End of week 3, a long run, and doing what I love

I'm now three weeks into this challenge and I don't even have a six pack yet!  However, I bought some pants this week that are 2 sizes smaller than a similar pair I bought about 3 years ago and my skirt today that I could hardly zip up in September was baggy.  I call that success!  Maybe after another year of this craziness and a tummy tuck, I will get that six pack.
This week I worked really, really hard.  I made every minute of strength training and cardio count.  By Friday I was exhausted.  I had done four HIIT sessions (one was speedwork), I did four days of resistance training and I had run a total of 12 miles.




My running buddy, Priscilla, and I hadn't been able to run together for over a month because of crappy weather, so when the weather looked decent for Saturday, I decided to buck up and do a long overdo run.  Although we froze our buns off running 10.5 miles and I was tired, I was really glad that we were finally able to do it.   It was so much fun to get out and run with her.  The time flew by because we had so much to catch up on and talk about.  I have said this before and I'm sure I will say it again: I would not be still this committed if it wasn't for her.   Having a buddy on this journey has been the key to sticking with it and not getting (too far) off the path.
Because of this 12 week challenge, I haven't been focusing on my New Year resolution of clean family meals.  I have still been cooking clean for myself, but I have also been making separate meals for my family.  This is not the ideal situation, but it is what I am going to have to do for the next nine weeks so that I can meet my goals.  With the exception of yesterday and today (I have been eating popcorn and I made my version of no bake cookies), I have not been eating starch carbs after lunch.  This makes it difficult to prepare meals that my family enjoys, like pasta and potatoes, but I am making it work out.  Their meals are still pretty clean, but they aren't eating salads as their main course.
I have been on somewhat of a smoothie kick lately.  I love it when people post new ones on facebook.  There are some great "green" smoothies out there.  I have mentioned before that one of my favorite smoothies looks like baby poop, but it tastes like pumpkin pie.  I also have been making ones with whatever greens I have: kale, spinach, parsley, celery, and/or cucumber.  I blend these with about 1/2 cup water, juice of 1/2 lemon, flax seed oil, and vanilla protein powder.  I have found that the lemon is the key to deliciousness.  It just adds the right little zing and pulls everything together.  I also love my fruit smoothie: 1/2 banana, berries and protein powder.  I recently discovered a banana cream protein powder and I am in love.  It is really yummy on oatmeal or alone.


Last night, I was perusing Facebook and I came upon an article,  The Happy Diet, by Christina @ The Athletarian,  she talks about Orthorexia, which is an obsession with eating only clean foods.  It's a great article and something that I have debated-where is it a lifestyle and where is it an obsession.  I think that I eat about 90% clean.  My day to day, meal to meal eating is 100% clean.  Even my treats on most days are clean.  The 10% is when I have my weekly cheat meal and/or dessert.  I decided that tonight, since it is the super bowl, I am going to indulge in 1 piece of thin crust pizza with my family.  I will have a big old salad, but I am also going to enjoy a little bit of pepperoni pizza. I'm not going to have any other treats.  I decided this after I read the article and after talking about fitness with Priscilla.  I decided that even though I have my goals and I will eventually meet all of them, I also need to enjoy my life.  Priscilla had said that she is really loving the weight room and that she has been thinking about running less and doing less marathons.  At this time in my life I am just the opposite.  I love to run!  So I am going to do what I love.  I am still going to get my strength training and HIIT in, but I am going to continue to train and run marathons and half marathons.  I am also going to strive to be a 90% clean eater and not develop orthorexia (hahaha). I don't even know if that's a real medical term. I guess I need to google it. My point is that if you love what you do, then you will stick with it. If you are miserable and not enjoying it, then you are more likely to give up.


Since it's Sunday, it's time to plan my workouts for the week. Most weeks I'm able to make everything go as planned, but sometimes I have to jostle things around. I have learned to use a pencil instead of a pen because I do a bit of erasing. I really enjoy putting my little plan together and watching the blank boxes fill up. I love knowing exactly what I have planned. I think this week's plan looks pretty challenging!