Wednesday: weigh in day and Before & Afters

Wow, I have been slacking.

I haven't done a weigh in Wednesday in a couple weeks. 

Sorry.

Well, today I am weighing in at 171 lbs.

Yep, still there but that's ok, I have noticed changes in my body and my clothes are fitting better.

Someday the scale will move and I will love it but for now, whatever.
I am linking up with Erin and Alex

 

 

Now onto the good can't believe I am posting these part.

Last year on March 20, I took some before pictures.

Looking back I wish that I had taken them with a shirt on but I remember feeling like it didn't look as bad with clothes on so I wanted to remember just how awful I looked and felt.
And man was I good at not having my picture taken, trust me, I looked through a ton of pictures to see if I could find just a regular picture to compare to now so that you all didn't have to be tortured but no such luck.
Anyway.

Now, a year later, honestly I am not where I wanted to be but I also didn't put in as much hard work as I should have. 

Can't expect great change if I eat ice cream and chocolate almost everyday. 

I have come a long way though and am proud of what I have accomplished over the year.

When I started last march I could not run for even half a mile. 

Now I can run for over an hour and still feel good at the end.

Just last weekend I finished a 5k in 36:13.

I remember the first time I ran a whole 5k without walking, it took me almost 50 minutes.

Since last March I have lost almost 20 pounds.

I wish that I had taken measurements then but I just couldn't face those numbers at the time.

I went from a size 16 to a now comfortable size 12. 

I have a lot of fun races lined up for this next year and I hope that my post on March 20, 2014, will be about how great I feel at goal weight. 

 

I still can't believe that I am posting these for everyone to see.

Please be kind.
 

                              Before March 20, 2012                         During March 20, 2013

Can we just focus on the side shot cause that is the friendliest one. 
Ick, I can't believe I am going to hit publish. 
I'm throwing in a picture of my adorable baby and a little bit of my scruffy man just cause I love them.

 This picture was right after we cut the baby buggers hair.

 

Thanks for reading!

I am gonna go workout now, pictures are such great motivation to get my butt moving.

Operation Red Bikini here I come!

It's on!!!

My husband, Jon, has always been able to run circles around me.

When we were in high school his sister and I used to go running every morning, one day he came with us and actually ran circles around us talking the whole time while we were dying.

Anyway, on Saturday my new running shoes came in the mail.
 

Woohoo!!
 

I was so excited, I of course promptly put them on and started showing him, his sister (the same one I still run with), and my mom how fast my new shoes make me go.

 Picture me running full speed from the kitchen down the hall and back just like a little four year old does when showing someone how fast their shoes make them go.

Well my husband made some smart ass remark to witch I responded that he better watch out or I might invite him running with me and then leave him in the dust.
One thing lead to another and I ended up challenging him to a race.
 The race will be held on the first Saturday of 2014, yep, I have a full year to train for this race and you better believe I will kick his butt!
 

He has always been one of those people built to run, he can do no training WHATSOEVER then go run a 5k in 24 minutes, it is one thing I hate am jealous about him.

 A sweet note from our past, before either of us had a car he used to run the 3.5 miles from his house to mine to hang out then would run home, sweet.

Back to the race, we are trying to come up with a good name for it, I had thought maybe the honey race cause it is going to be so sweet to leave my honey in the dust.

 Ehh. 
I don't love it.
 Do you have any ideas? 

Cause you know we are going to be referring to this race all year long.

 I will beat him, you better believe it.

  Plus we need something to call it cause it has been coming up a lot.

 Funny story.

Last night I looked outside and see Jon running, FAST across the backyard carrying a huge log.
 I opened the door to go tease him about training for the big race.
  But I stepped out, slipped on a stupid hammer that my son had been playing with and fell flat on my ass!
 It hurt like hell!
 Once I figured out that Ben, yes I was holding baby Ben when I fell, once I figured out that we were both fine I still made fun of him about his "training."
 Which of course didn't quite have the impact I had envisioned since I was saying it from the ground. He responded with some comment about how I better get used to seeing him from that angle cause I am going to be on my knees crying, he is going to beat me so bad.
 I don't know, I guess you had to be there.
 I have a huge bruise on my arm where I hit the door frame, I tried to take a picture but it didn't show how swollen it is.
The neighbors are even all revved up for the race.  They have an 18 year old son that Jon occasionally goes running with, well I told them about the race yesterday and how I was going to beat Jon by a gazillion minutes and he didn't even hesitate, he said, "oh, Jon is going to let you win by that much huh?"
 I couldn't believe it, this quite nerdy kid just hit me with that one, oh it is so on.
 Now I have to beat him to prove it to everyone, so watch out Jonny boy. 
I'm coming for you.

