I Got a Blister!

I am very excited to announce that I got a blister while running this morning!  I know, this may sound weird, but if you think about it, it means that my fitness level is back to a point where I am doing enough to get a blister.  WIN.

What was I doing?  I ran for 20 minutes.  Oooo.  It's very bizarre for me to think that less than 3 years ago I ran over 13 miles, at one time, with each under 10:00/mile.  And now jogging for 20 minutes straight is an accomplishment.  But it is.  :)  I let my fitness level slide and the build back up is important and not to be dismissed or undervalued.  :)

It feels good to be back in it.  Blisters and all.

Also, my calves hurt pretty bad, specifically my left one.  I think it may have been a not as great idea to run two days in a row (especially where I am just getting back into it), but I really wanted to run on that treadmill (in MSILAHG) and not in the New Hampshire cold (outside my mother's house), so I did it.

Every time I felt the pain in my left calf (most of the run) I did one of two things: distract myself by computing prime factorizations of even 3 digit numbers in my head or yell at my calf to "Buck up!"

These methods seemed to have worked.  (I should note that I congratulated my calf for persevering upon completion of the task--I give positive feedback too.)

On a different note, I have been going over my target calories daily but only by a few dozen which I still consider a win.  Today I was under by 837.  I have no idea how this happened.  I didn't feel like I was starving myself.  Being away from home and routine is hard.  :(

I haven't decided if tomorrow will be a rest day or a take it easy cardio day (my mom has several machines at her house, like an elliptical and a gazelle) or a strength day.  You'll just have to wait and find out!

Ran Today

Today was Week 5, Day 2 of the Couch-to-5K plan.  It's run 8 minutes, walk 5, run 8.  It went fine.  I am a little nervous for Day 3 as it is 20 minutes of straight running.

Yes, I know that I ran a sub-10 minute mile half marathon less than 3 years ago.  And did 3 halfs in total.  But I just feel so out of shape.  I think the 20 minutes will go fine, but am a little nervous.

My husband and I had been doing the program together, but with my trip home, we can't right now.  He wanted to be all cute and do them at the same time.  I told him that I'd prefer to do them in the morning while he's at work, but we can still do the same thing the same days.

Tuesday was his first chance.  Rather than do the run 5, walk 3, run 5, walk 3, run 5 plan, like he promised, he ran wicked fast.  He claims he is going to do the 8-5-8 today.  I have low expectations.  :)

My Sister-In-Law's Amazing Home Gym

Today I lifted in My Sister-In-Law's Amazing Home Gym, which I shall refer to as MSILAHG (pronounced miss-ill-ogg).

It was as wonderful as I'd have hoped.  I considered listing MSILAHG's contents in their entirety and then determined that with some minor social engineering, a mal-intented stranger (or 'frenemy') could break in and steal it all.  So I will not *explicitly* post the list, but rather talk about most of it throughout the posts and make said meanie-head do a little bit of work to figure it all out.

So, for the actual lifting I wanted to hit every major muscle group.  This is what I did:

Legs: DB Step Ups, 3 sets of 15 reps each per leg; 1st set: body weight, 2nd set: 5 lb DBs, 3rd set: 10 lb DBs
Back: Lying DB Pull-Overs, 3 sets of 15 reps; 1st set: 15 lb DB, 2nd & 3rd sets: 25 lb DB
Chest: DB Chest Press, 3 sets of 15 reps with 15 lb DBs (on the weight bench!!!)
Shoulders: Front-to-Side Raises, 2 sets of 15 reps with 3 lb DBs
Abs: Stability Ball Crunches, 2 sets of 20 reps

To explain the shoulder exercise (because I don't think it's obvious how suck-tastic it is),  you start off by doing a front raise, then move the dumbbells out so that you are in a side raise position, then lower them to your sides, then do a side raise, then move them to the front raise position, then lower them to the front.  This is one rep.  Yuck.

Tomorrow is Week 5 Day 2 of Couch-to-5K...on the treadmill in MSILAHG!!!!!

Away from Home

Yesterday, I flew to New Hampshire for the next couple weeks.  I historically stink at staying healthy while away from home and my routine, so I am really hoping I do better this time.  Mostly because it is for such a long time!

The good news: I'm staying with my brother and his family.  My sister-in-law has a *sweet* home gym.  This morning I did Week 5 Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K plan and instead of running in the freezing NH cold, I ran on her treadmill...while watching the Today Show...with a built-in fan blowing on me.  It was lovely.  Tomorrow I plan on lifting.  In their basement.  Because it is quite well stocked.  :)

The bad news: I'm staying with my brother and his family.  My sister-in-law is an amazing cook.  I want to eat her food.  In excess.  All of the time.

Must be vigilant!

Magic Thanksgiving

Somehow, I ate like a crazy person on Saturday night, Sunday and Thursday and still lost 0.8 pounds.

This Thanksgiving was truly magic.

Busy Erin Update

There's actually a lot to post, but I don't really have the time to make them interesting.  So instead, I'll phone it in with a (newly named) Busy Erin Update!

Friday: We did our Saturday run cause we knew we couldn't on Saturday.  Went very well.  :)

Saturday: Flew to NH!  Started the day out eating well.  Went for a mid-day walk with my sister, brother-in-law, nephew and husband.  Had my Italian sister-in-law bring wicked delicious dinner.  Ate.  So.  Much.

Sunday: Same sister-in-law made delicious brunch.  Diet out the window.  Bad.  So very bad.  Arrived home around 8pm and did 20 minutes of light cardio just to feel on track again.  Very happy with that decision.

Today: Healthy eating once again.  Went rock climbing, but didn't really feel up to it.  Did one climb, 10 body weight squats and 10 slow calf raises.  It's something...  :)

Great Run!

Today we did Week 4, Day 2 of the Couch-to-5K plan.  Recall that I skipped Day 1.  This concerned me.  Especially because it ups the running ante from 3 minutes to 5!!!  I have in my head that I am horribly out of running shape.  As such, I was worried.

Well, I had nothing to fear.  The run went great.  For the first time, I felt good while doing the run. Running Erin may be back.  Maybe.  We'll see.

I also weighed in today, because apparently at 0530, I think Thursday is Friday.  I was down 0.6 pounds.  Let's see what the official weigh-in tomorrow brings!

Harnessing My Excitement!

Yesterday was a rest day for me.  I left work having some kind of crazy allergic reaction to something with the right side of my face blocked and leaking--nose and eye, respectively--and pressure in my head.  It was supposed to be Week 4 Day 1 of Couch-to-5K, so I'll be running only twice this week.  I think I'll be fine.  If I'm not, we'll just repeat this week.  NBD.

Today we went rock climbing and something great happened.  I noticed it on Monday, but even more so today.  I bought my harness in January and it fit great-slid off and on very easily.  Then time happened.  Marriage.  Eating.  You know.  And for some time it was sliding on and off, but it was getting snug and making me nervous.  /shame. 

I was particularly worried about the sliding off portion.  I regularly took great care to ensure that my pants did not slide with it.  This is a real issue.

Anyways, today it slid on with very little sliding against my hips (read: it's looser!).  Then, when I tightened it, I noticed that the strap was longer when I pulled it tight.  For those not familiar with harnesses: my waist is noticeably smaller. 

Win.

Only for Holly...

Today I had no work.  Normally this means I would sing my no work song (Lyrics: No work, no work, la lala lala lalaaaaaaaaa) and sleep in.  Once I awoke and left my bed (not necessarily in quick succession), I would likely eat breakfast, then sit on my couch for a bit.  Perhaps check out Lifetime for an original movie, perhaps not.  I know, living crazy.

Not today though, not today.

Holly suggested I come work out with her.  Since I rarely see her anymore now that I live (in a magical place) far away from everyone that I know and love (except for my sexy husband).  So, I woke up at 0530, carpooled in with my husband, dropped him off to work the morning, went to Holly's house, followed her to drop her son off at school, followed her to my old stomping grounds (more on this later), met Justin there, exercised (more on this later), hot tubbed, picked up my husband, went (indirectly) to Arlington National Cemetery (more on this later) to pay our Veteran's Day respects, came home, napped, went climbing with Josh (more on this later),  came home again, made dinner, and wrote this blog post. 

I repeat, only for Holly.

