At the end of January, I decided that I wanted a goal for February. Something that was attainable, but would take hard work to complete the goal. "I want to run/walk 100 miles in a month" I decided. My next thought was, "Oh, perfect! I would decide on that goal for the shortest month of the year!"
I would have to average 3.57 miles every day in order to get to 100 miles by February 28th. I reached that goal on February 27th! Take that!! There were days that I didn't want to go out for the miles, and there were days that it was very difficult because I was sick. At the end of the first week I started to have a cough that reminded me of the coughs I would get as kid. In the back of my mind I could hear my mom saying, "Go to the doctor because it's probably bronchitis." Sure enough it was. I missed one day of walking and then got back to my miles. It ended up being extra challenging because of the 100 miles, less than 10 were running because I was not able to get my lungs feeling right.
I would have to average 3.57 miles every day in order to get to 100 miles by February 28th. I reached that goal on February 27th! Take that!! There were days that I didn't want to go out for the miles, and there were days that it was very difficult because I was sick. At the end of the first week I started to have a cough that reminded me of the coughs I would get as kid. In the back of my mind I could hear my mom saying, "Go to the doctor because it's probably bronchitis." Sure enough it was. I missed one day of walking and then got back to my miles. It ended up being extra challenging because of the 100 miles, less than 10 were running because I was not able to get my lungs feeling right.
The one thing I noticed about half way through this challenge was how amazing I felt. I was going to bed early (like, 9:30pm early), waking up with no problem, crossing everything off my to-do list every day, and having lots of energy. I began to think that this was coming from the daily exercise and my commitment to bettering myself. At the same time, I have exercised and crushed goals before. So what was making this one so incredibly different?
As I was eating lunch one day, it hit me: the only animal products I had consumed in the prior weeks was pizza and feta cheese. This new energy and overall happiness with life stems from what I am eating. I have been vegetarian for three years and that alone changed my attitude as well as decreased the amount of rest time I needed after workouts and endurance races. My goal for the last year or so was to eliminate dairy from my diet, with the intentions of being 99% vegan (I cut myself a break because I'm still learning some of the tricky names that dairy hides behind on nutrition labels) Also, I don't see myself giving up pizza until companies can create a cheese-like product that tastes more like cheese.
As I was eating lunch one day, it hit me: the only animal products I had consumed in the prior weeks was pizza and feta cheese. This new energy and overall happiness with life stems from what I am eating. I have been vegetarian for three years and that alone changed my attitude as well as decreased the amount of rest time I needed after workouts and endurance races. My goal for the last year or so was to eliminate dairy from my diet, with the intentions of being 99% vegan (I cut myself a break because I'm still learning some of the tricky names that dairy hides behind on nutrition labels) Also, I don't see myself giving up pizza until companies can create a cheese-like product that tastes more like cheese.
Food Shopping
My grocery shopping isn't the chore that it used to be in years past. Greenville has a Lidl grocery store that has changed the way I shop. They have an AMAZING variety of fresh fruits and veggies and I stock up every weekend. Once I can get over to a local farm called "Strawberries on 903" and they start carrying the fruits and veggies I buy, I will be going there for the majority of my grocery shopping.
Besides that, I keep soy or almond milk on hand, as well as Lidl brand KIND bars. My coffee creamer is Very Vanilla Cashew Milk Icecream that I pick up at the Walmart Neighborhood Market. Flour tortillas, Gardin's "Beefless Ground", salad mix, cilantro, and salsa are all I need to make delicious soft wrap tacos. Breakfast is usually soy milk with frozen mixed berries and a generic KIND bar. I love Mediterranean food, so I will often make bean salads with assorted olives, peppers, onion, and grape tomatoes. Somehow, I am able to buy all my groceries on about $30 a week. So anyone who says it's expensive to eat healthy isn't trying very hard! Discount grocery stores like Lidl and Aldi are great places to shop and have high quality produce. I have drastically reduced the amount of processed food I eat, which I also credit for the way I feel. My focus is on whole foods instead of convenience foods. It takes a little more time to prepare food that fuels your body, but this month has been proof to myself that it's worth the time I put into it. Most people eat the same 4 or 5 meals, so once you perfect your recipes, it's really not that hard to create it again and again.
Besides that, I keep soy or almond milk on hand, as well as Lidl brand KIND bars. My coffee creamer is Very Vanilla Cashew Milk Icecream that I pick up at the Walmart Neighborhood Market. Flour tortillas, Gardin's "Beefless Ground", salad mix, cilantro, and salsa are all I need to make delicious soft wrap tacos. Breakfast is usually soy milk with frozen mixed berries and a generic KIND bar. I love Mediterranean food, so I will often make bean salads with assorted olives, peppers, onion, and grape tomatoes. Somehow, I am able to buy all my groceries on about $30 a week. So anyone who says it's expensive to eat healthy isn't trying very hard! Discount grocery stores like Lidl and Aldi are great places to shop and have high quality produce. I have drastically reduced the amount of processed food I eat, which I also credit for the way I feel. My focus is on whole foods instead of convenience foods. It takes a little more time to prepare food that fuels your body, but this month has been proof to myself that it's worth the time I put into it. Most people eat the same 4 or 5 meals, so once you perfect your recipes, it's really not that hard to create it again and again.
Moving Every Day
Every day of the month, the goal was to complete 3.57 miles. That was what I needed to average in order to do 100 miles in 28 days. Of course, I picked this goal for the shortest month of the year! Luckily, February was unseasonably warm here in North Carolina with several days getting into the low 80s. I walked many of these miles with my dogs Haro and Bud. Haro did more miles because on some of the evening walks on the greenway, I only wanted to manage one dog, and Haro looks a lot more intimidating than Bud. Every evening I would add up my mileage and upload it to my Garmin Connect account. Many days I did way more mileage, and other days I only walked one or two. The challenge of having bronchitis certainly impacted my ability to run (those lungs!!!) so the majority of my miles were power walking
The thing I learned the most was the importance of setting a goal and staying committed to it. Consistency is my overall goal this year. The 100 mile challenge proved that staying committed to something would have benefits that I never would have expected.
Now that it is mid March, I am likely not going to reach the 100 miles this month (I hadn't even set that as a goal) But I am seeing that maybe the 100 mile goal needs to be every month, because now that I am not working towards that, my body feels like something is missing.
Time for more goal crushing!!!
The thing I learned the most was the importance of setting a goal and staying committed to it. Consistency is my overall goal this year. The 100 mile challenge proved that staying committed to something would have benefits that I never would have expected.
Now that it is mid March, I am likely not going to reach the 100 miles this month (I hadn't even set that as a goal) But I am seeing that maybe the 100 mile goal needs to be every month, because now that I am not working towards that, my body feels like something is missing.
Time for more goal crushing!!!
I bought this sweatshirt to celebrate 100 miles!
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