Pictures of People Running

To obtain an ideally healthy life style you should engage in exercising. Exercising on a regular basis can help you maintain a healthy weight and simply help you feel and look better than ever. It has been proven that exercising can add a couple of years to your life, make you be happier, and laugh more because exercise alleviates stress and anxiety.

Why Run?

Running is a awesome aerobic exercise which is great for improving cardiovascular health. Another reason running is good is because it is a great way to burn calories and to control your weight. People who run a lot can develop slender, sleek, tone bodies that everyone desires male or female. If your involved in other activities running will help build stamina and aerobic fitness benefiting you in your activity.

Running is a perfect exercise of choice for any healthy person because almost everyone can do it. Running involves no special skills, and it is dependent on no one else but yourself. If you have will power and determination that drives you to seek the benefits of running you will succeed in getting in shape as a runner. Running is the cheapest most convenient form of exercise because it can be carried out anywhere, anytime all you need is a good pair of running shoes, and some comfortable exercise cloths.

As you become a runner you will begin to improve your fitness physically and start to have more pride in yourself. Running will teach you to appreciate your body and diet. You will start to surprise yourself with what your capable of doing, and your self reliance, and self commitment will begin to increase greatly.

Benefits of Running

• Weight Loss
• Circulatory and Heart Health
• Muscle and Bone Strength
• Strengthens Immune System
  
• Reduces chance for certain diseases
• Slows Down Aging
  
• Self Esteem Booster
• Sleep Better
  

Outdoors

Running outdoors costs nothing and it is a great way to enjoy nature. Whether your running along the streets, in your neighborhood, in a park, on the trails, or cross country you will enjoy the relaxation of being outdoors. Outdoor running can be very calming and soothing meditative experience.

Indoors

Running cannot only be done outside but it can be accomplished indoors on treadmills. Treadmills simulate running with a low impact aerobic workout. Treadmills can be used anytime of the year no matter what the weather is like outside. Purchasing a treadmill is a must if your planning on becoming a serious runner because they will keep you in shape and healthy in the cold winter months. Treadmills are relatively inexpensive compared to gym costs and they will last many years.

The word aerobic means (with oxygen). Aerobic exercises refer to physical workouts that require oxygen to be delivered to the muscles over an extended period of time. Aerobic exercises require sustained exercise over a period of time, rather than short bursts of effort. Aerobic training is also often referred to as (Cardio) exercise because it helps to strengthen the cardiovascular heart and respiratory systems. Aerobic activities include:

• Walking

• Jogging

• Swimming

• Jump Rope

• Roller Blading

• Rowing

• And most general sports.

Half Marathon Training Starts Today!!!!!!!!

Weeeeeeeeeeee! So excited to officially start training for my first half marathon tonight!  It’s going to be a hilly 3K so I can work up a good sweat in the short time I’m out.

This post is going to be a little bit of this and that because I have a few things that I want to say!

[Edit]
Amy is thinking of running a 15 Week Challenge and she wants to know who’s in!  She’s got some incredible sponsors lined up, so head over to her blog today and let her know you’re interested!!  I’m definitely in!!

Also, take a moment to check out Angela’s video “Goodbye To The Obsession.”  It is really thought-provoking and gave me goosebumps.

- I’ve been mentally making a list of all the foods/recipes that I want to make over the next few weeks, this includes black bean burgers, french toast (haha thanks Vanessa) and some form of raw granola bar.   Making a list of the ingredients tonight and will pick them up when I’m at Planet Organic tomorrow night!  J even said he would try the black bean burgers so it got me all excited to make them!

- Sometimes I think about becoming a vegetarian.  There are days where I don’t have any meat and don’t miss it at all.  Then there are times that I think I could devour 20oz steak. But really, I don’t think it would be that much of an effort for me to not eat meat.  All you vegetarians out there, what has been your biggest struggle? Do you feel deprived?

- I went back through my older blog posts and I can’t believe how depressed/unmotivated I sounded in a lot of my writing this past year.  I want to thank all those who kept commenting, even through my rough times.  Your support means so much to me. ♥ I know that I stopped commenting on many blogs too and I’m going to make an effort to do better in this area.  Just seems right! Getting back into blogging/commenting really seems to be helping with the motivation too.

- Anyone else watch the show True Blood?  As I mentioned in my Video Blog last night, I’m totally addicted! I’ve got 2 episodes left of the first season.

