awesomesue

The lowest temp? I do not know. I have been working on layering and making use of some home made gear. My favorite temps fall between 35-65 for both biking and running. My husband and daughter get sick a bit more easily than I do. My foot protested against running today. I am beginning to think it is a wash for the week but I can ride and strength train so that can be my focus for the rest of the week if need be. The walking I get in is spread out through out the day. My foot hurts then I can stop walking and when it does not hurt I can get walking in. Of course being on the bus today forces me to walk whether my foot likes it or not.

Foot is still sore but I am going to try again. It is not as sore so who knows. I got in 2 miles of walking. I did not do the bike work or strength. But I can and will do them today and be fine. My schedule in my battle log is the ideal schedule but I am not foolish enough to believe that it will always happen exactly that way. As long as it is done I am good. It is below zero outside and plenty of ice so no commuting on the bike. Some of the main roads have been salted enough and dry I noticed this morning that I think tomorrow since work is closed for Presidents Day "observed" I am going to take my bike out and see how it does with these conditions. It is below zero with windchill and expected to be colder tomorrow but I think I have a good grasp on it and can manage it. Not having complications from the dr visit so I see no reason I could not run or bike this weekend! Okay run on ice may not be fun if my foot is still hurting but I can try and run on the roads that are dry enough even if it is endless repeats of 100 meters of clean pavement. LOL I will scout out side streets on my bike tomorrow assuming that goes well. Food for today: B: almond milk/pumpkin puree/protein powder L: celery/hummus + clementine orange D: ramen and egg...breakfast for dinner and this is kiddo's choice. I might add some of the pork I cooked the other day that is in the freezer and peas. I eat less than half a serving of ramen and very little of the "seasoning" packet. Thus as of tonight I will be at 4.5 points for the week (11.5 for the challenge). How did I go from 3 to 4.5 if I am eating less than half a serving of ramen...I drank a serving of soda last night. Not happy about it. Tomorrow we are having pizza that we did not make so that will use a point as long as I keep it to one serving. That means I may save my salad I was planning for lunch to have with dinner to keep it to one serving of non whole food stuff. So that takes me to 5.5. I was hoping to make up a point this week and if I only deviate by half a serving that will be accomplished. I can already see that working on food will be a big part of next challenge too. This is a tough one for sure but I know I will get better and better. Each time I work on it I do make lasting improvements even with a step or two back. I feel like that the lifestyle I want to have as far as activity levels and options along with food is happening. Pretty exciting even with bumps in the road. It is taking time but getting there.

Yeah stretching the feet has been nice. I might try a little run at lunch today. I still have speed work on the bike and strength work too. My morning was off and I had a late start so I did not get done what I normally do in the morning. Dinner went well last night and I was able to stop at satisfied with each meal! Food for the day: B - spinach/pineapple/ginger drink - I am feeling like I need something else so I am going to see if I can find a hard boiled egg in the cafeteria. If not then I will wait until lunch. L - clementine orange + celery + hummus (again it was an off morning and packing was insane...thank goodness I had things planned so I knew what I could grab quickly and still be healthy!) D - protein (not sure if the hubby is up for salmon yet...never sounds good when sick) + sweet po oven fries OR left overs from last night with a side of spinach balls and roasted garlic. He is eating the soup I made for lunch but there is a fair amount left then again I could take it with salad for lunch tomorrow and have the rest of the hummus and celery for breakfast. Last night my husband was craving pizza and ravioli. I am so glad I said yep that sounds good but turned around and cooked dinner. It is better for you anyway. I am out of bone broth now. The chicken was skinless boneless thighs so I had to use the rest of my frozen broth. It is great having options planned for food. I plan not just specific meals each week for breakfast, lunch and dinner but I look at things that are good staples on sale and make the meal plan such that we can tweak it easily based on what sounds good and how people feel. As a result we have the planned options but we also have alternatives. For lunch at anytime I can throw together a baker, broccoli, and sundried tomatoes for something hot. Or I could grab a veg burger and broccoli soup from the freezer however I am trying to make sure I use all the fresh produce first so we do not waste food. Hey I am just happy no other points were used yesterday! So for the week I am at 3 points and for the challenge 11 points.

dinner plans changed due to sick people requests.... sausage and biscuts...all good quality stuff. The sausage we buy is ground in store and does not have crud added. In fact when cooking you have to add a little fat of some kind however lets tick off another 2 points thanks to the treat my husband brought home. I happily ate it thinking "eh its one point" only to read the label to see that nope it was 2 points. 3 points used this week. I am going to work super hard to only use 2 more if any so I can make up my extra point from last week. Dang it. I knew this would be hard. I was not mindful when eating dinner and over ate a bit too. ended up off work early because kiddo was sick and panicking. I got home and took care of her and used the day to cook a pork roast in the slow cooker. Tossed meat into the freezer for quick meals especially with the martial arts class we are going to start attending once the others are healthy enough. Also roasted a head of garlic since my husband has been craving it while sick. Food for today: B: celery and hummus L: left over seasoned ground beef and pinto beans from "taco night" with a bit of plain greek yogurt and served over thinly sliced red cabbage D: chicken in broth with peas/carrots/some noodles Sunday while grocery shopping I stepped wrong somehow. It was the strangest thing. I now have random pain in my left foot in a very specific spot. It does not feel like pf. Had that and it was not fun. Anyway my foot was feeling great today and then it hurt while walking for the past couple hours and now it is okay. Thus I am on the fence about whether or not I will run today. GGGrrrrrrrrr

Ooo I will do extra stretching this week. Always feels nice.

It is hit or miss on if we get any participation with mini's. We are always open to suggestions.

LOL This go around is definitely keeping me on my toes! oooo chocolate cake...that can be your free day for the week. We avoided Super Bowl Sunday mostly because the husband was sick and the kid started to not feel well.

We are not entirely paleo and our pancakes are not either. LOL For dinner last night I changed things up a tad. Instead of lettuce which was not very affordable I used an idea I tried thanks to Strickland...I topped thinly sliced red cabbage. Adds so much crunch and it really is tasty! I did take kiddo swimming for a couple hours and it was a blast while my hubby stayed home to rest. At this point I am thinking bronchitis or walking pneumonia. I did strength work already today so all I need to do at home is sledgehammer goodness. No martial arts class tonight. We were going to sign up today but with the hubby sick and kiddo now complaining of a sore throat I think it wise everyone gets better first. Not very respectful to go and get others sick. So we are aiming to attend on Friday and sign up. Stopped when satisfied with all meals yesterday and it was nice. Food for the day: B: almond milk + pumpkin puree/chobani yogurt thing (ancient grains mixed berry...1 serving and thus 1 point used for the week) L: clementine orange/celery/hummus I made...I packed a load of celery and hummus so it will be quite filling D: chicken and broth with carrots and peas plus noodles but I am skipping the noodles

Challege 2 - Week 2 Planned: Monday:Strength + cross train Tuesday:Run Wednesday:Speed work bike + strength Thursday:Run Friday:Run + strength + cross train Saturday:Long run Sunday:Long ride Week 2: Run 2 - 2.5 3x Run 3 long run Bike 30 minutes speed Bike 2.5-3 hours long ride What I did: Monday - strength (db lvl 3 A), sledgehammer fun (5 minutes) Extras:10 minutes ma practice, walked 2 miles Tuesday - nope...left foot has pain will try short run at lunch on Wednesday Extras: walked 3 miles Wednesday - wth...none and foot hurt so no run either Extras: walked 2 miles Thursday - no run due to foot... Extras: walked 2 miles Friday - Saturday - Sunday - Just don't ask. Lost drive for a few days. Back at it today! Wish I fully could say what happened other than it did not happen. I understand running due to foot (which is feeling better) but the rest makes no sense. The only person I let down was myself.

