Progress

So last week I only worked out 2 of the 4 days I wanted to work out but one day I was sick and honestly, I needed some R&R so I don't feel bad. Especially since I'm down a WHOLE 5 pounds since my last weigh in, which was sometime last week. I've changed my eating habits, salads for lunch and oatmeal for breakfast, with a greek yogurt between those meals. I also have gone on a few walks with the dogs while I wasn't working out because my pups deserve it.
We also got another dog. What we were thinking, I don't know, but she's an amazing little ball of fire.

Welcome Dezzy. :)

So we have progress, I'm excited that I'm getting there. I don't think I'll be making it to an actual gym anytime in the near future, the girl is still too young to be left alone for too long. So in the mean time I'll be running, biking, and working out at home. 

Monday - 2 mile run, arms/shoulders (Dezzy on a short walk, gotta get her used to a leash)

Tuesday - 1 mile run 

Wednesday - 1.5 mile run, abs/back (Dezzy on a short walk, gotta get her used to a leash)

Thursday - off, walk with the dogs

Friday - off, walk with the dogs

Saturday - Bike ride and/or puppy walk

Sunday - off, walk with the dogs

With having 3 dogs now, it is imperative that we get them the amount of exercise they need. So regardless if I like it or not, I'll be walking my way back into shape. Go me!! 

Dinner tonight 

Grilled chicken wings without sauce (for me) 

Ranch for dipping 

Grilled veggies

It's a delicious no carb dinner and low in calories :) :)

More Roadblocks?

I've decided I could never be a road warrior, constantly traveling. 2 weeks ago I headed to Orlando for a few days for a work trade show. Got there Tuesday, went for a quick run Tuesday afternoon. Worked close to 10 hour days the next 2 days, needless to say, didn't workout. Didn't eat as healthy as I would while home either, didn't eat terribly, but didn't have great breakfasts. Friday the man friend and I went to Universal Studios, now while we walked a good 6 miles, we also ate all fried foods. Same thing on Saturday except we probably only walked 2 or 3 miles. Then Sunday we drove home. It's almost impossible to eat well on the road without spending a fortune. 
Started to get back into a rhythm on Monday, worked out for an hour, felt great. Ate well and planned on doing more of the same thing the rest of the week. QUE roadblock #2109843297... Got a phone call from the family explaining that my grandfather is not doing well at all. So I had planned on going for a run with Nick when I got home and instead I fell apart. So Tuesday night we packed our bags and planned our trip back to Michigan for the weekend. Again, not easy to eat well on the road, especially when you take off with such short notice, no time to pack lunches or anything. So we drove until real late on Wednesday night and finished the drive to his parents on Thursday. Had a good home cooked dinner every night we were in town - BONUS us. 
Friday morning we got up and headed to LA Fitness with my sister with all intentions of working out there, just purchasing a pass. Well it's $15 a day, or $9.99 a week BUT you have to pay your first and last week up front. So we passed because honestly, I'm not paying $30 or more to workout one day. But thank you LA Fitness for screwing us, sadly you just lost my business for life. I've been a member on 2 separate occasions, loved it, the only reason I cancelled is because the closest one to me currently is 1.5 hours away. Sadly because Nick is an officer we will get stationed near another LA Fitness again, maybe more than once, and because the way the Royal Oak branch has treated him I will never join there again. </end rant> Well, those intentions to work out were thwarted. Lame SAUCE. 
I just feel like my attempts to get into shape are always being thrown in my face, I kind of hate it. And then there is today, I'm exhausted. I know I should workout but after driving 12 hours yesterday and getting very little sleep last night, I just can't. Although, I do have big plans to work out every day the rest of the work week. I am determined to lose weight, I am trying, it's just not showing. At. All. 
So I guess I'm starting over, again, for the millionth time. But the difference here is that I'll always keep trying until I get there because I have to get there. I can't be this unhealthy. So here is to second, third, and fourth attempts, and to this attempt to be my last. 


Tuesday - Run 10, 3, 10 with the dogs
Wednesday - Elliptical 20, Stair stepper 10 minutes, back, abs, shoulders
Thursday - Run 8, 2, 8 with the dogs
Friday - Elliptical 20-30 minutes, arms/upper body


Here is to working to lose that 2pounds this week!! 

Success!!

Yesterday I started and completed my first 5k run ever. I've never felt so awesome in my life. I finished in under 40 minutes and sadly, walked twice. I honestly think had I run it alone I may have run the whole time but my partner in running easily swayed me into walking. After the second walk I felt completed defeated and decided that I wanted to finish running the rest of the race without stopping and I did. I kicked the crap out of the rest of that race. My shin started to hurt a bit the last .1 mile of the race but that didn't stop me from finishing. I'm currently researching 5k runs for the next 4 months at least.
I'm signing up for one April 2nd. I'm hoping to do the Warrior Dash in May in Atlanta, I think that would be so awesome to do. Then looking for a race in June, July, August, & September, possibly even in October. I'm so excited.

