Today was day 2 of walking the neighborhood. It was just me and another gal with a new baby. I've been wanting to hang out with her, so it worked out really well to be just the two of us. We went the route we meant to go yesterday and still managed to do it in about 30 minutes. I felt really good afterwards and tried to not sit down as much when I got home. I was better than yesterday, but not perfect. I did get two loads of laundry folded which is good. And tonight I was even able to go on a bike ride with the boys. I keep getting the reminder that my legs are not in as good a shape as they were last summer, but I didn't do too bad. I couldn't make it up any hills but by the end of our trip around the complex I was feeling a lot stronger. If only I can keep it up... Though I think I will be able to because I've committed the group to walking every week day.
My big dilemma is how much do I account for nursing and still lose weight. I've read a bunch of articles tonight and I should add 500 calories for nursing. In fact, I am seeing that my caloric intake should be between 2200 and 2500. I was thinking 1800-2000. I like that I can eat that much more, but what I can't figure out is how I gained all my baby weight back after delivery if I really should be eating more. I think the stress was causing me to hold on to it - although I was probably averaging closer to 3000 + on my roadtrip so that may have been a culprit as well. I am curious what the scales will reflect on Monday. I don't want to eat too many calories, but I don't want to eat too few and lose my milk supply either. It is a fine line and an experiment. The ironic/funny thing is that once I knew I had an extra load of calories my body says it's hungry. It had felt just fine before that :p
Showing posts with label bike riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike riding. Show all posts
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
On to something
Matthew rejoined Weight Watchers and his interest in activity and food intake has helped me take a little bit more control of my own actions. Earlier this summer I paid for lifetime membership on sister sites Menu Mom and www.MenuPlanningCentral.com which gives me access to ebooks with all kinds of recipes as well as weekly meal plans. I have access to all the meal plans (family friendly, frugal, vegetarian, and healthy) but I opted to go with the healthy one this week because it had the best variety and includes nutritional info as well as the recipe which would be beneficial for Matthew. I am hoping that having a meal plan will help reign in the grocery spending as well.
For my birthday my MIL gave me a Fitbit Flex, but since I was basically sedentary I let Matthew use it. At this point I should get a new one for me. They are on sale through AAFES and was going to pick one up on Thurs but noticed the Fitbit One was the same price. I decided I needed to do some research and decide which one I really want. I wished I had it today though because I have definitely been active!
Since being in TX I have felt the itch to replace my bike. It needed new tubes and tires but I couldn't get the tires off. I took it to a bike shop to pay them to do it earlier this summer only to discover that they wouldn't b/c of the type of rims. Basically they deemed the bike unsafe. :/ So I have been in the market for a new bike ever since. I found one on Ft Sam I really liked but not getting. I wished I'd have at least written down its info so I could find it again. I was hoping that Hill AFB would carry the same ones but it didn't. Oh well...
At my 6 wks check the midwife prescribed at least 20 minutes (preferably an hour) of outside activity every day to help me feel better. Friday ended up being a magical kind of day and I finally captured that feeling of last year's summer. I went swimming! It felt so good! In the evening I took Matthew's bike and the boys and I rode around the block. Man are my legs out of shape! Saturday I rode the same route again. I only swam about 20 minutes the day before, but my muscles were still pretty sore.
So my research for the fitbit seems to have subconsciously spurred my willingness to be active b/c this morning I wanted to take the boys on a ride to the school. I pushed the stroller and they rode bikes. Aaron needed the practice too if he is going to ride to school. We have a week to get into shape! The school is about a mile away. It took about 20 minutes for me to walk each way. I had flashbacks to last summer the entire time. The difference was that I was walking and not running or riding. It was nerve wracking not being able to be as fast as the boys with Aaron being such a novice at the bike (sans training wheels). Once we got to the school they practiced locking their bikes and then we headed to the play ground. We were there about 45 minutes and then I attempted to herd them home. Again I thought about last summer.
