Weigh-in Wednesday and BB's birthday

Maybe you've noticed (or maybe you haven't) that I've been a tad MIA lately. My last post was exactly a week ago! What! I had my daughter's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. It was so much fun! She is obsessed with Minnie Mouse right now so we had a Minnie themed park party. It's a nice park with a big, very little kid friendly playground. I rented the pavilion so we had a nice shaded area to play. We had food, a piñata, and good company. Brynlee was VERY good and had a blast. She was asleep in the car almost as soon as we left and then slept for 4.5 hours after that! I ate poorly on Saturday (hot dogs, cream cheese tortilla roll ups, a cupcake, and lots of diet coke) and then I ate poorly on Sunday as well. I don't know what the deal was. I've been in a little bit of a funk because I found out, again, that I didn't get a job that I thought I really wanted. I am still not always able to get over the negative emotions and do something positive. I've been tracking my calories since then, but I am embarrassed to say that the last time I ran was last Tuesday. I weighed myself on Sunday and saw a HUGE jump on the scale. So even though I haven't exercised in quite a few days, I needed to get back to water drinking and good food eating. It's really hard to post about the hard times, ya know? It's so much easier to share success than failure. Here's just a few pictures from her party. :)

 

Brynlee Mouse

Her new ride

Daddy, Mommy, and the birthday girl

Her new Minnie chair

Bubbles!

Cupcake!

Daddy did that, haha

Loves balloons!

 

Moving on to Weigh-In Wednesday...

Starting Weight 6/10/13: 205
Last Week: 200.2
This Week: 199.8
+/-: (-0.4)

Total Loss: (-5.2 lbs)

 

Progress! Now I HAVE to keep that number under 200! I just have to. It has taken me 7 weeks to lose those 5.2 pounds. I am not losing as fast as some people do, but that is fine with me. I am just happy to lose. :) I honestly thought I was going to have a dreaded, "I gained 5 lbs" post after my ridiculous weekend and celebrating with Mexican food last night...

What were we celebrating? MY JOB OFFER! Whoo hoo! Yes friends, I finally have a job offer. I am so excited and happy. I just happened to check my e-mail around 10am yesterday and saw an offer in my inbox. The salary is a few thousand more than I was making at my old job, too so now both Joey and I are making more money. I had to go do a drug test yesterday and fax my signed letter of acceptance. Now I have to wait until my results come back for both my drug test and background check (no problems with either of those). Then my supervisor will call me to tell me my official start date. My offer letter said "on or about August 5th". So I have to go turn in the paperwork to sign Brynlee up for daycare. I already called to make sure they have a spot for her. Now I just have to turn in the paperwork and pay for next week. It's going to be bittersweet sending her off to daycare again. It's good for her, it's good for me. I just know that I will miss her a little ;) I have been home with her every day since mid-March. She is used to being home with me even if she gets a little bored sometimes. She is VERY social so I know she will love going back to "school".

 

Joey has a softball game tonight at 6 then I am going to go run after that. I had a drama queen meltdown last night when Paige and I were going to go to the gym because my Garmin strap broke. Uhhhh, meltdown! I am so used to wearing my watch when I run. I feel like I wasted a workout if I don't have it, lol. I know, drama. I am going to superglue the buckle to the strap so I hope it works until I can order a new strap. But yes, I HAVE to run tonight. I just have to! I can't let that 199.8 creep back up!

 

As always, I am linking up with these fabulous ladies so go check 'em out.



 

Happy Wednesday ya'll!

Weigh-In Wednesday & Various Workouts

I skipped last week's Weigh-In Wednesday thanks to Aunt Flow coming to visit me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely glad she is a regular visitor but she's a hot mess and I'm always happy to see her leave. Anyway, so I can't skip today's weigh in...

Starting Weight 6/10/13: 205
Weigh in 7/10/13: 200.4
This Week: 200.2
+/-: (-0.2)

Total Loss: (-4.8 lbs)

A loss is a loss, but DAMN I am just itching to see the scale go under 200. I keep thinking it will be this week, okay next week, okay maybe the next week. I am trying not to let it get me down. I am trying to focus on the way my body feels and the fact that I have been working out for 7 weeks! Whoo Hoo. I know that doesn't sound like much to some (and a lot to others), but I have been doing really well with working out and food tracking. When I checked my weight on Sunday morning for the Operation Skinny Jeans Fit Camp, it was 201.2. Of course, I know that weight fluctuates each day, but I sure wish my body knew to show the lowest weight possible on Wednesdays, LOL. I do have to weigh-in every Friday for OSJ Fit Camp. I can't decide if I will just use my Wednesday weigh-in each week or if I will actually do a separate weigh-in on Fridays.

