A Kick in the Butt

Yes, I said I would blog.  Yes, I said I would keep it updated.  Even if it was hard.  And I'd write about the bad stuff.

Then I fell off the wagon (I'm the one in pink, see below). If I'm being realistic, I probably should add a few pounds to that drawing.  And my hair is a little darker.  Deal with it people!

So, I got a text today saying I needed to get back at it and get to blogging like I promised.  Here I am.  Kicking, screaming, but here I am.

Have I walked 10,000 steps per day?  No.  No, I have not.  Have I watched what I ate?  Yes.  In that, "let's watch and see how much bad crap I can put away" kind of way.  So, dear readers, we will have to start again.  But, hey, what's a journey without a few bumps in the road?

Monday?? Not again...

Today, I definitely have a case of the Mondays.  I'm not seeing that changing anytime soon, mostly because in no way, shape, or form am I trying to change it.  Instead, I'm wallowing in my Monday morning grumpiness.  

Today started like every day with a weigh-in.  I ate perfectly yesterday, exercised my butt off and came up with... a 0.2 pound GAIN.  GAIN!  I know, I know, it's a single day, there's a thousand reasons for it, it's week 2, week 2 always sucks, bla bla bla... I will believe that and tell other people that tomorrow, but today I'm just going to embrace my "but it's so unfair!" attitude.  I told you'd I'd right even if I wasn't feeling particularly motivating or upbeat, so here it is. 

So today started with 0.2 pound weight gain and I decided a good, long walk before work would have me feeling better.  I think it sort of worked... until the rain started.  Matched my mood perfectly, really, as I walked in the drizzle for about 50 minutes.  At least I hadn't straightened my hair!  

In more encouraging news, tomorrow marks 2 weeks.  One more and I'm at that magically 21 days that experts say it takes to form a habit!  And, for the week, I'm still down (a measly) 0.8 pounds.  I guess a loss is a loss.  We'll see what tomorrow morning on the scale has to say.  

I've also decided to add a few more interim and long-term goals/rewards.  When I get under 200 pounds, I'm going to get SCUBA certified.  And longer term, I'm going to set my sights on finishing a FULL marathon.  I did a few halfs back about 4-5 years ago, but the full is a whole different kind of beasty I'm told.  26.2 miles is a long way, but a lot of people have done it, and there is no reason I can't be one of them.  I volunteered handing out bananas at a local marathon this last weekend, and don't see any reason why I can't be one of those proud people crossing the line.  But I don't want to push too much or too hard.  So here's the plan: 

For now, keep walking.  Just walking.  Once I get under 250, then I will start incorporating some run/walking and start training for a 5k.  Once I've successfully gotten better at 5ks, I'll start training for a half.  
- Under 250 - (roughly slating July) - start working to improve 5k speed.  Once I can clock at least 2 races in under 45 minutes, start working on training for a half. 
- Complete the 2015 Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.  Start training for the full. Consider other mini-marathons through the spring/summer. 
- Complete the 2015 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (normally the first weekend of November)

We'll see what we can do!

Blisters in the Sun

Well, had my very first day under 10,000 steps. 

I was still over 6,000, but didn't do a dedicated walk.  If you read the title here, I'm betting you can guess why.  It's a 2 1/2 inch blister straight down the middle of my foot.  Who gets blisters in the middle of their feet??? I don't know what happened, I just know it hurts like a son of a gun. 

But the scale is still moving the right way, so no complaints here!  I'm not going to probably talk about scale numbers much in this blog, but if you're ever curious, there's a tracker over there ----> somewhere that will tell you where I'm at.  As long as the number keeps going down, I'm good.  

In other good news, I have updated week 1 metrics (fasting): 
- CHOL: Down to 148
- GLUC: Down to 88.1 (fasting, so not really a direct comparison)
- HDL: Up a couple of points to 53.3
- LDL: Down to 84 (fasting)
- TRIG: WAY down to 56 (but, again, fasting..)

In the bag

Week one is in the bag!  Phew, what a week it has been.  Best laid plans of mice and men I guess!

Between crazy busy-ness at work and a few emotional swings for one reason or the other (hunger??), it has been TOUGH to maintain this.  But here's the only thing that matters:  I HAVE!!

Come on, you know I've earned a little high-five action... 

So the good news is, I'm still going strong.  The bad news is - writing everyday just isn't going to work for me.  So I'll check in as frequently as I can.  

Here's what we've missed: 

- The first three days of a diet SUCK.  Just suck.  Day 1 is OK because you're all motivated and ready to take on the world.  But then there is day two which is just mentally exhausting and day three where you are legitimately hungry.  Deeply hungry.  Crossed over into angry hungry.  Hangry.  You've been there.  But if you power through those three days, everything gets easier.  I promise.  

