Down two more lbs!!!

I'm down two more pounds, yay! I have been working out 6 days a week, with 4 of those running days, and 2 walking days. I've also been mainly eating dinner as my one meal of the day. I'm whittled the midnight snacking to about once or twice a week, and then I try to make it fruit. I'm very pleased with my progress.
The running is getting harder and harder, though. I'm sticking to it. I had to wimp out a little the other day because it was so humid I was having a hard time catching my breath. I ended up doing 4 1/2 of the 6 running intervals. Not too shabby. We fixed the humidity problem by moving the treadmill into the downstairs where it's cooler instead of where it was in the garage where the oil burner is and it's at least 5 degrees warmer than the outside.
It's disgustingly humid here in NY. Gross. I haven't even worked out yet and I feel like I need a shower.
On a completely different topic, my little one fell yesterday and busted his lip open. It bled sooo much, but it wan't deep and didn't need stitches. He's got a fat lower lip now and some bruising on his chin.
My kids are great, but I'm getting to that "is summer over yet?" point. My big boy is going into first grade. We got some workbooks to keep his skill sharp over the summer, and he actually enjoys doing them. I will be very busy once school starts, since I'm taking 4 classes myself, two on the weekends, one weekday night in which I need a sitter for about an hour, and one online. I'm taking yoga, human communication, nutrition and human performance, and freshman seminar. The freshman seminar is sooooo ridiculous. I'm a sophomore, and have been in college part time off and on for about four years. BUT....it's part of my fitness specialist degree program, so the director of the program is making me take it. At least it's online.
It's so important for me to lose this weight by the time I graduate in two years. I need to be in tiptop shape in order to either do personal training, or work in a gym. OR do personal training in a gym:) I think about it every day. Will I succeed? I'm so scared I'll fail. I have it in me and want to be positive, but you get those nagging feelings in the back of your head, you know? No one's going to hire a fat trainer.

Start of Week 3 Running

I'm up to 6 minutes straight running, and one minute walking. I'm really enjoying the challenge of it all. I want to get myself a new pair of running shoes, but right now that's not possible. The running bit is getting easier, although the first mile is sooo hard mentally. I want to just stare at the timer, but that makes time go even slower, so I try not to do that.
Food is going great, but I have to cop to scarfing down a whole bag of Doritos in one day (not one sitting). My son found out that Doritos contain MSG and started crying, so I have officially sworn off of my favorite chips now. I really don't need them. I can't control myself. The salt in them made running so hard the next day, and I also bloated up two pounds temporarily. So no more, I'm going cold turkey.
I've taken to just eating dinner each day, with maybe a snack or two. One before dinner and one after, usually fruit or cottage cheese. I find it much easier to control my calorie intake if I limit food most of the day. I don't seem to suffer for it. I'm not cranky or tired. In fact, I would say I've had even more energy and motivation since doing this. I drink lots of water with lemon or lime slices. I used to drink this powder mix that you add to water. It contained aspartame. I decided I didn't want to have this chemical in my body anymore, and I think it has a lot to do with my hunger 'switch'. Since cutting out the aspartame, I don't constantly feel hungry. I feel great on little food. And it's healthier for all of us, since I just won't bring it in the house anymore.
Dinner these days is usually a grilled protein of some sort (chicken or beef or fish), and a large salad or veggie from the CSA. I don't have to worry so much about lowfat or fat free dressings and such, since I'm getting little to no calories throughout the day, I can afford the fat. I'm coming up nutritionally pretty good according to the CRON-o-meter, but I am coming up short on potassium consistently. I've read on the CR support group on Yahoo that some people use salt substitute like NuSalt to supplement potassium. I'm going to try this and see how it works.
That's all for me for now, have a great week everyone!

Beginning Week 2 of Operation: Running

Running is going well. I'm up to running 2 minutes and walking 1 minute. I did this 10 times with a 3 minute warm-up and cool down period. I'm doing about a 13 minute 40 second mile. It's a little tough, I have to play little head games with myself so I won't stare at the timer. Like, I'll just run this half a lap then I can check the time. Still waiting for my runner's high, though. I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to it so far. I know it's just going to get harder once school starts.
I'm sticking to the calorie goals I've set for myself. I'm still eating no more than 1500 calories a day.
I might get my own sewing area downstairs! We're thinking of not renting out the apartment downstairs and taking over the whole house for a play area for the kids, easier entertaining, and a sewing room for me. Right now, I sew at the dining room table with an extension cord running across the walkway, and my fabric and various thingies are stacked in the corner in cardboard boxes. If we took over the house, we could clear out the living room and the kids' room of toys and make a play area down there, making more living space for all of us upstairs. We just have to work out the finances, but we might be able to swing it. I'm already looking at paint chips and couches:)

Training in humidity sucks

Seriously, I was sucking wind today. I wanted to quit, but I didn't let myself go there. I just huffed and puffed in the sticky humidity. Oh, for clarification, my treadmill is downstairs in our garage, so I am subject to the outdoor temperature, and sometimes it's actually hotter in the garage. So today it sucked to be me. But then it didn't suck to be me because I'm a happy girl now that I got my workout in, and it's only 10am!
I'm down 3 pounds! Woohoo! I've just been sticking to my fruits and vegetables, light on the grains and meats, and staying at 1500 calories. I'm loving watermelon right now. There's half of a huge specimen chilling in the fridge as I type. The kids have had their fill, and I'm thinking of freezing some chunks til semifrozen, and whirling them in the VitaMix w/ some agave syrup and making a slushy sweet creation. Mmmmm.
I love blue cheese dressing. I have recently found a brand that is yogurt-based and has way less calories and fat than the regular kind. It's from Bolthouse Farms. It's in the produce section by the packaged salads where they have all the fancy refrigerated dressings. They have other flavors too, but I'm in heaven with the blue cheese.
The farm share is getting larger each week as the season progresses. We have red potatoes, napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, beets, scallions, garlic, zucchini, and cucumbers. It's so much fun finding recipes to use up all the great produce.
Well, I'm off to a doctor appointment and the drugstore for some shampoo....Good luck today everyone!

Running

On to another crazy idea....I'm starting an 8-week training program to get me running for 30 minutes straight. I got it from the Runner's World website. It starts with more walking than running and gets you to 30 minutes at the eighth week. I'm excited. I am just going to focus on this for a few months, instead of weights and crosstraining and all that jazz. Once I have the running down, I'll add some other activites, but it's going to take some time and dedication. It's also going to be particularly funny, since I'm about 40 pounds overweight:) Jiggle, anyone? lol
Food is going okay, but I'm still snacking at night about every other night, and it's adding anywhere from 100-250 calories to my calculated 1500 total. But I'm all about the self-acceptance, so I'm trying not to beat myself up over it. I'm trying to allot the calories for a midnight snack, but I have yet to master that whole brilliant idea. All in all, it's still not too bad, I'm staying at 1700 or less per day, and even though that's not strict calorie restriction, it's pretty good for dieting, since I'm at 195 right now (shhh...don't tell anyone).
Have you all seen the recent news clips on Calorie Restriction? I've seen two already. They spoke to people who practice it and had monkeys that had been fed 1/3 less than the other group of monkeys, and the monkeys who ate less were way healthier and lived longer. Hmmm....I wanna be a healthy, old monkey! Then the second story I saw had to make the brilliant claim that modern medicine was looking in to creating a pill that would mimic the results. Hmph. It figures. We're always looking for a pill to fix us nowadays.
I just got a great book on DIY cosmetics and cleaning and first aid. I've already gone crazy and ordered a variety of essential oils. I'm going to try the recipe for facial cleanser, moisturizer, spray cleaner, healing salve, window cleaner, and deodorant. The book is called Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs. I ordered mine from buyolympia.com, but you could probably do a search and find some other places to order it from. This book was brought to my attention by Amy Karol over at Angrychicken.com. I have to give credit where credit is due. I love the whole DIY environmentally safe ideas. I'll post back what the results were.

On track

Well, I gained almost five pounds from our trip to Florida to visit DH's parents. Ugh. It was all restaurant food, too. Breakfast and dinner. They live in a retirement community and we ate in the dining room for two meals a day. Lunch was always light. Alcohol every night too.
SO...back on the wagon for me! I have been staying at 1500 calories and have dropped one pound already. I'm back on the treadmill 3 days, and weights 3 days. I'm not doing the wii active for a little while. I just don't think it's tough enough, and I need something to really get me in shape now. I'll save the wii for when I start dropping more pounds and can ease up on the workouts a little. When I do the treadmill, I have a graph that shows laps, so I do half a lap walking at about 3.5 mph, and then I run half a lap at 5 mph. I'm not really a runner, so this lets me get some running in and get better at it. The goal being to eventually run one, walk a half, then ultimately to run most of the way, if not all the way. I will also keep track of distance, working from my 2 miles right now up to maybe 4 or 5 miles. I like the treadmill because I find I can really get into it with my iPod. I love upbeat dancey type music for working out. It keeps me motivated.
The kids had a blast in Florida. We did the beach one day, then did the pool a couple of days. I got a little burned, but it went away really quickly. I had on 50 spf too. I just don't do the sun very well. My oldest is half Puerto Rican, so he got all nice and brown. My little one is very fair like me, with blond hair and blue eyes, so he had a hat and sunglasses on the whole time. He didn't burn, though, so that was good. They got to spend some quality time with their grandparents. It was nice.
I've discovered a new lunch combination that is great. Take Greek yogurt (plain, nonfat), and add about 2 tablespoons of apple butter and about 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds or wheat germ (I like the flaxseeds). It is so rich and delicious, with just the right amount of tanginess and sweetness. Yum. I'm also still doing the green smoothies once a day. I'm into the combination of spinach, banana, and blueberries right now. I have been juicing every other day.
Well, I hope all who read this are doing well and living healthy. Let's do this!