Cross training with Curb-Found Treasure!

So yesterday was my rest day.  Unfortunately I am finding that I really don't like having days of no exercise.  Maybe it's because I am staring at calories on my phone whenever I eat, or maybe it is simply knowing I'm not doing anything - but either way I have become one of those people who is driven batty by doing no exercising. I also feel bleh if I do NOTHING.

[caption id="attachment_1420" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="My Daughter Demonstrating our Elliptical"][/caption]

Last night I ended up staying late due to its being a board meeting night, and was headed out not to long after - due to it being cub-scout night.  I decided to tackle the elliptical for a simple 20 minute window.  Now there is a short background story on this elliptical.  I have a tendency to notice when my neighbors put big things out on garbage day, and also to consider whether or not it should have a place in my house. (My wife insists these things must take place after dark however..)  Well, we lost some fantastic neighbors about a month ago and in the process of their moving out some things appeared at the curb.  A never-before-used elliptical was too good to pass up.  This treasure still had the plastic covering over the display!  Now it isn't a high-end elliptical, but I thought it would be a fantastic tool to see if a good one was something my wife and I should pick up.  This one has multiple reviews on walmart.com, that mostly point out it has a short stride length.  As my wife is only 5' tall, this isn't a bad thing!

Now, I was in a time crunch last night so I was only able to do 20 minutes, but it seemed better than 0 minutes to me.  I worked up a sweat in that 20 minutes!  According to its calorie meter I burned 320 calories in 20 minutes, although my daily mile and cardiotrainer guessed it closer to 200 calories.  I find the 200ish to be more likely!   Some of the reviews said it was loud, but compared to my treadmill it was dead-silent.  My son was watching TV in the room while I was on it, and he didn't turn up the volume (something he would normally do given ANY excuse.)

I did find it uses the same muscles, in the same way, as running hills - so it may not have been the best "Cross-Training" choice.  But hey, it was only 20 minutes right?

[caption id="attachment_1422" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks! (I forgot my Chobani Yogurt in the picture)"][/caption]

I am continuing to pay more attention to what I eat.  It's not that I ate High Cholesterol horrible food before, just that I had a tendency to eat more than I was burning every day - and to NOT pay attention at all. (Tacos made with ground turkey instead of ground beef are fairly healthy - Unless you go back for thirds!)  I am paying much more attention to the calories in foods (160 in 4 thin mints.. that means a sleeve (one serving) is 640 calories), and have found that by bringing food with me I am consistently feeling more full all day while eating fewer calories!  I have also found that when I have eaten crap (we went to Moe's the other day) and to much of it- I simply don't' feel as good.

I am trying very hard to like the Chobani Yogurts as well.. They are packed full of protein after all!