Week in Review - Catching up

Here I thought I'd have all the time in the world to blog over the holidays .... and I've barely touched the computer.

So where have I been and what have I been up to? (I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear - hahahhaa).

Let's start with just before Christmas.  I've mentioned a few times that my legs are tight, tired, & sore.  It took barely being able to walk or straighten my legs to finally buck up and make an appointment with the therapist.  He worked my legs a bit and confirmed that they are extremely tight.  Extra mileage exaggerated the problem, but he said that I'm prone to it with my feet and he (like the shoe fitter) suggested I try stability shoes.  He told me to try running a little bit, see how it feels and come back after Christmas.  I was a bit disappointed because I didn't feel he worked my legs much (these thoughts would come back to bite me BIG TIME at the next visit).

Christmas was very peaceful and low key.  Finances are horrible so the gift exchange was beyond low, but it was still nice to have some down time together as a family and it was very peaceful.  On Christmas Day I went out for a walk, tried running a short distance and there was no way.  Even after that walk my legs were painfully tight.

Boxing Day was a total score for me!  My daughter and I hit up the Adidas outlet store.  I knew they had some pretty good prices before Christmas, but when we arrived everything was 40% off the lowest ticketed price.  My Mom had given me money for Christmas and I spent wisely!  I got:

• 5 pairs of running capris (1 for my daughter)
• 1 pair soccer pants for my daughter
• 1 pair yoga pants for my daughter
• 4 t-shirts (2 for me, 2 for the kiddo)
• 2 running tanks
• 1 long sleeve running shirt
• 1 yoga style jacket

 .... all for under $200!  Original value was about $700.  TOTAL SCORE!

 

Jacket - $15

Tank - $10.80

Capris - $6 !!!!!!!

Top - $10.80

Capris - $25

Cheesy Grin - Priceless!

I love the back of the blue tank.  And the capris with the long sleeve purple top are SO comfy!  On the back of the calf is about a 4" zipper and when you open it up, there is mesh in the opening.

Pictures of the other clothes will be scattered over the next few posts.

Plus I finally ordered some running shoes - Brooks Adrenaline GTS.  $170 in the local store (taxes in), $70 shipped, final price, online.  Score again!!!!  They arrived yesterday!!!!  WHOOP WHOOP!  I hope they help my problem.  I wore them around the house all last night but won't run in them until tomorrow.

On Monday, with all that new workout gear staring at me, I was dying to try it out and I HIT UP THE GYM!!!  That's been a while.  I warmed up with 1 mile on the treadmill and felt good, but decided to stop at that.  Did a killer weight workout that left me with expected, but reasonable, stiffness the next day (or two!).

Tuesday my friend wanted to get in her last long run before her upcoming marathon.  It was a nice day and she begged encouraged me to join her on my bike.  I met her partway through her run and did 18 miles along side her.  It wasn't much of a workout, but it was good to spin my legs.

Wed morning I had another session with Dr. Evil!  At my last appt I told him that I had expected it would hurt (because it always does) and he said, "It doesn't always have to hurt, Heidi."  Today as I was gritting my teeth trying not to scream and scare away his other patients, I reminded him of this conversation.  he said, "Ah yes, but last week I was just trying to figure out what was wrong with you ... today I'm fixing it!".  Holy mother of bright rainbows ... OWWWWWW!!!!!!!  He told me I could try running again a little bit to see how it feels, and to come back on Friday.  He said my legs are both very, very tight and definiely need some work.  I have a race on Saturday but will have to be open about whether I can "race" it or not.  It might have to be a casual run with the option of backing out part way if needed.  He didn't go so far as to give me permission to do it, but he didn't outright forbid me either.  I will play it by ear.  I'm already registered and paid so I may as well go.  I'm sure there's no harm in running it at a slow pace.  I will see how I feel.

After my session, I did a little 3 mile easy run.  It felt FANTASTIC and I wanted to fly.  Could still feel a little pain in my left foot, but the legs wanted to GO!  Good thing it was a courtesy run for my friend to shake out her legs from her long run, because left to my own devices I would have gone too fast & too long. By the evening I could feel some stiffness creeping back in, though I wonder if some of that might still be from my weight workout the other day.

So there you have it, the lowdown of my excitement for the last week.  At some point in the next week I will review my goals from 2010 and post my goals for 2011. 

