Learn to Run Class

Today was my class and weigh in day.  I tried to really follow the Weight Watchers Program this week and to count everything and not go over my points.  It worked!  I lost 4.5 lbs!  The lesson I learned is that if I want to lose weight I have to do the program exactly.  I was used to the last time on the program that I could have a bad week and not gain or even lose well not this time around.  As Mike told me,"The program works if you do it"  

The class went really well.  I am impressed with myself that I was able to do the 1 minute run and 1 minute walk.  Next week is still scary but I am starting to believe that I can do the running program and I just may be a runner by the end.  I was near the end of the pack but I didn't care because I didn't have any pain in my legs and I had stamina to go on.

Thursday Run

Mike was playing golf after work today so he wasn't going to run with  me.  I am really wasn't sure if and when I would go for my run.  It was supposed to be a rest day but I am scared of the next progression at the class tomorrow.  I figured that if I trained one more day I would be able to handle the walk 1 minute run 1 minute sequence.  

During the run, there were a couple times during the walk that I looked at my watch around the minute mark wondering if it was time to run.  I think that that shows I am ready for the progression and I am recovering after 1 minute now.

Getting out for the run was a bit of a challenge since I had to take both girls with no help but we did it and they were awesome!  It was a good night all around.  I don't like having no help at night because it is a challenging time but Mike deserves to get out too.  I am glad that there was only one tantrum and I got both girls bathed!

Wednesday Run/Walk

I have decided not to go swimming this week because I am finding the running to be really hard on my body and I am too close to the marathon to burn out.  I will pick it up next week.

I did my runs!  I am always so proud of myself when I just get out and do it because some days that really is the hardest part.  On Wednesday I took advantage of Mike working at home and when both girls were down for their nap I headed out.  I forgot my mp3 player and it would have made it just a bit more enjoyable.  Still it was a great work out, my legs hurt a bit near the end but not too bad.  

Mike went out while I was at Brownies and he took the stroller.  He couldn't believe how much harder it was pushing the stroller, he was very impressed with me.  I didn't think it was that hard but I am used to pushing it.

Freaking Out!

I just looked at the route for the marathon and I am freaking out!  It looks like such a long way!  It is amazing how long 13.1 miles looks.  I am going to try and not freak out too much and I will have to keep reminding myself that I have walk 10 miles and 3 more is doable.  Deep Breath....Deep Breath.  

I can do this.  I can do this. I can do this.  I can do this.  

30 min Run/Walk

I didn't make it swimming.  6am came to early and Mike didn't want to wake up with Zoe.  Tonight we will go to bed early so that I have a chance to swim.  I did try out going to Spa Lady to see if that would be a good alternative.  It is a great gym but Zoe is too young for the babysitting, she lasted 10 minutes before they had to call me.  

Mike and I did our jog after dinner and it went okay.  I am amazed at how hard it is.  I thought it would be okay because I had been training for the marathon.  I am starting to see how important getting your heart rate up is and I don't think my walking has given me a good enough cardiovascular work out.  So it was hard and I was worried about my shin splints because they were bugging me again but we did it.   We just headed down the road to the school where the track is.  The 21 minute walk 2 minute run 1 minute circuit went really well and fast.  

I am worried about when it increases on Friday but I will keep training and just keep trying.  I think it will be easier after the marathon is done because then I won't be worried about hurting myself.  

6 Days!!

OMG!  The marathon is so close!  I can not believe it.  I am just so excited!  This week I am going to take it easy but continue with swimming and jogging.

I am also trying to decide what the next goal is going to be.  It drives Mike nuts that I haven't even finished this marathon and I am on to the next thing.  But hey, that's me.

10 Miles

I was really not into the walk yesterday.  I had no motivation.  The only thing that got  me out of bed and out the door was that I knew my sister was waiting.  I was still really sore from the jogging and Mike was busy so I had no one to take Zoe.  