The best part of pancake or waffle making is that she relaxes and just talks. The rest of Friday I barely ate since I felt terrible after the doctors. I am glad she had a sleep over at a friends house and had fun. Her dad and I were not feeling fun (he is still sick). Saturday was good for the most part. Felt awful off and on so food was simple. Started with out with oats and an egg on them (tasty) but late that night I cost myself a point so that puts me at 8 points. Stupid gelato in the house and my bad decision out of pouting. So as promised here is my really bad haiku. cold nights gelato empty container calls me plump berries sublime I think we all can agree that this need not be a habit. Embarrassing for me not to mention hard to do and I would hazard a guess painful for you to read. I should have ate blueberries instead or a pear or anything but gelato especially since it was a reaction to how I felt. I did keep eating mindful at least and not over eating but again that is easy when not eating much of anything. Then again how mindful is it when you eat out of a reaction. Pain kept me from feeling too hungry anyway. Honestly I do not remember much besides sleeping/resting a lot. Today is much better. I am going to take kiddo to the pool for a couple hours. Easy exercise for me and relaxing. Hubby talked me out of doing the planned 2 hour bike ride today. I am just now not hurting and he thinks one more day of healing may be best. I do not know. I have energy and desire. Sometimes I feel like he does not want me to push myself and even when I disagree he gets all cranky about it. I think hitting the water with kiddo is good. Good for her and allows me to make sure all is good for tomorrow. Last time I had some issues. I have gotten things done around the house at least today with only minor irritation and will be grocery shopping with kiddo later as the hubby rests. Today's food: B: sweet potato hash + 2 eggs L: pear (not hungry) D: taco night so I will do meat/beans/red sauce/onions/greek yogurt instead of sour cream on lettuce Not risking another point and having to do the 2 point punishment. LOL Now I actually have to make up a point so at the end of the challenge I am at 28 points. *shudders* I have planned food options for the week so that is done. Admitted there are a couple openings but those will be filled once I go to the store and make final decisions based on what is on sale/prices.

Fascinating. I stumbled upon your challenge and am definitely looking forward to following along. Dizziness after working out when fasted for how many hours? I can do some workouts in a fasted state but if it is more than 60 minutes then I have to eat. Granted when working out in a fasted state I usually eat about 30 minutes after the workout (work out at the end of the fasting period).

Worried about you and checking in.

Go Kim Go! Love the comment from Lighthouse about clutter being a vortex of life energy. Every time we get cluttered I feel it but never quite put my finger on it. I get aggitated and when we declutter I always feel better. Now this has me thinking.

Well it is cold out and I am sure as soon as spring hits that number will climb! LOL Food rocked for yesterday! I am so happy. The pancakes turned out fantastic and they really are delicious plain. Kiddo brought in the laptop and played music while we talked. Thursday night pancakes every couple weeks is the best time. We talk, I get to listen to music she likes, and just have fun while making good food. She likes dubstep, edm, and trap. Kind of not sure of the differences but it is cool to share something she enjoys. I have the dr's visit today...ugh. Food for the day: B - spinach/egg/bacon (smoked cured without added junk)/olive oil and vinegar L - hummus I made last night for today/celery and a pear. I may not feel like eating much or doing much. Not sure. May have some tuna. D - ? But bet your bottom that it will be real foods and healthy. Tonight kiddo is at a sleep over which leads to stupid temptation with hubby but he is sick and went to work since he stayed home yesterday so I doubt he will want to make much of anything. I will most likely be feeling cruddy so I will not feel like making much so...oh gosh I will need to make something good no matter how I feel. I missed the speed work on the bike again but I rucked instead and did run. Also nailed a couple miles walking. I will do strength today, bike speed work, and a short run. Tomorrow will be entirely off outside of walking some.

Thank you thank you thank you! I will be trying it. charlomechry posted a great video in their challenge. The Max Health Challenge they set up is pretty fun too. Okay the embarrassing punishments are motivating. So for 2 points I will sing about food to some crazy song (um no!). A 3-point overage will be a song and dance video (oh heck no!). Over 28 points for the challenge will be me reciting a food poem on video in public. Holy crud just the thought of those has me thinking so hard...just no. Okay dinner last night had a change of plans. Hubby was not feeling well and salmon did not sound good at all. Plus we had loads of left overs so we ate those. I did awesome. Brown rice/tomato sauce/chicken (basically taco night left overs) and I topped it not with cheese and sour cream but a spoonful of delicious plain greek yogurt. I am happy with how we used left overs and all that. Upon reflecting more I think I actually hit all 7 servings of crud foods already so the rest of the week has to be clean or all will suffer as they endure my motivating punishments! Have I mentioned I have never written a haiku? Lets hope that does not happen here. Anyway I weighed myself yesterday morning and since last Wednesday I lost 3 lbs. That was not something I expected to see but boy was I excited. Todays food: B: spinach/fresh pineapple/ginger drink (whiz it all in a blender with cold water and ice but I used fresh pineapple I had tossed in the freezer instead of ice). It has 2 cups of spinach in it. L: small to medium potato/broccoli/sun dried tomatoes/chicken...yum! D: It is breakfast for dinner. Kiddo wants us to do a mega batch of our homemade pancakes where I sneak in all kinds of good stuff. We will freeze them. I will enjoy one but top mine with half a pear and some banana. My pancakes are so delicious it seems a waste to add syrup or honey. I did eat mindfully each meal and stopped when satisfied. In fact before bed I began to feel a little hungry but eating right before laying down is a bad idea so I just went to sleep. I did not wake up hungry in the morning so it was not really one of those that I was really hungry hungry if you know what I mean. I did not get my bike speed work in ultimately yesterday but it will be done today along with a 2 mile run. Speed work at lunch and run for 2 miles on the way home. Still happy with the activity I did yesterday. When I saw that the bike workout may not happen as the day progressed I managed to walk a couple extra miles so I covered 4 miles!

Wow what a fantastic and diverse challenge! Love it.

Having a punishment last time helped keep the strength work going. Last nights dinner was a big free night on the MAX Health Challenge but certainly dinged my week on my personal challenge. We ordered out and I even drank soda. So I have 6.5 servings of not good things out of 7 for the week counting the half serving of pasta I am eating as left overs an at lunch today. I simply can not waste food. After struggling and being food insecure it is not an option but I can make good choices around it. Last night means I had 1 meal this week of not eating mindfully. I was aware of being stupid but did it despite that anyway. So goals 1 & 3 were tossed aside for one stupid meal. At least if I had opted not to have the soda or stop when satisfied I would at least have helped one goal. When I got home kiddo made us a snack since we both were hungry and dinner was on hold as we waited to work out what was going on with my m-i-l.. It involved a banana, natural peanut butter, and a slice of homemade bread. She sprinkled on some unsweetened cocoa powder too. Today; B: almond milk (I drink the plain stuff that is unsweetened) + pumpkin puree + real protein L: Broc soup (left over from yesterday...I was satisfied so I did not drink it in keeping with a goal of eating mindfully) + half serving of pasta left over from last nights dinner D: salmon + sweet potatoes Okay punishment ideas.... I am open to suggestions. I think for each full serving over 7 should have increasing pain value each week and then if I go over 28 servings for the entire challenge should have something painful. 1 point: write and post a haiku about food 2 points: 3 points: (must hurt a lot since this is definitely not acceptable in any way) over 28 points for the challenge then the punishments is??? This gives me a chance provided it is not week 4 fail to make up for a bad week and possibly bank some points just in case. Today is strength which I will do as soon as I finish and 30 minutes speed work on the bike.

Finally made it here! Love it and love the punishment! I failed to add one to my challenge. Now I have to think on it. Okay you can not control a stubborn baby so maybe those nights you should give yourself a pass on those nights as long as you get the best sleep you are able such as not falling asleep with the tv on or allowing yourself to be distracted after the baby falls asleep. Again it is not reasonable to counting it against your goals. Or for every night the babe is not cooperating (LOL) then on nights she does you count it as double. Basically make those good sleep night opportunities even more important. Just a thought otherwise you could be setting yourself up to fail based on things beyond your control.

So happy to be back for more.

Excellent plan! See what you are doing and then just improve bit by bit from there. The next challenge if you feel the need you can continue to build on this one. Love it.

Groundhog day is my father in lawas birthday! So this week I will do some extra stretching for my feet and massage them. Consider how much I bike, run, and walk it is astounding how I forget to take care of them. Stuck on...not hard. Food choices and that is why it is my challenge this go around at the same time. Last night was a grim reminder of how easy it is to be stupid. I have been struggling to drop soda for more than a few days. I say no soda the rest of the challenge which will also help to better food choices. My hubby ordered us each a can last night and instead of speaking up and saying no to soda I decided what the heck since he ordered it. Not gonna do that the rest of the challenge and get out of this rut.

Found you! LOL MMMuuuaaahahahaha So if you do not like "don't do this" reword them. 1) eat home cooked foods and produce - benefits: saves money and you know what is in the food 2) eat home cooked foods and produce - benefits: it helps to keep the sugar monster at bay since you control what goes in the food and avoids processed crud with added sugars and bad things. There see not so bad. I do not know if it is me but I am sensing a theme. HHmmm punishment...what could that be? Increased pain in the joints. Increased risk of RA flare....

GGgrrr what is with this website going offline so often! Happens more than once a day. GGGrrrrr posts lost...grumpysue done being grumpy.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I spit coffee laughing when I read this.

Oh that is such a great idea! Affordable, practical, affordable, and easy! I toss weights into a backpack and well they are not comfortable but they do the trick. This is something I am going to do very very soon!