2013 Goals Review & Weigh-In

Last January I found this neat version of a new years resolution sheet, filled it out and shared it here.  Today I thought I'd go over it and share what I managed to accomplish this past year.

First off, for the record...

Today's Weight:  166.0

Loss/Gain: +/- 0 from last month, but +6 from my original "maintain" weight.  

Seeing that I managed to maintain in December, instead of putting any more weight on I guess that's good.

And now for the 2013 Goals...

My one word was "DO [what's hard]" because I knew I was facing a few things I'd never been through before.  I kept this sheet on my dresser mirror and every time I glanced at it I was reminded that I could do it.  

I wanted to paint a piece of furniture and ended up painting my bedroom dresser in the fall.  I love how it turned out. 

I needed to pay off our one credit card.  We paid off about 3/4 of it and we still plan finishing the payoff this year.  

I planned to continue sharing my weight loss journey on my blog and to share my burdens when they got heavy.  I continued to blog and when I opened up to others about my struggles during the deployment I was great encouraged that I was normal and everything would be okay.  It made me grateful I humbled myself and reached out when I needed to.  Deployment is no joke, but we made it through safe and sound.

I wanted to succeed at reaching my goal weight of 140 pounds and run my first half marathon.  I did not lose the extra weight (in fact I think I'm finishing up the year one pound less than last January).  However, I DID run my first half marathon, running the entire distance and that was a huge success. 

All in all, I feel I had a successful 2013.  At times it was a bit trying and I learned a lot about myself, but there were no major tragedies or mishaps.  Now I'm ready to see what 2014 brings...and I confess I'm a little more than happy to know my husband will be by my side through it all. 

Thoughtful Hostess Gift

In the years since we've moved across the country, and away from our families, we've kind of started a new tradition of having local friends over for Christmas Eve dinner.  I make a Mexican dish called pozole and we usually invite a family or two we've met in the area that we think would enjoy it.  

This is our 3rd Christmas season here in North Carolina and one of our guests is a family we've had over every year so far.  And every year they show up with a huge box of Ferrero Rocher candies as a hostess gift.  I'm talking the large plastic container you would find at Sam's Club or Costco.  

Those are some very delicious candies, but Lord knows I don't need that large box, so every year I have opened it that same evening and shared with everyone; including giving lots to their daughter who absolutely loves the stuff.  

However, this year was different.  Her daughter walked in and handed me a Christmas ornament as the hostess gift.

The wife explained it to me like this, "Oh my gosh, Leah!! I was thinking and telling [husband] 'Here she is working hard with all her running and being careful to lose weight and I show up every year with this huge box of chocolates.  I don't want to be the one sabotaging her!!!' " 

So, she bought me an ornament for my tree instead, knowing full well I'd have plenty of sweets at my house already. 

My instinct was to not make her feel bad for bringing those goodies to my house, but before I gushed over and over in the effort to make her comfortable I stopped and simply told her not to worry about it and then I thanked her for being so thoughtful.  

It is the season for giving and receiving sweet goodies, but each year I am further along in my weight loss journey I find myself losing some interest in the sweet treats that flood the holiday season.  Instead, I am almost overwhelmed by the over abundance.  

Don't get me wrong.  I do indulge.  But after already receiving the equivalent of about 2 lbs of chocolate as gifts in the days leading up to Christmas, I was touched that my friend would take into consideration my efforts to maintain a healthy weight and go for a non-food gift this year.  Her thoughtfulness meant more than she'll ever know.  :)

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very 

Merry Christmas

 from my family to you and yours! 

"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:10-11

Some of My Holiday Treats

In the years since beginning my weight loss journey I've noticed I do not bake as much as I used to.  In fact, both this year and last year I decided to make non-sweet Christmas treats for my kids' teachers.

I've done a little baking of some holiday favorites to keep and give to a few special people in our lives, but the only cookies I'll be baking this year will be for our Christmas service Wednesday night.

Don't get me wrong.  I've been eating my share of junk this past week or two, but I have to say by the end of the day I'm not feeling as well because of it.  I know...dumb.  If I don't feel good overeating why do I do it?  It's actually not just the sweets, as much as it is I'm being reminded I just can't hold as much food as I used to, nor can I handle greasy food like before.  *sigh*

That's why I loved this little goodie bag some elderly women in our church made for us wives and moms.  They said it was an "energy" treat to keep us going for the holidays.

Trail mix...a good blend of various nuts, cheerios and a few chocolate pieces in there to add some sweetness.  I now have a good idea of what to make the teachers next year.

Call to Encourage

I'd like to invite you to join me in spreading some cheer to a man who could really use the encouragement.  I read about this while I was out of town, but wasn't able to post it at that time.

Please read Katie's post about it by clicking here: Runs for Cookies - Sad News

A Week in Maryland

Last week I had the opportunity to accompany my husband to his annual training at the Naval station in Bethesda, Maryland.  

Some of the highlights from my week were ... 

• Sleeping in for me!!!
• French press coffee in bed
• Nice trails around the Navy Lodge, where we stayed, so I could go for a run.
• A gym on base only a mile away from the Lodge, so I could walk there and workout in the gym.
• Taking the Metro into DC and then lots of walking
• Trying a few new restaurants
• Joining my husband in the challenge to walk up the longest escalator I've ever seen.  Wowsa.

and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me....

• We went to see Handel's Messiah at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Words can't begin to describe how amazing the  4 soloists, the 170-voice choir and 96-piece orchestra sounded.  

This was the first time my husband and I have gone away for a week, and it was a nice treat.  The military paid for his gas, lodging and meals, so it only cost us my meals and shopping.  

I know for a fact the scale was up a smidge, even though I split that humongous dessert between two days and worked out three days, plus lots of walking.  But I also know I looked forward to every bit of walking I did and my husband said he was amazed that I climbed that escalator without stopping.  We did it three times total and every time I was out of breath, but joyously giggling at the top, because I made it.  He also smiled big. 

Going away for a week just before Christmas made me a little nervous at first, but it was good for us to get away and spend some time alone since he was gone for so many months on deployment.  We were able to have some good talks about life, our future and even where we want to go as a couple with our health.  

I look forward to sharing more on that latter subject later.  In the meantime, now you know where I was. 

Ouch!

It has finally happened.  I had my first fitness injury yesterday. 

There I am running in my neighborhood, minding my own business when the next thing I know I feel something at my left foot and I'm falling forward.  I broke the blow with my hands, but took most of the hit on my lower forearm/ elbow.  Had I not had capris on I would've scraped up my knee worse than I did.  

I laid on my back for a couple of seconds and then got up.  Knowing there are lots of little bones in the feet I was nervous to keep running.  The few jogging steps I did take brought an ache to my foot, so I decided to just walk home.  

I was so frustrated and cried a little.  Then I made myself stop, because I didn't want someone to see me crying and wonder if I'd broken something.  Since I could step on my foot I didn't think anything was broken and didn't want that kind of attention.  

Unfortunately, I think I'm easily shaken, or overly precautious, but I wasn't about to try running anymore after the fall since I was just out running for a workout and not a race.  (That's the thought I had, "I'm not in a  race, so I'm gonna walk..." knowing full well I'd probably walk in a race too if it hurt that bad.  I've just read too many running stories of people who pushed past pain and had bad issues afterwards.)

I still don't know if I stepped wrong or what, but the outside of my left food aches a little.  I took naproxen, iced it and my husband was kind enough to massage it a little before bed last night.  

Today I decided to skip exercise and give my foot a rest.  I had enough errands to run this afternoon, so it got plenty of exercise.  There is no swelling, and just some slight discoloration, so I'm sure it's fine.  My elbow had a nice scrape and bruise on it, which I feel every time I adjust myself in the car.  Ouch.  

Anyway, I'd be proud of my bruise if my foot didn't hurt.  I've gotten on a good roll with exercise and hate that I took a fall.  However, more than anything I am very grateful it wasn't anything worse.  With a friend dealing with back issues I know I have no room to complain right now.  :)

"You Started It!"

Last night my 13-year-old was showing us his muscles. (I'm learning this is common in teen boys... lol )  Then one of his sisters joined in and started showing hers.   

My son has been going to the gym with my husband a couple evenings a week and my girls are in the middle of basketball season.  Everyone is being very active and likes to show off the results of their efforts.  

I was giggling and rolling my eyes when my husband says, "You started it!"

"Me?!", I replied, "I wasn't showing any muscles."

"Yes, you.", he countered.  "You're the one who started exercising and getting healthy and got us all into it."

We shared a big smile and I chuckled. 

Okay.  I'll take the blame.  :)

Just Do What I Know

I was catching up on some blog reading the other day -- this is always very motivating to me when I'm lagging in my good eating and/or exercise habits -- and I noticed some people getting back on track with weight loss attempts.  Some just do what they know to do, but many are writing about the new program they are trying to get the weight off "this time". 

It makes me think, because I know exactly how they feel.  When I'm feeling pudgy, or have fallen off the weight loss wagon I tend to go looking for a "new" eating program that may be what I need to get back to losing weight.  Somehow I think that I stopped losing weight, or started putting on some because what I was doing wasn't working.  

But that's not true.  Not for me anyway.

When I'm completely honest with myself I know that the reason my weight loss, or in this case maintenance, is off kilter it's because I haven't been doing what I know works.  Basically, it really does come down to calories in versus calories out.  Yes, better food choices are vital to maintaining a healthy weight, but more importantly I still have to burn more calories than I'm taking in to lose; or burn as many as I'm taking in to maintain. 

It's pretty simple and it's what I've been reminding myself this week.  There is no magic plan for weight loss.  For me, I need to get back to tracking my food and getting in regular exercise, I need to remember that when my stomach tells me it's satisfied I need to listen to it and I need to remember that quick fix diets don't work.  

I lost 70 pounds by eating less and moving more and I'm going to continue doing it to get this six pounds back off before it becomes ten or fifteen or twenty.  It's what I know, and I know it works.

Turkey Trot Results

It was a small gathering, but three people did join me in doing a virtual Turkey Trot during Thanksgiving weekend.  Two of my friends sent me pictures, so they got an extra entry into my little drawing.  :)

Thank you Chris, Suzie, Christine and Diane for joining me in staying active over the holiday weekend.

The winner of the prize is ... Suzie!

And some visual proof of our activities....

When I saw what the temperature was going to  be I almost decided to wait until another day to do my run.  But I knew I had to be a leader for my own event, so I bundled up and got out there.  It was a glorious sunshiny, COLD morning.  My layers kept me warm and I enjoyed the run immensely.  

 My friend, Chris, encouraged me when she said she was going to use this opportunity to get back on track.  And she literally did over the weekend, getting in her 3.1 miles on her treadmill inside.  I'm so proud of her!

Suzie inspires me, because I knew she has always been active and when I realized I was inviting her to run ... well...that's what new endings will do to a person.  :)  Knowing I can now "run" with her was inspired me to keep pressing on in my weight loss journey. 

Thanks to all who participated, even if I didn't get a picture.  Just knowing I had put my little turkey trot out there for anyone to join me helped me stay committed to getting it done.  And I'm thankful I did. 

November Weigh-In

November 30
Today's Weight:  166.5
Loss/Gain:  +5.5 lbs

Goodness.  The only good news about gaining over five pounds this month is that I put it on in the first half of the month and then stayed there.  I weighed myself a week after my husband got home, and we'd gone out of town for a couple of days, and saw the scale was up about five pounds.  I was like, "Yikes!"

Well, then I didn't get it off.  I finally did get a couple pounds down the week of Thanksgiving, but then the scale was back up today.

It's not that I'm learning that I have to still be diligent while in maintenance, it's more that I have to remind myself not to get lazy.  My workouts hadn't been what they were when training for the half and then the 10K in October and I was still able to keep my weight down.