I realized that Jared was as much a novice bike rider last summer after returning from TX as Aaron is. I didn't have my bike until we got back either which means that all that bike riding happened the last 3-4 weeks of summer. Granted our school starts earlier, but we are in the same place as last year. The difference is we have Matthew around in the evenings and Peter dictating when and how I can participate in activities. Anyway, as the boys were riding around the playground I realized we spent a lot of time on our bikes last summer in a business parking lot. It was a large space where we could perfect our skills. Although we have the apartment roads, it just isn't the same because you always have to watch out for cars. There isn't the element of freedom.
As I watched the boys ride ahead of me on the playground and I wished I could be as fast as them - either by chasing them on my bike or running after them, I think I finally understood the feeling of last summer I have been trying to capture: empowerment. Last summer was empowering. It seems a shame that we are on the last week of summer and I finally found what I was looking for.
For my birthday my MIL gave me a Fitbit Flex, but since I was basically sedentary I let Matthew use it. At this point I should get a new one for me. They are on sale through AAFES and was going to pick one up on Thurs but noticed the Fitbit One was the same price. I decided I needed to do some research and decide which one I really want. I wished I had it today though because I have definitely been active!
Since being in TX I have felt the itch to replace my bike. It needed new tubes and tires but I couldn't get the tires off. I took it to a bike shop to pay them to do it earlier this summer only to discover that they wouldn't b/c of the type of rims. Basically they deemed the bike unsafe. :/ So I have been in the market for a new bike ever since. I found one on Ft Sam I really liked but not getting. I wished I'd have at least written down its info so I could find it again. I was hoping that Hill AFB would carry the same ones but it didn't. Oh well...
At my 6 wks check the midwife prescribed at least 20 minutes (preferably an hour) of outside activity every day to help me feel better. Friday ended up being a magical kind of day and I finally captured that feeling of last year's summer. I went swimming! It felt so good! In the evening I took Matthew's bike and the boys and I rode around the block. Man are my legs out of shape! Saturday I rode the same route again. I only swam about 20 minutes the day before, but my muscles were still pretty sore.
So my research for the fitbit seems to have subconsciously spurred my willingness to be active b/c this morning I wanted to take the boys on a ride to the school. I pushed the stroller and they rode bikes. Aaron needed the practice too if he is going to ride to school. We have a week to get into shape! The school is about a mile away. It took about 20 minutes for me to walk each way. I had flashbacks to last summer the entire time. The difference was that I was walking and not running or riding. It was nerve wracking not being able to be as fast as the boys with Aaron being such a novice at the bike (sans training wheels). Once we got to the school they practiced locking their bikes and then we headed to the play ground. We were there about 45 minutes and then I attempted to herd them home. Again I thought about last summer.
I realized that Jared was as much a novice bike rider last summer after returning from TX as Aaron is. I didn't have my bike until we got back either which means that all that bike riding happened the last 3-4 weeks of summer. Granted our school starts earlier, but we are in the same place as last year. The difference is we have Matthew around in the evenings and Peter dictating when and how I can participate in activities. Anyway, as the boys were riding around the playground I realized we spent a lot of time on our bikes last summer in a business parking lot. It was a large space where we could perfect our skills. Although we have the apartment roads, it just isn't the same because you always have to watch out for cars. There isn't the element of freedom.
As I watched the boys ride ahead of me on the playground and I wished I could be as fast as them - either by chasing them on my bike or running after them, I think I finally understood the feeling of last summer I have been trying to capture: empowerment. Last summer was empowering. It seems a shame that we are on the last week of summer and I finally found what I was looking for.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Bike Riding It
I am so proud of my boys!! Three weeks ago Aaron could barely ride a bike and today we went on a two hour/3.21 mile bike ride!!! WOOHOO!!! Our first real bike trip :) They did amazing. Our goal was to get to the WaWa, but then we did a little bit of exploring and pushed it to the limit. Aaron was dragging by the end, but overall, he did fantastic. Jared said he didn't feel tired at all so kudos to him too! We were able to stay on sidewalks up until the very last bit. I was really nervous and apprehensive about riding on the street but for the most part they stuck to the curb. I can generally trust Jared to use good judgment when it comes to being on the street, but Aaron is a wildcard and scared me. Except for a small moment, he did good staying on the safe side. Jared would love to do it again tomorrow, but I think we'll have to give Aaron a day of rest. We'll see though.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Quick Weekend Update
It's 5 am and I've been fighting sleep for the last hour. Part of me wants to sleep and the other part is raring to go. The logical side of me wants to go back to sleep so I can make it through the day. The active part of me is itching for some excitement and personal time. I could spend this time reading my scriptures and/or another book, sewing, cleaning, running on the treadmill....oh the possibilities!! I finally opted to start with updating and see where it takes us.
I am glad I decided to do Core Synergistics on Sat. I actually followed through and in the process, something clicked inside me. I feel committed at this point. I have a plan and will stick with it. This morning I even thought about doing the next disc despite my plan to wait til my off days. So how did it go, you wonder? Well, it was hard. I was sweating before the warm up was even over. I made the mistake of eating an apple before starting and ended up feeling really nauseous by the end. Core involved a lot of varieties of pushups which meant that I only did a handful or a lot of modified ones after watching them bust out 10. I have a long way to go before I can keep up, but everyone has to start somewhere. I am surprised that I am not more sore in my abs but this is also good b/c I did not stop at the morning workout. Later in the afternoon we went on a neighborhood bike ride and then followed that up with a trip to the pool. My legs and arms are still recovering.
I am so proud of my boys! At the beginning of the summer Jared was a wobbly unsure bike rider and now he's riding circles around us and trying to jump over curbs. Aaron is gaining confidence fast. Thursday we tried to go down the street on a ride and it took him 15 minutes to decide to go down the 'hill'. It scared him. He finally opted to walk the bike down til the street leveled out and then start. He was slow at first and then as he got comfortable, he picked up more and more speed. We went down around the culdesac and back up to our street. When he reached the top he let out a yell: That was so awesome!! Let's do it again!! I promised him we'd go the next day. And we did. We followed the same path (again he walked his bike down the hill, but there wasn't a 15 minute hesitation to begin) and then decided to go over to the next street which also has an incline to go down, but he just kept going. Granted, it isn't as steep an incline but he was offering whoops of joy as he felt the wind in his hair. One of the culdesac's sidewalks end at a driveway so Aaron had to muster his courage to go down the 'hill'. He took it slow, but he didn't brake all the way down as he's inclined to do. YAY! He made it down and kept on going. At this point driveways aren't a big deal at all, though he still has yet to conquer the hill.
I decided that bike riding is a great family bonding experience, so I told Aaron that I think it would be ok if we went on a bike ride on Sunday. Oh the excitement!! It seemed like an easy enough thing when I said it, but when yesterday came around and I was so sore, I wasn't sure I could do it. I really just wanted to lay down and get a massage! But I made a promise so I had to follow through. It was worth it. So worth it. I was right about it being an appropriate Sunday activity as a family bonding experience. There is a business with a large parking lot across from our neighborhood that we went to after riding through our neighborhood a bit. We had races, chases, and free play. We let Aaron have a parking space start before Jared and I took off in the races. Oh my goodness!! Aaron was so fast! Jared and I had to work really hard to win. We really ought to have let him win, but I have never been good at that :/ I will have to remember to do so next time.
There is a drive around the building that I'd been curious to explore but never wanted to by myself because I knew if I went, the boys would follow and I just wasn't willing to cross that bridge. But yesterday Jared brought up that he wondered where it went. We decided to explore it together. Aaron was pretty winded at that point and thus playing in the dirt. We cajoled him into going with us. He made it halfway across the parking lot before he admitted his legs were really tired. I gave him a drink of water and off he went!! The drive opens into the employee parking lot and oh man what a difference in care!! Potholes, cracks in the pavement, curbs....a great place for Jared and his burgeoning daredevil side. Not so great for Aaron and his training wheels. We discovered the pavement went even farther though - to the loading docks behind the building. It was the oddest thing. It got cold. There was like a line we crossed as we approached the back of the building. At this point the sun was starting to set, so maybe that had something to do with it, but it was kind of eerie. And with that, we decided it was time to go home. Jared told me he made a goal to ride his bike every day. I affirmed that I hoped we could keep it up after school starts, but in the meantime, I think we can do that :)
When I offered to go to the parking lot, I did it with reservations. The last time we'd gone, Mom was here and I was ready for a break before the boys were. I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy riding my bike in circles until the boys tired out. But it turned out ok. In fact, it was more than ok. We had fun the whole time, and even more amazing, I did not feel my soreness one bit. So there's a couple of lessons in there, but the one I want to hold on to at the moment is that just because I am sore does not mean I am limited. I say this in anticipation of my run today. My legs are sore and I wonder how they will be effected by all this cross training. I am hoping that I have more endurance and strength. Aaron has gotten so confident in his riding that I think we will be a good match as I run. Jared will still be riding circles around us, but Aaron won't be so far behind that it is a hindrance. And as I mentioned in the beginning, my body feels itching to be on the move. It really is like something's been awakened in my body.
