Baby Steps

So, without much ado, I'm back? I know that didn't sound too confident but there have been SEVERAL changes that have happened in my life recently and my varied responses have included eating poorly and not exercising... though I'm back to better eating now...

It's been several months since I last wrote on here, and I'm fairly positive that no one is checking my blog anymore - which means I can be very honest. By knowing that most likely no one is reading this daily, I can be brutally honest because I'm writing this for my benefit in an effort to get back in shape for me and me only. These are baby steps....

Since blogging in July (I believe that's the last post - but we'll see when I post this...), I have a job in Summerton, SC - I have relocated and though I feel alone a lot, the extrovert in me is pleased to be alone - there's a good chance that there is more introvert in me than originally assumed.

I live alone - but I interact with friends daily - except on the weekends when I retreat into my shell... High school teacher of science by weekday - hermit by weekend :) I have the occasional weekend when I am home in Charleston, which is 1.5 hours away or out and about in S'ton - but for the most part, I'm holed up at home and I love it. I love the excessive knitting, movie watching, painting, drawing, etc. that I have not done for years!

Downsides to Summerton: no gym, cycling is not embraced by local drivers, and I live in a remote area with no sidewalks... There's a gym in Manning, but I have not had a penny to spare on additional bills - ahhh, the life of a school teacher... no money. I do not regret my life decision, however, because I LOVE TEACHING. And I LOVE TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL - high schoolers are a strange collection of lovable Punks - with a capital 'P.'

I do have a fellow teacher friend, Neathery, who wants to get in shape as I do - and another friend outside of the school, Lynn, who just joined Weight Watcher's and has been an inspiration to me food-wise and determination-wise.

Other recent changes: I had my gallbladder removed over Thanksgiving - the only limitations to my diet have been no greasy fried food or no pork - both of which are good to give up anyway! The crazy thing about the whole gallbladder attacks, etc. is that they mainly started up when I started HCC and my doctor speculates that the two go hand-in-hand since my diet completely changed all at once... oh well... glad to be gallbladder free? I don't know about that - but I am glad to be gallbladder attack free...

I don't know when I'll next post something on - but I feel good about taking the step to write anything at all... baby steps.

Catch Up

So - I've had a LOT going on in my life recently and blogging isn't the first thing that comes to mind - so I'm sorry about the lapse in posts, but I'm trying to find a job and that has taken all of my energy!!

In other news :), I bike A LOT - whenever I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack, I go on a ride... I've had trouble motivating myself to go the gym because I don't always feel like I have time and that stresses me out - so the bike rides from home have been a God send. I did go to Zumba last week and wasn't a fan of that class... though I think I would have liked it more if (1) I'd gone on Saturday morning for James' class or (2) if I'd taken friends with me because I felt ridiculous and it's always more fun to feel ridiculous with someone you know...

I did Spinning this week with Catherine (on Wednesday AM) - my neck and shoulders are REALLY sore - but I think I had the handlebars up higher than normal or something - because with the amount that I've been riding, that spinning class shouldn't have left my neck sore.

I'm babysitting tonight on Seabrook Island at Camp St. Christopher - I may go early, depending on the heat index and ride some on Seabrook = one of my fave places to ride!!

I weighed in last Friday and was the same - which I will take because that's better than gaining...

I JUST weighed in and I've LOST 3.5 pounds!! So the stress is really helping me out (??) j/k - the constant riding is what my body needs! :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll blog again when I can!!

Crazy girl spinning

I went to spinning yesterday - I've decided that the only way to keep myself interested in these tasks at hand are to speckle my work outs with LOTS of classes! So I went to spinning yesterday, hoping it would be Catherine teaching it - but unfortunately she had to get a sub... and that sub was a spin instructor I've had before - she's CRAZY! She was actually the teacher I had when I fell off the bike long time ago (that's right - for you who have not read the blog before, I fell off a stationary bike) - and though I don't attribute my fall to this teacher, I still think she's crazy and she's not my number one pick - but I did get my butt kicked - which I believe falls under the goals for this week...

Crazy girl spinning includes: hovering while pedaling, being in hand position 3, while sitting on the bike with the resistance so high that you stop/start a lot..., putting the resistance up really high while your hands are held behind you and you lean over to pedal... plus the normal jumps (though her jumps are weird), sprints, etc. I must say, for the sake of my back, I didn't do the hovering, the sitting and pedaling in hand position 3 or the one with no arms (talk about opportunities of falling off a stationary bike!!)

I also stayed and did some weights afterwards - which have my leg muscles screaming today!! I should have stayed and done more weights - aka arms! but I didn't have an extra pair of shoes with me and I don't like walking around in bike cleats.. slippin and slidin = the result - and for me, probably a fall or 2... ;)

This morning I'm finishing up a VERY important application that I MUST finish before noon! Then I have laundry and prep's for this weekend to complete - but I can assure you that a class at the gym will happen this afternoon... I'm choosing between: JoeDbands @ 4:30, Nia @ 5:15, water aerobics at 5:30, hip-hop @ 6:15, & zumba at 6:30 - or maybe some combo of those... maybe some joe D bands followed by some hip hop? I don't know - but I'll keep you posted on what I decide!

I'm back... again...

So I got a little discouraged with my weigh in two weeks ago when I gained 5 pounds. This past Friday I maintained - which is a heck of a lot better than gaining more - so now I need to focus on going back down and reaching those goals! I've decided to go back to logging my food (for real this time) and emailing them to Barbara daily - and including the good and the bad - not lying to myself - or Barbara for that matter.

Summer has brought with it a lot of obstacles: too hot to do activities outside (most of the time), having trouble motivating myself to take on the gym (and I'm REALLY sick of the machines in the cardio room), and lots of celebrations where there are a lot of food and drink temptations... so I'm going to take baby steps - and any tips anyone has are welcomed! I have 3 weddings coming up - back to back - starting this coming weekend. The first one is a party weekend and the wedding is going to be a blast - it's in Nashville :) But each night is going to be a drinking and eating Calorie NIGHTMARE. So once again - tips are welcomed!! I'm going to take work out clothes and try to get people to walk with me - I'll have a lot of supportive friends there who will hopefully want to be active with me... but I'm worried this is all going to have me going in the wrong direction, scale-wise... I do have self control - I promise - BUT I don't want to be the fuddy dud while everyone is having an awesome time! I've been looking forward to this wedding for quite a while!!

So I guess I need to bust my butt this week in preparation and then try to make the best food decisions possible - and then stick to wine and liquor? I don't know...

I'm back and trying to get the numbers to go down... so sorry for my tardiness in writing, but I guess it's just hard to take the bad news and keep on going - so thank you for your support and encouragement to keep on writing!

Oopsies.

Well, there's a distinct possibility that the amount of beer that I consumed last weekend - well really, from Friday THROUGH Monday evening may have a direct correlation to the poundage gained when I weighed in today. The amount of weight gained is both shocking and unbelievable (to me). So I will be starting that food journal back PRONTO. I will not be disclosing what I gained quite yet because I am still in disbelief. Looks like a slight glass of wine tonight will be it! I wouldn't have any at all except that I'm going to dinner with my sister who is in town and my parents - we're headed to Lana's = Italian food... I've never been drawn towards pasta - but if that arises, I certainly will not get any!

I'll write more later - it took me all day to put this on here - I weighed in this morning...
I just can't believe it :(

Weigh in last friday

I lost 1 pound last week for a total of 23 pounds!! Stay tuned for my progress when I weigh myself on Friday! :) And I'm 2 pounds away from my next goal!! :) :) :)

New designs :)

So, in an attempt to keep things lively 'around here' - I am going to periodically change my background on my post to fit my 'mood'. The theme this week is books and music. I would like to invite you to 1) suggest books to add to my reading list and 2) make a CD for me that has your favorite work out tunes on it - in return you will get my unending gratitude AND a CD from me and of course your books on my reading list! :) I can give out some book suggestions as well.

Summer Reading List (who suggested it...):

1 - Gone with the Wind (Momma :) )

2 - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barb)

Clearly, I need more suggestions - and one little known fact - I read fast and when I read, I don't eat... so you see, this could help my diet - or at least the urge to eat in between meals... ;)

Also, I need some more tunes - some new ones at least - and I am confident that one gets you moving will get me moving - it doesn't take much!!

My work out plan(s) this week: Yesterday (Monday), I walked the dog that I'm house sitting for twice - but the first one was the doozy - I am only allowed to walk him for one block because of his hip - so he got dropped off at the house - and since I was already so sweaty, I borrowed a bike at their house and rode all over the neighborhood - and I really preferred the extra energy that led to the extra breeze... it was HOT yesterday - and it is clearly going to be hot today.