So everyone better go ahead and mark your calenders for the great race. 
(that name doesn't work either, I need to think of something better)
 

Operation Red Bikini

First of all, woo hoo for Christmas!
It was great fun and I am so glad that it is over. 
I get so exhausted around Christmas time, plus I enjoyed myself and ate, a LOT.
No regrets though, it all tasted wonderful. 
I am a little sad that I am out of the LastLoserStanding challenge though since I gained back two pounds, oh well.

  I still have Operation Red Bikini!
Thanks Kassie and Leigh Ann for putting together this challenge!

 

And

 These jeans are my red bikini

I know I live in the hot lands of southern Arizona but I still wear jeans all summer long. 
So come May 31th I am going to be sporting these beautiful Citizens of Humanity jeans. 
They are my favorite pair of jeans, when I was thin enough for them to actually fit they were so comfortable.  I haven't been able to wear them for almost 3 years. 
I want to fit into this bikini pair of jeans so badly.
It will happen. 
Watch out, you never know, maybe I will be too small for them come the end of May.
Wouldn't that be amazing. 


Onto New Years

I want to make a couple New Years Resolutions.
 I prefer to just call them goals though, I don't know why but calling them resolutions makes me all nervous. 
But I am having trouble deciding what I want them to be. 
I have all of my fitness ones, then I also would like to actually save some money this year, and I want to be a more purposefull (I know that isn't really a word but I haven't figured it out yet so bare with me) parent.
 I think I will post my resolutions goals once I pin them down. 


Happy New Year Everyone!!
 

Monday Monday

It is Monday!

I am really looking forward to this week, I love Thanksgiving

 

I love family time, being together doing nothing but enjoying each others company, letting the kids play, and eating, of course eating. 

 

I also LOVE shopping! 

 I am one of those die hard, crazy black Friday shoppers.  I love it!

I look forward to it every year, except I really don't like that the stores are opening late on Thursday night now instead of 4 am Friday morning.  They did this last year too and it just sucks.  When the stores open in the morning you know everyone who is there is all about the deals and crazy like you.  But now that the stores are opening on Thursday night regular people are getting in the way.  It is so frustrating!  I really hate it, I will see how this year goes with the stores being open on Thursday but I think the thrill of the deal may have been killed for me by the stores changing things up.  Sad. 

I had a great weekend, we didn't really do much.  The kids both had soccer games Saturday and soccer pictures on Sunday.  I got in two 4.5 mile runs and I felt great, I really want to find the time to do that at least three times a week, it is just hard with the kids and my husbands schedule.  I am going to work on that this week.  Also this weekend something wonderful happened, someone told me that I look like I am lost weight. Yippee!!!  It is so rewarding when others start to notice. 

 
Also, I got my hair cut, here are some before and afters just for fun.

Shorter with bangs, still not sure if I love the bangs but my hair is extremely thick so I love it being shorter and lighter. 

Wednesday: weigh in day

Check it out, I weigh 176!!

 

 I am so excited!  The number keeps going down, finally.  I swear I had been gaining and loosing the same 1 pound for weeks but the scale is finally, slowly going down.  I love it.  Can't wait to weigh in next week, maybe I will hit that 175 milestone.

On an unrelated topic, I had to wear a dress yesterday because my normal go to yoga pants are wearing holes in the thighs and just looking pretty much inappropriate for wear outside of the house.  Will I retire them, of course not, throwing out exercise clothes is a sin right?!  I don't know why, but I feel like it is.  I finally put a pair of capris in the garbage that should have been tossed probably a year ago.  I put them in the trash Monday and I am seriously feeling loss, how silly is that.  I guess I will use retail therapy to get over the loss, I need to buy some pants that fit now.  Because I am the last of my friends to loose weight I have about 10 pairs of beautiful jeans in size 10, hand me downs, but I need pants that fit now.  So shopping I must go.

 

Man, seeing results is ridiculously motivating.  I seriously can't wait to weigh in next week. 

