OK, so my attempt at referencing an Ashton Kutcher movie is pitiful, especially since I have never seen the movie, but it was too easy, so I had to. I have fallen so far off the dieting/exercise wagon, that I am not even sure where it is.
Last Monday I lost a pound, so a brief Yay for that :) But at today's weigh-in, I gained a pound and a half, so Boo for that. Turns out I have lost my motivation, or so it seems.
As I was writing the previous blog, I really felt I was doing better, that things would be looking up. My eating habits were stellar. My exercise was not bad, not amazing, but easy to increase, right?
This past week, I have only exercised twice. I ran Wednesday, but it was a shorter run, only 25 minutes, not the usual 40. I was sure Saturday would be a turn-around, as my expert running cousin was in from out of town. I haven't seen her since I was probably 10, so I was doubly excited about this. Not only to learn tips and hints about running, but also to catch up on our lives. Although, I have to say the catching up might have been hard to do as I'm gasping for air during the run :) However, I'm sad to say it rained. A lot. With lightning. And we all know, When thunder roars, stay indoors. So, no running outside. I did run on the treadmill, for about 30 minutes. And I did up my speed a little on the treadmill, so I felt good about that.
I did have one really good eating moment (I think). We went to my cousin's wedding and I refrained from eating food or cake, though I did drink a Pepsi... Bummer... I forgot about that. And party mints. The good part comes in a minute I guess.
So after the wedding, we went to see my aunt in the hospital, which was a great time as I haven't seen her in a while and she's so fun, and then we went to Tascalli's. I REALLY, and I mean REALLY wanted the cheese ravioli, which they serve half with marinara sauce and half with Alfredo sauce, and top it with mozzarella cheese. Delicious!! How could I turn that down? But I refrained. Instead, I chose the chicken with the sweet and tangy sauce (BTW, if any of you know the nutrition facts of this meal, I'm not sure I want to know. I'm afraid that I will find out it is worse for me than the ravioli...) along with mashed potatoes and wild rice. It was yummy and I felt good about the choice. (Actually, I only ate one of the chicken breasts and forgot that I brought the other one home, so yay me... lunch tomorrow! :)
Sunday, however was a different story. It was Easter. We went to Shawn's mom's for dinner after church. I fixed a few things to take there and couldn't make myself stay away from the bad things. Macaroni and cheese (which you might think isn't the traditional Easter dinner, but it's kind of like bread for us - perfect with any meal :) and ham and a piece of chocolate pie. My stomach is growling right now...
And now for today... I took Noah to the orthodontist this morning. His braces were supposed to be removed. Yay, right? It should be a happy occasion!
The appointment was at 8:30 a.m. We were a couple of minutes late and Noah went back after a few minutes. I settled into a good book, waiting on things to happen back there. I really had no idea how much time I expected it to take. I've never had braces, so this is all new to me. Noah hadn't been back there long, when his orthodontic (assistant? hygienist? not sure what the right term is, but I will go with assistant) comes to get me. She said "We need you." Yikes. I go back and Noah is completely freaked out. Crying. She said, "He doesn't want to get the retainer." I don't know why it didn't occur to me that he would have to get a mold made to form the retainer. The mold had seriously traumatizd him from the initial braces.
I tried to give him the pep talk. Noah, it's going to be fine. You're brave. You can do this. It's going to be okay. I'll be right here... blah, blah, blah. That's what he heard. So he says, "No! I'm not doing it!!" My perfectly obedient child goes through some sort of metamorphasis of evil when the pink goo for the mold comes out. The assistant and orthodontist both seem pretty frustrated, as this is not a quick process. She would try to put the tray in his mouth, he would clamp his lips shut tighter than my size 8 jeans. When it was finally wedged in there, the gagging would commence...
This went on for what seemed like decades of my life, until the orthodontist stepped in and said he would try it. He said the mouth trays were too large for Noah's tiny mouth, so he whittled some down smaller and Noah tried it, unhappily, but without gagging. So he rushes over to the sink to mix the goo to put in the tray that will soon be placed in Noah's cute perfectly straight-toothed mouth. Only Noah is wiping his tears and his nose when the orthodontist comes over to quickly put it in (apparently this stuff has a short window before it becomes cement). The orthodontist, understandably frustrated, says we're probably going to have to come back another day. He comes back a minute later and says Noah and I can go into another room to talk. So I go back to the room. I'm torn between threatening grounding for eternity and bribing him with, well, anything he wants. I didn't. Seeing him in tears brings me to tears, but I try to control it. We're in public after all, and there are probably 15 other patients and parents in the same room as Noah getting their own teeth tightened and gooed.
