Today has been quite the adventure filled day and we have much more adventure coming up. We baked more zucchini bread and muffins (that way you can taste the bread before you share it with people). After the bread had baked, little lady and I headed out for a run. I did 2 miles, but it took me forever. I was not in the right mindset. It is so much harder to run with a jogging stroller than not. Every time I get a break from running with the stroller it seems so much harder to go back to stroller jogging. I could not find my rhythm this morning. I did finish though. (Earlier this week I quit mid run for the first time ever.)
We came back from our run and showered and got dressed for the day. I needed to run a few errands in our downtown area. I decided this was the perfect time to try out my bike with the bike trailer. (We have an amazing camping adventure coming up next weekend too which will involve a lot of bike riding and trailer pulling.) We got all of our stuff together and headed out. There are small hills on the half mile road to the trail. It is nice heading from our house because you can almost coast the whole half mile to the trail. That was enjoyable! It's just over a mile to town from the trail. We made it there quickly and stopped at the bank, city hall, the library and the post office. It was different riding my bike around town. I felt like a child again.
The ride back wasn't as fun. There is a slight incline on the trail and then I hit the hill to our house. Oh wow! I only rode on it once before and I seriously quit half way up it and walked my bike previously. This time I wanted to really try to tackle the hill, but I also told myself there would be no shame in walking a bike with a trailer. Thankfully, I didn't need to walk it. I made it! I was proud of myself to make it up the hill pulling about 30 pounds.
I parked the bike and turned to check on little lady. She was sleeping soundly in the trailer. I decided to quickly load the car up with our recycling and then wake her to finish the errands. (Her nap time wasn't for another hour.) Everything was set and I picked her up. She totally stayed asleep. Of course, if I had wanted her to stay asleep she would have woken when the bike stopped. I started talking to her and she seemed really determined to sleep. I decided we would just go off schedule today and she would nap and we would head out afterwards.She woke up 20 minutes later and had lunch. We then finished our outings for the day and came home to try for a nap. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it went well.
She is officially taking her afternoon nap now and I have managed to make lunch and clean 2 of the 3 bathrooms. I have to finish packing before the hubby gets home. We are heading out to go camping tomorrow (Saturday) until Wednesday. We are meeting up with my brother and his family.
My brother is stationed in Virginia and we don't get to see him very often. He came home for a week this summer and I was bummed that we didn't get to spend much time during that week with him (or his wonderful wife and adorable son). We decided to meet in Pennsylvania, about half way between our houses, and camp. I am excited!
After our five day camping trip, we will come home for a day and then get ready to camp again for Labor day weekend. The reason I really needed to test out my bike with the trailer is that we are going on a bike camping trip. We have been talking about it for years and it will finally happen. My husband built a trailer for the bike to carry our tent and supplies on and we have a trailer for the little lady. Thankfully, the only trailer in stock when I went to buy one was a double stroller so little lady will ride with the sleeping bags. We are so pumped, but I am a bit nervous. The furthest I have pulled little lady is 16 miles (We visited a friend on Mackinac Island this summer and I used her bike to pull little lady about the island twice). I felt great after the 16 mile ride, but this trip will be about 50 miles! I think we can do it. I am in much better shape than I ever have been before, which is probably why it's finally happening.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Busy, Busy, Busy
Part 1:
Such a busy day here! Little lady woke me up early which I usually hate, but today we could use every extra minute we could get. My husband's grandmother had her knee replaced this week and we wanted to send something up to her with his mom. His mom was planning on heading up north Friday night or Saturday morning depending on when grandma would be released from the hospital. Hubby's grandma is doing so great that she will be released early tomorrow! I needed to bake some zucchini bread and find a way to get it to hubby's mom before tonight.
I made the bread as soon as little lady had breakfast. We got dressed while it cooled and then headed off with our fresh bread to our first playgroup meeting. Little lady had a blast! We will probably officially join as soon as we get back from our upcoming camping trip. It seems like something that would be good for us both.
After playgroup we made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things we forgot to get for camping. Then, we quickly headed up to the husband's mom's work. It is about a half hour away from here. We got there just before she left for lunch. Phew. She had just enough time to show off her granddaughter. :)
Little lady fell asleep in the car on the drive back home. Thankfully she stayed asleep while I moved her to her bed. Then, I tackled some of my chores.
I managed to get dinner in the crockpot, dust and vacuum the living room and head out for outside chores. We have a beautiful backyard, but there is a lot of upkeep in it. We have a nice pool and a decent garden. Unfortunately though, today is one of the saddest days of the summer. It's the day we close our pool. I love having a pool, but do not like vacuuming it. Today I had to vacuum the pool thoroughly. I can usually do an average job in about 20 minutes. Today's vacuuming took me about 45 minutes. It looks nice though. Then, I had to water and pick the garden. Two more zucchini and a red tomato. (This year our tomatoes will not turn red! We have gotten a few to turn red in our window, but this was the first official vine ripened tomato!)
Here is a picture of me and the little lady enjoying the pool this summer. I don't think I would have even allowed a picture of me in a bathing suit to be taken last year.
Part 2:
Shortly after little lady woke up the husband returned from work. I have convinced him to take the West Michigan "Bringin' Healthy Back" Challenge with me. You just have to commit to lose 12 pounds by December 31 and you are entered to win some sweet prizes. I just wanted to double our chances at sweet prizes. There are only 2 days that we will be in town for him to register so we all headed up for him to be weighed in. We came home to eat dinner together and spend some time as a family.
Once little lady was in bed, it was time for the pool. This is our third year closing a pool and I think we finally got it down.
Such a busy day here! Little lady woke me up early which I usually hate, but today we could use every extra minute we could get. My husband's grandmother had her knee replaced this week and we wanted to send something up to her with his mom. His mom was planning on heading up north Friday night or Saturday morning depending on when grandma would be released from the hospital. Hubby's grandma is doing so great that she will be released early tomorrow! I needed to bake some zucchini bread and find a way to get it to hubby's mom before tonight.
I made the bread as soon as little lady had breakfast. We got dressed while it cooled and then headed off with our fresh bread to our first playgroup meeting. Little lady had a blast! We will probably officially join as soon as we get back from our upcoming camping trip. It seems like something that would be good for us both.
After playgroup we made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things we forgot to get for camping. Then, we quickly headed up to the husband's mom's work. It is about a half hour away from here. We got there just before she left for lunch. Phew. She had just enough time to show off her granddaughter. :)
Little lady fell asleep in the car on the drive back home. Thankfully she stayed asleep while I moved her to her bed. Then, I tackled some of my chores.
I managed to get dinner in the crockpot, dust and vacuum the living room and head out for outside chores. We have a beautiful backyard, but there is a lot of upkeep in it. We have a nice pool and a decent garden. Unfortunately though, today is one of the saddest days of the summer. It's the day we close our pool. I love having a pool, but do not like vacuuming it. Today I had to vacuum the pool thoroughly. I can usually do an average job in about 20 minutes. Today's vacuuming took me about 45 minutes. It looks nice though. Then, I had to water and pick the garden. Two more zucchini and a red tomato. (This year our tomatoes will not turn red! We have gotten a few to turn red in our window, but this was the first official vine ripened tomato!)
Here is a picture of me and the little lady enjoying the pool this summer. I don't think I would have even allowed a picture of me in a bathing suit to be taken last year.
Part 2:
Shortly after little lady woke up the husband returned from work. I have convinced him to take the West Michigan "Bringin' Healthy Back" Challenge with me. You just have to commit to lose 12 pounds by December 31 and you are entered to win some sweet prizes. I just wanted to double our chances at sweet prizes. There are only 2 days that we will be in town for him to register so we all headed up for him to be weighed in. We came home to eat dinner together and spend some time as a family.
Once little lady was in bed, it was time for the pool. This is our third year closing a pool and I think we finally got it down.
The start of a journey that changed my life
So on March 13, 2012 I officially started my c25k program. I told myself that I had to finish it, it didn't matter how many weeks I spent on each training week. I was hoping that I would just do each week twice and then move on to the next. That was the best case scenario in my head.
