March Madness! (I know, I'm corny)

Well here we are. The third month of the year is almost halfway over!
I haven't had the best week calorie-wise. Went out for drinks with the girls on sunday night and had a few nights where I ate too much. Not TOO bad... only a few hundred over goal... I gotta have fun SOME times!

And I had some good long distance runs this week and ran Petaluma Hill Road again. I also did pushups yesterday... 3 sets of 8 "girl" pushups (haha). I am soooooore! Quads and armpits. Which I read being really sore can mean your muscles are swollen and therefore retaining water... which would explain why the scale said 126.6 today. No matter. I'm in the frickin 120's on a "fat" day. No complaints here!!

Ugh I seriously need to do abs! What's my problem!? Ok I'm just gonna do some today. I've been super busy but that's no excuse! If I can find time to run, I can find 5 minutes to do some abs!
Here's why I need to do 'em! My un-worked-out abs are starting to show through my blubbery stomach finally!!

So yeah, I'm VERY stoked! NOTE: these pants rock cause they hide my saggy, stretch marked lower belly. Where abs are still invisible. But that doesn't stop me from being stoked about the progress I'm seeing! See, if I would just frickin buckle down and work 'em! 

Oh yeah, so I think it was Monday of this week, I did 7 miles again on Petaluma Hill Road... guess what, they were 8:11 minute miles!! That's almost my 5K speed!!! What the heck! I don't know how it happened. Sometimes you just have a day where it all just "clicks" and you float through your run and magically PR. I got a lot of sleep the night before. Maybe that had something to do with it. 

Oh yeah, I gotta tell you guys about this amazing pre-workout powder!! (I wasn't using it for that 7 mile run... but if I had they probably would have been 7 minute miles haha)

But yeah, the stuff is called C4 oh my gosh, you will PR if you use it! Costco has the best deal! $38.99 for TWO tubs! I paid $36 at GNC for ONE. What the heck. The only downside is Costco only has the fruit punch flavor and GNC has tons of flavors (LIKE WATERMELON OMG NOM). I'm not kidding though, this stuff is incredible. You have SO MUCH ENERGY. Its super powerful. If you aren't already working out when it kicks in, you get this bad "pins and needles" feeling all over your body. The more sedentary you are, the more it hurts. So yeah, just a little tip for you. Drink it and get moving asap!! I'm not gonna use it every workout. For races, yes, and maybe every now and then when I'm adding mileage. Cause I don't want to feel like I "always need it" and stuff. But if you want a good pre-workout drink, "C4 Extreme" is the stuff, I tell ya!

Anywaaayyys, enough plugging products. Hope you are all having a fantastic week! I'm gonna go eat some old fashioned oatmeal with 1/4 cup of whole milk in it with a dash of cinnamon, as my breakfast. Have a great week, all!

200 days and counting!

Yesterday was my 200th day in my streak on MyFitnessPal. That means 200 days since my weightloss/healthy journey began. It doesn't feel like its been that long! As I've said before... I'm glad I started when I did. I didn't wait for "monday". Didn't wait till "the first of the month", or even "first of the year". I just started. What I was currently eating was what was maintaining my obesity/helping me gain more. As hard as it may be for some people to accept, your weight is in your complete control. No one else's. No one is holding a gun to your head, telling you to keep eating. Telling you to eat another cupcake or piece of chicken or slice of pizza or whatever your drug of choice is. I say drug because researchers are now finding that eating certain foods for most people triggers a dopamine release in the brain the same as a drug addict's when they get their fix. It may not be as strong as say, heroine or cocaine, but it is the same thing that happens. You sink your teeth into that pizza or bloomin' onion or doughnut and your brain says "YESSSS!" obviously, that rush soon subsides and the brain wants it again. We are wired biologically to be pleasure seakers. The Good Lord put this in us because it helps us servive in the natural world he first created us in. But nowadays... there are calories galore... too many... and when that gets combined with low nutrition per calorie, you have someone who is literally starving from a nutritional standpoint but yet they are quite noticeably overweight or obese. You've got to eat nutritious foods. Sure, treats are fun now and then. Like Sunday... I ate fried Calamari and Fish n Chips! (Probably why I only lost 0.4 pounds this week haha) but it was a fun treat, I enjoyed it and am done with it. That's the first time in months I have eaten anything deep fried. I don't do it everyday or I will blow back up to my obese self. 