- Myfitnesspal.com is a great app.  Great.  Log your food (EVERYTHING!) and get some friends and they'll help kick your butt in no time.  Definitely keeps the motivation high.  My favorite part is the barcode scanner that picks up the nutrition content of pretty much any packaged food.  I haven't found anything that doesn't work yet. Even if it isn't a "single serve" pack, the app just calculates one serving worth and then you can adjust.  It's great.  I also love "MapMyWalk."  Walking outside is way less horrible than the dreadmill and then you can race you from yesterday along the same path.  And the two apps work together!

- I'm still trying to decide if I'm just eating to my calorie goal (right now, between 1200 - 1500) or if I should be "eating back" the calories I'm burning in exercise.  Myfitnesspal says I should be... I want to lose weight fast... For now, I'm keeping the option open for those hangry days.  You are welcome, friends, family and co-workers.

So, that was week one.  All in all, a success.  10,000 steps a day and never over my calorie goal.  Today... it's 12:50PM and I'm only at 2362 steps.  Maybe we'll take today as a rest day?  I sure feel like I could use one.  If so, I'll lower the goal to 8000.  That should be doable right? 

Speaking of goals, here are my milestones: 

Every pound = $1 in my jar.  I can then spend it on anything I want... including new workout clothes.  No money in the jar?  No new workout clothes.  That's the rules, man... 

<250 - Pamper myself day - new tennis shoes, massage and a mani/pedi
<225 - New work clothes - a week's worth!
<200 - SKYDIVING!  Seriously.  Planning a "skydiving" girls weekend to celebrate.  Who's in? :)
<175 - Trip to the Beach!
<160 - GOAL!  That's reward enough right there...

Any other good ideas?

I would walk 10,000 steps...

We all know exercise is essential, but I have a tendency of being an "all or nothing" kind of girl.  So, instead of sensibly starting an exercise regimen, I jump in thinking it's a good idea to start immediately training to run a 5k... when it would probably take me an hour to walk 5k.  

So, this time, the goal is different.  10,000 steps.  10,000 no matter how I get them.  If I leave work and the trusty ol' pedometer says 7,000, it's off to the treadmill I go.  11,000?  I'm done for the day.  That's the plan. 

Yesterday was day 1 and I logged over 12,000.  Started off today with a 30 minute stroll on the treadmill.  Today, the treadmill about bored me to tears.  I think it's because I was hoping to walk outside but it was still dark and super wet and rainy, so I was stuck in the apartment complex gym where all the TVs were not working so I just had a staring contest with the monitor... 25:49 to go... 25:48... oh I'm driving myself crazy, stop looking for five minutes... 25:01... Note to self - bring a hand towel tomorrow to cover the clock.  And a book. 

Here we go!

So, this is it.  Day 1 on my journey to add "former" to that fatty title.  Again... 

I'm starting off today at 284.6 pounds.  I've never seen a number that big on the scale (or admitted that to ANYONE!) and I don't want to ever see it again, so I'm hoping this blog will help me stay committed.  When I was about 25, I lost around 90 pounds to get down to 155.  I kept it off for almost two years before it started to creep back on.  Then creeping turned to piling and piling turned to 285 pounds and here we are.
I recently crossed into that magical world called ThirtyLand... The entry prize?  People constantly quizzing you about why you aren't dating more and when you are going to have kids.  I'm so happy to be here!  But really - I am happy to be here.  I live in the Midwest near my great big, crazy, fun family, I have an awesome job that I love (but spend too much time at, if you ask my Mom) and the best friends a girl could ask for. This blog is going to chronicle all of the good, bad and ugly as I work to lose 130 pounds and get my life back.

I'll make you two promises:
- There will be no juicing or cleansing or eating nothing but celery and watermelon and there will be no smoothies, unless they are delicious, in this blog.  I will do this the old fashioned way - I'll eat less, I'll move more and I will still live my life and eat cupcakes every once in a while and have a beer if I want to.  This is a lifetime change. 

- I absolutely will fall off the wagon.  I'll commit right now to getting back on.  I will kid myself by telling myself it's OK if it's just for the weekend.  Then for the week.  Then if I'm stressed out.  I will do my best to write about those things, too, and everything else that happens.  


So, that's it!  Let's get going!

Some day 1 metrics (non-fasting): 
- CHOL: 190
- GLUC: 118
- HDL: 51.4
- LDL: 114
- TRIG: 120