(Okay, so this wasn’t technically my first 5k. I did a Color Run about a year and a half
ago, but since I walked it, spent a bunch of extra time at the “color stations”
and they don’t even keep time, it doesn’t really count. )
I ran my first 5k on Saturday, and it was so awesome that I
decided to share my experience with you!
As far as time goes, all I can really say is that while my time was “awful”
by most runners’ standards, for me, it was pretty good! I finished in about 46 minutes, with an
average pace of just below 15min/mile.
While my time wasn’t the best, the experience of running my first 5k was
awesome! Here are the highlights:
I kept a decent pace!
Life’s been a bit crazy lately, so I wasn’t really “training”
for this race, and I haven’t run even remotely consistently since about
May. Since then, I’ve run/exercised only
a few times a month at best. When I
first started running, I was between a 14-15 minute mile pace, even when
running short distances less than a mile.
So be able to keep up that pace even over a 5k route was pretty
exciting!
Everyone has to start
somewhere!
I was strangely nervous before this race, despite the fact
that I had no intention of trying to win and no “personal best” to try to
beat. Having never run a 5k before, I was
anxious about whether or not to eat the morning of the race, and if so, how
much. I was self conscious about having
never attached one of those shoe tag thingy’s to my shoes before and whether
people would be able to see that I was struggling with putting it on. Not only did I get all of those “firsts” out
of the way for next time, but I also now have a time to beat for my next 5k!
We did both manage to get our shoe tags on eventually!
Motivation!
I feel like most people are motivated leading up to a 5k,
10k, etc. because they are trying to train to get ready for it. Well, I really didn’t have the time to put
into it, and wasn’t trying to beat a time, so I wasn’t really motivated to
prepare for the race. After the fact,
however, was a completely different story!
Despite the fact that I was up fairly late Friday night and up early for
Saturday’s race, I felt absolutely FANTASTIC on Saturday, even with a bit less
caffeine than usual! So fantastic in
fact, that I decided to think about running in the mornings before work. (For those of you who don’t know, I am NOT a
morning person.) So I stopped by my
local running store last night and bought some reflective armband things so I
don’t get hit by a car, and this morning I actually went for a 1 mile run! It was even raining and I still did it!
So here is my advice to you:
if you have never run a 5k before, and you get the opportunity, do
it! Even if you have not trained or
prepared, it will be worth it! Go at a
pace you are comfortable with, you are still faster than the people on the
couch!
In my last post, I officially declared that I was giving up
on my 60 Day Running Challenge – at least for now. I am not a quitter. And I don’t truly consider this
quitting. I’m not much of a goal
oriented person, but I did have a few vague overall goals when I started my
running challenge – run every day, make exercise a habit. But ultimately, my goal is to be
healthier. And exercise and physical
fitness is just one aspect of my health.
I am still very determined to change some things in my life to improve
my overall health, happiness, and general well-being. With so many things going on in my life at
the moment, I’ve realized that I need to focus more on other areas of my life
if I want to be able to successfully start any type of exercise regimen.
If you know me at all, you know that personal organization
and time management are not exactly strengths of mine. I say “personal organization” because
strangely enough, I can be very organized when it comes to projects at work or
planning an event, yet I can’t manage to organize my life enough to eat
breakfast every day or to do laundry regularly (seriously, I wait until I am
stuck wearing awful clothes that I hate from the back of my closet, then I wait
a few more days, and then I finally wash just a few loads of laundry to get my
through another week.)
A couple months ago, my mom mentioned that the Kenny Chesney
song, “The Woman With You” reminded her of me… At first, I thought it was
strange, until she said that it was because of how I’m always on the go and
busy with so many things at once. I didn’t
really think anything of it until the next time I heard the song on the radio
and realized just how much I can relate to that song these days. I’ve always loved that song, and I’ve always
connected with it, but it really hit home the last time I heard it.
(For those of you who can’t stand country music and will
refuse to play the video and listen to the song, it’s basically about a woman
who is feeling run-down from trying to keep up with so many things.)
I should not be feeling this way at 23 years old, single,
with no kids, living at home with my parents. And I know that as I get older and have more
responsibilities (kids, a house to maintain, etc.) that this feeling will only
get worse if I don’t make some changes in my life NOW.
I’m trying to figure out how to balance the many priorities
in my life right now. A few of the
bigger things:
Work.Not just going to work, but also going to
work and having the energy and focus that I need to do my job well.I have been extremely distracted and
unmotivated up until recently; I’m finally getting back into the groove of
things and don’t want to let that slip away again.
Sleep.This seems like a strange thing to have to
make a priority, but I have learned that I am one of those people who needs a
good 7-8 hours of sleep a night to function well, which is a challenge because
I am naturally a night-owl, yet need to get up early(ish) for work in the
morning.Forcing myself to actually go
to sleep by 10 is nearly impossible, especially when I am trying to keep up
with other things.
Relaxation/happiness/mental
health. Again, this seems like it
should be an easy one – shouldn’t it be easy to do the things that make us
happy? – Not all the time.Unfortunately, doing fun things tends to pull me away from other
priorities, which I then feel guilty about falling behind on. Thus, as soon as
the fun activities end, I am beating myself up about not finishing “important
task X” that I didn’t get finished.
Learning
to play guitar.Okay, I’m not
actually learning to play guitar.If you
know me, you also know that I am musically challenged and this is never
something I would even want to attempt.But I am working on something very important, and very time consuming
that I would prefer not to share with the world yet… So the best analogy I can
think of would be learning to play an instrument: this task is difficult,
requires daily effort, and I need to finish it by a certain date (say you’re
practicing for your first concert/recital).For the purposes of this blog, I’ll just refer to this other task/goal
as learning to play the guitar.This
seems so mysterious, but it’s really not anything that crazy; just not
something I want to tell the world just yet.
Health,
fitness, and exercise.While I’m no
longer trying to run every day, I do still want to keep up with some sort of
physical activity.This is about
balance, remember?
As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, I was feeling
very overwhelmed with everything I needed to get done. I decided to just chalk this week up as a
loss as far as productivity is concerned, and instead just relax these past few
evenings after work. I got a massage,
did some reading, watched some TV, and made a great dinner I’d been looking
forward to for days. And most
importantly, I didn’t worry about all the things that weren’t getting
done. None of them are super critical to
be done this week, so I let them go.