He finally feels like he can do it, so we go back out. The job gets done, even though he still gagged during a lot of the process, but it is over. We left to get a drink and a snack and had to come back 30 minutes later to get the retainer. He was a super happy and relieved kid when it was over. I, on the other hand, remained stressed for a while, and took him to lunch at McDonald's before taking him back to school (we were at the orthodontist so long, his lunch time at school was already over). I ordered a 10-piece McNugget meal, with fries. Fries and deep-fried chicken parts! What was I thinking? It was like some sort of natural reaction. Like something just took over.
Not proud of that. And not that it's an excuse, but at least it explains it.
So, here's hoping for a better week. A week of more exercising and fewer McNuggets. And hopefully a week of more pounds lost, as well as a new desire to find my wagon.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The dress! :)
First update is that I weighed in Monday (4/11) and lost another 2 1/2 pounds! Yay :) I am doubtful that tomorrow morning's weigh-in will go that well, but I am still happy from this week, so that's okay :) Here is the big news... drum-roll please..... (da, da, da, da... )
I bought the dress! And an even bigger accomplishment... I wore it!
If you've read my previous blogs, you understand what a big deal this is. I haven't worn a dress in several years. I hated how I looked in dresses.
Now, whether this means that I have lost enough weight and exercised enough to tone various places on my body, or if it just means that I have become comfortable enough with my body to not be incredibly self-conscious about what I look like, I am not sure. But I have to think that either of those is a good thing :)
I realized I haven't posted any pictures of this whole process on here yet, and in all honesty it was probably because of fear. But here we go. I'm posting a couple of "before" pictures here....These were both taken toward the end of 2010.
Now... If you can take the focus off of my messy kitchen or my 80s clothes, lol, you can get the picture. I will call these my "before" pictures. I'm not sure what to call my next picture. I can't really say "after," because at 27 1/2 pounds of weight loss, I am only halfway to my goal. So I guess we will call this my "during" picture :)
I feel a little more in the groove of things this week. I have exercised a couple of times, though I admit it should have been more. I have eaten healthfully. All in all, an improvement. :)
One thing I seem to have forgotten in all my years of not wearing a dress... Wind and full dresses. Yikes! My apologies to everyone driving on Rt. 60 in front of Foodfair this evening :)
I bought the dress! And an even bigger accomplishment... I wore it!
If you've read my previous blogs, you understand what a big deal this is. I haven't worn a dress in several years. I hated how I looked in dresses.
Now, whether this means that I have lost enough weight and exercised enough to tone various places on my body, or if it just means that I have become comfortable enough with my body to not be incredibly self-conscious about what I look like, I am not sure. But I have to think that either of those is a good thing :)
I realized I haven't posted any pictures of this whole process on here yet, and in all honesty it was probably because of fear. But here we go. I'm posting a couple of "before" pictures here....These were both taken toward the end of 2010.
Now... If you can take the focus off of my messy kitchen or my 80s clothes, lol, you can get the picture. I will call these my "before" pictures. I'm not sure what to call my next picture. I can't really say "after," because at 27 1/2 pounds of weight loss, I am only halfway to my goal. So I guess we will call this my "during" picture :)
I feel a little more in the groove of things this week. I have exercised a couple of times, though I admit it should have been more. I have eaten healthfully. All in all, an improvement. :)
One thing I seem to have forgotten in all my years of not wearing a dress... Wind and full dresses. Yikes! My apologies to everyone driving on Rt. 60 in front of Foodfair this evening :)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
birthday cake icing, the wagon, and sadness
Last Monday (3/28), I weighed in and it was bad, but not as bad as I expected. I gained 2 pounds. I had not been eating or exercising like I should have been. Or taking my thyroid medicine. So, really I'm glad it was just 2 pounds.
The rest of the week didn't get a whole lot better as far as my commitment. It was a crazy-busy week. I worked a couple of evenings last week, and then there was Noah's birthday party planning and cake-baking. The icing... Oh, the icing. I sampled way more than I should have, as of course it is much easier to lick it off my fingers than to wash my hands, right? And I had a piece of cake and ice cream at the party. Yum :)
In the midst of all the busyness, I neglected my exercising the entire week. I was super scared that it was going to be the end. It seems the longer you put something off, the easier it is to put it off a little longer, until it seems impossible to get back to it. I was afraid I was off the wagon. Or is it on the wagon? Not sure, but I was afraid it was bad.
When I chose to do this blog, I knew there would be bad weeks. I committed to writing about the good stuff and the bad crumminess. I had full intentions. Then, in the midst of all the busyness and stress of last week, I didn't write. I can't help but feel that if it were going to be an exciting, braggy blog for the week, I would have felt more inspired. Slightly disappointed in myself about that...
But this week is a 2-for-1. Or maybe a 3-for-1, as there are some other things on my mind tonight in addition to my health, but we'll see how it goes.
