Oh the letdown

So I read an article about the Flat Belly Diet. It intrigued me, so I googled some other articles on it to get the general idea. I am not interested in shelling out $30 for the book!

The basic principles are to avoid foods that bloat and to eat a monounsaturated fat at every meal, which is supposed to target the breakdown of the visceral fat in the belly. That means--seeds, nuts, olive oil, avocado etc. I tend to eat those types of things anyways, so I thought why not try adding them to each meal more purposefully.

That is not the letdown. We'll see in several days to a few weeks if I have less belly fat.

Gum is my problem. I love gum. I've been in love with gum since my mom's yellow pack of Carefree gum. In fact, I bought it myself for many of my adult years. Until Orbit that is, which is my gum of choice.

But...gum causes bloating. At least that's what they say. But, gum helps me get through sugar cravings. There is nothing like a piece of gum and a Diet Coke to get me through a midafternoon slump.

Midmorning I was in need. I thought, it can't be that bad. I'll just chew the gum and see what happens. I'd read that when you chew gum, you swallow extra air which creates the bloat. Guess what. They were right. My whole gum chewing experience was ruined because I could feel myself swallowing the air. Something I had never noticed before.

Is it that big of a deal? Probably not. But...gum also contains artificial sweeteners that I know it's better to avoid. As does the Diet Coke. What food can I eat and enjoy?? At least chocolate is natural :)

I guess I may avoid chewing gum sometimes. Especially if the clothes I'm wearing are tight fitting on my stomach. But at other times--I'll take the bloat to avoid consuming unecessary calories.

On another note, it's been 3 days since I've had a Diet Coke. I've had some caffeine free Diet Coke, but none of the real stuff. It's part of a slow process to rid my life of artificial sweeteners. Plus I recently learned that the phosphorus in soda leeches calcium from your bones and I don't want osteoporosis. I know that I will probably completely erradicate it from my life. But that's okay. A few a week or a month is much better than 1-2 a day!

By the way...my mind is telling me it's chocolate time. 9:30pm. But honestly I'm not hungry. So I'm keeping away from the chocolate. Gotta drop these last few pounds.

Challenge week 3

Well, I did better this week! No sick kids, so that helped!

Monday: Cardio DVD
Tues: Rest
Wed: 4 mile KILLER hike/run
Thurs: 4 mile run
Fri: lots of housework and abs
Sat: 3 mile climb
Sun: REST--I took a glorious 1.5hr nap!!

This week should be alright too. Now I'm just hoping I can start to see more difference in my body.

Failing...

Ugh, sick kids aree the downfall of my exercise. I was so close to getting 5 days in for Week 2, but my 1yr old got sick and it all went to pot! I was actually at the lake on Friday, ready to run--when she puked all over me. She had been running a fever, but I figured she'd be content with the movement of the strollere. If we were home, I'd just be holding her anyways. The puking happened before she was even the stroller. Some home we went.

I've started off this week well. 30 min of aeorbic toning this morning. It's a busy week, so it's going to be a challenge to get 5 days in. Come on Corrina--that's why it's called a challenge.

I can do it. I can do it.

Challenge Update 1

So it's now week 2 of my personal workout challenge. I didn't get 5 days in, but I got 4 which is better than I have been doing. It was a busy weekend, so that kind of threw me--no time to exercise. I think I had 2 days of cardio and 2 days of Pilates. I do feel like more effort on my abs has made a slight difference. Having the accountablity does make a differnce!

My 6-week Challenge

So, I am challenging myself to work out 5x/week for at least 20min for the next 6 weeks. I've started this same challenge on a Babycenter board also so there are several of us holding each other accountable.

I am an adrenaline addict. I don't feel like I have truly worked out unless I'm dripping sweat and my muscles are burning. But--as a working mom, I don't get the chance for a workout like that more than 2 maybe 3 times a week. I want to learn to maximize my time with small segments of activity on days I can't get out for a run.

Today started off my challenge well. I thought about getting up before the kids--but that didn't happen. But, I took advantage of their good moods in the morning and did 35min of a workout DVD while they played around me.

I hope that at the end of 6 weeks I can say that I worked out 30 out of 42 days. Hopefully that will make me a little more ready for bathing suit season :)

New shoes!

I got some new shoes last week. I'm in LOVE. And so are my feet. At least the last 3 pairs of shoes I've had were the same brand and same basic style. I figured, if it's not broke, don't fix it.

But I finally got into a running store (www.roadrunnersports.com) and did an analysis. They have you run on the treadmill and they analyze your stride and recommend a type of shoe. I kind of already knew it, but I was wearing a shoe with not enough support.

The first time I ran in my new shoes (Nike Air Zoom) my feet could have kept going when my body was ready to stop. That was a first! I can really feel my feet and they have the support they need--but they are so comfy.

I'm really hoping to take a little bit of time off my mile with them.

Now I need to figure out how to do some speed training. I know I can be faster...I just need to develop a plan to do it.

The Turnaround Point

While I was running today I was thinking about what keeps me going. I've been upping my mileage consistently over the last year. although I love running and totally thrive on it, most runs there are points I just want to be done. Or the idea of running x miles is overwhelming.

Most of my runs are about 4 miles. I realized today that one of my mental tricks is just pushing through to the turnaround point. 2 miles really isn't that long and it's not too hard to get there. Once I'm at the turnaround point, I know I'm in the home stretch. I have to get back to the car. The kids will start to melt down in the jogger if the run takes too long. The faster I finish, the better all the way around!

It might just be me and how my brain works--but if I can get to the turnaround point--then I know I can get back! Hopefully once I get a bit faster, my turn around point will be a little further.

But one way or another, I have to get back to the car, so I might as well keep going!