Square Life Round World

Yesterday I fell off the wagon just a bit.  It started off with me getting out of bed on time for my run.  Yay me!  Then I crapped out of it a mile and a quarter short of my goal.  It was hot, legs felt like lead, legs hurt, etc., etc.  All just excuses, yes, I know!  Here are the detes of the day.

Fitness

Even though I crapped out of the entire run, I did manage a decent 263 calorie burn so that’s better than nothing.

Hydration

Another fail here with just a measly 40 ounces of water throughout the day.

Nutrition

I had a banana (105 calories) after my run and breakfast was non fat greek yogurt (100 calories) and 1/4 cup granola (89 calories) for a grand total of 294 calories.

Lunch was at Rotary Club so it was more difficult to stay on track.  I had a salad with tomatoes, cheese, and ranch dressing (231 calories), some sort of beef (I’m estimating 200 calories for this), macaroni and cheese (190 calories estimated), and mixed steamed veggies (70 calories) for a total of 691 calories.

Not only was it a high calorie lunch, but the carbs were not good either.  So, I was hungry about an hour later.  Bad carbs make you crave carbs so I ate pretzels (160 calories).  Then someone in my office had the grand idea to bake double chocolate cookies.  So I fell of the wagon in a major way by eating 2 of them (340 calories) for a total of 500 snack calories.

I still wanted to stay within my calorie budget, so all I could find at home to keep me there was some cereal (80 calories). 

Grand total for the day was 1564 calories eaten minus 263 calories burned in exercise for a net of 1301. 

Because of my big snack fail and trying to meet my calorie goal, nutrition suffered by my not getting enough protein, fruits and vegetables.  Here’s where I’m not sure if it would have been better for me to ignore my snack fail and continue on with my meal plan to get my nutrition in or if it was better to do what I did and stay within a reasonable calorie range.  I probably should have done more exercise to burn it off, but se la vie.

I’m still having trouble staying off the scale, but it is still moving in the right direction so there’s that. 

So yesterday wasn’t nearly as successful as my prior days but it happens.  I’m not going to beat myself up about it.  I’m aware of my mistakes and will recover from them.  All will be well.  I will be right back on the wagon today.

How do you bounce back when you fall off the wagon?

Follow me on Twitter @myglasssneaker.

I’m running in the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon this year and in the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge next year as a charity athlete for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  I am currently trying to raise $500 for the kids of St. Jude.  If you can make a donation, I would greatly appreciate it.  $25 buys a wagon the kids can be transported in around the hospital (so much more fun than a wheelchair, right?).  $50 pays for a platelet test for a child with cancer.  $75 pays for a birthday party or, even better, a coming-off-chemo party.  You can visit my fund-raising page here.

Day 2 of getting back on track is in the books. It was overall a successful day but there were some hiccups. My first big fail was getting out of bed. The alarm was set for 5 but I apparently kept hitting snooze until I finally realized what was going on around 5:30. I stayed in bed until 6 so no morning workout for me. My next big fail was stepping in the scale. Yep, I just couldn’t stay away. I won’t reveal the results but I will say it’s going in the right direction. Here’s how the rest of the day went.

Fitness
I was able to get my 30 minute total body workout in after work so I’m glad I was able to recover from staying in bed too late. Calories burned = 173.

Hydration
I took in 60 ounces of water throughout the day and 20 ounces of a zero calorie electrolyte beverage before my workout.

Nutrition
Breakfast was coffee with half and half (40 calories), a peach soy shake made with a farmer’s market peach (131 calories), and a Luna bar (190 calories). I actually saved the Luna bar for a mid-morning snack. The soy milk in the shake had protein so I felt like I could save it for later. That was a good move.

Lunch was turkey and cheddar on wheat with Dijon mustard (225 calories), and another roasted beet and goat cheese salad (190 calories).

I had an afternoon snack of cheese (70 calories) and an apple (95 calories).