I made a couple of goals for myself on the last blog - choosing new goal pants, setting a new goal and reward for myself, get my prescription filled and take my medicine regularly, and drink lots of water.
Here's how that went -
I did get my medicine filled and am back to taking it regularly. Yay! I have not chosen my new goal pants yet. I considered choosing a goal dress (I'm still super excited about the idea of being comfortable enough with myself to wear a cute dress this summer), but decided it was too subjective. It wouldn't be so much that I fit into the dress, but whether I thought it would look good enough, and I'm not that nice to myself. I don't know how long that could've taken... So I still need to choose the pants. Will do it by next week.
In addition, I will set a new goal and reward for myself. I failed to do that also. I want it to be something far enough away that I will have to work on it, but not so far that I can't see it happening. And the water... the water. I am not drinking water at all. :( I hope to do better with that this week too. Wish me luck on that one. Cherry Coke Zero just tastes so much better!!!
Sunday night, I did get back into the swing of things in my exercising. Yay! It amazes me how God sends the right people with the right words to encourage me. I had several people over the weekend tell me how great it was that I had lost weight, (okay, they said it much nicer than it came out typed....haha), and that it was awesome that I was able to run a 5K. After hearing all the nice things, I couldn't let myself down and skip for even one more day. So I climbed on that treadmill, Ipod in place, and listened to a good podcast along with a few songs at the end. My goal for running was 41 minutes and 2 seconds, to match my 5K time. I did it!! Yay!
This brings me to this week's weigh-in. Monday morning (4/4/11) I weighed in losing the 2 pounds gained the previosu week, and losing an additional 2 pounds! A total of 4 pounds that week. This brings me to a grand total of .... Wait for it... Wait for it... 25 pounds!! yay!
I also ran again today, which felt great. I ran outside. The weather was beautiful, perfect actually. Blue skies, sun shining, birds chirping, breeze blowing :) Thanks God :) I ran a little over the 3.1 miles of a 5K and did it a little faster than I have in previous weeks. Success :)
I couldn't be happier about that. But tonight I am also sad. About something completely unrelated to my health, failures, or successes.
I got a call on the way to church from my friend Lori from work. She told me about a wreck that happened this afternoon, killing a high school senior. The reason she wanted to tell me was that it was a student I had interviewed earlier this year for a story.
At the time, I was interviewing some of the best students of the county, one from each school district. So I think I covered somewhere between 8 and 10 students in a short amount of time. When she first mentioned his name, I couldn't place him right off. But then I remembered him.
He was in the middle of gym class when I had stopped by the school to talk to him. I didn't spend a whole lot of time with him. Maybe 10 minutes. He was a great kid. Polite, smart, athletic. Perfect grades. I also remember him telling me how influential his church and his youth pastor was in his life. I came home and re-read the story I had written earlier this year. I saw that he had plans on going on a missions trip to Ecuador this summer. My heart is breaking for his family.
Of course my thoughts went to Noah, and the horror I would be feeling if it were him. I can't imagine what that student's parents must be going through.
After I got to church, I couldn't help but look around the room in our youth group at each of those kids and feel so much. I love those kids like they're my own. The idea that someday, it could be us getting a call that something has happened to one of them kept filling my mind. My heart was so heavy as I was thinking about each of them.
I worry because not all of them say they have a relationship with God. I want them to know Him the way He wants to know them. I've always wanted that for them, but now it just seems so much more urgent. Please pray for me, in lots of areas, but that I will do my best to encourage these kids and show God's love to them.
And pray that I can stay away from the Girl Scout cookies in my pantry...
Thanks for reading,
Jen
***Update - Ok, so I'm glad I didn't list the student's name, because he wasn't the one who died in the car accident. Lori texted me this morning to say that our source for that bit of information wasn't all that reliable and it was incorrect. It might have been his father who passed away, but I'm not positive about that either.
But either way, as sad as I was during the time I thought it was the student, it made me really think about a lot of things and put some things in perspective, and for that I am thankful.
The rest of the week didn't get a whole lot better as far as my commitment. It was a crazy-busy week. I worked a couple of evenings last week, and then there was Noah's birthday party planning and cake-baking. The icing... Oh, the icing. I sampled way more than I should have, as of course it is much easier to lick it off my fingers than to wash my hands, right? And I had a piece of cake and ice cream at the party. Yum :)
In the midst of all the busyness, I neglected my exercising the entire week. I was super scared that it was going to be the end. It seems the longer you put something off, the easier it is to put it off a little longer, until it seems impossible to get back to it. I was afraid I was off the wagon. Or is it on the wagon? Not sure, but I was afraid it was bad.
