Day 17

I officially started working out on Day 17! It's about damn time! I woke up this morning at 9 (which is so early for me) and brought a one-time guest pass to the Flemington Retro Fitness. My friend came with me and I found that I was super energized before I even started working out. I honestly think, as lazy as I can be, I've had all this pent-up energy from not being active for months, and I was chomping at the bit to get on a treadmill. I went on the treadmill for a total of 25 minutes and alternated between fast walking and full-out running. I ran 3 times over the course of the 25 minutes, each time being the length of whatever song I was listening to. It was an easy way to give myself a small goal with each running spurt. In my head I kept saying "just make it to the end of this song". Each song was about 3.5 minutes, so I ran a total of 10.5 minutes. It doesn't seem like long but I haven't run since June or July so to be able to run that much at all is a huge deal for me. Plus I was actually happy to be running. I felt like a dog that's been cooped up in a cage only to finally be let out into the yard! It was a great feeling. I then moved on to the circuit machines, going around doing arms and legs for about 20 minutes. The arm exercises are so much harder for me, I'm a total upper-body weakling. We spent the last 20 minutes doing some balance ball & core exercises. We did plank poses, balance ball crunches, wall/ball squats and some medicine ball passing. I had worked up a good sweat, my heart was racing and all my muscles hurt. All in all an effective gym trip!

My food choices could have been better today but I chose to treat myself a little. Maybe one day on the weekend, if I really have a craving, I'll let myself have it so that I don't totally go crazy and relapse over time. I went to Elements Asia to eat and got general tso's chicken with brown rice. It was good but I actually left some because it was just SO SWEET! All that sauce just got to me by the end. I just stole some of my friend's steamed broccoli off her plate and ate that to break up the sweetness of my meal. According to various websites, general tso's is about 850 calories...I'd say with the rice it would total almost 1,000. But since I knew I was having a calorie-heavy lunch I ate light in the morning and afterwards. My friend ordered steamed chicken with broccoli, brown rice and brown sauce on the side and you know what? After our food was brought out I actually thought hers looked more appealing than mine did! I guess I've started to get a taste for lighter food...that's a good thing!

I was in a fantastic mood the rest of the day, and I attribute that to the exercising. My friend is knowledgeable in nutrition and has taught various fitness classes, so she brought me to Trader Joe's to buy some more natural foods. (Keep in mind everything they carry is all-natural). I got spinach, mushrooms, tomato basil hummus, frozen potato pancakes (figured one taste yummy with egg white for breakfast!), frozen whole grain waffles, 2 all-natural frozen veggie pizzas (no preservatives, great for if I have to ever just run out of the house!), a box of green tea bags, gummy multivitamins, dark chocolate caramel squares (2 pieces a serving and only 60 cal a serving!) and a bottle of agave nectar (I learned that this natural sweetener is the lowest one on the glycemic index and I could use it in tea, coffee or on pancakes if I want). I already cooked and made some food for myself for tomorrow. Can it be that I'm actually ENJOYING cooking? That's very new territory for me and I'm glad I'm getting out of my comfort zone! I also am enjoying drinking water, and anyone who knows me well knows how much I HATE water....but I'm starting to crave it, and I noticed that my skin has been glowing...my friend even complimented me on it today without me even bringing it up first. This is good. This is sooooo good!

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast:

-Kashi whole grain dark chocolate cherry bar

Lunch:

-General Tso's chicken with brown rice at Elements Asia

-1 glass brewed iced tea with 1 sweet & low

"Dessert":

-2 dark chocolate caramel squares (satisfied my chocolate craving in an instant) and so convenient to keep around! They came in a little resealable tin!

Snack:

-1/2 macintosh apple

-1 cup of hot green tea with 1/2 tsp agave nectar

Very proud of myself. I also can't get over how easy it is to "move on" after eating something that's not such a healthy choice. But then again now that I'm better able to accept my "mistakes" it's easy to forget about it and just keep going forward! I'm really proud of myself and I haven't felt this good about accomplishing anything in a very long time! I'm going to the gym 2 times tomorrow. Once in the morning for just some circuit or treadmill work, then later on for a spin class (which I truly can't wait for...it's my favorite!) Going to go to bed and get a good night's rest, I need it!