Finally dropped those 5lbs!

It seems like everytime my MIL comes to visit, she manages to pack 5lbs on me, and everytime she leaves I have to diet to get it off -/ With her last visit, my 5lbs came back, and I’ve been trying to get rid of it for the past month. Last week it finally surrendered and left my hips! Yay!

So for the last month I’ve been tracking my calories and exercise on sparkpeople.com (which chooses to sometimes go by sparkspeople.com (plural) for reasons that confuse me). Anyways, I just wanted to post here because I really love it, and it has given me such an awareness about my eating habits. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in losing or maintaining a healthy weight. For your strength training days it tells you what exercises to do and it also provides meal plans, but you can turn off either of these options. I choose to use my own foods, so I turn off the meal plans, but I have gotten some yummy ideas from their menus.

Please be encouraged if you’re fighting a few (or more) pounds that don’t want to leave. You can do it – its just a matter of math!

ETA: And if you sign up and feel so inclined, then please consider listing me as the person who referred you. I don’t get a free gift or anything like that, but it gives more points to our little GCM group that we formed there ) My username is punkie4god.

More resolution talk

Well, I decided that it only makes sense for me to start taking some small steps towards my goals, so I’m going to try to do something each day )

In order to advance myself on my goal for finishing a triathlon, I signed up for classes on lane swimming. It covers etiquette and other things that I never learned, despite swimming nearly every day when I was growing up. We had a pool, so we swam in there, or we swam in the ocean. Lap swimming is whole ‘nother kind of beast.

I am also trying to select my race. I think I like the looks of the Prospect Lake Triathlon. I am just not sure about swimming in the lake. Its a man-made lake that they just finished, but it seems a little… icky. I’m not a swim-in-the-lake kind of girl. We’ll see though, maybe I’ll become one by the end of this ;)

Oh, and I’ll need a good bike, although I think I can borrow my friend’s. So many decisions, but they can wait for another day. The point is that I’ve taken one small step toward my goal! Now I need to go run )

I Can Run!!!

“I want to run a marathon.”

I could hardly even believe myself when the words came out of my mouth. I had just given birth a few months earlier, and I was weighing in at my highest weight ever. I was a size 12/14, and I felt miserable. The most I ever ran was when the phone rang, and even then I was out of breath.

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I realized that I needed to take action. Some people would’ve laced up their shoes and bolted out of the door, but not me. I researched. I am an excellent researcher – as a matter of fact, I am a far better researcher than runner, so I dug right in.

Within a few days, I realized that I needed a plan. I studied all of them, looked for reviews online, and planned out when I could run my first race, a 5k. After a short amount of time, I decided on Cool Running’s Couch-to-5K Program. It looked doable enough. I only had to start running 60-seconds at a time, and within 9 weeks I’d be a bonafide runner. I would start the next day.

After day 1, I was sore, tired, and had barely made it through my intervals, but I survived, and for that I felt like I was on top of the world! The feeling of accomplishment was amazing! I wrote the following in my running journal:

“Today was my first day in my new training. It definitely got me sweating, and I’m so proud of myself for getting out and running. I already feel better. The headache that I woke up with is gone.”

I wondered how I could run 3.1 miles in just 9 weeks, but I trusted that I would get there if I tried. My mom decided to join me, and we set off on our latest adventure.

Throughout that 9 weeks, I developed some knee problems and my mother’s shin splints started acting up. We bought real running shoes, recommended to us by running store experts, not just kids who work at the mall. That solved our issues. With our injuries behind us, we were ready for our first race!

Just as promised, we ran the entire 5K on race day, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. By the end of the 9 weeks, I had lost a few sizes, had noticable definition in my legs, and had so much more energy. I felt fit for the first time since my skateboarding days in college ;)

Now, almost 4 years later, I am a healthy size 0 (as you can probably assume, I have a very small frame, which is why a 12/14 was so unhealthy for me). I give running the full credit. Since I have started running, I have become a much healthier person in general. I eat much healthier. Our lives are more active in general. I vary my workouts so that I’;m not just running, but also skiing, bellydancing, practicing yoga, hiking, etc, etc.

