Falling off the Wagon Hurts!!

I'm back and soooo very sore!!  I fell off the wagon for SEVERAL MONTHS...more than I care to share...but I am getting back on.  I have the type of persoanlity that I am all or nothing.  So when I fall off the diet/exercise wagon...I fall hard!!  I am doing a 60 mile walk in September and the training has begun.  I walked with two friends on Sunday morning....10 miles.  It was much nicer to walk and train with friends.  We talked and laughed...and also did a little huffing and puffing along the way.  After the walk I was fine then the afternoon came.  Geez was I sooo sore!!  I declared that my legs hated me!! I slept with a heating pad under them that night and everything.  Lesson learned--STRETCH BEFORE AND AFTER A WALK!!  This walk jump started my workout craziness!!  I am a member of a great gym in Southaven.  I recently joined the team training classes.  Lets just say the first class KICKED MY BUTT!! I told my husband last night that as sore as my legs have been the past few days I better have some good looking legs come September!! :)  I am excited to get myseld back into the swing of things.  I have felt kinda down lately, very tired, and moody.  Yesterday I felt myself relax and release some stress while I was sweating my butt off!! It was nice to have my get away at the gym and it felt good to know that I was doing something good for myself.  I am trying a new team training class tonight...lets hope that I will still be able to walk tomorrow!! :)

Sack of Taters

I am writing this blog today with a HUGE SMILE ON MY FACE!!!!  I have really buckled down this week.  I worked out 5 of the 7 days...which is a big deal.  A couple of nights I didn't get home until after 9:30 p.m. and when you leave your house at 7:30 a.m. that is a big deal.  I had my weekly weigh in tonight.  After last week and my REALITY CHECK I was excited to weigh.  I knew that I had done everything that I was supposed to do this week to have positive results tonight. I am happy to report that I lost......6 POUNDS THIS WEEK!!!!  I am not allowing myself to think about how much weight that I have to lose...instead I am enjoying my accomplishment.  Have you ever carried around a sack of potatoes??? It gets heavy...well I just lost a sack of potatoes plus one pound!! :) 

I have REALLY buckled down this week.  Our runs are to the point of NO WALKS.  I never thought I would be able to run for 25 minutes straight...but I did last night.  I am excited and nervous about our 5k.  It is in 3 weeks.  My goal now is to try to work on my speed.  I am not concerned with finishing the race...I am however concerned with being the last one to cross the finish line.  I am excited about my next week on my weight loss journey.  Hopefully next week I will have an awesome weight loss again.  It does pay to track what you put in your body.  Look out JHud...I am going to knock your weight loss out of the park!! :)

Show Off!!!

Ok so I have been SUPER PROUD of myself this week!  I have written EVERYTHING DOWN that I have eaten.  I now understand that quantity does matter!! :)  I am actually looking forward to my weigh in on Thursday.  I am excited to see how much weight I have lost this week.  I have set small personal goals for myself...and of course I have the BIG GOAL but I just keep that in the back of my mind.  I try not to think about all the weight that I want to lose so I am able to enjoy the small steps that I am taking. 

Gym, Gym, Gym...he has become my new best friend!!  I brought my workout clothes to school last night so I could head straight to see Gym.  I was so proud of myself!! Look at me working out after work and then school all night.  Go me, Go me!!  I get to the gym and only one treadmill is open.  So I jump on next to Forrest Gump.  He just kept running and running...and running.  He was going soooo fast too!!  I am very jealous!!  This seemed to make my "Yay Me"  that I was yelling in my head go to a whisper.  I was like um yeah look at me, little snail running away next to this cheetah!! I tried to use his speed as encouragement.  Maybe one day I will be able to jump on the treadmill and run 3 miles with my eyes closed.  I should be able to do this seeing as I am now a RUNNER!! :) While Forrest was on my left...GI Joe was on my right.  This made for a very amusing run.  GI Joe ran for a second...then made his treadmill go on an incline and then...he turned around.  He was running backwards on the treadmill.  All I could think was if he falls off I am NOT going to be able to hold in the laughter.  Just when I get my composure he jumps off the machine and starts doing spastic push ups.  OOOH what I would have done to have a video camera with me.  I give it to you GI Joe you are very ambitious!! Go to town James Brown is all I have to say....that and thanks for the laugh!! :) 

I love to people watch...if you haven't already been able to tell.  I hope I give others as much joy and entertainment as they give me.  I love to think about blogging while I am running.  It helps take my mind off what I am actually doing.  Wish me luck on the rest of my week...I will report back on Thursday after my weigh in....FINGERS CROSSED!!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Right?

