Virtual Route 12

To be honest, I'm amazed sometimes how long I've lasted at recording my exercise. This virtual journey has really helped. Now, if only I could come up with something that motivates me to journal my food intake. Oh well. Here's my latest progress:


















And, because I didn't really accomplish anything "fun" this trip, here is a picture of the whole trip so far. You'll definitely have to click on the picture to do it justice.


















Stats:
Start date of this leg: 10.01.09
# of days traveled: 24
# of stationary days: 7
Miles traveled: 100.4
Hours on the road: 18.5
Calories burned: 9,217
Total miles traveled: 1054.8
Miles 'til NYC: 1301.8

Thoughts:
I definitely struggled this month. I accomplished just one of my goals from last month - traveling over 100 miles. I didn't even come close to my other goals; only exercised 8 mornings, only 3 days of exercising more than once, and missed 7 days. I'm glad that there's room for improvement, it gives me something to shoot for for next month.

Seriously, exercising in the morning has to become a priority! My evenings are so busy and promise to become even busier now that the holiday season is upon us. Plus, I'm a Pampered Chef consultant now - putting on cooking shows contributed to three of the days I missed because I didn't exercise the morning of the show. In order to wake up early enough to ride my bike, I have GOT to start going to bed earlier. Isn't it amazing how easy it is to break good habits? I remember when my lights were off by 11pm and I was consistently waking up at 6:30 to walk. Sigh. Those were the days. *smile*

On a positive note, I've started to run. I've wanted to run for years! I loved the idea of my whole body working so efficiently and smoothly, the wind blowing my hair. I sometimes wondered if the idea was better than the actual running would be since it had been so very long since the last time I had run (think middle school). So far, running is as good as I always dreamed it could be.

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about lengthy runs. I just run a little bit each time I go for a walk. So far, I haven't figured out the distance I'm able to run before stopping. However, I've noticed that I'm able to run a lot longer than I could at the beginning of the month. My legs feel so good after running, it makes me excited to run again! I have three running goals for the future:

1. Run once around the track without stopping.
2. Run a mile without stopping (4x around the track).
3. Run a 5k (3.2 miles) without stopping

I don't know when I'll accomplish these goals, but I'll definitely let you know when I do. In the meantime, I'm loving having something new to do. If only winter wasn't coming. I'm not looking forward to exercising indoors. Oh well.

Next Month's Goals:
1. Only miss 4 days and travel 100+ miles. Totally do-able if I exert enough effort.

2. Have 7 "two-a-days". This one is kind of tricky, but I really do believe I can accomplish it.

3. Exercise 15 times in the morning. I lowered the number of times, but it's still pretty lofty considering my current situation. I'm trying to shoot for the stars. *smile*

If My Name Was Stan...

...I'd be "Stan with a Plan".

My name isn't Stan, though, and "Julie with a Plan" doesn't have the same ring to it. Unfortunately.

I do have a plan, however.

I'm failing when it comes to eating properly. If I weren't so devoted to exercising, I'd probably be in big trouble. So, I'm glad that I'm not in big trouble, but I know I could be doing even better if I was more faithful to eating the way my doctor recommends. To that end, I have made goals (aka, a plan) to help me get back to those recommendations.

1. No Snacking. I seriously struggle with this one, especially at work or if I'm home alone past 9pm. It's not that I'm actually hungry, I'm bored and decide to grab a quick snack. Fortunately, my snacks aren't very horrible (mostly tootsie rolls and peanuts) but the calories can quickly add up. So, for the next 30 days (starting today), I'm making a goal of no eating between meals. Yes, there will be the occasional exception, but as long as they remain an Exception instead of a Rule.

2. Protein. When my band was too tight the past couple months, I really steered away from lean protein. I couldn't eat very much of it without becoming too full, so I started to eat "softer" foods. Mmm. I love "soft" foods! Think bread, desserts, pasta, couscous - carbs basically. Now that my band has been loosened a bit, lean protein sits better with me, but I'm still eating more carbs than I should. So, I'm going to eat my portion of protein first, then if there's room, I'll eat a little something extra.

3. Water. It is so hard to get enough water if I don't stay focused on it. I wait for the 30 minutes after breakfast, but I get busy and then it's almost lunch, so I don't drink anything until after lunch. However, I get busy after lunch and it's mid-afternoon before I finally drink some water. I guzzle it down until I leave work, then I exercise and drink some more afterward, but then I get so busy that I don't drink the whole rest of the night! I need to make a more concerted effort to get in my 64 oz of water every day. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it, but I've found that if I focus on making sure I'm drinking water, I tend to drink more water, ironically enough. *smile*

They seem like simple enough goals/plans, right? It's not like I'm committing to drink nothing but Slim Fast for 10 days! That, my friends, was hard. If I could do that, I can do anything.

I just have to keep reminding myself of that.