Ordinarily, I’d say this is the worst possible thing to do to improve
your productivity, but I think this week it was exactly what I needed. Did I get anything accomplished this
week? Not really. Am I still stressed? Yes. Am I overwhelmed to the point that I feel
like the world is ending? No! I still
have all the same things on my to-do list, but it feels much more manageable! Also, now that I’m not so worried about the
world ending, I’ve been able to come up with a rough plan to stay on-task with
my “guitar practicing”, maintain some balance, and not lose my mind!
As part of trying to maintain some balance, every week I will:
Cook 1
meal.I enjoy cooking.Cooking is my de-stresser.Also, generally when I cook, I choose
something fairly healthy, so I end up feeling good about what I’m eating.Plus, this helps toward the whole
health/fitness side of things.
Pack lunch
once a week.Again, if I pack a
lunch, it’s probably healthier than anything I would buy for lunch.And it also takes some stress out of my work
day, because if I’m having a busy day, I don’t have to find time to run out to
pick up something for lunch, then feel bad about eating something unhealthy.I can take the full hour to just relax, eat,
chat with coworkers, blog, or “practice guitar.”Or I can also just knock out whatever task I’m
working on and not have to take a break to go buy something, so I get it
finished sooner and feel better about being able to cross something off my
to-do list!It’s a win-win!
Do 1
fitness class.I’m currently signed
up for a Yoga and a Muscle Mix class at my local Y.I’d like to do both each week, but I will do
at least 1 a week for sure.
Go for at
least 1 walk or run.I’d like to
keep running at least occasionally since I hope to eventually try another 60
days of running or something similar.But
sometimes just going for a walk is more of a stress reliever.Running for me is a challenge, so I’m not yet
to the point that it’s always an escape from everything else going on in my
life, because it’s still one of the things that adds pressure… does that make
sense?Walking on the other hand, can
give me a chance to just slow down for once.
Clean or
organize something –anything.As I
said, I am disorganized.In addition to
my time management, this disorganization includes my physical surroundings…
Clutter is my middle name.A certain
amount of clutter and disorganization is comfortable for me, but lately it’s at
a point that I feel like it’s interfering with other things.
“Practice
Guitar” – I have a sort of “practice schedule”, so to speak, that I am
following and that I will be trying to stick with pretty closely.Crazy as it may seem, I’m aiming to devote
about 10-12 hours a week to this – on top of 55+ hours a week at work or
commuting; on top of all these other things I’m trying to do, along with some
other stress-causing events that have occurred lately – so you can see where
this has had an impact on my usual habits and routines and how I managed to get
overwhelmed.
If you actually read this entire post, wow! Kudos to you!
Or maybe you just have too much time on your hands? Either way, I appreciate it, and I hope if
any of you are feeling overwhelmed that maybe one teensy bit of this post is
applicable to your situation and can help you out!
I have a crazy few weeks ahead of me, but I think I can
handle it… wish me luck!
Okay, so far, the one thing I’ve learned from my 60
Day Running Challenge is that working out while traveling is nearly
impossible! Especially if it’s not a “lounge
on the beach and relax” vacation where you have endless amounts of time. During these 60 days, I’ve had one volunteer
trip and one business trip… both completely disrupted my workout routine. Whether it’s a long day of driving or flights
get delayed or you lose time with a time zone change, it’s pretty tough to do
any exercise on the days traveling to or from your destination… So those days
are pretty much a loss from the start.
Then there’s the days leading up to the trip where maybe you are busy
doing laundry or packing, or maybe finalizing travel plans… It’s tough to find
time to exercise! Then you’ve got the
trip itself… On the volunteer trip, I was basically busy all day and then
exhausted in the evenings. In reality,
the volunteering itself was a workout – spending an hour lifting 50 pound bags
of dog food or spending 5 hours in the hot sun moving debris from a disaster
area are not exactly couch-potato activities! – but that meant I did not stick
to my plan to actually run in the evenings.
On the business trip, I was partially at the mercy of my schedule and my
co-workers schedules, as well as trying to do some sightseeing. Again, I did a decent bit of walking, so some
might consider that a workout, but I did not do any running. And traveling was just one of many things
that threw a wrench into my plans…
At this point, I’m on Day 45 of my 60
Day Running Challenge and have only actually run for 21 of those 45 days. I
had two streaks of 10 days in a row, and one random other day. I’m at
a less than 50% success rate, which is pretty disappointing. And right now, I’m feeling very overwhelmed
with some other things going on in my life, making it even more difficult to
find time to run. I know I always feel
better after a run, but I feel like I have to sacrifice time from something
else important in order to do it.
I don’t want to give up, but I do feel that I need to
reprioritize a bit until I get a few things under control. The entire point of my 60 Day Challenge was
to make exercise a habit, and I’m not doing that if I’m skipping 2 weeks at a
time. My hope was that by making running
(and exercise in general) a daily habit, I would be able to keep at it even
when life gets crazy… Unfortunately, life got crazy before I had a chance to
develop the habit. Trying to make your
own changes in life when life is trying to make other changes for you is a
tricky thing to do.
So unfortunately, I think this is the end of my “60 Days of
Running” – at least for now. I am not
giving up on making exercise a habit though, so keep an eye out for an upcoming
post about what I’ll be doing instead!
If you read my last post, then you know this doesn't really count as week 5 since I basically took about 2 weeks off. But for the sake of avoiding "repeat" weeks and getting myself all confused about things, I'm still calling last week "Week 5" and will continue to do so.
Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in myself after last week. I started out strong, but then had a crappy end of a week in general, which resulting in a crappy end of a week running-wise.
Sunday: 0.99 miles 14:43 minutes 14:48 min/mile pace
Monday: 2.28 miles 32:16 minutes 14:10 min/mile pace
Tuesday: 1.11 miles 13:44 minutes 12:20 min/mile pace
Wednesday: 0.32 miles 5:00 minutes (On treadmill, - too lazy to calculate pace) plus 1 hour yoga
Thursday: 0.75 miles 13:28 minutes 17:57 min/mile pace
Friday: 1.28 miles 22:51 minutes 17:50 min/mile pace
Saturday: no run, skipped "muscle mix" class
Now at a glance, if you look strictly at distances, this week doesn't look too awful. Wednesday would be the worst day if distance is all i'm looking at, but Wednesday was yoga day, which I usually stick to a shorter, lighter run anyway. I was running late getting to the gym though, so I ended up running after yoga instead of before it - I don't recommend that... Running at 9pm after an hour of relaxation does not go so well, but i still ran for 5 minutes, so I'm okay with it.