Wishing everyone the very best for 2011 - health, happiness, prosperity.  I know there are some of us who can't put 2010 behind us quick enough (for me there are parts of it that I want to file in the "Forget this %$@#" drawer pronto!), let's do all we can to make the next year the best it can be. 

Reach for the stars, even if you only hit the moon you'll have one heck of a view.

Keep Active!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Shoe Fitting and an Owie

Yesterday I mentioned that I did something kind of exciting recently.  Pretty sad when this equals excitement in my life.

I finally went for another shoe fitting!  While I've been happy with my shoes, I also find myself currently suffering for the third time this year of a similar injury (January 2010, April 2010).  My left leg has been S-O-R-E since (and during) my long run this past Saturday.  The trigger areas are behind my left knee and in the arch of my left foot.  I can only assume that it's the same extremely tight calf muscle that caused similar pains before. 

Each time I've had my feet assessed, I've been told that I should probably be wearing a neutral shoe, however my left foot could possibly use some support. 

For this shoe fitting, the young male was very knowledgeable and thorough.  I could tell he was young-ish, but I was quite impressed when I learned that he was just 17.  This kid knew his stuff!

He told me the current shoe I'm wearing IS a very good fit for average running.  However, when pushing into higher mileage & frequent training as I've been doing, it's not enough support - especially as the shoes near the end of their life cycle (currently at 440 miles).

His #1 suggestion for me is the Brooks Adrenaline GTS.  I've never considered a Brooks shoe, but let me tell you ... they felt GOOD!  I have loved my Mizuno's (neutral), but when I tried their version of a support shoe it felt very awkward.  I will be getting a pair of these shoes.

I also tried on the Mizuno Wave Rider's.  These are very similar to my current Mizuno's (which they no longer make that model).  I still love these shoes.  I'm seriously considering getting a pair of these as well, and then alternating shoes.  Currently I wear the same shoes on EVERY run, which really isn't the greatest idea when you're running frequently.  Certainly it can't be good to pound them that often, many times in the rain, and then wear them again the next day.  If I get both pairs I should be able to get through most of the next year without needing another pair ... I hope!

 

I also got myself one more item.  We went to another store, where I had won a gift certificate at a race earlier this year.  A nifty little running hat came home with me, complete with a pony tail hole.  So cool!

Here is some more info on it.  DRYLINE PONYTAIL TOQUE

It was a welcome addition to Saturday's long run when it began to snow during the last 9 miles of the run.

I don't know what the next few days hold out for me.  I need to run 60 miles in the next 10 days to reach my running goal for this year.  Under normal circumstances I could totally do this, but with this injury I'm not sure.  I'm stretching as often as I can, and tonight will do a short trial run on the treadmill to see how I feel.  I've already scrapped the prospect of another 20+ mile run this year, but I'm not yet giving up on the goal. 

Keep Active!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

May Goals

Have you seen this guy?  MARATHON QUEST 250

He was on the local news Saturday morning.  He's from Cochrane, Alberta but was in town for the Vancouver Marathon tomorrow.  250 Marathons in a YEAR!  WOW!!!  And I can barely imagine doing one.  He typically runs 5 days in a row then 2 rest days (with some exceptions of course). 

Reading through his blog and seeing some of the weather and things he goes through on his daily marathons is amazing.  Makes me re-think the times that I've skipped a workout because I'm tired, or it's cold/hot outside.

Here's another summer dress I picked up recently.  I have a thing for bright colors ... or black & white.  This IS going to be the summer I wear more dresses.  Now if the weather could just cooperate!

MAY 2010 GOALS

♥ Run 80+ Miles - reducing this one a bit this month.  In the back of my head I want to do 100 again.  If I can stay uninjured I will go for the 100, but I want to leave a little wiggle room.  80 I should be able to comfortably do.

♥ 10 Strength Sessions - not a huge number, but more than I have been doing.  This is once every 3 days and is likely to fit my schedule.

♥ Plan! Prepare! Organize! - this worked so well last month that I'm going to keep this up.  One thing that really helps is to prepare food on the weekends, especially for lunches (veggies, fruit, boiled eggs, leftovers).  Also, making large batches of meals that can be reheated quickly after work. 