When I chose to do this blog, I knew there would be bad weeks. I committed to writing about the good stuff and the bad crumminess. I had full intentions. Then, in the midst of all the busyness and stress of last week, I didn't write. I can't help but feel that if it were going to be an exciting, braggy blog for the week, I would have felt more inspired. Slightly disappointed in myself about that...
But this week is a 2-for-1. Or maybe a 3-for-1, as there are some other things on my mind tonight in addition to my health, but we'll see how it goes.
I made a couple of goals for myself on the last blog - choosing new goal pants, setting a new goal and reward for myself, get my prescription filled and take my medicine regularly, and drink lots of water.
Here's how that went -
I did get my medicine filled and am back to taking it regularly. Yay! I have not chosen my new goal pants yet. I considered choosing a goal dress (I'm still super excited about the idea of being comfortable enough with myself to wear a cute dress this summer), but decided it was too subjective. It wouldn't be so much that I fit into the dress, but whether I thought it would look good enough, and I'm not that nice to myself. I don't know how long that could've taken... So I still need to choose the pants. Will do it by next week.
In addition, I will set a new goal and reward for myself. I failed to do that also. I want it to be something far enough away that I will have to work on it, but not so far that I can't see it happening. And the water... the water. I am not drinking water at all. :( I hope to do better with that this week too. Wish me luck on that one. Cherry Coke Zero just tastes so much better!!!
Sunday night, I did get back into the swing of things in my exercising. Yay! It amazes me how God sends the right people with the right words to encourage me. I had several people over the weekend tell me how great it was that I had lost weight, (okay, they said it much nicer than it came out typed....haha), and that it was awesome that I was able to run a 5K. After hearing all the nice things, I couldn't let myself down and skip for even one more day. So I climbed on that treadmill, Ipod in place, and listened to a good podcast along with a few songs at the end. My goal for running was 41 minutes and 2 seconds, to match my 5K time. I did it!! Yay!
This brings me to this week's weigh-in. Monday morning (4/4/11) I weighed in losing the 2 pounds gained the previosu week, and losing an additional 2 pounds! A total of 4 pounds that week. This brings me to a grand total of .... Wait for it... Wait for it... 25 pounds!! yay!
I also ran again today, which felt great. I ran outside. The weather was beautiful, perfect actually. Blue skies, sun shining, birds chirping, breeze blowing :) Thanks God :) I ran a little over the 3.1 miles of a 5K and did it a little faster than I have in previous weeks. Success :)
I couldn't be happier about that. But tonight I am also sad. About something completely unrelated to my health, failures, or successes.
I got a call on the way to church from my friend Lori from work. She told me about a wreck that happened this afternoon, killing a high school senior. The reason she wanted to tell me was that it was a student I had interviewed earlier this year for a story.
At the time, I was interviewing some of the best students of the county, one from each school district. So I think I covered somewhere between 8 and 10 students in a short amount of time. When she first mentioned his name, I couldn't place him right off. But then I remembered him.
He was in the middle of gym class when I had stopped by the school to talk to him. I didn't spend a whole lot of time with him. Maybe 10 minutes. He was a great kid. Polite, smart, athletic. Perfect grades. I also remember him telling me how influential his church and his youth pastor was in his life. I came home and re-read the story I had written earlier this year. I saw that he had plans on going on a missions trip to Ecuador this summer. My heart is breaking for his family.
Of course my thoughts went to Noah, and the horror I would be feeling if it were him. I can't imagine what that student's parents must be going through.
After I got to church, I couldn't help but look around the room in our youth group at each of those kids and feel so much. I love those kids like they're my own. The idea that someday, it could be us getting a call that something has happened to one of them kept filling my mind. My heart was so heavy as I was thinking about each of them.
I worry because not all of them say they have a relationship with God. I want them to know Him the way He wants to know them. I've always wanted that for them, but now it just seems so much more urgent. Please pray for me, in lots of areas, but that I will do my best to encourage these kids and show God's love to them.
And pray that I can stay away from the Girl Scout cookies in my pantry...
Thanks for reading,
Jen
***Update - Ok, so I'm glad I didn't list the student's name, because he wasn't the one who died in the car accident. Lori texted me this morning to say that our source for that bit of information wasn't all that reliable and it was incorrect. It might have been his father who passed away, but I'm not positive about that either.
But either way, as sad as I was during the time I thought it was the student, it made me really think about a lot of things and put some things in perspective, and for that I am thankful.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
bad, bad and bad...
This is gonna be a super depressing blog, so consider yourselves warned... :) I have had quite a few positive ones lately, so I guess it was due.
First off, no weight loss. I was pleased that when I weighed in Monday this week (3/21) that I didn't gain anything, but bummed that there was no loss.
