From My Former Self

This topic came about on twitter the other day from the inspiring Whitney on twitter!


She tweeted: What would your former self say to you now about your weight loss journey?

This came about while we were watching the Biggest Loser, they have a segment on the show where the contestants watch their video of themselves before they started losing weight.

For me, it is always emotional when I see it. I mean you cannot help but get emotional if you have been obese before.

I may not have a video of me talking to myself but honestly, I do not need a video. I have these:

 I took these the day I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting




My facial expressions in these pictures say it all......

I was hopeless, miserable, I stood there with a heavy heart, feeling weighed down not just physically but emotionally as well. I was tired of being morbidly obese and tired of feeling tired all the time.

If this woman in these pictures had a chance to see and talk to this woman that stands in the mirror now:

I know exactly what my former self would say:

She would be speechless. She would stand there and laugh if I dared to tell her she would become a sub 4 hour marathoner. She would call me crazy if I spoke of actually being able to shop in the regular departments of a clothing store. She would cry if I tried to tell her one day we would throw away all 7 medications we had to take everyday and celebrate.

She would not believe me. I know this because my former self had little self confidence. She was a woman but merely a shell of who she could be. Living day to day just existing and honestly only smiling if people were looking. My former self allowed everyone else in her life to come first and lived in denial of her health problems.

I did not realize that I could smile willingly and sometimes without even realizing it. I did not realize that living inside of that body was a muscular tough woman who is a force to be reckoned with. I did not understand that yes it is hard to lose weight but it is worth every single ounce of pain, sweat, and tears that are shed during workouts and struggles.


My former self would be speechless especially when she saw pictures of her current self happy while running a marathon ;)

One thing that is so important though, you see that shirt, yes this girl who is living now inside this body, she will never forget where she came from. She will not forget the fight it took to get here where she is. She is grateful to have the experience of being able to change her entire life in less than 2 years. So to my former self I say this: we love you and we are so happy that you have become the woman you were always destined to be.

Back To Basics Week 1 Checking In!

Hello!

I hope all of my Back 2 Basics people are doing well. It has been one week into the challenge and I must admit I have learned a lot this week. 


I started out last week by attending a Weight Watchers meeting and weighing in. Last week the scale said 165.6... That is a new high for me since losing the weight so I knew it was time to step in and take control again.


I was determined to make changes. I know I exercise and run a lot but the age old saying that I have heard from several trainers :"You can't out train a bad diet" was haunting  me. I was not eating as strict as I could/should be and it obviously was showing in my weight.


So I decided I would get back to basics. And honestly it seems to be just what I needed. I started tracking everything I ate all over again. I actually used the new Weight Watchers app and fell in love with it!


I broke out this guy who has been sitting in my cabinet for the past 2 months:

Yes I love the food scale :) I weigh my chicken and turkey and it gives me the points plus value instantly. It really helps me take the guess work out of my meals.


I cooked extra good on the weekend and made tons of healthy snacks I could grab and go with. One of my favorites is these:

Roasted brussel sprouts. I got a bag of fresh brussel sprouts at the grocery store and trimmed them. Then I tossed them in a tiny bit of olive oil and spices and roasted in the over for almost an hour. They came out good. I like how they are a tasty snack and guilt free! No worries ;)

In combination with sprucing up my nutrition I attacked my fitness. I know I was running a lot training for the marathon but it became all I did mostly. I would elliptical sometimes and do crossfit workouts but that was it. So I headed back to the gym and got back in to some favorite classes at the ymca.


I went to spinning at 5:30 am on Wednesday and TRX bootcamp on Friday morning at 5:30, both classes were tough since I have not been in months! But it was great. I felt good and already went to spin again this week and will do boot camp tomorrow morning. That will be the new routine. I also have been doing my planks and pushups and sit ups every day again. I have been running too! I went out for a 21 mile run on Sunday and 8 miles again on Tuesday. I am doing the Runners World Run streak and have run every single day since Thanksgiving. It goes until Christmas! I finished up day 15 today with a speedy 46:30 10K for the Fitmas challenge.


