Day 14/140: 30 Min of Easy Walking or Cross Training

Today was nothing too spectacular.  I went for an easy 30 minute walk and just enjoyed the day!  Smoked BBQ brisket following a wonderful church service...can't ask for more!

Week 2--DONE!

Day 13/140: FLOUR BUGS!!!

Well I'm sure you're wondering what in the world that title means right!?  Well today was SUPPOSED to be 40 minutes of mild/moderate cross training.  Something that really did not work the legs much.  I had planned to do some body weight exercises that worked mainly my arms and abs.  But instead here's what happened...

So it began last night...  I was brushing my teeth in the downstairs bathroom and went to pick up a dirty shirt that was laying on the floor.  Not filthy mind you, just worn 4-5 hours.  When I picked it up I saw all of these little black things fall on the ground.  As I looked closer many of them were CRAWLING!!  "What the heck!?!?"  I hate bugs just for the record.  But I stuck it out.  So I took the shirt outside, shook it out, and threw it in the washer.  As I went back to take a closer look, I noticed some of the bugs around the pantry door.  We have 2 different places that we store food.  There are large utility shelves in the laundry room where we store the things we use every day.  Then there is a smaller, closet-sized pantry right next to the garage door.  This smaller pantry is where I have always stored all the gluten-free stuff.  Cookie mixes, baking flour, pasta, hot cereal mixes, pancake mix...you name it--it's in here!  Well gluten free stuff is expensive ya know?  So I usually buy a lot of something if I find it on sale.  

Back to the bugs...

So I start looking at these bugs and recognized them to be flour bugs.  I'm not sure what their real name is, but they are those nasty, gray crustaceans that get into flour and other dry foods.  It happened at the old house once too.  Soooo...  Once I realized what they were I knew I would have to pull every single bit of food out of that pantry, go through it, and probably throw away everything that was not sealed air-tight.  It was late when all this happened, way too late to have an entire kitchen reorganization party.  So I pulled out the big stuff on the floor and drug it out to the driveway.  One of the things on the floor was a blue tote that used to hold bulk dog food.  It had not been used in a couple of years so I opened the lid and saw that there were bugs all in the bottom where the crumbs had been.  So that went outside.  Then I saw a big container of peanut oil I use for the fryer, and it had the nasty little creatures all stuck to the top.  YUCK!!  So it got drug out to the drive.  Once the floor was completely cleared off, I literally dumped 2-4 cups of bleachy water all over the bathroom and pantry floor (I had read that bleach water kills them).  So I went ahead and went to bed, knowing that I had my work cut out for me the next day.  

The following day I literally spent several hours pulling stuff out, inspecting the package, and either throwing it away or putting it in the "safe" pile.  I still had not found where they were coming from though?  Usually things like this come in a bag of infested flour or other dry mix.  So I kept going, and towards the end I finally found the source (I think).  A box of gluten-free cookie mix had been shipped with micro perforations in the bag.  Each of the 4 bags were full of the nasty little bugs.  So the entire pantry got stripped' sanitized, and reorganized.  Not exactly what I had in mind for a kitchen cleaning day, but hey.  The other thing is....we live in the country, and in the country you're gonna have bugs, whether they come pre-packaged in your food or crawl in through the front door.  Which leads me to my next bug adventure.  

So Kenny and Aohdan arrived back from the tree farm this afternoon.  It was so good to have my boys home!  Anyhoo, Aohdan goes to the bathroom and im hear him yell, "Moooooom!!!  There is a bug biting me!!"  I knew it was a tick.  I just KNEW!  And I cannot stand ticks.  So sure enough, there is a tick, attached to his inner thigh, probably hitched a ride from southern Ohio.  FLUSH!!  Down the toilet he went.  I sent Aohdan upstairs and told him to have his daddy do a complete head to toe check for ticks.  So back to my kitchen cleaning project.  I was getting a workout let me tell you!  Next it was time to spend some time working on obedience with Solomon.  The two of us did about 15-20 minutes of leash time...and in close proximity with each other.  He had not seen much of me today, so I had a bit of a hard time getting him to focus at first because he just wanted to love on me.  After our practice sessions, I always let him off leash to play for a bit.  As I bend over to pull off his training leash I see a tick taking a stroll up my pants.  "Oh NO you don't you nasty thing!!"  And of course touching one is forbidden, so here I am walking around the kitchen holding my leg out and at the same time looking for something to pick it off of me.  FLUSH!!  Down it went to meet the other one.  So I go to put Solomon in his kennel...there is ANOTHER tick waltzing toward me on the kitchen floor!  SERIOUSLY?!?!  Did my husband drag every tick from southern Ohio back home with him?  Hahaha..  

So after dealing with the flour bugs all day and then having the ticks, I felt like I had bugs crawling on me everywhere.  I knew I would need a shower just to make myself feel better.  So I finally finished up the pantry at about 10pm tonight, and I was WOOPED!!  I sat down, looked over the cross training workout I had fully intended to do today, decided I was too wooped, and, well....here we are.  Vigorous cleaning for 4-6 hours counts though right?  Haha.  Well, even if it wasn't actual cross training, I was definitely an active girl today.  Day 13/140...DONE!!

Day 12/140: After Workout Chocolate Smoothie Recipe

So a friend of ours suggested that we try a smoothie to satiate the after workout hungries.  I used to do smoothies all the time, and I happen to be kind of a nutrition junkie, so I set out to create a concoction that would be nutritious AND delicious!!  

So I came up with a delicious 'chocolate' milkshake.  Here's the recipe...  

First I measured 1 cup of yogurt.  I used some homemade yogurt I had in the fridge:-)

Then 1 cup of almond milk.

