Boot Camp Abuse!

I mean workout! Uphill sprints. Really?? I swear she jogs around the waterfront park just looking for ways and places to torture us. That cute little bench around the planter becomes known for it's tricep dips and step ups. Those evenly placed squares in a circle become every strange quick feet step you can think of, with some squat jumps and plank thrown in for fun. Goose Poop Hill is where the uphill sprints happen. After that crazy workout, I'm really curious to see how the Army training compares this weekend. I'm not sure the recruiters are quite as gleefully sadistic as Marie is. :p I love you Marie!!! :D

I'm a running fool.

Tomorrow is the Cinco de Mayo run, or as I've taken to calling it, the Ocho de Mayo 5k. Yesterday we ran one last practice run and did 3 miles in about 38 minutes. I forgot to start my stop watch at the beginning so that's a guesstimate on time. It was also raining, and not just "that thing you people here call rain", but full blown rain. We were the ONLY runners doing the waterfront loop, and even the bike cops in full slickers told us we were brave. Bat-shit crazy is more like it. I was so soaking wet that water was running down my face. Ah, the joys of running. It still occasionally blows my mind that I'm running 3 miles. Now if only I could get my speed up and my time down. It will happen!! :)

Stubborn is as stubborn does?

Pig-headedness can be a good thing, I've decided. Sometimes it's just what gets you through. While my running is going fantastic, I'm struggling with other minor injuries. My back has not fully healed from last weeks "lifting the 85 lb dog" episode, and now I have a tear in a strange tendon on the side of my leg that is luckily only affected by a squatting/leg press motion. Happily, neither of these injuries are bothered by running, so that's what I'm focusing on at the moment while I let the other things heal. I'm consistently running a solid 2.5 miles 3x a week, and now working on my speed and time. I've got a 13 minute mile down, now I need to push for a 12 minute mile, with the goal of a 10 minute mile within the next 8 weeks.

Ack! 8 weeks!! Seriously. How did this time fly so fast?? I have 8 weekends left before basic. 2 Army drill weekends, 3 5k's to run, and 3 free weekends. Of course, this "free" weekend will be dedicated to all the Army online training I need to finish before my recruiter slaps me silly. Though I will fit in a sushi lunch and Fast Five matinee with friends on Sunday. I mean hello? Vin and Dwayne in the same movie?? Pass the smelling salts, please.

My greatest fear at this point is injury, so while I stubbornly continue to run regardless of other injuries, I am making a point to take more rest days. Yes, I'd really rather push harder with 2 extra days of weights, but I can't go to basic injured. Sure, I can become injured while there, but I need to be 100% healthy upon arrival. This I must do. So for now I'm down to 2 days of weights, 4 days of cardio, and of course, boot camp on Thursdays.

I've also been very lazy about my diet (again!!) and while I'm thrilled that I haven't gained any weight, I could still stand to lose some chub. So May is going to be a solid healthy eating month, with my Thursday night family dinner as my 1 cheat meal of the week. I am stubborn. I can do this. ;)

My That'sFit.com story

http://www.thatsfit.com/2011/04/14/joining-the-army-motivated-rebecca-to-drop-45-pounds/

Here's my weight loss story, or at least the Reader's Digest version, on AOL's That's Fit site. It's weird to see my story in print. It's like all the pain, heartache, blood, sweat and tears neatly packaged into simple little paragraphs. I don't feel motivating today. I'm sick, and tired, and sick and tired of my antibiotics making me sick. Bleh. Energy wise I'm already feeling better. I had a good workout today with my personal trainer. I think I only did 40 push ups today. They are definitely coming easier, or at least that first 10. Tomorrow, we run outside. God willing and weather permitting. And only 3 weeks to the next 5k. Cinco de Mayo, baby! Praying for the health to run this one!

Bring on Monday!