Thursday and Friday on the other hand... I have mixed feelings about. Both days I was just not having a good day. I was in a bad mood to begin with, plus I got a new phone that is awkward to run with which put me in an even worse mood when it came time to run. On the one hand, I'm proud of myself for at least putting on the running shoes and heading outside. On the other hand, I only actually ran for probably less than 3 minutes each day, but I did make myself at least stay out and walk a while longer... I'm disappointed in myself for letting a bad attitude get in the way of sticking with my running plan, but I also know that even attempting to get out and run is a huge improvement over what I would have done before I started this plan.
Saturday morning I was supposed to go to my Muscle Mix class, but since I'd had such a mentally and emotionally exhausting week, I decided not to set an alarm and that I would go if I woke up on time but otherwise I would skip. Well, I didn't wake up on time. And then i decided to be lazy all day and basically do nothing all day. And by mid afternoon I had decided I wasn't going to run at all that day either. I felt a bit guilty for skipping my run when the previous two days had been basically skipping too, but sometimes you just need a day off where all you do is relax. So I lounged around all day and then went to a movie with a friend Saturday night. I did no run, I did not go to the Muscle Mix class, and I basically did nothing productive all day. And it was wonderful.
Even at the end of the day Saturday, I wasn't too terribly upset with myself for not such a great end to the week. I definitely felt refreshed after having a day to just relax and felt like I would be able to get this week off to a good start. Unfortunately, the downside to taking a day off is that there are things that need to get done sooner or later... So Sunday I was playing catch-up all day. I had a relatively productive day and was able to get caught up on most of the things I needed to get done over the weekend... but I didn't run. Mid-afternoon I even changed into running clothes, but I just continued with everything else I was working on. I took a few breaks to read and do a few other things, but I still never went for a run. I had a lot to get done, but I could have made the time for a short run if I had really made an effort. But I didn't. I made one excuse after another. First I was too busy right then and decided I would run when I reached a good stopping point. Then it was too soon after lunch. Then I was too hungry and ready for dinner. Excuses. And that is why I am most disappointed in myself. Not only did I have a couple lazy "runs" (let's be honest, Thursday and Friday were walks), and then took a day off, but I had no good reason not to run Sunday, and I ended up skipping two days in a row because I was making excuses.
I know this week is going to be a tough week to stay on track, because I'll be doing some traveling for work. There are two days that I pretty much know I won't run because of the time spent flying, dealing with security, and the time zone changes. I know tonight will be tough because I will be busy trying to get all the last minute things figured out and packing finished and everything. And when I get back, I will be tired from the jet lag and the late flight... Not to mention the days that I'm actually working out of town, I'll have to eat out, and some of what I do will be dependent on co-workers and how things go during the day, so it may be a bit more challenging to find time to run since I won't be sticking to my usual schedule.
Last time I got completely off track when I took a last minute road trip. I think it's understandable that it's harder to work out when you're traveling, but I shouldn't have let it get me completely off track for two weeks when the trip was only 3 days. This time I'm determined to do better, but I know it will still be a challenge... Wish me luck!
A few weeks back, I started a 60 Day running challenge with
4 basic rules… I lasted 10 days. Then I
hit a few Road Blocks and had a hard time getting started back up again. Now I'm getting back on track!
Here's my progress so far:
Week 1: Ran 7 days. A
total of 7.53 miles… Awesome first week!
Week 2: Ran 3 days. A
total of 2.52 miles… Not so awesome…
Week 3: What week 3?
Week 4: Started up again!
Sunday:
still not running again…
Monday: 0.81 miles11:31 min14:14 min/mile
Tuesday: Lazy and skipped a day
Wednesday: .83 miles15:00 min (on a treadmill) followed by a 1 hour Yoga class!
Thursday: 1.98 miles31:28 min 15:55 min/mile(day 1
of Couch to 5k!)
Friday: 1.16 miles16:20 min14:02 min/mile
Saturday: .75 miles12 minutes(on treadmill)followed by a 1
hour pump class!
This means in Week 4, even though I missed two days, I still
ran a total of 5.53 miles, ran for about an hour and a half, plus two fitness
classes… That’s 209 fitness minutes in one week!
A few things I’m doing differently now to try to stay on
track:
Run at
a more consistent time – Wednesdays are different because of my yoga class, and
weekends are a bit more inconsistent, but I still try to plan out when I’m
going to run ahead of time… If I have it scheduled into my day, it’s harder to skip!
Variety! – I’m still going to run every day.
But I’ve also added yoga and strength training! Since I’m doing other exercise, I run less on
my yoga and strength class days. I use
these as sort of my “taking a break” days and try to run at an easy pace for no
more than 15 minutes before class. Plus,
a treadmill is slightly lower impact than the cement and asphalt I usually run
on, so it gives my body a little bit of a break from running.
Vary
the distance/intensity – The first time around, I was basically just running as
long as I could or as long as I felt like each day… Since I was really
motivated in the beginning, this means I was probably running a bit more than I
should have to get started. After about
a week, I was dealing with shin splints, which made the idea of running a bit
less exciting… just one of many factors that led to taking two weeks off. This time, I’m adding in 2-3 Couch to 5K runs
a week (which last for 30 minutes and follow a run-walk interval). These are longer runs, but they force me to
take regular walking breaks, rather than just walking once my body absolutely
needs it. As the name of the program
suggests, it’s great for beginners, so it’s not too physically demanding, while
still getting a good workout in. As I
move forward, the walking intervals will get shorter and the running intervals
get longer. On my non-C25K days, and my
non-class days, I still have to run, but it can be whatever length and
intensity I feel like that day – or whatever I have time for! If I’m feeling great but only have a few
minutes, maybe I run for 10 minutes but give it all I’ve got. If I’ve got a lot of time but not feeling up
to a full blown C25K run, maybe I’ll run for 5-10 minutes but also do a really
long walk… Doesn’t matter as long as I run!