I had a nice workout on Monday evening. I did a 2 mile run on the indoor track at the gym. I still haven't calibrated my foot pod so I downloaded a lap counter and used that to track my 30 laps. I really like when I am the only one on the indoor track. Then I don't have to weave around anyone and I don't get in the way of anyone else.

 

Then when we went home and did 300s. It's a good extra 15 minute workout! I really liked it and my body felt it on Tuesday. I accidentally stopped my Polar Ft in the middle so that's why there's 2 durations listed. It goes like this:

1 each of: squat, jumping jack, push-up
2 each of: squats, jumping jacks, push-ups
Work your way up to 10 then go down
9 each of: squats, jumping jacks, push-ups
All the way back down to 1 of each
You end up doing 100 of each set for a total of 300!

 

I had plans to attend my first Zumba class last night. Joey and Kyle were a little aggravated that we wanted to go to Zumba on a Tuesday night because they like to play disc golf on Tuesday's and someone has to watch the toddler. They were going to "let" us go to Zumba anyway, but when Paige got home...neither of us really felt like going. The workout for the OSJ Fit Camp today is cardio and abs. So we did a 30 minute workout that included P90CardioX and a short ab ripper. By the way, P90CardioX is hard! It's pretty cool though and I look forward to continuing to do it. Hopefully I can make it through the full 45 minute workout next time.

Joey joined his work's softball team so he has his first game tonight at 8pm. I am actually looking forward to it. I played softball in high school and really miss it. I really enjoyed softball. I know I'm not on the team (it's not co-ed), but I am looking forward to the experience. Paige and I are planning to workout when the guys get home from work then make dinner and then go to Joey's game. I'll probably do my 300s when we get home from the game or I'll do them before we leave if I have time.

As always, I am weighing-in with some of my newest favorite bloggers. I really enjoy reading each of their stories. Be sure to subscribe to them on Bloglovin' so you can get their updates! :)
 

Heather @ Pretty Strong Medicine
Ash @ A Step In The Right Direction
Bailey @ Being Bailey J
Amy @ Write This Down

 

I haven't yet heard about the job that I had a 2nd interview for on Monday. I really want this job! I really enjoyed meeting the two young ladies who would be my co-workers. They seemed like they really enjoy their job and that's a good sign. I feel like I did well with my interview, but I guess I can never be too sure. I was told that I should hear from the VP by today. She went on vacation yesterday so I didn't expect to hear from her yesterday, but am hoping to hear {good} news today. If I don't get this job (boo), I have a 2nd interview on Thursday with another company that I interviewed for last week. They are hiring 3 of the same position so I suppose my chances of getting a job there are pretty good, but I would prefer to get the job that I am waiting to hear about. :) If I get the job, I am going to set aside money from my first paycheck and join a gym. I've really enjoyed going to the gym with my SIL and it super duper keeps both of us accountable. If I don't get the job, well...I suppose I'll figure out a positive way to deal with the disappointment. Like running? :)

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! Get some exercise in! :)

 

 



Motivation Monday & Gym Update

 

I am linking up with Wendy's Motivation Monday Team once again! I love this linkup. I really enjoy reading the tips and advice on their blogs as well as checking out other bloggers who participate in the link up! Be sure to check out Wendy, Katie, Veronica, Morgan, Alisha, and Tiff as well as the other bloggers at the bottom of the page!

 

On to my Motivation Monday advice this week: Join a challenge! Whether you join an online challenge, one at work, one with friends, or your own personal challenge: DO IT! I think that challenges bring out our natural competitive nature. I challenge myself to up my mileage weekly. I challenge myself to run 4-5 days a week. I joined Jess's 10 Week Challenge in May. Unfortunately, I didn't really start to participate until June. I did start tracking my food again and walking, but I didn't really hit it hard until June. So unfortunately, I didn't complete my challenge goals during that challenge. I'm now doing her second challenge, Operation Skinny Jeans Fit Camp, which starts today! I submitted my before pictures, measurements, and a picture of the scale for my starting weight. It's an online challenge with 50 other members. She limited the group this time because the first group had almost 200 members and that's a bit much! I plan to continue my current exercise regime and also implement whatever challenges Jess posts! I am excited.

 

I posted recently about how I suck at indoor running and then how I thought my foot pod needed to be recalibrated. I went to the gym last night with Paige. Since the track is 15 laps for a mile, I decided to calibrate my foot pod based on running 8 laps (or approximately 800m). So I set my Garmin to calibrate the 800m distance and I started a warm-up walk at a brisk pace. When I stopped the calibration, it said..."CALIBRATION FAILED!" WTF! Luckily, my Garmin tracked the time it took me to do the 0.50 miles, but it said I did 1.81 miles! I was keeping track of my laps and knew I did 8 laps. I went ahead and did another 7 laps to equal 15 laps (1 mile) then took a short water break then did another 15 laps. I was checking the laps off on my phone after I completed them so I knew I did 30 laps. Check this out...

Yeeeah, I ran 3.47 miles in 28:41...LOL. I wish! But this does prove the fact that I KNEW I was running faster indoors than outdoors. On Saturday, I did 2 miles in 31 minutes outside. So I am happy that I don't suck at running indoors and I am happy to see I did 2 miles under 30 minutes! I do need to recalibrate the foot pod though. I have a job interview today *crosses fingers* and Paige is working from home to watch Brynlee for me. When Brynlee naps, I am going to go over to the school track down the road and calibrate it. You're supposed to calibrate it by running or walking 2 laps (800m) around the inside lane of a regulation track for the most accuracy. So I plan to do that this afternoon. It's pretty hot here in Texas so hopefully I don't die.

 

I talked to Paige about my goals of upping my mileage each week. She said that she does not mind if I want to get in 2.75+ miles each time I work out. She doesn't want to hold me back. She said it's the perfect opportunity for her to hit the weight room anyway. So I feel much better now that I know she won't just be dreading me going to workout with her, lol. We do have to make sure we get to the gym in plenty of time to get our workout in though. We've shut the gym down a few times! We always seem to go like an hour before the gym closes so we need to get better about that. I am really hoping that I get the job I am interviewing for today. I will definitely be joining a gym. I am hoping the insurance offers some sort of a gym membership deal. That'd be nice. Unfortunately, I only have a few more days to be a guest on her membership. So I am going to have to go back to evening runs during the week and early morning runs on the weekend in order to get my runs in.

How are you challenging yourself this week?

Runner Poops in Yard

Have any of you seen this video? Runner Poops In Yard If not, it's a funny but gross story. Don't worry, it doesn't show anything bad. It's just a funny story. So I watched that news story the other day. My sis-in-law got me up at 6:30 (okay, 6:39) to go run this morning. I did my 5 minute warm up then started my 8 minute run when OH MY GOSH, I had to go to the bathroom! I know that Spark makes me GO, but I had only had a few drinks of it before I started my workout. Luckily, we went to the rec center today instead of the hospital so there was a bathroom by baseball fields. After I was done, I saw Paige on the path and decided to cut across the parking lot to catch up to her. I looked at my pace and was running an 11:something minute mile. That's a little fast for me so I was really tired when I caught up to her. I ended up doing 2 miles today. My goal was/is to increase my mileage by .25 miles each week, but I didn't do that this week. I didn't even do the 2.75 miles that I did last week. Paige and I ride together and I feel bad going so long after she is done with her workout. I know she probably wouldn't mind if I finished out another .75 miles because it really doesn't take THAT long, but I always feel bad saying I am going to keep going.

So this morning I did a little more walking than I have been doing at the gym. Yet I did 2 miles 6 minutes faster today. I am convinced that I need to recalibrate my footpod. Yep, for sure. I just KNEW I was running faster on the track than what my Garmin was telling me. I knew I was pushing myself to run faster, harder, longer. Then getting so frustrated and disappointed that I wasn't running as fast as I thought. So I will definitely be recalibrating it the next time I go to Paige's gym. I only have until Friday to go for free since I am just using her 2 week guest pass. When my alarm went off this morning, I did not want to get up. I did lay out my clothes the night before so at least I didn't have to search for everything. Once I am out there running, I am so glad that I did it. SO GLAD. Then I feel nice and energized for my day. I am happy that my SIL is making me get up, lol.

So for the challenge that I'm in, I have to take before pictures (gag), take my measurements, and submit a picture of the scale for my before weight. I forgot to do that this morning because I didn't weigh before I ran. So I am going to do that one tomorrow. Paige took my before pictures, but I haven't looked at them yet. Just the thought of looking at them makes me feel so sick to my stomach. Ugh. I did my measurements annnnnnnd I lost .50 inches on my chest (under my boobs, over my boobs is still the same) and I lost 2 inches on my waist! Wwwwhat! I am so excited. My hips are still the same. The scale hasn't gone under 200.4 yet, but I so happy to see that I lost inches! That is very motivating for me.

I honestly am so happy that I have almost completed 6 weeks of running 3-5 times a week. Obviously my goal is 5 times a week, but I don't always do that. This week, I have only ran 3: Tuesday, Thursday, and today. But I am running tomorrow so that will be 4 days. I do feel like I will never be able to run 3.1 miles without walking. I have to be positive and tell myself that it takes TIME! And I've only been hitting it hard for these 6 weeks. I cannot wait to see where I am in 6 months! :) That excites me.

What are you doing for exercise this weekend?

 

Not an indoor runner :(

I used to love running on the indoor track when I had a membership to the Y. So with all of the rain lately, I've been running on the indoor track at Paige's gym. It's 15 laps around the track to equal a mile so it's a small track. It was 12 laps around at the Y. I don't know if my legs hurt SO BAD because it's a smaller track where I am turning more often or what, but my workouts have been awful. I feel like I am running fast then I look down at my Garmin and I'm not. So I push myself to run harder, but feel like my legs aren't getting the job done. I've often had to stop, pause my Garmin, and get a drink of water and stretch my legs. I never do that outside. It's very frustrating to me. When I know that I normally do 2.25 miles in 35-37 minutes then I look down and see that I BARELY did 2.04 miles in 37 minutes...yeah, frustrated. With a 5 minute warm up walk, I've gotten my mile time down to a little over 15 minutes. (I know, still slow, but I'm improving.) My mile time on the indoor track has been between 17-18 minutes. WTF! Can you see why I am frustrated??!

46 minutes to do 2.5 miles. *shakes head* I normally do 2.80+ miles in 45 minutes. I know that some people run better indoors, some better outdoors. So I guess I am destined to be an outdoor runner. Check out those sexy compression sleeves, lol. I normally wear only one on my right leg because of shin splints, but with the way my legs have been feeling I decided to wear both. I normally wear shorts when I work out, but decided to wear a pair of capris that I haven't worn in a while. When I put on the compression sleeves, I had flashbacks of playing softball in high school. I seriously looked like I needed my softball glove. I'm sure I looked silly, but I don't care. I need them! I think they help. My legs didn't hurt as badly as they did on Tuesday so that's good.

I was supposed to get up and go run at the gym with Paige this morning. Brynlee usually wakes up by 7:30 and has done that every single morning for weeks. Sometimes earlier than 7am. She slept until 8:08 today. Seriously. I never set an alarm because she is my alarm. We were supposed to get up and be out of the house by 8am to hit the gym, get back to the house, and get ready to go to this local waterpark with a friend and her daughter. When we woke up, I noticed Paige was gone. I feel bad because I really wanted to go and I made sure all of my clothes and gear was out. I know I should have set an alarm. Now I'll have to run this evening to make sure I get a workout in.

I am getting frustrated because the scale won't go under 200.4. I feel like I am losing inches, but I have to get a new measuring tape because Brynlee broke the other one. I haven't taken my measurements since April. I am in a Facebook group that is doing a Challenge for the next 10 weeks. It's through a blogger that I follow. So I have to submit before photos (yuck), measurements, and a picture of the scale. I plan to do that tomorrow so I have to get a measuring tape today. I know that the before photos will really make me upset so I am trying to mentally prepare for that. I know that I will WANT those before photos someday and photos are important to track progress. I just hate knowing that I am this big, this size, this out of shape. I am happy that I am doing something about it, but it's still depressing.

I've only worked out twice this week. Luckily, my Aunt left town so I feel better now. Now I can stop dreaming about salt. I CRAVE salt when Aunt Flow is in town!