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

 

 



Pile On The Miles

I signed up for Pile On The Miles over at RunEatRepeat. 
 

 

Melanie @ 4Kottez blogged about how she signed up, I followed her link and decided that I wanted to take the challenge too.  My mileage goal for the month of November is 50 miles.  Some of the women who are participating have goals that just seem insane to me, there are a range of distance goals starting around 20 and going up to as many as 200 miles.  Seriously!  200 miles is incredible.  I can't wait to follow these women and be inspired by their ability.  Wow, I mean, 200 miles in a month!  I am just amazed by that distance.  I think that I am going to have to push it to make my 50 miles. 

Anyone else up to the challenge?  

Another 5k



This weekend seemed to pass by so stinking fast. 

 

Saturday was full of soccer games, baby showers, family, family, and more family.  Sunday was surprisingly filled with, wait for it....family! 

 

I also ran the Run Like Hell 5k yesterday.  It was a lot of fun people watching checking out all of the different costumes.  Melinda and I went dressed as pirates and sadly this is the best picture I got of us.  Sorry.

 

 

This race took place at 5pm and it was much hotter then it has been all week, way hotter then when I usually run.  Actually, I felt pretty good on this run, I could have run this whole thing but it was more important to complete it with Melinda.  I really enjoyed chatting with her the whole run.  I don't know what our time was because this was an untimed fun run, but I think I will be ready to run another timed event in the next couple weeks.  I can definitely tell a difference in my stamina from just a few weeks ago to now, I feel like I am actually accomplishing something with running.  It is exciting!  Makes me really look forward to all of my runs scheduled for this week. 

 

Did anyone else run a 5k this weekend? 

Wednesday: weigh in day

Down 1.2 lbs!!!

 

Weighed in today at 177.8

 

I couldn't be happier with that number

 

I know some people wouldn't think that much weight was a victory but I do. Any weight off is something to celebrate.  I worked hard this week to shed those 1.2 pounds. Having my workouts scheduled on the fridge has been really good for me. It not only makes me stick to my workouts but it reminds me to make good choices every time I open the fridge. I can't wait to see what the scale says next week. Annie over at Crazy/Simple Mama posted about hitting a 20 pound weight loss and I am inspired! I am so looking forward to the day I get to post about my own 20 pound milestone.  And I am chipping away at it everyday! 

 

Thanks Annie for sharing!

Wednesday: weigh in day

Well, sadly I am back up to 179.  But it was 179.0 so that was kind of fun.  Not sure why but it made me happy having the point 0. 

 

I have been in a slump this week and I want out of it so I decided that I am going to make a calender and schedule all of my workouts on it.  Then I am going to put it up on the fridge so that I will see it everyday several times a day.  Hopefully this will help me be more motivated to accomplish the workouts.  I think it will cause I love getting to cross things off lists, silly I know but it just makes me so happy to cross things off that I think I will do the workout just to cross it off the list.  Who knows, maybe if I miss a day I will do a double workout the next day so I can cross off both workouts.  

 

Plus I started a fitness challenge today and I have an awesome group of ladies on my team working towards winning prizes for our weight loss, talk about motivation.  I love it when people are depending on me cause I hate to disappoint.  I lost so much weight when I used to have to meet my friend, Linette, for our daily workouts, I couldn't not show up cause I might disappoint.  So I am excited to step on the scale next week.  Maybe I will actually hit that 175.  

Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred

On Monday I started level 2 of the 30 Day Shred.  I think Jillian is trying to kill me with planks.  I was finally feeling good about level 1 and then it was time to switch it up to level 2.  I guess that is the idea, switch it up before your body gets too comfortable but oh man am I sore.  My shoulders are killing me, planks are not my friend.  I do love the ab routines in level 2 though, I can really feel them working and I feel like I can actually do them. Of course, they might be easier if I didn't have an obnoxious adorable 7 month old climbing all over me every time that I lay down to do abs, or planks.    Seriously, planks are going to be the death of me.  I can't even type planks without my shoulders cringing. 

 

Usually everything Jillian says during the video makes me want to hurt her but when she talks about fitting into new jeans it really motivates me.  I LOVE jeans so much and can't wait to fit into them again.  So when she says that I actually am motivated and find myself working harder. 

 

This is the first time I have ever done the 30 day shred and actually stepped up the levels every ten days.  The last time that I completed the 30 day shred I just did level one the whole 30 days, and I had amazing results.  I can't wait to see how this 30 days finishes.  Excitedly nervous.  