Let’s hope week 5 is as awesome as week 4! So far, I’ve run both days, and a total of
3.27 miles!
If you’ve been following this blog at all, then you know
I’ve been trying to make some positive changes in my life, including Meatless
May and a 60
Day Running Challenge. Well about a
week and a half ago, I had to make a slight detour on the road to change
(cheesy, I know, but I couldn’t help myself.)
I made a very sudden decision to go on a volunteer trip over Memorial
Day weekend… Needless to say, I did not exactly stay on track with my goals.
As far as Meatless May goes, I was able to continue with not
eating meat, but I wasn’t exactly cooking delicious healthy meals during the
trip… Food provided for volunteers in some areas meant cheese pizza;
convenience microwave food in the hotel was popcorn and easy-mac; and food on
the road was taco bell bean burritos and subway veggie sandwich… Not to mention, there were a lot of peanut
butter sandwiches. I did manage to stay
vegetarian though, and even was still able to make a few healthy eating choices
(I brought an entire bag of apples!), so I’d say for a last minute road trip,
it was pretty successful! This was
probably more accurately described as a speed bump than a road block.
My 60 day running challenge, on the other hand, took a
detour, got lost, and had no GPS signal with an out-dated map. My last run was May 21st (nearly
two weeks ago!) The Wednesday and
Thursday leading up to the trip were pretty jam-packed with last minute
preparations, leaving little time for anything else, so I ended up not
running. Friday, I was on the road from
the minute I left work until about 2am, so once again, I didn’t run. Saturday and Sunday were full of
volunteering, and the volunteer work was pretty physically demanding, so I
don’t feel too bad about not running on these days, but I probably could have
managed a short run in the evenings if I’d really wanted to. Monday we
volunteered in the morning, followed by another long drive home, which meant I
didn’t run.
While I was kinda disappointed that I didn’t run while I was
gone, I was okay with it, because it was for a good cause, and two of the days
I did still get some exercise just by the volunteer work I was doing. I told myself that I would start running
again after work Tuesday and would just add the missed days onto the end of my
60 days to make up for them… Then
Tuesday after work I was still exhausted from my trip, so I told myself I’d
start Wednesday… Now here I am, an entire week after getting back from my trip,
and I still have not run again! Some
days I was making excuses (like still being really tired) and other days I simply
forgot!
This is exactly why I started this challenge! When I first started, running was something I
had to consciously plan on and make time for.
Even though I was barely a week into the challenge, it was already
becoming a bit more routine… After 60 days, I think it will just be something
that I’ll automatically want to do and won’t feel like it’s such a chore. The first few days, I had pretty decent
reasons for not running, but then it became excuses, and then it just got to
where I didn’t even remember that I was supposed to be running.
Well, now I remember, and I don’t have a single reason not
to run (though I’m sure I could think of some excuses if I tried), so tonight I
will be starting my running again. I’m
still going to count my first week and all of my missed days as part of my “60
Days,” and when I get to the end, I’ll at least add on the missed days. Honestly, I am not as excited about running
as I was when I first started, and I am not really looking forward to running
tonight, but I’m hoping after a couple days I will be back on track!
It’s officially June, and Meatless
May is over! Ultimately, my goal for
Meatless May had less to do with not eating meat and more to do with being
healthier, trying new foods, and eating more fruits and vegetables. While I did go the entire month without
eating meat, I felt like I was much more successful during the first couple
weeks, and as life got busy, I started cooking less, and eating more
convenience foods that were not as healthy (but still meatless!)
I did not and still do not have
any intention of becoming vegetarian. In
fact, this weekend I ate meat at both lunch and dinner both days. However, there are plenty of great foods I
discovered and habits I developed during Meatless May that I will be doing my
best to continue with:
Smoothies – I’ve finally realized
just how quick and easy smoothies truly are – it helps that we recently got a
new blender that is super easy to clean – and have been eating/drinking them
much more frequently. They’ve become a
pretty typical weekend breakfast food for me, and even the occasional weekday
morning. On nights that I don’t really
feel like cooking, it hasn’t been uncommon for me to make a smoothie along with
a small sandwich or leftover veggies instead of picking up fast food or making
grilled cheese, or grabbing something random (and probably unhealthy) from the
freezer.
Quinoa – I’ve only cooked with
quinoa a few times this month, but I am definitely looking forward to trying
new recipes with it and using it as a way to get a filling, protein-rich meal
without excessive amounts of meat.
Veggies can be a main dish! –
people typically think of vegetables as being a side dish to go along with meat…
why can’t it be the other way around? I
mean really, look at chicken-fried-rice for example – the focus of the meal is
the rice, and it’s often loaded up with veggies along with the chicken; if I had
to guess, I’d say that a typical serving is probably less than 25%
chicken. So when I want to eat ribs,
corn, and green beans, why can’t I eat primarily green beans and corn, with
just a small serving of ribs?
Avocado – I’ve always like avocado
and guacamole, but never realized just how much avocado can “beef up” a
meatless meal. A veggie sub from subway
or Jimmy Johns is wimpy and not filling in my opinion (it may be because I don’t
like tomatoes, so I feel like it doesn’t have much substance), but adding the
avocado spread is just enough to make it more substantial. And of course, avocado is AMAZING with any
type of Mexican food, such as my black
bean and corn salad or stuffed
peppers!
Veggie burgers! – if you’ve read
any of my previous posts about Meatless May, then you know I have a new love of
veggie burgers. While I haven’t made any
from scratch yet, I absolutely love the Morningstar ones and will be continuing
to keep them in my freezer at all times (seriously, I went grocery shopping on
May 31st, and bought 5 boxes even though Meatless May was
ending.) To me, they are a great
alternative to so many unhealthy convenience foods… Craving frozen pizza or
pizza rolls? Eat one of the tomato basil
pizza burgers topped with a touch of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. When you would normally heat up a frozen
processed chicken patty for convenience, grab any other veggie burger for
something just as fast, with more variety, and much healthier!
Apples – Apples have always been
my favorite fruit, but during Meatless May, I ate one just about every day, and
some days would easily eat 2 or 3.