Today I will be heading to the gym after an afternoon meeting - before eating out tonight at Magnolia's (!!) where I am being treated by a dear lady from our church who wants to celebrate my friend Christy's engagement! I'm excited for my fish and salad options!! :)

Wednesday = spinning with Catherine at 9am, Thursday = yoga & an additional work out with weights, Friday = spinning at 6 or 9... depends on amount of sleep, Saturday = ride in morning, followed by beach day with Louisa and friends!! :) and Sunday = ride? not sure yet what will happen on Sunday.

Tuesday...

Yesterday (Tuesday) I went on a nice bike ride... I rode from my house down 17 (17 south) to Wappoo Road and then from Wappoo Road - if you take a right, you can start the West Ashley Bikeway that is paved - however the state of the path isn't always the best - but it's an easy loop that I can accomplish without trying to figure out where to go next... it crosses Magnolia Road and then I can just bike home!

I had the morning off to work on applications and go to the gym and I thought that a work out close to home would = more time to work on applications, and I think I was right!!

Today, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do - it may have to be an unintended day off... I'm at work now and will work until 4, and then I have appointments and then a spoleto event with my parents - I won't get home until 9pm - so today is not a good day for working out (I would have gone this morning, but I had other appointments). I suppose everyday is not always realistic - however, I am bringing my bike with me to Athens and Athens is SUPER bike friendly, so I'm hoping to get in some riding on both Saturday and Sunday, so that will help me work towards my exercising 6 out of 7 days!

I will check in tomorrow - I hope everyone is having a great day!!
:)

Bright & Early

Last night I thought ahead and 1) made and packed a lunch, 2) made and packed breakfast for after work out, and 3) packed a bag for showering at the gym and getting to work... This week I'm working for my Dad's office which is a block away from the Wellness Center (gym). My hours are 8-4 except for this morning, which is 7:30-4 to get reacclimated to the office and what I need to do.

I went to bed last night too late and regretted that this morning! Bedtime of midnight is a BAD IDEA when you get up 5am to eat and workout! And after seeing a massive roach before going to bed, I didn't sleep that well either...

BUT I DID get up at 5:45am, ate breakfast, and got to the gym at 6:15 - and did the elliptical from 6:20-6:50 and then did 10 minutes of weights and 5 minutes of stretching - then blasted through a shower and got to work on time - but still sweating... ugh.

SO in order to not sweat at work and to feel like I can look at a hairdryer without grimacing, I'm clearly going to need to not only go to bed earlier, but get up earlier so that I have longer to cool off before hitting the showers! I'm thinking that that = working out from 6-7 and getting to work at 8 - which leaves me 45 minutes to get ready vs. the 25 I left myself this morning.

Tuesday - I'm going to have to think of something creative to do at the gym because there are no classes at 6am - and I can't do the same elliptical machine again - so either a different elliptical machine or ?? row machine? bike?? I'm not sure yet.

Happy Monday!! :)

Post Additions

I've added some fun stuff to the blog - not only to keep you interested - I'm sure this blog must be boring some times - but to keep me interested in 1) making the goals and getting that 'carrot', 2) getting new pix put up at each 10 lbs increment, and 3) staying on track!

The HCC talks about setting goals and giving rewards so that you can stay on track and keep up the interest and excitement... and I need a little excitement! Shout out to the HCC'ers who put goals/rewards on their pages and got me interested!!

At the end of HCC, I had lost 22 lbs even - last week I weighed in with them (and at home) and gained 1.6 lbs... so I am at a total loss of 20.4 lbs. At home, I had different numbers - and though I gained, I'm going to stick with these numbers since I'll continue weighing in at home. I had gained 2 lbs at home - so I have a total loss of 20 lbs.

I'm going to try to weigh myself more regularly and then I'll go back to posting once a week my weigh-in progress. I'm going to change the day to Friday since I just weighed myself for the first time in a week. I'd like to weigh myself first thing in the morning - so that's what you'll be getting!

"FIRST" weigh-in with new regimen:

I LOST 2 lbs - for a total of 22 lbs - I'm back on track and have 3 left until my first goal is met!!

It would probably be easier to follow if I just put exact numbers up here - but this blog is available for all to see and I'm not quite ready to post my weight for everyone in the world to see... so we'll stick with the abstract numbers of total weight lost. :)

Explosions mid week.

I have been reading my friend's blog daily and thinking each time, I need to get on mine and write some, but do I? No.... so here I am now, writing for the past couple of days...

Tuesday I hung out with someone's dog and apparently my couch has either dog hairs on it or something else that I'm allergic to, and I got a little sniffly after being on my own couch, which stinks... all day Wednesday I was sneezing and my head exploded (sinus), and I didn't leave my room, much less go to the gym. Thursday = a little better - by this time I've loaded on the decongestants and antihistamines and am feeling a little better for it - but I still felt like my head was in a serious fog... no gym on THursday.

Friday = today and I had a great night's sleep! (I didn't sleep well while on the drugs) and I feel a lot better today!! So I'll either head to the gym or I'll take a nice long ride before the heat settles in for the day :)

[Normally I take meds when I know there will be dogs involved and I'm just fine - the couch took me by surprise and that was compounded by dog exposure later]

I'm going to start taking allergy shots as soon as I get a real job and can pay for them :) then no more of these explosions in the middle of nowhere!

Tomorrow I think I'll ride my bike to the farmer's market... or if I'm feeling really gung-ho, I'll ride my bike to a 9:30 spin class, then the farmer's market, then home :) we'll see - I've not attempted that yet - but I feel like I need to get lots of riding in this week because next weekend I'm going to Athens to see my sister and we're going to ride there - and Athens, though bike friendly, is all about some hills that my legs aren't used to!! So long rides this week = short rides with hills next weekend? We'll see...

M.D. Weekend

Well, I have not been exercising at the gym - but I have had thorough walks, runs with dogs, runs for children falling, and have eaten healthy! I had my fair share of wine on both Friday and Saturday evenings - with weddings, girl friend gatherings, etc. And though I didn't head to the gym right away, I made sure to eat well so as not to completely un-balance the scales...

I went on a long bike ride today and cleared my mind for the week ahead - and half-way through the ride remembered some calls I needed to make so I raced myself home and got a harder work out in :)

I also made fresh basil pesto today - from all the basil in Momma's garden ( I spent a good part of the past two days with Momma :) ). And I made the dough for home-made bread! I won't bake it until tomorrow - but I made a bunch and it's definitely doubled... I even put the air conditioning on in our house JUST for the rising process - the recipe said to let it rise in a cool location - well, before using the AC, our house was at the balmy temperature of 87 degrees... hard to find a cool place in my house... so the AC is on for just a little while longer... then back to the tropics!

[Normally, with the AC off, it is only 80 degrees, but I've been at M&D's house, so the windows were shut with the fans off when I got home, and this seemed the way to go this time...]

Tonight, I'm making Turnip & Roasted Garlic soup! It calls for heavy cream, but I am leaving out all cream together and planning on topping my bowl with 1 TBS of goat cheese... I tend to weave in and out of recipes with my own variations... I've never been one for staying within the lines...

I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend :)

Done - and ready for the day!

I especially like getting my exercise 'out of the way' in the morning and having the rest of the day to do stuff... there's a good chance that after 4pm, I won't head to the gym and won't get my daily activity done...

I woke up without an alarm at 8:20 and decided to try the 9am spinning with Amy Finch this morning - I didn't have time to eat something - I have a window of opportunity for that and if I miss it, I'll feel ill while exercising... so I geared up and headed in!

The class with Amy is much different than Catherine's in that there is no stopping in between songs to recover - you get water when you can/want and keep pedaling in hand position 3 (if that's where you already are), where as with Catherine, you go back to a flat road and recover before the next 'exercise.' I like Catherine's style a little better... plus Amy is a little crazy - in an overly peppy kind of way - but she's really nice and if I couldn't go to Catherine's class, I'd go to Amy's (which is huge) and I may continue to go to Amy's classes in the future. She does have us 'hovering' and sending our butt's back while in hand position 3 which hurts my back and is not something you're 'supposed' to do - but in any of these classes where an instructor tells me to do this, I just don't :)

One HUGE mistake I made yesterday which affected my riding this morning - after the 1.5 hours of riding yesterday, I didn't stretch - WHAT WAS I THINKING??? So my hamstrings were sore and my knees ached a little - yuck! And SO avoidable!!

Right now I am enjoying my favorite post-exercise breakfast = steel cut oat-oatmeal with strawberries (or blueberries), agave syrup, cinnamon and walnuts = a GREAT power breakfast with complex carbs and protein to last me for the next 3 hours! YAY!

I hope everyone has a great memorial day weekend!!

Work Out Crisis: Averted!

