What am I thinking?

Starting another blog? Am I crazy? (Answer: most likely).

I don't plan on having this blog be long-lived. In fact, I'd feel better if it weren't. I'm just starting this site to help me keep track of my weight and exercise goals. I'm not going to focus on writing anything clever or creative. It's more for me, really, although the fact that I'm blogging it means it's for you, too.

So, I'm starting a bit of a diet (more of an eating plan, really) and some regular, structured exercise (as opposed to my usual disorganized flailing about).

The exercise program is here: The Couch-to-5k Running Plan. I just finished week one, which I'll write about more below.

The diet is not really a diet, as I've said. It's more about trying to eat more healthful foods and to limit my options so that I don't overeat, which tends to be my Achilles heel. Achilles stomach? Anyway. I think it's sort of loosely based on the You On A Diet book, although not having read it I can't really say for sure.

So my breakfast options are: smoothie (made with Stonyfield Farms Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt, banana, orange juice, some frozen berries, a little cinnamon, and a few flax seeds for the Omega-3 fatty acids), yogurt with fruit (usually banana) and lowfat granola, or scrambled egg and cheese in a wrap (which I have with some orange juice). Charlotte's favorite option is the smoothie, which she pronounces so cutely it makes me want to give her the whole thing. "Moooonthy."

For lunch I can have a salad (the salad bar in the Baker Center is fantastic, with lots of toppings, and is also very cheap), pasta salad (I make a big batch of this every week, with turkey, peas, cheese, carrots and ranch dressing), or these Hot Pocket-esque things from Aldi that are really cheap and also lowfat, in either turkey and broccoli or "southwest."

For dinner, my options include another salad, this time with protein of some sort like grilled chicken or a salmon fillet, a baked potato with toppings like broccoli, cheese or ham, or a chicken breast or salmon fillet with a veggie of some sort plus a potato too if I'm extra hungry.

Snacks are fresh fruit, apple slices with peanut butter, baby carrots or other crudite veggies with hummus or ranch dressing, roasted almonds and dried cherries, or string cheese.

I've been eating on this plan for about a week and a half now, and I've discovered a couple of things:

1. This diet includes a lot fewer carbs than I am used to. That's great normally, but on days when I'm running, I think I need to incorporate a little more instant energy into my lunches. Today for lunch I got a salad from Quiznos which was delicious but about as far from healthy as a pizza would have been. It included grilled flatbread. When I ordered the salad, I thought, "Oh, I'll eat one of the little wedges of flatbread and throw the rest away." Ha ha! As if. I ate the whole thing. But! My run went really well. I didn't feel shaky afterward, and had more energy during as well. Thank you, flatbread!

2. I really do feel great when I eat a lot of fruit and veggies as opposed to my normal diet of quick, convenient carbs. There were days when I would eat: a nutrigrain bar, a large coffee with cream and sugar, a bag of pretzels, a diet Pepsi, crackers and a sandwich. Ugh. But all those things are so convenient, and can be purchased from a vending machine in Ellis Hall and often eaten with one hand while reading student papers! However, it's worth it to eat better when I can make it through the mid/late afternoon, when traditionally I would experience a slump in energy, without a headache or a crabby request for a nap.

So, I'm running. Those who know me know that I loathe to run. I am not a natural runner. When I've tried to run before, I generally would set goals for myself, like a mile this week, a mile and half next, etc. And inevitably, I would fail to reach them. Because no matter how regularly I exercised and how faithfully I stuck with my plan, it never got any easier. It would be time to move up to two miles, and I would still struggle mightily to run one. I hated that. Still do, actually.

I was skeptical about this running plan, but I've heard from many others who've tried it--others like me, who are sworn non-runners--and have had success. So I'm giving it a go. Actually, I've given it several goes, over the summer. But each time I'd start the plan it'd be interrupted by something: a trip out of town, a visit from family, my master's essay, etc. I'd make it to week two and then miss a couple days and have to start over. So at the end of July I decided to just postpone starting the plan again until the school year started, when I could integrate it into my schedule.

That's worked quite well. I teach everyday for two hours, and have a couple of office hours everyday as well. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I will go to the gym around 1:30 p.m. and do my run. Then I get to go home. It's perfect.

I'm also assisted by the fact that my friend Kristen also wants to go to the gym at that time on those days. She's also my office-mate, so we walk down to the gym together. She runs on the treadmill while I slog away on the track. It keeps me accountable.

So, week one is done. Weight: 140.8 lbs.