The journey so far:
I joined Weight Watchers in September, and I've been using their online tools to keep track of what I eat and my activity/exercise ever since. I've lost 33 pounds so far! I started running in November, using the RunKeeper app on my phone to keep track of my runs, time my intervals, etc. as I did a walk-to-10K program. In March, Uncle Lindsey came in town from Ohio and ran the Capitol 10K with me in Austin. It was a blast! A friend has a boot camp group at school that meets 2x a week after school for an hour. I joined that group in the spring and did 2 6-week sessions.
Scott and I went to Europe in late April/early May, and while I was there I didn't track my food or go on any runs - but we did walk everywhere. After I got back, I saw that even with all the good food I only gained a pound! I got back on track counting points after my trip but I was a little spotty with running as frequently as I had been before the trip. Getting sick after I was back in town messed things up, too, plus hot weather and the crazy-town that is the end of the school year. Also, I am very good at excuses. The truth is, honestly, I was tired of tracking food and running, and I didn't have a goal in mind (since the 10K had passed) so it was easier to say "forget it" and just watch TV.
Now I am home for the summer. It occurred to me, even before summer officially began, that I needed to make a schedule for myself to hold myself accountable. I haven't reached my original goals yet (I have a specific weight goal, and it's 10-15 pounds away). I met my goal of running a 10K but now I have a newer goal - make running a permanent part of my lifestyle, whether I'm training for a specific race or not. I want to do strength training. Running is fantastic cardio and is great for helping me with weight loss, but I want to be stronger. I want muscles! Boot camp showed me that I can make a lot of progress, noticeable progress, and I want to keep that up. So I came up with a schedule.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'm doing the workouts from Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. You are supposed to work out every day for 30 days, doing the same level 1 workout for 10 days, then level 2 every day for 10 days, then level 3 the last 10 days (they get progressively more difficult) but I have a couple of problems with this system - 1) I can't do the same things for 10 days. In a row. I would get bored, and then I would quit. 2) My muscles wouldn't have time to rest/recover in between. I think that's an important part of working out; that recovery is when muscle rebuilds and gets stronger. I decided to alternate the workouts, so I'm going between level one and level two right now. When I'm stronger, I will add level three into the mix. Right now, four days into it, I've done level 1 twice and level 2 twice. It's a good fit for me right now - I can do the workouts, they are quick and effective, and I feel awesome (and noodly, with tired arms and legs) afterwards.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I'm running. Since I seem to do best with a prescribed program, I'm following the 8-week "run farther" program in the book Scott and I used for the walk to 10K program. Working on slowly building myself up to run farther will get me ready to train for the half marathon I want to run in January. At least, that's the plan. I've been getting up early on Tuesdays and Thursdays to run before Scott has to leave for work. Then he's home so the boys aren't alone and it's not so terribly hot outside yet, since the sun is not yet completely up.
I'm proud of myself for getting started. That's always been the hardest part for me, getting started. Once I get going, I can keep going. If I stop, then I have to get started all over again - and that's hard. So no stopping now!!
No comments:
Post a Comment