Then I let my eating slide and the scale went right up.  So, I've set my goals to workout 4 days a week and get back down to 160 by the end of the year and I know that getting my eating back in order is key to doing this.

My husband is also up about 7 pounds since he got home, so we are going to work together to get ourselves back into better eating habits.  So, while I'm not so pleased with the gain, and subsequent sluggishness and pudgy feeling in my middle, I know I'll get it off.  Gaining permanently is not an option in my life now.  :)

My First Virtual 5K Turkey Trot

So...I've been perusing the internet for a bit looking for a virtual 5K to join up with on Thanksgiving Day.  Last year I did one and it felt so good to get out there and run a bit and be reminded of how thankful I am to have gotten better control of my health.  Since I didn't find anything locally I could attend or anything virtually that interested me I decided to do my own. 

To make it a little more fun I invite you to join me in committing to get some exercise over the Thanksgiving weekend and I'm going to put together a holiday-themed prize to give away afterwards.  Here are the important details...

Rules: 

• Simply run, walk or bike a 5K (3.1 miles) sometime during Thanksgiving weekend - November 28, 29th or 30th.

To be entered into the drawing for a holiday surprise:

• Leave a comment below stating what you will be doing.  You may enter my drawing even if you are doing an actual race in your area that day.  :) 
• For an extra entry into the drawing email me a photo of you before, after or during the activity at scrappin4fleia (at) gmail (dot) com no later than midnight November 30th.

Note:  At this time the prize can only be mailed within the US. 

I will compile the pictures and post them the Monday afterwards, along with announcing the winner of the drawing.  Have fun and happy trotting!

Lessons from Mom

Today is my mom's birthday.  My friend's mother passed away this past Sunday and another friend's father passed away this past Saturday.  My mother is a breast cancer survivor and knowing we came close to losing her a few years ago makes every birthday more special.

Being overweight is an issue both she and I have dealt with all of our lives.  Here are some of the best lessons in life she ever taught me with regards to my health:

• All things in moderation.  There were always treats in the house growing up, but we didn't just eat and eat them whenever we wanted.  
• Love yourself as you are.  Growing up I was a chubby girl and then teenager and I never once heard my mom tell me I was fat, nor did I hear her ever suggest I needed to go on a diet. 
• Keep trying.  If I did feel a little overweight and wanted to lose some weight my mom would encourage me as best she could; even if it was the 3rd time in a year I complained about my weight but did nothing about it.  She never suggested I'd failed so many times at weight loss that I should quit trying. 
• Dress for your figure.  My mom taught me to dress modestly and in a way that flattered my figure, no matter how curvy it was. 

So, to my mom I say, "Thank you, Mom, for your love and example in my life.  I wish you the happiest of birthdays!" 

New Jacket and SPI belt

Our temperatures dropped back down into more autumnal degrees today, so I pulled out my new jacket I bought for running.  I have to say I think wearing cute workout clothes makes everything better.  :) 

The little pink pouch hanging out the bottom is my new SPI belt.  I'm in love with it.  It holds my iPhone and keys while I run.  I am also kind of super excited that I am being able to wear it lower on the abdomen and it doesn't slide up to my waist.  

It's the small things that brighten my days sometimes.  :)

Note:  Did I mention I got a new Canon EOS 650D camera for Mother's Day/My birthday in July?  I can't remember... anyway..please excuse me as I tried taking a self portrait today with the timer.  Gotta work on that.. 

A Party & Chocolate Gifts

What a nice weekend we had!  Saturday we had a welcome home party for my husband with a bunch of friends coming over to enjoy some filipino food we had catered.  My husband is in the Navy, but attached to a US Marine Corps unit, so we live in a Marine Corps town.  Since we are surrounded by "jar heads" I had fun decorating with anchors and representing the Navy at our party.  :) 

A friend of mine gave me a gift since she said I was deployed also.  lol  She and her husband said they saw a sign that said, "He enlisted, She was drafted"  Of course, I fully support my husband in his job, but it was fun to get a little gift.  

When I opened it I was a little taken aback because it was all chocolate treats.  Yikes!  I will admit I've had three pieces already.  I know everything in moderation is okay, but chocolate treats have been a problem for me this past week or so.  Darn it... I was thinking, "Hm...can people please not give me chocolate gifts??"  I just have to put them up and save them for once a day. 

Today I went back to the gym and took the "Total Athletic Conditioning" class that I love!!  It rotates between cardio and core/strength for an hour.  It can be very hard, but I took it a little easy today to ease myself back into tough strength workouts.  

As for my Monday update: 

• I will exercise 4-5 days a week. I did workout 4 days last week! :)
• I will maintain 160, and maybe even lose a few more pounds by January. Fail.  The scale is up..thus this goal.  :-/

So, here we go!  New week and new days to work on those goals.  :)

What A Run!

Lately I've been babysitting a toddler on Thursday and Fridays, as needed.  When I first agreed to this temporary job I knew it would mean planning my exercise around the hours I would have this little one -- 8:30am-3:30pm.  So, yesterday I decided I would go run after she was gone and with the colder morning weather we'd been having it was going to be nicer out at that time anyway. 

What a great run it turned out to be!!

By the time I left to run the family was all home, everyone was occupied with something to do and I didn't have to prepare dinner because we had leftovers for everyone to pick on when they got hungry.  This fact, along with the fact that the weather was beautiful, spurred me to go ahead and run five miles instead of my planned four.  

I didn't push myself for any specific time, but allowed my body to just go.  Having not run very regularly since my 10K at the beginning of October I knew I wouldn't be very fast, but I wasn't worried.  I simply enjoyed the exercise, sometimes hardly believing I was still running for exercise. 

When I got home I looked at my Garmin to see that I had run 5.5 miles and my average pace was 11:13 minutes per mile.  Nice.  After a day of housecleaning I wore myself out with that run, but it was such a good feeling.  My legs were challenged and in a way they were reminded of what they are capable of.  I look forward to more running in the future!

My 2013 Holiday Goals

I've already written two posts this morning, but I wanted to post one more thing before I get too busy with my day and weekend. 

We are two weeks away from Thanksgiving.  And while I may think it's still a tad early the stores are beginning to hang Christmas decor and I've even heard Christmas music already in one store.  

Although I do love baking and sampling baked goods this time of year, it's the busy schedules that get me more off track than anything.  By off track I mean that I tend to kick exercise to the curb in lieu of needing more time to complete holiday tasks. 

Not this year.  I don't feel well when I skip exercise (this last month of hardly any exercise is proof).  And when I exercise I find it easier to stay better on track with my eating. 

So, in the spirit of all things party, holidays and fun…here are my goals for this 2013 holiday season: 

• I will exercise 4-5 days a week.
• I will maintain 160, and maybe even lose a few more pounds by January.

I think I'll check in on Mondays so that I can report on the week prior and let you know if I'm sticking to my goals.  

How about you?  Are you setting any goals for yourself during the holiday season?  I'd love to hear about it.  

Meanwhile…I may hang this on my fridge.  :)  

Scale is Up, But I'll Be Fine

If today was a "weigh-in" day as it was until about a month ago I'd have to come on and tell you that I've gained a few pounds.  I'd also have to admit what I could already tell physically; that I've put on a couple pounds, am not feeling so great and I need to get back on track. 

It's not a horrible gain, but I've been dipping too much into sweets and breads and I have not been feeling my best.  The lack of regular exercise in the past month (as compared to the months previous) is taking a slight toll on me as well.  

The good part??  This text conversation sums it up pretty well: 

Me: (after discussing how my Panera bread autumn squash soup in a bread bowl was too much bread for me)  Yes, I love the flavors they put together, but today was too much bread…especially since I've had lots of junk lately.

Steph:  That's how you know you've so completely changed!

Me:  Yay!!! 

Yes…yay!!!  TOM was here last week so I realized that must be why I was craving the soda and chocolate and carby foods so much.  However, I didn't quite bounce back from it like usual and I was beginning to feel it in my body -- and not like it. 

So, when the scale was up these past few days I knew why and I know it won't stay up.  Just this morning I reminded myself that I WILL NOT gain back the weight I lost.  Life happens, but I am living a new ending and I know I'll be fine.

Working Out with Hubby

My husband and I were able to get away alone for a couple days last week after his return from deployment.  When I booked the hotel I specifically looked for one that had a fitness center.  I figured we'd have extra time to at least get a walk in or something.  As I packed our bags I texted my husband to ask if he wanted me to pack workout clothes since there would be a fitness center available.  Honestly, I was kind of hoping he'd say "no..don't feel like it.", but he was like, "Yea!  I can't get to the gym today, so it would be good to go."

Oh darn.  I mean…yay!!  :)  Actually, I was glad he said yes, because I knew I needed to get some exercise done.  I just needed the little push.  So, I packed up my gym bag with our tennis and a set of workout clothes for each of us.

Friday morning after a leisurely breakfast we got dressed to go workout.  The fitness center consisted of two treadmills, an elliptical and a bike.  No free weights.  My husband was not impressed at all and was bummed about no weight, because that's his thing to do.  I just wanted to run for like 30 minutes, so I was fine with it.

Well, as we looked around we saw a flyer that the nearby Gold's Gym offered a free pass to anyone who was staying at our hotel.  So, we grabbed our hotel keys, wallets and water and drove over to the gym and ended up getting a good workout in.

I ran 4 miles on the treadmill and then did some core exercises and he worked out in the free weights area.  We both agreed that it felt really good to get some exercise done and I was tickled inside at knowing that a weekend getaway with my husband now includes fitness.  :)

(gotta love bright-sun-in-the-eyes pictures..lol)

He's Home !!!

I don't know if any of you that have been following my blog for a long time remember me mentioning last spring that I was going through something in my family and having to remember that food is not the answer. 

For the safety of my family I chose not to mention the issue on my blog.  The issue was ... my husband had just deployed.  He is a dentist in the US Navy and last March he left on the 26h Marine Expeditionary Unit for an eight-month deployment. 

This past Monday he came home - right on time! 

This was our first deployment and while not the easiest thing in the world we've ever done we made it through safe and sound.  And now you know why...

• ...it was a big deal when I called him "My Hero" months ago.  I had put on five pounds since he left and was very frustrated with how emotional deployment had me.  I emailed him that I refused to let this deployment be the undoing of my weight loss and he wrote me the most amazing, encouraging email.  
• ... I was kind of sounding in a rush to want to be at my goal weight.  Even though that didn't happen I lost lots of inches and have been able to maintain 160, which is huge success and good enough for both of us. 
• ... running the half marathon was such a big deal.  I decided when he left running would be my therapy and it surely was.  I almost didn't do it because he wouldn't be here to see me finish, but I knew I had to get it done and it would give me something else to focus on during the long months with him away.  
• ... having Stephanie to run the race with me was so special.  It would've been such fun to have her come anyway, but knowing she was there when my husband couldn't be meant more than I can say.  She even allowed me a few tears when we returned to the car afterwards as I missed him so much in that victorious moment. 
• ... I didn't blog as much.  Being a "single parent" for eight months took up more time than I realized it would.  Emailing him daily took up a large part of my computer free time, so my blogging time went down drastically. 

To make it through such a life changing event with my weight still at its lowest is an amazing feat for me.  My kids were great troopers through it all.  The girls put up with hearing more about my weight loss than usual I think and my son was the only male in the house for the duration.  My husband was a great support via email from all different spots of the world and we have actually grown in our marriage as we've been forced to deal with some issues in different ways due to the separation.  

Things are now beginning to settle back into a normal family routine and I'm so happy.  I'm very proud of my husband for his service and happy to have kids who endured the deployment without causing major upset to our life.  Trust me, not everyone had such smooth sailing (pun intended..he was on a ship..) during deployment.  I am a very blessed woman. 

So, thank you for putting up with my minimal blog posting and reading these past months.  I'm hoping to get a little more regular with both from here on out.

