Weekends and Workouts

I cannot believe Sunday night is here already! This weekend FLEW by! I went to my nephew's All Stars Baseball game on Friday night. They lost by 1 run, but he had a beautiful double play. I was very proud. He's six. :) Saturday morning, I laced up my trainers and met my best friend for a 1 hour walk in Cedarlea Park. It was a gorgeous morning for a walk. After our walk, we worked on me facing my fear. I was able to jump up on the curb with both feet several times... but it took QUITE a long time for me to get there. Melinda could actually SEE my mental block and how hard I was trying to overcome it. It felt great to actually JUMP with both feet up onto the curb. And I did not fall ONCE! :)

The rest of Saturday was spent with friends, playing in the yard, working on the house and spreading mulch. Saturday night was rough. Two of the 4 kids were running fevers over 103 and sobbing. Sunday morning, we made an impromptu trip to Pediatric Associates of Richmond, where Dr. Webber ran strep tests on the three littlest in the family. All were negative (of course)... that was good news, because it meant I could go on to help out at the Richmond Weddings Expo -- I LOVE helping out with this show. I love meeting with the vendors and seeing all the excited brides. In the past, I'd always stop by the catering tables on my way out. Today, I packed my own food, and visited Kalico Kitchen (my family's company) without feeling a need to sample the cake.

Tonight we spent the evening at my sister's house. It was party in the backyard and cookout night. I spent most of my time inside with the baby, due to the mosquitos being aggressive. We did not get home until nearly 11 p.m. but that's alright. I put the baby to bed, and Matt put the other three to bed. I suited up and went for a jog... 1 mile in light drizzle, awesome!

Now, I am going to go to bed and PRAY I can sleep until 8 a.m. However if I wake up earlier then I'm going grocery shopping. I'm out of veggies and fruits. I've become addicted to fresh apricots! Sleep well!

A very painful experience

As I type this, my toe is still throbbing... It wasn't pretty. It was grotesque. I keep reliving it. I'm sure at any moment I'm going to vomit when I think about it. I wish it on no one. It was awful and it is still awful.

I went to kickboxing this morning. It was a small class, just me and Angie. We were practicing kicks. I was barefoot. I'll spare you the gory details. Just know that what I did to my toe/nail is something you NEVER want to go through! I did what I had to do to quickly "fix" the problem and then said, Let's just keep going and not think about it. So we did. Maybe I was in shock. I don't really know. All I know is I made it through class.

I'm supposed to meet my best friend in the morning for a walk. I'm praying I can stand having my shoe on my foot.

Um apparently I started this and never finished it... that's what happens when you have 4 kids! LOL Oh well. The Toe Is BETTER! :D

Good Morning!

It's a cloudy morning, but what a glorious day! Had a great workout with my Body Back ladies! Happy to see Rebekah in the mix this morning! :) Shout out to Laura for coming back and for working it out this morning with us! Excited to meet Stephanie this morning. She's a rockstar! I hope to participate in her 5K this weekend in Innsbrook. I don't know that I'll run the whole thing, but I will definitely walk the whole thing, no problem!

My calf and knee are bugging out, so it looks like tomorrow after kickboxing, I'll be keeping it low key and won't attempt an extra cardio tomorrow. I do plan to get in at least a mile this afternoon (walk or run is fine by me... as long as I get that heart rate up!!!) If it rains, then I'll just do something here, maybe a latin dance workout. Saturday, I hope to do the 5K, then Sunday I'll probably focus on crunches, planks and push ups and I'll do a short run with my cousin (AFTER working the Richmond Wedding Expo all day). Monday I will rest so that I'll be at full steam for Tuesday's class. Looking forward to having Angel back in the mix with me! I miss my accountability partner! Hoping Angie and Kathy will be with us on Monday as well.

We set goals today. My goals are very specific this time: Make it to -50 lbs. Lose 1 inch off of my thighs. Run 3 miles without stopping. As for assessment goals, those are: 25 sit-ups in 1 minute, 35 second side plank, 2 minute plank and 7 push ups.

This morning, after class, I started my day off with a big veggie omelet. Here is what I used: 2 egg whites, 1/5 of a red pepper chopped, 1/4 vidalia onion chopped, 1 tsp minced garlic, 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup shredded baby spinach. Spray the pan w/ Pam Olive Oil Cooking Spray (or use a "misto" with olive oil), saute mushrooms and onions until the onions become translucent, add in red pepper, add in garlic, add in eggs over medium heat. Allow eggs to set somewhat then top with shredded spinach and parmesan cheese. Fold in half. Make sure eggs have cooked through, and then slide onto a plate. I have a delicious apricot waiting for me, but I'm too full to eat it right now, so it has to wait.