I spent the day putting together some new chicken salad recipes for my lunches this week. I came up with a really yummy Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad, but it has way too many calories. I think I can cut back on the soynuts, and maybe even the craisins, but it's really the sauce that's adding so many calories. Do they make lowfat sesame oil?? I'll have to do some research to find out. This recipe needs more work but so far it is delicious!

My diet has been mediocre at best for several months. Not that I ever eat fast food or junk food. What I eat is generally healthy, I just often eat too much of it. It's that damn Southern gene. If it tastes good, I will keep eating it until it is gone, regardless if I am full or how much there is of it. I'm limiting myself to one night of "junk" food, which is Thursday family night at my dad's house, where we generally consume an entire Pappa Murphy's Chicken Delite pizza in one sitting. So. Yummy. And I have one lunch out with co-workers for a birthday that I organized, so I damn sure won't miss out on that! But I will attempt moderation. Otherwise, I'm not going out to eat for the next 9 weeks. My wallet will thank me as well.

I'm feeling slightly better, though the antiobiotics make me sick if I don't have enough food in my stomach. I would like to run tomorrow after work, but I might hold off and run Tuesday instead. I'm worried about pushing too hard, too soon when I'm just starting to feel better. I watched Invictus today and there was a good quote about never being at 100% but playing anyway, and isn't that what life is all about? Just because I'm only at 80% doesn't mean I have time to slow down. Let's hope I don't regret that decision later in the week. ;)

Reinvention

Reinvention –verb (used with object) 1. to invent again or anew, especially without knowing that the invention already exists. 2. to remake or make over, as in a different form. 3. to bring back; revive.

When I started this journey I was focused on the second definition; literally focused on remaking myself into a different form. I didn't like being overweight and I set out to change that. It didn't occur to me that the motivation and willpower already existed within myself and I'd always had the power to change my life. It wasn't something new. But it was definitely a revival.

Changing myself physically has led to changing almost every aspect of my life. I thought this journey was just about physical health and wellbeing. I really had no idea what I would find and discover about myself along the way. There are days I stop and wonder, who is this crazy person?? My personal trainer and I were commenting on a co-worker of mine as he worked out. I called him "hard core" and she looked at me and said, "You're hard core. You do the same classes and workout he does." It startled me that she said that. Me? Seriously?? My default position is whiney and lazy. I just push myself to be active anyway. And I whine about it along the way to the people who let me. In boot camp class, Marie asks for 100 tricep dips and then yells, "And no whining, Becca!" I love that she knows me so well. And for the record, I think I did at least 75 of those tricep dips.

I've become this person who enjoys pushing myself to the limit, so I've hard to relearn moderation. Ok, so I did boot camp and personal training with a sinus infection and now I'm exhausted, but instead of running the 5k this weekend, I'm going to rest and go see a doctor. See? Old dogs can learn new tricks. Though I really hate missing that 5k.

I have 9 weeks left before basic training. I'd still like to drop another 10 lbs before I go and I need to shave 5 minutes off my 2 mile run time. I rearranged my weekly workout schedule to be just a touch harder (3 runs, 4 weight days and boot camp class) and I'll pay closer attention to my diet. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

11 weeks and counting

11 weeks to BCT. 2 weeks to my next 5k. 3 day drill weekend this weekend and I MUST at least jog on Saturday. To fit it into the crazy drill weekend schedule, that will have to happen at 6am. Yikes. Guess I'd better get used to it now. Spirits are high. Strength training is going awesome. Push-ups are amazing. Cardio is recovering. The 3 weeks off during my minor bronchitis spell didn't help at all, but lung capacity is slowly recovering. My diet has SUCKED bad for several weeks but I've somehow managed to avoid gaining weight. Minor miracle. It's the sugar and the daily cookies that are killing me. If I could give up coffee and cookies again I'd be golden. Ok, fine! Consider it done. Where there's some willpower there is damn sure a way. Totally excited that my That's Fit article runs in 2 weeks, the Monday after my Young Life 5k. I will be sure to post the link. The above is my newest "after" photo. I may have been sick, but adrenaline does amazing things to get you through the day. :)

Lesson learned: Running while sick = bad.