I have always heard that saying..."slow and steady wins the race"...but it is really hard to change my mindset to that!  I have mentioned before that I run with a group of friends.  They are ALL in way better shape than me. Recently when we all ran I pushed pushed puuuushed myself to keep up.  It was so hard and I had to stop...which was really frustrating.  My next run I went back to my trusty treadmill.  I like the treadmill because it keeps me at a particular pace the whole time and doesn't let me slow down.  I didn't have to stop one time.  I realized that my goal with the 5k was to finish it and not have to walk....not to win the race.  The next run I did with my friends I kept this in mind.  I didn't let the fact that I was waaay behind bother me.  They were great as usual and very supportive and encouraging.  I ran way slower but I was able to run the whole time and not stop.  Yay, goal achieved!

In this personal challenge of mine I have obviously decided that I need to shed the pounds I have gained over the past few years.  I always seem to fall into a relationship and get happy and HEALTHY OUT OF SHAPE.  I have decided that I want to feel as attractive as I did when I was out on the dating scene.  The fun me when I met my husband.  I am sure he misses that me too!! It is hard to stay all peppy and fun when you are struggling with who you have let yourself become.  I have not changed as a person...I am still silly and fun.  I just don't fell as confident as I used to...and that bothers me.  I want to walk into a room and feel confident. I love the way I feel when I am working out and eating healthy (oooh boy).  I can have a good workout and it affects my mood dramatically!!  I may be tired afterwards but I have a smile on my face.  I am hopeful in the changes to come my way as long as I stay on track.  bikini season...well maybe next year...but this year I want to be confident in my non bikini!! :)

The DREADED DIET!!!  I have always struggled with staying on a plan for an extended period of time.  If there is a diet out there I have been on it! I have taken appetite suppressants, etc, but I want something to work for the long run.  Here is my current challenge.  I didn't get this way overnight so I am not going to get back to my old body overnight.  I have recently started the Weight Watchers diet.  This for me is the way to go.  I can still eat normal food...I JUST HAVE TO COUNT THE POINTS.  That is the hard thing to do.  I have to come to terms with the fact that I am NOT the new SI Model who recently said she eats whatever she wants and doesn't workout....anyone else want to throw something at her?  I have to work to achieve my "dream body."  With the encouragement of my sweet mom who always says that "I can do it"  I am buckling down and writing EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth down!  WOW...it really helps.  It wasn't that I was eating bad food...it was the quanity.  I am really taking a look at what I am doing.  This is my first week to JHUD (Jennifer Hudson...she lost 80lbs on weight watchers) the program.  I am going to do it to a T.  I will post next week my results.  Wish me luck and lets hope I don't have a come apart at the weighn in if it isn't what I wanted to see. 
                                       

My Hips Don't Lie

OOOOOOOOHHHHHH MYYYYYYY LOOOOOORD!!! Last night I declared that "I am old!!"  I neglected my run time last week but got back on track last night.  I met the girls at the gym for our little run.  Did I say little?  Let me rephrase that to the LONGEST 30 MINUTES OF MY LIFE!!! Last nights run was full of 3 and 5 minute runs (two of each...which equals FOUR OF THEM!!)  5 minutes has never seemed so long to me in my life.  The last 5 minutes were the worst.  My sweet friends were so encouraging. they even slowed down to encourage me...yes they lapped me...but hey who cares!  When I had to stop for a second they stopped with me!!  I even got a pat on the back with encouraging words.  It is nice to know that I have friends who will slow down their progress to give me some support. 

My side was hurting so bad I felt like I was back in my softball days.  (which I greatly miss!!)  At least when I conditioned for softball I knew that I would be playing my favorite sport and killing the ball!! I loved that game!!  So the conditioning was ok, sucked but I did it.  Now I am not as encouraged by my training for the 5 K because the end result is not a sport in which I excel.  I am not a runner and lets just say that trying to become a runner is waaay harder than I ever thought!!  I am glad that I have decided to kill challenge myself with a goal I never thought possible.  FINISHING A 5K!!!

