Weekly Wednesday Weigh In

Date	Change	Total	Work Outs in Week
6/9/2010	-1.2	-13.4	3
6/16/2010	-0.2	-13.6	2
6/23/2010	-1.8	-15.4	2
6/30/2010	2.2	13.2	4

Big time bummer! I gained 2.2 lbs this week. Not really sure what happened. Last week my weigh in was on my friend's analog scale since I was house sitting and didn't have my digital scale. So maybe last week I didn't really lose 1.8 lbs? All I can do is move forward at this point though. Regardless of what the analog scale said last week my scale isn't lying this week thus it doesn't change the overall result. 

I got in 4 workouts this week 3 running workouts on the treadmill and 1 new workout class called Total Body Conditioning at Move It Be Fit.  Last week I bought a Groupon for 5 classes at Move It Be Fit for $9! They offer Yoga, Pilates, and a Total Body Conditioning class. This class was no joke! It was circuit training with a combination of cardio and strength exercises at each station. This class will be a great way to get some strength training in.

Coming up this weekend for the 4th of July I am headed with Matt and 9 other friends to the beach! I can't wait to get on the beach. The place we are staying has a gym so I'll make sure to keep my workouts up while I'm gone for the long weekend.

3 Things

So last week I was tagged by JMJE of Making Stuff is Fun. So check out her blog to learn 3 things about her and then read my 3 things!

3 names I go by:

* Brayer

* Curly J

* Nini or Aunt Nini

3 places I have been:

*  Edinburgh, Scotland

*  Tishomingo, OK - spent 6 weeks here when I was in AmeriCorps, very exciting place with a whopping  

    population of 3,162

*  Big Bend National Park in TX - I know I'm styling in my AmeriCorps uniform

3 favorite drinks:

* Dunkin Donuts Ice Coffee

* Sweet Tea

* Dragonfruit Vitamin Water - don't drink it as much anymore since it's loaded with sugar

3 jobs I have had:

* Sales Associate at Toys and Co - my first job

* Case Manager at a residential alternative-to-prison program for mothers and their children - my first job 

  after college and it was absolutely horrific

* Corps Member of AmeriCorps*NCCC - I traveled the US doing different service projects

3 TV shows I watch:

* The Office

* The Amazing Race

* The Bachelor/ Bachelorette - sad but true

3 places I would like to visit:

*Anywhere tropical where I can lay on the beach with a fruity drink - hopefully this will happen for my  

   honeymoon next year

*California- want to do a road trip along Route 1

* Italy

3 favorite retro TV shows

*The Cosby Show

*Gilmore Girls - great Tuesday night memories of watching the show at JMJE's house

*The Golden Girls

3 places I have lived:

* Wilmington, NC - in college

* Denver, CO - in Americorps

* Boston, MA - after AmeriCorps before returning to NC

3 favorite dishes: 

*Spaghetti with turkey meatballs

*Anything Mexican - especially shrimp fajitas

*Chicken Tikka Masala

3 things I am looking forward to:

*July 4th beach weekend 2010

*My wedding in May 2011!

*My tropical honeymoon that will follow

I'm tagging Shana from Fumbling Towards Normalcy make sure to check her blog out and then check out her 100th post and giveaway for a fabulous necklace!

Happy Birthday!

During my weight loss journey my boyfriend/ fiance (the word fiance is so weird) has been nothing less than supportive. He has gone running with me, encouraged me to workout when I did not want to, cooked healthy meals for me, and has enjoyed eating the healthy meals I have cooked (at least that's what he says).  

Happy Birthday Matt!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh In and Amanda Gets Hitched!

Date	Change	Total	Work Outs in Week
6/2/2010	0.4	-12.2	6
6/9/2010	-1.2	-13.4	3
6/16/2010	-0.2	-13.6	2
6/23/2010	-1.8	-15.4	2

This week I lost 1.8 lbs and worked out a lame 2 times.  My workouts were a Zumba class and a run.  It's been way too hot to run outside and I'm on the hunt for a new gym.  I thought I was going to join where Matt is a member but I went to check it out on Monday and it was dark and dirty and overall I did not get a good vibe.  I'm going to keep searching. In the mean time I can still workout at the University where I work.

Now on to the fun stuff my good friend is now a married woman! She got married on Saturday and despite having an outside wedding in some major heat it was a great time.  You can read more about it on JMJE's blog here.  The newlyweds are in St Lucia probably lounging on the beach drinking fruity drinks. I'm so jealous! While they are gone I'm house sitting/ pet setting/ garden sitting.  They have 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 turtle. So really I feel like I'm staying at a farm. I don't have a green thumb at all so tonight it should be interesting when I have to harvest the garden (Gene just kidding if you are reading this, your garden is is good hands...). 

