Yesterday I hit another milestone. During K’s softball practice, I again went to the track and this time I did 3.5 miles (probably could have done 4 again, but it was hot out and I had to “go”! lol). The milestone was that I jogged one minute of each lap during miles 2 and 3, for a total of 8 minutes jogging. Jogged!!! I am not a jogger. Have never been a jogger. Never desired being a jogger. But as I was doing the laps in mile one I began to wonder, “What if?” “Could I?” “Should I try?” I was worried that I would go a few steps and be miserable and feel defeated. I surprised myself in a big way.
I can’t say it was the most comfortable thing in the world. As I told Kelli, I really noticed my extra skin as it wiggled all over the place and bounced up and down with each step. But, that’s not an excuse to not do it. I’m going to try to do these intervals for the next few walks, and hopefully in a month or two will work up to doing a full lap (average of 5 minutes per lap) of jogging.
This experience with the number of miles, the jogging, etc. reminds me to push myself. That I am able. To at the very least, try. And for that reason, I bought a bicycle helmet yesterday. I haven’t been on the bike since last fall when I tried and the tires (which were full), were pancaked under my weight. It’s an old mountain bike and I have no idea what the weight limit is, but I figure after losing 100+ lbs, it may be a different experience. We’ll never know until I try, right? In fact, let me go do that now.
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Whoooeeeeeeeee, that is FUN! Just did a few laps around the driveway and it held up much, much better than before. Since my neighbor is heavy into biking, I’m going to ask him to help me figure out the right tire pressure and clean up the breaks. I think I know what my next big reward will be: a bike rack :) (We live in an extremely hilly area, so taking bikes to a flatter place would probably be wise for such a novice lol). He did help me last fall with getting a much bigger seat to accommodate my rump and I found it very comfortable. Hopefully it still feels like that when I go for a real ride.
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I love the taste of artichokes but have not had success in the past cooking them. Browsing the produce section of Wegmans I saw them for a great price and decided to give them a shot.
Killer Artichokes – from Allrecipes.com
One of the helpful commentators of the recipe explained how to prepare artichokes (cutting off the stem, peeling away the bottom petals, using scissors to trim the tip of each petal, and cutting off a small amount from the top). The most difficult part was getting the choke out after slicing the artichoke in half. I’m still not sure I did it correctly. Essentially I took a spoon to it and scraped scraped scraped. If anyone has a better way of doing this, please educate me!
I used Olivio instead of regular butter. The only thing I didn’t like about this is that the garlic and shallot flavor didn’t come through very well. That said, I’m battling a sinus infection and my tastebuds probably shouldn’t be trusted! :) The reason I wanted to share this recipe though is that I really did like the flavor of grilling them after boiling. They were tender and flavorful. A few too many steps to make thees on a busy workday, but a nice occasional treat on the weekend.
I’m lucky that I get to work in a place where the above scenery is abundant.
I have a problem with jiggly bits, too. When I exercise, I always wear a pair of compression shorts (under workout pants) or compression capris on their own in addition to a Spanx-like compression tank top under my tee shirt. I also wear either two sports bras or a specialty sports bra. I can’t ignore the jiggles. The more I try to push them out of my mind, the more I hyper focus on them. This helps me more than I can articulate. It’s a lot of layers, but everything stays in place!
Those garments sound perfect for me! Where do you like to buy yours from? Do they make you overheated at all? Even when I’m just walking I’m very careful of what I wear because I chafe like crazy. I got some loose gauchos from Kmart that have almost a silky feel to them and they work perfectly. For me to have walked so long twice now and have zero chafing problems is a big deal!
I buy these tanks from Costco for less than $20. The XXL is great for me; it’s definitely a (very) tight fit but it’s not uncomfortable in any way.
I wear these tees in XXL. They’re very roomy on me, which helps make up for the tightness of the tee :)
My favorite pants to wear are something like these, which I get in an XL to help with the compression. Because the tee shirt is long, I don’t worry so much about my rear end being too terribly exposed. And if it is? I don’t care, I’m at the gym!
They’re all synthetic fibers, which helps keep me cool. They’re light, even when I end up sweat-soaked (unlike cotton clothes). I think that the pants I linked to above would be good, too. They do fit snugly, but the polyester/spandex is smooth and glidy.
Also, you might want to invest in some BodyGlide Anti-Chafe Balm to help with your chafing issues. I use it on my feet to help prevent blisters and I have put it on my inner thighs and bra line; it helps a great deal. You can get it at most sports stores.
I really hope all of my HTML in this comment works :)
Wow, thanks!! All but the second link worked… can you send me the one for the tees? This is really helpful… I’ll probably wind up buying most of this! LOL Anything to keep the skin in place while working out would help a ton. I don’t ever want to do less because of that comfort.
I just read your most recent posts on your blog, and wanted to share a few things…
-I got a tattoo to celebrate finishing grad school… it means so much to me and I’m so glad I did it. Whatever milestone you choose to get it done for, I hope you love it and it means as much to you as it did to me :)
-Kelli and I read Lynn’s blog and discuss her posts all of the time. Honestly I find it so relieving to hear from her (Lynn), you, and everyone else about experiences with food addiction. It always makes me feel a little more normal. And while like you, I’m opting out of that stuff and there are many days where I just don’t want it, there’s a part of me that’s terrified that someday the desire to have it will be stronger than my desire to feel good ‘n healthy.
-I had set a goal to do a half marathon with a group of ladies years ago and never fulfilled it. While I can’t do Disney, I’m considering joining you on training for that goal! Though for me most of it will be walking!