Free Cake = Oh Noez

Wellness Update

So, the past week was a tough one all around. Work was stressful in spite of a low census, I gained .2 lbs at my weekly WeightWatchers weigh-in, I didn’t feel well for a good portion of the week, so running was NOT on my list of things I wanted to do, and I found myself bored with the foods that have been keeping me going thus far.

It was the slump week.

Usually, this week pops up at some point during any of my past wellness attempts and I quickly bail, but I took it as a personal challenge and I’m moving through it on all accounts.

Despite last week being a doozy, I’m going to hop out of bed tomorrow and go to work anyway. I’m lucky to have a job and to have one that I really enjoy, so tomorrow (Monday) starts a new week and a new outlook.

I may have gained .2 lbs last week at my weigh-in, but I had also taken up running and I’m pretty sure some new muscle accounted for the slow down in weight loss. My body has never done this running thing before, so I probably threw it into a panic. Tomorrow will be a new week, a new weigh-in, and even if I still haven’t lost, I know I’m sticking to the plan and muscle comes with exercise.

As for the running, today I started Week 3 of C25K today, and darned if it wasn’t a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would be! I really AM building up some serious endurance, and I feel like a million bucks after these runs. I’ve dreaded today’s run for a week now and if today was any indication, I’m going to be fine. :)

Now, the boring food situation is a tough one, because I tend to be a person who will find a healthy food she can tolerate and then I eat the living hell out of it until I can’t stand the sight of it for ages. I sensed that this was happening and quickly switched gears, sending Jim to the store for some other recommended WW-approved snacks and easy meals, and swapped my breakfast staple for a couple others, and I think I’ve made the changes early enough that I haven’t ruined carrots for myself. Variety is CRAZY important when eating healthy.

Here’s a quick run-down of the easy/snack stuff I keep on hand at home and in my lunch bag for work:

- Arnold’s Sandwich Thins
- Smart Food Popcorn (cheesy, and the honey cluster stuff)
- VitaTops
- Keebler 100 Calorie Fudge-Covered Pretzels
- Carrots / Peppers / Broccoli
- Hummus
- Tuna-to-Go Cups
- Fiber One 0 pt Yogurt Cups
- Blackberries / Plums
- Babybel Light Cheeses / Laughing Cow Wedges
- Smart Ones Mini Pizzas

New additions this week:

- Thomas Bagel Thins
- WeightWatchers Cream Cheese
- WeightWatchers Breakfast Sandwich things
- Organic Low Cal Pumpkin Butter
- Quaker Oatmeal Bars
- Smart Ones Mac & Cheese (tried tonight, was ok enough to eat again)

Dining-out options I use frequently:

- Sushi (cali roll and spicy crab roll)
- Panera Pick Two (Classic Salad with Chicken added, Vegetable with Pesto soup)
- Red Robin Soup & Salad (Dinner salad with no dressing, cup of chili on top of salad… still semi-high points, I eat this when I can afford the points)
- Pizza Hut Thin Crust Cheese (sometimes with veggies) Pizza
- Subway Turkey 6″ Sub

Any tips on other great foods to check out would be greatly appreciated, and thanks to all my runner friends who have given great tips on how to run properly and have kept me relatively out of pain and still running throughout this new fitness regime. I really needed the advice or I was definitely going to injure myself.

So now, it’s upward and onward! We’ll see how tomorrow’s weigh-in goes and hope that the new foods keep me eating healthy this week! :)

Author Fair at Canal Fulton Library!

I will be attending another local author event next weekend to promote Columbus Groove and meet other local authors.

From the website:

The Canal Fulton Public Library is holding an Author Fair on Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 11am to 2pm. This your opportunity to meet and talk with many authors from our area. They will also bring copies of their works for sale. Each author will read a selection from their book. Participating authors include: Anita Graber, Marty Drexler, Tiffany Miller – aka Smiling Mousie, Melody Lee, Namiko Golden, Stan Purdum, Mike Johnson, Jeff Maximovich, and Brandice Schnabel.

Looking forward to another local event, and I hope I’ll be seeing some of you local readers there! I don’t know if the final plan for readings or where I’ll be sitting has been made, but it should be a good time regardless, and I’ve never been to this particular local library, so exploring should be fun. Stop by!

Running: Doing It All Wrong?

So, I’m one running session away from completing C25K Week 2, and this video speaks to the reason for every ache and pain I have right now (lower back aggravation, right hip and right knee pain).