Week one is just 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking over and over for 20 minutes. Easy enough, I thought. I wore a stop watch and headed out the door. Lucky for me there is a beautiful paved trail about a half mile from my house. I used that half mile as a warm up. I didn't want to jog on the main road in case anyone saw me. I got to the trail, hit start on my stopwatch and started running. I looked down when I thought it was getting close to 60 seconds. The watch said about 20 seconds had passed! Ugh, this was not going to be as easy as I thought. I did manage to finish though and felt quite accomplished.
When I finished week one, I decided that I would just run week one again. Week two involved 90 seconds of running followed by 2 minute walks for 20 minutes. I didn't think 90 seconds was an option for me yet. I hit the trail and started running. As 60 seconds approached, I was about to have a group of runners run past me. I couldn't just stop in front of them! So I figured I would keep going until they passed. Once they passed, I looked down. It had been almost 80 seconds of running so I stuck it out for 90 seconds. When I realized I survived, I decided I was officially on week 2!
The first day of week 3, my husband decided that he wanted to run with me too. That day had 90 second runs and three minute runs, with walking breaks. I thought I would die during the 3 minute runs. I remember telling him, near tears, "I just can't do this." My husband seemed to think I was crazy, but reminded me that I could. And I did. I swear that day was still the hardest day of c25k for me. I don't know what it was. It may have been having my husband there which made me try to run faster or perhaps trying to talk and run for the first time. Either way, I didn't quit there even though I really, really wanted to. I rested one day and tackled the rest of week 3.
Everything else progressed without any big events. I did end up downloading a free c25k app so that it would just beep when I needed to switch from running to walking. The times weren't as constant as the first few weeks so it was getting harder to remember the increments and I thought it would be helpful to not just stare at the watch.
Week 5, day 3 is always the most dreaded day. The program expects you to go from running the longest time of 10 minutes, to a solid 20 minute run. Did I read that right? That was the first run that I did not want to take little lady on. I waited until my husband came home and went out alone. I did it! The was such an amazing feeling. You would have thought I just ran a marathon. I think I texted all of my friends, "I just ran for 20 minutes!" Haha, I am lame.
From that moment on, I knew I would finish the program.I finished it on May 4 and was so proud! I was bummed that my first official 5k wasn't until August.
Throughout my c25k I wasn't really focusing on my diet. However, I did manage to drop about ten pounds. This was the first time I realized that I was losing weight without focusing on it. I had never found any workout that I really enjoyed or managed to stick to it for 2 months. This felt like the beginning of a journey to a healthy weight. A weight I could be happy at and maintain.
Week one is just 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking over and over for 20 minutes. Easy enough, I thought. I wore a stop watch and headed out the door. Lucky for me there is a beautiful paved trail about a half mile from my house. I used that half mile as a warm up. I didn't want to jog on the main road in case anyone saw me. I got to the trail, hit start on my stopwatch and started running. I looked down when I thought it was getting close to 60 seconds. The watch said about 20 seconds had passed! Ugh, this was not going to be as easy as I thought. I did manage to finish though and felt quite accomplished.
When I finished week one, I decided that I would just run week one again. Week two involved 90 seconds of running followed by 2 minute walks for 20 minutes. I didn't think 90 seconds was an option for me yet. I hit the trail and started running. As 60 seconds approached, I was about to have a group of runners run past me. I couldn't just stop in front of them! So I figured I would keep going until they passed. Once they passed, I looked down. It had been almost 80 seconds of running so I stuck it out for 90 seconds. When I realized I survived, I decided I was officially on week 2!
The first day of week 3, my husband decided that he wanted to run with me too. That day had 90 second runs and three minute runs, with walking breaks. I thought I would die during the 3 minute runs. I remember telling him, near tears, "I just can't do this." My husband seemed to think I was crazy, but reminded me that I could. And I did. I swear that day was still the hardest day of c25k for me. I don't know what it was. It may have been having my husband there which made me try to run faster or perhaps trying to talk and run for the first time. Either way, I didn't quit there even though I really, really wanted to. I rested one day and tackled the rest of week 3.
