A better run

Be sure to check out my guest post on how to start running over at Live. Travel. Eat. Run and thanks very much to Amalia for the opportunity to share on her blog ;-)

The weather here today has been patchy - it started off relatively nice (but overcast) and at about 4pm the heavens opened.  I stared out of my office window in despair.  I don't mind running in the rain, but to date those runs have been in the summer.  Now the weather is cooler and I'm conscious that I don't want to get too wet and cold - I desperately need some colder weather outdoor running gear!

Work today was very frustrating.  Our printer had a malfunction that required an engineer visit and thankfully he came today.  Unfortunately, he was a complete knob and didn't know how to set up the scanner part of the printer properly - in the end I had to ring our IT support people to come out to help him.  He was there for three hours, during which time I could do little or no work (because he was using my desk).  Needless to say I am not at all impressed with OKI printers or their engineers!

The nights are starting to draw in and it's dark at 7pm - so I knew that I needed to cook dinner, serve it to the kids and my father in law, save mine and my husband's and then get out for my run.  Today was a moderate 2.5 miles.  I set off just after 6pm and thankfully it had stopped raining.  Due to my performance on Sunday, I made a conscious effort to try to run slower during the first mile, but when my Walkmeter beeped at the end of mile one it said my average speed was 5.25mph.  During mile two I really pulled it back - right on cue my side stitch reared its ugly head, but I was determined to just slow my run pace right down, rather than take a walk break.  In the end I walked crossing two roads and then just started running again very slowly.  My average speed for mile two was 5.07mph.

The last half mile was hard - there is a steady uphill climb for a few minutes before a nice, easy, flat quarter of a mile home.  It had started raining by this stage - quite heavy and right in my face!  The stitch was painful, but I could still run.  I was determined to just get home as quickly as possible - I must have looked like a real sight, squinting and grimacing my way home!  My average speed for the last half mile, according to Walkmeter, was a bit skewed - it said 7mph, but then it said my fastest speed was 5.77mph!  At any rate, I was home in 27 minutes, and that is officially the fastest I've ever run 2.5 miles!

Thursday's run is an easy 2 miles which I will do after I drop my daughter off at Girl Guides.  I find it funny that I'm thinking of 2 miles as "easy" now!  Sunday's run will be a true challenge - 4 miles on the trail - I'm gonna need lots of encouragement for that one!

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We've had a mouse in the house - discovered on Sunday afternoon as I was cooking the usual roast.  Well, I didn't discover the actual mouse - but rather his little brown presents!  Now,  I am not the cleanest person on earth, but I take exception with my kitchen and uninvited guests.  Normally, I love being in there, cooking, baking, etc - but the last few days I literally cannot wait to get out the door!  On Sunday night, we thought we had blocked up the hole where the mouse was coming in and I went to sleep thinking surely we'd outfoxed the little bugger - but 6am on Monday morning my son (who is the earliest riser!) came into our bedroom saying he saw a mouse in the kitchen!

The base cupboard where I found the brown presents was where I keep all my spices and so I removed all the spices from the cupboard - tossing anything that had been open and putting the remainder in a plastic tub.  Well, the little blighter was only climbing on top of the spices!  I happen to think he must be an Indian mouse, gathering up spices for a nice Korma!

Anyway, last night we put down the traps - and also blocked off yet another hole where we suspect he might have been coming in.  And tonight my husband checked and yep, we've caught one!  I'm not overly optimistic that he works alone - so we've put down another trap and will check that again tomorrow.  In the meantime, I'm still not enjoying cooking, or being in my lovely kitchen in general.  The plus side of this, however, is that I am less likely to snack!

I've just realised that I've not got a photo for this post - so I shall leave you with an image of my post-run treat tonight - a custard tart.... 232 calories of pure custard heaven!

Healthy Living Freed Me From My Life of Lethargy

I have not lost the plot (well…), whilst I know it’s not Tuesday, today I’m joining Healthy Living Blogs’ Healthy Living Tuesdays where the subject is “Healthy Living Freed Me From…”.  I wish there were one single word I could insert at the end of that sentence that could encompass how much healthy living has changed me, both physically and mentally.