2 Tbsp of Chia Seeds

2 Tbsp of Raw Cacao Powder

A few drops of liquid stevia and a cup of ice.

Then I mixed it all up in the Vitamix and VOILA!!  An icy, chocolatey, delicious treat PACKED full of nutrients and taste!!

The end result..this TOTALLY satisfied me and kept me from ravaging he fridge like I did all last week.

Day 12/140: 4 Mile Walk DONE!

Well as my post earlier mentioned, I have very much struggled with fatigue the past couple of days.  Not really sore, just tired.  This morning started out decent.  Wake up, had some coffee, ate a breakfast sandwich of egg whites and cheese and sat back down.  It took me until after noon to get up the motivation to go.  And the thing is....I never really DID get motivation I just decided that I would get moving and hope the energy came.

So a little after 12pm I changed into my workout clothes, put on my FitBit One, my heart rate monitor, and my walking shoes...turned on Runkeeper and hit the dirt.  The first mile or so I felt like I was slugging along.  Everything was hurting too.  My feet were hurting, my quads were sore, and my breathing was a slight bit labored.  Honestly for the first 15 minuts or so I was wondering how I would ever make it through 4 miles of this.  But I kept going.  After the first 5 minutes, Runkeeper let me know  that I was averaging an 18 minute mile.  I was shocked, I did NOT feel I was walking that fast but I was walking by myself, therefore I was not chit-chatting with anyone, which usually results in a faster pace just by default:-)

When I was about 1/2 mile from the Stantontown hill I felt my feel goods start to kick in.  My muscle soreness had disappeared and I felt a renewed sense of energy.  I knew that the Stantontown stop sign was the (almost) half way point.  I conquered the hill with relative ease today, I think my heart rate got to 155.  Then it recovered fairly quickly back to 125-130--my typical walking average.  So I continued on past the Stantontown stop sign and kept trucking.  I kept a look out for loose dogs also. I tend to be a little overly cautious because several years ago I was riding my bike around our old house in Centerburg, and a neighbors dog charged me and caused me to wreck my brand new bike and break my elbow.  So.  Yeah.  I don't mess with dogs.

I got to mile 1.95 and, sure enough, here come some loose dogs making their way toward me.  I did not know them and I did not see the owners anywhere, so I decided to go ahead and turn around.  Shortly after I turned to head back home I heard Runkeeper tell me my average pace was 20:57 per mile.  I felt pretty good so I decided to try and step it up a bit.  Every 5 minutes Runkeeper updated me on my time and I noticed my pace kept getting quicker and quicker.  When I was about 1/2 mile from home Runkeeper said my average per mile pace was 20:15.  I decided to really push myself to see if I could get under a 20 minute mile.  As a turned into our driveway, I heard Runkeeper give me my final average.  19:53 average minutes per mile.  Sweeeet.  

Day 12/140: 4 Mile Walk (mental prep...)

Okay so the last couple of days I have been bone.  Tired.  Yesterday was rest day and seriously all I wanted to do was sleep.  My body does not hurt, it is just tiiiiiiiiirrrrred.  Joanna and I decided to swap the Friday and Saturday workout this week due to schedule conflicts and such.  So today I need to get in a 4 mile walk and I'm mentally prepping.  It's cool out today, only 47, so it's good weather for a walk.  Just gotta get up off my butt and DO IT!!

I think I'm going to just do the Stantontown walk again, but go a little further to make it 4 miles round trip instead of 3.  I will say....  That even though we are only 12 days into this training plan, I am starting to feel that urge every day to 'get my workout in.'  

Now....about that 4 mile walk...

Day 11/140: Rest Day

Not too much to report today except a 5lb gain on the scale...ugghh.  I'm not getting discouraged but it deflated me a little.  I was so focused on getting my walking in that I ignored the nutrition piece.  Well that stops today!  Tomorrow I will focus on training AND eating right!  I know I speak for Joanna as well when I say I have had a hard time with hunger, munchies, whatever you want to call it...after doing a long walk.  I need a plan in place for this.  A good friend of ours, who has herself had an amazing journey the past year--she's lost one hundred pounds!  She said she does protein shakes with frozen fruit to satiate her.  I also wanna get back to doing green smoothies again.  Those were ah-maze-ing!!

Tomorrow is a 4 mile walk, hoping for nice walking weather:-)

Good night everyone!!

Day 10/140 4 mile walk

Today it seemed as if this walk was never going to happen. I had Mother Nature working against me. I knew rain was in the forcast for the afternoon so I decided to gear up and head out. My walking partners consisted of my hubby John and our boys. Well as we start to head out the clouds rolled in and here came the rain. Typically that would killed my motivation for the whole day but I knew it would only hurt me in the end when the marathon rolled around.

Finally at around 4pm I knew it was now or never so we geared up again and hit the pavement! The sun was finally out, it was a little muggy it I didn't care I knew I would feel better after waking. Let me tell ya my husband and boys are wonderful troopers when I drag them on these crazy walks. Not one complaint and no hollers to stop for ice cream as we passed the little ice cream shop in town. 

We kept an average pace of 2.6 mph, not bad for pushing a stroller while John pulled the wagon :) I have noticed that if I walk with friends, usually Vicki or Robyn, with no kids my pace is faster. But poor Vicki was stuck on the treadmill for her 4 miles and let me tell ya that's one boring walk! It took us about and hour and half to finish but I completed it and felt great afterwards!

This has been no easy task and I am sure when people hear me of all people are doing a marathon they think I am nuts but that's just more motivation to push through and do this!!!! 

Me and walking crew pictured below :)