Still Going...and sensing a pattern!

Ok, I'm a day late on my checking in, but in my defense yesterday was CHA day and I was trolling all MB's and blogs for sneak peeks of new crafting supplies!

Anyhow, I was status quo for the week - nothing gained, nothing lost. I had a good week eating and exercise-wise though, so I'm not down about it. But look at my weight tracker on the right side of the screen.........-3, -2, -0, +1, -3, -2, 0...........hmmm very interesting! Now my goal is to not repeat the +1 that comes next in my pattern! That was 4th of July week and I was way off on my eating and exercising, so if I can keep on truckin' I should be good!!

Weekly Weight Check In!

WOW. Where did the week go??? I pushed myself a bit harder on my exercise this week and it paid off. Today I stepped on the scale and could hardly believe that 129 was staring back at me! That is 2 more pounds lost, for a total of 9 pounds! I can tell that my clothes fit better and I finally feel more energy. A few weeks ago I was frustrated because I still had to drag myself to exercise - but this week I actually felt like doing it. I hope that feeling continues!

Another thing I started to do this week was to look beyond the points (the Weight Watchers points, that is). I've been thinking in terms of points for so long, I lost touch with calories. I also wanted to see how my carb and protein breakdowns were. I am a partial vegetarian so getting enough protein is a concern for me. I'll post again later today or tomorrow with a photo to show the cool food journal I purchased to help me keep track this way.

Down 3 lbs this Week for a Total of 7!!

Just a quick check in to say I was down 3 pounds this week to 131!! So I lost the pound I had gained the week before and 2 more - woo hoo! Total weight loss to date is 7 pounds!

Benchmark 2 & some random 5k thoughts!!

I ran in the MLB All-Star 5k that was held in St. Louis yesterday morning. I was so worried I would find an excuse not to go that I barely slept the night before. But I got up and did it! I had a great feeling of confidence and pride just driving there, because a few months ago I couldn't imagine myself doing that! Here I am about 6:30am Sunday: Yes, I am wearing the same outfit as I did for the Race for the Cure 5k - except without an extra five pounds! I beat my time as well, clocking in at an official time of 34:14 - woo hoo!!

Here is the scrapbook layout I did for that race for comparison:

So I have running shorts, but no running shirt. I would love to get one of those running tank tops, but I have a thing about my arms. I've been working with arm weights and doing push-ups, so for my next 5k I hope to buy and wear a running tank (weather permitting of course).

Another goal for my next 5k is to lose the "neurotic runners hip-pouch" I've worn for each race. Here it is (next to my commemorative medal!):

I'm the first to admit that I am generally a nervous person - I can think of every "what if" scenario in the book. Enter the neurotic hip-pouch...

* A chunk of hair falls in my face...no worries I have bobby pins!

* A dust particle flies into my eye...no worries I have contact drops!

* My allergies get the best of me and I have to blow my nose...no worries I have tissues!

* I pass out on the course and get rushed to the hospital...no worres I have my driver's license!

* I need to buy something at the event...no worries I have a credit card and a bit of cash!

* The port-a-johns don't have sinks or anti-germ lotion...no worries I have wet wipes!

* Ready to get back in the car...no worries I have the key!

My husband gets the biggest kick out of me taking this hip-pouch to a 3.1 mile race. I had to search high and low just to find one (finally picked it up on a clearance rack at Sports Authority - probably left over from the 80's). Anyhow, I really don't need any of this stuff except the car key and my running shorts have a small internal pocket for that (which could also hold a wet wipe). I can stick an extra bobby pin in my hair, tuck a tissue in my sports bra, and if I pass out on the course, they can identify me by my race number. So I hope to leave the pouch behind for the next race!

It's funny because the one "what if" scenario I didn't anticipate for this run was "what if they don't have water on the course" - GASP! Seriously - there was only one hydration break at the half point and it was Gatorade, not water, and it tasted like they put twice the amount of powder as necessary - it was like syrup! I need water, just a few sips, preferably every mile - so only one break was very difficult for me. The Race for the Cure 5k had water available every 1/2 mile, which was nice. So for the next race I'll be sure to know the water situation in advance so I can plan accordingly. The other thing the Race for the Cure did was mark the course every 1/2 mile with large signs up high so you could see them from a distance and pace yourself. This course had the miles marked but small and low so by the time you saw them you were almost there, which made it difficult to pace myself. I had my ironman watch set to cronometer for timing so I could see how I was doing along the way. If you are thinking about running a 5k for the first time, I recommend keeping your own time. I also recommend the Race for the Cure because it was so well thought out. This was the first year for the MLB All-Star 5k, so maybe they will make some changes for future races. The one thing I did like is that we wore 'chip' tags on our shoes so we got an official time from start to finish (with a big race, it may take a minute before you even get to the start line so it is nice to figure out your exact race time).

