Couch to 5K, Week One
Tonight, I'm going to start the
Couch to 5K running plan. The idea is to transform you from couch potato to runner, getting you running three miles (or 5K) on a regular basis in just two months. So, being in the "couch" stage, tonight I'll be doing week 1, workout 1:
Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Followed by stretching. It sounds easy, but something about it scares me. Maybe it's that I don't run- anywhere- ever. DH says he only runs for the bus- not me. I'll wait for the next bus. But tonight, I start the process which will lead me to run 5 kilometers. At one time.
The Capricious Goddess Eating Plan
Journey2Fitness is one of the best-written blogs I've seen, and today she offers an extremely eloquent post...
The Capricious Goddess Eating Plan. 100% worth a read- you'll 'discover' your own Capricious Goddess in her prose.
Smoking Stinks!
Last night, DH and I went out to a bar to say goodbye to good friends who are moving to D.C. on Thursday (we'll miss you guys!)... and came home smelling AWFUL! I promise I never realized how much I must have smelled when I was smoking! I mean, DH's coat this morning was so rank, we drove all the way downtown with the windows open- it was that overwhelming. My pillow even stinks now because the smoke smell was in my hair when I went to bed. yeuch.
I was embarrassed in retrospect :(
What Happens on Thanksgiving Stays on Thanksgiving
I love my online friends...
ElleWiz writes,
All right, did we all enjoy our holidays? Have we all had our fill of pie and other goodies? Good! I know I sure have. But now it's time to get back to eating the way we know that we should.
Watch My Progress
As if you all haven't been watching my progress so far, now you can keep tabs on me with a new ChicagoWW feature. Look to the right, under my name, under my pretty picture, you'll see a counter... yes, yes folks, it's been 5 days since my last cigarette. Ad meah v'esrim!
Hey,
Avi- click the link under the counter to add your own 'days since my last falafel'!
I'm a 4 C's Gal
Calories
Caffeine
Cigarettes
Cable TV
Serve Unto Others...
Last week, I hosted a Tupperware party (ain't I suburbanized?). The appropriateness of “Tupperware” and “party” being in the same sentence aside, it was a gathering of individuals and in Jewish circles, that is an excuse for food. I bought fresh vegetables and FF Ranch dip, cantaloupe and a very small container of sprinkled cookies. DH, upon seeing the cookies, exclaimed ‘why are you bringing those in here? [aka, our house] We don’t need cookies!’ I explained they were for the Tupperware party guests, and he replied, ‘we don’t need to serve other people that which we won’t, or at least shouldn’t, eat ourselves.’ He was entirely right- not to mention that I’m pretty sure I was the only one eating the cookies
during the party, let alone after the party.
During the conversation, I attempted to argue with DH (it’s a pastime), but couldn’t come up with a reasonable response. I mean, we don’t serve people food that isn’t Kosher, because we wouldn’t eat it. Friends of mine who are vegetarian don’t serve meat, as they wouldn’t eat it. Someone who is lactose intolerant wouldn’t serve a full-on dairy meal, someone who is allergic to peanuts wouldn’t serve PB&J, etc etc etc. Yet somehow, we’ll serve the highest fat baked goods and most succulent meats to our closest friends and family on a regular basis. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone to bring baked goods to my house for one occasion or another, and in the same breath admonished them to take them home when said event concludes- ‘I can’t have that stuff around,’ I explain. Why, then, is it somehow acceptable to 1) have it around for the event in the first place, and 2) encourage those I care about to indulge in whatever it is I wouldn’t be able to turn down, myself.
So, from now on, if I'm not willing to buy or make something for myself, I'm not going to serve it to my guests. As Hillel teaches while standing on one foot, “What is distasteful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah, all the rest is commentary, go and learn it.”
Go learn.
Welcome to Gehinom!
MSN reports,
The "Monster Thickburger" — two 1/3-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun — sells alone for $5.49, $7.09 with fries and a soda.
...one Monster Thickburger contains twice the recommended daily allowance of saturated fat, and nearly a full day's worth of sodium. Even before the new Monster Thickburger, the chain offered five sandwiches with 1,000 calories or more, and eight overall that have more calories than what was once the big-burger standard — McDonald’s 600-calorie Big Mac.
Calories: 1,420
Total fat: 107 grams
Saturated fat: 34 grams
Cholesterol: 228 milligrams
Carbohydrates: 52 grams
May G-d have mercy on us all.
**UPDATE** According to an unofficial online WW points calculator, the burger alone is 37 points. Enjoy!
It Can Be Done!
I know I've only been promising before and after pictures for a while now, but after seeing ElleWiz's before and after pics, mine will pale in comparison. Today must be the day for props at ChicagoWW, because I'm so impressed with my blogosphere weight watching friends- Now I know why I'm so motivated by them... check out
I Lost Another Me.
She really did!!
Props to Stef
I read a quote this morning which entirely warrants a link-
Heifer No More is written by an 18-year old Aussie working to lose 80 pounds. She's witty, true to herself, and best of all, she probably speaks with an accent! I'm a bloglines subscriber, and a big fan.
Today, she posted a quote which I need to post here. So, props to ya, Stef!
Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Check her out and leave encouraging comments!
Hear the Food Quote, Name that Movie!
The first ever ChicagoWW quiz... Name the movie in which this food-related quote can be heard:
"Madam, we must have waffles! We must all have waffles forthwith! We must think, and we must all have waffles, and think each and everyone of us to the best of his ability..."
DH, you're respectfully disqualified.
Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
I have rediscovered an old childhood favorite- newly heckshered! Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable Soup recently went O-U, parve, and it's an amazing thing. Besides being a wonderful mid-morning warm satisfying treat, it's super easy to make (you don't even need a can opener), and best of all,
Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable Soup is core! Mmm, mmm, good is right!
I Can Quit Smoking!
I haven't blogged in quite some time, I know. I have good reasons for not blogging, the best of which being is that this is my blog and I don't hafta if I don't wanna...
The biggest development weight-wise is that I lost 1.6 last week, bringing me to 2 pounds away from goal. That means it is time to psyche myself into quitting smoking. I knew it would be a foolish venture to attempt to lose 50 pounds and quit smoking at the same time, so I afforded myself however much time I needed to lose the weight, and then quit smoking. Well, 2 pounds from goal means my quit-time is nearly here.
I promise myself I will not subconsciously (or consciously, for that matter) sabotage myself and not reach goal so as to not have to quit smoking yet. To that end, it's time to start getting myself mentally ready to quit. This is how I have successfully approached most of the major life changes I have undertaken- keeping more strict kashrut, keeping Shabbat, losing weight, etc. For weeks, or months if I need it, I gear up my mind to the idea of the new challenge, and then I just do it- 100% wholly and completely do it. It's kinda cold-turkey, but because I've had the weeks to get used to the idea, it's not nearly as traumatic as just dropping it out of the blue. Turns out this is a tried-and-true strategy for many people!
I joined a free online smoking cessation program through the
American Lung Association, entitled
FFS: Freedom From Smoking. The program has a number of modules, each of which has a number of lessons. There are also online message boards for support, and they are heavily trafficked, so if you're having a rough time when you really want a puff, there's a good chance someone is online to talk you out of it. Each day, you do one lesson, some of which involve 'homework'. For example, the first homework assignment is to post on the message board who you are, what your concerns are about quitting smoking, and why you're quitting. My homework post is
here. The other big thing about the program is that you do three weeks worth of lessons before you quit smoking. Today's lesson, my third, had the first mention of a quit date- three weeks from now. So that's my three weeks to lose 2 pounds, and to psyche myself up to quit.
Wish me luck, something says I'm going to need it!
