Beginning to Feel Like a Runner

Perhaps I should say jogger, because I don't really think I run...but really who cares. The point is something has changed for me. On Monday (3/12/12) I jogged for 30 minutes nonstop! I just went out and said I am going to do this. I warmed up for 5 minutes jogged for 30 and had a super super slow walking cool down. I was really excited! Then on Wednesday (3/14/12) I wanted to prove to myself that Monday wasn't some freak accident. First, nerves got the best of me. I kept thinking what if I can't do it again, which almost made me stay home. Then I realized my ipod was in my mom's car (she live 20 minutes away from me). Then I went to the place I normally jog and there was a couple of dogs loose. Technically, they were with their owners chasing something, but they were not on a leash and I'm afraid of dogs. At this point I got back in my car and left. Then I turned around and said I'm going to do it anyway. I'm so glad I did. I did my normal 5 minute warmup and told myself that I would not look at my watch. I just kept jogging. When I did look at my watch it said 33 minutes. At that point I thought well, I would like to be able to jog a 5k in under 40 minutes, so let's just see if I can jog for 40 minutes and where I'll be at that point. I'm happy to say I jogged 2.9 miles in 40 minutes. Whoo Hoo!

When I finished my legs felt funny. Have you ever been on the treadmill or the elliptical FOREVER and when you finally get off it feels weird to walk on the non moving ground? This is how my legs felt after the 40 minute jog. I was tired, but not wiped out. For the first time I thought, "Wow, I'm a runner." I know different people have different ideas of what constitutes a runner, but in my mind if I say I'm a runner then I am one lol! I don't have the fastest pace in the world, but I can remember when I was struggling to jog 30 seconds. So, this is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I have a 5k towards the end of April (Mayor's Cup). I'm really confident now that if I continue jogging 3 days a week I can finish in under 40 minutes. Today was my rest day, so I'm going to shoot for 40 minutes again Saturday.

It is amazing to me how my thought process has shifted. When I first began trying to jog I hated it. I hated it mostly because my shins hurt all the time, and I would become so disappointed with the very short time span I could actually jog. I had no confidence and I thought I looked like a complete idiot. I was embarrassed to run in public. Eventually, I just had to suck it up. Over time my shins stopped hurting and it felt great getting to know people who are at the park around the same time. I began to get a thumbs up, a smile, or a great job from familiar faces as they passed by. I started to get to know the guys who work at the local running store and they get just as excited as I do when I talk about a new distance. I began to reward myself with running stuff for a job well done (I got new, really cute Sweaty Bands for finally reaching 30 minutes). I began to realize that the only person judging me when I jogged was me. Everyone else just wanted to support me. Now I love it. I love being outdoors and admiring everything around me as I jog. I still have major issues with the treadmill. If the treadmill is my only option I am likely to skip running and do something else (I hate the treadmill that much). I guess the point of all this is that I feel like a new person. I'm so happy I stuck with jogging.

I started with the couch to 5k plan on CoolRunning.com. After a point I stopped using it though. I would get really upset with myself if I had to repeat a week or if the next week was too hard. So, I just decided to do what I could do everyday. I know this isn't a real plan, but it's honestly what I did. I would set my watch and go. By not worrying so much about the plan I was doing that day I was able to just go out and enjoy my jog. By no means am I knocking the couch to 5k plan. It got me up to the 20 minute jog. So, I think it's great. I just had to do something different because of my all or nothing attitude. Anyway, running is great and for the first time I feel like I really can accomplish a half marathon this year. It was on my list of goals for the year, but I did not honestly believe I could do it until now. I am super pleased with myself right now.

On a side note, I have a dry erase board on the door of one of my rooms. I use it for motivation. My sister visited me earlier in the week and this is what she left on my motivation board while I was at work.



Haha! She's so funny. It really made my day, and I'm going to keep it up for awhile. I hope you all have a fantastic day! Remember to reach for the stars, because the only person setting limitations on what you can do is you!

Results of Eating Better

A little over 3 weeks ago I decided that I wanted to try eating better and see what it would get me. I know how I love food and how I'm used to eating, so I did not want to commit to this for too long. Spring Break was coming up, so I decided I would do it until Spring Break started. The hope was that I would get decent results in 3 weeks and it would be enough to motivate me to continue to make better choices. Surely I could do this for 3 weeks right???

Well, kinda lol! For the most part I did extremely well (I think so anyway). I probably had 2-3 bad meals a week, compared to every meal being a bad meal. Let me say I was not trying to eat clean. I tried eating clean one day, and it was just too hard for me to go from eating junk all day to eating clean. So, I just aimed to eat better. I went to the grocery store and I only shopped the exterior of the store (except for my Fiber One cereal and whole grain spaghetti and spaghetti sauce). I pretty much grilled/baked chicken and fish and shrimp. I ate tons of veggies and fruit, and I only drank water. I cooked at home a lot! Frozen veggies was a life saver for me, because I'm normally really short on time. I also decided I did not want to do any microwave meals because of the sodium.

I'm not the best at picking healthy foods when I eat out. So, when I got off track it was usually because I went out to eat with friends and family. I know I know...look at the menu ahead of time and decide what you're going to have. The problem is that when I get there everything looks so good! Oh gosh, let's not even talk about rolls at some of these places geesh! Anyway, I didn't do too bad. I also continued working out with Sam twice a week and on my own at least twice a week.

So, enough blabbering...here's what you all really want to see...results:


I lost 8.2 lbs and 4.5 inches in 3 weeks and a couple of days! I'm super excited about that!!!!! Go me!!! In the past it has taken me 6-9 weeks to do that! To me this proves what everyone has always said...your diet/nutrition is sooooo important.

On another note, I want to talk about a killer workout Sam made me do last Thursday. I had to workout with a deck of cards. The four exercises were squats, push ups, v-ups, and burpees. They each corresponded to a certain suit. Face cards counted as 10, aces were 20, and a joker would double whatever the next card was. By the end I had done 104 push ups, 104 v ups, 106 burpees, and 113 squats. It was so hard, but I felt like super woman when I was done!

Also my co-worker has gone out of the country for 3 weeks and he let me borrow his Insanity dvds. He didn't give me the schedule, so I just picked one to do yesterday. I chose the dvd that says Pure Cardio. Oh my gosh! Since when did a warm-up become so much work? lol! I made it through the dvd and only took 3 breaks, so I was proud of myself.

So, in summary my little experiment worked and I am definitely motivated enough to continue to make better food choices.

Long Time No See

Sorry I've been away.  I've been so so so busy (5 classes and a full time job).  I've been working out with Sam twice a week, as usual.  I normally get in 1-2 other days a week by myself.  That has really been hit and miss. 

I have not really gone jogging since I did the 20 minute jog almost a month ago.  I do sprints with Sam from time to time, but no real jogging with any true distance.  That stinks, because I was really excited about finally being able to jog for 20 minutes and I just let it go.  I'll have to work back up to it, but I'm determined to do it.  I want to do a half marathon this year.  I'm planning to do the Rock n Roll either in Vegas or the one in Miami.  I'm going to consider it my 30th birthday gift to myself.  I wanted to take a nice trip for my 30th (in July) and I also wanted to do a half.  I probably can't afford a separate trip for each the way I would want to,so I'm planning to postpone the July trip and roll it into a half marathon trip (Sept or Dec).  So, I'll still be celebrating my 30th (just months later lol) and I'll get to check off a major item on my list of things to do for year.

Today Sam said I might have a "come to Jesus" moment, and he was not joking.  Here's the list of what I did:
100 Push-ups
60 Burpees
100 Deep Squats
800m on Rowing Machine
12 Shuttle runs
36 Lat Pulldowns (80 lbs)
60 Leg Lifts
45 Lying Tricep Extensions (10 lb dumbbells)
300m on Rowing Machine
0.5 mile walk to class to cool down

I asked him if I was being punished because I had to cancel my session on Tuesday.  He laughed and said no.  I'm not so sure lol!  It was really really hard.  I did all of this over an hour.  The lat pulldowns, leg lifts, and tricep extensions were done in sets of 3.  The burpees, push-ups, and squats are a little difficult to explain.  Basically, I would do as many push-ups as possible in 1 min.  At the top of each minute I had to stop and do 4 burpees, then immediately into the push-ups.  At the top of that next minute I would do 4 burpees again.  I continued this until I had reached 100 push-ups.  This same cycle happened for the deep squats.  I hope the way I explained it makes sense. 

