Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Marathon? What?

Wow are my arms sore from last night's push-ups.  YAY ME!  The weather is beautiful out so I really want to go walking after work.  I wanted to go last night but "Temptation" reminded me, when he got home, that we had to go grocery shopping ASAP because we were out of toilet paper.  By the time we got done, hauled the groceries up the stairs and put them away not only was it dark but I was exhausted.  The squats felt great and my legs were like Jell-O all the way through the store as we did our shopping yesterday.  There were several times that I would take a step and my knee would buckle a little bit because my upper thigh muscles were so tired.  People probably thought I had some kind of medical condition or something.  I didn't fall down, but I'm sure it looked like I was limping.



Oh well, I don't care!  I am MUI PROUD of my grocery choices last night!  I bought more whole-wheat bagels, more laughing cow light spread because it has way less calories and fat than cream cheese, picked up some low-cal mixed berry and poppy seed crackers (those things are so awesome, they're my new favorite snack), bananas, pears, spinach, a southwest corn mixture, some frozen veggie stir-fry, a peppercorn pork loin (which steered "Temptation" away from the Teryaki one he wanted), and chicken breasts.  I'm running low on coffee creamer so I think I am going to try training myself to enjoy black coffee.  This morning I added ice to my coffee and used half as much creamer as I usually use for two reasons: 1) To stretch out the little bit of creamer that I have left because money is getting tight with all the traveling we've done and 2) because I know that if I gradually reduce the creamer I can adapt to the taste of black coffee.  I did that with sugar and it totally worked.  When I first started drinking coffee I was using three tablespoons of sugar per pot (I use a french press which makes three cups of coffee at a time and then I put the press in the fridge and only drink one cup per day).  Eventually I cut that back to two tablespoons per pot, then one, then I stopped using sugar entirely and I've completely adapted myself to the taste of coffee without sugar (something that seemed impossible to fathom just 6 months ago!)

I know some of you who have been reading for awhile are probably wondering WTH happened to my marathon plans huh?  Well I still wanna do them!  I know I haven't been walking (really walking) in AGES but the weather has been crappy and it's been getting dark almost before I even get off work and my hood isn't a place to go-a-walking in the dark.  However, I noticed yesterday that I had about an hour between work and sunset so I'm going to regroup my motivation; also seeing the work-out room at "Temptation's" brother's place in San Diego reminded me that my complex has a work-out room too and I've not taken advantage of it once the entire time I've lived here because I'm a moron.  Rain, snow, or the dark of night I can go in and walk on a treadmill to my heart's content (and probably solve all the treadmill controversy by finding out exactly how long it takes for me to burn 200 calories on a treadmill once and for all!).

Plus I've got Tia to walk with as soon as the bloody holidays are over and maybe I can even get her to plan for the next walk-run marathon with me.  I could use some help in this area for any of you walkers/runners who know the drill.  I need to find a marathon or half-marathon in my area (Vegas) that is either free to enter (do those even exist?) or that will help me set up a fund-raiser type website to raise the entry fee.  I know charity walks do this sort of thing because my brother did one for diabetes awhile back (I'm talking to you bro!).  Someone find me a marathon in my area, tell me when, where, and how to get started and I will make it my new personal challenge.  You can choose whatever cause you want but travel is almost impossible for me so it must be in the Vegas area if possible.  I'm sure we have plenty of marathons here, I just don't know how to find them.  Carpe Diem!


Food:
5 glasses of water
1 cup of iced coffee w/ creamer
1 banana
1 red pear
1 can hearts of palm
2 cups tabouli w/diced tomatoes
22 berry and poppyseed crackers
10 oz baked chicken breast
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Daily Caloric Intake: 1077



Exercise:
Treadmill: 3 miles @ 3 mph
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Daily Caloric Burn: 405

The treadmill's caloric count jumped erratically from 245 to 370 and did not factor in weight OR heart rate!  How can anyone assume caloric burn based on something so flawed?  However, I put the speed and time into both caloriecount.com and livestrong.com and got the exact same burn number, to the last digit.  "Temptation" is going to get me a calorie counter that's based on heart rate to wear on my wrist so I can end this controversy once and for all.  I can't wait!  But I'll have to, until his next paycheck at least.

13 comments:

  1. It will NEVER be accurate!! It will be close. But never accurate. There are just to many factors that make us individuals. To figure out how many calories were burned during any one session. Wether it be on a treadmill,bike,swimming,etc etc...
    Those crackers look amazing where do you get them. I cant have crackers in my house. I eat way to many of them. I bought one box of wheat thins and I would catch myslef going back for seconds. So no more crackers for me or my husband!! Nope he can't have them either! I will eat them.You are doing great. Keep it up!

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  2. I got the crackers at Wal-Mart. They are 130 calories for 22 of them but they are surprisingly filling! When I got off the treadmill last night I felt like I was starving so I counted out 22 crackers into a tupperware bowl and sat down with them and a glass of water. They make me want to drink more water with them because they are rather dry despite being so tasty but I consider that a good thing since I want to drink more water anyway. I felt so hungry that I was sure I was going to need something else to tide me over until the chicken finished baking but, to my surprise, I was fine. In fact even after the oven went off I let the chicken stay in the oven on "warm" for another hour or so before eating dinner because I just wasn't hungry for it yet.

