rewards and things!

I've been contemplating setting some weight loss related goals + rewards for myself for awhile now, and I think I've come up with a few to start with.

current weight: 253ish (the scale at the gym was all fudged up last week)

goal weight #1 - 245

• reward: $75 worth of new workout clothes

goal weight #2 - 220

• reward: new pair of Vibram FiveFingers and a heart-rate monitor

goal weight #3 - 195 (no longer classified as "obese" for the first time in 6 years; and, similarly, the first time in years I've been under 200 lbs.) OR upon successful completion of Bridge to 10k

• reward: register for the Disney Princess Half Marathon (or similar fun thing, seeing as how the 1/2 might be sold out by then)

I don't want to think too far into the future. This hopefully will keep me busy until about December or so!

Workouts this week: 3

ew.

My run today sucked. I started week 4 of C25K, which is arguably when you actually start running a little bit for real. I managed the two 3-minute runs and the first 5-minute okay, but between the HILLS and going off a bit too quickly at first, I withered out during the second long run. Had to take 2 walk breaks, but I made up for the time lost by running again on my way back for a song (~3 - 4 minutes). How slow I'm going is really starting to irritate me. I'm stuck at about a 13:30 minute mile. I started out at ~11/10:30 minute mile, but I think that's because I was using the super short intervals as sprinting opportunities. This is the absolute fastest pace I can reach at the moment to sustain myself. I know that I can do speedwork later, but I just feel SO GODDAMN SLOW.

Funny little things that made me happy today:

• A woman passed me, turned around and gave me a thumbs up and said "great job!". I don't know why this cheered me up so much, but it did. It kept me going. :)
• I use MapMyRun to track my runs, mostly so I can see my pitiful speed and record my mileage. There was a particularly hilly "course" on my route, and when I went to check it afterwards, I came in 10th place! Out of 11! I didn't come in last! I can't believe I'm counting "not coming in last place" as an accomplishment. But whatever.

My current favourite thing to eat for breakfast/lunch/always is a scrambled egg with homemade salsa and a sprinkle of queso fresco, all wrapped in a tortilla. It is so good and filling, and it tops out at about 350 calories. I hate to be that person, but I've been incredibly enamoured with traditional Mexican food since I read Born to Run. I also got another book about indigenous diets around the world associated with "cold spots" - places where there are unusually low occurrences of Western diseases - and I've been making a lot of recipes from it. It's called The Jungle Effect by Daphne Miller, MD. 

Workouts this week: 2

Miles walked/ran/oh my god i cannot breathe this month: 8.9

How awesome I feel today: 7

last few days of freedom

I go back to work this Thursday. To be honest, I'm really nervous. I do this thing when I'm working where I'll justify coming back home and plopping on the couch because I'm so tired. And I do get so tired. I'm thinking that exercise and eating better have been helping that; but, without a reliably exhausting thing on a daily basis as of late...we'll have to see. I love Zumba. I love running. I'm not going to let this slow down my progress.

My gym membership expires in a month, and already I'm contemplating what to do next. I need a gym membership. I know for sure I'll backslide without regular access to fun aerobic exercise that I love. Not to mention, everything is getting so much stronger and more "toned" since I've started strength training, and I can't afford to lose that. The Nat is a whopping $42/month, though. $62 if I only go for the monthly membership. I know that it's worth it to work out at a place that I love and that I'm comfortable with, but I might tour the YMCA before I make my final decision. It costs half that, and it's 10 minutes closer. Leaving my Zumba class already seems like such a depressing prospect, though. I'm probably going to stick with the Nat.

Last Saturday was the end of week 3 of C25K, and it was awesome. I wore my Vibrams again and, mysteriously, the ankle/calf pain that's been pretty unbearable for the past few days went away as I started moving, and it hasn't come back since. I'm definitely a believer in my feet knowing what's best - they do not need to be "corrected" with fancy running shoes. I didn't turn around halfway through my run, so at the end I was a good 2 miles away. I'm lazy and value my time and didn't feel like walking all the way back; so I did a run from week 1 over again and got a cumulative 54 minutes of exercise and 17 minutes of running! I was proud. It was fun doing week 1 over again, because I remember struggling so much with it just a few weeks ago. Not anymore!

Workouts this week: 1
Miles walked/ran this month: 6.5
How awesome I feel today, on a scale of 1 - 10: 7

kaboom

I went running during a thunderstorm today. It was lovely - very quiet, very lonely, very zen. And the couple of times I did pass someone else, I didn't look away like I usually do. Friendly hat-tip, because we are running in a severe thunderstorm together. Also, I wore my Vibram FiveFingers for the first time on a run! And thank goodness I did, because I can't imagine anything worse than sliding around in soaking wet sneakers and socks. Aside from this persistant pain in my left ankle/shin/calf/everything, it was good! Great, actually. Focusing on not getting struck by lightening and splashing in puddles took my mind off the whole running = work thing, and I could relax and enjoy it. C25K has been deceptively easy thus far. I haven't felt like dying, nor have I ever looked at the run lengths and freaked out. I think that's the key, really. If you think there's no way you can run for 3 minutes/5 minutes/20 minutes, you're right - you can't. GTFO, negative thoughts.

