Week 20

No nasty pic of my feet today. Let me explain. The first of our trip to Memphis I did great. I splurged but kept my calorie balance for the day. I drank only water even though they had at least 5 different kinds of pop (I was raised in KS. We say pop.) in the house. Sat morning I got out for a run at 7:30. Jogged about 25 min total (intervals) and did just over 3 miles. I had every intention to do the same Sun am. Then at 3am Sunday morning, R (the baby) woke up crying. I spent over 2 hrs trying to get her back to sleep. By 5:30, I was so tired, frustrated, exhausted, etc. I put her back in bed. And told Hubs it was his turn to deal with her. Not my proudest mommy moment. Honestly, thinking back I wasnt frustrated at her. It's because I knew I wouldn't get my Sun run in. Yes, early morning would be the only time I could. It was high 90s and Memphis humidity, an afternoon run was not gonna happen. That evening was out because we had plans. So I figured I'd just switch my workout day to Mon. (Mon & Fri are my off days) During the day Sun, R started to get a runny nose and slight fever. So then we knew it was because she wasn't feeling well. And I of course had mommy guilt for getting frustrated with her.  Well, then R woke around 2am and slept with me until 6:30am. Those of you that haven't tried sleeping with an infant next to you, its not exactly what I'd call a restful sleep. She had to sleep at an incline also. So then my run wasn't going to happen again. We drove home Mon. (Sorry, this is getting long.)
Mon evening I started to not feel well. Tues am I took some nighttime cold medicine and J stayed home to watch the kids. Still feeling like crap Tues evening, I took more nighttime cold meds. I was going to try at least walking Wed morning, but the meds had me knocked out. Last nite I was feeling better so no meds. And had planned to get my ass outside even though there was rain in the forecast. Then I woke up a million times last night. Even had a bloody nose once. And I was too tired when my alarm went off at 5:20. And that my friends is [the very boring reason] why I haven't worked out since Sat.
I feel like the laziest sack of shit! I have never before kept an exercising routine for so long. I'm still amazed by how much I have changed these past few months. I am craving a good run. Hell, even a shitty run. I want to sweat! Not running, is really affecting my mood.
Now back to why I didn't weigh myself. Maybe I lost weight. Maybe I gained a lb or 2. Maybe I stayed the same. Since I'm already feeling crappy about myself ( being sick and not exercising), I don't want risk seeing a gain just have it throw me even more off track. If I see a gain, I know I'll give myself permission to eat crap food. And you all know what kind of cycle that would create.
I will get up tomorrow morning to run.
I will not let this be the end of my journey.
I will get back on track.
I will keep going.
I will meet my 2nd goal of getting into the 100s very soon.
I will be back next week with a loss!

Week 19

If you remember, my goal was to get down to 200# or less by Memorial weekend. As you can see I didn't make it. It's okay though. I am really close.
Even though we will be visiting family, I still plan on doing my runs Sat & Sun morning. I'd like to bump my intervals up to at least 5 min but I'm going to just see how it goes. It's supposed to mid/high 90s where we're going. I have a path of just over 3 miles mapped out. (I'm typically doing 3.5 miles at home.)
I'm feeling a little nervous about eating while we're gone. My sister knows that I'm losing weight so I'm sure she'll be understanding. I am going to try to be relaxed about what I'm eating but also be extremely mindful of my portions. I have apples, pears, and oranges packed so I have healthy snack options.

*Posting from my phone so the picture may be upside-down

Week 18

Ehh. Honestly, I was glad I didn't gain. It was a rough weekend. Hubs was gone. A friend came over for pizza Fri nite. Sat was a kids Bday party. Sun was Mothers Day so we ate out for dinner. I felt like crap. I started over Mon. I've been really working on eating clean. Last week I talked more about my runs. I up'd my first 3 intervals to 4:30 min. And this morning I ran a total of 34 min.
Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the zoo. Of course I'm looking forward to spending the day as a family and getting to see G point out animals, but I'm also excited that I won't have to walk that much and worry about my hips killing me. That makes me happy.