Weigh-In … 1st month of "Maintenance"

Yes, Hello… I am alive!  I meant to do this last week, but was feeling yucky so I'm just now getting around to updating you that I am still alive and all is well.  :)

October 31 Weight:  161.0

Loss/Gain:  + 0.5

I hovered between 159-161 pounds this last month.  Woot!  I think this first month of maintenance went well.  I do still have the desire to work on losing at least another ten pounds, but I must say that not having to think about losing weight this week relieved some pressure from my life.

I did not go crazy with my food, as my weight shows, but I just allowed myself to live like I always do without having to think "I need to see a loss on Friday!".  It was a nice feeling, especially with everything we had going on this month.

Today I went running for the first time in three weeks and it felt good.  Our weather has been a little weird and it was 70 degrees out when I went, so it was a little warm for my taste.  I took it nice and easy since I hadn't run in a while and since I'm recovering from a bad head cold.

The sun was out and it was a lovely day.  I felt so much better when I was done.  Later when I was running errands I felt the workout in my legs and it was good feeling.  My life is getting back into a normal swing of things again and the cold is draining away.  Glory!

Hopefully tomorrow my day will allow me to come on here and share some good news with everyone. :)  In the meantime...

Thanks for stopping by!

Busy Week and a Sore Throat

Last week was a crazy busy, but super fun week.  We had a Bible conference at our church that I helped with and two ladies came to stay with us from Wednesday on.  This made for late nights chatting and then my kids having regular school schedules during the days.

Saturday we slept in and were a tad lazy.  I planned on resting more Sunday afternoon until I got a text Saturday evening that my son had a soccer game Sunday afternoon.   Soccer games between church services makes for busy days.

So, it was another busy day Sunday and then Monday morning I woke up with the worst sore throat.  My head had been feeling a bit fuzzy, but nothing bad until then.

Ugh.

I went back to sleep for about two hours after taking the kids to school.  When I lie on the couch and fall asleep for two hours I know my body needed it.

This week is another busy week for us, though not as much as last week, so I really don't have time to be sick.  However, after having to stay up late last night with a teen who had a lot of homework I laid back down again this morning after taking them to school and got an extra hour's rest.

Like a good girl I've gargled with salt water and am drinking fluids.  I'm trying not to eat too much ice cream, though it sure feels good going down.  lol

I haven't exercised in over a week and now with this sore throat I'm not sure if I should or if I feel like it.  I am finishing up some painting and getting things ready for another bit of company next week and helping watch some kids a few evenings at the end of this week, so I also want to make sure I get my rest.

I know I'm not the first to be busy, but it's amazing how a sore throat and fuzzy head can send a person off track.  dang.  If it doesn't start feeling better I'm going to check for strep for the sake of the kiddos coming over.

As for the healthiness side of things...I have been weighing myself and pretty much maintained my weight through last week.  That means I was up like maybe a pound.  Now if I can get my body to heal up so I feel like doing more than sleeping with some of my free time I'll be good.

That's why this is a lifelong journey, not a sprint.  Life comes and goes and if we can maintain some semblance of health through it then we're good, right?  Right.  :)

Thanks for checking in!

Successful First Week

So....I didn't post my weight last Friday, but I did weigh myself and I had a successful first week of "maintenance".  My weight was pretty much the same, and not up.  :)  

Here's a couple fun things that happened over the week: 

• I passed on some clothes to a friend of mine telling her that some were given to me and just weren't my style.  I said, "Since I figured we're about the same I thought you'd like them."  She rolled her eyes and said something like, "oh please..." as in ' we're not the same size, you little thing" .   I realized I am a size smaller than her now, which was not always the case.  
• While out running the other day I passed a neighbor walking and she told me I was doing great.  I responded, "It's a miracle!"  lol  It was.  I ended up having my fastest 3 mile run completing 3.5 miles in about 36 minutes - a 10:38 pace.  Woot!
• One of my daughters informed me that she think she might want to take up running instead of playing basketball next year.  I had mentioned to my family about all of us doing a 5K in the spring and she later said she was even thinking about seeing if she could do the 10K instead.  *sniff*  I was so proud to hear my daughter want to push herself a little bit in the physical fitness area of her life and especially to know it was because I encouraged her to do so, not just her dad.  :)

We're entering a very busy week of a Bible conference at our church, so I may or not be around.  It looks like our weather might actually be turning to fall, for real, so I hope to enjoy some cool, brisk days visiting with friends and helping out at my church.  

Until next time... Have a good day!

Not Letting Past Failures Stop You

This morning I came across this post by Diane at Fit to the Finish and thought I'd share it with you: 

How Many Times Did You Try and Lose Weight?

Without going into much detail she hits on not letting past diet or weight loss failures stop you from trying once more.  That's right up my alley because I'd never known permanent success with weight loss in the past, so when I knew I needed to stop the gaining once and for all I couldn't bring myself to start another diet.   

Here's my comment on the post:  

Having tried dieting so many times in the past I was scared to go on a diet this last attempt at weight loss.  In fact, I refused to sign up for one; I simply decided to change one bad habit and add in one good habit.  For me, the fear of failure stopped me from going on another diet when I knew I had to stop the weight gain, but it also prompted me to begin making those small lifestyle changes that have lead me to where I am today ... 70 lbs lighter.  

I think when we come to the point where we admit what we've been doing isn't the best for our health and has to change then we can begin any diet or eating plan and see true success. 

Beirut 10K 2013

This past Saturday I ran the Beirut Memorial 10K on a base on the edge of town.  This is my second time doing it and I enjoyed it as much this year as I did last year.  My goal was to run it at about an 11:00 mile pace and I told my husband, "In 1 hour 6 minutes".  Well, I actually both met and exceeded my goal.  

I ran the 10K in seconds under 1 hour 6 minutes.  Because 10K is 6.2 miles and not just 6 miles I actually ran faster than my goal -- 66 minutes would've been a perfect 11:00 pace for 6 miles, but 66 minutes averaged to about a 10:38 pace for 6.2 miles.  Woot!!

