Best. Result. Ever.

Did you know I used to run?

I know, hard to believe, looking at me now. 

But 100 pounds ago, I used to run.  And I loved it. 

I never ran any races.  (I mostly walked a 10K once after I had gained a fair amount, and finished thanks only to a great brother-in-law who refused to let me give up.  Thanks, Chris.)  I did it because it made me feel great.  I ran in the snow, in the ice, in the heat, any time I could. 

Then I got fat. 

When I started exercising in January, my final goal was to lose 100 lbs.  But I also want to run again. 

Up until this point I've been scared to try.  I've been worried that my poor knees couldn't support the weight; I've been worried what people would think about all the shaking chub; I've been worried that my heart rate would spike and I wouldn't be able to run more than 10 seconds. 

But today I decided to try.

I realize that the "May Your Way" challenge officially ended yesterday, but I got the best result I could have imagined when I completed Week 1 Day 1 of the Couch to 5K running program.  It's not much: alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes, but it's more than I could have imagined. 

I am so happy and so proud.  A friend asked a while back if I'd be interested in signing up for a Susan G. Komen 5K in September.  I said, "Can I walk?  Cause if I can walk, I'm totally in." 

But now, I don't even need to know if I can walk.  Because I plan to run.  :)  Squeeeee!

Wednesday Weigh-in

Wooooo!

I'm down 3 pounds this week!  One of those doesn't really count, since I reGAINED it last week, but now it's gone for good.  That means I'm down a total of 18 lbs!  Getting close to 20.  Yay.  

I'm enjoying participating in the May Your Way Challenge at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  I missed chat this week, but those chicks are FUNNY!  

In addition to the goal of drinking 64 oz of water every day, this week  I have made sure to get my 5 servings of vegetables/fruits in daily.  I decided to do 2 servings of fruit and 3 of veggies.  On the days I eat a salad, that's easy peasy!  On the days I don't, it's hard.  I guess that means I should just eat a salad every day, ja?  

Onward and upward.  This is happpening!  (I see that extra "p" but decided to leave it for emphasis.)  I'm so proud of myself.  I never knew I could be this strong. It feels great.  :)

Wednesday Weigh-in

Alright, this may be painful, but I gotta do it.  I'm up a pound, bringing my total back UP to 15 lbs.  I skipped 15 before; maybe it felt left out.  But I REFUSE to let it get me down.  Not gonna do it. 

And really, there's no one to blame but myself.  I had some eating issues this week, which have led to some stomach issues right now, and, as a result, a renewed desire to eat better.  It's amazing how quickly my body adjusted to healthy foods and how quickly it revolted to nasty foods. 

As for my May Your Way goals, I'm actually doing hanging in there, wooo!  I drank 64 oz of water a day, did 2 days of strength training, and even participated in my first tworkout (which is a twitter workout).  It was fun.  ;)

And now, onward and upward!

Progress and Wednesday Weigh-in

I've been thinking a lot lately about progress. 

It's so easy to be stagnant.  It's easy to just stay in one place and let myself go wherever the wind takes me.  It's even easy to say, "Meh," and let it take me in the wrong direction.

Moving takes action. 

Moving forward is hard work.  Progress doesn't always manifest itself in obvious ways.  I can easily measure my weight, but there's no way to record how much better I feel when I can run the shopping cart (complete with 4 kids) back to the car.  I don't get as tired just standing up.  I can run up the stairs.  All of this stuff might sound silly, when you can't do them without feeling exhausted or winded, they become huge tasks.

The other day I was chatting with my amazing sister and she asked how my workout was.  I told her I walked 25 mintues on the treadmill  and then did an interval program for 25 minutes on the elliptical machine.  I laughed for a minute, remembering my first workout here.  I had to work HARD to last 4 minutes on the elliptical.  I decided to add 2 minutes each time I did it, and THAT was hard.  I thought I'd never get up to 25 minutes, but I did. I worried that the machine wasn't right for me, because I couldn't get it down to a level that I could do for 25 minutes.  But I continued, and now can do the programs on the machine without wanting to die or having my heart rate skyrocket.  THAT'S progress. 

I don't say, "No" as often when my kids ask me to play with them. And it's not just physical play; I even have more energy to play Uno and Yahtzee and even the dreaded Monopoly (I HATE Monopoly with a passion).  THAT'S progress. 

