So Skinny on the Inside

On Plan

2011-05-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Today was a great day on my Eat Less, Move More adventure. Frankly, it happened because I made the decision to do it. I had been feeling really crummy & bloated due to my diet & lack of exercise and finally I’d had enough. I woke up knowing that I was going to make good choices today. And so I did. Probably a little heavy on the starches and light on the veggies, but definitely much better than I’ve been doing. And I was right at my calorie goal for the day.

Breakfast: protein shake, banana

Snack: light yogurt, honey wheat pretzels

Lunch: ham & beans

Snack: apple, veggie straws

Dinner: protein shake, banana

Snack: soft pretzel, skinny cow ice cream sandwich

Exercise: 1.15 mi walk on AM break & 0.80 mi walk on PM break

Go me! Most of all, I’m excited that I got in some exercise today. I walked during both breaks at work. Here’s one of the buildings that I pass.

Look how blue the sky was today! I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. I put my headphones on, started the Nike+ GPS App, and got moving. My senses were razor sharp today and I used them to absorb all the beauty around me…..greenery, architecture, blue skies, slight breeze, etc. It was wonderful! Now my plan is to keep up the momentum. After all, I have a 5K this Saturday, followed by a placement walk on Monday (we are timed during 2 separate one mile walks to determine which training groups we will be placed in), and then training for a 10K in August. I feel good things are just around the corner!

Gift of Time….

2011-05-13T16:11:00.001-07:00

During the past week, we experienced the death of 3 young girls, aged 14-18, in our community. Two of them died in car accidents and the third died of leukemia. Needless to say, there has been so much sadness, especially since I knew the girls who died via accidents. Emilee worked at the cleaning service which was contracted at my office but I only knew her in passing. Katie was the daughter of one of the teachers at my kids’ old beloved daycare; and though I didn’t know Katie well, I am friends with her mom (Kim) on Facebook and see Kim and all 3 of her kids at various school events.

Katie’s death has affected me more than I expected. Probably because Kim was like a mom to my kids during their daycare days. The entire daycare staff is a very close-knit pseudo family, so I know how much they are grieving as well. I can’t imagine how they are coping considering how down I feel. Kim has been posting on Facebook and admits that she doesn’t know how she will get through this. That this was never something she expected to have to do. It brings me to tears and there are really no words to adequately express my feelings. As a fellow mom, I am simply heartbroken.

If there is any good to be found in this week, it’s that I’ve been hugging my kids even tighter. Of course I love them every day, but it’s easy to get wrapped up in business and stress of life. This week I’ve been trying to slow down and cherish each and every moment, both with my kids and with my husband. GothGirl and I have been bonding over shopping, dining out, stamping, & Girls on the Run. Crockett and LilCrockett have been bonding over fishing and baseball. Life is too short and you never know how much time you’ll have with someone. So, I’m reminding you to cherish those moments with your loved ones and give them to the gift of your time.

Part Accountability

2011-05-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well my latest re-start hasn’t been that spectacular, which is why I haven’t been posting. obviously. Motivation is still lacking. But I have a plan to help with that. As a Girls on the Run coach, I am slated to do a 5K on the 21st of this month. I should be able to finish it, but I will be walking and there will be no speed records set. My training has been nearly non-existent and frankly I’m disappointed with myself. I wanted to do this race with more speed and perhaps even some running. So, I’m trying to get in some training walks in the next couple weeks so that it’s not a total bust.

And so I don’t start slacking off after the Girls on the Run 5K, I’ve signed up for a special training group to walk the Abe’s Amble 10K in late August. It will be great to train with a group of people with similar abilities and have some accountability. I need accountability something fierce. This group will do that for the exercise portion….now if I can just find some accountability for my diet. The MyFitnessPal app is great but doesn’t have any teeth.

Re- Re- Re- Re- Re-Start

2011-05-02T16:57:00.001-07:00

I hate to even post here. You see I started back in the game again today. A continuation of my temporarily-halted Eat Less, Move More adventure. I’ve long since lost count of the number of times I’ve done a re-start and frankly, I’m scared that this one won’t stick either. Thus, I really debated hard about posting this latest re-start. When I’m doing good, I love to post; but when I’m doing bad, I want to hide under a rock. It’s not fun to admit failure. But I think I’m learning that the fact that I keep trying is what matters, not the fact that I keep failing.

Just a forewarning though. I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to concentrate more on the journey, not the blogging.

Weekend Blues

2011-04-17T19:08:00.001-07:00

While most people normally live for the weekends, I kind of dread them. I do love being off work, spending time with my family and friends, and having time to do extra activities….but there’s a negative side too. You see, I spend 5 days of the week closely watching what I eat (which lately means tracking calories via the MyFitnessPal app), but then the weekend comes and I throw it all away. And it’s not like I just eat a meal or two that’s bad. Lately the weekend becomes like a free-for-all to eat as much as I want, whenever I want. I am usually down a few pounds on the scale by Friday and then this happens, so that when Monday rolls around I’m up an extra pound or so. I’m beginning to feel like I may never right this ship. Such a scary thought. But I will keep plugging away and hoping that one day, it will all click and I can stick to it. Thanks for sticking with me in the meantime.

Avoidance

2011-04-11T20:29:00.001-07:00

There’s a certain pattern that develops when I’m not happy with myself and it’s called avoidance. Lately, I’ve been feeling so ashamed of my weight that I find myself starting to pull back. Wanting to avoid seeing people who are familiar with me when I was a smaller size. Wanting to avoid meeting new people. Wanting to avoid trying new activities or going to new places. Basically a withdrawal from life. How sad, huh?

My spring wardrobe is really lacking. I’m not happy with any of the shirts in my closet. Either they are too small or they are not flattering. So, I went in search of some new clothes at the local consignment shop today. There weren’t any shirts that interested me, but I decided to try on some jeans. While in the dressing room, I got a glimpse of myself in their full length mirror and it was a real eye-opener. Besides avoiding people and places, I’ve been avoiding the mirror as well. Sure, I’ve glanced at myself in the mirror, but never for too long. Well today I got a good look and I didn’t like what I saw. And sadly, it increases my desire to avoid people. The main question that runs through my head is “how can anyone else like to look at me when I don’t like to look at myself?”.

I started off the day eating good and though I could have let the downer shopping trip derail my plans, it only strengthened my resolve that I need to do something. That look in the mirror was a real wake-up call. Though I knew I was very overweight, I was deluding myself at how bad it had gotten. Sometimes you need to hit bottom before you can claw your way to the top. Today sure felt like the bottom.

Snowball Effect

2011-04-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

It is the same color as snow and when it’s in my body, it certainly has a snowball effect. So, what is it? If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that the answer is SUGAR. My kryptonite. My Achilles heel. My. Big. Fat. Addiction!

Hi. My name is Tara and I’m a sugar addict.

I know this and yet I disregard it because sugar has such a hold on me. It all started innocently enough today. There was a bag of mini powdered sugar donuts sitting on the counter. Leftovers from my kids breakfast this weekend. The bag was nearly empty and so I thought I’d just eat the remaining crumbled donuts so I could throw the bag away and get it off the counter. After all, how much harm could 3 mini donuts do? I should have known the answer to that……PLENTY!

After the bit of sugar hit my system, there was a snowball effect. My body could hardly get more fast enough. I went down to our cafeteria for lunch and was planning to get something fairly healthy, knowing that we had a pizza party for my son’s basketball team tonight after work. But, I chose the BBQ pork sandwich, which happens to have a sweet sauce, and a Pepsi. Shortly after eating the sandwich & drinking some soda, the cravings kicked in. So, I ate 2 Dove chocolate squares. I probably would have eaten a lot more but they weren’t mine. Though they were in put out for everyone to enjoy, I think my coworker would have been a little astonished if I came and raided her entire chocolate stash!

By now, I should have been plenty full. The sandwich itself was large. I had also had plenty of sugar. But about an hour later, the cravings kicked in again. This time they were very strong. So, I found myself back downstairs in the cafeteria purchasing 2 large oatmeal raisin cookies and after getting back to my desk, I proceeded to eat them both. And I hardly came up for air. Afterwards, I just felt that too-much-sugar sickening feeling. I get it nearly every time I overindulge in sweets and I absolutely hate the way it makes me feel. But still, I do it. Crazy how much power this little white substance has over my body.

I did manage to turn it around by the end of the day fortunately. Break time came and though I’d been planning to go for a walk all day, I was in no mood to do so when it actually came time. I was in a sugar-induced pseudo funk by this time. Feeling lethargic, lazy, and half in a state of mental fog. But I’m happy to say that I got myself going. I told myself that I didn’t even have to walk fast….I just needed to get outside. So, I grabbed my ipod and set out. The music was the thing that did it for me. Hearing some of my favorite songs did wonders for my mood. I started looking around and really seeing my surroundings. The trees starting to bud, the flowers starting to bloom, and the warm breeze blowing on my skin.

By the time my 15-minute walk was over, I was nearly in a state of bliss. Amazing what a little walk can do!

I Have No Witty Title Today

2011-03-28T17:52:00.001-07:00

What do you do when you know you’re going to indulge later in the day? You use it as an excuse to pig out the entire day, right? WRONG! That’s what I would normally do, but today was different. My favorite dessert (banana split cake) was sitting in my fridge and I knew I would want a piece this evening. So, I counted calories all day to make sure I stayed on track and then savored the dessert as soon as I got home from work. To help offset the extra calories, I followed it up by going for a 1.25 mile walk. My plan was to drink a protein shake for my actual dinner, but I was just never that hungry for the rest of the night, so my dessert became my dinner. Actually, my stomach started rumbling at about 9:30pm, but I just hit the sack early. I know that having dessert for dinner is not the healthy way to do it, but it did allow me to stay under my alloted calorie goal for the day. What a difference it makes to live in moderation. Let’s hope I can continue with this trend.

It was great to get outside for a walk. I haven’t exercised in 18 days due to prolonged sickness (aka “The Ick”). Though I probably could have gone farther, I didn’t want to overdo it on my first day out. Besides, I’m coaching GOTR tomorrow and I hope to get in some walking/jogging with the girls. Todays walk took me by one of our neighborhood ponds and there were some ducks and geese swimming around. I snapped this photo using the Instagram app on my iPhone. My neighborhood is mostly developed with houses, so I enjoy this little stretch where I can see some nature. I got a glimpse of a rabbit too, but couldn’t get my phone out in time to get a photo.

I’m getting anxious to start Brad Gansberg’s Run 5K in 100 Days program (see my last post), but I have to be patient for a bit longer. He sent out an email today saying that he is waiting on insurance and waivers before beginning the program. You can’t be too careful these days, so I don’t blame him.

2nd Chance to be a Runner

2011-03-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

I guess I should confess my less-than-stellar week, but I don’t really want to. The Ick continues mainly in the form of bad allergies right now. Headache and congestion are nearly non-stop. And I’ve told you before what happens when I’m not feeling good….I use food as comfort. While it hasn’t been a complete flop of a week, I’m not happy with a a lot of my choices and exercise has been elusive due to lack of motivation and feeling so crummy. Something’s gotta give, right?!!

Following a week off due to Spring Break, Girls on the Run (GOTR) was back in session. I coached on Thursday and despite the fairly cool weather, we got the girls outside for some laps. I walked and ran a little bit to help motivate them, but it wasn’t enough to be considered real exercise. The laps remind me that we have a GOTR 5K coming up in May. I at least want to be able to walk the entire thing, if not be able to run some with the girls.

Hopefully I’ve found just the thing to get me in shape. If you’ve followed my blog since last year, you know that I did the Couch-to-5K (c25K) program last spring/summer in an attempt to get running again after an approximately 15 year hiatus. As c25K graduation got closer though, I developed an IT-band injury. I muddled through and completed the program (note: my pace was too slow to make the 5K distance following the timed workouts), but was forced to quit running not long after. The running break was supposed to be temporary, but fall & winter crept in and my motivation dwindled and then died out altogether. I’ve made a few attempts to run this year, but have never been able to stick with it for more than a week. It’s disappointing to say the least.

Imagine my happiness upon hearing that Brad Gansberg has developed a new program, Run 5K in 100 days, and is offering to coach 100 people for free. As soon as I heard about it, I sent him an email and crossed my fingers that there would be a spot left for me. And there was! Rather than being completely on my own like I was while following c25K, I’ll have a little bit of access to a coach as well as other participants. I’m excited, but scared! Part of me wonders what I’ve gotten myself into. The other part of me is psyched to get a 2nd chance to be a runner!

New Beginnings

2011-03-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

New beginnings. It seems like I have had a lot of them lately. I’m back to my journey of eating less and moving more. Day 1 was yesterday. I drank my Isagenix shakes for breakfast and dinner and ate a healthy lunch and snacks. Today was fairly good as well: shake for breakfast and then a salad (dressing on the side) & cottage cheese for lunch.

In the afternoon, our office held a sundae bar to celebrate all the birthdays in March. I told I myself ahead of time that I could have a small portion of ice cream and toppings. When it was time for dessert, I walked into the break room and couldn’t believe my eyes. There were several varities of ice cream and every topping known to man: hot fudge, chocolate, caramel, strawberries, pineapple, bananas, whipped cream, candy toppings, nuts, brownies….and the list goes on and on. Wish I had taken a photo of the spread, but I thought my coworkers would think I was a little nuts. I did take a photo of my sundae back at my desk. This looks like more than a small portion due to the angle of the photo, but the bowl is actually a mini bowl. It is a little more than I intended to eat, but still far less than I normally would have devoured. Here’s the breakdown: waffle bowl, 2 small brownies squares (under the ice cream), one scoop of ice cream, small amount of hot fudge, strawberries, whipped cream, heath candy, & a cherry.

A few days ago, I would have used this treat as an excuse to continue down the path of indulgence. This time, I simply enjoyed it and got back on the program. I had a shake for dinner and a tiny dish of chicken chow mein (my family’s dinner) as a snack later. The kids were asking for a treat for dessert, so I promised them a root beer float if they helped clean up the entire house. They met their end of the bargain, so I made them floats. I’m happy to say that I didn’t even have a sip or bite. Maybe I’m turning a new leaf!

Hoping to start back to exercising today or tomorrow. I’ve been battling a sinus infection, ear infection, cold, and allergies for the past 2 weeks and haven’t felt well enough to exercise. I think I’m finally starting to feel human again, so I’m itching to get back outside. Recently, I accepted a cool exercise challenge….I’ll share that with you tomorrow!

The Ick

2011-03-15T19:28:00.001-07:00

The Ick has invaded our home in the form of head/sinus colds. We’re dealing with congestion, itchy eyes & noses, cough, headache, sinus pressure, etc. It started off with Mia and then hit me on Saturday. By Sunday, I was couch-bound for the most part and ended up staying home from work yesterday and today. Seth woke up this morning feeling crummy too and Mia was complaining of an earache, so the three of us headed to Priority Care. While Seth didn’t need to be seen as his is just a cold at this point, Mia and I needed antibiotics. It was a sinus infection (as usual) for me and fluid in the ears for both of us. Brian is also sick but not as bad.

Due to the Ick, there has been no exercise on my part the past few days. My diet has not been good either. Look at what arrived late last week.

Girl Scout cookies! Of course since our own daughter was selling them, we had to buy a few boxes for ourselves. While I haven’t completely gorged on cookies the past few days, I have had more than I should have.

I’m hoping that these antibiotics kick in quick. I need to get back to work and get back into my exercise routine. Plus, I need to start feeling better so I quit using food for comfort.

Mediocrity & More

2011-03-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

My week has been mediocre. Better than some weeks, but not as good as others. I had moments when I would eat good and moments when I didn’t.

On the upside, I stocked up on delicious fruits and veggies (celery, salad, carrots, mixed veggies, bananas, apples, clementines, & pineapple) at the store.

Though my eating was up and down, I can say that I did pretty good in the exercise department. It may not seem stellar to those of you who are regularly active; but considering I am starting at couch potato status, this was great.

Friday – 1.5 mile walk/run (see my last post)

Monday – 1.65 mile walk/run

Thursday – 1.2 mile walk

I actually intended to run some on Thursday, but my calves were so sore from Monday’s running that I couldn’t. Ok, I guess sore isn’t really the word I wanted….more like “painful”. I’m not sure if it was shin splints or what. I pretty much limped around from Tuesday to Thursday. I started to run on Thursday but quickly realized that my calves were not going to tolerate it. So, I ended up walking the entire time.

I also had the privilege of coaching my Girls on the Run team twice this week. Weather (rain, wind, and/or cold) kept us inside both days, but we tried to make the most of it by doing our moving activities in the school hallway. So I was able to get in a little more exercise on those days. Once we start doing our activities outside, I plan to get in even more exercise with the girls. Some of them are just starting to run like me so I think I can help to motivate them and encourage them when it gets hard. Let’s just hope my calves cooperate!

P.S. Good news on the treadmill front. My hubby walked on it earlier this week (not sure how he could ignore the loud, rubbing noise it was making) and I guess his activity caused the liner to move back into proper position. Yea! Now I won’t be able to make excuses on rainy days.

Ahhh….Running, I’ve Missed You!

2011-03-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

Today was another good day. But it almost wasn’t. I had the day off and decided to head to my basement for some walking/running. Once I got on the treadmill though, it became apparent that there was a problem. The liner that you walk on had inched it’s way over to one side and was rubbing against the edge of the machine. It sounded really terrible. And though it was working at the moment, I was scared to use it for fear of really breaking it. So, it looks like I need to see how to move it back to the normal position. I feel a Google search coming on soon!

So with that little setback, I was tempted to just call it quits. But part of me didn’t really want to. At that point, a little lightbulb went off and I decided to do my walk/run outside. Though overcast, the weather was fairly decent temperature-wise. I grabbed my Garmin and hit the power button only to find out it was dead. Ugh! I really wanted to see how far I was walking. Should have known better since I haven’t used my Garmin since probably last summer. I guess I was hoping it would hold it’s charge since it hadn’t been turned on. Not the case.

But than another lightbulb went off and I thought, why not try out a new GPS app I had recently loaded onto my iphone. Besides knowing my distance, I could use the iPod feature on it as well all with one device. So I grabbed my phone and some headphones. I turned some music on and that’s when I realized that the sound was really bad. Kind of like they were singing from far away. I was getting a bit peeved since this is a brand new phone. I tried checking to see if there were any settings I could adjust, but then finally realized that my headphones were simply not plugged in all the way. The phone case makes it a tight fit and I just had to push a bit harder to make the full connection. Whew!

With those hurdles under my belt, I finally set off and it was glorious to be outside exercising! I had to stop a few times to check on my GPS app & mess with my iPod (as I’m not familiar with using that feature of my iPhone yet) as well as to stretch after a short warm-up walk. Here are some of the views from my outing:

One of the ponds in our neighborhood…..

One of the streets in our neighborhood….

When I decided to start running again, I toyed with the idea of following the Couch-to-5K (c25K) program again (I completed the program last summer but then developed an IT band injury, so my running came to a screeching halt). I know that program works, but it makes me feel like I am a slave to the watch. Sure, there are several podcasts that you can upload to your ipod that will tell you when to walk and when to run; but frankly, the music stinks for the most part. So when I set out this morning, I decided to just run when I felt like it and for as long as I felt like it. I probably didn’t do as much running as the Week 1 Day 1 routine of c25K, but I am actually starting cold-turkey (they recommend that you work up to walking regularly before starting c25K). I did push myself a bit further when I felt like stopping. And it was so nice to just enjoy the walk/run with my favorite songs without focusing so much on how much running I was doing. It just felt more natural. Ah, love it!

As far as the GPS app, I used Distance Meter. I uploaded the free version to test it out, but they have a Pro version as well that does a lot more. Here’s a screen shot once I got home (wish I’d thought to take the picture before I cleared my data). Note: the very bottom of the screen gives your GPS location, but I have blacked that out for security reasons.

I think the app did OK, especially since I wasn’t putting a whole lot of faith in super great accuracy. A few more trial runs are likely before I can really be a judge of the usefulness of this app though.

Elapsed Time – I didn’t check it precisely but it was about the amount of time I was out on my walk/run.

Distance – the app said that I covered 1.5 miles on my trek. I checked the route with my car and it was right on the money at 1.5 miles too. However, at the point where the app said I had hit 1 mile, my car only said 0.8 miles. Obviously I need to do a few more tests with this one as knowing the distance traveled is the main reason I wanted this app.

Pace – I did a lot of stopping in the beginning and then I was alternating walking and running, so I didn’t pay a lot of attention to this. I will be testing this feature more on my next outing.