Apples are amazing. Whole apples,
sliced apples, plain apples, apples with peanut butter, gala apples, granny smith
apples; if it’s an apple, I want to eat it!
The end of Meatless May will not be the end of my apple obsession.
Less junk food – as far as
snacking goes, during Meatless May I didn’t tend to crave a lot of junk
food. When I wanted a snack (even if it
was the “mindless snacking” when I wasn’t actually hungry), I just sort of
gravitated to options like fresh fruit, carrots, yogurt, or nuts. I attribute this to a few things. First, I feel like the less I eat junk food,
the less I want it. If I start my day
with a smoothie, and eat an apple for a morning snack, and then have quinoa and
veggies for lunch, by the time the afternoon rolls around, potato chips don’t
even cross my mind. Secondly, I knew
there would be days that my vegetarian meals might not be as filling as I would
like, so I had some filling healthy snack options available for when this
happened. Since I had a jar of almonds
in my desk, they were a much more logical snack option than getting crap from
the vending machine. Thirdly, I was also
making a conscious effort to eat less processed crap and junk food. Since the entire point of Meatless May was to
build healthier eating habits, I figured it would sort of counter intuitive to
eat a bunch of garbage along with all the healthy things.
While I’ve made a few healthy
changes in the past month, I still have a long way to go. I’m not great about taking the time to pack
my lunch, meaning I end up making bad food choices for lunch more often than I’d
like. And while I do eat less junk food,
there are some things, like ice cream, that I will never completely give up… I
could probably work on some of my portion sizes with these things though.
There may be a few more follow-up
posts, but for the most part, Meatless May is over! I’m not sure if I’ll do any other “challenges”
this extreme or not, but I’m definitely planning on continuing with my new
healthier habits as well as building some new ones. But who knows, maybe next month I’ll try “Junk-free
July!”
In the first week of my 60
Day Running Challenge, I ran 1 hour, 44 minutes for a total of 7.53 miles
with an average pace of 13:51min/mile! (You can check out the end of this post if you're interested in the daily breakdown.) I
am honestly shocked that I ran this much!
If I hadn't made this challenge and decided to commit to it, and just
gone with my usual “I think I’m going to start running this week”, I would have
maybe run 1 day for probably less than a mile.
Here is how I’m
making it work:
Be strict, but
flexible: Making some semblance of a
plan, but still keeping it flexible enough that I don’t have to stick to a
specific schedule was very helpful
for me! There were a couple nights that
I was really caught up in a new book series I’m reading, and did not want to
run – on those days, I did wait until the last possible minute to run just
before dark, but I still ran! There was
one day that I just really did not feel like running, but I told myself I had
to at least go run for 5 minutes… I ended up running more than twice that long
and ran almost a mile!
Keep track of
progress: I use the Map My Run app
on my Smartphone, but there are a variety of other apps you can use, or even a
basic pedometer. If running on a
treadmill, it gives you your stats as you go anyway, so just write them down or
snap a photo of the display when you are done.
For me, it’s really motivating to glance down at my phone while I’m
taking a short break to walk and catch my breath and then see that I am doing
better than the day before or that I’ve been running longer/farther than I
thought I had! According to what I’ve
been reading, more serious runners tend to keep track of weather conditions and
other factors, but I don’t worry too much about all that.
Stay Accountable: The other thing that has made a HUGE
difference to all the other times I’ve tried to start working out, is that I
have some AWESOME friends who are helping to keep me accountable. In the past, I’ve tried a couple times to
plan to work out with someone or sign up for a class with somebody in the hopes
that we’d keep each other accountable, but it never seems to work out, mainly
because schedules don’t always line up. So this time around, I decided to not worry
about working out with somebody, and
just find several friends who would be willing to help keep me on track in
other ways. I told them all my plan
ahead of time and they agreed to help, so after each run, I snap a screen shot
of my Map My Run results and send a text with the photo. Sometimes I’ll include a simple message of “I
ran today!” or sometimes I will
elaborate on how the run went – “I
really didn’t want to run today, because I got a new book and it’s a perfect
rainy day to sit around and read, but I made myself do at least 5 minutes
(which turned into 13!) and now I can relax and read guilt free!” – One evening I forgot to send the message out
right away, and two of them texted me to ask if I’d run yet that day. Also, these are some of the encouraging
responses I’ve received so far:
“Good!
Keep up the good work! You’re doing a lovely job! =D”
“Niiiiiice!
Way to go!”
“I don’t even
gotta motivate/push ya… doin’ it yourself!”
“Great job. Looks
to be faster which is great”
“DON’T FORGET
STRETCHING!!”
…Have I mentioned I have awesome friends? Well I do.
They’re pretty great. :-D
So far, I haven’t had to actually have them remind me or
convince me to run, but knowing that I am “reporting back” to them on how I am
doing is a good motivator for me to actually get out and run. And once I am out there, I push myself harder
knowing that I am going to be sending them my stats. I chose 5 of my closest friends, some of whom
are currently trying to lose weight and/or exercise, some who are not, but all
of whom I knew would be supportive of this new endeavor. If any of you 5 happen to be reading this, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This week's workouts:
Sunday: 1.55 miles - 22:03 minutes - 14:16
min/mile pace!
Monday: 1.07
miles - 14:58 minutes - 14:00 min/mile pace!
Tuesday: .74
miles - 11:47 minutes - 15:52 min/mile pace!
Wednesday: .89
miles - 11:48 minutes - 13:13 min mile pace!
Thursday: 1.2
miles - 15:30 minutes - 12:57 min/mile pace!
Friday: .92
miles - 12:23 minutes - 13:24 min/mile pace!
Saturday: 1.16
miles - 15:32 minutes - 13:21 min/mile pace!
So… I know I’m a few days late on posting this, but it’s
been a busy week! Week 2 of Meatless May wasn’t quite as organized or well
planned as the first week, but overall it’s still going great!
Tuesday
One of the biggest
mistakes people make when they try to eat vegetarian is that they start eating
tons more pasta and potatoes to compensate.
