Week 7: 14.7 pounds down!

I was greeted by the scale reading 208.2 this morning! I'm almost 15 pounds down at this point and am starting to feel amazing! I've noticed that I've developed an odd habit of constantly feeling my stomach because I can tell it's getting smaller. This week was filled with a lot of diversity. I went to the physical therapist to get work done on my hip flexors, my wife's birthday was on Sunday and I've committed to running a few races over the next year. With that being said, again this week I find myself all over the place. I repeatedly point out that this blog should not be viewed as a "how to lose 50 pounds" instruction manual, but instead should be viewed as a "how to stay consistent when life happens" manual. That's what all of this is about. Consistency.

Smoothie, cheese and bacon (microwaved bacon at that) for breakfast. Yummy! I don't take many pictures of what I eat, but I like to show a little of how I'm achieving weight loss success. I thrive on simplicity. Feel free to view my food diary on My Fitness Pal. My username is brandonfitwin. 

The lovely wife on her birthday. What's not in this picture is the biscuits and gravy we ate. Mmm.

Mmmmm kale. I love it in a smoothie.

Side shot of the smoothie before the blender dismantles it. From bottom to top it's one apple, a handful of baby carrots, three celery stalks and a handful of kale. 

Again, simple things to eat. Smoothie, bacon and beef. Simplicity is key to my weight loss.

 Exercise Log:

Wednesday: I cannot remember for the life of me.

Thursday: Lots of stretching. 10,000 steps.

Friday: 2.19 mile trail run by myself in 26:18 (12:01 pace). I made sure to warm up before and stretch afterwards in order to take care of my hip flexors. It felt great!

Saturday: I hiked with two different groups in the morning and had 10,000 steps by noon. In the evening, I did some strength training which consisted of 3 rounds of squat to press and back extension super sets for 1 minute each with no rest in between. Then I did a super set of rear cable flyes to ball leg curls 10 reps a piece with no rest. Lastly, I did super sets of incline walking (3.3mph/incline 10) for 2 minutes into 30 seconds of plank with no rest in between. Ended the day with over 20,000 steps. :)

Sunday: Megan's birthday. Ate a lot. :) I mean, that works my jaw muscles, so that counts right?

Monday: 1.56 run in intervals with the NOBO group. The intervals were 4 minutes running to 2 minutes walking. Average pace was 12:54, so total time was 20:08. Then I went to the gym with Megan to spot her for her bench press and I did 3 rounds of 2 minute incline walking (3.3mph/incline 10) into 10 reps of single leg bridge on my right side, then a 30 second plank. No rest in between. Finished with over 15,000 steps.

Tuesday: 3.31 mile trail run with Jan Marie and Jodi. It was a slow pace as I waited for them at trail heads, but everything felt really good. I warmed up and stretched afterwards like a good boy. Or like an aging guy who's scared of not being able to run again.Finished the day with over 16,000 steps.

Approximate Total Exercise Time:  220 minutes? 7.06 miles run this week. Yay! I'm so happy to be running again! My goal this coming week is to run 8-10 miles.

The weekend was off but everything still looked good.