I owe you some additional details:

...my old stomping grounds...

I went to Lifetime Fitness in Columbia!  It was nice to be back.  I saw two people who had quit while I was a member (April 2009 - January 2012) and work there now.  It's like Hotel California. 

...exercised...

They got some crazy new elliptical machines.  Naturally, I wanted to try them out.  You can set your stride length!  CRAZINESS!  Also, they have a place to stand on the outsides of the elliptical track so you can do some dumbbell work (and, of course, they have dumbbells attached) or use just your arms for an upper body cardio workout.  Throughout my 30 minutes, I did 2 2-minute arm sets.  Interesting.  And fun!

...went (indirectly) to Arlington National Cemetery...

This was a mess.  But an important mess that I'm glad we did.  Since we were north, I suggested we drive directly there.  Josh said parking would be AWFUL.  I suggested parking at a metro stop near it on the (long) way home.  So, we took the west side of the beltway home and decided to park in Rosslyn.  You see, there is a garage ATTACHED to the Rosslyn metro station...that is currently closed because it is under construction.  We ended up missing turns, driving in circles and finally parking.  Once we entered the metro (down the longest escalator in my memorable experience--terrifying, remember my fears of falling to my death??!?!?) we barely missed the train...and sat for 12 minutes waiting for the next one to take us the one stop to Arlington.  Sigh.  Likely would have been faster to go home and take the metro in from there...lesson learned.

But once we got there it was wonderful.  There is something indescribable about taking advantage of our close proximity to the cemetery to visit it on Veteran's Day.  This is something Josh has tried to do every Memorial and Veteran's Day and I am glad to join him.  We sat and paid our respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We decided to stay for the Changing of the Guard, which I love.  It was only my second time there, but I hope to make the trip semiannually at a minimum.  

...went climbing with Josh...

Josh climbed.  I belayed.  I was super sore from the hike yesterday and I ellipticalled this morning.  Josh did two climbs and then hit the wall so hard with both feet I thought he broke something.  He did.  For now, just his toenails.  He claims nothing else.  Time will tell.

Back to work and couch-to-5k tomorrow.  :)

Carderock-ed It.

Josh has been wanting to take me hiking at Carderock for quite some time.  We had plans to go in early October, but as many of you know, all of our October plans fell to the wayside in the wake of my mother's brief hospital stay in Maryland.

With tomorrow being a day off of work, I wanted to do something outdoors today that would involve low intensity cardio for an extended period of time.  My first inclination was to walk miles around Washington DC.  I've been there more times than I can count, but I just *love* walking the mall and the surrounding areas.  Second, I thought about finally walking from National Harbor to Old Town Alexandria, across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and back.  It's about 7 miles round trip.  Great long walk.

I was leaning toward the bridge when I remembered Carderock.  I suggested it to Josh and he was thrilled!  We went to this entrance:

It's on the Maryland side of the park.  Apparently the Virginia side costs $5.  This side is FREE.  (Erin & Josh <--- Winners!)

Josh wanted to take the Billy Goat Trail A.  There's an A, a B and a C.  Apparently B and C are reasonable.  A is not.  I did some online research.  According to this website, the A section is:

Note: I classify this hike as being moderate but those with balance problems and other certain phobias may have issues with this hike. I won’t go into a detailed explanation but will just say that the trail’s name was aptly applied.

 Huh.  *I* have balance problems and many phobias.  I should not go on this hike.  Let's see what the comments say.  Like, Ryan:

"...I would say that so long as you don't have balance problems and/or a fear of heights, anyone should be able to do this hike....Watch for snakes- I have run across black snakes and copperheads on and near the trail..."

Or Christi:

"Its pretty difficult, and we turned around when we got to the very difficult rocks..."

Or Leslie:

"I'm not sure I would say it was for beginners. It has some steep declines/inclines on rocks and it would be challenging for beginners..." 

 Why, thank you, Ryan, Christi and Leslie!  Your warnings have been duly noted.  It seems that unbalanced, irrational fear of falling, newbie climber Erin should stick to the easy sections.  Right?

Josh disagreed and assured me that he'd done it three times and I'd be fine.