Again I took the easy way out for dinner with another Weight Watchers frozen entree (290 calories), 2 cups of steamed green beans (70 calories), a farmer’s market plum (30 calories), and 2 mixed berry Newtons (100 calories).

Calorie grand total was 1431 minus 173 for the workout for a net of 1258.

Summary
I was able to stick to my plan today despite my rocky start. I’m feeling good about getting back on track. I was not hungry at all and had plenty of energy for my afternoon workout. I’ll get a do-over tomorrow on getting up early. Tomorrow is a running day and the morning is the best time for me to do it during the summer. I have a new running skirt to wear so hopefully that will give me a little extra motivation.

What are your goals for the fall season?

Follow me on Twitter @myglasssneaker.

I’m raising money as a charity athlete for the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. If you can and are willing to make a donation, please visit my fund raising page here.

Today was the first day of my quest to get back on track for nutrition and fitness (sounds better than diet and exercise, right?) for one week.  It went very well, and I’m quite proud of myself.  Here’s how it went down.

Fitness

I started the day with a morning 30 minute total body workout.  This consisted of wide squats, narrow squats, forward lunges, reverse lunges, plies, side crunches, push ups, reverse crunches, oblique twists, and regular crunches.  My app told me I burned 173 calories, although that feels very low.  I have a feeling Advil will be my friend tonight.

Hydration

I had 20 ounces of a zero calorie electrolyte drink prior to my workout and 80 ounces of water throughout the day.  That’s quite a bit of hydration, but it is summer in the south and I did spend a few hours outdoors so I don’t think it’s too much.

Nutrition

I started with 2 cups of coffee this morning, each with 2 tablespoons of half and half (80 calories total).  Breakfast was Greek strawberry yogurt (100 calories), 1/4 cup granola (89 calories), and a plum from the farmer’s market (30 calories) for a total of 299 calories for breakfast.

Strawberry Greek yogurt, granola, and a plum from the farmer’s market

Right after my workout, I had a banana (105 calories).  Because I always think it’s a good idea to eat protein with every meal, even snacks, I had a piece of cheese as well (70 calories) for a total of 175 calories for my post workout snack.

For lunch I had a turkey and cheddar sandwich on thin sliced wheat bread with 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard (225 calories) and a salad made with roasted beets and goat cheese on romaine lettuce with my homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing (190 calories) for a total of 415 calories.  I was very excited about my salad because both the goat cheese and the beets came from the farmer’s market.

Roasted beet and goat cheese salad made with farmer’s market ingredients

I just love using locally grown and made products.

Dinner was steamed green beans (35 calories), a Weight Watchers frozen entree (280 calories) and some mango slices (68 calories).  I was also able to round the meal out with a “dessert” of sorts and had 2 mixed berry Newtons (100 calories) for a total of 483 dinner calories.  I took the easy way out for dinner because I spent so much time today prepping my food for the week.  I think it’s so much easier to stay on track when my food is all ready to go during the week and I don’t have to think about or prepare too much.

So for the day, I had a total of 1372 calories minus the 173 calories I burned with my workout (again, not sure that’s accurate) for a net intake of 1199 calories.

Summary

I felt great after my workout, my hydration was right, and I feel good about my nutrition for the day.  I feel like I had a good balance between protein, fruits and veggies, and good carbs.  I also feel great about the fact that I have my food prepped for the rest of the week.  I think it’s important to set yourself up for success.  I’m looking forward to another salad with beets and goat cheese tomorrow.  I’m also going to try really hard not to weigh myself until next Sunday.  I usually weigh myself every morning, so it’s going to be hard not to step on the scale.

I’m already looking forward to my 4 mile run on Saturday.  I’m hoping to find that by getting and staying on track this week, I’ll lose that sluggish, legs-of-lead feeling and I’ll feel more fit and focused.

What are your best tips for ramping back up after an off-season?

Follow me on Twitter @myglasssneaker.

I’m raising funds as a charity athlete for the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  If you’d like to make a donation, please visit my personal fundraising page here.