I stayed up late last night and didn’t want to get up early this morning. I knew that I would regret it and make myself do something later in the day. With yesterday’s storm it is hot and icky out, so out I went on a 75 minute walk.
Along the way I realized that I was at day 30 in my exercise program.
I MADE IT!
30 days ago I went on my first walk after setting an initial exercise goal that was based on a suggestion from Mike to walk 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week for 30 days.
What started off as a goal to walk 6 days a week for 30 minutes a day (equated to roughly 24 exercise days in a 30 day period) ended up being a huge transformation in my weight loss journey.
I did so much more than my initial goal. I walked (and ran a little) every single day of the last 30 days and averaged almost 50 minutes a day.
Who’s that girl????
I can’t believe she’s me!
Here are 10 things that I have learned about myself these past 30 days:
- I look forward to getting out and moving everyday (even on the days when I am thinking that staying in bed sounds better). One day I did not get up, I thought about it all day long. It bugged me so much I walked when I got home that night even though it was 100 degrees.
- I don’t just want to earn activity points so I can eat more. I haven’t even eaten any of my activity points. At this point in my weight loss and with as much as I have to lose, I don’t really need to eat the activity points. I have enough points to keep me satisfied.
- I don’t just want to be thin. I want to be strong and dare I say it? Athletic.
- I want to improve my pace and I focus on it almost everyday. Even though the road feels long right now, I take the baby steps as victories.
- I have experienced the result of something I ate or drink affecting my performance the following morning. I never paid attention to this before. It has made me drink a lot less alcohol, watch high sodium meals and eat less junk.
- I know that exercise must be a top priority in my life, for the rest of my life. If I want to make the most of the rest of my life this is now a non-negotiable.
- I want to run a 5K and I have signed up for one.
- I want to run a half marathon (and who knows maybe even a full).
- I want to do a triathlon.
- I am not too busy to exercise. If I am committed to myself there is always time. It takes discipline to get to bed at night at a time that will make me pull myself out of bed in the morning. But, that is really the only best time to exercise for me to be consistent. If I am serious about losing weight (and I am) this is something I must make time for even if I have to ask for help with something to fit it in.
I am pretty proud of myself. I have never achieved any exercise related goal that I have set for myself in the past.
My next exercise goal is to incorporate strength training into my routine. I think I have finally figured out a plan and will start focusing on that this coming week. For me to be able to run, strength training will be very important. With the extra weight I am carrying right now, I can feel stress on my knees and hips when I run. In addition to dropping weight, I need to strengthen my body so it can handle the added stress running creates.
Transitioning from exercise now I am on to food. I thought I would start sharing our meal plan for the week.
On weekdays I keep breakfast, lunch and snacks pretty much the same for the week. It makes packing my food for work easier and I always have a good idea where I stand with points for the day that way.
We try to only cook once or twice Monday – Thursday and really try to keep it balanced between trying new things and eating our normal staples to keep it easy.
I shared links for recipes from other sites, and some meals are our own recipes. I will try to post some of those throughout the week.
|
BREAKFASTS |
| Sunday |
| Cheesy Scrambled Eggs |
| Simply Potatoes Southwestern Hash Browns |
| Bacon |
| Wheat Toast |
| Orange Juice Spritzer |
| Monday |
| Breakfast date at Good Egg with Mike after dropping off the kids |
| Tuesday – Friday |
| Berry Yogurt Granola Crunch |
|
LUNCHES |
| Sunday |
| Sourdough bread w/ Laughing Cow Lite Cheese Wedge |
| Monday – Friday |
| Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine Frozen Meal |
| Small Plum |
| Medium Peach |
| Grape Tomatoes |
|
MID-DAY SNACK CHOICES |
| Hard boiled egg and fruit |
| Carrots with ranch flavored whipped cream dip |
| Weight Watchers string cheese and fruit |
| Light Wheat Toast with Laughing Cow Lite Cheese Wedge |
|
DINNERS |
| Sunday |
| Grilled Cheesy Burgers with sautéed onions/mushrooms |
| Kale Chips |
| Grilled Corn on Cob |
| Monday |
| Grilled Salmon |
| Bacon Mashed Potatoes |
| Grilled Eggplant and Squash |
| Tuesday |
| Grilled Salmon |
| Bacon Mashed Potatoes |
| Grilled Corn on Cob |
| Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette |
| Wednesday |
| Crock Pot Beer Chicken |
| Brown Rice |
| Cheesy Broccoli |
| Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette |
| Thursday |
| Crock Pot Beer Chicken |
| Brown Rice |
| Cheesy Broccoli |
| Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette |
| Friday |
| Mexican Pita Pizza |
|
DESSERT CHOICES |
| Cherry Lime Sherbet |
| Banana Pumpkin Smoothie |
| Skinny Cow Low Fat Ice Cream or Bars |
I’ll be posting last week’s weigh-in results shortly.
