1 Year Weight Watchers Anniversary!

So today, one year ago I left a horrible doctors appointment after being diagnosed with high blood pressure. I was put on medication and told that I need to lose weight as well. I went from the doctors to the local weight watchers center where two lovely ladies were just packing up after a meeting. They had already closed everything down, but one of them knew if she didn't take my money and sign me up I wouldn't come back. I registered and the rest is history! When I started I was eating out at McDonald's twice a day and eating junk for dinner, I was 55 pounds heavier that I am right now. I didn't exercise, I felt horrible about myself, I felt horrible in general. My health was slowly going downhill. Today I feel great, my body just works better, My world is bigger I can do things that I couldn't do when I was bigger. I'm off the blood pressure medication and my doctor is so happy with me. I'm a runner! I feel good about myself and I'm happy with what I'm doing to change my life. Lots of our grocery budget is now spent on fruits and vegetables. I'm currently training for a half-marathon something that wouldn't have even been on the horizon before! My friends and family have been so supportive through my journey - I want to take this opportunity to thank them all, the blog comments, comments in person, the support I feel is just amazing!

To my wonderful hubby - You are my encouragement, my "filter" and my rock. I know you are always going to have something wonderful to say no matter what mood I'm in. Thanks for being there everyday and being the great cook that you are and helping me to put my needs first.

Week 54 weigh in!

Well I sucked it up and went to the Monday meeting this week and I had only gained 1.6 pounds. One struggle I have been having was the change in meetings I did and I knew everyone from the old meeting and I don't know so many people a the new meetings I go to, so while I was eating everything in sight last week I was mourning the loss of some great people and wondering when I was going to click with the people in the other groups I am in now. So Monday I pull up to the meeting and I'm still sitting in the car wondering if I should really go in or not and I see a lady from my old meeting. I was so happy to see her!! She is a lifetime member and so encouraging!! So I go in and while I'm talking to her a second lifetime member that normally goes to my old meeting came in the door! Talk about a sign from above that I'm doing the right thing!! The meeting message was perfect for me and after the meeting I talked to another lady about some things, she said since she first started coming to the meetings a few weeks ago she has been so encouraged and inspired by my stories and my losses and the fact that I keep coming back even if I have a slip up really encourages her. I know this week everything will be OK! So far I'm doing great with no slipups at all!

Weight Watcher Struggles...

I had a very bad week, full of very bad choices when I could have/should have made better ones. I choose not to even go to the meeting today and weigh in. I didn't want to face the scale and I didn't want to face the people and my leader. According to my scale at home I'm up almost 5 pounds and have been since the beginning of the week. I know part of the problem is "that time of the month" but I made it worse by giving in to cravings, not being happy with things the way they are, not getting all my runs in this week and just generally feeling sorry for myself all week long. I need to uninvite myself to the pity party that I'm having, but I just can't seem to snap out of it...

Starting over food wise today and we will see if the rest will come together in time.

Sac Fit Saturday!!

So Saturdays Sacfit was the cooper test - it will allow the group organizer to analyze my results of a 12 minute run and it will tell me what pace group I should be in and how well I can do in a race and such (I think...) Anyway we did the test at the California State University - Sacramento's track - that would be the very same track that the U.S. Olympic track and field trials were held on back in 2000 and 2004! I did just shy of four laps, so almost a full mile. I don't have my results yet, but I'm very happy with how I did.

Every step of the way there were coaches cheering us on and others in the group were very helpful. I was nervous about this since it sounded so complicated, but I feel I got it down and did well!

Marathoning for Mortals - John Bingham

Product Description From Amazon.com

Once considered a feat for superhuman athletes, the marathon is now within every mortal's grasp. Former couch potato John Bingham has joined forces with coach Jenny Hadfield to create a winning plan that works for every mortal--even you.In Marathoning for Mortals, you'll find the courage to train, the willpower to persevere, and the tenacity to finish one mile after another. John and Jenny stick with you every step of the way, from your first insecure thoughts to your last-minute jitters to your supreme joy at the finish line. In Marathoning for Mortals, you'll find:8 training programs to run, run-walk, walk-run, or walk the half-marathon and marathonThe advice you need to physically, mentally, and spiritually reach your dreamsTips to help you customize your training, buy the right shoes and apparel, and eat the best foodsGuidance for common motivational, physical, and emotional roadblocksJoin John and Jenny on an amazing transformative journey where the finish line is just the beginning.