Opportunity literally knocked on my front door - well, maybe not literally - but close enough. The plan for the afternoon = strawberry picking with Galvan Gals (which was successful, fun, and active because I included squats :) ), a possible window of time - depending on when we got back from picking, and then moving the new piece of furniture into my house before going to hang out with friends from Bible Study...

During that possible window of time, the friend who was helping me move furniture in his truck called to see if I wanted to go on a ride before moving furniture - so we went on a 1.5 hour ride and I had to push myself harder than I would have if I was solo, I got a great workout!

Work out crisis averted!

Barb's suggestion for jump rope is a good one - I don't have a jumping rope per se - but I'm sure I could find rope/line in the garage that would do for the future - and jumping rope is more fun that jumping jacks - because j.rope = fun kid activity where as j.jacks = hard HCC activity associated with a lot of yelling... so the suggestion is great for future moments with no inclination for a gym trip :)

what to do, what to do...

I am about to go strawberry picking with my friend Shannon and her two little girls - Lula (3.5) and Penny (2) - which should be tons of fun!! And then I'm moving a couch and going to a get-together... so I need to find an activity amongst all that... I babysat this morning for a 1-month old... my day is PACKED today - maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a bike ride! What do you do on days like this when there is no time to go the gym??

Friday a.m. I'll be up early doing the spin class at 6am - unless I can't get up early (always a possibility) and do the spin class at 9am...

what to do today??

Tiny Bumps :)

I weighed in tonight and gained 1.6 lbs since I last weighed in on 4/1/10. Not too shabby - sure a tiny bump in the road - but no biggie. If I had gained 3+ lbs, I may have cried a little - but I can lose 1.6 lbs in a week! Which is my next goal - to lose 1.6 lbs by next Wednesday.

Barb came with me to the meeting which was great! During the meeting, Jimmy Williams from "Healthy Home Foods" came and talked to us about the importance of eating grass-fed beef and not supporting larger companies like ConAgra and Smithfield or Tyson based on how they treat the animals and the diseases that have sprouted from these company's processing 'techniques' - which is talked about in more detail in the documentary Food Inc - which the HCC team played after Judith's discussion. I have seen and would definitely recommend "Food Inc." If you have Netflix, you can watch it for free online... so no reason not to see it (if you have Netflix). I think that Jimmy brought up some good points, however his company sets you up with 6 months of food both vegetables and beef, pork, and poultry - and this isn't a service that will really help me. Plus everything that is delivered is frozen - I don't have the space for this service.

I also would rather - and so far it has worked for me - invest in a CSA, get my veggies - those I can't eat, I freeze myself in smaller quantities. And I have decided (since the last time I posted) to go back to my diet of mostly-vegetarian; eating vegetarian unless it is grass-fed local beef or poultry and I will eat seafood. The nutritionist believed that as long as I'm aggressive about getting enough complete protein - and as long as I take a pre-natal vitamin (they contain more iron than a multi-vitamin.... don't worry, I'm not trying to send the message that I need pre-natal anything), that I should be fine.

Judith then gave her mini-talk about how to maintain weight loss and how to cope with post HCC times... some notes of hers that I've highlighted are below:

- Set smaller attainable goals and reward yourself

- Don't burden yourself with unrealistic expectations

- Talk with HCP about a healthy goal weight

- To maintain weight, you must balance your intake of calories with the energy you burn

- Try something new (a new class)

- Strap on a pedometer and find out how many steps you take per day

- gradually add another 250 steps/day

- have a goal (eventually) of 10,000 or more steps each day ( ~ 5 miles)

- Shop on a full stomach & stick to your list

- Take notes (in food journal) of my strategies and how they held up

- Keep measurement charts along with weight charts

- Plan meals ahead of time and plan for ups and downs

Spinning :)

Spinning this morning was GREAT - I really pushed myself and it paid off - if nothing else, I haven't been that sweaty after a work out in quite a long time :) For those who don't spin, it's actually harder to stay in the seat after you add resistance - you want to do standing runs instead of seated runs - at every opportunity, I added resistance and stayed in the seat to do a little extra - and I can FEEL it!

So as of now, I've worked out Friday, Saturday, (break on Sunday), Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - which is pretty sweet! I'm not sure what I'm going to do for exercise tomorrow - but I'll figure it out before I go to bed tonight - that way I'll be prepared to do it!

Then this evening, I'm going to an HCC meeting - and Barb is accompanying me (Thanks, Barb!!) where I'll weigh in and we'll hear a talk on organic food, etc. and then they're going to show the movie "Food, Inc." which I have seen, so I probably won't stay for the movie - but great idea on their part!! I'll blog again this evening with an update about my weigh-in. I'm fearful that I have gained, but you never know... I may be the same, which I would count just as much as an accomplishment as losing weight because I've been eating some foods I should stay away from... and as you all know, up until recently, I haven't been at the gym as much!

So stay tuned - and thanks for being there for me :)

Yesterday was a weird day - I thought I was going to go on a bike ride - then got a call to babysit - which I feel like I must take these days with no substantial income.... then en route it was canceled (sick child) - but I had on exercise clothes - so I went to the gym.... glad I was prepared again :)

I saw Willis - he was actually 2 elliptical machines down from me :) I 'ran' 2.16 miles and 'burned' 315 calories and averaged 175 for heart rate... I only did 30 minutes - but I was sweaty and gross afterwards... I could have pushed myself a little harder but I have come to the conclusion that to push myself the most, I should either switch up elliptical machines or not do the same machine 2 days in a row.

This morning I am off to do spinning with or without Catherine - but I hope it is with :)

Oh, and my back hurts in the morning - but I'm trying to just ice it after exercise and ignore it otherwise -because I'm tired of not exercising!

:)

Lovin' it!

I just got back from the gym where I had a GREAT 50 minute workout. The elliptical machine says that I 'ran' 3.12 miles, that I burned 430 calories and my average heart rate was 174...

What I've found out about these machines is that the only thing I can trust out of those 3 numbers is the distance - apparently the calorie burnage and the heart rate won't be acurate - but I can tell you that I pushed myself very hard for 45 minutes and cooled down for 5 minutes and that I sweat a TON and I smell yucky - or at least I smell like someone who just worked out... I'm about to take a shower and then work on job stuff - but I feel wonderful and like I can take on the world!! I'm Lovin' it!!

:)

Update

I just wanted to let you all know that I had a bunch of tests recently and my bad cholesterol (LDL) is within the normal range but on the bad side - but my good cholesterol (HDL) is off the charts!! I am 95% sure that that is the result of the HCC program and my genes of course - yay for the Gervais genes!!

Also I'm slightly anemic and have been told that I can only be vegetarian if I'm aggressive about getting my complete proteins - as of now, I'v decided to hold off being a vegetarian for a little while... though I no longer eat red meat or pork - just fish and (local) poultry.

That's it - I'm heading to the gym in a few minutes!!

Being Prepared :)

After the mishap with water aerobics, I went prepared for spinning, but also had my running shoes with me as well - which turned out great because spinning was canceled - so I took on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes Saturday a.m. I will say that part of my prep 'kit' should include a charged ipod and head phones - I think I could have pushed myself a little farther with some tunes... instead I watched the paper bag princess on saturday morning cartoons - not nearly as motivating - but interesting considering that I loved that book growing up and now there's an animated version...

After the gym, I headed to the farmers market with the intention of only getting turnips for a soup I want to try and ended up getting more goat cheese (yay!) and squash blossoms - that I can apparently stuff with goat cheese and other veggies and bake - and I got onion flowers that you put on salads for a burst of onion flower - you can also use the stalk for whatever = same as green onion stalks. I even got more onions of the small purple variety - apparently there will be a lot of onions in my recipes this week :)

I then cleaned parts of the house - my room, mainly - which was a work out in and of itself - so I made sure to play the ipod that keeps me going... at least I used it once yesterday :)

Today (Sunday) I took an unintentional day off, but I kept moving. I was going to go the gym, but was asked to babysit for some friends who have very active girls who kept me equally active as we played outside all afternoon - so though it wasn't a trip to the gym - it was outdoor activity for 3 hours!!

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to the gym - I'm undecided on a spin class or the elliptical, but of course, you will find out soon enough.

Back update: Saturday I was pain-free except for later in the evening - but I wore my insert all day, so hopefully that was a contributing factor. Today the other part of my back hurt - the pulled side - but it also felt better after wearing the inserts. In fact, at church, I had to leave because it was so painful - but as soon as I got home and iced it then put on shoes with inserts, the pain melted away - slowly - and then I felt it barely at all while babysitting - and I don't feel it at all now - so hopefully we've found a solution :)

Not coloring in the lines

I just drew with purple and green markers all over my body - or at least on all parts that hurt that I could reach. I made a discovery - which I unfortunately had to make on Friday after all doctor offices are closed - and I'm not sure who I'd go to - I suppose a back doctor? But let me back up a bit...