Many of you know that when I started my weight loss journey in January this year, I weighed 240 pounds.  It was nearly my all time heaviest weight.  I was sluggish, exhausted and yawning constantly, had zero energy, my skin suffered greatly and I fought constant acne breakouts on my face (while other areas of my skin, such as my legs, were so dry and itchy).  I also had horrible bouts of low blood sugar, which caused me to binge uncontrollably.  I knew that I not only wanted to lose weight and improve my appearance, I also wanted to get healthy.

Me at nearly 240 pounds

Part of my problem came from an undiagnosed adrenal fatigue condition (you can read more about that here).  I went to see a naturopath in London who prescribed natural supplements that would correct this imbalance.  This helped greatly with improving my energy levels and I now also no longer suffer with low blood sugar. 

Regarding my diet - I had previously followed the principles of the GI & GL Diets and knew that the science behind them was just good common sense – eat healthy, whole, nutrient rich foods – feel fuller for longer.  Whilst I haven’t followed either the GI or the GL to the letter, I do employ a lot of the principles in choosing what foods I eat on a daily basis.

I also started looking at the ingredients of what I was eating in much more detail.  A lot of so called “low fat” or “low sugar” foods are actually stuffed with artificial sweeteners or E numbers – thankfully I’ve never been one to rely on artificial sweeteners, but the thought of eating foods (or serving these types of foods to my children) really made me feel sick. 

I switched from sugar to Xylitol – this is a natural alternative to sugar that is not only lower in calories than sugar, but it also doesn’t create the spike in blood sugar and is even suitable for diabetics (most importantly to me, it has no aftertaste)!  I also changed my normal breakfast cereal to a low GL granola (Lizi’s) with all natural ingredients.  My standard lunchtime sandwich has been replaced with lentils, couscous, pasta, salads and low fat fish.  I’ve also kicked my soda habit (having switched to sparkling water instead).

The results have not just been confined to weight loss!  I’ve enjoyed a massive improvement in my complexion (no more acne – woohoo!), an annoying hoarse voice that plagued me previously is now gone, my energy levels have come on leaps and bounds, I no longer struggle with sluggishness and feeling tired – all this combined means that I can enjoy life to the full now!  Even more importantly – by improving my energy levels, it also means that I can enjoy my new found passion of running!

So, to finish that sentence: Healthy Living Free Me From my life of lethargy.  My life has not only changed for the better because I feel better about how I look and have more energy, but I can also be a better mother to my children, and crucially, set a healthy example for them to follow.

Decisions

First off be sure to check out my guest post today over at Half Size Me.  Thanks to Heather for giving me the opportunity to share my story ;).

I was trying to decide whether it would be better to run today and have a rest day tomorrow (the day before my race), or have a rest day today and run tomorrow - but I think my evening meal has made that decision for me!  I made one of my favourite low cal main courses - Goan Prawn Curry.  I've added the recipe to my recipes tab and really recommend it - it's quite spicy but can be calmed down for little ones, if needed.  Trouble is - a belly full of curry and rice doesn't sit well with an evening run :(.  I actually think it would be better to run tomorrow anyway - a sort of "warm up" before the race on Friday.

My kids go back to school on Monday, so tomorrow I have a day off tomorrow and plan to try to get everything organised then.  My son needs new trainers and I'm sure they both need various bits of stationery - so I will doubtlessly be traipsing around all those shops!  I'm determined this year to not be the disorganised mother!  We shall see how long that lasts and I'm sure I'll be complaining on here about something I've forgotten or something that has been misplaced!

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After my post yesterday, I've been doing a little research about the gym near where I live and have found that it's £37 per month for all activities (or £33 for one activity - which would mean that I could ONLY go to the gym, I couldn't do any of the fitness classes, or swim).  In the whole scheme of things, £37 per month for the gym, here in England anyway, it darn right cheap.  Most gyms charge £50 upwards per month and many of them don't have pools or fitness studios.  So, I suppose it is good value for money.

Source

By comparison, your average treadmill costs in the region of £400-600 and some of those don't even have an incline!  Plus, I started thinking that my track record with personal gym equipment has not been the best.  First - there was the rickety old exercise bike (and the freezing cold garage in winter), then there was the mediocre cross-trainer.  I'm sure there was a rower in there somewhere too...  All of them were either consigned to the scrapheap, or sold on eBay for a small percentage of what I paid for them. Paying monthly for a gym membership, that I can literally cancel during the summer months when I love exercising outside, definitely seems to be the way to go.