So yeah. Not to lecture, but that stuff has been on my mind lately.

Anywaaayyysss things have been going aight. Like I said, cheat meal happened on Sunday evening. And I went a little over my calories on friday and saturday so today my weight is 127.2. I'm totally happy with that. I have been sick now with a bad cold for over a week. Despite that, I still have the energy to train for our half marathon. The mileage has been low (5 miles was my biggest run this week) but at least I'm getting out there! Never before would I have been able to comfortably run 5 miles with a sinus infection!! I guarantee you, it is because of what I have been eating. I eat to fuel my body now. Not to please my tongue. (Ok, sometimes I please my tongue...).

I think that's pretty much it for this week. Thanks for reading :)

Transformation pic I forgot to post here!:

Whoosh!

Last Sunday (Superbowl) I pigged out to the max. I seriously ate so much food. Chips, dip, nuts, celery dipped in blue cheese dressing, strawberry/banana skewers, homemade jalapeño poppers (baked instead of deep fried, but still...) and probably like 20 hot wings and honey bbq wings. Oh and 2 Shock Top beers. I was so full, it hurt. I weighed in monday morning 5 pounds heavier than the previous Friday. So I dropped my calories back down to 1220 and got back on track. I know a lot of that was just my body bloating and retaining water from all the sodium I consumed, (my fingers were noticeably swollen by bedtime) but I have another dietbet round ending on the 21st and I need to be 128 for that. 

Well I took a peek on the scale yesterday and hadn't lost much weight. So all day yesterday I drank tons of water! (109 ounces... no joke) It helped my cravings and then this morning I got on the scale and put up 129.8!!!!!! I can't believe it!!! I'm in the 120's!!!! And the fabled "whoosh" is real! Haha. So yeah that is some crazy stuff!! Hard work is paying off!! The scale seriously said that! 

My cousin Rebecca and I finished our distance training yesterday! Today we did a shorter run with my other cousin Gabriella (Rebecca's sister) but tomorrow we plan to begin our crazy intense speed training. Yay! Its supposed to be 5 days/week but I doubt we will be able to train that much. We'll try though! We have 12 weeks till the race. Just enough time to complete the program if we stay on track. So we might not complete it but every little bit will help our time. week one starts us out just running 4 miles but we have to really push our speed. So that's totally do-able.

Wow I'm in the 120's... sorry I just remembered! Haha

I went shopping a few days ago at the thrift store my sister Julia works at (one of the Crossing The Jordan stores. The boutique-y one in Rohnert Park) and got a whole bunch of new (to me) clothes! Its still a strange cool feeling to go right to the "small" section to shop. I can pick out cute things and know they won't "make me look fat". Among the things I bought was a pair of jeans size 3. They are still about 2 sizes too small. I can barely button them. But they are my new "goal" jeans! They are actually the right length too haha. Jeans have almost always been too long on me for as long as I can remember.

There they are! Can't wait till they fit! 

So that's this week's update! Hope your day goes well and all! 

Get yo head in the game!

Well, as of today I am the same weight as I was the last time I wrote, two weeks ago. This morning I was 131.2. Which is a good weight, I'm not complaining by any means, but I've just been maintaining my weight lately and I feel like I need to recommit to my goals. I keep having "cheat days" which turn into "cheat weekends". It isn't even bad food. Just more food than I should be having in order to continue towards my fitness goals. Especially when I go to my parent's. I just want to join in the fun there and enjoy myself! But. Time to buckle down again. by the end of February I want to put up a 126. That's about a 5 pound loss for February. Easily achievable.

Training has been going well. Rebecca and I are right on track! On Tuesday, she didn't have time to run so I just ran alone. Decided to try to do a fast 5K and see how my speed was. I thought I wouldn't do very well since we've been training for distance so much lately but I put up a brand new PR! Sub-25 minutes with a 24:46! Over a minute faster than my previous best. I don't know how it happened. I just went HARD the whole time. Sprinted the last 0.10 miles. And it just happened. I think this next week is our last week of distance training and then we will begin our speed training.

