Bolder Boulder 10k

I have really slacked off on my blog.  But despite my lack of writing, I have continued to exercise and eat better.

Back when I decided to run the Bolder Boulder 10k, I jokingly told my brother that he should come out and run with me.  Little did I know the snowball effect this would have.  Not only did my brother say yes, so did his wife and two of my sisters.  Almost all of my family came out over Memorial Day weekend to either run with me or cheer us on.

This race really had me nervous.  At the end of April I ran a 5-mile race and I struggled to get through it.  A 10k is 6.2 miles, more than a mile longer.  But I continued to train by running 3 times a week, slowly increasing my distance.  By the morning of the race, I was feeling pretty good.

I didn’t know it at the time but apparently the Bolder Boulder is the second largest 10k race in the country.  Over 50,000 people run this race every year.  No only is it a huge race, it is a really fun race.  There are people all along the course cheering you on, giving you water, handing you beer, throwing marshmallows and spraying you down with the hose.  There are bands playing music every couple of blocks to keep you motivated.

I really didn’t have a time goal in mind for this race, I was more concerned with running the entire distance without stopping.  I’m proud to say that I did it!  I’m not fast, but I didn’t stop.  I ended up with a time of 1:16.

Having my family out there for support was a huge motivator.  I really want to thank them for coming out from Salt Lake to cheer me on and run with me.

For the record, I still hate running.  But I’m going to keep doing it.  

Day 52 - BBQ

Yesterday I wasn't feeling too good.  In fact, I've been dealing with a small stomach bug for about a week now.  Because of this, I haven't been eating or exercising much.

Today, after some sleep and Pepto, my stomach settled down but I still didn't get in my running like I should have.  I had planned to go running when I got home from work but I forgot about a meeting I had to attend that lasted until 7:30.  By the time I got home it was dark and I'm tired.

Breakfast
Oatmeal
Coffee with creamer

Lunch
BBQ pork and beef (I couldn't eat another sandwich today and I wanted to get out of the office for a bit.)
Diet soda

Dinner
Crispex cereal with skim milk.

Day 50 – Feeling pretty good

I’m a little sore today but feeling pretty good.  In fact, I’m getting pretty excited for the Bolder Boulder.  I’m not quite ready for it yet, but I will be.  I’m also excited to have a bunch of my family coming out to run with me. 

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham & turkey sandwich

Snack

Peanuts

Dinner

Top Ramen

2 – Brownies (my wife makes the best brownies.)

Today was a rest day so no real activity today.  Running again tomorrow.

Day 49 – Cherry Creek Sneak Race

I haven’t posted for the past couple of days so I’m going to quickly sum it up.  No major activity to report (waiting for today), and I’ve been eating the same food.  Exciting stuff.

Today I have reached two major milestones. First, I’m happy to report that I have officially lost 15 lbs since I started my health challenge.  It’s been slow going but I’m happy with the results.  Second, today I ran in my first race in 20 years.

This morning my wife and I woke up early (on a Sunday) and drove down to Cherry Creek Mall to run in the race.  When we registered 4 weeks ago we planned to run the 5k while pushing our little girl in the stroller.  As I started thinking about it, I really didn’t want to run the 5k.  So at the last minute I changed my plans and decided to challenge myself by running the 5-mile race instead. 

We met up with some friends (Kaysie, Rick and Kate) before the race.  The entire group, except for myself, decided to run in the 5k.  I happily cheered them on as they started the race at 8:00.  Luckily the 5-mile race didn’t start until after 9:00 so I was able to stand at the end of the course and cheer them on as they crossed the finish line.  I’m so proud of my wife for running.  She has really been supportive throughout my entire fitness challenge.  Having her run the race meant a lot to me.

The Group: Kate, me, Kaitlyn, Erin and Kaysie

My race started at 9:15 and I was excited to finally get going.  There were thousands of people running this race today so you can imagine it was a bit crowded on the road.  I am anything but a speed demon, but I felt pretty good weaving around a few people as I passed them on the road.  Luckily, the crowds started thinning as the race progressed and by mile 3 I wasn’t feeling too claustrophobic. 

I was feeling pretty good as I was running…that was until mile 4.  I was getting tired and I was having trouble breathing, but I kept pushing through.  I could see the finish line down the street and thought to myself, “I can make it that far, don’t stop!”  Well I was in for a bit of disappointment as I got closer to the line and the course turned and we had to run another few blocks before we could cross the line.  But again I kept pushing through.

As I rounding the last corner I knew I could make it.  The finish line was only 50 yards ahead so I pushed myself and ran a little faster and I triumphantly crossed the line.  I did it!  I ran the race and I crossed the line without walking at any point.  I finished the race with a time of 58:30.  Not fast, but not bad for an old, out of shape, fat man with asthma.

The Finish Line - tired but happy

The 5-mile run was harder than I thought it would be but I’m glad I did it.  I don’t think I would have the same sense of accomplishment had I run the 5k.  The great part about this whole thing is that I’m not as nervous about the Bolder Boulder 10k.  That’s only 1 more mile than I did today and I have 4 more weeks to train.  I can do it!  I’m going to be ready!  I don’t think I could have said that with any confidence a few weeks ago.

It’s been a great day!   