My food plan for today: (I've not yet added it to FitnessPal just yet, so the plan may have to be tweaked to get near my "preferred" calorie intake.)

Breakfast
Omelet & apricot

Snack
Tomato, Pepper Jack melt

Lunch
Turkey wrap, w/ spinach, onion, pepper
Banana berry salad

Snack
100 calorie nuts
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Dinner
1 cup broccoli
salad (spinach, lettuce, onion, pepper, olive oil & vinegar dressing)
Chicken Slider (ground chicken breast w/ ranch dressing mix -- I only use 1/2 the package for 1 pound of chicken-- on a potato whole grain slider roll)

Snack
ONLY if I am still hungry and need additional calories to round out my day -- could be string cheese and crackers, milk and a granola bar, or if I am needing extra protein: Luna Protein Bar. I'll know once I enter everything into My Fitness Pal app!

I hope everyone has a great day! There is so much to be thankful for... today I am thankful for precious friends to work out with! I am thankful for the encouragement and for the laughs we share! I'm so blessed to have this opportunity to use the body God gave me and I hope in my working out that I am blessing God.

Session 3 has begun

It started off with a bang! I've dropped 3 lbs. since last Thursday. That means I am now 12 lbs. away from that 50 lb. milestone!!! It is so close I can TASTE it!!! I cannot wait to hit that milestone. Beyond weight, we also ran our 1/2 mile this morning. I shaved 8 seconds off of my time from Thursday, without pushing myself harder, (I think the difference could have been that I did not have to do squats prior to the run!) ;) -- Soon I hope to run the 1/2 in under 6 minutes. Today's time was 6:02.

Tonight I logged in 3 more miles in under 1 hour. Very happy about that. This was walking, not running. It was quite hot and muggy and I was soaked with sweat when I got home. Hoping to head to bed shortly. It's been a great day, but I'm exhausted.

Session 3 ...

Tomorrow morning I start session 3. My summer class is at 6 a.m. rather than 5:30. I get to sleep until 5:15, WooHoo!!! Going to go set out my clothes now and then I meet my new instructor in the morning! I'm looking forward to being 15+ pounds lighter after this session. I loaded up on fresh groceries tonight, so I'm ready to get going!

I ended up not doing an actual workout tonight because I did extra housework today and broke a nice sweat while doing so. Hopefully, I'll have a good 1/2 mile run tomorrow!

I'll update when I get the chance!

Father's DAY itself...

Father's Day, we got up and went to the 9:30 service at church. Then we headed to my mom's house for Cait's nap and to wait for my siblings and dad so that we could go to Kitchen 64 for an early dinner. I put on my size 20 black capris, to find out they are too big now (already... good thing I only paid $7 for them). I put on an Ann Taylor Loft purple fancy t-shirt and some wedge espadrils.

We hung out at mom's and I knew I needed to eat. Mom had made some berry salad, so I had a nice serving of that plus some of her green beans (not a whole serving, just a taste), and then I made myself a salad with swiss cheese, "natural" deli turkey and lettuce with some red wine vinegar dressing and croutons. I knew that would hold me over until dinner, we were eating VERY early (4 p.m.) -- When we got to dinner I had a very difficult time choosing my meal. I wasn't super hungry, so I knew fish tacos would be too much. I wasn't really in the mood for crab cakes and I wasn't sure how they were prepared. I settled on the roasted red pepper and mozzarella plate. Great choice! It was way too much for me to eat by myself, so I shared with Cait and my mom and Matt. I knew the calories would be too small, and that I'd have to eat more later in the evening, but I was OK with that. When our bill came, our little family of six had dinner with leftovers all for (including tip) $35! Awesome!

After we got home that evening, we got on SKYPE with my inlaws. Then my sister showed up. I threw her a pair of socks and trainers and she and I and my nephew went for a walk. We logged in 1.5 miles. It was a great day! I think Matt was pretty pleased with the gift the kids gave him! It wasn't much, but it was definitely well thought out. (A VCU RAMS Tervis Tumbler 24 oz.)

I hope the rest of the week goes as well as the weekend did. Now what's with this rain??? I know we need it, so I'm trying not to complain!

Father's Day Weekend Fun and some new trainers!

I don't do any structured classes on the weekend, so working out has to be at my own motivation and initiative. Right now I am in a zone of wanting to hit the 50 lb. mark! I WANT to say, I've lost 50 lbs! SO, even though I have no structured classes, I made sure I burned some calories this weekend and had fun doing it!