I love the advice that John Bingham gives, it is practical, informative and inspiring!

The things my son says!

So this morning he brought me a shirt and asked me to "untangle" it. I told him it wasn't tangled, it was only inside out. So his reply was, "OK can you un-inside out it then?"

Week 53 Weigh In!

I did it! I did it! I broke through the plateau!!! I lost 2 pounds this week for a total weight loss of 55.7 pounds!! I was averaging 5 pounds a month and today I went back and looked up dates, well I had hit 50 pounds lost on May 24th - so it took me almost exactly 2 months to lose this 5! I'm hoping to keep up this momentum now!

Sac Fit Saturday!!

I had a great run today!! We did 7 1/2 miles and it was so pretty!! It did get a little hot before we finished, but it was good. Our coach for our pace group wasn't there so I had two choices, run with a group faster than my normal pace, or run slower than my normal pace. I felt great so I decided to run with the faster pace group and I did very well! Another thing that was a little challenging for me was the amount of hills there was on our route, but I managed pretty well. The people who run the group are so great - they knew there wasn't water stations along our route, so they set up tables with bottles of water to re-fill our bottles with. There were also signs along the route telling us where to go since this route branches off into different directions frequently. Sacfit is just so good!!

My running route for this weekend at sacfit!

Due to Eppies great race, sacfit had to relocate for this weeks run - we will be going 112 minutes in our group and it should be around 8 miles that I will run on Saturday. The director sent out a map showing our route and I thought I would share it with you all. I'm so blessed to live where I do because there are so many great places to run!

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104205891665984442326.000452057717c9f092eb4&ll=38.657449,-121.19246&spn=0.006937,0.012145&t=h&z=16

Isn't this route just amazing!! I can't wait to get out there!!

More races on my horizon...

I'm am an officially registered participant of the Buffalo Stampede on September 7th! It is a 10 mile run!

http://www.buffalochips.com/Races/Stampede/stampede2008.htm

The next one I will be doing but am not registered for yet is the Cowtown Half marathon in October. Registration hasn't opened for that one, but I will be signing up as soon as I can.

http://www.sacramentocowtownmarathon.com/

Who can resist a race where I get a shirt with a cow on it??

I don't really "race" but since these will be my firsts official timed events in these distances I'm hoping to have very good times for me to beat next time I run these distances!!

Week 52 Weigh In!

I lost .8 this week. I'm very happy with that, it was two losses in a row for me and one more step closer to getting a 5 pound star for my bookmark! I am really going to put my nose to the grindstone and be especially good this week. My routine should be almost back to normal and I should be able to get the runs in during the week, so that will help with everything.

I am now down a total of 53.7 pounds!

Sac Fit Saturday!!

Well Saturday was challenging in so many ways...

First I ate stuff on Friday that didn't agree with my tummy, so Friday night and Satruday morning my tummy wasn't feeling well at all.

Second my older son bought a new car and wanted to show it to us, well he didn't get to our house until midnight and I had to get up at 5:30AM!

Third due to the smoke in the air I wasn't able to get my reagular weekly runs in, so I hadn't ran since the 4th of july run.

I got there and I kept trying to weigh my options and such and decided to just go with it knowing that if our pace group was too hard for me I could drop back and run with the group behind up that would be going at a slower pace. I did well at first, but then started feeling the dehydration setting in very quickly, at one point I did even tell the group that I was going to drop back, I slowed down, took in some Gu and some water with electrolytes and within a few minutes I felt great again, so I ran a little faster and caught back up with my group. We ran for a total of 98 minutes and got in 6.38 miles!

After stopping and stretching I drank my recovery drink and stayed around for the raffle and I won a pair of Balaga socks, these are the only socks I have ever run in and I love them so much - you can never have too many socks!!