I felt like this was a completely ridiculous workout and I asked him several times if he was serious.  This was only me 2nd time on the rowing machine.  Oh my gosh, it works EVERYTHING!!!  I was shaking and fell like a combination of jello and dead weight by the time my our was up.  My shirt was completely soaked.  It was weird though, because although it was hard, I wanted to do it again this weekend.  This was one of those workouts that made me feel like I had instantly lost weight.  I'll probably do the push-ups, burpees, squats, leg lifts, and tricep extensions on my own at home this weekend.  It's good to leave a workout and know that I gave it my all and that I completely rocked it!

Oh, I purchased a 65cm stability ball and a 10 lb medicine ball to add to my home gym (which doesn't include much...dumbbells, adjustable weight bench, sit up rack, and tons of Oxygen magazines).  I would like to buy some cardio equipment (treadmill or bike), but we'll see.  I know plenty of things I can do for cardio without having the machines, so I'm in no rush to buy anything.

I've also been making an effort to eat better the past two weeks.  I made the pledge to do this until spring break (which is in less than two weeks) and then take a look at my results.  I'm hoping it will be motivation to make me continue to eat better.  I can already say that I feel better though.  So, it might be a a week or two before I'm on here to blog again, but I should have some measurements to post by then.  Have a great day!

Chris Brown - Turn Up the Music

I Conquered the 20 min Jog!!!!!

This blog is almost a week late, but I finally did it!  I did all of the 20 minute jog that is part of the couch to 5k program.  I did it this past Sunday.  I was planning to meet my mom to walk that afternoon, but something in me just felt like jogging.  My mother has not even gone walking in almost a year, so I knew jogging was out of the question for her.  What to do?  What to do?  I decided to go 30 minutes early. 
I had previously jogged with Sam for 11 minutes, so that is what I was planning to do.  I did a few quick stretches and I started with my warm-up.  I usually do a 10 min walking warm-up, but I really felt the urge to jog so after 5 min I took off.  I told myself I was not even going to look at my watch until I jogged to a certain point (which is about 1.4 miles).  I didn't make it lol!  There came a point when I was thinking I need to stop, so I checked the watch.  I was at 12:14.  I immediately thought, hey this is longer than I jogged with Sam, so I can stop now and feel like I accomplished something.  My calves were starting to burn, and I remembered Sam telling me that he knew I could do 20 min if I really put in the effort.  I also thought that I only had 8 min until the 20 and if I stopped now that I would always wonder if I could do it.  So, I kept going.  I looked at the watch again at 14:36 and I was really at my stopping point (or so I thought), but then one of my favorite workout songs came on the ipod (Janet Jackson - Make Me).  This gave me the burst I needed.  Not too much longer after that I saw my mom drive up.  I looked at the clock again and I was just over 18 minutes.  At this point I realized I was really going to do this.  I jogged by my mom and held up 1 finger so she knew I would be back in a minute and kept jogging.  The next time I looked at my watch it said 20:36. 

I forgot where I was and I screamed and pumped my hands in the air.  I was literally on the verge of tears.  I told my mom what happened and got words of encouragement and a hi-five from her.  Then I sent a text to Sam and he sent 3 or 4 "I'm so proud of you," "I always knew you could do it" kinds of texts.   I can't even explain how I felt when I finished.  I felt like some kind of warrior princess!  I never thought I would be able to jog 20 minutes nonstop.  I remember when jogging 60 seconds was a struggle, and I'm not exaggerating.  My legs used to hurt and I would be out of breath after jogging 60 seconds.  In some ways that seems like a lifetime ago, but I can remember it like it was yesterday.  I ended up jogging 1.6 miles in 20 minutes.  When I was done I walked another 1.5 miles with my mom.  So, to anyone doing Couch to 5k, or any other running program, stick with it.  If you have to repeat weeks, who cares, repeat it.  JUST KEEP GOING!  You can do it!  You can do so much more than you can ever imagine.  DO NOT GIVE UP EVER!  Whew!  I got excited all over again writing about it lo!

Quick Look at January Goals:
Try new exercise:  I tried the Plank Knee Raise  
I liked it.  It was something different and it was challenging.  I realized how much trying just one new thing can spice up a workout

Try a new food:  I failed at this.  I'll try to remember to try 2 for Feb to make up for it.