I officially won two more Diet Bets as of today! They are still finalizing other player's numbers so I won't know how much money I have won until another day and a half but I expect it to be around $100. So that is pretty cool :)
and I signed up for a few more to keep my motivation going and to kick February into higher gear! I figure I can pay for the new ones with my current winnings and then once I win the new ones, THAT money can go for my Human Race entrance fee and whatever else.

My husband Daniel has been doing amazing still! he had a cheat day last Sunday and still managed to put up an incredible loss this week! He's losing more than what most people recommend, but he started out at a higher weight and so its different than if someone like me was to be putting up numbers like that. Once again, he's going to be posting a blog which I will share on my facebook, so I don't want to give away his stats... But it has been a month so he is posting some non-scale victories and they are shocking!

Sunday is Superbowl Sunday. We are going to my sister-in-law's new place for a party. We'll be bringing hot wings, bbq wings, and some healthy appetizers and deserts. That will keep me on track. I may have a beer or two, we'll see what my calories allow for, haha. I will probably let myself go over a little, since I'm only at the beginning of the month and diet bets, but I'm not going to pig out a ton and eat too much. I will be avoiding potato chips and dip, as that is one of my food weaknesses and once I have one, I just can't seem to stop. So that is my battle plan.
Valentine's day is coming up soon too. I plan to just have a few of whatever sweets I get. Just a little treat or two. Won't let myself pig out. I need to focus on myself again. Get my head in the game!
Since I've only lost another 5 pounds since my last progress pictures I'm still not posting any new ones. Maybe by the end of this month there will be a noticeable change if I drop another 5 pounds.

I really really need to stop procrastinating weight training. I am a cardio gal. Heck, I have lost over 40 pounds with cardio! But I seriously need to do some squats, deadlifts, work my arms and my core. I need to just buckle down, lift the heavy weights, and get stronger. my arms are too skinny. They need some meat on them. (actual meat, not more fat...)

I have been feeling guilty lately for being this thin. I had a few comments from a couple people (who are overweight themselves) that I need to make sure I "don't go too far" and "You will not look good if you lose more weight. It will just be gross. 120 is WAAAYYY too thin for you!" (Nevermind the fact that it is a PERFECTLY NORMAL weight for someone of my height. that would only be like a 22(ish) on a BMI scale. I would have to weigh less than 108 for it to be considered underweight. and I don't think its possible to weigh that little and still maintain the muscles I have. Seriously. I will never get THAT skinny.
But yeah, after those comments I have been feeling bad and self-conscious and afraid to lose more weight kinda. That's one reason why I didn't post a blog last week. I guess I'm just afraid of people thinking I'm getting too thin. But I seriously am not! Maybe I should post more pics so you can see I still have a very flabby stomach. I know that's a lot of pregnancy loose skin but trust me, there is plenty of fat in there still. And I want a version of a 6-pack by summer so, ya know. Gotta cut the fat and grow the muscles. 120 is just a goal. its more about what I look like now than what the scale says. It is just a number I'm shooting for, but the real finish line will be that stomach definition. You know what, I'll do it. I'll show you guys my stomach when I DON'T suck it in:

Yeah, there... you see? Def not too skinny. Its very squishy and jiggly and flabby. Not anything compared to what it used to be, but I look 15 weeks pregnant if I don't suck it in! Again, not complaining. I guess I'm just trying to justify my goals? So there! Haha well that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Oh wait! I almost forgot to show you guys this picture! I must have been 13/14 in it and I am obviously woofing down nachos. This was in my very chubby days. My sister Julia found it and sent it to me a couple days ago:

Ugh, SO embarrassing! The ultimate "fatty" picture! Ok bye for reals now :)

Greener grass

Everyday I keep going. Everyday I'm doing this. It has become a lifestyle for me... keeping track of what I eat, seeking out healthier versions of my old favorite foods, running a heck of a lot. I think, sleep and breathe it now. I LOVE the new body I have and what it is capable of. I can run and bounce around, playing kangaroo with Hailie, I feel so free!! I used to look down and I felt trapped with all this fat stuck to me. I was in Petaluma last Sunday for my birthday (24 now, woop woop!), walking down E. Washington street and realized I wasn't trying to tuck my muffin top into my pants. I wasn't subconscously paranoid about a bulge sticking out somewhere. Didn't have to try to suck it in for pictures. I was just free. Holding hands with Hailie as we walked around the seed bank there. So free. And it is wonderful! I wasn't wearing baggy clothes either!

