Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Slacker

That's me. A big old slacker. I haven't been working out as much. I was doing so well too... At least my weight hasn't gone back up any... I have also been slacking with writing in here. Going to have to remedy that. Writing is therapeutic to me and helps keep me keep on track... I'm such a big slacker that I started this entry yesterday and only got a few sentences in and then stopped. I need to get back on track!!! Buying a car, driving to Wisconsin alone for the first time, then catching up on housework along with Memorial Day weekend has put me so far behind on the weight loss train.

I weigh myself every day. I know you're really not supposed to do this. Your weight can fluctuate drastically each day, yadda yadda yadda... I do it because it keeps me on track. It lets me know if what I've been doing is working or not. It helps keep me motivated (most of the time). For me, it helps me stay on track. It helps me know that what I'm doing is working, or hey, that ice cream cone I ate yesterday really effected my weight! It usually keeps me being good. I woke up with a stomach issue. I'm not sure if it's a stomach bug or something I ate not agreeing with me, but I lost two pounds overnight... I know that's not "real" weight loss but oh how I wish losing weight was that easy. LOL

I had every intention of going to Curves and the gym today... I still might try to do it. It all depends on my stomach. Right now it's still iffy. I haven't yet eaten anything and it's after 11 in the morning. I can't really workout if I can't eat because I will be weak. I'm already starting to feel weak as I haven't eaten anything since about 6 pm yesterday and I also didn't eat much all day yesterday. Ugh. I hate being sick.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Learning to walk again...

Last night was an awesome night. I got off work and drove to Curves. It was my first time doing Zumba since September/October of last year. My Zumba instructor got married and had a health issue and quit teaching all but one of her Curves Circuit with Zumba classes. She decided to pick up another class, Tuesday nights, and last night was free for all current and former members of Curves... Oh, how I missed Zumba! I am not very coordinated, but I love to dance and I love music. There's nothing like some good music to dance to and get a workout!!!

I may be a little mean here, but there was this lady who came in that I didn't know... She wasn't a current member, but had previously been a member and she wanted to try out Zumba. She was a larger lady with big boobs... and she wasn't wearing a bra... at all. She was wearing a tight blue workout shirt with no bra and drooping boobs. Go figure, she was right across from me the whole time, and I had a hard time not looking at her chestular region with horror! When she was just standing there, her boobs were resting on her stomach and it was just disturbing... but when she danced, it was horrible! Ugh. BIG BOOBED LADIES... WEAR SPORTS BRAS (OR ANY BRAS REALLY) WHEN YOU'RE WORKING OUT!!!

After Curves, I went home and waited for Pam (my best friend and trainer). She got there shortly after I did, we piled into my car and then went to a track. I don't know exactly how long it is... it goes around a baseball diamond area in my town. I usually walk about a mile and a half during my daily activities and I walked almost four miles yesterday so I'd guess it was about two miles. *shrugs* Anyway, We started off walking and once my joints and muscles were all loosened up we started to jog. She told me to stop and showed me how I was jogging and how you're supposed to jog... I jog with my heels hitting the ground first... Apparently this isn't how you're supposed to jog. You're supposed to put most of the pressure on the balls of your feet. So, she had me walk the rest of the way without letting my heels hit the ground. That is so hard... and it kind of felt like I was creeping. Added into that, my fingers swell up when I walk so I was holding my hands out front of me and flexing and unflexing my fingers while walking on the balls of my feet. I yelled, "I'm a creeper! I'm going to get you!" And she busted out laughing. Haha...She told me that my goal is to walk on the balls of my feet whenever I can... I'm also supposed to strengthen my calves by standing still and bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet. Should be interesting! The next time we can get together is Monday so hopefully by then I can actually jog.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Back to the Grind

Now that the excitement from buying my first car is over, and my weekend trip to Milwaukee/Madison for my friend's graduation is over, I really need to get back into the grind of losing weight. I wouldn't say that I was absolutely horrible over the weekend, but I could have made a few better choices. Here's what I consumed:

Saturday:
¤ Breakfast: the bacon, egg, and cheese from the inside of Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Bagel from McDonald's (the bagel itself was hard as a rock so I didn't eat it), a hash brown, and half of a large sugar-free vanilla iced coffee
¤ Lunch: a couple of cubes of salami and cheese, a couple of chunks of pineapple and cantaloupe, about six tortilla chips and some taco dip, and two of Jo's grandma's chocolate chip cookies
¤ Dinner: one piece of pepperoni pizza, one breadstick, and two cinnasticks from a Pizza Hut dinner box and about half of an orange Mountain Dew

Sunday:
¤ Breakfast: one iced strawberry poptart
¤ Lunch: a Big Mac, about half of the fries, and 1.5 of a large Dr. Pepper
¤ Snack: (while driving home) one iced strawberry poptart, about a handful of Whoppers chocolate candies
¤ Dinner: (from Wendy's) one junior bacon cheeseburger, an order of chili cheese fries, and half of a medium chocolate Frosty

So, as you can see I definitely could have made some more healthy decisions. Eating on the road is tough. When I left on Saturday, I was having some stomach issues. I was due for Aunt Flo to come for a visit and she tends to mess up my insides. I thought I needed the coffee for the drive, but I surprisingly wasn't tired. When I drink coffee, I have to eat food or it tears my stomach up so I got what sounded the best. But as you can see, I didn't really eat much of it. At lunch time, I was still having some stomach issues so I just snacked around. Come dinner, I was actually hungry, but after I ate what I have listed, I was done... I was physically exhausted and wanted to sleep.

I slept really hard for about five hours. I went to bed around 10ish. Jo's apartment complex hadn't turned on the air conditioning yet so it was rather warm in there. I was too tired to care. I laid in her dining room floor (it's carpeted!) under a fan and slept hard until about 3. Then I woke up because the floor was hurting my back a little. I used my blanket as an extra pillow and that felt a lot better so I slept a little more. I woke up at 5:30 because I had to use the restroom. Then I went back to sleep until 6:30 when I heard Jo's alarm go off. The sun had risen and it was really bright in the living room. I noticed my phone was dead so I got up to plug it in and noticed that the others were awake too.

Sunday I was starving. I inhaled the Big Mac when we got to McDonald's. The drive home was about five and a half hours. We ate around noon or one. So, I got hungry about halfway home and ate my other poptart. I had bought some Whoppers in Wisconsin and they had melted in the car. Then the air conditioning cooled them off and they got all stuck together. I couldn't get them apart very well so I just ate a couple of them. By the time I hit my town at 8:30 pm, I was exhausted and hungry and decided to just hit the Wendy's as I was driving through.

I'm out of healthy lunch options right now. I'm currently at work and it's a little after 1pm and I haven't eaten lunch yet. There's nothing healthy here. I think I'm going to go pick something up from somewhere as I don't think we have anything quick and healthy at home either. I'm just now starting to get hungry though. I've also got my weigh and measure at Curves tonight. I had it scheduled last Wednesday and with the excitement of buying my new car I forgot about it. I rescheduled it for today. After Curves, Pam (my best friend and trainer) and I are going to go out for my first jog... I think. Yesterday she text and said she was up for it if I was... So, I'll let you know how that goes.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Frustrations + Stress + Excitement

I hate losing weight... well, not really the losing weight part, but the dieting part. I used to hate exercise. I still hate it while I'm doing it, but I feel so good when I'm done with it that I want to go back and do more. It's weird because usually when I'm dieting, I have the whole eating healthy thing in order, but not the exercise. Now I'm exercising like crazy, but I just can't seem to get my eating under control.

I've been very stressed this entire week, hence the lack of entries. On Tuesday, my mom and I were talking. I logged into my bank account to balance my checkbook and it said really big on my bank's front page: "Credit Score Above 640? We offer loans to you!" So, I called my bank to see if I qualified. I was told I would get a call back Wednesday morning... Anyway, Mom and I went to a local dealership. We met with a sales lady. I think my parents bought all but one of their cars from her. We talked about what I was looking for in a car.

First she took me to a 2008 Nissan Sentra. It was bronze colored and really nice. It was 4 door and only had around 23K miles on it. I drove it and it drove really nice, but I didn’t feel a solid connection with it. I thought it was moreso a car for older people.

Then she took me to a 2007 Jeep Compass. I WAS IN LOVE WITH THIS VEHICLE! It was originally a $27K+ Jeep. It had a lot of added extras. An awesome sound system. A sunroof. It was red which I love… It had a little more than 60K miles on it. I was pretty much sold on it. When we went in to talk prices, and the sales lady found out that it had transmission issues and even though they fixed the issues, they couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again… plus with having 60K miles on it, it was out of factory warranty. Boo. So, she absolutely refused to sell it to me.

