Woe is me---it's cold and dark

I really want to go jogging. Really I do. But if I want to jog during the work day I need to come in earlier so i can take the time in the middle of the day. This requires leaving early which requires waking earlier --- I have a lack of motivation to wake earlier. If I want to jog at home at night it is cold and wet and icy and dark by the time I get home.

I miss summer. It was so much easier to jog when i could do it outside, in the warmth, in a scenic park.

Any suggestions for getting more motivation?

On the diet front things are getting better. I'm eating less sugar then I used to---at least less processed sugar. I'm craving carbs less, eating less food overall. It's a good thing. I am feeling better. So motivation on the diet front is much easier to come by.

Helpful Website

My friend, Susan, showed me this Website. It allows you to look up the menu of almost every restaurant (at least chains) and see the calories in all the menu items. I find it helpful.

Dotti's Weight Loss Zone

Enjoy!

Burn more than you Eat

What makes the difference between feeling good about your "healthy lifestyle" and feeling terrible? I've concluded its all about the diet. It doesn't matter how long I work out in the morning or how hard I run or how many calories I burn. If my diet sucks for the day, I feel gross.

Monday is the perfect example. I worked out for 45 minute at the gym--intervals on the track (5 sets of 1000 meters), then some stairs and finishing off with a good ab workout. I burned over 300 calories. Awesome, right? And then I went home and spent the day crafting with friends and eating junk. The main foods consumed were chips with queso dip and M&M's. Oh so grand. I felt GROSS. That feeling even continued into Tuesday. My diet Tuesday was mucho better, but its taken until Wednesday morning for me to feel somewhat normal and not like a fat loser. (Harsh, but true.)

So the diet is the thing. I have got to eat healthy, drink lots of water, and be happy.

This was going to be a comment on your post...

but then it got long:

I haven't posted in forever because I'm not doing that good. I can't get motivated to run outside. In January we are cutting our commute by about 30 minutes a day when we move so i'm planning on joining the local gym or at least going walking every day.

The good news is we are eating out much much less. And I have lost much of my taste for eating out. Which is good.

Good luck on the portion control, that's my plan too---2 dinners plus pie at my dads, it's going to be killer. Maybe I should just commit to running Thursday and Friday to mitigate disaster.

Definitely post your food journal sticker chart. That sounds brilliant. Can't wait to see it.

I Confess I Love Donuts

I was running laps at the gym this morning when the thought popped into my head, "You haven't posted on that Blog in a Loooong time. Let's get 'er done." And so here I am. Confessing my successes and failures in the workout world the past month.

Success: I'm still getting up early and going to the gym. I'm averaging 5 workouts a week. At least one of those days is devoted to weight training and one day to a long run--I'm up to 7.5 miles now. My little sister, Allie, has been running with me and I don't think there's any doubt that makes her the bomb.com. She's awesome. Last Saturday we missed our long run in favor of a 5K, but hey--a 5K is always a good time! So yes, I'm still in the "keep on keepin' on" mode.

Failure: I love donuts. And cookies. And anything chocolate. And pasta. And sometimes I don't like to eat my fruits and vegetables. In the past month I have consumed a lot of treats. This isn't a good sign considering the "treaty" holidays are upon us. This is a weekend devoted to pie, after all. I could be in trouble. I'm going to try to stay focused on Portion Control this year. The fact that I have two Thanksgiving dinners to make this year should make this easier...and yet harder. I'm working with my roommate, Erin, the sticker chart queen!, to design a Food Journal Sticker Chart--something that will allow me to reward myself for eating right for a week or a month. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out.

So here I am. Still about the same.

What the...!?

This is a blog of confessions so here we go...

I ate a lot this weekend. And very little of it was good for me. A sampling of various meals would include Totinos pizza rolls, cheese enchiladas, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, MORE MEXICAN FOOD THAN I SHOULD EVER EAT, brownies, ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls and more rolls...etc.

It wasn't pretty (even if it was REALLY REALLY tasty!). And I was feeling rather guilty as I got up this morning for the gym. I did some hard cardio to try and slowly begin to make up for all of my indiscretions this weekend. I ate like a pig...so I should definitely have to pay, right?

So keeping this incredibly unhealthy weekend diet in mind...CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW I HAVE SOMEHOW LOST WEIGHT?! I know I should just smile and be pleased, but I'm sort of annoyed. Why is it when I keep an eye on my diet--carefully including fruits and vegetables and a low number of carbs in each meal--nothing happens? Then I basically binge eat for 2 1/2 days and my weight drops? I mean, I didn't even get to the gym Friday or Saturday. All I did was sit around and eat all weekend. And I lost weight?

Really, where is my motivation anymore?!

Good News!

I think my training program is finally yielding some results. Its true the result I'm really looking for is the ability to run 13.1 miles in April. But weight loss isn't a bad side result. I'm definitely not going to complain. I ran 6 miles at the gym this morning and my weigh in put me under 149 lbs! Yes, I am willing to post my current weight for the entire Internet to see. I'm so willing because that is fantastic for me! I think I weighed more than that in 9th grade...which just goes to show what a porky teenager I was, I guess :)

Anyway, this is the confessions Blog and I have to confess I'm beaming this morning!