Ok, so I’m going to try something new this week and do TWO posts in one week. I may regret this idea, but we’ll see how it goes. Since readers are split down the middle — between running/fitness posts and recipe posts — I want to appeal to both equally. I’m going to try posting a recipe on Wednesday and a fitness update on Thursday. What do you think??

It’s been about two weeks since my initial fitness update, so I wanted to let you know how the past two weeks have been.

I didn’t follow my plan to a T… and that’s perfectly fine and normal in my book. I have a BASIC plan, so I have something on paper to help move me along. But life happens, and we need to listen to our bodies. For instance, a workout didn’t happen on Thursday the 19th due to a family emergency, and I decided not to run yesterday morning, because I could tell I needed a break. My right hamstring was extra tight and my morning heart rate was elevated (I’ve been taking it every morning since Jan 1st). So instead, I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes, at my normal workout time. This helps me to stay in my workout routine, still get some blood flowing, yet not overdue it. Keeping the pattern going really helps me to stay on track.

Sunday’s long run was my first 11 miler where I incorporated some planned speed work, which is why I think I’m feeling more tired than normal.

If you can decipher this mess below, you can see what I’ve completed so far of my 12 week workout plan. I cross off and add arrows and make changes where needed. This is not an exact science, I am not a professional athlete, I’m just trying to stay healthy and offset the amount of time I spend sitting in front of my computer, designing. 🙂 Not to mention I enjoy running and sweating out the everyday stresses.

I can’t forget to mention, I got a new Garmin! My Garmin 610 has been dropping satellite reception A LOT lately, so sad to see it go — it served me well for 3.5 years! My new one is the Garmin 235 and it does way more than the 610 ever did; GPS watches have come a loooong way in 3.5 years! In just one little watch, I can get text and phone call alerts, social media alerts (if I want), track my sleep patterns and sleep quality, track my ongoing heart rate, track my heart rate during workouts without a chest strap (which I’m still on the fence about the accuracy – more to come later), track daily steps, sync with My Fitness Pal to see calories in/calories out, syncs with my iPhone calendar so I can see my day at a glance from my wrist, syncs with local weather, and I can ping my iPhone if I lost or misplaced it… just to name the top level things. 🙂 I’ll keep you posted on how it holds up on additional runs and workouts.

Lastly, food tracking has been going well. I still haven’t tracked specific calories, I’ve just been focusing on eating as many plants as possible… and sometimes beer makes its way in there. Beer is a plant, right?

Seriously though. I’m just trying to keep it real. I know that sometimes people think I have this “perfect” (<– what IS that anyway) way of eating and are shocked when they see me eat a treat or drink a beer in person. I don’t post about those things on my blog, because that is not my focus here. Those times are the exception, not the rule. I want to set a good example as well, so posting about it never made sense to me. I’ve realized that sometimes it gives people the wrong impression that I NEVER eat “off track” so to speak. That was never my intention.

Food is not my religion, life is too damn short and our bodies are incredibly resilient if we treat them right the majority of the time.

If you eat healthy 80-90% of the time, you can have a beer here or a cupcake there IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT. As you can see below, I have dark chocolate covered almonds to curb sweet cravings and I had a beer when I was out for a night of bar trivia with my parents and Mr. ZR. Writing food down, without tracking numbers (which is exhausting and takes all the fun out of food for me), is a way for me to hold myself accountable. I can look back and see how often I’ve had a single beer or a few chocolate chips and realize, oh hey! Maybe that is too much. LOL Then I can adjust moving forward.

So as a whole, I’m REALLY enjoying this little Be Well Fitness Log I bought. It has definitely helped me to stay on track and not feel stressed about my fitness goals. By next week’s update, I will have completed 30 days on this plan so it will be interesting to see if any of my stats/measurements have changed.