Calories Burned – this feature is only available on the Distance Meter Pro version.

One Fine Day

2011-03-03T18:14:00.001-08:00

Yay me! It finally happened. I had a good day. I made healthy decisions and I felt so much better because of it. More energy, less fatigue, no bloated feeling. Ah!!! Here’s a look at my day….

Breakfast – chocolate protein shake with banana

Snack – 2 mini cinnamon/raisin bagels, pretzel sticks

Lunch – chocolate protein shake

Snack – oatmeal slim cake, pretzel sticks

Dinner – chocolate protein shake

Snack – 1 slice pizza

Now I could say that my day was not that great because I ate a lot of carbs for snacks, but I won’t do that. I need to learn to celebrate my mini successes (besides I need to stock up on some fruits and veggies at the store). I need to realize that it’s OK if I don’t have a perfect day. As long as I am moving more and eating less the majority of the time, that’s what counts. The fact is that I avoided sweets & soda, which have been my downfall lately. Plus, my family had frozen pizza for dinner and I decided to have 1 slice for my after dinner snack. Normally I would have eaten 3-4 slices. This way, I got a taste of it, but didn’t consume my normal quantity.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention my exercise success. I took a brisk 1+ mile walk at lunch and then spent about an hour cleaning out the garage after work. And tomorrow I’m hoping to do a little running. Girls on the Run starts next week and I am a coach. While I don’t have to run in order to coach, my goal is to run the 5K with the girls at the end of the program in late May. It’s good to have something to work towards again!

Lucky Loss

2011-02-20T19:42:00.001-08:00

A funny thing happened. I woke up this morning and got on the scale (with much trepidation). But to my surprise, I had actually lost 3.6 lbs. Despite a week of eating bad, not exercising, and pigging out at a potluck on Thursday. Don’t worry, I know it’s only because I hardly ate anything on Friday due to being sick. My stomach was too queasy to think much about food, especially sweets. I ate merely because I knew I needed to keep my strength up, not because I was hungry or having cravings. It was an eye-opener.

I was joking with a coworker just early last week that it’s hard for me to believe that there are people in this world who can say (and mean), “I forgot to eat lunch today”. Missing a meal is not something that ever happens for me because food is such an important part of my life. It seems I’m always hungry. So why is it that when I’m sick, food barely enters my stream of consciousness and despite having little to eat, I don’t feel hungry? Why can’t it be like that all of the time? Why can’t I just want to eat to subsist?

I have noticed that still 2 days later, my appetite for sweets has really diminished. In fact, I started to eat a cake pop yesterday and ended up throwing most of it away. It was simply too sickeningly sweet. I’m hoping to stay away from the sweets while my body is reacting this way. Maybe if I do it long enough, I can break the sugar addiction.

And though I haven’t yet had the strength to exercise since being sick (crazy how tired I still get), I did try to move more yesterday. My friend wanted to take the kids to the church gym so that our daughters could practice their volleyball skills and the boys could get some wiggles out. Originally, I planned to sit and watch, but I actually get in on the action, hitting the ball around with them. Though it wasn’t heavy exercise, it was nice to be active for a few hours.

So despite a rocky start to the week, I ended up redeeming myself at the end by eating less and moving more. Sad that it took illness to get me back on track, but I’ll take it however it comes.

Ugh

2011-02-18T16:55:00.001-08:00

Once again, this week did not go according to plan. But there were true hurdles. Illness. Tuesday I woke with a killer sinus headache and ended up staying home from work. I was also experiencing sinus pressure, dizziness, and other weird symptoms. Went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday but didn’t feel all that much better. And when I feel bad, I turn to food (mainly the stuff that’s not healthy for me) for comfort. Not a good thing, I know, but it’s my M.O. Then this morning I woke up at 5:30am freezing and had body aches & felt nauseous, and most of those other nasty flu symptoms (with the exception of vomiting).

Fast forward 13 hours and I’m still dealing with this stomach/flu bug or virus. Not sure exactly what it is, but it bites. I’ve only had a banana, a piece of dry toast, and some ramen noodles all day simply because I haven’t felt like eating (the mere thought of it makes me feel even more nauseous). And my poor hubby came down with the same thing about noon today. We are quite the pair right now. Luckily the kids are fairly self-sufficient because I’m not sure how we could give them a lot of care in this condition. It hurts to move, hurts to talk, hurts when there’s loud noise or light, etc. I think you get my drift.

I’m definitely ready for this crud to leave and get back to my original plan.

Better Me

2011-02-13T17:02:00.001-08:00

My plan is to re-start my eat less, move more (ELMM) health journey tomorrow. I’ve had so many false starts in the past year, but I’m praying that this time it will stick. I have big goals and dreams and I am desperate to make them happen. My 40th birthday is just around the corner and I want to be a better me. Better for me, better for my dear husband, and better for my beloved kids.

Still Here

2011-02-03T06:27:00.001-08:00

Hi all (if anyone is still checking this blog). I wanted to let you know that I’m still here and I’m actually gearing up to get back on track. I know I sound like a broken record, but I am just tired of being overweight. I felt so much better when I lost the weight last a year ago and want to get back to feeling that way. So, stay tuned for some changes around here (and more frequent posts!).

Secret to Fitting into Skinnier Pants Instantly!

2011-01-21T19:14:00.001-08:00

Hi all…..I’ve discovered the secret to fitting into skinnier pants instantly! And aren’t you dying to know how?

It dawned on me while I was in Sam’s Club 2 nights ago. A woman behind me in line was wearing pants similar to those in the photo above. Thankfully she had on a super long shirt as she was a very large girl (much larger than me even). Seeing her like this made me think that I could easily wear pants a couple of sizes smaller if I were to copy her style, because I’m certain that my legs aren’t anywhere near as large as my bum! However, it won’t be happening in my case because I don’t want to have to waddle like a duck to keep my pants from falling to the ground. {No offense meant to those who like to wear there pants this way}

Thought you could use a good chuckle! And admit it, I got your hopes up there for a minute, huh?!!

Ghrelin–So That’s What It Is!

2011-01-18T15:18:00.001-08:00

I’ve posted on here several times about the fact that my appetite is nearly insatiable after a poor night’s sleep. I find myself eating all day long the following day and I never knew why. I suspected that it was because my body was trying to get me to eat food so I would have more energy or that my tired state caused some serious lapse in motivation. Not quite the case.

According to a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, people with inadequate sleep (5.5 hours or less) will have an increase in ghrelin, an appetite-stimulating hormone. AH HA! That makes sense. In addition, poor sleep can reduce the benefits of dieting. In the study, fat loss was reduced by 55 percent. So, if you are dieting, it’s ever so important that you catch enough zzzz’s. I’d better take this to heart!

Tired

2011-01-12T18:15:00.001-08:00

Sorry if it seems my blogging here has taken a back seat to my new photoblog, Tara’s Project 3-6-5. It’s actually frustrating to see myself getting a little better at photography, but not doing well with eating less, moving more. I know it’s because my photoblog has that shiny new smell; but goodness, I really need to turn this health thing around.

Today was going to be the day to get back on track, but I got little sleep last. I was up until midnight reading and then LilCrockett came into bed with me because he was coughing quite a bit. He gets asthma-like symptoms every so often and they usually occur at night. So at about 1pm, I gave him his 2nd breathing treatment for the night. After that, I had a hard time falling back asleep and then slept fitfully when I did finally doze off. On days after I get little sleep, I am starving all day long. So, today I ate plenty and often. Ugh! I plan to head to bed at a decent hour tonight to avoid the same situation tomorrow.

Week-End Celebration

2011-01-09T13:32:00.001-08:00

Despite my best intentions to eat less & move more this week, it didn’t happen that way. I probably should have known better. You see, this week GothGirl celebrated her 10th birthday on January 7th (see THIS POST to read her miraculous birth story), which meant that I was more stressed than normal, had more errands than normal, and of course, there were more sweets & junk food around than normal. The week started off fine but went downhill from there, beginning with my purchase of a hot fudge sundae following a depressing shopping session and then pizza for dinner. The rest of the week saw some indulgences more unhealthy food and little time (or motivation) for exercise. I’m afraid to get on the scale. But at least my daughter enjoyed her special day, with a sleepover that included 7 more giggling (and LOUD) girls! She was pretty excited to turn “double-digits”. Note: the cookie cake was supposed to have a peace sign on it, but we had already gotten it home before we realized that they forgot to extend the vertical line down to the bottom of the circle. So, she ended up with a Mercedes-Benz symbol on her cake instead. Hilarious!

I’m ready to jump back in to healthy living again this week. We now own the Just Dance & Just Dance 2 games for Wii, so I plan to do some dancing with GothGirl so we can both work in some exercise (& have fun while doing it). Also hoping to do a little more running this week. I think I’m going to back off the c25K plan for now and go at a little slower pace. After my Week 1 Day 1 workout last week, I was super sore for about 4 days to the point that I too uncomfortable to do any other exercise. I would really like to become a runner, but I am out of shape and really overweight, so injury seems nearly inevitable. I guess I will have to take it really slow. I so wish I had a running coach to help me get going. Ah, a girl can dream, right?!!

Shopping Blues

2011-01-05T18:36:00.001-08:00

I had been doing really well with eating less all week, but then hit a little bump in the road today. Shopping made me do it. Not the actually shopping itself, but the trying-on-of-clothes-and-seeing-myself-in-the-mirror-part that did it. I stopped by a consignment shop on my lunch break to get a few shirts to tide me over until spring gets here or I lose some weight. Unfortunately, I had little luck as most of everything I tried on looked horrible and nothing seemed to fit/hang right. I tried to remind myself that a lot of what ends up at consignment shops are clothes that are ill-fitting anyway, but I was still sort of depressed when I left. Not happy at all with how I look and that hardly anything fit. So where did I head? To get a hot fudge sundae. Warped thinking, I know. Because of course that ice cream is going to go a long way towards helping me shrink so that I can wear a normal size (said sarcastically).

The ice cream alone might not have been so bad, but then we had dinner out at Pizza Hut tonight. I think I was further wanting to eat my shopping blues away. I didn’t overly stuff myself, but cheese-filled crust pizza is one of the worst options. Part of the issue too is that I seriously need to go grocery shopping. There are not a lot of healthy food options in the house right now. So, tomorrow night I will be remedying that. For now, I’m going to put the slip-ups behind me and head down to the treadmill. I’m getting off this runaway train.

My Project 3-6-5

2011-01-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for the new year was to work on my photography skills.

I purchased my first digital SLR camera in December 2008 and I have been trying to learn about photography ever since. And while I've come a long way (before my purchase, I knew next to nothing about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc.), there is still much to learn. Plus, knowing that I'm only going to get better by shooting a bazillion pictures; I decided to start a Project 365 blog, which will force me to pick up my camera on a daily basis. I’ll be posting at least one photo every day in 2011. I'll also be working on improving my photo editing skills, though hopefully my straight-out-of-camera (SOCC) shots will get so much better that editing will be minimal!

So without further ado, let me introduce you to my new blog:

Tara’s Project 3-6-5

Comments and photographic suggestions are very welcome, but please be kind as I am a confessed rookie! Hope to see you there!

New Diet Smell?

2011-01-03T18:59:00.001-08:00

Starting a diet is so easy….at least in the beginning. I equate it to getting a new car.

Who doesn’t love something that’s shiny & new and has a great smell? You look forward to picking up your new car from the dealer and find yourself spending more time driving than you did previously. You go out of your way to keep this car looking and driving like perfection: you don’t allow eating or smoking inside, you avoid obstacles like potholes and freshly tarred roads like the plague, and you never let clutter accumulate. Your new car is never out of your thoughts for long. You show it off with pride to your friends and research everything about it online, including everything from accessories to gas mileage.

But then the few months or so go by and your car is not so shiny and new. It’s in need of it’s first washing and vacuuming, the first scratch or stains have appeared, and another car payment is due. Suddenly this car is more work than fun. And it’s lost that new car smell.

photo by hotwickscandles on Flickr

That’s how most diets go as well. You can’t wait to get started. You are full of hope, you spend lots of time planning for success, and you follow your diet to perfection. You say no to temptation and find ways to easily deal with obstacles like making time to exercise & eating out. Your new diet is never out of your thoughts for long. You tell all your friends the amount of weight you’ve lost and you get online to find new recipes, strategies, and success stories.

Then the first month or two (or even less) goes by and your diet is not so shiny and new. The pounds that came off so easily in the beginning are coming off much slower now. Those foods that didn’t tempt you before now do, you are tired of eating healthy when you are just craving pizza & chips, and you don’t want to exercise. Suddenly this diet is more work than fun. And it’s lost that new diet smell.

Sound familiar? That’s why I’m trying a different approach this time so that I stick with it for the duration. It’s imperative that I remember that this is not a diet, but rather a complete lifestyle change. And that new diet smell is here to stay!

And I’m Off

2011-01-02T17:55:00.001-08:00

Off to a great start that is! Today was Day 1 of my Eat Less/Move More (ELMM) plan, so I woke up and headed for the bathroom where I took my measurements and jumped on the scale. Quite frightening really, but a necessary evil. Rather than get depressed though, I’m choosing to look at those numbers in a positive light. I know that it’s only going to get better from here.

Move More

Next, I downloaded the Chubby Jones couch-to-5K podcasts from iTunes onto my iPod, mixed myself a chocolate Isalean shake, and hopped on the treadmill. I did the 5 minute walking warm-up of the Week 1 c25K plan, then stopped to do some stretching. Then it was time for the walk/run intervals. The first few running segments (only 1 minute each) were just fine, but the last few were definitely killer. My legs felt like they had lead weights on them. But, I finished and was thrilled (and pleasantly sore the rest of the day).

Freshly showered (and happy) after my workout.

So, 30 minutes on the treadmill counted towards a couple of challenges that I’m striving for:

Syl’s Challenge For the New Year at Live, Smile, Run (5 work-outs a week for a month - 30 minutes minimum)
John Bingham’s 100-day Challenge (move intentionally 30 minutes every day for 100 days)

Eat Less

I did great on this front as well. I passed on the loaded nachos that the rest of the family were eating, and crunched on an apple for my late morning snack instead.

My only so-called “slip” was that I ate some pretzels for my afternoon snack. The pretzels themselves weren’t bad, but I brought the entire bag in with me while I was on the computer and ended up mindlessly eating more than I should have. Note to self: never eat from the bag…measure out a single serving instead. But I had another non-scale victory tonight when I turned down cheesecake (one of my all-time favorite desserts) when offered a piece by my neighbor. Instead I came home and ate a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. Yum!

Hoping that today is the first of MANY successful days. Anyone else out there trying to get back on track?

~Tara

Coming Soon

2011-01-01T19:50:00.001-08:00

I spent part of the afternoon putting together my new daily photoblog site, so I don’t have anything to post here. I’ll let you know the link to my new site after I’ve had a little chance to work out the kinks.

Tomorrow is D-Day! Time to start eating less & moving more. Happy 2011 to all of you!

A Look Ahead

2010-12-31T20:33:00.000-08:00

If you read my last post, you know that there will be no weight-loss related resolutions posted here. The only thing I’m even going to say about this is that I’m going to focus on eating less & moving more!

This blog is not all about weight-loss though, so I do want to share a few other non-weight-related goals I have for 2011 (not in priority order):

Improve my photography skills. This is something I’ve been working on for a few years now, but I need to kick it up a notch. For starters, I bought myself a THIS LENS for Christmas. I’m excited to see what it can do and find out if it’s a better replacement for my kit lens. I also need to simply take more pictures….I’m actually toying with the idea of starting a Photo-a-day Blog to further my efforts.

Get better organized. This is another thing I’ve been working on for awhile, but there are still areas of my life that need decluttered. Plus areas that need to be re-organized again (how does my pantry get so messy so fast?). My plate is pretty full already with work, family, a house, etc. Being organized will allow me to be more efficient, which will be especially important at a time when I want to be spending more time exercising, shooting pictures, enjoying family, etc. Some immediate areas I want to tackle with regard to organizing are the household receipts & our family photos.

Work smarter. This one is sort of related to the goal above. I really want to make better use of my time and be more efficient. To do this, I need to spend less time on time-sucking activities like Facebook & TV and spend more time getting stuff done. I’ve started making To Do lists for myself. This way when I have a few minutes of free time, I can look at my list and find something meaningful with which to occupy my time. It’s already starting to work….I feel less stressed about projects hanging over my head because I’ve been able to cross a lot of them off my list.

Scrapbook more. Scrapbooking is a passion of mine and I haven’t spent as much time doing it this year as I would have liked. In 2011, I plan to give this hobby of mine the attention that it deserves. Besides the creative outlet it provides, it’s a great form of stress relief. And I get to document the story of my life & family in the process. It’s a win-win! And this year, I’m hoping to give GothGirl and good introduction into my hobby as well. So, you can expect to see more of my scrapbook pages posted here.

Enjoy life. I used to love trying new things; but when the weight started creeping on, I began hiding from life. As a result, I’ve missed out on a lot of opportunities and fun. It’s time to start living again! Another part of this enjoy life goal is that I really want to cherish time with my family. It’s so easy to get bogged down in the go to school/work, come home, fix dinner, do homework, get ready for bed routine. My kids are growing so fast and I won’t have them around forever. We need to start incorporating more spontaneity and fun in our time together so that we are really enjoying life. Likewise for my relationship with friends. After all, enjoying life is what it’s all about!

Stop, Drop, & Surf!

2010-12-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

Stop! Now drop whatever you’re doing. Then surf on over to Jack Sh*t’s blog and read THIS POST! Talk about hitting home for me. How many years have I made resolutions only to see them fall by the wayside just a few months later (if even that long). I had thought about posting some resolutions here for the upcoming year, but now I’m not so sure. I do have some goals in mind. Things I want to better about myself. I don’t think it’s the goals that are the problem. Instead I think it’s the way I look at them, especially the ones that pertain to weight loss. I need to change my whole approach.

For me, I’ve always thought about dieting in temporary terms. How many months will it take me to lose X amount of weight so I can go back to eating the way I was before? How much time do I need to spend exercising before I can resume my couch potato position? If I’ve learned anything this past year after regaining nearly all of the 45 lbs I lost, is that once I lose this weight, I can’t ever go back to the way it was before. I mean it’s not like I’ve lived in a cave most of my life. I’ve certainly know that major lifestyle changes are essential to long-term weight loss and maintenance. But I can’t just read about it or hear about it…..I need to really KNOW it. And this time I do know it. It’s my light bulb moment!

I’m looking forward to getting started on this new road to health in just a few days. Thanks for the inspiration, Jack!

Sigh of Relief

2010-12-29T19:40:00.001-08:00

I had a mammogram last week. After the test, I seem to hold my breath until the results are in. You see, my odds for getting breast cancer are higher than normal due to a family history. My mom battled (and won!) both breast & ovarian cancer. Mom’s breast cancer was discovered via a mammogram. Plus, my maternal grandmother and 2 of my maternal aunts have beaten breast cancer as well. The fact that so many women in my family have had this disease is kind of scary. So, I was pretty happy to open a letter in the mail today and get the all clear. I have another year before I have to get my squish on again. (Due to my family history, I had my first baseline mammogram at age 28 and I have been getting annual mammograms since age 35).

Besides my increased risk of getting breast cancer due to family history; according to the Mayo Clinic, I fall under several other risk factor categories as well:

Being female. Women are much more likely than men are to develop breast cancer.
Beginning your period at a younger age. Beginning your period before age 12.
Obesity. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of breast cancer.

While the first 2 risk factors are things I cannot change, the last one is something that I can actually do something about. I am increasing my own odds of getting this dreaded disease. And that’s something that is always in the back of my mind. You’d think that this risk factor alone would really motivate me to get serious about losing weight. However, I actually have a plan for getting (and keeping) this risk factor in the front of my mind where it belongs. I’ve ordered the One Bite – One Decision wristband from Prior Fat Girl. By wearing the wristband, I hope it helps me to be conscious of every single bite I take. And since it’s pink, I hope it helps remind me that I need to do all I can to decrease my risk for breast cancer.

If you’re a woman, I encourage you to get your baseline mammogram and/or get regular mammograms. And don’t forget those monthly self-breast exams. It could save your life!

All I Want for Christmas

2010-12-26T17:46:00.001-08:00

It’s actually the day after Christmas as I post this. The last two days have been computer-free days for me. When I wasn’t cleaning or cooking, I was spending time with family and friends and just cherishing the time together. Hopefully you were all doing the same.