There’s nothing wrong with pasta or potatoes, but when they become a
major part of your diet, you’re not leaving much opportunity to get any
protein. But I do love pasta, so I
figured it was about time for some Penne
Asparagus Alfredo… Yum! It was a
quick and easy vegetarian meal without just reheating leftover or microwaving a
veggie burger or something. You could
really do this with a variety of vegetables, but Asparagus is what I happened
to have on hand at the time. I’ve you’ve
been reading about Meatless May from the beginning, you’ll notice that this is
the only pasta I’ve had in 2 weeks – I’ve been very conscious of avoiding the
over-pasta-fying mistake!
Wednesday
For some reason after work, I was really craving a smoothie
on Wednesday… unfortunately I got a bit too adventurous with my ingredients and
ended up not being able to drink it. It
was not exactly delicious. I lucked out
that my parents were having Italian food though, so I stole a piece of garlic
bread and had that along with a salad and a bowl of Campbell’s 100%
Natural Minestrone soup! Not what I
was in the mood for, but it was good, and I guess you can’t win ‘em all!
Thursday
When I made quinoa last week, my mom tried a bit, and she
commented that it would probably be good made like fried rice with veggies and
soy sauce… I love Chinese food, so it’s safe to say that I loved the idea! If you know how to make homemade fried rice,
you can use your favorite recipe and simply substitute quinoa for the
rice! I’ve never made fried rice before,
but I know the basic concept and my mom is a pro, so she helped me out! If you’ve never made fried rice before, it’s
really not that hard… There are plenty of recipes online, and I will be posting
mine soon!
Obviously, regular vegetable fried rice is already
vegetarian. The main benefit to
substituting quinoa is that it is a “complete protein.”
Friday
Friday I was visiting my old roommate after work and then
going line dancing. Normally, I would
just go over to her place and we would either cook something quick or order
delivery. The vegetarian options for
pickup or delivery are pretty limited, and half of them are pizza, so I gave
her a call ahead of time to ask if she’d mind if I just brought over some
veggie burgers and baked potatoes for us to eat. She’s not vegetarian, but she likes black
bean burgers and was willing to try the other veggie burgers, so it all worked
out! Veggie burgers and baked potatoes
are pretty basic, but this was my first situation in which I had to figure out
how to be a vegetarian when I was going to be eating at someone else’s house,
so I figured it was worth noting.
Saturday
My mom, sister and I were going to a late movie as the
beginning of our Mother’s Day gift to my mom.
We’d all had a fairly busy afternoon and wanted something simple and
easy, so we made pizzas! Individual
pizzas are pretty common in our house and are easy to go vegetarian. We use the ready-made pizza crusts, and on
mine I had mushrooms and Morningstar
Meatless Crumbles along with canned pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese. The great thing about making pizzas at home,
is that you can make each person’s differently so everyone is happy! By making them at home, you are also cutting
down on a lot of the grease and you can choose your own healthy ingredients –
vegetarian or not!
Sunday
For Mother’s day we went out for brunch at a nice local
restaurant, and I’ve gotta admit, the smell of bacon was tempting at
first! We had a bit of a wait, and I was
hungry, and of course the main thing you smell in any restaurant at breakfast
time is bacon, so I was feeling very jealous of my mom and sister who I knew
would be eating it. But once I got up to
the buffet line, I saw all of the other amazing looking food and didn’t even
have room on my plate for the bacon by the time I got to that end of the line… Eggs, hash browns, mushroom and spinach
mini-crepes, roasted vegetables, and fresh fruit had my plate pretty full! A multigrain blueberry pancake topped with
just a touch of hot cinnamon apples and I was set! My sister did get another plate with quite a
bit of bacon on it, but by the time she had it, I was too full to really want
it anyway. Bacon was really the one food
I was expecting to be the most challenging.
I actually rarely eat bacon, and when I do it’s a pretty small portion,
but I knew that the first time I was with someone who was eating fresh bacon
would be tough. Luckily this time there
was plenty of other healthier, vegetarian, and yummy food to distract me.
Monday
On my first day of going meatless, I made Quinoa Stuffed
Peppers, and they were delicious! I
still had some quinoa leftover from my “fried rice” style quinoa, so I decided
to make the stuffed peppers again! Since
I wasn’t planning on making a batch of the black bean and corn salad this time,
I decided to add black beans and corn to my stuffed peppers, much like the original
recipe I referenced.
In the past 4 days, I have run a total of 4.25 miles in
about 1 hour! I am a little sore,
but mostly I am feeling great! About a
year ago, I was just graduating college and had decided to start running and
trying to get back in shape. Over the
course of a few months, I went for the occasional run, I tried the Couch to 5K
plan, I signed up for a yoga and a boot camp class at my local YMCA. I was actually getting to a point where I
sometimes enjoyed running, which is completely insane since I spent my
entire life hating “running for no reason.”
Put me on a softball diamond or a soccer field, and I’ll give it all
I’ve got, but ask me to run a single lap around a track and I was in agony.
Even though I was getting to a point where I sort of enjoyed
running, and I liked my bootcamp and yoga classes, when life got busy, it wasn't a priority and the next thing I knew, it’d been months since I put on my
running shoes or saw the inside of a gym.
Not long ago, I decided it was time to change that, so I came up with a 60
Day Running Challenge for myself.
4 days in, after last night’s run, I am so glad I’m doing
this! Surprisingly, my new appreciation
of running from last summer actually stuck, and I still don’t hate it! I still wouldn’t say running is my favorite
thing ever, and honestly the hardest part so far is pulling myself away from TV
or a book or whatever else I’m doing to get started. Once I’ve got my running shoes and my iPod
on, I’m fine. I won’t say it hasn’t been
physically challenging, but even when I am out of breath and sweating and have
to take a break, I’m still glad to be doing it, because I just mentally feel so
much better when I am out there. Even
knowing how great running can be, there are still other things I would rather
be doing, like reading a book, hanging out with friends, you name it! I can honestly say if I hadn’t made this
commitment to myself and if I didn’t have some great friends keeping me
accountable, there is no way I would have run every day these last 4 days. So a great big THANK YOU goes out to those friends and to any of you who
happen to be reading this!
If you want to learn more about the 60 Day Running
Challenge, check out my original
post!
About a week or so ago, I decided I was going to try the Spring
into Shape Bootcamp Challenge from SparkPeople. So far, I’ve done one 10-minute workout… Not
exactly what I’d call successful. To be
honest, I’m not a huge fan of most of the workout plans you find online,
because I feel like they are always either too intense, or not intense enough,
and I’m not great at modifying them to find a balance. I do one work out and decide it wasn’t enough
of a workout, so I feel like it is a waste of time. Or I try one and am out of breath after just
a couple minutes and feel like there is no way I can keep up with it. This one was strangely a combination of both,
so I think I need to find some other way to get back into exercising more
often.
So far, the only structured exercise plan I’ve ever found and even
remotely been able to stick to is the Couch to
5K running plan. I didn’t
stick with the entire program, but I did a few weeks of it and then continued
running at least semi-regularly (which for me is success.) I got to a point where I at least somewhat
actually enjoyed running, and I do want to get back into running more.
Then, the other day I came across zenhabits – a blog all about how you can change
your habits – quit a bad habit, start a good habit, etc. For anyone trying to make a change in their
life, I highly recommend these four particular posts:
Based on what I know about my own exercise tendencies and on what
I learned from those four posts, I decided to challenge myself to run every day for 60 days. Here is the workout plan:
Run every
day.Even if it is just for 5
minutes.Even if it is slow.Even if I have to slow down and walk for part
of it. Even if I already did another workout. Run every day.
No
Excuses. Run every day. Even if the weather is insane and I
have to drive to the gym to use a treadmill. Even if I get stuck working late
and don’t want to.Even if there is a
good movie on TV.
Improve.Each week, run more than the previous
week.Even if it’s only by a few
minutes.
Never skip
2 days in a row.Remember that part about run every day?That’s not realistic.This is
Rule #17 on the ultimate
guide to motivation.It’s inevitable that I will occasionally miss
a day.It’s important to acknowledge and
accept that, because otherwise when it happens, I will potentially get
discouraged and give up because “I’ve already failed.”This is the loophole that allows you to
instead say, “you know what, I missed today, but I haven’t failed yet, I just
can’t skip tomorrow!”
That’s it. That’s all I’ve
got. 4 rules. Because when a workout plan gets too
complicated, we start missing things and we get discouraged. Because when we set goals that are too
specific without any basis, they seem unattainable. But anybody can do anything for 5 minutes a
day. Even if I only run for 5 minutes a
day for the first week, that’s 35 minutes.
So the next week I have to run at least 36 minutes, and then at least
37, and by the end of 60 days, I will have run a total of 395 minutes… And
that’s just if I do the absolute bare minimum – that’s still only an average of
about 6 ½ minutes
a day! I can do that!
Now ideally, I will end up doing more than the bare minimum, but
if I do the bare minimum, that’s still an accomplishment, and I still achieve
my goal. And by the time day 61 rolls
around, running every day will have become a habit and I can stick with it…
right? That’s the idea, anyway!
I’m starting my challenge this Sunday – I’m calling it Run Day
Sunday – because #7 on the Habit
change cheat sheet, says “Don’t start right away.” Because if we start right away, we don’t give
it enough thought, and we don’t prepare ourselves for change.
Along with keeping some of my friends up to date on my progress, I’ll also be posting updates here on Knee Deep with the label 60Days as part of keeping myself accountable. So if you’re interested in how my plan is working, be sure to check back for updates! And if any of you decide to do your own 60 day running challenge, I would love to hear about it, so leave a comment!
Wow! I have had some
AMAZING food these last few days! I ended up
starting “Meatless May” a day early; and a full week in, I love it! I haven't had any real cravings for meat or anything, nor have I found my self feeling starved all day. After a week, I still don't think I want to become a vegetarian forever, but I do think at this end of this month I will continue to eat significantly less meat and more vegetables than usual.
Is it easy to go Meatless?
My biggest challenge so far has been time management. As I said in my last post, I'm living with my parents at the moment, so I'm not used to cooking dinner every night of the week. By the time I get home from work, it's usually about 6 o'clock and I'm getting hungry, so the last thing I want to do is slave away in the kitchen for 2 hours before I get a chance to eat. So far, I've been doing okay though! I've planned out meals ahead of time and done my grocery shopping ahead of time, so when I get home, I know exactly what I need to do and have able to get it done in a reasonable amount of time. I've also accepted that I need to be flexible. I have a few quick easy vegetarian dinners handy so that if I get stuck working late or am especially tired or stressed one evening, I don't have to cook. I have a few vegetarian lean cuisines, veggie burgers, fresh fruits and veggies, etc. that I can eat instead, and then I just push my planned meal to another day of the week!
So what have I been eating?
This isn’t a “daily food journal” because
that would be boring, so I am not listing every single thing I eat. I’m sure you’ve all eaten a PB&J or a carrot before in your life, so if I eat that, it’s not very exciting for you to read about now is it? I will, however, post an overview of any recipes or new vegetarian foods I've tried each week.
Tuesday
I was working from home on Tuesday, so I decided to take the
opportunity to try one of the Veggie Dogs I bought at the store this week for
lunch. The verdict? Yum!
Compared to a normal hot dog, they are not quite as firm, but still very
hot-dog-like. The flavor was about the
same, but maybe a bit stronger… it actually tasted more like meat than a real
hot dog does. As far as nutrition goes,
you really can’t beat it – fewer calories, less fat, and more protein!
For dinner, I made homemade Quinoa Stuffed Peppers along
with leftover black bean and corn salad and fresh avocado… amazing! I will have another post soon with the full
recipes, but look at how yummy this looks!! **Recipe now posted!**
Wednesday
When I made my stuffed peppers, I made extra quinoa to have
as leftovers, so I had this and some frozen veggies for lunch. The quinoa re-heated nicely in the microwave,
but I did add just a little water first to keep it from drying out.
Portobello mushrooms with marinara sauce are a staple in my
house ever since my mom started trying to cut out carbs again. The mushrooms with a slice of fresh bread and
a nice salad make a great vegetarian meal; and for the meat eaters in my
family, we have turkey meatballs too!
Thursday
Thursday was a rough day right from the start – I overslept
and didn’t have time to pack a lunch.
Then Work was chaotic so I couldn’t go out to lunch for a sit-down lunch
that might have some vegetarian options.