I appreciate this is quite a stark contrast to my previous post, No Gym Membership Required, and I don't mean to be a hypocrite here.  My main reasons for hating the gym have been motivated by saving money and not feeling that I have to compare myself with others.  Somehow I'm going to have to overcome that last one!  As mentioned in yesterday's post, I really don't want to give myself any excuses for stopping running simply because there's not enough daylight!

Packing, Socks and other oddities

Our annual trip to the Lake District is upon us!  We leave tomorrow and boy, do I feel like I need a holiday!  Sometimes I feel like I'm running on empty all the time and this week especially as I've been nursing a cold - which unfortunately means I've not been for a run since Sunday!  I've been sitting on my backside all week and feeling very frustrated!  Last night, however, I did perk up long enough to fit in a Jillian Michaels Kettlebell workout, so I felt as if I at least made some progress.

Today has been spent packing - probably one of my most hated jobs!  Who remembers Snoopy and his famous "bleah" noise?  Well - that's my reaction to packing!

I've said before that I am not a very organised person and packing requires organisation in abundance!  Bleah!  I hesitate to call myself lazy - because clearly I'm kicking ass and taking names on the fitness front - no way am I a lazy girl!  BUT - when it comes to pairing up socks after laundry, I'm NOT that girl!  Little do I realise that this not only frustrates my husband no end in the mornings when he is looking for a pair to wear to work - but it was also very frustrating for me packing for our holiday!

Sock after sock was pulled from my husband's drawer with literally NO sign of their mates anywhere!  Seriously - where do these socks go?!  Even if they are not paired in the washing machine, they all get washed and therefore they should all end up in the drawer.  I don't use a tumble dryer, so the socks go from washing machine, to washing line, to drawer - somewhere in between these three locations is a veritable Sock Twilight Zone.

Sockie no mates...

Despite the lack of sock pairs, I have managed to nearly complete the packing - including virtually all the contents of my kitchen!  We generally always go "self-catering", which means that despite the fact we're on holiday - I still have to cook.  Strangely, I don't mind this.  I actually really enjoy cooking.  Even more than that, it means that I can still reliably maintain control over my calories while we're away.  By the time you've packed all the dry ingredients like pasta, tins of tomatoes, beans, fruit juices, bottles of water, spices, salt, coffee (a must!) you've virtually filled your car before you've even left the house!  Thankfully my father in law is coming with us and driving his own car, so we can share the load.

This year I'm trying to be as organised as possible with food (food, yes I can organise, socks, not so much!) - so I've managed to get most of our food (apart from the fresh stuff like milk, meat, butter and cheese) here and we will take it up with us.  I've done the 'buy it all from a local grocery store' idea before - but it ends up costing a small fortune!  Another good money saving tip, seeing as I'm on that subject, is packing your own lunches.  Since we mostly go on day walking trips when we're in the Lakes, I always pack our lunch so we can find a scenic stop and enjoy our sandwiches.  This is a must for longer walks, but makes good sense in my opinion anyway!

So - while I'm away from reliable internet access (and it is quite patchy up in the Lakes!), I've arranged for a couple of guest posts, which, all being well, should come up on Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.  In the meantime, make sure you're following me on Twitter (@walksinthewoods), as I'll be tweeting about our summits conquered and other lakeland adventures!  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

GOLD!

Today has been a good day!  I'm on a high after my successful 5k run yesterday, and SO many positive words of encouragement from all of you and from everyone on the Marathon Weight Loss Challenge board on Facebook.  You guys are all AWESOME!  It also occurred to me what a wonderful thing we are all witnessing here in our little blogging community...all over the world loads of people are taking their lives back and getting super fit!  Don't you think this is absolutely amazing?!  I am loving reading about people who not only have lost vast amounts of weight, but also people who just decided one day to start running.

I can't take credit for finding this video - but it's very inspiring.  Adam over at The Boring Runner posted it just before the 5k...

I am also on a high today because my favourite tennis player, Andy Murray, has just won the gold medal in the men's singles final!  I actually stood up and screamed when he won!  He is now playing for the mixed doubles gold medal - so hopefully today will be double gold!

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This morning, I made cupcakes.  I haven't made cupcakes in a while - and actually today was the first Sunday when we've had a proper English roast dinner in weeks.  Today it was roast lamb and the cupcakes for dessert.  They were glorious, as expected - but it's amazing to think that in one little cake there is lurking over 500 calories!  Yikes!  Nice for an occasional treat, but definitely not an every day dessert!

