FRUSTRATION

I thought I would write a quick post about a frustrating experience I had this week. At the beginning of the week, I was feeling really good about myself. I'd worked out every day except for Sundays for the past few weeks and I was pretty proud of that. I kept thinking about being able to post about working out 6 times per week for a month... and then two months... and then three months. 

Feeling good after a workout earlier this week

Then Tuesday night came. I had to wake up to feed Eve at 5:00 am and started to feel really sick. Pretty soon I was throwing up (sorry, TMI). Maybe I had a stomach bug or some wood stain fumes affected me strangely. Anyway, I felt pretty awful all of Wednesday so I couldn't work out. I wanted to so badly but I knew that I couldn't and shouldn't. It was so frustrating though. The month achievement I'd been working toward went out the window. 

In the past when this sort of thing has happened to me, it's led me to quit working toward my goal. This is pretty much the story for every new years resolution I've ever set. I do really well for a couple of weeks and then miss a day so I feel discouraged and give up. I didn't want to let that happen this time though. I've been working so hard and I'm starting to see some serious results. Yes, I've been losing weight but the more important difference is in my fitness. When I decided to start running I couldn't even run a lap of the park near our house. Now I can do that and more and it's only been about 3 weeks. My weight hasn't really dropped so far this week which would be discouraging but I still feel motivated because of the improvements in my cardio. 

I saw this image on Pinterest and thought it applied perfectly to this sort of situation. This is a great thing to keep in mind whenever you slip up, whether it's exercising, dieting, or working on any other goal.

Source here

I always want to be perfect but I need to come to terms with the fact that this isn't always possible. It wasn't my fault that I was sick and it's no reason to give up. So even though I feel frustrated and a little disappointed, I'm going to keep working hard. Health and fitness is too important to give up on easily.

UPDATE- WEEK 3

I did all six of my planned workouts this week! Yay! I even made sure to workout on the day we went Sea-Dooing instead of using it as an excuse like last week. 

Had to check out my huge guns in the mirror...
At least I'm starting to see a little bit of definition!

Here's what I did last week:

Monday: Chest + back workout (P90x)
Wednesday: Shoulders + arms workout (P90x)
Friday: Legs + back workout (P90x)
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday : Jogging- 5 minutes of walking, then alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 15 minutes

I'm happy to say that I'm not hating the running I've been doing. I finish each run feeling like I could do a little bit more which is great! I've always been a terrible runner so it's great to see some progress in this area!

My goal: 1800-2000 calories per day

Monday: 2173... oops... that's what happens when you eat fast food
Tuesday: 1867
Wednesday: 1570- how does this keep happening? I always feel like I'm eating too much food but apparently that's not always the case
Thursday: 1900
Friday: 1900
Saturday: 1953
Sunday: 1558

Overall I did pretty well. Like last week, I had a couple of days where I probably didn't eat as much as I should... and then another couple of days where I ate more than I should have. I guess that's just how things go. It should balance out, right?

I'm really liking the MyFitnessPal app for tracking my calories. I love at the end of each day it tells me my projected weight loss. This is what I saw today:

Yes, please! Let's see if this is true in 5 weeks

Here are my stats from last week:
Weight: 123.5 lb
Hip measurement: 36.25"
Waist measurement: 26"

Here are my stats from today:
Weight: 122.5 lb
Hip measurement: 36"
Waist measurement: 26"

I'm pretty pleased with these results! I still have some work to do though!

HOW TO START RUNNING

I have never liked running. In fact, I've always hated it. With a passion. I couldn't understand the appeal of getting all out of breath and feeling like I was going to die. I also lack any natural running talent whatsoever.

So why did I start running? Mainly because I wanted to see if I could like running.

I know that there are many people who love running. They experience the "runner's high" and it is almost like an addiction to them. I want to be one of these people. I want to want to run.

Running has so many great health benefits (strong bones, healthy heart, reduced risk of arthritis, increased life expectancy, etc.) plus it is so easy to do. All you really need is some running shoes and you're good to go.

I've been wondering if I've never liked running because I've never given it much of a chance. I've only ever really run when I've been forced to do it or during competitive sports. Maybe if I increase my cardiovascular fitness and run for a few weeks, I'll start to like it.

I made the decision to give running a try but then realized I wasn't really sure how to go about it. If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it the right way. I wanted to give it everything I had. So I did a little research and I'm going to share what I learned with you.