We went back to look at more cars. Next she showed me a 2009 Ford Focus. It was also red, but I didn’t feel it either. I just couldn’t like it like I did the Jeep… I didn't even test drive it. I just got in it and it didn't really seem like an awesome car to me so I didn't want to look at it any more... I didn't like the set up, plus the key was really hard to get in the ignition. I was still kind of heartbroken about the Jeep so I was done...

After that she’s like, “This one is a little more than the price we discussed, but not much and I think you’ll love it.” She took me to a bright blue 2009 Dodge Caliber. I loved this car too. Not as much as the Compass, but I still REALLY, REALLY liked it. It had almost 25K miles on it. It only had one owner which is weirdly my friend's mother-in-law. It had a great stereo system and is in great shape… I drove it home Tuesday night for a test drive.

Wednesday morning, I GOT NEWS THAT I WAS APPROVED FOR THE AUTO LOAN!!! OMG! That's amazing... The only issue with getting any new car was that I would need my boyfriend to take over one of my bills for about a year before I would be able to comfortably pay the payment along with my other bills. He said we’d talk about it after I a) got approved for financing and b) saw if I could talk them down on the price any. With my car going in for trade and the discounts I could talk her into on the spot last night, I would need to finance $12,500. My boss looked in his NADA Official Used Car Guide book and it retails for $12,000. And my friend told me that when her mother in law got the Caliber, there was a bunch of deals going on and they only paid $9,000 for it brand new.

On my lunch hour Wednesday, I talked to my boyfriend. At first we started discussing finances and if there were any bills we could get rid of... He had stopped talking about the car so after a little bit, I was like "So, I kind of need to know what our decision is when I take this car back." We started talking again and he said, "You know, if you're wanting to get married, it can't be your money and my money it's gotta be our money." I couldn't believe I heard those words coming out of his mouth. LOL We talked it over some more and decided that if I could find a car where the payment was around $200 then he'd help me out.  So, at that moment, the Caliber was at $240 a month.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to get the price of the Caliber down to my payment range. I talked with the sales lady some more and decided to test drive the 2008 Nissan Sentra again. I decided that I really did like it. My best friend was with me and she told me over and over that it didn't look like an old lady's car. I was worried that it did. So, we went in and talked to the sales lady again. She was about to get it to where my payment will be somewhere in the range of $200-205ish. They couldn't tell me the exact amount until all of the paperwork was done, but I was told over and over that it would be within my limits. It's a really nice car the more I think about it. :)

I brought it home overnight Wednesday night to sleep on it and I had another meeting scheduled there at 5:15 yesterday to fill out paperwork as long as my boyfriend agreed. While at the car dealership, I got overwhelmed and almost started crying. I totally wanted to switch my plates from my old car to this one... they were vanity plates with my name on them... I was informed, however, that since my plates are in my parents' names, but my car title is in my name and my dad's name, it would be a big cluster to get it straightened out. Apparently, in Illinois, the names on the title are supposed to match the names on the registration for the plates. It's a requirement. Mine don't. So, I had to get new plates. The general manager fixed it so that it washed out. I think he gave me $70 more for my old car or something so I didn't have to pay for the plates. Also, since this car is in my name alone, I can't get on my dad's insurance. I did some research and actually found a very comparable insurance for not much more than I was already paying through State Farm.

On my lunch yesterday, my boyfriend looked the car over and agreed that he liked it. I took it back to the dealership so they could get is shined up and gassed up. I took my old car home and cleaned it out... you have no idea how much crap can accumulate in a car in 8.5 years! Then I went back to work... impatiently waiting for 5 pm. At 5, I swung by my house to pick up my best friend and then we went to the dealership. They were doing some last minute things with paperwork and putting the new plates on my car. They made my friend go sit in a side room away from the paper signing while I signed my name on the dotted line about a dozen times. Then we left...

We went out to my parents' house so I could show their friends my new car. We ate dinner with them, ran to Walgreens, and then I went home. I cleaned up the mess from cleaning out my old car and then watched Grey's Anatomy and went to bed.

This blog is supposed to be about weight loss, but my excitement was too much so I had to share it with you!!! And I leave you with a picture of me hugging my old car goodbye...


Goodbye, old friend. We had some great times.
Treat your new owners as well as you treated me!