Secondly, I also finished my thyroid medication and forgot to get the prescription filled :( Bummer. So I missed about 3 days so far this week. I need to get it filled this week for sure. This is the point when I usually stop taking it. i forget to get it refilled, then months later, I have to go back to the doctor and ask for a new prescription because I am suddenly wanting to be healthier. Yikes. I need to get it filled...
Thirdly, Bad eating! I went to a winery on Thursday for a magazine assignment and I ate snacks (too many to actually tell people) on the way up, then a big dinner, complete with a lemon-berry torte for dessert, at the winery restaurant. :( It was delicious, but so bad for me!
My family and I went skiing this weekend, and I told myself I wasn't going to worry too much about what I ate on the trip. I didn't want to stress about it. I would make the best choices at wherever we were. I definitely didn't stress about it, though I kinda wish I would have. I ate some yummy stuff.
On Friday night, we went through the Chick-Fil-A drive through and I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich combo, kinda healthy other than the waffle fries, and when we drove off, it turns out I got a breaded chicken sandwich...with cheese! I couldn't dare take it back, you know, we were in a hurry to get started on the trip, etc...so I toughed it out and ate it... :) On Saturday, I ate at Pizza Hut for lunch, and it was quite cheesy and delicious. Then for dinner, Uno's and I had fettuccine Alfredo, my favorite. In fairness to myself, I have to say I tried to find something healthy on the menu. I asked our waitress if the codes on the menu (highlighted green and highlighted brown) had anything to do with the nutrition. She proceeded to explain something about pizza and toppings, and I realized she didn't know. So instead of suffering through something not-so-yummy when I'm not even positive it's healthy, I decided to eat something I knew I would love. Bad choice, but it was yummy!
I feel very certain I will be up several pounds when I weigh in in the morning. :(
My friend Terri texted me this week to say she was off work early the next day and would like to run with me if I went. I was super excited to see her and to exercise so it was going to go great, right? We met at Barboursville Park and we started off running. Within a few minutes, I was struggling. I did about a lap and a half and had to walk. :(
I don't know what happened. I came up with plenty of excuses though. I decided it could've been because it was hot. The sun was bright and it was early afternoon. Or... because it was gravel when I am used to a treadmill or pavement. Gravel gives with your feet so you have to work harder to lift your legs and to keep stable and balanced. Or... I started off too fast and exhausted myself too quickly. Pick one, any one. I just couldn't do it. Bummer.
I did try to redeem myself at the end, and we ran a final lap.
Our hotel had an exercise room, so i decided to try it out last night. I ran for 35 minutes on the treadmill and did 20 minutes on the eliptical. It felt great! I needed the exercise after all the crummy eating. I hope it is going to reset my thinking this week.
I'm going to try not to get too upset if I am way over tomorrow when I weigh in. This is going to be a new week with a new attitude.
Some goals this week - First is to set a new goal. My cupcake goal worked well, so I am going to pick a new goal weight for this phase of the weight-loss and then pick a reward for when that is reached.
Secondly - I need to hang up a new pair of goal pants. Since I can wear the ones previously hanging (yay!) I need to replace them for inspiration and motivation.
Thirdly, I need to drink more water. I have been doing terribly with this. Water is important and I drink none.
Lastly, I need to get the prescription filled and take the thyroid medication this week.
I kind of dreaded writing this one, displaying all my bad behaviors this week, but I needed to get it all out there. Thanks for reading and wish me luck for a better week!
Thanks for reading!!
Jen
First off, no weight loss. I was pleased that when I weighed in Monday this week (3/21) that I didn't gain anything, but bummed that there was no loss.
Secondly, I also finished my thyroid medication and forgot to get the prescription filled :( Bummer. So I missed about 3 days so far this week. I need to get it filled this week for sure. This is the point when I usually stop taking it. i forget to get it refilled, then months later, I have to go back to the doctor and ask for a new prescription because I am suddenly wanting to be healthier. Yikes. I need to get it filled...
Thirdly, Bad eating! I went to a winery on Thursday for a magazine assignment and I ate snacks (too many to actually tell people) on the way up, then a big dinner, complete with a lemon-berry torte for dessert, at the winery restaurant. :( It was delicious, but so bad for me!
My family and I went skiing this weekend, and I told myself I wasn't going to worry too much about what I ate on the trip. I didn't want to stress about it. I would make the best choices at wherever we were. I definitely didn't stress about it, though I kinda wish I would have. I ate some yummy stuff.
On Friday night, we went through the Chick-Fil-A drive through and I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich combo, kinda healthy other than the waffle fries, and when we drove off, it turns out I got a breaded chicken sandwich...with cheese! I couldn't dare take it back, you know, we were in a hurry to get started on the trip, etc...so I toughed it out and ate it... :) On Saturday, I ate at Pizza Hut for lunch, and it was quite cheesy and delicious. Then for dinner, Uno's and I had fettuccine Alfredo, my favorite. In fairness to myself, I have to say I tried to find something healthy on the menu. I asked our waitress if the codes on the menu (highlighted green and highlighted brown) had anything to do with the nutrition. She proceeded to explain something about pizza and toppings, and I realized she didn't know. So instead of suffering through something not-so-yummy when I'm not even positive it's healthy, I decided to eat something I knew I would love. Bad choice, but it was yummy!