And it was lovely!  Check out the beautiful photos:

Wait--what's that 3rd photo?  OH!  You mean the steepest, most terrifying rock I've ever had to get from the top of to the bottom?!?  I'm not sure that picture does it justice.  Here:

I had to get from the dot, down.  All the while on that terrifyingly steep decline, ledge thingy.  I scooted down most of it on my butt.  And I say that with no shame whatsoever.

As it turns out, I tore my pants, but did not know.  Until I went into the grocery store afterwards.  Black pants, purple spot.  I guess that's one of the risks you run being so incredibly tough and outdoorsy as me.  :D

All in all it was a wonderful day!  It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to go ~3.5 miles.  To be fair the trail was about 2 miles and took us 2 hours.  The final bit was a speedwalk for the mile and a half or so back to the park entrance (we were running late).  It took us a long time for several reasons:

1) I am slow;
2) I was terrified in many places, slowing us down even more;
3) EVERYONE was hiking Carderock today and the Billy goat trail goes both ways so we constantly got bottlenecked waiting for others to pass;
4) there were so many college kids having loud conversations about things I did not care about and we intentionally stopped to let them pass us so we would not have to hear their conversations; and
5) we stopped for 10-15 minutes to sit, eat a powerbar and enjoy the gorgeous river.  <3

I definitely got better as I went and if I ever forget my fear and do it again I will be excited to see how much more confident I am with all the rock climbing up and down!

Josh and I then cleaned up and attended a residents-only tasting party at the Stonewall Kitchen store.  And put back on every calorie we burned today.  The way it should be.  :)

Run, Dish, Weigh-In, Date Night, Run, Baby Shower, Post

This week I didn't feel so hot Tuesday and Wednesday and was just exhausted at the end of the night Thursday--I apologize for not posting.  Then Friday was a rest day, so... 

To fill my fans in:

THURSDAY

I has a lady date with my dear friend, Amanda F. and so Josh and I did the couch-to-5K workout out(side of) work.   :)  We ran around the neighborhood by Josh's office.  Since I hadn't been feeling so hot, it wasn't super fun.  But I did it.  :) 

The lady date was to grab a quick bite for dinner, then go to Let's Dish to...Dish!  I'm kind of in love with it.  When my mom was in the hospital recently, Amanda had some Let's Dish meals shipped to our house and it was so wonderful to have the help in making dinner.  I'd done it once before, but eating for 1 and not a strict schedule like now, it was tough to guarantee the benefit.  At this point, Josh and I can really benefit from it.

So what is it?  Let's Dish is a place where you go and leave with a prepped dinner--literally all that is left to do is the cooking part.  Furthermore, they do all the chopping for you!  You preselect and pay for various meals.  Once there, you go station to station and follow very simple instructions to prepare the food.  Things like seasoning meat, mixing sauces, etc...  All ingredients are kept separated into their various roles in freezer bags.  You then take them home and freeze them.  When it's time to make them, you thaw and follow very simple instructions.  And the food is delicious.  I am in love.  Last night we had Sautéed Cranberry-Apple Chicken with a Cranberry Orzo.  Only 346 calories per serving!  Yum nom nom.

FRIDAY

 

This was a rest day.  It is also weigh-in.  And also Josh and my weekly movie date night.

I lost more weight!  3.2 pounds!  My total so far is 5.2 pounds!  I added the myfitnesspal.com icon to the blog (----------> over there and on top!) so you can track more easily.  I weigh-in on Fridays.  FYI.

For our weekly movie date night we usually grab a redbox or Blockbuster movie (<--there's actually a Blockbuster that's open in Alexandria, VA!  Who knew?).  We alternate picks.  Last night was Josh's pick.  We watched The Hunter.  Sad.  But decent.  Willem Dafoe did a good job, but ever since I saw him as the Green Goblin in Spiderman, he creeps me out.  /shivers.

 

SATURDAY

Today we completed week 3 of the couch-to-5K program.  1/3 of the way done!!!  We went for a 10 minute walk after.  I want to get closer to 30 minutes of cardio at a time and the program was only 18 this week.  It was a nice walk on the pier at National Harbor. 