Before the HCC I was having back problems - or rather leg pain and lower back/hip pain. We (Web MD, Bike Shoppe employees, and a friend PT and I) determined that it was probably siatica (sp?) and I did some exercises - but what really helped was getting the lift for my shoe to even out my hips (I have one hip that is higher than the other due to scoliosis) and exercise. After wearing the lift in all possible close-toed shoes and working out as much as I was, the pain went away completely.

Well, it's back - so I suppose I stop wearing the fun summer sandals and go back to close-toed shoes (ugh) and exercising 5-6 times per week.

BUT the pain was so bad tonight, that when I got home from baby-sitting, I chose to use sharpies to draw on my body to pinpoint the pain areas... not sure how this will help because its Friday and I don't know who I'm going to see over the weekend who can help with this - but I took a sharpie and drew first and looked later - so at least I now know where it hurts and can re-draw it - or show someone later... I have 2 friends who have had troubles with sciatica and both had to get MRIs - I don't know whether I should get this checked out or just work out... so we'll see... I'm going to work out for the time being and see what happens... Saturday I'm spinning with Catherine... Tonight I'm taking Motrin and heading to bed - I'm not supposed to take Motrin, but I didn't sleep last night because of the pain and I don't think I can go another sleep-less night...

But all signs are pointing to more gym time :)

swimming?

This morning I went to the gym to do a water aerobics class and found that all water aerobics classes have been canceled until the gym gets a new 'boiler' to heat the pool... I was going to do water aerobics in order to move those back and leg muscles but have them 'cushioned' by the water... bummer.

Well, I decided that since I was at the gym with a bathing suit on that I should swim. I lasted a little over 20 minutes. I didn't take breaks in between each lap, which is good - but 1) I didn't have goggles - and people underestimate the importance of goggles when swimming (!!!) and 2) the pool was COLD - no really, FRIGID... Kathy (works at the pool) said that the temperature was around 70 degrees - cold, cold, COLD... I was hoping a few laps would warm me up, but I just couldn't stand it - I probably would have stayed longer if I had goggles but the combo of no goggles and frigid water had me in there for 25 minutes only... but I do feel better after exercising - my legs are in pain and my hip area is in pain - not sure from what - so I will be stretching a lot today - but as of now, no back pain!

In future, what I should remember:

1) go to gym with more than one option... if water aerobics bound, take goggles in case class is canceled... or if spinning bound, take regular shoes in case I need to switch it up...

2) eat a protein-filled mini-breakfast an hour before working out (not a muffin 20 mins before working out)

3) figure out how to use the damned combo lock so that I can leave stuff in locker, not in car... just to make life a little easier

4) STRETCH before, during, after, whenever...

I plan on spinning tomorrow a.m. with Catherine ~ she's teaching the 9:30AM class at the wellness center if anyone wants to join me... :)

bumps in the road

So I have fallen down again! UGH! I overexerted myself yesterday while gardening and I have the good sore in my arms and legs and the bad sore in my back - YUCK. I have been on muscle relaxers today and I'm not a fan. They made me loopy all day and I feel like I'm in a quagmire. I'm resolute about going to the gym tomorrow a.m. and doing something that gets my heart rate up but doesn't hurt my upper back - suggestions, anyone??

I haven't been to the gym in a while and am feeling awfully sluggish and I don't like it - not one bit!!

On the upside of things, I found a wonderful recipe that I LOVE - and am excited to get more ingredients to make it again - it is so refreshing and it uses most of the items I get from the CSA and will soon get from my garden. I need to plant basil - because though I get it from the CSA, I'd like to have it at my fingertips all summer long. The recipe has tomatoes, basil, peppers and quinoa in it and a simple dressing that is TASTY... It's low in calories for a cup - the majority of the calories coming from the quinoa which is a whole grain and a complete protein... I've been eating it for lunch and it has provided me with lots of energy :)

If anyone wants it, let me know!

Reg & Barb - it's on page 12o of the Grilling cook book I gave you :)

I hope to have a better report tomorrow. I've gained some weight back and I don't feel nearly as good as I did a month ago and I am determined to not fall back into all the old habits... I may need to sanction all alcohol consumption to weekends only with meals - or at least back to the HCC rule of 1 glass of wine a day... plus, I really shouldn't buy milk chocolate - i think I lost my brain on that last shopping outing...

I will say that I LOVE strawberries and they have not lost their appeal even though I have so many in my fridge and freezer... I probably need to get some other fruits in my diet, though... it's been nothing but strawberries since I picked them Monday!

STRAWBERRIES!!!!

Well, the First Flush Festival was A LOT of fun - I didn't dance much, but I walked all over the place - Sarah and I walked up and down and through the tea fields several times and we walked all around the festival itself - and we sat for a little while - but since we were tent 'hoppers' we didn't really have a place to be - so we tent 'crashed' when we saw peeps we knew... but it was a great time!!

Today I picked 16 gallons of strawberries and I walked all over the fields and picked my fruit intake for the summer! I made 8 loaves of strawberry bread that I am promptly giving away and getting out of my house - it is REALLY tasty!! I froze 2 quarts of strawberries for cold munchies or smoothies later this summer, and I currently have 86 left in my fridge for general yummy consumption!!

I didn't eat as well today but really that consisted of eating about 5 times more fruit than I'm supposed to have... and not much else but water... oops... and now I'm exhausted! I've been getting my resumes out there and will continue to do so and apply for jobs until I have one... and I will be heading back to the gym this week to get my quirky back and body worked out. I'm getting back into the system of going to bed early and getting up early - so the 6:30 am workouts may continue... we'll see!

:)

First Flush Dancing :)

Yesterday I did get SEVERAL walks in with dogs - I didn't bike - but am not upset because my back really hurt last night and an additional ride would have made it worse!

I started this morning with an early walk (2 walks - the dogs have to be walked separately). This morning they'll get one more walk (2 for me) around 12:00 and then Sarah and I are heading to the First Flush Festival on Wadmalaw where we will be enjoying the Robert Randolph Family Band - and I, at least, will be dancing... but 'light' dancing so as not to increase pain in my back! I may have a beer - but most likely will stick with tea since we'll be on the tea plantation. :)

Tomorrow I'm turning in resumes, looking for jobs, picking strawberries, and doing calligraphy for my friend (Liz)'s wedding invites :) - YAY!! If anyone wants to go picking with me, let me know - I'd like to go in the morning before it gets too hot.... Mom, are you up for it?? Anyone else?? I'm so excited!! I've been waiting a while to have enough time to do this!!

I would also like to either do spinning at 6pm - depends on my back, or walk the cooper river bridge - if anyone would like to do these, let me know!!

Have a great rest of the weekend!!!

2nd Wake up call...

SO I went walking with Barbara today all over Daniel Island - and when I say all over, I mean it... we got turned around - and could have back-tracked, but instead used her nifty i phone to find a different way back. I think we walked a little over a mile. Barb, being in better shape than I apparently am, stayed a couple of steps ahead of me and I was working hard to keep up... sound familiar?? Kayaking with Jane, I was a little behind the whole time... UGH!!!

The original reason I was going to do the HCC program was to keep up with my wonderfully active companions!!!

Well, my friends, it is time to get back on track... I'm going back to the original diet - but I'm keeping wine on weekends - I'm going back to the original calorie and water in-take. And I'm SERIOUSLY going to log my foods! I'm house sitting this weekend and I didn't even bring my food journal!!?? Clearly I fell off the band wagon! Also, I lost some progress in how clothes fit - and I REFUSE to lose any more ground! I'm going to use the MUSC Weight Management graph to track my progress with daily weigh-ins. And I'm going to look through my pantry with a serious 'eye' and get rid of (again) the things that have crept in during my HCC absence.

Also, some of you who missed the blog called me to see how I was doing - YAY!! I'd rather have the concerned call - I'm not completely off the HCC band wagon, but I do feel like I could get bumped off if I hit another speed bump...

So I'm back - and I'm not going to half-ass it; I'm back for real - which means getting my butt in gear at the gym as well. Word on the street is that I can get a gym-assigned trainer to help me run through machines once... and now would be the perfect time because my back still really hurts - so I need to find the exercises I CAN do instead of focusing on those I can't and using my back as an excuse - Barb and I had a great walk today and walking is 'allowed.'

Plan for the weekend: Bike tomorrow or walk (while at this house, they have a beach cruiser which has a better posture for those with hurt backs) - or do both :) I have to walk one dog 3-4 times a day and the other dog 4-5 times a day - so yay for active dogs (?) - Sunday morning - walking dogs and then dancing at the First Flush Festival with Sarah H. :)

NO MORE LOSING GROUND!!!