I feel very certain I will be up several pounds when I weigh in in the morning. :(
My friend Terri texted me this week to say she was off work early the next day and would like to run with me if I went. I was super excited to see her and to exercise so it was going to go great, right? We met at Barboursville Park and we started off running. Within a few minutes, I was struggling. I did about a lap and a half and had to walk. :(
I don't know what happened. I came up with plenty of excuses though. I decided it could've been because it was hot. The sun was bright and it was early afternoon. Or... because it was gravel when I am used to a treadmill or pavement. Gravel gives with your feet so you have to work harder to lift your legs and to keep stable and balanced. Or... I started off too fast and exhausted myself too quickly. Pick one, any one. I just couldn't do it. Bummer.
I did try to redeem myself at the end, and we ran a final lap.
Our hotel had an exercise room, so i decided to try it out last night. I ran for 35 minutes on the treadmill and did 20 minutes on the eliptical. It felt great! I needed the exercise after all the crummy eating. I hope it is going to reset my thinking this week.
I'm going to try not to get too upset if I am way over tomorrow when I weigh in. This is going to be a new week with a new attitude.
Some goals this week - First is to set a new goal. My cupcake goal worked well, so I am going to pick a new goal weight for this phase of the weight-loss and then pick a reward for when that is reached.
Secondly - I need to hang up a new pair of goal pants. Since I can wear the ones previously hanging (yay!) I need to replace them for inspiration and motivation.
Thirdly, I need to drink more water. I have been doing terribly with this. Water is important and I drink none.
Lastly, I need to get the prescription filled and take the thyroid medication this week.
I kind of dreaded writing this one, displaying all my bad behaviors this week, but I needed to get it all out there. Thanks for reading and wish me luck for a better week!
Thanks for reading!!
Jen
Friday, March 18, 2011
Goal jeans, 41:02, and a cheerleader
This has been a seriously great week, as far as my goals are concerned... I'm not gonna lie :)
First off, I will report an exciting 4 1/2 pound weight loss this week when I weighed in on Monday. Yay! That brings me up to a 23-pound loss so far! Still have plenty to go, but that was some major progress for me.
Due to this big week, I decided to try on my "phase-1" goal jeans. These jeans had been hanging on my treadmill for months and months, and then when I finally started using the treadmill, I moved them to the closet door. I wanted to be able to see them and inspire myself to keep working at this. I wanted to be back in those jeans! Ideally, I have a couple of sizes more to go down after those jeans, but this is serious progress.
So, I tried them on today, and..... they worked great! I wore them to church Wednesday!! :)
More big news...I completed my first 5K!!! I was pretty nervous about it, because I hadn't ran that much at once before. I ran 2.7 miles Thursday, but I needed 3.1 to complete the 5K. I was very nervous. I am so glad my friends, Lori and Michelle, did this with me. I doubt I would have done it alone. And a big thanks to my family for their support :)
When the shot was fired, I started jogging, and was passed by a lot of people. But I kept reminding myself, the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise and the hare...
The first mile or so I did pretty well, but for a large part of the time I was jogging alone, which leaves a lot of time for thinking. It's amazing how the things on your mind can affect the way you run. A couple of times I really thought I would just sit down in the grass on the side of the road. But I had to change my thinking. And I prayed a lot. God heard a lot from me the last mile and a half :)
When I was nearing the end, probably the last 1/2 mile, I was running along the street with a lot of space between me and the other runners, and I heard this adorable little girl yelling out from her front door, "Go, girl, go!!" It was just what I needed. My personal little cheerleader on the side of the road. I yelled "Thank you!" and kept going.
That little girl reminded me how important it is to have cheerleaders in our lives. Having someone encourage you and not let you give up when you feel like you can't keep going makes all the difference. I want to be more like that little girl.
I finished the race in 41 minutes and 2 seconds. I finished 121 out of 202. I realize this isn't awesome, or even good really, but it made my day! I wasn't last!
I have to say I really loved having a number! Pinning that 178 on my shirt made it seem a lot more real :)
I can't wait to do it again!!
Thanks for reading!! I'll write again soon :)
Jen
First off, I will report an exciting 4 1/2 pound weight loss this week when I weighed in on Monday. Yay! That brings me up to a 23-pound loss so far! Still have plenty to go, but that was some major progress for me.
