One Year

One year ago today:

"Today, the girl who quit soccer because her coach was going to make her run, who took 20 minutes to "run" the mile in middle school, who always made excuses why she WOULDN'T run (waiting to lose weight, waiting for summer, chest hurts), RAN A MILE without stopping. And she did it in 15 minutes."

:D

Uh-MAY-zing

So, I stepped on the scale around 4 AM this morning out of sheer nosiness because last night, P and I split a homemade cheese pizza (only 600 calories in half - woo! seemed like a good Saturday night splurge) and then split a pack of Tastycake Sensables. I thought my weight would be up a little bit, but holy lord almighty, it was 171.4! I crawled back into bed and couldn't relax, I was like, "P! The scale said 171! That's my lowest ever!" I was surprised I could even get myself back to sleep, I saw that number and I was ready to hit the gym.

Anyway, I set myself up for a cheat day today. Guess what I splurged on? Hahahaha. A bag of Doritos, like the grab bag size from the Walmart checkout, and Velveeta Shells and Cheese for dinner. The 2% milk kind. I can't even let myself be truly bad on a cheat day! Good lord.

Next Sunday will most definitely be one, since I'll be home and my family's having a Superbowl party. That's a whole blog post in itself.

I did push myself to the gym today. Only because "I Used to Be Fat" was on MTV and I wanted to catch the re-run since I've heard amazing things about the guy on this episode. (He looked PHENOMENAL at the end.. like a completely different person!) I did Week 1 Day 2 of Bridge to 10K. 4.7 miles after an hour and 10 minutes on the treadmill. I'm noticing that my legs want to move a little faster, so I did my first two runs at 4.5 instead of 4.3 like usual.

(I know, some of you are like, wtf? I walk faster than 4.3 mph.)

Stretch Armstrong.

Dear Heather,

Next time you decide to run after a month-long hiatus, please stretch me before you get on the treadmill. And then if you're really feeling saucy, please stretch me afterwards too. And no, a quick quad-stretch will not do. I am sore, achey, and tight today and I am going to make your life miserable for the rest of the day.

Love,
Your Legs

Bridge to 10K.

So, I think my calories are going to be a little higher than usual today. Not because I went off the wall at happy hour or anything, but this morning, I had a huge breakfast.. Engish muffin and peanut butter like usual (290 calories) and my Trop 50 apple juice (50), but I also had a glass of sugar-free Carnation Instant Breakfast (150) because I didn't feel like a banana as a snack. For whatever reason, that really threw me off. However, the rest of the day I've been good. Just had dinner and I'm at 1530. Considering treating myself to my Tastycake Sensables later which would put me at 1600. I can handle that.

(Sidebar, as I was writing this, I looked up just how many calories I should be taking in to lose weight. With my activity level and my weight loss goals, I'm supposed to be at 1787 for fat loss, 1384 for extreme fat loss. 1600 feels comfortable to me, especially since I'm planning on having a cheat day this weekend.)

Started Bridge to 10K this week... it finally hit me at Zumba the other night that I only have 2 months to train for the Tyler Run 10K that Laura and I are doing. I can't quite remember how long it's been since the last time I ran, but I'm pretty sure it was before Christmas. Which is also the last time I met with the trainer.. eep.

(Who, by the way, I had every intention of setting an appointment with next weekend but since the Steelers made it to the Super Bowl, I'm taking a trip home next Friday night so I can watch the game with the dad.)

Anyway, I did Week 1 Day 1 tonight, which is a 10 minute run followed by a 1 minute walk done four times. During my first 10 minute run, I got the worst stomach pains, like gas bubble pains. I was honestly ready to call it quits, but I kept going because you know me, who knows when I'll actually get it together and get my ass to the gym next.

So, I did 60 minutes.. 4.10 miles. Here I come, 10K!

Love letter to my scale.

Stepped on my scale this morning... 173! That's how craptasic my eating habits have been in the last few weeks. A 5 pound loss in just a few days. Lordy. Let's keep this ball rolling.. I'm 1 pound away from my lowes ever and 4 away from the glorious 160s!

Weigh-In

Forgot to do this on Tuesday! (And didn't do it last week, whoops.)

Last Week: 176.4
This Week: 178.0
Week's Loss: +1.6 lb.
Week's %: --

Total Loss: 55 lb.
Total %: 23.6%

Current BMI: 29.6
Total BMI Change: 9.2

No!

There was a basket of Snickers and M&M cookies in the faculty lounge today calling my name. Those little jerks were like, "Heatherrrrr, Heatherrrrr, Heatherrrrrr!"

And I ignored them.

HA!

Money and cupcakes.

Last night, P and I went out for sushi after I ruined his dinner plans. While we were sitting there, I was thinking about how much money I spend on going out to eat.  Last night wasn't so bad, but still.. I spend $50 on good, healthy groceries a week, then go out at least twice a week for something awful for me.

I sat down today to add all of my going out trips together, and in the past month, I've gone out 12 times and have spent over $150. WTF, Heather? My goal for this week? No dining out, no sodas from the vending machine, no Dunkin Donuts trips on the way to school.
I did discover a happy little treat yesterday at the grocery store. Tastycake has a line of treats called "Sensables" that are sugar free, low carb, and high in fiber. I have to buy something chocolatey every week at the store, usually a tray of miniature Peppermint Patties that I keep in the freezer and limit myself to one after dinner. This week, I discovered these fabulous little Sensables and got a box of the cream-filled chocolate cupcakes. If I can just limit myself to one instead of both in the package, they'll be a great little treat for after dinner!