Workouts this week: 4
Miles walked/ran/huffed and puffed this month: 3.76
How awesome I feel today, on a scale of 1 - 10: 9!

Mondays are difficult.

Getting out of bed sucks. I drag myself to the gym, even though my brain is screaming "hey! hey you! stop that! you deserve a day off!"

But then I say "stuff you, brain. I took a day off yesterday."

And I go anyway. Exercising is such a thoroughly interesting thing - while no one actually wants to do it, we feel so awesome during/after that we couldn't imagine not. After working out 5 days a week for the past couple of months, I am so confused as to how I managed to do absolutely nothing for so long. Like...how?

Anyways, today was a bit of an off day, but I find Mondays are usually like that. Zumba was tiring. But I had to work off the (fat free, HORRIBLE) brownies I had this weekend. I've decided that fat-free things suck. I'd rather savour the real thing rather than grumpily eat half a pan of shitty brownies. Grumble. I'm still losing weight though, despite brownies and cookies and other "weekend" foods. Oh! And! A peculiar phenomenon: ever since I dropped Slim Fast, weight has been falling off of me. I know "starvation mode" is a load of crap, but I do think there's something to properly fueling your body for all the new movement and muscle it's getting.


I'm debating signing up for the Akron Marathon relay. The last leg is 5.5 miles, mostly downhill. I don't know. I realise that's really pushing it, but we'll see. 


Workouts this week: 1
Miles walked/ran/huffed and puffed this month: 0 (yet.) hello, July! 
How awesome I feel today, on a scale of 1 - 10: 6 meh

Good morning!

And it was a good morning, indeed. I finished week 2 of C25K today, and I got the tiniest glimpse of what it must feel like to be an actual runner who does not hate things. I huffed and puffed through the majority of the workout, but something happened at the end and I started feeling light and things didn't hurt anymore. So much so that, when the chirpy lady in the app told me that I could stop running, I didn't. I kept going for about a minute more before it began to get laborious again. I'm excited for next week!

Another tiny victory today! Right now I'm wearing a shirt that I couldn't fit into last month when I got it from the thrift store. It fits (albeit not very well just yet) and I'm happy. Out of curiosity I measured myself, and I've lost about 2 inches from my waist, chest, hips, and arms! Hooray! I'm feeling so good.

Workouts this week: 5
Miles walked/ran/huffed/puffed this month: 13.9
How awesome I feel today, on a scale of 1 - 10: 9 ever-so-slightly ouchy aujhourd'hui

Could it be for real this time?

So, I've always been fat. I've always been ashamed of my body (which totally explains that one year that I only wore hoodies and baggy jeans), and I've always wanted to do something about it. But I am lazy.

Fat and lazy. Those are my identifiers.

About a month and a half ago, my friend Laura and I got memberships to the gym (buy 2 months, get one free! How could we resist?) and we've been going regularly. I discovered Zumba. I LOVE Zumba. There is literally nothing better than booty-shakin' and spasmic flailing, which is an apt description of pretty much every single class. Since I started Zumba, I've dropped 14 pounds. My stamina has increased (I no longer get winded going up flights of stairs, hooray!) and I can't stop smiling. This is the first time in my life that I look forward to exercising; and, for that reason, I think it's going to stick.

I've also been running. Or, rather, trotting? "Jogging"? I don't know what the pathetic, laboured thing I'm doing now is called; but I hope it will soon be running. I started Couch to 5K two weeks ago, and I've been thoroughly enjoying my frantic, gulping for air, everyone-is-staring-at-the-fat-girl morning trots. We have a fantastic network of local parks in my city, and I've been taking advantage of the pristine scenery (it's pristine for the Midwest, anyway) and the crushed gravel trails. I'm not brave enough to run on normal roads yet and, frankly, I'm not sure if I want to.

Dieting no longer feels like a chore. You read those books written by lovely, stick-thin hippies who swear that "your tastebuds will start to crave different foods!" and "you'll reach for an apple instead of a cookie!", which is mostly bullshit. But I'm starting to think they're on to something a little. I've been consuming an incredible amount of fresh vegetables and fruits, and I really do think the worst of the cravings has passed. Last night I was stuffing pieces of yam into my mouth like it was the last yam EVER, and it was so delicious that it made me not even miss gross, artery-clogging concoctions.

I can't believe I'm even posting my weight for everyone to see ON THE INTERNET, when the lady at the BMV asks me if it's the same and I'm all "yes, I still weigh...180?", but here we go:

Starting weight: 270 good god that is almost 300 pounds. 
Current weight: 256.4
Goal weight: 170
Actual goal weight that doesn't suck and isn't cheating myself: 145 do you know the last time I weighed 145? Me neither. I think it was middle school. Or possibly elementary school. 


Current healthy obsessions: overnight oats in a jar (merci, Skinny Taste!), yams, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Zumba, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

Workouts this week: 4
Miles walked/ran/huffed and puffed this month: 11.7
How awesome I feel today, on a scale of 1 - 10: 10 00000000

How awesome do you feel today?