Friday, November 18, 2011

This, That and Another Thing

This, that and another thing... and it really is just that.  My world seems to moving in a million different directions each day and it's somewhat overwhelming.  I give tons of appreciation towards mothers who stay home with their children all day long.  I give mothers credit who breastfeed, especially those who push through a whole year, work and never let their tummies be filled with formula.  I give the moms and dads  credit who make a working commitment to stay healthy and fit while raising children.  But most of all, I acknowledge the humbleness it takes to be a supportive and loving house wife that makes her home a haven for all those who seek it.  Needless to say, I struggle greatly each day with each of these. 

With that said, I did attempt to try and run my first session of "Couch to 10k in 13 Weeks"... and I succeeded!  For the fit mom, my running schedule may be pitiful, but for me it was a big accomplishment.  It took a lot of self control to push through being uncomfortable while running and to make myself see that these workouts will be worth it.  And for the day, it was worth it.  I felt great (once I showered the disgustingness off), for the whole rest of the day.  I ate well for most of the day and then disappointed myself and ate recklessly that evening.  I am an emotional eater, and I struggle daily with this.  When things get stressful at home, I eat, when I am sad, I eat; I am working to change this but it is a deeply rooted problem that takes tons of attention.  It's like a roaring beast inside of me that I have to keep watch on or it will be escape and wreak havoc.  It seems where in one area I succeed, such as running, and utterly fail in other, my diet.

For any of you who would like to join me in this running challenge, here is my running schedule at the end of this post.  All of the days when I'm not running, I am trying to find another fun way to work out.

I also made some interesting things for dinner last night.  We went grocery shopping on Wednesday night and bought all of the raw ingredients to make all of our meals for the rest of November from scratch.  Last night was my first attempt at making my own salad dressing and twice baked potatoes.  The salad dressing looked like ranch and was made of out of buttermilk and sour cream, but it tasted more light a vinaigrette dressing, which wasn't really appealing to me, but it did taste fine if that's the sort of dressing you prefer.  The potatoes, on the other hand, were awesome!  Here's how you make them.

Stuffed Potatoes

With 4 large russet potatoes, cut off each end of the potato and throw them into an oven at 400F for one hour.  After that time, remove them and cut them in half lengthwise.  Take out the inside of each potato and mash well with a fork.  Mix the following ingredients in a bowl:

~1 cup of fat-free ricotta cheese
~1 cup of Cheddar cheese
~mashed potato
~1/4 tsp of salt
~1/8 tsp of pepper
~1/4 tsp of garlic powder

The freezer all complete!
Stuff each of the potatoes into their old skins (they'll be packed and heaping), lower the oven temperature to 350F and bake for 15 minutes more.  Wallah!  These were pretty tasty, in fact, we couldn't eat four large russet potatoes, so before I baked them a final time, I packaged four halves up and froze them for another day!  My big sister Tess just gave us her big chest freezer, as they got a newer and bigger one.  My plan is to make homemade meals each day of the rest of November and freeze part of each meal for quick meals later on for when I go back to work and things get more complicated.  Today we are hauling down our new freezer to the basement and we're going sand it down and repaint it with white appliance paint.  It should look brand new when we're all done, according to the husband.  I'm superbly excited for this freezer!

Lastly, yesterday seemed to be such an off day for all of us at the Frits household.  Bella was into the clinic for x-rays on her leg, since she's been limping for almost a week.  So with blood drawn and x-rays, they are working on figuring out why she's gimping around.  Good news is that she didn't break or fracture anything, but since it got a little worse and then gets better throughout the day, the doctor was thinking it is a bacterial infection in her joint.  Common?  I have no clue, nor do I know how a person even gets an infection in their joints.  We have to wait until Monday for those results, but as it turns out she's starting to walk more normally and it seems to be clearing up, which is what her doctor said would happen (because bacterial infections in your joints clear up on their own I guess).

