Run, Forrest, Run! May 16, 2011

Running.   I used to joke that  I would only run if something very large and scary was chasing me.

Then I saw a rear view of my ass, and realized that it’s big and scary and has been following me around for waaay too long, so I decided to start running.   Ya know what?  It’s not that bad.  I’m really starting to enjoy the “runner’s high” that people talk about.  I’m still not very fast, and I still walk more than I run, but it’s a process and I AM getting better at it, so I’m proud of myself for getting out there.

That being said, I’ve been pretty damn lazy lately.  I don’t know why, but ever since I got back from my last quick weekend vacation, I’ve been totally demotivated.  I decided to change that by committing to every 5K that I can.  There is one close to my office this weekend that I’m going to do, which will hopefully get me back on track.

Then I got an email from the lovely folks at active.com telling me about a series of 5ks this summer in Phoenix.  I like checking out different areas of the Valley, so this is right up my alley.  Even better?  I was able to register for all 5 of them for a total of 40 bucks.  Which is awesome, and it’s a serious commitment.  I also LOVE that I registered my kid for free.  I love having a healthy hobby we can share.

Next on my list?  I want to look for a 10K near the end of the summer/early fall.  My ultimate goal is to do the PF Chang’s half marathon in January, so a 10K would be a good middle step. Basically if I die doing the 10k in, say, September, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to train up to more than double the mileage in just four months.  We shall see….I just need to keep myself healthy.

You’ve been tagged May 1, 2011

Oh, yeah.  The facebook photo tag.  You have no idea how bad I hated seeing that when I was at my largest (read: unhealthiest).  I hated pictures of me, and was horrified that everyone could see them.

I’ve been pretty crabby because the number on the scale is not moving much right now, and that’s frustrating.  I’m working really hard at this and sucks to not see results.  BUT my clothes are fitting better and I feel better, so that’s something.

Then, today, it happened.  My friend tagged me in 5 photos.  Not 1, but 5.  I was pretty freaked out, but as I looked through the photos I was pretty happy.  I looked OK.  Not good, not great, but OK.  I was pretty sunburned and didn’t have makeup on and was a little tipsy to boot, and I still looked OK.  I’ll take it.

Annnnd, I’m back April 29, 2011

So I basically suck at blogging regularly, but lucky for me nobody seemed to notice.   I have been kind of working out off and on since my last post, until the last couple of weeks.  For most of February and March, I was basically on my ass because of a slipped and torn disc in my back.  I did manage to squeeze in a 5K at my church and some time on the wii fit, so that was good.

Good, but not great.  I went to see a spine specialist who told me that working out wouldn’t make my back any worse.  He said it would hurt like hell, but it wouldn’t get worse.  that’s what I needed, so I’m back at it.

Sometimes the universe knows just what you need.  I go to Lifetime Fitness in Gilbert, and right at the time I was re-re-re-recommitting to getting in shape, they launch their 90 Day No Excuses Weight Loss Challenge.  It’s kind of like The Biggest Loser for people who have jobs, lives, and families that don’t allow for several months off to go work out at a ranch in California.    Oh, plus I don’t have to be on national TV in bike shorts and a sports bra, so that’s a huge positive.  Also?  I don’t have to share the number on the scale with millions of people.  No freaking thanks.

My friend JK is doing this challenge with me, which is awesome because we’re able to check in with each other and motivate each other.  She’s going like a monster and is in first place in our club.  Which is cool with me.  I’m in 5th but fully expect to get higher on the chart as the weeks go on and other people lose their motivation.

I’m going to keep this up a little more because I want this to be a record I can reflect back on.

Vegan Style December 14, 2010

I realize now that I should have taken a picture of my salad BEFORE I ate half of it.  Whatever.  It was still great.  It was fresh spinach, cucumbers, celery, carrots, hearts of palm, tomatoes, black olives, and lentils that were slow cooked in water and vegetable broth with some garlic and onions.  Fantastic.

I’ve made a pretty big change over the past month and a half or so.  I’ve been pescetarian for the past year and a half, but only ate seafood maybe once or twice a month.  The goal was always to become vegan, but I made a lot of excuses.  ”I really like cheese.”  ”My job keeps me on the road alot and I have to eat out, and there aren’t many choices.”  ”I don’t want to give up butter”.  Blah, blah, blah.

Finally, I made the decision to commit to being vegan for 2 weeks and see how it went.  I know that there are a ton of health, environmental, and ethical reasons to be vegan, and I decided to go there.  My goal became a commitment, and it stuck.  After two weeks, I felt better than I have in a long time.  I’m requiring less sleep, and I find that I have more energy than I have in the past.  It’ pretty amazing.  I decided to stick with it, and I’m happy to report that it’s a lot easier than I ever thought it would be.  Once the decision is made, it’s easy.

