Close but, I have an excuse (as always)

I ran today at the gym and felt great. Training calendar had me running 6. I wanted to hit 6, possibly 6.5 but I stopped at 5. I really do have a good excuse, not that it matters. My hip was starting to get sore and my ankle hurt and since Connor was in childcare, I stopped after 5 and ran to Target to get what I needed to make a few ice packs...mostly ace bandages and alcohol.

PS- Dad John has an excellent "recipe" for ice packs that they use in the rehab clinic at Fort Hamilton Hospital. In a gallon freezer bag put 1c. rubbing alcohol and 2 c. water. Seal and stick inside another gallon freezer bag the opposite way (so the zipper tabs are on opposite sides- prevents leaking). Freeze those and then they will make an amazing ice pack that stays cold for 30 minutes.

I feel really good today...too bad the Icy Hot I bought to hold me off until the bags freeze is burning my skin!!!

I'm a slacker....

I would love to say I am only a slacker when it comes to updating my blog...but after this non-productive, poor eating weekend, I guess I'm a slacker on the workout front too.

Let's recap: Wednesday I rocked out 7 miles.
Thursday was Bible Study, so no workout there. But it was weigh in day.
Starting weight: 125.5
Weigh-in: 125
Percentage of weight loss: .99% OUCH!!!! I didn't even lose 1% of my body weight this week!

Friday, I went to the gym for a long workout. Running didn't go so well and I only put up a little more than 2 miles. But I got my ab and leg workout in, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Saturday, forget it!
Sunday, forget it!

So here we are, Monday. After I saw the numbers I put up this week, I knew I needed to get my act in gear. While I know I am in a competition with Jo, I really feel like I am going to happy whoever wins as long as we both keep on this and continue to lose weight. I really like this journey with my sister. I need to keep workking hard because I want Ben to come home and be completely jaw-dropped at how I look. I am blessed to have a husband who doesn't care what I look like and is over-the-top supportive of my efforts, but knowing that he won't see me once on this weight loss journey and I get the excitement of a "big reveal" is cool. It is really funny to see the wives come out in full-force the second the guys leave. Everyone wants to look A-MAZING when these guys come home!!

So I ran 4 miles this morning. I didn't feel like I had to convince myself of going further either. I felt sooooo good. I was cruisin' along, sweating my tail off and rocking it out. It took less than 1 hour too, so that was positive for me.

Meals for this week are pretty standard:
Running mornings on M and F is yogurt with granola and a banana sushi wrap before I run
Running morning on W is yogurt with granola and a scrambled egg white and a banana sushi
T and R mornings is Special K cereal and a Special K protein water for a mid-morning snack
Lunches are grilled chicken salads (I prepped EVERYTHING on Friday, so it take 4 seconds to put it all together now)
Dinner on M: fish and sweet potato
Dinner on T: chicken nuggets with veggie
Dinner on W: spaghetti with veggie
Dinner on R: frozen meal
Dinner on F: fish and a veggie
Afternoon snacks are either apple with a string cheese or yogurt w/granola.

The Bumblebee

The quote of the day is "Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it flies anyway."

Love it and it really struck a cord with me. We are the bumblebee's. When our brains are shut off and not telling us what we can and can't do, we are pretty impressive people, able to accomplish a ton. I have had non-bumblebee moments, and a lot of them lately. Actually, pretty much my entire running career (that exists for all of 9 months). My non-bumblee moments are those times when looking back, you probably could have kept going but your brain psyched you out into believing you HAD to stop, for whatever reason. If my goal is 6 miles, I would stop at 5 or 5.5, if my goal was 3, I felt like I was spent at 2 miles. I feel like over the past few months, I psych myself out. The knowledge that you are more than 1/2 to your daily goal mileage is amazing and then when you see the end in sight, your brain shuts down and puts you into survival mode, as if you can't physically move one more foot or you're going to fall over. I proved my brain wrong this morning. I was supposed to run 6 miles at a 14:15 mpm pace. I knew the treadmill would shut off after an hour so I was going to stop and reset after 3 miles. I got to 3 and felt great, had the extra time on the treadmill so I ran on for another mile. I stopped after 4 miles, reset and started again immediately, knowing I only had 2 miles to go. I ran the next 1.5, walked to catch my breath for a 1/10 of a mile and then finished my 6 total. The last .5 miles, I got to thinking, I wonder if I can keep going....can I? I know I can finish my 6 so anything extra is a bonus and I can realistically stop whenever I want. Now, the 7th mile was tough. I ended up walking .2 of it...but I did run the other .8 and was pretty darn proud of myself for doing an extra mile AND channeling my inner bumblebee to do more than what was expected of my today.

Diet has been really good as well. I had a bowl of Special K cereal and a banana for breakfast and after my run had a Special protein water. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine meal and then for an afternoon snack I had fat-free yogurt with a couple Tbsp. of homemade granola. Pretty good and still feeling pretty satisfied at 4:30pm. Dinner is going to be another frozen meal because I have to take Connor to the doctor in a few minutes and I know we won't be home in time for me to make anything. It may be a resort to a drive-through...we'll see.