Hey, I only learn lessons the hard way, but once they are learned, they are ingrained. So, no more running events while sick. Period. In my defense, I actually felt better on Sunday and thought I was better, and the run itself felt really good. Aside from the first mile in which I struggled with a side cramp. After that subsided, the rest of the run was amazing. My time was 44 minutes, quite a bit slower than I was hoping for, but clearly due to the first mile of pain. Within about an hour after the run, the adrenaline wore off and I knew I was in trouble. I literally went home and passed out. My chest congestion was awful, my cough got worse, I slept all day Monday and went to work sick for the rest of the week. I skipped all workouts and just started back with my personal trainer on Friday. None of this was worth doing the run. I should have just skipped the run and I'd have been healthy a week sooner, but my stubborness didn't allow for this at the time. And again, I felt better at the time, I swear!

Somehow through my sickness and lack of exercise, I didn't gain any weight back and I'm still at 155. 154.8 to be exact, if my home scale can be trusted. I have 4 weeks until my next 5k and I feel pretty good about that. I know I can do the distance, I just need to focus on staying healthy and improving my speed through sprint intervals. Adria is training with me for the Cindo de Mayo 5k, my goal is an 11-12 minute mile by then. I'll be happy with a 12-13 minute mile at the Young Life 5k in April. Overall I am feeling much better, though I really took it easy this weekend and made a point to rest a lot. Next week I'm going to try a normal workout schedule so I'm hopeful my body can handle it!

Countdown to the Shamrock!

2 more days! Well really, 1 more full day of rest and then bring on the running! Still battling a nasty head cold, chest congestion and hacking cough BUT it will not stop me from running on Sunday. Both my running partners are in the same boat; Kirsten has the same thing I do and Amber injured her foot this week. Tough shit! It's only 3 miles, the goal is 40 minutes. That's a cake walk. No doubts we can do it. Philippians 4:13!

Aside from being sick I feel pretty amazing. I had my first drill weekend last week, got to meet my unit and my squad, and had a really awesome time. I love the people I work with! We did land navigation and orienteering in Lewis and Clark State Park and it was a blast.

Next week I will be back to my regular work out and running routine. Now that I'm running 3 miles my goal is to improve speed. I want to be at least 1-minute faster per mile at the next 5k, which is April 16th in Vancouver. I'll do 2 days a week of running my 3 mile distance, and then 1 day a week of sprint intervals for 30 minutes. As tired and sick as I am right now, I'm really looking forward to seeing progress! :D

I got a new attitude!

It's amazing how a healthy day of eating and a solid jog at lunch can change my whole attitude around. My hamstring is still sore and I'm sitting on a heating pad at the moment, but I made it through a nice slow 2 mile jog at lunch that felt really good. I wasn't able to do the crazy Army PT this evening, but it looked like fun, right up until the throwing up part. Next week for sure! I feel refocused and revamped and I'm really looking forward to a weekend in the cold drizzly rain with my new unit. I know it sounds sick and wrong, but I am so excited!! :D

I need a new attitude

Ugh. Struggling with my diet. Struggling with motivation and energy. Struggling with another strained hamstring (the other one). It's been a week of struggles!

The diet is my own fault and frustration. I'm not good at making healthy choices at restaurants, so I combat this by not eating out, which is also better for me financially. The only problem with that is that if and when I do go out to eat, I eat everything in sight, plus dessert, thank you very much. I really only make good food choices when I create and cook my own meals, so for now, this is what I need to do. It helps that I work out 5 days a week and I'm not available for the lunches with work friends. I need to work harder at saying no to gatherings that focus on food. It just leaves me depressed and grumpy and sluggish.

