C25K D1 - Done!

So, I joined a gym a few weeks ago. It was the best thing that I've done for myself in a while. I've gotten stuck in mom mode and rarely ever do anything for myself - like blogging for instance. My "family" blog is up to date and about as current as I can make it for now but this one hasn't been updated in a while. This did start out as MY blog and it will continue to be just about me.

Several very wise moms I know (or have read about) have advised me to take time out for myself. One day when the kids are out of the house, I'll be sitting around wondering why I'm fat and stuck in a wheel chair and I'll have to look back and see that it's because I never took time for me. Taking time for me has had it's advantages (1.5 UNINTERRUPTED hours at the gym where no one is screaming at me to fix them a 'butter' sandwich or screaming for my boob) and it's disadvantages (less personal time with L and piles of mess are slowly stacking up in my house, again). BUT...I've committed to taking care of myself. It was about 4 weeks or so ago that I joined a gym. It hurt a little emotionally, because I was scared of being laughed at or looking funny. Here's that fat girl again. Man, I miss being "skinny." But I talked to T on the way there and just bit the bullet. My second or so time going, I met up with one of their personal trainers. She got me started on a pretty solid routine with the half marathon goal in mind. My shoulders are still killing me from that weight machine and even though I thought that I'd soon get adjusted, they seem to be the one part of my body that is still fighting me.

Today, I got up at 6 (5:55) because I get sad when I lost time with L (but it means that both kiddos will sleep through mom time - dangit). Got to the gym and it was about as busy as it normally was. I set myself up on the treadmill the furthest back and in a hidden corner (not really) to start my Couch to 5K training. I'm not paying for the program but using what they put on their site as a guide. I figure that if I'm going to start training for a half marathon, I should actually get my butt trained for a 5K first. This is a good time frame, though, because the Youth Villages 5K (the first one I ran last time) is about at the 12 week time frame from now so I'd have plenty of time to get myself trained and ready. Anyway, I digressed from my initial point...why did I get a treadmill in a hidden corner you ask? Well, let's get personal. I'm a breastfeeding mom who did not get emptied out this morning and I had this vision of milk spots on my shirt as I ran. This way, I wasn't on display to every single attractive person who walked through the door (because I sure wasn't attractive). The good news (or bad news) is that there were no leaks. We'll see how everything works out once C wakes up. I have this fear that exercise will deplete my supply. I've heard people say that they never had any trouble but I've also heard that women who start a exercise regimen take a significant drop in supply. I really don't have a significant amount of milk to drop so that would mean no milk where I come from.

Anyway...so I finished! I did about 1.5 miles (including a 5 minute warm up and a 4 minute cool down) running at about a 4.0 speed and no incline and walking at about 3.2. It's not at the 16 minute mile required to register for the Disney but it's the start and I'm going to take it. I'm definitely going to have to get a new pair of shoes. My 2 year old NB 993's are just not going to cut it and I'd hate to injure myself before I even get started. I can already feel a blister starting on the back of my heel and I was getting shin splints as I ran. Don't worry, it's on my agenda for the week.

So that's the update for now. I'll try to come back more often but we'll see. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

10 reasons...

I have ten reasons as to where I've been over the last year....

ten tiny little fingers...and ten tiny little toes. We welcomed C to our family in September. It's been a crazy year to say the least.

Never fear -- I'm BACK! I expect a lot of changes in our household over the next year. I'm in the middle of one of my spontaneous ideas (it's not exactly spontaneous really but kind of). I've decided to run the WDW Half or the Princess Half next year. At this point, they won't even let you register for either because the WDW half was this past weekend (meaning there's a WHOLE YEAR before the next one) and the Princess isn't until next month. I've been trying to find the motivation to jump back on the weight-loss/healthy lifestyle bandwagon and I think a family trip to Disney may be just what I need. If that's the case, expect this blog to be about my journey to a healthier lifestyle via training for a 1/2 marathon. It's pure insanity if you ask me seeing as how I've never even run a full 5K but I have finished several so that's a start right? Thanks to Pinterest, I have an idea for how to get started (i.e. training schedule). It's an 18 week schedule and technically, I have 52 ;-)

So, for the millionth time, here we go again. My weight loss journey has sure been a long one but hopefully this will be the last time.

OMG!!