Happy Friday!

No Weigh-In Wednesday

No Weigh-In Wednesday for me this week! I haven't weighed myself since Saturday morning. I just don't weigh myself when the evil Aunt Flow comes to town. My weight always goes up 3-4 pounds that week then goes back down the next so why stress myself out with seeing that "gain" on the scale? So I don't bother! I'll have a new Weigh in post next week. :)

I last posted on Saturday after my "early" morning run with my sis-in-law. It felt good, but different, to run in the morning. I am so used to running after 8pm so running before 8am was a little different for me. I still did okay though. We had a good weekend. My mom kept Brynlee Saturday night and then wanted to keep her Sunday until we came over for Sunday night dinner. I slept until 11:30 on Sunday morning! Wwwhat! That's crazy. Even when Joey gets up with Brynlee, I don't typically sleep later than 9am. It was nice.

I skipped running Sunday and Monday. Sunday was rainy and I just wanted to take a nap. I could have gone to the gym with Paige (with her guest pass), but I just didn't want to. I wanted to enjoy having a kid-free day and nap by myself. I didn't have long to nap anyway because we had to get ready to go to my Mom's. When Paige got back from the gym, I kinda wished I would have gone, but it's okay to skip a day to nap, right? :)

I felt horrible on Monday. Horrendous cramps, massive back pain, horrible headache, super achy and tired...the whole 9. It was rainy again so I don't know if the weather put Brynlee in a funk or if she knew I felt bad, but she was very cuddly. This kid is GO-GO-GO! She is constantly on the move. So for her to lay with me on the couch and watch TV/a movie is a miracle. It was nice to just relax with my love bug. I normally have a difficult time working out during that time of the month. I just feel so gross and sweating just makes that feeling worse. So I knew there would be no talking me into going for a run. Nope.

I woke up yesterday feeling 100% better and there was NO WAY I'd be skipping 3 days in a row! I've been working out strong for the last 6 weeks and I have not skipped more than 2 days in a row. The more days you skip, the easier it is to keep skipping! I don't want that to happen to me again. Paige partially worked from home yesterday. We had to go grocery shopping yesterday so we decided to go to the gym before my brother got home, then eat dinner, and then go to the store. I love to have a plan! We went to the gym around 4:15 or so. I am not sure of the exact time. When we got there, it was pretty busy. When I ran on the indoor track last Thursday, I was the only one up there for most of my run. Yesterday, the indoor track had around 10-12 people on it. I hate when there's that many people. I had plans to start Week 5 of C25k. Eek! At first, everyone was walking so I fit right in with my 5 minute brisk warm-up walk. I was going pretty fast and my legs were burning already. Then I started my 5 minute run. That's when it got a little tough because I had to weave around people. Most of them were walking on the inside lane (as the sign says), but two people were walking fast on the outside lane. So I had to run around them. It was annoying. I was trying to keep up with how many laps I ran, but that's too hard because it goes by fast. The indoor track is small. Then I did a 3 minute walk and stopped to stretch my legs. They were seriously hurting so bad. I never have to stop to stretch them. Then I continued with a 5 minute run, 3 minute walk, 5 minute run, and 5 minute walk. Then I alternated run/walk a lap until I got to 2 miles.

I was quite a bit slower yesterday. Normally I get 2.25 miles in 35-37 minutes. Both of my legs were hurting horribly bad and then all of the people...I just felt off. Do you see that bulge in my leg? Yeah, I had that on both legs. That's my left leg. I used to always get shin splints in my right leg then I started wearing a compression sleeve and it worked wonders! I get that bulge in my right leg a bit higher up more on the outer right side of my shin. My left leg is a lot lower on the outer left side. It's weird. It hurts, but the bulge goes away. I am still sore in that spot on my right leg, but my left one doesn't hurt anymore. I don't know what it is. Any ideas?

I plan to go to the gym again tonight. With Paige's 2 week guest pass, I figure I may as well use the gym a lot. :) She has Blue Cross Blue Shield and pays $25 a month and can go to any of the approved gyms on the list. The one we go to is at the hospital near our house. They even have a Woman's Only workout area that has weights, a treadmill, and a stair stepper. I love that idea (as far as the weights) because I do not like to lift weights out in the open with all of the muscly guys and skinny girls. No thanks.

I have a job interview tonight from 4:00-5:00pm. So I hope that goes well. Then I have a phone interview tomorrow. On Friday morning, I received an e-mail requesting a 2nd interview from a company that I would really like to work for. So that 2nd interview is on July 22nd. *crosses fingers* I am also in the process of planning for Brynlee's 2nd birthday party. She is obsessed with Minnie Mouse so we're doing that as her theme. We're just having it at a park with family (all two billion of them) and a few friends. We don't really have many friends down here yet. We invited some friends from Wichita Falls, but I don't think any of them are coming.

The headbands in all of my pictures are Brady Bands. They are just the standard sized band. Has anyone purchased any of the wide bands? I'd really like to order a couple, but I am not sure if I will like them because I have a small head. So I am just curious if any of you have purchased the wide Brady Bands? *echo*

When it rains, do you skip working out? Go the gym? Run in the rain? Do a different workout?

Early morning run

I've mentioned, quite often, that I have a hard time getting up early in the morning to exercise. I always say I will and then I don't. Joey and Kyle had plans to leave the house at 8am to go play disc golf for a few hours. We have plans when they get back so in order to get a run in today, I had to get up early and be back before 8am. I set my alarm for 6:30am. I am surprised to admit that I was excited to get up. My alarm went off and, out of habit, I snoozed it. It snoozes for 9 minutes. I didn't even close my eyes though. I stayed in bed for 4 minutes just looking at the weather (77 degrees) and Facebook. Then I LEAPED (okay, not really) out of bed and got ready. Paige and I were out of the house before 7am.

I obviously looked super excited to be up, huh? I "only" got in 2.25 miles today. At first, I thought my pace was a lot slower than usual, but I went through my picture folder and I had the same pace. I save all of my workout pictures with the date so that I can keep track of my progress. Smart, huh? :) I was thinking that I normally do 2.50 miles in the 35 minute range, but when I took a look at my pictures, I realized I normally do 2.50 miles in the 40-42 minute range. So while I did do my run today a little slower, it was only slightly slower than my "norm".

It felt great to accomplish a goal: get up early to run. My sister said she has a hard time running in the evenings because she feels like she doesn't get it done if she waits until evening. Then she doesn't feel like going. I am like that sometimes, but I just love running at night. I did feel good getting up early to run, but was disappointed that I didn't get my 2.75 miles in. Since we had to be back to the house by 8, I guess I didn't leave the house early enough. I'll have to get up earlier next time...wait, what? Ugh. =)

We have a busy day ahead of us. Brynlee is staying the night with my Mom. We are having an "adult day" and doing a little shopping for Brynlee's birthday party and then going out for dinner and drinks later so this is a short post today. I have got to make sure I stay on track, calories wise, when we have lunch and dinner.

When you workout, what is your ideal time of day/night? If you're a runner, are you an indoor or outdoor runner?

Sometimes running sucks

Good morning friends! I was a little busy yesterday and didn't have a chance to post anything. I had a job interview in the morning and then a phone interview in the afternoon (with a request for an in-person interview next week) and I also received an e-mail from a 3rd company requesting a phone interview next week so I was a bit busy yesterday. I should have been in a good mood to have all of those interviews, but I was in a grumpy mood because I've just been feeling really tired and unrested. I've been frustrated with the job situation and it's really getting to me. My mom watched my daughter and after I picked her up, all I wanted to do was swing by Taco Bell. And...I did. I counted the calories, but really wish I wouldn't have "wasted" my calories on bad, bad food and a bad, bad habit. I am really trying to focus on dealing with my stress through my running. I ended up using all but 10 of my exercise calories to make up for that Taco Bell fiasco. I usually don't eat back my exercise calories. Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day.

I just did not want to run last night. My SIL said she was going to the gym to use the elliptical machine. I don't have a gym membership, but her gym allows a 2 week (free) guest pass. I told her I didn't know if I wanted to go to the gym and really just felt like going to bed. I had this back and forth battle in my head trying to decide if I should go. She said she was going to go without me and that motivated me to go. If I have 30 minutes to blog, get on Facebook, watch TV, or whatever else then I have 30-45 minutes to WORK OUT! When you don't want to work out is when you NEED IT THE MOST! So off to the gym we went...

My Garmin report looks a little different, huh? I have the foot pod for indoor/treadmill use, but haven't used it in a long while since I've been running outside. So I hooked it up, but I guess the battery is dead because my Forerunner couldn't locate the foot pod. I am HOPING that is what it is because that's an easy fix. So I went ahead and ran on the indoor track for 30 minutes, but honestly, I know I would have done better if I could see my distance, pace, and calorie burn. I did a 5 minute (fast) warm up walk then I alternated running 1 lap, walking 1 lap, until I hit 30 minutes.

I am so happy that Paige motivated me to go. If she would have said she wasn't going to go then I probably wouldn't have worked out. So I am happy that she threatened to leave me behind! :) That's TEAMWORK! I've said it a million times and I will say it again, Find yourself a buddy!

I worked out Wednesday night as well. I got my 2.75 miles in, but I had a hard time. It seemed like it was SO hot outside, no breeze at all. My legs were hurting, my breathing was rough, and I kept getting side stitches. When I entered my run into dailymile, my pace was only 20 seconds slower than normal so I guess I didn't do that bad. 8:45pm and STILL 98 degrees outside. Ugh!

When you're having a bad day, WORK OUT! Run/jog/walk/dance that stress away. My mood completely changed after just a 30 minute workout.

 

 



Weigh-In Wednesday & New Recipe

*Sigh* Another Weigh-in Wednesday. I have good news, but wish I had BETTER news to share and brag about! I was really hoping that I'd get under 200 today. But no such luck! Hopefully next week...

Starting Weight 6/10/13: 205
Last Week: 201.8
This Week: 200.4
+/-: (-1.4)

Total Loss: (-4.6 lbs)

I know, I know. A loss is a loss! Especially after I posted about my frequent pizza eating over the weekend. "Pizza in the morning, Pizza in the evening, Pizza in the afternoooon..." Okay, not really. But I did have a lot of pizza last weekend. I just feel like my weight loss is going very slow. I'm tracking calories, working out, and it's just slowly falling off. I need to step up my game a bit. I only ran 3 days last week. I ran Monday night (2.81 miles!), but skipped last night. I planned to run, but we had family over for dinner and they left around 8:30pm. I was already in my workout clothes, but not my gear. I didn't feel like going for a run. I had this mental battle, "Yep...go!", "Nope, it's getting late..." American Ninja Warrior won that battle.

I made a semi-good recipe last night. I always seem to want to make new recipes that take a lot of work. So I feel like I spend forever prepping and cooking and then 10 minutes eating. I think it would have been better if all of the chicken breasts had fully thawed first. A few of them were still semi frozen so I had to cook them a little longer which resulted in the chicken being a bit dry. But who am I kidding? I am not good at cooking chicken anyway. I don't know why I can never get it right. Even if I use the George Foreman Grill and follow the exact instructions on cooking it, it never turns out right. I spent a lot of time making this meal. It was kind of last minute (Monday evening) that everyone (Mom, Step-Dad, Sister, and Brother-in-Law) would be coming over for dinner because my sister and BIL were coming in to town yesterday. I already had the Garlic & Lemon Chicken with Green Beans and Red Potatoes on the menu for the week, but had to grab a few extras for all 9 of us. I also made this Parmesan Yellow Squash and also a side of carrots. Total calories for one serving of everything: 462 calories. Not bad!

We had mini strawberry shortcakes for dessert. So delicious. I had two of them and it was 182 calories. Not bad for dessert! I don't eat dessert often, but I love strawberry shortcake. We used mini sponge cakes from the bakery at Wal-Mart, fat free cool whip, and I cut up small strawberries. Brynlee mostly just ate the strawberries and cool whip. She ate a little bit of the cake, but that girl LOVES fruit! She must get that from me. I could eat almost all fruit.

Brynlee is staying the night with my mom tonight because I have an interview tomorrow morning. I have no excuse not to go for a run tonight. Plus, I am itching to see 2.75 miles again on my Garmin! It's such a good feeling to know that I am getting better. I just wish the scale would reflect that a little bit faster!
 

Be sure to check out the hosts of Weigh-in Wednesday!
Heather @ Pretty Strong Medicine
Ash @ A Step In The Right Direction
Bailey @ Being Bailey J
Amy @ Write This Down

Also, check out the blog links at the bottom of their posts and be sure to leave some comment love. Bloggers love comments! :)

 

Do you get excited about ANY loss on the scale?
Do you eat the same meals often?
Where do you get your recipes?
Are you a dessert person?

 

Vitamins and c25k Week 4, Day 1

Do you take vitamins? I recently went back to taking vitamins regularly. Sometimes it is hard to remember to take them so I started placing my pill box by my contact case so that I remember to take them in the morning. I used to put the pill box in my purse and take them to work with me. Then I'd eat a small breakfast at my desk while I got ready for my day and then take the pills. Since I've been "off" for a few months, I just take them in the morning after breakfast. I'll share with you what vitamins I take.

First up (not in order of importance): Raspberry Ketones. It is most commonly used for weight loss and obesity. It is also used to increase lean body mass. Some people apply raspberry ketone to the scalp to improve hair growth. Some research in animals or in test tubes shows that it might increase some measures of metabolism.(Source: WebMD) Raspberry Ketones got a big name after Dr. Oz raved about it on one of his shows in 2011 or 2012. He said it's a "miracle pill". Pssh! Nothing is a miracle pill.

I take a Women's One a Day multivitamin. Everyone should take a multivitamin!

Super B-Complex. This one is a combination of the B Vitamins. It's main purpose is energy metabolism. The link I provided lists a bunch of different benefits of taking Super B-Complex. Warning: Your pee will look like Mountain Dew! (Source: LiveStrong)

Calcium + Vitamin D. I do get a lot of sun during the summer months, but I bought the one with Vitamin D for Fall/Winter months when I am not outside as much. I feel like I do not get enough Calcium so taking a supplement is important to me. My Women's vitamin has 450 mg of Calcium and the recommended daily amount is 1000 mg of calcium. I don't ever drink milk, but I do eat yogurt (not daily). I do eat cheese, but I just feel that I do not get enough calcium. Besides, my bones need extra calcium for all of the exercise. (Source WebMD)

Lean Green. This is a green tea extract as a dietary supplement. Green tea extract supposedly works by decreasing appetite and increasing calorie and fat metabolism. It also supposedly helps with energy. A lot of bodybuilders use lean green. (Source WebMD)

Tri-Chromium. There's been numerous studies done about obese and overweight women and insulin resistance. I was overweight when I got pregnant with Brynlee and I developed Gestational Diabetes. My 6 week post partum diabetes test came back normal, but my 2012 check up didn't. I posted about that here. Chromium is a mineral that enhances the action of insulin, a hormone critical to the metabolism. It's also critical to the storage of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. There are claims that chromium supplements can decrease appetite, increase number of calories burned, reduce body fat, and increase muscle mass. (Source WebMD)

I use this handy little pill case. I just fill it up and take all of the pills each morning after breakfast. Some people can take vitamins prior to eating, but not me. If I take supplements on an empty stomach, I feel super sick. So when I go back to work, I will probably have to eat breakfast at home before I leave so that I can take my vitamins. I think this is much easier than taking each pill out of the pill bottles. Screw that crap.

Last night, I did Week 4, Day 1 of c25k. And um, it was hard for me. I really pushed through it though. During the last 5 minutes of running the program (I go longer than the program though), I wanted to walk so bad. I looked at my Garmin and I had 2 minutes left. I told myself that if I ran for one more minute then I could walk the last minute. This guy was running opposite of me, drenched in sweat (had went by me a few times already), and he said with a big smile, "You're doing GREAT!!" That was enough motivation to make myself run the last minute. Then I walked most of the 5 minute cool down, then alternated running and walking for the rest of my workout. My goal was 2.75 miles and I did 2.81. :) That's just because I accidentally ran a little far out before I turned back to head toward my car. I almost talked myself into just finishing out 3 miles (SO CLOSE!), but it was a bit dark and late. I didn't leave the house to run until 8:30pm because it was just so hot. My weather app said it was 90 degrees at 9pm. Ugh! But it was actually nice and cool out. I didn't need my Frogg Togg towel that I brought with me. It took me 45 minutes to do those 2.81 miles, but I am more worried about distance right now instead of time. But hey, a 45 minute workout is cool with me! :)

 

I am so proud of myself. I am achieving the goals I set for myself and that just makes me feel AWESOME! What are your goals this week?