Yesterday was 1,300 calories.  I can't remember why this is less than what i'd estimated they would be.  Oh, I only had one alcoholic drink at dinner, instead of the two that i'd allowed myself on fitday!  And a few other changes I guess.

Ran 12 minutes out of 30 again yesterday.  At the end of it, I felt like I could probably have done another few rounds of running.  At the beginning, I thought I was going to die.  Eating your fill then going to the gym right afterwards isn't the best idea in the world.  I really wanted to...you know...all over the treadmill.  It took at least 20 minutes to get into the groove of running, and then I only had 10 minutes left!

This morning I took the morning off of exercise, I will start level 2 of the Shred tomorrow morning instead.  I feel good for the extra sleep - I needed it I think.  My plan is to hit the gym with gym buddy again tonight, then take the weekend off of running and start again on Monday.  I don't know if I will run tonight though.  Depends on my energy levels and how my knee is feeling.  So far, it's feeling pretty good.

My throat was really sore when I got up this morning.  I sure hope i'm not coming down with a cold or something.  I've been illness-free for almost two months now, and I want to keep it that way!  Other than the odd sniffles, my immune system is keeping me from catching anyone else's bugs (of which there are many.  I think everyone is suffering from some kind of cold or flu).  This is amazing, as i've always been the first to catch whatever is going around.  But yesterday I had a headache, and I can feel it again today along with the sore throat.  Already taking vitamin C, so maybe a few cough drops and see if it progresses.

Have a great weekend!

Had a good day yesterday.  I was right - Grandma made both chicken AND fish for dinner!  I chose the fish (grilled salmon), and tiny bits of turnip, carrots and potatoes, then filled the rest of my plate with salad.  We had cheesecake for dessert, YUM.  I finished the day at 1,400 calories.

Went to the gym and walked on the treadmill, then worked up a sweat on the elliptical for a while.  That's all I did, though - about half an hour in total.  My knee is acting up a bit, so I will have to see how much I can do tonight.  I'd like to run, but we'll see.

Day 10 of the Shred DONE!  I almost didn't do it.  I really didn't want to get out of bed today, but I shuffled downstairs and managed to struggle through it.  I got all my pushups in, so the next time I do the DVD, i'll start at level 2!  Planks, here we come!  I don't know if i'll start tomorrow morning, I might take a day off to recoup.

Second day of getting some breakfast in my belly.  I don't know why but eating breakfast always makes me so hungry for the rest of the day.  You'd think it would be the opposite, but not for me.  I remember when I used to eat Kashi cereal for breakfast.  Man, that stuff is sooooo good.  I would eat it for breakfast, then crave it for the entire rest of the day.  Crazy.  Just something else I can't keep in the house!

I'm going out for supper tonight and have already decided that i'm going to have a small chicken ceasar salad with garlic bread.  It should put my calories at 1,500 for the day.  Motor on!

Well, I thought I was doing well for calories yesterday, until I added them up.  I'll just get it out of the way right now and tell y'all that I was way under on calories yesterday.  Way.

Everything is going to be in point form today.  It's not that i'm being lazy, it's just how my thought processes are working today.  In point form.

I made a batch of veggie burgers last night, so that's what i'll be eating for a few more days to finish it off.  I did a pretty good job - they're almost as yummy as the one I ate on the weekend!  I even indulged in some white potato baked french fries with ketchup!

I made guacamole dip last night too, but haven't tried it yet.  I bought some multi-grain chips to go with it.  They are 250 calories for a good sized serving.

This morning i've eaten breakfast.  Ya, it's a miracle.  Granola, with blueberries, pineapple and yogurt.  I had to bring it to work with me and eat it here, but i've made the effort so... good for me!  That granola is yummy, man.

Went to the gym last night and did 30 minutes on the treadmill, 12 running.  I miscalculated and realized all the 15 minute run sessions I told you I had done were actually 12 minute run sessions.  Oh well. 

In the beginning of March i'll try another long run and see if i'm getting any better.  I was sweating profusely yesterday, which was a tad embarassing as the body builders were there and I think they were laughing at me and gym buddy.  They're a hard clique to break.

I did the Shred workout this morning, Day 9 is now complete!  One more and off to level 2 I go.  This time, I did 25 pushups.  I could probably do 35 in total, so i'll try for that tomorrow and if I make it, i'm done with level 1.

Gym again tonight (walking and elliptical), as well as supper at Grandma's.  She said she's making either fish or chicken.  Works for me!  (I bet she ends up making both).

I had such a nice weekend that I didn't want to come back to work this morning.  I was happy to be home, but I could've used another day just to get things in order for the week.  Preparation is sometimes pretty difficult, yes?

