Running Day #77(ish)

After hiatusing for nearly two months, I’ve decided to make September my start day to get back to the road.

So, I laced up the shoes and went out this afternoon. I’ve missed it much, but my body hated me as I pushed it further than it thought that it could go at this fitness level.

I’m a bit sore, but covered 3.99 miles through running/walking (75% running at 6mph/25% walking at 3.75mph). I feels good to be back out there. It feels good to physically push myself again.

I can’t wait for my next run. 🙂

(Also started using MyFitnessPal again today. Back to making much better food choices, especially portions, again.)

Re-establishing Motivation

Now that I’ve landed a full-time job and have started to be able to piece together what my schedule will look like, I need to throw running back into my routine. That’s right — I NEED it. It is a necessity and not optional. My body and mind are craving it. I miss it and I don’t feel good that I’ve let it slide. I can’t go back and change that, but what I can change is what I do from here on out. Believe me, I will run.

Without access to a treadmill directly in our home, I know that it will most likely take a few weeks to figure out the new groove of the new job, new school year, and new schedules. I anticipate that my running schedule will eventually fall into a Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat (with an optional or make-up Sunday run). Usually training while Christian has therapists in the home, except for my weekend runs. I’m also hoping to figure out a way to put one BodyPump class per week back in this schedule. I miss that class, too, and always felt incredibly empowered after making it through that hour.

In the mean time, I have been listening to my workout music while I make my new daily drives. A favorite of mine (that I first heard in BodyPump class) is “I Own You” by Shinedown. Totally motivating song. I can still feel my heart rate speed up during this song, like it had when I listening to it during training. It rocks!

I also need to hop back into tracking my food with MyFitnessPal. While the pounds haven’t poured on, like they once did, they have been creeping back up. I’m ready to get a handle back on that, too, and I’m excited about it.

I’ll leave you with an awesome picture that was posted on Facebook this morning from one of the races I participated in earlier this year…

The Journey (Thus Far)

On January 10th, I started this journey–

After coming through the Christmas season and looking at our family pictures, I realized that I wanted to crop most of myself out of just about every shot. As I looked at myself, I thought, “How could I let myself get to this point???” Then I started wondering about how much longer my body could keep going at this rate before my health started to deteriorate… Was I being the best wife, mother, example that I could be… Was I treating my body as a “temple of God”(1 Cor. 6:19-20)???

Honestly, I was not.

I was feeding every emotion by the handful — happy, sad, tired, frustrated, depressed, excited, etc. My activity level was that of a couch cushion. I got basic things done, but nothing more than necessary. I would get winded just jogging to our mailbox! 😦 When I finally got up the nerve to step on the scale, I realized that I was amazingly close to my top pregnancy weight.

I weighed 220 pounds. Yikes!

Things needed to change. All things that I had control over, but I had to be committed to changing my relationship with food and exercise. Easier said than done.

I started by focusing on food — what I was eating, but even more so HOW MUCH I was eating. Cleaning off the kids plates after meals, snacking while cooking, finishing off the “leftovers” so that I didn’t have to put them away combined with my emotional eating — I was surprised with the amount of calories that I was stuffing into my body every day! I found a FREE website/app — MyFitnessPal. It is super easy to use (and FREE) and I started to learn portion control and healthier snack habits. I finally kicked my soda habit, too, when I realized just how useless it was for my well-being. These changes, themselves, were huge and I started seeing my weight come down in just a couple of days.

After a week of dietary changes, I decided to chase a dream that I’ve had for quite a while — to run a half-marathon. (I’m not sure why this was one of my dreams, but it was! 😉 ) I have started training numerous times before, but I have always ended up stopping for one legit reason or another and then never pick it back up again. I decided to stick with it, this time, by making it a “limited” agreement with myself — just to run for this year (2012) and if I enjoyed it at the end of the year, great, and if not, then move onto something else.

I also needed to find myself a motivating running program. I had tried some “on paper” programs in the past, but they are too easy for me to put down. So, I found myself a running coach through iTunes and the Personal Runner Trainer program. I liked that it started slow (which I needed), had a coach in my ear (which I also needed), and only required a couple of days a week (also a necessity, especially at the start). For me, this program was a perfect match and had additional programs of extended distances, giving me the option of working my way up the different race lengths. (This was very motivating for me!) I knew I needed more, though, so I signed up for a race to give myself a set goal to work towards. The goal to finish the race — whatever my time might be.

A week after starting the running, I wanted to work in some “cross-training” to compliment my new running routine. That’s when I tried (and fell in love with) Body Pump at my local Y. I love this high paced, music packed, weight training program. It was tough, but awesome and made me feel stronger and empowered and improved my running form.

