Wednesday, April 30, 2014

#28FitDays, Hobby-Runner Style

This blog is supposed to be about running AND diet, but my diet has been nothing to write home (or anywhere else) about!  Tomorrow that will change, as I embark upon Prevention Magazine's 28-Day Transformation Challenge

The Challenge

This challenge, scheduled to start May 1, showed up in my Facebook feed just as I promised myself that if I didn't regain control over my eating habits and make progress in the right direction by the end of May, I would have to join Overeaters Anonymous.  I really shouldn't have to do that, because I know better than you would think from my recent habits, and I have proven in the past that I CAN do it!  Heck, in 2012 I followed Weight Watchers and stayed within my points target for six months, including 3-weeks on a low-iodine diet which means NO restaurant food and NO packaged food!  Later in the year, I was able to fast for colonoscopy prep.  So self-discipline IS within reach. But in 2014, I find myself often unable to go half a day without Cheez-Its, peanut butter crackers, potato chips, pretzels, junky vending-machine cookies or a few handfuls of salted peanuts. 

In 2012 I started with a BMI in the obese range and almost made it to my target smack dab in the middle of my healthy range.  Within the past few weeks I've crossed the line from healthy to overweight again. Time to turn it back around!  So, today I signed the manifesto:



Here is what it says:

For 28 days, I will recommit to  wellness and inspire people around me to do the same.  I'll eat clean, sweat more, and stress less.  I'll get stronger, be bolder, and stretch my body and my limits.  I'll try something new, whether it's kombucha or kickboxing, and I'll stop throwing energy at past failures.  I'll play more, laugh more, and yes, breathe more.  Finally, I'll trust the process, take it one step at a time, and go for it.  This month I'll remember that I'm capable of anything.

Kombucha?  What the heck is that?

Anyway, on a less abstract, less touchy-feely level, here are the "rules" and how I will make them work for me:

  1.  Eat Clean.  A 28-day meal plan is provided.  I will use some of the meals/recipes, but to Keep It Simple I will just pick a few of the breakfasts, lunches and snacks that I know I will like and that are convenient and will repeat them each for a few days in a row instead of eating different meals each day.  I won't use the dinners on the meal plan because I'm lucky enough to have a retired husband who plans and prepares dinner and I don't want to interfere with that!  Most of the meals he makes are fairly clean and healthy; I'll just have to practice portion control for that meal.  I also plan to track Weight Watcher's points and stay within my allotment.
  2. Do 150-Minutes of Cardio Per Week.  I'll likely exceed that as I continue training for the 15K Mastodon Challenge on May 10. I'm also currently enrolled in hour-long sessions of body workout (which includes aerobics) 2X per week and Zumba 1X per week and have paid for Lap Swimming at the local high school pool.  I'm looking forward making better use of those swimming privileges after May 10.
  3. Strength Training 3-4 Times Per Week.  The Challenge provides 4 "WOW's" (Workouts of the Week) which each consist of just 4 exercises and should only take a few minutes.  My 2X-per-week body workout class also usually has a strength training component, and I belong to a gym that is less than a mile from my house.  Shouldn't be a problem!

Day 1

For accountability, I will try to post each day any notable successes or areas of needed improvement and my plans and challenges for the next day.  So, for Day 1 tomorrow:

Breakfast:  One hard-boiled egg, 1/2 cup of fat-free ricotta cheese, banana  (Notes:  The ricotta cheese is not on the meal plan, but I have it on hand from another menu I was recently trying to follow so to use it up I am making it equivalent to the 6-ounces of fat-free Greek yogurt that is on the plan.  And the plan calls for 1/2 a grapefruit, but I'm replacing it with a banana because I also have those on hand and have eaten a half or whole banana almost every morning of my life for as long as I can remember! I know that grapefruit is probably healthier and maybe I will switch to it later in the month.  Bananas are simpler to eat, though, and Weight Watchers considers both to be zero points per serving so I am comfortable with this substitution.)

Lunch:  Tuna sandwich.  About 3 oz. tuna packed in water, 2 tbsp. diced celery and 1 tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise, on a toasted flax-and-fiber whole wheat sandwich thin.  1/2 cup of strawberries.

Snack:  1 Sargento reduced fat sharp cheddar string cheese, 1 apple and 15 unsalted pistachios in the shell.  (Note:  This is really one and a half snacks per the plan, but I can do it within my points  allotment.  I've already had this snack twice and learned that although pistachios are one of my favorite things, the unsalted ones are definitely less addictive than the salted ones!  I will finish the ones I bought, but probably won't buy them again.)

Dinner:  Whatever DRH (Dear Retired Husband) makes!  Based on his typical patterns, it will probably be either chicken or pork, with wild rice and a green vegetable.  I'll try to take a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards or my palm, half my plate of vegetables, and either no rice or a quarter of a cup.  I won't eat dessert, and I will have a glass of wine or beer only if it fits within my points allotment.

Cardio and Strength Training (in the morning before work):  Fartlek run, 8-10x 1 min on/1 min off.  Based on the weather forecast, this will likely be on the treadmill at the gym.  I actually don't mind doing intervals on the treadmill, and this workout will only be 20-minutes (plus 5-min warmup and 5-min cooldown).  If I have time, I'll also do Day 21 of a 30-Day Runner's Strength Challenge that I started on March 11 (today is April 30:  do the math - LOL!), and the Week 1 WOWs.  All together, the strength work will consist of:

15 Tricep Dips
60-Sec Plank X 2
20 Skier Squats
20 Bird-Dog Push-Ups
20 Pilates Roll-Ups with Forward Fold
3X 30-seconds "Run the Tires"

Wow, I'm hungry and tired just from writing all that!

I'll also weigh in tomorrow morning, but I don't like talking about that number.  I'll just let you know how many pounds I need to shed in the next 28 days to get my BMI back from "overweight" to "healthy."

Who's in this with me?  Anyone? 



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