weeklyish update

This week, I've had significantly more success in my goals.  Maybe public shaming via blog writing helped?

30 minutes of exercise per day:
Monday through Saturday I alternated doing the 30 day shred (level 1) with a 30 minute run/walk.  Sunday, I deemed to be a "rest" day, but I didn't want to break the streak so I took Isis for a walk and did a 20 minute Yoga for Runners video.

Getting back into running is harder than I had hoped.  Even though I'm only running 90 seconds at a time, by the end of my last interval I'm definitely feeling tightness in my calves/shins.  I'm hoping by doing plenty of stretching and strength training and taking it slow, I'll eventually be able to get back to running pain-free for more than a few minutes at a time.

Track what I eat / Reduce caloric intake:
I started using loseit.com again to track my food, and by setting a caloric budget on there I was able to stay "in budget" 6 out of 7 days this past week.

Saturday was my friend Shelley's bachelorette party, and the combination of delicious Korean food, champagne, and nutella cookies set me "over budget".  On the flip side, I probably burned off at least a few of those calories singing and dancing the night away in our private karaoke party room.

 

In other news, today was my 100th day of the #100happydays challenge.  I looked back at my Instagrams of the past 100 days and found that 30% of them were pictures of Isis, 26% were either with Scott or of something I was doing with Scott, and 27% were of food or drinks.  So apparently my life in a nutshell is puppy, husband, and eating/drinking.  Sounds about right.  (Also, if you are wondering why that adds to more thna 100%, it's because I often had pictures of Scott+Isis or pictures of Scott+I eating something delicious for dinner).

In keeping with the "teaspoons" half of this blog, this week I hope to write a bit about what I've been cooking lately.  I haven't been as creative in the kitchen as I used to be, but I feel like I've recently gotten better about cooking regularly.... except for Thursday when a tornado came through Durham and our power went out.  Then we got take out from my favorite burrito place :-)

May goals so far

Well, I haven't exactly stuck to all of my May goals so far.

Goal #1: Get 30 minutes of exercise per day:

• May 2 and 3: 30 minute walk
• May 4-7: FAIL
• May 8: kickball!
• May 9 and 10: 30 minute walk
• May 11: kickball
• May 12: 30 day shred

In addition to having failed for 4 days, I need to start doing something besides walking.  See: today's 30 day shred, and tomorrow's goal of going for a run.

Goal #2: Track what I'm eating.
I started using loseit.com again, and I've logged food 7 of the last 12 days.  Not terrible, but definite room for improvement.

Goal #3: Reduce caloric intake in some vague way
I told myself I was going to drink less alcohol, but I had at least one drink on 6 of the last 12 days.  I can probably reduce this - but there always seems to be a reason: free beer when we win kickball, Cinco de Mayo tequila, trying the local bar's new blueberry beer... abstaining from alcohol is hard!  Yet, I know alcohol is empty calories I could cut out if I really tried.
As for other ways to reduce my caloric intake, I have snacked a bit less, so that's a pro.

I'm thinking about looking for a new app to use to track workouts (mostly walking and running).  I think ideally, I'd like an app that can help facilitate my workouts - e.g. has the ability to set up run/walk intervals and tell you on your headphones when to run/walk.  I'd also like it to be able to store info on distance/time/pace/calories burned I think.  Bonus points if it interfaces with some way for me to track what I'm eating, so that I have one central place for workouts + caloric intake.  Any suggestions, blog world?

restart.

An entire academic year has passed, and I haven't blogged once.  What can I say?  Fifth year was busy.  I cooked new things a handful of times, and I worked out very rarely (so sad).  I recently decided I would like to start blogging again, though.  Partly, I think blogging helps me stay healthier - if I have to blog about something I cooked or the workouts I'm trying, I'm more likely to DO those things.  So, I some goals for the month of May that I will be blogging about:

1.  Get 30 minutes of exercise in every day.  This will primarily be a combination of strength workout DVDs and run/walking as I try to get back into running shape.

2.  Track what I'm eating.  When I track it, I am better at eating healthier.

3.  Reduce my daily caloric intake by cutting out things that aren't good for me / are unnecessary.  This is kind of vague and will be an experiment - but I'd like to snack less, eat out less and cook more, and drink less alcohol.

And, to make this post a bit more interesting, here are a few photos to sum up my past 9 months or so:

Went to the UMD @ VTech football game (November)

Isis got to play in the snow in Maine (December)

Attended a wonderful winter wedding (January)

Went to the National's home opener (April)

Attended another beautiful wedding (April)

Visited my alma matter to celebrate 100 years of Greek life (April)

... I guess April was eventful! :)