Week 3 & 4

I'm a fat hobbit!

I'm not really a fat hobbit, but I sure didn't exercise as much as usual during the last two weeks.  I feel good about the fact that I did some exercise during trial though. I have NEVER exercised on trial days until now!! Progress!

This trial was killer.  We all worked very long days/nights for two weeks straight and put so many witnesses on the stand. I think the hardest part for me was being out of town and away from my hubby, sister, dad and all my other work out buddies. It was hard to force myself to jog on a Treadmill all Alone.  At least the jury came back with a verdict 100% in our favor!! Woot!

Now that I'm back from trial, its time to get back to fitness and cooking. Two food tips:

1.

...avocado... I think I could eat an avocado every single day of my life.  Avocado is my bacon, you know? I eat avocados plain, seasoned with salt & lime, or in any variety of recipes.  My parents often have ripe avocados sitting out on their kitchen island and I can't help but pick one up, peel it & eat it. Yum!  I'm glad that such a delicious food is also filled with "good fat" and nutrients.

I found a good recipe for Avocado Cream Sauce on paleomg which definitely hits the spot.  

Link here: http://paleomg.com/pork-avocado-cream-enchiladas/

Put the sauce on whatever you like! I used the Sauce on some oven baked chicken breasts. I find myself eating steak at every opportunity since its paleo-approved & absolutely delicious, but I'm trying to branch out more and find some good recipes for fish and chicken.  I welcome any suggestions!

2.

There are paleo "substitutes" for so many foods but, let's be honest, some of those substitutes really disappoint.  I recently discovered Almost butter & used it in place of peanut butter.  I then proceeded to eat a couple of spoon-fulls of the almond butter straight out of the jar. I tried the Maranatha brand and it is so yummy! Almond butter is not exactly a low calorie food, but it satisfies my sweet craving so I don't resort to really indulgent non-nutritious foods like sugary cookies or ice-cream.

Well, its not as great as usual with respect to strength training, but here is my workout update for the two weeks spent at trial:

Week 3:

6 miles running

1.5 hours dancing - DJ Jazzy Jeff is amazing.  I danced my butt off at the Borderlands 2 Launch Party & was even sore the next day.  I had so much fun at that event!

Week 4:

7 miles running

1 hour 27 minutes of bootcamp

I hope you're having a great week!

Tough Week 2

Food:

Breakfast is under-rated.  I never skip breakfast - to me its as important not to skip breakfast as it is important to not skip lunch or dinner. I'm not sure why breakfast seems to be the meal that everyone skips!  My favorite breakfast is quick & simple. I just throw some uncured bacon in a clean pan and then make some eggs over-easy, cooked right there in the stuff the bacon leaves behind.  YUM. You can't get much simpler than that - no oil added, no salt & pepper. Just savory bacon and deliciously runny eggs. *drool*

Unfortunately, I've started this blog while there is not much cooking going on at our place. That will change.  I promise! I will post many recipes on here! I have a MAJOR trial which begins on Monday and which is expected to last through 10 full days of court. It has kept me quite busy this week. While I'm in trial it is nearly impossible to cook at all - much less cook clean meals - especially while staying in a hotel in a small town in Texas. However, Praise the Lord, there is a great restaurant next door to the hotel which serves many a tasty and healthy meal. If for some reason you ever find yourself in Cleburne, Texas, stop by and have some good eats. You will find many tasty & healthy options including shrimp cocktails, various salads, as well as delicious steaks and seafood. Check them out:  http://www.caddostreetgrill.com/

Fitness:

Ok, so there were several things that made it difficult to stay on track this week.  Let's get those things out of the way and move on to the good stuff:

My Hubby was sick!!  Ugh.  I knew he was really sick when he stayed home from work! That evening I was trying to take care of him and realized he looked GREEN.  Wow. Poor guy.  He missed work Tuesday and Wednesday but, thankfully, he has mostly recovered now and just has a sore throat that won't go away. What this meant for ME is that I was down one running partner!  Oh no.  I know I can count on him to log some miles with me when he is healthy - he was missed!

