Motivation? Inspiration? Perspiration?

I've had more than a few friends tell me I inspire them.

Some said I inspired them to start watching what they ate and maybe start to exercise a bit.

Some said I inspired them to eat a cheeseburger, sit on the couch, and be happy that way.

Either way, it's nice to know I'm an influence on someone.

Over the past 11 months, my husband has continually told me how proud he is of me. That he really didn't think I had the willpower to accomplish what I have. He says I motivate him and inspire him to get healthy.

A little background on my darling spouse. He is not overweight. He smokes, he drinks, he spends a lot of time on the computer. He also spends a lot of time walking at his job. He likes to eat, but not excessively. He also does not like diet food. Low fat anything does not pass his lips. It had better have real butter and possibly some bacon somewhere. Interestingly enough, he loves salads and regular fat cottage cheese. He played basketball in high school and was a very active kid. Point being, dude is not that far off the healthy track. And lately he's been talking about running. He has seen the positive side effects in me and I think he wants a taste. He also thinks having a physical hobby might help curb the smoking. As I tell him all the time, "You can't smoke and run. I tried. Didn't work."

This morning my handsome hunk of a husband hopped on the treadmill and asked me to write down W1D1 of C25K for him. I did, and then sat back and watched him complete it. I was seriously impressed and proud.

I hope I don't jinx it but here is hoping I can have my husband as a running partner some day.

Sometimes You've Just Got To Have Pasta

Good evening all!

I'm feeling especially cheerful today. I've had a great day health wise. I'm talking stellar, top notch, couldn't have done better.

Before we get to the details of today though, let's backtrack to yesterday. I put in a little over two miles on the treadmill. One quick mile and another mile of hill walking at a 10% incline speed set at 4. It was brutal and I was dripping in sweat even in the nice cool a/c.

Anyways, I had my eating all lined out and had only consumed 550 calories after lunch. Then I got a call that instead of picking up my eldest son at our normal location, I was going to have to drive an additional hour past there to where his Dad lived to get him. His Dad and step mom had come down with a stomach bug and were in no shape to be traveling and I wanted to get him out of there before he caught it! No worries though. I was excited at the prospect of a trip to Fayetteville. I lived there 6 years before moving back to the boonies and was positively giddy with all the dinner options presented to me on Sunday evening.

So when I got there and swooped up the kiddo, we proceeded to meet a friend (and swoon over her darling newborn) for dinner at Noodles.

I LOVE NOODLES!

I missed this place like no other. I'm not even going to pretend that what I ordered was healthy, but it was sure good! I had the Parmesan Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Sauce. I like my food spicy and it did not disappoint. Of course our dinner also included bread and dipping oil along with salad. Oh and I also indulged in two cosmopolitans. I promise that I did glance at the low carb options but that just didn't seem like any fun.

Noodles is a restaurant that demands carb overload!

The kids split a Chicken Spinach Alfredo pizza and I cross my heart I did not even sneak a bite. Not that it would have mattered anyways, cause on the way home we hit up Sonic for ice cream and I had a Mocha Java Chiller. What? It was a two and half hour drive and I needed coffee. Yes, I am aware I could have had it sans ice cream but I had already blown the bank for the day. And you know what? I don't feel bad at all.

On to today, and I am coming in at a calorie total of 1205. Wooohooo! I also went with my buddy Dala to do her C25K and got in 2.5 miles and then when I got home I rocked out on the treadmill for another 1.10 miles. I'm feeling fit and healthy today.

I began the morning with a smoothie. This one included spinach, almond butter, chocolate powder, banana, strawberries, and almond milk. Snack was a Sargento Pepper Jack Cheese stick wrapped in a piece of low fat ham. Lunch consisted of grilled chicken breast salad on romaine with salsa as dressing and a little bit of shredded cheese. I also whipped up some hummus from scratch and enjoyed that with my lunch and then again with carrots and bell pepper strips as a snack. Dinner was grilled white fish, corn on the cob, and sauteed spinach, onion, and bell pepper. A good good eating day!

Did you indulge this weekend? If so, are you back on track today?

Mileage Report & Running With Babes

{My daughter Stella & I gearing up for a jog.}

This morning I met up with my good friend Dala at our local park. The plan was for her to complete C25K W1D2 and for me to tag along. We finished her 20 minutes and walked another 1/2 mile. It was a good, easy day for me and I am glad to have the opportunity to get in more exercise and motivate a friend in the process. If I keep going with Dala for easy days that will have me being active 7 days a week! Whoa! Who would have thought? I was such a couch potato a year ago, now I can't wait to get out and do something.

Yesterday I logged 4 miles. Sunday was an easy 2.5 with Dala on her first day of C25K. With today's mileage I'm up to 8.5 miles for the week and its only Tuesday. This may not seem like a lot to you hardcore runners, but for me...it's a lot! I'm slowly and steadily working on increasing my mileage and I think this is a good start. Tomorrow I have 3 or 3.5 on the schedule.

Also yesterday was the day I chose to resume my strict eating. I cheated my booty off the past few weeks way more than I am usually allowed. So this week I am back to 1300-1500 calories a day and one cheat day after six good days. I did well with 1347 calories yesterday and I've already mapped out my calories today and it's coming in right around 1150. I might have to find a snack after dinner, maybe some yummy super low-cal strawberries just to put my calories at 1200. I don't want to eat too little and suffer from lack of energy on tomorrow morning's run.

What do you do to keep your calories low?