June recap

Today is the last day of June -so crazy! I have completely turned into an old person and with the passing of each month comment on how fast time has gone by and how unbelievable it is that it is a new month. So let's see what happened in June.

Huge was away for half of it and it was nice to have him back home. I went to a Cubs game with some friends, did some running and started shopping more organically and locally. Other than that, nothing really exciting. I did complete my workout challenge for the month (15 workouts) by the skin of my teeth, squeezing in my last workout this morning! However, I did not lose any weight this month and that was kind of disappointing. Mother nature came back with a vengeance and I'm hoping tha accounts for a bit of the weight (I'm trying to say it's water weight.. haha). I also was successful in my shopping hiatus and did not buy any clothes or shoes this month -although now that i think about it, I may have bought 2 dresses from Banana and I'm not sure if that was this month or at the very end of last. (I just checked -it was at the very end of last month, so I'm safe!)

So that in a nutshell is June. July is shapping up to be a busy month -actually looking at the calendar, the whole summer is -but my goal for July is to continue my ban on shopping and to work out 15 times this month. Additionally, I want to continue to streamline my life and organize my house more. That will be harder to quantify, but that is part of my goal. And if I can manage to lose the last 10 lbs, then that would also contribute to a successful July. Hope everyone had a great June and that everyone is looking forward to July!

Food binge

Today was one of those days where I was hungry -like a bottomless pitt. And when I wasn't hungry, I was still eating -not a good combination. It's no secret that I am trying to lose weight. I wouldn't say that I am being super proactive about it, but it's still something I am trying to get around to doing -especially those last 10 pounds (ok, fine, it's more like 15, but I'd settle for 10).

Over the last few months I've tried to eat a little bit healthier, eat a little bit less and exercise a little bit more. For the most part I've been successful and I've lost about 12-15 lbs (depending on the day I way myself. haha). I actually weigh less than my drivers license, although I guess that's not a huge accomplishment considering I didn't lie on my license and it wasn't that long ago. Anyway, I digress. Over the last few months (ok, fine, more like almost a year), I've been working on losing a bit of the chub and have succeeded a little bit. But it's been frustrating and slow. So you would think that I would know better... show a little bit more restraint and not just throw it all away. I have totally BINGED! And to be honest, I don't usually. Yes, sometimes I eat more than I should or eat more junk than I should, but today has been a non stop eating fest and it has been out of control. Here is a run down of what I ate today:

-oatmeal w/ peanut butter for breakfast (good -nice and healthy)

-asian chicken lettuce wrap, potato and leek soup and watermelon for lunch. (probably could have done without the soup, but still, not too bad)

-baked lays and dried fruit for a snack

And then this is where it goes all downhill... After the chips and dried fruit I ate: an apple, yogurt w/ honey and flax, 5 girl scout cookies, a stuffed cabbage leaf, nacho cheese doritoes, a slice of cheese, an entire Hershey chocolate bar, raspberries, 2 triscuts and a glass of wine.

SO ya... today has not been a good day. And to top it all off I just weighed myself and saw a number I have not seen in a very long time. I am slightly depressed about this -especially considering the fat weekend of overly indulgent foods I'm about to have. Sigh... and this is why I've been chubby for so long. Do you think my hour of yoga burned any of this off??

Food.

We recently watched/read Food Inc, Omnivore's dilemma and Fast Food Nation (and a few others that I forget right now), which has gotten us thinking about our food, where it comes from and what it goes through. I know not everyone loves Whole Foods and they aren't this utopian company some people make them out to be, but I do appreciate what they are trying to do. Of course, it pains me to pay so much for some of the groceries there, but if it makes me and my family healthier, then maybe it's worth the upfront investment. If it saves me from the doctor's or other health problems down the road, then paying a bit more in my grocery bill is worth it to me. Looking at our doctor's bills from last year (and really they're only my husband's) we had AFTER INSURANCE, over $1,000 to pay the various doctors and hospitals. Now the scary thing is that: WE HAVE INSURANCE! and my husband is not sick. He has no real illness, but just some general ailments. So if some of these doctor visits can be avoided by eating a little healthier, a little fresher and a little greener, then that's what we will do.