Day 46 – 5 miles

This morning was the perfect weather for a run, overcast and a bit misty (reminded me of Seattle).  I had planned on running 4 miles this morning, but when I got to the mile marker to stop…I kept going.  I figured I would go another ½ mile, but I kept going.  Today I ran 5 miles for the first time.  I probably could have run more, but I had to get ready for work.  While 5 miles may not seem much to you, but to me it’s a huge milestone.  When I started running a month ago, I could barely make it 2 miles.  I think I’m ready for the 5k this weekend.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham & turkey sandwich

Snack

Peanuts

Dinner

Lasagna

 -I know, lasagna is not the best option but it was my reward to myself for running the distance.

Activity

5 mile run

1 mile walk

Day 45 – Getting old sucks!

Last night after running I could really feel it in my knees, they ached.  Maybe 35 is too old to start running.  Maybe I just need to run more.  Maybe I just need to build up my strength.  I don’t know, but I’m going to keep going for now.  Today my legs were a little sore as well.  Not too bad, but I could definitely feel it.  I don’t remember feeling this much when I was younger.  Getting old sucks!

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham & turkey sandwich

Snack

Peanuts

Dinner

Bacon & egg sandwich

Activity

Today was a rest day but we did take the little one to Chuck E Cheese.  So we got to run around after her, which can be exhausting.

Running again tomorrow.  

Day 44 – And I ran. I ran so far away

Alarm went off this morning and I just couldn’t get up.  This seems to happen a lot recently.  I’m just not nearly as motivated to run in the morning when it’s dark outside.  So my wife and I agreed that we would exercise after work.

Once we both got home we headed out to the trail.  Normally Erin doesn’t run with me during the week so to have her with me was nice.  I really enjoyed the company.  She is really doing well.  I’ve had a bit of a head start by running for a few weeks longer than her, but she really does well at keeping up.  After about 1.5 miles we split up and I continued down the path while she turned around to walk for a few minutes.  As much as I hate it, running is getting easier.  I ended up running 4 miles last night.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham & Turkey sandwich

Snacks

Dry roasted peanuts and a Kashi Go-Lean bar

Dinner

Chicken alfredo (not too much)

Day 43 – Boring…

I really didn’t do too much today besides sit in front of my computer screen.  It was a rest day and I’m glad because I’ve been a bit tired today.  Tomorrow I run again.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham & turkey sandwich on whole grain

Snack

Dry roasted peanuts

Dinner

Pizza on whole wheat crust with beef topping

Day 42 – To stretch or not to stretch

Last week I read an interesting article on usatoday.com about the importance of stretching when exercising.  Contrary to everything I’ve ever been told, this article said that for a better workout you shouldn’t stretch before exercising.  The information made sense but I wonder if anyone else has heard this?  I’ve been told in the past that stretching after exercise is just as important if not more important than stretching before.  Take a look at the article and let me know what you think: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-04-15-stretching-muscles_N.htm?csp=usat.me

Today I went running again.  It was hard because I haven’t done much this week with being sick.  I struggled to run 3.5 miles but I made it.  I can’t slack this week because the Cherry Creek Sneak 5k is next week.  This will be my first race in 20 some odd years.  Scary as it may sound, I’m actually looking forward to it.

Breakfast

Crispex cereal with skim milk

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Double cheeseburger (not a good choice, but we were running errands and needed to feed my daughter)

Iced tea

Snack

½ of an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen

Dinner

Left over stroganoff

My wife had a baby shower to go to today so I ended up taking my daughter to the park.  We played for about an hour on the swings and the slides.  While we were there the ice cream man came by.  Ice cream sounded so good that when we were done playing, I took my little girl over to Dairy Queen where we shared a small ice cream cone.

Activity

3.5 mile run

1.25 Walk/Play

Day 41 – Getting my strength back

If you read my post from yesterday you know that I’ve been a bit under the weather.  Today I have felt better but still not 100%.  This sickness hasn’t been good for my training schedule, but I haven’t had the energy or strength to get out and run this week.  All I’ve done is rest and sleep.  I’m hoping that I can get out and run tomorrow.  I’m feeling better and I’ve actually been able to eat today so I’m getting my strength back.

Breakfast

Whole wheat crepes

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Mac & Cheese

Dinner

Stroganoff

I had to take some anti-nausea medication this afternoon as I started feeling a bit queasy again, but on the whole I think I have my appetite back.

Activity

Walking around the store

Sick...

I have been sick.  It was either a stomach virus or food poisoning, I don't know which.  What I do know is that I haven't been able to eat or drink and I've had no energy to do anything.  It go so bad that on Wednesday night my wife insisted that I go to the ER.  So I spent 4 hours lying on a hospital bed getting fluids and medication for nausea pumped into me.

Needless to say I don't have much to post.  Eating and exercise have been the last thing on my mind.  But I am feeling better.  I've actually been able to stomach a small amount of food today.  I hope to begin my regular posting again on Saturday.

Day 37 - I hate colds

This past weekend I’ve been dragging a bit.  At first I thought it was my allergies kicking in but I now know that I’ve caught a spring cold.  I’m tired and groggy and I’m sick of it.  The weather is beautiful but I feel like crap.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Chicken noodle soup

Applesauce

Dinner

Steak tacos

Today is a rest day for exercise and I’m going to bed early.

I'm a slacker...

