Friday, May 21, 2010

I Heart Running

I am having a great, healthy week this week! I don't think I have lost any wieght yet, but I have been making really good food choices, and I have exercised several times.

Making healthy food choices has come a lot easier for me this week. I am starting to really enjoy eating food that is better for me. Notice that I say "better" and not "good". This is because I have replaced foods that are bad for me with foods that are better for me. I do eat a lot of good-for-me foods, but not all of them are. I would like to eventually be eating nothing but good-for-me foods, but for now I am trying to not make HUGE changes all at once. I have found a new cereal that I really like. It is called Honey Sunshine and it is made by Kashi. That plus Almond Breeze vanilla milk makes for a great breakfast that keeps me full for most of the morning. I have cheated a few times in the morning and had a Dr. Pepper, but I got some new teas last night at the grocery store so I am set now to keep soda cut out. For lunch I have been having Lean Cuisines (which are part of the "better" category), although I need to start eating more natural foods (less processed) like veggies and such. I have done pretty good this week at dinner. Last night I made subs with fresh turkey from the deli counter at the grocery store. I discovered how much better that meat is than the prepackaged meat last year, and I can't imagine having to go back. The only other night I cooked this week, I made tacos with lean beef (can you tell we love those around here!). My nephew was born this week, so we have not been home several nights for me to cook dinner. One night we ate in the hospital cafeteria, which is surprisingly decent, and I ate part of a stromboli that came to about 450 calories. I am trying to stay within a 1200 calorie range for calorie intake. I have found that 1200 calories is a good and attainable target for me when I am trying to lose weight. This is especially easy to do when I am eating fresh and healthy foods. I feel better when I eat that way and I have more energy and I feel better about my body. So that is several incentives to eat right!

I am really pumped about my exercise this week. I have run 3 times this week. On Tuesday, I ran and walked for 2 miles on my lunch break with a coworker (I'll refer to her as L). That felt really great and energized me for the rest of the day. L told me I am a fast runner, which surprised me. I had been able to run an 8 minute mile before I slacked off but now I can barely run a 12 min mile. I didn't think I was that fast, but it made me feel good that she said that. Then on Wednesday I went for a run by myself after work. I had to cut that one short, but I think I went about a mile and a half. Then my best run was on Thursday. I went about two and a half miles, but that wasn't the best part. The best part was that running finally clicked for me again. Before I slacked off, I LOVED to run. It was a great feeling, and I wanted to run, instead of feeling like I had to. When I started back again a few weeks ago, I had lost that love and I felt like it was soooooooo hard and I really didn't even want to do it. But it came back yesterday!! I don't know what made it click again, but while I was running, I got this feeling that it just felt so great to be running! If you don't run, I know that sounds silly, but if you love running, you know what I'm talking about. I've heard it called runner's high, but I'm not sure if that's what it is or not, I just know that I am so happy I finally have that feeling back and I actually want to exercise instead of just doing it because I feel like I have to. Also, exercising in general (not just running) is making me feel better and feel like I look better. It gives me confidence and energy that I didn't have when I wasn't exercising regularly enough. So that makes me want to continue also.

So, like I said, I haven't lost any weight yet, but the combo of these 2 things, eating right and exercising, will put me on that road and hopefully it will start showing soon :-)

TGIF! Hope everybody has a great weekend!!

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