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Saturday, September 15, 2012

September 15, 2102 – Day 9





Just popping in to say I am alive and well. The last two days have been spent juggling work commitments and running errands which included operating Mom’s Taxi quite a bit. My exercise schedule has fallen off over these 2 days but I am determined to get back on it today. I do have a friend’s wedding reception to attend this afternoon and I already know the menu will not be conducive to my diet so I am trying to figure out how to handle that. 

I’ve also been busy doing a lot of freezer cooking. I bought hamburger, chicken and pork on sale and have been making up healthy meals I can freeze and use on nights when I don’t have time to cook. This way there are no excuses not to eat well.

I have felt tired and sluggish over the last two days too. I wonder if that is because I haven’t been able to exercise. Wouldn’t that be nice? Rewarded with more energy and alertness when you exercise regularly? That would certainly help in the motivation department.
Tomorrow I will resume my daily breakdowns. Have a great Saturday!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

September 12, 2012 – Day 6 of the 1000 Mile Challenge



Tuesday did not work out very well for me. I decided to change up what I was doing in order to add a little variety.

I loaded up the “Walk Off 10 Pounds” DVD and pressed ‘full workout.” Admittedly, this was optimistic on my part as the most I have been managing on my own is about a mile at a time and the full workout is for 3 miles. Not only that, my top “speed” – and I use the term loosely – has been about 2.7 miles an hour. During the first mile, the “warm up,” we actually got up to 4.0 mph. The mile was over in 15 minutes and so was my workout.

Now I was impressed that I did the whole mile at that speed without pauses or breaks. The routine is basically walking in place, spruced up with knee lifts, kicks, sided-to-side steps and toe taps all done to the rigorous pace. I felt pretty good about this workout and vowed to do more later as I have been doing for the last couple of weeks but “later” never arrived.

I was swamped with work and the rush of the first workout actually took more out of me than I expected it to. So I never did a second workout Tuesday.

On top of that, my dinner choices weren’t great. I made nachos, loaded with cheese, sour cream and guacamole. And I had 2 helpings. To be honest, I know it was bad so I never even logged the meal into the calorie counter. Wednesday will be better.

Anyway, here’s how the day broke down:


Calorie Count:
Intake:  Way toomany
Exercise:              103`        Net Calories Still way too many
Daily Mile:
Goal 1000 Miles                                Today’s Mile:     1              Total Miles:   16
President’s Challenge:
September Goal: 2500 Points     Today’s Points:                 55           Total Points Earned: 1431
Breakfast:                                1.5 Egg, Whole - Cooked, Fried
3 oz Chopped Ham
1 Grapefruit
Decaf Coffee, 3 cups
Lunch:                                     1 Italian Sausage
                                                 Egg Noodles with Spaghetti Sauce
                                                Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade
Dinner:                                    Cabbage Soup
                                                Nachos with the works
Water:                                     3 glasses

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

September 11, 2012 – Day 5 of the 1000 Mile Challenge




Monday was a good day. I felt on my game in most every way. My writing flowed well and I got a lot of work done. I ate breakfast and did my morning workout without having to talk myself into it at all. Even managed 50 minutes! 

Following lunch, I decided to make my exercise pull double duty buy mowing the grass. I lasted 28 minutes but not because I was overly winded. Where I live is very h8illy. There isn’t a flat piece of land on the entire 40 acres. So mowing with a push mower, even one with power drive, is still…challenging. Normally, I get winded and have to take a break. Today, however, I wasn’t winded. I was definitely sweating and my heart was pumping but my calves decided they had enough of the hills. This is a good thing. Not that my calves felt like exploding but that my endurance has evolved.

