Vanity in the Making?

Lately I've noticed that I have been looking in the mirror and "checking myself out" more than I have in, perhaps, my entire life. Why? As I've lost weight, I love seeing the progress I've made and being able to pinpoint exactly where the inches and flab has come off. My comments to myself are no longer along the lines of "Oh, look at that fat stomach" or "Those dimply thighs are hideous." Instead, those comments have changed into "Wow, my stomach doesn't hang over the top of my jeans as far" and "I can run two miles without stopping thanks to those strong thighs." It's absolutely amazing how one's perspective can change thanks to a mere 20 lbs. of weight disappearing.

I just hope that when I reach my goal weight, I will always be able to remind myself about the progress and what I looked like at my heaviest instead of looking for the flaws. In all honesty, I love my body now because it can do things that it couldn't before and it can do some things that "skinny" people can't do. I've realized that just because someone is skinny, they aren't necessarily healthy or in shape. I now have friends who are smaller than me who cannot run two miles, cannot lift a 50 lb. bale of hay and cannot snowshoe for over an hour without being absolutely exhausted. But guess what? I can do all of those things.

So, if looking in the mirror and admiring myself frequently is considered vanity, I can accept that because I'm not looking for flyaway hairs or to negatively critique myself. I'm looking to see how my glutes are becoming defined and how flat my stomach is becoming. I can only hope that others who are on their weight loss journey can appreciate their bodies as I appreciate mine. Remember your progress and what you CAN do now that you couldn't do before!

Snowshoeing for the First Time

Yesterday, I went snowshoeing for the first time ever! I rented snowshoes at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park and snowshoed a one-mile loop to Hidden Falls, a waterfall located in the park. It was an absolute blast and wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. The snowshoes were "Alaskan style," so they were the really long wooden ones that were a bit difficult to maneuver, especially when turning. After a conversation with the Park Ranger, I'm looking forward to trying some more modern ones and may even buy a pair. It was a wonderful exercise where I got to burn approximately 700 calories AND enjoy the beautiful outdoors!

Back on the Treadmill...Again

On Tuesday night, October 13th, I finally got myself back on my treadmill, with whom I have a love-hate relationship with.

Whenever I get bored or lose motivation, I hate the machine that is always waiting for me in the corner of my basement. When I'm motivated and seeing progress, I love the treadmill and think about it often. Of course, just because I think about it, doesn't mean I spend quality time with it.

So on Tuesday, I finally decided I haven't been getting enough pure cardio into my workouts. I popped in a workout video; one I haven't tried yet but has been in my house forever, and hopped on the treadmill. I did intervals, switching between walking and running and changing the incline. I sweated but felt great running! I was trying to remember why I stopped shortly after discovering I can actually run earlier this year.

As a kid in school, I NEVER finished a mile run, even though we had to do it twice a year. I always preferred to "power walk" it. I was a thin, tall kid who was probably very able to do it, considering I rode my bike and rollerbladed everywhere. I don't know if I didn't want to sweat or if I thought it was just too hard, but I figured since I could walk it in 13-15 minutes, I didn't need to run it!

When I started my fitness journey in January of this year, I worked my way up to being able to run 3.10 miles (5K) without stopping. Then, I did the worst thing for me...I stopped working out completely. Why? I have no idea. I'd love to say I didnt have the time, but I think it was that I didn't think it was important to make the time and I was losing motivation because the scale wasn't showing any progress, even though my clothes were telling me otherwise.

 This time around, I'm determined to keep up the exercising. I need to push myself to fit it into my schedule, even if it means getting up earlier in the morning, and I really need to focus on staying within my allowed calories for the day. Unfortunately, I've always had an unconditional love of food.

 Here's to another mile of running logged on the ever-faithful treadmill!

Hiking

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I went hiking at Afton State Park. We hiked for one hour and forty minutes, which burned a whopping 1126 calories according to my heart rate monitor. The hills were challenging (and there were plenty of them), but we kept at them at a steady pace with breaks as needed. It was amazing to me how many calories I burned doing something that didn't seem that hard.

 Of course, if I rewind my mind to about a month ago, I can recall just how difficult our first attempt at hiking was at Frontenac State Park. True, the trail there was much steeper and contained steps rather than a gravel trail; however, I feel that my fitness level and stamina has increased greatly.
Earlier this year, we decided to get annual state park stickers so we could explore some of our state rather inexpensively. We've used the permits several times and recently discovered that the parks offer a hiking club where members hike on their own but log the miles and passwords. There are rewards at various mileage markers, including a plaque showing your accomplishments and free night stays in the campgrounds.
 Although it is late in the year, we still plan to join this year and want to spend the rest of the fall hiking and accumulating points. It's so much easier to exercise when you have a goal and a purpose.
 For us hiking is a great way to explore our state, get outdoors, exercise and spend quality time together. We've tried biking and other activities but hiking is easier, burns as many calories and we can see so much more, as most of the parks have double the hiking trails as they do biking trails.

Hiking 101

August 3, 2009

Let's hear it for another first for the year!

Yesterday, my boyfriend, his son, and I went hiking at Frontenac State Park. I can honestly say this is the first time I've been on a true hiking path in the woods. It is a beautiful park that overlooks Lake Pepin. The weather was in the high 70s with sun, blue skies and a light breeze.

I should have realized the hike wouldn't be a complete piece of cake when we started by going down a long series of half rotted wooden steps. But, it was a beautiful day and there weren't any bugs biting, so we forged ahead. The trail became more difficult as the hillside became steeper. If you looked down to the left you could see the waters of Lake Pepin lapping the shore. If you looked up to the right, all you could see were trees and the sunlight poking through them.