Christmas Eve

My mom came into town mid-afternoon and we decorated gingerbread ~~houses~~ pieces with the kids. Unfortunately our houses wouldn’t hold together, so I decided we would decorate the pieces instead. I drew designs on the gingerbread and the kids decorated them with little candies. We had just as much fun and it was a lot less stressful because the kids weren’t fighting over decorating one house.

Note: I am not an icing expert. In fact, I am fairly inept with an icing bag. When I use one, the icing always oozes out the top & I can never get the icing to flow out the bottom in an even stream. This was the best I could do, especially given a single, fat icing tip! Luckily my kids thought the designs were great! If you can’t tell, we decorated houses (the kids told me where to put the windows & doors), the kids names, a car, and a rainbow with clouds & peace signs.

Next we opened gifts with my mom and played games. In the evening, we had our neighbors over for dinner & wine. LilCrockett lost a tooth, which was actually his 2nd tooth in a week. It just so happens that he lost both of his front teeth right at Christmas time!

After the neighbors went home and the kids went to bed, we watched the movie Grease on TV. What a flashback. It’s been ages since I’ve seen the movie; yet I still remember a lot of lyrics to many of the songs. My friend and I had the album when we were youngsters and we used to listen to it endlessly. We would even put on a “show”, singing the songs to our families. We thought we were so cool!

Christmas Day

We made the kids wait until 6:00am before waking us. This may seem a little harsh, but LilCrockett has the tendency of waking between 4 and 5 in the morning. He kept true to form and woke up around 4:30am. I told him to go play quietly. I happened to wake up about 5 minutes before 6:00 and I heard his little feet come in a little while later exactly as the clock was turning from 5:59 to 6:00am. He and GothGirl had been sitting by the clock just waiting to wake us up so they could open presents!

After opening presents, we ate breakfast and the kids played with their toys while the adults did some cleaning, cooking, and prepping for the day. Cousins Rich & Sue arrived mid-morning after my husband picked them up from the train station. We visited, exchanged gifts, and finished the cooking and then my brother and his 3 kids arrived. By this time, we were all starving and I have to admit that the food was delicious (turkey, ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn, 7-layer salad, and rolls followed up by pumpkin pie, ice cream cake, & rice krispie treats). After lunch, we opened gifts with my brother’s family and then took the kids outside to play in the 5 inches of snow we got the day before. Crockett pulled the kids behind the ATV in a deer sled and then my mom, brother, and I helped the kids make a snowman (with snow that was not very cooperative).

Here’s a photo of the snow just starting to come down.

We spent the rest of the day playing with new toys & games, taking the cousins back to the train station, and then viewing old photo slides of my brother and I when we were kids. We wrapped up the day watching Despicable Me. I loved seeing all the kids snuggled together on the floor and having all of us watch a movie in the same room (which was quiet for the first time all day!).

Day-After-Christmas

Fortunately everyone but LilCrockett slept in a bit. We must have all been tired from the festivities yesterday. We ate breakfast and spent the morning playing with games & toys. Everyone went home after lunch and after a quick trip to the local farm & home store, my family spent the rest of the day relaxing. My house was a little bit of a wreck, but I was seriously needing some down time so I just did the bare minimum. I’m looking forward to putting the kids to bed and then watching a movie with Crockett. Great way to end a great weekend!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Notice Given

2010-12-23T18:13:00.001-08:00

I think I mentioned on here once before that our office was re-organized a few months ago and as a result, a different group of co-workers came into my area. Now don’t get me wrong, everyone is super nice and quite a bit of fun to be around. But there’s one big problem….these folks love to celebrate with food. They celebrate birthdays, holidays, mornings, Wednesdays, meetings, deadlines, and just about any other random thing. The past month or so, it’s been even worse with treats coming in nearly every day and the offerings have gotten more and more unhealthy. Cookies, cake, fudge, candy bars, donuts, etc. And they put it all at the end of my cubicle aisle right near the printers, where it’s impossible to avoid.

One of my coworkers and I were talking today about how the food-fest has gotten way out of hand and that it needs to stop soon or we will all be waddling to work. So, I took matters into my own hands and erected the following sign and posted it in several places.

Most of my co-workers took today off, so only a few saw the sign. Hopefully they will all take it in good humor when they are back in the office next week, but I also hope they take it seriously. They’re welcome to bring in all the food they want, but I’d prefer that it be out of my sight, out of my mind!

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I can’t believe that Christmas is just 2 days away! I’m am super excited and looking forward to spending time with my family and enjoying more of the holidays. My mom, brother, nephews, niece, and husband’s cousins are coming on Christmas day. We usually host the Christmas get-together. Though it can be a lot of work (we did scale back this year from our normal 24 guests), it’s nice to be home on the holiday and not have to travel. As for tonight, we are watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Jim Carrey movie, with our kids. What a fun way to spend the evening! What are your Christmas plans?

Festivus & Other Hodge Podge

2010-12-22T18:05:00.001-08:00

I’ve got a bunch of miscellaneous things on my mind, so today’s post will be a hodge podge of stuff.

I’ll start with Festivus. It was our 2nd annual celebration at work today and it was awesome! If you’re not familiar with Festivus, click HERE. We had the traditional Festivus pole, made out of plastic mailing tubes rather than aluminum. We dined on pizza, rum cake, and a Happy Festivus birthday cake. While eating, we did a gag gift exchange. There were some great gifts: coon urine, blaze orange hat, animal pelt, (we work in the natural resources field), tuna helper, bobblehead, ear plugs, ugly décor items, dog biscuits, mystery jam, and much more. I brought in a Justin Bieber poster & a can of spray cheese (because he’s so cheesy). Needless to say, there was quite a bit of laughter when the lucky recipient opened it! I ended up with a fairly nice gift… a purple sac-purse, which I plan to give to GothGirl. After the gift exchange, we had the reading of our Airing of Grievances, of which there were plenty. Since it was an office party, we had to skip the Feats of Strength (bummer!). But it was a great party and a nice little distraction during the week before Christmas when it’s hard to stay motivated.

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I delivered my handmade ornaments to my friends today so now I can share them with you here. These are Christmas cone ornaments and I got the idea from THIS BLOG. Adorable, right?!! I didn’t have any tulle, so I filled my cones with store-bought crimped paper shreds instead.

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I’ve started adding my blog roll list back, but the check marks by each site are a little messed up. Not sure why some of them have double check marks. I’m choosing to ignore it since I don’t know how to fix it and I like the rest of template!

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You’re probably wondering why I haven’t been blogging about my diet lately. That’s because it’s been REALLY terrible. With all the holiday goodies, trying to stick to a healthy eating plan has been next to impossible for this girl who has lost a lot of motivation. On the plus side, I think I’ve made myself quite sick with all the sugar I’ve been eating, including my favorite Christmas cookies (pictured above) which taste like you are eating straight powdered sugar. Literally I’m dealing with headaches, dizziness, exhaustion, and mental fog from all the sugar. I know better, but this little white substance has a strong hold on me. I’m hoping the lousy feelings I’ve been having give me the impetus I need to really get my act together after New Years. I’ve been reading a lot of your weight loss blogs too for additional inspiration. I have a feeling that 2011 will really be my year! Are you with me?!!!

~Tara

Beach Volleyball in December in Illinois?

2010-12-21T20:04:00.001-08:00

Yep, you read that right. Despite the snow & ice on the ground and frigid temps here, I played a little beach volleyball on Friday. I also got in a little outdoor tennis, in-line skating, running at the track, and some dancing. All from the comfort of my 55 degree basement….I was playing the Wii EA Active game of course!

This time around, I chose to design my own workout rather than doing a pre-programmed one. You can choose from various cardio and weight/toning activities and the order in which you wish to do them. I wasn’t sure how much of a workout I would get dancing and playing volleyball/tennis, so I was pleasantly surprised. I made sure to really “get into” the moves so that I was as active as possible. By the end of the workout, I was sweating and tired. And I could tell that I was using various muscles.

One of the nice features of the game is that they will show you how to do each of the moves. They have little videos illustrating what to do. This was really helpful, though I have yet to figure out how to do the fast kick-ups. The program kept telling me that I was going too slow no matter how fast I was going (and believe me, I was going plenty fast enough at times). For whatever reason, it was just not registering.

The bottom line is that I am really enjoying the EA Active game, which I borrowed from my cousin. Had it only offered the pre-programmed workouts, I likely wouldn’t want to own it myself. But the custom workouts are really a great feature. Now I just need to wait for a sale! (Sorry for the poor picture quality….I had a hard time getting good photos of my TV screen, but I think that’s a common problem)

I spent most of tonight working on some hand-made ornaments as Christmas gifts for my crafty friends. I’ll share that project with you tomorrow.

New Duds

2010-12-20T19:45:00.001-08:00

How do you like my new blog duds? I’ve been thinking that we needed a change around here. The old banner & colors were starting to bore me. So, I got online and chose a template with my favorite color (red) and one of my favorite patterns (swirls and flourishes). Likely I chose this particular template because it reminds me of designer paper and this scrapbooking girl has an affinity for beautiful paper! Unfortunately my blog roll didn’t transfer over well, so I’ll be re-adding that soon. In the meantime, I will be following my favorite blogs via Google Reader.

Today has been a blah day for me. I’ve felt crummy for most of it. Fred is here and he brings some not-so-pleasant side effects: bloating, cramping, crabbiness, & a little dizziness. I’ve also been exhausted all day. The first few days of his visit are fairly rough, but then I start feeling better thankfully. Our neighbors came over tonight to exchange Christmas gifts and having the distraction helped (as well as the wine…wink). I ended up giving the neighbor girls the Wii Zumba game, so hopefully I’ll get to try it out soon. I’ve heard that it’s a lot of fun. Heading for a hot shower and then I’ll snuggle up with a book before bed. ‘Night!

Crafting Frenzy

2010-12-16T20:35:00.001-08:00

No time for a long post tonight. I spent the evening in a mini crafting frenzy. GothGirl and I stamped & decorated white paper gift sacks to hold homemade apple butter & candles for the kids’ teachers. Fortunately we made the butter & candles at an earlier date or I wouldn’t even have time for this little post. After we got the stamping done, I worked on designing GothGirl’s birthday sleep-over invitation using Stampin’ Up’s My Digital Studio scrapbooking software. I didn’t get a photo of the butter & candles, but here is the invitation. I printed it on glossy photo paper and left a 1/4” white border around all the edges. The invitation itself is about 5-1/4 x 5-1/4”. (Some information changed on this blog for a little security…LOL!)

Coach Tara?

2010-12-15T17:40:00.001-08:00

I love that feeling I get the day after a workout. You know the feeling. The one that lets you know that you actually have muscles (even if they may be buried underneath a lot of fat!). For some reason, I just feel more alive when I have that muscle fatigue. If only I really enjoyed exercise. For me, most exercise is a chore and sometimes (especially when it’s a particularly tough workout), it seems to drag on endlessly. I look at my watch every 2.5 seconds hoping that I’m close to the end of the workout. I sometimes contemplate wimping out. But over the past year, I’ve actually started enjoying exercise more and that enjoyment seems to be growing. I doubt I will ever be an exercise junkie, but I recognize that I love what it does for my body and nothing beats that day-after feeling.

Not having exercised in a month and a half has made me realize that I do really miss it and I want to get back into being active on a regular basis. So today I actually signed up for an activity that will keep me exercising (and will contribute to a good cause as well). I’m going to be a coach for the Girls on the Run (GOTR) program at my daughter’s school this spring! I’m very excited! Our elementary school tried this program for the first time as a pilot this past fall and my daughter, GothGirl, was lucky enough to be able to participate. She really loved the program, which culminated in a 5K run/walk at the end of the 10 weeks. I’m looking forward to helping the girls learn about healthy and positive lifestyles! And I’m looking forward to our 5K in May!

To learn more about the GOTR program and whether there are any chapters active in your area, visit THIS SITE..

Here are a few photos from the GOTR 5K event this past fall (it was really cold and windy). GothGirl is in the black & white checked jacket, which she ended up ditching later. She ended up running and walking the event. I ran a few laps with her, but couldn’t do the whole thing since I had my son, LilCrockett, with me (my husband was out of town). This spring, GOTR has arranged to host a community-wide 5K event at the end of the program because the program has expanded so much. Yea!

Fun times!

Wii Fun

2010-12-14T18:36:00.001-08:00

For the past few months, I’ve been indulging in a lot of these:

and these:

and these (which I gave up for nearly a year):

……………………………………………………………………………..

So, tonight I felt like I needed to do this:

And it was fun. Hard, but fun! Hard because I haven’t exercised since November 3rd (yes, it’s been so long that the date resonates in my head). Hard because I’m out of shape.

I chose a 20 minute easy workout. My thighs were sore after the lunges. My arms were sore after the punching. My daughter joined me for the workout and she enjoyed it as well. I actually borrowed this game from my cousin to see if I would like it. I liked that there was someone to “coach” me through the workout, there were videos to show you the proper form, and that we went through a variety of exercises. However, I found that the responsiveness of the remote was a little lagging at times. I’m pretty sure it has a lot to do with user-error! Plus, the leg strap kept slipping down my leg unless I cinched it REALLY tight, which made it seem as if I was somewhat cutting off my circulation. Frankly, I’m just glad the leg strap fit since I have really large upper thighs! The game keeps track of your workouts and progress, but I logged in as a guest so I didn’t get to try this feature yet. I’m looking forward to doing a few more workouts and such to see if the game is worth buying for myself.

I See Me

2010-12-08T19:35:00.001-08:00

Seems like struggling is the story of my life lately. Not only am I struggling with the weight loss journey (haven’t done well all week), but blogging has also been a struggle. I’ve actually had a few ideas for posts at various times as I go through my day; but by the time I get home from work, those ideas are wiped from my memory. I was just going to skip another day of posting, but I made myself sit down and figure out something to say.

Today was an eye-opener. My closet is really bare right now. I have few winter clothes (shirts in particular) and I’m tired of wearing the same pieces. After I lost 45 lbs last fall/winter, I dropped 2 sizes. Though I’ve gained a lot of the weight back, I’m still down a size and I didn’t have many winter clothes in storage for this size. So, it was time for a shopping trip. The shopping itself was great….I went to 2 stores and purchased 14 shirts/sweaters/vests for just under $200. Who doesn’t love a great bargain?!! But despite the super deals, I was torn. Part of me (the angel part) wanted to wait to buy new clothes when I’ve lost some more weight. But the other part (the devil part) was telling me that I likely wouldn’t lose much weight again. This is the same part of me that fills my head with negative thoughts and feelings. I did listen to the devil side, but only because the reality is that I little to wear. So, I made the purchases, but told myself that I will sell the clothes when I lose the weight (take that, devil!).

But now to the eye-opening part of the story…..it happened inside the dressing room. As a ~~overweight~~ fat person, I don’t spend much time looking at myself in the mirror. Especially in a full-length mirror. I simply don’t want to see myself. Sure, I’m in denial. I’m in denial that I’m actually as big as I am. After all, I do feel skinny on the inside most of the time (though not so much lately). But today it was all put in front of me. No more denial. And trust me, I didn’t like what I saw. I do love myself, but I don’t feel like my outer shell is the real me and it’s not who I want to be. I’m tired of hiding behind this fat. So, now I need to do something about it. I’ve let food rule my life for so many years and it’s time to take back control. Hopefully this reality check will be the motivation I need to change my ways for good.

Week End & Weigh-In

2010-12-05T16:32:00.001-08:00

So it’s Sunday and that means it’s time for a recap of the week. How did I do with my goals:

Goals for the week:

1) Exercise at least 3 days. FAIL – I didn’t exercise a single day.

2) Drink lots of water. PASS – I did pretty well with this most of the week.

3) Back to basics with my Isagenix 30-day Cleansing and Fat-Burning System. 1/2 PASS – I did well a little over 4 days this week, though I wasn’t able to do a nutritional cleanse day.

4) No unhealthy snacks at work. 3/4 PASS – I had 2 small cookies on one of the 4 days I worked this week.

But despite it not being a perfect week with respect to my goals, I did manage to lose some weight. Can I get a drumroll please?……..

-3.4 lbs!!!

Sweet! This despite not sticking totally with the Isagenix 30-day system.

One thing I did learn was that I need to stop weighing myself every day. I was actually down a little bit more before the weekend, but gained a bit of that back by the time I weighed today. At first, I was disappointed in myself and those old feelings of being a failure started to creep back in. Even seeing a slight gain causes these negative feelings, which leads to emotional eating to counteract those feelings, which then leads to more weight gain. It’s a vicious cycle.

So after I got off the scale today, I sat & sulked for a bit, but then took a step back to look at the big picture. Despite no exercise and eating some junk (pizza, cookies, pie) this week, I still lost over 3 lbs. My progress may be slower this way, but I’ll likely stick with it longer if I don’t have to be so strict. But just to be safe and ensure that I don’t put myself on that emotional rollercoaster, I’m going to quit weighing every day and just weigh once a week.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Early Halt & a Bit About Me

2010-12-03T18:49:00.001-08:00

Today was the day I had planned to do a nutritional cleanse. I drank my first 4 oz of Cleanse For Life, an IsaSnack, and a glass of water around 7am. By 9am, I was dizzy and had a really bad headache. It soon got worse. My dizziness was so bad that I felt kind of like throwing up. This quickly made me realize that my body was not up for a cleanse today, even a healthy nutritional cleanse. Most people have no trouble with the Isagenix cleanse. However, I have hypoglycemia, which can be quite bad at times. What this means is that I never know how my body will react when I don’t eat and my blood sugar drops. Sometimes I have no trouble at all with a cleanse and other times, like today, my body just doesn’t cooperate.

No worries. I quickly decided to make today another all shake day since I didn’t see any movement on the scale after yesterday’s all shake day. My plan started off well and lasted through dinner tonight, but then it fell apart. I had some cheese pizza for dinner and 2 small oatmeal-cranberry-white chocolate cookies for dessert. MiniMe had a friend over for a sleepover and they requested pizza for dinner. I was pretty hungry by the time it came out, so I abandoned my full shake day and had 4 small pizza squares. As for the cookies, my husband ran across the recipe recently and decided that he had to make them tonight. Don’t blame him though. If I would have asked him to do it another night, he would have. But I gave him the go-ahead and of course I had to sample them. Who can resist fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies?!! Not a great ending at all, but I’m just glad I ate well the rest of the day.

I still have yet to exercise this week. Looks like I won’t be able to get in 3 days of exercise after all. There’s really no excuse – I just haven’t been motivated. Hopefully I can pull it together and get in some exercise tomorrow and Sunday so the week isn’t totally shot.

Breakfast	chocolate shake, 1/2 banana
Snacks	1/2 banana, cole slaw with a little asian dressing
Lunch	chocolate shake, 1/2 banana
Snacks	apple, chicken salad, 1/2 sourdough roll
Dinner	pizza, 2 small cookies

You may not know it, but I love to papercraft. In fact, I was a demonstrator for Stampin’ Up! for just over 5 years. My real passion is scrapbooking, but I enjoy making cards & other paper projects as well. I have had a few rubber stamping blogs (http://soskinnyontheinside.blogspot.com is one of them) over the past few years, but stopped posting there because I no longer had the time to stamp enough to blog about it full-time. Though I stopped posting there, I didn’t give up papercrafting. In fact, I just finished a few projects for my cousin’s baby, who turned 1 recently. Thought I’d share them with you here since I miss sharing my projects online. You’ll note an underlying theme because baby Isaac’s room is decorated with trains in honor of his dad, who is a train hobbyist.

Isaac’s birthday card

A set of thank you notecards that I made for my cousin to give to gift-givers

A name frame for Isaac’s room

So there you have it…a little bit about me that you may not have known! I will likely be sharing more papercraft projects here from time to time for your viewing pleasure.

Days 3 & 4

2010-12-02T21:28:00.001-08:00

I had no time to post last night….I spent most of the evening helping my daughter, MiniMe, finish her State poster project, which is a big deal for a 4th grader. She was picked to do the State of Oregon and the poster ended up looking great, though I have no idea what the teacher is looking for or how it compares to posters done by her classmates. I’m suspecting that it’s pretty good though, mainly since I’m a papercrafter by nature and have tons of supplies at hand and ideas to suggest. MiniMe is also pretty talented herself. I find that with these student projects though, there’s a fine line between giving too much help and not enough. I’m constantly assessing to determine whether my help is appropriate or not. When in doubt, I back off. However, that just makes me wonder how much help other kids are getting from their parents. There needs to be some kind of handbook for parents about this or something!

Yesterday was a good day. I pretty much stuck with the Isagenix 30-day system.

The good – My cousin had brought over some turkey soup, but I had already eaten my meal at lunch. Though I really wanted some soup, I stuck with a shake. It was easier to forgo the hot meal than I was expecting.
The bad – One of my coworkers brought in a cookie tray. I ended up eating 2 mini cookies.

Breakfast	chocolate isalean shake, 1/2 banana
Snacks	apple, cheese sticks
Lunch	chicken salad on sourdough, carrot sticks
Snacks	popcorn, apple, 2 mini cookies
Dinner	chocolate shake, 1/2 banana

My plan today was to do a full shake day. Not only does this give me a lower calorie day, but it preps my body for the nutritional cleanse day I’m planning for tomorrow. Rather than 2 shake meals and a regular meal with healthy snacks, on full shake days I drink up to 4 shakes per day (no real meals) and only snack on clean (non-processed) food.

The good – No true meals.
The bad – I had an oatmeal berry slimcake this afternoon and 2 small cookies after dinner. Certainly I don’t think that totally ruined my efforts, but it wasn’t the wisest choice, especially considering I was trying to eat clean.

Breakfast	chocolate shake, 1/2 banana
Snacks	apple, cheese stick, carrot sticks
Lunch	choco-vanilla shake, banana
Snacks	vanilla shake, slimcake, carrot sticks
Dinner	chocolate shake, 1/2 banana
Snacks	2 small cookies

Hopefully I’ll see a little more weight loss in the morning after this full shake day. Regardless, I’ll be doing a nutritional cleanse tomorrow. My body needs to release some toxins after all the junk I have been eating up until this week. Hope you have a great Friday!

~Tara

Practicing a Little Moderation

2010-11-30T19:21:00.001-08:00

It ended up being a pretty good day considering the challenges. We went out for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate a co-worker’s birthday. I stuck to plan and ordered a lunch special: a Buffalito (small grilled chicken wrap) & small grilled chicken salad (with only a little bit of salad dressing) rather than a burger or wings like everyone else. Then tonight I had some friends over to stamp for a Stampin’ Up! workshop that I was hosting and I fixed a light meal. We had chicken salad on mini sourdough rolls, carrots & ranch dressing, apples & caramel dip, and chips & salsa. I only ate a little bit and avoided most of the dips. I did have some dessert but stuck with one chocolate chip cookie & a small carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting. After everyone left, I was cleaning up and putting the food away. I really wanted another cupcake (they were fairly small), but I told myself I didn’t need it. Plus, I knew that I would have to come back and confess it here. So, thanks for giving me a little willpower!

Though it wasn’t a perfect day, I managed to make the best of it. I know that situations like these (eating out, having guests for dinner, etc.) will arise on a regular basis, so it’s nice to know that I can eat in moderation and still enjoy myself, rather than going whole-hog and being miserable. I toyed with skipping the lunch out, but decided that spending time with friends is important and I need to learn how to practice moderation, not avoid these outings altogether. Life is too short to miss out completely or to let food rule my life. Hope you had a great day!

Breakfast	chocolate isalean shake, 1/2 banana
Snack	oatmeal berry slimcake, carrot sticks
Lunch	small grilled chicken wrap & salad
Snack	apple, granola
Dinner	chicken salad on sourdough, carrots, chips & salsa, cookie, sm. cupcake w/ frosting

Off to a Good Start

2010-11-29T20:24:00.001-08:00

Happily I can report that I pretty much stuck to my plan today. It’s really amazing how much better I feel in just one day. Lately I’ve been feeling so bloated and fat, likely due to the junk I was eating and the couch-potato attitude. Now I realize that not a lot has changed in one day, but it was enough to make me feel better and that gives me the motivation to keep at it. It’s actually nice to feel a little hungry, rather than stuffed to the gills. I had more snacks than normal, but my stomach still needs to learn to be satisfied with less food. I’m hoping to pack more veggies for snacks in the future as I was a little heavy on the carbs. Here’s a little run-down of my day so you can see how I did:

Breakfast	chocolate isalean shake, 1/2 banana
Snacks	apple, honey wheat pretzels
Lunch	1/2 turkey/cheese wrap, cottage cheese
Snacks	honey wheat pretzels, oatmeal berry slimcake, 5 Hershey’s kisses
Dinner	chocolate isalean shake, 1/2 banana

Exercise: no (unless you count all the house-cleaning I did tonight to prepare for guests tomorrow)

Water: at least 8 glasses (evident by my multiple trips to the bathroom)

Isagenix diet: yes

No unhealthy snacks at work: I did have 5 Hershey’s kisses (they were the last of the candy in my desk)

P.S. It’s 10:00pm now as I write this post and I’m hungry. But, I plan to drink some water, read for a bit, and then get to sleep so that I don’t eat. Tomorrow is going to be more of a challenge. We are going out for lunch in celebration of a co-worker’s birthday and then I’m hosting a stamping workshop with a light meal in the evening. I doubt I’ll be able to have time to exercise either. Knowing that circumstances are less-than-ideal, I’m making a plan so I don’t completely throw in the towel. I’m going to select a healthier option at lunch and then serve a healthy meal for dinner. Usually, I would just say “to heck with it” and use it as an excuse to pig out, but not tomorrow.

I’m Better Off Blogging

2010-11-28T18:44:00.001-08:00

Another unintended hiatus from blogging. I’m pretty certain this is fueled by the fact that I’ve completely fallen off the health wagon. It’s so difficult to confess here how terrible I’ve done. I don’t want to even face it myself, let alone reveal it to others. On the day after Thanksgiving, I hopped on the scale and was pretty mortified. I was so saddened to see that I’ve regained nearly all the weight I lost last fall/winter. Needless to say, my mind has since been racing with thoughts of what ifs, what nows, etc. It’s pretty apparent that I’m so much better off blogging, than not. When I’m blogging, I do better. Even if I’m not perfect, I eat healthier and I get more exercise than if I don’t blog. Accountability and your comments are a big motivator! So, I’m back to blogging and hoping that it helps me on this road to health. I’m also hoping that there are still a few readers left around here as well. This is where I should apologize for deserting you lately….I will try my hardest not to let it happen again. Thanks for sticking with me.

Goals for the week:

1) Exercise at least 3 days. I’d like to shoot for more; but considering I haven’t done any conscientious exercise since early November, anything is a great improvement.

2) Drink lots of water. I need the feel-full effect that it provides. It’s going to take a little while for my stomach to be satisfied with less food. My portions have been way out of control.

3) Back to basics with my Isagenix 30-day Cleansing and Fat-Burning System. Two protein shakes per day & one 400-600 calorie meal, plus healthy snacks. Then 1 nutritional cleanse day per week.

4) No unhealthy snacks at work. I have a feeling this one will be the toughest as my coworkers like to bring in treats and with the holidays approaching, I can only see this getting worse.

hello strangers!

2010-11-17T19:27:00.001-08:00

Yikes….has it really been so long since my last post? Where does time go? This has been a crazy busy time of year for me. My husband has been doing a lot of hunting, which leaves me with the kids. The kids have been invited to many birthday parties, which calls for me to play chauffer. I went away to a weekend scrapbooking retreat and then came back and delved into a major craft room re-org project. Work has been stressful and leaves me spent by the end of the day. Etc. All this equates to not much blogging.

Oh how I wish I could say that I’ve done well during my absence of posts, but that’s simply not the case. I’ve only exercise once since my last post. It doesn’t help that with the time change and the fact that it’s getting dark so early, I have no energy or motivation to exercise after work. It’s like I’m already in winter hibernation mode.

And my diet has not been great either. Too much Halloween candy laying around. Too many treats at the office (one lady already brought in a container of assorted Christmas baked goodies!). Too many nights with my husband gone when it’s just easier to grab some fast food for the kids and I. Etc. It seems like I make a plan to get back on track and some event or moment of weakness causes me to postpone for yet another day. And the fact that there are several holidays looming in the near future makes me wonder if I’ll be able to pull it together at all before the end of 2010.

Here is where I also need to confess that since I haven’t done well with my exercise or diet, I’ve not felt motivated to blog. I figure not many people want to hear that I still haven’t gotten it together. How many different ways can I blog about my lack of motivation/willpower/success and make it seem fresh? Pretty soon it starts to sound monotonous.

But hold on….

Photo credit: http://webb.nmu.edu/SportsUSOEC/Sports/FreestyleWrestling/Home.shtml

I may be down, but I’m not out! I really want to make this happen. In fact, I have set a new goal. And I’ve always been told that you need to write down your goals if you want to see them come to fruition.

Write it down. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant's into cans; dreams into plans; and plans into reality. Don't just think it - ink it! - Author Unknown

So, I’m going to write my goal here…..

To lose 40 lbs by my 40th birthday

on April 12, 2011!

I’m getting ready to turn 40 and while the age doesn’t scare me, the fact that I’ve been overweight for nearly most of that time does. I don’t want to spend the next 40 years in the same manner. My health is going to become even more important as I get older and so I’d better do what I can to start really taking care of myself.

So, what do you think of my goal?

Monday Run Day

2010-11-02T19:24:00.001-07:00

I’m a happy girl. I got in my 2nd c25K run last night; though if you’ve been following my blog, you know this is actually my 2nd stint with c25K. We opted to go see my neighbor’s daughter, Lauren, play her 6th grade basketball game last night, so Zumba was out. This was one of Lauren’s last home games and we had yet to see her play, so it was worth missing class. Though she didn’t get to play as much as I would have liked, it was a great game and her team won!

Rather than come home and be lazy, I opted to do W1D2 of c25K. It went well and I even increased my pace over my first c25K run last week, averaging about a 12:15 mile. In total, I did 1.5 miles (walking 22 minutes, running 8 minutes). Despite running on the treadmill in my cool basement, I was sweating by the end. Crazy how much sweat can drip down the back of my neck and from my hairline! I’m definitely in need of a headband.

It’s been so long since I posted a photo of me (sans Halloween costume anyway), that I thought it was time. Sorry that it has to be a sweaty, red-faced post-workout photo. I’ll try to do better at taking some photos of me before working out. Confession: I really hate photos of my face as the extra weight makes my chipmunk cheeks look even bigger; but I’m trying to learn to love myself in pictures. I have my hair pulled back in this photo, so my cheeks don’t look quite as large as they usually do.

Night of Spooks

2010-11-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

My prediction was pretty accurate. We walked all but one street of our big neighborhood last night in our quest for Halloween candy. I had a brain fart and forgot to turn on my Garmin for the first part of the night. By the time we got home, it had logged 1.5 miles, so I’m pretty certain we walked 2.5-3.0 miles total. Granted, it was over a 2 hour period, but we were standing the whole time, nearly running part of the time, and there was a lot of stopping/starting throughout. Also, I was able to add quite a bit of weight to my walk by the end of the night as the kids would dump some of their candy into a bag I’d brought along when their plastic pumpkin pails got too full. I had to take some Ibuprofen before bed as I was sore all over from the night’s festivities.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I have really fond memories of neighborhood trick-or-treating as a kid and I’m happy to share the tradition with Mia & Seth. My husband was out of town, so I had the sole responsibility of getting all 3 of us ready (I decided to dress up a bit too this year for the first time in many years). Despite starting an hour and a half early, we were just barely ready by the time the rest of our group arrived. Putting on make-up, getting dressed, and adding colored hair spray takes longer than you think especially when there are 2 kids involved.

We had a great night. Our group consisted of 10 adults & 7 kids and the costumes included: vampires, fairy, cat, IronMan, princess, and Pippi Longstocking. The kids scored with major candy as usual.

Me & my kiddos

Miscellaneous Shots

Wrap-Up For Week 43 of 2010

2010-10-31T07:08:00.001-07:00

What started with a bang, ended with a fizzle. On the exercise front, I had a double workout (Zumba & a 1 mile walk) on Tuesday and that was it. On Wednesday, I was achy from a flu shot & my period so exercise was the last thing on my mind. My husband was out of town on Thursday, so I had the kiddos which meant no Zumba. Friday is always a collapse-after-the-long-work-week day for me and Saturday I spent the day taxiing or getting kids ready for a birthday party, visit to the park, clothes shopping at Old Navy, Halloween party, etc. as my husband out of town again for the weekend. I guess I’m fortunate that tonight is trick-or-treating. I’m sure we will walk the entire neighborhood, which is actually 2-3 subdivisions combined), in their quest to leave no house-with-a-light-on unvisited. Just for fun, I’m going to wear my Garmin so I can log the distance.

From the diet perspective, this week was a mix. I had good days and bad days. And a few REALLY bad days. On Wednesday, we had a Halloween potluck at work. Then on Thursday, I took my kiddos out for pizza & ice cream to celebrate their excellent reviews at parent-teacher conferences. We had a fun time, but I felt somewhat guilty as I know I’m likely setting a celebrate-with-food example for them. If you read my last post, you’ll know that I was literally sick from all the junk I ate by Thursday night. So, I really reigned it in on Friday and made it an all protein shake day (with healthy, clean food for snacks), but then had some unhealthy food again yesterday. Who knows what today will bring.

On a positive note, I had First Aid/AED training this week and got my CPR certification. It’s been years since I was current. It feels good to know that I will be more prepared in the event of an emergency and that I may be able to help someone in a time of distress. I highly encourage everyone to take a class and get certified. Who knows, it may be your own family member or loved one that needs your help at some point.

I only have a 2-day work week this week, so I’m hoping to have a lot more time to exercise, including another run or two. Next weekend, I’m heading to a scrapbooking retreat where all the meals are cooked for us. The meals are super delicious but not that healthy, so I’m hoping to eat well in the beginning of the week to balance it out. Hope you all have a great week!

I’m Sick

2010-10-28T20:44:00.001-07:00

No, I’m not sick with a cold or flu or even God forbid, something more serious. I’m just sick from all the junk I have been eating lately. By giving myself the OK to eat basically what I want, when I want for the past few days; I think I may have done myself a favor. Between the Halloween potluck yesterday at work, dinner out to Buffalo Wild Wings last night, more desserts for lunch today, and dinner at Pizza Hut with the kids tonight followed by some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream….I am feeling beyond crappy. Here are just a few of my symptoms: headache, mental fog, gas, bloating, dizziness, heartburn, unsettled stomach, exhaustion, dry mouth, dehydration (lack of water), and general feelings of ick. And I know why. I’m learning all about the role fat, salt, and sugar play in our health (and how they lead to food addiction) from my recent purchase of The End of Overeating by David Kessler. This book was highly recommended by my friend Debbie, a 2010 Isagenix Isabody Challenge finalist & 2nd place winner for her age group. I’m only part way through the book and it’s an eye-opener. I’ll do a better review here once I’m finished with it.

And speaking of finished….I am so finished with this unhealthy way of eating. When I eat better food, I feel better regardless of whether or not I’m losing weight. I think I’ll make tomorrow a shake day. Nothing better to get me back on track than Isagenix superfood!

Twice is Nice

2010-10-26T19:22:00.001-07:00

Monday & Thursday nights are my normal Zumba classes; but my hubby was out of town for a business meeting last night, so my daughter Mia and I went tonight instead. We’re pretty lucky here in that they offer Zumba classes every day except Sunday. And many nights, there are several different classes to chose from at several locations.
Tonight was a regular Zumba class instead of the Gold level class we’ve started with. Zumba Gold is easier as they go over the basic moves of the “dance” before each song and they don’t change moves quite as frequently. Despite not getting a sneak peak of the moves, we did pretty well. I thought it would be a lot more difficult too, but we actually kept up for the most part even if we weren’t doing the exact same steps. Tonight’s crowd had more younger people present and the music was better. I think if we got the hang of the steps, we’d actually prefer this class. One drawback though is that tonight’s location was carpeted, which made it harder to twist, pivot, and turn. You could do it, but the move wasn’t quite as smooth. Mia and I both had slightly sore knees by the end of the night. And I noticed that my toes were kind of cramping/going numb at times. I’m wondering if this is because my shoes were grabbing a bit on the carpet instead of gliding over it. Hopefully it’s not because my shoes aren’t fitting well. I didn’t notice these problems at Zumba Gold, where the floors are concrete.
Following class, I drank an Isagenix Isalean shake as my dinner. These shakes are actually my favorite way to refuel after a workout, especially since I’m usually not in the mood for a big meal anyway. After the shake, I spent some time with Seth. We watched a little TV, hit the bathtub, and then read some books before he crashed for the night at around 7:30pm. I did the dishes and then rather than plop down on the couch to watch the end of Biggest Loser, I opted to walk a mile on the treadmill while watching it. Since I was already sweaty, I figured I might as well get in a 2nd workout. I didn’t realize how tired I was and how much my legs got a workout at class until I started walking. Still, I felt great for getting some more exercise. Plus, we’ve got a Halloween potluck at work tomorrow and I wanted to burn off some extra calories since I will be eating more than usual.
I’m planning to do another run tomorrow night, so I’m hoping I didn’t do any damage to my knees tonight.

c25K Revisited & a Weekly Wrap-Up Up-Date

2010-10-24T19:17:00.001-07:00

Well after writing my last post, I was disappointed in myself for not meeting one of my goals this week. Not because I simply failed to meet a goal, but because it was a goal I really wanted to hit…..my first run post-IT band injury. Running is actually something I miss. I had been a rookie runner when I got injured in June and completely sidelined in August. I was mad at myself for making excuses not to do an activity I’ve been itching to try again. Rather than stay mad, I decided to take action. So within a 1/2 hour of hitting “Publish”, I had my workout clothes on and was downstairs stretching, then I hopped on the treadmill.

I decided to get back into running using the program that I used initially….c25k (Couch to 5K). I actually graduated from c25K in July; but not knowing where to start and realizing that I’ve likely lost a lot of my stamina, I started back with Week 1, Day 1. The workout went great. A 5 minute walking warm-up, followed by 20 minutes of alternating running (1 minute) and walking (1.5 minutes) segments. Amazingly, I felt great for 3/4 of the workout, but the last 3 running segments were darn tough. It was slightly difficult to breathe (so, I was right in thinking that I have lost my stamina) and I made myself push through. Besides being proud of myself for completely the workout, I have other reasons to celebrate:

I’m running again!!!!
I ran for a total of 8 minutes (longer than I’ve run in months)
I ran at a 13:00-13.33 minute pace (I started with a 14:00-16:00 minute pace with c25K originally)
No leg pain during the run or afterwards (at least so far)

I’m so glad I decided to get off my butt and do that run because right now I feel incredible!

Wrap-Up for Week 42 of 2010

2010-10-24T17:29:00.001-07:00

The week is coming to a close, so it’s time for me to post here about my goals and whether or not I stuck with them this week.

Turn down all treats at the office. So-so. I did great Monday-Wednesday, but then broke down and ate some Halloween candy at work on Thursday. Fortunately I was off on Friday, so I didn’t have that particular temptation.
Attend 2 Zumba classes. Win! I went on Monday and Thursday. My daughter went with me to the 2nd class and I’m pleased to say that she loved it and wants to start going with me regularly. Hopefully she will motivate me to go even on the nights I don’t want to. Plus, she has my genes and I don’t want her to have to struggle with weight, so I want to show her that exercise is fun.
First run post-IT band recovery. Loss. I didn’t get my first run in. Planned to do it this weekend, but ended up spending most of the day outside on Saturday with the neighbors. They had rented a bounce house for their nephew’s birthday party and it wouldn’t fit in their yard, so it went in our yard instead. Our kids bounced/climbed/slid from about noon until 8:30pm and I was outside the entire time, aside from a short spell of pumpkin-carving. I even got in the bounce house myself for a bit at the end of the night. And today I had to make up with housework and other odds/ends that I didn’t get done yesterday. I was also still exhausted and sore all the activity yesterday. Not trying to make excuses as I know I failed at this goal this week.
Go to bed between 10-10:30pm each night. So-so. I only met this goal on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights. I got sucked into a book and couldn’t put it down!

I also have to confess that this weekend’s food choices were lousy as well. On Friday, I learned that a casual friend lost her husband following a short battle with cancer. Besides his wife, he left behind 2 young kids. The news had me really rattled. Aside from the sadness I felt for my friend, it reminded me that I need to cherish my family because God could call any one of us home at any time. After getting the news, all I wanted was to spend the weekend together and really cherish the moments. Admittedly spending time together doesn’t mean that we have to eat tons of junk or huge quantities of food; but we did indulge quite a bit between birthday party pizza & cake, bonfire pies, a big Sunday breakfast, etc. I don’t plan to do this every weekend, but it was nice to kick back and not worry about what I was eating 24-7 and really focus on my family instead. I’m actually looking forward to getting back to a healthier diet this week because I had a few “free” days.

