A Family Turn

I have not been up on this blog as much as I have been in the past. Our family has taken a turn toward healthy living and we are committed to that right now.

I started my current weight loss journey in mid-May and have lost over 23 lbs in 11 weeks. The #1 reason for my success, running. I am training to run the Rock 'n' Roll Denver Half Marathon in October and you have to put the miles in to train effectively.

The #2 reason for my success is that I have changed the quality (and quantity) of food that I eat and when, during the day, that I eat. I have pushed protein to breakfast and snack on garbanzo beans instead of potato chips and carbs throughout the day. I stay fuller, longer and have a much more sensible dinner.

My husband is becoming more fit, too. He does not follow his weight as closely and I have, but he can tell that his clothes are fitting better. His success has been training for a 50k (31 mile) charity bike ride for the Diabetes Tour de Cure. Weekly, I map out 10, 15, 20 and (this weekend) a 25-26 mile course to help him get used to being on a bike for several hours. He race is in Longmont, CO on Saturday, August 21st. If you are in the Denver area, come out to support the cause.

With my training, I have become preoccupied with my other blog, Mission Probable which I collect fitness, nutritional and racing articles. I also use this blog to record my training sessions and record my weight, weekly.

I have also adjusted the blogs that I read (which used to be about family related issues and are now about running and fitness), the twitter feeds that I follow and the Facebook pages that I "like."

The one thing that is currently missing from my fitness routine is weight lifting. Within my building, there is a small fitness room which has some weight machines, a stationary bike, a treadmill, elliptical machine and a stair stepper (which I will probably not EVER got on). Cardio is a great way to start to get to my goal, but I know that I will need to add weight bearing exercises as well.

We have free weights at the house. I should probably pull some out and bring them upstairs so that I don't have any excuse not to use them. I just need to make sure that Sam does not start playing with them. Steel is not a food group.

Please feel free to visit my fitness blog and if you are interested in donating to charity, here is a link to support Brian's charity bike ride for Diabetes.