Final Week

So I guess that this is the last week. I am excited that I managed to make it through the holiday's without any weight gain. I have been religious with my exercise and my calories. Good luck to us all.

week 16

So we got to Colorado this weekend. My husband was laughing at me because I wouldn't leave until I got a short run in. It was only 2 miles, but since I don't usually work out on the weekend, but I knew that I was going to be stuck in a car for 7 hours, I figured it was better than nothing. Of course when I weighed myself the next morning it didn't seem to help. I ate just fine on the drive and about the time I was starting to want munchies, my baby got sick all over the car. That sure ended any cravings (not to mention it was completely disgusting). I have been working really hard, and getting all of my workouts in, I have been fairly careful with my calories, but I must admit, that I have had a piece of fudge every day, I have stayed within my calorie limit, but it isn't exactly the best use of my calories. What can I say though, my husband makes amazing fudge. There are only a couple of weeks left of this competition, and I must admit, it has been much more effective than I ever anticipated. The money isn't really a motivating factor for me (don't get me wrong, it is nice to win it and it helps pay for some new jeans when I am needing them) but the blogging and the spirit of competition has helped more than i ever expected. More than anything though, it has made me re evaluate my goal and set smaller stepping stones along my path to my goal, which has made me more successful. I am very glad that I was introduced to this and am excited to try another one. Thanks to the girls who put on this competition and all the work they put into it. It has been great!!!!!

Week 15

Well this past week, I didn't get in near as much running as I like. I got to go once and that was it. We had a lovely little blizzard and the base was closed down for 3 days and when it did open, the gym was still snowed in, so I had to make do with P90X which is a nice change, but it is not anywhere near as good as running. I don't work nearly as hard doing that, plus I am just addicted to running now I think. But I was able to go again today, and I was so excited about it, that I bumped my workout up for 5 miles to 6, and it was great. Not so great was the snow that we were getting again this morning. I really hate snow!!!!!! Maybe someday, the Air Force will see fit to move us some where warm, like maybe Hawaii. Probably not though. Anyway hope everyone is having a fantastic week!!!!

Week 14

I guess I figured out what week it was again. So I have been trying to add some of the P90X workout in with my regular runs, with only limited success, probably only averaging two or three a week, which I guess isn't too bad considering I just started. I am finding it a little more difficult to add another hour of exercise into my schedule than I expected. I think that there is a specific work out schedule to those video, but I only have the video, and nothing else, so I am making it up as I go. That seems to be the way that I do everything though, so no surprise there. It has however seemed to get my losing streak back on which is what I was hoping for. I don't seem to be down a whole lot from last week, but Monday is always like that for me, since I don't exercise on the weekend (unless there happens to be a fun run), and I am OK with that. Anyway, don't have much to really say, except that I am so close to the 160's which may not sound like much to anyone else, but my doctor doesn't want me much lower than 160, so that means that my goal may soon be in sight. Hope everyone has a great week!!!!!

losing track

so I can't remember how many weeks it is anymore, but that is ok I guess. So just a quick entry so I don't forget this week, like I almost did last week. So I tried that P90X last night. I was interesting, so I think that I might start trying that out (in addition to my running of course). Can't hurt to get a bit of muscle tone on those areas that running doesn't hit. Well I reached my goal of losing 5 pounds for the month of November. Not quiet as good as the first 2 months, but realistically there becomes a point where it doesn't come off quite so quickly and that is ok. Anyway that is about it. Hope you all have a great weigh in and a great week!!!! I am excited to see what December brings, I am 12 pounds from my goal, I know I won't lose that much, but I will be closer!!!

week 12?

I think I am losing track of my time. Having family in town for the past week has really thrown me off. Thanksgiving was not nearly as bad as it could have been. I ate most of what I wanted and calculated my calories, and was surprised that they were not really that bad. So no gain over Thanksgiving, and I am so relieved. Anyway that is about it.