Of course, I haven't read a whole lot of research -just the aforementioned books/movies, but I do think there has to be something to it. There is a noticeable increase in food allergies and obesity and early onset puberty in kids... something is happening to cause this and one thing that comes to mind is our diet and specifically our food source. I know ideally we would eat local and seasonal, but that isn't possible a lot of the times. In the summer months we do buy our produce almost exclusively at farmer's markets, which may not be organic, but they are local and I do want to support the smaller farms.

But what do you think? Is Whole Foods a scam? Is organic just a bunch of hype? Are consumers to blame for the demand for cheap inexpensive food?

Weekend recap

I can't come up with anything wittier than "weekend recap". I know, I'm lame.

I was successful in my quest not to drink too much. We went to the graduation party on Friday, which evolved into a night of games at our apartment with some of Huge's friends from work. It was a rather drunken night for many of the attendees, but I managed to show some restraint. Saturday morning I went to my weight class (and struggled through it!) and then went to Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping and then spent the night up in Logan Square.

Anyway, I had a great weekend, but other than my weight class I didn't run... so kind of a fail in that respect. If I can keep my eyes open long enough t0night, I'll go to the gym and finally do that run.

Sidelined by the sniffles

Well after that amazing training schedule I came up with on Monday, I got totally sidelined with this weird cold/allergy thing. I never made it to yoga on Tuesday and haven't gone on a run since. I have instead slept a lot (probably about 8 hours a night each day) and just kind of been lazy. I am feeling better though, so I'll return to the gym tomorrow for my weight class and then do a long run on Sunday.

In other news... I don't have any. I have been eating a lot of junk food and really need to kick the habit. I also have total baby brain (as in babies on the brain) and have been spending numerous hours "researching". Fittingly there was an article in the Chicago Tribune about the cost of raising kids. Eek, if I was nervous about my budget before, now I am doubly so! Also I am trying to cut back on my drinking. After my last two weekend benders (read about here, here, and here), my body could use a break. I have no problem saying no, but once I start it's hard to stop (does that mean I have a problem?!?). So I figured out a solution! To two problems actually -I'm going to officially train for the Chicago half marathon in September! It will help with my running and give me a good reason to not drink (so much, or overindulge -I think that sounds better). I may not actually run it, but I will at least train for it!

So I can test my new resolve starting this weekend. Tonight I'm going up to Evanston for a graduation party -two of Huge's work colleagues are receiving their PhD's and the boss is throwing a party. BUT, there is severe weather predicted for this afternoon/tonight with winds up to 70 mph! Eek. Hope everyone has a good weekend -I'll try to remember to check in and update you on my workouts!

Day 2 running log

So after some conversations with friends, the idea of “training” for a 10k seems a little frivolous. I can probably already do it if I put my mind to it since I already can run almost 5 miles without stopping, so adding another mile or so probably isn’t a stretch. In light of this new realization, I’ve decided to change my 10k training to just a running training program. I’m rethinking my decision about running a half marathon, but until I make up my mind completely, I’m going to use the 10k app just to motivate and track my running. For me the problem is actually the time commitment… so having an app make me be accountable will probably help.

That being said, I did day 2 of week 2 today. It was a 46 min run (including warm up and cool down) and I covered 4.41 miles. The first day I did 4.54 miles, but that was also a bit longer of a run (51 minute), so I think I did pretty well. Oh and also for training, I’m only going to run 3 times a week like they suggest. On my “off” days I’m going to cross train and try to incorporate more weights into my workout.

So my schedule for this week:
Monday: run (4.41 miles -46 minutes)
Tuesday: yoga
Wednesday: run (? Miles -46 minutes)
Thursday or Friday will be my 3rd run day, the other day will be my rest day: (? Miles -57 minutes)
Saturday: Weight class at the gym
Sunday: rest day.