So many updates...

Ok, I know... I haven't blogged in a REALLY long time.


First update will have to be my 5k. I had never run this far before. My sister and her husband also ran as well as my two other "sisters".



I tried really hard to keep up with my sister and the girls in the beginning. It was a little faster pace than I could do for 3 miles. It was 11 in the morning, and after a few tries now, I know for a fact I can't run worth anything in the morning. The mix of not having enough food in me, it being way hotter than 7 at night, and not having moved around day really takes a toll on me fast. I was panting before long, my stomach was starting to cramp, and it was hot and sunny. I ended up walking a lot of it. I finished really strong on the hill at the end. One of the girls stayed with me the whole time. I finished in 43 minutes. Honestly, better than I thought I would do.

I tried to run Monday night after to keep up with my running, but my lungs were burning in no time. I blamed it on the excessive drinking I had done at the fair, but I was actually getting whatever my mom and niece were sick with. Tuesday I was full-blown sick. My throat was killing me, I had a temp over 102, and all I did was sleep. The completely terrible thing was I started school on Wednesday and had classes from 8:30-2:30. I woke up with a fever of 102.5 and took and ibuprofen to break the fever. In the first hour of class I was sweating so profusely from the fever breaking that I was sure my classmates could see the moisture on my shirt. I really struggled to stay awake. I did the jerking the head to keep it from falling motion a few times. I couldn't wait to get home. I was so excited about school, too! Luckily, that was the last of it.

Since then, school has been great! I absolutely 100% love it so far. Now I just need to make some good friends. I think I've made one so far. The only class I'm not so fond of is Sales Principles. It's only a general so I just need to suffer my way through it for 18 weeks. It's not too bad so far. Other than that, I have drawing classes, color class, basic interior design class, AND art class!!! We actually have an art show and we get to learn about critiquing and displaying art and we get to make a ton. Right now we have to make something using brown paper bags. I have a pretty good idea in my head so far... plus a ton of others. I'm beyond excited about this class. It's just what I need!

Other than that, still nothing good happening on the job front. I got a call from a place I wouldn't have minded working, but my schedule didn't fit their training times. I've been filling out a million applications online for stores in the area. No call backs so far. I'm going to go to a couple places to apply in person today hopefully, but there are a lot of things I need to get done around here. I was planning on having a garage sale this weekend, but I haven't gotten a chance to go through anything else yet, and the more I think about having one the more nervous I get. I don't know why. Plus, I have more big items on my to-do list. This includes cleaning the whole house (it's terrible) meaning loads and loads of laundry, folding it and putting it away, and organizing and cleaning everything else along the way. However, today is a lazy day. It's one of those beginning of fall, cloudy, windy and cold days. But I need to get it done because we finally bought a new mattress (I can't wait!!!) and it's getting delivered Tuesday, so it NEEDS to be done by then. Brian doesn't have to work Monday so he says we're doing it then. Hopefully he actually means it.

Well, I won't bore you with any more details. I'll try to keep up with this instead of updating on weeks of writing in one post.

Self-reflection

Well, I'm going to try out this virtual weight loss meeting thing. It sounds pretty cool, and may be the motivation I need to get back on track with my blogging (and overall ambition)

1. What is going well for you right now? Maintaining the weight I've lost so far
   
2. Where do you need to improve? I need to get back to exercising and eating right with the intensity I had when I started
   
3. What new recipe do you want to try this week? Something with the pattypan squash I have. (Suggestions are welcome!)
4. What was your favorite new food find or recipe from last week? I ended up being really sick last week, so sadly, I didn't cook much.
5. What is your general weight trend right now? I've been holding pretty constant, and luckily that is where I was at before I started slacking off...
   
6. How do you feel about your weight loss efforts? Overall, I feel great about my progress so far, but I'm feeling entirely unmotivated lately.
   
7. What is your weight loss goal for next week? Start working harder on achieving my next 5-pound goal. I only have 3 pounds to go!
   
8. What two weight-loss behavior goals do you plan to give 100% to this week? Eating the right things, and working out everyday
   
9. What do you fear most about trying to get group support? Not actually getting any.
   
10. What can other people give you that would be truly helpful? Unsolicited recognition of my accomplishments so far. (i.e. Have you lost weight?)