Everything else progressed without any big events. I did end up downloading a free c25k app so that it would just beep when I needed to switch from running to walking. The times weren't as constant as the first few weeks so it was getting harder to remember the increments and I thought it would be helpful to not just stare at the watch.
Week 5, day 3 is always the most dreaded day. The program expects you to go from running the longest time of 10 minutes, to a solid 20 minute run. Did I read that right? That was the first run that I did not want to take little lady on. I waited until my husband came home and went out alone. I did it! The was such an amazing feeling. You would have thought I just ran a marathon. I think I texted all of my friends, "I just ran for 20 minutes!" Haha, I am lame.
From that moment on, I knew I would finish the program.I finished it on May 4 and was so proud! I was bummed that my first official 5k wasn't until August.
Throughout my c25k I wasn't really focusing on my diet. However, I did manage to drop about ten pounds. This was the first time I realized that I was losing weight without focusing on it. I had never found any workout that I really enjoyed or managed to stick to it for 2 months. This felt like the beginning of a journey to a healthy weight. A weight I could be happy at and maintain.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
introducing the transition to new me
So yesterday I started with the struggles of losing weight that the old me had. My main method to "dieting" was focused solely on dieting and ignoring fitness. Also, when I say I focused on dieting, I mean that I focused on what I could eat with the fewest calories/points so that I could totally eat some type of snack. I would save all of my points for evening treats. (Hey, it worked for me the first time around!) This time though I knew that I needed to make changes so I could lose weight and keep it off. I wanted to lose weight and not find it again.
My husband turned 30 in January this year. (I followed just behind him in March.) For some reason his 30th birthday really stressed me out. I realized we were no longer going to be in our 20s and was getting really antsy about that. I started to think about things I had wanted to accomplish, but hadn't been able to before. For some reason running got stuck in my head. I had thought about running before and occasionally would try it out. I remember when my brother joined the military almost ten years ago and he was getting ready for boot-camp. He would go out running and I thought that was pretty cool. I asked if I could go with him one day. I guess I thought that if someone was just there running with me I would magically run with them. It didn't work like that. We walked up to our old elementary school and headed to the track. He took off and I think I made it about a quarter of the way around the track and then quit. I figured, oh well, I am just not a runner.
Since then I had looked at a few different running plans, but pretty much just figured I couldn't do it. I blamed it on being diagnosed with asthma in high school. Although, I don't even remember the last time I used an inhaler. I think I tried to cover up the fact that I was out of shape with asthma. (Not that anyone that has asthma is faking and should stop their meds and run. I do know people who genuinely do have asthma and I have seen them struggle to breath in different situations. I just wheeze occasionally when I get sick.)
Anyways, I spent January reading about running, the how to's and the why's. I had looked at racing schedules and starting thinking about a 5k. There was actually one in our little town in mid-August. I decided that would be perfect. I really thought it would take me forever to be able to run 3 miles. I remember one January night sitting in bed with my husband and asking him casually, "hey, so if I were to run a 5k this summer would you come watch me?" His answered surprised me, "sure, but could I run it with you?" I was pretty excited about that.
I was sold on starting this running thing. I thought it would be the perfect answer to my weight problems. I could exercise with my daughter which excited me both because it would be a great example for her to see and I didn't have to "waste" her nap time exercising. (I need my down time. :) ) I decided on the c25k running schedule. Mainly because it's the most talked about one out there so I didn't have to look around to much. I decided that as soon as there was a week with temps in the 60s I would start running. (I didn't want baby to be cold, plus I was probably being a bit lazy.) I was excited and nervous. I will admit to checking the 10 day forecast every day. I knew I was going to do it!
I turned 30 in March with ideas of running going through my head. My husband and mother threw me a huge surprise party! They rented out a hall and served dinner, had an open bar and a DJ! It was a blast! I got to start off my 30s surrounded by the best family and friends a girl could ask for. As a bonus, I got birthday presents (How selfish, right? Well, hear me out.). I don't usually get many presents because once you turn 10 not many people really care about your birthday. The reason I was pumped about presents, mostly gift cards, was that I could buy running things! It's hard being a stay at home mom and feeling justified buying things for yourself. To make things even more exciting the week following my birthday had temps in the 60s. (We went through a crazy hot spell this spring.)
