setbacks

when i complain or have a bad day, i try really hard to keep things in perspective. i have a lot to be thankful for. but if i'm being honest, sometimes i let the little things get to me. 

this morning i had my 7 week weigh in. i know i haven't talked about it a lot, but the new plan that Steve [from Fitness Poynters] has got me on has been going really well. [ps... i do plan on doing a full evaluation/review of the plan once i've finished the 12 weeks. maybe even some before/after pics if i'm brave enough.] 

but this morning i had a 'set back'. i gained 2.5 pounds. 

and i was pissed. 

this i what i like to call the great scale debacle. to weigh or not to weigh? if i lose, it's never enough. if i gain i feel like i failed. and the failure would be easier to deal with if i'd cheated this week. but i didn't. i busted my ass in all my workouts and ate clean. beyond frustrating. 

but i ate my clean breakfast, listened to a great message about how we make the small things big, then went to workout. 

by the end of my workout, i was over it. isn't it crazy what endorphins can do? while brad was finishing up i went to sit outside to wait and think. while i was sitting there i started reading the lululemon manifesto that's printed on the bag. one part of it stuck out to me like a sore thumb. 

 

life is full of setbacks... success is determined by how you handle setbacks. BOOM. 

Rear View Mirror::: June 2012

running:::
i finished June strong with 52 miles. when i looked at my daily mile total on the 22nd i realized i'd only ran 28 miles so far. it was the smack in the face i needed to get going. honestly i don't know if this is just what happens in life or what but i feel like i turn around and then i realize i haven't ran in 4-5 days. it's crazy and i don't realize it. 


i haven't strictly followed a training plan since my first half and i have really enjoyed running when i want, how much i want. i've managed to keep a comfortable base that has allowed me to concentrate on weight training three times a week but also keep working towards my goal of 12 half marathons for the year.


i ran one half this month, downhill at dawn and it was a new PR for me!






weight training:::
i am still weight training three times weekly. this month i started following stage 1 of the New Rules of Lifting For Women. i am really enjoying the workouts, although i sometimes feel like i'm not doing enough. the authors mention this and encourage you to trust the program and not add to it. i'm trying to do that. i am continuing to run, which the author does not recommend in the first stage. 


reading::::
this month i finished two books:

the latest sookie stackhouse book came out in may and i've been saving it for an easy beach read. quick tangent:  i just got into these books last summer and i read them straight through. of course i was addicted and had to watch all the true blood episodes. now i'm so confused as to what's happened in the show vs. the books (the show just started back a few weeks ago too). this drives me crazy. end tangent. the book was kinda boring. 

i cannot even describe to you how amazing this book is. seriously, it's the first (non-running/workout) book i've recommended in a LONG time. the author has a wonderful way with words and the book is truly inspiring. basically, he does humanitarian work during his undergraduate and post grad work (he was a Rhodes scholar!) but realizes that you have to be willing to fight for what you believe in and he believed in helping and protecting others. so after he finished his PhD program at Oxford he enlists in the Navy and becomes a SEAL. i can't say enough about this book. read it and you'll understand. you'll highlight it and recommend it to everyone. 


weight:::
i'm just going to be honest... I literally just got back from a week of vacation and i have no idea how much i weigh. when i left i was sitting at -11 since January. we're going to go with that. i ate what i wanted and i'll get back to it this week (i also exercised more than i ever have on vacation so to me that's progress). i have joined up with Run With Jess to lose a marathon so hopefully that will provide me with the motivation i seem to have lost since the challenge at my gym has ended. 

life:::
i just got back from a family vacation in tybee island, georgia. it was an amazing week! brad and i and my family (mom, dad, brother, and brother's gf) all drove down on sunday and brad's fam (his mom and dad and brother and brother's gf) joined us on wednesday. i'll definitely do a post or two about the week, but i couldn't have asked for a better week. so great to see the fam, i miss them. 

Rearview Mirror: April 2012

running and training:  I'm not sure what the heck happened to my mileage this month (41 miles), but it plummeted. I think this was a weird month for me because I didn't have anything super challenging coming up. After the Spartan Sprint then the two halves in one weekend, it was hard to take training for the Pig seriously. For May I really hope to get my mileage back up in the 60+ range. 


