Weekly Progress and Dinner Planner

Another week down! Let's get the stats out of the way:

Current Weight: 226
Mileage this week: 10.5 (including walking)

I didn't get the interval training in yet, but I plan to do that tomorrow. I'm interested in seeing how I do trying to run 400m intervals in 2:15 when I've been pretty comfortable running a 10:30 mile for so long. I'm scheduled to do 8x400m at 2:15 with 400m rest intervals inbetween. I didn't get my full long run in this week either. I went to McAllister to run with Elliot and he started getting hungry/fussy about half way through. It was only a 5 miler and I had done a 6.2 miler at a quicker pace that I was scheduled to last Saturday (before I started FIRST), so I don't think it'll affect me much. Must just carry on with the training. At this point, it's more about losing weight than getting in the miles anyway.

I did get a good swim workout in yesterday. I love the way I feel after a good swim. I'm tired and I can tell I've spent a lot of energy, but my body doesn't hurt.

Now, I'd like to comment on one of the "tools" I'm using on this quest. I think I owe much of my success so far this year to a website called dinnerplanner.com. It's a business that provides busy people with a weekly meal menu, recipes and shopping list. It has two different menus, one labeled a "Family Friendly" menu and one termed a "Heart Healthy" menu. We're using the healthy menu and it has made quite a bit of difference in how we're eating. We haven't been eating out or getting take-out as much and the food we've been eating has been much healthier.

I used to dread making up a shopping list and a menu for the week. It was time consuming, I didn't always get what I needed, and I ended up going from one end of the store to the other because my list wasn't organized. I was about to write that I think this is a great product idea for stay-at-home parents, but it's would probably be even more useful if both parents work because of the time it would save. Now, the meals aren't always your 30 minutes or less meals, but they are pretty easy and usually don't take much time to cook up.

The details. You get 7 meals a week with a color coded shopping list, for about $10 for 8 weeks. I've been saving the menus/recipes in .pdf format and plan to reuse them at a later date. The recipes use healthy meat like fish, chicken, lean turkey and beef, lots of vegetables, and some grains/breads. It usually makes more than Violi and I can eat, so we have leftovers for a healthy lunch the next day.

The site allows you to try a free sample menu (not the heart healthy menu) to get a feel for the product they offer. I looked at another website mealmixer.com which allows you to do more customization according to your family eating habits and lets you plan for breakfasts and lunches. The downside and reason that we didn't use it, was that you have to pay for a whole year ($52) in advance.

Either way, I think this type of idea is a great way to save time, money and eat better. I love hearing what other people's ideas for either eating healthier or getting more active, so drop a note anytime!