Monday, May 14, 2012

I'm alive!!! (Recap) + Other Rambles

I've been extremely busy so I'm sorry I haven't been around! It's been almost a week since I've written and I feel really bad about that. I mean, seriously! I made this blog to help keep me accountable... So, let's see what I can remember...

Tuesday - May 8th
I, of course, had to work on Tuesday. We decided to order in food because one of my female co-workers was having a horrible day. She wanted comfort food so we decided to order in Mexican. When we order in food, all of the employees here know that it is your responsibility to pay for the food you order. My boss had hired in three people (and one of our employees) to put together a new machine he had ordered. I walked to the other building to see if our employee wanted to order anything. He said yes and told me his order. One of the workers overheard our conversation and told me what he wanted. Then I thought it would be nice to ask the other two guys if they wanted anything. One of them declined, but the other decided to order. I came back to the office to order and realized that I hadn't told the two workers who ordered that we are responsible for buying our own food. So, I quickly asked my boss if he was paying for the workers and he said no because he was paying them to do the work so he wasn't buying them food too. I ran back to the other building and told the two guys that they were responsible for paying for the food they ordered. They both said to cancel their orders, but one of the guys decided to call my boss and give him crap about not buying "his workers" any lunch. So, he did. And my boss agreed to buy their lunch, but then was mad at me. I tried to tell him that I didn't mean to give them the impression at all that he was buying. Then I was all worked up over everything and had an upset stomach. What I ordered wasn't healthy, but I didn't eat much of it so I think it washed out. I had a chicken chimichanga and a little bit of rice and beans and that's it...

I didn't do much working out this day. I did turn on my heart rate monitor while I was out grocery shopping. I walked two miles grocery shopping!!! Plus all of the walking I did to go to the other building... It's a block away from our building and I went there four times so that's eight blocks of walking... Not bad... Since I didn't eat lunch, I ate way too much at dinner because I made one of my favorite things... cheese ravioli in red sauce. Mmmmm...

Wednesday - May 9th
Wednesday was a pretty good eating day. My dinner was rather high in sodium, but I stayed within my healthy calorie range. I went to Curves and was tested for my Curves Smart. Then went to the gym. I walked 2.5 miles. I went home, made dinner, and relaxed.

Thursday - May 10th
Thursday I skipped walking. My boyfriend was home and my gym partner wasn't interested in going. So, I went to Curves, did my first Curves Smart workout with the new computer... ouch! It was serious! Then I went home with every intention of cooking a healthy meal. My boyfriend was baking a pizza when I got home though. I ended up just eating a sandwich for dinner.

Friday - May 11th
Friday night I had a lot of stuff to do at home. I had to get my walking in, so I skipped Curves and went to the gym with my gym buddy. We walked 2 miles. I felt good during it. There were a few times that were kinda hard, but I enjoyed the walk overall... I went home and made a "new" recipe. I healthified up my favorite recipe. It was not delicious. I'm crushed. I don't even know how to remotely make it delicious other than making it the horrible for you way. Sad.

Saturday - May 12th
I had to work Saturday. I don't usually work Saturdays, but we are a rental location for moving trucks and only three of us are trained on how to rent them. If one of the guys aren't working, I have to... and being as I'm the low-(wo)man on the totem pole, I have to work if they aren't. No way around it. So, I worked until noon and then went and picked up my sister. We went and got groceries for my mom's meal and I bought her some flowers and then we went to my parents' house. They weren't there, but arrived shortly after we got there. They were both starving so I started cooking early. I made lasagna, garlic bread, and side salads for dinner and then chocolate gooey cake for dessert. It was all delicious! I cleaned up and we went outside for a little bit and then headed home. Didn't really get in any exercise Saturday.

Sunday - May 13th
Yesterday we spent Mother's Day at the in-laws... Well, a state park in the neighboring town really. MIL told us to bring whatever "meat" we wanted for our main course and then a side dish to share. We took macaroni salad as I hadn't had time to make a different side and for our "meat" we picked up subs. Normally we would walk on some of the trails at the state park, but no one was up for it so we just sat around and talked for a few hours. Then we came home. Shortly after we got home, MIL called and said that FIL had found a tick on him and we should check for them on ourselves. I checked everywhere I could see and tried to get my boyfriend to check my head. He wouldn't do it! I seriously rubbed and scratched my scalp for about half an hour and didn't feel anything, but I still had the heebie jeebies all night long. Haha.