This sucks

I feel soooo defeated. This weekend wasn't the weekend I was hoping to have after the kick-off to Biggest Loser. I went to the gym today and only did 2 miles. I can use a bazillion excuses, but I only did 2 miles and I wanted to be closer to the 3-3.5 mile mark. I did all my ab's...but none of my upper body strength training. How am I going to run 6 miles on Wednesday (let alone a 13K in October), if I bail out after 2??

The diet was better but not great today. I had a wrap this morning with a little yogurt. Note to self: I have to find something other than the wrap. The tortilla makes me gag! Am over it! I may switch to an egg white omelet with veggies instead, but we'll see. As soon as I got home from working out, I had a special K protein water. Lunch was a grilled chicken salad....topped off with a handful of mini-Reese cups (thank goodness those are gone now!!). Had a cheese stick as a snack and a leftover hamburger and veggies for dinner. Followed off with waffles just now and Tostidos. Oink, I know...but I was starving all of a sudden!!

Derailed...for sure

Yep, that's kind of how the entire weekend ended up. I had some high points, but it was a pretty low-point eating and working out weekend. John and Ashley were down and while I may not have done a lot personally, I did a ton to help my mental well-being by getting a ton done around the house. Between all the housework and craziness with Ben, Connor has been out of control as well. Waking up at midnight to cry the rest of the night....awesome! I need nothing else on my plate...totally set with a full-course for the time being, thanks for the overwhelm!

I am really looking forward to my run and workout tomorrow. I am going to go knock it out and come home and see off John and Ashley. The day should be a good start to a new week and I should be able to rock out all my workouts this week. Goodness knows I'm going to need it with all the junk I ate this weekend!!

Every time....

Every time I am amped to get going and am feeling really good to start- derailed! Maybe that is my test though....can I break though whatever gets thrown in my way to continue take care of myself? Yesterday, I wasn't planning on working out yesterday anyway, so I didn't feel guilty for for making it to the gym. I lost a full pound in an incredibly unhealthy way through all the stress of yesterday and by not eating. I have, NO DOUBT, put it all back on today and then some!

I was still an emotional mess this morning. After my 4:00am. shower (because I had nothing else to do to pass the time), I decided that it wasn't in my best interest to go to the gym. It really sucks too because I was doing my regular cardio, adding in my lower body strength training and abs. To top it all off, I only ate a granola bar this morning, waited until well after 3:00pm. to eat a philly cheesesteak for lunch and then scarfed down 6 mini-Reese cups at 10:00 (as I'm typing this) for dinner. Awesome!

For meals this week, I am keeping the same plan I had before, with a little tweaking. For breakfast on running days it's the egg white, spinach and cheese wrap with a little yogurt. On non-running days, it's Special K cereal with fresh fruit. Lunches are almost always grilled chicken salad with tons and tons of veggies. If I don't have time to put that together or haven't grilled the chicken, it's a frozen Lean Cuisine or Smart One. Dinners this week are a little of this, little of that. We are having spaghetti with veggies, grilled fish a couple nights, chicken parm, taco salad, hamburgers with sweet potato chips. Everything I do is loaded with veggies and is as healthy as it can possibly be. Jo, I promise I will pass on the recipe for the nuggets soon as well as sweet potato chips. If I can ever get my act in gear, I will also pass on my tricks for quick, easy dinner (for those nights when we forget to pull something out for dinner) that are super super healthy.

The Biggest Loser

Alright, here we go.....we are embarking on our own Biggest Loser. Tomorrow is the weigh in and between the menu planning and sharing recipes, commitment to the workouts and friendly competition...I know Jo and I are going to rock this!

But, I'm not going to jump ahead of myself. First things first- this morning I ran 5 miles and felt great. I wonder if I could have gone longer but I had a huge problem with Connor in daycare, so I bailed on the last 2 miles and went to pick him up. This means my ab workout also got the boot so I could get out of there and get home. I ended up doing abs tonight right before dinner. A total of 101 sit-up's! WOWZA!

Alright, the biggest loser starts tomorrow.....

Apologizes Jo :)

Okay, sorry it's been so long since I have updated but here we go. I am running, the energy is up and the weight is dropping. Positive on all accounts.

So here is the update. Last week was great. I hit every workout (except Thursday) and have added in a walk in the afternoon/evening with Connor for good measure. Our walks are only 1-2 miles...but it's a good way to end the day. The ab workout is kicking my butt! I was in so much pain on Friday, I could barely lift myself up off the ball to do 1 crunch....let alone 5 sets of 12+.

This week is a tough week for my schedule, but I am doing everything I can to get it all in. Tuesday and Thursday, my normal strength training days, are booked with a meeting and a Bible study group. So, today, I ran 3 miles, did my Tuesday strength training and my normal Monday ab workout. I was dripping with sweat! It literally looked like I had peed my pants from all the sweat on my legs! Pretty embarrassing, but I guess it's the sign of a good, hard workout. So, tomorrow will technically be a day off, Wednesday I am running 7 miles at a 14:15 mpm pace and ab workout, Thursday I have a Bible Study and then on Friday is 4 miles, my Thursday strength training and an ab workout. Long gym days, but it will all get done.

