Monday Mamavation

Last week walking totals:

Monday: 4.6
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 4.7 miles
Thursday: 4.6 [30 degrees]
Friday: 1.2 [28 degrees]

Saturday: 1.5
Sunday: 0

Total = 21.6 miles

So I managed to walk just a bit more than the previous week and that’s great!!! I wish I would have been able to get out on Sunday, but it was raining cats and dogs and I was stuck doing my finals, which I waited until the last minute to submit.

Some challenges I faced this week was the frigid temperature. Thursday as only 30 degrees and Friday was a chilly 28 degrees. It was extremely difficult to find the motivation to get up and walk instead of taking the bus. On Friday I opted for the bus, because it was just too damn cold. Though I shouldn’t complain I’ve seen the weather reports of other parts of the country getting slammed with snow!

Also on Thursday I did some calf presses while at the bus stop with my daughter. My calf was like, what the heck is going on!! I did about 20 of them, and definitely felt it most of the day Thursday.

I was too nervous-embarrassed-horrified-terrified to take ‘before’ pictures or measurements before I started walking 2 weeks ago, so I don’t really know if I’ve begun to tighten-tone-lose. I don’t see or feel a difference physically. My morning walk into work gets me more motivated than I had been before I started walking. But, I’m not sleeping better at night. Maybe once I start to shed these lbs I’ll be able to actually sleep through the night. Damn you sleep apnea.

What helped me this week was the arrival of my super comfy walking sneakers! Thank you Zappos for upgrading my shipping!! Before I was wearing my running sneakers which are a bit bulky, and they were hurting my feet. So I was on the hunt on Zappos for some cute sneakers and found these:

 

They are amazing and 100% comfortable for all the walking that I do [should be doing]. And they have definitely made for more comfortable commuting back and forth.

Snacking is something that I’m having a problem with. While I’m still sticking to smaller lighter dinners snacking throughout the day is a problemo for me. When I snack, it’s usually unhealthy stuff. So my new tactic is to put healthy snacks on my desk, so if I have a craving, I only see snacks that are good for me. See my raw almonds on my desk! Yumm. I also have to keep up the water intake, which is hard because I don’t love water. I was using a large glass, which was actually a bit intimidating. And because I like drinking ice cold water, I knew I had to change it up. So I’ve started using a smaller glass, and refilling it more often.

 

So this week I’m aiming at walking 25 miles [oh.my.goodness] and I’m going to look around for an affordable foam yoga roller, like this one:

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

My upper back/traps/shoulders are extremely tense because I’m at the computer for 8 hours a day. I do try to take frequent breaks and stretch, but my upper back is pissed. I’ve tried a foam roller before, and it took some getting used to, but it really helped isolate and loosen the tense spots. It’s also good for lower back and leg pain.

I love love love muscle! My legs have always been stronger than my arms, and I want to build my arm strength. And I want to start doing pushups [shoot-me]. I found this site online http://hundredpushups.com/index.html which helps you to be able to eventually do 100 pushups. I’m not looking to do 100, but I’d like to be able to do more than 5 without falling on my face!!!

Oh and I've also contacted my local Zumba teacher to see if I can bring my daughter into a class with me. I've taken a few Zumba classes before and have loved them! But haven't been able to go for the past 6 months because I don't have anyone local to watch my daughter. The solution? Bring my daughter with me. But see, she wouldn't just sit there on the sidelines cheering me on. She'd be up there next to me dancing too! lol. She is a 5 year old dancing machine!! So I have to see if that is ok, I'm hoping it is, because I know that she would love the music and dancing. And I'd love to be able to go to Zumba again!

I'm trying!!