There is no magic pill for weight loss or health, but I was able to change my life, one step at a time. Those first few months of running were challenging, but now its second-nature. Running is my release, my meditation/prayer time, my opportunity to relax… Its wonderful, and I invite you to try it.

I hope to run my first marathon next Summer/Fall. I have already started to amp up my training, and I promise to keep you updated!

Skiing is so fun!

I had such a blast! This time I was able to get the hang of parallel skiing and I could finally really tackle the mountain, and not just the bunny slopes! It was SO much fun! I think I make a good little ski-bunny, hehe. It felt cool to know I was one of the cool, swishy skiers, not just a lame, slow beginner.

Don Quixote is going excellently. Its a lot funnier than I expected. I can’t figure out why I wasn’t required to read it in school. I’ve read so many of the classics, and I can’t imagine why this one was skipped. I would’ve picked this over I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings anyday…

I’m off to make dinner. Catch ya later!

Bellydance or Y?

I’m having a dilemma. Care to help?

So I’m a bit wigged out (I just double checked the spelling on that phrase – I’m so anal-retentive) by the fact that the sword routine will leave a dent in my skull. That’s just not cool. The more I think about it, the more I’m not a fan. So, I’m to the point where I am due to pay for my next month’s worth of classes, and Joe would really be pretty happy if I were to decide to stop taking them and use that same money on a family Y membership. The Y membership is obviously a better value for the family, since we could all use it. Plus I’ve really been wanting to do a triathlon, and I need to practice swimming, and the Y would be perfect for that. They have childcare provided, but I’m a bit scared that my kids will get sick in there especially during cold/flu season. Joe already meets some of the guys at church to play basketball at the Y, and the classes would be really fun to do.

At the same time, I really like bellydancing, but its expensive and that dent thing is scary. My poor brain lost enough cells through my 3 pregnancies – it certainly doesn’t need any other damage.

Oh, and I went to a bellydance performance over the weekend and picked up on some spooky vibes…

So, what do you think? Y membership or bellydancing? My sword just came in the mail today, so I need to return it now if I’m going to drop out!

Dancing with a sword on your head is a cool party trick though… Don’t you think?

So sad

I’m so bummed.

One of my very closest friends here in Colorado Springs has just found out that they’re moving for her husband’s job. We knew it was a possibility, but I’m really sad now that I know its true. My kids are going to be really upset when they figure out that their friends are leaving, since they have kids about the same age as mine. Its such a bummer.

Last night I had trouble sleeping and kept waking up gasping for air. At first I thought it was panic attacks, but I couldn’t figure out why. Then I thought that maybe it was an asthma attack. Then I realized that I’m stupid and only breathe through my nose, and my nose was stuffy, so I wasn’t breathing very well. I’d concentrate on mouth breathing until I fell asleep, then I’d start nose breathing and gasp for air. I took some Robutussin and propped myself upright with pillows on our big fluffy couch in the front room and I was finally able to fall asleep. It was no fun at all though. I think that I may have been having asthma or anxiety issues that were compounding it. Whatever it was, it sucked.

So now I’m trying to decide if I should go work out. Running usually helps to clear out my sinuses, so maybe I’ll give it a whirl. I just cleaned the house, so I can go do fun stuff now I’ll probably go to the park with my friend later and lament over the fact that she’s leaving me. Oh, and I have to go by the library because I reserved Run the Rockies : classic trail runs in Colorado’s Front Range and its ready. I’m looking forward to finding some new trails!

My mind seems hazy this morning. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t sleep well, huh?

Running

I am so psyched! My little running group is filling up! There’s already 8 ladies from my church joining me. ) I was worried that I’d be out there running alone (which I actually do already, but I still had some kind of lame fear of rejection). So now I need to go get my packets ready for them and give them all of the info that they need to get started.

I’ve been working on one of Hal Higdon’s base building programs, and it has felt really great. Nothing beats crisp Colorado air when it comes to running P The hills used to kick my butt, but now I’m finally able to chug through them.

This past weekend was the Pikes Peak ascent, and one day I’d love to do that, although I get lightheaded just thinking about it… It’d be cool though. Before that I hope to do the ADT marathon… that’s why I’m building my base.

Oh, plus I love being a size 0 =P LOL. That doesn’t hurt when it comes to keeping me motivated.