How Far Did I Go?

I lost one pound this week. Well, actually .8, but I'm rounding up. I stepped on the scale three times trying to get it to give me the .2 to make a full pound, but the scale wasn't cooperating. Oh well- a loss is a loss, and I'm just glad to see my weight-loss chart going down every week. I'm on a roll and it feels so good.

One of my prayer requests lately has been, "Lord, please re-teach me how to eat." I watch my kids eat. They'll walk away from desert if they are "done." I knew my portion sizes and brain didn't remember what was right and normal any more, so I need to be re-taught by my body's Designer. He has been so faithful in answering that prayer. I feel like I'm understanding myself better, have a good idea of how much food I really need, and am still enjoying some treats, too. I want this weight-loss this time to be permanent and the internal changes to be lasting. That's why I'm going to the Source- My Maker. : )

I wanted to share a great website called www.mapmyrun.com You can chart your walks or runs on their and it will calculate the distance. I love it! I used to have to try to measure it with my car to see how far I'd gone. I have fun plotting new routes and upping my distance. There is also a www.mapmyride.com for bike riders.

OK...Here's my current stats:

Pounds lost this week: - .8 lbs.
Pounds lost in March: - 7.4 lbs.
Total Pounds so far: - 29.4 lbs.
Yippee!

Goals:
Run 5K race on May 16th
Run 5 mile race in September
Lose 50 pounds by August 14th
Lose 60 pounds by Christmas and that's as far as I want to go. : )

My Cheap Home Gym and Celebrating a Great Week!

After only losing 2/10 of a pound last week, I'm celebrating a great loss this week. I was so excited to weigh in on Monday morning and see that I had lost 3 1/2 pounds!

A lot of things went right this past week.
My sore hip and knee felt better, so I was able to fit my Couch to 5K workout back in
I bought new running shoes (on sale of course) and that was a great motivator
My eating choices were really good without having to take a lot of time to think about it. I just focused on the right portions and didn't eat after dinner other than a lot of sugar free gum. It is going to take Costco size boxes of gum to break my night time munchie habit but its working.

I went to the Mall last week to pick up my new shoes and I had to walk through Dillards. Just the smell and seeing all the cute spring clothes and shoes made me want to work even harder. I want shopping and dressing to be fun again. That was another great motivator.

But I know the real secret to my success is my mom is behind the scenes praying for me. Thanks, Mom!

I promised I'd tell you about how I'm getting creative and building my own home gym. Here's what I'm doing to exercise without a gym membership:

I've already told you about:
- Couch to 5K Plan
- Free Watch Instantly Netflix workout videos (especially Pilates for core strength)

But for weight training I'm using:
- Resistance bands from Wal-Mart
- And my newest purchase is Gold's Gym Home Gym System and DVD also from Wal-Mart.

I wasn't sure about the Home Gym at first. I thought it didn't have enough resistance, but I figured out you can add as many as four bands to one handle. It will be awhile before I'm too strong for this and it fits so neatly on the back of my bedroom closet door. The DVD is a little boring and slow, but I won't need to use it for long once I figure out how to do the exercises correctly on my own.

I just walked in the door from my jog. I love the runner's high. : ) I'm so excited and hopeful about this progress. My short-term goal is to reach 31 pounds lost by March 31st and 50 pounds lost by August 14th- my baby's first birthday. Here's how I'm doing so far:

Pounds lost this week: - 3.5
Total Pounds so far: - 28.6
Goals:

• Run 5K race on May 16th
• Run 5 mile race in September
• Lose 31 pounds by March 31st
• Lose 50 pounds by August 14th
• Lose 60 pounds by Christmas and that's as far as I want to go. : )

I'll Take What I Can Get I Guess

Drum roll please...

I lost a whopping 2/10 of a pound this week! I'll take what I can get I guess, and if I'm perfectly honest, this wasn't a stellar week. I nursed my sore hip and knee all week and then ended up with a cold, so my exercise wasn't what I wanted it to be. I'm thankful for any loss and no gain. I'm such a tortoise in this race. But the tortoise won the race, right?

I had a good day today food wise. I'm writing this post and chomping on sugarless gum to keep myself from blowing it at the last minute. Most people I know don't eat when they are sick. That rarely happens to me. When I don't feel good, especially with colds, food feels good.

I just want to get to my goal so badly though, so I've stocked up on the sugar free gum from Costco and that's my snack tonight.