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t posted for a while.  Ever since our trip to Salt Lake City over Easter I’ve had a hard time staying motivated.  On Saturday my wife actually called me out by asking if I had fallen off the wagon.  Yes…yes I did fall off the wagon.  I wasn’t watching my diet and I really didn’t care too much. I’ve still been running, but that’s only part of the commitment I made to myself to be healthier.

So…I apologize for not staying the course.  I pledge to be better in the coming weeks.  I’ll be more conscious of my diet and I will post on the blog regularly.  I need to do this, not only for me but for my family as well.

Day 32 - Starving!

I have been starving today.  No matter what I did or what I ate, I was still hungry.  For the most part, I was pretty good when it came to eating.  My snacks were healthy, I drank a lot of water, and I didn’t overeat.  Why was I still hungry?

On the way home from work is when it hit the worst.  I heard a commercial for Olive Garden and I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.  Mmmmm….pasta, breadsticks and a glass of wine.  Big shocker, I caved.  When my wife got home I strongly suggested that we hop in the car and eat out.  It didn’t take too much to convince her.

When we got to the restaurant, my wife tried to convince me to have a salad and order the whole wheat pasta.  In fact, she suggested it several times.  My mind agreed with her but unfortunately my stomach prevailed. 

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich on whole wheat

Snacks

Peanuts

Applesauce

Dinner (oh boy)

Lasagna

2 breadsticks

Pasta e Fagioli soup

Glass of wine

Activity

2 miles of walking

I’m going to need to run an extra mile (at least) in the morning to make up for dinner tonight.

Day 31 - Jury duty day

Today I was summoned for jury duty.  While I was not looking forward to spending all day at the courthouse, it was nice to sleep in a little bit.  I didn’t have to report until 9:00 AM, which allowed me to go running when it was light outside.  I will admit it was hard to get going again after slacking off over the weekend, but it felt good to hit the pavement again.  Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like running but I definitely feel a difference on the days I exercise versus the days that I don’t.  It was especially important that I get some exercise because I knew I’d be sitting around all day long.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich

Dinner

Pizza with whole wheat crust and beef topping

Activity

3 mile run

1.25 mile walk

Day 30 – One month down, two more to go

It’s hard to believe that I’m a third of the way through my 90 day challenge.  I’ve definitely had my ups and downs over the first month and I feel that I should have lost more weight, but I only have myself to blame.  But I am happy to report that running is becoming easier and I’m feeling better about myself.  Thanks to everyone for their support so far.  It really has helped to know that there are people following my efforts and even joining in.

After my weekend in Utah, I really need to double my efforts.  I should have gotten up this morning to run but after getting home late and traveling with a cranky 2 year old, I needed all the sleep I could get. 

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Steak tacos

Water

Dinner

Rotisserie Chicken

Corn

Tomorrow morning I have to report for jury duty.  While I’m not thrilled with this, it does mean that I can go for a run in the morning when it’s light outside.  I really need to step it up.  The 5k is less than four weeks away and I need to get my butt in gear.  No more excuses!

Easter Weekend Update – Days 27, 28, 29

We went to Salt Lake City for the holiday weekend and let’s just say I fell off the wagon.  While I did stay away from most of the sweets (most…),  I should have made better choices with my regular meals.  What can I say… it’s hard to resist Mom’s cooking.  I’m not going to post the details of everything I ate over the weekend.

I had great plans of running a few times while we were there but that didn’t happen as planned either.  Out of the 3 days we were there, I only ran once.  The weather really didn’t cooperate on the other days.  I should have still hit the pavement, but I didn’t.  I found excuses and I used them.  I’m not proud of myself and I hope to make up for it this week.

It was a fun trip and it was great to see my family.  It was especially good to have my two daughters with us for the holiday.

Day 26 - On the road again

Wednesday night I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned all night waking up every 30-45 minutes. I hate insomnia! I’ve suffered with bouts of insomnia since high school. I used to just get up and roam the neighborhood, but the cops didn’t always like me being out there that late at night (and under age.) The point to this is that when the alarm went off in the morning I could not get out of bed. I knew that I had to run but it just wasn’t happening. So I moved my training schedule to have Thursday be an EZ day and Friday I would run.
I also didn’t do so well on the food front. It started out all fine and good but then came lunch. My VP took my department out for lunch to the greasiest pizza joint in town, Big Bill’s. I love this place! The only problem is that there is no such thing as a healthy meal on the menu. Even the salads drip with greasy goodness.

Breakfast
Oatmeal
Coffee with creamer

Lunch
Pepperoni calzone
Garlic knots
Diet coke

Dinner
Chicken nuggets
Water

Activity

I can’t give an accurate account of my activity because I left my pedometer at home. My guess would be about 2-3 miles of walking.

The next few days are going to be difficult. We are headed to Salt Lake City for the Easter weekend to visit my family. Dieting and exercising while traveling is something I’ve never done well. I have packed my running shoes and iPod and I plan to hit the pavement, I just hope I can follow through.

Day 25 - Not much going on today

I really don’t have much to report today.  Our daycare person was sick today so I spent the morning at home watching the kidlet so my wife could go to work.  We played in the yard for a while.  Chasing after a toddler can be pretty good exercise.

