Friday, April 30, 2010

>I almost fell off..

>
the scale this morning, not the weight loss wagon. 
180.2

When I last reported my weight here on the 20th, I was 187. 
That's a big ol' loss. And I am thrilled!

I am happy to be following my plan and not giving up. I don't feel restricted and deprived of my favorite foods. I am eating lots of fruits and veggies and drinking tons of water.
I am working out and running regularly.
I really am beginning to think that I can actually reach my "before summer vacation" goal!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

>Cades Cove Loop Lope 5k (my results..finally!!!)

>
I have sat down three different times to write this post and keep gettin distracted, so this will be short and sweet! We arrived bright and early at 6 am to the park. We parked, pottied and by 6:30 we had picked up our race day goodies. The tshirt was great and featured the logo above. The goody bag was awesome, too. It is a reusable little tote (big enough for carrying my lunch to work!) and contained goodies from Dolly Wood, Hard Rock Cafe and other local business as well as a yummy bag of trail mix. Sadly I couldn't eat the bag of trail mix because of the nuts and my  lovely braces, but my hubby and kids gobbled them both up!

I didn't take my camera while I ran but we got some before/after pics. The race itself was amazing and I ran my best first mile EVER! It was so easy (the first mile). I finished it in 9:34. Craziness! There was a hydration station set up just after the first mile. I am still kicking myself for slowing down and taking that little cup of PowerAde. I feel like that is where I slowed down and got a little discouraged.

I still have a new race PR, but had really hoped after such an awesome first mile to have finished a lot sooner than I did. My final race time was 36:35. Not too bad considering it was a new course for me (tough even, with rolling hills and change of race course). And since my first 5k two years ago I have shaved nearly 13 minutes off my 5k race time! This excites me. :)

Anyway, I was happy to have my hubby and great friend to share this experience with. This was a one time event and was well worth the $60 registration fee.

Hubby and me before the race. It was still slightly dark out. 


And us after the race. Each runner got one of these medallions. They are cedar and have the race logo carved on the front. Beautiful.

Also, I am so proud of my hubby. Even though he was disappointed in his time. (32:03) He still finished 3rd in his age group!! We were so excited when they announced his name. He got a cool black bear trophy! 

Overall it was a great race and fun day!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

>"It's Now or Never"

>That's what the online application stated for the Cades Cove Loop Lope. 
My hubby and I  (and a great friend) will be running a 5k loop in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains this Sunday. I am very excited about this race. You can read about it here. It is a special "one time only" event. I tried for several hours over the course of two days and finally got a team registered. I have no expectations as far as time goes since I have only ever driven the loop in my car or ridden on a hay ride! But as with any race finishing is the goal! Details of the race and hopefully some pictures will be posted on Monday! Stay tuned!
And....
GO TEAM EMERT!!! 
 (the best team name I could come up with since hubby scratched "Beauty and the Beast"..lol)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

>I found my mojo.

>I posted last week about switching my current "plan" of SparkPeople and just being cautious of my eating out for Weight Watchers (not meetings but flying solo). Well, it seems to be just what my body needed. I have gone from 192 to 187 in just a matter of about a week. I could not be happier.

Actually, I could be happier. Happier with the number on the scale, but since it is finally tipping in the direction I have longed for it to tip I am going to sit back and be patient. Or at least attempt to be patient! Patience is not one of my stronger characteristics.

I now have 9 weeks until summer vacation. If I could get my body to lose 2 lbs a week, I would be sitting at 169 lbs. That would be the lightest weight I will have been in the last 7 years. I could possibly turn a cartwheel (which still wouldn't be pretty) if that was the case! Yes, I DO realize that we all hit a plateau. Yes, I DO realize there may be a week I fluctuate up a little. But at the same time, I DO realize this goal is completely obtainable with a little lot of hard work and determination. And that I have quite a bit of right now.

I feel that before I was being sto strict during the week and not allowing myself any cheats except for on the weekends. During the weekends we kind of went overboard with what we ate and come Monday I was right back where I started the week before. Well, since starting this WW thing that has NOT been the case. I do not feel restricted at all. I am still making healthy choices though. 3-4 veggies a day, 3 fruits a day, plenty of protein and starches/carbs in limited quantaties. Not bad.

So, all in all I feel really good about my recent decision to start following WW.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

>What's new?

>I'm not the best daily blogger here, as I am sure you have figured out. I struggle with coming up with something "new" to post about this journey and often times fail. I hate to repeat myself day in and day out about how things are going in the weight loss/working out part of my life. It's rather boring really. I don't have deep thoughts about food or working out really. I want to make healthy choices for me and my family and that's that! :)

I did begin something "new-ish" for me last week though and I am very excited to see how it helps in the whole process for me. I started following WW (weight watchers). I am NOT going to meetings however because frankly I just don't have time to add one more thing away from home to my schedule. I bought the books and will be doing it myself. I will be using my blog and another online community I have been a part of for several years (as well as friends and family) as my support group and a way to hold myself accountable.

I have read through several chapters of "Run Less, Run Faster" now and began some of the running workouts this week. I got up early (5:30) Monday morning and actually got myself out of the bed, dressed and to the gym by 6! I have been saying for months that I was going to do it and finally I did. Even my hubby said he was proud! :) Tuesday I rested rather than doing a cross training workout but that had more to do with the fact that I was busy keeping the score book at a track meet than anything. Yesterday was another run day and I did intervals. It was not my best interval run day. I'm not even very proud of my distance or speed, but I am proud that I got the run in. Today is a crosstraining day. I *think* I will do a few miles on the elliptical and then hop on the bike a while.