Saturday, we'd worked on the house most of the day and my sister and I shopped for Father's Day Gifts. I ended up buying some much needed new trainers, since I have completely worn out my last pair! When I got home, I told Matt that it was much too pretty outside, we needed to get out. We decided to head over to the Cedarlea Park neighborhood. We parked our car up at the pavilion and then walked 1/2 a mile to the playground area. Their playground is a lot of fun, though Caitlynn was not to excited about it, she was content to watch from her stroller while the rest of us acted like monkeys! My kids have never seen me play on the playground equipment. We climbed the ladders, went down the slides. I helped them on the seesaws. We even were on the swings. I haven't really been on a swing since college, other than to just sit on one and watch my kids play. At one point, Wils looked at me and said, "Mommy, you can swing REALLY high!" Then while the kids were on the swings, Matt and I climbed up on the equipment and Wils piped up once more and said, "It's like you are kids again!" It was a priceless evening.

While we were there we decided I should face one of my fears (I actually faced TWO of my fears, climbing ladders --success and then this one) ... I tried to jump with both feet from the ground up onto the edging around the playground. Maegan did it, Wils did it, Matt did it... I couldn't do it. I tried and I tried. I can't tell you how many times I tried. I just could not do it. So, at one point Matt says to me, "Can you do it for a $10,000 ring?" Um, I gave it my best shot, but I still failed. Looks like that is a fear I'm going to have to work hard to conquer. I wonder what he would have done if I had accomplished it... I'm pretty sure I would not have gotten a $10,000 ring.

Speaking of rings, we had talked earlier in the day about my jewelry. My rings are falling off now. None of my jewelry fits like it is supposed to fit. I call my hands "Man Hands" because I wear such big sizes in rings! I don't have prissy pretty girly hands, no bony fingers... just chubby fingers. I can remember Chris Morgan, in 5th grade, as we were sitting at the lunch table. He reached across the table and grabbed one of my hands and said to me, "Your hands are so cute. Your fingers are just so chubby." I did NOT take it as a compliment. I was so embarrassed. I was 10 years old and already in big trouble with my weight. My friends were all in the 60-80 lb. range, and I was well over 100 lbs. I'm so ready for pretty hands and my rings are desperate for resizing!

So, back to the subject at hand. Once we finished on the playground, we headed back up to our car. I logged in 1 mile, plus a lot of fun on the playground. Once home, we washed the kids and put them to bed. I decided I wanted to get out and walk 3 more miles, just to burn some extra calories. With a goal of 15 lbs this 8 weeks, I need to keep on top of the workouts. So, I grabbed my iPod and out the door we went. I walked 2.25 miles and then the song "Let's Get It Started" came on. The first line is "And the bass keeps runnin runnin and runnin runnin ..." and I just had to run at that point. So I ran the 3/4 of a mile back home. So I logged in a total of 4 miles of cardio walk/run -- over 1 hour, and at least an hour of playing on that playground.

My new trainers have been great. They do annoy my right heel just a bit, but I think it is because they are not broken in to my foot just yet. They are so light on my feet and I can feel the gel sole when I am running. I'm pleased with my choice. And they are PINK! :)

My Weekend Was Made!

I dropped by Hayes, The Art of Photography yesterday afternoon, to pick up some portraits we had done (an oil of the family and then a collage). I hadn't seen Jamie since before Christmas. I got out of the car and approached the house when he bounded out of the back door to greet me. He stopped dead in his tracks and said, "You look AMAZING!" He went on to ask me what I was doing. I explained what I've been doing. Then I met him in the house and he continued to tell me that he was proud of me and my accomplishments. I said, "Well, now we need a NEW family portrait, but I want to wait until I've gotten closer to my goal." I said, I'm nervous to see the portrait, because it was before the weight loss. He pulled out the portrait laid it on the table and then said, "Mr. Jamie did a good job positioning you guys, so you can't really even tell!" I looked at the portrait, and sure enough... He'd placed me well and angled my face in a very flattering way. The portrait WILL make it on the wall! ;)

I tell you, Mr. Jamie made my weekend with his precious compliments! I am more determined than EVER to get this weight off of me! I bought new trainers today, since I destroyed mine in the past 16 weeks! Heading to the playground with my babies to break the new ones in!

2nd 8 week Assessments

Today was the final "weigh in" and assessments for my 2nd session of Body Back. Pictures are forthcoming, so just hang on to your hat!