Oh, I have not jogged since last Sunday because I was supposed to jog again on Tuesday and ended up in a minor car accident.  I guess the woman behind me decided a red light means keep your foot on the gas and she rear ended me as I was stopped at the light.  I'm not cleared for exercise until tomorrow.  I basically ended up with a lot of soreness in my neck, shoulder, and back and a headache.
I hope you all have a fantastic day and remember NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!

I think this is the 3rd time I've posted this song, but since it's the song that made me keep going:
Janet Jackson - Make Me

Good News!

It's been awhile.  I'm still trying to catch up on reading blogs. 

School:
I normally keep this blog weight loss or fitness related, but I had a great day yesterday so I want to talk about it.  A professor I had last semester loved some of the research I did so much that she wants me to enter it in a university-wide competition in April.  I was really pleased that she liked it so much.  I'm also entering the same research in a competition on Monday.  On top of that I have been really stressed out with 5 classes and working 80 hrs in one week.  I have been a functioning nutcase suffering from sleep deprivation.  So, I was going to drop 1 or 2 classes.  I had to meet with one of the professors I was thinking about dropping because of a research paper.  I was with him for about 40 min and he is absolutely amazing!  I left thinking there was no way I could drop him.  He's really great.  I left feeling better about that class, but still a little down about the workload I'm taking.  Well, I came home and had a letter waiting on me from the UA. 

This came along with another letter that said as long as I complete the 5 classes I am signed up for right now, I will graduate in May!!!!  Technically, I knew that according to my calculations this should happen, but there is something about getting it officially from the university.  I had applied for graduation early in December, but had not heard anything so I was getting nervous.  I was so excited yesterday!  Whoo Hoo!  I also had dinner and a movie with my parents, so that added to my fantastic day.

Now Back to Fitness:

I see Sam twice a week.  During my work week, my exercise sucks.  I literally don't have the time.  I see him during my 90 min break between classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Other than that, I am either in class or trying to catch up on sleep.  He's going to write me up two plans: one for my work week and one for my off week.  He says the work week plan is going to be really short, but he wants me to do something.  He says sleep is very important and he does not even want me trying to do hour long workouts  (even on the weekends that I work).  He started talking about lack of sleep and hormones and weight gain.  So, I'll let you all know what he comes up with when I see him Tuesday.

I can't even remember most of the things we did this past week.  It has all been a blur.  I can tell you that he jogged with me on Thursday.  I told him how I had not done anything on my own since my work week started, and that included jogging.  I was complaining how I was going to have to start all over with my jogging and I was depressed about it, so we went to the track.  We jogged for 11 min.  I have no clue about the distance, because we were talking so I wasn't counting laps.  I learned it is so much easier when you have someone with you.  I do have a few friends who run, but they are so much faster than me and can go a lot longer, so I never ask them because I would hate to slow them down.  It was really nice jogging with someone else though.

Before I go Win, Lose, or Blog is accepting applications for their next season.  I competed in this and had a great time.  Plus, you get prizes and who doesn't like prizes!  Anyone can apply.  Several sizes are accepted.  Many of the ladies from my season had already lost a lot of weight.  Some weighed a lot less that I did and a couple weighed more.  Basically, if you have any weight to lose...apply!  Here's a link that will give you more info and tell you where to go complete the application.  Give it a shot!

Aaliyah- Try Again

Almost Lost It...

...it being everything I ate for breakfast yesterday.  Yesterday was a Sam day.  First, let me tell you what I did

3 rounds of 30 seconds each
Wall Balls (12 lb ball)
Burpees
Jumping Jacks
Kettlebell Swings (12 lb kettlebell)

3 rounds
Woodchoppers (10 each side)
Alligator Walk (12)
Walking Lunges  (12)
Sprints on Stationary Bike (2 min)

3 rounds
Modified Push-ups (10 but I had to go all the way down to the floor before I came back up)
Bicycle Crunches (15)
Lat Pulldowns (12 using 60lbs)
Dumbbell Punches (30 seconds)

2 rounds
Deep Squats (15)
Pulsing Squats  (10)

Mountain Climbers (30 sec)

I did everything except the mountain climbers for 30 seconds.  My stomach was feeling really funny and Sam asked if I was lightheaded.  I was, but only a little.  He told me I was on the verge of throwing up and we had to stop.  After about 4 min of just sitting I felt fine and wanted to do the last 30 sec of mountain climbers, but Sam said no.  So, I made it through all but the last 30 seconds of my planned workout. 