I also need to work out a better compromise with my personal trainer. She likes to push me hard on max weight, which is what hurt me this time, and I just can't afford to get hurt in the next 4 months. Not only does it throw off my entire workout routine while I'm healing, but it also throws me off my mental game of reaching measurable goals. I need forward moving progress to stay motivated and injury is not allowed. I think we need to focus more on endurance, more reps with medium weight, so I'll talk to her about it on Friday. I also need to get serious about my push-ups and sit-ups. I'm already at my passing goals, so now I need to set higher goals and work harder to reach them. I refuse to be a just-barely-passing kind of girl in the Army.

As far as the hamstring, I think it will be ok. I hurt it on Monday, jogged on Tuesday, and took today off completely. I've got heat on it now, will soak it tonight, and do another light jog tomorrow. I have FSA class tomorrow night but I can modify any running required. I think it will be fine by the weekend, though I won't push for speed in any of my running over the next 2 weeks. I am running the Shamrock 5k come hell or high water! :)

Back on track

I've spent a couple weeks partially sidelined due to illness and minor injuries, but I took that time to discuss my goals and schedule with my personal trainer, and to slow myself down. I have this fairly newfound drive and determination that I can't always control. If I'm not pushing myself to the limit, I feel like I'm not doing enough. If my body is sore, I feel sucessful. If it's not, I feel lazy. While this will come in handy when I get to training, right now it's just slowing me down. I really had to listen to my trainer and take a step back. I'm now using her sessions to push myself hard twice a week on M/F, plus an abs/strength class on Weds, with running just 3x a week on T/Th/Sa. I honestly feel like I'm not doing enough, but I'm going to stick to this schedule until I leave and see what it does for me. I strained a hamstring and lost a lot of my running progress, but I'm more rested and focused in my goals so I feel like I can make that up in the next 3 weeks. I also need to pay closer attention to my diet, because what I eat really affects my energy level. I already know these things combined are my key to success, I just hate when I let them slide!

I love my boot camp team!

Boot camp class is hard, make no mistake. It hurts, every time. So why do I keep coming back for more? Two reasons. A) I love the satisfaction of knowing I did it, and B) I love my team. I love being partnered up with Andrea because at least one of us always has the motivation to keep us both going. I love when Matt or Hemal slow down to encourage me to keep running. I love when Alison notices my weight loss. Or when Elizabeth notices my improvement. I love when Daphne makes me sprint, even though I know we both hate it! I love that Marie gets to know each of us as individuals, learns our goals and limits, and then proceeds to push us further than we ever thought possible. I don't always look forward to it, but I always love doing it. :)

Yikes. And Bleh.

After taking an entire week off due to sickness, I'm really struggling to get back into my running routine. It is not fun. I managed a mile on the first day, a very painful mile. Did 1.5 miles today, which felt better, but was still hard. And will try for 2 miles on Friday. All my other classes feel great, though boot camp is tomorrow so that will undoubtedly kick my butt. Oy vay.

I've been lazy with lunches and falling back on protein shakes. It does cut about 100 calories out of my day and adds about 10g of protein. I won't do it for long, but it's sure easier than making all my lunches in advance. I think I'm still tired and recovering from sickness, and thought I'd be feeling much better by now. Maybe next week.

5 running events in 4 months

I decided to be proactive today and registered for 4 more running events over the next 4 months. I may have been a little overconfidant about the Cindo de Mayo 10k, but I wanted to push myself for distance at least once. All the rest are 5k runs that I will use to push my speed. Here's the line up:

March 13th - Shamrock Run 5k
April 16th - Young Life 5k
May 8th - Cinco de Mayo 10k
June 4th - Starlight Run 5k
June 18th - Freedom 5k

And that following Tuesday I'll be headed for Basic Combat Training. I'm pretty excited! I just hope I can talk Amber and/or Kirsten into running a few with me.

Sickness begone!

I spent the entire week with a bad cold and hacking cough, so decided to give my body a break. I skipped all workouts except my Friday personal training, and did no running. I'm going to pick back up again on Monday as if I had been running 2 miles this week, and forge on ahead to 2.25 miles. Oh boy! I really want to stay on track for the Shamrock Run.