Week 17

...again. I've gotten into that ridiculous cycle of gaining the same weight on the weekend and then losing it during the week. I'm sure some of this is my hormones and such adjusting from no longer pumping. I've also been eating out more lately. I'm working on this. It's a constant struggle to stay positive and remember how far I've come. On the positive side I'm up to 32 minute of jogging (in intervals) and my first 3 intervals are up to 4 min. I'm wasting time so I'll try to explain my typical run that I've been doing. I have a set path I take in our subdivision that is about 3.5 miles. A bit longer than a 5k I hope to get signed up for so I should be well prepared. The first 5 min I walk to get my heart rate up. Jog 4 min, walk about 2 min, Jog 4 min, 2 min walk, Jog 4 min, 2 min walk, 7 min jog, 2 min walk, 6 min jog, 3 min walk, 5 min jog. That's approximate walk times. I use a stop watch on my wrist to time only my jogging. It adds up right though because it takes me 46-47 min. Each week I increase my first 3 intervals by 30 sec. The last 3 intervals I have slowly increased distance. Both work for me. I KNOW I can jog at least 4 min now and I don't have an excuse to cut one interval short. Unless I'm getting chased down by a dog, then I have to stop and walk. :::rolling eyes::: at irresponsible dog owners The last 3 intervals I know how far I can go. I didn't plan to break it down this way. Its just how it worked out. I have certain jogging start points that I will have to adjust soon as my first 3 intervals increase to 5/6 min. While I was running Sat, I remembered how proud I was the day I'd worked up to jogging 14 min total. And now I've more than doubled that. It amazes me how much I have pushed myself AND for how long I have kept this up. I'm still the old me, but I am such a new person. Whether I eat like crap for a weekend or get in a funk, I still don't have a desire to go back to the old me. My kids are loving this new mom. Better mom. Every single day, I get down on the floor with them to play. Its my favorite part of the day and I think its theirs too. And I'm so happy that I can do that physically.

Week 16

Now don't get me wrong. I loved seeing a lower number on the scale this week, but I'm a little confused by it. Normally throughout the week I float around 2-4# more than my past weigh in. Some is clothes. Some is water/food weight. I don't stress over it. I just use it to keep on track and make sure nothing is getting out of hand. This past week I floated 5-6# over. I pretty much knew I was going to gain. I was pleased to see 1.5# loss. Makes me wonder whats going on with my body though. I have gotten up to jogging a total of 31 min. Its in intervals, but I can remember being happy about getting up to 14 min. I really am proud of myself. I'm planning to get signed up for a 5k. Registration has opened yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can. This is something I NEVER thought I'd do. I've come a long way in 5 months.

Week 15

1/2 a lb is still a loss. Its not bothering me. I wasn't able to get in my usual Thur am workout. I switched Thur & Fri this week b/c of our schedule. I made today my rest day and tomorrow a workout day. Even though I did take the kids on a walk this morning before lunch. Beautiful 70* weather here, but pushing a 28# kid in a stroller and wearing a 20# baby on my back is a workout. I was drenched in sweat and burned quite a few calories. We have family coming to visit and I know I won't be able to eat healthy or watch my calories as easily. I have to be flexible though or this weight won't stay off.

Week 14

I'm so glad it's showing on the scale that I had a good week. Since mid-Jan I've lost 32#, plus the 5# before I really started keeping track. This also means I have 5 wks to hit my goal of getting to 200 by Memorial weekend. 9# in 5 wks seems totally doable. And if I don't hit it, I should be pretty damn close. I also want to note that I lost 3.5# in a week that I had dinner with friends at The Melting Pot {including cheese dip, salad and dessert} and another night I met a friend for a margarita. You can lose weight without depriving yourself of foods {and drinks} you like. And I only got in 4 workouts this week.
 I'm really starting to notice the extra skin on my arms, my boobs, my stomach. Ugh, its so ugly! I'm dreaming of future surgeries. Getting my boobs lifted is #1 on that list.
And this chica has me inspired to do a 5k. I don't know when. Maybe next spring. There are some really close to me that are in the fall. I was looking at the C25K program and I definitely don't need to start at the beginning. Around the longest that I've jogged at once is 3 min. I've been doing 1-2 min or so. So today I worked on every interval jogging at least 3 min. And 2 of the intervals I got up to about 4.5 min. I was pretty impressed with myself. Yesterday I started using the MapMyRun app to track as I'm walk/jogging. To say I love it is an understatement. Gives me my time, pace, distance, calories burned and I'm sure there's more.

Here's some updated pics...