fitness challenge

atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Welcome to January

Yeah, the January workout posts. Guilty as charged. But, as I did this, I could tell that I hadn’t lost much strength from not working out for a while. This was challenging but not impossible. Not every day should or can be a cardio day, no matter how much I enjoy running while I’m doing it.

I’ve been having fun with random meals and doing my best to try and have something light for breakfast. I usually don’t eat breakfast at all. And of course, I made a big ass pork shoulder for New Year’s that will be in a few more meals. I’m upping my veggies and protein most of the time since I’m still working on my goal for all ten fingernails to be completely attached. It’s just the ring fingers that need to grow out now. That’s so freaky… That’s why I want to wean off the Saxenda at some point.

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atthequillsmercy

Workout Dump: Doodles

I normally don’t post the little notes I get from Zombies Run but this one from Sam is just too damn adorable! I really like these training missions! It’s so nostalgic with all the people I heard from way back in season one of the app coming back. And you’ll see I did one mission twice and that’s because I didn’t notice that it hadn’t been marked complete the first time. I just did it again. No biggie. Steps are steps.

I’m making good progress on cleaning out the freezer, which is why I made a random Cornish game hen in the middle of the summer. I don’t want to put the oven on but I also don’t want to waste food. I’m already tossing out a lot of random stuff I’ve unearthed and whenever I do, I hear my mother’s voice telling me that wasting food is a sin. I assuage my guilt by promising not to overbuy things in the future.

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atthequillsmercy

Workout and Food Dump: I miss some things

I’ve been pretty active and trying to do more strength training regularly. I remember my morning and evening squats more often and even grabbed the kettlebell here and there. The only real change I’ve seen is better endurance for my runs and a slight drop in my body fat percentage (37.4 to a flat 37). By weight is still stuck but hey, less body fat is a good thing!

With the longer runs, I try to have dinner cooking while I’m running, but that doesn’t always work. That salmon turned out dry as fuck. Edible but not enjoyable. The rice and beans turned out good, though. That could sit in the rice cooker during a workout without getting ruined. Those pickled onions aren’t homemade this time; I got them from the farmer’s market. They’re pretty good, but there’s just something about making it yourself. I’m probably doing it wrong, too. That’s usually how I end up with unique things at home.

I’m happy-ish with my progress but I miss some of my old workouts. I used to do Zumba and it was fun! But so’s running. I dunno, I’ll think of something.

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atthequillsmercy

Workout Dump and Another Great Find

Yeah, I still don’t know what is up with the Zombies Run app. It’s still not counting my steps. It will start to count the steps then not do it unless I’m legit shaking the phone. I think I’m gonna give up on it and just leave it on a steady run and get my stats in other ways. It’s frustrating because it used to work just fine and I really like their 5k trainer. And it’s not my phone’s accelerometer because the apps I use to convert my steps to points are counting them just fine. 

I’m supposed to be getting more protein in my diet as well as cleaning out the fridge, so I’ve been eating more fish and making sure protein is in every meal. I’ve also discovered a new fantastic sauce from Trader Joe’s: Lemon Pesto Sauce. I bought it without knowing what I’d do with it (I really need to stop doing that) and ended up making that last pasta dish with it. I cooked an entire bag of pasta, added the pesto and pasta water in while I cooked the broccoli (in the same pot because nobody helps me with dishes), broke apart some breaded chicken strips, and mixed that all together. It was so, SO good. It probably didn’t even really need the Parmesan cheese on it, but it was still fantastic. I’m probably gonna have to stock up on it so I still have some when they inevitably discontinue it.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: An attempt was made

I’m so frustrated with how slow things are going that I decided to hop on the C210K trainer and the first workout was 53 minutes. I hadda stop at the third interval. I just couldn’t do it. I walked the rest. All of these workouts are too long for a weekday, so weekend warrior it is. I can either walk or bike during the week. Also, the stride length got reset with the Zombies Run app updated. I am so glad my watch keeps track of things as well. My in-app stats will be off but I’ll just have to live with that.

The farmer’s market by my job is back in business and I had to grab some of the delicious broccoli rabe ravioli and marinara sauce. I love farmer’s market season. They have amazing stuff. Dinner was healthy despite me wanting a burger. Probably craving protein after that long workout but I’m trying to get more veggies in and I was bored with romaine. Not a bad day, all things considered. I just have to regain my stamina for these longer runs.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Setting off!

I’d meant to do the Nellie Bly missions a long time ago and despite characters talking over each other a bit too much for my liking, I like it! It’ll probably be like the last one and not include any zombies, which is fine. I enjoy the storytelling in this app. And this was another long 28 minute run and I think I need to take it easy. I’ve been going hard this week and after today’s run, I felt lightheaded. I’m a very hydrated girlie so, it wasn’t that. It was warmer than usual but I like to think I’m not that sensitive.

