Cleaning up my eating

Things have turned around for me this week. There is the excitement of a new challenge and my kick ass partner Monica, the thrill of running that half marathon and MBM. The sisterhood monthly project is all about moment by moment and focusing on making better choices each and everyday.

This week I began really making better choices for myself and following Weight Watchers to a tee. I have increased my water intake to 100 ounces a day again and I only have 1 cup of coffee in the morning at home that I make with truvia and non dairy fat free creamer. I am only eating my daily Weight Watchers points plus allowance and I am weighing my lean protein and measuring all of my food.

Why am I doing all this?

Well the past few weeks I was slowly losing control, training really hard but not eating focused and balanced. I would have a taste or a nibble while cooking, I was eating all of my weekly flex points and even delving into the activity points I earned. I would have 2-3 cups of coffee a day, skinny lattes from starbucks, and whatever else I wanted. I was tracking yes, and I was doing my normal routine but it just was not strict and regimented like I used to be.

I realized I am not going to get to goal weight and lifetime status if I am mediocre. I need to buckle down and I need to get my ass in gear! So I did what I know how to do best: weigh, measure, track, and sweat!

The monthly project came just in time to help me get to my goal too. I am on twitter all day long using the hash tag #mbm to let my tweeps know when I make a better choice than I used to. And I get to see others who are making better choices and get ideas from them. It is helping me a lot!

The project keeps me thinking all day long: Do I really need this? Before I eat I drink some water and focus on eating slower so I am eating less. Moment by moment is such a great idea because it is how we live, life is just a series of moments strung together. So if you can focus on making every moment a good choice then you will have a lifetime of health.

How are you doing with the challenge?

Weigh in Wednesday New Milestones :)

 
I will admit this week's weight loss is not normal for me so please do not read it and get discouraged. First I ran my first half marathon, and I had the stomach bug while doing it and still am not 100% better from it so my eating has been very little. So I actually was a bit upset I had such a huge loss because I know this means I will probably gain next week. Again losing this much weight in 1 week is not normal for me or most people my size and its probably not all that healthy.

Yes I lost 5.6 pounds this week. I was shocked, I was thinking I would hit the 150s finally but I had no idea I would really be in the middle already!!!! So yes for the first time in a long time, probably I would say middle school I weigh in the 150s!!!!!!!!!!! I am celebrating inside believe me I am but with this comes a great big fear and I will share this with you.

I realized it is time. Time to set a goal weight and stop being the biggest loser, and start maintaining. The thought of this terrifies me and makes me nervous. I worry if I will be able to stay on track, I have focused so much on losing weight and seeing results in the scale every week what happens when I do not have that to look forward to??? I will keep setting fitness goals and hope this will keep me on track. Also Weight Watchers has the lifetime member program and I hope to work for them and become a leader for a meeting or 2 so this will keep me on track.

It has been me losing for the last year, I am getting ready to switch gears to maintaining and I do not know what this will bring so for now it is the fear of the unknown I guess. More will come later on this. For now lemme switch gears to yes a new challenge!!!!!!!!!!

This challenge I am honored, lucky, humbled, to have the super awesome rock star Monica B as my partner!!! We are the MC Hammers!!! Going to hammer out this weight loss!!! She totally rocked the Power of One Challenge so I need to work my ass off to keep up with her during this next challenge!!!! I am glad I am paired up with her because I know she will keep me motivated to reach my next set of goals.

So for this challenge I began weighing 161 pounds. I hope to get to my life time goal weight for weight watchers of 150 pounds. I realize this may be possible finally after all this time with some hard work and buckling down.

I would like to lose 1 more inch with my measurements. I measured last week and will go off these numbers:

Date	Bust	Chest	waist	hips	thighs	knees	calves	upper arm	forearm
12/31/2010	37.5	35	31.5	35	22	16	16	11.5	10.5
2/23/2011	36.5	33.5	30	33	20.5	14.5	16	11	9

Final goal:
Push ups!!! I hate these guys LOL but it is part of the challenge and you know my competitve self!!! So my goal is to be able to complete 40 regular standard pushups at one time at the end of this! Right now I can do 25 before I collapse.

I hope everyone enjoys the next challenge and I am happy to be shrinking with all of you!

And if you have not come over to the sisterhood and become a part of these awesome inspiring challenges then you are missing out ;)

Thank you

I keep reading all of your motivational tweets, emails, and comments on my blog and facebook; and I must say thank you to everyone. Thank you for keeping me going really you have no idea how much it helps me.

Some days it seems easy to throw in the towel. Maybe we have a favorite food we miss or a special occasion to go to,and we want to cheat or stray off plan. I know for me the temptation is never far away working around my down fall chocolate all day can be tough. Also there are days when I just do not want to go run or workout. Yes I love running, yes I love racing, yes I love my muscles. But the work to get there, sometimes I feel like its a second job! After working all day coming home knowing you have to put in at least 45 minutes of hard sweat before you can relax and cuddle your toddler can be daunting at times.

