11 In 2011....

Hi Guys and Dolls....

So, I hopped on the scale Monday and about cried. I saw 130.4. I vowed to never be in the 130's again after fighting for a solid 4 or 5 months to get outta them. Although, it was a wake up call that I needed very much. So, thank you scale :) Today, I weighed 129.8 which makes me feel a tad better, but still shows I have A LOT of work to do.

I feel much better today. Saturday's half just kicked my trash. I couldn't walk up and down stairs well at all until today. I ran around for a few minutes at work and I feel great. I need to get more training underway because I have a HUGE goal for 2011.........

11 Half Marathons in 11 months(1 per month)....AND

1 Full Marathon in Las Vegas in December!!

If I complete my goal of 11 half's in 11 months, I have spoken to Love and he says we can budget for a little Vegas getaway for me to run my full marathon! I have given a lot of thought to this goal and I think it is totally doable. I just need to stay focused, committed and enough dinero for new shoes/running gear! I have faith in myself to do this and faith that I can chronical this journey here! 

I am sooo excited for 2011!!!!!

Tell me your goal for 2011!

Another Half Marathon!!

2:25:39....I will be back to give you the full run down!

Still Running....In The Right Direction!

Hello, Hello! I hope to get my schedule nailed down and moving a little slower. However, for right now, I will blog when I can catch a few minutes on a computer!

I am still moving in the right direction. Eating well. For instance, today's eats:

Breakfast: Greek Yogurt, Banana, Blueberry, and Strawberry Shredded Wheat Cereal
Lunch: A large salad with a 1/2 cup of soup.
Snack: 1/2 Apple and Peanut Butter
Dinner: Salmon, Spinach w/ Tomatoes and string cheese.
Desert: 1/4ish cup of peppermint ice cream and a mini pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.

All in all, I am feeling great. I mentioned a few posts back that I am not weighing myself in October and I have stuck to it. The number on the scale doesn't define me!

The other day, Love and I were talking and I asked him, "Honey, does it look like I am gaining weight?" His response, "No, but you don't look as fit as you did before!" He didn't say it in a  hurtful way, he was being honest and that is exactly what I needed to kick my butt into gear. Since that conversation, I realized that I don't just want to eat right, I want to exercise right as well. I want my body to reflect fitness and athleticism.

Here is the plan that I have been following for 2 weeks now:

• Proper portions of "good for you" foods.
• No coffee or soda during the week. No soda period!
• Gym 5-6 days a week. I have been waking up at 4:45AM the past few days.
• Small desert portions....because I love sweets and if I resist, I will binge. So, small portions it is! :)
• Run the half marathon next weekend. Uh...I really haven't trained properly, but I am going to run/walk and just do my best :) 

What are the goals you are focusing on for your journey? Losing weight? Being Thin? Aquiring Fitness? 

First Steps to Planning....

Hi Guys!! How many of you still read my ish over here? :)

So, I got to some thinking today at the part time gig after I read Annie's comment on my post yesterday. Maybe HCG isn't the right thing for me right now. I haven't been putting my all into it, so no wonder why I am not close to my goal. So now, I can at least start to figure out where I want to go from here.

Options:

• I could start my half marathon training today(this was pre-written on Sunday so I am thinking of starting Monday) right where I was supposed to. I know I can run 4.5 miles, it is Saturday's 9 miles that would kick my butt.
• I could focus on getting my speed and mileage to a good place.
• I could just focus on losing the weight only and not focus too hard on my running, more on losing weight.
• Or I could do a combination of all of the above.

I am choosing the last one. I am going to try my best to get up to my speed and endurance for the half marathon. I have 6 weeks to do this so.....

Folks, it is time to see what I am made of!

Wish me luck!

Tomorrow...Weigh In.

Goals and Future Plans....

As far as the weight loss journey goes, I am still just maintaining. I weigh in tomorrow and don't know where exactly I am, but I still feel like I am 124-125. I have had very little exercise since the half marathon. I went from running and cross training 5-6 days a week to working  out maybe 1-3 times a week. I haven't felt driven to exercise and I lost my gym card. Excuses, excuses! I KNOW! However, I have maintained a lot of the clean eating I have been practicing and I don't just veg out all day like I did before my journey began. I have been constantly go go go since the half marathon. Now that things are slowing down, I have some goals and some future racing to look forward to and train for.

I have been thinking I want to do another half soon. So, I have decided on a local Utah canyon to canyon 1/2 marathon on July 10. It is in 8 weeks and I feel if I kick it up a notch I can PR this race. Although, there are plenty of rolling hills so I can't wait to get outside and train on some of the hills in my area. Practice makes perfect, right? ;) Oh, and did I mention the entry fee is $25. Unbelievable!

I will also be running a 10k with my bestie in October. It is a women's love your body 10k. I love my body now and it will be just 14 months into when my journey started, so why not?

Onto some of my personal goals:
Goal #1: Get this here blog designed all sorts of beautiful and BLOG more. I have been truly slacking, but I love writing so I need to get it into my routine again!
Goal #2: Get my booty to goal! I want to weigh 110. Mind you, I am 4'11'' tall. I carry all of my weight in my lower abs/lovehandles. So, I just need to work on that area a little more.
Goal #3: Use the yoga videos on my Netflix. There are tons and on my stretch & strengthen days, I am going to  start doing the yoga videos!
Goal #4: Exercise at least 5 days a week.
Goal #5: Get a Personal Record in my next half marathon. Shooting for under 2 hours and 15 minutes. Just over a minute faster.

Next I need to have a plan to follow through with these. I am still working on it, but will go into more detail on that another day :)

I hope you are all having a great week so far! Happy Hump Day!!

The Fear Is Setting In....

Okay, so the half marathon is over and I promise I will eventually stop talking about it ;) I really appreciate....who am I kidding? I absolutely LOVE all of the support you guys have given me through this whole journey! I am back in the blogging/commenting swing of things...FINALLY.

So, my foot began hurting really badly after the half marathon. Being the smarty pants that I am, I decided to take the time to rest it. I took a whole 8 days off of running and exercise. 8 FREAKING DAYS!! The most I have taken off from exercise in the past 9 months is maybe 3 days between workouts.

Anyway, the whole week I got a feeling I have yet to feel on this journey. WORRY! I was sooo worried that in those days I was going to gain weight. In fact, I was sure I was going to. I missed exercising. I missed the way my body felt after a tough workout. I missed my "me time". I just missed everything about it. I did panic a few days. I would tell myself 'You are going to gain weight'....'All of that hard work is going to have to be done again'! Ahhhh....it was driving me crazy.

So, I jumped on the scale to see the damage that I had done from 8 days of no workout and eating what I wanted.

124 

That almost made me crap my pants. My lowest weight thus far(on a weigh day) was 124.6. The thing that made me more excited was I weighed 127-128 the days before and the day of the half marathon.

I have lost 3-4 pounds in that week. Holy crap! HOly crAP! I am soo happy with that. However, tomorrow morning is my official weekend. I don't know what that number on the scale is going to be, but I know I am still eating when my body says I am hungry and I will get to my goal in due time!

I did run Monday. Mile 1: 9:05  Mile 2 & 3: 9:34 Mile .1: 1:00. Best 5k time yet. I am getting better and more focused everyday!

Now, above I said those 8 days were spent eating what I wanted AND they were. I wanted salad, sandwiches with lots of veggies, oatmeal, chicken, greek yogurt, and tons of fruit. My brain has officially made the change from wanting fast food, to wanting the good foods for my body. I did eat sweets and deserts in the 8 days. However, I would eat until I felt satisfied(about half the treat) and handed the rest to My Love. Now how is that for support?

I feel I battled with wanting sweets quite often before I did my 2 week sweet bet with myself. The sweet bet was prompted by the weekend I ate really poorly. I decided I wasn't going to eat sweets for 2 weeks and don't you know it, I didn't. Not one desert, even though I really wanted fro yo everyday! Since then, I eat desert most days, but I do it differently than I used to. Tonight, desert was cottage cheese, fruit and a little agave nectar. I did have a yummy bowl of thin mint ice cream last night.

Now that the scale is moving down, I am kicking it up a notch. I want to get to goal and I want to be in the 110's by my friends wedding in 3 weeks! I have 5 pounds to lose. I have a plan, oh yes, I have a plan.

*I will continue to be eating the way I have. Mostly clean, correct proportions, instinctually, and not too obsessively. I listen to what my body wants and make good choices.
**I am going to run 4 days a week.

***Love leaves for work and I have enough time to do the 30 day shred before showering. So, I am starting that tomorrow AM.
****I am also going to do 8 minutes abs every other day. I love the old school workout videos. They rock!!

That's my story and I am sticking to it!

What is your greatest fitness accomplishment?

"It's Alive" and 25!

Ahem, I am alive.

It's been a crazy 11 days! I have a few things to catch up on!

My half marathon is just 5 short days away. I have been constantly doing training runs. I had the WORST training run(10 miles) Saturday April 2. I wanted to die the last 5 miles, it sucked. I finished, but was disappointed with the run. Then, this past Saturday, I attempted a 12 mile run. I ran 11.5 and had had enough. There were a lot of reasons why I stopped, most of them excuses. I was discouraged because of the wind, I felt sluggish and slow. I knew I could go faster, but I just wasn't in the groove of it. I usually run by myself, but this one took place with a friend. We ran by her house and did a run, with the route being whatever we came up with. Bad idea because then I am constantly in my own head. Bottom line, I just felt discouraged, I had the thought in my head that I couldn't do it. I have never doubted myself in that way since the beginning of my journey to the half marathon. I finished 11.5 miles and didn't feel much pain or soreness. Woke up with NO pain and NO soreness Sunday morning which rocked.

Like I said, the half marathon is on Saturday and I am ready! I know I am. This week I will be picking out my outfit, downloading new music, finding my iPod arm band case(been looking for it forever!), finding my camera, hydrating, carb loading, putting my house back together(remodel is almost complete), running the last runs, getting a good nights rest and on Saturday I am Coming Out!! As in, the first time you see the face that is "Continuous Changes", I will have a half marathon finishers medal!! That's right, Kids! I am confident that I will finish!

Like I said the remodel is almost complete. Love and I's weekends for the past 3 months have been full of hardware stores, DIY Projects, Training Runs(for me), new fish tank set up(for him), puppy loving(for the puppy kids), yard work, and have I ever mentioned I also have a part time job? Geesh, I feel like I am lazy all the time, but listing that assures me that I am not. I used to take naps every Saturday and Sunday! I can honestly say, I don't remember my last nap period.

Lastly, I turned 25 on Friday! I am a quarter century old. This birthday was kind of tough, but kind of not. As I have blogged before, my parents are in a bitter divorce battle right now. My mom text me happy birthday, my dad kind of forgot. I had to tell him my birthday was Friday(I am closer to my dad than to my mom, as well.) and it really made me sad. They are very consumed in their own lives so I let the hurt go away and refused to let it ruin my birthday! Love took me to "The Melting Pot" and it was delicious! I ate way too much, but it was my birthday :) So, I splurged! I am excited for what 25 will bring!

I have been reading all of your blogs, I am just not full of comments at the moment. Just know I am still routing all of you on and I love reading about your successes and downfalls(because they are making you stronger)!

Best wishes, y'all! :)

It is kind of a big deal....

So, I have some really fun events coming up.

First, my 25th birthday is 4 weeks away from today. I am so excited for my birthday this year, mainly because I am finally excited about life! I don't live the unhappy way I used to. I have noticed a lot of different changes in myself in the past 2 weeks(haven't been blogging much, taking short breaks to focus on me). I will talk more on that later.

Second, I am still hoping for the half marathon one week after my 25th birthday. I have ran a couple of days this week and my knees feel strong. Going to try to get in a 6 mile run Saturday after I hit up the running store. I need to kick the workouts up a notch, I have been slacking slightly, although the intensity has increased.