I'm BACK

I promise I'm back - and I've thought about writing to all of you everyday that I've been away!! Last week I worked out everyday - or at least Wednesday-Sunday... then Monday I had strange muscle issues that led to my taking muscle relaxers through today... I cut the grass yesterday and I've been walking - but I've been told not to do exercise that works my back... so riding, spinning, elliptical - those are all out - but hopefully I'll be able to do a long ride on Saturday - ?? If not, walking it is... ugh. Basically after a LONG kayak excursion Saturday when i paddled against tide and wind, I did something bad to my upper back and my chest muscles and was in A LOT of pain on Monday and Tuesday. It still hurts but not nearly as badly.

I've been doing okay with my eating - I think after I'm done working at MDA (Friday = last day), I will be doing better because chocolate was always readily available and I had trouble staying away.

Barbara has agreed to let me email her my food logs - which I'll start today.. unfortunately, my house is not getting internet right now - not sure why - but I'm house-sitting this weekend, so I will be on here for the next couple of days - and hopefully every day afterwards with a little more regularity!!

This coming Wednesday, we have another HCC meeting about organic foods and tips for buying organic without breaking the bank... and we will be weighing in!! They are also going to show the movie, 'Food, Inc.'

More to come later - but I promise I'm back for good - I now have an alarm on my new phone that goes off to remind me to drink water, eat healthy, and write on the blog!!

:)

I will post something 'for real' tomorrow - but I just thought I'd let you all know that I just turned in my final thesis draft to my advisor - 165 pages - WHOA! I pulled an all-nighter last night - and am now going to bed at 12:12 AM... will be sleeping in a little tomorrow before work (don't have to be there until 10 AM) and then I'll hit the gym or my bike tomorrow afternoon and get back into the groove of things...

I am SO ready for some shred of NORMALCY!!!

:)
sorry I've been absent - but I've been putting that monstrosity of a paper together (monstrosity = the size, not the content!!)

Yeah..

Howdy, Sport's Fans... I have been away from the action as of late... Friday, Saturday & Sunday = MIGRAINE city!! UGH!! It not only affected my work out routine, it affected my thesis routine - what a horrible weekend for it! I was house-sitting downtown, though, so I made sure to walk everywhere - that was my one attempt... and since I had to work Saturday night downtown - there was a lot of walking to be done! I believe it's all sinus-related... I tend to feel yucky in the a.m. and great in the p.m.... but maybe this morning I've shaked it? I feel pretty good & it's 7:45am.

No working out today unless I finish the edits extra early... I was up until midnight last night, and am up early to finish this stuff... I still have to work from 10-3, so that takes a big chunk out of my day - and I'm pretty worried about that... but I'm working hard... and on that note, I'm going to get back to it!

I will say - as a little side note - that I have continued to eat well - minus a brief chocolate kick this weekend - and I've kicked the habit of processed meats (deli turkey) and bread that isn't Ezekiel bread... the CSA started a couple of weeks ago and each of my meals are jam-packed with veggies!!! :)

crazy day :)

So today has been INTERESTING!!!

2 days ago, my friend Maria asked if I'd be available to be 'on call' for her and Ryan - Maria's due in 2 weeks - and if she & Ryan needed to book it to the hospital in the middle of the night, would I be available to come and stay with Anderson? Anderson = her six year old that I used to babysit all the time - and my name is on record at her school as someone who can pick her up, etc. SO she told me she was due in a couple of weeks, so listen for the call then - but just to make sure, go ahead and put my ringer on high each night... I only work 10-3, so helping her out with this would be really easy - and I love this family and was ready to help out.

Maria called last night - her water broke - so I went over there last night - in the middle of the night - and then Maria's mom got there at 9am this morning - from Florence, leaving me just enough time to turn around and present my research to Clemson (my internship folks). I didn't sleep very well because I was listening out for Anderson and for the phone. CRAZY. I then went straight to work and am now getting ready to head to where I'm house sitting for the weekend. I'm going to have to work out doubly hard tomorrow - but right now, I want to crawl up and die. I'm SUPER exhausted and the throat is somehow worse today - coupled with a sinus head ache - UGH. I'll weigh in tomorrow - I'm allowed to weigh in one day later - and I think I'm going to take that 'out' this time around!! But I will still weigh in!! It looks like Sunday is no longer a day off - I just can't even think about going to the gym right now - my head's a pounding!!

I've been taking some allergy meds - but I'm going to have to double time this stuff!! I don't like feeling this dead all day!!

I'm taking my bike with me to the house downtown... I'm contemplating riding my bike to my house (west ashley) tomorrow a.m.... showering and then walking to work - it's a couple of miles away - I think that would be a nice activity... if not, I'll head to the gym EARLY to work out and then start my day :)

I HATE POLLEN

Well, for starters, I've had a pollen/allergy-induced sore throat for about a week now.... normally, I get a sore throat which leads to a sinus infection... but I've just had a sore throat - it's good that I don't have a sinus infection - but it hurts to talk!! What am I, Julia who loves to talk, going to do?? Normally, one would say that I take a break from talking... but today I talked my little heart out (or should I say 'talked my little throat out') catching up with Liz. What's difficult though, is not so much the talk or no-talk situation, but the fact that to breath hard hurts my throat - so spinning tuesday night hurt my throat - CRAZY.

So to defeat that issue, I wanted to be active today but was feeling sluggish from the pollen... so I called Liz and we walked around her neighborhood (we walked for over an hour), granted I was continuing to breathe in pollen - and granted I was talking a lot - but had I not called Liz to go for a walk, I probably would not have gone to the gym - so I felt it was a good solution :) And then I had dinner with Zach & Liz and it was like 'old times' when we used to get together once a week to dine and catch up - I've missed that... and I'm SO excited to do that with all my friends once this thesis is turned in for good (APRIL 29th!!!) Of course if I dine with friends - I would prefer to have it coupled with some sort of outdoor activity... :)

Another bummer about the sore throat is that it hurts to swallow water - UGH. So I've been drinking my weight in HOT tea. But I'm staying hydrated, right? I mean, it's water, just hot water - with some lovely tea steeping and making it fun hot water :) Liz was a sweatheart - and not only invited me to stay for dinner but made me a hot cup of tea as soon as we got back from our walk! What great friends I have!! :)

No idea what I'm going to do tomorrow - either swimming or elliptical machine - I would MUCH prefer swimming - so that'll probably be what I do :) I may even swim in the afternoon... I'm house sitting for some friends this weekend - starting on Thursday afternoon - they live downtown and I'm excited about biking over to the gym - or walking :)

I hope everyone's had a great week... stay tuned for more later... tomorrow is my weigh-in day :)

Back in the Saddle :)

So, I did spinning tonight with someone besides Catherine (this is a big deal...) And I didn't mind the instructor... I didn't sweat as much as I do in Catherine's class - so I started adding 1/4 to 1/2 a turn when he said add 1/8 a turn... but it was good to be in spinning again :) I think I might even take another of his classes... The only thing that is bad about evening classes (this one is from 6-7) is that I eat SO late and go to bed later - but besides that, I enjoyed the class. He's not my fave spin instructor - but he's not bad. And it looks like I'm going to have to branch out from Catherine anyway [ :( ] because she only teaches Wed's at 9 and I won't always be able to make that class - plus, I'd like to start spinning 2-3 times a week...

And I think it's safe to say that one of the main reasons I worked out this evening is because I didn't want to write on the blog saying I hadn't worked out today... so it's working :)

Because my day is so terribly hectic tomorrow, I will be aiming to work out tomorrow a.m. If I don't make it - I'll have to work out at 7 or 8 at the gym - so who knows when I'll write my blog tomorrow - but I appreciate you tuning in - it's helping me stay on track!! (And really, even if no one is reading this, knowing that you might is helping me stay on track, too :) )

So I made a slow-cooker recipe yesterday that was horrible. I'm sad that I wasted perfectly good food on it and that it made so much... I was hoping that today it would be better since it's chili - and chili is always better the second day - but I still hate it! So sad! It has the perfect amount of protein = lean ground turkey AND black beans - and it has sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers and onions... should have been awesome - but not so much... i don't know if it's because I cut the salt out completely (minus the canned tomatoes) or what - but I will not be passing this recipe out... ugh.

Oh well - thank God the CSA has started back up - because I'll get more veggies tomorrow and I'll just have to find some more protein... that's the hardest for me - getting enough protein in at each meal... you're supposed to not have more than 30 grams of protein per meal - I average 15 total. And I average 50 total for the day - when I'm supposed to be getting at least 80... awesome.

So that's my next goal... that and trying to get through this bowl of chili in front of me....

