I guess I run now

Okay, with that as my title, I guess I’m really torn between three titles now. The other two are: “greetings from the front porch” and “why, oh why did I eat that?”

First, the front porch. I made it to hubby’s around 10:30 last night & now I’m blogging on the clean and tidy front porch. There’s a nice breeze shaking last night’s rain out of the trees, it’s chilly, damp, & overcast. I wish I could send this weather to getupnow who’s in a bit of a funk this week. Instead, I’ll just encourage ya’ll to drop by & post verbal hugs in comments if you haven’t already.

Weather here, I’ve decided, is bad for outside running, but good for weeding the garden & boy does it need it! Run inside first, weed later.

& now I’m stalling, although mine isn’t as clever or funny a stall as feathers’ latest post.

So here goes. I discovered that peanut noodles are either the perfect road food or the worst, depending on what your priorities are. They’re the best cause they’re filling & you actually have to stop driving to eat them, so no mindless munching. & rather than feeling hungry 2 hours later & stopping to pick up candy or chips, the noodles kept me on an even keel all day long! In that sense, they were an ideal lunch side-dish (the centerpiece being a Quiznos sammie…yummy!) and dinner entree. But they also added about 40 minutes to an already long drive. Still, I think I’ll make/pack some more for the trip back home on Monday.

So, you get a picture of my eating yesterday. I’ll add that breakfast was the usual bran flakes & blueberries, my munchy road food was cherries, and I was doing awesome until I hit the “100-miles to go” mark.

Weird chain of thought got me to the counter at McDonalds. A few hours after dinner I was regretting the fact that I hadn’t had any real greens all day. I put snow peas & scallions in the noodle dish, but my intake of green stuff was way low. So I started thinking that I should get a V-8 and a coffee…V-8 & coffee…seems like a lot of liquids with still 100 miles to go. So I stopped at McDonalds for the coffee, a bathroom break, and to let the dog get some fresh air. Walked to the counter &, sure enough, ordered a medium coffee & a cheese burger. I guess I was thinking that since I didn’t have any greens, a cheese burger would make up for it?

The burger was terrible. 350 calories, not even good tasting, highly processed, no nutritional value, & just to be honest, negative nutritional value. So how did I go from worrying about not getting enough veggies & contemplating picking up a v-8 to eating something so toxic it actually undid what good nutrition I did consume yesterday? Answer: I gave myself permission to do it, knowing full well that I wouldn’t even enjoy it. Clearly I’m a moron.

Okay, to the 10-pound challenge. I didn’t bring the scales with me to hubby’s cause his house is an old bungelow & the only semi-level surface for an accurate reading on the scale is in the basement & I forget where in the basement exactly. But I did weigh myself before I left yesterday…with 3 days left to the week, no change from last week…so yeah, why, oh why did I eat that damn cheese burger?

The plan for this long weekend is lots of salads, chicken, veggies, very light starches. Exercise of running, walking, and, possibly, swimming laps (I love the pool at Tech, especially in the early morning). I’m also hoping to get a lot of work done, so I guess I’d better get to it.

Cheers ya’ll!

P.S. djdiamond13 asked an obvious question & I don’t know that I’ve ever addressed it here. Hubby & I don’t live together cause it’s almost impossible for married academics to get jobs in the same city, much less at the same university. We met while I was working on my PhD and he on his MA at the same university in Illinois. He graduated & went to a university in Mich to get his PhD, and I finished up my degree & got a job at a university in Mich (although, still over 500 miles away from him). We were married last year. Now he’s finishing up his PhD & in the fall he’ll begin as an assistant professor in my department. 5 years living apart has finally paid off with two jobs in the same location! It’s sort of a miracle: usually if husband and wife academics want to live together, one of them gets a job as a prof & the other has to agree to a non-tenure-track job or work a series of part-time jobs and surrender the dream of ever becoming a college professor. So it’s kinda our choice to live apart, but also kinda not our choice.

Food:

Breakfast: Wheaties
Lunch: peanut noodles
Dinner:

Exercise: a crappy run that I’ll describe in my C25K page if you’re interested in reading about a crappy run. Ran 2 miles, walked 1/2 mile.

eminem got me through my run today…just that one song.