If you have been completely sedentary up to this point, you'll probably need to start a walking program before starting a running program. You can download a free walking plan here.

If you're ready to move up from your walking program, you can start by adding small amounts of running to your walks. For example, you could start with 5 minutes of walking (to warm up) and then alternating 60 sec of running with 90 seconds of walking for 15 minutes.

Don't start out too fast or too hard. You'll be more likely to injure yourself because your body won't be prepared for the exercise. Hello, shin splints. You want to finish your run feeling like you could go a little farther.

Don't run every day. Running is high impact and repetitive so it's easy to get injured if you do it too much. For new runners, aim to run 3 times per week.

Don't increase the time that you run during the week by more than 10%  per week. This way you'll be more handle the increase and won't put yourself in greater risk of injury (We meet again shin splints)

Get some good running shoes. Worn out shoes are the leading cause of injury and they can also cause you develop a bad running technique if they aren't giving you support in the places that you need it.

This could be you...

Focus on distance rather than time when you start running. If it's your first time out, don't try to beat the 100 m world record... cause you just won't. You'll just end up drop dead tired and will have only covered a tiny distance. If you focus on distance, you can take it as slow as you need to and can finish your running without feeling like you're going to pass out.

Keep motivated. Here are some ideas:

- Write a running plan and stick it somewhere that you will see every day

- Listen to fun music while you run

- Reward yourself. You could use daily rewards, like a yummy smoothie after your run, weekly rewards or one big reward when you finish your running prep for a 5K

- Make running a habit so you don't have to rely on willpower. Go out for a run every time that you've planned one, even if it's only for a few minutes.

- Work toward a goal. Aim to reach a certain distance or time or train for a 5K

- Keep a training log

UPDATE- WEEK 2

Okay, it's time to report on how my week went!

For the most part exercising went really well last week. I managed to do 5 of my 6 scheduled workouts. Some of these didn't get done until about 11:30 pm, though! That's just the way things go sometimes with an 8 month old who will only take naps when she's being held and doesn't go to bed until 10 pm (on a good day).

Here's what I had planned to do:
Monday: Jogging
Tuesday: Legs + back workout
Wednesday: Jogging
Thursday: Chest + back workout
Friday: Jogging
Saturday: Shoulders + arms workout

Here's what I actually did:
Monday: Jogging - I went to the park and walked/ran 2 miles. There was a lot more walking than jogging though...
Tuesday: Legs + back workout- I did the p90x legs + back workout. I didn't actually watch the p90x video though, I just did the exercises that they do on it. I can't stand watching workout videos over and over again. Tony Horton's jokes just aren't funny the tenth time you watch the video... or the first time.
Wednesday: I was supposed to jog but that didn't happen. We went Sea-Dooing and tubing instead. My chest was sore the next day so I did get a workout of some kind at least
Thursday: Jogging- since I got a chest workout the day before, I skipped the p90x chest + back workout and jogged instead. I decided to start following a couch-to-5K schedule. I walked for 5 minutes and then alternated 60 sec of running with 90 sec of walking for 15 minutes.
Friday: Shoulders + arms workout- I did the p90x shoulders + arms workout (without the video)
Saturday: Jogging- same workout as on Thursday

Now onto the food. I had some really good days and one really bad day a.k.a date night.  It's pretty rare for John and I to go on a date (we've only had three dates in the past 8 months ) so I always like to make the most of it when we do go out. This usually means that I go waaaaay over my calories for the day.

Keep in mind that my goal for calories is 1800-2000. On the days where I don't exercise, I want closer to 1800. On the days I do exercise, I can have closer to 2000.

Monday: 1996
Tuesday: 1598
Wednesday: 1950
Thursday: 1542
Friday: 1802
Saturday: 2485. Can you tell that this was date night?
Sunday: 1858

Umm I have no idea what happened on Tuesday and Thursday! I usually take advantage of all the calories I have but apparently I just went a little crazy and decided that I didn't like food or something...

Now to see how all of this work paid off...

Here were my stats from last week:
Weight: 125 lb
Hip measurement: 36.5"
Waist measurement: 26.5"

Here are my stats from today:
Weight: 123.5 lb
Hip measurement: 36.25"
Waist measurement: 26"

I'm glad to see that my date night splurging didn't ruin all my hard work! I'm definitely feeling motivated to keep on track this week!