My wife came home at lunch so I could finish the day at my office.  I would have preferred to keep playing with my daughter instead of sitting in meeting after meeting this afternoon.  I would have given anything just to hop on my bike and go for a ride, just a little exercise to clear my head. 

I’m enjoying my outdoor exercise more and more (still don’t like running but I like being outside).  Maybe I should quit my job and become a forest ranger so I can get paid to hike.  I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon.  Back to reality.

Breakfast

Crispex cereal with skim milk

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich

Dinner

Ham steak

Mashed potatoes

Jell-0 cup (sugar free)

Activity

2.0 mile walk

See you all tomorrow morning for an early morning run.

Day 24 - Welcome back Spring

Spring is upon us and I welcome the warmer weather.  Ski resorts in Colorado shut down in a couple of weeks so I don’t think I’ll be hitting the slopes again this year.  Time to put away the ski equipment for the winter.

The nice thing about warmer temperatures is that I’m not freezing when I get up at the butt crack of dawn to go running.  Instead of the 20-degree weather from last week, it’s been in the upper 30’s and low 40’s.  I still hate running but at least I haven’t been cold this week.

I really didn’t enjoy my food today.  Nothing was really good (tasting) today.  Yuck.

Breakfast

Fat free cinnamon bun muffin (I don’t recommend this muffin.  It was just plain nasty)

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Qdoba grilled chicken salad (again, not very good – I hate salad)

Iced tea

Dinner

Skinless chicken tenderloins with gravy (kind of bland)

Green beans

Brown rice

Activity

3 mile run

1.25 mile walk

Day 23 - Dessert is calling

Today was a rest day on my training schedule, but I’m thinking that I may change that going forward.  I’m finding that on the days that I’m getting up to run or some other activity, I feel energized.  While I understand the importance of rest days to let the body heal, but I think some activity is better than none.  It doesn’t have to be strenuous exercise everyday, maybe some yoga or walking at lunchtime.  Either way I think I’m going to try and do this going forward.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Cheeseburger on whole grain bun (not the best for me, but everything in moderation, right?)

Dinner

Skinless chicken tenders with gravy

Brown rice

Green beans

The last couple of days, I’ve really been craving dessert.  I’ve done really well resisting the last few weeks but I finally gave in tonight.  So I packed the family in the car and we headed to…Cold Stone.  Now before you start telling me how bad this was for me, I want you to know that I went with the healthiest option they had. 

Dessert

Sinless Sweet Cream (no sugar or fat)

Raspberries for mix-ins

I don’t plan to make this a habit.  If I do this again in the near future, please feel free to yell at me.  The good news is that even with the cheeseburger and dessert today, I still stayed under 1500 calories for the day.  Not too bad.

Days 21 & 22 - Weekend update

I just realized that I didn’t post my entry for Saturday so I’m combining Saturday and Sunday into one post.

On Saturday, the weather started getting better with the exception of the wind.  The wind was blowing 30 mph for most of the day that made it cold.  So my wife and I decided to change our schedule and make Saturday our “EZ” day and train harder on Sunday.

Breakfast

Crispex cereal

Skim milk

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich on whole grain bread

Dinner

Stroganoff (Lean sirloin steak strips, whole wheat pasta, light sour cream)

As I said, we decided to make Saturday our EZ day for training.  We still got out and walked quite a bit.

 

Activity

3 miles of walking around Costco, Kohls and Walmart.

Today (Sunday) was a great weather day.  I was excited to get outside, not necessarily to run but really just to get outside.

Breakfast

Whole wheat pancakes

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich

Dinner

Grilled pork tenderloin

Cous Cous (strange pasta)

Once it warmed up a bit, we put Kaitlyn in the jogging stroller and we headed out to run the trail.  This was the first time my wife has joined me on my run and I was really impressed with how well she did.  I’m not a speed demon by any means, but I have been running for the past two weeks and she hasn’t.  We stayed together for most of the time but then I split off from her for a bit to hit the distance I needed to go.  It was a great day for running.  I still don’t like it, but I’m doing it.

Activity

3.5 mile run

1.5 mile walk

Yoga tonight (got to stretch)

On the whole it was a pretty good week.  I’ve lost another 2lbs. and I’m now down a total of 10lbs.  I’m feeling better as well.  I’m excited to see how things progress over the next couple of weeks.  Only 4 weeks until the 5k.

Day 20 - No diet night

Last night I made the conscious decision to forget about the diet.  I wanted to go out to eat and not have to worry about what to order.  This was probably not the best decision that I’ve made but I’ve really been good.  I think one night every few weeks is okay.  So off to Old Chicago we went, and it was good!

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Chicken soup

Dinner (Old Chicago)

Pepperoni and Sausage calzone

Killians red ale

Activity

1.5 mile walk

I’m hoping it warms up today.  Right now it’s cold and windy and I need to go running.  I told myself I would run 4 miles today to make up for the calzone last night.  Worst case scenario, I’ll use the elliptical if the weather doesn’t improve.

Day 19 - I am that guy

This morning when the alarm went off I just couldn’t will myself to head outside to run.  It was only 12 degrees outside and the roads were still icy from the spring snowstorm.  I just couldn’t do it.  So I decided that I would go running after work.  It would be warmer and hopefully the snow and ice would melt some more.