It’s helped me with weight loss, and I seriously feel stronger.  I’m happy to report that I’m now down 30 lbs from my all time high, which was earlier this year.  As long as I don’t get injured, I see no reason why I can’t knock off the 60 lbs I need to to hit my goal.  I’m excited and more committed than ever.  Get out of my way.  ;)

I Imagine I’ll Be Hit By Lightning In The Next Couple of Days…. December 11, 2010

That’s right.  When I got super motivated in September I swore I’d never stop again…never let anything stop me again.  Remember?  I do too.

On September 22, I was in a car accident.  Some lady rear ended me three times.  That’s right…THREE TIMES!  As a result, I had some whiplash and a concussion.  Lame.  I was down for about a week and a half in pretty severe pain, and was under doctor’s orders to not exercise until the beginning of November.  I started some physical therapy, but I didn’t do much else.  My attitude was shit.  I was doing great this spring, then the great husband leg breaking capade of 2010 shut me down.  I got back into it and was better again in September, then the accident.  I was just depressed that the universe seems to keep conspiring against my health.  So I had some cocktails.  Then I got over it, and started doing some walking.  Then, one day, as I was putting away the laundry, I felt something in my lower back that was not good.  Not good at all.  I dropped to the ground and couldn’t get up.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???  No joke, I screwed up a muscle and something was pressing on my sciatic nerve.  I could not stand up for more than 2 minutes for about three days.  I was flat on my big ass.  It sucked.  SO, that brings us to the beginning of December.  As soon as that nerve issue peaced out, I got right back to it.  No more feeling sorry for myself…no excuses.  I’ve been hitting the gym as well as resuming my running.

I’ve got to go all out Biggest Loser style on this bitch now.  My plan is to lose 35 more pounds before swim season begins..which for me is early May.  So I have about 5 months….I think that’s totally doable.  I’m not really bikini ready at that weight, but I won’t be mistaken for a beach ball or a sea creature at that size either.  At that point, I’ll be “27″ to go.  And that would be awesome.

I’ll start writing more about diet and workout in the days to come.  Peace.

 

 

Heart Rate Monitor September 15, 2010

I decided I wanted to take the next step in my training, so I picked up a heart rate monitor.

That’s a crappy picture, but whatever.  It’s a Polar FT1.  It’s the one that the guy at Dick’s recommended, and it was the lowest priced one, so I went with it.

Before using it on a workout, I thought that it would be a good idea to test and make sure it works.  I was watching Glee on fox.com on my computer work.  Yeah, I can’t get motivated today.

Here was my test.  I first found a scene where Kirk was talking to Finn and his Dad.  My resting heart rate was around 80.  I then found a clip of Mr. Shue and Puck singing together.  Heart rate up to 93.

It works.

Now maybe I’ll use it when I resume training.  I have something wrong with my right foot.  I can walk (a little) so I’ve gone on a couple of walks this week, but it’s pretty painful so I’m trying not to overdo it.

More on the trip later.

62 to go…. September 9, 2010

OK, this is more like it.  Back on track and ready to go.

I know, I know, I’m not supposed to weigh every day.  Screw it…it motivates me.  I don’t get all wrapped up in my own head about it.  I just like to see a general overall downward trend.

Let me tell you what helps with that….giving my body what it wants and need to thrive.  It’s amazing to me how much better I feel and how easy it becomes to lose weight when I do things right.

The gym to which I belong puts out a magazine each month with health articles. I love the magazine, and I can tell you it’s well worth the dollar a month it adds to my membership.  In June, they published the following article detailing a 7 day detox slim down diet.  Here’s the link:

http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/july-august-2010/healthy-eating/the-ultrasimple-slimdown.php

This is my second round of it and I love it love it love it.  Do I follow it exactly?  Hell no.  I have the will power of a stray dog.  I do, however, use it as a guideline.

I love the shakes in the morning. I look forward to my blend of frozen berries, protein powder and flax seed.  It tastes great and is seriously filling.  I don’t use rice protein because I had bags of GNC low carb protein powder at my house.  I’m not going to go out and buy more stuff if this works.

I chose to use vegetable broth from a box.  It works, but I find I’m rarely hungry enough to want it.  Plus,  I live in the desert.  When it’s 110 degrees outside, I’d be hard pressed to choose between a hot mug of broth and being waterboarded.

I do try to abstain from sugar and excess fat, and I do try to jam as many vegetables down my throat as I can.  (Um, that being said, my co-worker’s wife sent in cookies today.  They were f’n fantastic.  Some things are worth the trouble.)

The bath at night is the nicest thing in the world.  20 minutes where I lock the rest of the family out…and they know they’re only allowed to bother me if the house is on fire or we’re being robbed.  Even then, I’m sure they think twice.  I hang out and read and relax.  Mmmmm….

The only issue I’ve had with the bath is that I’m using lavender oil.  Some days I emerge from the tub with soft, supple skin, and other days I slide out looking and feeling like something that came out of the deep fryer at Denny’s.  So maybe measure your oil.

Seriously, if you want to feel great, give this detox a go.