Then we headed up to a baby shower for my dear friend, Amy.  It was a wonderful day and it was great to catch up with friends from my old church.  <3

I knew there'd be junk food--mostly because I knew what my friend, Meagan, was making--so I packed a lunch.  Healthy choice FTW!  I had an extra 500 calories in my day today, so I indulged in a chocolate-covered oreo ball.  De-lic-ious.  I repeat: yum nom nom.

Will Elliptical for Food

I'm not going to lie: today I ellipticalled solely to add cheese to my turkey chili and enjoy a biscuit on the side.  There's no shame in pre-planning.

It's Wednesday, so it's a rock climbing day.  I did my first route and really felt like I was having an off day.  I attempted my second route and my leg tensed up shortly up the wall.  As such, I made the executive decision, that it was not a rock climbing day for this girl.  :) 

Since I had already gotten all psyched up about my turkey chili for dinner and the various add-ons I wanted, I headed to the cardio area of the climbing gym and literally ellipticalled until I reached my desired number of calories.

The cheese and biscuit were delicious.

I Was Almost on TV!!!

ABC News was on my running route!!!!  But could not care less about my presence.  :/

Josh and I went to vote after work.  I must say it was a genius plan.  Last election, I lived in Baltimore County and decided to vote first thing to get it out of the way.  2 hours later, I completed my civic duty.  This election--albeit in a different county--we decided to go *after* work and waited...maybe 5 minutes?  WIN.

Once we got home, we got suited up for a cold, nighttime run along the river.

Since I didn't get to wear my (bilingual!) "I voted!/¡Yo voté!" sticker to work like all the cool kids, I wore it on my run.

We did the couch-to-5K week 3, day 1 program.  It upped the running ante from a max of 90 seconds at a time to 3 minutes.  Whew-ee.  It really wasn't a problem.  :)

On the way back, I tried to look like an interested citizen with regard to the MD Question 7 party being held with all the news trucks.  I would have given them a GREAT interview. 

But no one cared.  It's really the local viewing area's loss.  :)

Ventured into the Real World

Today I took a sick day from work to starve myself until noon and swallow a camera.  (Check out this late breaking article from 2006 about it.)  Pill.  A camera pill. 

Science is very cool.  The entire time I wore the allegedly-discrete-but-in-reality-very-much-so-not-incognito computer purse pack thing,

I felt so very cool.  I mean, there was something inside of me, being externally powered, taking 14 color, digital photos per second (according to the website linked above) and allowing the doctor zoom in 75 times if necessary.  Very.  Cool. 

But then, when I turned the pack back in, all I could feel is that I have a piece of trash in my digestive tract just waiting to come out.  I know, I'm so deep.  :)  (I am also weirdly excited for it to pass--I mostly am curious the duration of time it is in my system.)

Anyways, I had to go on a clear liquid diet from after lunch Sunday til 12 today (with nothing allowed from midnight to 10am--not even water!!!).  I was surprised by how tired and weak I was this morning.  Not ridiculously so, but I definitely felt sluggish.  I was very happy to dig in at lunch time! 

I met Amy at Panera for lunch.  Yum.  I put all of my food into my myfitnesspal.com app beforehand to make sure I was staying in the limits.  This was somewhat simpler since I did not eat until noon.  :)  It.  Was.  Delicious. 

I even had enough room for a tall nonfat gingerbread latte no whip.  Not ideal, but I'll take it.

And on the 8th Day...Erin Rested

Ahhhhh, rest.  I was really enjoying my new workout pace.  I had missed the zone--it's good to be back.  But, like always, my body was all: "Hold up, woman.  We need a break!"  And then I thought about it; I've worked out for 8 days in a row.  Sure, today I will rest. 

Josh went rock climbing and I belayed him. I argue this is some sort of exercise as there is consistent arm moving motion.  However, I did not list it as exercise in myfitnesspal.com because I think it's not *really* exercise and I don't need the extra calories today.  (The website counts playing guitar while standing and cleaning as exercises.  Cleaning!  Clearly belaying would count too...in any event, it's more calories burned than the alternative of sitting on my couch for the hour.  Amirite?!?!)  So, no recorded workout today.