Week 11

So apparently I have hit another plateau. Such is life of weight loss. At least I know that if I keep working at it, I will eventually see success. It gets to be a bit frustrating, but I can be very stubborn. Hopefully next week I will start to see some results.

Week 10

I really don't have anything exciting to say this week. I guess that doesn't really differ from any of the other weeks but this week, I can't even come up with anything, so here is to another successful week.

week 9

I think that is the right week. So I finally conquered my plateau!!!!!!! So hooray!!!! It is always nice to know that your work doesn't go completely unrewarded. Sometimes it just takes a while, although it is sooooooooooo hard to remember that when you are in the middle of it. But rest assure, I will be prepared for you when it strikes again!!!!! I know I am a bit on the over dramatic side, but what can I say. That is about all for this week.

Week 8

So this week hasn't been so great, I have kept my calories where they should be and I ran 32 miles this past week, but my weight is actually up. What the heck?! Oh well, I guess that is life sometimes.

week 7

So this week was a tough week for me. I did lose a pound, which I was excited about, but I have had sick kids and ended up missing 2 of my exercise days. I had things so carefully planned out, and I have my workouts scheduled into my day like appointments, but when it comes to sick kids there are no work arounds. It is too cold to have a sick child outside, and you just can't take sick kids to the gym. I have a feeling I might have a few weeks of this. With 5 kids and flu season, that is just life. My days are just so busy that if I don't get it done when I have the time set aside, there is just no way it is going to happen. The joys of motherhood. Hopefully this week is better. I did get to go for a run this morning, but before the end of the day, I had made 2 trips to the nurses office.

Week 6

So now comes the frustrating part of trying to lose weight. Apparently I have hit my first plateau. I seem to be able to lose weight consistently up to this point. I have not been able to break it in the 2 years since I had my last baby. I work really hard, get down to this weight and have to fight like crazy to even maintain this weight, let alone lose any more. Every time, I get frustrated and ultimately give up. Well, its not going to happen this time!!! Well, Plateau, I have been expecting you and this time I have a plan in mind, hopefully it will work (if not I have a friend that is a weight loss instructor and now a personal trainer, so I will pick her brain). I have decided that in addition to the 5 miles that I run 5 days a week (for a grand total of 25 miles a week) I am going to add 2 days of water aerobics to 2 of my running day, and the 2 days that I don't run, regular aerobics. I am going to cut my calories by 150-200 a day, and hopefully after a week or so, break this and start seeing results. I must say that hitting this and struggling to maintain my weight right now, let alone lose, is really annoying. I do not see how I can be as careful as I have been with what I am eating, and exercising as consistently as I do, how it can be so hard to just maintain a weight. Oh well, I am not giving up this time, I am determined, and I know if I lose momentum and let myself get down about it, I will fail, so I guess this is where my stubborn streak can be more of a blessing than a curse. ;-) Anyway, here's hoping for some success this week for me, and everyone else out there that is in the same situation!!!!

Week 5

I have been very good about following my calorie count and doing my exercise. I have lost 1.5 pounds this week, which is about what I am hoping for. I must say I am a little upset that the rules are changing in the middle of a competition. I believe if you start with rules, they should stay that way through out the whole competition. Otherwise what the heck is the point of having rules. I must say that I am very undissatisfied with that, but I am not a majority, so what good is my point. Majority or not, it is poor form to change the rules in a competition once it has started. That said, and I know that someone will not like my opinion, but that is what is great about this country isn't it, freedom of speech!!! Have a fantastic week!!!!!!

