Weekly Update: Expect the Great!

So....another week on this journey and since last week, I have lost 4.4 pounds!!! I know that it is only through constant prayer and His grace that I have made it this far. I am in constant amazement of how this weight loss journey has gone thus far. So with this recent weight loss, it has brought my total weight loss since January 3rd to 16.4 pounds!!!! I  AM SO EXCITED. One of my goals for February was to lose an additional 5 pounds to the first 10. I have exceeded that goal by 1.4 pounds and I am just a little more than half way to my goal of losing 30 pounds! Watch out now! Thus far, I have lost 8.33% of my weight. Just one step closer to losing 10%! I remember years ago when I did WW, I longed to lose 10%, that meant I would have been a lifetime member. While J. Hud is my "thin-spiration", I am so proud of the fact that I am losing this weight through my eating habits and exercise which is the same thing that WW does but I don't spend the money on their program. I use a calorie calculator that I used when I did boot camp and I love it!  I think weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. I know people who work out seven days a week but they don't lose weight because they eat junk! I have to go out of town for work next week and I hope that I can find healthy things to eat. I plan on taking fruit and my healthy non-perishable snacks with me so I am not tempted to stop at fast food joints on the three hour drive down to Richmond. I have already scoped out the malls and shopping centers. I really wanted to meet my goal of 15 pounds so now I can "treat" myself to something new!!!!! I also think that the fish only thing is attributed to my weight loss for this month. I talked to D. about continuing to eat fish. I know that it is still going to be the majority of what I eat but I want to cook a couple chicken dishes next month and someone said they would take me to Ruth Chris as a treat for running the race. So we shall see...I love seafood anyway so its a win-win situation for me!

Like I said last week, Tuesdays are my best run days. Today, I had an awesome run! 2.75 miles straight in 31 minutes. I got a new water bottle that I can sip rather than pour so that helped with my water intake while running. One reason I wanted to run and not stop is to impress the hubby! We both had a snow day today and we started out running next to each other until his treadmill went crazy so he moved. He wanted me to move with him but I didn't want to stop running. I ran the first two miles at 5.2 mph/11:18 and for the last .75, I upped it to 5.5/10:54 mph. I continued walking for another 30 minutes. I am still anxious to run outside. On Sunday, the weather was semi-nice so took Amaya up to an elementary school to ride her bike and play on the playground. The school had a trail that I walked. It was pretty nice but I didn't feel like I got a good workout. It was cold so I didn't sweat much. I think I went around the trail about 12 times and according to my trusty iPod pedometer, I walked about 2.79 in 45 minutes. Not bad, but not good either. I am so hard on myself but if I'm not, then who will? 

So I hope to be back next week with more great news...after all, I am expecting the great!

Weekly Update

Two pounds down and three more to go until I reach my goal for February. I have lost 6.1% of my weight!! In the weight loss challenge that I am doing we are calculating our weight loss by using percentages. Although, we did not start the challenge at the same time I started my "getting to skinny". So by the end of the challenge which is on March 31st, I hope to have lost at least 10% of my weight. That would also mean that I would be more than half way to my goal of losing 30 pounds by this summer.

The weight keeps coming off (slowly but at least its coming off) so I think I should keep doing what I am doing. Last week, I only worked out six days so I think my theory of working out everyday is true. If you remember, last week when I only lost .8 pounds, I worked out seven days that week. I will keep up with the six, working out Sunday-Tuesday, a rest on Wednesday, and then pick back up on Thursday-Saturday and repeat!

I am finishing up week 5 in the 5K training program. I ran 2.5 miles under 27 minutes on Tuesday. I have had my best runs on Tuesday!!! On Thursday, I was struggling to run 2 miles but I did it in 22:13. Which I thought was pretty good. I am also tracking my miles because my chapter in my sorority is participating in the 2,013 miles by the year 2013. Last month, I walked/ran 41.5 miles. This month so far, I have already walked/ran 43 miles and some changes. So needless to say, I will be exceeding that number for February!

Still sticking with the fish and if it wasn't for my poor husband and the fact that I LOVE chicken enchiladas, I would keep the fish thing up. I am going to talk to him about it some more. I know that we will probably continue to eat more fish than anything else! It tastes so good. In the last couple of days, I have made some pretty tasty fish recipes. My favorite was the Roasted Red Pepper and Herb Pasta w/Shrimp. I got the recipe from cooking light and it tasted so good to be "light". Next time I make it, I will add less crushed red pepper because it was a little on the spicy side! I also know exactly what to do to roast red peppers; to say I had a bit of a challenge would be an understatement. I love raw red peppers and they tasted even better roasted. 


Here's to another great week!

I Did It, I Really Did It!

I reached my first weight goal a whole week early!! I didn't lose much weight this week (only .8 lb.) but that .8 plus the 9.2 that I had lost thus far caused me to reach my goal of 10 pounds by Feb. 14th!!!! I am so excited. I am not really sure what is was this week as to why I didn't lose more. Maybe it was the chocolate cake I ate on Super Bowl Sunday; I would hate to think that I can't have any sweets!!! But hey, a loss is a loss anyway you look at it. So I am 10 pounds lighter than the day I began this blog and that's a lot to celebrate. I have to stop comparing myself to others. I got myself in this and I am the only one who can get me out of it. Its easy to get bogged down by what other people are doing but I have to focus on me and my goals for this journey!