This turned out to be a good thing, because I have a test tomorrow that requires me to be on a clear liquid diet starting today after lunch.  So it would have been tough to replenish any calories lost with a good workout.  I may or may not workout tomorrow because of an evening appointment, but I will be on clear liquids until noon or so, so again I should be fine calorie-wise.  I am trying to get some short cardio in though, if I feel up to it.  (I worry I may not because I am beginning to get quite dependent on a steady diet for proper energy during a workout in my old age...)

So, today I headed to the grocery store and made sure to pick up some key, clear liquid diet items:

Apple Juice
Beef Bouillon
Pre-Made Sugar-Free Lemon/Lime Jello
Box of Island Pineapple Jello

It's a party.  Clearly.

I went shopping right before lunch and was getting pretty hungry toward the end of the trip.  I perused the dairy section for the pre-made Jello.  If I have to eat only clear liquids (which I am not thrilled about), I don't want to have to *make* Jello.  I want to buy it.  Made.  And none of that garbage that sits on the shelf.  I want refrigerated, Jello-brand, J-E-L-L-O Jello.  So, I was a tad cranky when I only found one pack of sugar-free pre-made Jello.  There were not even empty shelf sections with tags for the other.  This floored me.  And made me crankier.

I asked an employee and he didn't even know what I was talking about!  I'm sorry, did I enter the Twilight Zone?!?!  Who has not heard of these?  Supermarkets in New Hampshire and in Ellicott City, Maryland have entire refrigerated display case sections dedicated to this.  What happened, Northern Virginia Harris Teeter?!?!

My ever-so-patient husband sat with the cart while I paced all up and down the dairy section, then stomped back to the baking aisle.  He pointed out several flavors that sounded yummy (to add to my dismay, I can't have red colored Jello--my favorites!). 

I chose Island Pineapple.  And, when we got home, without a word Josh made it for me.  /swoon

And I devoured it for dinner.  All 320 calories of it.  Yum.

My Kind of Triathlon: Run, Hike, Eat

Today, Holly organized a fun hiking and picnicking day today with us and some dear friends.  Since Saturdays are also our Day 3 for the couch-to-5K program, we decided to wake up early to run.  And by "we", I mean "Josh".  Let it be known that I hate early morning workouts.  In order to meet everyone on time, we set the alarm for 7:15 am.  (Before you give me grief about this, I wake up at 5:30 am every weekday--give me Saturday sleep-in or give me...um...a nap?)

When we got outside, my first non-grumpy thought was: At least's it light out.  Then, as we reached the river and began our run, I thought: This is pretty.  I really do love our running path.  :)

Week 2 completed.  Week 3 begins Tuesday.  :)

Next up (after breakfast), was the hiking!  We went to Patapsco State Park (I've been wanting to go since I moved here in 2003 and just never have) at the McKeldin Area (for those who do not know Maryland very well, PSP is GINORMOUS and has many different areas to visit).  Also, it costs $2 per vehicle to get in (if you live in state), so it's a fun day for very little cost.  We decided to head out toward the first trail we saw and then follow the river.  There are a lot of trails that meet down there, so we'd keep moving along the river until we decided to take a trail out. 

It was a wonderful hike!  Great weather--slightly chilly, but not too cold, great company and greats scenery.

Josh insisted on picking up walking sticks.  For the second half of the hike, he had two.  Naturally.

When we finished (after about 75 minutes and an unknown distance), we picnicked!

 Thanks for a great day, Holly! <3

The Weight is Over (See what I did there???)!

 I am very pleased with myself for the title, if I'm being honest.  So, I left you hanging on the edge of your expensive computer chairs last night with my post awaiting weigh-in results...2 pounds!  Exactly.  I'll take it.  With a smile.  :)

Looks like my current plan is working.  I'll stick with it.

Today we went to the climbing gym and didn't climb.  :)  We utilized the small, yet better than our apartment gym, free weight area.  Several draws to making the drive were: a smith machine, a bench press, many olympic bars and weight plates, and a larger selection of dumbbells.  If they had a squat rack, Josh would be completely satisfied.  Coming from Globogym, I would not. But, hey--it's taking care of my current fitness needs, so I'm happy.

