Louise - Watch your Winter Waistline Week 1

One week down and I feel healthier, if not a little tender in my muscles. In all, I would say it’s been an interesting week.  In terms of food, I have been pretty happy with my choices.  I’m actually enjoying having smaller meals, eating until I feel full instead of mindlessly eating what is in front of me.  My husband is definitely the better cook in our house, but this week I surprised both of us by making a minestrone soup that was rather tasty.  It may not seem that exciting, but I was proud of myself.  Most of my cooking endeavors usually end up in both of us putting on a brave face and my daughter demanding a different dish, but I am happy to say the minestrone was a hit.  I also found that while it’s easy to stick with healthy choices during the week, it was very tempting on the weekend to indulge in not so healthy choices.  Hot chocolate did invade my thoughts at times, but I settled for peppermint tea instead and didn’t have to deal with a guilty conscience.

My favorite exercise session is definitely the early risers with Jen.  I enjoy being up that early, before most people are awake and the world is quiet.  Yes, it’s very cold but to me it feels fresh and the cold makes you want to run faster.  It’s also pretty amazing to watch the sunrise as you train, you start off in the darkness with no one around and by the time you are finished it is light and the world is busy again.  I made it to all of the exercise sessions this week but did not feel like I could put my best effort in.  In my defense, I caught my first cold of the season from my lovely, germy daughter so I did struggle a bit with that.  I finally felt better by Saturday and I’m glad because I needed it for the hill session.  What a lovely surprise that was, but as always I felt better for having done some exercise first thing in the morning to give me energy for the day.  

My Sunday steps session wasn’t the best either, only three laps instead of five but I was feeling unwell again and ended up spending the rest of the day in bed with a mystery tummy bug (no, it was not the minestrone that did it).  Two days of water and minimal food meant that I did not have much energy but I was determined not to miss out on any sessions if I could help it.  I found I was bit wobbly at my early risers session this morning but having Amy help me and encourage me to pick up the pace was great.  I’m hoping to improve this week as I start to eat a bit more food and have the energy to tackle both the park and home sessions.