Weigh In Day-2

Last Week: 158.2
This Week: 157.2

It's been a good week: I've lost a pound, I can run a mile without stopping, I've been to the gym 3 times so far and I'm planning to go tonight and tomorrow also, and I ate pretty darn good this week.  All in all, life rocks.  Really, the only poopy thing to happen this week (not including my daily 'I'm-going-to-pull-my-hair-out-and-you'll-have-to-get-a-straight jacket-to-confine-me' stress at work) is that today is donut day at work and I was just informed there are no donuts.  BUT!!!--I think that's fate telling me I don't need them anyway.  So, I'm only a little disappointed, but not crushed.

Oh, just remembered, I did slip up this week, on Wed.  It was one of those days at work (as mentioned above, only worse) and I came home, put on my sweatpants, grabbed my favorite hot pink coozy and slid a ice-old can of Bud Light into it. I then proceeded to glue my butt to the couch, rented a movie (RED, it was pretty good)  and drank beer all night. Let me tell you, when bedtime rolled around, I had completely forgotten why my day at work was so shitty in the first place. Nothing like a good movie and a magnum of booze to put you right again! I did pay for it when I got to the gym Thursday night, but it was worth it.

Other than that, it's a BIG weekend this weekend. IT'S THE SUNFLOWER SHOWDOWN PEOPLE!!! Kansas State University (GO CATS!) vs Kansas University (sissies) in men's basketball.  You know what this means, beer and sports ALL night on Sat. night.  And my very cool mom is coming down to hang out too! Good times, good times.

Now all I have to do is wait 5.5 more hours to get off work and my weekend will commence!

Miracles do happen!

Ladies and Gents I have reached a milestone in my physical fitness endeavors. I have achieved one of my running goals. I am the shit.  Get the champagne, we're throwing a party.

Last night, I RAN ONE MILE WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!!! And I ran it in 10.5 minutes!

That's right. Yep, I am the running queen. I'm on top of the mountain. I CAN CONQUER THE WORLD!

I think the last time I ran a mile was in high school. No joke. (That was over 10 years ago.) I don't know what got into me last night. I was a little stressed out from work and had already planned to go to the gym after work. But once I got there I was in 'killer' mode. I jumped on the first treadmill I could see and OWNED IT! My original plan was to run my usual .5 miles, walk .5 miles, then run .25 miles, then walk .5 miles and so on and so on for an hour.  Just like last week. (BTW, that little running 'workout' basically came about because that was all I could do last week. I couldn't run more or less, so I just kept with it.)  But my original plan was crushed to pieces when I looked down and saw that I had run .75 miles.

WHAT?!?! .75 miles?!?! I nearly jumped off the damn exercise machine of death and did cartwheels in the middle of the gym. (That would have been a site to see.)

But I didn't do cartwheels. I thought, hell, if I can make it to .75 miles, I can make it to a full 1 mile.  No problem. 

Well, I was already so winded at that point that I just knew my heart was going to explode out of my chest any minute, so running another quarter mile was going to really put me in cardiac arrest. But I went for it anyway.  And I did it!  My legs felt like little rubber noodles and my lungs were burning so bad from lack of oxygen that I thought I was going to pass out. But I didn't pass out! I made it! Then, I slowed it down and walked for another mile and all in all I walked/ran 4.75 miles by the time I was done.

I felt so good about myself when I left! I was so proud. I just couldn't believe it.  And good thing I was so high on my little 'I-ran-one-mile-achievement' cloud because by the time I got home, I happened to glance at myself in the mirror and WOW. My face looked like I spent 84 days out in the middle of the desert with no SPF.  I was NOT pretty.  But that's ok, who cares if you look like death warmed over when you just RAN ONE MILE!

Can you tell I'm excited?  I just wanted to share my great news with you all.  It can happen, miracles can happen. Last night, I was living (and running) proof.  Now lets see if I can do it again tonight!!!

Weigh In Day 1

Well, today is 'weigh in' day.  And let me just say that me and the scale DID NOT see eye to eye this morning. I went to the gym Tuesday evening, ran/walked 3.5 miles (actually ran 1.25 miles, in .25 intervals, but still ran them!!!!) then did an hour yoga class, that definitely was not easy. Then I went to the gym last night again and did pretty much the same thing. I only had about 45 min. before yoga to run/walk, but i still pushed as hard as I could. And the yoga class last night was RIDICULOUS! It was very difficult, but I still made it through without passing out.  I've also been on the Slim-Fast diet this week; eating pretty good at night, but I'm not snacking at all (well, not hardly at all). Overall I feel like I did a pretty good job this week and I did step on the scale Wed. morning and got down to 156.5 (starting weight is 158.2). So I was totally expecting to either be at the Wed. weight or better...right??!! But nooooo, the damn scale had to deliver disappointing news that put a little raincloud over my 'good Friday mood'.

OK, so here's the results: 158.1

ONE OUNCE?!?!? What?!?!?! And technically you could say I gained 1.7lbs since Wed. How is that even possible when I'm eating way less calories than I have in the last 2 months. Plus I added 4 hours of strenuous physical activity this week.  I'm baffled. I'm mystified. I'm pissed.