REVELATION = CHANGE OF PLANS :)

So I got up at 5:40 this morning and headed to the gym - and I worked out from 6-7:15ish... 45 mins cardio and 30 mins weights... I saw Catherine and apparently I was frowning - and she told me to smile that I'd feel better afterwards - which I did!!

I was thinking as I was working out how easy it was for me to do the 6-7 workout... mainly because I get up and get going before I have time to wake up and talk myself out of it.... also during the HCC I had pals to meet me at 6am and we were all in it together - so I was always very chipper and smile-y in the morning - which definitely positively affected my work outs... I also realized this morning that eventhough I'm writing down my foods in the food journal sporadically and working out = very sporadically, I've decided to make some changes...

THESE CHANGES = HCC HABITS :)

1 - I'm going to work out every morning again - and IF I don't feel like I got a good work out everyday, I'm going to work out on Sundays as well - if I feel like I kicked my butt everyday, then I 'get' Sunday's off... New Routine: MWF Cardio of some kind for an hour and weights, Tues/Thurs = swimming for an hour, and Saturdays - and maybe Sundays = riding my bike in this glorious Charleston weather. Most of you are aware that these schedules for myself don't always stick - but I will definitely work out everyday, I just may change up the location and the activity!

2 - Writing down my food daily - as I should be anyway!!! But I have recently gotten in the habit of both not writing down all the foods - and those foods that I leave out = ones I know I shouldn't have.... so I'm going to re-vamp the food requirements and get back to basics!

3 - I'm going to go back to writing on the blog daily. I know that Jenny and Catherine both check it daily - and Jenny told me that she was so sad when she saw that I was only writing once a week - so Jenny, this isn't for you per se - but you are a big part of it!! Main reason I'm going back to these daily info sessions is because I need more accountability - I don't have a team to work out with three times a week - or a trainer - though I count Catherine as my special trainer and cheerleader :) So I feel like the blog will become an extra accountability partner!!

If anyone wants to work out with me - let me know!! Matt has a membership at MUSC - but I'm pretty sure that's it for me friends - but if not, let me know!!! Barbara and I walked the bridge this weekend - she dutifully answered my plea :) and Reggie was there as well - but he was running - so we had minimum run-ins - but I deeply appreciate you 2 doing that with me. I felt horrible on Saturday morning - but I pulled myself out of bed just so that I wouldn't let them down... otherwise, I'd have probably not gone...

Liz, Jen & Mom have all expressed interest in doing stuff with me - let me know what works for you!!!

And everyone else - the offer still stands for Nia on Saturday mornings @ 10:30 = dance/fun/workout :)

And I'm always game for walking or biking!!!

Thanks for everything - I consider you all my Support Team and I've really appreciated the support you have shown me during the whole process - but especially these last couple of weeks weeks when I've fallen off the wagon a bit....I'm back but I'll still need whatever support you can throw at me!!

:)

Peace,

Jules

Here's my PLEA!!

Hey all - I went to the gym this morning after taking a week off (really, a little more than a week) - and it was HARD... once I got there, it wasn't that bad - but making myself get up and go was really difficult. I think I've lost some steam... and motivation. SO if you want to work out with me, now's the time because I NEED A BUDDY!!!

Nia classes are free for the first one you go to - so if you want to do that with me, they are Saturday mornings at Spirit Moves - I go a little early and work just for that Saturday morning in order for my class to be free...

IF you are a member at the gym, let's go do a class together! It's harder to dip out if you're meeting someone there...

Bridge walk, anyone??

Are you a member at ECO fitness - I travel to spin classes just so that I can take from Catherine (THE GREAT!) :) - classes that fit into my schedule = Thursday @ 6:30 AM & Saturday @ 8:30 AM

BIKE RIDING, Anyone??? I have an extra bike - Kimberly used it this weekend - so if you want to hit the trails, or the road, let me know!!!

I'm also open for suggestions... IF we're going to get together - I like the leisurely pace, I do - but I'm going to want to kick it up a notch (that's right - I'm speaking Emeril) and work out hard!!

Let me know if you want to join my train to healthy land!! (I know... corny...)

:)

Today is the day of the defense - I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm on here... my other (work) computer just froze and I'm waiting patiently to see how much of my presentation I lost... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

In other news, I didn't exercise this week because there was not enough time in the day... nor did I weigh in (again - not enough time to go down town and do so...)

BUT never fear, I will be jumping back on that train tomorrow when I bike to the farmer's market and start over with exercising everyday!! I am about to have a lot more free time - unless I lose my presentation and fail this attempt (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)... so if you'd like to bike with me - or walk the bridge with me - or walk your dog with me (CHACO!!) - just let me know - I'm game!!

I'm going to go now and stress elsewhere!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

:)

THE RESULTS ARE IN!!!

So here are the results from the Pre-test and Post-test - I'm just showing what I've lost (or in some (good) cases gained) I'm not actually going to give you what I weigh, etc. because I'm not there yet... but at least I'm honest? :)

During the course of the HCC (10 weeks), here are the physical changes that were made:

Total weight loss: 20.4 lbs

BMI - went down 4 digits

Abdomen: down 2.75 inches

Waist: down 4 inches

Hips: down 4 inches

Waist to hip ration: down .02 (both before and after HCC - WHR has me at low risk for health probs)

% Body Fat: down 5.5 digits or 5.5%

% Lean body weight (muscle mass): went up, but these results don't show me numbers, just that it went up (which is good)

That is all for now!! I've loved running into everyone and having everyone notice such a drastic difference :) It keeps me going :)

I have continued to exercise daily - I took Easter Day off - but that is it! I will probably not be on the blog again this week, except on Thursday to let you all know how much weight I've (hopefully) lost!!

I hope everyone has a great week! The weather is GORGEOUS!!!

It's a LOSS!

So, when I weighed in this morning - I was hoping for a big number loss - because I exhausted myself on Sunday and burned some 2,000-odd calories and it just seemed like that would be the big ticket item to help me when the massage of the week. (The person who loses the most each week of the 6-week post program gets a free 30 minute massage!!) But I didn't lose that much at all this week - but as Sara D. (team mate) pointed out - A LOSS IS A LOSS...

So this week, I lost 0.4 lbs for a TOTAL of 22.6 lbs!!! And I'm glad I'm still moving in the right direction :) I made some poor eating choices on Monday and Tuesday, so there's that... but I'm back on track. And to my credit - I've not stopped recording food (calories eaten and burned, fiber, and protein) in my food journal!!

:) Til next time, which probably will be next Thursday, since I have tunnel vision for the thesis defense next Friday!!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Easter!! :)

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike... :)

Actually, to be quite honest - it may be a while before I get on my bike again... maybe not, but that was thought process while doing this ride... my other thoughts were along the line of thinking I'm crazy and wondering if anyone would come pick us up.... :)

It was a great ride - it rained on us a couple of times and I wanted to tear my arm off and try the rest of the ride without my whole right side of my body... It was great, though, don't let my ramblings fool you... Laura, John & Jaclyn all pulled away from Tara and I early on in the ride - but they were unaware that they had done so, and they ended up being pretty far ahead of us... Tara and I also took advantage of the rest areas to the fullest... went to the bathroom, re-filled water bottles and both ate lots of rice krispie treats... i think it was the salt in those things - all of a sudden, they were the best snack EVER!! :) They also had cliff blocks at the rest station, that = margarita lime with salt flavored and they ended up being very tasty :)

My legs never cramped - nor did any other part of my body (cramp) - [Thanks, Catherine, for the coconut water suggestion with all the potassium!!!] My right shoulder was very much in pain and that started to really bother me in the last 20 miles, and my right knee bothered me of and on... oh, and my seat wasn't nearly as comfy as I hoped for - BUT my legs could have continued for miles! So maybe I'll do the 70 mile sojourn next year! :)

It took us about 4.5 hours to do the 50 miles - we're thinking we burned a little over 2,000 calories (holy crow!!) there was a lot of wind - in the wrong direction - and rain - and parts of my body were in pain - but I am very happy that I finished it and am very proud of myself and am very thankful for my friends doing it with me - especially Tara, who kept saying, "okay, this is our next goal, ____." and coming up with great ideas to keep us both motivated and going strong!! I may seem a little down, now - but I think that's the exhaustion talking - and now that I've done this - I'm ready to train for my next adventure!! :)

Down, Down, Down :)

I worked out this week on Monday (Taebo), Tuesday (1 hr. cardio/burned 420 cal's), Wednesday (Spinning/ burned ~ 400 - but I worked really hard, so I'm hoping it's more like 450 or 500 :) ), and this morning I did 40 minutes of cardio and burned 420 cal.'s.