Third, my friend since childhood is getting married. I am excited for the wedding, but I will be seeing a few people who really don't like me. The reasoning behind them not liking me, I do not know and that is in all honesty. At this wedding, I will also be seeing many people that I absolutely adore and have known since I was just a kid. They knew me as a chubby kid, and as an anorexic preteen-teen and then grow into a fat young adult. They haven't seen me this far into my journey and I really want to show them who I am on the inside and just how much I have changed!

Now, let's talk a little about the changes I have gone through recently. I will do these in bullet form.

• Had I been the old me when my parents told me of their divorce, I would have worried, cried, and dwell on it all day all the time. The new me, I have dealt with it. I am moving on and as I told my daddy-o last night, they can do whatever they want and I am just done with it. I don't really see or speak to them anymore. I love them, but there is a lot of tension and I don't want that to be in my life right now. 
• I feel so determined. I have never had this feeling before. I want to take on anything and everything. The "fear to ask for fry sauce" as my momma would say, is gone. I don't fear looking stupid in front of people. I have so much in me to offer and I am ready to give it! Have I mentioned I am 15 pounds from my goal weight!!!!!!!! I weigh 125!!  It has everything to do with my determination. I was up and down in my weight for so long(about 2 months or so), but now my nose is to the grindstone and I will be at goal by summer!!
• I have self confidence. I am excited to go shopping for clothes, specifically for a dress for the wedding I was talking about. I want to always look as gorgeous as I feel inside :) and I do! I have naturally curly hair(like super curly, I will post pics, I promise!) and I don't feel self concious letting it do it's thing. I feel like even when I first wake up, I look damn good. My body is changing and it looks good. I may have a little coming out party this weekend.....on the blog. Maybe get up some befores and afters :)
• I have goals. I have hobbies(2 actually now) Miss Nicole @ let them eat lettuce inspired me to do something. We have a koi pond in the back yard right now and because of the time consumption of the salt water tank inside, it has been neglected and it doesn't look good. So, I had been thinking about what to do in that area. Originally, I was just going to fill the hole back up with dirt and grow grass, but wouldn't a veggie/fruit garden be more awesome! Yes, Nicole posted about it right around the same time I was considering it and last night, we bought the supplies. I will be starting the garden indoor tomorrow and when I am ready to move it outside, I am going with Love's dad(whose garden rocks) to the local nursery to pick up a few more plants :) Awe, bonding time. 

 I have so much more to talk about, but I am going to leave you to digest this for now :) Thanks for reading!!

I have been reading up on your blogs when I can, but the comments are resuming promptly! I really care about you so much and I really hope you know that :)

Sorry For Leaving You Hanging....

All Weekend!!!! Ahhh. Let's just say, I am not talking about the weekend. Food was AWESOME. Exercise non existent, still struggling with knee pain. Taking my running shoes to the running store and they are going to do what they can to help me!

Plans for the half marathon have changed. I am no longer doing the Salt Lake Half Marathon, at this point. I may change my mind, and I really hope I do. Being injured is terrifying to me, so I want to be certain I am ready physically for it. Mentally, I am ready. I am still planning on the "Happy Valley Half Marathon"(I can't think of the real name of the race, but Happy Valley sounds like sunshine and rainbows anyways). and that is in June. So, I AM going to run it. Or maybe I will still do both....ugh...see back and forth back and forth! lol!

I still don't have a full functioning kitchen, but it is back to normal enough that I am staying on track :) When we started this remodel, I was determined to not eat out nearly as much as The Boy suggested we would have to! I really didn't eat out as much as I thought I would. Sure, last week we did, but this weekend I think we ate out 2 times. I had a cheeseburger from McDonald's last night.....Shhh...no telling ahah. I don't feel badly because I did have just 1 and 4 fries. Then, an apple and scoop of PB for desert. That's fine by me!

Todays eats:
B-1/2 cup of oatmeal, 2/3 cup of water, 1/4 cup low fat milk, 2 scoops PB, Sprinkle of Fiber One Cereal, and 1 scoop of protein powder. It was just okay. I need to work on the consistency and NOT eating it 10 minutes after it's made-COLD AND GOOEY...Gross!

