My Bug-Eyed Husband

Crazy morning!  My husband had a trip today and decided he wanted to get his running and weights in before he left. So he set his alarm for 4 a.m.!!! Yikes!  I didn't want to walk that early.  My plan was to get up when he got back from his run and walk while he was at the gym. I just wasn't motivated to walk in the neighborhood by myself this morning. Not that I couldn't do it or haven't done it many times before I just didn't want to. So I decided I would ride along with him to the gym and walk on the treadmill there.

Before we left though there was a situation. My husband was explaining how while he was running his last lap a bug flew in his eye and his eye was still bothering him. So he asked me to look at it. At first, I couldn't see anything other than irritation and then I realized the bug was still there. It was stuck right in the inside corner of his eye - a relatively big bug. It was horrible! I was trying not to panic, but I couldn't get it out. Finally after dumping in Visine, probing with a Q-tip and using a pair of tweezers he was finally able to get it out. That goes up there with one of the grossest things I have ever seen. No, I did not take a picture. I am hoping to forget the image. 

Okay, if that had happened to me I would have been traumatized. I would probably have bandaged my eye, put on my pjs, got back in bed and waited for the get well cards to start flooding in. My husband, however, just matter-of-factly moved on with his day and off to the gym we went.

The cardio room is upstairs at our gym. For some reason I have trouble with the stairs there. In general, I don't love stairs, especially going down. I have some balance issues and I think going down stairs makes me fearful of falling. However, I really hate going up these stairs also. They don't look different from other stairs, but they seem very awkward to me - like the rise is too high. I am hoping that as I lose weight and get stronger that stairs will become less of an issue for me.

I only had about 40 minutes to workout (the time it takes my husband to do his weights). This morning I started on the treadmill. I set it for 20 minutes at 4 mph. Normally, when I walk on the treadmill I do about 3.8 mph, but I thought since I've been doing around 4 mph outside I should try to up the treadmill. Again, my balance issues come into play and the treadmill makes me nervous...I have to hang on the whole time.  

The walk felt good. I considered just staying on the treadmill for the whole time, but once you hit your set time it goes right to cooldown. Not sure if there is an easy way to extend without slowing down.

Next, I got on the bike for 20 minutes. I set it for level 6 and tried to keep the speed above 12 mph (only a couple slips under that speed). My legs were getting pretty tired by the time my husband came up to get me.

Probably some of the specifics of my workout aren't that interesting on a blog, but I want to document some so I can look back later and see how I have improved. Sometimes my insecurity takes over and I worry that people will think I am just trying to brag. Don't get me wrong, I like all the positive feedback I have been getting. But in the end I want to be able to look back and see where I was, what I have lost, what I have gained, etc.

I love the Special K campaign "What Will you Gain When you Lose?"  Such a great way of looking at the process. I am looking forward to the list :)

The Great Debate

I have been having this debate with myself for a week or two. Today it has greatly intensified.

I have been very diligent about keeping in my calorie budget. I use MyFitnessPal which tracks calories and adds extra calories if you exercise. I currently eat between 1300-1400 calories a day. In the past 6 weeks I have gone over my set calories a couple times, but have never exceeded my additional exercise calories. I normally try not to use my exercise calories. If I am going to sweat (or glow) I want that extra work to help me reach my goals faster. 

I honestly haven't had too much trouble staying in budget.  However, there are some foods that I have been missing and they would make it much more difficult for me to not go over budget.  For example, a local place has the most delicious Butter Pecan frozen custard. I don't know how many calories it has so I am "afraid" to eat it. I would love a plate of nachos, but by the time I "slim them down" they aren't quite the nachos I was craving. 

I had been thinking that since my birthday is coming up and it happens to be on a weigh-in day that I might splurge a little after weigh-in and not worry if I go over calories. It would be one day and I would have a week to recover before my next weigh-in. Now that it almost here I am having second thoughts. I still want what I want, but I am struggling with being perfect. Does going over my calories one day out of 6 weeks make me bad? 