I am TOTALLY running incorrectly. I always thought a person was supposed to run heel to toe and apparently that conscious effort I’m actually making to run that way is causing all of the issues I’m having physically. Take a look:

(Link if you can’t see the video player)

Thanks to Edwin for pointing out this video. I’m going to wait an extra day and do my third run on Friday with these tips in mind.

Observe and Be Silent

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Do not claim them. Feel the artistry moving through, and be silent.”

- Rumi (from February 28th in A Year with Rumi)

Book Signing Under Way!

C25K: Week 1 + A 5K Race Commitment!

So, Week 1 of Couch-to-5K has been completed by a previously quite sluggish and lazy Brandice. Yay! I did the last run/walk session last night and since I actually finished the first week, I took a big leap and signed up for a freakin’ 5K on Memorial Day.

At least a couple people are already on board to do it with me, including hubby. Do YOU (yes, you) want to join me? Even if you don’t sign up for THIS 5K race, sign up for one in your area on Memorial Day and let’s celebrate our new found fitness in late May! If I can run a 5K in May, there isn’t one of you reading this who has a good excuse for balking! ;)

Dogs in the Snow

C25k: W1, D2 – It DOES Get Easier!

Today’s workout consisted of: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

I embarked an EPIC journey this evening: I embraced the fact that I was now publicly committed to really sucked and, despite the fact that it almost killed me on Sunday, I put on some ratty clothes (LESS clothes than the ones that threatened to smother me two days before) and headed out into the cold anyway.

Actually doing Day 2 was a huge thing for me… HUGE.

I quickly realized that my brilliant new plan to try and listen to an audiobook while jogging was a truly shoddy one, given that I quickly degrades into a huffing, swearing ball of mindless crazy pants every time the jackass with the timer calmly tells me to “RUN.” through the hot pink children’s headphones I found that will fit my tiny, elvish ears.

I did not, however, know how to shut off the music on the C25k app, so I pointedly tried to ignore the audiobook while walking, and concentrated on hating the man with the timer.

Being just a tiny bit smarter this time, I did not run at breakneck speeds (or rather, speeds that seem very breakneck to MY fat ass), instead pacing myself so that I was able to walk a bit faster in between runs and run a bit steadier (and admittedly slower, BUT still running) between walks.

I stayed closer to home so as not to be abducted or lost or end up running uphill with the type of gravely unfortunate timing that befell me two nights ago.

AND, instead of crapping out five seconds before the running portions were over the last few times, I finished each running spurt and I put an extra few seconds into my last run.

It’s ON, stupid little man with a timer. You and I are going to battle this shit out. Bring it on, Day 3. BRING IT ON.

Couch-to-5k: Week 1, Day 1

W1D1: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cool-down walk.

So.

Brandice starts walking, happily embracing the five-minute warmup walk, listening to the first song on her playlist (“My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” by Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which seemed like the absolute PERFECT song to start this journey with).

A cute dinging sound chimed three times in Brandice’s ear through the C25K iPhone app… “RUN,” a very no-nonsense man says.

Brandice runs. It SUCKS.

Suddenly, the walking sucks too. Brandice doesn’t want to play anymore, but Brandice posted on the internet that she was going to stop being a fat ass lazy pants, plus she’s stranded a decent distance from home at this point, so she has to keep going.

Brandice runs again. It still SUCKS.

Walking continues to suck. Brandice is delirious uncertain as to her whereabouts. The walking and running blur together in a haze of misery that eventually blend with a mixture of profanity and hyperventilation.

At one point, Brandice considers eating dirty snow.

At another point, Brandice desperately grabs semi-dirty snow to cool her face and hands off and then looks up to see an innocent old lady walking her dog and staring at her like she’s a crazy person.

At yet another point, the song “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” repeats on the playlist and Brandice considers murdering whoever is singing that happy optimistic shit in her ear.

The last two times Brandice is supposed to run she completely craps out 4-5 seconds before it’s time to walk, because she really doesn’t have even 5 more seconds in her.

Suddenly, it’s time for the five minute cooldown. This seems like a miracle, although Brandice is still on the verge of “fatty who can’t believe she ever let herself get so out of shape that she can’t run for 60 seconds without wanting to die” tears.

The only thing Brandice is grateful for is that she somehow chooses a random route that plants her right back in her front yard at the end of the five minute cooldown walk.

Brandice collapses in the snow and prays for death. Husband comes out to drag Brandice in the house and he mercifully refrains from mocking her.

One might think that Brandice would forget to tell the world of her successful return home via her various social networking services, but Brandice is a geek to the bitter end, and she posts her victory to Facebook and Twitter prior to collapsing on the floor (because the couch is one foot too far).

Right.

So, on to Day 2 on Tuesday.