The goal today was to “just see” what I could do. Walked for .15 & started running at 4.2 & 4.4. I had to push myself through the first mile, really wanted to quit–-His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy–-but I kept thinking that if I could just get to that good point, where the running feels good, I could at least make it to 1.75 miles. –-So here I go is my shot. Feet fail me not cause this maybe the only opportunity that I got-– Made it to 1.25 miles & felt good. A group of women ran buy on the track doing sideways runs followed by high knee kick runs & I thought, “maybe I should lift my knees a little more.” So I tried that for a bit & it actually felt natural.

At 1.5 miles I decided that I’d run for 30 minutes or 2 miles, whichever came first.& then eminem came on —you better lose yourself in the music— & I realized I wanted 2 miles to come before 30 minutes, so I upped the speed to 4.6, then 4.8 —the moment you own it, you better never let it go—

Here’s the deal, the song set a really nice pace & I actually felt like a runner for the last .5 mile. —you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo— No, let’s be honest here…for the last 1/2 mile, I felt like a bad ass with eminem screaming in my ears, the mild-mannered guy next to me doing a snail’s pace with the newspaper spread out all over his treadmill, and me running my little heart out while air-drumming & smiling like a damned fool.

Finished the 2 miles in 28:30. First time running 2 miles in a row! Damn, the bad ass feeling is still with me. Walked for a bit, ran 4 minutes on 4.8, walked a bit, had .2 left to complete the 5k, so I cranked it up to 5.0 for those last two-tenths of a mile. Finished the 5k in 44:50 & walked til I hit 3.25 miles.

When I came out of the gym, the rain had stopped & the sun was out, but it was almost cool out. So I took the dog for a nice 1-mile cool down walk before making lunch. Now I’m going shopping to get some more running capris cause mine are getting worn out where my still huge thighs rub together. I’m kinda bummed about this as the worn ones fit really nice now, much loser & baggier than when I started running in March. They make me feel thin even if I’m not there yet.

Food today:
Breakfast: bran flakes & blueberries
Snack: 1/2 of some kind of an Atkins protein bar (old one)…afraid of running out of fuel before my run.
Lunch: 2 poached eggs, 1/4 cup spinach, 2 crumpets (not whole wheat, but 80 calories & no fat)…yummy!
Dinner: the peanut noodle dish getupnow made the other night. I made mine with tons of snow peas, some scallions, and tofu…enough for lunch & dinner (on the road) tomorrow.

Exercise: 3.25 mile run/walk on treadmill. 1 mile walk with the dog.

So the house stuff meant I couldn’t visit hubby last week, but I am going to squeeze in a long weekend by leaving for the UP tomorrow morning. So I’ll be on the road all day tomorrow…AFTER I hit the treadmill to accumulate some steps.

Cheers ya’ll!

A rough workout day today & I’m all excuses about it. Topmost among those excuses is the stupid (and I’ll just add: stupid, stupid, stupid) tornado warnings & sirens of the last three days. Yesterday I heard the rain hit & the neighborhood kids screaming when it interrupted their play & I remembered being a kid & getting caught in one of those awesome sudden spring showers, lovely.

Seconds later, I was feeling considerably less nostalgic & much more frightened. Got the leash on the dog, grabbed my running shoes & my emergency bags (something I came up with when we started getting these warnings last week) & by the time we were ready to hit the basement, the sirens started. 15 awful minutes tucked in a basement corner with an old mattress as a fortress….the mattress was an idea I got during the sirens on Saturday, so we actually have a cozy little nest to run to now.

No tornado, thankfully, but a lot of trees down & a lot of people out of power last night & today. I waited til I saw blue sky & loaded the dog into the car to look at the new house: a few trees down on the street, but our place was fine. Today I waited until the heat abated a bit & took the dog for a walk: 20 minutes into the walk I heard the sirens in the distance…not in our immediate area, but we hightailed it back home anyway.

Okay, exercise update: yesterday’s run wasn’t great…I struggled to run for 15 minutes & ended up walking/running the rest of it. I may have tired myself out doing the strength training (arms, abs, & back) first, but my sore muscles today tell me I needed to work those muscles. I have another appointment at the new house tomorrow morning (the inspector found a non-dangerous mold in the attic that needs attending to), so I’m going to hit the gym after that for a run.