So on another side note, I gained 10 pounds in the 2 weeks I wasn't training because of my shin splint, topping off at the heaviest I've ever been on a scale. Awesome. But the good news is that I'm down 5 pounds since then.  So I still have 30 more pounds to go but I WILL get there.

It's The Final Countdown!!!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
Sunday is my first 5k ever. I'm not properly prepared but I don't care. My leg, well my shin splint, has been a pain in the arse. It has deterred my running but not my working out, thankfully. So after my 5k is completed I plan on taking at least a week if not more off of running and running only. I still plan on working out but for cardio, walking or the elliptical will suffice because I need to rest my leg. Nick's leg is finally starting to get much better and we're going to start working out together again. I'm very excited for that. We made a plan too.
I leave next week for work and then he's joining me at the end of the trip for a vacation. Since it's a lot of traveling and he may be leaving from our vacation to go out of town for work, we'll start our plan in 3 weeks.
This week he's giving up booze, which means I'm giving it up for the most part too since I don't really see myself drinking much with him. This week I'm also giving up chocolate and cutting back on sweets. For Lent you're supposed to give up something that will be a struggle and let me tell you, my sweet tooth is going to be a struggle.
So new workout plan! Yay!!!

Monday - P90x Chest&Back in the AM, ab Ripper X in the afternoon
Tuesday - Bridge to 10k (at least 30 minutes of cardio) after soccer practice
Wednesday - P90x Shoulder&Arms in the AM, ab Ripper X in the afternoon
Thursday - Bridge to 10k (at least 30 minutes of cardio) after soccer practice
Friday - P90x Legs&Back in the AM, ab Ripper X in the afternoon
Saturday - Before or After soccer game, Bridge to 10k (at least 30 minutes of cardio)
Sunday - Rest&Recover

Schedule for 3/21 through 4/17

Ready GO!

Setbacks can EAT IT

Well let's start with the good news, as of today I haven't gained any weight since last week. Yaaaay right? No, not so much. 
My goal is to lose 10 pounds in a month, not losing weight in a week does not help me reach that goal. Not only is that not awesome, work has been so busy that it's completely worn me out every night this week, and I'm hurt. Wednesday I started Week 7 and made it through maybe 8 minutes of running until I had to stop because I was in a lot of pain in my left leg. Yesterday while coaching soccer I had to run back to my car and just that short 400 yards hurt to run. I'm a little deflated over it all but realize that my running 7 out of 10 days and walking the dogs 2 of those "off" 3 days, really didn't help me, it actually ended up hurting my progress. 
Tonight I am going to workout on the elliptical hoping that there is less stress on my injured area than when running. I feel like I have to do something. I'll probably take the weekend off and really rest my injury and start back at Week 7 on Monday. Unfortunately this means that week 9 starts the Monday AFTER I run my 5k. That should be interesting. I'm confident that I will be able to finish my 5k, it just won't be in ideal conditions. I am also planning on doing Warrior Dash in May or July, which is 3.2 mile run with about a mile or more worth of crazy obstacles. It's going to be SO hard but I think it'll totally be worth it in the end. 


So new plan for this weekend... 


Friday - 20 minutes Elliptical, Ab Ripper
Saturday - Arms, Back, Shoulders
Sunday - Puppy walk, rest


Hopefully next week I'll be back on track for realz...


Monday - Week 7 Day 1, ab ripper
Tuesday - Coach soccer
Wednesday - Week 7 Day 2, ab ripper, arms, shoulders, back
Thursday - Coach soccer, lower leg workout
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Week 7 Day 3, ab ripper
Sunday - Rest


I hope that this will become my regular schedule until soccer games start on the weekends, I will have to adjust that depending on my schedule. I'm realizing that when I make time, it gets done (unless I'm hurt). Either way, I'm doing more than I have done in the last 6 months to improve my health and get my butt into wedding gown shape. Small steps. Rome wasn't built in a day. Right?

Small Successes

It's always the small things in life that make us happy, right? It seems that way for me at least. Yesterday I finished C25k, Week 6. My fiance' rode his bike behind me the entire time so that I didn't have to do it alone. (When he finally gets his hamstring all better, I told him I'd redo the C25k program with him so we can run together.) Day 3 of Week 6 is the beginning of the end of intervals. I ran for 25 minutes straight, only stopping once to pick up my dog's poop. Thanks Ace. In those 25 minutes I did 2.5 miles, that's 1.1 miles away from a 5k!! Nick says he thinks I could run a 5k right now if I wanted to, which I agree, but I don't think I'm ready by any stretch of the imagination. I'm taking the next 2 days off because my shins are a little sore and I think my body needs a few days of rest. 
I've been so proud of myself lately because I've taken this C25k thing so seriously. I am drinking my protein, eating better, and motivating my running partner to get her butt in gear. I have also been making sure to rest when I should, I have a habit of going too hard when I get back into working out which inevitably discourages me because I make myself so sore that I HAVE to take too much time off. I am starting to feel like I'm losing weight even though I'm not actually losing much but I'll get there. It'll happen. As Nick reminds me when I get frustrated, "Rome wasn't built in a day." I do have an amazing support system and I hope that those of you (probably none) that read this blog have the same, or are looking for that because without it I would probably fail, multiple times. Sadly. 

So my workout schedule for this week should look something like this...


Monday - Off
Tuesday - Coach soccer, a few sprints with the kids :)
Wednesday - W7D1, Ab Ripper, Strength training
Thursday - Coach soccer, a few sprints with the kids :)
Friday - W7D2, Ab Ripper, Strength training
Saturday - W7D3
Sunday - Off

So here are some short term goals because apparently long term goals scare me into hiding.

• Lose 10 pounds in 4 weeks (Posting weekly loss results here)
• Finish 5k training program
• Run ShamrockNroll March 13
• I have modified my chocolate, I'm instead giving up chocolate for Lent as it would be much harder for me to give that up than drinking. 
• Make dinner 4-5 nights a week, leftovers 2-3 nights a week
• Reduce beer intake during the week (No I don't drink every night but I've found recently I have had more than 1 beer after work on more than 1 night a week, not including Friday/Saturday)
• Weight train at least 1 day a week for 40 minutes, if 2 days a week, 20 minutes each day
• Work my abs for 10 minutes or more, 3 days a week

Tonight's Dinner: 

Shrimp Stir Fry

1 pound shrimp

1/2 of each Yellow, Orange, Green Pepper

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 pound snow peas

1/2 cup white onion

1 cup brown rice

Soy Sauce

Sesame Oil 

S&P

1. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large pan. 

2. Cook brown rice according to package directions. 

3. Add the shrimp and cook until 2/3 finished, remove from pan, set aside. 

4. Add some soy sauce and a little sesame oil, cook the veggie medley. Once the veggies are cooked, about 7-11 minutes, add the shrimp back to the mix. Cook the stir fry together for another 4 minutes. 

This makes a little more than 2 servings. We usually have enough for at least 1 person to eat this as leftovers. 

Enjoy! 

Steer the course..

It's Thursday, yaaay... One more day until Friday, which is so reassuring. I've been chocolate free for 2 whole days now and it's not as miserable as I figured it would be. I've told the people around me not to offer me any chocolate so I can keep "clean". Yesterday I completed Week 6 Day 1 and felt really good about. I ran on the treadmill which makes me feel like I'm cheating because it seems easier. Today I am doing Week 6 Day 2 with my dogs. They really love the exercise but they're such a pain to run together. I haven't done any weight training this week but I'm hoping to find the time for it sometime this weekend. I'm also considering taking Friday night off of running and then running Day 3 on Saturday and doing my weight training on Sunday with a mile run also. 


Oh and I weighed myself today. Last week I weighed 165 (still) 


Today I am down 1 whole pound! 


I'm not super happy with the results but I'll take any negative(loss) number over a positive(gain). I'm hoping my giving up of chocolate will have some effect on my weight loss. 


A few other goals that are going to come my way shortly (Lent) 
- I'm giving up alcohol for lent
- I'm giving up french fries for lent
- I am signing up for the Warrior Dash in May, its a 3.2 mile course with 6 obstacles in the last mile (waist high water, fire, cargo nets, tunnels, junk yard, wall... etc) It's going to be so hard but I'm so excited to do it. 


All of these things are positive things and they're attainable goals. That's all I have to keep remembering!! 




So here are some short term goals because apparently long term goals scare me into hiding.

• Lose 10 pounds in 4 weeks (Posting weekly loss results here)
• Finish 5k training program
• Run ShamrockNroll in March
• Give up Chocolate for 4 weeks
• Make dinner 4-5 nights a week, leftovers 2-3 nights a week
• Reduce beer intake during the week (No I don't drink every night but I've found recently I have had more than 1 beer after work on more than 1 night a week, not including Friday/Saturday)
• Weight train at least 1 day a week for 40 minutes, if 2 days a week, 20 minutes each day
• Work my abs for 10 minutes or more, 3 days a week