At the end of the day Saturday, I felt so grateful to be here in NJ because I can be outside and be active without worrying about heat exhaustion. I don't ever remember feeling so happy to be active - especially outside activity kind of active. I know I have enjoyed bike riding very much as a youth, but that is about the scope of it. I have lots of memories of going outside to start a game with one of my brothers and quitting to go inside before he was ready. I just did not have the attention span to stay outside for long. At the moment, I feel like I could actually keep up with my kids. I look forward to becoming more and more fit. Of course, the downside of NJ is that winter is coming. But I hope that I can find other ways to enjoy the outdoors and not stop being active.
One more brag on my boys. They started off not being very confident in the water. Jared was more confident than Aaron, but still a pretty weak swimmer. He worked this summer on being able to go from one side of the pool to the other without stopping and standing up in the process. He can do that now :) Aaron has relied on his floaties big time, though he was getting more and more confident at the same time. Well, the floaties finaly broke and all he had to rely on were pool noodles. He can get around in the water pretty well with the floaties or noodles, but he won't put his face in the water. Something clicked in him on Saturday and he decided to try real swimming. Face in the water swimming. Ta da!! Swimming with confidence! I want to go swimming every day this week to keep up this momentum and see how far he can get before the pool closes for the season on Labor Day (next Monday). He pretty much doggie paddles, so he needs some tweaking but being willing to put his face in the water and sink without panicking is a HUGE step forward.
I would say that this has been a summer of growth for all of us.
I am glad I decided to do Core Synergistics on Sat. I actually followed through and in the process, something clicked inside me. I feel committed at this point. I have a plan and will stick with it. This morning I even thought about doing the next disc despite my plan to wait til my off days. So how did it go, you wonder? Well, it was hard. I was sweating before the warm up was even over. I made the mistake of eating an apple before starting and ended up feeling really nauseous by the end. Core involved a lot of varieties of pushups which meant that I only did a handful or a lot of modified ones after watching them bust out 10. I have a long way to go before I can keep up, but everyone has to start somewhere. I am surprised that I am not more sore in my abs but this is also good b/c I did not stop at the morning workout. Later in the afternoon we went on a neighborhood bike ride and then followed that up with a trip to the pool. My legs and arms are still recovering.
I am so proud of my boys! At the beginning of the summer Jared was a wobbly unsure bike rider and now he's riding circles around us and trying to jump over curbs. Aaron is gaining confidence fast. Thursday we tried to go down the street on a ride and it took him 15 minutes to decide to go down the 'hill'. It scared him. He finally opted to walk the bike down til the street leveled out and then start. He was slow at first and then as he got comfortable, he picked up more and more speed. We went down around the culdesac and back up to our street. When he reached the top he let out a yell: That was so awesome!! Let's do it again!! I promised him we'd go the next day. And we did. We followed the same path (again he walked his bike down the hill, but there wasn't a 15 minute hesitation to begin) and then decided to go over to the next street which also has an incline to go down, but he just kept going. Granted, it isn't as steep an incline but he was offering whoops of joy as he felt the wind in his hair. One of the culdesac's sidewalks end at a driveway so Aaron had to muster his courage to go down the 'hill'. He took it slow, but he didn't brake all the way down as he's inclined to do. YAY! He made it down and kept on going. At this point driveways aren't a big deal at all, though he still has yet to conquer the hill.
