Will-ness Overtime Report - Week 18
Current Weight: 170 pounds
Weight Lost: 1.5 pounds
TOTAL LOSS: 17 pounds
Calories Burned: 1174 calories
Calorie Deficit: 6 weeks plus 272 calories
I finally broke 1000 calories this week, but that’s only because we rode our bikes for 45 minutes last Sunday. Still, I’m pleased that the calorie deficit has been reduced ever so slightly. I’ve also seen continued progress on the weight loss, which is also very encouraging. I’m hoping to continue these trends even as we head into the long weekend holiday. Our C25K program is going amazingly well. This week we will have our first really long running sequence without a walking break in the middle and I’m a bit anxious to see how we will do with it. I know our fitness levels have been improving, especially Carl’s (I’m having trouble keeping up with him sometimes), but 20 minutes seems like a really long time to run non-stop. The most we’ve run non-stop so far has been 8 minutes and it doesn’t take a brilliant mathematician to figure out that 20 minutes is a LOT longer than 8 minutes. I don’t want to psych myself out too much before we actually try to run it, but this might be a make-it-or-break-it moment for me. So far we haven’t repeated any of the workout sessions and have progressed fairly smoothly from one day to the next but as much as I don’t want to ruin our perfect record I also don’t want to collapse from a heart attack either. As Adam Savage says, “Failure is always an option,” but I guarantee any failures I may experience in this endeavor should be temporary as I intend to complete this program and to continue running regularly. We already found an alternate location to run indoors on days when the weather isn’t cooperating (we’re just not dedicated enough to run outside in foul weather) and are considering when we might want to start working on the 5K210K program (right after C25K? at the end of summer? next spring?). Working out together is great and even though I don’t have enough breath to engage in conversation while we’re running, it’s much nicer exercising together than separately. The numbers from this past week do show, however, that I need to get to a fitness level where I can still engage in other forms of exercise on days when I’m not running if I’m ever going to get back to burning 1000 calories every single week. Even after ramping up the duration of our run sequences, I still can’t manage to burn 334 calories in a single workout - and believe me, I am definitely working as hard as I’m able and still have the energy to finish. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to run today since my right knee was bothering me all day yesterday, but when I woke up this morning, everything felt fine and even now I’m not feeling any pain after running today. Still, I think I’m still at a level where I’m really needing my days off for recovery, so I’m laying low and hoping that maybe the occasional extra workout activity will be enough to keep my calorie deficit from getting significantly bigger than it already is.
Calorie counting has been relatively successful, but once again, I’m starting to get tired of the same choices over and over. Of course there will be much more selection once we’re ready to start cooking at home full time but unfortunately eating out is still a very necessary part of our schedule right now. As I mentioned before, knowing the calorie content of a restaurant meal and actually being able to consume that meal without blowing your caloires are two very different things. I’m pretty sure I ate a much healthier meal at Pita Inn (where they have no nutritional information available whatsoever) than I did at Culver’s (where virtually every single menu item has nutritional information available). That’s not to say that I din’t make an effort to eat well at either restaurant, but it does make staying on target a little harder - especially when you’re craving variety. No way was I going to say “No” to Pita Inn just because they didn’t publish numbers! After eating the same choices over and over (salads, grilled chicken, brothy soups), a plate of hummus and chicken shwarma was EXACTLY what I needed, regardless of the calorie content. We’ve finally gotten around to cooking some garbanzos, so homemade hummus and some lovely grilled chicken and veggies are in my not-too-distant future! Mmm!
We finally have a plan for reorganizing our kitchen to maximize efficiency and improve our chances of being able to eat in on a more regular basis. It’s hard to cook on a tight schedule when you can’t find things, can’t reach things (more my problem than Carl’s), and have no place to put stuff while you’re working on a recipe. Maybe I’ll post a picture of how everything looks when we finally get it organized. Right now it’s all a disaster; I’m not even going to post a “Before” picture; it’s too embarrassing. Suffice to say, nobody can cook in our kitchen efficiently as it stands now, so any improvements we make will have a huge impact on us even if the changes themselves are small. We’ll keep you posted.