To those of you who say reading Sam's workouts makes you feel like a wimp...don't.  Remember, it takes me an hour to do this stuff.  A lot of you have been exercising longer than I have and could probably do these workouts faster and with heavier weights.

I completely bailed on jogging over the weekend and earlier this week.  I'm on the day I'm supposed to jog for 20 minutes straight and I've been completely psyching myself out.  I was supposed to do this on Sunday, then Tuesday and I kept making excuses not to go.  This morning I woke up with a back ache, but decided to go anyway.  I didn't make it.  Each step seemed to make my back feel worse.  So I was out there for about 25 min, but less that half of that was jogging.  So, I came back home.  I'm going to take a Motrin or Aleve and see if my back feels better later.  If so, then I will try it again after class today.

My nutrition sucks.  There's no other way to put it.  I think I've eaten out once a day 4 out of the last 5 days.  I don't know what it is with me and food.  Well, I do know what it is...lack of willpower.  I have stayed away from burgers and fries, but getting a sirloin with a Parmesan cheese crust and a loaded backed potato isn't any better.  It's actually about the same thing.  So, I'm going to work on it.  Telling you all about this all the time does nothing, if I don't put some action behind what I say I want to do.  So, hopefully my next post will say I've done much better with my eating habits.  I also hope to be able to say I jogged 20 minutes.

Not a Nicki Minaj fan, but this is a nice tune for me to jog to.
David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj - Turn Me On

Busy Little Bee

Whew...I've been busy this week.  I'm sorry I'm not able to blog as much.  During my work week I used to posts blogs at work.  Now, Blogger is blocked (but facebook is open, so figure).  With work and school, I only have time for sleep during the day.  So, when I work you will probably only see 1 blog from me and it will be on the weekend.  I'm off right now, so whoo hoo!

School started on Wednesday.  I am taking 5 classes.  What was I thinking?  I work a full time job and I decided to sign up for 5 classes!  This honestly might drop to 4.  If it does, then I will graduate in August and not May.  During my work rotation I will average about 4 hrs of sleep Monday through Thursday.  Also by the end of April I will have read about 25 books for these classes.  This all seems very overwhelming to me right now.  So, we will see how it goes.  I have until the 19th to drop a class and it will completely disappear from my transcript.  After the 19th, a W will show up on my transcript, but I can still drop it.

Now for my most exciting news...I saw Sam Wednesday!!!!!!  Yay! Yay! Yay!  I didn't even realize how much I missed the entire experience of training with him.  I can't remember everything we did, but it was quite a lot.  Jogging is difficult for me, but I don't produce 1/10th of the sweat jogging as I did while I was with Sam.  Here is what I can remember that we did:
Walking Lunges (as I came up to switch legs I had to pause with my leg in the air...hard to describe...sorry)
Squats (with 25lb weight)
Burpees
Wall Ball
Alligator Walk
I probably did another 10 exercises I just really can't remember them.  When it was all said and done, my shirt was soaked, my legs were shaking, and I was breathing like a crazy person.  Sam chose that moment to say, "Welcome back.  You missed me didn't you?" He had a smile a mile wide.  lol!

I also got my body fat measured in a machine called the Bod Pod.  I'm not pleased at all with what it said.  This is supposed to be one of the most accurate ways to measure body fat.  I'll let you all know what my number was the next time I get it done.  I hate the number is so high, but I will feel better posting it if I can at least say "look it's lower than that now." So, you'll just have to wait another 6-8 weeks or so.  This machine also tell you how many calories you can eat.  Sam said I could eat 2100 calories.  Here's my breakdown. 
If I were in a coma and never moved at all for 24 hrs my body would burn just under 1700 calories.
Sam said he would consider me active, given that I am jogging 3 days a week and seeing him for 2.  As an active person I could eat 2600 calories a day to maintain my weight right now.
A sedentary person could eat 2100 calories.  Sam told me to stick with the sedentary calories in order to lose.
2600-2100=500 calorie deficit per day
500 calories x 7 days a week=3500 calories=1lb of weight loss per week.

This is the Bod Pod when you sit in it and what it looks like closed.

Jogging:
So, all last week I was referring to my jogs as week 3 of the couch to 5k plan.  I was wrong.  I was actually doing week 4 then.  I am now on week 5.  Today was week 5 day 2 which was...
10 min warm up (the plan says 5, but I have found that I need 10)
8 min jog
5 min walk
8 min jog
cool down
Here a link to the plan if anyone else is interested.

Day 3, which I should do on Sunday is a warm up and then a 20 minute jog.  20 minutes nonstop...really???  Yeah, my mind is already playing games with me.  I'm really worried I will not be able to do this.  I'm going to try really hard though, because I can imagine that the sense of accomplishment I will have if I do this will be insane.  I have to remember that a few weeks ago I never would have believed that I could jog for 8 minutes.  So, I just have to give it all I have and do my very best.

Last week I was tagged in a post by Hyla, one of the lovely ladies I met through Win, Lose, or Blog.  I am supposed to:
1. post these rules.

2. you must post 11 random things yourself.

3. answer the ques­tions the tag­ger set for you in their post.

4. cre­ate 11 new ques­tions for the peo­ple you tag to answer.

5. go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them.

6. no stuff in the tag­ging sec­tion about ‘you are tagged if you are read­ing this.’ blah blah blah, you legit­i­mately have to tag 11 peeps!

I'm going to cheat here, because I've done something similar not too long ago and the people I would tag would be the same ones I tagged then.  So, I am going to give you my random facts, answer Hyla's questions and probably list my favorite blogs.

Random facts:

1. I bite my nails...not a good habit and I'm hoping to change this
2. I love really good hummus dip.  I mean REALLY love it.
3. I'm obsessed with Christmas.
4. I love scented candles.
5. I have cracked my sternum before...not a pleasant experience AT ALL
6. I hate to work out in front of people
7. I'm a sucker for Hallmark movies
8. I'm terrified of roller coasters that go upside down.

9. I love cheese grits.

10. I'm obsessed with keeping track of how much fiber I eat.  I know this is odd.  I really don't track what I eat, but I do keep a mental note of how much fiber is in everything I eat and I get ticked if I am below 20 for the day.  I shoot for above 25 though.

11. My guilty pleasure is watching young adult tv shows and reading young adult novels (The Secret Circle, Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games, Artemis Fowl, etc.)

Hyla's Questions:
1.How do you plan on meeting your goals this year?  Are they realistic?  If so do you have high hopes of meeting them and surpassing them? 

I plan to reach my goals through old fashioned diet and exercise.  I think the key for me will be finding exercises and healthy food that I love.  I think my goals are realistic (40-50 lbs this year) and if I stick to my plan even remotely I should hit them.  I lost close to 25 lbs last year in about 5 months and I was very hit and miss with workouts and good nutrition.  So, I have very high hopes

2.Are you looking forward to any big events this year? 

I turn 30 this year, and believe it or not I am really looking forward to it.  I'm going on a big trip, but I have no idea where yet.  I also think I'm going to have a new body by the time I look 30 and I'll look better at 30 than I did in my 20s, so I'm pumped.

3. Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?  LOL, I meant where would you like to be? 

Lol!  I used to watch Carmen San Diego with my cousin and sister as a kid.  If I could be anywhere I'm not sure where I would want to go.  Somewhere with temps around 75, a light breeze, and plenty of sightseeing, attractions, good food, and shopping...and no school and no work lol!

4.What is your favorite piece of comfy clothing? 

lounge pants and t-shirt

5. What is your favorite piece of "I feel hot!" clothing?

a dress that properly fits me (I have a lot of over sized clothing)

6. Honestly, what are your thoughts on Facebook? 

Some days I love Facebook and other days I think Facebook is the devil lol!  I don't post too much on there because it's so easy for people to get all of your info.  I like some of the connections I've made through it though.  I refuse to have Facebook connected to my phone, because it's really not that important to me.  The people who are really important to me have my phone number, so I don't feel the need to constantly be on there checking updates.  So, I guess in a nutshell I like it, but I am not obsessed with it.

7. Have you ever done anything daring?  If so, what? 

not really.  The most daring thing I've done was probably when I was in high school.  As a senior I would leave school for about an hour every day to go eat out lol!  I did end up getting caught by the assistant principal one day, but I was one of those stellar students who made straight A's,was in every club, and never did anything wrong. He was in shock and believed I was confused about the rules of being a teacher's assistant and let me go.  Haha!

8.  What is your favorite book and author?

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (the 1st book I remembering completely loving.  I had to read this in 6th grade)

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines (This is just a fantastic book.)