Due to this big week, I decided to try on my "phase-1" goal jeans. These jeans had been hanging on my treadmill for months and months, and then when I finally started using the treadmill, I moved them to the closet door. I wanted to be able to see them and inspire myself to keep working at this. I wanted to be back in those jeans! Ideally, I have a couple of sizes more to go down after those jeans, but this is serious progress.
So, I tried them on today, and..... they worked great! I wore them to church Wednesday!! :)
More big news...I completed my first 5K!!! I was pretty nervous about it, because I hadn't ran that much at once before. I ran 2.7 miles Thursday, but I needed 3.1 to complete the 5K. I was very nervous. I am so glad my friends, Lori and Michelle, did this with me. I doubt I would have done it alone. And a big thanks to my family for their support :)
When the shot was fired, I started jogging, and was passed by a lot of people. But I kept reminding myself, the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise and the hare...
The first mile or so I did pretty well, but for a large part of the time I was jogging alone, which leaves a lot of time for thinking. It's amazing how the things on your mind can affect the way you run. A couple of times I really thought I would just sit down in the grass on the side of the road. But I had to change my thinking. And I prayed a lot. God heard a lot from me the last mile and a half :)
When I was nearing the end, probably the last 1/2 mile, I was running along the street with a lot of space between me and the other runners, and I heard this adorable little girl yelling out from her front door, "Go, girl, go!!" It was just what I needed. My personal little cheerleader on the side of the road. I yelled "Thank you!" and kept going.
That little girl reminded me how important it is to have cheerleaders in our lives. Having someone encourage you and not let you give up when you feel like you can't keep going makes all the difference. I want to be more like that little girl.
I finished the race in 41 minutes and 2 seconds. I finished 121 out of 202. I realize this isn't awesome, or even good really, but it made my day! I wasn't last!
I have to say I really loved having a number! Pinning that 178 on my shirt made it seem a lot more real :)
I can't wait to do it again!!
Thanks for reading!! I'll write again soon :)
Jen
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Paula Vega, legs, and Saturday
Three inches of white frosting swirled on top of a golden yellow cupcake, topped with a plump, fresh, enormous blackberry. One bite into the cupcake, and you get the surprise of blackberry filling that is more scrumptious than words can describe. I can only imagine that if we eat in heaven, this is what will be served :)
I lost my 1/2 pound I needed this week to get my cupcake!! That was all I lost, but it was enough. I headed to the Paula Vega Cupcake stand inside of the third & NINTH deli in Huntington this afternoon, right after lunch. Amazing! It was so yummy. Paula even told me that she has a customer who has lost 30 pounds by cupcakes (well, sort of). If that customer eats right and exercises all week, she rewards herself with one cupcake each week :) I like that idea, but I think one a week is too much for me. I'd better pace myself :) I haven't decided what my next reward will be... Still tossing some ideas around :)
Oh, and an amazing thing happened. I was sitting in church Sunday, and without thinking, I crossed my legs. Comfortably :) Yay!!
I didn't make up my exercise time last week. So I only ran one day. I was kinda disappointed in myself about that. But I was back at it last night. My cousin texted me to see if I would like some company while I ran, and she came over last night to run with me. I'm so glad she did. I would have found an excuse last night to keep myself from running if she hadn't, I'm sure of it. We ran outside, and I drove afterward to measure the distance. It looks like I ran 2.7 miles! Yay! I didn't time it though, but I don't think it was completely terrible. And I am not miserably sore today. I'm starting to like this!
The real test is Saturday. My first 5k. Lori and Michelle, two great friends from work, have promised to run with me and I am very excited about this. I am hopeful that I will be able to run the whole thing, but if I can't, I'm not going to be bummed about it. I also don't want to be the very last person to cross the finish line. But if I am, that is okay too. I am just excited that I am feeling brave enough to do it.
Thanks so, so, so much for reading! I think that is another important part of this whole thing that has kept me going. If no one was reading this, it would be easy to not care if I had to put disappointing updates. But I want to do a good job so I can post good reports. Thanks so much for inspiring me to keep going :)
Jen
I lost my 1/2 pound I needed this week to get my cupcake!! That was all I lost, but it was enough. I headed to the Paula Vega Cupcake stand inside of the third & NINTH deli in Huntington this afternoon, right after lunch. Amazing! It was so yummy. Paula even told me that she has a customer who has lost 30 pounds by cupcakes (well, sort of). If that customer eats right and exercises all week, she rewards herself with one cupcake each week :) I like that idea, but I think one a week is too much for me. I'd better pace myself :) I haven't decided what my next reward will be... Still tossing some ideas around :)
Oh, and an amazing thing happened. I was sitting in church Sunday, and without thinking, I crossed my legs. Comfortably :) Yay!!