Weekly Wednesday Weigh In

Date	Change	Total	Work Outs in Week
5/26/2010	-1.2	-12.6	4
6/2/2010	0.4	-12.2	6
6/9/2010	-1.2	-13.4	3
6/16/2010	-0.2	-13.6	2

I lost a measly 0.2 lbs this week.  I guess that is better than gaining but still.  My eating was on track this week but I only got in a total of 2 workouts.  I did not work out at all between when I went to the doctor last week and the 5k. I needed to rest per doctor's orders. I also did not want to take the chance of my asthma and bronchitis to get worse before my 5k.  My workouts this week were a Zumba class and the 5k.

So my friend's wedding that I'm a bridesmaid in is this weekend. I'm so excited for the wedding! Even though I did not meet my goal of loosing 25 lbs before her wedding, I did loose 13.6 and that's a lot better than 0 lbs.  I am going to make a new goal to loose the remaining 11.4 lbs by August 25th.  That gives me 10 weeks to get it done. It's time to step it up as I will be shopping for my own wedding dress soon!

Race for The Cure - My First 5k!

On Saturday Matt and I woke up early to run the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  We met my sister and brother-in-law there who were running with us, and my mom who was there to cheer us on.  I was feeling better from my cold/ bronchitis/ asthma problems I was having, but not 100%.  When I went to the doctor on Friday she told me that she thought it would be fine for me to try to do the 5k but to run with my inhaler.

The race was crazy packed with people. There were 14,000 people that came out to participate. My sister and I had decided that we would run together since we run pretty much the same pace.  The 5k started and at first Kelly and I were zig zagging around all the walkers. For a while it was going well, it was hard but manageable.  Then all the hills started and it got really hard and it was super hot out. About two thirds of the way through my breathing starting to get really hard to manage.  I slowed to a fast walk and Kelly almost stopped with me asking me if i was okay. I told her to keep running.  She kept looking back at me and I kept waving her ahead.  The last thing I wanted to do is to slow her down. She told me later that she wanted to stop with me but she knew it would have just made me mad.

The rest of the race I spent using my inhaler and alternating between jogging and walking.  I'm disappointed that I was not able to run the whole race but at the same time I'm still proud of myself for finishing the race, especially since my health wasn't 100% and I didn't get to run for a whole week before the race.  My sister rocked the race and ran the whole thing.  I'm so proud of her for running the whole race and keeping up with Couch to 5k program.  We are planning on signing up for another 5k in the Fall. I can't wait to run the whole thing this time!

Wednesday Weekly Weigh In

Date	Change	Total	Work Outs in Week
5/19/2010	0	-11.4	4
5/26/2010	-1.2	-12.6	4
6/2/2010	0.4	-12.2	6
6/9/2010	-1.2	-13.4	3

It's pretty amazing that I lost 1.2 lbs this week with the combination of being at the beach, only getting 3 workouts in, and celebrating my engagement. I will take the loss though and run with it.  My workouts were 2 runs and 1 Zumba class. Turns out I probably should have skipped the Zumba class last night. I have had a cold that was causing my asthma to act up some but I was feeling better yesterday. Well I think working out really flared up my asthma. I was up all night last night hacking my lungs out. Cute I know right?  This morning I went to the doctor and she thinks I have bronchitis.  She gave me a prescription and told me to rest with no working out.

I looked at her and was like well I have been training for a 5k and it's this Saturday. She kind of laughed and said that would be pushing it. I am hoping though if I rest until then I will be fine to run. I have to run this 5k on Saturday! Cross your fingers for a speedy recovery for me. I coincidentally have a physical schedule for Friday so we'll see what she says then, but I didn't work this hard to watch everyone else run the 5k!

My friend Amanda's wedding is only 1 1/2 weeks away.  It's obivious that I won't make my goal of 25 lbs unless I get drastically ill this week and don't eat at all. Lets not hope for that! I am glad that I have lost 13 lbs but I know I need to step it up a notch.  I feel like I have a good grasp on working out but I need to get better at eating, especially when traveling and eating out. My traveling is finally slowing down so that will help, but in reality there will always be a reason why it will be hard to eat healthy. My own wedding now will help motivate me in becoming a smaller healthier me!

Holy Moly I'm Engaged!