Thursday - 1,800 calories.  I ate three whole cups of rice to try to keep my distance from all the 'bad' things in the freezer.  I went to the gym and treadmilled 30 minutes, running 15.  This is going great!  I've now had many, many days off from running, so hopefully tonight I won't fall backwards when I go to the gym.

Friday - 1,400 calories.  I drove most of the day away to get to the wilderness, but boy was it worth it.  It's beautiful there.  There are no words to describe it.  I also tried a new restaurant, 'The Pita Pit'.  Yup.  Never been there.  Mmmn, feta on my chicken wrap.  Yum.

Saturday - 1,500 calories.  This lovely trend in calories is thanks to my cousin's wife, who is a dietitian and had all of our meals prepared and ready for us, nearly all adding up to 1,500 calories (except for the odd snack, hee hee).  The highlight was granola with yogurt and fresh fruit.  We did nothing all day long.  It was wonderful!

Sunday - 1,300 calories.  Veggie burgers for dinner.  Gosh, I think I must've been in heaven.  Except for when we decided to go hiking in the snow for an hour and a half, up and down hills and across ponds.  THAT was not heaven.  That was something entirely different.  My stomach sat in my throat for the rest of the night.  After dinner, we went for an hour's walk on the ice roads, to look at the stars.  There's some exercise for 'ya!

Monday - 1,500 calories.  I drove all the way home and collapsed in exhaustion on the couch.  I had some stupid car trouble the whole way back, which added to a long day.

This morning I woke up still tired.  I will go to the gym after work today, but I probably won't do much else.  I SHOULD get groceries and mail and send some mail and clean up the house and do some laundry.  But I don't think that'll get done.  Nope.

Today didn't start out very well.

My alarm went off at 6am, as usual, but for some reason I fumbled around a little more than usual and accidentally turned it off.  It's like a recurring nightmare, this alarm business!  Anyways, of course I woke up with only enough time to get my butt to work.  It was very disappointing to realize that I wouldn't get the shred workout in today, as I will be gone travelling for the weekend and won't be taking the DVD with me.  I guess the last two days of the level 1 workout will have to be done next week.  So disappointing!

Yesterday was 1,700 calories.  Thank God the fresh bread is out of my house.  I felt a HUGE urge to eat yesterday.  HUGE.  It was all I could do to keep myself away from the freezer, which holds arrays of tantallizing bread products like pizza pops and chimichangas.  As well, a co-worker gave me FOUR cookies yesterday at work.  They are in the fridge.  My semi-binge did not include them.  Isn't that GREAT news?!  I ate:  a whole 12" sub, two granola bars, two cups of brown rice, half a chicken breast, and lots of coffee.

I went to the gym yesterday, 20 minute walk on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the elliptical, then did some ab and leg work. 

So i'm pretty tired today and a little grumpy.  I feel bloated too, so that's either from all the bread i've been eating, or maybe it's that time of the month.  Maybe it's a good thing i'm going to be isolated in the bush for the whole weekend :0)

Going to the gym again tonight and will try for 15 minutes of running.

Yesterday was 1,400 calories.  I can't get off this bread kick, though :P I went to Subway yesterday for supper and have leftovers for lunch today, possibly even supper.

Got to the gym early yesterday and did 30 minutes on the treadmill, 15 running.  I will try this again tonight and next week as well.  I'm still not making very many miles, but once I get the running down I can start concerning myself with how fast i'm going.  I'm happy with how i'm increasing those running minutes, didn't think i'd get this far so quickly.  Must be due to all the shredding i'm doing!

Speaking of shredding, Day 8 completed!  I managed about 20 actual pushups today, out of a possible, oh, say... 30?  That's not bad, for a first time attempt.  Two more days to make it to 30!  I noticed this morning that while i'm still working up a sweat, the cardio parts of the workout are not upping my heartrate quite as dramatically as they were, thank the good Lord.  That also means i'll have to get into the level 2 workout soon.  Maybe next week i'll start it.  That's a big MAYBE.

I'm heading into the wilderness this weekend with my cousin and his wife.  We're going to hike in the deep snow and try to stay warm near the fireplace and sleep with 15 layers of clothing on.  Considering I really dislike winter, this will be much like conquering a fear.  When I get home on Monday, I will either feel like I can accomplish anything in life, or I will feel.... nothing, because i'll be frozen into a large, upright ice cube.  If you don't see an entry on Tuesday, it's because my fingers have fallen off due to frost.  It will take me awhile to learn how to type with my toes.

Yesterday was around 1,000 calories.  I got lazy after work and instead of making myself something to eat, I just went to the grocery store and picked up a sandwich.  It was made with cheese bread too, so my supper was not the healthiest it could have been.  I gotta watch this bread kick!