♥ Races:

May 9 - Vancouver Sun Run 10K (goals for this TBA)

May 30 - Run for Water Half Marathon (tentative)

I may or may not do the May 30th Half.  That was the one I was originally planning to do next, but some of my friends are doing one at the end of June and I may do that one instead with them.  In a perfect world I'd do both, but financially I'll probably just do one.  Race fees for myself wouldn't be so bad, but it's me AND my husband and they add up. 

May is going to be a busy month and hopefully full of lots of exciting things!  I'm really looking forward to it.  I'm feeling ALOT more energy and focus than I have for quite a long time.

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Recovery Week?

I'm not sure I have this concept down of a recovery/rest week. First there was the weekend before my first half where I ran the full 13.1 instead of my intended 12.1 miles. Then last weekend, there was the actual disaster race, where while I ran a little short, I still ran 12.1 miles.  Then this weekend I completely went over my anticipated mileage and almost did another half.

This week I had fully intended to back off the mileage a bit. Monday my husband and I decided to do an easy recovery run. We'd planned to go about 3 miles, but it ended up over 4 miles.

Wed I planned to do 2 miles ... I did 3.

Friday I went out running with a couple of friends, and a new running mate.  I expected we'd probably do about 4 miles ... we did over 6.

Sunday I was to run with friends again.  I expected we'd do maybe 5-6 miles on this run, however I wanted to go a bit longer than that (to keep up my half training for next months race) so I went early and planned to do 2-3 miles before meeting them.  This ended up being a lot longer (details to follow).

Friday was actually a pretty cool day.  I had plans to get together for coffee/tea with a good friend "Mel".  I run regualrly with her sister "Mac" and also had plans to run with her that day.  Mel is just starting to run again and decided she'd come out with us and we'd run ahead and then all meet up afterwards at the coffee shop.  It was a beautiful day.  Mac brought along a co-worker with her, who she's been running with and it was awesome to run with someone new.  Very nice lady!  We ended up running 6.35 miles.  A little slower than I've been running, but it was alot of fun to just yak and not think about running.

Afterwards Mel & I went to a 2nd hand store and I got myself an awesome sports bra in fantastic shape and 2 cute dresses - one with tags on still.  Then we went to my favourite little Mexican restaurant and had a lovely lunch.  It was a fun day.

This one is just a tad tight through the chest/back and waist.

I can wear it, but I know I'd be a bit more comfortable in it being down about 5 lbs.

This one is SO comfy!  I think it will be super comfortable to wear in the summer.

Sunday I met up with Mac and a couple other running friends.  As I said above, I wanted to do a few miles on my own, so I started before they got there.  I had planned on doing about 2-3 miles, but once I got going it just felt so good.  We'd had some more torrential rain in the morning, and the sun had just come out and it was SO warm.  I ran 2 1/2 miles then called Mac to see where she was.  She was running late - PERFECT, I wanted to run more.  I ended up doing 5.5 miles on my own before we even met up.

Mac & I run at a faster pace than the others, so we went ahead on our own.  I figured she'd want to do about 5-6 miles, so was very happy to be getting about 11 miles in for the day.  As it was, she wanted to go a bit longer and we ended up doing 7.3 together.

So in total, I ran 12.8 miles!  It was a much slower than race pace, but it was awesome.  Except for the last bout of rain we got.  About 2 miles from the end the skies suddenly opened up.  I could barely see from the rain falling in my eyes.  Insane!  At one point I threw up my arms and screamed to the skies "Bring It On!" ... I believe I got answered!

For a week that I'd anticipated running about 17 miles .... I ran 27 miles!

I'm going to be so ready for that next half!  I can't wait to go check out the route.


**GIVEAWAY TO MENTION**

Another giveaway at Running Through Life for a beautiful Adidas jacket.  I love Adidas clothes!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all my blogging buddies.  Wishing you all the best for 2010!  You guys have been a big part of my life for this past year and I look forward to more of that this year.

I have been completely MIA from blogland for quite some time now.  December ended up being an insanely hectic month for me.  I actually feel like I've been MIA from life for the past month and it's all a bit of a blur.

I finally got my bookkeeping nightmare for our business in order.  I had a deadline to file the GST (taxes) by December 31st and yesterday we drove out to the tax office to drop it off.  From Boxing Day on I spent almost the entire day until late at night everyday to get this done.  This meant no exercising, no real cooking and a lot of mindless snacking.