I was sworn into the Army on Thursday, and my dad got to swear me in, which was amazing. And I finally got my job and training dates nailed down. I don't leave until late June, but then I'll be gone through February. That gives me 19 more weeks of training and running, so I'm pretty happy about that. It also means I'll miss Hood2Coast and Warrior Dash this year, but will be back in time for Shamrock Run 2012! LOL. I will plan on the 8k or 15k next time. Bought tall green striped socks today for Kirsten, Amber and I to wear. Pretty excited!!

I'm done another lb, 158 and 31% body fat. I'm about 3 lbs away from being within my healthy BMI limits so that's exciting. I've been slightly over for a while and happy that I'm finally whittling away the body fat. In theory, I've got time to lose another 20 lbs before I leave, but I'm more interested in building strength and cardio endurance than I am in hitting a certain weight number. It will be interesting to see where my healthy weight lands though.

I'm also working on a new Hawaiian chicken salad recipe. Will post that when I have it perfected.

Another week bites the dust

Whew! Made it through another crazy week. I missed Thursday boot camp class due to the Army physical, which I passed just fine. Yay!! But otherwise got in all my workouts, including my 3 days of running. This week it was 1.75 miles in 23 minutes. Monday I start with 2 miles in about 26 minutes, or slightly under hopefully. 6 more weeks until Shamrock Run! I'm also buying another 16 sessions with my personal trainer, which will give me twice a week until I (hopefully) leave for basic training. Since those dates are still up in the air, I can't be sure how it will all work out. But I'll just keep increasing the intensity level until I get there!

The Army physical was an interesting eye opener. I was in better cardio shape than all of the 17-19-yr-old girls, but because their bodies are younger, things just came easier to them. That just means I need to be doubly ready and doubly prepared to push myself harder and further than ever before. I'm game. Go hard or go home, that's my motto. ;)

New Project! Danielle's Cookbook

I have this amazing kid in my life named Danielle. She is part daughter, part best friend, and all dogsitter. When she's around, my dogs clearly prefer her. She is my lifeline to being able to do the Army Reserves training, since she's going to live in my house and take care of the dogs while I'm gone. She is also a vegetarian, and shall we say, "cooking challenged". She's trying to eat healthier and in an effort to help her, I'm going to start the Danielle's Cookbook project. It will be a notebook of low fat, high protein, quick and easy vegetarian meals and snacks with lots of photos and step by step instructions for a beginner. I'm really excited! Several of the meals I do for myself can be (and have been) modified for a vegetarian, and I've already come up with some new ones in my head that I need to try out on her. Luckily, she's not a picky eater. I also got a new Weight Watchers cookbook which has inspired a few new dishes. I love cookbooks, and tend to collect them like crazy, but I never actually follow the recipes. I always modify them to fit my needs. But it's fun to browse through them for inspiration now and then.

Today I made biscuits, which are amazingly good, but not anywhere near low fat and healthy. Oh well. I had 4 anyway. Hopefully the roommates will eat the rest quick before I'm tempted again. They throw off my entire day of healthy eating! Of course the chocolate cake in the fridge for my roommate's birthday isn't helping matters either. But that should go fast also. Personal trainer and running tomorrow! Looking forward to the running, even though it's gonna hurt, I'm ready for a new challenge.

Fat free cooking secrets

There are lots of ways to cook fat free but flavor FULL. Often the things I add to my chicken or salmon have no calories at all. Here's a brief list of 0 calorie items I use.

0 calorie cooking!
garlic
capers
dry dressing mixes (Ranch, Italian, etc)
lemon juice
liquid spray butter
cooking spray
vinegar
mustard
sauerkraut
tabasco

Also, look for substitutes. I was eating oatmeal every morning as a breakfast/mid morning snack, but it had 2g of fat per serving. I switched to cream of wheat instead, which was lower in calories and fat free. If you switch to the fat free version of something, (yogurt, sour cream, cheese, etc) commit to sticking with it for an entire month. It will take your taste buds time to acclimate, but there's a good chance you will come to like it. I'm sure regular sour cream tastes better, but I like the fat free stuff just fine now!

Cinnamon Baked Sweet Potatoes

Another new favorite. This is what I make when I have a sweet tooth, since I don't keep any type of sweets in the house. You could use a few teaspoons of regular sugar if you don't like the idea of Splenda, but add 15 calories per teaspoon used. As opposed to the baked potatoes that I like crunchy, I like these nice and soft. Sweet potatoes are about the same way as far as grams = calories. Each 200 grams also has .5g fat and 4g protein. If you don't already have a good kitchen scale, get one! Calories below are approximate and will vary based on size of potato. A 200g sweet potato is a good sized, medium potato, plenty for one person.

Cinnamon Baked Sweet Potatoes
1 sweet potato (weighed)
cinnamon
1 tbl liquid spray butter
2 tsps sugar or 4 packets Splenda
fat free cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400. Wash, slice and dice potato into small cubes. Put them in a large bowl and drizzle the butter over the top. Toss to coat. Sprinkle a layer of cinnamon on the potatoes and 1 tsp sugar (or 2 packets Splenda). Toss to coat. Repeat this one more time. Spray a baking dish with fat free cooking spray and arrange the potatoes in a single layer. Cook for 20-40 minutes depending upon thickness and desired consistency. 1 potato = 1 serving with: approx 200 calories/.5g fat/4g protein.

Italian Baked Potatos

This is one of my yummy veggie side dishes. I get the small "White Rose" potatoes. They are about 1 calorie per gram of weight, 0 fat, and 1g of protein per 40 grams of weight. Somehow I always pick out the size that is about 120-130 grams, so they are generally 130 calories/0g fat/3g protein per potato. I like these crunchy, so they take some time to cook. I start them right when I get home and then cook my chicken when these have about 10 minutes left on the timer.

Italian Baked Potatoes
1-2 small potatoes
dry Italian dressing mix

Preheat oven to 400. Wash and dice potatoes into small cubes and put them in a large bowl. Sprinkle about 1/3rd of a packet of dry Italian dressing mix over them and toss to coat. Spray a baking dish with fat free cooking spray and arrange the potatoes in a single layer in the dish. Bake for 20-50 minutes depending on your consistency preference. If you want them soft, 20 minutes will do it. If you want them more like french fries, 40-50 minutes is better. 50 minutes is about the max before they just end up burnt. 1 potato = 1 serving with: 130 calories/0g fat/3g protein.

Baked Parmesan Chicken

This is my new favorite chicken recipe! It's seriously yummy and very quick and simple. I use the olive oil mayo that has 50 calories/5g fat/0g protein per tablespoon, so if you use something else, be sure to adjust your calories.

Baked Parmesan Chicken
4oz chicken breast
1oz parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tbl low fat mayo of your choice

Preheat oven to 400. Mix the shredded cheese and mayo in a small bowl. "Paint" it on to the chicken breast using a spoon and spread it evenly to cover. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Makes 1 serving with: 370 calories/16g fat/52.5g protein.

Shamrock Run, here I come!

But I still need tall green and white socks to wear. And maybe a green shirt? Hmmm... clearly I need a Shamrock outfit. I finished week 1 of my 8-week training program and feel great about it. Even on the days when I'm battling a lot of muscle soreness, once I get running, it always feels amazing. The muscle soreness fades (mostly) and I just get into the rhythm of running. I'm learning to push through the soreness. As long as it's not joint pain, I can keep going. Which is good, because at the rate I'm working out right now, I have a lot of muscle soreness going on. I tweeked my schedule again and it feels like it's working awesome, so for the most part, I think this is what it will be until I go to basic training.

Monday - am personal training/pm run
Tuesday - strength class
Wednesday - am abs class/pm run
Thursday - boot camp class!
Friday - am personal training/pm run
Weekends - Rest!

What I love about the personal training and the classes is that it's never the same thing each week. So it's a really good variety to keep my body surprised and in motion. And the running only stays the same for 1 week, then I increase distance and speed each week. I'm being super careful with the speed increases, just 1/10th of a mph each week. At this rate I will be running 5.5 mph when I get to basic training, which is perfect for the running PT test. I increase 1/4 mile in distance each week, with the goal being 3 miles for the 5k, and 3.5 miles for basic training. When I get back from basic training I'll do the Warrior Dash, which is a little less than 3.5 miles, and then I'll start training for an 8k, or a 15k, depending where I'm at by then. I'm still holding steady at 160, when I'd like to still be moving down 1 lb per week, but I'm still happy with the cardio progress I'm making.

Happy birthday to me!

So much to post and not enough time tonight! I have a couple new recipes to share, and lots of fitness updates. The biggest news is I finally announced my big goal of joining the Army Reserves, so I can talk about that freely now. It looks like I will leave for Basic Combat Training around the first of April. I'm also training for the Shamrock Run 5k in March and LOVING it!! I had the most amazing run yet last night and I finally hit that place where I can say with confidence, I'm ready for this! I'm ready for the run and I'm ready for BCT. I've lost 10 lbs since Thanksgiving, which puts me at 40 lbs total lost since Labor Day weekend, 2007. I need to re-evaluate my body fat also, as I think I'm making leaps and bounds in that department as well. I rearranged my workout schedule again, to make room for all the running, and the 2 personal trainer sessions a week, and the 3 classes with Marie each week. I kick my own ass all week long and then take the weekends to recover and it feels awesome.

Today I am 38 years old and I have never felt more complete and whole in my entire life. This is by far going to be my best year yet. :)

Army Strong! :)

Today was an amazing day. I finally announced I was joining the Reserves and everyone took it really well. I did my distance running today; the 2.6 mile waterfront loop. My first goal is to run the whole thing in 30 minutes. Right now I'm doing about 70/30 running/walking and it takes 38 minutes, so I feel like 30 minutes is a doable goal. But I only have 12 weeks left before basic training and it doesn't seem like enough time!! I think with the jog/sprint intervals 3x a week and boot camp class, I should be able to improve on my time/distance run pretty fast. Next week I'll start meeting with my personal trainer twice a week. My schedule is jam packed with exercise and I feel great about it. Today my knees were sore and one calf muscle was sore, but I did my run anyway and had no knee pain during the run at all. The calf muscle was still sore but I can push through that type of pain. I ended the day with 1120 calories/22g fat/108g of protein so my diet is right on track. Today I weighed 161.5!! That's 7.5 lbs down since Thanksgiving. When I get to 160 I'll check on my body fat again.

Protein Snacks and Fitness update

I'm working hard to build strength, so I focus a lot on protein intake. My daily goal is over 100g of protein and it's taken some time to get there. I always eat some form of protein an hour before I workout, and within the hour after I've worked out. My 3 basic protein snacks are a fat free yogurt with vanilla protein powder added, a serving of eda mame (soybeans) or a hard boiled egg. Since I work out at lunch, my lunch itself is my after workout protein serving.

I've had a bit of a slow week. New Years Eve I came down with something that sidelined me, so I took the weekend off. Started slow on Monday with the personal trainer and that actually helped me feel better, but my knees were really sore so I skipped running that evening. Did a strength training class Tuesday at lunch, but then skipped my upper body workout that evening. And took the day off today. I still take Sunday as a dedicated day off, but I'm mostly working out 6 days a week at this point. I'm listening to my body more though, and if it needs a break, I'll take a floating day off during the week. But if everything is in working order, I won't take an extra day off. My schedule looks like this right now:

Monday - personal trainer at lunch, running intervals after work
Tuesday - strength training class at lunch, upper body workout after work
Wednesday - abs/back class at lunch, running intervals after work
Thursday - boot camp class!
Friday - distance running at lunch, abs workout after work
Saturday - running intervals and heavy upper/lower body work out
Sunday - off!