Weighing In

I spent all of last week at my parent's house watching the house and the cat, I knew when I posted last week, that since I wasn't going to be in my routine, that I was nervous about my abilities to stay focused. I was basically eating out for every meal, and although I was still getting some long walks in I was nervous about the results.

Well yesterday, Sunday, I was finally back at my own apartment and I stepped on the scale. 317.4, I was mortified. I had no idea it was THAT bad. I re-weighed in another 2 times with the same results before going on about my day. That is a huge increase over the 311.8 I was last week.

I knew that I didn't track at all last week, and really how many times can I say it, tracking is key... I need to be able to hold myself accountable. I started using My Fitness Pal, I didn't care for the SparkPeople app, and so far, I like My Fitness Pal's app better. So for now, I'll be tracking using the My Fitness Pal program and see how that goes. If you are on there, come find me!

Getting ready for the day, I put on my work pants and they seemed to fit like they always do, I had no idea where this weight was on my body, since usually it goes to my stomach and thighs first. 

I got home from work last night and I completed my week 2 day 1 C25K session. I got home, and really was comfortable being there, but I forced myself to get out there and do it. It sucked at first, but I dug deep and by the end, I was so happy and proud of myself for doing it.

Yesterday, I also mailed in my registration for the Covered Bridge 5K in September in Henniker, NH. This is about an hour away from me, I've always loved Covered Bridges so I am hoping this will be fun. Also its about halfway between myself and another bloggie friend, Kayla and she is hopefully going to be joining me in running this race!

I may do some other races this year, but this one I thought would be cool. I wanted to register early, so I was committed and wouldn't back out of it. This is something that I can focus on.

Today, just for my own interest, I hopped on the scale this morning, and it read 312.4, I had lost 5 pounds in a day... which leads me to believe that it was mostly water weight I was carrying, probably also why my pants still fit normally. So I am still up overall, but not nearly as bad as originally thought. And hopefully now I can resume my regular Friday weigh in's from now on. 

Update: 101 in 1001

It has been 7 months since I started my Day Zero Project of 101 things in a 1001 days; so I thought I would update the status of my list: (I guess I should have done this at the end of last month, oops!)

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Starting Date: Friday January 1st, 2010 Ending Date: Friday September 28th, 2012

