A Year of Gratitude #125, 126, 127, 128

 

A Year of Gratitude: #125, 126, 127 & 128

I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to get online to blog... my computer died for good and I had to get a new hard drive. I should be set for a while... hopefully. Since I have four days worth of gratitude, I'll do them all in one blog.

#125: Busy Bags

This past Friday, my MOMS Club hosted a Busy Bag Swap at my house. Each mom signed up for a different activity and then on Friday, we came together to share our crafts with one another. There were 13 kids, and each mom made a different craft. We ended up coming away with 13 different activities that can be used to keep a toddler busy. I made the above crafts-- Brown Bear, Brown Bear bags. Inside each bag was three different activities. A heads and tails matching game, a counting game, and a sizing game.

We had a great morning together and then we enjoyed a potluck lunch together. It was so wonderful and we had a great turn out! I think we're going to try and do another swap in the fall.

#126: Motor City Coney Island

There's a place in Stone Mountain that's called Motor City Coney Island. They make coney dogs just like you get in Detroit. I think coneys are the one thing that I miss most living in the south. You don't realize how awesome they are, until you can't get them anywhere.

We drove to Stone Mountain and enjoyed our coney dogs for lunch. Steve and I each had a dog and some fries and then we were even delighted to enjoy Faygo pop!

 

Yummmmm... cheese fries with fries just like in the D

 

DEEEEELICIOUS!!!

 

They didn't have Rock-n-Rye (my fav) but this is my second favorite!

 

LOVE that it says POP for soft drinks!

 

:-)

We will be going back. Steve wasn't as impressed as I was, but he isn't FROM Detroit and didn't grow up on Lafayette Coney Island like I did!! I even got a bag of Better Made BBQ to go!!! I was in heaven!!

#127: Losing .5 Pounds

As you can see from my meal above-- I didn't exactly "stick" to my plan this past week. I designated Thursday as a free day because of Taco Thursday, but I intended on walgging on Friday-- that didn't happen because of the rain, and then there was the pot luck on Friday. I just didn't know exact calories, and while I guessed, it wasn't as accurate as it needed to be. All that being said, I was thrilled to see that I lost 1/2 a pound on Sunday morning!!

#128:  Computer Problem Solved???

Do you remember a while back when I was having issues with my computer? I had a virus and my dad talked me through how to remove it? Well... I think that virus SERIOUSLY killed my hard drive. My computer crashed, yet again, on Friday and Steve decided to get me a new hard drive on Saturday. So far so good... and I am thankful to have my computer back up and running and it's great so far!

Running Is Effing Hard!!

So today I started the Couch 2 5K program. I modified it and instead of jogging for a full minute, we did 30 seconds. It was more than enough for me. 

I was so nervous about starting today. I didn't sleep well last night because I kept thinking about today. Plus, Steve left this morning for NYC and I never sleep well before he leaves. 

So this morning I got up, showered and then went and got Gus. We had breakfast and then headed to the greenway to meet Pilar and Leslie. I did a few stretches before I left the house, but I think I need to do more on Wednesday.

We got to the entrance of the greenway and we started right away. The five minute warm-up took the entire walk to the main path... and then as soon as we got on the path, the jogging began. Pilar said to just do a quick walk... nothing too strenuous. The first 30 wasn't too bad. I tried to focus on my breathing... Leslie said she heard you're supposed to do two breaths in and two breaths out... I tried it but it didn't work for me.

Then I walked for 1.5 minutes and it was a brisk walk... I was still feeling good. I realized two things after my first jog (TMI here sorry): 1) I need to wear tighter undies when running. They were falling down as I ran... which made me very self-conscious about what the people behind me were seeing.  2) I need to wear tighter pants when jogging/running. My pants (and undies) were falling down as I was moving. I had to keep pulling them up... which was not fun.

As I moved through the cycles of walking and jogging... my shins were on fire. Seriously burning and aching. Each step I took was painful and I began to just think about getting to the parking lot. I just wanted to be done. 

I realized when I was about 1/2 way through... that running is hard. It's seriously hard work. I got mad at myself for letting myself get to this point. Had I been more aware and more focused before, it wouldn't have been AS hard as it was today. 

The good news is that I got to the bridge (the same place that Pilar and I stopped on Thursday) and realized that I was well past the 1/2 point of my training. I had 12 minutes left to go... 

I really can't picture myself running a 5K. I can't even picture myself running for five straight minutes. I guess it's all about building it... and hopefully it'll get easier with each day. I hope so anyway.

When my training was finished, we were still quite a bit out from the parking lot, so we got another 15 minutes of walking in, but it was much slower (which was nice). I let Gus out of the stroller and he and Riggs and Logan had fun running on the path. 

I'm sore tonight. My legs hurt and I feel like I weigh a million pounds. I took a two hour nap when Gus was napping and I woke up feeling a little better. With my exercise today, I burned over 600 calories... so I had a lot of extra added to my available for the day.

On the way home from playgroup (we went to Kathryn's for playgroup after the greenway), I stopped at Chick Fil A and got a chargrilled chicken salad. It was so delicious. It was like 200 calories and then the dressing was another 140 (Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette). I also had a fruit cup (100 calories) and a Dr. Pepper 10 (10 calories). So my entire lunch was less than 500 calories and I felt good. 

It's 10:35 and I have consumed 1,090 for the day. My dinner was filling (crock pot tacos) and I had an apple a little bit ago and a banana after my jog this morning. I like that I'm aware of what I'm eating and making better food choices. I probably should eat something again before bed... but I don't know what. I'm a little hungry so I'll probably have a piece of cheese.

 

My tacos (275 calories each) and I splurged with a Mt. Dew (it was soooooo good)

I'm grateful to have tomorrow off. I plan on sitting on my butt all day and stretching as much as I can. If I'm not feeling better on Wednesday, we'll just be walking. I am not going to give up... and staying focused is critical in the beginning stages of anything new. I figure I need to do this many many times before it's a habit and I get into "the zone" as Lacey calls it.

Again, I'm so glad to have the love and support of friends and family. It really means the world to me. And I'm most thankful for Pilar. She's such a good person and so patient with me. She uses her MWF with me as her "easy days" and does her running on T/TH. :-) At least she isn't being held back by my beginning abilities.

:-)