My first mile

Many evenings my husband and I load the girls up in the stroller and go for a walk.  A nice leisurely stroll that entertains Sunshine and calms Squeaker for the night.  Every night we go I think, "there's my exercise for the day, I'm doing so good."   Yup, time after time I lie to myself.  Don't get me wrong.  It's good to take a walk, something is always better than nothing.  However, if my ultimate goal is to run a marathon, well.....yeah, need something more.  So today I started.  I walked a five minute warm up, then came my first sprint.  Only fifteen seconds into it, my legs were on fire and my lungs felt like they were going to burst.  I thought this over and over again.  I pushed for sixty seconds then began my two minute recovery walk (remember, I haven't run for almost three years and I've put on about sixty pounds since the last time) and I decided I could do this.  I just can't think about it hurting.  Ninety percent of the pain was in my mind anyway and as long as I pushed, I would get to the other side.  By the third sprint I couldn't "feel" any pain.  In fact, I felt good.  My body began to remember how to run.  My legs moved and pushed and it was amazing.  Twenty-five minutes later and I was back home.  Sixteen minutes.  That's how long it took me to go a mile.  My first mile in three years.  Now, I didn't run the whole time, but I will work up to that.  Little by little I will make it.

My new friend

Biggest Loser. I think it might be an obessession of mine. Week after week watching people lose all that weight, it's a miracle. Many times I think if I were just there, it would make all the difference. Someone watching my every move, pushing me harder than I ever thought possible. Yeah, if I just had that I could do anything. Then I see Jillian screaming and swearing at everyone....I would meltdown constantly. I really would be the one crying in every shot. I don't do well with pressure.
Anyway, it is a good motivator. Today (I know it's not Tuesday. Hulu. Nuff said) I was watching and was reminded of the most basic principle of weight loss: calories in, calories out. The more you consume the more you have to work to burn it all, the more you burn the more weight you will lose. Well, I hate tracking those things. Books take too long and I never know how many calories I burn when I work out (plus I hate math and waiting till the end of the day to add it all up makes underestimating my calories in very easy). I'd love to get the trackers that you just wear all day, but they're a little too spendy for my budget right now. So what's a girl to do?
 I found a website called My fitness pal It has a huge data base of food and their nutrition facts, including brand names so you don't have to guess if it's close to what you are using. It sets a calorie intake goal for you and then as you add things it shows exactly how much more you can eat. Best thing about it? There are apps for your phone. Yup, you don't have to be tied to your computer to keep track(just to your cell phone, but aren't we all at this point anyway?) that way you can enter as you eat and decide if that extra helping will really fit in or not.
It also has a place for exercise.  You pick the workout and how long you did it and it gives you how many calories you've burned.  Of course, this is an estimate, but at least you get an idea.
I'm still pretty new to it and there are a ton of aspects that I haven't explored yet. I'm loving it so far though and plan to keep using it.