By the way….today is the day that I have lost over 25 lbs total.  I’d already dropped 8 when I started this blog.  Fantastic.  Next week I expect a slight gain…I’m going to visit my family and I’m going to eat comfort food I get to enjoy twice a year tops.  I deserve it, and I’m strong enough to jump right back on it.  Just wait.  Plus, my mama is going to buy me extra special extra spendy running shoes to wear for my 5K.  That’s motivation enough, right?

Ouch! September 6, 2010

Oh, yeah, it’s been a long time since I worked out.  I remember my sister telling me that her friend was doing a couch potato to 5K workout–designed to get your from the couch t o a 5K in 2 months.

Here’s the plan:  http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

So yesterday I did the first day.  Warm up walk for 5 minutes, then jog 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds and alternate.  No biggie, right?  I always thought that my biggest obstacle to running was the occasional smoking I still did.  I was 4 days 100% smoke free at that point, and my lungs did feel better.  What hurt, though, was my legs, especially my hip flexors.  Today I decided to try to work through it and I walked for 2.5 miles.

Fantastic.  Now I can’t move.  Pretty much at all.  I didn’t stretch yesterday when I got home, and I know that’s a huge part of it, but after talking to my sister (who just completed her first triathalon) she said most of my pain can be attributed to running on asphalt with crappy shoes.  So when I go visit her next week she’s going to take me to the place to get the good ones.  I turn 35 on in November this year, and my goals are these

1. To be able to run a 5K.

2. To have lost 25 additional lbs.

3. To plan and execute the world’s best white trash themed birthday party.  (Hey, I’m still me!)

I’m going to continue to train this week, but I’m going to drive down to a grassy field about a mile from my house to do it.  Running on grass in cheap shoes is better than running on asphalt to be sure.  So two more days of that and then new shoes.  That should work!

But for today, I’m not working and I will be taking ibuprofin and hot baths to get me through.  It’s a good thing the husband needs his painkillers, because they’re looking pretty good, but I’ll stick to over the counter.  Have a great day!

66 to go September 5, 2010

Wow.  It’s been a long time.  The thing about it is, when I started this blog months ago, I kept trying to find pages of current weight loss bloggers who were working through the same things I was at the same time.  I was disappointed, and a bit judgmental when I saw that many people’s blogs were begun and abandoned in a month or two.

“That won’t be me!” I swore.  I’m so committed to this that I can’t fail.  Guess what?  Life happened, and I did, in fact, fail.  Big time, as far as the blog is concerned, and only slightly as far as losing weight is concerned.  I’d really thought I would have lost at least 20 lbs this summer, but I’ll take 9 considering all that has gone on.

The day after my last post, my husband broke his leg in 4 places.  I had to become his hands and feet while he endured a lot of pain and frustration.  I also had to try to get to work more to try to make up for some of the lost income while he was out.  Working out?  Time for myself?  These things became a distant memory really fast. I was glad to be here for him, but still frustrated to lose the momentum.  After about eight weeks, he was better and functioning on his own pretty well.  For five days.  Then his leg hurt again, to the point that he was back on crutches.  I won’t get into detail, but complications from the surgery have made the last little over a month tough on us.  He actually hasn’t been able to work for over  weeks, but is going back tomorrow.  He’s still not better, but he can’t sit on the couch with his leg up anymore, so that’s that.

I did not give up on trying to make better choices with my food, but I was bored and homebound a lot more than I thought I would be.  So what did I do?  I drank too much.  Yeah, yeah.  I know it doesn’t help anything, and it didn’t.  I did have friends over to hang out a little when my husband was up for it.  But otherwise, I’ve been drinking too much and smoking cigarettes.  SO NOT GOOD.

I realized I was getting depressed with my goals being so far away.  I quit drinking this week, for the weight loss and for the energy, but mostly so I could quit cigarettes once and for all.  I’m mostly a social smoker, you know, I generally only smoke when I drink.  But being home so much and being bored and frustrated led to more and more, and I was feeling horrible mentally and physically.  I knew I needed a change, and I’m doing it.  I haven’t had a drink or a cigarette for all of September, and I’m confident that I can keep this up.  I feel fantastic.

I’ve been doing a few things off and on that have worked, but I’ll get to those.  this post is too long.hat have worked, but I’ll get to those.  this post is too long.

75 to go May 14, 2010

Well now I feel motivated.  I’ve had kind of a lazy week–I’ve been stressed out and not feeling well and have been missing the gym.  I am proud of myself because other than one delicious and SO worth it small Butterfinger milkshake thing I’ve not screwed up my eating, and I got some results.

I’ve officially kicked 5 lbs to the curb since starting this blog.  I’m under 225, which was my previous all time high until I blew right by it this time.  I feel better and I can tell in my clothes that something good is happening.  Today I’m going to hit the gym because I actually miss going.

Also, in an unrelated note, my kid is super freaking cute and we’re going to Disneyland this summer.  That’s all.