Recap and What Have You

There's so much pressure to come up with blog titles. It's really daunting. I'm totally lacking imagination tonight, as I look out onto this imposing week ahead, so you get what you get.

Anyway, last week

So I didn't actually set a goal for activity this week, I now realize. But last week it was 200 and I almost doubled that this week! Granted I had an entire day off work...no, actually, I'm still proud of myself. 

Best Workout of the Week

Maybe not best by athletic standards, but my favorites are probably either of my walks with Ellie. The incoming Governor declared Tuesday a state holiday (or state of emergency, we'll see) so I got the day off work. The weather was really nice so I decided after some lounging about to take Ellie to cherokee Park to walk. We listened to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History and climbed some hills. In all we did 5.04 miles and my legs were killing me Wednesday!

Saturday it was a balmy 70 degrees here. No kidding. Kentucky is very midwestern in that it gets 4 separate seasons (usually....almost always). 70 Degrees is just rude on December 12th. Also it was stupid humid. Anyway because it was so nice I decided to take Ellie out and then ride my bike. The combo was actually really nice. We did a loop around the park while I listened to the first episode of Serial Season 2 (which was fantastic, despite my prior skepticism). After we got back I hopped on the bike for a 30 minute spin session. The combination of the walk and the spin really got my legs eased up. 

Food of the Week

My relationship with food this week was mixed. After last week's ineffective stomach episodes, I decided this week to try to rebook the system. So instead of talking about "best" meals of the week, lets talk about what I actually ate. My Stomach reboot called for some rules. These included: 

- Absolutely no nuts (including peanuts...and peanut butter)

- No popcorn

- No granola or oatmeal

- No Spicy Stuff

So typically my breakfast has been overnight oats or a whole wheat English Muffin with Peanut butter. So yeah, I had to improvise. For breakfast I had 1/2 a Belvita package (so 2 crackers) and a Special K Protein Drink. I didn't really notice myself getting super hungry or anything. I typically ate my crackers with my morning coffee and drank the special K on my way over to court. Lunch was soup every day (Except Friday, when I got Panera, duh). Dinner wasn't too eventful with a frozen Tika Masala one night and a sandwich another. 

Where I can improve? Eating out. Tuesday night we got BBQ in celebration of having the day off. The BBQ was a little spicy and I got onion rings with it. I was appropriately punished for making this decision as The Belly decided to cramp and gurgle for the rest of the night. Thursday night, after 3 hours at the Volleyball Gym I broke down and got Chicken Nuggets and some fries from Wendy's. The Belly, however, did not reject this. It think at that point I was just too hungry.

So how do I feel after upping my activity level and controlling my diet?

Awful. Wait, is that not what you were expecting? I gained 3lbs. My stomach is super distended and angry. At the end of today's run I felt as though I was running in one of those pregnancy simulator vest things. With a big sack of weight not connected to me but still me. It was frustrating to say the least. 

BUT - that's just how things go sometimes right?

This week I will:

- Eat more protein (Even if it means eating more calories) 

- Maintain my activity schedule

- Stay Positive

 Here's my meal & activity plan as proof. 

And here's Ellie because why not?

Happy Running!

The Unexpected and a Belated Sunday Set up

So very little about last week went as planned. I didn't end up in trial (thankfully) but my body decided a full on revolution just to keep the week stressful. Lets take a look, shall we?

Goal for the week was 200 minutes. I'd planned on doing 4 days with 30 minutes of activity and another day of 60. I guess I totally forgot there are 7 days in a week because when I charted it out there was only one rest day. Oh well. After a difficult start to the week I managed to hit my goal

Best Workout of the Week
Probably yesterday's walk/swim. I knew I wanted an hour of activity and a swim but didn't want to swim for an hour. I hit up the Y near my folks and did half hour on the treadmill with some Tudors. It felt good just to walk at a nice 15 min/mi pace. Afterwards I suited up and hit the pool. I did the same base workout from last week but did the entire main set instead of half. It looked like this

200 Warm up

6x50 (3 drill, 3 kick)

4x

   25

   50

   75

   100

200 cool down

 It's a really good workout for when you have very little swim base. On the 3rd or 4th time through I threw in some backstroke, but did free for most of it. My neck and shoulders are definitely thanking me today (not).

Best Meal of the Week
Food has been a banned subject this week. Monday I felt really nauseous all day but wrote it off to stress. Monday night I felt so achy I thought I had a fever. No joke, my legs hurt so bad. I took a bath and everything. Tuesday the nausea continued but again, I thought it was stress. I headed home early and laid out on the couch trying to relax a bit. The rest of the week followed similarly; no food really sat well in my stomach but an empty stomach was worse. Essentially I'd get so hungry my stomach hurt, so I ate something, then felt nauseous and over-full. It was oddly gall-stoney.

Check out all those peas

Last night after my swim I made a Bertolli pasta meal that I think will take top honors this week. I love their "Meal for 2" series. This one had shrimp and asparagus. There wasn't a ton of asparagus so I added some peas. Pro Tip: Always keep frozen peas or mixed veggies in the freezer to add to frozen meals! It was really good and just the right amount and texture.

I'm putting the finishing touches on this at work (sorry boss!) so I don't have my meal plan to share. However, this week's meal plan is going to be very spur of the moment. I'm basically trying to re-set my stomach. I want to stick to mostly liquids and easy solids if possible so I loaded up on shakes and soups. I've got some good crackers too. I'm hoping that by going back to the bare bones my stomach can rid itself of whatever has offended it. At the end of the day I'm hoping it's just a really really really  bad bout of PMS. Thanks a lot, Eve.

The other plan for the week? Tea! I loaded up on some good herbal tea while out Christmas shopping this weekend. Not only do I think it will help my stomach but I think it will come in handy around 2:30-3:00 when the headaches and chocolate cravings his the hardest. Here's hoping celestial seasonings can save me from myself.

Happy Running!!

How do you deal with mid-day cravings? 
Ever had a week you just want to go back and start over?