Hey, check it out!!!

My stomach doesn't stick out past my boobs!

 

That is awesome!  I may not be seeing huge numbers in the weight loss department but I definitely notice a difference in size.  My pants fit a little better, which is nice, but the fact that I can look down at my feet and not see my stomach sticking out past my girls is FABULOUS!  And they are in the ridiculously ginormous category so for my stomach to be out past them was a very, very sad thing on my 5'2" tall frame. I didn't take any measurements before I started this journey, I couldn't face the tape measure.  The tape measure is worse to me then the scale, it is brutally honest, I have to stand there and look at how large around I am in different areas all over my body.  No thank you, I would rather watch the scale.  But I am almost feeling motivated to take measurements now since I can tell that I am loosing inches.  Almost. 

 

 

I am so happy!!!!

 

Check it out! Feet, no stomach!

 

 

 

 Isn't he the most adorable little bugger you have ever seen?!

 

 

 

30 Day Shred

I did it, I actually stopped making excuses and did my first day of the 30 day shred.  I have been planning on starting it since the beginning of July, sad right?  I have made an excuse everyday for the last what, like 60 something days.  Telling myself that I will start tomorrow, I don't want to start on the weekend, or I will start first thing Monday.  It annoys me how much I let myself make up excuses.  Anyway, I was surfing around in blog land last night and am so motivated by all of you fellow bloggers out there who are doing or have done and posted about Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  I am grateful to all of you for posting about how much you despise her but feel good after cause that is how I feel, a love/hate kind of relationship.  I was actually excited to do the video this morning after reading everyone's results and looking at all the progress photos.  So I am doing it, no excuses.  I am going to let Jillian kick my butt every morning for the next 30 days.  And since I love seeing everyone elses results I am posting before photos here.  They aren't great, which I guess doesn't matter for before pics, but they are the best i could do by myself.  I tried to have Rexy, my two year old bugger, take the photo but she kept cutting my head off, weird I know, why isn't my two year old a pro with my Nikon?!  Just kidding. 

 

Well, now it is out there and I am accountable.  I know I will feel guilty now if I don't stick with it and post updates.  Please feel free to yell at me if I start to slack, I need it.  I am looking forward to the end results and hoping to see an all over difference, weight loss and pant size included.

 

My starting weight is 179, I think I might post weekly progress photos. 

  

 

 

She's goin' the distance...

But not goin' for speed.

 

This morning I decided that instead of training by time, like I have been doing for over two months, wow, has it really been two months?  It has.  Wow.  Anyway, instead, I am going to go for distance.  My new goal is to be able to run around the park by my house three times without stopping.  It is about 3/4 of a mile around once, so three times is roughly 2 1/4 miles.  Right now I can make it around 1 1/2 times so I want to double that.  I am not to worried about time, I just want to make the distance.  Once I conquer the distance then I will work on upping my speed.  My timeframe to accomplish this goal is two weeks.  I think that it is doable, that is about adding a quarter mile every other day. I am serious about this, I can do it.

This is my serious face

 

This is my "oh ouch, sweat in my eye" face

 

 

With the Jim Click Run & Roll coming up in October I am feeling really motivated.  Plus this is my first race and I am petrified that I am going to show up then fall flat on my face, so I want to go in knowing that I can complete it.  The farthest I have been able to run without stopping is 2 miles, but I haven't been able to do that on a daily basis and I want to be able to before the race.  So here I go, I better get ready for more sweat in my eye. Want to join me?
 

That can't be right

I am beginning to have a love hate relationship with my new phone app.  I love it when I am running along and the accented voice comes on saying current pace 11:22 per mile, I love hearing that, realizing that I am running at a faster pace then I had previously thought.  But I hate it when I feel like I have been running forever, thinking that I have to be close to a mile when that same accented voice proudly announces distance 0.3 miles 3 minutes.  Wait, what?! That can't be right.  My GPS must be broken, I know I have been running farther/longer then that, right?! 

 

Some days my runs feel so simple and I could keep going forever, then other days the accented voice speaks to me making me just want to give up, realizing that I am not nearly as close to being done as I thought is killer. 