I went to the dr for the second time in 3 years on Tuesday. I had put off going for my yearly exam for three years in hopes of losing the baby weight. I had been to the doctor once in '09 and was determined that before I went back I would have dropped the weight. Well, I was happy when my doctor came in and told me how great I looked and then she said, "You've really lost a lot of weight since you were here last! How are you doing it?" :) I was proud to say that I was watching what I eat and mostly running. I vented a little about how frustrating it is thought that the weight is coming off so slowly. She reminded me that slow weight loss is healthier than rapid weight loss because a lot of times the rapid weight loss is what tends to creep back on quickly. I suppose she might be right.
But really, I do not want to have to fight another year to lose another 40 lbs. A year is a long time. 40 lbs is a lot of weight. I am an impatient person! lol But I made it through one year and 40 lbs already SO I will fight until I get the rest off. even if it takes forever. 

I'm very excited about an upcoming race that my hubby and I (and a good friend) are running together. More on that in another post though!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

>Let's talk goals..

>It's the 6th day of April and as promised yesterday, I am here to discuss my goals for this month.
I had to consider a few factors that have come into play when thinking about my April goals, such as my husband's track schedule, my Girl Scout schedule, and work. That being said the 5k race I had hope to run this month will be put on hold. I had originally hoped to run at least 5 races just this year but with my husband's track schedule, some family things and some Girl Scout events I just won't be able to do that because I cannot find a way to make myself appear in two places at one time. *sigh*

I have not given up on my running and having a running goal this month. You see, I purchased a book some fellow runners had suggested. And I have already finished reading the first chapter (I got my book yesterday!). So, I plan to let this book be my guide to improving my running. I am liking what I have read so far and it makes a lot of sense.The next chapter is entitled "Realistic Goals." I am looking very forward to getting into that!

I had hoped to meet a certain scale goal in the month of March and as you may have read I missed it by a pound.  Was I disappointed? Of course, but I didn't let it get me down. It helped me realize that maybe I don't need to set a scale/number goal for the month of April. I have a number in mind that I would like to reach before the end of April but since we are already 6 days in and I only have 24 to go I am not positive I'd reach that number and going two months without reaching the number on the scale I had hoped for might get me down. So, if I had to say that I was making any number goal for April I would have to tell you that I'd be happy with a 5-7 pound loss. :)

Food wise, I know that there is always room for improvement with  me. One thing my husband and I did at the start of this month was to eliminate aspertame/artificial sweetener. We both were guilty of consuming too many diet drinks (and yogurt for me) containing aspertame. He was sent an email (that he then sent to me!) about an article regarding aspertame. I had *heard* how bad for you it is but just brushed it off. After reading the article we both decided to try and drop the habit and see if we noticed any changes. I will admit that we did end up buying some Diet Coke w/Splenda to get the caffiene fix we needed. I have yet to drink a whole can though! For me that is a huge victory. I have recently swapped my regular lite full of awful stuff yogurt for the strained greek variety. Let me tell you, this is a swap that is going to take some time getting use to for sure. I loved my other brand of yogurt so much. The greek strained stuff is a lot like sour cream and is a very different texture that what I would tend to chose. I have also started getting in more green/leafy veggies and more raw veggies. Little changes can lead to big changes, right!?

I've always kind of struggled with making goals. I feel silly making goals because so many times in the past I have not achieved the goals I set. Sure, I have worked hard at achieving them and getting anywhere close to succeeding is better than doing nothing at all, right!?
Ok,  so what exactly do I have planned for my April goals??

1. Read "Run Less, Run Faster" and follow the program for running
2. Food journal - wirte it all down!!
3. Weigh once per week (2 if I just can't help it, which I struggle with - lol)
4. Add more miles, but not just with running...biking and elliptical will be added as cross training.
5. Weights. I need to use them. I want to tone my arms and abs a bit before hitting the beach in June!

There ya have it! Goals. 24 days to get close to being successful!

Monday, April 5, 2010

>Mid morning fuel...

>
This is my mid morning snack. Fresh berries and half of a protein bar. I also drank 24 ounces of water. The only thing I hate about a snack like this is that it is so good that once it is gone I wish I had more! 
I am happy that today is a healthy food day.
I am also looking forward to my time at the gym tonight. I hate to admit that I have taken a break since my race on Saturday morning. It was a good break, but it's time to get back to what I was working on. Goals.

I have had a little time to reflect on my March goals. 
I did not meet them all. Actually, I hate to say I only met one of them. Maybe two, but not quite what I had hoped for. 

My March Goals were:
-to be below 190
-50 running miles for the month
-PR my 5k race tim
-try a new recipe
-more ab work at the gym/home
-EA Sports Wii workouts daily
-eliminate diet soda

How did I do?
-I hit 190 on Friday morning at weigh in.
-I didn't make my 50 running miles but came close to 50 miles total with running, biking and elliptical workouts.
-I DID PR my 5k race time (37:03)
-No new recipes.
-Only a slight change in my ab work. Meaning I might have added 2 days work! 
-I did not get in an EA Sports Wii workout everyday. 
-We cut out diet soda w/aspertame and finally found one made with Splenda. I allow myself 1 can (not even drinking the whole thing) IF I feel I want it. 

So, how do I feel about how I did?
Not bad. Not great but not awful. There is always room for improvement and my next post I will be reflecting on what I can do to improve this journey. I will also talk about my April goals.