Once my wife got home I headed outside to run along the trail.  It was a bit windy so I decided to run against the wind first so I wouldn’t have to battle it towards the end of my run.  As I was jogging along, there were a couple of teenagers walking the other way.  When I passed them I could hear them making fun of how slow I was going and how out of shape I must be to be breathing so hard.  It was then I realized that I am that old, out of shape guy that I used to make fun of when I was younger.  Of course back then I didn’t think I was being mean; it was all in good fun.  But now that I’m on the other side, it hurts a little to hear.

Motivation comes in many forms.  For some it may be looking in the mirror and not liking what you see.  For others, it could be as simple as wanted to help a friend reach their goals.  For me, I’m doing this for my family.  I want to be around to see my girls grow up.  I don’t want to be the Dad that can’t run around a playground with his kids because he’s too out of shape.  So when I hear kids laughing at me as I’m jogging down the trail, it gives me even more drive to accomplish my goal of being healthier.  Point your fingers, laugh and mock me, I don’t care! I’m not going to be that guy much longer.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Chicken teriyaki bowl with brown rice

Iced tea

Snack

Peanuts

Jell-O cup

Dinner

Pizza on whole wheat crust and hamburger topping

Activity

3.5 mile run

1 miles walk

I’ve also decided to start getting up early every morning.  On the days I’m not running, I’m going to do some yoga.  Until tomorrow…

Day 18 - Nothing much going on today

Last night, Denver got hit with a snowstorm.  Yes, it’s spring but apparently Mother Nature doesn’t care.  This morning we had about 14 inches of snow outside.  Roads were a mess so I decided to work from home.  The only bad part about working from home is that I don’t get up and walk anywhere.  I just sit at my desk and stare at my computer screen.  This means I really didn’t do too well activity wise today.  I feel the difference today.  Because I haven’t really done anything today I’m feeling tired and run down.  This sucks!  I’m going to try to do some yoga tonight to make up for it.

Breakfast

Crispex cereal with skim milk

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich

Snack

String cheese

Dinner

Chicken with risotto

Up early tomorrow to run.  I hope the roads won’t be too icy. 

Day 17 - I've found my stride

Well I’m still not a huge fan of running, but I’m still going.  When the alarm went off this morning, Erin went downstairs to the elliptical and I headed outside to go running.  At least it wasn’t too cold this morning (35 degrees).  I turned on the iPod and started running down the street.  But something felt different this morning, after my first lap around the block I didn’t feel like I needed to stop.  I felt like I finally found a rhythm for my running.  When I came up on my 3 mile goal for this morning, I felt as if I could keep going.  It was actually pretty cool.

Breakfast

Fat free blueberry muffin

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Progresso chicken noodle soup

Dinner

Spaghetti with whole wheat noodles and ground turkey

Glass of red wine

Snack

2 chocolate chip cookies

Before you jump all over me about the cookies, let me explain.  Today my office sponsored a blood drive.  After I donated, the vampires wouldn’t let me off the bus until I had some water and a snack.  All they had was sugar, but I guess there is a reason for that.

Activity

3 mile run

1.25 mile walk

Cross training tomorrow.  It’s a good thing too since it’s a blizzard outside and I don’t think I’d get out to run. 

Day 16 - Diets and dining out don't really mix

I’ve discovered that dining out while dieting isn’t a very easy thing to do.  Even a lot of the salads (not that I eat rabbit food) have a ton of calories.  This gets real challenging when friends at work want to go grab a bite to eat.  Lucky for me I recently found a website that can help; www.healthydiningfinder.com.  While this website doesn’t list all restaurants, it does give a pretty good selection along with the foods that are dietician approved.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

French dip sandwich

Iced tea

Dinner

Turkey breast

Corn

Today is a rest day on my training schedule, however I did have some activity while I put together a toddler bed.  It may not seem strenuous but trust me when I say that I was sweating while trying to get the pieces to fit.

Activity

Toddler bed assembly

Walk 1.25 miles

Time for bed, I have to get up early to go running.   

Day 15 - It's a family affair

Since I started doing this “healthy thing”, my wife has been telling me how she wished she could run the races with me.  She can’t run the Bolder Boulder with me because, 1- We don’t know if she has the day off and, 2- They don’t allow jogging strollers at the Bolder Boulder so we’d have to find someone to watch our little girl while we run.  I’ve been wondering if she has been feigning interest in joining me on a run, so today I called her bluff. 

Last week I registered to run the Cherry Creek Sneak 5k at the end of April.  The race is on a Sunday and they allow jogging strollers.  I started talking to Erin about training for the race and how we could make it work.  One major obstacle was that we didn’t have a jogging stroller.  So I hopped online and found a used stroller on craigslist for $45, drove out to Thornton, and brought it home.  Now we have the stroller, Erin has the day off, and we have a training schedule worked out.  No more excuses.  She registered for the race tonight.  I’m excited to have her join me.

I was talking to my 10 year old tonight and I told her about the 5k, and she says she wants to run with us.  She’d probably kick our butts but I’m going to see what I can do to get her out here to join us.

Breakfast

Cheese and spinach quiche

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich

Dinner

Pizza on a wheat crust and hamburger topping

Glass of red wine

Even with the pizza tonight, I stayed below 1300 calories for the day.  In fact, I’ve lost another 2lbs and an inch off my belly. 