This morning I weighed in at 131.2. So that's better. I think that's a 2 pound loss... the max of what I want to be losing every week. But I should probably still eat more calories.
My cousin Rebecca and I are getting better at running! We did a run this morning (6.33 miles out past Cotati over some hills out in the country... BREATHTAKING.) and our average miles were almost exactly at 9 minutes/mile. Which is suddenly a huge jump in speed and I don't know how or why. You'd think the hills would have killed us, but we kicked butt! Got a great calorie burn in!

My husband Daniel started losing weight too, just a couple weeks ago and I can already see a difference! I won't give away his stats because he has a blog too that he will probably post later and I don't want to steal his thunder but he is doing FANTASTIC. He will blow you away with his progress! He is so driven and commited! He seems stronger in all this than I was! Especially when I first started. He is so inspiring, be on the lookout for his post soon! I'll put a link in my facebook when he posts his!

So other than that stuff, my legs have gotten some crazy definition going on! I have skinny ankles and big feet so it looks like I have frog legs but check it!:

Oh, and excuse the messy room!

New Things

Sorry I didn't write on Christmas Eve! I got really busy. I weighed in at 137.4. Which I'm alright with. I have been enjoying lots of goodies. Since reaching my goal, I have seen that I am going to be challenged in this, probably for the rest of my life.
I'm going to attempt to get down to 120 by my mom's birthday: April 17th. If a versian of a 6-pack emerges before 120, then I will stop there. But as long as I'm not pregnant, I want to see if I can have some abs!

I probably won't write in every week, but I will still write now and then for anyone interested. I feel like everyone (including me!) Is waiting and watching to see if I can keep the weight off. I have total confidence in myself that I will. It will be a whole new learning process. I will have to figure out how many calories I need to maintain my new weight.

I won all of my diet bets! I got a total of $135.47. Not bad! I had bet $88.something so that's almost a $50 gain! I'm thinking of using a little of my christmas money to do another. It really does help motivate, to know you have money on the line.

I had a new personal best on my 5K today! 25:57 is my new best now. Broke that 26 minute line!
Previous was 26:27, so exactly 30 seconds faster! Which I'm surprised about because I have been eating so much and gained a little. Just last night at my parent's I ate quiche, champagne, cookies (4), roast beef (a lot...) candy canes and a half of a giant baked potato (with butter... lots of butter). I usually run terribly the morning after a heavy hearty meal like that. But you won't catch me complaining!
You know what I have noticed? Weighted squats and deadlifts improve my speed by A LOT. Everytime I do them, once my muscles heal, I lose at least a minute off my time. I am going to do more and more of them now!

I really wanted to include progress pics in this post but I haven't taken any. I didn't want to put off writing this post any longer though. Sooooo oh well. Next time I guess.

I am so happy with how far I have come. Its crazy to think just this past summer I was miserable and thought it must be impossible to lose weight. There's nothing stopping you but yourself. The sky is the limit! So until next time, cheers and happy New Year!!

Mission Accomplished :)

You guys, I did it!! I DID IT!

it took 124 days. Running over 314 miles. (That doesn't include the miles I have walked)

Counting almost every calorie. I have lost 37.6 pounds and finally hit my goal! OMG!

There it is my friends, 135 pounds, right on the money this morning! I did it!! 

as for measurements:

Last week:                Today:

Arms 10.5"                 10.5"

Waist 29.75"              29.5"

Hips 35.5"                  34.5"

Thighs 22"                 22"

Calves 14.25"            14.25"

In case anyone questions whether or not I did it healthily, I lost an average of 2.12 pounds per week... which is a little more than recommended, but I started at an obese weight and it came off really quickly in the beginning, before I even started blogging. I ate on average, 1400 calories a day. Exercised a minimum of 4 days a week. I used the C25K program (apps available) to get into running. I went from barely being able to jog for 60 seconds without being out of breath, to being able to run 5K (3.11 miles) in 27:11 (yep, new PR last Saturday!)

Believe me, I get all my vitamins and minerals, meet my macros, and I feel amazing. my nails are healthier and grow faster. my hair is long, full and shiny. I have lots of muscle (and am working on building more now!)