Got Guilt?

2010-10-22T19:06:00.001-07:00

The story of my life lately. Had great days Monday-Wednesday and then I blew it yesterday with a crummy lunch & unhealthy snacks. Here’s the story: I ended up doing some grocery shopping at a super center on my lunch hour and stayed there way longer than expected trying to pick out birthday gifts for 2 kids whose parties are coming up (only to end up getting a gift card for one of them). Gift purchases for my kids’ classmates are always a struggle. I’m torn between wanting to get them something nice but not spend a ton of money. You don’t want to get something that screams “cheap”, but most of the good gifts are just too pricey. And gift cards just seem so boring. While we’re on the subject of toys….can someone please tell me why Legos are so damn expensive anyway?

After shopping, I had planned to head back to work to eat a healthy lunch but was ravenous by the time I finally left the store, so I pulled in for fast food. Then I got back to work and raided the candy dish that someone had just filled with Halloween candy. I did manage to reign myself in later and had a shake for dinner following Zumba, but then sat down with some mini bagels and honey butter for a snack.

Today was about the same. Healthy shake for breakfast and then a crummy fast food meal for lunch. I did have a few success through: both of my kids’ had their fall class parties today and I didn’t eat a single thing despite LOTS and LOTS of temptation. I made sure to keep myself busy helping out so that I wasn’t even enticed by the food. Ended the day with a healthy dinner: tacos made with turkey burger and then filled with a little colby cheese, lots of black beans, and some salsa. Plus, I had some apple sauce with cinnamon for dessert.

Between the kids’ parties today, I had alot of time to think and mostly all I could think about was how I had failed the last 2 days. Which made me consider if my approach is all wrong. By confining myself to a certain diet or limiting myself to eating only certain foods, am I setting myself up for failure? I think the denial brings about a sort of rebellion and makes me want it even more. And then when I do cave, the guilt comes on really strong…..which makes me want to eat. It’s definitely a vicious cycle.

And frankly, I’m not sure if I’m mentally prepared yet for the diet side of things. Sure, I really want to lose weight; but am I motivated enough to follow through and be consistent? In order to be successful, I know I need to have my head in the game and right now, I just don’t think it’s all the way there. That’s evident by my yo-yo behavior for the past couple of months. So, I’m going to sink myself into exercise (which I am motivated with lately) and hope that the diet side will fall into place soon too. I’m not going to totally give up on all healthy eating, but I am not going to set specific parameters. I’m going to focus on trying to make more good choices than bad, and in the meantime, I’m not going to necessarily deny myself any specific foods. Hopefully this will lessen the feelings of guilt & failure and help me focus on the positives so that I can eventually get back to losing weight. In summary, I’m not quitting….I’m merely switching strategies. I have no idea if this will work, but I’ve gotta try something different.

Wednesday Weigh-In

2010-10-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

Now that I’m trying to get my head back in the game, it’s time for weekly weigh-ins. I’m down 3 lbs since Monday morning! I’ll take it! I know the weight won’t continue to come of that fast for long, so it’s nice to enjoy it while it lasts.

I do have a few non-scale victories to report as well:

We took my boss out to lunch for Boss’s Day yesterday. We ate at a local all-you-can-eat oriental buffet place. The food there is absolutely yummy and I was worried about how I would do. I’m proud to say that I stuck with healthy food for the most part and I ate much less than I normally do. Rather than choose some of the prepared dishes, which are laden with fat (grease or butter), salt, and/or sugar; I opted for the hibachi grill. I selected my own meat (chicken), veggies, and a few noodles which and everything was steam cooked right in front of me. I chose teriyaki for my sauce and plain white rice instead of my beloved fried rice. I also had a few green beans. I’m not sure what kind of sauce they are cooked in (likely butter), but they are really good and I limited my quantity. For dessert, I dined on fresh pineapple, a small serving of tapioca, and a fortune cookie. I was able to pass on the sugary donuts that are normally my favorite. I left feeling pleasantly full, not overstuffed like I normally am after eating there.
My head felt like it was in a vice grip most of yesterday. I’m not sure if it was allergies or what. Regardless, I just wanted to soothe myself with something last night a few hours after dinner. I kept going to the fridge and looking for something to eat, but nothing sounded good (I think I was subconsciously looking for junk food). Finally I realized that food was no going to make me feel better, so I decided not to eat anything.
I got to bed at 10:15 last night. First time I’ve been to bed that early in weeks or months, I think.
I decided to treat myself to a little ice cream with chocolate syrup tonight as my hubby and kids were having root beer floats. But after a few bites, I realized that it just didn’t taste that great. Not that it was bad, but that it wasn’t great enough to be worth finishing. So, I ended up pitching the rest.

I’m planning to go to Zumba tomorrow night. My daughter, Mia, is going with me so it should be a fun time. Hoping to get in a run on Friday. And I’m happy to report that I’m doing great with no partaking of treats at work. Today I turned down homemade apple cake. Feels good to be more in control for a change. Thanks again for all your support….it’s working!

Goals For Week 42 of 2010

2010-10-19T06:55:00.001-07:00

I meant to get this post out last night but was so excited about my Zumba class that I wanted to share that first. It’s no secret that I’ve been struggling with my weight loss efforts for the past several months. But I finally got to the point where something has to give. I’ve gained back about 20 lbs of the 45 lbs I lost last winter. My clothes are tight, I feel a million pounds heavier, and I’m getting so uncomfortable. Of particular concern is my belly. I tend to gain weight there first. And unfortunately my belly is already large naturally (even in my skinny days, I did not have flat abs) and it doesn’t help that I am so overweight. Ever since my c-section in 2005, it has gotten even bigger due to loss of muscle tone. When I lost the weight last winter, my belly started to shrink and I was feeling pretty good. Now that I’ve gained weight back, my belly has grown and it’s starting to sag again. On some days, it causes me quite a bit of discomfort. But then again, my whole body is starting to feel that way with this excess weight. So,

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

I’m back on track this week and looking for motivation everywhere to stay that way. As my friend Kerry reminded me, I’ve done this before and it’s those little steps that lead to big steps. So, I’m back to trying to eat less and move more. And in order to help me stay on track, I’ve made a few goals for this week to address some of biggest hurdles:

Turn down all treats at the office. A couple of months back, our office was reorganized and as a result, I have new cubicle neighbors. This group really likes to eat. There are temptations nearly every day. I’ve simply gotta learn to to say NO! Update: yesterday one of my coworkers offered me some dark chocolate (my favorite!), but I declined!
Attend 2 Zumba classes. This one seems like a reward because it’s so much fun. Update: I already did my first class last night!
First run post-IT band recovery. I’ve got hit with an IT band injury in June and in an effort to heal, I decided to stop all running in August. I’m hoping that has given me enough time to completely heal. My goal is to do at least one run this week. Since it’s been so long since I last did a run, I will likely start back with c25K to build up my endurance.
Go to bed between 10-10:30pm each night. Rest plays an important role in our health and I don’t get enough of it. I get the kids to bed and then want some time to myself (or want to spend time with my hubby). Typically I stay up until 11:00pm or midnight reading or surfing the internet only to have to get up at 6:00am for work. As a result, I’m usually tired all day long. And when I’m tired, I just want to eat. So, I need to get more Zzzzz’s for sure. Update: I didn’t do well with this last night as I got to bed at about 11:15pm. I will do better tonight.

I’ll be resuming my weekly weigh-ins….likely on Wednesdays….and I’ll do a weekly wrap-up to let you know how I did with my goals. Day 1 went well for me yesterday. My food intake was good, I didn’t have any junk food, and I exercised. Hoping to have many more of these days.

I’m Too Sexy For My …….

2010-10-18T19:15:00.001-07:00

Well how does that title grab ya?!! I was trying to come up with a clever title for this post when the song came to mind. The bad thing is that I now have that song (I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred) stuck in my head. Nothing like having a ~~bad~~ one-hit-wonder song from 1992 running through your brain! Last week on Thintervention, Jackie had the participants focus on getting in touch with their “inner sexy”. Little did I know that I would be doing so myself tonight. No, I didn’t go lingerie shopping. But, I did get to do a little dancing…..only mine wasn’t dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, it was dancing Zumba-style. It was my 2nd time for this workout. The first time happened way back in the summer and I’ve been wanting to go back ever since. I started with a Zumba Gold class tonight because last time, I made the inadvertent mistake of going to an advanced class with one of the hardest instructors. I did move my body the entire hour, but most of the time I was doing something different than everyone else. By the time I would figure out the steps, the instructor would be on to something else. Tonight’s class was so much better because it was a little slower paced and she reviewed the moves before each song making it so much easier for me to follow along and keep up. Even though it was more of a beginner class, I left covered in sweat and feeling like I got a really great workout.Leave it to Latin dance moves to make you feel sexy. That’s how I felt tonight. Saucy hip thrusts, samba moves, body rolls, etc. All the moves just really make you feel feminine and curvaceous. Amazing how it puts you in tune with how your body moves and how it looks when you are moving. I really loved tonight’s class; especially knowing that while I was having so much fun, I was burning lots of calories and toning body parts as well! I’m signed up for 2 classes a week now, so I’m excited about that. Even better….my daughter Mia is going to try it too so this will hopefully be something we can do together to have fun and get fit. Can’t think of anything better with a long, cold winter looming ahead.

If you are thinking of taking a Zumba class, I highly recommend getting some shoes that are made for the sport (little or no tread). I wore my regular tennis shoes (with a fair amount of tread) the first time I went and my knees were pretty sore afterwards. Shortly after that, I started having trouble with my IT band while running. I’m not sure if it was a cause-effect relationship, but I was determined to avoid any future strain on my knees as I am gearing up to start running again. Thus getting back to class, I bought myself a pair of Zumba-friendly shoes…..check out my new tread (well, actually they don’t have tread….LOL!):

Nike Musique IV in grey/powder blue

I LOVE these shoes! No only did I NOT have any knee pain during or after class, but they were comfortable and I was able to pivot and do the other dance moves so much easier. Plus, I’m digging the gray/silver color. I bought mine for just $54.99 on JcPenney.com and I got free shipping!

Will Tomorrow Be the Day?

2010-10-17T20:43:00.001-07:00

Will tomorrow be the day….

that I get back on track?
that I say goodbye to sugar?
that I start eating “cleaner” food?
that I get back to exercising regularly?
that I stop emotional eating?
that I don’t overeat?
that I start regaining my health?
that I learn to love myself more?
that I realize that food is fuel, not pleasure?
that I finally succeed at weight loss?
that I do all these things so that I can be a better wife, mother, daughter?
that I do all these things so that I can be a better me?

I sure hope so!

I’m gearing up to get back on track starting tomorrow and I need all the support I can get. Any words of support to this posts and future posts would be greatly appreciated. I could use a little cheering section! Wish me luck!

Setting Myself Up to Fail

2010-10-14T21:04:00.001-07:00

In an effort to find a breakthrough and a means to stay motivated, I’ve been reading alot of weight-loss books and watching weight-loss TV shows. You could call it research. It’s what I do. When I can’t figure something out, I try to arm myself with as much information as I can.

I have been trying to wrap my head around the reason(s) why I seem to excel at most things in life, except weight loss. Tonight, I got a little more insight into a possible explanation that I’d already been considering. It happened while I was watching the latest episode of The Biggest Loser (love my DVR!). On the show, contestant Ada had a 10-lb weight loss and could barely get excited. She wasn’t used to doing well and considered herself a failure. In order to help her find a breakthrough, trainer Jillian pushes Ada hard at the next gym session. To the point where Ada gives up and walks out. Jillian follows her to find out what’s wrong and that’s when Ada reveals that she has felt like a failure all of her life. That her parents made her feel as if she was never good enough. With Jillian’s help, Ada realizes that she sets herself up to fail because that’s what she’s comfortable with.

What an eye-opener! I could have been saying the words that Ada said on that episode. While my childhood experience was not near as extreme as Ada’s, I can certainly identify. In my case, it was my father. I know he didn’t consider me a failure (and I know he only wanted what was best for me); however, he was a perfectionist and he expected it out of me as well. If I brought home an A- grade, he would ask me why it wasn’t an A+ (meanwhile my brother brought home B’s, C’s, and D’s). After years of this and similar treatment, I began to feel like I wasn’t good enough.

From then on, I tried extra hard to excel at school and other things to get his attention and praise. I became a mini-perfectionist and expected great things from myself. While this might have been a good thing; at this time, I also turned to food as a means to comfort myself from the stress of always trying to be perfect. I was chubby as a child and both my Dad and other family members often teased me about my weight. Likely I internalized at an early age that my weight was an issue and something at which I was destined to fail. Unhealthy food then became my friend because it helped to soothe me and it kept me in my comfort zone…..the zone of failure.

Now that I am an adult, I can see where it all went wrong. I need to quit setting myself up for failure, because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing when it comes to my weight-loss. Self-sabotage. Unconsciously trying to get back to my comfort zone even when it’s the last place I consciously want to be. But, it’s hard to unlearn those feelings that are ingrained in us at such a young age. I need to find a way to get the car off the road to failure and get on the road to success. I just wish Jillian had offered some advice on how to do that. Easier said than done! Any ideas?

My Body Knows What’s Good For Me

2010-10-13T20:01:00.001-07:00

Even though I can’t seem to keep it together, my body definitely knows what’s good for me and rewards me when I do well. I’ve been doing great and have stayed on track for 2 days. Amazing how great my body feels when I eat right. No tiredness mid-afternoon. Plenty of energy all day long. No headaches or sugar crashes. No feelings of being bloated. Didn’t feel the urge to eat all day long. Etc. I could go on and on. Our bodies are designed to run well when we fuel them properly. So my body loves my good days. Now if I can just get my mind on the same page. Instead, it’s usually thinking about all the foods that are bad for me and wonders why celery can’t taste like brownies! It doesn’t help that I ate so crummy this weekend while camping. Darn 1-minute campfire pies & s’mores!

We did have a great time this weekend. It was so nice hanging out with my family, my mom, my brother, and my brother’s kids. It got a little crazy at times, but thankfully the weather cooperated so we were able to spend most of the time outdoors. My brother summed it up best….”Five kids in a camper is alot!” (though we did have a cabin as well). The campground was very family-friendly and we had tons of fun. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground, riding their bikes, and doing the Halloween games & activities. I loved watching all of them spend time together…which is a rarity because we live a few hours away from each other. Several of the kids got to trout fish for the first time, which they found exciting as did my husband and my brother. We’re hoping to make this trip an annual tradition. Here are a few photos from the trip Note: these are SOTC (straight-out-of-camera) shots with no editing.

A Little Hiatus

2010-10-12T19:29:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that I’m still around. I just haven’t had the time to blog, mainly because we took advantage of the long weekend to go camping in Missouri with extended family. Hope to be back tomorrow night with more regular posts. Thanks for your patience!

I Want Off…..

2010-10-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

this dieting rollercoaster! I’m fed up with not having success and I’m desperately trying to figure out how I can make it happen for me onceandforall. But first I have to admit that I’m struggling. In. A. Big. Way. I struggle with motivation: sticking with the foods that are good for me (not the crap that tastes good but makes me feel bad and makes me fat) and sticking with a regular exercise routine. And furthermore, I’m struggling with how to even approach the diet thing. Isagenix vs. Weight Watchers vs. Clean Eating vs. Calorie Counting, etc. They all work as long as you follow them, but I need to find something that I can stick with….and right now, that’s an uncertainty. Aaaaaahhhhhhh! I just want off!

The Lonely One

2010-10-03T19:46:00.001-07:00

I’ve seen this quite a few times via email and the internet and wanted to share it here.

Hello, do you know me?
If you don’t, you should. I’m a pound of fat, and I’m the HAPPIEST pound of fat that you would ever want to meet.

Want to know why?

It’s because no one ever wants to lose me.
I’m ONLY ONE POUND, just a pound! Everyone wants to lose three pounds, five pounds, or fifteen pounds, but never only one.

So I just stick around and happily keep you fat. Then I add to myself, ever so slyly, so that you never seem to notice it. That is, until I’ve grown to ten, twenty, thirty or even more pounds in weight.

Yes, it’s fun being ONLY ONE POUND OF FAT, left to do as I please.
So, when you weigh in, keep right on saying,

"Oh, I only lost one pound."

For you see, if you do this, you’ll encourage others to keep me around because they’ll think I’m not worth losing. And, I love being around you – your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips and every part of you.
Happy Days! After all, I’m ONLY ONE POUND!

– Author Unknown

Normally I feel this way as well; but, considering the bad week I’ve had, I would feel blessed to lose just a pound right now. I haven’t weighed, but I’m sure that I’ve gained. I will try to keep this message in mind when I’m feeling like a 1 lb loss isn’t enough. It’s all about perspective. Make sure you keep yours during your weight loss adventure!

A Week of Opposites

2010-10-01T20:36:00.001-07:00

You all read about how great of a week I had last week. Well, this week has been the complete opposite: I did crummy with my diet, hardly exercised, and I got very little sleep. I know I sound like a broken record. For a few days, I do well and then I backslide into my old ways. It’s frustrating and somewhat defeating.

All of my life, I’ve been a driven person. Growing up with a dad who expected perfection made me this way. So, I give 110% to everything I do. As my dad would say, “why do something if you’re not going to do it right the first time?” If I put my mind to something, I usually achieve it (except for just about anything related to sports!). But for whatever reason, I can’t seem to get my act together to lose weight and keep it off. Perhaps if I could figure out why I’d be able to move past this roadblock.

I have realized one of my problems with trying to stick with a healthy lifestyle though……it’s planning, or rather the lack thereof. I had a crazy busy week and because I didn’t plan ahead, I ended up making some poor choices with regard to my diet and I failed to make time for exercise. But the reality is that every week is hard because I’m a mom, a wife, a daughter, an employee, a boss, a girl scout troop leader, etc. You get the picture. There are so many things in life demanding my time and attention that all I end up with for me are the leftovers. It’s time that I put myself first for a change at least to some degree. So, I’ve come up with a short list of goals to help me be better prepared and to nip a few bad habits in the bud.

Make a weekly menu & workout plan (and stick to them as close as I can!)
Pack my work lunch & snacks on the night before
Cut up veggies after I buy them so I can grab them in a pinch
Get to bed no later than 10-10:30pm each night

If you know of any great menu planning or workout planning sites, please leave me a comment that I don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Also, feel free to share your favorite “diet-friendly” recipe sites.

Sunday, Family Fun Day

2010-09-26T18:16:00.001-07:00

I had an awesome day…most of it spent with my wonderful hubby & sweet kids!! Here’s a little summary:

road trip w/ good tunes
riding across a river ferry
pumpkin/gourd pickin' in Calhoun County
lunch at the RiverDock Restaurant in Hardin, IL (small town diner with FAB food!)
apple pickin' & fun kids activities at Eckert's Orchard
reading
grocery shopping (OK, so that wasn’t alot of fun)
1.5 mile walk in this beautiful, cool weather
now time for chillin' & a movie with Brian!

I do have a couple of non-scale victories (NSV) to report. The restaurant we went to for lunch is one of our favorites and we don’t get there often due to the distance (1.5 hour drive). In the past, my typical order was a brisket sandwich, fries, soda, & homemade pie. Today’s order was a brisket sandwich (I only ate the thin bottom piece of the bun & I trimmed off the fatty edge from the meat), cole slaw, water, and 1/2 a piece of pie (which I split with my son). I was able to treat myself without going overboard and I saved tons of calories in the process. Not to mention, I didn’t feel like my stomach was going to explode afterwards. Another win was my grocery shopping….I stuck to my list & my cart had to be the most healthy food-filled cart in the whole store. Yea me! Hopefully these healthy habits will stick around. Hope you all had a great Sunday too!

The Morning After

2010-09-25T20:16:00.001-07:00

No, not THAT kind of morning after! I’m talking about the morning after my modified Isagenix 2-day nutritional cleanse. Time for some accountability here; but luckily I have good results to report:

I lost 4.4 lbs in 2 days!!

I figured that announcement was worth putting in bigger font….LOL!! I’m not sure if my great results were due to doing a modified version of the cleanse or the fact that I haven’t done a cleanse in a LONG time. Typically I only lose 2-3 lbs on a cleanse, so perhaps I just had more toxins accumulated. Regardless, this cleanse was easier than most others in the past. I had nearly no issues with hunger or hypoglycemia, the latter of which usually gives me some trouble. Perhaps that was because of the modified version.

As thrilled as I am with the weight loss and successful cleanse, I’m probably even more proud of myself for decisions made tonight. I spent most of the day rearranging my son’s room & cleaning the house and patio. We also had my cousin’s son over. Since I was busy all day (and I have yet to get to the grocery store), I hadn’t prepped anything for dinner. When dinnertime approached, I just told myself we’d grab something out: pizza, fried chicken, burgers, etc. It was late, all the kids were hungry, and I was not in the mood to cook even if I’d had something in mind. About 10 minutes later, I was finishing up some cleaning and I reflected back on my cleanse day yesterday. Then it hit me…..why go and completely undo my good results? Especially when I splurged a little with my afternoon snack: a homemade caramel apple dipped in crushed peanuts (a treat from the local candy/chocolate store).

Luckily, I wasn’t overly hungry myself. So I called my husband in from the yard, put him in charge of fixing something for dinner, and headed downstairs to do my Shred workout. After that was over, I hopped on the treadmill to do a walk. About 5 minutes in, I realized that it was actually still light out. So why was I on the stupid treadmill? Just habit. Lately I’ve been working out after dinner and it’s usually dark. I must say that I enjoyed being in the fresh air, despite the fact that the temps were cooler & I was still in shorts & a t-shirt from my workout. Not to mention, already sweaty as well. The breeze hit me and I felt pretty cold, then it started sprinkling too. I just picked up my pace and I warmed up in no time. I enjoyed myself so much that I turned a planned 1 mile walk into a 1.5 mile walk. Likely I would have gone even longer, but it was starting to get dark. Yea, me for sticking with a healthy shake & for getting in some great exercise!

Breakfast: chocolate isalean shake with ice
Snack: honey wheat pretzels
Lunch: bbq pork sandwich on wheat bread, salsa & tortilla chips
Snack: caramel apple dipped in crushed peanuts
Dinner: chocolate isalean shake with ice
Water: 6-7 glasses
Exercise: 30-day shred DVD, 1.5 mile walk

Five (funf, cinq, quinque, cinque, cinco, wu, panch, go, khamsa)

2010-09-24T18:53:00.001-07:00

Today is the last day I’ll be sharing numbers in foreign languages. It was fun, but I’m ready to move on. You’ll have to be in charge of your own education now! To see additional numbers in other languages (including the #1, which I didn’t feature), head HERE.

It’s Day 5 on the Isagenix 30-Day System and it’s the 2nd day of my modified 2-day nutritional cleanse. To read about the details of Day 1 of a modified cleanse, see THIS POST. Today was a regular cleanse day. I drank 4 oz of Isagenix Cleanse For Life juice four times throughout the day and snacked only on Isagenix products: IsaSnacks (which help stabilize blood sugar) and IsaDelights dark chocolates (which help curb sweet cravings).

Sometimes on a cleanse day, I feel kinda crummy by mid-afternoon. Most people don’t feel this way, but I have hypoglycemia which can cause headached/shakiness/weakness when I go for long periods without eating. Fortunately today was awesome. Despite not really eating all day, I was hardly hungry. For the most part, it’s your mind that has trouble with a cleanse, not your body. After missing a meal, you brain tries to convince yourself that you need to eat something. I had very little trouble with this today. There were a few times when I started to feel a headache coming on, but I would just drink a glass of water and all would be fine. And amazingly I feel really alert and full of energy. In fact, I just did a 1-mile fast walk on the treadmill.

I’m going to wrap up the day with hot epsom salt bath (to help my body release additional toxins through my pores). Besides knowing that I am helping my body get the health tune-up that it needs, I’m looking forward to seeing the scale tomorrow morning. And now just because I’m bored, I’ll leave you with a cleanse day in pictures! I’ve provided links below in case you want more information about a particular product (just click on the product name). Feel free to email me too at t(dot)kieninger(at)comcast(dot)net.

4 oz Cleanse for Life with 4 oz water

2 IsaOmega Supreme & 1 Natural Accelerator

2 IsaSnacks (chocolate)

IsaDelight dark chocolate (partially eaten!)

Breakfast: 4 oz cleanse for life, 2 isasnacks, isaomegas

Snack: 2 isasnacks, 1 isadelight

Lunch: 4 oz cleanse for life, 2 isasnacks

Snack: 2 isasnacks, 1 isadelight

Dinner: 4 oz cleanse for life, 2 isasnacks

Snack: 2 isasnacks, 1 isadelight

Bedtime: 4 oz cleanse for life, 2 isasnacks, isaflush

Water: 10-12 glasses

Exercise: 1 mile walk on the treadmill

Four (vier, quatra, quattuor, quattro, cuatro, si, char, shi/, yon, arba'a)

2010-09-23T20:36:00.001-07:00

Day 4 on the Isagenix 30-Day System and I’m doing great. On this system, you do one nutritional cleanse day per week….which I will be doing tomorrow. Some people do 2-day cleanses in order to eliminate even more toxins and release even more weight. But as a hypoglycemic, it’s tough for me to get through 1 day sometimes. Fortunately my friend Debbie told me about a modified 2-day cleanse that she does. Today was day 1 of my modified 2-day cleanse. Instead of meals, I drank Isagenix shakes (up to 4 per day) and ate only clean foods for snacks. Then tonight, I will drink 4 oz of the Isagenix Cleanse for Life juice before bed. Tomorrow I will do a typical cleanse day, which I will tell you about tomorrow. The cleanses, which as I mentioned are nutritional cleanses at the cellular level (NOT colon cleanses), are amazing! I have so much energy and mental clarity by the time it’s over and the weight loss is an added bonus. Looking forward to feeling leaner & energized on Saturday morning. Hopefully the scale will be kind. Wish me luck!

Breakfast: chocolate isalean shake with 1/2 banana & ice

Snack: raw carrots/broccoli/cauliflower, isadelight dark chocolate

Lunch: chocolate isalean shake with ice

Snack: green beans, chocolate isalean shake with ice

Dinner: chocolate isalean shake with ice

Snack: 2 hard eggs

Other: ionix supreme, isaomega, natural accelerator, cleanse for life, isaflush

Water: 6-7 glasses of water

Exercise: 1.5 miles on the treadmill (walking most of the time, but 5 minutes of running)

Three (drei, trois, tres, tre, tres, san, teen, san, thalatha)

2010-09-22T19:26:00.001-07:00

The number 3 in English, German, French, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, Japanese, and Arabic.

I spent part of the morning helping with reading centers in my son’s kindergarten class. The kids were really good, but fidgety and filled with energy/questions/coughs/smiles/talking/etc. While I enjoyed my time there, I know that I lack the patience and knowledge to deal with kids effectively on a full-time basis. Don’t get me wrong….I like kids, but I know that I am not cut out to be a teacher or stay-at-home mom. Some people would gasp at that statement, but I think it’s important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses. And I realized mine at an early age….I was never really interested in baby dolls nor was I interested in babysitting as I got older. Even with my own kids; I love them beyond measure, but enjoy my professional time away as well. That being said, I am definitely in awe of those people who are teachers or stay-at-home parents! I’m truly envious that I lack that characteristic.

Speaking of kids, I took mine to the park tonight. This particular park has a huge sledding hill at one end. As soon as we arrive, my kids always head there first and tonight was no exception. Typically I wait at the bottom while they run up and down (usually rolling on their sides on the way down) numerous times. Or I walk up once to take in the view and then head down. But tonight I decided that I might as well get in a little exercise. So, I climbed that hill 4 times. Did I mention that it’s steep? Well, it is. But that makes it a great little workout. I probably could have gone up a few more times, but it was starting to get darker and the kids had yet to play on the playground equipment. After playing for awhile, we stopped at the skate park to watch the big kids on their skateboards before heading home.

A few photos of my kids & the neighbor girl running (and rolling) down the hill at Centennial Park last May….

Though I wanted to get cozy on the couch when we got home, I knew that I’d be better off getting in some additional exercise, especially since I didn’t do any walking today (other than at the park). So, I put in the Shred. It’s been 2 weeks since my last Shred workout, mostly due to illness. While my muscles still felt in shape, I seems like my endurance has lagged quite a bit. The jumping jacks and jump rope were hard and had me breathing heavy. And to make it worse, my kids sat and watched. Nothing like having an audience when you’re sweating and out-of-breath! At least I’m exposing them to fitness! And on another positive note, I always feel great when the Shred workout is over….like I’ve really accomplished something.

Breakfast: chocolate isalean shake with 1/2 banana & ice

Snack: mini blueberry bagel, banana

Lunch: turkey/cheese/lettuce/salsa wrap, small potato salad

Snack: pretzels, isadelight dark chocolate, 2 clementines

Dinner: chocolate isalean shake with 1/2 banana & ice

Snack: 5 dark chocolate chips, turkey & cheese

Other: ionix supreme, isaomega, natural accelerator, cleanse for life, isaflush

Water: 6-7 glasses of water

Exercise: hill (x4) at Centennial Park, 30-Day Shred DVD

Two (zwei, deux, duo, due, dos, er, do, ni, ithnan)

2010-09-21T21:03:00.001-07:00

Day 2 back on Isagenix and just for fun (and to make this post semi-educational), I have included the word for the number two in my title in the following languages: English, German, French, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, Japanese, and Arabic. No, I’m not trying to distract you. Turns out I had another great day. For the most part, I ate well….besides eating more carbs (pretzels) than I would have liked. I really need to make a stop at the grocery store so I can stock up on some more veggies and fruits. Oh, and feel free to leave me a comment to tell me your favorite healthy snack foods. I can use some new ideas as I seem to get into a rut and eat the same things. A little variety will be nice.

Here’s a look at how I did:

Breakfast: chocolate isalean shake with banana & ice
Snack: apple
Lunch: chef salad w/ ranch dressing
Snack: pretzels, isadelight dark chocolate
Dinner: chocolate isalean shake with 1/2 banana & ice
Snack: small pork & cheese tortilla wrap
Other: ionix supreme, natural accelerator, cleanse for life, isaflush
Water: 6-8 glasses of water
Exercise: walked 3 miles with a little running (1.4 mile walk in the am, 1.6 mile walk this evening with about 3 minutes of running)

Now, it’s time for some random thoughts….I’ll call it Tuesday Tidbits:

Just finished reading the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Love them! I had actually never heard of this series until I saw the movie based on the first book. The books are similar to Harry Potter, but from a mythological point of view, and they make for pretty fast & easy reading. I highly recommend reading this series, but you might want to have your computer handy so you can look up some info on the Greek Gods. While it’s not critical to reading the books, I found myself wanting to refresh my memory about mythology fairly often as it’s been far too many years since I studied it.
I watched the best TV show tonight. It’s a brand new series called Raising Hope on Fox. My hubby loved it too and he’s really only known to watch financial news or the history channel. This show is a hoot and it had us laughing out loud many, many times.
Wore a cute new shirt today from Fashion Bug. I am so in love with this store. Any store that carries petite length pants in bigger sizes is a winner in my book. And they don’t just have 1 or 2 styles in these shorter lengths….they have MANY! How happy am I that I won’t have to hem my new jeans & pants?!!
I RAN TONIGHT for the first time in 3 weeks! Though it was on the treadmill and I only ran for 1-minute increments, it was still great. I’m really trying to go slow to ensure that my IT band is healed and that I don’t injure it again. So far, so good. No pain. But, running outside on the hard concrete will be the true test; though I may stick with the treadmill for a bit longer.

Hope you had a super Tuesday!

Back in the Saddle

2010-09-20T18:44:00.001-07:00

I’m back in the saddle and it feels GREAT! It’s Day 1 of my Isagenix 30-Day Cleansing and Fat-Burning System, though this is the 2nd go-around for me. I used this system last winter to drop 45 lbs and while on it, I felt better than I had in years. So, while I hate to admit that I’ve gained some of the weight back, it’s only natural that I turn to these products to lose those pounds again (and hopefully some additional pounds as well). I’ve truly missed being on Isagenix on a full-time basis (never did give up my morning shakes!). Besides, I’m re-inspired by my friends Debbie (who has lost 86 lbs) and Lia (who has lost 125 lbs) using these amazing products! And one of the best things about Isagenix is that it’s so easy.

What’s not easy is kicking my sugar addiction; but, I’m happy to say that today went really well….especially considering how many sweets & bad carbs I’ve been consuming lately. My sugar cravings weren’t all that terrible, my hunger felt more in control, and I even got in two 1-mile walks during my breaks at work. But the biggest win for me today was the numerous trips past the cake that someone brought in to work. And I didn’t have a single piece! Last week I would have been back for 2nds or 3rds! I’m not fooling myself. I’m sure I haven’t kicked my sugar addiction yet and that tomorrow or the next day may be harder. I think the fact that I made the decision to follow an eating plan made it easier to stick to the plan. Looking at my day, I need to plan a little better for snacks in the afternoon. I had an isagenix cookie and then some pretzels and still felt hungry. So, I opted for 1/2 an Isagenix Isalean bar (equivalent to 1/2 a shake), which was at least filled with lots of nutrients and minerals.

Here’s a look at how I did:

Breakfast: chocolate isalean shake with 1/2 banana & ice
Snack: apple
Lunch: turkey/cheese/lettuce/salsa wrap (cold sandwich), cottage cheese, raw veggies
Snack: isagenix oatmeal berry slimcake, honey wheat pretzels, 1/2 isalean bar
Dinner: chocolate isalean shake with 1/2 banana & ice
Snack: 4 small, thin slices of ham, cottage cheese
Other: ionix supreme, natural accelerator, cleanse for life, isaflush
Water: 10 glasses
Exercise: walk 2 miles

If you’d like more information about Isagenix, let me know….or feel free to check out the links in my sidebar or the Isagenix WEBSITE!

Cross your fingers for me….I am going to try to do a run this week. First one since August 29th. I’m hoping that 3 weeks of no running has been enough time to let my IT band recover. Stay tuned!

Sunday Confessions

2010-09-19T19:19:00.001-07:00

Well folks, I think I’m finally starting to feel better. Yesterday was rough and I actually thought I was having a set-back. I went garage sale-ing with my daughter and neighbor for 4 hours. You wouldn’t believe how many sales were around town, but sadly my head felt like it was in a vice the whole time. Darn allergies! I did come home with some great bargains. And then a storm front and resulting air pressure change moved in, which explained why I was feeling so crummy. On a positive note, my mom came up to stay for a night. It’s always so great to have her around….the kids are always so happy too!

Today was a much better day as far as allergies. I considered trying to get in some exercise but by the time I organized the kitchen cabinets and pantry, did laundry, fixed a family dinner, and put in a concrete stone walkway from our patio to the neighbor’s yard, it was dark. Throughout the whole day, I barely sat down. I’m thinkin’ I probably burned some decent calories without doing dedicated exercise. Maybe I can get back to the Shred tomorrow. In the meantime, we had some excitement mid-day….our cat was after a baby bunny. Fortunately the kids chased off the cat and the bunny was fine, though maybe a bit anxious to be held by 2 little kids….

My plan is to get back on track tomorrow and follow the Isagenix 30-day Cleansing and Fat Burning System. I’m looking forward to eating foods that make me feel good for a change. I’ll be cutting way back on sugar in my diet. I talked about my little addiction in THIS POST. Knowing that sugar is on the way out, it seemed like I did all I could to fuel myself with it this weekend. It’s only fair that I confess some of my indulgences: pineapple upside down cake, chocolate milk, donuts, Snickers bar, marshmallows, and this…..

I know….pretty bad, huh?!! I can so identify with a few statements that were made by some Thintervention with Jackie Warner participants during Episode 1.

Nikki, who loves her cocktails, was told that she needs to severely cut back on alcohol. Jokingly she replied, “I don’t have a problem with alcohol…..I L-oooo-ve it!”. I don’t drink alcohol much, but if you substitute the word “sweets” for “alcohol” in her statement, I can really relate.
Bryan, who is a self-professed sugar addict, texted Jackie to tell her that he ate 2 cookies on the first night. When she asked him why he did it, he replied that it was “like giving somebody their last kiss goodbye.” This was exactly my unconscious thought process this past weekend.

It’s going to be a hard road. Ms. Warner has said that it takes about 5 days to start kicking the sugar addiction, so wish me luck. I hope to have nothing but good things to report here.

My Sweet Little Addiction

2010-09-15T19:43:00.001-07:00

Not alot new here to report. I’m still down with a cold & sinus infection. So is my son. We’re a little better, but still have quite a ways to go before we’re 100%. Can’t remember when we’ve been sick this long, at least without seeing more progress towards getting better. The farmers around here are harvesting corn, including the field directly across from our house, which is only exacerbating our allergies. So despite the nicer temps, we’ve still got our air on which means no open windows for us. Happens every year….we go pretty much from air to heat and then heat to air. Sad, but it’s our reality.

I’m looking forward to feeling better and getting back to exercising. It’s been a week since I’ve had any regular activity. And crazy how this sickness has really zapped my energy/endurance in such a short time. My chest cold and congestion leaves me a little short of breath if I try to do any activity and I have no energy by early evening. I’m trying not to panic.

I’m also looking forward to feeling better so I can get back to a good eating plan. Some people lose their appetite when they are sick, but not me. And the foods I crave most are sweets and refined carbs. And once I start, I can’t stop. After all, sugar & carbs stimulate your brain to produce pleasure chemicals. The same chemicals that are produced with heroine or cocaine. I’m sure it’s not about an increase in my appetite so much as wanting some comfort food at a time when I’m feeling so crummy (or times when I’m stressed or down). But there’s more….

You see, My name is Tara and I am a sugar addict.

I’ve suspected it for a long time and now it’s time to really admit it. Back when I was following Isagenix’s 30-Day Cleansing and Fat-Burning System, I cut nearly all sugar out of my diet. And not surprisingly, I felt amazing!!! Better than I’ve ever felt in my whole life. I had tons of ENERGY (prior to this, I was exhausted all the time), I was SLEEPING GREAT, I had FEWER HEADACHES, I had tons more MENTAL FOCUS (instead of mental fog), and and I LOST WEIGHT easily. Sugar brings out the worst in me. Sure, it tastes great and gives me a quick boost, but soon after I get a big sugar crash. But, I am helpless to stop.

Pepsi used to be my weakness. Tasted great going down but the crash afterwards left me feeling absolutely terrible. Despite this, I couldn’t stay away from it. I stopped buying it for home; but at work, the vending machine would call my name and I would inevitably cave. Giving up Pepsi (and all soda really, except for an occasional sip) one year ago was one of the best things I could have done for myself. But unfortunately I have let other sugars back into my life in the last several months. Thus, it’s no wonder I’m feeling so bad. My friend Debbie, who was a 2010 Isabody Challenge winner (read about her HERE), is also a sugar addict and so she gave up sugar entirely several years ago. After talking with her, it’s obvious that I need to give it up as well. She told me that if there are foods that I can’t say no to, or have trouble limiting myself to, then I likely need to give them up.

Debbie is not the only one encouraging this. On this season's opening episode of Thintervention with Jackie Warner, Jackie tells the participants that sugar is like a drug to your brain and you become addicted. She recommended ditching any foods/drinks in the house that contain 5g or more.

They’re both right….and it’s time. Time for me to ditch the sugar. I plan to start as soon as I start feeling a little better. In the meantime, here are some great articles about sugar addiction to get you motivated to kick the sugar to the curb as well if you desire:

Is Sugar Addictive?

Sugar Addiction

Jackie Warner on America’s Sugar Addiction

Sugar Lovers Beware

Sugar

Note: I found these articles on the internet and I cannot vouch that every word is 100% valid, nor do I necessarily endorse every statement. I provide these merely as a means for you to get more information about this issue. If this topic is important to you, I encourage you to do some additional research.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Better head to bed so the tooth fairy will come. My daughter lost what seems like her 400th tooth tonight! I know she is really only losing 20, but it seems like we passed that number long ago. At $2 a pop, thankfully there aren’t more or the fairy would be broke!

Mrs. Brightside

2010-09-13T15:39:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite songs on my playlist is “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers. When I hear it, I get so pumped. If I happen to be running or walking, my pace immediately quickens and I feel almost invincible. Hard to describe the feeling that comes over me. It’s not that I identify with the lyrics so much, but the beat just empowers me. How about you?

Click below to see the Mr. Brightside video…

Thus, I thought it was an appropriate title for this post (though changed to reflect my gender naturally!). It’s hard to feel up when you are sick. I’ve been down with multiple cooties since last Wednesday and it’s getting old. Of course I feel like whining. But I’m trying not to. Instead of focusing on the negatives, I’m going to choose to focus on the positives. One of my fellow bloggers did this recently too, but darned if I can remember who it was. Amazing how your attitude can make all the difference. I have friends who are dealing with much more serious issues (job loss, divorce, stress, and even cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses) that I need to remember to keep perspective. Sure, it stinks to be sick but I know that I’ll be feeling better soon and that this is just a little blip in my plan for weight loss and fitness. I need to try to be a glass-half-full kinda gal, even when things aren’t looking so bright.

Negative: being sick since last week
Positive: thankful that my illness is not serious and that I should be better soon

Negative: having to miss work due to illness
Positive: thankful that I have a job & health benefits as well as sick leave time

Negative: never really getting time “off” as a mom, even when I’m sick
Positive: thankful that I am a mom and that my kids are healthy & need me

Negative: sidelined with an IT band injury
Positive: thankful that I am able to walk & run, even if the latter hurts at times

Negative: disappointed that I’ve gained back weight
Positive: thankful that I have still lost 30 lbs and know that I can lose it again

There are many more things that I could list, but I stuck mainly to those that pertain to this blog. Try seeing if a change in outlook makes a difference in your life. I bet you’ll find that it does.

And now I have 2 questions for you….

Do you generally see the glass as half-full or half-empty?
Which songs empower you? (trying to add to my playlist!)

I Feel Like a Sloth

2010-09-12T09:01:00.001-07:00

As I sit here recovering from my latest coughing fit, it becomes clear to me that there will be no 30-day Shred for me today. Nor tomorrow. We’ll have to wait and see beyond that. Besides my wicked allergies, I have: a bad chest/head cold, sinus infection, and ear infection as well as possible strep throat. I’m one hot mess right now and I have a counter-top full of medicines to prove it. I can’t remember the last time I felt this bad. Pressure in my sinus cavities and behind my eyes is horrible. Burning/irritated throat is driving me crazy. Coughing fits and tightness in my chest make my whole torso hurt. And I have no energy. Pretty much feel like throwing myself in front of oncoming traffic…LOL! I actually started to feel slightly better yesterday afternoon, so I’m hoping that the same thing happens today. Mornings. Are. Rough.

Five days of relatively little activity is starting making me feel like a sloth. The only upside is that I don’t even feel good enough to care. Send some get well healing vibes my way, please. I need all the help I can get!

Never Forgotten

2010-09-11T06:52:00.001-07:00

“A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America — with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.” – Former President George W. Bush

“The attacks of September 11 were intended to break our spirit, instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than every to live our lives in freedom.” - Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani

May we never forget the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and may God bless America!

Happy 101 Award

2010-09-10T06:34:00.001-07:00

Sam at Believe in Yourself has given me a sweet blog award: the Happy 101 award. How awesome is that?!! Thanks so much, Sam!

Here are the rules:

Post who gave you this award (check)
State 10 things you like
Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

10 things I like:

1. My family (Brian, Mia, & Seth)

2. Blogging

4. Reading

5. Running (when I’m not injured)

6. Traveling

7. Singing out loud (even though I’m not good)

8. Moscato wine

9. Sweets

10. Scrapbooking

I give this award to:

There are so many great blogs out there….and many that I have yet to discover. Thus, it’s nearly impossible to pick just 10. So, I’m giving this award to any of you who are inspired by my blog. Thanks for letting me share a part of my life with you!

My Little Red ID

2010-09-09T17:47:00.001-07:00

I finally broke down and bought a Road ID bracelet. At first I wasn’t going to get one as it’s not like I run or walk long distances or very far from home for the most part. However, there were several factors that prompted me to make the purchase anyway:

I have occasional slight dizzy spells, which can make me feel a little unsteady.
During this past summer, there were several times when I got a little nervous because I started feeling sorta weak and really overheated.
Wondering what would happen if I were injured during a workout to the point that I was not alert enough to make an emergency call on my own.

Fortunately nothing has ever happened to me while I’ve been out, but the bottom line is that I like to be prepared. Now if something happens, first responders will have some basic info about me and will be able to contact my husband or neighbors.

I chose a red Road ID because red makes me happy (it’s my favorite color). Plus, it will stand out well. I included my name, year of birth, home phone, hubby’s cell phone, neighbor’s phone, and the tagline….”SUCCESS IS A DECISION”. The website is pretty cool as you can see exactly what your bracelet will look like as you fill in the information. The bracelet itself is comfortable and not overly large. The velcro ensures that I can fit it as loose or as tight as I’d like. Road ID even does a great job online helping you determine which size bracelet to buy.

Now, here’s my new little red ID.

And better yet, Road ID is offering all my readers $1 off any Road ID order between now and September 27th!

Just use Coupon Number: ThanksTara830260 at http://www.roadid.com/.

Down & Out

2010-09-08T20:38:00.001-07:00

This girl is down and out with severe allergies, a cold, and start of a sinus infection. Got it confirmed at the allergist this morning. Now I know why my head is pounding so hard, my eyes ache, my nose is super congested, my chest feels tight, my throat is on fire, etc. And if that’s not bad enough, my dear son has it all as well…..my heart aches for him when he feels this bad. We’ve already done 2 nebulizer treatments since he got home from school because he is so congested, is breathing hard, and has a killer cough. Poor little baby. Wonder how many times I’ll be up with him tonight?

No Shred for me today. I feel like death warmed over.

1st Give-Away Winner!

2010-09-07T20:12:00.001-07:00

By random generator, the winner of my first give-away is….comment #1:

CONGRATS!!! Please email me at t.kieninger(at)comcast(dot)net with your name and address so I can get your goodies in the mail.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

They Need an App for That

2010-09-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

I started with a 1 mile fast walk on the treadmill tonight. During my walk, I was watching Glee on TV. {Believe it or not, tonight is the first time I’ve seen the show and I’m hooked!} When my walk was over, it was time for the Shred, but unfortunately Glee wasn’t quite over yet and my hubby was hogging the TV upstairs with the DVR. Which is when I started wishing there were an App or Podcast for the Shred. I would have loved to have been able to do the workout while continuing to watch TV, with some voice prompts to tell me when to switch exercises. At this point I don’t need to watch Jillian, Anita, and Natalie (and their chiseled abs) to know how to do the moves. I can think of better ways to occupy my brain while I do the 20-minute workout. Not that they don’t push me, but my brain likes a little distraction while I’m working hard…helps the time pass faster. Anyway, if you find (or create) an App or Podcast for the Shred, be sure to let me know!

For the record, I did the workout without finishing Glee. Kudos to me! Next time, I’ll set the DVR before I get started.

Truly a Day of Labor

2010-09-06T18:30:00.001-07:00

Ironic that we celebrated Labor Day today as it was definitely a day of labor for me. No, I didn’t have to work at my J-O-B, but I labored in the yard the entire day. We recently cut out some bushes between the neighbors’ yard and ours and then had the stumps ground out. Rather than maintain a flower bed the entire length of the yard, we’re opting to plant grass instead. That meant tilling the ground and raking it out several times so it was level (and rock/stick-free), planting seed & starter fertilizer, lightly raking that in and then pressing it down with a rolling drum, then watering. It was plenty to do for one day, but we didn’t stop there. We have a large area under a tree by our house where grass will not grow because the canopy is too thick. We have half of it planted with hostas and the other half in ground cover. I’ve decided that I wanted the entire thing planted with hostas as it looks neater and fills in the spaces better so that we don’t have to use mulch. This meant weed-eating, tilling, and raking out the ground cover, digging up our current hostas and splitting them in half (they were overdue anyway because they were getting pretty big), digging new holes to transplant the plants into, packing down the earth, and leveling out the entire landscaping area. I raked and hauled lots of plants, leaf litter, and dirt. Then dug, split, and planted roughly 40 plants. Believe me, there was plenty of ab, arm, and leg work involved. I can safely say that I used just about every muscle in my body….because I can feel every one of them. They hurt….ALOT! I’ll be skipping the Shred workout again today, but I don’t even feel guilty. My workout today would have come close to kicking Jillian’s ass!

Don’t Talk Yourself Out of Life

2010-09-05T21:51:00.001-07:00

Do you ever try to talk yourself out of experiences? Well, don’t! You will miss too much of life. I should know because I did it plenty of times in the past. Embarrassed about my weight, I lost out on so many opportunities. I missed chances to spend time with friends and the opportunity to meet new ones. I was afraid of trying to new experiences and even missed alot of the everyday, day to day stuff too.

One of the more recent (& sad) missed opportunities happened just last summer. You could almost say it was a defining moment. My hubby and I were at the beach with our kids. Everyone was in the water except me and I watched them having a boatload of fun. I sat alone in the sand in my oversized t-shirt & shorts, too ashamed to be seen in a swimsuit. That was the point at which I decided that things had to change. So with the help of some superfood called Isagenix, I lost 45 lbs in just under 5 months. My confidence started to soar. I felt so great about myself that I started participating in life again. And I even started going to a bootcamp exercise class on my lunch hour (with strangers!).

Fast forward to now and I’ve gained about 15 of that 45 lbs back just by going back to some of my old habits. I can already see signs of my confidence slipping. When things come up, I sometimes try to talk myself out of going. For instance….the kindergarten moms bunco night at school last Thursday night detailed HERE. Part of me wanted to hibernate, but the confident me that’s lurking inside was itching to meet some new faces and try a new activity. Had I talked myself out of going (which I nearly did), then I wouldn’t have won (prizes or new friends) that night. In another test this summer, I wore my swimsuit to the beach. Though I looked ~~like a beached whale~~ a little chunky, my kids didn’t care. They were happy to have me in the water with them and I loved every minute of it. Hopefully I’m learning this lesson because I’ve got a lot of livin’ left to do and I refuse to sit on the sidelines!

Reebok certainly had it right….

Life is not a spectator sport!

P.S. Day 4 of the Shred is done! My neighbor turned 40 yesterday and they had a blowout bash from 1pm-8pm. I wasn’t sure I’d have the energy to workout when I got home, but I forced myself to get started. That was all it took before the exercise “high” set in.

Today is Day 5 and I actually took the day off due to several reasons: 1) my arms are so fatigued that I can barely do 1 push-up properly, even the modified version; 2) I’ve come down with a pain in my knee, likely from the jumping jacks; 3) my hubby really wanted to spend some time together watching a movie tonight. I’ll make it up tomorrow by doing the Shred and getting in a long, fast walk.

Hard with a Capital H

2010-09-03T20:22:00.001-07:00

Please tell me that the 30-Day Shred is going to get easier….at least Level 1. Tonight’s workout was HARD with a capital H. Likely because I’m all kinds of sore in just about every muscle. Push-ups were nearly impossible. I did them but I barely dipped down and couldn’t keep up to their pace because my arms are so fatigued. Then the jumping jacks….they are always difficult, simply because I have alot of excess weight bouncing around. Not to mention, my flapping belly. I tell people that I’ve always had a belly, even at my skinniest when I ran track and cross-country in high school. Unfortunately I was not one of the lucky ones blessed with flat abs. And sadly enough after I had my son via c-section, that spare tire of a belly turned into a monster truck tire. And that monster truck tire is pretty darn uncomfortable when it bounces up and down. Tonight it was even worse because I’m also dealing with TOM cramps. Ugh! But I persevered and finished the whole blasted DVD. Then just to prove how nuts I am….I got on the treadmill (sore muscles, cramps, fatigue, and all) and did a fast 1-mile walk. And amazingly enough, I feel awesome. It’s great to accomplish something and then push yourself even further. Now I’m looking forward to hitting the shower and sliding into bed…clean sheets and all! Sounds like a recipe for good sleep, huh?

3 Days of the Shred Down. 195,431 left to go (actually only 27 left for this challenge, but it seems like that many more)!

Tonight’s Win-Win

2010-09-02T20:14:00.001-07:00

Today was definitely a win-win, though it didn’t start off that way. On Tuesday, I woke up with some small hives all over my arms & legs. I was never able to pinpoint what caused them, but thankfully they went away by the afternoon. Or so I thought. But when I woke up this morning, I had a very slight case again. Thankfully they went away too. Besides the mini hives, I was feeling very sluggish all day. I don’t think it helps that it’s nearing my TOM as the first few days are so draining on me. Despite feeling tired, I forced myself out for a 1-mile walk during my afternoon break and that seemed to help a bit…..or at least until my drive home. Once I got home, I hit the recliner and considered staying there the rest of the night.

However, I’m glad I didn’t. The Parent-Teacher Club at my kids’ elementary school was hosting a Bunco night for the kindergarten moms. I was really interested in going, both to play (I’ve been wanting to learn how for so long) and to meet some new faces. Before I could talk myself out of it, I invited another kindergarten mom to ride with me. We arrived at the school, heard some short introductions from the principal & PTC ladies, then were told the rules of the game. The majority of us had never played before. I’ll be the first to admit that it took me most of the night to finally get all the rules straight. However, in my defense I don’t think they were explained all that well to begin with. It was kind of a learn as you go thing. But that made it fun.

We had an AWESOME time!! It was a little awkward at first switching tables after each game and sitting with strangers (I tend to be a little shy), but by the end of the night we were all laughing and chatting. So the fact that I had a mom’s night out, got to meet some new friends, and had fun laughing was enough of a win for me. But, it gets even better. I ended up winning two prizes.

I won the most bunco games out of all the moms in my son’s class (there are 4 kindergarten classes). The prize was the chance for my son to eat lunch with his teacher. Pretty cool, huh?!! Now if he were much older, that wouldn’t be so cool; but since he’s only 5, it is. He’s going to be so excited when I tell him in the morning!
I also won the biggest door prize of the night….a $50 gift card to Target. One of my favorite stores. How awesome is that?!!!

And I’m still not done sharing my wins. I got home about 9:00pm tonight and immediately got started on my 30-Day Shred DVD. Do you know how proud I am of myself? It would have been so easy to tell myself that it was late and I should just skip the workout. I could have….but I didn’t. For me that’s a definite win because I would have skipped back before I started getting into exercise. I simply made the decision to do it and got it done. It wasn’t easy either since I was still sore from my workout yesterday, but I feel really amazing now. Talk about a winning night!

Don’t forget to enter my t-shirt/book giveaway HERE!

Day 1 of My 30-Day Shred

2010-09-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

Syl at Live Smile Run is hosting a challenge to do Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred every day for an entire month. Crazy me….I signed up to join her! Today was Day 1 and I’m excited to say that I’m off to a good start. As a beginner, I started with Level 1 of the workout. Though it’s the easiest of the 3 workouts in the program, it’s not a piece of cake by any means. I had to stop for a few seconds during a few places in the workout just to catch my breath or work out a kink in a tight muscle. But I made sure to pick it right back up. I also had to do some of the modified moves just because they were a little less ~~impossible~~ challenging.

By the end, I felt like I’d had a really great workout and I managed to work up a good sweat as well. Hopefully I can stick with the same program (though possible different levels) every single day. I usually like to mix things up with various workouts, so it will be interesting to see if I can do it for an entire month. One thing I’m pretty sure of is that I won’t be able to do the 100 push-ups & 200 sit-ups challenges at the same time as the 30-day shred, or at least until I’m in better shape. My arms & abs got a killer workout today and are too fatigued to do any additional work.

Since I hope to see some noticeable changes in my body by the end of the month, I had my husband take some “before” pictures of me this morning. I also took my measurements and noted my weight. I’m curious to see how much difference there will be after training with Jillian. Hopefully alot because these pictures are not fun to post:

I didn’t want to post these photos at all as they are pretty mortifying. Besides already being large to begin with, I look even bigger thanks to the small shadow on the wall next to me. I also wanted to wear something a little more form-fitting so the changes will be more evident, which meant that I had to wear my old, less-than-flattering floral swimsuit. But since Syl has asked us to post photos as part of the challenge, I decided to go ahead. Plus, I want to try to keep it real here. Sometimes the truth hurts.

Wish me luck on this newest challenge! Hopefully I’ll do better than I’ve done so far with Courtney’s 100-Day Challenge. And perhaps it will be just the kick I need to get my diet back on track.

Best wishes to the other 30-Day Shred Challenge participants….we can do this!!!

First So Skinny Give-Away!!

2010-08-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

Since my running has been a somewhat derailed lately by an injury, I thought I’d distract us here with a little give-away. Besides the distraction, I had a few other reasons for doing a give-away.

As a way to thank those of you who take time out of your busy day to follow me on my weight loss and running journey.
To encourage some new runners.
To help more people find my blog - I would love it if you could help me spread the word.

I’m hoping to have more give-aways here in the future too, so stay tuned!

Here’s a look at the main loot:

Women’s Rock & Rose v-neck tee by ProSpirit Athletic Gear. Shrink resistant, tagless, 95% cotton/5% spandex. Size is XXL (however, I wear a size 1X women’s shirt and this one was SUPER tight on me despite supposedly being “Relaxed Fit”, so I’m guessing it fits more like a Large)
Running: training, motivation, performance, nutrition by Rachel Newcombe. A great book about the basics of running. 96pp.

and some miscellaneous stuff that I added in:

Biofreeze pain relieving gel sample
IronMan muscle rub gel sample w/ $1 off coupon on IronMan product at CVS/Walgreens
$5 mail in rebate good for select SofSole insole products. sofsole.com.
1-year subscription to Runner’s World for just $12, plus 10 free reports (80% off the cover price)

Guys – feel free to enter too as you can always give the shirt to your favorite lady!

You can earn several entries by your level of participation. Please leave a separate comment on this post for each entry:

Mandatory: become a follower of my blog!
Subscribe to my blog
Add me to your blogroll
Post my giveaway on your blog
Post my giveaway on Facebook
Tweet about my giveaway on Twitter

Give-away will close on Monday, September 6th. I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, the 7th. Thanks for stopping by!

Will I Ever Really Run Again?

2010-08-29T20:02:00.001-07:00

This is the question I’ve been asking myself since I got back from my run tonight. I’m so very sad. Just 6 minutes into the run, my IT band started acting up. I ran for a few minutes longer, but then had to stop. Words can’t describe how disappointed I am. This is only my 3rd run since the PT consult. First run went great with no pain at all. 2nd run seemed to be good, but I developed some pain about 15 hours later. And now this. I only ran for 10 minutes total each time. I guess I shouldn’t have expected a miracle recovery so soon.

So, is it just that I haven’t given my body enough time to heal? I’ve read that recovery can take weeks to months. There’s something else I’m curious about too. My 1st run (without pain) was on the treadmill, while the 2nd & 3rd runs (with pain) were done outside on concrete roads & sidewalks. I’m wondering if the surface is the issue, due to the hardness and slight crowning of the concrete? You can bet that my next run, after a few rest days, will be done on the treadmill to test this theory. Maybe I can run after all. Though, the thought of having to run on the treadmill for the foreseeable future makes me a bit anxious….I am not a fan of running on that thing.

In the meantime, I am trying not to feel like my running career (which is just getting started) is already over. I know I’m not the first person to deal with this and others have overcome this problem. So, I’m telling myself to think positive, but it’s hard.

If you have any experience with IT Band Syndrome, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me an email (t.kieninger@comcast.net).

Hurts So Good

2010-08-27T21:52:00.001-07:00

My cousin Taunya just got back into the c25K program after taking some time off for a house remodel. She posted on Facebook that she went out for her first post-remodel run and it “hurts so good”. I love that about exercise. Sure, the ~~soreness~~ pain bites when you’re in the worst of it (usually the following day), but it’s also tangible proof that you are working your body and getting fitter. You know: no pain, no gain! It’s like a little reminder of your effort that sticks around for a few days. Plus, it makes me feel more alive.

Tonight, I have several parts that hurt so good:

Arms – from doing the initial test of the 100 Push-ups Challenge this morning. I managed to do 10 good form push-ups (the modified “knee” version), which put me at Rank 2. Though I didn’t rank at the very bottom, I plan to start the training plan at the bottom level. I’ll start Week 1 on Sunday.
Abs – from doing Bootcamp class on Thursday and the initial test of the 200 Sit-ups Challenge this morning. I managed to do 42 good form sit-ups, which put me in the Average Rank. I likely could have done more, but my abs were still tender from our ab workout the day before. I think I’ll still start one step back though on the training plan. Week 1 starts on Sunday.
Legs – from doing the Leg Slimmer & Toner workout on ExerciseTV this morning. Great 10-minute workout to stretch & strengthen your legs!

On second thought, maybe these parts don’t hurt so good…..maybe they just plain hurt! I think I hear a bed & ibuprofen calling my name! G’night.

Prouder Than a Peacock

2010-08-27T19:51:00.001-07:00

If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning, you know that I lost quite a bit of weight (45 lbs) over a 5 month period of time (Sept 2009 – Feb 2010) using the Isagenix 30-day Cleansing and Fat-Burning System. Throughout that time, I received alot of support from other Isagenix users, including some who started about the same time as me. And over time, friendships developed as we shared tips, strategies, and successes.

Though I quit following the Isagenix program so closely, many of my new found friends continued on….including two ladies in particular who lost a tremendous amount of weight and qualified as Finalists for the 2010 Isagenix IsaBody Challenge. Way to go, Lia & Debbie! You ladies both rocked it! I’m so happy for you and am amazed by your wonderful transformations! Most of all, I appreciate all the support you gave me and for the gift of your friendship.

To read a short summary of Lia (Oralia “Lia” A.) & Debbie’s (Deborah C.) success stories and see their before/after photos, click HERE.

The annual Isagenix Celebration was held last week and I’m so excited to announce that in their age group (women age 36-49), Lia took 1st place & Debbie took 2nd place! Congrats, ladies!!! WOW!!! Words can’t say how proud I am of you!!

Seeing their success has made me realize that I need to follow the Isagenix 30-day System more closely. Not only did I lose a lot of weight & inches with it, but I felt incredible! It’s amazing how great your body feels when you fuel it with some of the best nutrition on the planet! It’s truly super food.

I’m thinking about entering the IsaBody challenge this year to motivate myself. If you’re interested in getting fit and winning a share of $150,000, see the 2011 IsaBody Challenge FLYER and then jump over to the challenge website HERE. Or if you don’t want to enter the challenge but are curious about Isagenix, I can help answer any questions you have and help get you set up with products (there are a large selection) if you decide you want to try it. Send me an EMAIL. Isagenix does offer a 30-day money back guarantee. And just so you know, I simply market the products because I love them. You’ll never get any pressure from me to buy if you’re not interested.

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An interesting note….Isagenix is not just for those who want to lose weight. Some of the top athletes and entertainers of the world use Isagenix to stay in peak shape:

Venus Williams – Tennis champ
Bode Miller – Olympic Skiier
Michael Jordan – NBA legend
Troy Aikman - NFL
Joe Carter, MLB
Ray Allen, NBA
Jerry Rice, NFL & AFL
Jeremy Roenick – NHL
Oscar de Lahoya – Boxing legend
Jennifer Love Hewitt - Actress
Terry Crews - Actor
Jason Lewis – Actor (Sex & the City)
Kelly Monaco – Dancer (Dancing with the Stars)
Lauren Conrad – Actress (The Hills)
Maria Menounos – Celebrity Reporter (Access Hollywood)
Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott – Actress & Actor
Mike Sorrentino “The Situation” – Reality Star (Jersey Shore)
Real Housewives of Orange County & New Jersey

I Turned it Around

2010-08-26T21:12:00.001-07:00

Well I managed to turn it around today on Day 4 of Courtney’s 100 Day Challenge. Though after the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day I had yesterday, anything would have been an improvement. I got my eating under control (skipped the Zyrtec so that may have helped). I replaced breakfast & lunch with chocolate Isagenix shakes and then had teriyaki pork loin, salad, and a small portion of mac&cheese for dinner. Snacks for today included carrots, an Isagenix oatmeal-berry slimcake cookie, honey wheat pretzels, a peach, and dill pickles (zero cal).

I also fit in two exercise sessions today. During lunch, I went to my 1/2 hour bootcamp class where we worked our stomach and arms and did some additional strengthening of our core by balancing suspended on an exercise ball (look ma, no hands or feet!). Then I did a 10 minute walk/10 minute run tonight. If you’re not aware, I am starting to build up my running following an IT band injury (see THIS POST for details on my recovery plan). Happily, I can report that I am pain free again after tonight’s run. This despite the fact that I’m still trying to ramp up my pace. I did some run/walk intervals, but made sure I ran for 10 minutes total. Here’s a summary of my average pace for each segment:

Run Segment	Average Pace
1	12:18
2	12:07
3	11:19

For those of you who are new to my blog, you may think my pace is still pretty slow. However, I’ve been working hard to get it down. Just 1 to 1-1/2 months ago, my pace was averaging about 14:00 to 15:00. Pretty good improvement for a former couch potato, huh?!!

Tonight’s run seemed almost surreal. First, I ran just as it was turning dark. My eyes were having an interesting time adjusting to the changing light and it affected my balance and distance assessment. I had to run with a little more care and pay more attention to changes in terrain (sidewalks cracks, curbs, etc.), etc. Because I didn’t have any reflective gear on, I stuck to the sidewalks and even had to slow a few times for cars before crossing roads since I knew I was nearly invisible to them. So, though running at sunset was a little more challenging, the running part was actually easier than it has been in the past. I attribute that to chi running. I’ve been reading more and more about this lower impact running technique, so I decided to give it a try. I’m all about learning how to try to run smarter! Here are a few videos to help explain the technique:

I know my form is likely not the best yet, but I could really tell a difference in my running. While my legs felt like I could go forever (didn’t have the usual heaviness and fatigue) using this technique, my lungs are still trying to keep up at this faster pace. Thus, the need for a few walking intervals to catch my breath. Seriously though, try the chi running technique if you haven’t already. The slight lean of your body really helps to propel you forward. My run seemed to take alot less effort and I felt much lighter on my feet. Quite the eye-opener. I’ll definitely work on getting better at this technique.

Today = Epic Fail!

2010-08-25T19:53:00.001-07:00

Today was supposed to be the day…..the day I was going to kick it into gear and start meeting some goals. To keep me on task, I joined Courtney’s 100 Day Challenge. This is a challenge to help participants improve their diet and exercise and make other changes in their lives for the better.

My goals for this 100 day challenge are to:
1) exercise 5-7 days/week
2) get back to eating better
3) lose 20+ lbs
4) run 3-4 days/week & increase my pace
5) run my first 5K race

The actual challenge started on Monday, August 23rd, but I had actually planned to start today as I knew that the 23rd & 24th would give me trouble from the get-go. On Monday, I had to take my son in to meet his kindergarten teacher and drop off supplies (and my oldest started 4th grade), so I was a bit emotional. I did manage to do a short 10-minute run that evening….my first pain free run since I injured my IT band. Then on Tuesday, my kindergartener had his first full day and we had a potluck at work for one of the ladies in our office who has taken another job. I knew that I would not be able to make good choices so I had one last hurrah (I know, not the smartest decision!).

Here’s a shot of me with my kiddos on their first full day back to school!

So, today was going to be it. I packed some healthy snacks (carrots, grapes, apple) and planned to have Isagenix shakes for all my meals today to kick things off. Normally I only replace one or two meals per day with a shake, but I really needed to feed my body some healthy nutrition. I had a chocolate shake blended with 1/2 a banana and ice for breakfast. Got in to work and by 8am, I was already hungry. So I ate my carrots. My hunger never subsided, so by 10am, I had eaten my grapes and a granola bar that I had stashed at work. Instead of a shake for lunch, I hit our cafeteria and chose 1/2 a large turkey sandwich and some macaroni salad. I had planned to go to Bootcamp class over lunch, but came down with a wicked headache and a little dizziness, so I opted out and just ate at my desk. Incredibly, I was still hungry in the afternoon, so I ate some honey wheat pretzels and my apple. Then the chocolate cravings hit, so I broke down and bought a candy bar from the vending machine. After work, I had to take my daughter shopping and then had a meeting so I had to eat a fast dinner (turkey sandwich, BBQ chips, cookies, and some peanut clusters). Skipped my short run because I got in from my meeting late and was feeling very sluggish. And then I ended the day with even more food…a granola bar.

HOLY TOLEDO!! – I can’t believe how hungry I was all day!!! It was like my appetite was insatiable. I’m wondering if it was my Zyrtec allergy medicine. I hadn’t taken my meds in a few weeks… until today. I’m thinking I may just have to skip it tomorrow and deal with the symptoms because I don’t want a repeat of this day. It’s quite possible that Zyrtec is a contributing factor as I looked up the side effects online (snippet below) and found several symptoms that I experienced today:

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Side Effects by Body System

Nervous system

Nervous system side effects have included headache (16%), fatigue (5.6%), and somnolence (5% to 20%). Somnolence tends to be dose-related and generally occurs more frequently with doses higher than 10 mg per day. Other nervous system side effects include dizziness (1.8%), insomnia (1.5%), and nervousness (1.1%). Post marketing reports have included aggression reaction and convulsions.

Gastrointestinal

Gastrointestinal side effects have included dry mouth (5.7%) and nausea or vomiting (2.2%). Pharyngitis, dyspepsia, and increased appetite have occasionally been reported.

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Besides FAILING my first day of the 100 Day Challenge, I feel pretty terrible about myself. I ate way more than I usually eat. I got no exercise. My clothes are feeling really snug. And I’m sure the scale will be up even more tomorrow.

Can I have a do over? (actually, I’m just going to treat tomorrow like the new day that it is and vow to do better….MUCH better!). I’m giving you permission to let me have it if I perform so poorly again!

The Little Things Add Up

2010-08-24T19:37:00.001-07:00

Our family saves most of our spare change throughout the year. Then when vacation rolls around, we cash it in for spending money. The kids even empty their piggy banks. This year, we had over $300 in the jar, which was a nice little bonus. By the mere act of dropping in our loose change at the end of the day, we were able to cover a chunk of our extra vacation expenses.

Note: we keep this smaller jar on our dresser and empty it into a larger container when full.

Now that we’re back from vacation, we’ve already started saving our change for next year. Seeing the first mound of change in the jar got me thinking about its similarities with weight loss and fitness:

A little investment each day adds up to a bigger payoff
Consistency is the key
Breaking your goal into smaller steps makes it seem more manageable
Take too many days off and you will see less results
Know that if you do skip a few days here and there, you haven’t blown it
Put your goals out in the open where you can see them every day
Get your entire family involved for maximum success
Don’t dwell on how far you have to go, instead focus on how far you’ve come
Treat yourself to a nice reward when you meet your goal(s)

1st Post-PT Run

2010-08-23T20:15:00.001-07:00

My first post-physical therapy consultation run seems to have went well. I’m not really experiencing much pain in my IT band area. I stuck to the heat…stretch…10-minute run…stretch…ice routine, but included a few 1-minute walking intervals during the run. Likely, I wouldn’t have had to walk; but I saved my run for late evening to beat the heat and my husband had to run out to the hardware store at that time, so I was forced to run on the ~~dreadmill~~ treadmill. I cannot seem to find a comfortable stride on that dang thing, plus the boredom sets in pretty quickly. The minutes seem to drag on forever. Perhaps I should have postponed my run for tomorrow morning instead, but I was anxious to see if I could do that first run successfully. So far, so good….but let’s hope that I wake up pain-free as that will be a truer test.

Edited 8/24/10: Just an update to let you know that I woke up pain-FREE this morning! Amazing! It's been so long since I've been able to run without pain. I'm hoping that this trend continues and that I'm on the road to recovery. Thanks for your comments!

My War Strategy: Injury Edition

2010-08-22T19:32:00.001-07:00

OK, so it’s not so much a war strategy, but rather a strategy to recover from my IT band syndrome. But since this injury has squelched my running so much, you could say that I have declared war. I’m ready to run without pain (or at least ALOT less pain than I’m dealing with now) or without worrying about permanent damage. Fortunately I have a plan….thanks to my new physical therapist (PT), Duane.

I had my first appointment Friday afternoon. Since I’ve never been to a PT before and didn’t know what to expect, I was a bit nervous. Besides that, there is a part of me that feels kind of like an imposter. My brain keeps telling myself that only real athletes go to a PT for sports-related injuries. This is the kind of thinking that I had to deal with when I was at my heaviest because I was insecure & down on myself. I suspect that some of those thoughts may be coming back because I’ve gained back some weight over the last few months. It’s definitely time to take control over my weight loss….and I do have a strategy for that too (which I will talk about in another post soon).

Anyway, Duane was great, though I sorta wish I had gotten an appointment with one of the female PT’s there. They seemed to have a better, more relaxed and engaged “bedside” manner than Duane, who was kind of quiet and reserved at first. But, Duane came up with what seems to be a great plan for recovery and that’s what matters. I now have 3 IT band stretches and 2 strengthening exercises to do twice a day. I can also throw in some foam roller stretches directly to the area if I wish. He advised doing the stretches and exercises two days in a row and then attempting my first run on day 3, which is tomorrow.

For my future runs, I have a plan to follow:

heat directly to IT band area (or walking warm-up)
targeted IT band stretches
timed run
targeted IT band stretches
ice directly to IT band area (*see below for more details)

After a running day, I have to take a day of rest. And I will continue to do my stretches and exercises every day.

If I have pain after any of these runs, then I have to back-off on the running to the point where it doesn’t hurt (a few minutes shorter time of running). Once I can do 2-3 successful (pain-free) runs for the same length of time, I can increase the length of my run by 2-3 minutes.

To start, Duane is having me do 10-minutes of running. Part of me wants to rebel. I’m thinking what’s the point of running if it’s for such a short time. I need to be increasing my endurance, not slacking off. But I know that I need to give my knee adequate time and training to recuperate. I’m sure this is a better strategy than I’ve been doing, which is to try to run through it. I know this because my strategy is not working. I have faith in Duane’s though! I’ll keep you posted on how I do.

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Icing:

No, I’m not talking about the topping for cake and cupcakes. I’m talking about how to ice an injury. If you’re like me, you are pretty clueless about the proper way to do this. Luckily Duane told me his preferred method.

Freeze water in a paper cup.
Remove the cup from the freezer & remove the top portion of the paper cup to expose the ice.
Using a massaging technique, roll the ice block over the injured area directly on your skin. Note: this will sting quite a bit, but it’s supposed to.
Continue with the ice massage for 10 minutes. Note: Your injured area will go numb and that’s what you want….this is when the healing kicks in.
For more information about ice massage, see THIS ARTICLE.

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Better go, tomorrow is the first day back to school for my kids and I want to get to bed at a decent time. My son, Seth, is starting kindergarten. Kind of a bittersweet time. While I’m excited to ditch the full-time daycare payments, I’m sad that my baby is growing up so fast. My daughter, Mia, will be in 4th grade this year…how crazy that she will be at the middle school next year! Where does time go?!!!

A Picturesque Graduation from c25K!!

2010-08-20T19:15:00.001-07:00

I DID IT!!! I’m a couch-to-5K graduate! And best of all….I did my last run last Saturday while on vacation in picturesque Seal Harbor, Maine. It was AMAZING! Talk about a great way to finish up the program. I so wish I lived there permanently and could run there every day.

When I set out, it had been 5 days since my last run, so I was hoping to see some improvement. But not long into this run, my IT band was feeling a little tender. So, I opted to walk some throughout my workout in an effort to save my knees a bit, to account for terrain that was more hilly than I’m used to, and to allow for photo-taking along the way. Because I walked a moderate amount and at irregular intervals and I wanted to hit the full 5K distance, I decided to extend my workout time from 30 minutes to 45 minutes. My knees were sore afterwards, but I wasn’t limping…..which is good because I still had a few days of vacation left and didn’t want to be hobbling along.

I’m so proud of myself for finishing the program despite an injury. I had serious doubts that I would be able to get through the program when I first started. It wasn’t easy for this former couch potato, that’s for sure. But c25K really works. Though it took me longer than 9 weeks and I’m not running 3.1 miles without walking breaks, I have come so far in this journey. I’m hoping to work through my IT band syndrome with the help of a physical therapist (stay tuned for my next post for more details), do a 5K race, and start the Bridge to 10K program. I’ll also be working on increasing my pace.

Thanks so much for sticking around for the beginning of my running adventure. Here’s to the future and whatever it brings!

Here are a few photos from my W9D3 c25K running route (click on the photos to enlarge them):

Heading into downtown Seal Harbor, Maine. It’s a don’t-blink kind of town….very small! An interesting note: Martha Stewart has a home on property up the hillside from our friends’ house, where we stayed during our vacation.

Cutest little post office…

First glimpse of the harbor at Seal Harbor…

Awesome wooden bridge along the upper shoreline…

Boats in the harbor…

Me!

View from the opposite side of the harbor…

Entrance to Acadia National Park…

Running the Park Loop Road in Acadia…

I’m curious to know where your favorite place in the world is to run?

Back From Vacation

2010-08-18T20:18:00.001-07:00

Hi all. Just wanted to let you know that I am back from vacation. Maine was beautiful and I will have plenty to share, including pictures, starting tomorrow! Hope you all had a great week of running and/or weight loss during my absence.

In the meantime, someone left a comment on my blog asking me to clarify the 4:1 or 3:1 strategy that my friend “Coach Debbie” suggested to improve my pace. This is actually a run/walk strategy. Sorry if it wasn’t clear. Here’s the breakdown:

Run for 3-4 minutes (or longer if you want longer intervals)
Walk for 1 minute (or longer if you want longer intervals)
Repeat steps 1 & 2 for the duration of your workout. Of course, you’ll want to start with a walking warm-up and end with a walking cool-down as well.

Using this strategy, you can run at a faster pace for the 3-4 minutes and then give your body a 1 minute walking “rest”, which is enough time to catch your breath & decrease your heart rate. The run/walk strategy is supposed to decrease fatigue and allow you to run faster, etc. For more information, see THIS ARTICLE.

W9D2 of c25K

2010-08-09T18:28:00.001-07:00

From the title of my post, it should be easy for you to figure out whether I decided to walk or run today. I just had to try a run. Started off fine….a little amazed even that I could start off without any pain. But partway into the run, I realized that my IT band injury hasn’t recovered enough. I did finish the run (with 4:1 run/walk intervals), but only because I was just really sore, not in real pain….though that came later in the day. Glad I only have 1 run left to graduate couch-to-5K. My plan is to give myself a few days of rest and get in that last run. I’ll be vacationing in Maine then and I’m so looking forward to running near the ocean and beautiful Acadia National Park. Then when I get back home, I’m scheduled for a consultation with the orthopedic center. Hoping they can get me back to some real running. After all, I want to run my first 5K, continue adding distance (bridge to 10K), and increase my pace. This injury is really cramping my style!

While I’m on vacation, I’m not sure how often I’ll get to blog. But regardless, I’ll have pictures to share when I return. In the meantime, go check out some of the blogs in my sidebar…..lots of inspiration out there with the click of a mouse! Have a great week!

Sunday Exercise Re-Cap

2010-08-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

Sunday - Jillian Michaels’ Level 1 30-Day Shred DVD (20 min)

Monday – rest day

Tuesday – W9D1 of c25K (40 min) & Bootcamp with G.I. Jane (30 min)

Wednesday – rest day

Thursday – Jillian Michaels: Boost Metabolism DVD (27 min)

Friday – rest day

Saturday – rest day

It’s been 5 days since my last run and I’m wondering if that’s been enough time to let my knees recover a bit from my IT band injury. Wish I knew what to do, but I have no idea how long I really need to forgo the running. My appointment with the sports injury center isn’t until the 20th, mainly because I’ll be on vacation a good chunk of that time. I’m tempted to try a short run tomorrow to test it out as I’m curious to see how my knees are doing and I’m just excited to get back out there! I really miss my running workouts. What to do, what to do?

I did stop by our local running center on Friday to have them check out my shoes to ensure that they aren’t the problem. Fortunately my shoes showed ever wear on the soles indicating that all is well. That’s a relief to me as I didn’t really want to have to shell out more money for another good pair of running shoes. Plus, I like the shoes I have….they are super comfy.

I have been a slug the rest of the week. I did a Jillian Michaels workout earlier in the week, but it put some strain on my knees so I haven’t done any more of that. And I’ve avoided walks too…..partly to give my knees a total break, partly because I’ve been lazy, and partly because I’ve been sluggish and crampy the last few days due to my monthly friend.But I’ve simply gotta get back to exercising. I hate the way this inactivity is making me feel. So, tomorrow is going to be either a run or a walk. Cross your fingers that my knees are getting better (or at least don’t get worse).

Inspired

2010-08-06T19:56:00.001-07:00

I’ve been watching a show on TV tonight called How I Lost 100 lbs. It chronicles the lives of 5 people who have each lost over 100 lbs using a variety of strategies. Just the inspiration I need to end a not-so-good day. No exercise. Bad eating. Glad that tomorrow is a new day because I’ve got a new attitude!

How was your day? What inspires you?