The final push.

4 days left and 15.48 miles to go. That is an average of 3.87 miles per day. Totally do-able!

I didn't really stick to my calendar at all, but I have stuck to my goal, and knowing that I went 100 miles in April, just feels amazing. I feel like I want a challenge to keep me going for May.  I am thinking something more hours based, maybe 50 hours? If I count things like hikes, and my lunchtime walks that might be a push, but it could be do-able! Maybe 40 is more possible? I want a goal that takes daily diligence, but that you can make up if you need a day off once in a while. That way it is achievable, but it will get my bum off the couch!

I just feel like I can DO this!

less than 16 miles to go before 100!

83.52 down 16.48 to go!

I can't believe I am actually going to make this goal!

I have gone past Banff!

Last night my workout went so well, I am so glad I did this challenge! My endurance is so much better, and I can tell I am in overall better shape.

And for the first time in my life, I actually want to go to the gym.

I have always hated the gym before. Even in college, when I was using the amazing athletic facilities at the University of Oregon which are sponsored by Nike and are amazing. I always felt like I didn't really belong. Like the girls in fancy matching workout gear, who looked so determined, were the people who belonged there, not me who is so uncoordinated I had to get off the machine just to take a drink of water without pouring it on myself.

But after 6 months of being the type of person who goes to the gym, it has finally started to feel comfortable. And I can drink water while working out on the elliptical, without falling or spilling.

I just hope I can continue to channel this motivation into weight loss.

pretty miles

On Friday and Saturday I was a total slacker. This last week had just zapped my energy and all i wanted to do was to be cat furniture at home. (anyone who is still at my house runs the risk of being cat furniture)

But On Sunday I thought of my challenge, and I felt guilty. (Which is good, since that is the whole point of the challenge)

So we went to the gym, and I was just having a good workout day. We wound up working out for a full hour, and I logged in 7 miles. It felt great, and it made up for Saturday and Friday, but it still had me doing a 0 for Sunday.

So after lunch we decided to co on a walk around Calgary to get in our daily miles.

I snapped a few pictures on our walk, and you can see what a perfect day it was! Add to that the 70 degree weather, and you can see how it would be hard to stay inside.

I hope everyone had as productive and wonderful a weekend as I had!

Right on target

Thanks to my workout last night, I am right on target for my miles challenge. Luckily for me the weekend is scheduled to be sunny!

Since the 15th, when I realized I had more miles left than month, I have been pushing to get caught up. And now that I am, I feel great. It is like when you are all caught up on your homework, and it is Friday, and you have the whole weekend to go play.

That extra push of motivation to get off the couch is why I am doing this challenge, and part of that is the accountability of putting it all out there on the internet!

So let's see how far I have gone, shall we? (all map origins are my gym)

I have gone all the way from my gym, to Canmore!

Seeing this on a map, makes me feel so great about how far I have gone, and how a little bit every day can really add up!

Thoughts from the elliptical

My love/ Nemesis

I think I am finally getting the hang of working out. For the first time in my life, I feel good when I work out, not just bored at the time then glad I did after.

My weight loss has been stalled, but after dropping my initial 30 pounds, I have kept it off for over a month. I am going to call that a win, and push my self to get off this plateau.

I have also seen a huge increase in my fitness since we started this plan. In November we would go to the gym and do a 20 or 30 minute workout. I would get on the elliptical, set it to "please be nice" aka the easiest setting and just try to survive 10 or 15 minutes, then switch to the recumbent bike for 10 or 15 minutes.

Now I pop back and forth every 20 minutes when the gym is busy, limited only by the "20 minute limit when someone is waiting" rule. And I often get back in line to go back on the elliptical, setting it on 6 or 7.

I was getting pretty pleased that we had increased our workouts to 40-45 minutes, more than double what we were doing some days!

Then this last week I have had what feels like a "fitness breakthrough"; instead of being bored and tired and forcing myself to keep working, I have actually started to enjoy the workout itself. This doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of days where I would prefer to nap on the couch, and I know I have a long road ahead to fitness, but this big step forward is making me feel finally good at the gym.

