I Signed Up For My First 5k

I just signed up for my first official 5k!!! It is being held next Saturday, March 17th, and is at a town 25min away. My 12 and 13 yo daughters are signed up too. The three of us will be setting our first 5k time. A time that we'll be able to improve on as we get stronger, fitter and healthier! We're still preparing for our Sprint Tri in July and this will be great training for us! This morning I woke up early and did a 5k on my treadmill. I broke my previous time of 55:38 by 2 minutes. Today's time, 53:38. I did it HIIT style and was able to jog a few minutes at 3.8mph and, YES, even at 4.0! That's a first for me! Not sure how my outdoor, crowded 5k will compare to my treadmill 5k but I'm looking forward to finding out. Now to commit to and sign-up for more races to keep me focused on my goals for 2012!

Two More Non Scale Victories!

Last night I needed to run to the store to get spiral notebooks for my high school boys and stock up on some healthy food for me. My little 4yo wanted to come. I hesitated taking her because it was 7:45 and she was already an exhausted mess. But I was game, the healthy me has A LOT more patience and energy to deal with that.

After finishing up the shopping, which, by the way, my little one did great, we headed back out to the car. SHOOT! Someone parked TOO close to me. I hate that. In the past I've had someone climb in and back the car out for me (if they were a driver) or would have climbed in from the other side and tried to climb over to the driver seat. I was able to open the passenger side to have my little one climb in but, dangit, her carseat was behind the driver seat.

#1 NSV - I was actually able to open my driver door open a crack and squeezed myself in!!!

#2 NSV - Once in the car, with the driver door closed, I was actually able to turn completely around in the driver seat to buckle up my 4yo.

244

Okay, small NSVs but the times I haven't been able to do either of those have mentally beaten me up and left me feeling embarrassed, devastated and unworthy.

Can't wait to see how tight of space I can shimmy through as the weight continues to drop!

End of Week 9

It's amazing how fast time goes by. March 7th would have come today whether I was on this journey or not. Thank goodness I chose to get started and have been going for the past 9 weeks. I'm really enjoying the results! But it's just the tip of the iceberg.

I guess my results have been enough for people to notice. Last night I ran into a friend at the high school orientation for our 8th graders. This morning I received a phone call from her. "How are you doing it, how are you staying away from the junk?" she asked. With a bit of a pause from me she then said, "Or are you?"

That's the thing I'm NOT staying away from the junk. Am I eating it every day, NO! Is it the main dish for my meals like before? NO! I was honest and told her I've been to the movies with my husband and had popcorn and M&Ms. I had cheesecake with cherries for our family Valentines dinner. I've had birthday ice cream for my kids and, yes, even a cupcake. I've had pizza, rolls and lasagna. But the key, at least for me, I told her is that this is a lifestyle change. I can't realistically give up 100% of all those things for the rest of my life. But I pick and choose what I want and when I want it.

At the last two basketball games for my son my in-laws came too. And with them they brought hot tamales, chocolate pieces, cashews loaded with salt. While there they purchased soda, popcorn and skittles. All of those items were offered around to our group. I said No. I had my almonds, water bottle and dried apricots to eat for my snacking if I had the need. I will not accept everything offered to me, I will consciously make my food choices.

I felt great getting the call from my friend, saying she's noticed my hard work. Later today I saw a lady I haven't seen since before Christmas. She too noticed that I've lost weight. What a great feeling. I have to admit I did stand a bit taller and tucked my belly in (as much as I could).

I've had very satisfying results for these 9 weeks. I can't wait to see what another 9 weeks will bring, then 18, 27, and even 99!

Happy EARLY Birthday To ME!!!

At the beginning of this journey, for 2012, I had set the goal for me to no longer be Morbidly Obese by my 45th birthday (March 21st). To do so my BMI needed to be 39.99 or lower. Starting on January 3rd, with a weight of 317, (all time high 325) my BMI was 44.21. To get out of the Morbidly Obese classification I had to lose 31lbs.

Well, as of this morning I DID IT! I weighed in at 285.6 A total pounds gone of 31.4 My BMI is currently 39.83

I'm still in the Obese category, Class 2 but that WILL change too. To get into the Class 1 Obese range I have to lose 35.6. That will happen this summer!

On to another note, a NON Scale Victory. Yesterday, being Saturday, I decided to try a longer workout on my treadmill. I watched an old episode of Biggest Loser. The online program said it was 1 hr and 25 minutes. I've walked for 60 minutes before so felt confident I could add another 25 minutes to my workout. (I did lower my incline to a 2).

It was quite the workout. My cardio and lungs seemed to be fine but my hip area and feet were the problems. I think for long workouts I need to find better socks. No aches today so I know I didn't overdo it. But as I stayed committed to working out until my show was over I ended up walking 96 minutes. Hmmm, maybe the little commercials they throw in weren't counted towards the 85 that were listed. According to my treadmill I walked 5.1 miles in that time. I kept my pace mostly at 3.1 with a few moments of higher (actually jogged for just one minute at 3.8).

I'm excited to see how much stronger and healthier I can become. Yesterday, 5.1 miles a few months from now? A Half-Marathon? Who knows.