Earlier in the month (while avoiding facing my bookkeeping nightmare) I went into bakers overload.  This is just a minor portion of what I ended up cooking (and eating).  I made:

• 8 dozen decorated gingerbread cookies
• 14 dozen peanut butter cookies
• 6 dozen almond crescents
• 8 dozen mexican wedding cake cookies
• 1 - 8x13 tray of the MOST DELICIOUS cheesecake cookie squares
• 2 - 4 x 7 trays of sickenly sweet peanut butter fudge
• 1 cookie sheet of almond roca

I don't even want to think about how much of that I ate all by myself.  I know one day I had a "snack" or SIX peanut butter cookies!

Susan posted the other day about waking up in the middle of the night to have Tums and I can totally relate.  That's such a sick feeling to know that you've over eaten, and mostly with unhealthy foods, so much that it wakes you up at night.  Gross!

We also went to a couple of Christmas parties.  I bought this shirt a few weeks ago, a size 6 (though I think a large size 6), and I love the color.  This is my father-in-law, me & my husband.  Unfortunately since that picture was taken I've been eating like crazy and now have a little tire around my waist that isn't very appealing in that shirt.

Then an improtu trip up to the Okanagan that, while wonderful to get away and see family up there, really cut into my time that I needed to be doing other things.

Saw a little wildlife....

and my little girl got to visit with her cousins....

I created this crazy time crunch for myself and got majorly stressed out!  I haven't been sleeping much at all.

Throughout the month of December I did very, very little exercising and really didn't pay any attention to my diet at all.  At the end of November I was sitting at around 145 - 145.6 (that 143.6 was a fleeting moment unfortunately).  Right now I can be anywhere between 147 and 149, though mostly under 148.  I guess considering all that has gone on my gain isn't too bad, but I feel gross.  I'm very soft compared to where I was.  And I know I've lost some fitness.

I can probably count on one hand how many times I ran in December, and most of them were 5K or less and a very slow pace.

On December 30th at 11 PM I finished my bookkeeping, went to bed with the intention of forgetting about it all for a few days ... and didn't sleep all night. Then went out and about all the next day, then celebrated New Years Eve with friends (no alcohol though so that was good) and stayed out until 2 AM. Had to get up at 8 AM this morning. So at the moment I'm running on less than 8 hrs sleep in the last 48 hours. Way too little for me!

But January 1st marks a new start! 

And that .... I shall blog about tomorrow :)

Goodnight all.........

December 15th ... already?

Howdy Everyone!  Remember me??  Boy the time has been flying by lately.

My time has been a bit limited lately and instead of posting I've been trying to keep up on others blogs as much as I can.  You guys are more interesting anyway. ;)

This past Saturday was my 37th birthday and it turned out to be a pretty darn good day.  Normally my husband and I don't exchange presents, but this year he went out and got me a really nice looking running outfit.  (sorry, I forgot to take pics and can't find any like it online) 

However, once I put it on it didn't work for me.  It was a nice bright green Under Armour jacket and black Under Armour running pants.  The jacket was a medium, but was too big (YAY!).  The pants just fit goofy.  Considering together they were $170 I couldn't swallow that, so we returned them. 

We ended up going out shopping and I bought these running capris from a running store.  They are still sickenly expensive, but they are SUPER comfy and I had that $25 gift certificate I won last month.  Throughout most of the year I prefer a capri length to a full length.  Also, since my legs are on the short side most lengths are too long for me (and petite is too short).

We had some consistenly cold weather last week and our big pond froze over enough to go out on it.  The kids had some fun out there goofing off.



That night I was eager to try out my news pants and did a session in the gym.  I've been feeling lost in the work out dept. lately and when I have worked out it's mostly been running.  I've totally been neglecting my muscles.  So ... I've turned to Jillian.

I have her Making the Cut book and while I find the diet too much for me to follow, her workouts look really good.  A nice variety and you're always working something different.  You do 5 circuits.  Each circuit you do without stopping between moves and then you take about 30 seconds or so between circuits.  The workout takes about 45 minutes.