 

 My new app is pretty cool though, I think the good things it does out weigh the discouraging things.  It is one of those apps that tracks your pace, distance, heart rate, ya know, all that jazz.  I think that I am going to say goodbye to the accented man voice though and turn the volume down so I don't know when I am only at a 0.3 mile, of course I wont know when I am running a 10 minute mile either but I am pretty sure that I will feel just as good about having accomplished that when I am finished and sitting in a nice air conditioned house looking over my stats. 

 



Wednesday: weigh in day

It is weigh in day again. 

 It always surprises me how quickly the week goes by.  It was a good week, our family is back into the rhythm of school life, things are good. 

 

So lets get to it, I weigh in this week at 179 pounds, yep, I didn't loose any but didn't gain any either.  I can't call this week a good week but it definitely wasn't bad either.  I'll take it, I'd rather stay the same then gain weight.  Hopefully next week will be better. 

 

 

Oh, I weighed in over at Roni's weigh again.  Go check out her page!

My new pink sports bra

Am I the only one who gets motivated by their workout clothing? 

Buying new workout clothes always makes me really excited to excersize.  I don't know what it is but there is just something great about having cute clothes to excersize in.  And my new pink sports bra is no different.  I love it!  I love the way the pink pops out from underneath whatever shirt I am wearing, I love how bright it is, I just love it! 


Please excuse the sweatiness of this picture I had just completed my morning run but see how cute the little bit of hot pink popping out from under my tank top.  I love it.

I'm back on board...

the running train that is. 

It was hard getting up but I did it.  And I was SO glad that I did.  It amazes me how fast I forget the beauty of the morning sky and the sweetness of the fresh morning air.  I LOVE being out early in the morning.  It is so refreshing, yet somehow when it is time to wake up I completely forget about all of the beauty that I get to experience while running outside.  If I continue on a daily basis I do better, the glory of the morning slowly engraves itself into my mind and I look forward to getting up early and spending time by myself, running, praying, thinking.  But miss one morning and it is like the memory is wiped away and it takes way more effort to get myself up and out.  Then when I finally make it happen I want to kick myself because I had forgotten all of the splendor of the early morning.  And yet, I find myself repeating this scenario over and over again.  I should make it one of my goals to not fall off the train (the running train).  To somehow remember how much I love it.   

I had a great run this morning.  Like I mentioned in my last post I have to make up for last weeks training schedule by completing last weeks first then starting this weeks.  Which means no slacking.  This morning was the first run from the week I missed,  it was run 5 minutes, walk 3 min, run 5 min, walk 3 min, run 5 min.  I was impressed with how well I did.  Until now 5 minutes was the longest I had run nonstop and today's run was easy.  I found myself wanting to stop during the last 5 minute run but I didn't have a reason for it, it was like my brain thought that I should be tired so I needed to stop but when I really thought about it I wasn't hurting anywhere, I just needed to keep going.  It is strange that my own subconscious attempts to stop me, I guess I need to somehow reset my body.  I wonder if after I complete the 9 week training that my mind will stop telling my body it is tired when it isn't.  

Enough is enough

I have been home since last Wednesday and I still have not gotten in one workout. 

 Enough is enough.

This trend ends today. 

 I will go running. 

And tomorrow I will go running again. 

I have no excuses.  The big kids are at school, I am home with two little ones.  There is no reason that I don't drive to the gym, put them in the nursery, and have my me time while running.  I am letting a busy afternoon schedule and the heat convince me that I can wait until tomorrow.  But tomorrow will be just as hot and most likely just as busy.

No more procrastinating.

I have goals to meet and a 5k to train for.  I need to get back to business.  I skipped last week so I plan on fitting in both last week and this weeks 5k training schedule in.  I can do it.  I know I can.

Watch me. 



Back to school

Back to the grind today.  The big kids started school this morning.  I thought that it would be easier dropping of my second born child at kindergarten but I was just as torn up about it as I was when I dropped my first born.  They are growing up so fast.  I can't wait to hear how school was. 

Here are the cuties waiting for the gates to open at school

Onto the subject of exercising.  I am seriously lacking in the motivation department which is silly since I was super motivated yesterday after my 3 pound weight loss. 



Lacking motivation

I am in need of some serious motivation.  This trip has just been so nice and relaxing that I still haven't gotten my running shoes out of the truck.  We have gone on walks everyday but I can't find it inside of me to go for a run.  And now we leave tomorrow.

I just don't know.