Maybe a 5K in my near future?

I was just looking at information on the Autism Ribbon Run in Raleigh on October 14, and I think it might be a good thing to do. I'd decided to wait until I'd lost more weight and could jog for longer periods of time, but I need the proverbial carrot dangling in front of me. This looks like a good one. I think this will help me stay focused with the exercise and stay on course with the weight loss. The only downside is missing the morning check-in at the Rice Diet, but this seems like a good cause.

Meanwhile, I did the elliptical machine for an hour before work this morning. The morning workout seems to be working for me now.

Progress!

I exercised again this morning, the elliptical for 63 minutes. At weigh-in this morning, I found I'd hit the 30 lbs lost mark! I'm psyched to reach that goal!

Last night I got to bed early, in fact I got to bed so early that I forgot to check my blood sugars and take my night-time insulin. Still, my fasting blood glucose this morning was only 107. I was glad for that. I had blood drawn for lab work this morning, am looking forward to seeing what my numbers are.

More exercise

Yesterday, I did the elliptical for 45 minutes before breakfast, and the stationary bike for 30 minutes after supper. This morning, I spent another 45 minutes on the elliptical. I'm hoping the consistency will pay off.

Morning Gym Crowd

Well, I've exercised every morning for a week now, and I must admit it's getting a little easier. It's also been interesting. I'm beginning to notice some early morning regulars there with me. I'm the most overweight person I've seen there in the early morning. Most of the other regulars are very thin and very fit. I wonder if this is a good sign for me. ;-)

Changing Standards

I've been thinking about my next 5K. While the goal of my first race of the year was to finish, I find myself wanting to do much better in the next one. I want to be able to run (okay, jog right now) the whole thing! I can't run a mile yet, much less 3. Yet I want to be able to mark my progress in other ways besides the scales and the Fitness Test mode on the treadmill.

I found a run/walk coming up soon that's a little closer than Raleigh. Only catch is that it's free if you're going to walk, but $20 if you're going to run. What if I know I want to do a combination of running and walking?!

My next 5K?

I've found a 5K race I think I can do next. It's on October 14 in downtown Raleigh, and seems to be a flat course. It's called the Autism Ribbon Run, and it'll be run in the City Market area. I'm going to study the registration info and route a little more tonight.

Twice a day.....

Yesterday, I made it to the gym twice, for cardio in the morning and strength training (upper body) at night. Last night, I did some cardio first, doing the fitness test on the LifeFitness treadmill. I scored a 32, Above Average! An improvement over last time! :-) My upper body isn't as sore as I expected it to be from last night's weight training, so I wonder if I need to take things up a notch. Probably so.

I got my hour of cardio in before breakfast this morning, but have a 2-hour Group meeting tonight, so I don't know it I'll make it back to the gym my my second workout of the day. Would like to.

I enjoyed looking through my new Runner's World issue last night. I was intrigued by the ads for various races (usually marathons). Makes me want to go to become a better runner and go to some of these races!

More exercise!

I exercised for an hour on the elliptical before church this morning, and plan to head back to the gym tonight to do some strength training.

At check-in this morning, the nurse told me that the doctor had left a message for me in the system to double my exercise efforts! Whew! Can I exercise TWO hours a day?! That would be an incredible investment of time, but I bet it would have amazing results. The doctor who left the message is out of town, but will likely be back tomorrow. Perhaps i can talk with him later this week about this.

Meanwhile, I went to Banes and Noble this afternoon, and bought a copy of the magazine Runner's World. I figure the magazine will provide some good tips and help give me some focus for all my exercise!

Morning workout

I exercised a whole hour this morning before breakfast, since George and I have plans tonight to go to a public stargazing put on by the Duke Physics Department. It felt good to complete my workout before breakfast, in case I don't make it back to the gym this evening. I was down another six tenths of a pound this morning, yippee! This afternoon I have a follow-up appointment with my primary care physician, and I'm looking forward to seeing her this time. I think she'll be pleased with my progress. I was down another six tenths of a pound this morning at my daily weigh-in. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to weigh in EVERY day with the Rice Diet, but it's good accountability.

I spent the whole hour on the elliptical, and increased the resistance to make it a more challenging workout. I'm a little sore now, just enough soreness to feel good.

I've been on a mission lately, looking for healthy choices on local restaurant menus online as I look forward to eating away from the Rice House. I hope to be eating at the Rice House for a while longer, and I'll be cooking more at home. However, I miss the convenience and fun of being able to eat out with friends. Asian restaurants like Neo-China look like my best bet so far, as they offer steamed vegetables and steamed rice without sodium-high things like soy sauce and MSG added. At other places, I may have to be a "difficult" customer and special order some things. I do find grilled salmon on a number of menus, and some places have healthy sides. I think the salmon will be a yummy choice as well.

Latest workouts

Last night, I did the elliptical for 15 minutes, all I could take at the time, so I got on the indoor track there at the Duke Fitness Center, and alternated walking and jogging each lap for another 15 minutes. Sometimes I have to give myself permission to change things up! It felt good to jog again, although when I caught myself in the reflection of the windows, I didn't really like the way I looked running. I'll have to block that image out of my head for now, and do it anyway.

Adding some jogging to my workout has me thinking, what's a reasonable goal for being prepared for my next 5K. How prepared do I want to be? For starters, I want to improve last April's 5K time. I would love to be able to jog 3.1 miles on the treadmill to get a better idea of my time. I'll have to work on to that, though. I can do 3.1 miles on the elliptical in less than 45 minutes.

I got up early this morning and did 45 minutes on the elliptical, which felt great. I'm a little tired, but can still function well. I plan to get more exercise this evening.

