1st weight goal met!

I am 149 pounds! That was my first goal and to-date I've lost a half-marathon of weight (13 pounds). This is a total body weight loss of 9%!

Let me tell you, there was something very empowering about seeing that line drop below 150. I haven't been below 150 in three years and it feels really, really good.

So I'm officially half way to my goal weight of 136. My next mini-goal will be 147 pounds, my weight at the start of my second pregnancy.

Weigh in Tuesday: week nine

Maybe...maybe....maybe?

As I stood standing on the scale this morning, it felt strangely like the time I thought I was looking at a faint - very faint - positive pregnancy test about three years ago. Was that a second line? Maybe.... If I held it to the light? I remember actually opening up the darn thing and taking the paper out, scanning it into my computer and trying to jimmy with the lighting. I went to bed that night still not certain if I was pregnant or not. Sure enough, a couple days later I tested and that second line popped right up. And that second line meant my daughter would soon be joining our family.

So today I'm craning my neck to see if the scale's line is on or below that 150 mark. I'm pretty sure it was a nudge below, but it's SO close! Like the pregnancy test that turned out to be positive, I'm hoping when I re-weigh myself in a couple days that it will be clear I've met my first milestone of 149 pounds. Here's hoping!

My great 4-mile run this afternoon!

Today was a beautiful Spring-like day in the Northwest. I say "Spring-like" because it felt like Spring in every sense except the calendar tells me otherwise!

I headed out in short sleeves and shorts and hit the local elementary school track. Feeling energized, I started out great and ran my first mile in 10:00! Such an improvement from my running pace of 12:00 a couple months ago.

I noticed I was feeling pretty out of breath, so I slowed it up a bit and ran the second mile closer to 10:30. Overall my pace felt strong and consistent. The last two laps I heard a runner approach and then pass me. I don't know what it was - my pride or a healthy sense of competition, but I decided I needed to pass her. So I picked it up and ended those last two laps at the 10:00 pace!

I'm particularly proud of this run given that I had not one, but TWO encounters with Jillian Michaels yesterday. In the morning I'd done 30-Day Shred (Level 1), and in the evening, I attempted (and finished!) her No More Trouble Zones workout. While I love and swear by Shred, I was looking for something new to spice things up, and this was the ticket.

Here's a recap of how I worked out last week.

Monday: Shred, Level 3
Tuesday: 25 minutes running intervals, 25 minutes ski machine, 10 minutes ab
Wednesday: Shred, Level 3
Thursday: OFF
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Shred, Level 1 (AM); No More Trouble Zones - 40 minute workout (PM)
Sunday: 4 mile run - hard!

I would've liked to have had one more cardio session, but overall I fell really good about this! For weeks now, I've consistently worked out at least 5 days a week, something I haven't done in a LONNNNGGGG time. Let's hope the scale budges for me tomorrow - I'm ready to meet my goal of 149 pounds and leave the 150's behind!

Photo credit Mee Lin Woon

Two month results photos!

I have yet to post any decent current photos of myself, so I decided to do just that today!! Let's start with before. My weight was 162 pounds and it was early December. I was in size 12s (and snugly at that!)

And here I am today, 12 pounds lighter at 150 pounds and wearing my size 8 pre-pregnancy jeans! This took about two months to acheive. I mainly did this by doing the 30-day Shred and incorporating at least one running session per week of about 3 miles.

Now I'm going to share a new "before" photo. I asked my friend Susan to take this profile shot of me. I was really horrified how bad it looked...what's worse, I realized how frumpy I'd let myself get with the long hair. Check it out.

Here is my new profile. Oh please someone tell me that they notice some changes!!

I can tell I still have a ways to go, but overall, I'm liking the results I've gotten so far! I really feel much slimmer in my midsection and my arms are feeling more toned, too. By the way, like the new 'do?

My produce-eating efforts

So a few days ago I was really inspired to eat some healthy, fresh fruit and vegetables. This doesn't come naturally for me. BUT, if I have them on hand, I will eat them. So I popped the kids in the car and off we went to the nearest produce stand. The picture above is what we ended up with.

I then promptly whipped up this healthy salad for lunch. I used a black bean Gardenburger to finish it off. While this looks beautiful and while it was very nutritious, it was really NOT my cup of tea. But it's an effort, right? The next day I made a similar salad and finished it off with a couple of meatballs. Much better!


I am pleased to say I've polished off most of the fruit, and some of the veggies...but I still have the eggplant and half of the asparagus and carrots sitting in my fridge calling my name.

Weigh in Monday: week eight

Today I weigh...150 pounds! Finally, the scale is continuing its descent! That's down 2 pounds from last week's 152 and a total weight loss of 12 pounds. I am now only ONE pound away from reaching my first goal of 149 pounds. I am hoping to crush that this week.

I realize it's time for an updated picture, so I'll see if I can get my hubby to take one of me in my SIZE 8 JEANS later today!

By the way, I had the BEST run yesterday. I mean, it was a really, REALLY good run. One of those runs you remember for a long time. My husband encouraged me to run out near this golf course in University Place (Washington) and man, was it ever beautiful! Water, nice trails, golf course...very scenic, and VERY challenging. I bet this one hill I had to run up was a good .4 - .5 mile. And after running that huge hill, I ran a pretty hard mile. I ran a total of 40 minutes and I felt very strong and fast.

The goal this week - keep up a couple gym workouts. I think the cardio is really important in dropping this weight. I want one of these to incorporate running - I'll choose Wednesday.

Monday: 45 minutes cardio, 20 minutes weights
Tuesday: Shred, Level 3
Wednesday: 40 minutes cardio (make some of this running), 20 minutes weights
Thursday: Shred, Level 3
Friday: Shred, Level 2
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: 3 miles

Here we go!

*REVISED* training schedule

It was recently brought to my attention that the half marathon is in JUNE and not JULY. So I'm obviously gonna need to tweak my running schedule! Here is the new schedule to get me trained in time:

January
(Pre-training schedule)
Week 1: 3 miles (done!)
Week 2: 3 miles (done!)
Week 3: 3 miles (done!)
Week 4: 3 miles (done!)
Week 5: 3 miles (done!)

February
(Pre-training, cont)
Week 1: 3.5 miles
Week 2: 3 miles
Week 3: 3.5 miles
Week 4: 3 miles

March
Week 1: 3 miles
Week 2: St Patty's Day 5K (Tacoma) on March 13th
Week 3: 3 miles
Week 4: 5 miles

April
Week 1: 3 miles
Week 2: 6 miles
Week 3: 3 miles
Week 4: 7 miles

May
Week 1: 3 miles
Week 2: 9 miles
Week 3: 4 miles
Week 4: 10 miles
Week 5: 4 miles

June
Week 1: 12 miles
Week 2: 6 miles
Week 3: 4 miles
June 26: Rock n' Roll 1/2 Marathon

July
Week 1: OFF
Week 2: 5 miles + a magical mile (I need to read more about this)
Week 3: 6 miles
Week 4: 15 miles
Week 5: 6 miles

August
Week 1: 17 miles
Week 2: 6 miles
Week 3: 7 miles + a magical mile
Week 4: 20 miles

September
Week 1: 6 miles
Week 2: 7 miles + a magical mile
Week 3: 23 miles
Week 4: 6 miles

October
Week 1: 7 miles
Week 2: Portland Marathon on October 10th
Week 3: OFF

The major adjustments come in June and July. I've opted to NOT do the Sound to Narrows race given the half marathon is the same month. I want to be fully ready and reserved for that race.

I completed all my January 3-mile runs, and starting this weekend, it's time to up my game and transition into some longer distances. I'm ready; bring it on!

Squeezed back into my Size 8's this morning!

So every few days I've been trying to slip back into my pre-pregnancy, size 8 jeans. Guess what? Today I was actually able to get them to button. While they are a bit on the *tight* side, they are wearable and that feels sooo good!!

Can you believe I started this journey at size 12 barely two months ago? While I still have work to be done, I'm pleased with my progress.

PUSH week is going well. It's exactly what I needed and I'll be darned if I don't see that scale budge down on Monday!!

Finding a healthy weight is a confusing matter

As you probably know, my personal goal weight is 136 pounds. This is what I weighed prior to my two pregnancies. Once I hit 147 pounds (5 pounds away), I will weigh what I did at the start of my second pregnancy. I believe the mid-130's to be a good range for me.

However, out of curiosity, I decided to see what other websites recommended as a healthy weight (or range) for someone my size. I'm 5'6", medium frame. The results were varied, and interesting.

Weight Watchers: 124-155
Health Check Systems: 130-144
Changing Shape: 130 (ideal weight)
Halls: 118-155
Halls: 135 (ideal weight)
Met Life Tables: 133-147

Well, good night talk about confusing!! The total range here is 118-155, a range of 37 pounds. I understand they're accounting for various frames, but you can see why it's a tricky business to sort through.

Any way you slice it, I'm at the upper range of the recommendations or beyond them. I think my goal is a good one based on these numbers overall and based on my past experience being at my ideal weight. Interesting though, huh?

PUSH week

So yesterday was my weigh-in. And you might have noticed I didn't post my results or workout plan.

Yet again, my weight had remained the same as previous weeks: 152 pounds. After feeling sorry for myself, I realized I needed to make a decision: am I going to give up, keep doing what I'm doing, or push harder? I realized the first two weren't options, at least not real options if I want to continue this journey.

As it appears I've hit some sort of plateau, I decided it's time to take things up another level. I'm ready to ditch the 150's for the 140's and I'm going to make a serious PUSH this week. I might not keep things at this intensity forever, but I feel I need a really hard week to kick things into gear. Here's my plan. I already completed Monday's workouts and I. AM. SORE.

Monday: 2 mile run, 30 minutes weight train (morning); 30-day Shred Level 1 (evening)
Tuesday: 40 minutes cardio
Wednesday: 40 minutes cardio (morning); 30-day Shred Level 3 (evening)
Thursday: 30-day Shred Level 1 & 2
Friday: 30-day Shred Level 3, 30 minutes cardio
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: 3.5 miles (this is my first week stepping up distance in two months)

While this might look crazy, I think it's exactly what I need to keep focus. It's every bit about keeping me mentally in this race as it is physically.

I also want to really pay attention to my eating habits this week. I'm gonna hit the produce store today and figure out some healthy meals. One thing I did do well last week was to remember to pick up some protein powder. I've been using that in place of carb-filled breakfasts. If I get a late night craving, I'm taking a little bit of it as well to avoid high-calorie snacking.

I've completed 10 miles of this race. While I'm not halfway there yet, I'm sure close and I'm pushing forward.