I weighed-in this morning at the gym (for the official sign-in/weigh-in) = 6 week post HCC weigh-in program for accountability. I lost 1.8 lbs for a total of 22.2 lbs!!! :)

So, here's to another week! Tara, Laura and John are coming down to do the century ride with me on Sunday - 50 miles!! Here we come - ready or NOT... :)
And Kimberly's coming down to do the bridge run! Go Kimberly!! We couldn't handle the crowds, so we're going to get our butt's kicked the next day!! Some of my closest gal pals are coming in and I'm pumped!! (Oh, and John - unfortunately for you, you get included as a gal pal.. :) and since John doesn't read this, maybe Laura shouldn't tell him about it...

Reg & Barb - good luck running the bridge barefoot and PLEASE BE CAREFUL!! :)

Will talk later - everyone have a GREAT weekend - drink lots of water and be healthy :)

Mom & Dad

I would like to do a special post and shout out for my parents, who have been unbelievable supportive during this oh-so-stressful time!! Not that I necessarily expected anything less - but when times are rough and things seem to be falling apart and those you love step up and care for you and do amazing acts of love, that you realize how blessed you are!! I almost didn't come last night (to M&D's) because I didn't get finished with my draft until late and I didn't want them to wait for me for dinner, but they did! And we had great conversation and I was able to really relax into the comfort of my home (my home home) and the love of my parents - who have done much more than offer me a night at home home, but I am very appreciative of last night. And I don't know what it is about my bed here or my bedroom or what, but I sleep better here than I do ANYWHERE else - including my own bed at the purple house, which is very comfy. So thanks, Mom & Dad for a great evening :) I love you!!!

"New" Clothes

So, it's been a while - I probably would continue to write everyday if I didn't have thesis stuff looming - I just can't justify writing on here when I have a lot to write and do with the thesis!! I, unfortunately, have not exercised since Thursday morning - I AM NOT falling off the band wagon, I assure you!! I've stayed within calories and am continuing to eat only good for me food... but with the rough draft due Wed. then Friday, and my not turning it in until yesterday, I didn't feel like I had enough hours in the day to exercise and was CONSTANTLY stressed!! But I'm heading to the gym today and will make up for it with a long workout - maybe 1.5 - 2 hours of intense cardio? :)

I spent the night at my parent's house last night - had a wonderful salmon, veggie and salad dinner :) (Thanks, Mom!!) and was able to relax with a glass of wine and we watched a movie... good times... and a great break - so I now I can start fresh this morning (in a couple of minutes) and feel good about digging back in!

This morning, while getting ready, I thought I might try on some clothes in my old closet - one of my ongoing projects and M&D's house is to clean my room out - and I've purposefully left clothes there that I love but can't fit in yet... so I felt like I was clothes shopping - but it was for all the clothes I LOVE and couldn't part with. There are still some clothes in there that I look forward to fitting into - and it will be soon, I can tell! But I DID fit into a pair of jeans (THANK GOODNESS - the jeans I have now should have been recycled months ago!!), 2 pairs of khaki pants - one is a really nice pair from AT Loft, a khaki/dark green skirt I love and forgot I have (is like cargo pants, but a skirt), and several 'going out' tops! If I have time before I leave, I'm going to try on the dresses - I'd love to fit into one of them for Carol's wedding this coming weekend!!

So, Liz, we my have to wait to go shopping until I get to the 30 or 35 lbs mark, because I have A LOT more clothes than I thought I had... and they're all in remarkably good shape! And they're all nice clothes :) so my wear-around-the-house clothes I can keep wearing and I have all of these great pairs of pants, skirts, and tops to wear now and to look forward to!

YAY!!! :)

This is not the end - it is only the BEGINNING!! :)

This past week, I lost 1.8 lbs, for a GRAND TOTAL of 20.4 lbs in 10 WEEKS!!!

Yay, me!!! :) I'm ready to continue losing... but right now I'm ready for sleep :) I'm going to bed in minutes and am allowing myself to sleep 8 hours before getting up and continuing the grind... I don't think I did very good work when I stayed up so late - so I'm sleeping now and working tomorrow early :) (It's 10:30pm now... that time stamp is SO weird...)

Barbara - thank you for talking me away from the cliff earlier this evening when I was on the way to having a full fledge panic attack - reminding me that there is life after thesis - and for helping me decide that sleep is good :)

Hopefully, when I sign on next, the rough draft will be turned in and I will have been to the gym - I miss it :( And it's only been a day... wow, some things have changed :)

So much for the ZZZ's ;)

I was up until 4am this morning (it is now 9) -- I got a good 5 hours of sleep - that's okay, right? Needless to say, I didn't go to the group workout this morning - which I'm sad about because it was our last group workout :( BUT - I'm pretty sure I would have passed out if I got up at 5:30 after 1.5 hours of sleep... and my thesis is more important! I'm about to go and do CAGE fitness 9:30-10 and then I'll go do a bike ride mid-afternoon to break up the hours of thesis. My results, discussion, conclusion and abstract are due today - I have half of my results turned in and my abstract... so I'll be doing another grueling day today.

I'll take a break for the last HCC meeting tonight and then probably stay up pretty late tonight as well. Unfortunately, though I've been keeping up with my calories and work outs, I have not gotten a lot of sleep (obviously) which I'm afraid will affect my weigh-in... but at the same time, this is just a phase in my life that will pass so that I can get back to a healthier me :)

Have a great day!!

Burning those Calories!!

This morning for the 20 minutes pre-spinning, I burned 150 calories and 'ran' 1.5 miles... I was booking it... Then during spinning, I pushed really hard and burned probably ~ 400 calories... Catherine has said that you burn ~ 400 calories/class - so that's what I'm basing it on... so 550 calories burned today? I'll take it :)

The ZZZZZZ's

I went to bed at 11pm last night and just got up (7:45am) which is the most sleep I've had in 2 weeks... Janis sent out an email that said if we weren't getting enough sleep that that can definitely lead to weight gain... too bad my rough draft due date and the end of the program are coinciding on the same week because I haven't slept well for at least the last 5 days in a row (staying up late ~ 12/1am and getting up early ~4/5 am to go workout. So last night's sleep did wonders (I'm hoping). I'm getting up now to go to spin class, and I'm going to try and fit in 20-30 minutes before the class on the elliptical. I will report back later! :) Happy St. Patty's Day!! :)

Rise & Shine!

& Give God your glory, glory...

It is not even 8AM, and I have been to the gym, burned 440 calories (was there for an hour), eaten a glorious oatmeal (made with milk = the best!!), blueberries & cinnamon breakfast (post workout), and have taken a shower. I am READY for the day - I know I have a lot to do - and I know I should be intimidated - but I say BRING IT.

Today's goal: finish Results - section 1 (there are 2 very large sections) and turn in this evening (after meeting with my advisor again). (Wednesday's goal = results, section 2 & discussion & conclusion) Everything gets turned in on Thursday a.m. And for those who don't know - I've already turned in the Intro, Lit Review & Methodology :)

This morning Shawn worked us out (Sarah didn't come - not sure what happened - but it's the last week! Come on!!) and Shawn did a fabulous job - she gave Tasia, Sara D and I a work out to do on the elliptical machines (interval work out) for an hour - and she did the same with everyone else upstairs running the track (vs. running on the elliptical). I had arrived at the gym at 5:35 to do 30 minutes of cardio prior to Sarah's workout - so I actually got to do 5:40-6:40 am with Shawn's workout and get out of there sooner....

What we did on the elliptical:

0-5 mins = warm up walk (I did level 2)

5-10 mins = stretch legs, glutes, shoulders and neck (I stretched everything else, too)

10-12 mins = slow jog (level 4)

12-15 mins = hard pace/sucking wind/maintain entire time (level 12)

15-35 mins = run (2 mins), sprint (1 min), run, sprint... elliptical sprint = the hardest resistance as possible for us (run = 7, sprint = 14)

35-40 mins = jog (2 mins), sprint (1 min), jog, sprint... (jog = 6, sprint = 12)

40-45 mins = 'easy peasy' cool down (level 3)

45-50 mins = stretch and hold longer

I'm keeping this sheet she gave me and going to do this - upping my levels each time - each week - maybe 2 x / week before doing weights... we didn't do weights this morning because it's the last week and the idea is to burn those calories with Cardio!!

I hope everyone has a great day!! (It's just now 8AM! Wowsers!!)

Y'all should see me swim - HILARIOUS

Sunday I took a day off - which I know I'm not technically supposed to do - especially in the last week - but I couldn't tear myself away from the work - FEAR has set in... but I did a lot of riding - both morning and evening on Saturday, so it's okay, I think - well, it has to be okay - I can't repeat yesterday now...

