Weigh In: Week 8

This week I love the scale :)  I did some things different this week and I'll explain more in a seperate post, but it has to do with the way I journal my food.

Also, I have been continuing to run and I ended up starting the Bridge to 10K (B210K) program.  The first day, Saturday, was pretty hard, but not as hard as my first day of C25K.  The second day, this morning, was about as hard as any workout I've had so far. 

I did it on an empty stomach and my pace was really fast (didn't realize I was going so fast).  I don't know exactly what my pace was, but I can tell you that when I arrived back home, I still had 5 minutes of running left (if I had done my normal pace, I would have arrived back home at exactly the end of the 5 minute cool down - so that is 10 minutes ahead of schedule).

Goals

I am going to start setting goals on this blog each month until I reach my ultimate goal.

When I weigh in next Monday, I'm going to count that towards April.  Therefore, April will end up being a long month (3/28 - 5/2), and so I think its very reasonable to set my April goal to lose 7 pounds.  I've already lost five, so that is two more to go by Monday.

For May (5/2 - 5/30), I have two goals:

• Lose 5 pounds
• Finish the C25K program

Speaking of C25K, I'm doing Week 7, Day 2 this afternoon.  I'm finding myself looking forward to running days and excited to see what I can accomplish for each run.  When I started C25K, I did it because I thought it would be an effective way to get in shape and lose weight.  I never did it because I thought running was fun.  But the more I do it and the better I get, I'm starting to find it very enjoyable and fun.  It's amazing how much can change is just 7 weeks :)

Workout Routine

First, a quick update on the scale.  I am down about 1 pound this morning.  Today is a hard workout day, and I swear if I weigh in tomorrow morning having gained weight, I may just stop working out all together.

Now on to the real post, I wanted to just give an update on what I've been doing for exercise.  I am 6 weeks in to the Couch to 5K program (C25K).  The whole program is 9 weeks long, so I can see the end in sight.  It consists of running/walking for about 30 minutes, 3 times a week .  Here is what week 6 looks consists of:

Week 6, Day 1 (Monday)

• Brisk 5 minute warmup walk, then:
• Jog 5 minutes
• Walk 3 minutes
• Jog 8 minutes
• Walk 3 minutes
• Jog 5 minutes
• Cooldown 5 minute walk

 Week 6, Day 2 (Thursday)

• Brisk 5 minute warmup walk, then:
• Jog 10 minutes
• Walk 3 minutes
• Jog 10 minutes
• Cooldown 5 minute walk

Week 6, Day 3 (Saturday)

• Brisk 5 minute warmup walk, then:
• Jog 25 minutes with no walking
• Cooldown 5 minute walk

I did Day 1 on Monday and today, I will do Day 2.  Day 1 was actually pretty easy.  I'm afraid Day 2 is going to be tough.  It might be an easy workout for a lot of people, but not for me!

In addition to the C25K, I just started doing Power Yoga on DVD this week.  I needed to add in some strength training and I thought Power Yoga would be a good start towards that.  Eventually, I will want to add in some weights or resistance bands.

I did Power Yoga on Tuesday and I was so sore on Wednesday and I am still sore today.

Strength Training

So, in addition to my running program, I am doing some strength training 2 days per week.  I completed my first day today and am feeling good!

Many of you have probably heard about P90X, but have you ever heard of Power90?  Power90 is P90X's predecessor and I got it way back when no one had ever heard about it.  I did it before my wedding and lost about 20 pounds.  It includes a cardio workout and a strength training workout and you alternate between the two 6 days a week.

Honestly, I am burnt out on the complete Power90 program, but I still love the strength training video.  Its like I have a personal trainer right there on my television.  In about 30 minutes, I work all of the core muscle groups and get my stretching in.  So, that is what I am using to do my strength training twice a week. 

I'll keep checking in!