Sprinkles make everything better!

I did go out for a run today.  I was toying with the idea of having a rest day, but Sunday is normally always my first run day of the week, so I wanted to stick with the training programme.  I'm now on week 8 of the 5k training and am running continuously now - it's just a matter of working on endurance and speed.  I can't believe that I've now effectively "graduated" into running after only 8 weeks!  It's pretty amazing that your body can adapt so quickly!

Today's run was short - 5 minute warm up walk, 20 minutes running, 5 minutes cool down walk.  I was pleased that my pace has actually picked up too!  Seeing all the 5k race times yesterday had me in awe and wonder - some people ran 5k in 20 minutes - that's less than half my time!  So today I really made an effort to increase my pace but without wearing myself out.  This is definitely what I need to concentrate on going forward.

The weekend is nearly over, but I can honestly say it's been a blast!  I hope you've all had a fabulous weekend too!

I'm such a loser!

I wanted to just do a very quick post today because I had a sneaky midweek weigh in this morning and discovered that I'm firmly OFF the plateau and back onto a losing streak - WOOOHOOO!  I'm down another 2.3 pounds and I'm SO excited because this means I'm finally out of the 190's!

There are three factors that I can attribute this loss to:-

1. I haven't had any Pimm's this week
2. I have upped my calories to 1632 allowed per day.  I'm still struggling to reach this most days, however I'm averaging between 1450-1600.
3. I've been having a Click Protein shake every day at about 3pm

About Click... It really is not 'clicking' with me, but I'm drinking it more out of necessity than anything.  I struggle with mid-afternoon energy dips and also felt it would be a good way of getting a few more calories and a lot more protein into my diet.  I'm now on the lookout for a good plain chocolate flavoured protein shake because I'm not loving the Mocha flavoured Click.  It's a shame because I did think that a mid afternoon iced Mocha would be lovely, but I just can't get used to the flavour!

Today has been a fab day with that weigh in this morning, but I'm very worried for my virtual 5k race tomorrow because my throat is seriously feeling itchy and scratchy, so I hope I'm not coming down with something!  I'm due to run again this evening and will see how I feel afterwards before I decide whether or not to go through with the 5k race tomorrow.

So, I have been thinking about goals recently.  I think I mentioned previously that I had a goal to walk 500 miles so my sister in law could sing that song by The Proclaimers to me!  Well, I'm going to do it!  I'm up to 178 miles for the year already, which leaves 322 left.  There are 21 full weeks left in the year which works out at 15.33 miles per week - or just over 2.5 miles per day with a day's rest.  Between my regular walking and running I think this is wholly achievable - so this is my goal for the end of 2012!

I know Melinda at Does This Scale Make Me Look Fat has set some goals for August - you can read about them here.  What are your goals for the remainder of the year?

Day 5 of 30 Day Shred

I decided to get my shredding done early today, well, 4 o'clock early so I could spend the rest of the evening relaxing.  The morning was spent cleaning, doing laundry and then my usual 3.1 mile training walk at 12noon.  I got back at 1:15, just in time for a quick bowl of soup for lunch.  After lunch I finished the cleaning and laundry and then got on with preparing supper (I'm cooking a beef curry, which needs to cook for a few hours).  After that I decided to just get the DVD finished and that way, I can have a shower and enjoy my Saturday evening beef curry guilt free ;-).

Today's Walk

All total, my cardio activities today have burned 804 calories!  The good news today is that my muscles are far less achey today than they have been in the previous days.  I must be getting used to Level 1 and today I'm officially half way (through the first level)!  I'm slightly dreading what is coming next, but definitely looking forward to the results at the end.

In a couple of weeks our family is having a short break up north in Chester.  I knew this when I started the 30 Day Shred programme, but was tired of coming up with excuses so decided to start the programme anyway, knowing that I would only have 19 days to do it.  However, today I thought I could bring the DVD with me (how desperate is that?!).  I have a portable DVD player, and it's only 20 minutes - I could do it in our hotel room!  Well, we shall see if I still feel the same way in two week's time!  It would just be nice to keep going for the full 30 days, and also have some reassurance that by getting in my training every day I will be less likely to gain weight while we're there.