udelkitty

Ok, apparently I'm slow to update, but not for lack of doing my challenge! Week 1.5 Fitness: I've been keeping on track with my 8k training. Sun: 3.5mi, Tues: 2.5mi, Thurs: 2mi, Sun: 4mi, Tues (today): 3mi. Strength and such, only 2 days worth last week, so will try better this week. Working on level 2 rebel guide. Diet: I've made some tasty stuff for dinners that has lots of emphasis on veg and meat, so yay! Level up: doing good and staying away from too much shopping. Trust me, I will not be doing any crazy Black Friday shopping this week. I also received some gift cards for my birthday, so yay for not spending my own money for a bit! Now I just have to remember to bring them with me!

I'm pretty sure I can be a joy and a blessing to everyone but that brother! It makes me feel like a terrible sister sometimes. I want to make the holiday season pleasant

Alrighty, lets try this challenge thing again. I kind of fell off the boat a bit at the end of the last one. Not that I didn't keep my goals, but I didn't keep them as well as I should have. Will do better! Fitness/Diet 1. Continue doing strength training or HIIT 3x a week. Seriously, this should be easy to do. I have plenty of time! 2. Continue following the training plan I found for getting ready for an 8k (5 mile) race on December 15. That requires 3 days of running various distances, and wants the off days to be some kind of cross training (see, even my running plan says I should do lifting). 3. Continue working on my diet goals of reducing my reliance on grains for making up the bulk of my dinner plans. I think I did really well on this last time. In fact, so well, I have a stockpile of full pasta boxes in my pantry. Grains should not be the main focus of my dinner more than 3x a week. If I make something like pasta, eat smaller portions. If I have leftovers, combine them with something else so I control the portion. Level up 4. WATCH MY SPENDING! Goodness, it is birthday and holiday season in my family. I need to focus on not spending frivolously on myself (hello penguin holiday decorations I want for my house) so that I make sure I'm not breaking the bank this season. I've already worked on exercising self-restraint when I see something I'd just love to buy. When I see something I want, I walk away from it and think twice about whether I need it. For example, I saw an adorable penguin cookie jar at Target that I want, but opted to stock up on Christmas lights for my tree and outside instead (you may argue that that's also frivolous, but I argue that holiday decorations are very visual and bring joy to others in addition to myself). I know I'd never actually store cookies in the jar (not airtight, no one likes stale cookies), so it would just be taking up space on furniture where there is none. Extras 5. Party smart this holiday season! Don't pig out, don't graze all day, and pick and choose my guilty pleasures! 6. As the Dutch priest at my childhood church would put it, be a joy and a blessing to others, and make up for it when I'm not a joy or a blessing to others. The holidays can be intense, and I generally have little patience for one of my brothers. But when I'm nasty to him, it brings out the meanness in everyone. Lets try to fix that.

Alright, fell off the boat a bit with the hurricane interrupting things and Halloween funtime! Just wanted to post a little update to my goals and such. Ran a 5k on Sunday and did it in 31:13! I think this is a post college PR, so woot! Getting myself closer to the 30 minute 5k I'd love. The first mile was just under 9 min, but I forgot how uphill the 2nd mile of this race was, woof!

Welcome to running! For me, there is nothing more peaceful than a nice relaxed run early in the morning in spring. I'll echo the other thoughts on starting slow, keeping it easy, and building up, though honestly, it sounds like you already do a bit of physical activity. Sometimes if I haven't been running in awhile (trying to break the habit of not running as much in winter), ill do the couch to 5k plans to build up. But usually after a week or so, I know I can skip the walking intervals and just go for a few miles nonstop. Listen to your body! I wouldn't necessarily recommend going all out n your mile circuit, but build intervals in. Sprint or stride a bit faster for some set time or to a point in the distance, the slow to your conversational pace. Rinse repeat. That's a good way to increase spread and pace with out killing yourself.

Week 5 update 2 Fitness: Tuesday- ran 2 miles through the neighborhood. The neighborhood is still new to me, so I've learned a bit just how hilly it is. Also, where the sidewalks are missing. Today- took advantage of the nice weather to work on the garden. Pulled up plants and tilled the soil for about 1.5 hours. Not weightlifting, but definitely plenty of bending, pulling, and lifting. Diet: cheated and made couscous, but, I made it to mix with onion, chick peas, carrots, and spinach and stuff in half of a roasted acorn squash. That was dinner for the past 2 nights, and was awesome.

Week 5 update 1 Ok, after a week of fail (not really, I just sucked at updating), time to be back on track. Last week was rough on my goals. I was away for the weekend, which is not of excuse of course, but there it is. Fitness: Sunday: recovery from homecoming and tailgating. i did do some raking and lawn mowing, so not a total loss of activity. Today I shook up the body weight exercises with some fast paced yoga. Diet: let's ignore the weekend. I didn't do too badly, except for the vast amounts of beer. I've got some zucchini boats with sausage, peppers, onions, salsa and cheese baking in the oven as I type. I plan on having some cottage cheese and fruit for dessert. And a cookie. Level up: doing good, love the amount of sleep I'm getting. Upcoming! I've signed up for the Celtic winter solstice 5 mi road race here in Baltimore for December. I plan on following a training regimen to get me ready for it. I know I can do 5 miles, but I want it to feel good. I'm excited, and the shirt we get for it is supposed to be pretty awesome!