Day 59: February Reflection, Goals for March

I wasn't too successful in completing the goals I had for February. They were:

GOAL for February:
1. Lose 10lbs
2. Figure out a more comprehensive ST program
3. Increase monthly exercise minutes to 1920 (Jan was 1880)
4. Drink 72 oz of water each day.
5. Schedul appointment with trainer for body fat

1. Actually lost 13.8 WooHoo!

2. I didn't do much ST this month. Still really want to figure out a program. I need to build up some muscle to fill in the lose skin I'll have. If anyone wants to share what they do I'm ALL ears.

3. Uh, NO. Unfortunately I feel like I spent 1/3 of the month sick. Haven't done more than 25 minutes of cardio for the past week. March WILL be different!

4. I have this down! Huge change for me since in December I could go more than a week with no water and only a few glasses of milk.

5. No body fat measured. Still want to do it but I guess it's less important to me than actually doing the work to make it go down. I'm sure I started in the low 50s or high 40s.

After uping my workouts around the end of January my food tracker upped the recommended calories I should eat (1550-1900) I'm having a harder time sticking there. Doing okay with the lower end.

I'm excited about my workouts. I've gotten so much stronger. My treadmill incline went to a 4.0 and I've been able to jog at 3.6 for one minute segments. I also lasted on the elliptical for 30 minutes at a level 2!

Okay, now for March's goals:
1. Increase monthly exercise minutes to 2000. YES, I'm going to do it.
2. Cook/prepare one new healthy meal a week. I really need to add more variety.
3. Sign-up for and walk in my FIRST 5k
4. Lose 10lbs ( stick to my original goal of no longer being Morbidly Obese by my birthday, March 21st. Actually have only 1.8lbs until I reach that goal.)
5. Be consistent with my kids doing at least ONE job a day. (I need to make sure I get my ME time and need the help with all the mess they create)

I took measurements and pictures today. I'll post it tomorrow. I hope.

4:57AM and All is NOT Well!

4:57am is normally the time I'm walking into the gym to get in my daily workout.

Today 4:57am was the time I stumbled out of bed to go use the restroom then headed straight back to bed.

My progress has stopped. Actually it's heading in the opposite direction. I have been sick with an awful head cold off and on this whole 8 weeks of my journey.

Besides a very slow 25 min walk on my treadmill Monday I've done no other workouts since last Thursday. My eating has been off and this morning the scale showed it.

I've been feeling gasy, bloated and overall yucky. (that's just from my eating). To top it off I'm still congested, my head still hurts and I get out of breath walking up the stairs like I did back in December.

I'm not coughing or blowing any green stuff, I have no fever so I'm assuming it's still just viral. I need it to go away. I want to feel better. 100% would be great but I'd even take 90 or 80.

I want 4:57am to be a time that I'm upright, walking in to get the burn on. Someday......Hopefully, someday soon

I'm BACK...Again!

Here I am, back again blogging about my weight loss journey! It's been almost 2.5 yrs since my last entry here. During that time I put back the weight lost plus some.

In 2011 I was determined to start again. Beginning weight was 325. I was motivated, doing it, working my plan and seeing results. I lost 30lbs by June then allowed the summer craziness get me off track. My excuse was there is NO time to exercise. Having 7 kids and 3 daycare kids makes my daily schedule crazy. Once the summer came I had kids staying up late, who I had to wait up for or pick up from friends' houses, and I just couldn't fathom getting up early to workout before my 7:30am daycare arrivals.

In the Fall of 2011 I started thinking about getting healthy but openly told my exercising sister, "I have no desire. Don't even ask me to participate with you" Then after a family reunion for Thanksgiving, seeing all my wonderfully fit family and in-laws the desire to be like them increased but not the desire to do what it takes.

At the end of 2011, when everyone in the world is thinking of New Year Resolutions, I too was thinking, once again, of the weight I needed to lose. I realized, after searching out on the internet, that I was MORBIDLY Obese (according to my BMI number). It hit me then, I'm not getting any younger and each year I put this off I can actually feel the deterioration of my body. I'm not getting any younger!

January 3rd I started back up using the resources at Spark People. Logging my food and exercising. Reading inspiration blogs and joining some motivational teams and challenges. As of today it's been 8 weeks. I'm still here and going strong. So I've lost 25lbs.

In January I started off walking in front of my tv. I tried to last 15minutes at a time and did it 2 to 3 times a day. After a week I started back on my treadmill. Couldn't go fast, about 2.7 mph, but I was doing it! After 3 weeks I went back to my gym and tried the elliptical (Ugh, only 10 min) and did a bit of ST.

Now I'm able to walk on my treadmill for up to 60min and do my own 5k at least once a week. I've been able to increase my level on the elliptical and can last 30min!

This past week my exercise has been non-existent. I have a bad headcold. ARGH! Today I strapped on my pedometer trying to get up and moving but my breathing, chest and head are not ready for strenuous cardio. I'm hoping to be back to normal soon. I do not like getting out of my routine.

I normally wake up at 4:30 to get my workout in at the gym so I can be home by 6:15 to get my family going. It was a hard habit to form and now that I haven't done it for a week I'm hoping it won't be too hard to get back into once I get started again.

I find so many wonderful blogs that I use as motivation and inspiration. I'm thankful for their availability and have decided to blog my own journey.