The Healthy Tales

So last week I totally slacked off. After going to see my doctor and telling her about how I was starting the Couch to 5K program to get back into shape as well as to give myself something to drag myself out of the house and into the gym, I totally whiffed and didn’t make it to the gym once.

So after a week of missing the gym and ordering in at work for an entire week (bleh!), I went back Friday night with Mike and finished week 1 of the couch to 5k program. Just like the previous 2 sessions, it was easy going for the first 2 intervals and then it got harder. I did push through and finish but after taking a week off, I think I am going to do one more week 1 session before jumping into week 2. I think I owe it to my body especially since I went back to the gym yesterday and lifted weights for the first time in what feels like forever. It was definitely a shocker in how out of shape I got so quickly. I learned though and will not be letting this happen again.

So yesterday was Session 2 of the Couch to 5k program. I didn’t do anything special or different than from the first night to prepare. I just grabbed my workout clothes, iPod, a towel, and a water bottle and drug my butt downstairs to the apartment gym and hopped on a treadmill. I would love to tell you that I felt a thousand times better and stronger than the first session but that would be a lie. LOL

I will say though that I felt I started out stronger than last time. I was able to go to a brisk 3.8mph walk to start things off within 2 minutes of starting the session. After that the first two 5 minute intervals of walking/jogging went by really fast and I was feeling really good. Then, once that timer turned past 15 minutes in, I started feeling it and noticing how out of shape I am. I didn’t give up and I didn’t turn the treadmill down but I did think about it a few times.

So by the end of the 25 minutes required by the program I had covered 1.74 miles (up .01 miles from session 1) and burned 170 calories. I also bumped my walking up to 3.8mph vs. 3.7mph and kept my jogging flat at 5.0mph.

I also pressed forward and did another 5 minute walk at 3.8mph, one 5 minuter interval, and then another 5 minute walk before cooling down for the night. I definitely felt like I had pushed myself but in a good way. We’ll see in the morning though what happens. I am hoping to finish week 1 tomorrow before jumping into the car and heading to Baton Rouge for the weekend. It will probably be rough as I am not too sleepy right now and then still up typing in this blog post and I need to wake up early for a doctor’s appointment. Riding an exercise bike for 40 minutes tonight didn’t help either. Oh well. No pain no gain right?

I’ve read about the Couch to 5k program a few times before. I’ve never given it a try as I am not a runner and the few times in my exercise life where I have become a runner, I didn’t need to rotate walking and running. Rather, I would just push myself and start running as I was in moderately good shape. This time around though I am more out of shape than I have been before or at least I feel that way and pushing has been leaving me tired and in pain.

So I decided to revisit the Couch to 5k program. If you are unfamiliar with it the link is here.  Everything seems very easy and straightforward.  You follow the program 3 times a week for 9 weeks and before you know it you are running a full 5k (3.3 miles roughly).  Week 1 requires a brisk walk/jog combination.  At first glance, warming up via a walk for 5 minutes and then alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes sounds like nothing bad.  It actually seems easy and kind of wussy when you are use to running for 20-30 minutes (a year ago of course).

Off I went down to the treadmill and I started up my 5 minute walk – 2.5 minutes at 3.6mph and 2.5 minutes at 3.7mph.  Felt really nice and easy.  Then I started the interval portion.  The first 5 minutes were great, second 5 minutes and I’m feeling a nice sweat, the last 10 minutes I couldn’t believe this program was kicking my butt but I kept going.  I finished off pretty strongly but I’m curious to see how I progress as I was no where near 3.3 miles tonight.

Here are my final stats:

Day 1, Week 1

1.73 Miles

168 calories burned

25 minutes

Day 2, Week 1- Tuesday night!

I just got home from the gym and saw someone that I follow on Twitter post their Meal Plan Monday link and I realized I forgot to post my meal plan for the week. I don’t have anything really fabulous planned but I am testing out a new Weight Watcher friendly slow cooker recipe – BBQ chicken. I hope it tastes as good as it sounds. I’ll post the recipe and photos Wednesday night.

Monday: Brats and Sauerkraut, 1/2 apple
Tuesday: Brats and Sauerkraut, 1/2 apple
Wednesday: BBQ chicken, salad
Thursday: BBQ chicken, salad
Friday: open to go out to eat
Saturday: BBQ chicken pizza, salad
Sunday: open for ideas

I really enjoy slow cooking as it allows me to have a pretty tasty dinner without a lot of work. Usually it goes like this: line cooker with special liner, dump meat into pot, mix & pour sauce on top, run to work. Not a lot of work for a great dinner.

So last weekend before running to HEB, I went through my Fix It and Forget It Lightly Cookbook and decided to give Barbecued Pork Chops a try. I’ve made pork chops before in the slow cooker and they have turned out fairly well so I figured why not. The ingredients were things I already had on hand so I just had to pick up the pork chops which were on sale last week.

Barbecued Pork Chops
4 loin pork chops, 3/4″ thick, trimmed of fat
1 cup ketchup
1 cup hot water
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika

1. Place pork chops in slow cooker.
2. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over chops.
3. Cover. Cook on high 5-6 hours.
4. Cut chops in half and serve.

Nutritional information: 180 calories, 7gms fat, 11gms carbohydrates, 20gms protein

4 Weight Watcher points per serving

My review: The recipe was super simple. I will say though that I was disappointed in the recipe but I think it was more “cook’s error” than anything with the recipe itself. The chops I bought at the store were bone-in and had quite a bit of fat still on them. As I was making this before running off to work, I focused on cutting out the major chunks of fat on the exterior of the chop but didn’t make it to the inside of the chop. Therefore, there was a ton of fat floating around in the pot and all of my chops cooked into a giant meaty clump. It wasn’t very appetizing looking so I decided against posting a photo. Overall, I would give this recipe a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. I would make it again but I would use different chops and possibly a little more sauce to prevent the fat and cooked together issues I experienced.