Today
This morning I sent a text to one of my female coworkers while I was getting ready. I asked her if she'd check my scalp and she said yes. The verdict? She didn't see any ticks. Yay!!!

This week, my workout schedule looks something like this:

Today:
- Curves Smart Workout (30 minutes)
- Gym - Treadmill - 3 miles

Tomorrow:
- Curves Circuit with Zumba (45 minutes)
- Gym - Treadmill - 3 miles

Wednesday:
- Curves Smart Workout (30 minutes)
- Gym - Treadmill - 3 miles

Thursday:
- Curves Smart Workout (30 minutes)
- Gym - Treadmill - 3 miles

I won't be able to workout Friday through Sunday as I'll be out of state. As of right now, my mom is planning on going to Wisconsin with me. If she does, we'll leave right after I get off work on Friday. My mom will drop me off at my friend's house by 11 pm or so. I'll be staying the night there. We'll get up in the morning, get ready, and head to our mutual friend's graduation party. We're planning on staying with the mutual friend overnight that night. Then we'll head back to my other friend's house on Sunday and stay there until my mom picks me up on her way back through. So, yeah... Fun times!

Okay, I feel like this is long enough so I'm going to go. OH! But check out my cool new widget over in my right column. It keeps track of my 5K training workouts. Pretty nifty!!!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

I love a good competition...

I love me a good competition. I signed up for yet another one and I'm going to talk about it here... It's called the:

Haha. It seems awesome. If you're interested in joining, here's the information:

Contest period will run 8 weeks (Monday, May 7 - Sunday, July 1)

1 - To participate, send an email to Angie at wabbtmc@gmail.com and include the following things:
  • Your name
  • Starting weight (not shared publicly)
  • A picture of your feet on the scale showing your starting weight (THIS PICTURE WILL NOT BE DISPLAYED PUBLICLY! For Angie’s eyes only - used strictly to verify your starting weight.) Picture taken no earlier than Saturday May 5th. 
  • One specific, measurable goal that you would like to accomplish during the contest. Any realistic goal that is fitness, nutrition or general health focused will work. (i.e. inches lost, running speed increase, smaller clothing size, pounds lost, etc)
  • One healthy habit that you'd specifically like to work on establishing during the 8 week contest period (drink more water, eat more veggies, get more sleep, exercise more frequently, etc)
2 - If you want to compete for prizes, please send a $10 contest entry fee to Angie via PayPal (wabbtmc@gmail.com). Please mark it as personal/gift so that fees are not withdrawn from the total and be sure to include your name and "2012 Commit To It - Round 3" in the subject or message. If you prefer to mail cash or check please contact Angie directly for mailing address. Send entry fee payment no later than Friday May 11th 2012. If no entry fee is paid, you may still participate in the contest for motivation and encouragement but you will not be eligible for end of challenge prizes.

3 - Participants and competitors will be invited to join and encouraged to participate in the Commit To It Competition Facebook group for additional support and accountability. This is a closed group, used only by those participating in the competition and it has become a great source of encouragement and support to those who choose to participate.

4 - Participants and competitors will be encouraged to weigh in weekly and send their weight to Angie via email each week by Monday morning. Weekly weigh-ins are not mandatory, but highly encouraged. Angie will be posting group progress updates weekly and having the numbers sent to her weekly by Monday morning will help make that possible. The only weigh-ins that are required for the competition will be starting weight, mid-competition weight (sent at the end of week 4) and ending weight.

5 - End of challenge prizes will be awarded for the following:
  • Person with highest total percentage of weight loss - 40% of total prize pot
  • Person with second highest total percentage of weight loss - 25% of total prize pot
  • Person with third highest total percentage of weight loss - 15% of total prize pot
  • All people who reach their personal goal will have name put in drawing - 1 person will have his or her name randomly drawn and be awarded 10% of total prize pot
  • All people who successfully establish their healthy habit goal or participate in that healthy habit at least 75% of the competition period time will have name put in a drawing - 1 person will have his or her name randomly drawn and be awarded 10% of total prize pot
  • If we have more than 35 paying participants, up to $50 of the total prize pot will be reserved to reward participants who tackle mini-challenges that will be offered during the course of the competition. Rules for the mini-challenges and prize potential will be determined and disclosed once all participation fees have been paid.
Please note - In order for as many people as possible to be awarded for their efforts during this challenge, participants may earn only ONE end-of-challenge prize. Those who win a portion of the prize pot based on percentage of weight loss will not be included in the drawings for healthy habits established or personal goals met.