This month I got three strength training workouts in each week. I was really happy with that and will definitely continue. I have fallen in love with strength training. I love feeling strong!


races:  The only race I did this month was on April 1st, the Knoxville Covenant Health Half Marathon. 

blogging:  If any of you are going to be in Cincinnati for the Flying Pig let me know if you'd like to meet up before the race or something! Also the blog makeover is coming up soon, right in time for my one year blogiversary!


reading: 

• Dune Road by Jane Green - definitely not my favorite book of hers. Boring, all over the place, and pretty predictable. I don't recommend it. 
• Fifty Shades of Grey series - I finished books 1 and 2. OMG. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Definitely not the Hunger Games, but still fun to read. I'm in the middle of the last book now. 

weight loss journey:

So i hit the dreaded plateau this month. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later... but YUCK. I don't feel like I'm close enough to my goal weight to hit the big P, but here I am. I ended up gaining a half a pound this month (-16 pounds total since January). I started the month well, but then gained and lost the same 5 pounds at least twice. I'm not going to lie, I'm FRUSTRATED. But I'm sticking with it. Hopefully I'll have a big loss next month!

have you ever hit a weight loss plateau? how did you get through it?

The Resolution for Women - A Preview!

On Wednesday I started reading a new book called 'The Resolution for Women,' by Priscilla Shirer. I'm only a few pages in but I really think it's going to be a really great book. I just have to share a few excerpts with you guys, because it really encouraged me and  I hope it'll do the same for you:

The book is obviously about making resolutions, more specifically the resolutions that God has for you. The author starts by saying that she wasn't much for resolutions and said the word even disturbs her a little.

"...I've made so many of these goals and promises before and haven't always followed through..."

"Fail enough times and you don't feel like trying again."

"Some of us, for our own varied reasons, ultimately decide they're not worth the effort."

These statements, especially the last one, really stuck with me and I spent a lot of the day going over it in my mind. I can really identify with that feeling of thinking you aren't worth the effort.

In January I was in a really crappy place as far as my weight went. I'd been there for awhile and unfortunately it had become the norm. I was running a lot, but I wasn't making the effort to clean up my diet. In my mind, I wasn't ready to make that commitment to change. 

"Right now - whether you realize it or not - you're choosing to treat people a certain way, to stay committed to certain activities, to live a certain life, to be a certain kind of person, to not be a certain kind of person. Either way, you've made a decision."

It's funny how right she is! I never though about it that way, but I was actively choosing to disregard my body.  Making a decision that I wasn't worth the work. I was afraid to make the decision to care because I didn't want to fail again.

If you want to do something, make the decision to DO IT rather than making the decision to not.You have to make a decision either way, why not make the one that ultimately makes you happy and a better person?

Do the work. You're worth it.

I'll share more as I continue to read :) Thanks for all your all's awesome encouragement throughout my weight loss journey so far, it really means the world for me!

 

 

 

Rearview Mirror: March 2012

I have so much catching up to do but I can't seem to sit still long enough to write a coherent post! Hopefully I'll get around to writing about this weekend soon, but honestly I'm still trying to find the words to describe how amazing it was! It's a lot easier to just do my monthly review post instead.

So March madness...

running & training....I ran 64 miles this month! That's more than I've ran in any month since I started in April of last year. I'm so happy with this I can't even describe it! I haven't been following a strict running schedule since January and I've also been spending more time with weights than ever. I really thought my miles would suffer because of this but I'm really glad I got them in! I've been training at least twice a week since January and I'm going to try to log those workouts on DailyMile as well. I really like the feeling of accomplishment that I get looking back over it all.

races... I ran two races this month, the Spartan Sprint Carolinas and Run The Bluegrass Half Marathon. The Spartan race scared the crap out of me but it also challenged me and left me feeling very empowered. I've already signed up for 2013! The Run the Bluegrass was definitely the prettiest half marathon I've ever run.  It was a challenge also (hills, hills, and part 1 of my 2 races in 1 weekend) but as I'll get to in my review later, it ended up being a new PR!

blogging...I got to meet some amazing friends at the Run the Bluegrass, which was really great.

Coy from First in Philly. Seriously if you don't read her blog you're missing out! Every post makes me laugh!  She rocked out a new PR while running 'naked'!!!

Bobbie from Journey in Running.  She ran the race with a group of friends and they killed it!  Funny story, I also got to meet Bobbie's mom, Ruby, who was my sock swap partner this past Christmas! 

It was so nice to put faces and voices with these women! I was also supposed to meet up with Andrea from Bluegrass TriChick but unfortunately we missed each other after the race, I hope to meet her soon!

I am also in the process of getting a blog makeover! That's why it looks so plain right now, but hopefully over the next month  that'll change!

reading...I did some very challenging reading this month. I read 'Assholes Finish First' by Tucker Max and then re-read the first two Hunger Games books to get ready for the movie. AFF wasn't as good as Max's first book (I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell) but it was pretty funny nonetheless. Very similar to Chelsea Handler's books.

movies... I saw the Hunger Games twice because I'm crazy. We also saw Project X (it was okay) and 21 Jump Street (hilarious).

weight loss journey... I had another pretty successful month. I lost 4.5 pounds, making my total loss since January 16.5 pounds! I definitely started to plateau this month but I tried not to let it get me down. I'm still right along with my goal of losing 5 pounds per month and I'm just going to keep at it. I added a new tab to the top of my page (the weigh it is) so that's there if you ever want to check it out.