& food today: Breakfast: bran flakes & blueberries; Lunch: big salad with 2 oz salmon & asparagus, 1/4 cup cottage cheese; Snack: WW chocolate & 12 pretzels; Dinner: Lean cuisine Bar-B-que chicken pizza & salad; Snack: 80 calorie Fiber One yogurt & 1/4 cup bran flakes.

Cheers ya’ll!

Tiny2b found a virtual 5k race that we can participate in the weekend of June 28-29th!

Also, and on an unrelated note, I was catching up on some reading, & I think I found my inspirational phrase for this phase of my diet…from one of Feathers’ earlier posts this week:

“There are small, secret clothes in my wardrobe and I’m going to wear them.”

one pound loss this week. I know I should be thrilled given how terribly I’ve eaten & how little exercise I’ve done this week, but the 1 pound a week cycle was what I was hoping to break out of — in a big way —by taking on getupnow’s 10 pounds in one month challenge.

Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. I didn’t expect to lose 2.5 this week…by Thursday I was hoping for .5 at the most, so 1 pound is still 1 pound less…AND, if I’m looking at this in a glass-half-full sort of way, that’s the equivalent of 4 pounds of pressure off of my knees this week. Sounds a lot better when you put it that way!

Okay, off to buy some fish & veggies for lunches & dinners this week & cottage cheese, cherries, and yogurt for snacks.

So dinner was good! Salmon was on sale, so I got a giant filet (20 ounces) for $8.50! Came home & cut it into 5 dinner-sized portions and one lunch-sized one (about 2 ounces, but perfect for topping a salad). Then I marinated them in olive oil, chopped garlic & some fresh parsley, basil, chives, and tarragon. Ate one, froze 3, and have lunch & dinner all ready for tomorrow.

I also made the whole wheat couscous getupnow recommended. Loaded it up with eggplant, summer squash, zucchini, grape tomatoes, and my few remaining sundried tomatoes. Was delicious & made enough to take me well into next week…until I left it on the counter to cool & the dog ate it. Was a lot of food for my 50 pound pup & I can’t imagine what the eggplant is doing to his tummy right now. It’ll be a long night, I think.

So I’m bummed about losing all that good food. The only real difference between my usual couscous brand & the healthier whole grain variety was in how I felt eating it…felt like health nut who obsesses about what kinds of fuel she feeds her body. I like this particular dinner fantasy a lot, especially after I joined hubby for a hot dog at Coney Island before he left this afternoon. Back on the bandwagon tomorrow.

Exercise was a 1 hour walk around the dog park & a 1 mile walk with the dog tonight.

Okay, so I’m super-superstitious, & thus the radio (blog) silence these last few days. We found a house! I was afraid of jinxing it by blogging about it, but I think it’s a little safer now that the sellers have accepted our offer, and damn, I’ve really missed reading/writing here.

Anywho, things didn’t work out exactly as I planned this week: we went to look at the house I liked (and four others I liked just in case) on Wednesday, rather than Thursday. Made an offer yesterday, signed the purchase agreement today, & have started the d@$& loan application process.

The house we’re buying wasn’t the one I called hubby downstate to look at, but it was one I really liked anyway. This one is 7 miles from campus (not 2, so no walking or biking to work), but it has a lot more land & an extra garage out back for hubby to tinker on his car, computers, lanterns, and other stuff that makes me scream, “oh god, you’re going to blow yourself up!”

The house makes me happy cause it’s in pretty good shape: we need to tear down some terrifying wallpaper & I have plans for the bathroom, but it’s in move-in condition, which is a new one for both of us. It also makes me happy cause there’s no sad story attached to it: it’s not a foreclosure or short sale; the couple selling it are retiring to their summer home in the UP. We may have found the only happy house-for-sale story in the whole of Michigan!