Day 1 looked like this:

CIRCUIT 1
20 reps Dumbbell Chest Press
15 reps Dumbbell Fly with crunch
50 Squats
1 min 7mph sprint

CIRCUIT 2
10 sec Plank
5 Push-ups
10 reps Side Planks with Inner Thigh Raise
5 sec Plank
5 Push-ups
10 reps Side Planks with Inner Thigh Raise
5 sec Plank
10 Burpies
50 Sumo Squats
1 min 7mph sprint

CIRCUIT 3
20 Frog Push-ups
20 Squat Thrusts (plank to squat)
30 sec Static Squat
10 reps W Shoulder Presses with Leg Extension
1 min Jump Rope

CIRCUIT 4
20 reps Bench dips
to fail Rope Tricep Presses
10 each Static Lunges with Lateral Shoulder Raise
1 min Mountain Climbers
30 sec Boat Pose (V-Sit)

CIRCUIT 5
1 min Jump Rope
50 Bicycle Crunches
30 sec Extended Plank

The next day we got our first little snowfall that amounted to anything and we went out for a run.  I hadn't run since the previous Saturday and REALLY wanted to get out, no matter what.  It was about -3°C (26° F) and had just started to snow when we left.  We ran 10Km and it was actually really pleasant and peaceful.  But by the time we turned back the snow got heavier and about 1" deep.  That was fine for running in, but it kept sticking in the crease under my shoe and building up a 1" ball under my shoes.  We had to stop every 2 minutes to pick them out.  Very annoying.  It was a tough run and my pace sucked!  But, I was happy to get out there.

After Jillian's workout and a cold run, I was DONE yesterday and didn't workout. 

My diet has been so-so.  I really need to get back to tracking.  Now, just to do it..... GRRR!

Speed Intervals

Hit the treadmill last night.  Forgot to take my sweaty pic for Jen though - boohooo.  Too bad because it was a sweaty mess for sure.

Did speed intervals - 2 min @ 6mph, 1 min @ 7mph, 1 min @ 9mph - repeat for about 30 minutes.

Those 9mph stints certainly get the heart rate hammering.  I find that speed intervals like that really helps to improve my distance pace.  Plus it's a great challenge on the cardivascular system and a wicked calorie burn!

After that I did a good 20+ minutes of straight ab work.  I want to tighten those babies up!!

My sister-in-law came down for a couple days and a friend of hers gave her a sweater she didn't want anymore, or something.  I think she was going to give it to my daughter, but then she told me to try it on ... and now it's mine - sweet!  What do you think?  This is not a style (or colour) that I typically wear.  I'm not totally sold on it.

Hubby is coming home in a bit and we're going to go across the line and do a little shopping in the US.

Hope everyone has a great day (and weekend for those who don't check in).

New Threads

I think I'm gonna need some downtime soon.  Another whirlwind weekend.

We still have the Japanese exchange students staying with us.  They arrived Friday afternoon, very nervous, very excited.  We had pizza and fruit with a yogurt dip.  I had two thin pieces (as planned) and managed to stay within my calorie level quite nicely.  We also carved some pumpkins.  They don't have Halloween there so this was pretty fun.

On Saturday we went out to a Japanese restaurant for lunch - this made the girls VERY happy.  However, I ate too much rice and beef teriyaki.  Then for "dinner" I ate a full size Coffee Crisp bar.  But it was very good, and I still managed to juggle my day around to keep in my calorie range.  I figured it was Halloween, and I NEVER do something like that, so why not.

Yesterday we went shopping to a HUGE mall.  I am SO not a mall person, but it wasn't that bad.  Not alot of great choices in the food fair.  Why is it that healthier meals are so expensive.  I had a small side of rice and the insides of a vegetable samosa (skipped the fried batter part, even though it does taste good).  For dinner the girls wanted to cook for us.  They made a vegetable curry dish with rice.  It tasted quite good.  I've never had something like this.  At the end of the day my calories were OK, but my carb level was definitely VERY high and protein was next to nil.  Oh well, I'm balancing that out today.

My food choices haven't been stellar the last few days, but I am working hard to stay focused and not let it become an all out crazy fest.  They'll ony be here until early Wednesday morning, so it's short term.

While at the mall I had two very exciting events!  First, I bought this pair of jeans ....

They are a size 7 - wahooooo!!!!  When I got down to 135 lbs in 2001 I barely fit into a size 7, sometimes 8, but rarely 7.  I actually tried on a few size 7 jeans from various stores and they all fit.  I am finally getting to the point where I can choose my clothes for how they look instead of just that they fit.  I love it!  My husband said I should go back and get a size 5 (now he's really crazy).  Though, these aren't super tight.  The waist fits just right.