The Monday after my birthday weekend I went down to Meijer (a Midwestern nicer version of Walmart.) because I had a gift card there. I brought some of my bday cash too. I bought some clearance shoes. (I actually love them and have had no problems with them at all! I do want to go to an official running shoe store next time though to be professionally fit.) I also bought some workout pants that I didn't think I would die of embarrassment if someone saw me out there in them. At this point I now know those pants were not the best choice. They are a heavy cotton pant that makes me feel like I am overheating within seconds. However, at that time I didn't know any better and I loved them. (I guess I sort of still do, they were the pants I ran my first mile in.)
On Tuesday of that week, March 13th, would be my first day of the c25k. Thankfully we already had a jogging stroller. Nate had bought one used from someone at his work. I don't think we really even knew it was a jogging stroller. I think we just bought it because it looked like it would be good for "off roading" and we hike occasionally. I had planned on doing all of my runs with my little lady. 2 birds, 1 stone.
I guess I will start the story of my c25k experience later/tomorrow. This post is getting really long and I still have a few things to do before little lady wakes up. I don't think my posts will always be this long, but I feel like there has to be a back story before I can even begin to explain my day to day life. haha. This does feel like great therapy to me though. Plus, it is keeping me out of the kitchen during her nap times which is usually the hardest part of my day.
My husband turned 30 in January this year. (I followed just behind him in March.) For some reason his 30th birthday really stressed me out. I realized we were no longer going to be in our 20s and was getting really antsy about that. I started to think about things I had wanted to accomplish, but hadn't been able to before. For some reason running got stuck in my head. I had thought about running before and occasionally would try it out. I remember when my brother joined the military almost ten years ago and he was getting ready for boot-camp. He would go out running and I thought that was pretty cool. I asked if I could go with him one day. I guess I thought that if someone was just there running with me I would magically run with them. It didn't work like that. We walked up to our old elementary school and headed to the track. He took off and I think I made it about a quarter of the way around the track and then quit. I figured, oh well, I am just not a runner.
Since then I had looked at a few different running plans, but pretty much just figured I couldn't do it. I blamed it on being diagnosed with asthma in high school. Although, I don't even remember the last time I used an inhaler. I think I tried to cover up the fact that I was out of shape with asthma. (Not that anyone that has asthma is faking and should stop their meds and run. I do know people who genuinely do have asthma and I have seen them struggle to breath in different situations. I just wheeze occasionally when I get sick.)
Anyways, I spent January reading about running, the how to's and the why's. I had looked at racing schedules and starting thinking about a 5k. There was actually one in our little town in mid-August. I decided that would be perfect. I really thought it would take me forever to be able to run 3 miles. I remember one January night sitting in bed with my husband and asking him casually, "hey, so if I were to run a 5k this summer would you come watch me?" His answered surprised me, "sure, but could I run it with you?" I was pretty excited about that.
I was sold on starting this running thing. I thought it would be the perfect answer to my weight problems. I could exercise with my daughter which excited me both because it would be a great example for her to see and I didn't have to "waste" her nap time exercising. (I need my down time. :) ) I decided on the c25k running schedule. Mainly because it's the most talked about one out there so I didn't have to look around to much. I decided that as soon as there was a week with temps in the 60s I would start running. (I didn't want baby to be cold, plus I was probably being a bit lazy.) I was excited and nervous. I will admit to checking the 10 day forecast every day. I knew I was going to do it!
I turned 30 in March with ideas of running going through my head. My husband and mother threw me a huge surprise party! They rented out a hall and served dinner, had an open bar and a DJ! It was a blast! I got to start off my 30s surrounded by the best family and friends a girl could ask for. As a bonus, I got birthday presents (How selfish, right? Well, hear me out.). I don't usually get many presents because once you turn 10 not many people really care about your birthday. The reason I was pumped about presents, mostly gift cards, was that I could buy running things! It's hard being a stay at home mom and feeling justified buying things for yourself. To make things even more exciting the week following my birthday had temps in the 60s. (We went through a crazy hot spell this spring.)
