Weight: 137.2 (-0.8)
Minutes of Exercise: 65 (5 jogging; 15 walking 4.0 miles an hour; 45 walking 3.0 miles an hour)
Calories consumed: 1070
Oh but there is so much more to the story than mere numbers alone. Today I would like to dedicate this blog to some of the tools that I am using to lose the weight....and some of the tools that I really need to buy if I want a chance at success (hint: it involves better running gear).
Let me start out by saying, the iPhone (or having a smartphone in general) has completely changed my "weight loss" life. There are so many apps available to help keep my weight loss on track.
The first must-have app that I found is "myfitnesspal." This little app is great (and free!). I plugged in my weight, height, age, and weight loss goal and it told me how many calories, grams of fat, milligrams of sodium, etc. that I should be aiming for per day to lose 18 pounds by the wedding day.
It also has a database of over 500,000 foods that allows me to keep track of all the calories and nutrients that I consume. It also has an exercise database that calculates (to some degree of accuracy) calories burned per minute doing a particular activity. It also automatically adjusts how many calories per day you can eat based on the exercise you've done. I must admit, I don't particularly trust that figure so I just stick to my daily calorie goal and figure that the exercise is just a bonus. The counselors on "I Used to Be Fat" and "Heavy" would likely agree.
The next app that I have discovered is an interesting little workout app called "Couch 2 5k" (hereinafter, C25K). It's premise is simple enough. It's a combination walking/jogging workout that gradually increases the amount of jogging until a couch-potato user (ie., me) is able to jog a 5k without needing to stop or walk. The program takes 9 weeks (which seems like a match made in heaven for my 75 day challenge) so I've decided to give it a whirl. My favorite part about the app is that I can select whatever playlist I want on my iPhone and then it simply tells me when to start and stop walking and/or running. My least favorite part is that it doesn't have much of a sense of "drama" (hello?! Why would anyone walk during the final verse of "Hello Dolly?!?!") But for 2.99, I think that this little app might be helpful.
I tried out the first workout cycle on the Couch 2 5k yesterday. And I almost made it through the entire thing (the last 1 minute of jogging I walked). This was not for lack of trying nor for getting out of breath. It was because of my terrible shoes!
Look at 'em. They look harmless enough. Maybe not the most supportive things in the world, but certainly bearable right?
Wrong! They are absolute demon shoes. Satan incarnate in the product of a Polynesian sweat shop. You should see what they did to my poor little feet! In fact, you can see what they did to my little feet (squeamish people, I suggest you read no further).
And that's just the external damage! You should feel my ankles. I am convinced that they received absolutely no support. So. Needless to say, I spent the remainder of my workout limping around like dog with three legs.
Lesson learned: I will be buying myself a pair of legitimate running shoes today. I don't particularly want to spend a bunch of money, but I just don't see my C25K thing going much further in those demon loafers that Sketchers tried to pass off for athletic gear.
Another irritating thing about the jogging yesterday: the iPhone earbuds that come standard with the iPhone are terrific if I'm just walking, but when I am jogging they very annoying fall out, like, every 2 minutes. So I will also be investing in a pair of earphones that has some sort of wrap-around mechanism.
Today there are no obvious food hurdles ahead. There are a bunch of Mardi Gras parades, but I've basically resigned myself to a beerless, boozeless Mardi Gras for the sake of looking smashing in my wedding gown.
In terms of exercise, C25K says not to jog today and to leave a day between workouts. So I am going to limp to Walgreens for some bandaids and then walk (slowly), to the Southern Runner store on Magazine to buy a pair of non-deathtrap running shoes and more secure earphones. I'll then wrap it up by walking to school for classes and walking to the parade route after class.
Sounds like a plan. Wish me luck!
Your poor little feet! Maybe you should convince your dad that running shoes and earbuds are technically part of the wedding, and he should buy them.
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