Monday Matt completely surprised me by proposing to me at lunch time. Yeah Monday at lunch random huh? Well he wanted it to be a surprise and that was a way to do it! He took me to an Italian restaurant where he reserved a private room.  He proposed, had a beautiful ring for me, and then showed me a picture slide show that he made (he's slick and stole a photo album from my mom's house when we were there).  At one point during lunch I went to the restroom and might have done a happy dance in the bathroom stall.  I'm so lucky to have such an amazing guy!

Couch to 5k - Done!

So last Wednesday I did my last Couch to 5k workout! I really excited and amazed that I finished it. It took me more like 12 weeks instead of 9 week.. I repeated a few weeks when I thought I needed more time on that week before moving to the next. Sometimes this was because I was not able to do the workouts without stopping or feeling like I was going to hurl. I think a lot of my hurdles were more mental than physical. If a few weeks is what I needed to jump those mental hurdles than so be it.

My real celebrating will come on June 12th when I run my first 5k. I'm running the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with my sister who also completed the C25k program.  There were weeks where I just wanted to quit the program and throw in the towel. Two things stopped me from doing so. They are that I knew I had posted on here about the program and I couldn't let people see me as a quitter and mostly because my sister was doing it too and she would kick my butt if I quit on her. I think I also didn't quit because it was something I really wanted to prove to myself that I can do.

On Saturday I ran with my boyfriend on the Charles River. Well we kind of ran together. He was running right in front of me since the sidewalk wasn't huge and I kept feeling like I had to keep up. I also knew that he was running slower than usual to stay with me. So I urged him on to run at his own pace. He would run ahead and then sometimes turn back and run towards me.  In the middle of the workout I told myself that I was going to run 32 minutes instead of 30. At 32 minutes I was like I can do another minute. I did that until I got to 35 minutes. 35 minutes! Never did I imagine three weeks ago that I would be able to run for 35 minutes straight.

So what now? Maybe I"ll continue with the Bridge to 10k program? Running a 10k? Really? I don't know but it might be a good challenge and a way to make sure I keep my running going. What do you think?

***Update - I actually made it out of bed this morning to run! The rain kept me from running yesterday. I would run in the rain but that would mean no music because I can't get my iphone wet and I don't know if I'm ready for that. Anyway I am leaving after work to head for the beach so I forced myself up at 6 am to go for a run. Good times! I almost climbed back into bed when I realized I woke up with a cough and itchy throat but I powered through! And well now I'm still coughing but it's 8:30 am and I already got my workout in. Now that feels good.

Weekly Wednesday Weigh In

 

Date

Change

Total

Work Outs in Week

5/12/2010	0.4	-11.4	4
5/19/2010	0	-11.4	4
5/26/2010	-1.2	-12.6	4
6/2/2010	0.4	-12.2	6

 It's official I'm in Yo-Yo mode. I gained .4 lbs this week. I guess that isn't terrible considering I was traveling for 4 days and eating every meal out. The truth of the matter though is I'm all over the place this summer so I need to do a better job at being able to consistently lose even when I'm out of town.

Tomorrow after work I'm back at it and leaving for the beach with my boyfriend and his family.  The good thing is that we are staying in a condo with a furnished kitchen. This at least helps that breakfast and lunches will be eaten at the condo and I'm guessing most dinners will be out. Matt's dad is very excited to make at least one trip to Calabash for some seafood. I love Calabash shrimp (aka popcorn shrimp). I am going to resist the fried and stick with broiled or grilled though. (Matt hold me to this when I'm eying the menu). I also plan on working out in some shape or form every day I'm gone.

This past week I worked out 6 times.  My workouts included my final Couch to 5k workout (more about
that in another post though). I also went running 3 other times, did one 45 minute power walk, and 1 Zumba class.  Everyday I was in Boston I worked out by the Charles river with Matt. It was so beautiful and very refreshing to feel the breeze that came off the river.  We also took my nephew Alex for an adventure walk by the river. An adventure walk is really just a walk where you look for animals, boats, bicycles, trucks...anything that would excite a 2 1/2 year old boy. It's crucial to talk the walk up and be overly excited when you find the boats, geese, trucks, and so on.  The most important part though is to make sure to make a stop for a snack. During our stop my nephew saw a runner go by and said she was going really fast. He then told me that his mommy and I could ran that fast. I'm glad my nephew has faith in my running. He then wanted to show us how fast he could run. So after our snack we had races. He is really fast he beat Matt and I every time!

Sunday was my birthday and Matt and I celebrated by going to Red Sox game with my friends Laura and Karen. (Thanks to Karen and her husband for the tickets!) The Red Sox  took on Kansas City and won 8-1 just for me as a birthday present. We had a great time at the game and at dinner after wards. It was so good to see my Laura and Karen that I haven't seen in a year. It also was nice to introduce them to Matt.