Danielle and I set out after joking about skipping the walk and going for breakfast.  Danielle picked a great route with some good hills.  The hills killed me and emphasized how sore I was and that the jogging took more out of me then I had thought.  It seemed to take forever to get to 2 miles.  I wanted to quit then.  But Danielle encouraged me to keep going.  Getting to 5 miles was really hard too.  My back was starting to hurt from carrying Zoe and my hips and inner thighs were killing me.  I was still contemplating quitting but again thanks to Danielle we kept going.  

After the halfway mark, Zoe started cranking, so I began to get worried that we wouldn't be able to finish.  Getting to the halfway mark renewed what little motivation I had.  But Zoe was getting up set so we called for Danielle's husband to come get us.  We made it to about mile 8.  I am disappointed but I was trying to be mindful of my body and that the marathon is next week.  NEXT WEEK!  And I have taken on a lot in the past week; swimming and jogging.  And pushing myself to hard so close to the marathon could actually jeopardize that marathon and that would suck.

When I got home I was so dead!  I just crawled into bed.  That was one of the first times that I was so exhausted afterwards.  I realized that I had made the right choice to quit.  Or to rephrase it in a positive way to end.

60 Minute Run/Walk

On Saturday I was a bit sore from the class but I decided that I needed to do my walk and why not add in a 21 minute run.  I ended up doing it on the treadmill when the girls were napping.  In the class I found I had shin splints agains so I decided to warm up for 20 minutes, do the jog sequence followed by a 20 minute cool down.  The running went great, I didn't like doing it on the treadmill because it was annoying increasing and decreasing the speed.  I also felt like I was controlled by the speed of the treadmill and I couldn't go slower or faster.  I was sore afterwards but not too bad.  I felt great and I really enjoyed the jogging part.  I am feeling more confident that I can become a runner.

After the walk we went to the Running Room to go and get some watches to help with the running and to get a few things for the marathon.  The watch I got was a Timex with 2 interval timers so that it beeps to tell me when to run and walk.  This weeks pace is walk 2 minutes and run 1 minute.

Learn to Run

Mike and I started our first class tonight and it went really well!  I had some issues with shin splints but I am happy to say that it was enjoyable and went by fast.  We walked for 2 minutes and ran for one.  I like this 'date night' of ours!

The girls were okay and that will make next week's class less stressful.  

Now on to the training!  I am going to add a 21 minute jog/walk to my regular walks this week.

Cranky!

I did my walk and swim yesterday.  Just before dinner I weighed myself and I am up!  Grrr......So I jumped off the wagon with gusto and went to Cheesecake Cafe for dinner.  I am so pissed, why doesn't exercising equal weight loss?  I know I went over my points this week and didn't eat very well but why is it this hard?

I am training for a freaking marathon and haven't lost anything!  That isn't fair.  I don't like dieting.  I want to eat what I want and enjoy it.  Why doesn't it work that way for me?  I am bummed and frustrated.

But I am going to get back on it and do better this week.  I am going to swim more, my running class starst and I am not going to go over my points.

30 mins

Mike has been sick and working like a dog so when the alarm went off this morning for me to go swimming, he asked me to stay home.  He just couldn't get up if Zoe woke up early again.  I was pissed.   Not really at him.  I was just frustrated and it has been hard not having anyone able to take Zoe.  Unfortunately that ruined my day.  I shouldn't have let it fester because Mike has been nothing but supportive of my marathon and getting fit.  He really has been wonderful.

I decided to take a nap instead of exercise.  I thought I would go after Brownies.   I asked Mike to join me and it was a good thing I did  because after Brownies I was tired and didn't want to exercise.  Thankfully Mike encouraged me to just get it over with.  So I strapped Zoe on and walked.

I am so glad that I did it because I don't have to make it up and it is done.  So far I have stucked to my goal of not skipping a walk. 

10 more days!!

45 minutes

Mike is now working from home.  With him working from home I thought I would take the opportunity to go swimming at 6am.  I set my alarm and actually was able to get up.  I swam for about 45 minutes.  I really enjoyed it.  I had forgotten how much I love swimming and how hard it is.  After about 5 minutes I thought to myself, "Okay, this was good....how about the hot tub."  But I kept swimming.  45 minutes seemed to take forever, I am sure it will go faster the more I do it.  Now all I want is a water proof MP3 player.

I also did my 45 min walk too.  My goal is to do it at nap time with or without Zoe and then go have a nap too.  I also want to not skip any walks this week.  I am so close to the end of this goal.  The marathon is in 11 days!!  Crazy!

I am getting really excited and I am getting into this exercise stuff too.  Swimming in the mornings and my learn to run class starts on Friday!  I am going to be so fit!

Reframing

Danielle and I have both struggled with our weight for awhile now.  It is really nice doing the marathon with her because it allows me to share how I feel with someone who is going through the same thing and it is great to have someone to help motivate you.

We were discussing negative self talk and how it effects us.  I never really believed in that psycho-mumble jumble before but as I am trying to change my lifestyle for my girls I am wondering if it really does matter.  Danielle mentioned a conversation with her husband where she couldn't see how gorgeous she is and he was dumbfounded.  She is a amazing but I can agree it is so hard to see yourself as beautiful.  I really want my girls to love themselves and see that they are beautiful no matter what.  I want to be a good example for them so I am going to try and reframe my self talk.  No more, "I am fat" etc I am going to focus on how fit I am.  I feel that will work because it isn't lying to myself and it is something I have control over.  In time I would like to have the confidence again to look in the mirror and say,"Day-umn!"  I think focusing on being fit and instead of the weight lose or possible gain will be better for my self worth in the long run.

I worry so much about body image and how girls are so effected by it.  I sometimes want to pack up my family and move to some remote mountain cabin just to shelter them from the evils of society.  It saddens me when my sister talks about how the kids called her fat and made fun of her.  It really hurt her and I don't want that for my girls.  AT. ALL.

8 miles

My sister came over nice and early and we set out to do our walk.   I was on a strict timeline because Mike had to work this afternoon.  We had to be done around 2 hours.  So we set out we make decent time to the 2 mile mark and I wanted to be half way by 1 hour.  It was getting close so we decided to jog a bit.  We jogged the last bit of every block.  The jogging went well, I just need to make sure I wear a good bra.  The fun part is that Danielle and I got honked at a couple times and one guy yelled out his window professing his love to us and that he wanted to make out right now.  It was kind of annoying but really flattering at the same time.

I am petrified of jogging but it has some great calorie burning benefits and I do want my next marathon time to be faster.  Mike and I have signed up for a Learn to Run class that starts next Friday.  I have been slowly trying to jog a bit just to prepare myself for the class and running in front of people. 

 I am excited for the class because I am excited for Mike and I to get out without kids and do some exercise.  If both of us are getting it fit the closer we are to becoming a fit family.

Up and Down

Friday I wasn't feeling great so I skipped my walk....AGAIN!  I am so bad.  But on Saturday I made it up by moving my sister who lives in the basement.  Mike has moved like a million times and before the move he was so worried about who would help him lift because my parents have some issues  and for some reason he thought I was weak too.  So I showed him!  I was a moving super star.  Later we were talking about why he thought I was such a weakling, he said that he was just used to me being pregnant.  That is a good excuse since I have been pregnant for almost half of the time we have lived in this house.

I decided since I had been going up and down the stairs for about an hour and a half that it counts as my walks.

Later today, Danielle is coming over and we are going to do our walk.  I really want to get it down in 2 hrs because that is the speed that would be good for the marathon.

Down 1.5 lbs!

I skipped my walk yesterday....I know bad!  But I wanted to do it with Mike and then it got too late.  Excuses....excuses...  I will be making it up today though.

Today is my weigh in and I am down 1.5 lbs for a total of 4.5!!  I am really happy because I didn't eat very well yesterday.  I was losing motivation because I hadn't lost weight last week.  I am so fickle, I was actually contemplating just quitting because I really wanted to have some chocolate last night.  What made this week successful is that I was able to count all my points and used them all.  I only went over yesterday.  I sometimes find when we go out for dinner that I lose track and just guess and most of the time probably not guess enough.

45 mins and a crap day

Today has been one of THE worst days ever.  It all started when I woke up and looked around the house as I stumbled and tripped my way  to make some coffee.  The house was a sty and Mike hadn't done anything the night before.  I was just so ticked.  I was also really jealous that he gets to play his game while I had to fight with Zoe so I could eat last night.

Then Mike had to complain about the laundry and how it hasn't been done yet and he doesn't have any shirts to wear.  The poor guy because I laid into him and then he went to work and I sent him a nasty email.  He really didn't deserve any of it.  I was trying to be in control of my emotions but I just can't handle fighting and with being sleep deprived, I just fell into a black pit of despair and I brought up every imaginable thing he had ever done wrong.  Then the more I thought the more depressed I got.  He was trying to be nice but I did hurt him and that realization made me even more upset.  So I cancelled our plans to go and see a little Thomas the Tank play and decided to clean the house.

I got the house done, well about 75% and my mood has slowly gotten better.  I still feel really badly about being so awful.  I decided that I should go to bed early like 8 or 9pm.

The high point of my day so far is that I got my walk done.  I am proud because I really wanted to curl into bed and wallow in my misery.  I have brownies tonight so I knew I would be out and it is hard to do the walk after the meeting.  Plus I should talk to Mike and spend some time with him after this morning.  So I put Ally down and strapped Zoe on.  And afterwards, I even had some time for tea and chocolate to help my mood.

They fit!!!

I can't believe it.  I am really happy.  It is so nice to fit into something that you didn't think you could.  I think I am going to where these pants until they fall off!

30 min

Today has been fairly busy and it isn't even over yet.  I met up with my sister at costco and I got the shopping done.  I also bought a pair of linen pants, I bought a size 14 about a size too small.  I am going to try them on and see how small and if it is worth it to keep or just return them.  Linen is kind of scary because there is no stretch.  So we shall see.  The nice thing about costco is that you can return pretty much anything at any time.  So I don't think it will hurt to hold on to them for a couple of weeks.

I have a Girl Guide Volunteer Appreciation Dinner tonight, so I had to do my walk during the day.  I managed to get both girls down and was able to do 30 mins.  My walk is supposed to be 45 min but I will switch it around and do it tomorrow.  I think it is more important to get a walk done.  Especially when all I wanted was to go have a nap.

Almost 10 miles

Yesterday, I managed to fit in my walk amoungst the 4 mothers we celebrated.  Mike let me sleep in and then made me breakfast and the girls and him bought me some walking accessories; a hat, water belt and really good double layer socks.  I was really excited when they gave me my present and used it for my walk.

The socks were fabulous!  I didn't get any blisters.  The socks are double layer and they are supposed to rub against the layers instead of my feet and it worked really well.

Danielle and I did the walk and we were brave enough to do 4 hills.  We walked around the town where my parents live again.  There was more traffic today so it wasn't as enjoyable as last week.  We also just mapped out 5miles one way and then turned around.  I love the turn around point.  It helps to know where you are and how close you are to being done.  

Unfortunately it started raining in our last mile.  We kept going, it started coming down really hard and getting really cold.  We decided that we were going to finish and not call anyone to pick us up but our wonderful husbands came.  We had about a half a mile to go so we did really well too.  

The neat thing is that we even were able to jog in our last mile -  mainly to get out of the rain sooner.  But I think that is awesome that we still had energy to do it.

Bummed

Friday was my weigh-in day and I didn't lose anything.  I tried not to get upset but I must admit it ruined my day!  I wasn't perfect but I think better than normal.  Oh well on to the next week.  If I don't lose weight this week than I might drop my daily points down a bit.

I have been bad this week and skipped a day here and there but I have done all my walks by combining two at a time.  I really miss having two rest days.  This week my goal is too do all my walks on the right day.

30 min and 45 min

I was busy yesterday with playgroup and Brownies so I didn't get my 30 min walk in.  I wasn't too worried but then today, I was cranky and tired and was not going to do the walks.  I kept thinking of ways I could do it later.  I couldn't come up with a good plan and because I was so cranky I was just not going to do it.  But thinkinh about not doing it was making me even more cranky because I am so close and I have worked so hard.

After dinner I was hit with a wave of motivation and I jumped on it.  Thankfully nothing stood in my way; Zoe was fed and Mike could put Ally down.  So I strapped Zoe up.  Ally was so cute as I was getting ready she wanted me to put her in the carrier and go downstairs.  Sadly I couldn't because she would not last that long and it was bed time.

My original plan was to try and do an hour and if I didn't want to continue even 45 would be okay.  I got on the treadmill and luckily  my favorite weightloss show X- Weighted was on.  It is a great show and it is done in Canada.  It follows people over 6 months losing weight and increasing their fitness.  I started the walk 15 minutes before the end and luckily there was a new one after.  The show had 2 moms working together to lose about 50lbs.  It was really inspiring and I kept going and did 1 hr 15 mins just to watch the whole show and it caught me up.  I hope that I can do as well in 6 months!

45 Minutes

It was rainy last night so I had to do my walk indoors and the neat thing is Mike still joined me.  He is starting to join me a bit on our walks and wants to get fit with me too.  We are actually signing up for a learn to runs class that starts in a week and a half.

I love having company during my walks it makes the time go by much faster.  I also really like that Mike is joining me with out me nagging.  One of my biggest reasons for getting fit is my daughters and teaching them about an active lifestyle.  I think the best way to do that is to show them.  Plus I like when Mike and I do stuff together.  I am just tickled that we are getting fit together.

I have to say that I hate my treadmill!  It is so much harder and not as enjoyable.  Thank goodness it is springtime.  Now I need to encourage  myself to get out when it is rainy too.

9 Miles

I did it!  Woot!  Woot!  I am so proud of myself.  I am a bit sore but I am high from the exercise and the acheivement.

Getting the walk in was touch and go for a bit.  We were so busy this weekend with a reunion and visiting my mother in law.  I set out to do the walk this morning with Zoe but it was really windy and I had to get Mike to come and get us.  Luckily my sister wanted to do the walk with me and we met up at my parents house and did it.  It worked out great going to my parents because then Mike had help with the kids.

I started out carrying Zoe and made it about half way when my Mom came by with water and encouragement.  Zoe was doing really well but I let Mom take her because I figured it wouldn't take to long before Zoe would get upset.  Also I was a little concerned about the sun.  

Today was the perfect day for a walk, it was about 20 C out!  I just love the first couple of nice days because you really appreciate them and being outside for close to 3 hours is such a treat.  The sun was shining and there were barely any clouds in the sky.

We walked around the small town that we grew up in and it was funny talking about some of the places we would never have walked to before and how it really wasn't that far away.  Danielle and I were reminiscing about walking home from school and to friends houses.

The marathon is in 28 days!  Crazy!  If you would have asked me back in January if I thought I would be this close to do a marathon I think I would have laughed but here I am!

Slack Week

I have been slack with my walks.  I didn't do my walk on Wednesday or Thursday.  So I made them up on Friday.  This week seemed to run away from me.  I didn't get anything done around the house.  I have piles of laundry and dishes.  

I went for a nice walk with my sister yesterday.  We did some big hills while pushing the chariot.  Zoe still hates the stroller but Ally loves it!  I can not believe how well she does in there.  There are no complaints.

Now for the good news.....I love 3.5 lbs this week!  Yeah!  I am so excited and even more  motivated to keep it up.  I am starting to believe that with counting my  points and exercising that I will lose the weight, I could be 50 lbs lighter by December!