Ch-Ch-Changes

So first, sorry I haven't blogged in almost a week (or maybe you liked that!) and second, sorry that this is a text heavy post with no pictures!!

On January 1st (I know, I know), I set a goal to lose 30 pounds by the end of June. Being that 30 pounds seems like a whole lot of weight, I made 6 mini goals:  lose 5 pounds per month. Completely reasonable being as most sources seem to agree that healthy weight loss is around 2 pounds per week. So far so good, I lost 5 in January and I'm set to do well for February also.

I'm hoping that the mini goals will motivate me and provide the difference between this time and the last million times I've tried to lose weight. Usually I just say that I want to lose XX pounds before summer or something. Only when it's a week before vacation does it hit me that I'm not where I wanted to be. I always lose a little, but never enough to make a signifant difference for me.

What am I doing differently?

• I'm using an app on my phone called "Lose It" to track calories.
• It's free if you want to check it out (and you can add me as a friend by searching my email address -- 3xacharmrunner@gmail.com).
• You tell it what you weigh and how much you want to lose and it gives you calorie limits for the day.
• You can follow your friends to provide motivation to each other (they can't see your weight, don't worry!!). They can see if you aren't tracking your calories (and scold you) or see how many awesome workouts you're doing (and praise you!).
• HOW HAS IT HELPED?
•  I seriously had no idea how many calories I was eating and how out of control I was. There were times when I was consuming more than half of the calories I should be using for a day in ONE MEAL.
• I do really well with numbers and small, achievable goals. This lays it all out for me and I have small things to work for each day. When my motivation is low I just think, do you really want to eat that fill in the blank with some crap food? You're going to have to log it and it's going to stare you in the face every time you open the app. Or I look back on all the days I've done so well and stayed within my allotted calories. I don't want to throw that work away!
• I am learning how many calories my workouts deduct and how to use those calories but not abuse them. Many workouts deplete your body and you need to refuel, but you don't get a free pass.
• I'm trying to work out five times a week.
• I've started going back to the gym in the mornings (unless I have a reason to go at night).
• I love to sleep in, but what I love even more is having that awesome feeling all day that I've already accomplished so much!
• The gym is WAY less crowded in the AM so I am less self conscious and I can get everything I need to get done in less time.
• I've mixed up my routine.
• I'm not strictly following a running plan. I'm aiming to run three times a week but I'm not stressing about doing a certain amount of miles on a certain day. I'm trying to listen to my body more. (Not following a plan could bite me in the ass but this has yet to be determined!).
• I'm adding weight training at a goal of three times per week. Remember when I told you about the plan my little brother made for me? I did it for one week in December then quit when we went to Colorado and never started back. That resumed this past week.
• I'm trying to add yoga on AT LEAST one of my rest days. My body seems to do so much better when I take the time to stretch and clear my mind.

Do you have any advice for me?
Have you ever had a huge goal that seemed unachievable? What did you do?

Quick Catch-Up!

Hey guys, sorry I've been so horrible about posting and commenting lately. I've been reading, just mostly on my phone.  Today is the first free day I've had in over a week, so I thought I'd do a catch up post.

I updated my weight page... The Weigh It Is. Check it out, or don't. Actually, don't.

I worked 24 hours last weekend, but the good news is it was the last weekend I'll be doing that. I turned in my two week notice on Monday. EEEK. More on this later.

I recieved a package from Go Girl Sport in the mail yesterday! It was my vortex shirt that I won in Christy's giveaway.

Can't wait to model it for you guys. But that requires that I shower and that's not happening right at this moment because it is COLD in our house.

If you want an idea of how cold it is, Riley doesn't get up out of his warm bed when I'm in the kitchen getting breakfast in the AM. Seriously, this dog does not miss a beat when you open a pack of Frosted Flakes (or anything in the kitchen that makes noise). He's usually at your feet daring you to drop something.

Not today though. He's in his bed and I'm burrowed in a blanket and hoodie on the couch. I know the simple solution is to turn the heat on. But I hate turning the heat on. I don't want to admit it's cold enough to need it. I want fall to come back. So instead I'm blogging and watching one of my favorites:

Do you have certain movies that you watch over and over? Mine are Juno, Van Wilder, The Proposal, It's Complicated, Center Stage, Wedding Crashers, Elf, & Love Actually.

Are you crazy like me or do you just turn on the heat?