It was very cloudy and a bit humid, but cool.  The run goes through both a wooded path and asphalt streets on this small base.  I just love the wooded part of the run and told a couple runners at the end of the race the wooded parts make me feel like I'm a trail runner.  We were running around huge puddles from all the rain we've had here and the ladies agreed with me.  :)

I almost ran without my Garmin (GPS watch), but then I decided to keep it....just in case I started to slow up too much.  However, I headed out at a good pace and allowed myself to run a bit "fast" and not worry about having to save energy for the end.  I figured I'd hold back just enough to see if naturally I could settle in a quick, but steady pace to make my goal time.  I could tell that I was pushing a little more than the pace I ran the 1/2 marathon at and it felt good.  

There were a handful of us who had run the 1/2 marathon and one lady was really struggling at the end.  I told her, "We got this!! It's only 1/2 of the 1/2 marathon.  No biggie!!"  We smiled and she did end up finishing a minute or two ahead of me. 

This was my last race for this year and I had a great time.  It was nice to feel strong and to be able to say that running 6.2 miles wasn't hard at all.  :)  

Oh, but my one "bad" thing that happened...kind of funny actually... I had to go "#2" before I left my house, but decided I'd wait and go at the race so I could empty my intestines in one try.  Um, yea...but then I couldn't go -- I felt rushed.  So, I ended up at the start and had to go to the bathroom.  I told myself I could hold it for an hour, and thankfully I didn't have to go so bad that I had to stop.  I was able to hold it, but once in a while I was reminded that I needed to use the restroom.  lol  It made me laugh, because it's things like that that you read about in Runner's World magazine and so when it happens I am almost proud of it it.  Like, "Yes! I'm a real runner with a real runner problem!!"  *giggle*

I told myself if that was the worst thing that happened then I was doing great.  It was and I did great!  :)

A Change in Mindset

I just posted my weekly weigh-in post and announced that I'm switching my weigh-ins from weekly to monthly.  As I typed away in my post I realized something I said without even thinking about it.  I stated, "I'm tired of not feeling good enough in my weight loss journey."  The Bible says "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" and I guess my heart was speaking through my fingers in that one line, because that's pretty much how I've been feeling sometimes.  

The truth is I'm actually pretty pleased with where I'm at right now.  I'll feel fat when I look at the tummy roll around my middle, but then when I return from a run and see my reflection in my partial-glass screen door I feel amazing.  At the risk of sounding vain, I've had to buy some new church clothes lately and when I see myself in some of the outfits, like the one below, I'm very proud of how far I've come and how I look now.  (I confess I felt weird standing in this pose, but found out there's a reason people stand like this in their "after" photos...it's the most flattering.  lol)

Yes, I'm still 5' 4" and 160 isn't a "healthy" weight for my age and height, but... let me share some things I've been thinking about, noticing, etc. this last year.

• I've watched people lose weight, get to that "perfect" goal weight number and then gain back 10-20 pounds.  If I did that, I'd end up right where I'm at now. 
• Over the summer I listened to some podcasts where plenty of people said they reached a weight that wasn't their original goal weight, but they realized they felt better and looked better and were at a weight they felt they could maintain, so they stayed there.
• I've maintained a 70-pound weight loss for about a year now and I've continued to push myself physically and stay fit.  
• I've never been a fit and healthy person.  Truly, only once in my adult life was I walking daily and was able to get down to 170, and that only lasted for about a year. 
• I am 37 years old and can promise you I have a slow metabolism.  I've always said and I think at my age people should believe me when I say exercise is a must if I want to eat more than 1200 calories a day and stay thin and that I can eat a large meal and not be hungry for hours...unless I just ran for a couple hours.  That's simply how my body works. 
• I like to eat.  I've trimmed up a lot of how I eat, portions and types of foods, but I still like my treats and I've had a hard time cutting back what is necessary to lose more weight quickly.

Sum up those few facts above and I find myself wanting to decide to start saying I'm in "maintenance" now.  

However, I do feel that losing another ten pounds would be better for me.  Shoot, if I could discipline myself to actually reach 140-145 that would be great, and I know it's totally doable, but I'm just not sure I feel like eating or exercising at the level that would make it easy for me to maintain that weight. 

Easy...yes, I know that's part of the problem.  I have fought tooth and nail to get this weight off, not fought in the way of eating the best and working out for hours on end, but fought with my own self over how much and what I eat.  I've had to break some bad addictive habits.  I've had to come to grips with the fact that I need to change, and I have changed. 

But I'm kind of getting tired of always feeling bad about my lack of success with weight loss just because I don't eat as "good" as some people who are thinner than me.  Oh yes, sadly I do feel like a failure at times because I'm still not at 140, even though I've actually lost a lot of weight and kept it off for almost a year now.  I tell myself it's okay because this is MY journey, but that comparing demon still shoots darts my way trying to cause me pain even when I've had great success this far.

So, I've decided to change the way I'm thinking about things now.  It may be a temporary change, but I want to see if this mental change maybe helps me.  I'm going to allow myself to switch my mind from "diet" mode to "maintain" mode, while continuing to track my food, striving for a calorie deficit and working towards a downward trend on the scale.  

I may have weeks I do great and the scale drops a lot and I may have weeks I maintain, but I'm going to work at reaching 150 minus the pressure that if I don't reach it by ______ then I'm a failure.  

I can imagine some of you going, "FINALLY!!" and some of you are afraid I'll stop losing, or even start gaining.  For those that see me embracing the victory that is 70 pounds loss and staying physically fit (ahem, Lori..my friend. ;-)  ) thank you for always believing in me and encouraging me. 

For those that are afraid I'll gain the weight back.  Don't.  

I have no intentions of ever going back up the scale.  The food addiction chains have been broken in my life and I don't plan on ever putting on those shackles again.  I'm just stepping out from under the pressure to be on a "diet" and allowing myself to continue doing what I'm doing and enjoy my new healthier self.    Yes, I said I'm going to enjoy my new healthier self instead of feeling like I'm living in the shadow of that elusive "goal weight" which seems to be the only thing I've associated with "success" in weight loss.

