Day 21: Full of Color!

Hey folks, it's gonna be a short one today. I worked hard, and I'm tired!!

So, I've made it to the 3 week mark! Woo Hoo! They say that it takes 3 weeks to form a habit that is going to stick. Well, it's been 3 weeks! Since I missed a few days this week, I'm gonna say 30 days (not 21) will mark that point for me. It's important for me to REALLY dig in at this point, focus and stick to my menu and my calendar - including making up for the workouts I missed.

In honor of the Mud Factor 5k that will be happening in 1 week (September 29^th), I am training tonight on the treadmill, running an interval 5k, and wearing my sweat-band that I wore during the Color Run 5k that I did exactly one year ago from next weeks' race. Yep, that's right! The Color run and the Mud Factor 5k's both fall on September 29^th- 1 year apart!

This week I fell behind and missed a few days out of my exercise schedule. So I had to revamp it for the coming week, so that I can make up for the ones I missed. One of my favorite things is Post-it notes! I used them on my bright, fun magnetic calendar to mark which workout to be completed on what day.

As much as I want to just let myself off the hook, and skip the ones I missed, it's important to stick with what I said I would do, and get my exercise! Exercise really important for a lot of reasons. It helps build lean muscle that will help burn calories and burn them more efficiently (raise your metabolism, even at rest). Building muscle is a three-part job.

You need to build muscles in terms of
1. Strength - strong enough to handle lifting heavy loads, (strength or weight training)
2. Endurance - be able to do rigorous tasks for long periods of time, and (cardio - good for having a healthy heart too!)
3. Balance - helps your posture (balancing the strength of the muscles on the front and the back of your body, so there isn't imbalance - ergo; muscular dysfunction that causes chronic pain. (yoga and stretching) Plus, having equally strong muscles, actually helps you keep your balance. :) BUT WAIT, There's MORE!!
ALSO, a Fabulous bi-products of exercise are muscle tone, looking fit and maintaining a healthy weight (as long as you're eating right).

Tip of the Day

Eat a half to full serving of low-fat (NOT no-fat) lean protein each time you eat. When you eat, the body digests carbohydrates first, (giving you energy), and protein next, and fat last. Eating protein helps to replenish muscles after you've broken them down with exercise and rebuild your muscles after a workout! It also helps you stay full longer! Your protein choice needs to have some fat in it, because that also helps you to feel full - since fat digests the slowest. Combining complex carbohydrates, lean protein and a small amount of fat, is the best food-combo to help you feel full the longest.

So, how'd I do today??

Exercise
Today's exercise I completed a 5K Interval run on the treadmill burning 350 cal in just about 40 minutes.

Food

I enjoyed the Skinny Soup today for dinner which filled me up without going over budget on calories. When I made the soup, it gave me a great chance to use up my lovely fresh tomatoes from my garden!

Breakfast: apple-cinnamon oatmeal and 2 HBE's

Snack: homemade chai latte

Lunch: Sushi and edemame

Snack: Banana, string cheese, and mini sweet bell peppers

Dinner: Skinny soup, string cheese

Thanks for reading all!!