Short workout last night

Last night, I worked out for 15 minutes and decided to call it a night. It was getting late, and I wanted to get home in time to call a friend on the phone and catch up. As I got off the elliptical machine, I felt a little guilty, but decided that wouldn't do me any good! I deserve and need to keep in touch with friends!

I need to keep working on this whole thing of keeping up with relationships, taking time for cleaning and errands, getting enough rest and even enough waking time for myself. I need to stay focused with the diet and exercise too. This morning, one of the nurses at the Rice House and I were talking about it all, and how I'm the only client there who's working and dealing with more day-to-day issues of being at home and at work. No one else is working, and nearly everyone else is staying in a hotel room, which is cleaned by someone else on a regular basis. Of course, they still have to deal with some things I do, like dirty laundry, and some things I don't, like being away from their home base. That can be stressful, but it can be liberating too. Perhaps I'm getting a head start on dealing with taking better care of myself in my home base environment.

My phone call ended up being a wise choice. The gal I called had run in her first half marathon over Labor Day Weekend, the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. She said it was really hard, but that she's really proud of herself--as well she should be! It has me wondering if I can do it too. Perhaps this could be part of my newest motivation to keep on keepin' on. I need to find some shorter goals, though. When is my next 5K?

Another fitness test

I did the fitness test on the treadmill again last night at the gym, and posted a score of 31. This is still average, but better than the last time, when I scored 30. I'll take any gain, at least when it comes to becoming better fit! :-)

Payoff

I worked out twice yesterday, and was looking forward to a payoff this morning, but alas, I was up one tenth of a pound. After yesterday's 2.7 lb loss, I can understand that my body may be adjusting, but STILL!

I was pretty tired this morning, so I turned off the alarm and slept in a little rather than heading to the gym for an pre-breakfast workout. after breakfast, I rested some more! I needed some rest. :-> George and I are going to work out this evening, instead.

Week's hard work paying off

After being consistent with my diet and exercise this week, I finally saw a decet weight drop this morning, 2.7 lbs down from yesterday morning! I'd been hovering around a particular weight, up and down a few tenths of a pound, though I knew I was going the right things. It probably helped that I had another pre-check-in workout this morning. Now I'm down 24.2 lbs since August 8.

Another morning workout

This morning, I managed to get up early enough to work out before breakfast! I took less insulin before bed last night, and I think the extra exercise helped. I also worked out last night, but not unitl after I spent about an hour cleaning my apartment.

Can I keep up the exercise pace?

Yesterday I worked before work AND after my Junior League meeting, and while I felt okay at work, I was exhausted by the time I got home from everything last night around 10 PM. I tried to get up early this morning, but I needed SLEEP! :-P I would love to continue exercising twice a day, but the logistics...need to work on that. Perhaps I can shoot for two workouts a few days a week for now, and build up from that.

I'm down 22.4 lbs now, and will try a little less insulin before bedtime at the doctor's suggestion. This morning I had blood drawn for bloodwork at the clinic, can't wait to see the results tomorrow.

Morning workout

I got up early enough to work out for 35 minutes at the gym this morning. I feel a little tired, but not nearly as tired as I felt back in the spring, the first time I tried it. And I feel like I've already accomplished something today!

This morning at check-in, I was back down to 21.5 lbs down, after a gain yesterday. Funny how the body fluctuates. My fasting blood sugar reading was 91 this morning, glad to see that.

I also worked out for 45 minutes last night. I feel like just about all I do is exercise! I wonder how I'll balance things out in time. For starters, I'm not watching nearly the TV I used to. I taped 2 episodes of "Judging Amy" sometime last week, and last night I just finished watching the first one on the tape. I think this is a good sign, especially since I'm so accustomed to eating while I watch TV. Breaking that habit has felt a little awkward, but it's a good one to break.

Busy weekend

The Labor Day weekend was a good one, but busy! I wish I could have today to stay in bed to read, rest, and generally be a bit lazy. But alas, I'm back at work, and will stick with my exercise routine this evening. I worked out twice yesterday, and am a bit sore this morning.

I ended my first month of the Rice Diet down 21.5 lbs! That was fun news. Will be jazzed to be down 25 pounds, hopefully soon! Yesterday I had my first vegetable in a month-steamed broccoli, and it was yummy, eventhough I added pepper only.

I've signed up for an online course through Barnes and Noble's B&N University called Simplify Your Life Now. The course book looks interesting, and assignments start today.

Weekend plans

George and I have had a pretty busy weekend. Last night we went to the Duke-Richmond football game. The evening weather was delightful, but Duke lost 13-0, a dissappointing start.

Today we went to Lake Crabtree in Cary, for Phil's 30th birthday party/cookout. It was a pretty day, and the food looked yummy! I took my Rice Diet lunch, which tasted fine, but I'm still feeling deprived of the hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad.

I have managed to exercise this weekend some this weekend, but not as much as usual. I missed working out on Friday altogether, but got in for 30 minutes yesterday. I'll work out more this evening.

On the positive side, my hard work with the Rice Diet is paying off. I've lost 20.9 lbs so far, and the end of my first month is tomorrow. That's very encouraging, but I still have a long way to go.

Back down again

After gaining 7/10 of a lb yesterday, I was down 1.8 lbs this morning. The exciting news is that I'm now down 19.9 lbs in all!

Last night's exercise was a little off, did 16 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes on the treadmill, and 2 minutes on this little Cybex machine I'd never done before. I was longing for some time in the hot tub, and since the Duke Fitness Center closes at 9 PM, I decided to cut my workout short and go for "dessert." While calorie burning is key, stress reduction plays a part in healthier living as well. :-)