I have to say I've been kind of stressing about this decision lately and knowing I'm allowing myself to maintain while aiming towards a downward trend on the scale is more freeing than I can say.  The silly thing is that's pretty much how I've lived and lost this weight, but somehow it feels different to actually make a definitive switch in thinking and put it out there for all the world to see.

If you've read this far...thank you.  I blog for myself and in the hopes that someone who can relate to my struggles will find some consolation and hope for themselves through my story; but knowing I have a small section of the world cheering me on in this journey is an added benefit.  As a writer and chatty lady this blog has been one of my biggest sources of help in this journey and I appreciate every one of you that takes the time to check in on me.  

Have a great weekend!  I plan to.  :)

Weigh-In ... Last One For A Bit

Today's Weight:  160.5

Loss/Gain:  +/- 0

With TOM showing up this week I am pleased with a maintain in my weight.  Again my goal for this week is to try and make it through the weekend without being up on the scale.  

Speaking of the scale...I'm going to try something new.  

I'm going to try only posting my weight on the first Friday of every month.  I will still weigh myself at least once a week (unless I can accept my friend's challenge to stick to my Body Media calorie limits and then weight at the end of each month and see how I did...scary.).  

In an effort to keep this weekly post shorter I'm going to leave you with the fact that I simply want to keep working on my weight loss, but not feel the stress of having to show a lower number every week. I have no problem being honest on here, but I almost feel bad when I'm not down every week.  

And I'm done feeling like I'm not good enough in my weight loss journey.  So now that I'm getting closer to my weight loss goal I am going to only post my weight once a month.  No worries...I'm still working towards a downward trend, so I plan on seeing something below 160 by November.  :)

Thanks for checking in!

Daily Thoughts

Lately (as in the past few months) I've been pretty busy and seem to only get on here to blog once or twice a week.  I've also not had much time for reading blogs.  I've said before that I often think of things to blog about, but I just never seem to have the time to sit and get it done.  There are some factors that have made my life busier than normal these past months, namely extra life duties I've had to take on.  Add that to a desire to write well and I don't "have" time to blog very often.  

So, I've been thinking about it and I think I'm going to simply try and write about things that come to mind, even if I don't have the time to explore my thoughts deeply.  If I have a day where I can organize my thoughts and put together a neat article, then I will do that, but I won't allow the desire to produce a neat "article" stop me from putting together a simple post when I have a thought related to my healthiness journey that I'd like to share. 

For example, yesterday I would've written about this...

I was out running and listening to a podcast wherein the interviewee was stating that she's not sure where her goal weight will be.  She stated when she began her journey she had a fixed goal weight number in her head, but as she got closer to the number she was reevaluating whether she was really going to get to that goal. 

She made a few comments about how she is okay with that, because now it's about being healthy and in better shape than she ever was for years; and reaching a certain number doesn't change that.  Boy, can I relate to that right now. 

She also said when she started reading blogs she started reading the blogs written by maintainers to give her an idea of what her life would be like in maintenance.  She and the host agreed maintenance is the hardest part of the weight loss journey, but also the most important part.  

Again, I heard that and thought that's exactly what I did.  When I started my weight loss journey, and subsequently my blog, I started following some ladies who had reached there weight loss goals and maintained the loss for some time.  It encouraged me to know that permanent change was possible.  To this day I realized I follow more people in maintenance than I do those that are working through their own journeys.  

I'll leave you with that for today.  I have another thought I want to share, but I need to get going for now.  I may make it back here later this evening or it may have to wait until tomorrow.  For now, I'm just happy I actually got to share something that's been on my mind.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Check back tomorrow for my weigh-in. (Though I can tell you...TOM has arrived and I'll just be content to be the same... *sigh*..the joys of womanhood.  lol )

Weigh-In ... Back to the Gym

Today's Weight:  160.5

Loss/Gain:  -1.0

I'm pleased with this.  Down is always better than up.  I got back to the gym this week and I was more careful about my food consumption during the week, reminding myself that I would like to get down to at least 150 before I feel I can really settle into maintenance.  

I think I forgot to track my food one day though, because when I look at my Body Media report calorie deficit balance looks higher than I think it should.  hhmmm...

I know that I did bust my tail at the gym this week.  I have one more race to complete a week from tomorrow and then I'm just going to concentrate on regular exercise like before.  Well, regular but challenging.  My plan is to take these interval training classes at the gym on Mondays and Wednesdays and then run at least 3 other days a week.  This is pretty much what my exercise looked like before my half training started last June.  

I also want to kind of not look too much at the Body Media deficit until the end of the day.  I think I see that I can eat more and I think, "oh yay!! I can eat more, but then I go overboard sometimes."  Make sense?  With the Body Media Fit armband I'm learning that I need at least 1400 calories on a non-exercise day and then I can pretty much eat all of my exercise calories  burned if I want to have a 500 calorie deficit (leading to at least one pound lost) or maybe cut back to about 1/2 of the calories I burn if I want to lose a little more.  

This can sound confusing, so if you're not into it I'm not one bit offended if you skip this part.  I'm really glad I bought the Body Media Fit band though because it has shown me that eating 1200 to keep losing really isn't good for my activity level. (I can't believe that's true... lol )  I've also been listening to a few podcasts of success stories wherein the ladies speaking are saying they realized they stalled in their weight loss because they were cutting themselves too short on calories. 

It's another topic for another day, but I'm really learning a bit about making sure I am eating enough to still lose weight.  It's all very interesting.  

Anyway, I hope you're all having a nice Friday.  We are enjoying some beautiful fall evenings and mornings here.  The days cooled off, but they are back up in the 80's again.  Being that I love my sandals I don't mind that as long as the mornings are cooler for running, which they are.  Soon it will be time for jeans and hoodies and we're looking forward to that as well.  