I'll be back tomorrow with my weight check-in! Thanks for stopping by and hope everyone has a great night!!

The Silver Lining Exists!

I was feeling down about my bad week, and on top of that I was feeling sick. I felt that the worst part of my cold was over and I wanted to go out and exercise but I worried that I was too sick. My son had baseball practice at a high school with a nice track so it would be the perfect opportunity. But questions were spinning in my head - Would it make me sicker? Is my cold just an excuse? What about the 5k this weekend?

Ok, so I decided to just go and see what happened, and guess what? I was FINE!!!

I covered 5 whole miles - powerwalking and running mixed, and here were my times (rounded to the 5 second):

Mile 1 - 12:35
Mile 2 - 12:20
Mile 3 - mostly walked and don't have a time because I pushed the wrong buttons on my watch and got all mixed up - probably 14 or 15 minutes
Mile 4 - 11:45! This was the easiest for me - maybe exercising longer is the key for me - I find this so interesting that running this mile was easier than the first two - I only powerwalked a small portion of it.
Mile 5 - I didn't time this one because I intended it to be a 'cool down' walk, but I felt so good I decided to run the last lap and felt like I could have continued. Who knew?

I took water breaks between miles and wished I would have brought a notepad to record my times or even laps - it is easy to lose track when you are going in circles. I would switch direction on the track for each mile so I would only have to count 4 laps!

I woke up all congested again this morning, but it didn't bother me at all when I was on the track last night. I was really proud of myself for getting out there and just doing it. I couldn't help but step on the scale this am and it was so nice to see 132 looking back at me. I'm not recording the loss yet because I am only going to do so weekly, so I sure hope I keep those pounds off!

Weekly Weight Check In

Ok, so the damage turned out to be 1 pound - I can live with that. If I would have taken just a bit of time to plan for the weekend activities, I could have avoided that pound. I'm moving forward though, and this week is off to a great start. My points were low yesterday and I ate mostly fruits and veggies, and a veggie burger for dinner. It is nice to be back in a routine after taking several days off work. My cold is starting to subside and I hope it goes away for good soon!

From Bad To Worse, To Even Worse....

The week started off with a 15 point birthday cake, and let's just say it went downhill from there. I took part of Wednesday and all of Thursday and Friday off of work to have some family days. We ventured out and about around town, and I didn't record my food. Of course, it is hard to find anything non-greasy when you are at places like 6 Flags. From there tack on a 4th of July day long celebration, filled with potato salad and other treats. Top it all off with a nasty cold (and I mean 'can't breathe without Afrin' nasty) and you have a week of disaster from a diet and health perspective. I think I exercised only one time this week, and still feel ill this morning.

I decided to move my weigh in day to Tuesday of each week to give my body a day to readjust from the weekend. Not sure if that is the right or wrong thing to do, but I just couldn't bring myself to step on the scale this am. I thought of changing it to a day later in the week, but decided against it to help me keep accountable over the weekends.

Anyhow, I'm going to try to have a 'detox' day today - mainly vegetables and fruits to eat, and lots of water - and I will get on the scale tomorrow to see what the damage is. Sigh.....I am not looking forward to that.

Hopefully this cold/virus will subside soon and I can get back to my running. The second 5k is this weekend for me. This past week was supposed to be my big training week to get to try to run the whole 5k. I'm still going to do the 5k, trying to run as much of it as I can, with my goal being to beat the time on my last 5k. I sure hope we don't have a heat wave this weekend (that would be just my luck). So I'll check back in tomorrow to record the damage and I'll just go on from there...........hope everyone else has had a better week!!

Note to Self......

Never check the WW points after you have eaten something bad. Monday was my husband's birthday and he wanted a Dairy Queen cake - so that's what he got. I had a piece and figured I'd record the points later. How bad could it be - there is no cake in a DQ cake - all ice cream, which is actually ice milk, right? Can't be that bad, can it?
So I looked it up on line, figuring that it would be about 5-6 points.
Wrong.
Oh.so.wrong.
15
Yes 15 points! That's practically a days worth!!
Ok, so I ate it. What's done is done. Good thing it was at the beginning of the week. Time to move on...