Rachel allowed us to weigh and measure BEFORE we did our assessments. You do not know how thrilled I was for that! We also did our "after" pictures before assessments. Our assessments are in the following areas: Plank, Side Plank, Push Ups, Sit Ups, Squats, Bicep Curls and a 1/2 mile run. My plank at the end of session 1 was 43 seconds, today it was well over 1 minute (but I don't remember the exact time, I'll get that and share it later). My side plank was 9 seconds, today it was over 20 seconds (again I can't remember exact, but I'll get it). Push Ups: 2, today: 5. Sit Ups is an area where I did not improve... I knew this was a possibility because of my lower back... previously I did 20, today I did 19. Squats is where I saw MAJOR improvement! I went from 31 to 40! Bicep Curls I went from 31 to 37. Then on my 1/2 mile last my time was 6:43, today 6:10. Very VERY excited about the assessments, because I did not have high hopes. I like pushing myself the extra mile and today I did that. Next session, I WILL improve on sit ups! My goal is 25!

My starting weight on March 1 was 288 lbs. At the end of session 1, my weight was 269.5 lbs. Today my weight was 253 lbs. -- if you are struggling with that Math, I'm happy to help you out: 35 lbs. down since March 1. 16.5 lbs lost during this 2nd session. My goal for next session is 15 lbs, to bring me to an even 50 down prior to vacation. That will help me be motivated on vacation to keep up with the good work and not to slack just because I am on vacation. At this point, I have nothing to lose by continuing on this program, except inches and weight. And I'm happy to have those losses! Speaking of inches, last session I lost a total of 8 inches! (2 inches from each: chest, waist, hips, thighs). This session I lost a total of 9 inches. Chest: 2.5, Waist: 3, Hips: 3, and thighs .5 ... I wasn't really pleased with only losing .5 in the thighs, but I'm over the moon about the waist and hips!!!

All in all, today was an AWESOME day. I just praise the Lord for showing me how strong He made me! I thank the Lord for taking me on this journey and giving me strength to get through each class. I take this moment to recommit myself to this journey and to continue caring for the body that God gifted me. I am so blessed to be on this journey.

Thank you to Angel and Rachel, if not for them, I don't know that I'd even be on this journey right now. Their encouragement and belief in me has been a substantial part of my journey. I'll be praying for Angel this week as she leaves for vacation and visiting with family and old friends. I know how hard it can be to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you are traveling and especially when it's family cooking you haven't had in a while. I know she is going to do a great job, because she knows that she's feeling better than she has felt in a long time and she doesn't want to ever go back to where she was.

Thank you to all who have followed my journey thus far. Thank you for the positive words of encouragement. Not everyone is able to share in my joy, and while that makes me sad, I do hope that one day they WILL be able to celebrate with me and I with them. I am so thankful for each and every person that has encouraged me on this journey. I carry those words with me during my workouts, it truly helps me make it through when I'm sure I can't go on! Please continue on the journey with me. Please continue to encourage me along my path. Please continue to pray for me. I've needed this for so long and to see the transformation happening before my eyes is unbelievable. I don't want to stop. I don't want to lose momentum. I want to see who it is God intended for me to become. Help me to not lose sight of this goal.

I'll end this post on a sweet story:

Yesterday, my daughter's school had a fund raiser at Bruster's Ice Cream shop. I did not want to deny my child the chance to support her school. We loaded up the car and all six of us headed up to Bruster's. The kids ordered their treats, my husband ordered his. I decided to opt out, even though they had a coconut sorbet! While waiting for their treats, I started talking to Maegan's kindergarten teacher and she did a double take. She said, "Wait, have you lost weight?" and I said, "Oh yes!" and she said, "A WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLE LOT!" I told her I had lost close to 35 lbs. She was very excited for me and celebrated with me. -- She made opting out of the ice cream 100% worth it! I did lick Cait's baby cone because it was melting on my hand, and I did have a bite of Matt's coconut sorbet, and it was delicious, but a bite was all I needed, a whole serving would have been overkill. It was a great night and a wonderful way to go into my 2nd session assessments! I CAN! I WILL! I HAVE!!!!

Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through HIM that gives me strength.

Don't give up on me!

Sorry it has taken me SO long to post another blog. By the end of the day, I am exhausted. The ap I have for the iPad is very limited, so I dislike posting from there. That means, I have to wait until I have availability on Matt's laptop.

I've been doing pretty well with everything. This weekend was challenging, I needed to make a grocery run, but had very little time to get that accomplished. And we had parties and such to attend. Bad food choices were all around. The exciting thing is that I am able to attend parties now and just TASTE things, not over indulge. Yesterday's party included a big chocolate fountain with my FAVORITE cookies for dipping. I chose to forgo that indulgence, and instead, I shared a slice of cake with 2 of my daughters. I like sharing the cake, because then I only get a taste and don't feel guilty. I even had some cheese ball and crackers, but mostly I stuck to nuts and veggies. I made sure not to go over 1 serving of nuts. We also ate out yesterday, at a Chinese place. I have not had chinese food since beginning my journey. I was very unsure of what I should get. I ended up getting chicken and broccoli with steamed brown rice. I shared my lunch with my youngest, and we did not finish our rice, we only ate about 1/2 the serving. I did eat 100% of the broccoli though. YUM! I just tried to make the best choice of the choices offered. It really was a yummy lunch and I'm glad we indulged.