    Up to this point I've avoided crackers also because the calorie count in them always seemed to high compared to the serving size. When I found these I was really surprised by the ratio so I decided to give them a shot because, like you, I loooove crackers. Because they are so filling and a little on the dry side I've not felt the need to go back for seconds. I just count out my portion into a bowl, put the box back in the cupboard and I'm usually satisfied by a single serving.

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  3. When I first started the squats, I had a strange experience. I was walking across the street and then a truck turned the corner. I stopped walking to let the truck pass, but my legs didn't stop. I didn't have the strength to stop the forward motion of my steps. It was really weird!

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  4. 3 miles @ 3 mph... it probably is around 300 calories, so not too far off. That's a good pace to go. If you want to make your life simpler, I would quit worrying about how many calories you are burning. Yes, def still do everything you are doing and then some!, but keeping track of calories burned is not super useful and at least for me was just a reason to eat more lol. If you track your food and keep your calories around 1200... or whatever number you pick, the amount you burn will just be a bonus. Move your body and sweat at least a little every single day and then do a little bit more the next day. Keeping track of what's going in is WAY more important than what's being burned. But then that's just what worked for me, everyone's different. Have a great day!

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  5. http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/ They have one in Las Vegas next December. I looked into doing the Seattle one and it was like $85 dollars I think, kinda pricey. So far that was the only one I've found in your area.

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  6. No problem. This is Runner's World Race finder--just enter in the criteria and watch it give you all the answers.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/racefinder/0,7151,s6-239-283-284-0-0-0-0-0,00.html

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  7. Mandy: Oh my goodness were you ok? I kind of felt that way after I got off the treadmill last night after walking 3 miles. Your mind gets accustomed to your feet moving but your eyes not recording actual forward momentum so when I stepped off the treadmill the whole room felt like it was moving even though I was standing still and I had to lean against the wall in the gym for about 3 minutes until I felt "normal" again. Even then the slower walk home felt "wrong" somehow compared to the 3mph tempo I'd held for the previous 60 minutes.

    Lisa: You know...I think you're absolutely right here. Counting in and keeping under my gold of 1,600 per day IS definitely WAY more important than counting the out. But I do want to make sure that I am forcing myself to do enough physical activity to make a difference also. I think I'm using the burn count of 300 per day as a way to make sure I don't cheat and do a half-assed workout. But on nights like last night were I was moving my butt off for 60 straight minutes and drenched in sweat ... I shouldn't have to worry about count because I KNOW I busted some decent burn. If I stop posting Daily Caloric Burn and ya'll notice that my daily activities are getting wussy I firmly expect someone to let me know though k?

    Joel/Becca and Ki: WOOOT! I looked into the Rock N Roll this year (about two days before it went down) and it was $160. I definitely want to run it next year and I found a cancer organization that provides free admission if you set up a website to earn donations for them so I will definitely be looking into that this year.

    I know there is a triathalon at Lake Mead every year because I see it on the news. It's in the fall and they swim across lake Mead (no kidding!) and then run and bike too. I probably won't join the triathalon because I would imagine it's for pro's but it sure would be fun to say "I swam across Lake Mead".

    Tia: Wanna train to swim Lake Mead with me this summer? We can carpool and take turns driving ... or since we live on opposite sides of it maybe we can meet on the West side. I don't think they'll let us swim past the buoys on a normal day but we could swim the edges or something.

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  8. Thanks for posting the picture of the crackers. I still love that picture of you with the bow on your mouth...it's cute and it cracks me up. BTW, I love your writing style.

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  9. Thank you very much Darla. I have heard from other bloggers that you have one of your own but the link doesn't show up in your profile. If you do have one I would love to see it and if you would prefer to keep it private but feel like sharing with me you can post it in a comment and I promise I won't publish it. That picture was on my birthday last year when I got my beloved Kindle2 from my beloved "Temptation". He brings out my silly side sometimes. :)

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  10. p.s. by "one of your own" I meant a blog of your own. Sorry, I just realized me original reply wasn't clear.

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  11. OK! I would love to go walking with you as long as you don't mind if I drag my dog on occasion. And I will swim with you. I am not a fantastic swimmer (hate water in my nose) but maybe that will help! I don't start school until the 18th and my hubby is still deployed so i have pleanty of free time :p
    ~Tia

    PS Oooooo In the summer I know of a great, cheap place to kayak on the Colorado River and it is a great arm work out!

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  12. Of course I won't mind if you bring your dog. I would bring mine but her legs are so short that she has a very hard time keeping up for more than a block and then she starts to get pooped. I would like to get a bigger dog so that I have a walking/jogging body guard that can keep up with me but I don't think my apartment will let me have another one. :(

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  13. I was okay. The truck stopped and the guy just looked at me like I was a moron. I sure felt like one!

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