The Monday after my birthday weekend I went down to Meijer (a Midwestern nicer version of Walmart.) because I had a gift card there. I brought some of my bday cash too. I bought some clearance shoes. (I actually love them and have had no problems with them at all! I do want to go to an official running shoe store next time though to be professionally fit.) I also bought some workout pants that I didn't think I would die of embarrassment if someone saw me out there in them. At this point I now know those pants were not the best choice. They are a heavy cotton pant that makes me feel like I am overheating within seconds. However, at that time I didn't know any better and I loved them. (I guess I sort of still do, they were the pants I ran my first mile in.)
On Tuesday of that week, March 13th, would be my first day of the c25k. Thankfully we already had a jogging stroller. Nate had bought one used from someone at his work. I don't think we really even knew it was a jogging stroller. I think we just bought it because it looked like it would be good for "off roading" and we hike occasionally. I had planned on doing all of my runs with my little lady. 2 birds, 1 stone.
I guess I will start the story of my c25k experience later/tomorrow. This post is getting really long and I still have a few things to do before little lady wakes up. I don't think my posts will always be this long, but I feel like there has to be a back story before I can even begin to explain my day to day life. haha. This does feel like great therapy to me though. Plus, it is keeping me out of the kitchen during her nap times which is usually the hardest part of my day.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Old me
I have started this journey over a year ago. I gave birth to my baby in April of 2011. I nursed her and lost most of my pregnancy weight pretty quickly. I thought I could eat whatever I wanted since I was nursing and losing weight. I had decided to wait to start "trying" to lose weight until the 6 week postpartum appointment. During that time my weight got to just 5 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight, but don't worry my excessive eating brought me back up 10 pounds. Before I got serious I was 15 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight, 212 pounds.
In late June of 2011 I decided to join weight watchers. (I had previously lost 40 pounds with them so I thought I could do it again.) I really needed to go to the meetings for accountability and I found a location a few miles from our house. I thought it would be no problem to go to meetings with my daughter. I think I managed to attend meetings/weigh-ins for one month. If I actually made it to a meeting, I found myself just staring at my baby the whole time. Otherwise, she would be sleeping when we needed to leave and you NEVER wake a sleeping baby. I quickly changed to online only.
This picture is from a family vacation in July of 2011. This was just before I switched to online only. I probably weighed just over 200 lbs here.
I sort of half-assed the program for way longer than I should have been paying for. I really just used my monthly membership to log my food on the app. I don't know why I didn't just switch to an app that tracked food for free, but I felt that if I quit weight watchers I was quitting losing weight. By March 2012 I had managed to get down to just below pre-pregnancy weight, 193. I guess I should have been happy that I had lost almost 20 pounds in less than a year, but I was embarrassed and frustrated. When I had lost weight before I was very motivated and could easily lose 10 pounds a month. This time things seemed harder and I could not get my mind into the right mind frame.
Everything changed in March 2012 though!
In late June of 2011 I decided to join weight watchers. (I had previously lost 40 pounds with them so I thought I could do it again.) I really needed to go to the meetings for accountability and I found a location a few miles from our house. I thought it would be no problem to go to meetings with my daughter. I think I managed to attend meetings/weigh-ins for one month. If I actually made it to a meeting, I found myself just staring at my baby the whole time. Otherwise, she would be sleeping when we needed to leave and you NEVER wake a sleeping baby. I quickly changed to online only.
I sort of half-assed the program for way longer than I should have been paying for. I really just used my monthly membership to log my food on the app. I don't know why I didn't just switch to an app that tracked food for free, but I felt that if I quit weight watchers I was quitting losing weight. By March 2012 I had managed to get down to just below pre-pregnancy weight, 193. I guess I should have been happy that I had lost almost 20 pounds in less than a year, but I was embarrassed and frustrated. When I had lost weight before I was very motivated and could easily lose 10 pounds a month. This time things seemed harder and I could not get my mind into the right mind frame.
Everything changed in March 2012 though!
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