Tuesdays

9 miles in 1.5 hours, all before work!  What a great way to start the day.  Today was my last pre-marathon run and I was flying (compared to my usual pace).  Not sure why my last 3 runs have been so good, after weeks of bad ones.  Perhaps it’s my carb-loading the night before?  My husband surprised me with dinner last night, which was very sweet, but mostly carbs — 1/2 burger, baked fries, fruit, sugar-free cake!  I ate it and worried about how it would affect me this morning, but it seemed to have helped.  I recall that the same thing happened on my last good run – a big, high-carb dinner the night before.  I usually eat a pretty light dinner with very few carbs, but perhaps there’s some truth to the theory about carb-loading the night before a big athletic event?  I’ll have to try it out this Saturday before the marathon!

I’ve been really enjoying my meals this week, although I’m quite hungry today after such a long run, so I’ll be adding a handful of almonds to my Veggie & Hummus snack!  The Tropical Salad was awesome yesterday!  I had no idea coconut oil could work so well in salad dressing:

 

The veggies with Athenos Garlic Hummus were also quite tasty, although I’m trying hard to resist the afternoon sugar munchies.

Ruby TUESDAY (Cinch Core, day 4)

Today’s Menu: Same as yesterday

Today’s Workout:  Tri-weekly marathon training run (6 miles) + Power Yoga! 

*****

Happy Tuesday!  I feel amazing and have been on a high for about 4 days now, overflowing with energy, and feeling smaller in my clothes.  Even my skin has cleared up, and that’s even more exciting for me than losing weight!  I am on the same menu today as yesterday, although I worked out early, so how do you handle breakfast when you work out at 6am?  Thankfully, Cynthia addresses this question on her website.  Basically, you split up the breakfast, having the carb & produce beforehand, and the fat & protein afterwards.  So today, I had the toast with almond butter and blackberries at 5:30 am, then the cottage cheese at 8 am.  I wasn’t sure how to save the almond butter for afterwards, so I went ahead and had it early with the toast, and thankfully it did not upset my stomach during my run.  Then I’ll resume my normal eating schedule with my 11 am snack, and etcetera. 

A lot of you have commented that I work out a lot, and yes, that’s true, but don’t feel that you need to do the same for this to be successful.  I truly enjoy my daily workouts, although Cinch’ is primarily designed for light workouts – preferably 30 minutes walking per day.  I am blessed to work for a company (Ruby Tuesday) that encourages us to stay fit and allows for a 1.5-hour lunch break in order to workout, plus we have an on-sight gym and are right next to 20-miles or scenic running trails.  I personally don’t understand people that don’t take advantage of this blessing!!  My husband is also very passionate about exercise and it’s often something we do together, mostly P90X videos or Cycling.  Just do what you feel works best for you!  I usually add a little more calories in the form of whole grains or healthy-fat a couple meals a day to offset my calorie deficit, so if you workout a lot like me, you should do the same to prevent starvation mode.

Maryville Greenbelt, "The Duck Pond"

... Now who wouldn't want to enjoy this every day!?

I read an article once that said they didn’t know anybody that lost weight from exercise alone.  Yep, that’s me.  I’ve been a dedicated gym-rat for about 5 years now, but it’s your diet that truly makes the difference.  Your body is like a machine and you have to feed it right for it to operate at maximum efficiency.  Cinch is working wonders for me in this regard, and I’m eager to see how much better I perform in my upcoming physical challenges – including another haf-marathon in April, a 300-mile charity bike ride in July, and possibly my first triathlon this Fall.  Off to a good start so far!