So yeah, posting daily has been a challenge this month. Not going to lie. And I’ve been traveling this whole week which means I haven’t been tracking.

The good news is that even though I splurged Friday and Saturday, I felt more on track since then. I’ve been pretty impressed I’ve been able to curb all snacking at my work meeting (where there is food around all day) and just stick to meals and staying fairly healthy. I’ve also been able to work out pretty regularly. Saturday I did a 6 mile run. Monday I did a 30 minute run (about 3.2 miles). Tuesday was a crazy day because I was in meetings all day so I didn’t get a chance to work out, but I took advantage of some free time on Wednesday and worked out for 2 hours. I did a 30 minute run, walked for 10 and then did 35 minutes body conditioning. After that I did a 45 minute yoga class.

I’ve not been on the scale all week so it will be interesting to head back home tomorrow and see the damage. No clue what to expect. But suffice it to say, I will finish the challenge off strong and track every day I’m back home.

Thursday (day 18) was solid. Despite being exhausted, got up at 4am so I could get to the gym early to run 3 miles. Friday (day 19) was a bit of a bust. I spent most of my day sitting on a plane and when I got to NYC, splurged on a couple drinks and french fries. I definitely felt the alcohol…especially this morning! It seemed odd to me because it was only 2 drinks but my friend Jack reminded me that I was likely dehydrated, especially from being on a plane all day (although I did drink at least 4 waters and a couple sodas and coffee). Today was a bit better….did a nice 6 mile run which made me feel less sloth-like since I missed working out yesterday.

Have to be quick because I’m swamped today but yesterday was another solid day. Ate well, tracked all my food, worked out a lot. Gearing up for my trip back east where eating and working out will be a challenge. I’ll be on the road for a week starting tomorrow (Friday). Going to do my best but I know it’s going to be tough. Wish me luck!

Date: January 22nd, 2014

Days Complete: 17

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 15 minutes of running and 45 minutes of a total body fitness class/leisurely hour walk in the evening

Feeling: LIKE A ROCK! 

Just realized my days are off because I skipped a number and went from day 4 to day 6. D’oh. So yeah, this is the blog post for day 16 (yesterday).

BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! LoL After a long weekend of not tracking I was back tracking yesterday. It’s definitely easier to track on work days when I have more of a set schedule around meals. It’s also easier when I’m not eating out but that’s not brain surgery to understand. I ate well, I tracked everything and I did a killer run where I progressively sped up from a 9:51 mile pace to a 8:17 mile pace. And somehow I lost 5 lbs from morning to evening. (WTF!!) I got on the scale yesterday morning and was a bit shocked by the number as it was much higher than it had been after my 12 mile run on Saturday. I expected it to be higher, of course you lose weight when you exercise, a lot of it is just through sweating but it’s temporary. But I wasn’t expecting such a huge jump in number. Who knew that a day of eating healthy and a good run could burn 5 lbs but I’m not complaining as it put me back at the number I expected to see.  Here’s hoping today is another stellar day.

Date: January 21st, 2014

Days Complete: 16

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 45 minutes on the treadmill

Feeling: LIKE A ROCK! 

Alright, I know. I’m super fired. I feel pretty bad that I’ve not blogged since Friday. I’ve mentioned earlier that this month has been challenging because I’ve been distracted. It’s not an excuse it just is what it is. The good thing is that I’ve still managed to lose weight every week. This past weekend I didn’t really track, I went out to some splurge-y meals. But I also worked out a TON. Friday I did cross fit, Saturday I ran 12 miles (and then walked at least another 3 miles), Sunday I walked around SF for about 4 hours and Monday I rode about 23 miles (from SF to Mill Valley and back).

This week (starting today) has been good so far….should be easy to track and stick to my plan until Friday when I fly to NYC. Goal is to be as good as possible but also recognize that I need to allow myself some leeway because I’ll be on the road for a week. Staying strong and determined that I can make it happen. Appreciate all words of strength that you can share with me.

Another solid day on the books. Tracked all my food, got an amazing work out in. I ran for 30 minutes and then went to my a cardio combat class. Sort of like kickboxing….crazy fun and burns an insane amount of calories….even more than running! I normally go to this class on Saturday’s but since I’m doing my long run (12 miles…YIKES!) on Saturday, I opted to go to the Thursday night class. I’ve also made a cardio combat convert out of my friend, Carol (wow, that is a lot of C’s….I’m so alliterative). 😛

Date: January 16th, 2014

Days Complete: 12

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 30 minutes on the treadmill, 60 minute cardio combat class! RAWR!

Feeling: LIKE A ROCK! 😛

Today was a good day. Honestly, the best day of this particular challenge. My eating was good, I tracked everything I ate and I had a really good work out. It felt good to be “on track”. My biggest fear is slipping back into bad habits. As long as I have been doing this, I also know how easy it is to fall back into snacking more often, splurging too often. Finding balance is the most difficult thing so I’m trying to stay diligent.

Date: January 15th, 2014

Days Complete: 11

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 45 minutes on the treadmill

Feeling: Good. Best day yet!

Sorry I’m failing on posting daily. Yesterday was my birthday and I was in an all day meeting so I didn’t get a chance to post. I decided to combine those two days because to be honest, I was completely off challenge yesterday. I opted to enjoy my day and not track or follow what I typically do for my challenge. I suppose you could consider it a cheat day, but I didn’t track anything. So I’m skipping it as it’s easier.

Date: January 13th, 2014

Days Complete: 9

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: No, took a break

Feeling: Not as motivated as I would like

I ran a 15K today. For those of you who don’t naturally convert to metric (trust me, I don’t either) it’s about 9.3 miles. Not close to the longest distance I’ve run but it’s still a good amount and I felt pretty good running it. I ran almost the entire time (probably had about 5-6 miles of walking time) and still managed to have an average pace at 10:03/mile. Pretty proud of myself for that. Less proud of my eating. I feel I used my run as a reason to splurge. I really shouldn’t have. It’s been difficult, this 30 day challenge. I’m finding it difficult to stay engaged. There’s various things I could blame, but ultimately I just need to get in the right head space. I’m not doing terrible, just not as focused as I have been. This week is also a challenge because I’ll be out for a few nights. But I will keep endeavoring to try and stay on track.

Date: January 12th, 2014

Days Complete: 7

Tracked: No

Worked Out: 15K. Was about 90 minutes of running

Feeling: Pretty good considering the long distance 🙂

Today was a pretty active day which given that it was a day before a 15K race, was impressive. Got up early to walk with two of my girlfriends from SOMA to Diamond Heights. It was between 4-5 miles. Later that morning I went to a 60 minute Cardio Combat class. I always burn crazy calories in this class! Felt really good. I splurged a bit on something from Craftsman and Wolves early in the day so I stayed light until dinner. A friend of mine took me to drinks at Zeki’s (we downed an old-fashioned because there were crazy sports fans there) and then to dinner at Venticello. Had 2 glasses of wine, shared a pizza and had a few bites of scallops. Delicious dinner, but definitely filled up on the pizza. Hard to track because of dinner but I felt pretty good about the calories in/out.

Date: January 9th, 2014

Days Complete: 5

Tracked: Up until dinner

Worked Out: Yes. 90 minutes of walking and 60 minutes of cardio

Feeling: Not bad