I decided that bike riding is a great family bonding experience, so I told Aaron that I think it would be ok if we went on a bike ride on Sunday. Oh the excitement!! It seemed like an easy enough thing when I said it, but when yesterday came around and I was so sore, I wasn't sure I could do it. I really just wanted to lay down and get a massage! But I made a promise so I had to follow through. It was worth it. So worth it. I was right about it being an appropriate Sunday activity as a family bonding experience. There is a business with a large parking lot across from our neighborhood that we went to after riding through our neighborhood a bit. We had races, chases, and free play. We let Aaron have a parking space start before Jared and I took off in the races. Oh my goodness!! Aaron was so fast! Jared and I had to work really hard to win. We really ought to have let him win, but I have never been good at that :/ I will have to remember to do so next time.
There is a drive around the building that I'd been curious to explore but never wanted to by myself because I knew if I went, the boys would follow and I just wasn't willing to cross that bridge. But yesterday Jared brought up that he wondered where it went. We decided to explore it together. Aaron was pretty winded at that point and thus playing in the dirt. We cajoled him into going with us. He made it halfway across the parking lot before he admitted his legs were really tired. I gave him a drink of water and off he went!! The drive opens into the employee parking lot and oh man what a difference in care!! Potholes, cracks in the pavement, curbs....a great place for Jared and his burgeoning daredevil side. Not so great for Aaron and his training wheels. We discovered the pavement went even farther though - to the loading docks behind the building. It was the oddest thing. It got cold. There was like a line we crossed as we approached the back of the building. At this point the sun was starting to set, so maybe that had something to do with it, but it was kind of eerie. And with that, we decided it was time to go home. Jared told me he made a goal to ride his bike every day. I affirmed that I hoped we could keep it up after school starts, but in the meantime, I think we can do that :)
When I offered to go to the parking lot, I did it with reservations. The last time we'd gone, Mom was here and I was ready for a break before the boys were. I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy riding my bike in circles until the boys tired out. But it turned out ok. In fact, it was more than ok. We had fun the whole time, and even more amazing, I did not feel my soreness one bit. So there's a couple of lessons in there, but the one I want to hold on to at the moment is that just because I am sore does not mean I am limited. I say this in anticipation of my run today. My legs are sore and I wonder how they will be effected by all this cross training. I am hoping that I have more endurance and strength. Aaron has gotten so confident in his riding that I think we will be a good match as I run. Jared will still be riding circles around us, but Aaron won't be so far behind that it is a hindrance. And as I mentioned in the beginning, my body feels itching to be on the move. It really is like something's been awakened in my body.
At the end of the day Saturday, I felt so grateful to be here in NJ because I can be outside and be active without worrying about heat exhaustion. I don't ever remember feeling so happy to be active - especially outside activity kind of active. I know I have enjoyed bike riding very much as a youth, but that is about the scope of it. I have lots of memories of going outside to start a game with one of my brothers and quitting to go inside before he was ready. I just did not have the attention span to stay outside for long. At the moment, I feel like I could actually keep up with my kids. I look forward to becoming more and more fit. Of course, the downside of NJ is that winter is coming. But I hope that I can find other ways to enjoy the outdoors and not stop being active.
One more brag on my boys. They started off not being very confident in the water. Jared was more confident than Aaron, but still a pretty weak swimmer. He worked this summer on being able to go from one side of the pool to the other without stopping and standing up in the process. He can do that now :) Aaron has relied on his floaties big time, though he was getting more and more confident at the same time. Well, the floaties finaly broke and all he had to rely on were pool noodles. He can get around in the water pretty well with the floaties or noodles, but he won't put his face in the water. Something clicked in him on Saturday and he decided to try real swimming. Face in the water swimming. Ta da!! Swimming with confidence! I want to go swimming every day this week to keep up this momentum and see how far he can get before the pool closes for the season on Labor Day (next Monday). He pretty much doggie paddles, so he needs some tweaking but being willing to put his face in the water and sink without panicking is a HUGE step forward.
I would say that this has been a summer of growth for all of us.
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