I don't crave sweets as often.  I feel nasty when I eat fast food (which used to be a staple, even though I'm embarrassed to admit that).  My kids see me eating healthily.  Sophia eats half of my food, no matter what it is, so now she's eating healthily, too!  THAT'S progress. 

I'm almost 8 weeks into this and am so proud of myself for sticking with it.  I'm proud that it hasn't been all-or-nothing, that I've shown myself it's ok to eat cake on someone's birthday or miss a workout here or there.  THAT'S progress, too. 

And now, for the weigh-in! 

I'm down 2 pounds for a total of 16 pounds!

I'm so glad I'm over the 15 lb hump.  That was a tough one.  I'm sure there will be more, but for now I'm moving onward and upward to 20!  

Thanks for your support, and for keeping me accountable. 

May Your Way!

I just realized I forgot to post a Wednesday weigh-in this week!  It's probably because I didn't lose any weight.  That's right, 0 lbs down!  But I didn't let it get me down, (well, I might have for a couple of hours or so, but not enough to go all rogue on my exercise/diet plan that I make up as I go) and am moving onward and upward! 

I started this journey 7 weeks ago, and have to admit to getting a little bored with my plan.  So, thanks to a friend (who may or may not even realize that I read her blog), I'm joining May Your Way at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  Isn't that an awesome name?  I looked around for a while and they have tons of great resources, including a Hood site with groups, forums, chat and even a place to blog, if you want to.  Weight-loss for me works better as part of a community, where I can post about my losses and frustrations (as is evidenced by this PUBLIC blog that broadcasts my ACTUAL WEIGHT, mortified as I am about that).  I'm excited to be a part of this new community!

As part of the challenge, I need to define some goals for this month.  A lot of them are the same as they have been for the last 7 weeks, though I've gotten a little lax about some of them. 

• Exercise 30 minutes every day in May.  5 times a week I go to the gym and exercise for an hour, but on the days I don't, I want to do SOMETHING to get my heart rate up for 30 minutes.  Maybe the kids and I will take some walks.  Or have dance parties.  Or play tag. I can do that.  
• In my exercise at the gym, I need to take it up a notch.  On the 3 days a week I do just cardio, I'm going to do intervals.  That's scary, but I'm committed.
• The other 2 days at the gym, I will strength train for 30 minutes and do cardio for 30 minutes.  I've been slacking on the weights because it's hard.  Boo for that.  I'm strong, I can do it!
• Drink 64 oz of water a day.  Been slacking on this one.  
• Eat 4 servings of vegetables every day.  I did great at this one at first, but since I added whole grains back into the mix, I've let it slide.  
• Still trying to lose around 2 lbs a week, but I won't be sad if I lose less (although I won't say I won't be giddy if it's more).

I think that's plenty for one month!  I'm so glad I've already been working on most of these.

Oh, and my starting weight for this challenge is 236 lbs.  Gulp.  

By the way, last night was a special family event (Peter's baptism) and so we took some pics as a family. When I looked at them, I wanted to puke, because, sheesh, why do you not realize how huge you are when you're looking at yourself in the mirror?  But (you knew there would be a but, right?  A huuuuge but just like the one I'm sitting on) I was only mortified for a minute, because, you know what?  By the time Lily gets baptized in July of 2012, I'll look like a completely different person.  And that, my dear readers,  makes me giddy.  :)

Wednesday Weigh-in

Can't believe it's already been another week!  Sheesh, time is flying.  I've been so busy! 

Anyhow, drumroll, please...

 I'm down 1 pound, for a total of 14 pounds!

Not much, but I refuse to feel bad about it.  I have thought about things and realized I may need more calories than I've been eating.  Not that I've been hungry, I just need to eat more of the right kinds of food.  

I'm on my way! 

Wednesday Weigh-in

So, it's been a tough week, with emotional issues (see previous post), a birthday (including cupcakes, yum!) and my period (sorry if that makes you squeamish, but it's true).  I didn't know what to expect this week.  But thankfully, I'm down

2 pounds, for a total of 13 lost!

This is my 4th weigh-in, and I'm delighted with 13 pounds.  The diet is getting much easier.  I had a harder time feeling motivated to exercise last week, but I think I have my mojo back.  I started using My Fitness Pal to track what I'm eating, and I have to say, it's much more fun now that I'm used to eating healthily.  :)  Somehow typing in "McDonald's Quarter Pounder" and seeing the calorie and fat count was more discouraging than it was helpful.  

Thanks for reading and for your support!  I can't tell you what it means to me.  <3 <3 <3