Today is my third day of being *nearly* perfect.  Tonight I had to hurry up and eat dinner before my workout, so i subbed applesauce for my veggie and had chicken deli meat, which has more sodium than the fish I’ve been eating, but I figured that was better than having an off plan snack and then eating dinner after I got home.

And, drumroll please……I ran a mile straight tonight.  I started the couch to 5K program (online) back in the middle of December and only got through the first week before I went home and sprained my MCL (my knee) playing ping pong (don’t ask).  So, I was supposed to wait six weeks before running again.  It’s been about a month, but I’ve been feeling pretty good, so I decided to give it a try tonight.  In the meantime, I’ve been doing the elliptical, so I have improved in cardio endurance, but I haven’t been running.   I can even see an improvement on the elliptical.

On with my story– I decided to start out with week one, where I left off, but it was really easy, so I bumped up the running parts from 60 seconds to 90, then to 2 minutes, etc. until I was finally at 5 minutes, and I just decided I’d shoot for running a mile, and it worked!  I was even at the end of my workout and was still able to do it.  I was running at 6.2 mph (9:40 mile), and I ran for 10:30, so it was a bit over the mile.  I probably could have kept going if I wanted to push myself, but it was close to the end of my workout, and I didn’t want to push it too much with my knee.  I’m going to do the elliptical tomorrow so I don’t do too much too quickly and then back to running for Thursday and Friday.

I must say, it was pretty exciting.  I still hate the actual running part, but the feeling of accomplishment is pretty awesome.  I don’t think I’ve EVER been able to do that in my life, and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do that a month ago.  I really like being more fit aerobically.  Everyday things are easier– walking from the basement up to my 3rd floor office, for example, or today I climbed the stairs in a five story parking garage and wasn’t too out of breath at the top.  I could have talked to someone doing either of those activities, and that’s a HUGE difference from when I weighed almost 230 lbs.

All of this brings me to another point– for the first time in my life, losing weight is about more than looking good.  Don’t get me wrong, looking good is still my #1 motivator.  However, before I started dieting, I was definitely noticing how difficult certain activities had become, and that had never really been an issue for me before, either because I was so young or because I wasn’t heavy enough to make a big difference.  The health (for many reasons– wanting to have kids soon, not wanting my younger years to pass me by because I’m fat, wanting to keep up with those around me) factors are important for long term maintenance, I think.  Hopefully this exercise thing will turn into a habit. 

The personal trainer thing has definitely helped me keep showing up.  We’ve been working out for a month now– he was talking about it tonight.  I at least hope to surpass all the new years resolution people.  If I can make it until the summer when I don’t have school or work, I think I’ll be good.  At that point, it will be more of a leisure activity than something I have to squeeze in like now.  However, it’s still a big priority for me, and because I have someone to do it with (even if he is a “substitute friend”), it’s something I at least somewhat enjoy.

Okay, so the menu today (Metaquick, so not all that interesting):

Breakfast:  shake, HNS

Lunch:  bar, HNS

Dinner:  1/2 chicken sandwich: 1 oz. cheddar, 2 oz. chicken deli meat (from Aldi– cheap and yummy, we have a winner!), 1piece 45 calorie bread, 1/2 cup homemade applesauce, basically just apple puree with some cinnamon and splenda, HNS

snack at home:  hot cocoa (HNS– supposed to have a fourth one), 3 nibbles frozen choc. mint. bar (allowed since I worked out, and yummy– kind of like an after dinner mint).

weight at home:  165.5– this is lowering, but not as fast as I’d like it to since I was hoping those 7 lbs. were all water.  Oh well, I’m still motivated for tomorrow.  I need to go make my dinner plans, though, since I won’t have a chance to eat.  I guess I really need to pack dinner so I can have something to microwave between my class, my meeting, and teaching.