First Day Done!

Ok, so I had a good day. I checked in with the forums on Atkins.com and they told me I need some more veggies today and a lot more water tomorrow. I came in at 14 net carbs today. I wasn't too hungry all day - not until dinner. I think I may have been so hungry only because it tasted so good. I stopped myself from getting seconds and am satisfied. I'm going to have some celery & cream cheese after I get the kids to bed as a before bed snack. I also have at least a 1/2L of water to finish off.

Walked at the Y today for 35 minutes! Go me!

I'm going to make a quiche tonight for breakfast tomorrow. Crustless, of course. :)

Good Morning!

Ok! Have eggs, bacon and slice of cheese on my plate! Yum! Heading to the Y after breakfast and then to the store for supplies. Weighed in this morning and it wasn't as bad as I feared it might! Now to just get the 2 liters of water into me today. That'll be the toughest goal.

:)

New Year's Resolutions

I know, today is January 30th. I'm 30 days late with my New Year's resolutions. BUT, I wanted to make sure my resolutions were attainable. So, I've been pondering, assessing, pondering some more and have finally come up with what I think are some attainable goals for 2011.

First and foremost: lose 50 pounds. At a rate of 1lb per week, this goal should be easily attainable. Tomorrow I start the Atkins diet. I've done this before and had awesome success. However, two babies later killed that success. Also, working out at the Y Monday-Friday mornings. They have a childcare room, so that won't be a problem or a hindrance to my workouts.

Secondly, I'd like to get one of my novels finished. That is a lofty goal, so I'm reducing it to writing an hour each day. Creative writing. And if that is working on a novel, a short story or just some character exercises - I'll be happy.

Third, I want to spend an hour each week working on the blogs. Mine, Ben's and Madi's. I've really gotten out of the habit of doing their updates and time has flown. So...time to get back into it.

Fourth, find my happy.

So, raise your glasses up! Here's to an improved me, one that's happier, healthier, creative and communicating. Happy New Year!

New Sneakers!

It was a hard week. I wasn't able to run much this week. Between late night visits to friends and my feet going numb, I didn't get much running done. BUT! I got new sneakers today. Saucony running sneakers. I'm pumped. I'm hoping these will help my foot/shin/calf problems. They have a 90 day return policy, so I'll try them out for a week or so and see what happens. If they don't help, I'll just return them and try a different brand. Apparently, I need arch support. I forgot to get the inserts today after I got the sneakers, so I'll have to go out and get them tomorrow.

Here's to a successful week! Enjoy yours! :)

I Want A Treadmill...

Yes, I want a treadmill. We're in DC this week and I used the treadmill in the fitness center tonight. No shin pain, no calf pain and my foot didn't fall asleep. It was so pleasurable to run tonight, I wanted to keep going. But I knew if I did, I'd never go to sleep tonight. :)

I've been keeping up with my running. I'm now up to 15 minutes of running. I'm continuing to start out with five minutes of walking, then 15 minutes of running, another five minutes of walking, another 15 of running, five of walking, five to ten of running and then I cool down with ten to twelve minutes of walking.

I'm totally in love with running. I can completely see why people love to do it. You burn a ton of calories, you feel great when you're doing it, you feel even better when you're done and it's just awesome. I also feel good about giving Ben and Madi a healthier influence.

As I said above, I've been having problems with my shins and my foot. When we get home, I'm going to go to a sports store and get a pair of running shoes. I'm hoping it'll help with the foot issue. I'm not sure what to do about my shins. I've done some research and I'm hoping it's not shin splints. Running on the treadmill was awesome. I didn't have any trouble with anything tonight.

So, tonight's workout was my best yet. 65 minutes total, 418.2 calories burned, 3.99 miles. I think I'll be in good shape for that 10k next spring!!

:)

Life Change

No, not "change of life", "Life Change". I'm 32, and decided I need to do something to make me happy. I'm overweight, out of shape and not a very healthy influence on my children. So on Monday I got up at 5:00am and started my Life Change. I took to the street in my neighborhood and walked/ran for 38 minutes 4 seconds. On Tuesday I got up at 5:00am again and did a workout on the Wii using EA Sports Active. Wednesday I walked/ran for 39 minutes 52 seconds. Thursday & Friday I did the Wii workout. Today - I completely kicked butt! I've been up since 4:00am (both kids have wicked colds). After I finally got them put back to bed (approx 2 hours later), I went out for my walk/run. I pushed myself to 5-minute run spurts and did an extra lap for a total workout time of 50 minutes 14 seconds!! Of course, now I'm ready to collapse and go back to bed! But, all in all, not a bad first week.

I've also been watching my caloric intake and trying to stick to 1500 calories on my walk/run days and 1200 on the rest of the days. I've decided that Sundays are my off days, at least from exercising. I don't want to burn myself out. I'm pretty excited. I think this is going to be great and I'm looking forward to the positive results from all my hard work.

And the absolute quiet in the morning is wonderful. Everyone is still asleep and it's nice "me" time. I plan to check back weekly with an update on my week's work. My ultimate goal is to lose 40 pounds and try for a 5k run next spring/summer. :)

See you next week!

In case you're interested, here's how I did my run/walks:

8/31/09:

Walk: 5:00, Run: 2:15, W: 5:00, R: 3:15, W: 5:00, R: 3:34, W: 14:00

9/2/09:

W: 5:00, R: 3:50, W: 5:00, R: 4:00, W: 5:00, R: 4:02, W: 12:00

9/5/09:

W: 5:00, R: 5:01, W: 4:26, R: 4:51, W: 4:26, R: 5:01, W: 4:26, R: 4:58, W: 12:05

Good-Bye Summer

Wow.  I hadn't realized how long it's been since I've been here.  Time sure does fly when you're busy!

Well, let's catch up...Last week we found out that the Tiny News is a GIRL!  Her name will be Madeleine Grace.  She's still due on 2/2/09, but I have a feeling she'll be arriving sometime in January.  We're now almost 21 weeks along and I feel her kicking and moving all the time now.  She's quite active!  

Benjamin has started his Montessori preschool.  He loves it.  The first few days were a little nerve-wracking, since he was not ok with being left at school.  He's in the groove now and just loves going.  I love it because it gives me three mornings a week where I have some "me" time and I can pick up the house in peace!  Plus, I love that it's structured more towards academics, than play - and I think he likes that too.

David & I are leaving on Tuesday for Cancun, Mexico.  We are going for 8 days and I can't wait.  We both need a break and some "us" time, especially before our new arrival arrives.

Summer is heading out the door and Fall has pretty much arrived.  Summer wasn't here for long this year.  It was late in arriving and early in leaving.  We had tons of rain this year too.  Our poor boat was not put to work as much as we had hoped.  What with oil prices so high, it's too bad Summer took early leave too!  We, or should I say - David, got the deck stained this past weekend so it's protected from all the snow we're bound to get.  The cats are back home as of today and seem to be thrilled.  Charlie just jumped out of the van and laid right down in the driveway.  Right at home!  Edd & Maiser took their time sniffing around first.  They're so skeptical.

I guess that's about all that going on lately.  I'm sure as I get more pregnant and end up being cooped up because of the weather - I'll be on more and have "lots" to say, err...rant.  LOL!

Hope you all had great summers!  Here's to a fun Fall!