May 26, 2021

Starting Strong

Well, so far, so good. The DietBet I'm doing is going well--it's funny how seeing the scale on Monday scared me straight immediately! The actual challenge didn't start until Tuesday, and normally I would have waited until Tuesday to start. But when I did my official weigh-in, I decided to start right at that moment, haha.

I've been counting calories and as much as I thought I would hate it, I actually don't mind it. The fact that I have all of my recipes already entered into the Fat Secret app is a huge help. I used to get stressed out when it was a busy day, time to cook dinner, and I still had to figure out what to make along with how many calories it has. Planning and getting the tedious stuff done ahead of time is super helpful.

I even took the time on Sunday to plan out our meals for the week, then I wrote a grocery list and went shopping. I included lots of grapes, because those were the secret to my success last time ;)  I made chicken burrito bowls on Sunday, beef stew on Monday, chicken broccoli lo mein yesterday, and grilled cheese with bacon and tomato today. (We didn't get home until 9:00 pm from baseball, so it was a LATE dinner!)

I also started the Couch to 5K plan on Monday. I hadn't actually *planned* to do so, but after my weigh-in, I didn't even change out of those workout clothes I'd weighed in on--I went right out for the first workout. 

There are three runs each week; this week, the workouts are: 8 x (run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds). That totals 20 minutes, and I added on a warm-up and cool down walk as well.

I can't remember if I wrote this before, but last month when I did the first week of Couch to 5K, I couldn't believe how hard it felt. Each time I did the 60 seconds of running, I was super relieved to hear the beeping on my watch to signal me to walk. But then it seemed like the walking portion flew by much faster! I was barely able to catch my breath before the watch started beeping for me to run again. It felt the same for the second run, too.

Well, after that second run, I was looking at my splits on the Garmin app, and I realized a big mistake I'd made. I had set my recovery walk intervals to 60 seconds instead of 90 seconds! So it's no wonder that it felt so short when I was walking, haha.

This time, I made sure to set the intervals correctly. I brought Joey with me both times--he's gotten as out of shape as I have. To keep from dreading my runs, I am making sure to run at a moderate effort (it feels hard, but I'm only pushing myself to about a 7 on a scale of 1-10). I'm not worried about my pace at all--I'll be thrilled just to be able to run 3 miles comfortably again!

I still like to wear my Garmin and look at all my data after my runs, of course ;)  So it will be interesting to see if my pace improves naturally, even if I maintain the same effort. I like looking at my heart rate data the most. I think that's a big indicator of whether I'm improving my fitness.

This is the data from just the first two runs, so there is nothing to conclude by it... but it's still fun to look at. The first picture of each set is run #1 and the second one is run #2.


Anyway, even though the running feels hard right now, I actually really enjoy it. It feels good to be sore for a *reason* (not just the random chronic pain). It helps me to stay on track with my eating throughout the day, too.

Between the better eating habits, feeling prepared for what's ahead, and working on the Couch to 5K plan, I feel a lot better about myself than I did just a week ago. I have hope that I will really see some progress.

I haven't felt this motivated and determined in longer than I can even remember. Let's hope it continues!

By the way, I saw that some of you joined in on the same DietBet I'm doing--make sure you let me know how it's going for you! I'd love to hear it.

3 comments:

  1. I love how you find ways to continue, to make it work for you, to start over again and again. That's where the secret is. We're never "there." We never arrive. We start again and again. Go you!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You've got this! I believe in you girl! <3

    ReplyDelete
  3. I joined as well, and like you I was mortified at my initial weigh in! I can't exercise right now because I'm recovering from surgery, although I can walk. But I'm happy with my food choices so far. If I get down to my dietbet goal that will be a huge accomplishment...I'm excited!

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive