Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Mileage

We went to the Melting Pot with the Chiccos for 80's night. It was tons of fun!!


I am training for a 10k. It is an 8 week training program. Max and I are on the 3rd week. I completed a 5 mile run this past Sunday which was the longest distance I've ever run continually. :) I was very excited.

I have lost another 5 lbs. bringing me within 5 lbs. of my goal weight. School has kept me very busy and its been difficult to cook healthy meals during the week. I have been relying on frozen dinners (mainly Amy's) and takeout. I've been doing my best to make healthy choices and have therefore maintained my current weight for months now. When this semester is done I will have 4 weeks before the Spring semester begins. I will take advantage of that time and focus my efforts on ridding myself of the last 5 lbs.

My classes this semester are Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology, Nutrition, Probabiliy & Statistics, and American History. They are keeping me quite busy.

Modern MadHatness

I have lost 20.2 pounds as of today. Healthy lifestyle pays off!! Only 10 more pounds to go until I reach my goal.

Here is a picture of Max and me on St. Patrick's Day in Rice Village. We had fun! We also had a potluck on the Sunday before the holiday. :)

Yay!!

We have an Easter Potluck coming up this Sunday and I have a lot of preparations to do from now til then. :)

I have finished my 9 week running program and have started a new program. This new program is only 4 weeks but it is a lot more intense. It has me running 5 days a week as opposed to the 3 days a week of the last program. It is also focusing on interval training to improve speed and endurance. I am excited and a bit intimidated. To celebrate my completion of the 9 week running program, Max and I ran a 5k. (It was the Yuri's Night 5k Fun Run) My only goal was to complete the race without walking. I had no goal as far as time or pace. I accomplished my goal and finished the race at 29:48 minutes. :)

In addition to the new running regime, I have started a new weight lifting program. My last program was 8 weeks long, 4 days a week. My criticism for that program was that each day focused on a different body part so that I only worked out my legs on Mondays, for example. I wanted to work out body parts multiple times each week. The new program is also 4 days a week but has me working legs twice a week, and so on. So far so good.

Healthy Lifestyle

Been a long time... I have been very busy over the last few months. I just returned from a trip to Missouri to make up some time at my Army Reserve Unit. All in all, it was a productive trip. I passed my PT test and updated all my records.

My biggest change began in January. It wasn't a New Year's resolution but the timing would suggest that it was. Max suggested that we should eat healthier at home. Since coming home from Iraq, I had pretty much been cooking (and eating) whatever I wanted simply because I could. I gained almost 15 lbs in the mean time. I was working out but not consistently. Anyhow, I agreed with Max and began cooking healthier.

Once I started cooking healthier, I decided that I was going to remake other areas of my life as well. I've done a lot of yoyo-ing with my weight over the years and I am on a mission to stop that. Max and I began this new phase with a 24 hour fast. I followed that up with the South Beach Diet which I had used for weight loss in the past. I simply wanted to jump-start my weight loss. I also began two workout programs: one for weight training and another for running. I am now 7 weeks into my "change" and I have lost almost 15 lbs, 3 inches off my waist, and made working out a real habit. I am losing weight slowly (which is recommended) at about 1 lb per week.

I am not strictly using the South Beach Diet anymore because it restricts carbs too much and I need them for energy. I am using a porportional approach with a calorie limit. I consume approximately 1200 calories per day with 45% being carbs, 35% proteins, and 20% fats. I eat 4-5 meals a day to boost my metabolism. I fill up those 1200 cals with lean proteins, whole grain carbs, and lots of veggies. Also, I have become a big fan of Ellie Krieger who has a show on the Food Network. She offers healthy recipes with serving sizes and nutritional facts. That is really helpful because I am keeping track of my caloric intake via a software program.

I am very happy with my progress. I feel I have made working out and eating right integral parts of my everyday life. This is not a phase--this is a lifestyle. Yay!