Mid Month Fitness Check In

It’s the middle of the month so I have thought that I should revisit the fitness goals from my resolutions. To refresh your (and my) memory they are:

FITNESS

The holidays have found me gaining back a few of the pounds that I lost (boo) and not working out. I wouldn’t like this to be the norm so I need a few goals to keep me accountable and focused.

I want to start counting calories again. When I was counting I lost so much weight and frankly I ate better since my goal was to try to get as much food within my calorie goal. I am using My Fitness Pal and have been tracking my calories for a few days. I did go over the first two days but was able to stay within my goal on the third day. If I treat it like a daily budget, then I can save some calories, see what gives myself the biggest bang for my buck and lose weight like a boss.

So far I have done two runs this year, one at the gym and one outside. At the gym I was able to run two miles without stopping (Squee!) but outside I was only able to run less than a mile before I slowed to a walk. It wasn’t terrible but I would like to be able to run a 5K (3.1 miles) without stopping. Mostly because I don’t want my workouts to be an all day affair. I realize that I am not a the type of person who wants to spend hours at the gym but I do like working out. So if I can get my runs done in a decent time, I can still do my weights and stretch without it being an event.

Goal one: Counting Calories

I have not been as consistent as I would like to be with counting calories. I use My Fitness Pal (I’m on there as rungirl73…add me!) and it’s still such a chore getting those calories logged. If I am being honest, when I take a look at what I am eating and realize it’s a lot of junk I find that I don’t really want to log my calories. I have no clue about eating. I realize that exercise alone won’t help me reach my goals but ice cream is so tasty!

For the rest of the month I am going to focus on recording my intake again. I set a calorie limit to continue losing weight, this limit was something I worked with the people who run that study I am doing but My Fitness Pal has a great tool to help reach goals. (I feel like I should say at this point, consult a medical professional in order to make the best choices for your needs). It’s tough but I haver been told you cannot outrun a bad diet and the pounds that are stubbornly clinging to me are proof.

I have been drinking my water thanks to the nifty water bottle The Librarian got me a during his last trip home. It’s been cost effective; no collection of water bottles next to my bed, unused at work, littering the car. There is something to be said for sipping some water instead of eating all the things. Sometimes I am just hungry but most of the times I am thirsty.

The water bottle I use is similar to this one found on Amazon (this is an affiliate link):

GOAL TWO: Run a 5K without stopping

I finally started reading Half-Marathon: You Can Do It, a Jeff Galloway book that has been on my bookshelf for a while. Any who, Galloway does a run/walk method which has been really helpful at the gym. Sure, my goal is to run three miles without stopping but as I work towards this goal, it helps to have a guide which will allow me to walk during my workouts without feeling bad that I am doing so.

Since I use Nike plus, I have a counter at every quarter mile. With this run/walk method, I still track the quarter miles but track the minutes using the treadmill at the gym. I have been doing an 11  minute-ish mile (dude!) and the book suggests I run 3 minutes/walk 1 minute. I altered his suggestion slightly by running up to seven minutes and walking one. This is not arrogance more like I am trying to finish up my workout in a decent amount of time!

The workouts are treadmill workouts which are a bit easier than working out on the street but I’m not even going to pretend that I will be getting up to run outdoors when the weather is below freezing. My plan is to be running regularly on the treadmill so that when I transition to the outdoors in the spring it will not be so dramatic on the pavement.

Looking towards the end of the month, I am focusing on my Nike plus coaching plan which has me increasing miles each week to prepare for the Hot Chocolate Run. This week I have seven more miles that I need to do and have made arrangements to get to the gym earlier than the plan asked for because the Delaware Valley may get a coating of the White Stuff (boo). I don’t want “snow” excuses to not get my workout on.

Thanks for reading and please share your tips for getting that run in when the weather outside is frightful.

r’s note: Affiliate links are used in this post. If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.