Week 4 update 1 Woof, feel like I haven't updated in forever! Last week was rough because I kept meeting up with friends to watch the Os in the playoffs. That led to late nights, sleeping at friends' houses, and late starts to the days. Excuses, excuses... Fitness: Sunday, played some camogie for about and hour. Monday took off. Today, did 3 sets of rookie workout B + 1 mile run. First test of my new running sneaks, which feel so good! Diet: I'm doing really well on not allowing grains to be a main part of my dinner. When I have made some rice or pasta, I try to let a day go I between when I have leftovers of it. I'm also getting in good variety of veg to help fill me up at dinner. Also, thank you all for the positive support and motivation. I know I'm terrible about hanging out in the forum and posting, so ill try to be better for our mini-challenge.

Week 3 update 2 Fitness: I've been tacking on jump rope jumping into my workouts. Wednesday I did 50 minutes of dodgeball, learned that my quad is still hurting, but not too terribly. I pulled it good! Today while mowing the lawn, I did some exercises in between swipes of the yard. So down and back, 100 jumps, down and back, squats, etc. Diet: doing good, had leftovers of that tasty pumpkin lentil soup for lunch and dinners. I also did well and ate a healthy dinner before heading to the bar, so I couldn't overload on pub grub. Going again tonight to watch the Os, will try to make a good selection. JediNickD I loved dvr when I had cable! I'm going the cheap route at the moment. It's not so much I stay up to watch something, but falling asleep on the couch, waking up, watching more tv, falling asleep, etc, and not ending up in bed until after midnight! I'm doing pretty good I think. At 10, I switch off the tv, go upstairs, and am in bed by 10:30, solidly asleep long before 11.

It was really easy and perfect for all this fall weather! Here's the recipe: http://www.yummymummykitchen.com/2012/09/curried-pumpkin-lentil-soup.html The recipe is vegan friendly, but I used chicken broth and added some leftover shredded chicken to it and it was delicious! I recommend blooming the spices (dump them in the pot toward the end of sautéing the onion and apple) rather than putting them in with the liquid. I think it brings the flavor out more. Also, the soup will thicken up a lot, I suppose you can add a bit more broth to thin it out if you want it a little more soupy. Spice as needed. I added some ground pepper.

Week 3 update 1 Fitness: took a bit of a breather Monday after a shopping trip went long. Today did 3 sets each of rookie workout 1, and did 700 jump rope jumps. 600 of those were over a span of 10 minutes. It took about 1 minute to do 100, so I could squeeze in more if I took shorter breaks. Diet: had pasta for dinner last night, but only made a small portion of angel hair. Also made a sauce loaded with sautéed onion, mushroom, tomato, and leftover acorn squash, sooo, veggie heavy! Today I made pumpkin lentil soup. Level up: still doing well, getting in bed before 10:30.

Woot, I'm on this jump rope thing! Clarification: I definitely think I'm level 2, but have no actual jump rope (it's at my parents house, been meaning to bring it home). Barring making one from my clothes line, can I call myself a 2 while just jumping and moving my wrists in a turning motion? I guess it doesn't really matter... I like this though. My quad is still gimpy after flag football Saturday, and this does a bit of cardio with less stress on my quad.

Week 2 update 3 Late, but here goes! Fitness: Saturday: did another 6x120 of sprinting, then played touch-football later in the day. My quad seized up during the game, but I played through it. Took the day off today, but the quad is still sore! So, I did a fair mix of cardio and HIIT this week. Bonus: bought new running shoes, as mine were 2 years old and beginning to fall apart. Aisics gel-kayano, love these shoes, they've served me well over the past several years. Worth the price to me, and super comfy. Diet: overall for the week, I think I did really good with my goal to avoid overindulging on grains. I didn't fall back on rice or pasta at all. If I did have grains at dinner, it was a bun. I did make quinoa yesterday, but because of its other benefits, I'm not sure o count it strictly as a grain. Also ate plenty of fruit and veg throughout the week. Level up: well, not asleep, but I am currently in bed, so at least I'm there when I pass out! Listening to the ball game on the radio for a bit.

Week 2 update 2 Goodness, I've been in and out of the house and haven't updated! Fitness: Wednesday: stomach was feeling wonky, so I took it easy, did a tabata sit-up workout (targeted different areas over each 20s interval (did not help stomach feel better). Thursday: 600m of sprints, then 50 minutes of dodgeball. Diet: more moderate success! I've avoided having too many carbs with dinner, though I did cheat a bit. I had foods that came on buns, abs I ate the buns, because nothing's better than a potato roll with hotdogs :/ but have avoided making rice/pasta, which would lead to me over eating carbs rather than the set amount in a bun. Level up: did well, made it into bed by 10:30 every work night except Thursday. Didn't get to bed until 12, and wow did I feel it Friday at work!

Just did 6x100m sprints at the park. Was hoping to do 800m, but I felt my legs starting to get wibbly on those last two 100s.