That’s all for now. Gotta run! (Not literally, of course; we already did that today.)
Weight Lost: 1.5 pounds
TOTAL LOSS: 17 pounds
Calories Burned: 1174 calories
Calorie Deficit: 6 weeks plus 272 calories
I finally broke 1000 calories this week, but that’s only because we rode our bikes for 45 minutes last Sunday. Still, I’m pleased that the calorie deficit has been reduced ever so slightly. I’ve also seen continued progress on the weight loss, which is also very encouraging. I’m hoping to continue these trends even as we head into the long weekend holiday. Our C25K program is going amazingly well. This week we will have our first really long running sequence without a walking break in the middle and I’m a bit anxious to see how we will do with it. I know our fitness levels have been improving, especially Carl’s (I’m having trouble keeping up with him sometimes), but 20 minutes seems like a really long time to run non-stop. The most we’ve run non-stop so far has been 8 minutes and it doesn’t take a brilliant mathematician to figure out that 20 minutes is a LOT longer than 8 minutes. I don’t want to psych myself out too much before we actually try to run it, but this might be a make-it-or-break-it moment for me. So far we haven’t repeated any of the workout sessions and have progressed fairly smoothly from one day to the next but as much as I don’t want to ruin our perfect record I also don’t want to collapse from a heart attack either. As Adam Savage says, “Failure is always an option,” but I guarantee any failures I may experience in this endeavor should be temporary as I intend to complete this program and to continue running regularly. We already found an alternate location to run indoors on days when the weather isn’t cooperating (we’re just not dedicated enough to run outside in foul weather) and are considering when we might want to start working on the 5K210K program (right after C25K? at the end of summer? next spring?). Working out together is great and even though I don’t have enough breath to engage in conversation while we’re running, it’s much nicer exercising together than separately. The numbers from this past week do show, however, that I need to get to a fitness level where I can still engage in other forms of exercise on days when I’m not running if I’m ever going to get back to burning 1000 calories every single week. Even after ramping up the duration of our run sequences, I still can’t manage to burn 334 calories in a single workout - and believe me, I am definitely working as hard as I’m able and still have the energy to finish. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to run today since my right knee was bothering me all day yesterday, but when I woke up this morning, everything felt fine and even now I’m not feeling any pain after running today. Still, I think I’m still at a level where I’m really needing my days off for recovery, so I’m laying low and hoping that maybe the occasional extra workout activity will be enough to keep my calorie deficit from getting significantly bigger than it already is.
Calorie counting has been relatively successful, but once again, I’m starting to get tired of the same choices over and over. Of course there will be much more selection once we’re ready to start cooking at home full time but unfortunately eating out is still a very necessary part of our schedule right now. As I mentioned before, knowing the calorie content of a restaurant meal and actually being able to consume that meal without blowing your caloires are two very different things. I’m pretty sure I ate a much healthier meal at Pita Inn (where they have no nutritional information available whatsoever) than I did at Culver’s (where virtually every single menu item has nutritional information available). That’s not to say that I din’t make an effort to eat well at either restaurant, but it does make staying on target a little harder - especially when you’re craving variety. No way was I going to say “No” to Pita Inn just because they didn’t publish numbers! After eating the same choices over and over (salads, grilled chicken, brothy soups), a plate of hummus and chicken shwarma was EXACTLY what I needed, regardless of the calorie content. We’ve finally gotten around to cooking some garbanzos, so homemade hummus and some lovely grilled chicken and veggies are in my not-too-distant future! Mmm!
We finally have a plan for reorganizing our kitchen to maximize efficiency and improve our chances of being able to eat in on a more regular basis. It’s hard to cook on a tight schedule when you can’t find things, can’t reach things (more my problem than Carl’s), and have no place to put stuff while you’re working on a recipe. Maybe I’ll post a picture of how everything looks when we finally get it organized. Right now it’s all a disaster; I’m not even going to post a “Before” picture; it’s too embarrassing. Suffice to say, nobody can cook in our kitchen efficiently as it stands now, so any improvements we make will have a huge impact on us even if the changes themselves are small. We’ll keep you posted.
That’s all for now. Gotta run! (Not literally, of course; we already did that today.)