Week 24

(Sorry for the upside-down pic.)

As you can tell, I got my ass in gear this week. I temporarily dropped my calories down to about 1300. Some days it was closer to 1500. I'm paying a lot more attention to what my body wants. I started puting spinach in my breakfast smoothies again. I'm watching my portions more.(Umm, except for the 1/2 watermelon I ate on Mon. Nobody got fat eating too much watermelon though.)
Some NSVs....Tues morning I ran 22 min straight. I combined my 4th & 5th intervals. So what used to be my 4th, 5th & 6th intervals are now all one interval. I was telling myself as I was getting to the end of my 2nd interval that maybe on Sat I'd combine my 2nd & 3rd interval. But I got to the end of my 4th interval and I was just feeling it so I kept going. My 3.47 mile route took me 45:30 and I ran 37 min of that. My other NSV is that I officially promoted my size 12 jeans into the drawer. And hung up a pair of size 10 khakis on the curtain rod. (I hang my motivation size pant up on the curtain rod so that I see them when I go to hit snooze. Reminds me why I need to get my ass outta bed and workout.) My good problem to have is all my size 16 jean shorts (that I've saved for 10+ yrs for the when I can finally fit into them again) are too big. 16 is the smallest size I've saved. I'm guessing that I'm between a 12 & 14. I really don't want to buy more shorts. Hopefully I'll be smaller next summer and this summer is 1/2 over already. I just wouldn't get my moneys worth. Guess I'll make due with what I have. I have been buying lots of workout clothes and running gear. Maybe I'll do a separate post on that. I might be obsessed. Buying tops in size Large and bottoms in size Medium. (Fucking Medium!!!!!!) And I swear they aren't so tight that it looks my ass is eating my shorts. They pull right up and don't have to do a dance to squeeze into them. On my shopping trip I tried on a size Large jersey dress and it fit great. Probably the highlight of my week.
Great week for me.

Week 23

Yep. So let's get real. Now  I could blame this all on my in-laws being here this past weekend, but that wouldn't be right. To completely bore the shit out of you, I'm going to list what I ate. At least what I can remember. Remember? That's right. Had I been tracking like I'm supposed [NEED] to, I would be able to look it up.
Anyway...
Fri:
3-cheese Nachos from Qdoba
Sat:
Parmesan Crusted Chicken Caesar salad from Dave&Busters
Fish & Chips (1 breaded cod filet, small portion of fries, green beans)
Glass of wine
Brownie Batter FroYo with toppings
Sun:
Jimmy Johns #5 & reduced fat chips
2 very large slices of DQ Reeses blizzard cake
Mon:
DQ Crispy Chicken salad with Ranch and some fries
Another very large slice of blizzard cake
That's just the bad stuff. I also had my usual smoothies for breakfast. Some meals this week I had a protein bar and fruit for my meal.  My biggest issue this week, (can't believe I'm going to admit this) eating an entire tub of cookie dough. That's right. Thankfully I kept up my running or I would've gained more than 3#. I would feel so sick and miserable after the ice cream and cookie dough but I still kept eating it. It was like my brain took a time machine back to when I was 70# heavier. Am I self sabotaging? Was I using the excuse (read: reason to blame on someone I don't like ) of family visiting to eat like shit?
I'm pissed at myself. When I did WW, I'd gotten about 40# off and then I started falling off track. Gained back some weight. Then I got pregnant. I can't do that this time. I have to keep going. I still have a good 60 (65 now) pounds to lose.
I'm going to track my food again. I might cut my calories. I'm scared to cut too much because that can have the reverse affect. We said we would get a juicer for our anniversary so I need to look into those. I need to make an appointment with my Dr to make sure there aren't any concerns about me doing a juice fast. I'm talking 7-10 days. I think it would be so good for my mind. To stop focusing on food and just focus on what my body is telling me.
Hopefully the next time I see you I'll be back on track and a few pounds lighter.

Week 22

Yep. The same.
My non-scale victory this week is that I'm running 16 minutes straight within my 3.5 mile route. That's more than an entire mile. I've never jogged a mile in my life. It feels awesome! I've combined my 4th & 5th intervals together. Soon I might get brave enough to combine my 2nd & 3rd intervals. This girl inspired me to push myself. Seriously, if she can run a mile so can I. She did awesome! I don't know her. Never conversed with her before. But I am so proud of her.
My non-scale failure was allowing myself to eat an entire bag of PB M&Ms fully knowing I'd feel sick. Sometimes I feel like I'll never learn.

Week 21

That is one sexy foot tan, right?
Had a good week. I'm getting back to where I was with my runs. I still haven't my speed back from before I was sick, but back to getting all 6 intervals in. I'll get there soon.
I've created a cleaning schedule for myself. I do a pretty shitty job of keeping the house clean and I need to be better about. We don't have a hoarders situation going on here or anything. No bathtubs filled with cat shit or 2 year old gallon of milk in the fridge. We just procrasinate for a few weeks, then its "Oh shit, [family member] will be here next weekend. Need to start cleaning." I want my kids to grow up in a clean home like I did. My mom was single with 4 kids. I really don't have an excuse. I'm lazy. I use the kids as a crutch. If R is napping, I don't want to make noise doing _______ and risk waking her. I don't feel like carrying R upstairs to clean our master bedroom while G is napping. The excuses need to stop. I don't want to teach my kids to be lazy. And shit, if my ass is up cleaning that's just more calories I'm burning. Plus G likes to help me do stuff around the house. It takes longer but I know it'll be worth it. I've tried a cleaning schedule before , but its never stuck. Guess I can just keep trying.
Something I've been considering lately is seeing a therapist. I think the smart thing to do is work out my mental issues with food. Of course there's other things I could use help with, but that would be one of my bigger reasons to go. Not sure I can justify the cost yet. If there's anyone reading that has seen a therapist for losing weight, please chime in if it did or didn't help you.
That damn 199 on the scale is so close I can almost taste it. I will get there. Hopefully by the end of June.

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.