Activity

3 mile walk with the family.

Yoga 

Day 14 - Back on track

After my slip yesterday, I’m happy to say I’m back on track.  No calzones were ingested (by me) today.  However I did enjoy my meals today and I stayed under 1400 calories.  It’s amazing to me how much good food you can eat as long as you pay attention to the food content and the portion size.  Portion control has always been a problem for me.  I find a food I like and I devour as much as possible.  I’m really trying to work on my self-control with portion size.  I feel that I am doing much better than I ever have.

Today started with my wife cooking an incredible quiche for breakfast.  Typically this wouldn’t be the best for dieters to eat, but again, it’s all about portion control.

Breakfast

Quiche (one slice)

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich on whole grain bread

Dinner (Texas Roadhouse)

6oz sirloin (smallest they have)

Broccoli

Applesauce

2 Dinner rolls (for any of you that have been to the roadhouse, you know that their rolls are a little slice of heaven.  Eating only 2 is a huge feat for me as I usually eat 2 baskets full)

Iced tea

I took advantage of the sunny weather today to go running.  I enjoyed being out in the sun and running along the Cherry Creek trail today.  It’s normally dark when I run during the week so I stick to the neighborhood, as the trail isn’t lighted.  I’m still slow but I ran further today than I have all week.  Slowly but surely I’m going to work my way up to the 10k distance.

Speaking of races, I’ve decided to run in a 5k at the end of April as a warm up to the 10k Bolder Boulder.  I figure going through a trial run will help me better prepare for the 10k.

Activity

3 mile run

1.5 mile walk

Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day so I’m looking forward to getting outside with the family.

Day 13 - Everyone slips, right?

Today I took as a rest day from running.  I think it was a god thing to do given how sore I’ve been this week.  The only bad part is that I ended up taking a rest day from dieting as well.

My boss is a bad influence.  He knows that I’m trying to diet and exercise more but he likes to tease me with treats and other bad food.  Well we had our monthly status update meeting and he really wanted to go to Big Bill’s pizza for lunch.  I have no willpower so I agreed.  I really tried to look for something not too bad on the menu but everything there comes with a side of grease.  Long story short, I ended up ordering a calzone.  It was so good (and so bad for me).  I’m going to have to make up for it tomorrow.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch

Pepperoni and sausage calzone

Diet Coke

Dinner

Tacos with whole grain tortillas

75oz water today

Activity

Walked about 1.5 miles today

Day 12 - Running continues...

The last couple of days my legs have been really sore.  So when the alarm went off the morning, it was really difficult to get out of bed to go running.  But I’ve made a commitment to myself to be healthier and this is one of the best things I can do to achieve this goal.

I commandeered my wife’s iPod last night (I’ve been forbidden from buying any new electronics for a while so I have to use hers) and started loading it with some music from running.  Creating a playlist for working out can be difficult.  If anyone has some suggestions on music for running, I’d love to hear it.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with creamer

Lunch (leftovers)

Pork tenderloin

Green beans

Brown rice

Dinner

Scrambled eggs with ham

Wheat toast

Diet Dr. Pepper

Activity

2 mile run

1 mile walk

According to my training schedule, tomorrow is a rest day.  My legs really could use it.

Day 11 - Not the best food day

So it wasn’t the best day for dieting.  I started off strong with my oatmeal and coffee, but then came lunch.  My wife and I had plans to meet up for lunch today but we were struggling to find a restaurant somewhere in the middle.  Finally we decided on Chili’s.  I didn’t think Chili’s was a bad choice because last time I was there I remember this whole section of the menu of “guiltless grill” choices.  See, I can eat healthy when I go out to eat.  Well their menu has changed.  Besides a few salads, there weren’t a lot of choices.  So…I ordered a steak.  I know, steak isn’t on most diet plans but at least I ordered it with brown rice and broccoli for sides.  I should have ordered a salad but I haven’t been able to jump that hurdle yet.  But I’ve felt bad about my lunch all day today.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

2 cups of coffee with 2 tablespoons of creamer

Lunch

8oz sirloin steak

Brown rice

Broccoli

Dinner

French dip sandwich

Ice tea

Surprisingly, even with what I thought was bad eating on my part today, I still stayed at about 1500 calories.  Wow!  I thought I really blew it today.  No matter what the numbers added up to, I still feel bad about my choices today and I will do better tomorrow.

As for activity today, according to my training schedule today was supposed to be a rest day or cross training.  It was such a beautiful day today there was no way I was just going to just rest.  I went and picked up my little girl from daycare and we rushed home to go on a bike ride.  I hooked up her trailer and we went for a ride down the Cherry Creek trail.  It was great!

Activity

5 mile bike ride

1.5 mile walking

Yoga later tonight.

Up early again tomorrow morning for some running.  See you out on the road!  

Day 10 - The sound of silence

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!  No that is not the sound of me backing up, it’s the evil sound of my alarm clock at 5:30 a.m.  It would have been so easy hit that snooze button like I normally do but no, I dragged my butt out of the warm bed and headed outside into the 23 degree darkness to start running.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve done any sort of running so I kept things at a fairly slow pace and started running around the block.  I had brought my iPod with me but the ear buds kept falling out so I just took them out.  It was dark and still this morning.  An eerie silence seemed to just hang in the air.  The only sounds were my feet hitting the pavement and my out of shape breathing.  I couldn’t believe it but I was actually enjoying myself.  Running in my neighborhood this morning was so peaceful.  I ended up going about 2 miles.  Not too bad for an old, out of shape guy that hasn’t really run in 15 years. 