Onto the shedding pounds part....am I am going to be so honest it's painful. I stepped on the scale two weeks ago and I was tettering on 130!!! I couldn't believe it. I knew my pants were tight and things weren't fitting well, but 130.....I weighed that at 6 months pregnant!!! I have horrified, but it was that shocking moment that reminded me why I embarked on this running journey to begin with. I wanted to get myself into shape for a ton of reasons and I was not on the right path to do so. Now, I have always been a person who will stick to anything, as long as I have 2 solid weeks to get into the habit and then it like riding a bike, completely natural. My goal is to weigh 110 when Ben comes home. Not entirely unrealistic. I have not been dieting or depriving myself...I am too old for that foolishness. Mornings when I am running consist of an egg white, spinach and very little cheese wrap with a 1/4 c. of fat-free vanilla yogurt (I have to have a little sugar before I run). Non-running mornings are 1/2 c. yogurt with homemade granola and fresh fruit. Saturday is my off-day from training and my off-day from healthy eating.....however, I felt so much better this weekend that I didn't gravitate towards crap food all day anyway!! Lunch is almost always a frozen Lean Cuisine meal or more typically, a grilled chicken salad with VERY little fat-free dressing and a ton of fresh veggies. Dinners are anything from the Sneaky Chef (loaded with veggies) or Biggest Loser. IF I am craving something sweet for a snack, I will have a sugar-free jello cup and fill it to the top with cool whip. It totally controls my portion size and it fantastic. Some of my snacks are a apple with a string cheese, Special K water, 100 Cal. snacks. On run days, I also treat myself to a frozen snack size Reese Cup! YUM!! I don't feel starved, I don't feel deprived and I dropped 3 pounds last week. Not a perfect system...but I have to feel better about myself. I feel completely dehabilitated when I hate the way I look.

fa-la-la-la fabulous

Sooooooo how I feel today!! Yesterday, I did 3-miles, or thereabouts, outside. I forgot how difficult it is to push my jogger and my arms got a crazy workout. I think that was what bothered me more than running did! After I got home, I immediately did the first day of my 200 sit-up program. I was doing fine until Connor started to sit on my belly and bounce up and down. He thought it was funny so I was laughing along and had a difficult time keeping up the pace! Because of my crazy high from working out, it completely changed my attitude about food. I ate so well all day long!!

Today, I went to the gym and did my strength training workout. Felt great and rocked it out! After, I went to the elliptical machine and was going to do 20 minutes there, until I realized that the ladies locker room was closed for cleaning....so I stayed on until the locker room was open again and I could go to the showers. Ate well all day again today, even though I treated myself to a couple mini-reese cups.

I have to keep up these lifestyle changes for at least another week. I have found that if I don't stick to something for 2 weeks, that it takes the wind to blow for me to bail. But if I hold tight for 2+ weeks, it is so easy for me to deny the sweets and crap and always turn to the better stuff for me....to make better, healthier choices.

Tomorrow, I have a 6-miler...wish me luck!

New Week- New Attitude

Gone is the pessimism. I am ready to attack and with a new plan, I am motivated to stay with it. One week at a time....heck, one day at a time anymore. I am committed to doing this, especially since I just looked at the pictures my sister posted when she was at my house with the kids and I LOOK like I definitely need to be committed to this. The pic's were disheartening. You know you put on weight, you can feel it in your clothes, but to see pictures look so bad- real eye-opener!! But again, there is nothing I can do about that but move forward and stay on course to a better, healthier me.

So, since today is an off-day, I am only using the blog to report on my upcoming week.
Sunday: 2 mile easy run
Monday: 3 miles intervals and an ab workout
Tuesday: strength training (focusing on upper body) and, if time, elliptical
Wednesday: 6 miles and an ab workout
Thursday: strength training (focusing on lower body) and bike or elliptical
Friday: running (not sure how long) and an ab workout
Saturday: off day

Runner in need of Motivation

I feel like it is a help wanted ad. I ran twice while I was in Ohio and it felt really good. I felt amazing both times. I did more than I had on my schedule on Monday. On Wednesday, I did 2 miles less than what I was supposed to, but, without trying to make excuses, I ran outside and it was the first time I have ever really run with hills. That being said, I felt great!!! The weather lent to being outdoors and soaking up the sun as much as possible.

Part of my plan for tonight (as soon as Connor goes to bed) is to rev up my workouts. Time is running short for the 13K and I am hoping to run a 10K at the end of September to support our military. I think my running, provided I can keep on track, is fine and is not asking too much of my body. I do, however, need to work on my strength training and diet. I have been researching some great workouts and hope to incorporate them into my existing routine.

Gotta get and keep motivation....I feel like I am running on fumes.