Yuck! Well, maybe not.

We ate dinner at my in-laws tonight. My mother-in-law served asparagus, as she frequently does. For the first time, I cut some up for the boys. I thought, "Just because I don't like the green stuff, doesn't mean that they shouldn't be able to try it." And they loved it -- just like they love green beans and broccoli and peas.

Then, I thought that I had said that I would never make them eat anything that I wouldn't put in my mouth. In the spirit of that and eating more vegetables, I tried the asparagus. And I liked it. It's not that I had never eaten it before, I just hadn't tried it since middle school. I remember something much mushier -- like the canned spinach my mom made me eat once.

I'm actually kind of excited about it. I now have another vegetable to add to my diet arsenal.

Eat Your Veggies!

I added water, and I'm still doing pretty good with that.

I added exercise, and I've done really well with that -- I've only missed one day completely in the last few weeks and I felt so guilty about it, I'm sure it won't happen again.

I added fruit, and as long as I have it in the house, I eat it. My husband went on a banana kick, and we ran out of fruit before I made it back to the store.

I started recording what I eat, and that's gone okay. Nobody is looking at it but me, so I don't feel like I have much accountability.

My next change is going to be adding veggies. Like fruit, just one serving. I think this one is going to be hard for me. I don't really know many veggies to eat. I can't convince my husband that corn isn't a vegetable, and he is in charge of dinner right now. Carrots and broccoli just get boring. If you have some good ideas about how I can add more veggies to my diet, please share them. Otherwise, my fingers will be stained with the orange of baby carrots.

Breakfast Haiku

I ate Peanut Butter M&Ms for breakfast.

No oatmeal for me
Cafeteria was closed
Vending Machine Woe

New Shoes

I love new shoes. I love the smell of new shoes. I love the feel of new shoes. I love shopping for new shoes. Shoes do not judge you. They do not make you look fat. It is not embarrassing if you have to go up a size. You don't have to get naked in a mall to try them on.

I just got a pair of new shoes. I bought myself a pair of Adidas Supernova Sequence.
I went for my first walk with them on Friday night. It was great. My shins hurt much less, and didn't hurt right away.

If you want to take up running I recommend the first thing that you do is get a new pair of shoes. Do not do what I did. Do not wait to buy new shoes until you are sure running is something you want to do. Buy new shoes first. It is worth it. Otherwise, you might just want to quit before you even get started.

I also recommend that you buy your new running shoes at a specialty store. A store with a knowledgeable staff can help you find the right shoes for your feet and gait. In the Treasure Valley, I recommend The Athlete's Foot. The experience sure was better than the last time I bought 'running' shoes at Fred Meyers.

Exercise Calendar

For now, I have decided to keep track of my workouts using Google Calendar. It's not fancy, but it will work for now. The good part, I can share it with you. If you have a better suggestion, please let me know.

Can a Couch Potato run a 5K?

I've been wanting to run, actually run, a 5K race. Except when I was pregnant in 2007, I've participated in the Idaho Women's Fitness Celebration for the last several years, but I've always walked. I've been thinking about training using the Couch to 5K program. I even downloaded several pod casts. But I've been to afraid to start. I can't run. I've never been able to run. It hurts. It hurts my legs. It hurts my feet. It hurts my lungs.

Since I've been walking most days for 30 minutes, on Monday, I finally decided to give it a try. Why not, I asked myself? If I can't finish it, I'll just walk the rest of my laps around the neighborhood.

I loaded Robert Ullrey's Week 1 Podcast onto my ipod, tied my shoes and set out.

Five minutes of brisk walking -- easy peasy.
60 seconds of jogging -- not so bad -- I'd done this a little before.
90 seconds of walking -- my shins hurt a little, but I keep going.
60 seconds of jogging -- I can do this.
90 seconds of walking -- walk walk walk
60 seconds of jogging -- just finish this segment, you can do it!
90 seconds of walking -- Yay Me.
60 seconds of jogging? -- I don't think so.

I completed 3 of the intervals before I decided not to push it to much. Hey, I want to be able to improve, right?

I felt good. I had run some. I rock! Until my leg cramped. It wasn't a cramp I had experienced before. Right at the bottom of my leg, across the front of my lower shin and around the back. It was weird. I couldn't move my foot. So I hobbled home. I didn't get my 30 minutes in, but I did some good stretching, and I felt much better.

Last night, instead of walking (or running) I did my new "Biggest Looser" Boot Camp Video. It was fun, lots of squats.

My new plan is to do the C25K program Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and do the Biggest Looser Video on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll leave Saturdays and Sundays open to try something different, go hiking as a family, or whatever.

Discouraged

I woke up Sunday morning, used the toilet, and stepped on the bathroom scale. I weighed 207 lbs. I know that I didn't expect big changes. I haven't changed my eating habits enough to notice a big loss on the scale, but I certainly didn't expect to see a 4 pound gain. It made me want to cry. So, I ate a bowl of ice cream for breakfast. I know that is not an appropriate reaction. I know it is a really inappropriate action. Then I beat myself up about it all day, and felt terrible. So, I had a bowl of ice cream for dinner. Then I beat myself up about that, and I didn't want to go for my walk. My husband was trying to encourage me, and finally I did cry. I told him how discouraged I felt. I wondered why I should even bother going for my walk. He said he was sorry and he encouraged me to keep at it and he told me how proud he was of me.

So, I put on my shoes and my heart rate monitor. I stretched a bit, and I set out. I jogged twice and had my best time yet -- under 30 minutes. I felt encouraged. I felt good. I felt like I can do this. I even did some push-ups when I got home.

To be successful I'll need to tackle my emotional eating. I don't really know how to go about it and it seems like such a tall mountain to climb. For starters, I will work this week on keeping a food journal. I'll write down everything I put in my mouth, and I'll try to write down why I'm putting it in my mouth.