up to the store instead of driving. 30 more minutes of exercise and burning calories. My total biking was 14 miles in 1 hour for the day. Plus, I mowed our front lawn after dinner to help burn away at some of those extra calories I had for dinner. 

Another perfect morning to go for a run. Yes, I said a run! I did a smart thing and went to see the chiropractor. My chiropractor that I normally see wasn't in till later on and I needed an appointment ASAP. Sometimes its good to check out other chiropractors.. they all do things a bit different some good and some not so good. This new guy did great on my knee issues. He did give me a great tip, do lunges and squats to get those muscles that are hard to stretch out. 

I had been doing daily squats and lunges while I was doing my 90 day bikini challenge but then kind of stopped all of a sudden for really no reason other then lazy on my part. This is exactly why I need to do those lunges and squats every day to keep my knees from hurting. I'm back to doing 50 squats a day and many lunges up and down the driveway before I run. No more just going out and running without doing some good walking stretches. 

My knee issues aren't 100% fixed but it sure feels a lot better. I'm still taking it easy just to be on the safe injury free side of things. After not being able to run yesterday. I love my slow miles and will never get down on myself for not running an 8 minute mile for 8+ miles... as long as I can run.. who cares about the speed! Not me.. I just want to run. 

It's always nice to see Steve running on the Cross Ramp when I get to the gym. I run there while he takes the car. Even if we aren't working out together I still like to see him at the gym while I'm there too. I did 30 minutes of strength training. 4 days this week... I'm forcing myself to stay for at least 30 minutes. I usually just go from machine to machine. It's good variety and I get in a full body workout. Usually 1 set each of 10 reps but some I do 2 sets, usually my arms since I want to tone those up for summer. 

Today's Day 2 extreme weight-loss plan.. similar to yesterday, PB Whole grain bread for breakfast and lunch, but dinner will be veggies with rice. Snack: carrots and lite ranch. Success just feels too good to stop! 

And some cute little buns..from my grandson Evan on the beach in Florida. 5 months old...I get to see this little guy tonight and I can not wait. He's been on vacation for 3 weeks with his mom and I've missed them both so much. Can't wait to hear all about their vacation in Florida. 

Speed diet.. trying something new

The radio station 107 talked yesterday about a quick diet for fast results. It made perfect sense to me. Everyone likes quick results and this diet figured out how to do just that to lose a pound a day! I guess I need to figure out where to get the book and read up.. or just try the simplified version I got off the radio. 

If you want to lose a pound, you must have a 3500 calorie deficit. The guy who wrote the book, came up with the quick weight-loss plan first, then figured out how to do it. You need at least 850 calories a day in food to keep your body functioning. Most diets have you eating 1500 calories per day. This is for quick results. I'm not that good at dieting. I'd rather think of it as getting fit. This way, I won't lose sight of my goal. I like quick results and that's how I lost 50 pounds. I never weighted myself during the whole process. I never deprived myself food, but I ate less then 1000 calories per day eating the same foods and smaller portions. I never felt deprived or hungry. (disclaimer) I am not an expert on diet/weight loss or nutrition. It's just something I want to try for myself. 

Getting fit to lose weight Plan of ACTION:
Make a Meal plan daily and stick to it- (keep it dumb simple)
Make it boring food and easy to prepare, but tasty at every meal. 

Thursday Meals: 
Breakfast, lunch and dinner - (each meal)2 slices whole grain wheat bread, with chunky Peanut butter = 300 calories per meal or 900 calories. Snacks - All the carrot sticks I can eat 100 calories, Grand total calories for the day=1000 

Calories to burn Thursday with exercise: 300 biking (done), 25-30 minutes strength training 200 (done), 250 working, 200 mow grass, bike to bank 300 = 1250 calories burned for the day... 

I will be posting updates to see how I'm doing on this quick results weight loss. Ready, set.. here we go! 

Biking was pretty nice this morning. I just biked to the gym so I could do some full body strength training. It's an easy 7 miles round trip. I was really wanting to run to the gym but that darn knee wasn't having it. Something just felt off and I didn't want to push my luck. It's better to cross train then to risk an injury. My knee needs running rest. 

