The Healthy Habit Check In: Starting Something New

PS: I have audio-recorded this post, and I would love for you to listen to it so I can hear your feedback on it for the future.

Welcome to the very first Grazing Daisy HHCI!

This is going to be a fun series that lasts a minimum of 12-ish weeks (I think it’s technically 13, but 12 sounds better).

Each week(on Sunday) I will:

-Post a new HHCI article

-Record said HHCI article with my own voice so it can be like a podcast-type thing.

-Ask an engaging accountability question in my subscriber chat to keep all ya’ll accountable for your own goals

What is HHCI?

I am going to be totally real with you guys. I kind of just invented this idea on Thursday while I was running my first 2-miler in a long time.

I don’t even know all that this will entail, but I am excited to see how it morphs and changes into something that will hopefully be a helpful resource(and perhaps even a funny article series that you will enjoy).

During the mere 22-minute run, I had all of my ambitions swirling about in my head, and I realized that I didn’t want to just post a quick little note once a week about my running goals.

I wanted to write a full weekly post that shared where I am at with all of my goals.

Now, I have a lot of goals in life; it won’t be quite that extensive. Instead, I will be zeroing in on the things I want to improve within the next 3 months.

It is my hope that I will not only be able to achieve some of these goals, but also take you along in the process.

I am going to strongly encourage you to think of a small handful of things you want to commit to over the next 3 months. Feel free to use my subscriber chat to hold yourself accountable for the things you have decided to work on.

Okay, I think that is a decent enough introduction… let’s get into how I did this week!

Let’s start with Wednesday.

Ahhh yes, where it all began.

I was really high-energy on Wednesday. I felt like I could conquer the world; I felt like I could run a marathon!

Well, maybe not a marathon…

If you’re curious to know how I did in my first(and only!) marathon, enjoy this little throwback post from my WordPress days:

https://thegrazingdaisy.wordpress.com/2024/07/15/i-ran-my-first-marathon-and-turned-18/

I just craved a really good long run. I had wished I was all trained up and could simply run for hours and miles.

That’s when it hit me.

Why don’t you run?

Why can’t you run?

What on earth is stopping you from training for a race?

Nothing.

Nothing at all was stopping me.

I did the calculations and determined that if it takes me 3 months to train for a half marathon, I would be running one in mid-November. Sounds pretty perfect if you ask me.

I prefer colder runs, and our Novembers have been rather lackluster in terms of wintery vibes the last few years, so I have decided it probably won’t be too torturous.

I decided to toss all my ideas at the one girl crazy enough to join me in my craziness.

My bestie, Addie.

As anticipated, she pretty much said:

“Yep. I totally want to run a half marathon with you. Let’s just train and do it.”

Some people will never understand the draw of running long distances, but there is something so cathartic about it.

After some back-and-forth, we decided to do a 3-mile trial run on Saturday before we committed to this officially.

We still aren’t sure what half marathon we will end up signing up for and running, but we have two main contenders to choose between.

Thursday.

I work weekdays from 5:30-10:30 AM. I also had a wedding to go to that started later in the afternoon, so I had a set time to get ready and make the drive over there.

I decided to just go out and run 2 miles.

The weather was beautiful, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to start; besides, I was worried about my ability to just jump in and run 3 miles on Saturday.

It wasn’t easy per se to run 2 miles, but it wasn’t difficult either. My pace was a solid 11-minute mile.

I took a 30-second break at the 1-mile mark to drink some electrolytes before proceeding, and another short break at the 1.75-mile mark to start my strength training habit.

Which leads me to my next goal:

I am a weakling.

I am a small girl with small arms, and they are almost good for nothing. I can only lift about 30 lbs comfortably and safely.

I have a lot of ambitious goals in life, and not going to lie… having stronger arms will do nothing but help me.

But the main problem?

I have always hated all exercise that wasn’t running.

Lifting weights?

Ew.

I could never.

I would never.

But I am not going to swear it off just yet.

Right now, I can do about 10 “girl” push-ups, which is a decent challenge. So that’s where I will start.

I was also looking up other things I could try out, and incorporating some type of “row” sets was strongly encouraged. I don’t have any equipment for that, but there is a mini outdoor exercise area about 2ish miles from my house that I could go to during my longer runs.

Rows are basically, from my understanding, a resistance exercise for your arms to help strengthen them.

I am also doing 10 squats to help strengthen my leg muscles that I don’t use terribly often.

But right now, the attainable goal is 10 girl push-ups and 10 squats each day that I run, which will be 4 times per week. I also hope to potentially purchase some 2 lb weights and start trying things with those.

Start small and dream big, guys.

Speaking of dreaming big, that is another thing I thought of as a goal.

I want to gain 10 lbs.

I currently sit around the 100 lb mark, which, yes, teeters on the underweight range for my height (5’3”).