I'll never be the type of person who can go cold turkey from treats. Instead, I'm the type of person who plans that beer or that cupcake into my meal plan so I feel less guilty, lol. But honestly, I believe it was Jillian Michaels who said that you should leave 150 calories a day for whatever you want. So true. I'd go crazy without a little snack here and there.

At any rate, today is my last day of laying on my butt. My cold is making my head feel like it's 10 times its normal size and I just feel blah. Plus, I get all freaked out when I'm phlegmy because I'm afraid I'm going to choke. (Who knew I was so neurotic?)

Here's to laying out this week's plan and sticking to it, folks!

Intentions.

This has been a very bad week and I'm not 100% sure why. When P and I were in NYC this weekend, I bought two bags of dark chocolate Hershey miniatures. I haven't been able to stay out of them and I'm not even kidding, I think I ate 3/4 of the bag of peanut butter cups by myself. I decided to take everything that was left into school on Thursday because I was being ridiculous.


My workouts were off too. I have decided to drop one of my Zumba classes because my knees have really been giving me problems. I love Zumba and I would love to make a career out of it, but I also love running and hiking and I have a lot of big events coming up this year that I want to be able to do well and be prepared for. Now I'm down to 4 hours of Zumba a week and I need to SCHEDULE (operative word here) time for other workouts, including some intense ab work, incline training, and distance runs.

I had every intention of waking up and going to the gym this morning. And I really did get up and get dressed. Unfortunately, my craptastic cold I've had all week is still lingering and is worse than ever. I feel like I could scrape stuff off my chest, my head is floating away... and I can't find my headphones. So, instead, I think I'm going to go out in the 10-degree weather to Walmart and get some headphones and groceries for the week, after I sit here and make a plan for this coming week.

My parents are coming up in about a month over Presidents' Day Weekend and I would TRULY love to be in the 160s by then. I need to get this ball rolling again because there hasn't been much of a loss in a very long time.

I guess the good thing is that I know I'm able to live a regular life and maintain my weight.

But still, I'd love to be maintaining a much lower weight. :)

I am PMS'ing right now, and I swear to you, all I want to do is eat like I've never eaten before. Today is my day, tomorrow, back to normal.

Dear Knees.

Dear Knees,

I know that when I was a little kid, I tried to climb up the ladder of the twisty slide on you and fell and hurt you. I wasn't very smart back then.

I know that for most of my life, I've been carrying 230-some pounds on you, and don't even get me started on the year I thought I could do ballet with you and all of my 230 pounds.

But now I've given 60 pounds away for you, so I was hoping maybe you and I could be friends, but you're not making this relationship easy. I mean, really, think about the good times we've had. We've climbed mountains, ran miles, danced 'till we dropped.. and you've helped me shed this weight.

I've started taking glucosamine for you. I raced home from Zumba so I could ice you. I've taken so much Tylenol I should invest in it for you! What more do you want?

Please don't give up on me now. You're certainly not making this relationship easy.

Love,
Heather

Weigh-In

Last Week: 178.2
This Week: 176.4
Week's Loss: 1.8 lb.
Week's %: 1.02%

Total Loss: 57.6 lb.
Total %: 24.72%

Current BMI: 29.4
Total BMI Change: 9.4

Kryptonite.

Last night, I was headed home and stopped at McDonalds to get a drink. I didn't have any cash on me, so I got a diet Coke and a bottle of water, but still felt like I should at least get something else so I wasn't using my debit card for $2 worth of stuff. So, I order a french fry off of the dollar menu.

I pulled away, asking myself, "Why was that necessary?"

I know I've been carrying on about how if I want french fries, I'll have french fries, but seriously, I had just left some friends' house where we had had dinner not too long before I left, followed by vanilla ice cream with some mashed up peanut butter cups on top. I definitely wasn't hungry, and I definitely didn't need to add McDonalds' french fries on top of that. I just found a good excuse to buy them and I was going to use this excuse to my advantage.

"But you paid for them!" the little devil on my shoulder was screaming.

So, I ate a few. Then I ate two more. Then I ate three more. I started to get mad at myself. Yet again, another excuse, another reason. Ordering them was an excuse. Eating them was an excuse. As I drove down route 30 cursing myself for buying the french fries, I decided to do what any sane person would do...

I threw them out the window. :)

I Run for Life.

Taken from Melissa Etheridge's song "I Run for Life" about her battle with cancer. Found this on one of my Daily Mile buddies' site and cried for 15 minutes before work, lol. These lyrics remind me why I hit the pavement:

I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister, your daughter, your wife
For you and me my friend
I run for life

Race Update

2011 Races:

April 2 - Tyler Arboretum 10K Trail Run, Media, PA
April 16 - Hyner View Trail Challenge, Renovo, PA
July 11 - Fueled by Fine Wine 1/2 Marathon, Dundee, OR
October 1 - Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect, Lock Haven, PA

Mega Fever!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Registered for the Bald Eagle Megatransect on New Year's Day. Suuuper excited! My dad is also doing it this year and my mom wil be volunteering on the course. 26.2 mile endurance hike. I've attempted it twice but have never finished. Could this be my year? Here's hoping! :)

Registration filled up in 2 days, but if you'd like more information, check out . Thinking about possibly doing Hyner View Challenge as well.. we'll see how ballsy I am. :)