So I ended up making a quick run to taco bell to pick up bean burritos
to bring back to my desk. It wasn’t
ideal, but it’s vegetarian, quick, and cheap, so it works out okay I
guess.
I had planned on cooking spaghetti squash with some other
veggies for dinner, but ended up leaving work 45 minutes later than usual and
definitely not in the mood to cook a big meal.
So instead, I heated up some Morningstar veggie burgers from the
freezer.
Now let me tell you; I’ve always been skeptical of veggie
burgers. To be honest, I’m not a huge
fan of ground beef to begin with so I’m not big on burgers in general. The only non-meat burgers I’ve really been
exposed to are black bean burgers, which also never appeal to me because they
are usually seasoned to be a bit spicy.
But seriously, I wish I’d tried
veggie burgers years ago! I’m sure
every veggie burger is different, but these are AMAZING!! I didn’t even
grill them – just popped them in the microwave for three minutes! It didn’t taste anything like a typical beef
patty, but it had a ton of flavor! There
were some visible pieces of carrots and peppers in the patty, and you could really
taste the flavor of the peppers (sweet,
not spicy), and there had to have been some herbs and seasoning added to it,
because this was the most flavorful burger I’ve ever had!
I could seriously go on about these for ages! Actually, don’t be surprised if there’s a
whole post devoted to them later!
Saturday
I finally had a chance to make my Spaghetti Squash! I had spaghetti squash mixed with some saute'ed mushrooms and aspragus and a can of diced tomatoes... Overall, I would say it was good, but I don't recommend it as an entire meal. With just a light olive oil sauce and the other veggies, the texture of the spaghetti squash was weirding me out after too much of it. I will definitely be doing more with spaghetti squash in the future, but not making it my main dish.
Monday
I had some amazing roasted vegetables - potatoes, mushrooms, and asparagus - with a touch of olive oil and rosemary. Along with carrots and a salad topped with feta and almonds... delicious! The rest of my family ate the same thing, but had a rotisserie chicken with it, so everyone was happy! I was still a teensy bit hungry after dinner, so I had a small container of yogurt for dessert.
I have officially eaten my last non-vegetarian dinner for
the next 32 days! I am officially going
vegetarian on Wednesday, but in doing my meal planning for the week, I realized
I will be eating quinoa stuffed peppers for dinner tomorrow as well, so I guess
I’m starting a day early!
I am very excited about starting Meatless May… and a little
anxious if I’m honest. I know it will be
challenging at times, but it’s a challenge I am looking forward to. This weekend I went to the grocery and
stocked up on lots of vegetarian-friendly foods… plenty of fresh fruits and
veggies, quinoa, veggie burgers, and a variety of other yummy foods!
So what's Meatless May? I have no idea! Just kidding, but it's really not a "real" thing; it's just what I am calling my attempt at vegetarianism. For the month of May, I will not be eating meat. I am not going vegan, so I will still be eating some amount of dairy and eggs. I may also occasionally eat fish... So I guess I'll technically be going pescetarian, but I can never remember how to pronounce that, so I'm just going with "vegetarian."
When planning out my meals for the week, I decided to stick with a few frozen veggie blends, fresh fruit, and yogurt for lunches, ans dinners will be a nice mix of simple/familiar foods, and some new foods I’ve been meaning
to try. This week’s dinner menu:
The biggest challenge for me right now, is that I currently
live at home with my parents, so I’ve been a bit spoiled by my mom’s cooking
since moving home after graduating college.
Not only is her cooking amazingly delicious, but it also means that I
don’t have to cook every night! While
there will be some nights that I will eat what the rest of my family eats and
simply omit or substitute the meat, there will be many more nights that I will
be doing the cooking. I’m a pretty
decent cook, and I do enjoy cooking, but I’m not used to spending a ton of time
in the kitchen after work on weeknights.
Check back later this week for an update on Meatless May! I'll be posting recipes, challenges, and whatever else catches my fancy!
Up until this point, my blogging has been… less than
consistent. I basically end up blogging
once in a blue moon when I feel inspired or when something major happens. That’s not really how a blog is supposed to
work. I know this, because I actually
spent a semester in college as a student blogger for Notes
from the Digital Frontier on MediaPost.
A good blog is updated regularly and has some sort of consistency in
regard to topic. This blog is none of
those things. So I guess that means it’s
time for a change!
As a recent college grad, I’ve had a lot of big changes in
my life recently. I no longer live on a
college campus, where everything and everyone is within walking distance. I no longer spend 15 hours a week in class,
10 hours working, and the rest of my time is my own. I now live in a place I haven’t spent much
time since high school. All of my best
friends are spread across other states, and I spend 50+ hours a week sitting at
a desk working or sitting in the car driving to work. It’s been a pretty big adjustment, and I have
been struggling in a lot of areas. One
thing I have been gradually getting better at is trying new things. Since graduating college just under a year
ago, I have tried boot camp and yoga classes, I have learned to crochet, I
bought a sewing machine and have made 5 baby blankets and a few other projects,
I’ve discovered that running can be fun, and I’ve taken some big personal and
professional development steps!
As some of you may know, a few weeks back I decided I was
going to try waking up every day at 4am.
Needless to say, I was unsuccessful.
But I am planning on trying
again. This is just one of many
lifestyle changes I am trying to make these days. I am also trying to get back into a routine
of exercising regularly. I want to take
horseback riding lessons. I want to manage my money better. I want to eat healthier. I want to blog more!
So what does this mean for Knee Deep? Here’s what you can expect from this blog
moving forward:
A strong focus on change and development
Topics including cooking/recipes, exercise,
health, travel, and crafts (some with tutorials)
At least 2 posts per week – This is my current
goal; it may become more frequent as I get the hang of things.
A positive attitude!
For the next several weeks, there will be two main topics:
I’ve decided to go vegetarian for “Meatless May”
– expect to hear about my challenges and successes with this new idea, as well
as some recipes and meal plans.
I just started the Spring
into Shape Bootcamp Challenge on SparkPeople and will possibly post about
that as well.I joined SparkPeople in
November, but haven’t really gotten into it yet – it seems like a great
resource though!
So that's it! Welcome to the new and improved Knee Deep! Let me know what you think!