I've been wearing my arm warmers on my bike rides and new running gloves. They work perfect to keep me warm and I can easily remove them when I get too warm. Plus, I love how they kind of match my biking shirt and shoes.

I love getting the mail when I get some good stuff, not just bills. My runner magazine showed up and of course I spent the afternoon on the couch reading. I have this afternoon problem.. I don't really feel like doing anything other then read and lay around. I get pretty tired after my morning workout then working for a few hours. I'm wondering if it's just the case of me being lazy or am I really that tired all the time? Might be a little combo of both! I tried to change that yesterday afternoon. I was all dressed and ready to go out biking but it just never happened. If it didn't work yesterday.. try something new or just try it all over again. 

I promised myself I would bike up to the bank/store instead of driving this afternoon. I need to get in at least 14 miles of biking to make it a good workout for the day. I'm also going to change into my biking clothes right when I'm done working. This way I'm ready to bike after a short rest. No excuse Thursday! Baby steps to make changes.. that's what it's all about. Small efforts will pay off.. just one tiny step at a time and Bam! You made a change in your life. I just think getting out in the afternoon for exercise will get me out of this bored/blah/depressed feeling. Its going to be rough because I always feel too tired but I have to push though to make a change and start feeling better about my health and fitness. Getting more fit is not always a comfortable feeling and it definitely is not easy. 

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What are some things you do when feeling Blah/bored/semi depressed? Exercise.. sleep, internet.. (Not being able to run due to my knee is depressing me).

Have you ever tried an extreme diet to lose a pound a day? I use to starve myself, thinking if I didn't eat anything I'd lose weight. I busted that theory when I was able to eat and lose 50 pounds without ever feeling hungry and tired. 

Lace them up and get out that door!

I love over cast mornings. It's a lot easier to run when the sun isn't in your eyes. 

I took it nice and easy on my running. I wanted to make sure I ran slow enough to not feel any pain in my right leg/knee. It felt really good running slow miles. Super easy to breath and I felt so relaxed looking around and enjoying the morning. I even ran by a fairly large snapping turtle with grass growing out of his shell on his back. Looked like a green mohawk. 

 7 miles done and I feel back to normal now that I can run again.

Inside has to be the choice!

I am not taking any chances with my right leg. It had to be an inside workout day. My leg is feeling pretty good but that can change quickly and I certainly don't need to risk making things worse. 

I'd have to say the one really great thing about working out at the gym is that I'm going to do my ab workout and I will lift weights to tone up my arms. It's a goal of mine to keep up strength training all summer long. I only had 15 minutes which was better then not doing anything. 

My taking it easy this morning consisted of 31 minutes on the cross ramp or 3 miles, running on the treadmill for 12 minutes at a slow random hill pace of 5.5mph, (felt a little pain in my leg.. stop!) and then stationary bike, level 9 for 2 miles. Not a great workout but I did sweat and burn some calories cross training. 

I'll recap my pool run from yesterday. Found out the pool opens at 8:30am. I won't be able to swim early unfortunately. I've never really done much pool running. The water was a bit chilly.. I found out later the heater element was broken otherwise the water is always bath temperature.. nice! Running was a great way to warm up and get use to the cold water. I just ran back and forth in the shallow 3 feet end of the pool. Running wasn't feeling so great on my leg pain, since I was warmed up at this point. I was ready to swim. I just did breast stroke with my head out of the water. 

I even brought along all my pool workout supplies, fins, goggles, cap, and paddles for my hands. I only used the paddles. This was a great shoulder/arm workout. I thought for sure I'd be sore today. Nope, zero..nothing. 

I had Steve time me while he drank coffee and soaked up the sun. I lasted for 30 minutes and called the first pool running session done! 

I really need to step up my exercise to lose some pounds. It's just not working to only do one workout a day. I always feel extra tired in the afternoon evening, but it's time to make some changes. Baby steps... biking tonight if it's not pouring rain! 

