Living Healthy, Living Well...

Adventures in Living Healthy with CityMomma/ CountryMomma

It's Friday! Time for my "Friday Feature." Two weeks in a row...pretty good huh?

So, I got weighed yesterday and I lost another pound. One pound. Miss Phyllis our group leader says to be happy for that pound and I am but I was really hoping for two or three pounds considering how much I worked out last week. She got sick of my lamenting over "just" one pound and made me hold a little hand weight (with my arm straight out) while we chatted. It started to get a little annoying after a few minutes which is when she informed me that it was only half a pound. OK Phyllis, you win. I'll stop complaining now. (Oh and I'm down 13.8, just in case you're counting.)

At the Y today, while I was working out, I had a woman approach me and tell me, "I've been watching you work out. You work out really hard. Good job!" I thought it was nice of her to stop and say that to me and she didn't even work there! It's nice to see that others notice how hard I work, I hope my body starts noticing soon! ;)

So, speaking of working out. I mentioned in my "favorite things" post yesterday that my new sneakers are one of my current favorite things. Getting them has really improved my work outs which is why I am going to tell you about my "sneaker theory". This is just my own personal opinion, it's what's worked for me.

A little more than a year ago, I was training to complete a 5K and I was having a really difficult time, I get shin splints badly. I thought I had "good" sneakers, they were fairly expensive running sneakers that the person at the shoe store in the mall suggested for me. I don't know if the sneakers weren't the right thing or they were just worn out so I decided to head to our local running store, since I was living in The City at the time, I visited The Philadelphia Runner .

It was a little embarrassing as I was overweight and clearly not a "Philadelphia Runner" but the gentleman who helped me was fantastic! He asked me to take off my shoes and walk across the store while he watched me. I've been suffering with heel spurs and plantar faciitis for years which I let him know. He instantly told me that I had very high arches (which I knew) and foot pronation (which I didn't know) and he trotted off to the back to pick me the appropriate sneakers. He came back with a few different choices, all in about the $100 price range, give or take. I tried them on and ended up with the Adidas Supernova.

Those sneakers changed my work outs so much. Finally, I had no shin splints, my foot was supported and the running was coming much easier. Unfortunately, this all happened as my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer and somehow the running and in fact most of the exercise just kind of stopped. Until now.

It's over a year later and I was STILL working out with the same sneakers. Well, it doesn't take a genius to realize that they are now worn out and certainly not supporting my foot anymore, they probably should have been replaced a long time ago. Money is tight but I knew I absolutely had to get new sneakers. I spent a few minutes on line searching the Adidas Supernova again and found them on sale for under $60 which included shipping and handling! I got them a few days ago and I am feeling SO good when I work out. I "ran" 5K today and beat the time I was trying to beat. I'm not going to tell you what it was because it's still really slow but notice how I have the word "ran" in quotes...it's running for me, it's walking fast for other people! ha ha!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're wanting to get healthy and you want to begin exercising and working out, invest a little time and money into a great pair of sneakers and get an expert to help fit you. I don't mean a trip to the mall to a "big box" sneaker store with some 17 year old kid who just wants the discount helping you. I mean a real "running" store, even if you're not going to be running per se. I believe that it makes all the difference in the world, your feet and legs will feel so much better and you'll be able to have more productive, beneficial work outs. I'm hoping to run in a 5K in November for the Brain Tumor Society, and this time, I mean real running. It's more than enough time to lose weight and improve my running times.

I'd like to make a trip to another running store the next time I need to replace my sneakers just to make sure that these are still appropriate for my foot since I do realize that things can change as I lose weight and get more fit. BTW, what do you call them? Sneakers? Running shoes? Tennis shoes? I know there's lots of different names for them depending on your location. I'd love to hear the variations when you leave your comment...get it? WHEN you leave your comment. (hee hee)

On a different note...

We have a busy weekend planned. Tonight, The Son is going to "movie night" at his karate school. It's $15 and they get to go from 7:30 - 10:00! They have pizza and play games and watch movies. The Husband and I are thrilled because it's rare that we get a night out together. We'll be celebrating Valentine's Day at a local restaurant. I've already checked out the menu and have some ideas of what I can do to order healthy and still stay within my calorie range for the week.

We're all getting our hair cut tomorrow and probably going out to eat as a family, also to celebrate Valentine's Day. I don't know where we're going tomorrow but I will definitely be making healthy choices, not to mention working out both Saturday and Sunday.

I have some Valentine's things to post for the weekend... I hope to have time to get around to that. Have a great weekend everyone and have fun celebrating your loved ones.