Last night I was thinking about runners.  There is a reason that they are so fit.  It is because running takes EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE!!!  I could have slept for hours this morning.  I am still groggy and my hip is sore!! Poor old hip!!  I have put it through alot!! ha!  Lets just say that I am NOT looking forward to running but I must press on.  Ugh stupid will power!!!

Stay Tuned to hear about my Day 2 of Death!! :)

Channeling Lindsay Lohan

Ok so I totally had a relapse Lindsay Lohan style this weekend....YES I HAD COKE!!!! No the illegal kind..but the NOT GOOD FOR YOUR DIET kind!!! (Coca-Cola)  I decided that I needed to get out of the house this weekend.  So I headed to a local bar and had a few drinks with friends.  I did find that I now like Michelob Ultra Lime that has only 95 calories.  YES...I had my bartender friend look at the various beers they had to tell me the lowest calorie count! :)  It pays to know people, right?  This started the downward spiral of my weekend.  I drank a couple of beers...but I danced those calories off.  At least that I what I am telling myself.  My night out was followed by my beloved Waffle House!! Why must something so good be sooo bad??  The next day was Super Bowl Sunday.  Yep, you guessed it I cheated again!!  I only managed to eat one a few cookies and snack on carrots dips and cheese balls.  DEAR LORD!!!  I totally fell off the wagon. (insert sad depressing music here!!)  I did sooo good with my workouts and such but fell off the wagon with my "I need my life back weekend"  I am back on the wagon today.  I just have that blah feeling..the feeling that has been gone for a couple of weeks due to my healthy eating and working out.  I have not missed this feeling.  I am sooo ready for it to go away!!  I will be back on the treadmill tomorrow night.  Look out  legs you are going to be sooo sore tomorrow.  Sometimes I really wish I was one of those girls who could eat ANYTHING and NEVER gain a pound!! NEVER go to the gym...although I enjoy the gym..and look fabulous.  I miss the days of Marilyn Monroe being the celebrity icon.  I mean she actually had curves!!! 

Can't we bring that back?  So now I must forget about all the delicious horrible food I ate this weekend and go back to the healthy food I was eating!!  Diet, I have not missed you...but I am back!!

Road Kill

So I am learning the "rules of the track"  They are VERY specific and not to be broken.  Some people are very particular about the rules.  My friends told me of a woman the other day that would yell "EXCUSE ME" loudly every time she ran by them on their warm up.  I thought it was funny until my NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE last night!! :)  I did my normal treadmill workout (I completed day 3 of week 2) then off to the track I went.  I like to do another run on the track...it just makes me feel like I am really a runner!! ha The difference in the track is that there are other people up there.  I have to worry about going around people or people going around me.  I like to shoot daggers from my eyes at those who are flash lightning on the track.  There was a guy up there last night who was just that....soooo fast.  I watched him in envy as he lapped me time after time again.  Grr slow down mister!!  Well the rules are walkers to the inside runners to the outside...I THINK!!! Who knows!!  I was slowing down from my run and then BAM...my brush with death!! Flash came running so fast beside me and so close I think he even grazed my shoulder.  IT SCARED THE BE-JESUS out of me!!  I thought I had had a collision...or even worse BROKEN THE RULES OF THE TRACK!! So for the next minute and a half (my walk time)  My heart was beating sooo fast!!  I mean really guy...you can't slow your speed down for five seconds to not give a newbie a heart attack???  I wish someone would have been with me...bc I jumped and might have even made a squeal. 

All this running is making me TIRED!!! I mean I was exhausted this morning.  I could have stayed in bed all day.  I thought exercising was supposed to give you energy.  I am totally drained today!! I am excited about my afternoon.  I get to see a couple of friends, followed by a business meeting, and then racquetball with my husband. 
I am not sure if I have ever played.  We attempted tennis once but got sooo sick of chasing the balls we gave up.  I was always a softball player so it has been challenging for me to learn to swing a racquet.  I think it will be fun...he will probably kick my butt...but at least we will have fun.  See I'm so tired I am even being a good sport! ha! 


(ps I had the funniest racquetball picture but I can't get it to upload!!! grrr)