L-Salad made with 2 cups of salad, 1/4 cucumber, 1/4 yellow pepper(I can eat them like apples...so perfect!), 1/4 cup of broccoli, 1 Avocado, Mrs. Dash garlic and herb NO SALT ADDED seasoning, 10 sprays of 2 calorie per spray ranch, and a half cup of fiber one cereal. On the side, I had 1/3 of a Starkist herb and garlic Tuna pouch. It was tasty and very filling!

There are 3 new things I tried today, and wanted to give a little review of:
1. Fiber One cereal-This has 60 calories per 1/2 cup and 57% of the daily fiber suggested. Can you believe it? Those are some good stats. The Boy had a huge(probably a cup and a half) serving last night(to cure his sweet tooth!?) and he was *ahem* "feeling" it this morning. The needed potty break woke him up 30 minutes before he usually gets up. Being one that used to never getting enough fiber in my diet, this stuff is going to be a new staple :)
2. Starkist garlic and herb tuna pouch-I always thought I NEEDED mayo(Lots, please!) to make tuna taste really good, but in the past few months, I have done a little honey mustard and  a touch of mayo and it has been great. Today, I ate the tuna plain. No added spices, nothing. It was delicious. It didn't have an over powering garlic flavor, but it definitely added a little something to the tuna. You will see this in the future.
3. Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning-I worry about sodium intake, not a ton, but I do think about it. This flavoring was great. I used to be a HUGE RANCH FAN, like huge. It went on every salad and it was about 10 times the serving size suggestion. Last night, I smushed(love this word!) an avocado on a paper plate and threw some of this seasoning on and voila, a nice creamy add to a salad. Although, I did add a little ranch, because the avocado wasn't getting the salad very "wet" at all. Weirdo...yes I am!

All 3 of the suggestions above came from a girl that works at the kiosk across from me at the part time gig in the mall! Love her!

So, there you go! What are some new things you have tried lately?

Week 1 Down! Weigh In

Week one of half marathon officially ended with a 5 mile(56m03s) on Sunday evening! The first week was awesome. I felt strong mentally and physically for the majority of the week. I ran 10:00 miles on Saturday(2) and then got killer side pain and slowed the last mile to 11:42. I pushed myself a little harder than I should. However, it's so much easier for me to run outside than it is inside. The only problem outside is the horrid smog issues we have been experiences. I have a hacking cough after I come back in! Can't wait for it to clear up a little. I can't wait for the heat either. So, week 1 wasn't so bad. I have a 6 miler this Sunday. My longest run ever and I am pumped! I know I can do it!

Last week, eating was less than stellar. I drank 12(yes, 12!) cups of coffee with milk and creamer on Saturday. We went to Red Robin Sunday afternoon and I ate an entire bbq chicken wrap and more than half of the fries with a strawberry lemonade. Holy calories. Last night, at work(the mall job) I was craving sweets. I had 2 cookies(eep) and a diet coke. It was a weak moment, but I took a moment to think about how I felt and I can tell you, I won't be doing that again. I felt so gross and not happy. I did eat at least 1 type of dessert everyday. When I got on the scale this morning, those weak moments came back to haunt me....

128.8

That number stared me down and made me think,'You got yourself into this, what did you learn?'! This week, I learned that I need to pay attention to portion control and types of food I am eating. I should have eaten half the wrap and given 3/4 of the fries to Love and definitely gotten a water. I also didn't drink water much this weekend. Maybe 32 oz on Saturday and 50 oz on Sunday. 

This does help me refocus a little bit. I am going to start weighing in on Thursday mornings instead of Mondays. I am definitely not beating myself up though. I made the mistake of eating too much and not high quality foods and now I am just going to turn it around this week and lose all that I gained, plus hopefully a little more. I did gain a little muscle mass, so I know that 1.8 lb gain isn't all fat :) 

How did your week go? Did you have any weak moments? How do you deal best with a weak moment?

Weigh In and Day 2!

First off, thanks for all of the comments on yesterdays post! You all had a lot of great things to say. The verdict for myself is definitely have snacks for a backup, but listen to when and what my body wants! Also, Morgan pointed out that I should be careful with the Clif bars, and she is totally right. I started eating a whole one and then went down to half, but I think that will be my AM snack for my long runs on Sundays and maybe half a bar before my evening workouts if I am ravenous! I am so excited to see NEW followers!! HI EVERYONE!! WELCOME!!