1 Spend a rainy day watching films in my PJ's
2 Try two new cookie recipes this Christmas
3 Attend the midnight premiere of a movie (Went to see the new Twilight movie with my stepmom!)
4 Get married
5 Go skydiving.
6 Learn to knit
7 Organize my closet
8 lose 15 pounds
9 Go on a cruise
10 Go whitewater rafting
11 buy a house
12 See a Broadway show
13 spend a day at the spa
14 Lose 5 pounds
15 Own an iPhone
16 Try a new (and possibly frightening) food
17 Watch two movies at a cinema in the same day.
18 Influence a person to make a day zero list (Go Nick and Tricia!)
19 go fly a kite
20 Pay off my credit cards
21 Have a housewarming party
22 Floss every night for a month
23 Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
24 Go sledding
25 Lose 10 Pounds
26 start a family
27 help a stranger
28 Have a sleepover party
29 Have a friend choose a complete outfit for me
30 Play a new board game
31 Travel by train (this is planned for this weekend; dinner cruise on the Conway Scenic Railway!)
32 Make homemade bread
33 Go to a casino
34 Take at least 5 photos a day for a month
35 Eliminate non-fitting clothing from my wardrobe
36 Save $5000
37 Read 100 books (0/100)
38 Compose a new list of 101 things to do in 1001 days
39 For every task I do not complete, donate $1 to charity
40 Put aside $5 for every completed task
41 Go to a Patriots game
42 Drink nothing but water for 2 weeks
43 Watch the sunrise at the beach
44 Host a giveaway on my blog
45 Organize photos and get and stay caught up with my scrapbooking
46 Climb Mount Washington
47 Attend a hot yoga class
48 Do 100 situps for a month (0/30)
49 Ask for someone else's advice and take it
50 Give a stranger a compliment
51 Write down something positive about myself for 30 days straight
52 Have “date night” one night of the week for 1 month (4/4)
53 Work out faithfully 3x a week for 2 months
54 Take a trip to Las Vegas
55 No swearing for a day x12 (0/12)
56 Play a game of 18-hole golf (North Hampton Professional Firefighter's annual golf tournament)
57 Put change in someone’s expired parking meter
58 Take the Cat ferry to Canada
59 Have a weekend getaway for SO and I
60 Start our own Christmas tradition
61 Get my HAM radio license
62 Participate in a 5K (run/walk) VERY excited that I completed this!
63 Make my own candles
64 Climb Cadillac Mountain
65 Learn at least 50 ASL signs
66 Go one weekend "Unplugged" no phone/Internet
67 Send/Give 100 cards “just because.” (9/100)
68 Leave SO a love note/note of encouragement/surprise email 1x a week for 2 months
69 Complete 3 – 1500 piece or more jigsaw puzzles (0/3)
70 Visit 5 new states not previously in (driving through doesn't count) (NJ in October for a wedding!)
71 Participate in a 10K (run/walk)
72 help a friend in need
73 take a class (work related)
74 Have one day off per week for 1 month
75 Make SO breakfast in bed
76 Bring coffee in for the boys at work
77 hang pictures/art on walls
78 Buy flowers/edible arraignments for someone.
79 Be able to buy clothing in the regular women's section
80 Invest my money better
81 borrow books from the library; instead of buying them (I signed up for a library card, just haven't caught up with the books I have to read yet!)
82 get a makeover to include makeup!
83 Try a new recipe once a week for 1 month
84 Call one cousin per week until all Bridle Cousins have been spoken to (Kenny / Bill)
85 Host a girls night at my house
86 Host a couple's night
87 Prepare my will
88 Take a pole dancing class
89 Travel to Nantucket / Martha's Vineyard
90 Visit my grandmother at least once a month for a year (4/12)
91 plan a couples camping trip
92 Play Bingo with friends
93 Host a transit party.
94 See an old friend once per month for one year (2/12) - Kaylynn / K-Dizzle
95 See Rocky Horror at midnight showing
96 Go and shoot a gun at a firing range
97 To get a physical each year (Scheduled for mid October this year)
98 To see a UNH/UMaine Hockey Game
99 To kiss the Cat at UNH
100 To go to a Red Sox / Yankees game
101 To complete this list in less than 1001 days

Well, I've completed another 5 items this time around, with progress on 4 of the longer term items. I'm still really excited with my progress here. For me, lists work, and I have this list printed out and I look at it every so often to see what I can check off next.

So this also means that I will be depositing $25 into my Day Zero savings account.

I am so proud of myself for accomplishing a 5K that is huge! I've not found my runner's high yet, but it is a great way to get a quick cardio workout in. I do enjoy the competition of racing, but I think I will need to feel comfortable with my running before I will enter a race again. Although I do still have that 10K on my list here...

I golfed with my dad. At first, I kind of laughed it off as a joke, but when the date started to get closer and dad needed a firm answer, I agreed. I was scared that I would hold our foursome back, but turns out the other guys just were out to have a good time and didn't care about scores. Good thing, we came in dead last! However, we did get a prize for being the "most honest" with our record keeping. Good times. I enjoyed golfing so much that DBF and I are going again this coming weekend as well as at least one other tournament planned in September with dad.

My stepmother loves Twilight and had wanted to try out the local drive-in. Since I love going to the drive-in, I was more than happy to go, we found out that Twilight would be playing during the week, well once we got there, we realized it was opening night, so low and behold, we went to a midnight premiere. It was a fun time, although I don't understand what all the fuss is about Twilight, it was a good movie, but nothing worth swooning over. All in all, my stepmom and I had a blast!