This morning Jennelle and I swam again :) It was ridiculous though - we were going to swim at 6:30AM, but then decided by text this morning (both of us still in bed) to swim at 7 because there are never any lanes open from 6-7, especially if Master's swim is going on. So I got there at 7, left my goggles and the list of exercises in the car... didn't realize it until right before we were going to get in.. Jennelle went to warm up, and I put clothes back on and went back out to my car to get the forgotten items... then I met her at the pool, where she was sitting in a chair waiting for a lane to open up - we didn't start swimming until 7:15 and we both had to leave right at 8 = ridiculous.

I did a slightly different routine than Jennelle did - she swims faster than I do, so in order to keep up with her, I shaved some laps off - with the hopes of going for a ride this afternoon, but this is my one break (writing the blog) before I go and dive in again... I may go for a run this evening to get it out of my system...

Anyway, I did a variety of different kinds of laps which I believe was close to 0.6 miles... so not my 1 mile 'norm' - but I was wiped afterwards...

Jennelle and I started off in one lane together, and then the one next to us opened up and she was able to move over - JUST in time for the lateral kick thingies... we lay on one side and do the freestyle kick sideways, while breathing small little breaths as we go down - then switch sides to come back up... I ran into the wall the WHOLE time - imagine if I had moved over one lane?? I would have been in everyone's lane... with that stroke, you sink down a little if you slow down, and I would have skimmed underneath all the lanes had I my back to the lane side... as it was, I was just hitting the wall...

Then, with the pulls - I do this everytime, but I never think to write about it - the pulls are when you have the float between your legs and you just use your arms = a great time to work on your stroke and to relax your legs after doing the kickboard laps. I'm usually okay with all of these exercises for the first length (1/2 a lap), but then on the way back is when it goes haywire... for the pull, I kept forgetting not to kick, so I would start to kick with the float thingy and would be zig-zagging back and forth within the lane and then to correct it, I get wiped out using my arms... I had to look like I was drowning - I was cracking myself up while swimming and then choking on the water... sad, really :)

AMAZING Friends!!!

Last night, my friend Sarah H. made dinner for me and we watched (I slept) BSG :) Sarah found out from me ahead of time what I could and couldn't eat on my program and made me dinner :) I made us salad to accompany her awesome curry/cinnamon/tomato/red onion mixture that she mixed with lean pork chops... YUMMY (I'm currently eating those leftovers over brown rice :) )

Sarah and I used to do this a lot - but I've been so busy that there has been no time for it - we also alternate who makes things - but she provided most of the yummy-ness last night, which was perfect, because I was running low on groceries/food.

Heyns and I went on a bike ride this morning. We left my house with the intent of doing the West Ashley Greenway that is 10 miles - or 20 there and back - which is what we were going to do.. I was on my mountain bike with hybrid tires and he on his hybrid. But it has rained for the past 2 days so the hybrid tires were not making the journey well... I was getting a work out fighting that mud! When we got to Wappoo road, we took that over Hwy 17 and hopped onto the West Ashley Bike way (paved) and made much better progress - we took it to the end and then cut over back to my house... We biked from 9:30-11:30 - and no part of that ride was leisurely - so it was a decent work out - and I was pleased that he had asked me to go... we're planning some more rides = longer rides for when I'm done with my thesis :)

What made my day: Matt Hasse (gets the full name shout out because of his awesome gift) called me this afternoon and wanted to bring over some groceries... a couple of weeks ago he had asked what he could do to help - I was so stressed out (still am, a little) about taking 2-3 weeks off work to grind out my thesis - so he asked for my list of foods I could eat so that he could make me a meal that wouldn't derail me while on this program... He made the decision to bring me groceries instead, which is actually SEVERAL meals and absolutely wonderful. On this list, I included the 8 foods I am supposed to have daily along with some personal faves - at the time, I thought he was going to make me a meal, so I was trying to give him as much variety as possible, because I know it can be hard to put my list into a meal...

One of the BEST things about what Matt brought me is he bought stuff that, though my faves, I wouldn't normally buy because I don't have the money for it. So opening those bags after he left was like Christmas morning. I can't even put into words how I feel about this gift - I can eat - and eat well - for the next week and not have to worry about $ - how amazing. What he got me that I'm SO EXCITED ABOUT: Beets (fresh) with greens intact (guess what kind of salad I'm having tonight :) :) :) ), mangoes (4 of them - I haven't had mangoes in years - absolutely LOVE them), leeks (!!), greek yogurt, raw almonds and raw walnuts (!!), KALE!!!, grapefruit (!!), spinach :), raw steel cut oatmeal (was about to run out!), 6 BAGS OF DRIED BEANS - 3 pinto, 3 black bean - I'm going to be eating off those beans forever :) :), almond butter (I just got some almond butter that I detest - or rather is not my fave - and he bought my favorite!!), strawberries and blueberries :) :) There may have been more, but that's what I can remember. CHRISTMAS DAY - no lie. My absolute faves: beets (fresh), mangoes, leeks, walnuts, kale & grapefruit. HOLY COW. I am still reeling from this - and he came by an hour ago...

SO I just have to say - that all of you are amazing - and I am reminded daily that I am SO blessed by my friends and to have the friends that I do. And I am humbled - humbled by your kindness and the genuine people you all are. I don't think I deserve you sometimes - I definitely don't think I deserved the gift that Matt gave me. How precious life is - and more so - my friends who surround me and lift me up. I'm getting teary eyed, so we'll just leave it at that.

GET OUTSIDE - it's AMAZING today - while I'm inside getting my thesis groove on - go outside and enjoy the sunshine and breeze!!

Procrastination...

I'm officially using this blog to type about something else ANYTHING ELSE than stormwater runoff... I can't take too long a break - because I'm trying to have the rough draft in by 2pm... but I'm really close... and the closer I get, the harder it is to make it happen, strange, I know...

Today is Jenelle's birthday, so we met at 8:30 am instead of 6:30 am to do our swimming routine. Today was different and satisfying. We warmed up with 2 easy laps, 2 kick, 2 pull (see earlier posts for explanation of those). And then we did some different exercises that were less about length. We worked on breathing on both sides vs. only breathing on the right side (for me - Jenelle only breathes on the left side). We worked on our arm strokes and did several laps concentrating on pulling in a way that had us breathing on both sides, but we pushed hard with the pulls (while kicking)... this is actually really hard to describe and put into words... we did a stroke that had us on our side, one arm out with our head resting on that arm, the other arm trailing behind, freestyle kicking but on our side, and we were concentrating on breathing and having our head positioned in the water so that the surface hit at our nose (1/2 head in, 1/2 head out) and we breathed out and tilted our heads slightly to breath in - this exercise demonstrated how we're supposed to position our head in the water for normal freestyle... anyway, lots of exercises to help improve our breathing, stamina, and style.

I swam a little less than a mile and I feel stronger in the water. I know how to do it correctly and I am - and I take fewer breaks between each lap or length. I still swallow large portions of the pool and stand up coughing half-way through a lap when I breathe in water - but overall MUCh improvement has been made :) We swam continuously from 8:30-10 am!

Tonight I do Taebo with (hopefully) some team members, but if not, just me and that's fine!

If anyone out there would like to join me, feel free, but a visitor price is $10 - which is steep... but if you don't think it's steep and you would like to join me, I'd love to have you come with!

Saturday & Sunday = long bike rides

Monday = Swim in AM, possible spin in PM

Tuesday = 5:30-6 cardio, 6-7 workout with team, 7-7:30 cardio :)

Wednesday = Spin in AM, Taebo in PM

Thursday = 6-7 workout with team, 7-8 intense cardio

And then back to today's schedule!

:)

"Great beginnings are not as important as the way one finishes." -- Dr. James Dobson

I have on more week of HCC, and the rest of my life to finish STRONG!!

I LOST 3 LBS THIS WEEK - FOR A TOTAL OF 18.6 LBS - YIPEE!!! I am 1.4 LBS away from the 20 LBS mark!! Who'd have thunk it?? (family phrase - for those of you wondering about my grammar skills)

We had a great meeting tonight - No on on our team gained weight :) Louie's Kids has made it's way up to 6th place out of 11 teams! And Leslie is still in the top 5 women for both % weight loss and total lbs - GO LESLIE!!

I Love my team, but I am ready to spread my wings and try this out by myself - eventhough I won't be by myself completely - I know Janis will always be there for me :) And I still have my team's phone numbers, etc. And trainers like Catherine and Sarah G. - I bet they'll still be there for me - and of course all of you - my family and friends who have been so supportive! Thanks Again for reading this and supporting me on this crazy trip that is FAR from over!! I would like to lose 40 more lbs - and I know that I can do it! (Although, I haven't really checked with anyone to see if I should lose that much... but I still know I can do it... ) :)

I have one more week to rock it out with HCC and then they still weigh me for 6 weeks after that (news to me) - so as published earlier on this blog - I will keep this up for a while longer - hopefully til I reach my goal :)