In the event of a weight loss percentage tie for first place, the 1st and 2nd place prize pot will be added together and split between the competitors who tied. If there is a tie for second place, the 2nd and 3rd place prize pot will be added together and split between the competitors who tied. If there is a tie for third place, the names of the competitors who tied will be put in a drawing to determine which one receives the third place prize.

Prizes will be awarded in the form of cash via PayPal or store/business gift card (winner's choice).

7 - At the end of the competition, please send the following to Angie no later than noon Hawaii Time on Tuesday July 3rd:
  • Your name
  • Final weight
  • Photo of your feet on the scale showing your final weight (again - the photo and scale number will NOT be shared publicly!)
  • Update on whether or not you established your personal healthy habit goal that you set at the beginning of the competition
  • Update on whether or not you reached the personal goal you set at the beginning of the competition
  • Winners and competition results will be posted on Angie's blog no later than Thursday July 5th.
So, you all weight loss peoples should sign up too! The more people the more awesome the prizes and the more awesome the support! :)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Pride

I'm feeling very proud of myself right now. One of my regular Curves coaches (Polly) told me today that she's really proud of me because I've been working out a lot. I have too! In the past four weeks, I've worked out 560 minutes. That's exciting. I expect that number to be a lot more this month. :)

I talked to Pam today before my trip to the gym. She told me that she uses a Fat Burn preset program on the treadmill and it works really well for her. She advised that since I'm not in the greatest shape, to set it at 3.5 as my maximum speed. It changed from 2.5 to 3.5 and the incline went up to 5. I was feeling it, but not much. I think next time I'm going to up my max speed. My only issue is that the balls of my feet hurt. I'm not sure how to remedy this. My shoes are plenty tight, but not too tight... My socks have a slight layer of padding, but not too much. I just don't know what to do.

I got great news at Curves today. The system is back up and running. Polly told me they could do my testing tomorrow... I'm not going tomorrow though. Tomorrow is my rest day from walking and I'm going to skip Curves too in order to go get groceries. We desperately need some. So, I told Polly I will be there Wednesday and she can test me then... Thursday I will be doing Curves Smart again!!! *does a happy dance*

Okay, well, I'm going to go finish my dinner and then relax before hitting the hay early. I'm exhausted.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Trying Something New

I didn't come back last night like I said I would... Sorry! I was so exhausted after my long week that I decided to just watch my television shows that night and go to bed early. I'm here now though and that's what counts!

Remember me saying something about how the Curves Smart system was down at Curves? It's still down. It's been down for two weeks now. The hard drive on the computer completely fried... all data was lost. The owner of my club got the computer up and running, but she's having issues getting Curves Smart up and running. When she does, every single member will have to be retested for the program. This could take a while!!! I'm hoping I can be tested early on. I miss Curves Smart! I miss walking out of Curves so sweaty and knowing that I had an amazing workout. I try to do my hardest, but without the computer system telling me how hard to work, I don't know if I'm actually doing it or not. According to the manager, the system should be back up and running next week... OH!!! And I found out that the week of May 14th, Curves Circuit with Zumba is returning to Tuesday nights. This makes my day! I loved Curves with Zumba!!! Can't wait to strap on my HRM and see how many calories I can burn once a week doing that. :)

I completed week one of my mashed up Hal Higdon's Novice Walk/Run 5K program. I'm feeling rather good. I went to the gym twice without my gym partner. I'm proud of that! Normally if she didn't go, I wouldn't go, but I'm the one who signed up for a 5K. I have to go!!! I tried something new last night. Normally my pace is all over the place because I try to go fast and then can't make it or whatever... Well this is what I did yesterday:


1/4 mile at 3.0
1/4 mile at 3.2
1/4 mile at 3.4
1/4 mile at 3.6
1/4 mile at 3.3
1/4 mile at 3.0
I finished my scheduled 1.5 miles in 28 minutes exactly. I wanted to see how that works and it worked great! My heart rate didn't get really high, so I think I'm going to have to slightly modify how I did it. But my plan for my 2 mile walk on Monday is like this:
1/4 mile at 3.0
1/4 mile at 3.2
1/4 mile at 3.4
1/4 mile at 3.6
1/4 mile at 3.8
1/4 mile at 3.5
1/4 mile at 3.3
1/4 mile at 3.0
I'm so out of shape that walking at 3.6 for a quarter of a mile hurt me, so I'm hoping I can do the 3.8. According to my schedule, I have to at least walk 2 miles on Monday and Friday and 2.5 miles on Wednesday. I'm hoping to go to the gym more than that though. I would like to attempt jogging before I need to for my training. I also am going to be going to get a knee brace to wear. I thought by taking it slow I could get by without it, but at this point in time, I'm thinking I can't. 
Okay, well, I need to go eat some breakfast, take my morning meds, and get out of this computer chair. Have a fantastic Saturday!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Self-Sabotage