It also is worth mentioning that i have continued to successfully nurse Hailie throughout this whole weight loss journey. If I wasn't eating enough for my body needs, that wouldn't have worked.

I have more energy than I know what to do with. I have no problem getting on the floor and playing with my little 1 year old daughter for however long she wants. I'm not done yet. I can weigh as little as 108 pounds and still be considered "normal" and healthy. I'm probably not going to get down that low ever, but I'm thinking of shooting for the 100-and-teens. 

Here's a couple screenshots from my weight-tracking app today:

As you can see, the weight came off really fast at first, and then everything settled into a pretty steady pace. 

For now, I have a few more days of my diet bet games... I needed to be 137.3 in order to win, and I have surpassed that. So a few more days of maintaining or losing more and then I will enjoy some Christmas treats (in moderation!) enough to maintain my weight. After New Year's, I will start Operation Six-Pack! haha. I don't know what that would look like, seeing as I have stretch marks and loose stomach skin. But I will try to get as close as I can. Don't know what that weight would be, but there is still a good layer of blubber over my stomach. Won't be very hard. I'm going to try to lose at a slower rate though, It has been coming off faster than I want, for the past week. My goal now is to be, look, and feel FIT. not skinny, but fit. 

The above picture is me at the start... about 172 pounds. Obese. Unhappy. Lying to myself about my body. And the picture on the right is today. 135 and i feel 100% different.

I used to avoid ever getting on the scale. I would tell myself I wasn't really that fat. I made jokes about my stomach. I hated how I felt though. I had to get honest, buckle down and just do it. It was really hard sometimes. You guys have been reading this most of the time. I battled myself more than anything. There were nights when I REALLY wanted to stuff my face. My stomach can be a bottomless, black hole of a pit. This is not over. Reaching my goal is by no means a license to go back to the way things were. granted, I DO have to eat more calories in order to stop losing weight, but I will gain it all back if I stop eating healthy and clean. Those old habits are right there waiting for me to let my guard down. I will NEVER weigh that much again!! (unless I'm actually pregnant... then it is possible.)

Definitely won't get up to the previous highest pregnancy weight of 205 pounds. 

One thing I just have to write about... a couple times I have felt bad about writing all this thinking of readers who are bigger than my biggest... I have been afraid that they read it and criticize me for feeling too fat when I'm so much smaller than them. I have been afraid that they would say to me "yeah right, you don't know what its like to REALLY be fat." I know I may not have ever been SUPER fat, but medically I WAS OBESE. Not morbidly, but still. For me personally, it was too much. For me personally, I still have too much fat on my stomach. Everyone's journey is different. I want to be here for anyone and anyone looking for support or a way out. I lost just shy of 40 pounds. in almost 5 months. Maybe you weigh WAYYYY more than I ever did, and feel like its impossible. Don't buy in to the message that losing weight is impossible. I DID it! most of my readers actually KNOW ME. They have seen it all in person! I am surprised that I have really done it. I really am... because I used to believe it wasn't really possible. "I just can't seem to ever lose this weight!" I'd seen other people do it, and wish it was me. WISH NO MORE, PEOPLE. YOU CAN DO IT. I'm gonna pay it forward, and if anyone wants help, I will help!! Message me on facebook, or email me at dalahshawty@yahoo.com and I will do my best to help you. I can give you personalized calorie goals, workout schedules, meal plans, all the support you need, whatever it is. I'm serious, I feel so amazing, I long for everyone struggling with their weight to feel this way!! Now I see people at the store, or wherever and I see myself in their shoes. The old me. and I know how to help now! I know how to lose all that extra weight! Hopefully I don't sound cocky or conceited, like I'm "so smart" or "so cool" or something. I'm just really honestly SO excited about all of this. Please know, my heart is never to judge or anything... because I HAVE BEEN THERE. Not having anything to wear because I have grown out of all my clothes. Not caring anymore. I have been there. But I found the way out, and I can help you get out too! It takes a hell of a lot of commitment, but just about anyone can do it. 

I will write again with a weigh-in on Christmas Eve, because that was my goal date, and I want to see what I really weigh on that day. Thank you for following me on this journey, all the supportive comments have helped me more than you guys know. There were days I wanted to just give up, eat a ton of food, whatever and I thought of all my readers who are rooting for me, and who would have to know I failed. It helped to write about all of this so much. You guys have helped me reach this goal. my BMI is now 23.9 (Healthy) and I started at 30.5 (Obese). Talk to you all on Christmas EVE!!