This is not good...

It was bound to happen.. an injury of sorts. Going out for my run today didn't feel so great. I ran a little over 1 mile and then I could feel a pain running down my leg and up to my knee. 

It's a good thing I bring my cell phone. It hurt to walk and I couldn't just keep going. I wasn't sure if anyone would be awake, but Steve thankfully answered the phone on the 2nd ring.  I did all I could to rub and stretch out the pain in my right leg.

No luck, so I had a great idea. The pool is open. Might as well try what others are doing.. pool running. 

Fun day.. Sunday Running

On the deck, the sun is shining and I'm sitting outside eating my breakfast ready to recap my morning run. 

I did one of those sleep in and just take it easy mornings. I didn't plan on it being this warm and nice so early close to 70*F. A little warm to run, but it felt great! 

I ran up to the coffee shop while Steve biked. It's a great half way mark and a good place to take a short break, drink water and have a under cooked blueberry scone from Dun-bros. Remind me never to eat there again. They just don't have great food. 

I had my best mile #3 with 8 minute and 59 seconds. I need to work on staying in the 9 minute to 8 minute mile range. This 10+ minute stuff should be saved for the mile warm up and mile cool down. It's something I'm going to have to work a lot harder on if I want to get faster. 

I missed our summer time run/rides to get coffee and water. I'm so glad I didn't have to talk Steve into meeting me at the coffee shop. He's just not an outside runner, but he will bike. 

There he goes.. zipping by.. on our speedy road bike. 

We forgot how much work a new bike can be. There were tires to pump up. These aren't your normal tires, everything is more complicated.. you'd think they could make it less difficult, but this is not the case with racing bikes. Seat had to be adjusted and then the handle bars tightened. I'm kind of afraid to ride alone for fear I'll need to do some tire maintenance. I'm sure it took at least 30 minutes to figure out how to get 90 pounds of pressure in each tire. 

This is why I stick to my mountain bike.. nothing needed but to get on and just peddle. 

Running takes a lot out of me. It doesn't give me tons of energy through out the day. I might have a few bursts of energy but I need a lot of down time too. After dinner last night.. yeah.. healthy hot dogs.. not and potato with butter, then 2 glasses of red wine just knocked me out at 7pm.. and I slept till 9:30pm. When you need to sleep, I've learned just do it. I'll feel so much better even if I'm up till midnight. 

Effort, Persistence and No Excuses

That's how I roll.. I make an effort to run each and every day. I am persistent in my goal of working out each and every day trying to stay fit and healthy. I never find excuses to not exercise. 

I can tell you, every time I roll out of bed.. I know that I will be waking up to getting fit for the day. Starting my day off right and making zero excuses to find the time for me. The first few steps as everyone experiences are tough. This morning was no exception, my mind wanted to run but my feet didn't. Some times its the opposite, my feet are on auto pilot, but my mind wants to stop and just quit. I like the running the best when both my legs and mind are on auto pilot and I do get there.. It just takes a few miles. 

I never regret a day where I can run down this road, feel the pounding of my heart and hear the thumping of my feet... Running down this country dirt road just makes me feel so good and free. 

My mile times might not be that quick, but I truly feel like I'm flying down this road.. 

8 miles done for this beautiful spring morning.. Steady and a nice easy pace where I could run forever.. only I get hungry and want to eat. Its really tough coming home and smelling hash-browns and french toast. After burning 1000 calories I kind of need food more then I need to run more. 

 Steve and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary last night. We went out to Doolittles and shared wings with flat bread - chicken/roasted tomatoes and for old time sake, we split a slice of mud slide pie. We use to share this ice cream dessert every time we'd go to Doolittles.. hard to break an old tradition. 

We came home last night and had a bonfire in the back yard with the kids.

Made our 2nd dessert s'mores.. You just can't have a bonfire and not roast marshmallows 

 I bought those larger marshmallows in a flattened square shape made just for s'mores. We discovered a winner!

A delicious way to end a Friday night.. 

A tiny note left on the toilet.. (not by me) but it did make me laugh..