We continued on and learned about the limestone that was mined in the park in the 1930's. The views were spectacular and we could see why earlier settlers had established "Old Town" on that sight as well.

Every time we came to a trail map, we would assess where we were and which fork in the path we should take. Eventually, we thought we should start heading back to where the car was parked, or it would be a longer hike than we originally intended. When it came to choose between the "1/2 Way Trail" or "Campground" trails, we thought we'd take the "1/2 Way Trail" which sounded easier, as the campgrounds were quite a distance from where we were.

Though we won't know whether we took the easier trail or not, I'd like to say the one we took was no stroll through the woods. It immediately began climbing the hillside and became steeper and steeper. There were stairs that would climb straight up, twist, and then climb straight up again. I started out at a rather fast pace, urging the others to continue without stopping. I thought stopping might make me lose my nerve or become tired faster. Every time we reached another landing, we thought we were almost to the top. Every time, we were wrong. When we had about three sets of stairs left, my calves were burning and I did not believe I'd be able to make it any further.

After taking a break for several minutes, we continued on and finally reached the summit. Thankfully, the rest of the way back to the car was flat and paved. The boyfriend teasingly said, "Guess we're not going to trade all of our biking gear in for hiking gear, huh?" I then told him we wouldn't this week, but that we should try the hike every weekend to gauge my athletic progress. We'll see about that, though!

As we're planning our trip to the next state park on our list, I can't believe that I'm being turned into such an outdoors person. What surprises me even more is that I'm starting to like it and am enjoying being active on weekends, rather than sitting in the house watching television. It looks like my state park permit is going to be one of my best and most used purchases of the summer.

Struggles

July 31, 2009

Last night was a difficult evening to motivate myself to workout.

After work, I went to the practice session for the Special Olympics Equestrian team that I coach, which is an over an hour from home. It was one of those hectic nights where you're running around trying to get everything together. Three of the other four coaches were not a practice for various reasons; two of which I didn't know wouldn't be making it until just a few hours prior to practice.

When I arrived, the one other coach who could make it had started practice, but everything was running behind and there was a need for some direction. I was juggling getting paperwork from parents and giving instruction to the riders. After some shuffling, I was able to focus my attentions on being in the arena and gave some needed one-on-one attention to riders who hadn't gotten much instruction prior to my showing up.

The evening improved dramatically and it ended up being a very productive and fun practice session. After all riders had dismounted and started heading home, I helped put tack and horses away. One of the girls mentioned that she needed help taking a few of the horses to the "far" pasture. It was decided that the girl who needed the help would be riding one horse and would pony a second with one of our athletes riding bareback for the first time. The last horse would be ridden by another person. The other coach and myself decided to walk behind those on horseback in case any issues were to arrive.

So, we started walking along and kept walking and walking and walking. We had been told the other pasture was "a ways, over the railroad tracks and past a field." After walking about a mile or more, we finally arrived at the next pasture. Then, we got to walk back! I figured that in itself was a good workout!

The next step was to drive all the way home, which is over an hour away. After the fresh air and activity, I was half asleep by the time I got home and wanted nothing more than to fall into bed. Of course, I pushed myself to do the workout and really struggled through it. Then, I sat down and didn't want to get up again. It was hard to motivate myself to get in the shower before bed!

I finally made it into the shower and into bed, but it was one of the toughest nights for exercising so far. It's definitely making me not look forward to doing it again tonight. I'm almost through the second week, though!

The Iced Coffee Conundrum

July 23 - July 27, 2009

In the heat of the Iced Coffee Conundrum, the events were not funny to my mind. However, in retrospect, it's somewhat entertaining.

It all started on Thursday, July 23rd when I began feeling the cravings for a delicious iced coffee. Since I was going in to work late due to a vet appointment for my horse, I thought I'd stop for an iced coffee on my way in. On this particular morning, I happened to stop at a local McDonalds for a snack wrap and a caramel iced coffee. Within moments of pulling away from the drive-through window, I knew something was terribly wrong. I could smell the overly sweet caramel, indicating that too much syrup had been used. For verification, I took my first sip and found I was right; the coffee was terrible! Three sips into it confirmed that I could no way finish this beverage.

Jump ahead to Thursday evening. After a practice session with the equestrian team I'm coaching, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to stop in at Super America, as most of their locations now have an iced mocha machine. Upon entering this store, it became apparent that they were one of the few locations that did not have the desired machine.

Disappointed, I drove across the street to Arby's for a sandwich. I figured they would not have iced coffee, but asked anyway. My suspicions were confirmed and I was talked into purchasing one of their new iced teas. Delicious, yes, but not coffee. Sure, I could have always stopped in at the nearest Caribou or Starbucks, but iced coffee is so much more delicious when the cost is $1 instead of $5.

On Friday, my iced coffee craving subsided slightly and I thought little of it. Then, Saturday rolled around. My boyfriend and I took a drive to pass the afternoon and eventually came upon another Super America store. The front doors advertised that they indeed had the coveted coffee machine. I was yet again denied the opportunity to satisfy my craving, as the store was out of ice! My first thoughts were, "someone hates me!" At this point, I decided that I would no longer hunt for this treasure, as there must be some reason unbeknownst to me that I was coming up short.

Sunday rolled around and although I was not interested in chasing down the iced coffee I was originally craving, I bought a bottled frappuccino in hopes of finally satisfying my iced coffee obsession. Wrong again. The frappuccino was delicious, but not quite right.

This morning, I threw caution into the wind on my way to work and chose to stop at Super America to try again. Yes, they had a working iced coffee machine AND had ice in their soda fountain. My craving is satisfied at last!