Weigh In

It seems that Florida is just what I needed to give my weight loss a boost. I was telling my sister today how much I was reminded that I love plain greek yogurt with berries and honey in the morning! Truly the breakfast of champions!! I've also been way more committed and faithful with my training. With that being said last week my weigh in was 234. Today the scale said 226.2! Yes, I rechecked, and rechecked, and then checked again! I just want to keep this momentum going. It feels good, I feel good, and I can tell changes are happening! Today I got up and went for a 5-mile run:

That's right...I run in style!

I also realized in Florida that I've been holding out on myself! I haven't been running as fast/hard as I have the potential to. So it has been my goal since I got home to really push myself! It's an awesome feeling to feel your body do things you didn't think it was capable of! It's funny because I used to hate sweating and working out because I knew I'd get all sweaty...but now I feel most prettiest when I sweat...Case in point:

So I treck on...regardless of the bumps in the roads, the plateaus, the chafing, the embarrassing biffs! It's all worth it...and eventually you find the strength to dig a little deeper! I can't wait for October...it's going to be amazing! 

Alright so I will share one more picture and then no more before this posts title is changed to "selfie"! :D In addition to feeling beautiful after runs I feel beautiful getting dressed up, something that was pretty uncomfortable for me in the past. Slowly but surely I'm tapping into the person that has always been inside of me...I just needed to let her out! So how about you...what's holding you back? We can be our own worst enemy...but truth is we all have untapped potential...I want to be the first to say that you can do it!

Good Times and Good Runs!

What a week it has been! I have had so much fun...and unfortunately my time here is coming to an end. So here's a recap on the week that I've had! At the beginning of the week I endured a couple hot runs in the humidity/sun. One part that I love about the humidity is the drops of sweat that are all over your arms by the end of the run! I don't know why but something about the sweat is extremely gratifying!

Beautiful sweat drops!

Drenched after 4 miles!

Some of my 4-mile runs here have been the hardest of any of my runs! Simply because of the humidity...my heart rate will be completely fine and I will feel like I'm dying, okay that's a little dramatic, but it isn't always pleasant thats for sure! 

I'm super excited that I finally got the chance to stand up paddle board! I was really nervous before going out, partially because my little sister fell/jumped off a paddle board and sliced her foot open on some reef, but also because I'm tall and not very coordinated, as my prior treadmill stories are proof of my coordination! ;) However, with all that aside I wanted to go for it and face my fears! I'm so glad that I did because it was such a blast! Here's proof:

Enjoying the ride!

Little Ander on the front of my board!

My quads/feet were a little sore afterwards since I was a little afraid to move my feet/stance while on the board! 

I was also fortunate enough to have made it to the beach on a glorious day! The water was so blue and crystal clear! I got to do some scuba diving and check out the fish, jellyfish, and stingrays out in the water! It was such a wonderful day for the beach! Here's a picture of the water that day:

Gorgeous Navarre Beach!

I had a couple cross-training days here with Erika! They were challenging but good! They included a crap-load of squats, lunges, and push-ups...all for which we were grateful when they were over ;) 

Last but not least today was my 8-mile run! My farthest distance so far. If I'm being honest I was not looking forward to this run. I was nervous (especially since it meant that I would be doing it in the humidity)! However I told myself that I was going to face the run with a good attitude. We had planned, initially at getting up at 0500 to be out and running by 0600, however, when my alarm went off I hear lightening and thunder and went back to sleep. We all woke up then around 0630 and got up, but there was still some lightening and thunder going on..so we (and by we I mean Drew) made a delicious breakfast and afterwards it was perfect weather to go run. It was super humid after the rain, but no more lightening! We started out and after 2-miles I took a water-walk break. I decided after that stop that I didn't want to stop again, so I ran the rest of the way! I was hoping to be at about a 13-minute mile pace....so I was extremely happy when my end pace was 12:32!!! It was a beautiful run. I chose my running shorts instead of my capris (which really helped keep me cooler). Also, thanks to my nephews riding their biked with me and my sister we took several detours...one of the last detours they wanted to take was through this beautiful neighborhood that has a gorgeous lake!! It was perfect because I only had about half a mile left when we made it to/through the lake! I had to take a picture of me and the lake...and Erika took a couple of me too so I didn't have to stop running:

Almost near the end!

Feeling like I can make it!

Glorious lake...Thank you God
For the blessing of your beautiful
creation!!

I decided to make it officially 8.1 miles since that'd be exactly 1-mile longer than I've ever run! So here's me and my sister, Erika after 8.1 miles:

There are fewer things than a sister who
believes and sees your potential that can
give you strength while running!

By the time we finished our cool down we went almost 10.2 miles! 3 more miles and we would've been at half-marathon distance! 
I've really enjoyed being out here and being able to run with Erika and Drew! It's encouraging and motivating, to say the least! I've also really enjoyed being here and playing with my nephews...I finally got Ander, the younger of my two nephews to take a picture with me, him, and Andrik! So here we are:

Ander, me, and Andrik!! <3 being an auntie!!

Wel, that's about all I've got for now! I head home monday and then back to reality (aka work) on Tuesday. Until next time...TTFN "Ta ta for now"

Hello, Florida!

Can I just start out by saying how much I love Florida?! Okay, the fact that my sister, brother-in-law, and two ridiculously adorable nephews are here...this state is simply breathtaking! My flight(s) over were great, I was able to sleep on the first plane and met some interesting people during my layover and second flight! Who loves people watching?! This girl!!

It has been a hit the ground running type of vacation...Erika and Drew have been very supportive of my workout schedule. The day I arrived I had told Erika that I would need to do cross-training of some sort. I got in to Panama City around 2pm and then we meandered home (after eating at one of my favorite restaurants, Buffalo's Reef where they have delicious fried pickles and wings). Once we got home it was time to play a few minutes with my nephews and then get them up to bed. So by the time we were able to workout it was like 9:30pm(ish). Thankfully Erika and Drew stuck it out with me and we got in a killer workout that my legs continue to remind me about today. Drew has a workout app where you put in what you want to do, how long you want to workout etc. So we did 30 minutes of cross-training...lots of squats, lunges, and push-ups! My quads still freaking hurt so bad that I am not looking forward to my run in the morning! However, we did our workout even though we all wanted to go to bed!!

Oh yeah! Feeling awesome!

The next day I had a 6 mile run. Thankfully, Erika recommended doing a run 9 minute and walk 1 minute interval run...and boy was that a great idea. Running in Florida absolutely gives me an appreciation for running in dry New Mexico. I felt like my heart rate was sky high, when really it was just fine...but the freaking humidity was terrible! How terrible? Well halfway through I was so hot I took off my shirt and ran in my sports bra...and I didn't even care who saw! Yeah...that happened! But, again, we did it, and it was worth it! The boys rode their bikes along with us and showed off their awesome bike-riding skills!

Mine and Andrik's, "About to
workout face!"

Working it!

Afterwards I got to spend the afternoon working on my Master Lego Building skills with my nephews. A Master Builder is one who builds with the instructions in their brains...not on paper! So Andrik made a car for Gramme to ride in while I just made a vehicle that transported any willing individual:

My creation...don't hate!

Andrik's creation!

Today I enjoyed a rest from training and enjoyed going to my sister's amazing church in Niceville, Florida! This evening while Drew put the boys to bed I got to have some sister time with Erika...so we parked by the beach and walked over the Navarre Beach bridge that goes over the sound and enjoyed the evening sunset and each others company!

I adore my sister!

Breathtaking sunset!! Soak that in!

It's safe to say I am enjoying each minute of each day! Tomorrow I have 4 miles to run...later this week I have an 8 mile run...and if I'm being honest I'm not really looking forward to it in this humidity...but it will get me that much closer to my Half Marathon in October...plus I get to run it in good company, therefore it is impossible for it to be terrible! 

I'm changing my weigh-ins to Mondays because I hate weighing myself now on Wednesdays in the middle of the work week...so now it shall be Monday Weigh-Ins! I will keep you all posted! :D

Until then these two pictures describe rather accurately how my legs are feeling about now:

Hills kick my booty!

Alright so this will be quick and to the point! This morning I woke up with a vicious appetite but a desire to keep it in check! I'd say all things considered I did a pretty good job not letting mindless eating happen. I lied to everyone when I said I am leaving Thursday...it's actually Friday that I leave but I guess my subconscious was really hoping for Thursday. With that being said today I tried to get as much homework done so that I wouldn't have quite as much to do on vacation...sadly there will still be homework that'll need to be completed out there...but I was able to put a huge dent in some assignments! Only 2 more weeks in the semester! It has been a killer semester so I'm beyond ready to be done and never do 8 week courses ever again!

It was one of those days where your intention is to get a lot done...but in reality there's no chance of that happening. Most of my day was spent on my homework, I did manage to get laundry done (yay for me) and even made it to the store to purchase a duffle bag replacement since mine (from my basketball days/high school years) has seen better days. Hoorah for target clearance (I can say that now that I don't work there)! Also, Erika and Drew will be happy to know that I have some of this coming their way:

Being the good sister that I am, I try to stock up any New Mexican staples for my siblings. Normally my bag would include about 2-3 bags of green chile, some green chile dip, tortillas, etc...however Erika and Drew had only one request this time...Rudy's Bar-BW Sause! So that's what they get...plus the added bonus of me delivering it which is even better if you ask me!

I met up with my friend, Krystal at the gym! It was a hill run today so since I wasn't going up trusty Osuna I set the treadmill to a 10% grade incline...I quickly decided that was too much...after one run at the 10% I felt like I was going to fall off the treadmill (not an unheard of occurrence with me) and die (okay so I may be exaggerating a little but, I mean, come one)... and so I decreased it to 8% That was still a challenge but not so miserable that I was barely able to breathe 30 seconds in! So it was 8 runs "up hill" for 90 seconds and then walk..I took 2-3 minutes after each run. Normally I would walk downhill to recover, but I'm lazy and don't like having to mess with the treadmills incline between each rep so I just kept it at the 8% incline throughout. I really like my heart rate chart after these workouts...they say it all: 

Heart Rate

Expand

         Time (h:m:s)             Distance (mi)     

You can count each hill rep! Then afterwards I just jogged it out for a little and then cooled down! I was reminded of this when I let like stopping:

Well that's about it for now. I'd love to stay and chat but I gotta get up in the morning!

Perspective

My brother, David, reminded me that it has been two weeks since I posted anything…and I think he was getting a little antsy to know how it’s going. Well...I suppose I will share how these past few weeks have been. Up until Monday I had been making a series of poor decisions on my part. I haven't wanted to write about it because it makes me feel like a failure, when in reality, it simply makes me human. I get frustrated with myself because you hear of the stories of people who decide they're going to lose weight, they jump on the band wagon, are focused, and don't fall off, binge, or miss a workout regardless of their time, schedule, life etc. Well…as much as I want that to be me…it’s not me! Two weeks ago not only did I consume an abhorrent amount of ice cream and root beer floats at work, I did not run as far as I should've on certain days, my cross-training days were a poor attempt of a workout and all around just a general fail up until Monday. So there. It's been said. It is no surprise then that my weigh in 6/27/13 was 238.8...yes +3.8 lbs. If it wasn't for the fact that so many are watching/reading I would admit to my throwing a temper tantrum, stomping my feet, crossing my arms, and glaring at myself in the mirror in a vain attempt to take back those momentary lapse in judgment...but I would never admit that here, of course. 

However, I did not go through it all without learning a lesson. I learned that it’s easy to backslide to old habits. It’s easy to make up excuses to not make it to the gym or to skip a run…but what isn’t easy is getting back on track, facing the scale and realizing you’ve made some big mistakes. I realized that I went back to using food to comfort me, even if it was just for a fleeting moment, it also helped me keep my mouth shut, it aided in my stifling pain and emotions that I was too scared to share with anyone. I was using food as a defense mechanism rather than a source of nutrition and nourishment.

I kept waking up each day and saying, “today is a new day and It I can do it today”…. and then I’d reach for the bag of chips. I kept telling myself, “I can make it through this day” and then I’d find any excuse to not workout. Then Monday I decided that I was going to stop being all talk and start walking the walk. This week I’ve been back on track and my efforts have paid off. Today I weighed in at 234.4 so I lost 4.4 pounds this week!

I have the proof of my running! Tuesday on my 4-mile run I felt a hot spot on my left little toe…by the time my run was done I knew I had a blister. I got home and saw this:

This picture does not do this blister justice...also this was the
first day, it's not about twice the size as it is in this picture!

I also took this picture Saturday after my 6-mile run…yes, that’s a bug on my forehead…but it was a good run!! J

I am finally taking advantage of my free gym membership to Defined Fitness. After work on Tuesday and Thursday I went and I ran even though everything within me wanted to go home and sleep. Thursday was a busy day at work and all I could think about is how much better I would feel after I ran…it was nice to feel that way again! Eating is such a challenge. Every day I’m faced with the desire to overindulge and eat way more than I need! I don’t think it will ever get easy, I think I will continue to struggle…but the friendships, encouragement, and the feeling I get after I run makes it worth the struggle.

I am excited that I get to see my sister, Erika on Thursday! I get to go visit her for 10 days in Florida! I love being with her…and she’s always encouraging and motivating! I can’t wait to run with her! J The last time she saw me I was 296.7 pounds! I am 62 pounds lighter from the last time she saw me!!

So what do I hope you get out of this blog? Weight loss is not easy! Every day is a struggle. There will be setbacks! Some days you want to throw in the towel…but the journey is worth it. Gaining 3, 5, 10 pounds doesn’t mean you’ve failed…it just means you have to decide whether or not you want to stay on the path or get back on track. After this week I realize how vital running/cross-training is to my weight loss journey. I cannot possibly burn/consume few enough calories to lose the amount of weight that I want to without exercising. Sure I could strict my calorie allotment to 1,200 calories…but that really sucks! I have also realized this week that the more I workout the less I want to binge and overindulge. Working out helps me control my cravings…or at least it puts everything into perspective for me. I can A) consume 500 + calories in a matter of seconds if not careful or I can B) Burn 500 + calories in an hour and see results on the scale! Regardless the choice is up to me!

So this is where I'm at: (I couldn't decide which picture I liked more so you get both...you lucky duck you!)