It is a juggling act, one I have not quite figured out totally yet, but I do know a few things. One of the main things is I do this for me. I make time to workout because it makes me feel better. I eat healthier because it makes me physically feel better and lose weight. And I blog for me, to keep me accountable, share my story, learn from others and hopefully inspire just one person who like me does not have it all figured out just yet. And this week especially so many of you have reached out to me, shared your stories, and reminded me just why I do this.

So I have all of you to thank, for pushing me through, for keeping me going, and for being so kind!

My First Half Marathon Race Recap!!

The day began a chilly 30 degrees. It was not surprise to me to see it snowing!!! For a minute I got worried then I remembered that it did not matter what the weather was doing, I had a goal to accomplish. I wanted to finish my very first half marathon in under 2 hours. I was not sure if it would even be possible. My longest run during training was 10 miles. So I spent last night and all morning worried and tense. My stomach was in knots, I had trouble sleeping the night before… I was a nervous wreck! I did not anticipate being that nervous before my race. I had run 2 5ks last year and was never too nervous, but the looming long distance of 13.1 miles was lingering over my head.

My Peanut and I pre race!

As I stood at the starting line squished like a sardine I began to feel apprehensive. The self doubt was there and I was freezing, I began to wonder why in the world was I doing this?

You can see the snow coming down in this one haha!

I started to remember a year ago, and how much I weighed, and how far I have come. And I remembered why I was here and why I was running. I had been training for this day for months and I was not going to let some silly snow and cold stop me! The first few minutes of a race I am always annoyed. It is so crowded and people are all bumping into you and it is just ugh! But it evened out pretty quickly and I got into my rhythm and jammed out to my tunes.

After 20 minutes I forced myself to stop and walk for 1 minute. It helped my legs stay fresh and for a moment I looked at my HRM and thought damn I am not even close to being done. I got back to running and just kept playing out in my mind, why am I doing this? I started to wonder if I could even finish… But I put on one of my motivational songs and reminded myself that I could rock this out. I thought about my baby girl waiting for me at the finish line and I reminded myself I needed to run to her, for her.

The next few miles were good. I stopped and got water and kept going. I thought I would have to stop and use the potty to pee but I saw the line and remembered my goal. I told myself I could handle it and kept running. Around mile 6 the 10K runners broke away to end and I looked longingly at them and wondered why I had not just signed up for that! Then I remembered that I was half way done! I was at about 55 minutes so I knew I was making good time and I told myself I had to keep going at this pace if I wanted to push and make it sub 2.

And so the next few miles went. I kept saying to myself come on you got this, you can do this. I started thinking about all of my tweeps and fellow bloggers and remembered you all were cheering for me! I was sad it was too wet to bring my phone I probably could have used a motivational tweet or 2 along the way. But I just kept going. Around mile 10 I took my last walk break and looked at my HRM. 1 hour and 32 minutes. I began to panic a bit! Then I remembered my last 5K and setting my new best PR of 21:40 I knew I could finish the race sub 2 if I just pushed my legs a little faster.

I was tired. I was cold. My sneakers were soaked. I had gone from being cold and wet, to hot, to cold again! It was rough and there were a few times I wanted to give up. But I kept going and it seemed every time I wanted to quit, something pushed me forward and I knew I had to finish. And then I heard the best sound ever. It was the cheering coming from the finish line! It was a little far away but I could hear it over my music and I began to smile inside and out. I began to sprint, and I felt like it was taking forever to get to that finish line! I could hear people cheering, there were runners who had already finished cheering for us and I just kept pushing. And I did it! Make sure you check out the video my sister got!

 There I am zooming by :)

 I got my medal!!! It is my first one ever :)

My super supportive family! Without these 2 I could not have done it or had the strength to continue!!! They waited for me in the snow and are always at every race cheering me on.

 My official finishing time 1:59:41! Yes I am a picture freak and always snap a pic of the time sheets haha plus its hard to even see with the crowds surrounding them!

I just barely made it sub 2! I squeaked by thank goodness I had the energy to sprint the last half mile!!!

The celebrating after wards me and my awesome supportive sister who braved the cold and snow with her daughter and boyfriend to come cheer me on!!!

I feel so tired and so sore but yes it was so worth it!!!!! It is hard to believe that last year at this time I weighed 252 pounds and could not imagine running a mile let alone 13.1!! Now I am already looking forward to doing more half marathons and hopefully running my first full marathon by the end of the year!

Today I realized a lot of things but most of all, that anything really is possible if you set yourself a goal and work your ass off to achieve it!

Half Marathon Finish Line Video!!

Here is the video of me crossing the finish line :)

There is no better feeling than that of accomplishment.

The video is funny you can hear my sister cheering for me as she records! I was smiling and cheering because I was so amazed I actually finished in 1:59:41 I can say I ran a sub 2 half marathon!!!

Stay tuned for race pictures and recap!