Yesterday was a great day.  I walked/ran 19kms total.  My feet were tired and I needed a nap yesterday and today, but it felt great.  I walk my dogs about 5.5 kms every morning and I've also started walking other dogs as part of my business, so I've been getting a lot of walking in lately.  Last night I was supposed to go for a run with a friend, but she cancelled on me.  I decided to go anyways and ended up running for 22 minutes, 4.5kms total in about 30 minutes.  I was quite proud of myself.  I'm starting to see my cardio endurance improve and I bet in the next few weeks I'll be able to run 8kms or so.  My goal is 10kms by the end of August.

Today I walked about 4.5kms and went for a bike ride with my hubby.  I also did some housework.  Tomorrow I'll be walking about 8kms and I'm going to do the 4.5km run again.  I'll be biking to my kids soccer game as well which will be about 4kms.  Not a lot, but every bit helps.  We'll see if I can get in an abs workout too :)

Unfortunately my strength training has been non existent for the past few weeks.  I need to start building it into my day.

I did great for eating today.  For supper I made a summer lasagne with homemade ricotta.  It was so easy and quick.

Routine

It's funny how when you get into a routine and then one day you don't do it, how much you miss it that day.  This is what happened to me today.  Normally I'm up at 7am, and I walk my dogs at 8am.  Today I missed my morning walk and all day long I felt like something was missing.  I felt lazy and slow and I found that I ate more than usual.  Routine can be such a great thing, especially when it's exercise, and you really start to feel a difference in your body when you miss out.  I made up for the missed exercise by doing an Insanity workout this evening and taking the dogs for a shorter walk.

I started a running group in the town I live in this week.  We were supposed to have our first run this morning but no one showed up because it was raining a bit.  I must say that I was disappointed.  There were 5 of us who were going to go and I was really looking forward to it.  We're going to start tomorrow evening instead.  We'll be working up to running 30 minutes straight, using the Get Running App.  I've been taking my running class at the YMCA and I am currently doing walk 3, run 12, walk 3, run 10, walk 5.  I wanted to start this group as a place where women could come learn to run for free.  I really hope that it works out and that they all start to show up.

I made muffins today and I wanted to share the recipe because they were delicious.  You can substitute the oil for applesauce if you'd like.  I had grilled salmon, zucchini and sweet potatoes for dinner tonight.  My hubby made it and it was awesome :)

My friend who is getting married in 50 days (EEECK!) challenged me today.  We agreed that when ever we eat we have to text each other - and be honest - to tell each other what we ate.  Snacks, meals, cheats, everything!  She said that when I cheat she will cheat.  Talk about motivation.  I want her to look fabulous on her wedding day and if I don't cheat till then, she can't either, helping her to look great.  It's a win-win.

Today I started my day with a 3km walk, not my usual 5.5km, but my in-laws were visiting and can't walk as far.  We went out for breakfast and I opted out on waffles with whipped cream and had a veggie omelet with a fruit cup.  The fried potatoes were on my plate, but when I finished my omelet I covered the potatoes with my napkin and didn't touch them.  Normally I would have scarfed them down not even thinking about if I was hungry or not, and not thinking about how bad fried foods are for my body (and yours too:).

For lunch I had leftovers from last nights dinner.  At supper I had steak and grilled red onions, zucchini and portobello mushrooms.  Delicious.

My arms are sore from my arm workout last night, but I'm doing my 8 minute arm video anyways.  It's only 8 minutes so I really don't have any excuses to not do it.

Tomorrow I'm going for a run in the morning with my dog as long as it's not raining hard.  Tomorrow afternoon after work I'm going to go to the gym and do a leg workout.  I'm thinking about starting my own running group for people in my community as well.  This would be a great motivator to help people get up to a 5km and keep me moving in the evenings too.

It's been a week since I last posted and I have not been doing so well.  For several days I ate fast food, when in nearly a year I haven't had any.  I've been snacking on things I know I shouldn't.  And because of the crap I've been eating, my body has been feeling horrible.  I feel fat and slow and unmotivated.

But yesterday I decided to get over my pity-party and start back up again.  And, like I told my friend, if you don't like starting over then stop quitting!

Once you get in the habit of snacking and eating the junk foods, your body needs a few days to detox and get over the hump of the cravings.  I'm going through that now.  Headachy, irritable, and craving food non-stop.  So, what do I do to get past it?  I remember why I started this blog in the first place and remind myself that I have 51 days till my friends wedding.  I bought a red dress that I want to fit into without it having to be altered.  I also start planning meals again, healthy ones.  I fill my fridge with fruits and veggies and I remind myself how delicious they are and how my body will think me for feeding it like it was meant to be.

I went for a 5.5 km walk this morning, I'll go for a 2km walk with a client this afternoon.  Tonight I'm going to take my dog for a bike ride and I will do weights at home focusing on my arms.  I'm also going to do this little gem of a workout after I type this ;)

For breakfast I had an orange.  For lunch I'm having leftovers, quinoa stuffed peppers, and for dinner it is the easiest dinner ever! (On top of wild rice)

The other thing I need to do to keep motivated and to keep moving is to write in my blog everyday.  Hope you keep reading 'cause it keeps me motivated.

