The GREAT Outdoors!

Finally, the weather has broken!!  We have been waiting for some weather like this for a while now.  The winter was rather warm, but early spring has been relatively miserable with low temps, rain, and driving winds.  This week we were lucky enough to enjoy some warmer temperatures, little rain, and a calm wind.  That means I was finally able to get back outside.  I may not have gone on an outdoor run, but I still got my workouts in other ways.

I have also been enjoying many more overnight oat recipes and even altered one of them to make my own style.  I'll share that with you later.  What I have discovered about these overnight oats is that I am not overeating on cereal in the morning because the amount I make is only for two servings so I know exactly how much to eat without measuring.  Also, I haven't been hungry before lunch one time since I started eating them.  It's great to know I am getting some good nutrition and not going overboard on calories.

Obligatory Selfie

The warm weather in the winter also caused a benefit in another way.  The scheduled snow make-up days in our school calendar were not used so I was lucky to have a 3-day weekend this week.  What a great weekend for this to happen!  It gave me even more time to be outside soaking in that Vitamin D.  I used that day to play a round of golf on Friday.  Let's just say I am glad the weather was nice because my game was horrible.  It was my first round of the season, so hopefully I will get a little better as the weeks and months go on.  It was great to hang out with friends, joke around, and occasionally even make a good shot or two.  It was also good to hear one of my friends say "I may not have a blog about it, but I am down 11 pounds."  Whether or not he blogs about it is cool with me, but maybe reading about my struggles and victories has helped him a little.

On Saturday, I decided that the Monon Trail was where I wanted to be. I took a solo trip down as Mrs. Re-Dan-imation was already planning on watching some family friends play soccer in Lafayette.  This is one of my favorite places.  I really enjoy spending time here.  

I like to start in Broad Ripple as the area is really eclectic, always provides something interesting to watch, and provides a friendly crowd on the trail.  You could tell a ton of other people had the same idea as me.  I didn't mind the crowd...it was just a bunch of other people out trying to be fit just like I was.  I rode for about 12 miles and could have probably done some more, but I had decided to complete a loop and didn't want to retrace my "steps" again.  I thought getting home for dinner would be a better idea anyway.

Like I said...something interesting.

While I was away riding on the Monon I received a picture from Mrs. Re-Dan-imation.  It was a packet and inside was the finisher's medal, bib, and t-shirt for completing the Miler series of training runs for the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon.  I was pretty pumped to receive this as I have put in quite a bit of work towards this feat.  The next event I will be running in is the actual Mini.  I will go more into my preparation in the coming weeks, but I think I am going to actually finish, which is my goal for the year.

Sunday was yet another opportunity to get outside.  Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and I thought a little yard work would be a good way to spend the afternoon.  We bought a couple plants and put them in the ground, cleaned up a flower bed or two and piled up the sticks from our trees.  It may not sound like a lot, but we were definitely getting our sweat on.  We still have a ton of work to do, but with the weather looking great for many more days this week I think we will have plenty of time to get a jump on it.

I could definitely feel my spirits going up this week.  I think it helped with my weight as well.  My calories have to have been better during breakfast and there haven't been very many late night snacks.  When I stepped on the scale this morning it showed 264.3 lbs.  That's a one week loss of 2.0 lbs.  I am finally back down to an official total loss of 30 pounds since I began.  I'm sure that not going on a bar crawl this week may have helped a little too!  I expect to spend more time outside this week and maybe even make another trip down to the Monon again next weekend.  Keep an eye out for the Overnight Oats recipe later in the week.  Maybe it is something you would actually like to try.  Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!!