I have wanted to be a healthier weight for a while, and I had this imaginary goal of 110 lbs for close to a year, but the most I was able to gain was about 5 lbs… and then I lost 6 lbs last month after my wisdom tooth surgery🤦‍♀️(I lost like 1 lb each day; it was starting to scare me).

Because of this, I want to be extra careful about my food intake during this half marathon challenge. I need to fuel my body with enough protein and carbs so I can burn calories during runs, yet still gain weight and muscle. That’s a tricky thing to do, and it takes intentionality.

I don’t have a kitchen, and I use that as my excuse for all my problems in life, but I refuse to let it stop me here. I am going to intentionally eat enough protein and carbs to sustain me during runs, and leave myself some extra to put towards that 10 lbs.

From the research I did, 2,200 calories per day should help me succeed(this is probably 600 more calories than I currently eat per day). I’ll do my best to estimate my daily caloric intake; we’ll see if I truly remember it or not😆.

That leads me to yet another goal(this can snowball fast, I know). I am trying to eat more anti-inflammatory foods in order to help manage the chronic inflammatory disease that I am suspected to have.

I have been loosely following the Mediterranean diet rules to help assist me with this. Over the next 3 months, I hope to intentionally cut out more sugar (sigh, I suppose my morning donut routine should cease) and cut back on highly processed foods.

Also, let’s pause right there. Did you know 60% of young adults have at least one chronic health condition? Don’t forget to give yourself grace in the weeks when you can’t meet all your goals because of your health. The point of all this is to be healthier, not to hurt yourself further.

I am giving myself this permission now, because if I find myself bedridden on a day I was supposed to do a long run, I know I will feel extremely disappointed in myself.

There’s no need to be disappointed; I can simply take a break and not let it bother me. We’ll have to see in the coming weeks how I manage it.

Did you hear that, future Briar? It’s okay; you can do your long run a couple of days after you were supposed to; you won’t perish.

Now that the little pep talk is out of the way, let’s move on. Shall we?

Friday.

I worked this morning, and afterward I decided to go on another 2-mile run.

When I tell you my legs were sore this morning…they were sore. In my experience with running, the first run is the easy part; it’s getting through the first week that’s killer.

I had started off, and immediately I wanted to be done. I felt the same weariness at the quarter-mile mark as I did yesterday when I was finishing the run.

Regardless, I pushed through the discomfort and did the running portion without stopping.

Once again, I paused at a nice area along the trail a quarter mile from my house to do my mini strength exercises and some stretching. After that, I jogged the last quarter mile home.

It was another 11-minute-per-mile pace day, which surprised me! I was expecting it to take longer than yesterday.

After the run, I came inside and devoured some leftover fried chicken from my fridge. I tried to estimate the calories online, and I assume it was in the 800 range?

That brings me to about 1,400 calories consumed so far today, plus I still have supper, and I’m going to get to eat cereal at a young adult’s event! It’s BYOC(bring your own cereal) night. XD

Update on cereal night: It was awesome 🤣. There was way too much cereal to choose from.

Saturday.

Ahh, today was a nice day.

Addie was working close to my house, so I met up with her during her lunch break, and we got to chat a smidge and figure out our official plan for the day.

She went back to work, and I went back home. Our plan was for her to meet me at a trail after her shift so we could run 3 miles.

While I was waiting for her at the park, I put together this adorable mini wildflower bouquet! Isn’t it lovely?

We started our 3-mile run, and I was instantly gripped by side cramps. I persevered, and after the halfway point, I started to feel them subside.

I have found that when I run with a friend, I often talk so much that I don’t get enough oxygen, which just makes everything worse XD. Oh well, I love to talk while running, so I don’t imagine I will stop anytime soon.

Addie said she was doing wonderfully, and we finished with another 11-minute pace.

We were trying to decide how to pace the half marathon, but I think we’ll make those decisions later in training.

I did my mini strength training and stretching to finish it off.

Afterward, we decided to go thrift shopping! I only have two running outfits at the moment, and I am in desperate need of more running shirts. Unfortunately, there was only one running shirt that spoke to me, but that’s better than zero!

It can seriously be such a challenge to find good athletic clothes at thrift stores.

From there, we went to Culver’s to refuel. I think I met all my goals except the eating anti-inflammatory foods… that is still a major work in progress. 🤪

Today is now Sunday, which is a day of rest for me.

I will still be fueling myself with extra nutrient-dense food even on days that I am not running, just so that I am able to keep up with it.

Overall, I think it was a wonderful week!

Tomorrow marks the official start of the training plan, and 12 weeks until race day. I cannot wait to share this whole little fitness/health journey with all of you guys.

I would love for us to keep each other accountable to our goals. Your goals could be anything! You might want to meet a daily word count, read your Bible daily, reduce your screen time… whatever it is, I want to be there to encourage you on days that it gets difficult.

That’s why I am reviving my dead subscriber chat XD. If you are not a subscriber yet and would like to join our little Healthy Habit Check Ins now is your moment:

-Briar Albaugh