A Triathlon, A 5k and the 180's.... Oh My!!

My friend, Caitlin and I at the Finish Line

What a month! As I mentioned in my last post, things aren't moving as quickly as I would like, but what a difference a month can make! I'll touch on the highlights..

I competed in a triathlon! It was a shorter-than-sprint distance (.25 mile swim/10 mile bike/2 mile run), but it felt like the Ironman to me!! My goal was to finish in less than 1hr 30min and within 15 min of my much, much (much) more fit friend, Caitlin. I reached both of those goals by finishing in 1:22:ISH and 12ISH minutes behind Cait. Sweet! 

The next weekend, I completed a 5k with another friend, Anne. It wasn't a competitive race, but Anne and I had a goal - under 45 minutes. While I'm sure she could have shaved atleast 5-10 minutes off of her time if she just would have dropped the dead weight (me) and gone on at her own comfortable pace - but she was awesome and stuck with me and we finished in 37 minutes! Not too shabby! I can now run 2 miles comfortably (in about 25-28 min!), bike 10 miles comfortably and will start swimming at the local community center once lap swim starts up! All in all, I'm getting in way better physical shape. The weight is taking FOREVER to come off, but I'm getting there. I've tried a couple of diet/nutrition things (drinks, mostly) and have found that they really can speed up the weight loss! Unfortunately, we can't justify spending that kind of money ($100+/month) just so I can have faster gratification. Nope, I'm going to have to wait.

Purple faced, but "glowing"!!

I have finally FINALLY ventured into the 180's for the first time in WAY. TOO. LONG! It has taken long enough, sheesh! But I'm still going and plan to be in the 170's soon!!

Wanted to impart a little advice for those who may be following - looking for some practical advice on how to drop the pounds when you work, have kids, no time and/or money....like me.

CRAIGSLIST. CRAIGSLIST. CRAIGSLIST!!! I got a super sweet, heavy duty elliptical machine FOR FREE, an exercise bike FOR FREE and there are ALWAYS treadmills, weight benches and free weights on there FOR FREE! Keep your eyes peeled and get yourself something to keep you busy through the lonnnnng winters! We turned half of our unfinished basement into my gym! I have my treadmill (that I've had for EONS), my FREE elliptical and my FREE bike all in a row, and then a big mat (was our kids karate mat that they no longer use) out in front of the machines for abs, stretching, dumbbells and medicine ball workouts. Tonight I did a quick 30 minutes (15 min elliptical, 15 min bike) while my son was down there with me working off some extra four year old energy! It is going to be HUGE in helping me to get into shape!

Secondly, become familiar with calories. Seriously. I have found that thinking in terms of what my body needs instead of what I "feel like" eating is key. We so often eat with our eyes to fulfill our emotions instead of thinking in terms of fueling our bodies to enable it to function properly! A bottle of pop has over 200 calories - a single fast food meal can have THOUSANDS of calories! Weight loss is about putting in less than you work off. My goal is usually around 1580 calories per day. When I exercise, this is MORE than enough to keep me satisfied throughout the day. When I don't exercise, that means I can't indulge in that extra pizza or dessert. 

Lastly I wanted to encourage those of you who, like me, find it really really difficult to eat healthy. It isn't how I was raised and I do not like a lot of vegetables (if you don't count corn as a veggie, I really don't like ANY veggies!). Despite this, I have found things that I can eat that I know are healthy and that don't taste like dirt (literally. Vegetables taste like dirt to me). Below is a list of my favorite go to's throughout the day. I understand they probably aren't the healthiest foods. Tough. It is what I can do. Hopefully, if you are struggling in this area, you can find some things that might work for you! 

Good Luck! Keep putting one foot in front of the other!!

My fave morning go to's:

Grapes

Apples (with or without peanut butter)

String Cheese

Whole Wheat bagel with peanut butter

Egg sandwich (egg on piece of whole wheat bread with a little butter)

Scrambled eggs in a cup (I'm a busy Mom - and eating them from a cup is surprisingly easy!)

Bananas

Honey Nut Cheerios

My fave lunch go to's:

Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup

Subway Turkey on wheat (6")

Sandwhich (turkey or peanut butter)

Dinner leftovers

My fave dinner go to's:

Grilled chicken and rice (using Montreal Chicken seasoning)

Pancakes

Spaghetti

Meatloaf

Now that I look at that list... it is TINY!! haha!! I will figure out more and post them soon!!