Nugget of Knowledge #2

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"Ginger can soothe sore muscles, a study finds. Those who had about 2 tsp of the natural inflammatory daily for 11 days cut aches by about 25 percent. Add fresh ginger to tea before you train."  - Tip from Self Magazine

Nugget of Knowledge

Here's a little nugget of knowledge to apply to your weight loss regime:

"Regularly skipping meals makes you more prone to belly fat, heart disease and diabetes, a Swedish study shows. Eat up!"  - Tip from Self Magazine

 



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This is an ideal meal schedule to keep your metabolism at its peak and to help aid with the best weight loss.

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Sunday afternoon I asked my friend B if she'd like to go for a walk.

She agreed and after a "healthy" lunch at the local Mexican restaurant

we headed for the greenway.

Our little walk turned into a 4.5 mile walk.

It was great and we had a lot of fun talking and catching up with each other.

By the time we were done, we were checking our feet

to see if they were bleeding they hurt so bad.

My toes were really sore and my right foot felt as if something needed to pop.

Regardless of the pain, it was a great walk and we definitely benefited from it.

I decided that I still needed to walk yesterday evening

to hopefully workout some of the pain I was feeling.

So I called my friend Amber, to see if she would like to join me.

I was happy that she decided to come with me!

We didn't know how long we'd walk but decided that we'd go however long we could.

We too had a good time catching up and talking with each other.

I took Birken and Mimi LaRue for the walk with us.

I believe they hated me by the time we were done,

they were walking behind us the last lap or so.  hehe

It was a good 4-mile walk with a good friend.

Amber and I mid walk

My pinkie toe is especially taking a beating from my walks.

My toe pads are really like big balls of fat

so whenever my toes are confined together,

my pinkie toe fat pad is squished

and the ring-toe sorta "steps" on it when I walk.

Therefore, leaving my pinkie toe fat pad with a good sized blister.

It hates me.

I hope it calluses so its not so painful in the future.

Sorry, I know this was way too much information.

Does anyone else suffer from fat toe pads like I do?

How do you deal with it when you walk/run?

I'm Squishy

This is how I feel today...

(good thing I will be in a 5K next weekend, hopefully it will assist in keeping me from feeling this way again.)

(Illustration by Laura Berger)

Check her other awesome illustrations/prints out by visiting her Etsy Shop, she definitely has a cute and unique style.  I love it.

Benefit 5K

Next weekend I will be participating in a benefit 5K walk/run.  The 5K is to support a little boy who has some medical problems and his family has accrued a lot of medical bills.

I'm kind of excited about this race.  Its my understanding that they aren't going to time the race or anything of that nature, its going to be more of a Relay for Life type 5K.  Laid back, walk or run at your own pace, no hurry, etc. 

Being that I just found out about this race, and I've not been in the gym like I should be due to sickness.  I'm debating on whether or not to take it easy and walk or if I should jog/run as well. 

I know that deep down I would much rather walk.  BUT, I believe I could benefit from the challenge of jogging and trying to be beat my time from the Run in 2011 race.   Being that the race isn't going to be timed by those hosting, I will have to bring my own stop watch, but lucky for me...my ipod has one!   I'll let you know next week what I decide to do.

Please keep this little boy in your thoughts and prayers. 

3-20-23

I'm sure the title of this post made you think it was a date 12 years into our future.  However, that is not the case.  (It might be the date that I get married according to My Dearest.)

Actually it stands for 3 months, 20 inches and 23 pounds.

On November 15, 2010 I began a lifestyle change.  I have been watching what I eat, decreasing the portions I've been eating and trying to do some form of exercise daily.  I will say that due to the nasty weather we had during those three months and a couple times when I've been sick, I haven't been as faithful in my exercising.  I've also had days where I didn't eat the best foods either.  But it is a work in progress and I like seeing the results thus far.

Being that I am not going to reveal my actual weight anytime soon (maybe when I've reached my ultimate goal, but don't hold your breath) for now, I will give you an idea of my short term and long term goals.

MY GOALS:

*  DONE - Weight Loss Goal: lose 16.6 lbs

*  DONE - Participate in Run in 2011 5K 

*  Participate in Greening up the Mtns 5K

*  Beat Run in 2011 5K time of 52:11 at the Greening up the Mtns 5K

*  Weight Loss Goal:  lose 36.6 lbs 

*  Weight Loss Goal:  lose 56.6 lbs 

*  Ultimate Weight Loss Goal:  lose 66.6 lbs 

*  Super Ultimate Weigh Loss Goal:  lose 74.1 lbs

I don't have a specific time frame to have all of this done completed.  I feel that if I were to do that I would set myself up for disappointment if I didn't reach it by that particular date.  Naturally, I would ultimately like to have this accomplished over the course of a year and half, but I won't be disappointed if I haven't reached the Super Ultimate Weight Loss Goal by that time.  I am going to do it as I can and be satisfied with my results regardless.