Week 4

So, I guess this is the 4th week. Weigh in for the month is just a few days away. I am excited about my progress, and although I will never win anything, I have made a big step towards my final goal. My ultimate goal is to lose my weight at a rate that is healthy. So anyway, this week I lost 2 pounds, which really surprised me, I have been shooting for only about a pound a week, and so far I have reached that every month. I am worried about this week though. I had to cut my workouts for most of the week in preparation for my marathon yesterday. I am worried about how much damage that will do to my weight having done such little exercise. I guess overall my total miles stayed the same, but the majority of them were in one day. I guess for one week that will have to be OK, but I have been religious about my exercise and it nearly killed me to take 2 days off and to do short runs the other 3 days. Oh well, this week I can get back on schedule and all should be well. Anyway, I managed to finish my half marathon yesterday, with out having to walk at all, although I didn't manage to keep my pace as fast as I would have liked so I was a bit disappointed. I guess I did do better than last year, but I still would have liked to have been faster. Anyway, I will conclude this really lame blog entry before I fall asleep writing it. I just never really have anything exciting to say. Oh well.

Week 3

So I am obviously not creative enough to title my blogs with anything besides the week number ;-). Anyway, this week ended up being far better than I expected. I weighed in this week with a 3.5 pound loss. I was quite surprised. After my 9 mile run last weekend, I hadn't lost a single pound and was very frustrated. I had been watching what I was eating very carefully (minus one day, I did eat a Mcflurry and a Reeses peanut butter cup, but I did stay with in my calories), but a few days later I was down by the 3.5 pounds and so that was nice. It is a little more than I was hoping for, so I doubt that each week will be quite so much. So far this week though I am back in the same boat as last week, I finished my 10 mile run and am actually up (please no tough love comments). I did have one really bad day, but I read something recently that I found to be helpful to me. It said that you can never follow your diet, (or as I am trying to make it a lifestyle change) 100% of the time, but that you should follow an 80/20 rule. You need to follow it at least 80% of the time, but that you can use that other 20% when life gets in the way. That has been very helpful for me this week, since I did slip a day, but I was able to remember that all was not lost, because I could consider that my 20% and know that I would still be able to see results, they just might be a little slower this next week. I do have a little hope since it all worked out last week. Trying to lose weight can many times be so frustrating which is why in the past maybe I haven't been successful. You put so much work into it, and it seems like you don't see results. I guess that a little bit of patience and persistence eventually pays off, though it is hard to look at the big picture sometimes when the smaller picture seems bleak. Anyway, I am excited to be seeing results and hopefully will be able to continue to feel positive and keep thing in perspective. I hope that everyone has a great week!!!!

Week 2

So this week has been a better week. I lost 1.5 pounds which has been more than I have done in a long time. My goal is to lose small, so this was fantastic results. I have been so frustrated that I have not been losing even though I have been watching what I eat. I started tracking my calories and found that they were way under what they should be, most days not even hitting a thousand. So I decided to up my calorie intake, and make those calories count. I started eating more fruits and veggies, and more protein. Even though 65 % of my calories should come from carbs, I also found that protein is very important to help my body repair itself (which it really needed after my 9 mile run this weekend). The results surprised me, and within 2 days, I had started losing. That was quite motivating. It has also been great getting comments through the week, it has helped keep me so motivated. I know that I am incredibly bad at commenting on other peoples blogs, and I am going to try to be better with that. Anyway, hopefully things will continue to go so well, and I hope that everyone else is seeing success as well. (And yes mom I know that this is completely corny and out of character for me)

1st week

I know that we are suppose to update our blogs once a week. I don't really know what to say. I have been trying to watch what I eat, keep my calories around 1800-1900 and make those calories healthy. I know that I need to keep a food journal, but have been having a hard time getting started. I just never remember until halfway through the day, but I have decided that today is the day. Who would have ever thought that you could be so busy just being a stay at home mom, and I only have 1 of my kids still home. I thought that once they went back to school, that I would have a little bit of time, but I really haven't. I have been very faithful about exercising. I have been running about 20-22 miles a week, and aerobics 2 hours a week, and an hour of cross training, for the past 3 weeks, so far no results. My body must hate me or something!!!!! ;-) Anyway, hopefully with weighing in once a month I will be able to see some results that are part of a bigger picture. Hope everyone has a great week!!!!

Here We Go

Okay, well I am not sure that I am smart enough to do this, I keep getting confused with the stupid blog settings, but here I am.