We’ve decided to try and do some yoga every night.  It has really helped me relax before going to bed.  I also think that the stretching will do some real good now that I’m stepping up my activity level.

I’m still doing well with my meals.  My goal is to stay under 1500 calories per day.

Breakfast

Fat-free blueberry muffin

2 cups of coffee with 2 tablespoons of creamer

Lunch

Turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich on whole wheat

Dinner

Grilled pork tenderloin

Brown rice

Green beans

Dessert

Sugar-free Jell-O cup

Activity

In addition to my 2 mile run, I walked another 1.5 miles and I’ll be doing yoga again in a few minutes.    

Day 9 – Yoga rocks!

Last night after I completed my blog post, my wife and I decided to do some yoga.  I jumped onto Netflix and found a yoga video we could stream to the TV.  It felt so good to stretch and relax.  It’s been a couple of years since I last did yoga and I didn’t realize how good it makes me feel.  Last night was the first good night sleep I’ve had in a long time.  I think this may become a regular thing.

I’ve been searching the web for some training suggestions for my upcoming 10k and I found an 8-week program I think I’m going to try. http://running.about.com/od/racetraining/a/10Kbeginner.htm

It’s a slow build up adding more distance every week.  It also incorporates some cross-training and rest days.  No matter what program I’ve looked at they all include rest days.  I hadn’t really thought about the importance of rest days but they make sense.  If you have any suggestions on a training schedule that you think might work better, let me know.

Breakfast

Instant oatmeal

Coffee with 2 tablespoons of creamer

Lunch

Ham and egg sandwich on whole wheat bread

Snack

Protein bar

Dinner

Pizza – we used a whole-wheat crust with a low-cal tomato sauce, a little bit of hamburger (no processed meats like pepperoni), and a small amount of mozerella cheese.  This was the highest calorie item for today but I still stayed under 1500 for the day.  I only had two small pieces.

Glass of milk

Today I walked about 1.5 miles.  Tomorrow I’m getting up early to train (following the schedule above.)

Day 8 - What happened to my sunshine?

Denver had the perfect spring weather yesterday, 60 degrees and sunny.  We played outside most of the day.  Well that perfect weather came to a screeching halt today when the clouds full of rain and snow drifted in from Utah (yes, I’m blaming Utah.)  Needless to say the weather put a bit of a damper on our plans to go walking along the trails today.  Lucky for us we had a backup plan in case of bad weather. 

We packed up the kid and headed out to REI and then to the mall.  My wife wanted to get a pedometer so she could track her activity throughout the day, hence the stop at REI.  We quickly made our purchase and drove across the street to Park Meadows to be mall walker commandos.  Our plan would have worked out perfectly if it wasn’t for our little one having plans of her own.  We barely made one lap around the mall before she started throwing one of her little fits.  She didn’t want to sit in the stroller.  She didn’t want to walk while holding our hand.  She wanted to run (away from us).  When we caught up to her, she through herself and the ground and started screaming.  I love the terrible twos!  Anyhow, thanks to the fits being thrown, we had to cut our walking activity a bit short. 

Now that I’m adjusting my diet, we needed to go grocery shopping again.  We are trying to change our diet to minimize processed foods, sugar, enriched white flour products and cholesterol.   Have you ever tried to buy food without this crap in Safeway?  It’s a near impossible task.  It looks like we will shopping more at Sprouts, Sunflower and Vitamin Cottage in the future.

Breakfast

Whole wheat pancake with blueberries

Apple juice

Lunch

Rotisserie chicken breast

Dinner

Left over spaghetti from last night (whole wheat pasta)

Glass of red wine

Sugar free Jell-O cup

Activity

While walking through the mall and chasing after a 2 year old (almost 2), we walked about 1.5 miles.  I really need to step it up for this race in May.  To help, I’m going to bring our elliptical machine up from the disaster zone I call a man cave and put it in our bedroom.  With it being more accessible, I hope to use it more, especially on cold days like today.

Week 1 Summary

Even with a few bumps along the way, I think the first week went pretty well.  I lost 5 lbs. and an inch off my belly.  My waist and chest measurements stayed the same.  I think this is a pretty good start.  I’m tracking all of the food that I eat and I have a pedometer to track my activity throughout the day.

This next week I really plan to step up my exercise routine.  Nothing too drastic, but definitely and increase in activity.  I also want to vary my exercises by incorporating cardio, strength training and stretching.  I really wish I could take a yoga class for the stretching part.  A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to have a co-worker offer free yoga classes after work.  Even though I was skeptical, I really enjoyed the class.  Unfortunately, I no longer have the time after work for a class like that.  I rush home everyday to pickup my daughter from daycare.  So if anyone knows of a good yoga DVD, please let me know.

Overall it’s been a good week and I’m looking forward to the weeks and months to come.