Another thing I noticed today is that when I walk, there is just the slightest bit less friction between my thighs. Might not be a big deal to some but it is huge to me! Anyway, here’s how the day broke down:


Calorie Count:
Intake:  1608
Exercise:              625`        Net Calories 983
Daily Mile:
Goal 1000 Miles                                Today’s Mile:     3              Total Miles:   15
President’s Challenge:
September Goal: 2500 Points     Today’s Points:                 379         Total Points Earned: 1376
Breakfast:                                           1.5 Egg, Whole - Cooked, Fried
Bacon, 2 slices
Decaf Coffee, 3 cups
Coffee, Decaffeinated
Lunch:                                                   Chicken Spaghetti
                                                                Grapefruit, Whole
                                                                Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade
Dinner:                                                 Cabbage Soup
                                                                1 Italian Sausage
                                                                Egg Noodles
                                                                Spaghetti Sauce
Water:                                                  3 glasses

Monday, September 10, 2012

September 10, 2012 – Day 4 of the 1000 Mile Challenge





I took the day off. Plain and simple. I did nothing but watch TV, prepare meals and tinker on the computer. I was a little tired when I woke and my efforts to find a website where I could listen to my beloved Chicago Bears play their opening game was thwarted so I sulked by retiring to my recliner and I basically camped there all day.

Fortunately, my efforts throughout the week were not undermined by this day of rest. This morning I stepped on the scale with anticipation and not just a little worry that I would see no change. I did see change. I weighed 274.3. From my Labor Day weekend high of 280, that is a huge 5.7 loss! Of course bookending that weekend was my more usual weight of 277 so that spike was probably not indicative of where I was but where I was headed if I didn’t watch my step. So this will go down in my books as a 2.7 lb. loss – still very respectable and much more maintainable as I go forward. – We all know large drops do not generally stay with us and many of the lbs. come back so 2.7 is just fine with me. 

Below is the breakdown for yesterday though fitness-wise there is no change. Today and this week I hope to do better. More water, smaller servings, maybe more exercise.

Calorie Count:
Intake:  1474
Output:  0                            Exercise:              0`            Net Calories 1474
Daily Mile:
Goal 1000 Miles:                               Today’s Mile:     0              Total Miles:   11
President’s Challenge:
September Goal: 2500 Points     Today’s Points:                 0              Total Points Earned: 997
Breakfast:                                           2 Egg, Whole - Cooked, Fried
Chopped Ham, 3 oz
Pepperjack Cheese slice
Coffee, Decaffeinated
Lunch:                                                   Vegetable Soup
                                                                85% lean ground beef patty
                                                                Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade
Dinner:                                                 Chicken Spaghetti
Water:                                                  3 glasses

Sunday, September 9, 2012

September 9, 2012 – Day 3 of the 1000 Mile Challenge



It was a busy day that started with running my son and his friend over to Explorer Training (volunteer firefighter training). After getting home, I knew the day ahead would be hectic so I threw a load of laundry in, loaded the dishwasher & ran it and started my morning workout. I changed things around a bit on the Wii Fit – did more cardio and less strength training since it’s the weekend. I wanted to give my abs and thighs a break. I wound up doing a slightly longer workout which was a pleasant surprise. 

We were given a new couch by a friend so after the morning workout, I moved the old couch, loveseat and tables around to make room for the new piece. Naturally I had to vacuum where the old furniture sat which led to just vacuuming the whole room. Then I maneuvered everything back into place. I must admit, I was breathing hard but it felt pretty good.

After lunch, I hopped on the treadmill. I wanted to at least hit 13 minutes because that would give me 1 hour of “official” exercising for the day – something I haven’t done in years and wondered if I would able to ever do again. I pushed passed that and did 15 minutes with a 2.0 incline. Granted my speed is only 2.7 right now but I still work up a pretty good sweat doing it. My next challenge in coming weeks will to be to do 1 hour all at one shot. I want to get my old endurance back or at least as much of it as I can. 

Dinner was more leftovers and I did indulge in a slice of pizza later in the evening. My bad.  Still, with all the progress I am making, I felt pretty good about Saturday!

So here’s how it breaks down:

Calorie Count:
Intake:  1711                       Output:  Exercise 424                    Net Calories 1287
Daily Mile:
Goal 1000 Miles                Today’s Mile: 3  Total Miles:   11
President’s Challenge:
September Goal: 2500 Points     Today’s Points:                 242         Total Points Earned: 997
Breakfast:           2 eggs, scrambled with diced tomatoes,
                                 3 oz of chopped ham
                                 2 cup decaf coffee – black
Lunch:                   Cabbage soup
                                5-1” Italian meatballs
                                2-8 0z glasses of Crystal Lite Green Pea Iced Tea
Dinner:                                 Cheesy Chicken Over Tater Tots               
Snack:                   Small slice frozen pizza

Water: 5 glasses

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