9.  What is your favorite movie?

Braveheart

10.  What is your favorite Disney princess or other princess?

Ariel

11.  Do you dream?  What about?

I hardly ever remember them.

Favorite Blogs:

Win, Lose, or Blog (motivation, weight loss, giveaways, competition, etc)
Fitness For the Rest of Us (weight loss, reviews, giveaways)
Avery and Winslow (crafting)
Runs for Cookies (maintaining weight loss, running)
Changing from Fat to Fit (running, weight loss, fitness, etc)
Gina's Skinny Recipes (recipes)
Carbie Girl (weight loss)
Girl with Curves (fashion)
365 Weighs (she has not posted in awhile, but it's still good stuff)
Pril's Place (fashion)
Hourglass Red (weight loss)

Sorry about this being such a long post, but a had a week's worth of stuff to cram in here.  Congrats if you made it through it all lol!

Bee Gees - You Should Be Dancing (Despicable Me version)  I really do jog to this song and I love Despicable Me, so this is a fantastic video.

Blah, Workouts, and New Shoes

The Blah:
I actually gained 3 lbs this week!  WTH!  I worked out hard this week and I ate better than I have in a long time.  This is complete BS!  That is what I thought when I stepped off the scale.  Then I remembered all the candy I stuffed in my face Sat-Tues.  Plus, the fried shrimp, mashed potatoes, salad, and 2 raspberry lemonades I had at Ruby Tuesday on Wednesday.  Add to that the fried catfish I had at work on Thursday night (even though I had brought grilled chicken and veggies).  Then I thought...oh...do better Briana.  So, I will do better.  I cleaned my fridge and pantry and have no junk whatsoever in them.  I went to the grocery store and filled up on only good items.  Now I have to have the will power to not go to the cafeteria at the hospital.  Can you believe I brought healthy food, did not eat it, and paid for something unhealthy instead?  Yeah, I really did that.  Anyway, I just have to do better.

Workouts:
Wednesday:
OFF

Thursday:
W3D1 Couch to 5k (my version)
10 min walking warmup
5 min jog
2 min walk
3 min jog
1 min walk
5 min jog
2 min walk
3 min jog
2 min walking cool down
Ended up being 2.2 miles in 33 minutes

Friday:
  (x3)
50 Jumping Jacks
40 Squats
30 Push-Ups
20 Leg Lifts
10 Burpees
50 Mountain Climbers
40 Lunges
30 Curl to Press
20 Tricep Dips
10 V-Ups

Today:
W3D2 Couch to 5k (my version)
10 min walking warmup
5 min jog
2 min walk
3 min jog
1 min walk
5 min jog
2 min walk
3 min jog
2 min walk
5 min jog
super short walking cool down (I was tired and just wanted to get to the car)
Ended up being 2.5 miles in 40 min

Looking at this and the workouts I posted earlier in the week.  I am proud of myself.  I have been consistent for a solid week.  So, yeah, I gained weight, but it was not from lack of working out.  I've heard people say losing weight is 20% exercise and 80% nutrition.  Now I can believe it.  So, I know what I have to do from now on.  I can do it!  I got caught in a small rain shower today while I was jogging and it felt great.  At first I though "oh no," but it was not pouring down or anything, so it was nice.  I'm also excited that my little DailyMile app to the right is changing, because it means I'm being active again!

New Shoes:
I went to out local running store on Wednesday and bought new shoes.  They are called the Brooks Pure something.

I love these shoes.  I was told they are supposed to keep you from striking with your heel when you run so much.  I am in the very early stages of beginning to run so I don't really know about all the technical stuff.  All I know is that these shoes are fabulous!

Am I the only person who looks at background stuff when someone posts a pic?  I just really noticed all the stuff I have in the background of this picture.  In can you are wondering, the Christmas boxes are what my Christmas cards arrived in,directly behind the shoes are dvds of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, True Blood, Thundercats, and the Ocean's trilogy (11, 12, and 13).

Britney Spears - Toxic

Keep it Moving

So far so good.  I have nothing earth shattering to report, just that I am still moving.

Saturday:
30 min Zumba

Sunday:
30 min Zumba
50 Modified Push-ups
50 Squats
50 Leg Lifts

Monday:
60 min Zumba

Today:
50 Mountain Climbers
50 Jumping Jacks
10 V-Ups
(I did this circuit of 3 exercises 6 times for a total of 300, 300, and 60, then)
15 Modified Push-ups
15 Squats

I was planning to do more push-ups and squats, but then I realized I am scheduled to do quite a few of them tomorrow, so I stopped.  The point is that I am moving and have been moving for 4 days in a row.  I had forgotten what it felt like to be sore...thank you 50 squats and push-ups from Monday.  I hate and love the soreness all at once.  I hate it because it hurts...no brainer.  I love it because I know I worked out. 

I was looking over some of the workouts I used to do with Sam, and I'm wondering how the heck I used to do all that stuff without vomiting.  I decided in December that I am probably going back to him.  Do I "need" him? No.  Can I physically do his workouts on my own? Yes.  Do I want to train with him? Does he motivate me? Do I think he is the best trainer ever? Yes! Yes! Yes!  So...I will probably be back with him at some point this month.

Here's my food diary from yesterday:

Ugh!  I have the absolute worst time with pictures on my blog lol!  You can always just click on the picture though to bring up a larger version of the chart in full.  I think my sat. fat and cholesterol are cut off on the side lol!  Saturated fat for the day was 9 and cholesterol was 162.  I don't really track food a lot.  I know it helps, but it takes up too much time for me.  The only thing not listed is the Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning I used on the chicken breast.  The point is that I was doing GREAT until I went out to a sports bar last night.  I had a small order of cheese fries, which I assume was about the same as a large order from a fast food place.  I also had two 6 oz. amaretto sours.  Do you see the calorie count and carbs in those 2 drinks????  944 calories and 152 carbs...whoa!  This is why one of my goals for the year was finding ways to celebrate that do not involve drinking.  Anyway, since I don't track often I just thought it would be nice to share the one day I did track with you all.

Have a great day and keep it moving everyone!

Breathe Carolina - Blackout

Measurements, Comparisons, and Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

Technically it has not been a full 6 weeks since my last measurements, but I like to do this at the beginning of every year and compare.  So...here you go.

I gained weight for the first time since June.  I could have waited another 8 days and had a real "6 Week" measurement.  If I had done that I would have worked out hard and eaten perfectly to get the weight down.  I really would have just been playing mind games with myself though.  Measuring today shows exactly what I've been doing since 11/28/11...not much of anything.  If I'm being honest, I am shocked that I only gained close to 4 lbs.  I feel like I should have gained 10.  I worked out here and there and paid no attention to what I ate.  I'm also shocked that overall I lost 0.5 inches.  The number I pay the most attention to is the measurement around my belly button, and I gained there.  Overall, I definitely could have done better, but looking at this is a good reminder that if I slack off it will show.

Weight and Inches Since 2009

Starting Weight-------02/??/09-249.0

First 2010 Weigh In--01/04/10-228.4
First 2011 Weigh In--01/01/11-243.6
First 2012 Weigh In--01/01/12-227.8

Starting Total Inches----02/??/09-285.00
First 2010 Total Inches-03/02/10-274.25
First 2011 Total Inches-01/01/11-282.25
First 2012 Total Inches-01/01/12-269.0

Looking at these numbers make me happy.  Strictly looking at these numbers I have not started off a new year better.  I've lost a good bit of weight and a nice number of inches.  Here's hoping that Jan 2013 will look even better than this.

Fitness/Health Goals for 2012:

-run a 5k under 35 minutes

-jog a half marathon

-wear a swimsuit...in public without a coverup over that covers the entire suit lol!

-try 1 new healthy food a month

-try 1 new exercise or aerobic class a month

-navel measurement under 33 inches

-weigh under 180

-have more fun and laugh more

-find something I enjoy as a celebration that does not revolve around food or drinking

Goals for next 6 Weeks:

-5 total inches lost

-5 lbs lost

-consistent with Couch to 5k

-consistent with strength training

-up the fiber, lower the salt

-drink more water

-take my own luch to work more often

Suggestions to help with my goals are ALWAYS welcome.  I'll probably be reading your blogs for ideas about new foods and exercises anyway!  

 

I did Zumba on Wii again today for about 30 minutes. 

Pitbull - Pause (the Keenan Cahill version)

I thought this was cute lol!  One of the zumba trainers from the videos and game is in the background doing the routine you would see on the game.