Adventures of the Slow Wife of a Fast Kid

Clint sent me an article yesterday about the effects of exercise on mental health. Since clinical depression runs in my family, I figure I better get on the ball and do everything humanly possible to give my body and mind a fighting chance. So... some form of cardio exercise for 30 minutes or more 6 days a week and an additional 20 minutes of muscle building 3 days a week is the goal.

I am also limiting my sugar intake. Not cutting it completely out, because that would only serve to tick me off and cause a rebellion against myself for setting such a lofty, unnecessary goal. ;) My plan is to eat when I'm hungry and only eat until I feel satisfied. The DO NOTs of this goal are (1) Do not eat to satisfy a craving, as this tends to lead to over-eating; (2) Do not let let yourself get too hungry, as this tends to lead to those nasty cravings discussed above ;), and (3) Do not stuff yourself. This always seems like a good idea, particularly when Chinese food is involved. But it never ends well for me. So I am going to focus on eating smaller, more frequent portions throughout the day.

The third and final health goal is to drink lots of water. Stay away from carbonation, caffeination, and added sugar in beverages. When I feel a hunger craving coming on, I am going to immediately go for a glass of nice cold water, squeeze a lemon into it, and drink it down. That seems to be a good trick for my body.

This is the plan. Now I just have to go and do. Scary words for a Foody to hear.

Another elliptical run. Shaved about 4 minutes off of yesterday's time, though, which put me at 7:48 min/m, finishing in approximately 24 minutes.

When I arrived at the apartment weight room I almost turned right around and went back. There were 5 bodies in there, not including myself, all radiating lots of stinky, sweaty heat. But I knew if I turned around, I wouldn't be coming back later. Plus, the hardcore chick who looks like a mix between Robin Hood and every female soccer player I've ever seen was there finishing up the cardio portion of her workout. (I will call her Robin for workout blog purposes.) This is very motivating to me, because Robin is a serious chick. She doesn't go in that tiny, sweaty gym to dink around. She goes in there to take care of business. Which I'm guessing from the amount of sweat pouring off of her last night, she'd been taking care of business for about 2-3 hours in that 15x20 room with one slow ceiling fan.

I stationed myself behind her, so I wouldn't feel bad for myself when I started to get sweaty and sticky and hot and nasty. Luckily for me the TV was turned up to a perfect volume and wasn't on sports. The distraction from my feet tends to help a lot.

Long story short, it was a good cardio workout. Law and Order SVU was getting a little out of my comfort zone, so I peaced out without the muscle building portion of the workout. But I might have saved a little piece of my soul in the process, so I would call it a good trade.

Last night's workout was about the same as the night before. 7:46/m average. 24 total minutes. No Robin in the gym for motivation tonight, but the cooler weather (ahem, 70* at 9 pm) made the gym a few degrees colder. A welcome little surprise. 

My husband got up and ran 5 miles for the first time in a long time this morning. I was so proud. So I dumped milk all over him in the car later on. I'm sure he feels very loved now.

I missed yesterday due to an early date night. Clint headed out of town today on a Fronterra Trip-- a trip to an impoverished area to do diabetes screenings with a handful of other med students.

First night running on the treadmill. By minute 15 my left calf muscle was burning and swelling. Well, it was actually tensing and causing the muscle to knot up. This isn't the first time that's happened. It's the reason why I don't run on the treadmill very often. Well, that and the fact that I hate treadmills. I must have fallen on one when I was little, because I have this strange fear of falling when I run on them...

I think I solved the muscle-knotting problem on the treadmill today. I did about 6 minutes of brisk walking on a speed 3.5 to start off the cardio. Then I did 6 minutes of fast jogging (fast for me, anyways) on a speed 6, I think. Then 3 minutes at speed 4. Then the last 3 minutes at a 7 (which was a flat out run for me). I finished with about 2 minutes of walking.

Finally got to weights today. After a few set of bicep and tricep lifts, I headed home. On Sunday I did about 120 crunches during commercial breaks while catching up on my shows online, but that was about the extent of my physical exertion this weekend.

By the end of this week, I do feel like I am beginning to enjoy my time spent exercising each day. It's a good release from the stress of the day and seems to be a nice way to loosen up my body after sitting at a desk for 9 hours.

Now I just have to keep it up!

Ran about 30 minutes around the track in my in-laws neighborhood. The sun was shining, and it was about 50* F with a nice chilly wind blowing in my face. It felt so good. 

Running around the pond spotting the gorgeous white egrets made me miss my dad. It's bittersweet to miss family on Thanksgiving. But it was certainly a lovely Thanksgiving with the in-laws.

Treadmill. Felt good to run again after the holiday.

Treadmill

Treadmill & weights today. The treadmill is getting much easier. I don't hate it, at least. And my breathing and energy have significantly improve.

RUNNERS---

I work for the president of an organ donor awareness group, The Todd Krampitz Foundation, that is doing a raffle for free bibs for the 2012 Houston Marathon (January 15th). If you are interested in winning a free bib, please leave me a comment with your email address. The drawings are tonight and tomorrow morning, so if you want in on the fun let me know ASAP!

Thanks!

Slow Wife