Humidity is not my friend

Well, this weekend went pretty well. Friday night we got invited over to a new friend's house to hang out. It was the first time we actually met and I think it went really well. It was a lot of fun. Saturday we headed to my hometown for the Barn Dance. My 3 year old niece got to come this year. I always love seeing her. As soon as I got to my parents' house she ran out the door to see me. When we got inside I sat on the exercise bike (for lack of any better seating). It has one of those controls to tell you how fast your going, the amount of time, and the calories burned, but the batteries were dead, so she came over and pretended to set it up for me. I'm pretty sure I'm going to hire this little girl as my personal trainer.

Her: How many minutes do you want to go for? 3 or 8?
Me: 3
Her: ok, 8. Do you want to go fast or slow?
Me: Slow
Her: How about you go fast?

Then, she proceeded to make me go faster until I was at the speed she wanted me at and that was the speed I could keep going at. Luckily, her 8 minutes means about 30 seconds. I was sweating in my parents super hot garage in no time, though.

After that, we headed to the potluck that they have before the dance. They have a hay ride going from there to the dance, which is about 3 or 4 miles. My niece insisted I had to go on the hay ride with her so my sister and my husband also rode with me. We got about a quarter to half mile away and it started to rain pretty steadily. By this time, my niece, who was the one that wanted to go on the ride, was fast asleep on my lap. The rain let up and half way through it started to rain even harder, to the point of being completely soaked. My sister and I did our best to keep her covered from the rain. The rain stopped about 3/4 mile away. We got to about 1/4 - 1/8 mile away and the tractor started sputtering. He got us to across the road and we had to walk the rest of the way, me with a 30 pound sleeping toddler in my arms until I could find her dad.

The dance was fun, but I drank way too much. The night ended with my dad making a joke about me not having a job yet and me busting into drunken tears. The next day was not so fun. Brian previously rode his motorcycle the 1 1/2 hours from where we used to live to my parents' house. Now, he finally decided to take it back to here, which is another 2 hours. He was hungover and tired, but we made a few stops along the way and made it back. It was so nice to be home.

Yesterday, I was determined to get a lot done. Of course, my addiction to the computer was a preventing factor, and I had to make Brian some lunch at noon when he was on break, so I didn't start much before then. After lunch, I realized I still needed to run some packages to the post office and the insurance lady had called me the day before to tell me I needed to take my car in for an estimate. They had told me specifically where to take it, so I went there. So I go in and they told me the paperwork would be sent there but they tell me they don't do hail estimates, and don't work with my insurance company on that. What a waste of getting dressed to leave the house and drive all over. I would've used the trip to the post office as a reason to take a long walk.. even on a hot, humid day.

I didn't want to use the humidity as an excuse for why I couldn't take a run last night, because I want to get somewhat accustomed in case the 5k falls on such a day. I managed to bust out a mile and a half. Better than nothing. Today is also super humid and depending how my knees feel I may try for at least the same. I need to find my Carmen Electra DVD and start working on that in the morning to work on strength training. I also need to clean my messy house.

Well, this has gotten rambling and lengthy already. Maybe more tonight.

Accomplishments

Well, I'm not in a huge mood to write tonight but I have major progress to update on, so I'll keep it short.

I ran my two miles the other night as usual, which meant I only needed to add another mile on by the 21st. I was really excited to hear that my sister is only running hers at about the same pace as mine, and it's been my goal to finish faster than her despite the fact she's run a bunch of them for the past two years, and I just started.

It's been really humid lately, so running has been extra sweaty. Last night, I went for a run. My legs were burning not far into it, but I tried to keep my mind power going and let that be my trainer and force me to keep going. I let my body feel the beat of the music, which works well because I'll get a faster paced song, and then a little slower. Some of them are difficult to run to the beat of and I just fall into my own pace. I have marching band to thank for my having to run to the beat. I wanted to stick with my goal of adding on a quarter mile each time I run, so I pushed hard for 2 1/4. I got to the 9th lap and Old Crow Medicine Show's "Humdinger" came on. If you like bluegrass, then this is an awesome running song. The beat was great to pick up a nice pace, and I suddenly felt great and energized. I caught a second wind and got in my third mile, which means, I am running the full length I need to be. Now I just need to add in hills, uneven terrain, and speed in the next three weeks.

Well, this weekend is the barn dance. I'm excited, as always. Tomorrow is running night and I hope to make some more progress. Hopefully drinking this weekend won't set me back too far.

Something encouraging...

Here's an article I found. I had read one a while back about how your mind is your worst enemy when it comes to exercise, and by thinking you can't, you won't be able to. Since then, I've been trying to keep that in mind and stick to that theory, which I believe really helps. This one covers a few of the threatening thoughts and what they should be replaced with.

http://caloriecount.about.com/dont-exercise-punish-yourself-eating-b444943?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_20100729&utm_term=continue1

I'll Try to Remember...