Thanks for checking in on me.  I hope you have a great weekend. I plan to! :)

Weekend NSV

Not a long post, but just had to pop on here to say that I was pleased to weigh myself Monday morning and see that I had not gained any weight over the weekend. 

I confess my weight loss journey follows bad dieter rule #3 (I made it up, but did see it in a list recently...)  I eat heavily/crappy on the weekend and then use the week to make up for it. 

I know it's not the best, but it's what I do.  A lot of the time I only intend for one or two of either Friday, Saturday or Sunday to be a higher-calorie day, but it usually ends up being all three.  Then on Monday I'm like, "ooh...I need to get on track." when I see the scale is up a couple pounds. 

Not this week.  This week on Monday I was the same.  That's is great for me!  :)

I also went back to the gym yesterday and went for a run today.  I am sore, but it feels good to be active again.  With the slow metabolism I'm not blessed with I need regular exercise if I want to eat more than rabbit food to lose weight.  :)

So, things are looking up and I'm happy about it.  I hope your week is going well.  Ta Ta For Now!

Um...wait a minute...I'm such a blonde...  

I just realized I titled this a "nsv" which stands for "Non-Scale Victory" and this totally is a scale victory.  DOH!  I guess since it wasn't a weigh-in victory I was thinking of it more as victory with my eating being in check over the weekend and not that the victory was the scale being lower??  Anyway, I'm too pooped to rewrite this or think up a new title, so we'll let it be.  Silly me.  *giggle*

Weigh-In ... No Workout Week

Today's Weight:  161.5

Loss/Gain:  +2.0 lbs

I totally forgot to post yesterday.  oops.  I wasn't avoiding reporting I just got busy and forgot.  

I'm not worried about this gain one bit.  After the half marathon last Saturday I decided I would take a week off of running and all exercise actually.  I feel better and am ready to get back into the routine on Monday.

This week has shown me that I really do need exercise to lose weight and if I'm not super careful with my eating I need it to maintain my weight as well.  

Thanks for checking in and I'll be back Monday with some ideas about my fitness plan now that training for the half marathon is over.  

I hope you're having a good weekend and enjoying some nice autumn weather like we are. :)

My First Half Marathon

Four days later and I still can not believe it.  I can not believe I actually ran 13.1 miles.  But I did.  Last Saturday, after 15 weeks of training, I got up at 5:00 am, got ready, headed out to the race location, and at 7:00 am I joined with the crowd of over 700 people to run a half marathon.  

My friend, Stephanie, had flown in from Oregon earlier in the week and we ran the last few training runs together each morning before the race.  We also shopped and lazed about and even enjoyed a free pasta dinner provided by Olive Garden for the runners the night prior to the race.  

It was a great week and I wasn't hardly nervous for the race.  

The morning of the race we planned it so we'd get to the race location an hour early.  The race was on the base and I wasn't sure if there would be a lot of traffic getting on the base for the race.  This is a pretty popular race in the area and I knew from the dinner the night before there were people there from out of town running.  It turned out to be good that we arrived early, because we got decent parking and had plenty of time to warm up and use the restroom before it got really busy.  

Like I said, I wasn't really nervous.  I was super excited and couldn't believe I was really going to run 13.1 miles, but I wasn't worried about being able to do it.  We both kept reminding ourselves it was just another long Saturday run.

The weather was supposed to be really nice and I knew I was ready.  I was hoping to run at about a 12:00 pace, but made it my goal to simply run the entire distance, even if I had to slow up a bit.

I hit both goals.  I ran the entire 13.1 miles without stopping and I averaged just under a 12:00 pace, finishing at 2 hours 36 minutes.  Glory!!!! 

Everything about the race was wonderful.  Both participants and volunteers were polite and kind and the weather was nice.  It was more humid than it had been earlier in the week and then sprinkled early on in the race.  The clouds gave us a nice covering for the duration of the race, but no more rain came after the initial sprinkling. 

If there would've been a "bad" part of the race it would only be the first mile or so when I always deal with feeling so slow as the crowd surges on ahead.  There were a couple of ladies I thought I'd be able to keep up with, but as they went on ahead of me I felt I needed to stay where I was.  I checked my pace on my Garmin and confirmed holding back was a good idea.  

This has happened at every race I've participated in so far and it's really the only part of the race that intimidates me a little.  However [insert dramatic pause] once again as the race progressed I began passing people and knew my slow[er] start paid off. 

In fact, just as before, it didn't take but more than a couple miles for me to start catching up to people who were taking walk breaks and as I passed the halfway mark I started passing people I didn't even recognize from the beginning.  Only a few of the people I passed came and passed me up again.  

This, my friends, is my one glory and my best advice.  Slow and steady wins the race.  

I may have been towards the back of the crowd at the start, but as miles passed by I continued on strong and steady and even began to increase in speed naturally.  It wasn't until about mile 11 that I began to feel it a bit in my legs and even then I was able to finish strong.  

Just before mile 13 Stephanie jogged over to me and finished out the race with me. She had finished strong at 2 hours 2 minutes, also running the entire thing.  Woot!! 

At .1 mile I sprinted across the finish line and gladly received the finisher medal I was handed.  My legs were a bit sore, my emotions were a bit raw for a minute, but I gloried knowing I did it.  I finished something I never dreamed I'd do.  And I ran every single part of it.  *contented sigh*

After taking pictures and allowing my legs to rest a bit at the race location we headed out for breakfast with my girls.  Then we went home, showered and rested a bit more before Stephanie and I went for spa pedicures sporting our new 1/2 Marathon t-shirts.  They massaged our calves and feet and the whole shebang and we enjoyed it immensely.  It was a great way to finish off the day. 

Stephanie had to return home this past Monday, but we sure had a great time while she was here.  She's been with me since the beginning of my weight loss journey and it was a blessing to have her come and share with me in this great undertaking.  

I'll probably think about more things to share about the race later, but this will have to do for today.  This was a race I'll never forget and I'm already looking forward to doing another one sometime in the future.  :)