I also tried on a hoodie at Lululemon.  I grabbed the size 8 first of all, and it looked fine.  But the bottom line is I can't jusitfy spending $100 on a sweatshirt (even if it is super comfy and makes me one of the coolest Moms around).  My daughter wanted the same one and I jokingly said "maybe we can share it".  I thought she'd pop a gasket after hearing that.  So she tried on the 8, but it was really too big for her, even with another sweater underneath.  So ... I grabbed the size 6, figuring no way in hell would it fit.  Well, guess what - if fit!  And my daughter said it looked better than the 8.

I remember when Syl was trying to fit into her pink (of course) size 6 Lulu hoodie.  I remember thinking, gee that's awesome, but I'll never wear that size.  Hmmm, never say never!

I didn't buy the sweater, but I'm keeping it on the radar.  How cool is it that I can (sort of) share clothes with my 13 yr old daughter!  Sure they're loose on her, but no crazy loose.

I have some fun other news but I'm going to save it .......

Where, Oh Where has Heidi been???

Oh where, oh where can she be???????

Hmmmm ... I'm right here ... not missing.  Last week I got myself in a blogging funk and couldn't get to doing it.  Some days I just don't have anything to say, nothing interesting to take pics of, nothing to report.

But, my absence does NOT equal falling off the wagon.  I've been healthy, active and all that fun stuff.

So, what have I been up to .....

SHOPPING

I went shopping with my sister in law and finally found myself a pair of jeans.  I swear I tried on about 20 pairs before I found one that was OK (still not great, but pretty good).  Also bought a few boring tanks & t-shirts and then one super sexy top that will be revealed later.  I want to surprise my hubby with that one. :)

My sister in law is a super shopper and I'm really glad she came with me.  I kept trying on things, thinking they looked horrible and she'd tell me No, it's too big - get a smaller size.  And she was right!  I started out trying on jeans in a size 30 and ended up needing either a 29 or sometimes even a 28.

Then when we were trying on tops I'd grab a medium or a large and every time I needed it one size smaller.  I NEVER would have tried on a size small, but she was right, it looked much better.  Any idea how long it's been since I've had a size small in my closet???  Long time!

RUNNING

The other day I ventured out for a longer run.  I had planned on doing about 10K, but part way through I changed my mind on the route and figured I'd end up being a bit short.  So when I got close to home I still had tons of gas in the tank and decided to add on the big block around my house.  I figured this would get me around 12-13K which is about what I run most Sundays.  It was one of those days I could have just run forever.

When I got home I mapped out the route I took .... 15 Km!  HAHAHA, a little longer than planned and it certainly didn't feel like it.  It was a nice route too, so I'll be sure to do it again.

SPARKPEOPLE

I'm still entering EVERY SINGLE food I eat on sparkpeople.com - every bite. It's making me really nervous because my calorie range is 1260-1610 and I've been averaging around 1350-1400 and haven't felt the slightest bit hungry. 

According to calories in vs. calories out I should be losing 1.5 lbs per week, but it sure doesn't feel like it. So ... I caved and got on the scale yesterday (first time this month). And ... yeah ... I've lost nothing, zilch, not even a .2 :(. So frustrating, makes me want to smash my head into a wall.

I hear over and over that weight loss is as simple as calories in vs. calories out - but why isn't it that way for me?? I feel like duct taping my mouth shut and climbing on the treadmill 24/7.

But ... I don't know what else to do so I just keep going on.  That's probably insane, who knows.  I could lower the calorie intake, but with the exercise I do I don't think that's wise.  I know I can't/won't stop or give up - that's just not an option.  It sure would be nice to lose this tummy pudge though.

Here's my menu for today, which is fairly typical.  If you see anything on here you'd like to comment on, feel free.  I'm open....

Breakfast - 1 cup plain, fat free yoghurt and 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal, 1 Kiwi
Lunch - 1.5 cups homemade turkey soup (broth, turkey & vegetables only), 9 wheat thin crackers, 1 light Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, 2 med carrots, 2 small peppers, 2 med. stalks celery
Snack - Nectarine
Dinner - 3 oz. roast beef, baked sweet potato (no butter), Salad with light balsamic vinagrette
Snack (after workout) - 1 apple, 1 tbsp. peanut butter

Calories - 1220

This is more fruit than I usually have in a day, but I bought a bunch recently and don't want to waste it.