Bootcamp was cancelled. Inevitably, at some point, some bootcamps will need to be cancelled. I get that. What I was not expecting is TWO cancelled bootcamps in a row! What that meant is that I had to step it up and put myself through grueling workout of my own volition.  Boo.

Now on to the good stuff:

So now its Saturday.  It's a glorious amazing wonderful Saturday and the first thing I did this morning was go for a jog in 68 degree temperatures with my sister Elisa. This is a very welcome change after a week of highs in the 100s.  It felt so good out there that we managed to push past our usual distance and got up to Three Miles!! Woohoo! I at least hit one goal from last week's post!

I went for a run with my sister and My Dad on Wednesday!  I frequently jogged with my dad last year when I moved into the area but we hadn't worked out together in a long time. He pulled off 1.25 miles of running with some added walking distance. I'm so excited to be training with him again! My dad, my brother-in-law, my sister, my Hubby and I all managed to take on a race together last year and I hope we can at least do a 5K as a group again this year. I really don't feel the distance nearly as much when I'm with great company and it makes me feel some assurance that my family is staying healthy when we get to run together!

Weekly Workout Update:

Running - 6 miles (again)

Walking - 1.35 mile (tiny increase)

Bootcamp - 1 hour 40 minutes (10 minute drop)

Week 1 Update

This week was great!  I generally felt very energetic, I mostly ate clean and I worked out regularly.  

Part of what I loved about this week's workouts was having company during each and every workout!!

I like getting to work out with different people because they all challenge me in different ways.  

My favorite type of Trainer to work with is the type that will push me beyond what I believe to be my limits.  If I am going to bother with driving somewhere and paying someone to train me, I better be sweating and spent by the time the hour is up.  I can work out at home just as easily as I can work out at Bootcamp or some other training session because I have weights, a bike, a treadmill, a stability ball, etc. at home and there is a gym in my community center available for use.  However, when I work out at home, I tend to take longer breaks between sets and I tend to give up too easily on tough exercises like push-ups.  I like having someone nearby encouraging me with a "10 more seconds!!" and "your push-ups look great!!" when things get tough.  

I also love working out with my family & friends.  My sister Elisa is very athletic and dove right into training for a half-marathon soon after she delivered a precious baby girl at the end of June.  I typically complete my two-mile jogs with Elisa or with my awesome Hubby Ryan.  Ryan is always supportive of my fitness goals and is Almost to the point of committing to some of his own fitness goals.  He has been running with me consistently and at least seems Interested in signing up for the half in December!!

Just for laughs:

I think we all have dreams of becoming "super athletes" - whether we dream of finishing a race in first place, breaking a record, or getting to the Olympics. *sigh*  Well, it seems Mr. Paul Ryan also has lofty goals which, in his mind, he has already attained...though the facts are otherwise.

http://www.salon.com/2012/09/02/paul_ryans_marathon_lie/

My personal goal has varied at times and in a moment of silliness during this Olympic season I wished I had the talent and body of Kerri Walsh Jennings...who just so happens to be exactly one foot taller than me. Ha!  

I'm certainly not saying we can't have lofty goals and work hard to get there, but it helps me to set Reasonable Goals that I can attain in a Relatively Short amount of time in order to stay focused and motivated.  I focus on shorter term goals which end up being steps along the way to the more substantial long-term goals. At the present time, I can't quite wrap my mind around 13 miles when I'm only jogging 2, but I can wrap my mind around the goal of 5 for now, and maybe 10 when I hit 5, and so on.  I've run a half before and I will do it again!  

Feel free to share your goals with me!

Weekly Workout Update:

Running - 6 miles

Walking - 1 mile

Bootcamp - 1 hour 50 minutes

Aqua Aerobics - 30 minutes

It doesn't sound like much but it totals 227 minutes (or 3 hours and 47 minutes of working out).  That's not a bad start for week 1.

My goals for the upcoming week are:

Increase the distance of each run to something over 2 miles - maybe 2.5 miles per run.

Increase time spent strength training - I hope to get close to 3 hours on weights/bootcamp instead of just 2.  The longer my runs get, the more I tend to lose sight of strength-training goals...I'm hoping to avoid that while training for the next half.