Oh dear, little to no exercise this week. I made my steps goal earlier in the week, which was lucky since I’ve spent a lot of time this week sitting on my butt talking to our realtor, loan guy, and insurance people. We’ve also been doing early & rushed mornings with no breakfast & late (starving!) lunches at places where I could’ve made better choices & didn’t: Indian buffet Wednesday, a local place for lunch on Thursday, and one of Detroit’s many Greek-family owned restaurants for lunch today. The only good news is that the lunch buffet led to only a snack of pretzels & hummus at night, & I took half of my sandwiches to go yesterday & today & had those for dinner at night…so at least I showed a little control. But only a very little

But no exercise (did I mention that already? Clearly that’s the thing that’s been bugging me the most & I MISS it!). I think I may actually see a very little movement in the right direction when I weigh in tomrrow, but I don’t expect to see a 2.5 pd loss this week! I guess I’ll have to really kick butt for the next 3 weeks…I see a 322,000 step goal in my future!

Hubby leaves tomorrow…without me. I’d planned to go up there for 2 glorious weeks before I go home to see my family in MA, but house stuff (like the loan app & the inspection on Monday) will keep me here instead. Very depressing! Still, I’m looking forward to maybe getting back to the “old me” (the me who exercises) now that the house hunt is over.

Okay, that’s it for me. I’m still running errands for the house in the early morning, but I hope to get a long walk in tomorrow afternoon & then plan to spend the rest of the evening reading blogs & catching up!

Cheers ya’ll!

I got up early enough for a nice run, but somehow didn’t get to the gym on time to make it happen. So with another day house hunting with the realtor looming, I did 2 miles: .15 walking, 1.75 running, and .10 walking. Was actually a difficult run: I didn’t hit that “right, I can do this” point until around minute 18, so it came down to a battle of wills, my will to run against my will to stop running. Luckily the running will has gotten stronger these last few months, so she won that battle.

Then out with the realtor to look at houses. He had to schedule a few for the afternoon, so we looked at some in the morning, then I went to my meeting & we met again in the afternoon to look at — & I don’t want to jinx this, so I’ll just call it — a beautiful house that would suit us very well. Hubby’s on his way down this afternoon to look at it on Thursday. Fingers & toes crossed things work out with this house.

Food today
Breakfast: bran flakes & blueberries
Lunch: 1 cup chix/turkey meatball soup with kale & potatoes (that’s right, I made another batch…the meatballs are kinda fun).
Snack: 2 bread/butter pickles, 5 pretzels, & 6 cherries (now that’s better, but thanks ya’ll for all the awesome snack ideas: they’re going on my shopping list for hubby’s house at the end of the week)

Food yesterday
Breakfast: bran flakes & blueberries
Lunch: last of the leftover pasta dish
Snack: 20 multigrain chips with 3 tbs hummus, 3 WW chocolates (gotta stop eating these!)
Dinner: Small salad, 2 poached eggs, 1 cup summer squash with lite butter (more than a regular serving of veggie, but since it was the only one I really wanted, I doubled up on it)
Snack: fat/sugar free pudding with lite cool whip
Exercise: 2 mile run/walk, 2 miles walked with dog

I gotta start cutting down on those snacks or find ones that aren’t so packed with calories! What things do ya’ll snack on?

I’m trying to decide if I want to run today so I don’t have to do it tomorrow before I go out with the realtor in the morning (and then have meetings all afternoon) or if I want to do it tomorrow so that I am on a MWF running schedule. Mostly I think I’m just stalling on getting this day started.

Okay, the dog thinks I can at least think about this as we walk.

Update: took the dog for a 2.5 mile walk & called it good. I plan to do pilates & another walk tonight, but I’m going to put some distance between my long walk yesterday & my run by taking things a little easier today. Okay, so 7 miles is a long walk for me & a quick run for folks like Periwinkle and Josephine.

Food today:
Breakfast: bran flakes & blueberries
Lunch: salad with tomatoes, pecans, crumbled bleu cheese, Oil/vinegar, and a poached egg (got the poached egg on salad idea from Top Chef & it was pretty good, more tasty than a hard-boiled egg, anyway)
Snack: 12 multi-grain chips & 2tbs hummus & 2 WW chocolates
Dinner: Whole wheat pasta/sausage/veg thing & salad
Snack: fat/sugar free pudding & cool whip
Exercise: 2.5 mile walk with the dog. and another 1 mile walk