We hung our pictures! We have lived in our apartment for nearly 2 years and never hung our wall art/photos. This bothered me since we have the standard white walls, we have tall ceilings and it was all white, I would sometimes feel like I lived in a mental hospital. So I was thrilled when DBF decided to help out and hang our stuff. Our apartment looks so much more lived in now.

In May, I hosted a girl's night, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo, not really celebrated, just decided that we should have fajitas and we went with a theme. My girlfriends are top notch and I love each and everyone one of them in their own special way. Very sex in the city-ish only New Hampshire country style!

My grandmother has enjoyed her monthly visits although now when I go see her, she asks when will DBF be visiting next? Seriously, why does everyone think this man walks on water ;-) j/k, I just think he's slipping her some grape nut ice cream every time he does visit.

Next month's old friend shouldn't be tough, DBF and I will be attending the wedding of an old friend of mine from my Transit days and then in October we will be attending the wedding of a college friend of mine. DBF and I have 4 weddings this season, that's a lot since we usually average 1-2 per year.

I am so happy with my progress! I can't wait to see what the next 2 months bring (got to get back on the quarterly track)

First 5K in the books!

Wow. Long time no post! I hope my awesome readers haven't left me! Sorry. June in general is very busy for me, not only is it the start of the summer season (I work for a fire department at a summer tourist town), but I also have 3 birthdays in my immediate family (stepmom, dad and myself!). In general it's also busy because it's the first full month of nice weather and everyone wants to do cook-outs and get togethers. So in general, it's busy.

I also forgot on purpose to post about my weigh in from last week. Needless to say it wasn't good and I was up 2 pounds. I've been in the 280's for about 2 months now. It's really time to break through. I didn't meet my 10% goal by the end of May, which totally sucks and my mood was really miserable. Until this past Sunday that is... and my first 5k!

I was hoping for good weather on Sunday. I am the type of person who could justify anything so it raining on the day of my 5k would be enough for me to say "eff it" and go back to bed. I begged on twitter for any suggestions about running in bad weather... you could hear crickets, it was so quiet. I woke up Sunday morning to the sounds of rain. It was pouring and from the looks of the radar it wasn't going to let up. So I was killing time and checking up on my facebook and twitter; anything that would distract me from the rain and running. Finally it was 8:30am and it was time to make a decision. I got in the car and went. It was raining harder the closer I got to the town of the race. It was about a 40 minute drive. By the time I found a spot to park (in Newmarket) the rain had for the most part, stopped. So I went to check in and get my number thing, t-shirt and the monitoring band for the time. Since I was already dressed and I had some time to kill, I walked back to my car to ditch the t-shirt and my windbreaker. The skies had cleared up and I was going to run without the windbreaker.

I then emptied my bladder, since I didn't know what to expect and the lines were fairly short at the moment, I still had about 20 minutes to go. After peeing, I stretched for a bit (everyone else was doing it, seemed like the cool thing to do) other people were jumping in place or even running around, crazy folks! I swear! I did see someone running barefoot, it made me think of Jess from Half Of Jess.

With about 5 minutes to go, they asked us to "line up". It wasn't so much of a line, but more of a blob or a mob. They said over the loud speaker that the fastest people should be up front and the slower people and walkers should be in the back, so I made my way to the rear. I had NO clue what to expect. I met some very nice people who were running/walking it as well as some walking it as part of the Weight Watchers Walk-It day challenge. I thought that was really cool given the fact that I was participating in that challenge as well.

With about 3 minutes to go, my friend texted me, he didn't know if he was going to make it in time, but he did! Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet up until after I finished, but he hung around and waited for me, that was SO cool. What a great friend he is. And he's single too ladies... if any of you are in NH hit me up, he's great.