The last couple of days have been really great for me.  Sunday was such a beautiful that I was outside for almost all of it.  I started my morning with a 6km walk/jog with one of my dogs.  When I got home I went for a 3km walk with my other dog who can't jog.  In the afternoon the hubby, kid and I went to Gatineau Park and went hiking for 3.5 kms on part of the Trans Canada Trail.  It had a couple of crazy steep hills and I could really feel it in my glutes!  After our hike we had a wonderful supper at Soup'Herbe, a vegetarian restaurant just outside of the park.  For a treat afterwards, we went for ice cream.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.  It felt so good to soak up the sun and to be so active.

Yesterday I started my day with a 5.5km walk with a friend.  If you have time in the morning, I highly recommend starting your day off with a brisk walk.  Even if you can only get out for 10-20 minutes in the morning, it is SO worth it.  It will help to energize you throughout the day.

Today was kind of a grey day so I didn't get out in the morning.  I did however, go to my running class this evening.  We did 5-10-3-10-5 (walk-run-walk-run-walk) tonight, almost 5kms.  I brought my dog along with me which is always a big motivator for me to run further and longer.  I've also found that running while listening to music makes a big difference in the distance I can run.  When I'm not concentrating on running, being distracted by some great tunes, I can run further and usually run faster as well.

This is my running play list right now, Rolling in the Deep (Adele), Give Me Everything (Pitbull), Shake Señora (Pitbull), Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack), Party Rock Anthem (LMFAO), and Take Me Away (Danny Fernandes).

Choose some upbeat music that keeps you motivated.  It will help you keep pace and encourage you to keep those feet moving.

My hubby made a great soup for dinner tonight.  Here's the recipe.

Well, I've been up for 5 hours and I'm beat!  After my kid went to school I walked my dogs 5.5kms.  We made good time and finished in about 55 minutes.  Then I had a dog client (I'm a dog trainer :) and I jogged with him for 5kms and walked 3kms.  So I'm up to 13.5kms so far today.  I think that's enough exercise for one day.

For breakfast I had a yogurt cup and then a banana after my jog/walk.  For lunch I had a small bowl of vegetable soup, a spinach/mushroom/avocado salad and a cup of tea.  If you're not a fan of tea, I highly suggest you reconsider.  It is great for curbing cravings and giving your mouth something to do rather than eat.  It's also a great way to add more water to your day.  I LOVE David's Tea.  It is absolutely amazing.  They have the most delicious teas that you can imagine with flavours like Read My Lips, Forever Nuts, Mango Tango and Cinnamon Hearts.  Right now I'm drinking Read My Lips and it is divine!  It has peppermint, chocolate and red lip sprinkles in it.  YUMM :)'

Tonight for dinner I'm making breakfast burritos.  A recipe I found on Pinterest.  Tomorrow night it's veggie burgers a baked spring rolls.  I can't wait to make these.  They look so good.

Till tomorrow!  Remember that the difference between your body today and a week from now is what you choose to do in the next 7 days.

I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days which is why I haven't posted.  I took a break from exercising for two days and today I'll get back at it.

On Tuesday evening I started my Learn To Run class at the YMCA.  We did a fitness test to see where we are physically.  We will be running for the next 6 weeks and then retest ourselves on week 8.  If you're looking to keep track of your physical improvements, here are some of the components of the fitness test.  You can do them and then retest yourself after several weeks of exercise to see how you've improved.  For overall physical fitness, it is a better way to judge improvements rather than the number on the scale.

1) Abdominal strength - Hold a plank position for as long as you can.  Make sure your butt is level with your body.  When you can hold it no longer, mark your time.  I was able to hold mine for 1 minute, 45 seconds. (Don't compare yourself to me! I'm putting my numbers down so I can remember my times and see how I improved.)

2) Leg strength - Do as many squats as you can in a row.  Make sure you have proper form and do not let your knees go overtop of your toes.  I did 90 squats (and my legs were KILLING me for two days afterwards!)

3) Endurance - Hop on a treadmill and run or walk 1km as fast as you can. If your treadmill is in miles go to a distance of .62 miles. I finished my kilometer in 6 minutes and 14 seconds.

4) Heart rate - Do step ups for 3 minutes.  This one is not a race.  Pick an easy pace that you can sustain for 3 minutes.  After your finished, count your heart beats for 1 minute.  My heart rate was 150 beats.

5) Flexibility - Laying flay on the floor, bend one knee and then bring the other leg straight in the air above you.  Grab hold of your leg and pull towards your torso, keeping your leg straight.  You wan to check the angle of your leg.  Mark down if you are less than 90 degrees, at 90 degrees or greater than 90 degrees (most flexible).  I was greater than 90 degrees.

If you've been thinking about starting to run/jog, there are many great apps out there that you can use to get you going.  The one I really like is called Get Running and it has a picture of a running shoe.  If I remember correctly, it only cost a few dollars and I think it was worth it.  It starts you off at short running intervals with walking in between and you slowly increase your running time.  It also allows you to play music over top of the program.

Today I'm going to go for a run outside (3kms), walk the dogs (5.5kms), do an arm workout and some abs as well.  What are you doing today?