Wait, What Night is This?

I had to change my normal swim routine this week because of plans. Instead of swimming on Friday nights (which I love because it’s quiet and usually uncrowded) I went after work on Thursday. All day on Thursday I felt like it was Friday as a result. I had to remind myself it wasn’t Friday yet, and then I felt disgruntled. 😉

I received an email from a reader, Maia, that officially made my Thursday awesome:

“I have been reading your blog for about 9 months now, all throughout my own personal weight loss journey. I was focusing primarily on jogging to lose my weight but because of a bad mental blockage during a 10K I decided I needed to start doing other exercise. I had always wanted to swim, but it was because of your blog and your talking about your experiences with it and sharing tips, etc, that I  FINALLY got over my phobia over wearing a swim suit again (even after a 60 pound weight loss!) or venturing into the unknown territory, and got my butt to the gym pool. It’s been a couple of weeks now and I’m IN LOVE with it! So, I just wanted to thank you for helping me break through a wall and find something that I love.”

That made me SO happy! I am excited that my blog was able to inspire a reader to try swimming. I am also happy to see that Brie is growing to like swimming too! It’s catching! I love swimming and I think it’s the best exercise out there.

If you’re a new reader, how I lost 110 pounds was through swimming. I didn’t become a runner or a cyclist until much later in my journey. I swam three to four days a week. It was a slow start. I was nervous about being seen in a swimsuit at 250 pounds but I was determined to lose the weight and knew I had to just get over it.

I was really slow to start. I used to be a good swimmer as a teen. I was on the synchronized swimming team, I swam laps a lot. But I hadn’t been in a pool in years. I didn’t beat myself up though. I took it slow and swam within my limits–resting a lot. I eventually got faster. I didn’t have to rest as long, or as often, in between laps. I got better and more precise. I was SO happy the day that I swam 1/2 a mile without having to stop and rest. And then I was able to swim 1 mile without stopping or resting. Now? I swim 1.25-1.5 miles twice a week like it’s nothing. It just takes practice. 🙂

Thursday I had a pre-swim snack of plain Greek Yogurt with pineapple added to it. My swim was great. It was actually kind of nice to change up my normal routine, even though the pool was crowded for the water aerobics class that started at 6:30.

I swam just shy of 1.5 miles (100 lengths = 50 laps). I think 110 lengths in the pool is 1.5 miles. The water aerobics people were invading the pool so I had to call it quits.

Swim Stats:

Time: 56 minutes
Calories Burned: 409

After swimming I went home for a makeshift dinner of whatever we had leftover in the house. We both looked at the barren fridge and decided to go out! It was slim pickings.

We went to Portofino in Sellwood. I’ve been there a few times and always had delicious food. They had their bistro seats outside set up so Michael and I sat outside and enjoyed the cool evening.

I was famished from swimming so I partook in the bread and olive oil. Michael refrained since he’s still on the diet.

I’ve been craving scallops for about a week. As soon as I saw “Seafood Risotto” on the menu I knew that’s what I wanted! Shrimp, Scallops, Dungeness crab, Clams, Wine, Garlic, Herbs & Saffron Risotto. YUM!

It was amazing. The scallops were perfectly seared and crunchy, but soft on the inside. Perfect. I wish it had been all scallops instead of shrimp because 3 scallops just weren’t enough.

I ate half of the entree and saved the rest to take for lunch. I felt content and satisfied. My glass of Pinot Grigio went well with the seafood. It wasn’t a sweet wine.

It was a nice teaser for the coming summer. I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time dining outside! Preferably commuting there by bike!

QUESTION: Is your workout routine pretty ingrained or are the days flexible? What’s your favorite exercise?