Over the 1/2 way mark

April is more than 1/2 over! I am behind in the challenge, but I plan to catch up.

More than one night I have wanted to skip the gym but I have gone for the sake of my miles.

I know I can catch up, and make the 100 mile mark! I am also so happy for everyone who is doing this challenge with me!

Anyone care to share their progress?

The 9 day marathon

In 9 days I have gone 26.5 miles. Which someone pointed out to me- is a marathon.

Somehow putting it into perspective like that makes the whole thing feel incredible! I feel like I could do anything, even get into the kind of shape where I could run a real marathon!

When I started this project I said it was a birthday present to myself, I am turning 27 at the end of the month.

And now I am thinking, I want to run a real marathon, before I am 30.

I just need to work on my time, 9 days is a little bit too long.

Look how far I have come!

I know I rarely double post in one day, but I just had to see how far I have come in my challenge (assuming I started at the gym)

I have made it all the way out of Calgary! (you know, if I did this all at once, and not on stationary workout equipment!)

So How about you?
Add up all the miles in your workouts so far for April, and figure out how far you have gone!

Pinspiration- Dinner style

I know I posted a while ago about how great of a motivator pinterest can be, since you can pin gadgets you want, or sayings that help remind you that you don't really want to eat that cake.

It can also be home of drool worthy cupcake photos, so when using pinterest one must tread lightly.

However what I want to focus on today are all the healthy ideas you can find on pinterest!

One of our major downfalls is pizza. It is quick, and cheap and convenient, and delicious. Even if it isn't quick or convenient, it is so delicious that- well who cares! It is also LOADED with calories, which is why this onetime staple of weekends has been forced to be an occasional treat.

But here are some ways to help keep pizza in our rotation, without busting the calorie budget (and since they are recipes that you make at home they are easy on the dollars budget too)

I have not tried this one yet, but I am thinking it just might need to pop up on the menu for the week:
Cauliflower Crust Pizza: 
There is a whole blog post, that is totally worth reading, but here is the gist:
CRUST:
1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese (or try another kind!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic (or fresh garlic)
1/2 teaspoon onion salt


(click the link for the step by step how to) 

I just love this idea! 

In a time pinch, I also love the crust alternative of zucchini! 

No recipe needed, since you just use zucchini in place of a pizza crust! It would be super easy to cut the zucchini in to circles and make pizza bites out of this too, perfect for a sports party in a calorie conscious way! 

So don't get too distracted by all the cupcake pins, there are healthy ideas too! 

100 miles of motivation

I think the 100 mile month is helping. Yesterday between a doctor's appointment and David having rehersal, we missed out on going to the gym.

Normally I would say "oh well" and just make sure I didn't go overboard on my calories, but thanks to the 100 mile month- I also made sure to take a good long 2.5 mile walk.

So I guess it is working! Anyone else have a success story?

7.3 miles down

Last night at the gym I was able to start making up for missing my hike! Thanks to my e reader and the recumbent bike, I made it 4 extra miles last night. I can already tell that this 100 mile challenge is going to be good for me. The miles seem to accumulate faster than the minutes do, and it is nice to feel like I have gone somewhere!

I made a new page that I plan to update with my 100 mile month progress (Up in the navigation bar) and I think I will check in here weekly.

I hope everyone else's April is off to a fit start!

How far have you gone lately?

With the start of the 100 mile challenge, I am excited!

This weekend I got a present, which I am hoping will help me fight off the boredom of working out inside a gym!

A Kobo e-reader!

My hope is that I can zone out while reading and trick myself into working out for longer.

Because I have a confession- I am already behind in my challenge.

This weekend we went to the mountains and my plan was to do a nice long hike on Sunday, but when we got up on Saturday the weather was so nice we decided to hike right away! So I did the miles, but since Saturday was technically still March, I am behind.

Good thing I have all night to bike it out at the gym!

How are you doing so far?