I don't think an occasional splurge is bad at all.  However, setting a precedent could be dangerous. What is a justifiable splurge. This week my birthday, next week it might be that the sun is shining. I know I am being a bit ridiculous. We are doing great and I have no real reason to think a splurge is going to throw me completely off track. 

So the debate rages on.  Full report tomorrow...

On a somewhat related subject.  I was quite annoyed today.  As I was waiting in the checkout line at Walmart I had plenty of time to peruse the snacks. It seemed like at least half of the packages were labeled as two to three servings. Seriously, who doesn't eat the whole packet of Bacon Cheddar pretzel nuggets (300 calories)??  I can't tell you the number of times I have eaten the box of Reese's Pieces (600 calories) by myself in one sitting.  I didn't even look at the a Grab Bag of chips - I know that thing is 3.5 servings and I owe at least one thigh to that marketing strategy!! Bottom line is that if I buy and open one of those snack items I won't have the strength to eat a so called one serving.  So instead I buy nothing and continue to long for the treats :(

Had a good walk this morning - 3 miles at 15:20/mile average.  Then tonight a mini workout at the gym while my husband was doing weights. I did 7 minutes on the elliptical. Then I did 20 minutes on the bike. I tried the random hill program. I had to reduce the difficulty a couple times at the steepest hills. Wish I could do that on my real bike :)

So I have done what I can for the week and tomorrow we will see how the scale plays out.

Making It Work

I love our morning routine.  We get up about 5 a.m. and workout.  Usually, walking/running in our neighborhood.  We trade off who takes Millie depending on what we are doing.  I don't like her to run more than a couple days in a row since she will has growing bones. It usually takes us 45 minutes to workout. Then we get ready for work. Such a good way to start off the day.

Our regular morning routine was interrupted today. I had to be at work extra early and my husband is having a bit of foot pain. So, I didn't take the time to walk this morning. Instead of running in the neighborhood, my husband hit the elliptical machine at the gym - easier on his foot.

There is one very disappointed puppy in our house. She stayed home :(

Since I went in early, I got off early. When I got home I decided to go to the gym with my husband. He does weight training in the late afternoon. While he was working the weights I did a cardio workout.  I walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill and  then rode for 15 minutes on the bike.

I am proud of myself for not blowing off the workout just because my routine was interrupted.

GYM WARNING:  Taking pictures of yourself in the mirror while on the treadmill might look like this.

I was happy that I remembered my headphones. The last time we went to the gym I could only watch the silent televisions :(  Today I got my Jeopardy! fix...good ol' Alex Trebek.  I didn't do so well.  Turns out I don't know my American literature.

I am usually pretty hungry when I get home so it is a bit of a challenge to go to the gym first. From the time I get home until dinner is a big snacking danger zone for me. I am sure I am not the only one. Before we left I ate a little snack (about 150 calories). Surprisingly by the time we got home I wasn't starving.

I had planned to grill tonight.  But my plan blew up...not literally. We are out of gas! No grilling tonight. Thankfully, dinner was easily moved inside.  I made turkey burgers and roasted asparagus.

The turkey burgers were my best yet.  My husband hasn't stopped talking about them since we ate. A couple of weeks ago I made turkey burgers from Skinnytaste.com as her recipe was written (check them out).  Today, I modified the recipe to reflect our tastes.

The original recipe calls for grated zucchini and fresh grated garlic - which I did.  Then I added chopped fresh cilantro (from the garden).  In my husband's burger I added chopped jalapeno - he is a spicy guy!  In both burgers I wrapped grated cheese in the center. I used a Provel cheese that we both love. It worked out perfectly the cheese melted and oozed about as we ate them.  I topped the burgers with red onions, lettuce and tomato.  They were a huge delicious mess.  Good thing it wasn't a first date :)

Our whole dinner was 433 calories (including a bun!) . Can't beat that.

Had I known they would be so good I would have taken a picture.

Just in case you are feeling sorry for poor ignored Millie please know her life isn't that traumatic. No matter what she says...

Headed out to the farm to play with her friends.  Please note I am the one in the backseat!!  We were taking balloons and thought it was safer for me to sit with the balloons than for Millie to sit with them.

Millie enjoying her new pool.  My husband's Father's Day present from his mom :)