BUT: Today is Friday! WoooHooo! The weekend is here. We're going out to eat at our favorite restaurant tomorrow night. AND....it's beer drinking time (well not right this minute, as I'm about to start work, but tonight it is on)! YESSS!  I only drink on the weekends, so let me tell you: I live for Fridays. 

Even though the scale 'malfunctioned' this morning, I'm still in a great mood and intend to work just as hard, or even harder this next week, to see a big loss on that sucker next Friday.

Keep your fingers crossed.

'Weigh In' Day and Running

Friday's are going to be my 'weigh in' day. And I'm going to try my darnedest to ONLY weigh myself on Friday.  OK, I confess: My name is Laura, and I am a scale-aholic.  First thing in the mornings I do my business, put my 'eyes' in (contacts) and step on the scale. I pray up and down to the Weight Loss Gods that the number is going to be lower than the day before. And if it is, I do a little weight loss happy dance; if it isn't, I growl at the stupid scale and stomp off telling myself the scale is malfunctioning.  I have finally decided this love/hate relationship with that flat monster of bad numbers is not healthy.  I need to concentrate on how my clothes fit (currently that would be tight), and stop obsessing about the numbers.  So, I'd like to go ahead and apologize to my little scale and tell it that we can no longer have our morning meetings, we'll have to wait patiently till every Friday to see each other, but we will get through this together.

Good News: I've found a new love, Yoga! My first yoga class was a million years ago and with my friend Rebecca (who has been a yoga enthusiast for a few years now) and it went really well, but I didn't feel comfortable for whatever reason, so I never went back.  But now...I am obsessed! I started back up last week and did a Level I/II class at my local gym and I did pretty good. Not great, but not bad. I love the fact that I can think about nothing but my breathing while my not-so-small pooper is in the air for everyone to see.  Last Tuesday was my second class, and I can proudly say I think I've improved! (Could be my imagination, but I'm thinking positive here.)  I've even decided to go back tonight, even though Thursdays are my usual 'sit-on-the-couch-and-veg-in-front-of-my-favorite-ABC-shows' night. 

More Good (but slightly scary for me) News: Before yoga class I've been running on the treadmill, and I have to say, I really kind of enjoy it. WHAT?!? Did I really just write that?! Someone check my pulse. Am I still breathing? It's official: Hell is as frozen as my frosty beer mug in the freezer.  Seriously though, I have always despised running. It's so much work and I don't have the best lungs (I have been a smoker for years, but am working my way to smoke-free right now) and well, it's just sooo much work.  I played tennis in high school because that was the sport that you ran the least in. Pathetic, I know. But I've been reading a bunch of really good running blogs lately (this chick is my favorite and just found this one near me) and I've become extremely motivated. I'm even considering signing up for some kind of running event. Like a 5K or whatever.  But first I think I need to be able to run more than half a mile with out popping a lung. I'm gonna work on it.

Anyway, check in is tomorrow. I'm not worried, after tonight I will have worked out for a total of 4 hours this week. And I'm planning on working out on Sat. morning too. (Maybe even do a little more running. God help me.)

My very first post:

Well, here I go.

A little background: Not once did I work out to keep 'fit' or for fun (who does that by the way) until about 4 years ago.  That's when I looked at a picture of myself and thought, "DAMN, who the hell is that fatass?? I need to get to a gym! Wait, what's a gym?"  I was a stick in high school and the first year of college. I actually needed to put on a few pounds.  But I wasn't trying to be skinny, I just had a freaking fabulous metabolism that allowed me to eat whatever I wanted and not exercise at all.  (Please, please Mrs Metabolism, please come back to me!!)  I ate pizza constantly and probably had a few brewskies nearly every day. And lo and behold, at the ripe age of 26....well, lets just say I was ripe.  I weighed 180 or so pounds and stood at 5' 8".  Now, I realize that technically that number didn't make me overweight, I had an 'average' BMI (but it was borderline to overweight). But I'll tell you this: I had horrible acne, I was extremely depressed, I would sweat all the time from doing NOTHING, and I just plain didn't feel good. So what better way than to work some of that plumpness off???: Go to Colorado for 3 months and work construction for your dad.  I came back weighing 15 pounds less and wasn't even trying.  But despite that great accomplishment, I still didn't feel good about myself. I didn't really change anything, except adding a little physical labor to my lifestyle.



Me on my honeymoon,
weighing in at 150.



On and off for the last 3.5 years I've tried every diet and exercise program, and even joined a gym. I got down to 147 in Sept. of 09 for my wedding and now, a little over a year later, I've gained 10+ pounds back.  I'm sick of this; I want to be healthy, I want to feel good. And I want to look great.

Three months from now is my 30th birthday. I want to be 20 pounds lighter (and maybe have a little definition in my arms and have a smaller pooper and this double chin could really take a hike too).  I plan on posting my ups and downs, my progress, my general thoughts, etc at least once a week to keep myself on track.

I know I'll make mistakes, I know I'll want to quit this whole adventure at least a million times, but I promise to to be honest, to do the best I can, and I'll try not to bitch as much as possible (that's going to take some work).

So, who's with me??? Because in about one hour this fitness party machine is headed to the dreaded treadmill. Wish me luck.