Full-Body Lifting Routine:

Smith Machine Squats: 35/15, 55/15, 65/12

DB Dead Lifts: 20/12, 20/12, 20/12

BB Bench Press: 45/15, 65/12, 85/8

Back Superset:
   Lat Pulldowns: 50/12, 50/12, 50/12
   Bent Over DB Rows: 20/12, 20/12, 20/12

Standing DB Shoulder Press: 10/15, 12.5/15, 15/15

On an unrelated, but very exciting note, my number of myfitnesspal.com friends DOUBLED overnight!!!  Yup, it is no longer just my husband and Holly.  Popularity is so good for my self-esteem.  :)

Sucralose?! More like Sucra-GROSS!

For my mid-morning snack I enjoy some yogurt and fruit.  It is wonderful.  I buy the 12 pack of small yogurts and eat two every day.  It's great.  Sometimes I get the Strawberry/Blueberry pack and sometimes I get the Strawberry/Peach one.  All the time, it's delicious.

This week, we did our shopping in 3 separate trips.  Friday night, we bought minimal non-perishables in case we lost power for several days.  We don't really keep things like that in the house, so we thought it would be a good idea to get some.  Sunday, we bought dinner foods for Sunday and Monday night (in the event we lost power on Monday due to the storm we didn't want to lose too much food).  Then on Tuesday night, we bought food for the remainder of the week.  We had survived the storm with no break in power, so we would have been fine, but I guess we couldn't have known. 

Anyways, I blame this nonstandard shopping trip for my critical error.  When I got to the yogurts, I saw Strawberry and Blueberry on the box and bought it.  And it was "Light". 

Just look at how easy it was to confuse them:

Who looks for a light blue swooshy area?  No one.  Ok, whatever, I can do light.  I'm flexible.  So yesterday was the first day I packed it in my lunch box.  (Ok, it's a lunch bag, but that sounds weird to me.)

I started with the blueberry.  It was bad.  I mean, B-A-D-BAD.  But I ate it.  Mostly to keep my diet consistent so my body would get roughly what it expects (I am training it, you see).  Then I got to the strawberry.  It is one of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth.  After bite 2 or 3 I actually felt my stomach convulse in a slight gagging motion.  I am not one prone to such things.  Since I am stubborn about calories, I finished it.  It was rough.  Today, I ate 2 blueberries.  Not as bad, but not good either.  I will be throwing out the rest and purchasing the regular kind tonight.

After I finished them yesterday, I studied the package to see what the deal was.  I noticed they contained sucralose.  Interestingly enough, I had *just* read Lyn's blog about how she accidentally bought fruit in sucralose and hated it as well.  Lyn wrote that sucralose is what Splenda is.  I have always disliked Splenda as well.  I just find it too sweet.  I wish I could use it in my coffee, but I just can't. 

I am not sure what the sucralose craze is all about.  I wonder if it's like cilantro--some people love it, others think it tastes like soap (I'm in the soap camp)--maybe it actually tastes good to some.  Not to me and Lyn.  :)  I, for one, am a huge fan of aspartame.  I love me a Diet Coke.  When I was in college, I worked in a supermarket and some woman talked to me for like 30 minutes about how Diet Coke gave her Lupus and that's why she was buying (literally) hundreds of dollars of natural, anti-biotic free, grass-fed meats.  I feel for her, but don't see her anecdotal evidence as a valid reason to quit it.  :)  But I digress. 

I've never minded sugar-free, artifically sweetened stuff before sucralose came around.  I also don't mind real sugar.  Like most things, it's fine in moderation.  But this sucralose stuff?  No thank you.

Outdoor Run & ... ... Suspense!

Today is a pretty boring blog day.  I did the Week 2, Day 2 program of the couch-to-5k plan.  The good news is that this is the first run that the outsides of my calves did not hurt after the first few minutes.  My right one was a little sore at the end, but like a dull sore vs the sharper pain I was experiencing.  I am glad because I expected something like this to happen in the beginning and then go away as I get back into it.  If that didn't happen I would have been concerned that I was hurting myself!  Phew.  :)

Ok, now the suspense part!  Tomorrow will be one week from when I started using myfitnesspal.com.  As such, Friday has become my weigh-in day.  Tomorrow everyone will know how the first week went!  Tomorrow...oh, the suspense!

Since I have nothing good in this post, here's a baby red panda.  /swoon