- I’m feeling so freaking happy lately it’s almost sick!! :)

On to my eats.  Last night I left off trying to figure out what to have for Supper.  Decided to be lazy and got J to pick up a pizza.  We split a medium, thin crust – mine loaded with all veggies – green peppers, onions, tomatoes and olives. Mmm mmm!  I love the fact that this pizza has literally no grease and I don’t feel nasty after eating it.

 


This morning I woke up and knew immediately that I wanted oats.  Into the pot went organic oats, ground flax seed, vanilla almond breeze a chopped banana.


Topped my bowl with some more chopped banana, sliced almonds, a few craisins, mini chocolate chips & a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter.

 
For my morning snack seems that I’ve been rotating between those lovely cosmic cookies and larabars.  Well today was no different and I had a Coconut Cream Pie bar.


Fantastic!


Unfortunately, my lunches are usually always the same for one week because I make a pot of something on the weekend to eat all week.  It may seem boring but it saves SOOOO much time and I know that it’s healthy.  So again, chicken veggie alfredo with cucumber.

 
I munched some a few Kashi Honey Sesame crackers and an apple for my afternoon snack.

 

I got home from work and put the living room back together.  We’ve been sleeping out here all week while the paint dried/fumes left the bedroom.  I haven’t slept well at all and will be glad to be back where I belong!

So…Supper tonight was for three!  My Dad is away so my Mom stopped in for a quick visit and a bite to eat.  I was still in a pork kabob frame of mind so I took all the ingredients and made “kabob-less pork!” :)

Aren’t all the colors just gorgeous?!


This was a mixture of green, red & yellow peppers, red onion and diced pork with all kinds of seasonings.
 

Served with a side of olive oil garlic couscous.

  

I’m off to get ready for my run.

Night!! 

Pfft…

Well I spent half an hour this morning writing a post and when I went to upload it, Windows Live Writer or Blogger got some type of error and it erased my whole post.  :(

Let’s see… I got out for my 8K run as planned last night.  It was the perfect evening for it – sun setting with a cool breeze.  My route took me all around the lake, I never think too much about where I live but it really is beautiful.  Polar tells me that I burnt 695 calories, this includes the cool down walk.  Not bad for such an enjoyable time! 

My eats for today were pretty routine.  I woke up hungry but craving protein, so I made an egg on Ezekiel toast.  Mmm so good with the baby spinach, shredded cheese tomatoes.

Also had the last of the cherries. Yup, when did I get that huge bag? The weekend?!  And I’m the only one that eats them in the house.  Opps!

  

Mid-morning I took a break and had a yummy treat – a Cosmic Cookie.  If you haven’t made these yet, pick up the ingredients! They are packed full of healthy ingredients and taste amazing!!

 
My lunch was fairly identical to yesterday.  The chicken, veggie alfredo dish  a side of cucumber.


Dessert was some Liberte Svelte Vanilla yogurt.


After enjoying a lovely walk home in the sun, some ice cream was in order!  1/2 cup of chocolate chip cookie dough in a waffle cone. Delicious! 

 
It is a gorgeous night out so I’m going to try and convince J to go for a walk.  Wish me luck! 

Canadians Rock!

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!! I am so proud and lucky to be a citizen of this wonderful country!

I actually ended up working today and have Friday off, so my day wasn’t too exciting.    In fact, the most thrilling part of my day was when I got home and did my first session of Amy’s Workout Wednesday series.  It was a great 12 minute mini work out for sure!!  Lots of the same moves from Booty Camp.  Damn bicycle crunches get me every time! ;)

It’s pretty grey and bleak out here; AKA great running weather.  Plans to head out in a few for a 4K.

Getting into the food… Breaky was cold cereal.  A mix of PC Organics 7 Reasons cereal and Barbara’s Peanut Butter Puffins.  Too bad the Puffins were a tad on the stale side. 

Topped with some delicious fresh strawberries.


I headed over to work and was pretty busy all morning. Luckily not many people knew we were in, so not a lot of phones ringing!! Gotta love that!  I took a break mid-morning to snack on a Cosmic Cookie.


For lunch I had the last of the crust less quiche.  Again, was tasty but the texture was just nasty – rubber-like.

 
Along with that I also had a salad – just a simple mix of baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, a sprinkle of feta and a few croutons.