I didn't make up my exercise time last week. So I only ran one day. I was kinda disappointed in myself about that. But I was back at it last night. My cousin texted me to see if I would like some company while I ran, and she came over last night to run with me. I'm so glad she did. I would have found an excuse last night to keep myself from running if she hadn't, I'm sure of it. We ran outside, and I drove afterward to measure the distance. It looks like I ran 2.7 miles! Yay! I didn't time it though, but I don't think it was completely terrible. And I am not miserably sore today. I'm starting to like this!
The real test is Saturday. My first 5k. Lori and Michelle, two great friends from work, have promised to run with me and I am very excited about this. I am hopeful that I will be able to run the whole thing, but if I can't, I'm not going to be bummed about it. I also don't want to be the very last person to cross the finish line. But if I am, that is okay too. I am just excited that I am feeling brave enough to do it.
Thanks so, so, so much for reading! I think that is another important part of this whole thing that has kept me going. If no one was reading this, it would be easy to not care if I had to put disappointing updates. But I want to do a good job so I can post good reports. Thanks so much for inspiring me to keep going :)
Jen
Friday, March 4, 2011
Miracle, a couple of pounds, and advice...
So, Monday was a good day. I weighed in and lost 2 1/2 pounds!! Yay :) Grand total so far... ready? 18 pounds! And the best part is that it hasn't been completely horrible. Or completely hard. God must be giving me some kind of miracle self-control, because I typically don't have that. I am so close to the cupcake I can almost taste it!! :) 1/2 pound to go (if I'm counting the extra pound to compensate for the cupcake damage).
I haven't done so great this week on exercising, until tonight. My usual schedule is Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays for running, and I was pretty busy Wednesday, so I skipped, with plans of doing it Thursday. Didn't happen. I was feeling all blah and just didn't have it in me. So today I felt like it was a must. If I can do it Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I'll have all three days in this week.
So, today was beautiful. Sunshine, 60 degrees. I decided I had to try it again. Running outside. After the last outside run, I mean disaster, I was apprehensive about trying it again. But I received some very helpful tips from some great friends. Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice and ideas. I tried it. This afternoon, I told Noah I was going to run, and he decided to go with me. He made it for 17 minutes, which I think was fabulous. That was just enough time to make it back to our house. I kept going. I ran for the full 30 minutes of Day 1 of Week 9 of the Couch to 5K program!! I still can't believe it! After the pathetic attempt last time, only making it 3 minutes, I never thought I could do it, but I did!!
After we rested a few minutes, I drove around the neighborhood to see our running mileage. I don't know that this is a really authentic way of checking, but it made me happy, so I'm counting it :) Noah ran for 1.2 miles in his 17 minutes, and in my 30, I ran 2.2 miles.
I know it had to look pretty slow to anyone who saw us. Noah even said we were running like old ladies. He said his grandmother could probably run faster than me, and he's probably right :) But I did it. I didn't stop. I didn't walk. I kept going :)
So Sunday is my last day of the Couch to 5K program schedule. Almost completed 9 weeks! I need to spend this week trying to decide the next step. I don't know if I should add more time or try to go faster during that time to increase my distance. Any advice?
Thanks so much for reading!
Jen
I haven't done so great this week on exercising, until tonight. My usual schedule is Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays for running, and I was pretty busy Wednesday, so I skipped, with plans of doing it Thursday. Didn't happen. I was feeling all blah and just didn't have it in me. So today I felt like it was a must. If I can do it Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I'll have all three days in this week.
So, today was beautiful. Sunshine, 60 degrees. I decided I had to try it again. Running outside. After the last outside run, I mean disaster, I was apprehensive about trying it again. But I received some very helpful tips from some great friends. Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice and ideas. I tried it. This afternoon, I told Noah I was going to run, and he decided to go with me. He made it for 17 minutes, which I think was fabulous. That was just enough time to make it back to our house. I kept going. I ran for the full 30 minutes of Day 1 of Week 9 of the Couch to 5K program!! I still can't believe it! After the pathetic attempt last time, only making it 3 minutes, I never thought I could do it, but I did!!
After we rested a few minutes, I drove around the neighborhood to see our running mileage. I don't know that this is a really authentic way of checking, but it made me happy, so I'm counting it :) Noah ran for 1.2 miles in his 17 minutes, and in my 30, I ran 2.2 miles.
I know it had to look pretty slow to anyone who saw us. Noah even said we were running like old ladies. He said his grandmother could probably run faster than me, and he's probably right :) But I did it. I didn't stop. I didn't walk. I kept going :)
So Sunday is my last day of the Couch to 5K program schedule. Almost completed 9 weeks! I need to spend this week trying to decide the next step. I don't know if I should add more time or try to go faster during that time to increase my distance. Any advice?
Thanks so much for reading!
Jen
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