I went to work for training, which was fine.  Had my 6 week post-baby appointment, which was fine.  It allowed me to discuss my plans of weight loss and a breast augmentation surgery in 18 months or so.  If I can get my diet and exercise on track and lose the weight I want, I should be on schedule for those life changes in no time.  But coming home to a tired Dad and a grumpy daughter was tough.  Landon needed attention, everyone was getting hungry, the house was a mess and I was tired (like normal).  So the night ended badly, with me being grumpy and angry at the world.  So as I laid in bed, trying to get my very fussy Landon to take a bottle after he threw up 4 times, Bella started crying.  It's bad enough that Landon couldn't hold down my milk and I resorted to sensitive newborn formula, which had me feeling guilty, but then Bella starts whimpering.  I hate that she doesn't feel good, and I can always tell when that is because she sleeps horribly. 

So I went in and got her, laid her in bed with us and started to nurse Landon after his bottle, hoping he'd calm down and put him to sleep.  In my grumpiness, I said, "seems like the only one who appreciates me is Bella, as she's the only one not grumpy at me right now."  What a pity party huh, it wasn't that bad really, I was letting myself feel bad for myself, which I do often.  So at 12:30 in the morning, all four of us in one bed, and a pukey 6 week old on my lap, I contemplate my day.  And just as I felt like bawling, my cute little daughter puts her little hand on the small of my back and pats it.  She rubs my back and lightly taps it, just like I do for her when she's upset.  That turned my mood around instantly and felt incredibly loved.  Here is my 21 month old daughter who has been feeling like poop for about a week and who has been an absolute Gremlin for the day and terrorized my entire house, and she's comforting me.  And in that loving moment, everything in my heart was healed and I smiled a genuine smile for what it seemed, the first time in that entire day.  So I turn around, kiss her forehead and push back her blond hair and whisper, "Thanks Bella, I needed that," and settle in for the rest of the night.  I went to bed feeling like the luckiest Mom in the whole wide world with a sweet little lady for a daughter.  She may be so naughty throughout the whole day and she make have eyes that speak as much, just saying she is seeking for all kinds of trouble, but she has the biggest of hearts and I am always reminded of this at the oddest of times.


I went to bed, praying and promising that today would be a better day.  A new day, a new start, and as I had heard once before, this is why God made the sun and moon come up each and every day.  With each rising sun, we get to start anew and create a new beginning and forget about all of the failures of yesterday.  And with each glowing moon, comes a promise to an end of a crazy day and that when we fall fast asleep that night, God will replace it with our warming sun, for yet another new beginning. 

13 Week Learn to Run Program
Always walk 5 minutes slow and easy to warm up before each session and again to cool down after each session (this is included in the session times):


Week 1

Session 1 - 34 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 8 times.

Session 2 - 28 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.

Session 3 - 31 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.

Week 2

Session 1 - 38 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.

Session 2 - 31 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.

Session 3 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.

Week 3

Session 1 - 45 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.

Session 2 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.

Session 3 - 40 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.

Week 4 - EASY RECOVERY WEEK

Session 1 - 40 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.

Session 2 - 30 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 5 times.

Session 3 - 40 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 3 minutes. Do this 6 times.

 

Week 5

Session 1 - 46 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 9 times.

Session 2 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times.

Session 3 - 42 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times.

Week 6

Session 1 - 52 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.

Session 2 - 38 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.

Session 3 - 50 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 10 times.

Week 7

Session 1 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

Session 2 - 40 min. Run 4 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.

Session 3 - 52 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.

Week 8 *EASY RECOVERY WEEK

Session 1 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

Session 2 - 38 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.

Session 3 - 46 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.

Week 9

Session 1 - 68 min. Run 10 minutes/walk 1 minute; Run 15 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.

Session 2 - 46 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.

Session 3 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

 
Week 10

Session 1 - 72 min. Run 10 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 30 minutes.

Session 2 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

Session 3 - 57 min. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.


Week 11

Session 1 - 71 min. Run 40 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes.

Session 2 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

Session 3 - 57 min. Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.


Week 12 *EASY VOLUME WEEK

Session 1 - 60 min. Run 50 minutes.

Session 2 - 43 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.

Session 3 - 52 min. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.

Week 13

Session 1 - 50 min. Run 40 minutes.

Session 2 - 43 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.

Session 3 Event Day 10K: have fun, and take care not to start out too quickly.

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