Sixties.

Do you ever get tired of seeing the same set of numbers at the end of your weight?  I do.

I am SOOOOO sick of being in the 70's.  I've been dancing with the low 70's for a while.  Hoovering at 172 ish.

Last Monday I stepped on the scale because I joined a Biggest Loser Competition.  The competition lasts 8 weeks.  We all chipped in money.  Each week, the person with the highest percent of weight lost gets $20.  At the end of the competition the overall winner gets the remaining pot of money.  (Should be a few hundred...not sure of the amount yet though.)

So last Monday, I weighed in at 172.9 pounds.
Today was week 1 weigh in.  I was down to 170.3!  WooHoo!

(I won't know until tomorrow who won the weigh in because everyone has until midnight tonight to send in their results...)

Now back to my original reason for this post...

I am happy, super ecstatic, for a 2.6 loss over the last week!  But REALLY?  Was it too much to ask for 0.4 more?

I AM SO SICK OF THE 70'S!!!

Wednesday I weigh in for another little contest we are doing (this one, no money is involved.)  (Instead, we are cumulatively trying to lose the weight of an actual mini-van!)

Last Wednesday, I was supposed to weigh in...BUT, it was my first day of school and I plain and simple forgot.  I remembered when I got home, but there was NO WAY I was counting the weight I saw at 6pm that night!

(I ALWAYS weigh in first thing in the morning.  Well, almost first thing.  First thing I usually relieve my bladder, and sometimes I get the kids off to school first.  But I never drink or eat before I weigh in.  And.  I always weigh-in in my birthday suit.  Then there's no question of accuracy!)  :)

So, Wednesday I will weigh in again.  (I know, I'm probably scale-obsessed by weighing in twice a week.)  (But I really enjoy the competitions...and I look at today as a "pre" weigh in for Wednesday.  Then Wednesday keeps me on track for the next Monday.)

(Yes.  I realize I am weird.)

So between now and Wednesday I am going to work hard to eat well and continue running for those 0.4 pound...

You have NO IDEA how excited I will be to see the SIXTIES!!!

P.S.  Did you know that I'm just 25 lbs away from my "goal" weight?!

(And by goal weight, I mean the weight I will re-evaluate my body and examine how I fit into clothes.  Because as I've said before, I'm done letting numbers dictate how I feel.  Instead, I want to feel good in clothes, feel fit and firm.  Not soft and mushy...)

SIXTIES, baby!  Come on, SIXTIES!  :)

Who?

Who has two thumbs, wakes up at 6:05 am, and runs a 5K on a Saturday morning?

THIS GIRL!

(me, post race...about to get rid of my awful stink in the shower...)

That's right friends.  I finished.  Not only did I finish, but I finished WITHOUT WALKING!

(Major win in my book!)

It was fun to know 3 other girls that were running it...not that I actually ran with any of them, but it was fun before and after the race to have someone there!  :)

As for how I did...I'm pretty happy with my results.  I knew I wanted to finish under the 35 minute mark.  (That's the pace the app puts me at and I wanted to be ahead...)

I finished 3.1 miles in 31:40 min/mile.  Pace of 10:10 min/mile.

(Not too shabby from the almost 16:00 min/mile I started at the beginning of July...)

Now, onto bigger and better things.  10K is my next step....

Not too late...

It's not too late, my friends!  (My local friends.)

You can still register to run THIS RACE with me on Saturday!

I'm getting excited actually.  Today, my ankle feels 100% walking around on it.  I'm going to test it out tonight with a 30 min run...

Back at it

Today I am back at it. (school.)

I have 9 more months of complete craziness...9 months and I'm a real live nurse.

Just because I'm out at school ALL DAY LONG, doesn't mean I'm going to let up on my workout. I am fully planning on coming home, feeding the kids, then getting on the treadmill! (and now that I've blogged about it, I have to do it.....right?)

Insanity.

Insanity:  having 3 kids, 2 dogs, a husband who works out of town for 4 days out of the week, going to nursing school full time...all while trying to drop the last 30 or so pounds.

Last year during school was when I started "slacking off."  I'm worried.  I want to stay focused.  I want to finish what I started...

Here's to staying accountable despite the crazy life ahead!

Ankle update:  still sore.  :(

School for blogging

I feel like there should be a class to take on blogging.

You know, how to make your blog look all cute (without it taking 7 hours!).  Or how to respond all fancy like to blog comments.

Heads up, yo:  I'm pretty much blogger stupid.  I have been visiting your blogs when you comment on mine.  But today I realized I can actually respond to your comment through email OR through a thread on the blog.  I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Well, I might be the last one out there to realize this...but I'm with it now.  And if there's anything else I'm missing.....help a girl out!  :)

P.S.  My "cuteness" is gone from the blog.  I ruined it.  AND, it took me like 3 hours to get it back to what it is now.  So, if I don't touch it for about a year you'll understand why!  :)  #toopoortopayforawebdesigner

Monday matters.