Cookie -- stuffed -- cookies!

bra fitting

Well, I can mark another item off my list. T came along with me for my bra fitting. I'll tell you what, some women have absolutely no issues with being nude, but I am not one of them. After mearsuing me, the lady said she'd be back with some bra's for me to try. I told her that I was interested in a Spanx. The lady told me that she didn't think that she could get me one of those because I was measuring a 36 DDD!!!! Are you freaking kidding me! Long story short, we agreed that I could also wear a 38 DD to make it a little easier to find bras but she encouraged me to only take that option if I had to. After trying on at least 6 or 7 different bras I had a hard time figuring anything out. I had my heart set on the Spanx so I bought one. I'm wearing it right now but I'm still not sure if it's the right bra for me. I felt obligated to buy a bra after the woman spent all the time with me but should have probably taken T's advice and just waited around a bit.

What I did learn in the end is that there is no standard bra size out there and you should try on every single one before you buy it. If you like it in the store, buy a million of them and go home. I'm still waiting for that perfect bra. As of right now, the Spanx is not perfect. So, my search continues.

times the are a changing....

I did wonderfully over Christmas...didn't gain any weight. However, after our BIG trip to California, I've gained 8 pounds! I haven't been to a WW meeting since the week before Christmas and decided to cancel my membership. I've got to get things straight on my own first and foremost and more importantly get in the right mindset before I can do this. I thought paying the money would be motivation enough for me to change, but it wasn't.

I have some of my WW materials and plan on continuing on my own for a little bit. Let's see what happens.

PointsPlus

So, I'm super behind on updates. I guess I just haven't had a reason to vent. That's pretty much what I use this for anyway. I just haven't felt like writing much lately. I've started the new PointsPlus program and have mixed thoughts about it. First thing, I've been doing WW for 4 years now and I've had to completely rethink everything I've every thought about the program and I've started to trash everything that I've ever saved...cookbooks, recipes, etc. all with the old Points values on them. There are aspects of the program that I like (free fruit and some free veggies) but I also hate that most of the stuff I used to eat has now increased a bit. I get their new plan...to keep me from using my points to eat the crap I used to, but it makes me sad that my 1 pt. fudge bar is now 3 pts! Anyway, in the first week, I lost 3.5 lbs (post Thanksgiving)...but last week I gained 2 of that back. My food scale died so I haven't been measuring and counting this week like I should have but I bought a new one yesterday. I'm honestly afraid that I may not have been eating enough. I've got a rough food season ahead...Christmas celebrated twice, trip to LA, 2 weddings, and 3 birthday parties in the 6 weeks. Boy oh boy...

so...

I've been a little MIA huh? I finally found my camera so I plan to catch up on my photo blog over the weekend.

I finished The Help (part of my 30B430 journey). Man, that book sure was hard to get started. I have some pretty serious reading issues, it was a little difficult to comprehend the speech. Anyway, after several chapters, I was able to get in a flow and it was hard to put it down. It's a little harder to read books now that I have to juggle P but I did finally finish it.

I've started Into the Wild. I received this book a long while back from an old boss of mine when he was cleaning out his office. He highly recommended that I read it and it's been sitting on my bookshelf since. Funny thing, when I was looking for books that had been made into movies, I found this one and figured what the heck. I'm really enjoying it so far. There's something really special about the story of this guy who drops everything, donates his entire savings to charity, and decides to roam the country. You know how the book ends at the very beginning, but this story is about his journey.

I think I might try Morning Glory next. I saw it on the shelves at Target today and thought about buying it, but figured I should at least get through this one first. The reviews don't look very promising though so maybe not?

Anyway...I went and weighed at WW today - stupid me wore my tennis shoes. I was up a pound from 2 weeks ago (I skipped last week for a family outing that was a bust), but I'm guessing that my shoes probably weigh 2 lbs. If nothing else, I should have a little cushion for next week ;-) I'm still struggling with all of this but with a big announcement of changes in the WW program starting in December, I'm holding out for the new program. I hear that you're able to eat all the fruit and veggies you want. When I did WW previously, I didn't count my fruit and veggies and that really worked for me. Who knows though...sadly, my resolution for the year was to lose 30 lbs and I've only lost like 10. I guess it's something huh?

On a completely different note, I've become obsessed with itso cube storage bins from Target!! Right now, Target has a sale on some of the products. I've used them for several different things -- very versatile!