Tonight I'm doing my own little mini bootcamp which will include stairs, sprints, lunges, push-ups, tricep dips, crunches, and planks.

Plans Work and "New" Jeans

I was a good girl yesterday and stuck to my plan. Well for the most part. I didn't feel like making prawns just for myself and instead had a 1/2 slice of pizza which the rest of the family ate. But I 100% stuck to my workout plan and I believe that was ONLY because I had posted it here. A few times I wanted to cut it short, but then I didn't want to have to come here and say I didn't quite do what I had planned. I was drenched in sweat and it felt SO good!!!

Yesterday on my lunch hour I decided to hit up Value Village again to see if I could find some in-between clothes. I'm not in touch with my new size and was thrilled to see that most of the 9/10s I picked out were too big (YAY!). I didn't find a whole lot that I loved and didn't want to buy something that was just sort of OK.

But I did find these Garage jeans for $5.99. I know Garage is more of a teen line, but their clothes seem to fit me fairly well. While in Oregon I bought the black top on the right at Target for $20 and hadn't found anything to wear it with yet.

I also found this Jacob dress at VV, which isn't really something I "needed", but I feel good wearing it and it was only $17. I can wear it to work, even though my job is very casual, but also we have a dinner out planned next month for my co-worker who just retired, so I can wear it there.

Also, I mentioned this a while back, when we were in Oregon I bought a couple of running skirts from Target. I think they were $20 each. The one on the left had a matching top ($14) and I couldn't resist. The top on the right is Adidas and I actually found it at Cabelas Hunting store (who knew they carried running wear???).

The skirts are quite comfy and I've worn the black one quite a bit just for casual wear - like to the beach or hanging out around the house/campsites. I do like them for running, but I did find that on longer runs (especially when it's super hot), that my thighs rub a bit. I'm going to have to get some Glide and see if that helps.

Cheap Shopping!!!

Years ago I used to do the majority of my shoppint at Value Village. I didn't have alot of extra money, I hated shopping, and I didn't like how I looked in most clothes anyway. So I figured I may as well get them cheap.

It became a pretty nasty habit. On my lunch hours, I was bored, I'd go shop. I ended up with bags upon bags of clothing, most of which I never wore. I was constantly buying a "target" outfit, which I would never fit into. Looking back, I would have been better off spending that time getting some exercise.

Then I got to a stage where I realized I was worthy. I became pickier with my clothes and bought less - this was much better! And I still value a well fitting, quality item over quantity.

But with summer coming I really need quite a few items in my closet. Over the last years I've done several clean-ups and it's getting pretty bare in there. I had just 2 pairs of shorts left and really they're too big. I have to cinch up a belt to keep them on and they balloon out on the hips making me look bigger than I am.

To buy everything I need, I don't have enough spare cash. Plus, I'm losing weight again and don't anticipate being my current size for long.

Re-enter my long lost love affair with Value Village!!!!

Today they had a 50% off sale, so really how could I resist. (really???) I bought a pair of capris (almost too big but will do for now), 3 pairs shorts, 1 jean skirt, and 2 pretty tank tops - all for $18!!! Taxes in. Can you believe that??

I even took some pics!!!

Here's the two tanks. The purple one was 75 cents!! The other was $2

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This is the capris. After taking this pic I'm not in love with them and they may find themselves back on the VV boutique shelves before long. And beside that is the jean skirt. It is about 5 lbs too tight. I could wear it, but not comfortably. It's snug.

..........

And two of the pairs of shorts. I have one more pair but my camera battery died before I got a pic of them. The other one's are brown and almost knee length.

.........

Here was today's menu:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal (2)
Lunch - Vegetable Beef Soup at Hand, Pear, tangerine, All Bran Bar (4)

Snack - 6 Almonds & 1/3 c. cheese crackers (3)
Dinner - Chili, cornbread (12)

Not nearly enough veggies today and way too much cornbread (but oh it was good!!)

Total - 21 points

Exercise - none, had to drive my son to work. I could workout tonight but honestly I'm bagged and I think I need a bit more sleep tonight.

I printed off a 20 week half marathon training program this weekend. Yesterday was supposed to be a 10K run, but I did 13 instead just because that was the length of the trail :). Tomorrow is a 30 min run. I don't know if I'll actually do a half this fall, but I want to train as if I am. I want to know that I can do that distance and I want to train for it safely.