I have tried to figure out if the recovery drinks are really worth it and I got my answer this week - I felt great physically after the run and even into the evening of the run when my knees usually ache, they didn't. I only wish I hadn't been so dumb the evening before the run with what I had eaten. I would have felt awesome! I also learned that I need to take in the nutrition a little earlier and more often, I need to not have the ups and downs, but a steady level of energy. Even though I have three things of nutrition with me, I only took one and by then my body was already depleated.

Week 51 weigh in!

Today I'm down 1.9 pounds - all week long I was down more than that only to wake up on weigh in day feeling puffy. I know, I know a loss is a loss, but I'm really tired of all this up and down stuff I have been doing lately. I have also realized it has taken me a very long time to get from 50 to 55 and that is kinda getting me down. I need to go and re-read my own blog posts to get my spirits back up - I'm down inches and I did have a loss this week, so I need o stop the pity party!! I am currently down 53 pounds total * And like my wonderful hubby once told me "Don't forget that what you have already accomplished is extraordinary"!!

*Results not typical.

Sail - James Patterson

Book Description from Amazon.com

Since the death of her husband, Anne Dunne and her three children have struggled in every way. In a last ditch effort to save the family, Anne plans an elaborate sailing vacation to bring everyone together once again. But only an hour out of port, everything is going wrong. The teenage daughter, Carrie, is planning to drown herself. The teenage son, Mark, is high on drugs and ten-year-old Ernie is nearly catatonic. This is the worst vacation ever.Anne manages to pull things together bit by bit, but just as they begin feeling like a family again, something catastrophic happens. Survival may be the least of their concerns. Written with the blistering pace and shocking twists that only James Patterson can master, SAIL takes "Lost" and "Survivor" to a new level of terror.

Shocking twists is right - what a great book and again, things happened that I didn't expect! I would highly recommend Sail to everyone!!

Holy Moley Measurment time!!

So with the help of hubby I took my measurements and I have lost 7.5 inches since 6/14/08!! Including two whole inches in my chest and two whole inches in my waist! No wonder the new jeans fit!!! After being so sore and tired last night I woke up feeling great this morning. I had one of those moments last night where I thought "Is this running stuff really worth it??" Well I pretty much got my answer today!!

New jeans and some thoughts....

So I ordered some new jeans from Old Navy - the same kind I already have but just a size smaller in a 14 - well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I tried them on and they fit!

I wore them to work the next day and everyone commented on them and how good they looked on me. My very good friend and I were talking and I told her I was surprised that my fat butt fit in the jeans and she said. "I hate to break it to you, but you are not fat anymore." People have been telling me that for a little while now, but it took her statement at the right time for me to finally step back and think - hey maybe she is right... I know I still have a ways to go, but I think I can finally look at myself as average and not fat anymore.

So here is to new jeans and a five mile run to celebrate the Fourth of July!!

32nd annual Fourth of July 5-miler!!

A new Personal Record!! (Of course it is only my second 5 mile run...) 1:14.29!!! There were several people that I knew from Sac Fit and it was a lot of fun.

Logan did the kids 1/2 miler and he had fun and they had a bounce house for the kids afterwards and so he didn't maind waiting for mom to come across the finish line.

Sometimes I look at myself and can't believe how far I have come in just a year.

Week 50 weigh in!

I first have to admit I almost didn't step on the scale this week.

I had a week of bad choices that started on Wednesday - I think I was kinda in a funk since scout camp got canceled (I was really looking forward to time by myself) and I was bummed to see my son so upset about things, and I wasn't able to get out and run 4 times during the week like I'm supposed to due to the smoky air, I gave in to cravings and laziness and we ate out way too many times. I could have even counteracted the eating out with good choices from the menus, but I didn't. I made bad choices and I knew it. I faced the scale at weight watchers so I would know what I did and learn from it. The worst part is every night we ate out and I finished out the humongous portions they put in front of me, I felt icky - too full, bloated and just gross! But that didn't stop me from doing it again the next day!

So this week I am up 2.3 pounds.

Back on the wagon of good choices and feeling healthy!!