120!!! 120!!! 120!!!

Woo-Hoo!! 120 this am! I can't believe that I have lost 18 pounds!! What a great feeling. Journaling what you eat and exercising WORKS!!

These last 2 weeks have been tough from a running standpoint. Two weeks ago, I noticed that the muscles on the right side of my hip were hurting - not too bad - but enough to be annoying. I didn't think much of it, and then I had a busy week so I figured it was probably good to give everything a rest anyhow - but worried that I would get out of my routine.

So last Tuesday when I went to run, I purposfully ran in the opposite direction around the trail thinking that maybe the curve of the trail was irritating my hip. I ran through the pain and did just over 5 miles. I was feeling on top of the world, but the next day and for the rest of this past week, my hip was SORE. So I haven't run since then and have been using the heating pad and Motrin to help the pain. I made an appointment to see and Orthopaedic doctor tomorrow am, so I'll get the official word then.

For exercise, I have done my arm weights several times and my 8 Minute Abs video once. I adjusted my calorie intake to 1200 (I'm ususally around 1450) to account for the lack of running. So I was surprised that the scale was down 2 pounds this week. It may be a fluke so I won't panic if I'm up a bit next week, but for now now I'm enjoying it! Tonight, I plan on doing some walking and will see how that goes as far as my hip is concerned.

The Biggest Loser is on tonight, so that always helps in the motivation department too! Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Checking In

A few pics of me and the fam on my birthday last week - I turned 38 (did I just type that???)...

I weighed 122 on my birthday, and have stayed at that weight until today. Not bad for 5'5".

So, down another pound this week.

I can hardly believe it!

Life has been busy lately and I haven't had a chance to run as much as I would like. I was worried this would be the end of the line b/c I knew the day would come when life would get in the way of my running.

Trip out of town,

followed by family in town,

followed by birthday with pineapple upside down cake (my fav),

followed by school open house,

followed by being a bit under the weather, then just when I was feeling better the Mayweather/Marquez fight was on pay per view and we went to a party to watch (yes, I am a closet boxing fan).

BUT I adjusted my calorie intake when I could (and didn't panic when I couldn't). I just got back on track and my weight this am tells me I'm doing ok.

Tonight I ran over 5 miles, after not having run for a week.

I'm finally feeling like I am in control!!

Hope everyone had a great week!

Whirlwind!!!

Wow - I can't believe it has been two weeks since my last post! I've had a lot going on lately - including a trip out of town which can be disaster for someone watching their weight.
BUT ;;;I'm here to tell you that a little planning goes a long way!
We had a long road trip, so I packed individual baggies of broccoli and carrots. I also popped some kettle corn and packed that as well. Didn't forget the apple-grape bites too.
Did you know Taco Bell has a new low fat menu? Well you do now.
I squeezed in a 4 mile run on Saturday morning (yes, I ran in the morning before coffee!), and did fairly well food wise for the trip. One stop at Ben & Jerry's but I 'treated' myself to their chocolate brownie frozen yogurt.
I was 124 the day we left, and 125 the morning after we got back. Since that time, I have bounced around between 124 and 122....did you see that...122!!! So far that hasn't stuck, but today I am happy at 123.
I've taken 4 days off of running, and I am feeling very lazy. Last Thursday's run was HARD and my knees and hips were sore - I hate when that happens. Tonight is Jack's soccer practice, so I hope to get a good long run in tonight without any discomfort.
Hope everyone else is doing great!

Join the Electric Highway!!!

I logged my longest run ever last night - 5.15 miles!! The extra motivation from my "on-the-scale" victory yesterday must have pushed me on. If anyone is looking for the magic weight-loss pill, let me tell you I have found it. It is RUNNING. Really, there is nothing else like it.

Nikeplus.com has been a huge motivator for me. I am signed up to run in the Human Race on October 24th. In the mean time, I am participating in a challenge from the Human Race Ambassadors. I am on Petey's Electric Highway team!! He lost 50 pounds by running. If you are interested in joining along, check out these links:

http://www.southernwoodshed.com/
and
http://www.nikeplus.com/
and
http://mrcrowder.com/post/173203399/10-reasons-you-should-join-the-electric-highway-run

Hope to see you there!!

123! I CAN'T BELIVE IT!!!

I was just working on maintaining my weight - sticking to exercise and eating healthy
and low
and
behold
the scale read 123 this am!!

I haven't been this weight since before I was pregnant with my first son!! Talk about motiviation - I am even more inspired on this health kick than ever.
I feel great.
My clothes are comfortable and look nice on me.
I am proud of myself.
I feel in control.

I am running 3-4 times a week, and logging about 3-4 miles each run. I had two running accomplishments to note this week -
(1) On Thursday I ran with someone for the first time. We ran 3 miles and I was dead tired at the end - it was a new trail and we were talking so it was much harder for me than normal but I was glad I did it.
(2) I ran very early on Saturday morning. I am a wanna-be morning runner (my runs are almost always in the evening). We had a very busy Saturday schedule: 2 soccer games; 2 birthday parties; my friends were coming over to crop in the evening and I needed to clean up and get ready for that. So the only time I could run was the am. I took Jack to his 8am soccer game (he had to be there at 7:30) and I did my 3.6 mile run during his warmups and the first part of the game. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I did and was fine. It gave me hope that I may someday be a morning runner after all. The only downside was that in my morning groggy haze, I didn't push the start button on my Nike+ wristband hard enough and didn't notice until after I had run about .4 of a mile! Ahhh - if I'm going to run I want credit for it!!

I'm now officially addicted to Nike+ by the way!!