So, I weighed at my gym today and I am now at

127!!!

I lost .4 lbs and couldn't be happier! Especially because I had 32 oz. of Gelato(Italian Ice Cream) and that's A LOT! I didn't do fabulous on eating, but I think I did okay! Next week, I am hoping to see 125.something :) I am sure I can do it! Just got to stick to eating right and cutting back on the Gelato!!

Today is Day 2 of half marathon training and I feel GREAT!!! It is also Day 2 of the "30 Day Shred"!! That's right! I am going to do it for 30 days and actually stick to it!! I will be taking some before pictures hopefully tonight! It's going to be a tough 30 days, but the more I push, the better my body will be! I do need strength training pretty badly! My body fat is 26.2% and it was at 22% just a couple of weeks ago. The scale might be wrong, but I doubt it!

I Think, I THINK, I might be Crazy!

So, last night one of my favorite girls in the whole world approached me about doing a half marathon in June! What did I say? Well, HELL YEAH, of course. That means in 2 months time I will complete not 1, but 2 half marathons!! And, I am excited. I will run the Salt Lake Marathon solo, but running the Utah Valley Half Marathon with Jenn will be SO MUCH FUN!! I can't wait. I love Jenn and am so excited that she is going to do this!

Right now, I am battling with the running. I wanted to get in a 5 mile run this morning, but I am hating the treadmill right now. I am so bored. I only got in a little over 4 miles and took a potty break at 2.5! This marathon training is going to be tough. I start officially training next Monday! The training plan starts out with a little less mileage at first. I just hope that I can stay on track with the mileage and get some outside runs going on SOON! I know I can(I AM DETERMINED!!!)

I have not skipped 1 day at the gym this week. I get there between 5 and 5:30 and I dont leave until I am finished!! It's so nice. The place has a lot of people, but they are all good friends! There is a group of ladies that are too cute. Love's aunt is friends with them, so she introduced me :) Now, I don't feel so strange being the only one to not know anybody!

I know that 127 sounds like a good number to be! I agree, I haven't been this small since junior high school. However, I am only 4'11'' tall. So, 127 is still on the high side for me! My other problem is that I am ALL lovehandles. Legs, slim and muscular! Arms, just a little flab! Boobies, going away every day :( Tummy, from the side it is flat! Love handles, FLABBY!!! Now, this is not me hating on my body necessarily.

My love handles are my LEAST favorite, but at the same time, I can't control that all that much. I have scoliosis(curvature of the spine). When I was born, it was discovered that my lumbar(lower spine) never fully formed. My x-rays are basically fragmented(fused) bone matter in my lower back. My upper back curved to compensate for my lower back. The left side of my body is what I would call "normal". The right side is about an inch shorter. Had my back fully formed, I would have been 5'2-5'3.

Anyways, that is my story of why my love handles are a problem for me.

What is your favorite exercise? And what do you do when you just don't want to finish a workout?

Day One?

So, started the routine this morning. I was pretty anxious last night, and kept checking the clock. Woke up at 2, 3 and 4 AM. When my alarm went off at 5:00, I was up, dressed and off to run 4 miles. I got to the gym and boy, are there a lot of people in there that early. I grabbed a treadmill. Miles 1 &2 were okay, then I felt extremely sluggish up to mile 3.5, when I stupidly hit clear. So, I just walked/ran the other .5 mile. Oh well, I will do better on Wednesday. I feel full of energy this morning and hope to carry that through the rest of the day!! WOOT WOOT!!!

On my new plan, I will only be running every other day. The days I don't run, will be all about the stair stepper, eliptical, and stationary bike. I am hoping to avoid injury before the half marathon so I am taking it SLOW my first time around.

I do have some awesome news! I weighed in last Monday and was 130.8. This morning the scale said 127.4!! Woohoo!! I hope to be below the 120's by marathon time, if I am not at goal :)

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend :)