It's working!

Hi everyone!

After almost two weeks of my fitness challenge, I'm seeing progress on the scale!! At TOPS this week, I was down 2.4 pounds!  Running is working!  I'm still not fast, but I am now down to a 12 minute mile, and can run for about half the time I'm on the treadmill.  I am extremely grateful for the group at work, and the leader of our challenge who got me to believe that I can run.  This is the most weight that I have lost in a week since starting with TOPS and I can't believe it.

I have been drinking about as much water as I can get in everyday.  So much so that I pretty much always have to run to the restroom.  Sorry to anyone who sits in my section at work- I gotta stay hydrated!

I am making a motivation wall for myself in the apartment.  I've got my poster board and calendar, and small goals I want to have on it.  Right now, I've been focusing on "earning my showers."  It's really making a difference!  It's such a dorky thing to think about, but it's helped me stay motivated.  Disclaimer: I hate showering.  I think a fair amount of women do.  It's a lot of work.  I have a lot of hairs, it takes a long time, it is cold, and it's a lot of work after- all of the grooming.  But, changing how I think about showering, instead of a chore, to something that I only get if I workout and sweat, makes me feel pretty badass.  I have to earn the privilege of showering.  I don't get to shower unless I'm smelly (I realize this is lame, but whatever works).

I finally downloaded a countdown app on my phone, and I set up a countdown until our move out day- which is two days after my birthday.  I want to be under 200 pounds by that day.  There's no real reason why I picked then, but it was just a date that is already significant- so it will help me remember.  I think I chose a pretty good image for the countdown:

I am also going to hang up an outfit I want to be able to fit into.  I have plenty from what I've gained in the past few years, so there may be a couple in my apartment, but I will use that as motivation to keep myself in check.  I have been working out and eating better long enough now that it doesn't feel like something I have to dwell on.  I'm getting to the point where it feels normal now, which is really exciting.  Junk food is much less appealing now than at the beginning.  I don't want to sweat my ass off everyday just to ruin it with something terrible to eat.  I am worried about turning into one of those crazy health people- I'm drinking almond milk and putting soy protein powder in smoothies, I could easily turn to the dark side.

Participating in this fitness challenge has really helped get me on the right track, keep me motivated, and given me an idea of what I can accomplish.  I never thought I could run, and here I am, getting faster every day I do it.  I didn't think I could stay under 1500 calories a day, but I am.  And I am losing.

Ups and Downs

Hi all,

Sorry it's been so long!  I've been having a hard time staying focused.  I've stayed at the same weight for two weeks, so at least I'm not gaining, but I haven't worked out since last Tuesday (yikes).  We also had a hard time these last few days staying on track with eating healthy.

We went to the coast for Tim's birthday last week, and that's when the eating took a turn for the worse.  I was able to pick up a few gifts for Tim, and he isn't big on desserts, but he asked for some Chocolate Chip Cookies.  It was his birthday, I had to make him cookies.  Everyone gets treats on their birthday!  We stayed in a small inn for the night, and ordered in pizza.  We went way overboard, but the inn was adorable:

It gets really frustrating trying to eat healthy all the time.  It was nice to not worry about it for a couple days.  And we had wine!  Wine!  I don't drink a lot- maybe a drink or two a week, but it's a lot of calories, so I've pretty much stopped.  Man, wine is tasty! 

We had trouble getting back on track this week, and the two of us went out for trivia at our neighborhood bar (which we won).  

Bar food and a pitcher of beer really adds up and puts you over for daily intake.  Feeling a little queasy the next day (not used to drinking) I stayed home from TOPS.  I wouldn't use myself as a role-model for weight-loss this week.  We ate some junk food yesterday, and made some fried chicken for dinner.  I'm not proud of these past two weeks-but they can't all be good weight-loss weeks, right?

But, on to the Ups!  I've learned a lot overall with eating healthier.  First, I hated drinking water.  A lot.  I used to make myself drink a glass or two a day, some days I wouldn't  have any.  But after making an effort to drink more everyday, I can manage about 5 glasses a day.  And on days I drink less, my body notices.  I've gotten to the point where I need that much water, and I like drinking it.  

Next, I've found that I can make a lot of healthier substitutions and not miss the junk parts of food that I used to eat (too much).  We love making tacos for dinner.  We tried switching out ground beef with ground turkey and made our own taco seasoning.  It tasted great, but the texture of the turkey was a little too different for me.  Now we use half ground beef and half ground turkey, we don't notice the difference at all, and we save a lot of calories and fat.  We do the same for chili.  We've also switched to using turkey sausage when we make kielbasa for dinner.  We double our veggies instead of eating pasta or rice with dinner.  I have english muffins instead of a bagel or toast for breakfast.  Every little bit helps!  I'm learning a lot about what kind of foods I like, simply by trying new, healthy things.  It does make me miss a lot of food we used to eat, but we are working through it.  

I've also struggled with exercising this past week or so.  I get really bored just getting on the exercise bike and peddling for a half-hour.  I try to shake it up a little with yoga and weight lifting, but I needed a new challenge.  Since I haven't been able to make myself do a Zumba class, I am working with a friend from the restaurant to do a 21 day running challenge.  She went down a lot of dress sizes and went from not being a runner at all, to being able to run five miles!  She just did it herself last year, teamed up with a friend, and promised to run everyday for three weeks.  I am using her as my inspiration, and starting tomorrow, will begin a 21 day running challenge myself.  I made a calendar to track my pace, time and distance each day.  Hopefully having a set goal, and holding myself accountable will get me out of this funk- and turn running into a habit!

I'll keep you posted on how the challenge goes, and hopefully will have good news at my next weigh-in!!