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!! :)