As far as the inches lost (20 total), its much easier to see when you've written them down and graph them as I do.  Again, at this time I am not going to reveal the starting or current measurements.  I'll just let you know how many inches have been shed in which areas.  (FYI - the right side of my body is slightly bigger, so when measuring limbs, I measure the right side opposed to the left.)  

Calf:  -1

Lower Thigh:  -2.5

Upper Thigh: -2.5

Hips:  -2.25

Waist:  -7.25

Bust:  -2.5

Neck:  -1

Arm:  -1

TOTAL INCHES LOST:  20 Inches

Run in 2011 5K

On New Year's Day my college friend, Kellye, and I participated in a 5K run/walk that was hosted by the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department.  We were somewhat excited about kicking off our New Year doing something active; however, that feeling quickly diminished as we headed to the Rec Center. 

It was about 35 degrees out of doors and it had been raining.  It was so cold, so wet, so disgusting.  I was very tempted to say "Let's forget it and go eat breakfast at the Huddle House."  But I couldn't allow myself to do that.  As the old saying goes, "Whatever you do on NY Day is what you will do the rest of the year."  I really couldn't imagine myself eating at the Huddle House everyday for the remainder of the year, so we went to the 5K.

We were dressed for the cold weather with our toboggans, ear warmers, and long sleeves.  We were also decked out in rain gear.  My Dearest assured me that his storm wear jacket would be perfect for this weather and it would keep me oh-so-dry.  He lied.  I forgave him.  But the fact is that he lied. 

Kellye and I headed to the registration table to pick up our numbers.  We chatted with a few friends, then we proceeded to stand outside under a covered walk, questioning why we agreed to do such a horrible thing on such a rainy day. 

Needless to say, race time came and we began our trip.  Since the weather had been so bad (snow and rain) they had to revamp the route, which meant we would have to make two loops around the backside of the local university.  Due to the revamp, the total distance was 3.3 miles instead of 3.1 miles. 

I will clarify now, this race was a Run/Walk.  Meaning, I jogged when I could and walked when I couldn't.  I pushed myself to go beyond the pain I was feeling when I was jogging.  I know I wasn't jogging fast, that's not the point.  The point is I was there and I was doing it.  That is all that matters.  I believe I jogged at least 50% of the race and walked the other 50%. 

My goal going into the race was to beat my time from the last 5K I participated.  That time was 46:22 minutes at the Smoky Streak in October 2009.  I knew that when Kellye and I made the first loop that it was going to be a real stretch for me to beat my time.  At the halfway point we were already at 24 minutes and I could tell I was draining fast.  What am I saying???  I was drained a long time before that, I was moving only because I couldn't allow myself to quit.  I was NOT going to lose face!  I was going to do it. 

I'm not going to lie to you and say that I loved every moment of the race.  I hated every moment of it.  I am out of shape, so overexertion and over exhaustion was an understatement.  It was cold.  It was raining.  My core was roasting under all my clothes.  I had blisters forming on my wet, squishy feet due to drenched tennis shoes.  I couldn't see because of the water that was dripping off of my toboggan into my eyes.  It sucked, all 52:11 minutes of it. 

As you can see, I didn't beat my time from the Smoky Streak.  But when I began looking at all the factors, I felt I had done just fine. 

* I was approx 10 lbs lighter at the Smoky Streak. 
* Although I wasn't too active at the time, I had been a LOT more active at the time of the Smoky Streak.  Actually, the Smoky Streak was probably the last time I was that active until this current race.
* It was cold and rainy.

I only missed my goal by 5:49 minutes. I was more than satisfied with that time.  I will continue to participate in 5Ks and I will try to beat my time from the previous race each time. 

By the time that the run was over with, I didn't have a dry stitch of clothing on me.  I was a disgusting combination of sweat and rain.  Kellye looked just as bad as I did and we both felt as if we couldn't walk another step.  We were absolutely frozen and exhausted. 

We went home, took hot showers, dressed, ate some lunch then crashed on the couch taking a 2 hour nap.  It was a grand feeling.  Until we stood up and all of our leg muscles almost collapsed underneath the pressure.  We continued to hobble around the rest of the day and into the following day. 

In the end, it was all OK.  It was all worth it.  Because we did it, we finished.

(As soon as I can figure out how to get the photos from my ipod to my computer I shall share our pitiful looking photos with you.  Until the, I shall leave it to your imagination.)