Back On Track

Let me start this blog post by saying one thing: I am extremely proud of the fact that not only did I lose 60 pounds last year, I've kept about 50 of it off.

I'm a little disappointed that 10 pounds has crept back on, and worried that if I don't give myself a kick in the rear, more will creep back on when I'm not looking. So this week, I'm embarking on a little butt-kicking workout and menu plan that will hopefully jump start my continued health goals (another 30 pounds off and a better attitude towards running, not to mention faster mile times).

Since I've been unemployed, I've learned to really live off what I've got in the fridge and pantry, so this week, I bought groceries and am gearing everything towards lasting to the weekend. My meal plan looks like this:

Breakfast:

1 cup Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal (I love this stuff)
1 cup fat free milk
Half of an apple
1 hard-boiled egg

Lunch:

Curried Couscous salad (which I made tonight and it's so yummy)
Baby carrots
Strawberries

Dinner:

4 oz. baked chicken breast
1/2 cup of butternut squash risotto (I found this a few weeks ago and I LOVE it. It's organic and super-healthy).
Broccoli
Salad (Green leaf lettuce, spinach, parsley, dried cranberries, pecans, goat cheese. Dressing: home made raspberry vinegar and olive oil dressing)


Snack Times

I often need a snack after a hard workout, so I've got some double-fiber whole wheat English muffins on hand (I can toast it and put fat free cream cheese on, or a little bit of olive oil butter--yes, I allow myself butter and cinnamon). I can also munch on baby carrots, and I've allotted myself 1 Hershey's Special Dark each day for dessert (at 180 calories for one bar, it's cheap, and it's easy to savor--I eat one section at a time).

Of course, there will also be a lot of water, and most of my meals are accompanied by tea. I measure the sugar I use in tea (1/2 a teaspoon, and I use organic sugar, not processed) and use fat free milk, so that's not a big deal, calorie-wise.


My workouts promise to be epic. I really want to get back to where I was a year ago with running, and the reason I've tapered off so much is because I stopped doing the basics--sprints, high-knee skips, heel-kick drills--that Gershom always made me do when I was working with him. So tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'll be behind the gym (where I once threw up) doing sprints and high-knee skips, before moving inside to stretch, do core exercises, upper body resistance training (including Burpees, which I loathe but it's like eating broccoli instead of chocolate cake--good for you) and ending with 20 minutes going all-out on the cycle. It sounds like a lot, but it's really no more than Gershom ever made me do in a day.

The plan for the rest of the week is to continue the running basics, do some interval training on the treadmill, and then get out on my favorite two-mile route on Friday and really go for some good, solid running. I'm working on getting my form better, and might even try to chat with Gershom about things I can do to improve it.