October Update

I realized today that I'd forgotten to post a monthly update for October. I guess that's because it was a rather unremarkable month. Just kinna more of the same.

I lost about 4.5#. Weigh-in on October 3 was 216.9 and weigh-in on November 1 was 212.4. I had a 2.2# gain because of bad vacation choices and TOM all in the same week. I was back on track with a 208.9 weigh-in on November 7. Getting closer to Onederland...and I still believe it's doable by Christmas.

I didn't lose many inches at all. One from bicep, one from calf, two from hips. No change in my other measurements. I'm still in my size 14's but they're getting just a teensy bit lose. My smaller size 14's don't quite fit yet though.

A decrease in the number of daylight hours and some nasty weather has affected my running. My schedule is now one weekday run (if I'm lucky) and one weekend run. And I've plateaued at about 3 miles. I just can't quite seem to do more than that. Some days, even the 3 miles is difficult. The cold really makes my leg muscles hurt, no matter how much I warm up. :(

I've been doing more exercising with DVDs to make up for the decrease in running. I totally love kickboxing! I'm having fun with belly dancing also. I do Jari Love's Get Ripped & Chiseled a few times a week; I enjoy it but it's definitely NOT easy.

And that was October.

My only plan for November is to stay on track. Colder weather and less daylight really makes me want to go into hibernation mode, which means eating too many carbs and sleeping too much. I'm fighting it! I've come too far to turn back now. :)

And now it's October

Is it just me or is time flying? I can't believe it's time for another monthly update already!

The scale was my friend in September. I saw steady downward movement at last and finally broke into the 2-teens. Weigh-in on August 29 was 223 and today was 216. That's 7 pounds for the month! Not fantasterrific, but much better than what I was seeing. Onederland by Christmas still seems possible - 17 pounds in 12 weeks. That's a loss of 1.4 per week, which is doable.

Weird thing, though, is that now that my weight loss has picked up, I've stopped losing inches so drastically. I don't understand what my body is doing! lol

I diligently logged all my food every day and stayed on plan. I had fun trying some new recipes to prevent food boredom. I successfully triumphed over one almost-binge! (Woohoo!) And best of all I never felt hungry and my blood sugar was stable (except for one scarey day that I still can't explain).

I didn't miss a day of planned exercise, and added some strength training and cross training to my running routine. The additional exercise seems to have held me back a bit from being able to run further and longer. But I set two new running PRs - 38:32 for a 5K distance and a 12:18 one mile pace.

AND last night I was finally able to wear an über groovy retro leather jacket that I picked up at a vintage store ages ago!!! I love the color and cut and was determined to fit into it someday. It's a bit snug yet, but I was able to button it and it looked amazing. Hoorayness!



I'm happy. I'm healthy. All is well with the world. :)

What happened to August?

It's time for my monthly update, but August went by so quickly I barely even remember it!

At the beginning of June, I signed up for a challenge at 3FC with a goal of reaching Onederland by September 1. 29 pounds was perhaps a bit ambitious but I really thought I could at least come within spitting distance. Um, no.

The grand total of weight loss for the summer? Five pounds. Yes, five. 5!

I would be horridly upset except that despite the not-worth-mentioning weight loss, I've lost inches like mad from running. I own almost no clothing that fits anymore. Pants, especially, are just sliding off me.

And I'm getting compliments like I actually did lose 29 pounds. I ran into a friend of my mother at Wal*Mart and she came up from behind me and said, "Your butt looks amazing!" Ha! A co-worker that works from a different office so I only see him about once a month commented last week, "You're looking quite trim." (He's a bow-tie-nerd so from him this was a very calculated well-observed compliment.) And I saw a friend yesterday whom I hadn't seen all summer and he said, "You're getting skinny!" (Um, skinny? Not so much! But thanks. :) )

I've joined another 3FC challenge, again with the Onederland goal. This time I'm hoping to reach it by Christmas.

I completed the C25K program on August 21 with a 5K race with lots and lots of big scarey hills! I officially feel like a runner now. Woot.

I'm continuing to run with a 10K program from Hal Higdon and have another 5K race planned for September 19. The nice thing about the program is that it has scheduled days for cross training and strength training, both of which I've neglected as I worked on C25K. Hopefully the more well rounded exercise routine will kick start the weight loss.

August Arriveth

Well, it's a week late, but here's my monthly update for July.

I only lost about 3 1/2 pounds. But honestly I wasn't real careful about my food and I didn't create daily logs. My food wasn't bad, but I didn't track every number associated with it. So I'm not overly disappointed that the loss wasn't more. And only ONE POUND to go to the 20 pounds lost mark! Woot!

Measurements were more noticeable than pounds, though. Four from my waist, three from my hips, and one each from my chest and bust. I really don't have any clothes that fit properly anymore.

My real focus this month was on running. I competed in my first 5K race (which you can read about here). At the beginning of July, I was in W4 of the C25K program, and doing very well. On W4D3 I skipped the walk intervals and did two 9 1/2 minute runs with a 2 1/2 minute walk between them. In W5 I switched to running by distance instead of time. This week I'm doing W7 and running 2 1/2 miles (in about 32 minutes). I've signed up for another 5K on August 21, so my C25K graduation run will be in an official race.

And I bought an exercise bike, and am doing about 20 minutes on that two days a week (non-running days). Definitely feeling it in the thighs, so I'm going to work slowly at increasing the time and frequency.

I guess my only goals for August are to complete C25K, begin another running program, and monitor my food a bit more closely.

And so it's July

I began "sorta" working my plan in April, but only really began to focus on it on June 1, so this is my first month progress point.

I had hoped to be at 218 (10 pound loss) by July 1. At weigh-in last Sunday I was at 222, but this week the scale has been hovering between 224 and 225. I'm disappointed because I had really believed in that first-month-whoosh.

Even though I've only lost 4 or 6 pounds, I'm definitely losing inches. 12.5, in fact! Waist 4; Hips 3; Bust 3; Chest 2; Calf 1/2. And the pile of clothes that don't fit grows daily.

I've done well staying on plan with food and keeping within my calorie limit. And for 4 days this week, I was without a computer to log my food on sparkpeople and still made good choices.

I've stuck with the C25K plan, and went from not being able to run for 60 seconds to being able to run for 3 minutes! But I should be on W5 but am only on W3 because I had to repeat W1 (because I wasn't ready for W2) and W3 (because I couldn't download the podcast for W4).

I totally failed doing the No More Trouble Zones DVD. I did it one day and could barely move for three days afterward, and it scared me. I've half-heartedly been doing just the ab portions of the DVD but I know I need to be doing more.

Budokon is annoying me. I just cannot do it because I am not flexible enough. I feel like a tortured pretzel. I don't know if I should keep trying or look for an alternative.

June was not the happy month that I had hoped it would be.