Alright, it's been a few days, but my computer has been a bit neglected lately. No, I didn't lose my addiction... it got overtaken. Brian found a tv on Craigslist to use as an oversized computer screen, and when I say oversized... I mean this:


Yes, a 37" flatscreen. It's huge. So, he's been amazed by this big screen and took over my desk with his laptop hooked up to it, which means my laptop (which is basically worthless and can't travel from the desk easily) sat in the corner without me being able to use it.

Anyway, Thursday I went for another run. I decided to do some speed work, so I sprinted the straights and walked the curves. I was pooped. I think I need to work some more on the speed stuff. Friday, I didn't run, but I did manage to talk Brian into a bike ride. We rode about a mile and a half, and he decided to really push me at the end so he took off fast and I kept up for a bit, but my thighs felt like they were about to burst, so I went back to my sad slow biking. Yesterday, I did some housework and ran. This time I worked on running at a decent pace running one lap then walking one. I did this for 2 miles.

My eating was less than good this weekend. I haven't been all that bad around meal time, but snacking has been terrible. Despite that, when I weighed myself when I woke up today I was just under 175! I was so happy. I wore a sun dress today and felt so confident.

Today we worked on some cleaning. I got rid of a bunch of things and started arranging my desk drawers. I didn't run, though. Maybe I'll work in a little yoga tonight. I also worked on my bag I've been crocheting. It's almost done and it's really cute. I want to try making a flower to put on it to add a little appeal, and maybe if I like how it looks I'll try to sell it.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with another employment agency. I applied at Starbucks the other day also, but I haven't heard anything back. Still nothing from my interview last week, and I even saw a posting on Craigslist for an opening there just a couple days ago. I'd call to inquire about my interview, but I don't have any contact information.

Well, I can't remember if there was anything else to write about. Maybe someday I'll find some readers?

Inflatables, Running, and Peanut Butter

Well, I missed my blogging yesterday. Mostly because I was exhausted. I'm not sure why because I got enough sleep... I think I'm still recovering from the weekend. My mom, sister, and niece came to visit. We took my niece to a place where they have a bunch of inflatables to go on. She wasn't so sure about going on the inflatables, so finally in the last 5 minutes we had I took her down the slide, which she absolutely loved and we did many times, so this was my big workout yesterday:

Yup, taking a 30 pound toddler up an unsteady inflatable and sliding down with her. I was dripping with sweat by the end! After that, we went to Sam's Club and mom bought us groceries, which I will get to a little later. I got home just before Brian, and I was completely beat. Brian was also extremely tired so we went and cuddled up close and took a nap. It was really nice. I finally forced myself to do my yoga at about 10pm and then went to bed.

Today, I really didn't do anything interesting. I worked on crocheting my purse and watched a movie and chatted online with a friend. Tonight was running night and I was completely determined to do better than last time and at least get in a mile. Starting out was rough tonight. I did manage to get through a mile and I let my body take over and feel the beat of the music. I told myself there is no reason I can't do as good as my best amount, so I did another mile and a half and I was still ok so I wanted to make sure I added on a lap like my goal for each time is. I added on two more laps, for a total of, YES, 2 CONSECUTIVE MILES!!! I walked a lap and then ran a lap, and then I was out of time to get back in time to watch a tv show with Brian, so I came back home. I decided on the way back that I think I want to start running everyday instead of every other when the weather is nice, and maybe double up doing yoga some of those days. We'll see what happens, though.

I may be finding people to work out with. I was supposed to go work out with a girl today but she never ended up texting me and there is another girl I've been emailing. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I found them on Craigslist through the "strictly platonic" section, but what can I say... I'm desperate and lonely and I really need some people around here to talk to. I even posted my own. I guess we'll see how that goes.

In other news, I still haven't heard back from my interview on Monday and I never got a call on another I had applied for and I haven't found too much worth applying for. I think I might go apply at Starbucks tomorrow.

Also, I had promised I would get back to my groceries. I need to take this time to tell you about an amazing find at Sam's Club, at least if you like peanut butter. We found this peanut butter and it is called "Naturally More". I highly recommend looking it up, but it has less sugar, good fats, and proteins. It has flax seed in it, which adds a nice texture and flavor. I was in a snacky mood and I wanted to try a little to see what it was like. I ended up eating a few spoonfuls, and those few completely satisfied both my appetite and my craving for something sweet. I love it!

Well, enough advertising for tonight. Until tomorrow...