The Ups:
When I first started personal training this summer one of the first things I had to do was fill out a survey which listed my personal goals. My 3 goals were listed in the following order: Run a 5k without stopping, Feel like an athlete again, Lose some weight.
This week I've seriously attacked my second goal! Back before college I was a pretty incredibly athlete. I was a competitive gymnast from age 4 (when I made my first team) to 14 (until I was so burnt out from the extreme training), played soccer my entire life (including 5 years of varsity), ran winter and spring track for four years in high school, and participated in some random other sports throughout my life like basketball, softball and dance. I was an athlete in every sense of the word. I ran fast, played hard, and picked up skills pretty quickly. Despite all of the activity in my life, I was still always on the chubby side due to my great eating habits -- ahem, late night burger kind 4 nights a week after gymnastics practice. Still, I was always pretty in shape. I never had trouble running or excelling in sports. Additionally, these sports never seemed like exercise to me. It took a LONG time for me to accept that exercise was something everyone had to do (but more on that later...), and unfortunately this realization came with a very large weight gain. I played intramural soccer and volleyball freshman year but was so ashamed of being out of shape that I vowed to stop playing sports. And stop I did. Until now!
This week I finally felt like an athlete again! Last weekend, I hesitantly went up to Vermont with a few friends to go skiing. Because of a past skiing accident that included getting taken down the mountain in a toboggan and the fact that I feel don't feel athletic, I was very nervous. I actually ended up doing better than expected and was barely sore the next day! AKA, my intense workouts are in fact working!
Then, I finally decided to get back into the world of sports and joined an intramural basketball team! Not only did I play wayyy better than expected, but I was the only one on my team who wasn't winded. I guess all those scheduled runs are paying off! I'm extremely proud of myself for getting back into feeling like an athlete and hope to continue moving forward! I'd really love to play soccer again someday.
The next "up" is that I have FINALLY broken into the next decade of weight loss!!! I feel like I had been stuck in this specific weight range for SOOO long and finally have gotten over this plateau. I think part of this is that in addition to sticking to my training plan, I've seriously started focusing on the nutrients in the food I eat. For instance, I bought chia seeds recently and have been adding them to pretty much everything! I know people say these are tasteless, but they taste just like poppy seeds to me which I happen to have a strange affinity for. This superfood is filled with healthy fats (like omega-3 and 6 oil), protein, fiber, and calcium. Amazing.
So I'm sitting here getting ready to write my "downs", and I think instead I'm just going to skip them! I'd rather end this post with some recent food pics :)
Last night's dinner:
Spinach spaghetti w/ grilled chicken (cooked in a pan w/ olive oil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, and CHIA SEEDS!), topped with parm cheese and smokin' hot!
And on the side, a mini veggie plate with tomato, carrots, and string beans. I think I'm seriously in the minority when I say I always prefer raw veggies over cooked, and I never ever need dip!
And for a sweet snack, a frozen piece of a luna protein chocolate chip cookie dough bar. I've been cutting these protein bars into bite size pieces and popping them in the freezer. They make a great chocolately late-night snack!Alright, that's it for tonight! I'm off to relax before heading to work for the night.
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