Right after my run, I ate my leftover hot pot and had one of the Eat Clean meals for dinner. Those aren’t half bad, but I wouldn’t buy them without the deep discount I’d won in a raffle. I grabbed a handful, cashed in the voucher, then immediately cancelled the subscription. These are handy for days like today where since I wasn’t feeling quite right, standing and chopping a bunch of ingredients to cook was out of the question. I also didn’t want to waste money on takeout; at least not during the week. I tend to save that for weekends as a treat for finishing all my chores on a Saturday. I work hard, I’m entitled to at least one day where I don’t have to cook. 

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: My dogs are barkin’

After I did my run first thing in the morning, I cooled down and went right to walk to the store, then right into doing various chores. When I say my feet hurt, I am mostly whining but yeah, they are super sore, and my skin is freaking out that it’s been exposed to sunlight for more than 5 minutes. Don’t worry, I did use proper sun screen. I have enough problems. I’m not adding sun burn or skin cancer to the mix.

I had a left over patty from yesterday and since I wanted to get my shopping over with, I ate it on the way. By the time I sat down, I was feeling dizzy. Making dinner (yeah, I’m on a salad kick right now) was an adventure and I still feel kinda off kilter. Maybe I wasn’t hydrated enough? I have no idea. I still have at least two more runs to do this week so, I need to get it together.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Incorrect

I goofed and didn’t time the mission correctly and the stride length was wrong so my pace is completely off for this run. The treadmill has a bunch of metrics on it and it said I did 2 miles. I’ll have to tweak it tomorrow for the next run. I know it’s not about the numbers, it’s about burning calories but still! I did those miles and I’d like to see them.

I tried white balsamic vinegar for this salad and it was pretty good! Totally different vibe from the darker stuff. And I got into the spirit of warmer weather and grilled myself a hamburger for dinner. I ended up giving the pickle to my kid because I couldn’t finish it; I was too full. It’s so strange to feel so hungry I could pass out before lunch but too full to finish dinner. While the scale hasn’t moved, I have noticed my face is thinner and so is my waist. I’ll get there. I’m so close to getting out of the 200 club. Once I’m done with the 5k trainer, I’m gonna switch to the 10k, meaning longer runs. I’ll have to do them on my days off or days where I go into work later and do shorter runs during the week. I am aware I need to do more strength training. I invested in some adjustable weights for me and my kid to share.

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Today’s Workout: Different stuff!!

Yup, I’m back at running and found a set of missions I haven’t done yet. I’m running out of those… Ha, puns… Anyway, this is a cute story so far with some honestly low stakes. I haven’t seen how zombies would fit into this if at all but, it’s silly and fun.

This may look like a strange day food wise but, I consider it a success. I always talk about how little fruit I eat and I got two servings in! I had to physically hide them from my child who will see a handful of apples and a box of strawberries and eat ALL of them before I even get a chance. Hell, I should be glad my child will eat fruit and vegetables willingly but, for me to not even get a nibble isn’t fair. The night before, I’d made taco bowls and set some up for lunch. It was so, SO much for my stomach that dinner was a mini bagel and strawberries. I am also aware that the avocado soaking in lemon juice like that probably looks gross but it tasted delicious and packing the cold and hot ingredients separately made everything the right sensory experience; warm meat rice but cool crunchy lettuce (and scallions). It’s a pain in the butt to get it to work and uses a lot of dishes but I was still happy with it.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Gross?

Every time the Zombies Run! app updates, I have to adjust my stride length… Which I did not do before this run so my pace is completely off.  I was digging around in the app and adjusted it and also noticed that 2020 was still the year of my highest mileage. I mean, of course. I was in lockdown and doing c210k, running a minimum of 45 minutes 6 days a week. Probably not likely to top that anytime soon. But, this was another really long run with no breaks and while again, the intervals give me water breaks I enjoy, I was able to get through the whole thing. I even did peek at the timing for c210k for the Just Run app and the shortest runs are 50-ish minutes. Doable if I get up early on a day I’m working late or run on a day off. There’s just no time to do a run that long after work but still have time for dinner and get to bed at a decent hour. I’ll have to tweak my schedule and see but I’m not finished with the 5k trainer yet.

These are… Not the most appetizing food pictures I’ve taken. I had a craving for pancakes. I had them after my run mid-morning. For dinner was butter garlic ready rice, salmon with garlic confit and shallots with some corn thrown in there. It looks greasy as fuck because the garlic confit I made had a ton of olive oil. Ugly to look at? Yes. Fucking delicious? Also, yes. This isn’t a food blog. It’s a “whatever random crap I decide to include” blog. And when you’re satisfying a craving, it doesn’t matter if your plate looks pretty. 

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