No News . . .

In this case, no news is good news!   I admit to an epic fail at my goal of posting once a week in April (sorry!), but the rest of the story is full of successes.

On the exercise front, I've passed some invisible barrier in the past couple of weeks and it's coming much more easily now.  I'm enjoying running, and yes, it's now a lot more running than walking.  I've been going out for 90 minutes a few times a week and each time, my distance increases and my pace gets faster.  I'm not trying to embark on a racing career, but I'm feeling good about being able to run, and to feel like a "real" runner, again.  My ultimate goal is to be able to run 4 or 5 miles a few times a week.  For now, while the weather is great (not too hot!)  I'm doing a little more.  Follow my running with my little Nike+ avatar at the top of the right sidebar.

My biking has also gotten better.  As the weather has gotten so much better, I'm getting in about three good rides a week.  My balance issues of last year (that followed my spine surgery) are a thing of the past (YAY!) and I'm using my road bike a lot more than my hybrid.  I'm inspired by Lori and Michele in their biking successes and working on my endurance and stamina.  I'm also scheduled to take a basic bike maintenance course so that I won't have to trudge home walking my bike if I have a flat tire or other basic problem. You can follow my biking progress in the DailyMile widget in the right sidebar.  Thanks to Michele for the idea of using DailyMile.  A few nice long bike rides and several decent runs for a total of 99 miles over the past two weeks.  YTD total miles is at 407 as of April 15!

I am continuing with my own approach of using 17DD and WW Simply Filling with good results.  I'm losing every week at my WI's and am firmly back in "wonderland" again.  I'm averaging losing about 1.3 pounds a week.  Not bad for a 60 year old!  At this rate, I hope to be at my goal weight by the time we go to the beach in August.  I'm at that happy place now, where clothes that were not fitting are now fitting well or starting to get loose!  DH has reached his WW goal weight and son Jay has lost a little over 3 pounds since February.  Neither has a weight problem, but both are in "fighting trim" now and looking quite good.

I'm trying out new recipes and continuing to make our favorites and we're eating well.  Tonight I made roasted fennel.  I took the bulb, cut it in 2/3" slices, dipped it in a mixture of one part balsamic vinegar and one part olive oil and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on the top.  I roasted it in a 400 degree oven for 20+ minutes so that it was golden brown and quite tastey.  (the original recipe called for two parts dijon mustard to be added to the mixture, but I opted out of the mustard!).

I'll leave you with one picture from the past few weeks.  None of me, I was the photographer.  I'll try to  do better about getting myself in the picture next time.

DH and Ella, who has finally learned to smile for the camera!

Have you ever thought that you couldn't lose weight after a "certain age?"

Everythings Coming Up . . .

As others have noted, our spring, too seems to be coming about three weeks earlier.  I've taken some pictures over the past ten days that I thought I'd share with you as I let you know about my incremental improvements.

Aren't the red tulips pretty? I like the basic red and basic yellow tulips.  These are quite large and look almost like poppies when they're fully open.  I'm falling behind in keeping up with my garden tasks.

 I've been ratcheting up my exercise.  I've done six 5+ mile  "rawks" (run/walks) over the past couple of weeks.  I listen to a book on tape and have my iPod tick off the 5 minute intervals during a 90 minute period.  I run for an increasingly long distance at each interval.  It's fun to see my total distance for 90 minutes increasing and my pace per mile decreasing.  Still very slow, but getting better.  I love being out and seeing things.  This big tree is just coming into leaf. That's the new Woodrow Wilson bridge over the Potomac River in the background.


A different section of the same path (the Mount Vernon bike path, along the George Washington Parkway) has a long wooden boardwalk over an inlet.  It's one of my favorite sections. One time I saw a beaver swimming from that exact spot. He swam toward me and then under the bridge.  I'm also on the lookout for the prothonatory warblers that live in the wooded section you see to the left across the bridge.

 The yellow tulips wanted equal time.  Such a lush display.  My enemy the squirrels (or maybe a deer) ate off about a third of the blooms last night, but there are still a lot left to brighten that corner of the garden.

These little babies are Individual Chocolate Souffles.  The recipe was featured in the WW weekly handout a few weeks ago.  I made them for dessert a couple of days ago.  OMG (that's Oh My Gosh)!  They are wonderful.  I'll put the recipe on the recipe page in the right side bar.  Only 3 WW points plus, and very tastey.

My last two WIs have been good!  My losing streak is intact; I've lost at every WI since Dec 8th (there were a few weeks that I missed weighing in December and January).   I'm continuing my regimen of doing WW simply filling with flex points from W thru F and then doing 4 days of 17DD Cycle I.  That's working for me.  I stick pretty much to what is laid out in Cycle I, but occasionally have one fruit in the late afternoon (either my allowed 2nd fruit or a "bonus" fruit).   I am getting better about keeping the three "splurge" days from getting out of hand.  The chocolate souffles were dessert one night.  Another night I made a Cooking Light recipe for Double Plum Baked Chicken--yum!  I keep my breakfasts and lunches fairly simple and plan and splurge for family meals.

We took a lovely sunlit bike ride today.  My odometer (on my road bike) read 17.6, but DH's read 14.  Sadly, I think mine is not calibrated correctly!  In any case, with my increased runs and a couple  of long bike rides, I am adding 86 miles for the past two weeks for a grand total of 308 miles.

I'll leave you with a picture of my iris.  I almost pulled these out because they didn't bloom for several years in a row.  Look at them, now!

Have a great week!  One of my goals for April is to blog every week, rather than every other week.  We'll see.