Back at it!

That's right, I'm back at it....

At what you ask?

At running....

I did a 5K on campus on December 5th and it was SOOOOO COLD!!  My lungs burned for hours afterwards and the whole race was treacherous!! I hated it.

After that, I didn't run for about a month and a half... I know, crazy.  I went from running 4-6 times a week to nothing.
I loved sleeping in and not braving the cold... but I wasn't feeling well about it.  I was lethargic and really had very little energy.  I just could not bring myself to run outside in the freezing weather.  I knew it wasn't good for my lungs and I was risking injury.
So, two friends at work kept mentioning this half marathon and how they'd start training on the indoor track at work until the weather got better to run outside.
And so I did it.
I signed up for the half and started going to the track before work in the morning.  On MWF when Maddie goes to preschool, I go at 6am with a friend from work (who doesn't have to be up until 8 for work, but goes with me to keep me company, which is so nice!!) and on TTH we go at 7am!

The half marathon is pretty great too.  It is in NH around Lake Winnepesaukee and you can be a "Wish Maker" by raising money for the "Make a Wish Foundation" while running.  The minimum donation is $150 which is so do-able!
So I am doing it... Here's my fundraising page if you're interested.   If you're not familiar with this foundation, which I am pretty sure most people are - but, I learned more after one of my best friends, Meredith, took a job granting wishes for them... They grant wishes for terminally ill children.  I can't imagine having a child with a terminal illness, but I do know that I would want every day of their life (however short) to be spectacular... and this foundation helps do just that!    Can't get much better than that.

I think my next half-marathon after this one will benefit the Children's Hospital in Boston if they do that.  I owe a lot to that hospital and I know exactly what those kids and parents go through and just how awesome the doctors, surgeons and nurses are... so yes,  I really like doing these things that have a purpose!!!

I've also decided that I'd like to partner my training with the remainder of my weight-loss.  Now, don't get all worried about me... I'm fine!  I just still have about 7 lbs to go to get to where I was at before I had Maddie.  And yes, I know I look fine.  I do know, however, that I can look better and feel better.  My jeans can fit better, my shirts can fit better and I FEEL better if I were down those 7 pounds.  I know already that in training for the last half marathon, I didn't really lose a ton of weight, but I did tone up.  I'm not one for watching what I eat.  In fact, I usually exercise so that I don't have to watch what I eat...
However, after getting this snazzy new phone (it's an andriod and has an app for that!) I downloaded an app called MyFitnessPal.  This might sound much like a commercial in a minute, but you'll see why.  I LOVE IT!!!
You enter your weight, your height, your daily activity (if you sit at a desk most of the day or are active) etc.  Then you tell it what your goal is (to lose weight, to maintain your weight, to gain weight or whatever your goal might be) and it calculates what your daily caloric intake should be in order to achieve that goal.
After it does that, you're all set!
You just enter the foods you eat after every meal and it calculates all of your nutritional information - telling you how many calories you have for the rest of the day.  It also asks about your cardiovascular activities and strength training activities.  Once you enter those, it adds calories etc. to your goal for the day.  I'm not crazy with it, but it is totally helping me learn what foods are healthier, what options would be better for me, and keeps me from overeating!!

There are a few things I love about it... besides the obvious!  Firstly, it has a bar code scanner.  So, if I don't feel like entering all of the info from my salad dressing bottle (all of the info meaning, brand name and type) I can just scan the bar code, it finds the dressing and adds all of the nutritional info for me!!
Secondly, it has ALL SORTS of food in there.  For example: we have a coffee shop near us called "Mary Lou's" and they sell specialized coffees.  I figured I'd have to enter every ingredient individually, and nope!! I typed in "Minty Lou" and the thing had all of the nutritional information for my specialized coffee!!! Incredible!!!  Also, at work, I eat in the cafeteria each day (it's free and they have a salad bar that rivals Ruby Tuesday's!) Sometimes they have things on there that I'm sure wont be in the app... but sure enough, it links with Sodexho (our food service provider's) nutritional info too!!

Another great thing is that you don't actually need the app on your phone.  You can go to www.MyFitnessPal.com and do it all from your computer.  There you can connect with other people, (like me!) using the program and encourage each other along the way!!

The other great thing is that when you're below your calories for the day, it pretty much yells at you!!! So it keeps you responsible and healthy when using it!!

So.. if you're looking for a great app or just want to log online to try something new like this... I seriously recommend it... Its got me all fired up!!