After the meeting last night, gym buddy and I went to the gym.  I walked for 10 minutes on the treadmill, then did a run/walk combo for 50 minutes, totalling one hour.  I ran for a total of 34 minutes.  That's darn good, if you ask me!  That's like a mugger is chasing me and it's not a dream and I need to get away quick, darn good.  I visualized the end of the 5k race actually.  Each time I had to run, I pretended people were cheering me on from the sidelines.  It's funny how my mind seems to unravel the more I run, kinda crazy-like.  But to be honest, I WAS having trouble concentrating on anything except finishing that run.  I started off running 4 minutes, then I would walk 2 minutes.  I did that right to the end, but it was heavy.  Not weak.  Heavy.  Hard.

This morning I did Day 7 of the Shred.  All good.  I have three more workouts to master the art of the push-up, and then i'll be ready to move onto level 2.  That is now the only thing I can't do.  I once hated bicycle crunches, but now find the challenge quite enjoyable.  Who would have thunk?

I had more to say, lots of funny and endearing comments to make.  I swear, I dreamt about it and had my next entry written out perfectly.  This... is not it.  I wish I could remember it, I betcha it'd be pretty funny.  It probably wouldn't make any sense at all.  Oh, maybe this IS it, then.

Hi!  I'm doing great today, and I believe I can thank the garlic bread for that.  Seriously!  I *almost* feel like running down the hallways clicking my heels together and singing loudly!  We'll see if it lasts until the end of the day, but so far I have enormous piles of energy just waiting to be used up!

Please don't picture me running down hallways clicking my heels together and singing.  I just did, and I don't think I like that picture.  LOL.

I ended yesterday with 1,300 calories which is pretty good considering I went out for supper.  And I did the Shred workout that day, too.

Day #6 of the Shred was this morning.  I continued my goals of following the higher impact workout more often than the regular routine.  It was another successful workout, but i'm starting to get pretty tired of getting up in the morning!  Part of the whole 'suck it up' thing, I guess.

I might go to the gym tonight, but also have an evening meeting so will see how much time I have.  If I don't go to the gym, maybe i'll throw in a different workout DVD instead.

I missed doing the Shred workout yesterday.  On friday I fell asleep after having something to eat (1,000 calories), and slept until Saturday morning.  My Dad came to visit yesterday, so I was kept busy cleaning up and getting ready for the visit.  We went out for lunch and I had a denver sandwich on whole wheat, with fries.  Once he left, I just bummed around and ate more (1,600 calories), and went to bed early!  I really must have needed some sleep.  When I got up this morning I felt pretty blah, like I just wanted to keep sleeping or something.

I just finished my 5th day of Shredding.  I will have to retract my statement about going after Jillian Micheals' hide.  Today I was even able to incorporate some of Natalie's moves! (Natalie does the higher impact workout), especially with the cardio parts.  I hope this means that by workout 10 I might feel the need to move onto level 2.  Haha - probably not.  I'm watching level 2's workout right now.  I'm laughing out loud.  Maybe i'd better move onto this level as soon as possible, since I don't imagine i'll EVER master some of those moves they're doing!  I'll be stuck on level 2 for months, i'm sure.

I'm going out for supper tonight with a few friends for an early birthday supper (my birthday is in a few days), and plan on having the small chicken caesar salad.  It comes with garlic bread.  This, my friends, is what i'm looking forward to!  YES!  More bread this weekend than in the last two weeks put together!  Oy!

The days are starting to blur into each other.  I'm exhausted when I go to bed, and i'm exhausted when I wake up.  Don't get me wrong, I like the feeling of losing inches and pounds due to all this working out, and i'm in a great mood during *most* of the day and have lots of energy in the mornings, but... ok, wait.  I lost my train of thought.  What was I saying?

I'm too sore from Shredding to shovel the walkway for my Dad when he visits tomorrow, so i've let him know that it's dangerously icy and to be careful when he's walking up it.  My arms are killing me - I can't do the dishes.  Well, I can and I did do the dishes, but not all of them.  It's a slow process due to not being able to lift my arms higher than my waist.  I think of something to do, then forget it 5 minutes later.  Is it burnout?  And am I at a point where I am too exhausted to realize it?

Yesterday was 1,500 calories!  Thank you, mocha!  Your extra-largeness added 450 calories to my day!  And you were good, too!  I haven't had one of your kind for a while!

I didn't go to the gym last night.  My new computer was delivered yesterday, and so instead I spent the evening getting it set up.  Later on I had some friends over to watch Charmed.  I think I actually fell asleep quickly, but I sure did not want to get up this morning at 6am.  I slept in for half an hour, then dragged myself out of bed.

The Shred workout was a little easier this morning.  I even used my weights and did all the exercises without cheating!  I felt horrible towards the end of the workout, like I really wanted to lose my cookies, but I finished and Day 4 is done!  Two more days to The Reckoning (a.k.a the day I go after Jillian if the workout hasn't gotten a LOT easier by then).