I always try to make my Monday runs matter.  I figure, I take Sunday off...Monday needs to ROCK!

Today I went out for the first time with a jogging stroller.  

I'll be honest.  I realized stroller running is NOT my favorite.  (Especially UP HILL!)  I like to get my arms into my run and with the stroller...it doesn't quite work.  But, I do enjoy running outside.  I guess it's a trade off.

Today, the plan was to go for 28 minutes straight.  I was 1/2 through and BAM!  Just like that I rolled my ankle.

I stopped.  I was going to walk home but decided to call for a ride to save my ankle the stress.  (After all, I have a 5K this Saturday I want to be ready for!)  So I hitched a ride home and have been icing it.  

Here's hoping I can get on the treadmill tomorrow to complete that 28 min run.

In other news...my weekend was so/so.  My eating wasn't perfect...but I wouldn't say it was bad either! The scale is sitting about the same...here's hoping I can get the scale to move in the next few days too...

Good times, good times.

One Week Out

I am one week from completing my first ever 5K.

(I shouldn't be intimidated about 3.1 miles after having done a run/walk marathon...but I am!)

It's been a while since I ran 3.1 miles straight...and I'm not talking the fat man shuffle run either!

I set a goal to finish the 5K in under an 11:00 min/mile pace.  (I think, I THINK I am on target to do that!)

Today I ran.  I started tracking after my warm up with a nifty new device.  :)
(More on that later...)

So I know you are all DYING to know how I did right....
You are all DYING to know if I'll be ready for next Saturday, right?

Today I went 2.52 miles of straight running in 25:00 minutes.
My average pace:  9:56 min/mile.  SERIOUSLY!?
My splits were...
Mile 1:  9:58
Mile 2:  9:52
Last 0.52 miles:  10:03 (the last part of my run was KILLER...all up hill!)

So.  In a week from today I have to be ready to add on another 0.6 miles to that run.....and I'm praying I can come in under 35 minutes.

(But I'm praying even harder that I can RUN the whole thing without stopping.....)

The day I cried.

Have you ever cried when you put clothes on?  I have.  Remember THIS post?  Sure, the picture was taken in 2009 but I remember that day in my closet like it was yesterday.  I remember those feelings.  I remember how embarrassed I was!  I remember asking myself how I ever let it get THIS bad!  At that moment all the pants I had were 18's and none of them fit.  I was easily a 20...maybe even a 22.  I was just in denial.  So, like that post said, instead of facing the truth...I grabbed maternity pants.  I can still feel the shame from that day!  I still get the same anxiety and sadness when I see that picture.  You see, although I may have a smile on my face...the pain cut deep.

At that point in my life I thought it was too late.  I thought I would NEVER be able to get back into what I wore in high school.  I thought those dreams were too big.  I packed them away, deep inside where it hurt the most!  I pretended I was okay.  I pretended it didn't matter.  I pretended because I didn't think I was strong enough to do anything about it.

Fast forward.

I cried again today.  Only not out of shame or embarrassment.  Not because I was sick of what I'd let myself become.  The tears I cried today were real, and they were victorious.

I did not cry them in my closet.  Instead, I cried them in a dressing room at American Eagle.

I was at the mall today, and on a whim I decided to stop in and try on jeans.

Trying on jeans is a big ordeal for me.  I get anxiety about it because of where my weight USED to be.  I still remember taking in jeans and trying on the biggest size a store had and they not fit.  I remember the feeling of being defeated by jeans.  I have always hated trying on jeans for this reason.  (Even after I have lost 60 plus pounds, the feeling are not forgotten!)

Today I was feeling particularly brave.

And I'm so glad I was!

Today was the day I fit into 8's.  EIGHTS!

(of course I bought them!!!)

Some might not think that is a very big accomplishment.  Let me be frank.  I have not worn a size eight since I was in high school (FOURTEEN YEARS AGO!)

Fourteen years people.  Fourteen years...that's almost 1/2 my life ago!

(I may, or may not, be tearing up even now thinking about where I have worked to be...)

I want to scream it from the roof tops...I WEAR A SIZE EIGHT!  Not because I want the attention or the recognition.  (Although, blog comments are always accepted.)  :)  I want to scream it from the roof tops because if there is even one person that can relate to those feelings I had in the closet, if there is even one person that can relate to what it feels like to be ashamed of letting yourself go....I want YOU to know it IS possible to change!

I doubted myself for a long time, don't waste time doubting yourself.  It is possible.  Is it easy?  No.  (I'll be honest!)  But it is so damn worth it!