I have this problem... I realize it's all mental, but I need to get over it. I tend to self-sabotage. I was doing so good with my dieting and exercise... with a good loss starting for this week. As of Monday, I was down 2.6 pounds this week which was awesome. Then I made one of my favorite, but not so healthy, foods on Tuesday night for dinner. Just one piece of this stuff has 710 calories and a whole day's worth of sodium. It's totally yummy and I'm so weak when I make it, but my boyfriend loves it and so I have to make it for him every once in a while. I figured one slice into my calories for the day. My sodium was through the roof, but I've been really watching it lately. Well, once I ate one... I couldn't stop myself from eating another. Unless you truly have issues with binge eating, you probably don't know what I mean by saying that I couldn't stop myself... but I couldn't. Then I "needed" something sweet to counteract the salty of my dinner and I had a bowl of cereal. Nice...

I was so mad at myself all day yesterday. I gained back all but 0.2 of a pound that I had lost. It didn't stop me from eating leftovers for lunch. Luckily, I only brought a slice with me and so that's all that I could have. Regardless... I surfed the web for a healthy baked macaroni and cheese recipe. I found one, modified it, and am going to try to make homemade Buffalo Chicken Mac (the recipe I made Tuesday). With the new ingredients, a piece has 470 calories and less than 900 mg of sodium which is definitely a lot better than 710 calories and 2500 mg of sodium. When I try the recipe, if it's a success, I'll be sure to post it. :)

I went to the gym yesterday. Had a good workout. My left knee has been bothering me. I dislocated it in fourth grade and then we knew that I inherited my father's horrible knee structure. Both of my knees dislocate often... sometimes without warning. I know that losing weight will help this in the long run, but right now it's not cool. It gets really stiff while walking on the treadmill. It's worse outside with uneven ground though. Hopefully from walking a lot, it'll eventually get used to it and not be sore. I may have to go buy a knee brace to help keep my kneecap stabilized while walking. I'm not sure.

Well, I need to go for now. I may update later. I should be adding a new recipe either today or tomorrow. Making another of my favorites, but this one is definitely low-cal and low fat though. I'll let you know. Buh-bye!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

And so it begins...

I started my training for my 5K yesterday. My first "task" was to walk 1.5 miles. I have a gym buddy and she's been having some personal issues lately. She doesn't always go to the gym with me because of this. I sent her a text yesterday around 4:30 in the afternoon that pretty much said that I was going to the gym around 6 if she wanted to meet me there. She didn't show, but I went in anyway. My gym uses Wal-mart gift cards for their door access. They program this scanner to unlock the door if the gift card is programmed to unlock it. Anyway, the gym door HATES me. I swiped it probably half a dozen times before it beeped saying the door unlocked. Then you have to pull the door towards you before you push it open. I had the hardest time getting in! There's this lady who is a personal trainer at my gym. She was there with a client and when I got in she said, "You have to hold your mouth just right to get in..." LOL I was kind of embarrassed... I got on a treadmill, put in my earbuds, turned on Pandora and got to walking. My results:


Not too bad for my first task. Haha. Oh! And as you can see, I got my new heart rate monitor. I love it so far! :) Makes me happy and I've only used it the one day. I think my chest strap was a little too tight yesterday, but I got through. :)

I have a dentist appointment after work today so I'm not sure if I'm going to the gym. I really want to... I've already got that addicted-to-the-endorphins feeling I get after going to the gym regularly for a little bit. I need to do the dishes and make dinner. I think I'm going to attempt to do the dishes on my lunch and then if my dentist appointment doesn't last too long, I can go for a quick trip to the gym. My gym buddy just text me and said her phone died yesterday and she had to get a new one today. Then she asked if I was up for the gym. I am! I am!!! I can't wait to go back. LOL Hopefully my dentist office can do my cleaning quick so I can get to the gym.