Are we there yet?

I'm really beginning to notice how a positive attitude has a huuuge impact on my body. The weeks when I get all negative, stressed and down on myself, I lose almost nothing. And then the weeks where I keep my head up, focus, stay positive, upbeat and happy, I suddenly drop a ton of weight. Even if Daniel and I DID bake Chocolate Chip cookies last night and eat 2! (yes, I managed to only eat 2!!)

I know I'm getting closer and closer to my goal, any week now i will hit it! One of my apps is predicting I'll hit it by December 11th so let's see what we have today! *steps on scale*:
136.6!! Another 2 pounds lost! I'm pretty stoked!! Only 1.6 pounds away from goal! I could very well put up 135 next week. Who knows if i will, but it is a very real possibility now!
I'm only 4 pounds away from having lost 40. All through lots of exercise (mainly running) and clean, balanced eating. Never felt deprived. Never suffered.

Oh, and I know I didn't post my measurements last week. It was really cold and I was lazy. But here are this week's!

Today:                             Previously (11/22/13):
Arm: 10.5"                     Arm: 11"
Waist: 29.75"                 Waist: 30"
Hips: 35.5"                     Hips: 36"
Thighs: 22"                     Thighs: 22.5"
Calf: 14.25"                    Calf: 14.25"

Its really important that I see drops in those numbers when I see drops on the scale. Because then I know I am losing fat. Not just water or muscle weight. So I am happy with those numbers today :)

I am having to curb my running a little bit. I'm getting a good amount of pain in my right foot. Its like... above the arch, on the side of my foot. There's these bones and the one closer to my ankle has been killing me if i run on road that is slanted to the left. If i run on even ground, or ground slanted to the right, its all gravy. But otherwise, its bad. Especially if i go for more than 3.1 miles (5k). Here, I'll use the ole' Google to show you which bones:

Pretty sure its one of the joints on the "Tuberosity" bone. I think its the "Talocalcaneonavicular joint". That's exactly where the pain is. Really weird place, it seems like.

Any of my running readers know a cause/solution? I think it must be my form. If I make a conscious effort to keep that foot straight when running, it seems to help. I twisted or sprained (or whatever) that ankle several times in the past and I think it could have had something to do with that? Then again, this is a fairly new problem... not more than a month old so maybe its my new shoes? I got them the last week of October.
This really sucks though, many times I have to just go for a walk instead of running. I can't get faster if I can't train enough! And its not going to help my weight loss pace.

Anyways, besides the foot, everything has been going pretty good. I'll do a progress pic when I make goal weight. I continue to be inspired by a lot of fitness page posts on Instagram (follow me: heartsonfire707)
So here are a few from this week:

And what was your excuse again?

Now on to a new week!

Back on track

Not sure if it was because I had the stomach flu on Wednesday, or I worked really hard (probably mostly the stomach flu)
But the scale on Thursday (yesterday) morning said 137.2!!!
But... because I'm sure I was still dehydrated from Wednesday, I'm going to use today's weight of 138.6.
I said last week that I was going to use Thursday morning's weight because I thought a huge thanksgiving dinner would throw off my weight but that was before I got sick.
I still wasn't myself last night and I could hardly eat at all. Pretty disappointing. I didn't even eat dessert. But it works out great for my weight loss. I only have 3.6 more pounds to go and 3.5 weeks to do it. I'm so close! Light at the end of the tunnel is in sight.

I haven't worked out since tuesday. I hope to be strong enough to run tomorrow. I had a new 5k PR! It was 27:38 on 11/23 (last Saturday) my previous was 28:55 so that was a big improvent!

I was a lot less stressed this past week. I felt much happier and confident. I'm really trying to enjoy the new me more, and be proud of myself.

