The end of the road

I can confidently say (after 10 months) that exercising is officially a part of my lifestyle. I plan on keeping it a part of my lifestyle for as long as possible, hopefully forever. It has been insanely rewarding for more reasons than just health. I enjoy the act of exercising now. I used to loathe the idea, now I miss it when I can't work out for a few days in a row.

I've learned a lot. Theres not much of a reason to keep this blog going anymore. If something huge happens I'll post it, but otherwise this blog is officially no longer maintained. If you absolutely have to know how I'm doing with all this post a comment on my other (more regularly updated) blog and I'll get back to you very soon.

Thanks for reading and for keeping me accountable, I don't think I would have stuck with it otherwise.

Routine

Still chugging right along. I'm kind of on maintenance mode now. I run or bike 2-4 times a week depending on schedule. It isn't very routine, it just happens when I have time. I kind of like it like that but I can certainly see the advantages to having a routine. Its definitely becoming a part of my life though, which I like a lot. I found some sweet running shorts that remind me of a summer camp lifeguard from the late 80's.

Anyway, no real updates other than I haven't given up yet... which is pretty cool considering my track record.

Its been a while

For some reason, I cannot get over being sick. I swear I haven't been sick since junior high but about two months ago I got really sick and I haven't been able to get 100% over it yet. I exercise here and there but nothing as consistent as it should be. I'm going to try to get back in the gym and take it slow on a bike or with some weights soon enough but for now, I've just been tired a lot. The weight I lost is staying off though so I think thats a good sign that I lost it in a healthy way.

I've really missed working out and am looking forward to starting again soon.

Sickness

I haven't been running because I've been sick. After about two weeks of being sick I ran yesterday and could only go for about 20 minutes. I thought for sure that my body would have mercy on me because I was sick and would let me get back to running the way I was before... it didn't care. The good thing is, being sick apparently does the same thing for your body as running; after two weeks of not running I lost another three pounds...

I started again yesterday with an okay 20 minute run. My goal is by July first to be doing 3-5 miles 3-5 times per week. I'd love to add one day of biking 8-12 miles in there as well.

Only time will tell.

Vacation Training

I went to Kansas a couple weeks ago for a graduation and then we stayed the whole next week for a wedding that was on the following Saturday.

Probably the hardest thing I've encountered so far in my trek to be healthy was my vacation. We went out to eat WAY more and I think every night we went out with friends and I had a couple beers (bad for the belly).

How can we stay "not fat" on vacation? Watching our calories per week instead of per day. Right, wrong, or indifferent (I'm sure you're doctor told you to eat 6 small meals a day, I don't care) if I knew I was going to go out to eat for dinner I didn't eat breakfast and I had a small lunch (half a sandwich or a granola bar). I try to keep my calories between 1500 calories daily during vacation so that I don't have to exercise as much, normally I'm around 2000 daily.

Other than that I ran two short runs while I was there and enjoyed a lot of walking around.

I think if we exercise regularly, our bodies are almost set in motion to continue burning that kind of energy.

If you're driving 60 mph and you need to scratch your foot, you can afford to take your foot of the gas for a few seconds without the car screeching to a halt. Likewise with exercise. If you take a break for a week and get back to it the next week, you won't really see much of a difference (and you'll enjoy vacation more).

Maybe that week just hasn't caught up to me yet... we shall see.

..... time goes by

Its been over a month since I've written last. Things are maintaining theres not a lot to write about. I run around 2-3 miles 3-4 times a week. Every couple of weeks I try to ride my bike for 8-10 miles just to mix things up.

Things are going well.

Once I lost some weight (I'm at 165 pounds now) I started eating more (I'm around 2,000 calories) and I am officially maintaining that weight.

Nothing new is going on. I have been reading this guys blog which I've really been enjoying other than the hideous website.

A week or so ago I got back from "vacation." Stay tuned for a post on staying on track even when you're away from your routine.

Don't ever stop

I stopped running for a little over a week (9 days). I wasn't feeling great and I had pretty bad allergies and I was in Phoenix so I wanted a little break.

I "got back on the horse" two days ago and ran for 20 minutes. It was almost impossible. My heart felt like it was exploding and my knees felt like they were made of whatever those little sticks are people rub together to make fire. It was uncomfortable.

Today I ran for 30 minutes, it didn't get easier. So if you want to start running or biking or probably any real exercise... don't ever stop.

I think tomorrow I'm going to try my bike instead of running just to mix things up. I always like riding my bike better anyway.