Now, I am looking forward to challenging myself to meet my Feb. weight goal of 5 more pounds. It was pretty easy for the first 10 to come off so I am trying to figure out what I need to do to continue. I am still sticking with the fish only and to be honest; I'm surprised I didn't lose more because of that alone. Maybe it was because I worked out every.single.day in the last week. I actually worked out for 10 days straight and took a rest on Wednesday (2-9) because I was tired and had a busy day. That didn't stop me from feeling guilty though! And to top that off, I had a pretty sucky workout Thursday (2-10) morning because I didn't have much time before work. I only ran 1.5 miles (the standard for my training schedule) and walked a half-mile. I didn't sweat as much and by the time I looked at the clock, it was time to head back to the house to shower and get ready for work. To say I have a slight obsession with working out would be a true statement. I just hope I can keep it up. Today I plan on hitting the gym hard! An hour on the elliptical and abs and arms are what is on the workout schedule for today. Tomorrow, I am scheduled for 2.25 miles. I really want to get outside but this morning, the temperatures were in the single digits. Its supposed to warm up next week, so maybe next Saturday, I will run 2.5 miles outdoors.

I finally registered for the race, so its official; I'm running a 5K! I am finishing up my 4th week of training and I can hardly believe that I have stuck with it. Prior to this, I was not a runner, like at all. But now I see how people can develop a love for running. I am already thinking about my workout schedule once I finish training for this race. I am still searching for a bootcamp so hopefully once the weather gets warmer, they will be in full effect! I think I am going to sign up for a local 10K that will be held at the end of May. I haven't decided yet but its in the back of my mind. I also am entertaining the idea of a half-marathon. The only thing is most of them are in late fall and I do NOT want to train for a race in the hot days of summer. We surprisingly had a really hot summer last year and I can't imagine running outside. So my plan is (if I decide to do it) to start training for it in September and maybe run a half in January. I have my eye on the Disney Half-Marathon that will be in January 2012. That would be plenty of time. Hopefully, by then my weight will be what I want it and I would just be focusing on running.

Weekly Update and Goals for February

I heard the song "Expect the Great" early yesterday morning and it seemed to be the theme song for me yesterday. After a stressful Sunday and Monday, I was determined that Tuesday be a great day and I expected it. I had already made up my mind to weigh-in after my 2 mile run which was a great idea. The run was soooo easy (knock on wood!)!!!!! I kept waiting to feel tired or like I couldn't go on but it never came. So I ran 2 miles in 23 minutes and 05 seconds at a pace of 5.2 mph. I was so proud of myself. I cooled down for 5 minutes and then upped it back up for another 20 minutes and walked another mile. This is week three in the training program and I am happy to say it is getting easier by the week!

So for the weigh-in...drumroll please.................................................I lost 4 pounds this week!!! I am so, so, so happy! Considering I gained two last week, I definitely made up for it this week. This brings my Month 1 weight loss total to, wait for it, 9.2 pounds!!! I am *this* close to my 10 pound goal. I am hoping that I can meet my goal with next week's weigh-in. I figured out what I did wrong the last week and fixed it. I stopped all the snacking and I try not to eat dinner at 8PM.

I also started putting my meals and snacks into an on-line calorie calculator that I have used in the past and it seems to be helping as well. I really take into account what I put into my mouth because I have to enter it. So as I stated earlier, I am also proud of myself because the last two days have been extremely stressful and in the past (meaning before Jan. 2011), I would have eaten myself into a hole but I didn't. I used to consider myself an emotional eater, meaning when I was sad or upset, I would just eat and eat and especially eat junk food but that didn't happen! 

I met Goal 1 and 3 for January; I have to wait until my weigh-in on Feb. 15th to see if I met my 10 pound weight loss goal for the month. The chocolate intake was easy. Whenever I felt the urge to eat chocolate, I would drink water or eat a Dove dark chocolate piece. I don't really enjoy those but they help my chocolate craving. I did also have (throughout two weeks) 6 pretzel rods that were dipped half-way in white chocolate. I also had two granola bars that had mini chocolate chips in them. The water part was easy. I started putting a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice in my water bottle each time I filled it up. Now, I can hardly drink water with having lemons or limes. When at work, I would try to drink one bottle (26 oz) before lunch and then fill up for the second time after lunch and for the rest of the afternoon. Last Tuesday, I tried to drink 3 bottles of water which I think caused extra water weight (if there is such a thing) so I think 2 bottles of water a day is really what works for me! 

So my February goals are:

Goal 1:  Continue to train for the 5K in March. I have 6 more weeks left until the race and again it is getting easier. Along with the training, I want to continue to work out 5 days a week. With the training schedule, I am supposed to walk on Sundays, run/walk on Mondays, run on Tuesdays, rest of Wednesdays, run on Thursdays, rest on Fridays, and run on Saturdays. I think I am going to work out on Wednesdays instead of rest. The gym has Boot Camp on the 2nd Wednesdays of every month. I already have a prior commitment next Wednesday so I guess I will have to wait until March to attend. I tried the Precor machine on Monday so I think I will maybe do that on Wednesdays. This machine tells you which lower body muscles are being worked and it was definitely a workout on the glutes and thighs and calves. I definitely felt it! 

Goal 2: Lose five additional pounds by March 1st. This would mean that by the end of February, I would have lost 15 pounds. I think this is realistic because I am more than half-way there and I hope that I meet this goal!

Goal 3: Fish only for the month of February. I have done this before for one month when I was getting ready for my wedding and felt that it helped me. I have found lots of fish and vegetarian meals to cook for the month of February. 

I am wanting meet my 30 pound weight loss goal by the middle of July; my online calorie counter says I should meet my goal by the middle of May but I know that life happens and I don't want to be too hard on myself so that's why I am saying July. I am still trying to get into a two piece by 4th of July. I should go purchase one and hang it up so I can have it as a daily reminder seeing how so many stores have them out already! An important part of losing weight this time is the maintenance. I know that I can lose weight but the struggle this time is going to be KEEPING it off!