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.

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…

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. 😉

Body Pump Tuesday

OK. I was Body Pumping this morning and loved every minute of it (once I got there). I was super tired and actually considered not going, but I’m glad I dragged my sorry butt over to class. It always makes my day. 🙂 (I’m just hoping that I didn’t strain my bicep again this week. It feels fine, but it didn’t start hurting ’til Wednesday last week either. We’ll see…)

The weather is gorgeous today. I actually kind of wish that it was a road running day — sunny, in the low-50s. Maybe it will be just as nice tomorrow. It did make all of the errand-running that I had to do today much nicer, though.

Here’s a question — why is it that the last two weeks when I consume more net calories in a day I lose more weight when I get on the scale the next morning??? It just seems that this shouldn’t be. Any insight would be appreciated. 🙂

Also Body Pumped this morning in my Zem 360s. I enjoyed it, except for the lunges. Those do NOT work well in these shoes! Errand-running, however, was perfectly lovely in the Zems. über comfy.

Training Day #20

Week 2, Day 2. Weather = snowy and only getting worse.

My Friday routine of Body Pump and a treadmill run had to be changed today because my son was off from school. I don’t think that is all bad, since I seemed to have overworked a bicep during Tuesday’s Body Pump class and took a hard fall on some ice in the driveway yesterday. I am hoping to feel less sore by next Tuesday.

I opted for a road run while my husband was home. I am super tired today and with the weather being what it is (and my son waking me at 3am), I would have preferred to stay home curled up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and a nice long nap.

But, I didn’t. I have this deep desire to strictly stick to my training schedule this time around. Whatever the weather. However tired I’m feeling. I’m going to get it done. Why? Because I have a race. It is outdoors. In Wisconsin. In April. Weather is a crapshoot that time of year here. I will be prepared. And I’m not running for time, but I’m running for me. To prove to myself that I am stronger than I think that I am.

As for my weight, it’s been coming off much slower in the last week or two. I was a little bummed about that because it’s fun to see the numbers fall. However, I have noticed that my clothes are fitting better. I no longer feel like a sausage in some of my favorite shirts. And THAT is a fantastic feeling!

Ran with my Zem 360’s on today. They still feel great on my feet. Definitely change my foot strike (in a good way). My feet were pretty wet, though, by the time I got home. If there’s snow pack on the road on Sunday, I will probably run with my good ol’ Nikes. 😉

A Jillian Day

I woke up today SO SORE! I had to fight my body just to get out of bed. I sprayed my quads down with Stopain before I headed in to help out at Liv’s school for the morning. I’m thankful that I did. 😉

Today was pretty busy, so I had to squeeze in a 30-min Jillian DVD workout at home this afternoon. My muscles actually seemed to loosen during the torture, so I was happy about that. I’m hoping that they stay looser since I have a run scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Oh, I added a MyFitnessPal weight tracker widget on the right side. My weight loss will always be current. You can help cheer me on to my weight loss (or healthy living) goals. 🙂

Day “Off”

So, I decided to utilize my days off for cross-training. I broke out a Jillian Michaels’ DVD and went to town. Everything was going well until my calf muscles seized up. Ouch is an understatement! I walked it off for a couple of minutes and then continued. Whew. Jillian is going to do me in, but the core work felt good! (I also squeezed in a 1/2-hour of kids ABC yoga with my daughter in the afternoon. We had fun. 🙂 )

Oh yeah, the scale also reported that I was down 11 pounds from where I started. Yeah!

Training Day #4

This morning is my “day off” from helping in the classroom at Olivia’s school, so I used it to meet with my doctor to discuss my medications. Usually when I go into the doctor, I am embarrassed to have to step on the scale in front of the tiny, little nurses. Today, though, I wasn’t nervous, since I knew what my weight should be. It’s more than what I want it to be, but I know that I’m in the process of making some positive changes. I was actually curious to see what it read. It was two pounds less than I expected! Yahoo! That made my day! 🙂 (With our old scale, I always weighed in about ten pounds more than what our at home scale read. I like it this way much better!)

After discussing my medications and upping my thyroid med, the doctor found that my ears are full of fluid. Fun. She figured allergies. OK. I can deal with that.

I decided to get my running in this morning while the kids were both at school. Week two. Twice as much running as last week. It was challenging today. My lungs were burning by the end of the running segments. But, I did it. Whew. I’m hoping that my next day out is easier. 🙂

(The best part about my doctor’s visit this morning is that my heart rate and blood pressure were at great numbers even though I was feeling very stressed after an extremely unusal morning with the kids!)