All these challenges has made me a busy bee but it has been good! It keeps me accountable and going.


So at weigh in yesterday I was more than pleased with the results: 163 pounds!!! That is a loss of 2.6 :) I was very happy with that. It proved to me that getting back to basics is exactly what my body needed.


How was your week? 

If At First You Do Not Succeed... Keep Trying

Now that the marathon is over and things are getting back to normal I am facing the age old question of what is next?

Well of course my wheels were turning I think before I even crossed that finish line a few weeks ago...

The infamous BQ. I have lived here in Massachusetts my entire life. And every year we have a tiny marathon here that shuts down the city for a weekend. All of my life I have heard about it, dreaded the traffic from it etc. And for the first time this year, I went to the expo. I was in runner awe... It is a sight to see.

I never fully understood or even appreciated how awesome of an experience Boston is. Let's be honest, the old me had no idea what it took to run a mile, let alone a marathon... Now I know. Now I want it for myself too.

I have become lucky to meet a runner Robin who has qualified and will be running for the first time in April!!! I cannot wait to go cheer her on :)

I had the amazing chance to run with her on Sunday, we ran 21 miles around Boston and it was great. I learned a lot and tried to soak in her wisdom like a sponge. She has an amazing story check it out! But what I got the most out of it, is I can do it. Robin gave me some good ideas and I plan to use them in my training in the next few months.

I can run a marathon and qualify for Boston, that would be a 3:35 ;) that does scare me a bit. That is 11 minutes faster than I ran Philly! But I can train hard and set a goal and work for it, I have proven this time and time again.

So now I am looking forward to working on this goal :) I think I will make my first attempt at the Hyannis Marathon in February! I ran it last year and this race has a special place in my heart because it was my first half marathon.

Now it feels like it will be all coming together full circle. And if I do not get my bq there, then it will be sometime in May ;) there may or may not be several marathons going on then!

How To Survive and Triumph During the Holidays

This week we have a topic from Fitness Blog World and it is in time for the holidays!
The topic this week: How do you keep track through the holidays with regards to your nutrition and exercise?  What are some tips and strategies you have? Any recipes?

Well I must admit working in retail makes the holidays extra busy and extra stressful for me. I am not making excuses but I will say this is the hardest time of year for me. I want to do nothing but relax once I make it to my couch. But being healthy does not allow for my old lazy habits to creep in! I have to embrace the holidays now especially since this little Peanut has come along:

Yep we have our tree up hehe!

My plans to stay on track this holiday are simple:

-Cook like I normally do. We eat home 99% of the time now. It is so much easier to stay on track when you have healthy food around. I pack a lunch daily and bring it to work. And when we have a party to go to I make sure I am not hungry when I go. If I can I offer to bring a dish and keep it healthy so I have a snack. I have been known to hide snacks in my purse.... hehehe carrot sticks anyone?

-Exercise like I have an ultra marathon to train for :) Yep I am running my first 50K on Janurary 28th! So that means lots of long runs will be logged from now until then ;) which means that even if I may not want to I will get up at 5AM and train!

-Not allow myself to slip back into old habits. I started this little Back 2 Basics challenge for myself and I have many wonderful friends doing it with me. I am glad to have all the support as I keep on tracking my healthy journey.

-Track all my food. I am on Weight Watchers and I will track all my food and stay within my points allowance every day. The beauty of Weight Watchers is it allows you to track everything and allows for going over if you earn activity points. And I plan to earn plenty of those ;)

-I will make my own healthy treats! I love cooking and baking. I make this Chocolate Pumpkin treat sometimes. I also like to make dinner with some creativity:

That is a chicken breast with zuchinni, tomato, almond cheese all baked in the oven :)

I will probably make this in place of the traditional Christmas lasagna this year!

So really I guess my basics for keeping it healthy through the holidays are keep it simple! Do not stress over little things you cannot change. Stick to your plan and you will do fine! And I always try to remember this: I will not allow a time of year to sabotage what I have worked so hard to achieve. There is nothing that tastes as good as crossing the finish line of a race :)

How do you plan to navigate the holidays?