Here's hoping for a better weigh-in next Monday! : )

I'm so ready for some new clothes, too. I don't want to invest in clothes that will be too big soon, but I also want to feel good along the way. I'll have to do some bargain hunting and figure out how to actually make it out of the house with sick kids and my baby's nap schedule. I wish I could Internet shop for clothes! Anyone want to be my personal shopper? I don't pay very well. : )

I still want to do a post on how I'm trying to build a home gym with little money and some creativity. Netflix Watch Instantly movies are still my life saver right now. It is supposed to be 60 degrees this week. Perfect running weather! As soon as I get some new shoes, I'm hitting the asphalt again.

Hope all is going well for my fellow climbers out there!

: )

Progress and Setbacks

Yippee! I'm officially at the HALFWAY mark!!! Last week, when I said I was about halfway there, I was rounding up for my benefit. : ) I lost three pounds this week which is exactly 25 pounds lost since September. I'm doing it slowly, but I really feel like I'm doing it right and that it will stay off this time.

I've reset my deadline to reach my goal by August 14th. That will be my baby's first birthday. I felt like a year after childbirth was a realistic goal for losing 50 pounds. I hope to be there sooner than that, though. Every time I look at this sweet face, I know he was worth all the effort I'm putting into recovering from pregnancy weight-gain. Isn't he cute??? (I'm a biased mama)




I have been enjoying my Couch to 5K running plan so much but have had some owies I'm dealing with. I tried to run through them yesterday, but I think that was a bad idea. It just made things worse. So, as bummed as I am to say it, this is going to be a rest from running week.

The pain is in my left hip and the inside tendon of my left knee. I really feel it when I walk up stairs. So here's my plan for getting better:

- Foam Rolling: This is something my trainer taught me to do for recovery after workouts. It is awesome! It burn when you are rolling out the tight spots, but it is so worth it for how much better you feel and move after you are done. Here's a video to show you what I mean.:








There are lots of YouTube videos and articles online that explain Foam Rolling if you want to check it out more. Matt always told me Work + Rest = Success, so this is a part of my resting and hopefully recovery from these owies.

- Buying new running shoes. The shoes I've been wearing are four years old and need to be replaced.

- Taking the week off of running. The race is May 16th, so one week off won't hurt my progress too much.

- Sticking to my eating plan. This is the most important thing for me. Exercise alone doesn't do it for me and without running, I'm going to need to be focused.

- Continue with my strength training and Pilates.

I'm really excited about the changes that are happening in my body. I'm feeling stronger again and it reminds me of how I felt when I was working out with Matt two years ago. I really, really miss having a coach. I got to work with the best, so I'm trying to remember everything he taught me. I don't have a gym membership right now, so I've had to be creative, but it's working. I think I'll talk about that in my next post.

Here's my stats:

Weight Lost so Far: - 25 lbs.

Weight to go: 25 lbs.

Goals:

• Run a 5K race on May 16th
• Lose 50 lbs. before August 14th.

If you have any tips for getting over hip and knee pain, let me know. : )

Excited About Races

In my last post I mentioned that I am training for a 5K race by doing the "Couch to 5K" running plan. Just today I found the race I want to run. It's on May 16th. It is so neat how excited I feel to have a real race to look forward to. It is very motivating.

If that race goes well, I think I might consider training for a beginner's triathlon they are having here on August 6th. I would DEFINITELY qualify as a beginner. It sounds kind of scary but fun, too.

I also started a new eating plan today. My mom belongs to Curves and loaned me her book. I was intrigued by their eating plan and decided to give it a try. It is a 30-day cycle, 3- phase diet. Phase 1 goes for 1 week of 1200 calories and higher protein, Phase 2 goes for the rest of the month and is 1500 calories, and then you do a 3rd maintenance phase for 2-4 weeks to give your metabolism a rest before you start the dieting cycle over again. I like the idea of this being slow and easy on my metabolism. I've got a slow one anyway and been a life-long dieter. I'm excited to see how this goes for me. I'll let you know.

I'm creeping toward my 50 lb. goal. I'm approximately 1/2 way there. I wanted to be there by the end of this month, but I'm seeing that is pretty unrealistic. I don't want to do this too fast and gain it back again. My new goal is to be there by summer.

For exercise, I'm doing the Couch to 5K plan three days a week and filling in the rest of the time with videos from Netflix. My favorites are the ones by Ellen Barrett. I love the Pick Your Level Weight-loss Pilate's and even though it is really cheesy, I do like Jillian Michael's Cardio Kickbox. I'm also doing the Bikini Ready Fast but don't worry, I was only teasing about running my 5K in a bikini. The world is not ready for that yet, and neither am I. Ha Ha!!