Day 7 - Happy Trails

What an incredible day!  The weather out here was near perfect today.  It’s been the kind of day I’ve been waiting for all week.  Today was also the first day of training for the Bolder Boulder.  Seeing that I haven’t ran in many years, I’m taking a slow approach to this training.  So I put on my new shoes and headed out the door with my wife and youngest daughter in tow.   We are very lucky to have access to the Cherry Creek walking/biking trail from our neighborhood.  The trail is a paved pathway that stretches for about 26 miles from start to finish with offshoots all along the way.  The best part…no traffic to contend with.  We had a great walk of about 3.5 miles before my baby girl needed to go down for a nap.  I think it was a great start and it was fun having my family with me.

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we are making this type of activity a regular thing every weekend.  We’ve even created a calendar to schedule the time on Saturday and Sunday.  It might be walking one day or biking or anything else we can come up with.  It felt great to be outside and do something active.

My wife also showed me a website to help with my new diet plan (no longer Atkins).  I will say that it is nice having a variety of foods to eat.  I know I only was on the Atkins for a week but I was really craving some fruit, and I don’t even like fruit.  But now I can eat it, but I’m going to in moderation along with everything else.  I plan to pay attention to the calories, sugar, fat, carbs and everything else in my food.  I’m also going to try and eliminate any enriched white flour products.  While this is not a specific diet plan like Atkins or South Beach, I think it will work for me.  Plus my wife is doing it with me so the additional support is fantastic.

Breakfast

Crispex cereal with ½ cup of 1% milk (I will be switching to skim as soon as we finish up this gallon.  Milk is expensive)

Tully’s caramel bellecino (This was really bad, I know)

Lunch

Ham and turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with 2 slices of cheddar cheese

Dinner

Spaghetti with whole wheat pasta (and it was good.  I couldn’t tell the difference)

I had about 80 oz of water today. 

In addition to the walking today, I started doing some push-ups and sit-ups.  I figure it’s time to go back to the basics.  I completed 3 sets of 10 each.  As I get back into the habit, I will increase the numbers in each set.

I’m looking forward to some more walking tomorrow.  I hope the weather holds up.

Day 6 - Houston, we have a problem

The last day or so my stomach has been killing me.  Not hunger pain, pain pain.  Not to get into too much detail but I’ve had a hard time keeping food down and I’m constantly hunched over in pain.  Against my better judgment, along with some prodding from my wife, I called my doctor today.  It turns out I left out an important part of my health background when I discussed my diet plans with him.  I am prone to stomach ulcers.  The last flair up was about 6 months ago after I completed the HCG diet.  Ends up that this high protein Atkins diet will not be doing me any favors when it comes to my ulcer issue.  By eating the red meats, pork and lots of eggs, it causes my stomach acid to work in overdrive, therefore aggravating the wonderful hole in my stomach lining.

So…it’s time for plan B.  I have to lay off the high protein diet in favor of something more traditional.  This is going to be a bit more difficult for me because I’m the type of person that needs a strict diet plan to follow or it’s too easy for me to stray off course.  The good news is that my wife is 100% with on this and is going to help.  We’re going to have to rethink our menu plan to come up with options that won’t cause me pain and will help me change my eating habits.  I might actually have to eat a salad or two!

I’ve already started some of the changes today.

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Coffee with 2 tablespoons of creamer (I’m going to have to cut this back going forward)

Lunch

Chicken soup and a Sprite (I was trying to settle my stomach and came home early from work)

Dinner

Rotisserie chicken

Mashed potatoes (I know, complex carbs are bad…)

I really didn’t drink enough water today and I’ll make a better effort tomorrow.

Tomorrow, as long as my stomach is feeling better, I plan to start training for the big race.  I’m going to start by walking a good distance.  I need to break in my new shoes and I need to slowly work my way up to running. 

Day 5 - The Bolder Boulder

A few days ago I posted that I was going to participate in a 5k run.  Well, it looks like I’m expanding my horizons.  Another friend started telling me about the Bolder Boulder 10k race on Memorial Day.  The 5k may have had me scared, but the 10k has me petrified.   I asked a few people around my office if they had ever participated in this race and they all raved about how much fun it is.  Fun, really?  Running for fun has never made sense to me.  But after listening to everyone talk about their experiences with this race, I started to get excited about the possibility.  So….I’m going to do it.  I’ve already got two other people committed to running the race with me. 

Now I’m really on the hook to do it.  I may have been able to find an excuse not to make it to SLC for the 5k.  It would have been easy because there was no local pressure.  But now that I have friends here in Denver, that I see almost everyday, committed to running the race with me…I have no excuse to get out of it.  Hurray for peer pressure!

On my way home from work I stopped by Runner’s Roost to get some shoes.  I couldn’t believe how expensive running shoes can be.  But everyone I have talked to have said not to cheap out on running shoes or I’ll be sorry.  Lucky for me I received $100 Visa gift card today from work just for going to the doctor for an annual physical.  Yeah for a great benefits department!  Since my shoes are meant to help me be healthier, I couldn’t think of a better use for the gift card.  I’m now the proud owner of some new Nike running shoes. 

On to the boring stuff…

Breakfast

3 egg omelet

Mid Morning

Protein shake

Lunch

Grilled chicken breast

Snack

Protein bar

Dinner

Pork chop

½ cup of broccoli

Activity

Walked about 1.5 miles today.  Once again I couldn’t drag myself out of bed this morning to do anything else.

Training for the race begins this weekend.  The countdown begins….