I found a $10 bill out on the sidewalk on wednesday. I was going to try to go for a walk (even though I was sick) because I set my GymPact app pact for 7 days/week. So if I didn't walk at least, I'd get charged $5 for not working out that day. But since I found the $10 I figured that was from God so I didn't have to go haha
:)

So all in all, its been a good week! I'm very happy with where I'm at and confident that I will reach my goals!
I have high hopes for winning my
http://www.dietbetter.com/games/28061
Games! (That link will take you to the game I'm in with the highest pot. Really cool)
So there we have it. Little post-Thanksgibing blog for y'all :)

Slowly But Surely Is The Way Of It

This week I did better than last (minus that one day of Carl's Jr... it was spur of the moment and I told myself it wouldn't hurt! But it did... within a half hr of eating it, my fingers were all puffy from the sodium and i felt rotten.)

I have finally been able to see some progress again. The past few weeks the scale has told me I was losing weight, but I haven't SEEN it quite as well as this week. I bought a tape measure yesterday so I can finally track my weight loss in inches too (where it really matters!) And yes I am going to bare all and post my numbers for y'all. So here we go:

Last week I came in at 147.0 lbs. Today, I am 145.6! That is a 1.4 pound loss! I am back on track! 

Now for those measurements:

(Taken on the right side of the body, when applicable.)

Arms: 12"

Waist: 31"

Hips: 37.5"

Thighs: 23"

Calves: 15"

So there we go. I wish I would have done that in the beginning. Would have been awesome to see how many inches I have lost! But better now than ever.

That being done, tomorrow is my first 5k race!! This past week I already broke my 30 minute time goal. My new best time right now is 28:55. My run yesterday was one more speed interval workout. Today I am resting for the race tomorrow. Want my legs to be fresh! Crazy how a month ago, I couldn't break a 34 minute 5k cause of my asthma, now here I am, getting a minute faster every week! My new goal for tomorrow is to break that 28:55 obviously, but I secretly wonder if/hope that I will break 28 minutes. I might write another little blog post tomorrow, all about the race.

I am nervous that I won't meet my goal of 135 by christmas eve. Because of that I'm going to add in an extra run workout now every week. I have my 4 days of 5k training, but I'm going to try and make Thursdays (day before my weigh ins) my long run days where the goal will be 5 or 6 miles. I gotta burn more calories to lose more weight, so there we go.

In a few weeks, my husband Daniel and I might be doing this juicing "reboot" thing we heard about. There are many different plans you can do, but we wanna do the 15 day one. Basically the first 5 days you get to eat all vegitarian meals and homemade juices. Its a free plan, comes with recipes, shopping list and menu. After that 5 days, for the last 10, you just drink juices. There are a lot of health benefits to it. You detox your body, clearer skin, more energy, you can heal yourself of chronic diseases, sleep better, and obviously there will be weight loss. I'm already losing weight, so I'm doing it more for the other benefits but also, maybe it will give me the extra kick I need to meet my goal.

I am thrilled to look back and see how far I've come. I have lost 27 pounds so far, in 82 days! All your life is lived in the present. I had to stop saying "I'll start on Monday." Or "after this holiday." And start saying "NOW." You only have today. No more excuses. Everyday is a fresh start.
I think one reason people resist change in diet is they are focusing on what they will lose rather than what they will gain. Sure, I kinda missed my huge portions smothered in rich, luxurious sauces. I missed being carefree about how many calories everything was. Ignorance is bliss. But I don't miss that stuff anymore. My habits have changed. My taste buds have changed. My portion sizes have changed. And it is GOOD change. As a result of those changes, other changes happened. My waistline is smaller. I fit into clothes I never thought I would!
I gave up several times in the past and said "oh well, I'm just gonna be the fat girl my whole life. I just need to learn to love my fat body." You know... the only way you fail is if you give up. So keep fighting! Keep going! You messed up this week? Me too! Brush yourself off and try try again! We really CAN do this. For so long I kinda resigned myself to believing that to be skinny, you needed the right genes. Or it was just "luck". But it simply isn't true! Here I am... I've been chubby since 5th grade... and I'm turning into one of the skinny girls! It really is possible, I'm serious! Don't believe the lies you hear and tell yourself! It IS possible, do-able, reachable... it takes work, but boy will you reap benefits from that work! Let's kick this week's butt!

Progress pic! (Same shorts in both pics! And i was sucking it in MAJORLY in the before pic)

Here's a screenshot of my new Personal Record! (PR) :

 

And here are some pics that motivated me throughout the week:

Check out this girl's killer transformation I found!: