Weekly Weigh-in

I weighed in yesterday at 134.6.  Hurray!  134.6!  That's the lowest point since February, when I was painfully charting my weight creeping up.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that I've been fighting a cold for the past few days, so haven't been able to exercise.  Many people can exercise through a cold, but I've found that it just makes me feel terrible, possibly because of my slight asthma.  Also, it's been about 100 degrees here every day, which is even more miserable when you have a cold.  I might have gone for a slow walk, but I think the 100 degrees on top of the

So, I watched about a million episodes of the Biggest Loser on Netflix this weekend.  Yesterday, that's basically all that I did.  It was great.  I would have rather been moving around, but a TV binge when you're sick is kind of nice.  It's nice that my kids are old enough where I can actually do that.  Especially since my husband was home and willing to take them away for a while.  I also find the Biggest Loser to be extremely motivating.  Right now I wish I could go to "Fitness Ridge" for 2-4 weeks and get rid of my extra pounds.  But, alas, I am not rich. 

I've also been reading a book called Thin For Life, which has also been motivational to me.  I'll try and post a review of it here when I'm finished. 

I'm very, very happy about breaking 135.  My next goal is to get into the 133's.  One step at a time.

Couch to 5K: Day 1

Yesterday, I did day 1, week 1 of Couch to 5K, which means that for 20 minutes, I alternated between jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds.  It was easy.  Still, it's hard to believe that back in November I completed a half marathon at a run/walk ratio of 2:3 minutes.  I stopped running completely in January when I had cold that I couldn't shake, which turned into a sinus infection, which resulted in me getting my first (nonpreventative) antibiotic prescription in nearly a decade.  Walking for 2 miles left me exhausted. 

I'm not sure if I'll attempt running this winter.  Instead, I may do Jillian Michaels DVD's instead.  I really struggle to run in the cold.  My children give me colds, and I also have a touch of asthma, which makes them worse.  When I get sick or am recovering and try to run in the winter, my pulse gets way too high, and I feel terrible.  I tend to have to take weeks off from vigorous exercise.  I guess this means that when I'm sick, I need to watch my portion and carb intake much better than I otherwise would.  If I can't exercise, probably giving up bread and carby snacks would be enough to carry me through until I can exercise again.  (Carbs, especially in the winter, seem to make it harder for me to control my appetite.) 

Anyway, so day 1 of C25K was a success.  I am thinking that I will do each week twice, whether or not it is challenging.  If it is challenging, I may repeat the week more.  I want to get to the point that I can run 30 minutes continuously before DST goes away.  Then I will attempt to run (intervals) with my Corgi in the mornings, when it's cool enough that I won't feel guilty for running him. 

I am seriously considering walking a half marathon this fall.  I, unfortunately, walked a half marathon I intended to walk/run back in April.  Doubly unfortunately, there was a walking division that I did not enter, so I came in dead last in my age group, since I was in the running division.  I started out at a great walking speed but was not able to maintain it!  By the end, I could barely move.  I definitely need to work on my speed walking. 

I am trying to keep the stress down on me, and I really don't feel up to pushing myself as far as running goes.  I'd prefer to do short runs and long and short walks.  I LOVE running.  I suck at it; it's hard for me, but I do love it.  I also think it's a lot easier on my skeletal system to run when I weigh less, so I think it will be good for me to prolong the C25K to until I am sure to weigh about 10 pounds less. 

I think I will do a 5K towards the end of the summer though, and run in it!