I went for a run last night. I only got in 1 mile. It was very humid and I feel that was working against me. My run was VERY slow and I was pretty upset about my time, however, I was out there and I was running and that matters more than anything.\

Yesterday was an ego boost day. While attending the party, one of the guests came up to me and asked me what I was doing and told me that I just looked great. That really made my day. Another thing that made my day (though, I'd never let him know) is that my big brother (think Shallow Hal) came up to me and said, "How much have you lost???" And he genuinely meant it. He is usually pretty cruel to me about my weight, so for him to take notice and even ask about it, was a huge boost. His wife also took notice yesterday and told me that I am looking great. She was surprised to hear that I am running. She said, "I hate running!" and I looked at her and said, "I hated it, too! But now I look forward to it!" It's all in your head about hating on exercise verses another... I'd still choose water aerobics over ANYTHING, but that's because I'm a water baby, I would live in a pool if I could! However, the run is MY time, no one asking me to do anything, no one telling me what to do. No one messing with my music. It's just my reflective time! I've never really taken time for "me" before, to just spend time in thought with myself... running provides that outlet and in a house of 6 people, I need some time for myself. So, while running will never be my favorite exercise, it is much looked forward to when I get to do it.

This is week 16 of Body Back for me! (actually I missed a week in there, so technically this is just my 15th week... lol) -- we do assessments and weigh in on Thursday. I'm not stressing my assessments this time, as I know they could possibly be a little bit lower due to my injury in my lower back throwing things off. I'm hoping to see a nice finishing weight for this 8 weeks. My next 8 week sessions begins at 6 am on Tuesday of next week, that session will take me to vacation week, so I should be in a good frame of mind for keeping up with my exercising and eating right while at the beach.

Have a wonderful week and I HOPE to update a little more often this week!

Minor Setback

So it seems I have an injury of some sort, possibly a pinched nerve. Not fun, and not helpful! Taking it easy for a few days to try to heal the issue. However, even with the minor setback, I have major news to report. As of June 6, I weigh 255.5! Remember that I started at 288! 32.5 lbs are gone! that is the weight of my third child! i've officially shed a toddler!

If it were not so late, I'd write more, however, i have to get up at 4:45, so I will write again tomorrow!

Stay Tuned!

No time for a big update this morning, however, STAY TUNED as I will have a big update this evening!!!

Could Rest No More

I've been trying to rest my knee, but the weather turned GORGEOUS, and you know, when that happens... you just HAVE to get out there and enjoy it. 5:25 this morning I headed out on a jog around the neighborhood. The weather was absolute perfection! I love early mornings and late evening in my neighborhood. Such peaceful times for running. I ran into 1 person walking... I guess he wanted to enjoy the peacefulness of this beautiful morning as well.

We had assessments on Thursday in class. WOW! I have come a long way on my plank! I held it for over 1 minute! I only held it 40 some seconds during the last 8 weeks. I was very excited. I still need work on my side plank, but it DID improve! I did not improve on sit-ups, but no worries, I'll remedy that! :) I DID improve on squats, curls and push ups!!! Awesome!!! I didn't get to do the run because we were resting my knee after the hill sprints on Tuesday. Not sure I'd be any faster, because of the knee.

Suddenly, I'm struggling with my eating. I'm finding myself unable to eat enough calories! Thankfully, I go to the nutritionist on Tuesday and maybe I can get some good ideas to up the calories. I'm just not hungry in the evenings at dinner time. I am not choosing junk, though, so that is a plus! :) Well, I don't have junk in the house to choose! (Smart!) I'm also finding that I eat too much sodium... avidly working on that and seem to be improving each day! (GO ME!) I say that, but then today will be a higher sodium day for me... I will be having mexican for dinner (birthday party) and I'll probably have popcorn (no butter) at the movies (good thing with the popcorn though, is I drink a litre of water with it!). Days that I plan out, I seem to do better with and that makes sense!

Well this is on VERY busy Saturday, so I'd better get the kids up and dressed for soccer. I just realized I forgot to dry Maegan's socks last night! EEK!!! And I've got to run to Martin's to get snacks for both teams! Let the madness begin!