Now, nearly five months after starting this journey, I am 49 pound lighter, but more importantly, I feel so much healthier. I have fallen in love with running and look forward to every time I get to lace up my shoes and hit the road. I eagerly peruse the Running In The USA website for races that I can dream about running. I might still run slowly, but I’m doing it. 🙂

I am thankful to my husband, who has supported this new venture by watching the kids so that I can get out and run. I am thankful to my mother-in-law and parents, who are helping watch the kids on race mornings so that I can get to each race while Brian is working or coming along for moral support. I am thankful to my running friends who have offered expert advice. I am thankful to friends who have offered to pick up race packets when I cannot get there ahead of race day. I am thankful for everyone who has encouraged me along this path.

This journey is not finished yet. I feel like I am just getting started. 🙂

Stay tuned…

***I have not been paid by any of the companies mentioned in this post to promote their products and/or websites. I have just found them helpful for myself. ***

Body Pump!

I was SUPER excited to be back at Body Pump today after a two week hiatus!

I love that workout. It was rough, but awesome. I think that I’ll definitely be feeling it tomorrow, especially in my quads.

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After a birthday celebrating weekend and mega-stress from life, I ended up gaining a couple of pounds back. Yeah, I’m a little disappointed that I found myself finishing off some of the comfort food that we had leftover (as a snack), but now I know that I don’t have to let that defeat me. I can get back on the healthy eating track and I will.

Pump It Up! Tuesday

Ah, Body Pump, how I love thee…

I had an awesome (yet challenging) Body Pump class this morning. My quads are still screaming at me from my classes last week, but it felt good to work them hard. I am debating with myself whether or not to go to class on Friday morning with my 5K happening on Sunday. Hmm…

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I was also super excited this morning that I finally hit #35 with my weight lost so far. It has taken me a couple of weeks to lose that pound, so I was stoked when I stepped on the scale this morning. Yay! 🙂

Body Pump Is Back!

Thank goodness that Body Pump is back after its week hiatus! I was craving this class last week. 🙂

It felt so good to be pushed during class again. Pretty much everyone in class was grunting to get through the last reps of each set, but it was so much fun!

My other big news today — it has been 3 months since I put myself on a healthier path! I was secretly hoping to be at a 35 pound weight loss, but I am really happy with the 34 pounds that have disappeared. 😀 I do feel much healthier. My clothes fit much better. I feel good about what I’ve been able to accomplish through only changes in diet and exercise. I’m excited to see what will happen in the next three months. So many exciting things in store…

My (Dietary) Kryptonite

I have discovered my dietary kryptonite over the last couple of days. It is something that I would have never envisioned having me coming back for more (and more and more …). It is this:

I would have thought that if I were to have a hankering for rice krispy treats they would, at least, be the homemade kind. But no. These store-bought sweets keep calling out my name. If my willpower weakens and I just have one (because they are only 90 calories), I end up wanting another (and another and another…). Sigh.

I think that I might have to donate the rest of the 40-count box to my daughter’s classroom. I don’t know that my healthier way of eating can survive with these in the house for one more day. 😉

Training Day #31+

Oh yeah, I Body Pumped this morning. Lovely. 🙂 It was the last class, though, before Spring Break here — no classes next week. I think that I will really miss it!

After class, I hit the road for a run…

Week 6, Day 1. A cold and wet day for a run.

But I did it! It felt fantastic to finish! My confidence is building for my upcoming race. It is amazing to me that I am now completing 5K’s on a regular basis, especially since just a few short months ago I was just another fixture on the couch. Awesome.

I’m also excited to report that I have surpassed my halfway point of my weight loss goal. I would like to just slip myself out of the “overweight” category. 🙂 It feels good to know that it is happening. Between tracking my calories (getting out of emotional eating) and sticking with a self-induced exercise program, the weight is coming off. More importantly, though, I just feel so much healthier.

Tuesday Body Pump

I hit up Body Pump class this morning. It was fantastic. (I’m so sad that there will not be classes next week! What will I do?!?)

My weight has been stuck for over a week now. Cool thing, though, is that I’m starting to fit into some of my old clothes. 🙂 My shorts from last summer are too big! I am enjoying “shopping my closet” and wearing some items that I haven’t been able to put on in a few years. 🙂 I guess that is better than seeing the numbers go down. 😉

I “Jillianed” Today

On Thursdays I usually jump on an elliptical machine while my daughter takes swimming lessons, but I need to take my son with me tonight so the elliptical is not an option. In lieu of the elliptical workout, I let Jillian put me through my paces this afternoon. Whew. That was tough!

I’m also happy 😀 to report that I passed my 25# weight loss mark this morning. That feels extraordinary!