Exciting results this week!

Well it has been quite a week! New achievements (ran my first real 5k race!), new goals to set (10k race, or another 5k?) And ongoing challenges! Like hoping to lose weight enough to reach my goal!

After the race I treated myself to a doughnut. I did it, and I liked it. And I had JUST ONE. I felt fine after, until I noticed the next 24 hrs my cravings were elevated. And I felt like I was failing at weight loss even though it was just one. Which got me thinkin... that happens every time I eat junk food. Luckily the next day (last Sunday) I managed to do alright but usually when I eat food that isn't healthy, I feel like I'm failing. When I feel like I'm failing, I start to think about quitting. When i think of quitting, i tend to eat more bad food. Or too much food. I feel lethargic. Like I should just give up and give in to these newly resurfaced cravings. It starts off this chain reaction inside my head. I have to consciously stop, force myself to break free of the downward spiral, no matter how hard it is and just get back at it the next day. Its a new day, fresh start... "I can do this. I WILL do this." ...and that's how I do it. Its weird cause even with the doughnut, I was under my calorie goal, yet it still set off the negative chain reaction. I ate something extremely dense in calories with very little nutritional value. My goal is the opposite: I want to pack a punch in nutrition with every calorie I eat. It isn't all about staying in that calorie limit. Its about getting all your nutrients in with those calories. And you know what? The days when I eat really well I do not at all feel deprived or hungry still. Because my body has been given the fuel it needed. It is pretty easy for me to feel happy and satisfied on just 1300 calories a day - as long as I eat the right foods! Junk food leaves me hungry again within an hour because my body still needs more nutrients! So that was just a little observation :)

I have been thinking about what my new running goals should be. I want to get under 25 minutes for a 5k. I know my race time was 23:47 but that is RACE TIME. obviously the adrenaline rush and all the people around me had me running way faster than normal and thankfully I trained enough to have the stamina to get me to the finish, but I wanna be able to do that on any given day. After I do that and during my training I want to start doing longer distances. Maybe by spring I can run a 10k or a half marathon! I want to work on speed still but endurance running is where the calorie burn will be at. If I can run for 2 hours, I will burn more calories than running 3.1 miles (5k) as fast as I can. Its science.

I am thrilled to be where I am today. It is shocking! 

Last week I was 145.6. Today I stepped on the scale and I kid you not, I am 142.8!!! Almost 3 pounds lost, my only explanation is that maybe I was carrying some extra water weight the last few weeks? The only thing I did different was that I balanced my calories better throughout the day. What I mean by that is, I ate bigger breakfasts and smaller dinners. Usually I just have oatmeal (150 cals) for breakfast, and a 400 calorie salad for lunch, a small fruit or veggie snack and then spend all the rest of my calories on a good dinner. But most days this week I had a more filling breakfast and a smaller dinner. I don't know if that made the difference but man... here is a pic to prove it!!!

Oh and my measurements:
Last week's arms: 12" Today: 11.5"

Last week's waist: 31" Today: 30.5"

Last week's hips: 37.5" Today 36.5"

Last week's thighs: 23" Today: 22.5

Last week's calves: 15" Today: 14.5"

I'm glad I gave myself a weight loss goal challenging enough, yet achievable. At first I was gonna make my goal to weigh 145. But I was like "what if I can do better? If I'm really gonna do this, why not go as far as I want and think I really can?" Get out of that comfort zone. Take a risk. Challenge yourself! I know I haven't met my goal yet, but I'm almost there! I'm really going to do it! 46 more days to lose 7.8 pounds! That means I only need to lose 1.2 pounds a week now. But I'm not going to stop doing what I'm doing. I'm not gonna go easy on myself. maybe I can pass 135 on Christmas Eve! I will probably skip my weigh in the Friday before December 24th and just weigh in on my actual Christmas Eve goal day. 

I'm glad I didn't limit myself to just trying to get down to 145! Because I have passed that now! I officially weigh less than I can ever remember weighing. When I was a kid, I was normal and skinny. So I never thought twice about what I weighed. I tried dieting during my teenage years and the lowest I can ever remember getting down to was 146. So now I have beaten that. It is quite an accomplishment

All of that, but i need to remind myself I'm not "there" yet. I have a long way to go still.
Just when I think I've gotten really skinny, I get a piece of humble pie. There's always a little something that reminds me I'm still medically overweight. Like a reflection in a store window as I walk past, a tshirt I thought I was finally small enough to wear, or something else throughout the day. I don't want to be rail thin. Just want all my extra fat to be gone! I want to be fit. I want to walk and see ripples of muscle working. Not fat. I can't believe such a short time ago I was obese. Now I'm just overweight. At the time I started, I would have given anything to be where I'm at now, and I would have been satisfied. But now that I've come this far, I know I can go all the way and I know the body I could have. So I won't be satisfied till I get there! I have figured out what my next weight loss goal will be, but I'm not gonna tell until I reach my goal weight ;) mwahahaha

Most of this week was good. I tried running with Hailie in the jogging stroller twice. She didn't much care for it and the stupid stroller constantly turns to the left like a really bad shopping cart. Imagine trying to run less than 10 minute miles with that... my knees hurt from trying to twist it the opposite directoon the whole time. And one of my shoulders. I just feel really bad though trying to find someone to watch Hailie 5X a week for up to an hour without paying them. I feel guilty like I'm just using everyone. I tell myself it isn't true, and they insist they are happy to watch her, but deep down, I feel bad.
ANYWAYYYS so if you see or hear of a free jogging stroller that works, holler at me haha.

On a completely unrelated note, Eminem's new album is so good! (MMLP2). One of the songs is stuck in my head right now. But I don't know all the words yet so I just have this one part in my head. Anyways, good running music on that album!

Here's a progress pic followed by my weekly motivating pics I find on instagram: