Yesterday was again "perfect" Food was on, and I did my weight workout with no issues. I even upped the weight on everything which was pretty cool! I hope to continue to do so periodically as I want to be getting stronger as well as gaining endurance as the months go by. I've never believed in being a 'helpless female'

Will try to update more later. I have a 3 mile run scheduled for tonight!

I can't believe it! I just signed up for my first 5K! It's in two weeks in San Francisco. It's on mother's day and it's a race that's geared toward women (though men are allowed to run as well). I'm not really expecting to run the etire way, as a matter of fact I've been training to take walk breaks every 9 minutes. But I expect it to be a LOT of fun. After that - those NO stopping me! an 8k then a 10k and so on, and so forth! I'm getting SO exctied! This week was clean for the ENTIRE week! I think that's the first time that's happend all year! I want to see many more after this. I'm ready, ready to take this bull by the horns and see some results. Actually not only results but I'm ready to see myself reach my goal... the goal is set for November folks!

Yesterday went great. I stayed on plan and got my sweetie back.

Today was even better! Got my run in and have had a clean day food wise. I'm really feeling strong, and even passed up mac and cheese at dinner tonight. and brownies as the office this afternoon.

Feeling good and looking forward to the weekend. Sunday's a free day but I think I'll keep it pretty low key as I haven't been having any major cravings. So there's nothing really feel I need to splurge on.

I've been taking in more calories, but still struggled a little with my run. This was more the normal... man this is hard, I'm breathless kind and of struggling instead of the man my legs feel like LEAD feeling. I still found myself counting down the minutes to my next walk break. Still willing to push myself - I wanna see extraordinary results and those arn't going to happen by ordinary means!

tomorrow I lift again hopefully in the morning so I can run in the evening.

Off to enjoy my luv bug...

Alright, so I made a mistake, I walked into a clothing store again. *sigh* I just get SO frustrated with sizing. You see, I tried on some kakis last night that are a size 12. They button, but won't zip all the way. So I figured I was just a little bit closer to a size 12 now then I was to a size 14 when I started my first challenge. BUT, today in the store I picked up four size 12's thanking to have a few 'goal pants' - One (darn hip huggers) I couldn't even button, Two, fit perfectly, and another I went back out and got a size 10 (which fit perfectly). So, maybe size 12 not an agressive enough goal? Well - I'll leave the goal as it is and specifially say that I will fit into MY size 12's that I have sitting at home right now.

And the frustration with my unbalanced body continues (been an issue since Jr High) ... Obviously I'm nearly a 12 on bottom, but I'm still in extra large shirts :( and size 16 dresses...

Another clean day! I did my weight workoutpretty much as planned. I didn't get home until 8:00 pm and was feeling a little frazzled because I wanted to be somewhere at 9:00, BUT I didn't let that stop me! I went ahead and did my weight workout, I just eliminated the rest periods, wich actually made for an interesting workout that got my heartrate up for a bit. I think I'm going to end up a little sore tomorrow wich is cool, but I'm pretty sure that I need to up the weights on everything except the biceps (For some reason they are always lagging behind the rest of my body parts)

Well - I just got done inputting the past couple day's food. I was right! I'm WAY under eating - again. Today I only got up to 1200 calories, and while yesterday was around 1500, most of those where late in the day, and it's still no where near the 2000 my calculations say I should be eating right now. Time to take some SERIOUS action! I need all my energy to continue running the way I am.

Plan for tomorrow is a little shaky right now. I know I need to run, but I'm picking up my sweetheart from the airport at 7:00pm. I'll be leaving to get him right after work. My guess is that once I get home there is NO WAY I'll want to leave his side long enough to jump on the treadmill. SO... I either get up early (yeah, that's going to happen - NOT), run at lunch, or push my workout to Friday. Running at lunch isn't much of a choice either because I sweat SO MUCH when I run. If worse comes to worse I'll double up tomorrow, but I really don't want to have to do that, it makes me feel like I"m cheeting somehow.

I guess I need to try to get SOME sleep - now - it's only 3:00am! :P

Not really all that much to report. Instead of analyzing things I've been gettin them done! Food's been clean for two days and on track to be clean again today. I had a great weight workout on Monday and ran 2.75 miles on Tuesday. In truth it hasn't been all that hard to stay on track. My sweety is out of town and since we only have one card to access our account with, I sent it with him. Therefore I've had no cash on hand for snacks and slurges. That means I'm eating what's at home, and the 'worse' thing I've got there is probably the jar of organic natural peanut butter. So, food's been clean. Also, since my honey's not home - I'm doing all I can to keep myself occupied. This means that it's really easy for me to do my workout as soon as I get home. If I can just keep these patterns up when he gets back, things will be awsome!

Tonight it's weights again - and tomorrow a 2 mile run. I'm only a few weeks out from my 5K! I can hardly believe that I've managed to stick with the training like this. It's a big boost to my self esteem.

Best news of all is a few day's good eating and I've dropped some water weight. Clothes are fitting more like I expect again, and the scale is saying 181.5 - That's more like it!!

So - I still want it THIS Year. Last week started out grand. I worked out on Monday - ran on Tuesday. Then my kids came over and I took three days off work and POOF! Granted I deliberatly took some time off because my knee was hurting, but I'm still not happy with the way things are going. So, so things WILL change!

I will no longer accept excuses from myself for not working out. I will spend more energy figuring out how to make my workouts happen instead of figuring out how to get out of them!

I will plan my meals. I will pick a plan, stick with it - follow it as written and give it a chance to work. I'm going to do BFL for a few weeks. In the mean while I'm going to send a request to the staff at Beverly International for them to create a meal plan for me. They are out of the office until May so it may be a while before they get back to me.

I have recruted a friend to help me. She's been given the task of following up with me and not accepting my excuses for missed workout or poor meals. And I've accepted the task of doing the same for her.

I will take no prisoners. I will reach my goals THIS YEAR!!

THIS YEAR - Those words have been ringing in my ears all day. You see, if I can average 1.75 pounds per week I will reach my goals THIS YEAR.... I'm desperatly trying to wrap my brain around that thought... to believe it in that little dark place in my heart where all words, of all the doubters in my life tend to gather. Including my own.

But, "This Year," is resounding pretty loudly - I just need to keep it that way.

I started work on my project plan. Adding all my workouts as tasks until November 6th. (That's my goal date). If I miss a workout - it throws off my baseline and pushes out my goal date. Amazing how seeing the DIRECT cause and effect can change your perspective... This Year

Yes, I'm still trying to figure out the nutrition plan. What I wish - is that someone would just hand me a list of foods and say "Eat this today" and then the same the next day and the same the next. Yeah, yeah - it's Jenny Craige dieting I know, but I really don't want to THINK about food any more then nessisary. But, I'm sure there's a happy medium. I'll have to work through my food issues and at the same time make planning my nutrition a priority without it being an obsession. uhm.. yeah.

Still - THIS YEAR!

muhahahahah

Last Night was crazy! I got home and immediatly went to the store. I did a LOT of shopping and ended up spending about 2 hours in the store. By the time I unpacked grocheries and then fixed and ate dinner it was about 9:30pm and I was tired! Several excuses for not working out drifted through my head, but, in truth, that visual of a gant chart with my schedule already behind because I've missed one of my tasks got me off the couch. This is a project, and on a project EVERY task is critical for a sucessful completion of that project. So, I did the workout. It actually was really good, though I could raise the weights on both leg excercises. The stretching felt GREAT and I'm thinking I might even lengthen the time for that as I LOVE to stretch and it might be nice to challenge myself in that area a little more. After my workout, I colored my hair, so that took up the remainder of my evening. I still plan on going through ALL the project planning steps and getting a complete set of documents in hand. Not only because I think it sets things even further in concrete, but because it's fun.

So, today's plan is this. 2.5 miles of running and some yoga/stretching. I actually forgot my lunch at HOME today (duh) so I'll have to drop by the store to pick up something but I WILL keep in clean. I will!

Maybe this really IS the 'last time'. Funny thing. Last night as we were laying in bed my fiance' asked me. "So, how's the diet going?". I kind of laid there puzzled and then said "fiiiiine..?" He said, "Well, I just wondered. I wanted to make sure you haven't given up!". I had to laugh at that. Me!? Give UP!? now THAT'S not happening!

It's time. It's time to set some goals, make some plans, get off my @$$ and get MOVING. I'm tired of being stuck where I am! I'm tired of saying "someday"... I'm tired this haphazard approach to my life, my health... I am going to DO something! I know, I know, you've all heard this from me before. And yes, I may have to give myself this mental @$$ kicking AGAIN... But for now, I'm going to pretend that this is the last time I'll be saying "This is the last time!"

The good news is that I haven't fallen off of my running program since I got my treadmill (except when I was sick, and I missed two workouts then). I have a weight program in place (I'll post in further down) and I have an idea of what I would like my nutrition to look like. The next step is to create a real 'plan'. and I don't just mean "Monday I will eat..." I mean a PLAN. I'm actually going to put some of this project managment stuff that I spent over a year studying and put it to good use! Yes, yes, looseing weight isn't like building a house or writing code, but there ARE some things that I put to use, and I intend to. I'll be sure to share it with everyone when I get it all together. It should be fun and interesting.

I've desided to try a new wieght training program. Because I'm running alot (and more every week) I desided it was better if I did a weight training program that was more geared toward the kind of stress I'll be putting on my body as I train for a marathon (did I say I was training for a marthon before? Well if not before I did now!). So here's the new plan:

Workout 3 days per week. Rotating between two variations. For balance I’ve decided on an alternating Push/Pull workout, and again for balance I’ve decided that my variation will be to switch the order of the Push/Pull.

Variation 1:
Quads: Plie’ Squat 25lbs x 15 (Runners should do what they can to strengthen the vastus medialis www.exrx.net/Muscles/Quadriceps to help in knee tracking and this seems to me to be one of the best squats for targeting that area)
30 seconds – Standing Quad stretch
Hamstrings: Straight-let Deadlift 35lbs x 15
30 seconds – Seated Single Leg Hamstring Stretch
Chest: Dumbbell Bench Press 20lbs x 15
30 seconds – Doorway Chest Stretch
Side Delt: Upright Row ???5lbs x 15 (Maybe, I have shoulder issues that may make this one a no-go)
30 seconds – Side Deltoid Stretch
Front Calves Heavy Band x 15 (I’m doing these because they are recommended to rehabilitate my planter fascia)
30 seconds – Kneeling Shin Stretch
Back: Bent Row 20lbs x 15
30 seconds – Fixed Bar Back Stretch
Tri – Bench Dip x 15
30 seconds – Overhead Triceps Stretch
Biceps – Dumbbell Curl 10 x 15
30 seconds – Standing Biceps Stretch
Abs and Lower Back – Pilates:
The Hundred 10 sets of 10
The Roll Up 5 Reps
Single Leg Circles 5 Circles each direction each leg
Rolling Like a Ball 8 Reps
Single Leg Stretch 8 Sets
Double Leg Stretch 8 Sets
Single Straight Leg Stretch 8 Sets
Double Straight Leg Stretch 8 Sets
Criss-Cross 8 Sets
Spine Stretch Forward 5 Sets

Variation 2:
Same weight, exercise and stretch
Hamstrings
Quads
Back
Chest
Side Deltoid
Biceps
Triceps
Abs
Calves

Week 1:
Mon Var 1, Wed Var 2, Fri Var 1
Week 2:
Mon Var 2, Wed Var 1, Fri Var 2

I'm doing my first workout tonight and I'm expecting that it will be a REAL kicker...