 
I munched on last of the organic cherries while reading a few more chapters of My Sisters Keeper.  This book is awesome, I’m almost done and only got it yesterday.  I’m predicting the movie just won’t be as good.

 
I couldn’t keep away from my desk drawer for too long…Mmmm chocolate.


Decided to have some total comfort food for Supper.  Homemade Mac & Cheese with a huge side of broccoli!  Was fantastic and great pre-run fuel – lots of complex carbs, fibre and protein.

 
One serving of whole wheat elbow macaroni covered in home made cheese sauce. 


I’m also pleased to announce that even though we had a fridge full of fresh greens/veggies, none of them are going to waste.  We almost need to stock up again!

So going for a run and then hoping to finish my book.  Tomorrow will be a busy day because I have work and a car appointment.  Hopefully I make it in time for Booty Camp.

Reno Day!

The master bedroom is ALMOST done!!!  Yah, we finally got the oak flooring put in and it looks great with the paint color that I chose for the walls!  The only thing we have left to do is the moulding and that will be done (hopefully) next weekend!  (These pics aren’t the best b/c the lighting is weird in our room but you’ll get the idea.)

Before:
Plain white walls with beige carpet.

After:
Sage coloured walls with oak flooring!  I must say, I’m pretty impressed with how much these 2 changes update the look of the room.  Can’t wait to get started on the rest of the house!!

My parents were over to help us with the flooring so I made us home made pizzas for lunch.  Used a basic dough recipe and added some ground flax for added chew & nutrition.   Here’s their pizza with the “works.”

  
Our pizza was split down the middle as usual. :) 

My side had loads of red & green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, prosciutto, a very small sprinkle of real bacon and 3 cheese blend. Mmm, was restaurant quality!

 
Dessert was a handful of organic cherries and some very fresh, juicy pineapple.

 
Recaping a bit…
So, my morning was pretty busy.  Woke up around 6am and immediately headed out the door for a quick 3K run.  I knew that if I didn’t get it in before the renos started that I wouldn’t actually do it.   Very glad I was smart and planned ahead, because I’m tired now and just want to sit on the couch and do nothing for the rest of the evening!

Anyways, once I got back from my run I jumped in the shower and then made us a yummy “brunchy” breakfast. 

I have been craving bacon for a few weeks now so I bought a package last night.  Did well, only had one piece (split in two) but it totally satisfied the craving.  Nice, I LOVE it when my body and mind cooperates :)  I find it so much easier to just have a little of something when I’m craving it, than to ignore it and try to satisfy it with other things.  NEVER works and I just end up it all those things plus what I was originally craving,  which, of course, wrecks havoc on the ol’ calorie budget. 

Along with the bacon was an egg and an Ezekiel english muffin with a 1/2 cup of organic OJ.  Mmm delicious!


No morning is complete with out a splash of coffee…


And some love from my beautiful kitties!

Happy Monday!

Afternoon Ladies. Terrific, sunny day here. Just got in from work and am going over my mail, etc. This is my fav time of the day, it’s pretty much my only “me” time; I’ve got an hour and a half before J gets home. Am going to catch up on your blogs; I’m really enjoying all the pics and stories everyone has put up from Toronto, makes me so happy that you all had a great time. Sounds silly I know, but after a few years of blogging feels like you are all old friends!

Thanks for the feedback on the new layout, glad you approve! :)
I think I finally managed to get all the domain issues straightened out and you can now visit the site with and without the www! Yah!!

My eats for today were pretty simple. Breaky was ezekiel toast with organic peanut butter & apple butter with a side of cherries. Mmm I am SO addicted to these things (as you will see!)

A Coconut Cream Pie Larabar was calling my name mid-morning. I cannot get enough of these and the Peanut Butter Cookies ones. Seriously, I could eat these all day, all the time.

For lunches this week I made a pot of chicken veggie pasta. Basically I tossed (measured portions of) whole wheat pasta, diced chicken breast, carrots, broccoli & alfredo sauce in a pot. Simple & tasty.

And, of course, more cherries for dessert!

I had an apple on the way home, but it was spur of the moment mid-walk. I did manage to also inhale these guys once I got through the door.

I took out pork for supper but I’m not really feeling it now. Lately I’ve been craving red meat, must get my iron levels checked.

Got plans for an 8K tonight once it cools off. This is also the week I start my HALF MARATHON TRAINING!!!!