EIGHTS PEOPLE!!!  EIGHTS!

So if you are starting back in your own closet in tears...my best advice:  take it one day at a time!  Know that it's not going to be easy, but tell yourself you are worth the hard work!  Only you can do it, only you can realize you are important enough.  Then, take it one day (or one hour) at a time.  CONSISTENCY!  That's the magic pill people.  Be consistent and do NOT let yourself make excuses!  I promise, you want to feel this amazing rush of your own "size eight."

Funny.

Want to know what's funny?

A year ago I was almost at the EXACT same point I am now.  I think I'm going to have a race with myself and beat out last year's Alisha...

In other news.

Some have emailed me asking specifically what I've been doing.  Let me lay out the last month or so (you know, from when I got RE-serious.)

July 2nd I started the 10K Runner app.  It literally takes you from the couch (or doing nothing) to running a 5K in 8 weeks, and a 10K in 14 weeks.

When I started on July 2nd the app had me run 1 minute, walk 1.5 minutes (rinse and repeat 6 times).

IT SUCKED!  I wanted to die.  I made the mistake of looking ahead in the app and wondered how in the hell I was ever going to be able to run 20 min non-stop....let alone a full 5K or 10K!

My legs hurt.  My chest hurt.  My knees hurt.  My head kept trying to talk me out of finishing the running intervals.

But.  BUT.  I made a commitment when I bought this app that I was going to be a good student.  And a good student I know how to be!  I decided no matter how slow I had to run the running intervals, I would not stop until the app told me to walk.  And believe me, there were days I was doing the fat-man shuffle.  (You know the one, where people are walking faster than you are shuffle-running.)

Sadly, I didn't keep track of my pace that first week.  I did however start tracking it the second week.  (So I can only imagine how slow the first week was!)  July 9th was the first day I recorded my pace...a pathetically SLOW 15:44 minute/mile.

I would literally have to talk myself through my runs.  (Yes, out loud!)  My kids heard me on the treadmill saying, "Come on Alisha.  You are not a quitter.  You can finish this.  DO NOT STOP RUNNING."

And you know what?  I didn't quit.  Not once have I shorted one of the run intervals!  Not once.  (Mainly, because I know if I let myself quit once...I will let myself do it again.)

Over the last month I have watched my endurance grow.  I have been scared at the beginning of a week when I've seen the runs planned.  But each time, I just put my head down and think "You will be SO PROUD of yourself when you are done."  And each time I finish, that is exactly how I feel!

Yesterday I ran a 10:24 min/mile.  I have shaved over 5 minutes off my pace!  I am right on track with the program to finish my 5K on August 25th.

So, here's the fun part.  Over this same amount of time, I checked to see what my weight did...
I started on July 3rd at 184.9.
Yesterday (August 15th) I was at 172.6.

That is 12.3 POUNDS in 7 weeks.  Not too shabby.

I'd love it if in another 7 weeks (when I am about ready to run a 10K) I am down another 12.3 pounds...that would put me almost in the 150's!

Week to week has been hard.  I'm not going to lie.  There have been times I've questioned if what I'm doing even is making a difference!  There have been moments I've been ticked off at my scale.  Moments I've felt like throwing in the towel because IT IS easier to just sit on the couch, it IS easier to mindlessly stuff my face of food.  But I think where I'd be if I had given into those fat girl thoughts!  If I had not held myself accountable over the last 7 weeks, I know I'd be in the 180's...maybe even higher!

Weight loss is not tricky people.

Yes, it's frustrating.  It's HARD!  Damn hard!  It's exhausting.  But it is not tricky.

Sure, some weeks you don't lose what you hope to lose.  But eventually your work pays off if you just keep swimming!  (Can I get an amen?)

No, really.  It takes a lot of effort to make smart food choices.  It takes a lot of determination to "close the kitchen" when the meals are done.  It takes determination to get up and move.

Those are the secrets.  If you really want to lose weight...if you really want to get healthy in your life...you have to hold yourself accountable.  No one else can do it for you.  No one can make you go for a walk/run, no one can stop you from eating crappy food.  No one can limit your portions.

Only you can do it.

And I know you can.  If I can do this, I know every single person reading this can!

Hold yourself accountable.  DO NOT LET YOURSELF MAKE EXCUSES!

Excuses are for sissys!

Where do you want to be in 7 weeks?  If you can look in the mirror and truly be happy with where you are at now, fantastic!  But chances are, if you are reading this, there is something you would like to change.  So step on that scale, take those measurements.  Decide to hold yourself accountable for the next 7 weeks.  Dare to think that you too could see some great results if you put in a little extra effort each day!

You deserve it!  Every single person deserves to feel the amazing power our bodies have within them.  Find the strength to make today the day you start becoming a better you!