So as I was finishing a text to my friend, the race started, took about 30 seconds for me to start moving, the blob was that dense. But I started off at a run, nothing killer or anything but a nice jog. People were passing me left and right. I could see why the race people wanted to limit the number of entries, the roads were pretty small in Newmarket. We started off right up a hill then it leveled out and then up another hill. That was probably the worst part. I ran up the first part, walked the level part than ran up and then down the next hill. Then I walked a good portion. I felt what I think was shin splints, the front of my lower legs were painful, all along the long bone. The way the course was laid out, there were several instances were it doubled back on itself, so many times I got to see the front runners running their race.

I had my iPhone/iPod set to random and I just ran/walked my race. One thing I noticed quickly is everyone had someone else participating with them. There was one foursome of married couples and the wives were faster than the husbands, so they took off to the front and the husbands were back with me. So even though they didn't run together, they still ran together (if that makes any sense). I did see two people that were familiar to me, one I went to college with and the other I went through my EMT Basic class with.

2 miles in, they had a hydration station of water. It was welcomed. The weather right after a rain storm is usually muggy, so the air was a little bit denser than I was used to. Also I realized that my town, where I've been training is a lot flatter compared to other towns (like Newmarket were the race was).

I told myself that no matter what, I was running past the finish line. My only goal of the day was to finish not in last place. So as I approached the top of the hill and I saw the Mile 3 sign, I started to run, I ran past a few individuals who were shuffling along and other who were walking. I saw the finish with the time, and that motivated me more. As I got closer, I could hear people clapping for me, all around me... even the people I had just passed running were clapping... and I crossed the finish line. My single and available friend was there to greet me and gave me a bottle of water. I couldn't believe what I had accomplished.

If you would have asked me in October when I started this journey that in June I'd pay money to run/walk in a race, I would have laughed at you... I can't believe how far I've come.

Since it was the Smuttynose 5k there was obviously beer to be had after wards, so my friend and I walked back over to the registration area, I did notice that someone threw up after the finish line. I was glad I wasn't hurting like that. Over at the registration area, there was a long line at the beer tent, and to be honest, it was noon and I didn't feel like drinking beer or eating pizza. So I just sipped my water and caught up on life with my friend.

It was really an awesome experience. And, I didn't come in last place, I was told there was about 1100 people participating and I came in 902! And I've established my benchmark and something to improve upon. I finished in 48:15.2. My pace was 15:34 which considering I was running/walking isn't all too bad. I've done a 13 minute mile on the elliptical but running outside on pavement was completely different. As far as times, I didn't have any goals or expectations, but honestly I was happy.

(click on image for full view)

Stark contrast to the guy who finished first, with a time of 15:07! That was crazy! He ran the whole thing in less than my pace! Obviously, he's been doing this a lot longer than I.

While I was waiting for the times to be posted a woman came up to me, it was one of the people on the sidelines while I was crossing the finish line, she didn't introduce herself, she asked me if was my first race and I said yes couldn't you tell by my time and the red face, and she said that I was an inspiration to her, and that she wanted to thank me for being brave enough to participate. I was really taken aback by what she said, I mean I've just been doing my thing for me, but to impact someone else to the point of mentioning it, wow.. I was moved.

Now yes, I was probably the heaviest person there, but I did it. Anyone can do it.

I was really happy with the whole experience. I got a great workout. I tried something new. I had some time to myself to think. I kept talking to myself and pumping myself up to run to the next telephone pole or to pass the next person, it was great. I thought about how straight my back should be and how my feet were impacting the ground, I thought about if I would feel anything tomorrow. It's true what they say, running is a mental sport.

The next day, I was back to work, and walking around, I noticed that my hips hurt, both front and back. and both hips. Today, it's just a dull pain in the ass... and that pain is all the years I've wasted by carrying around this extra weight and not living my life to the fullest.

And as promised here is my after race pic.

Couch to 5K Update!

Wow, never thought I'd be blogging about that! Since the sinus infection from hell, I had to put my 5K training on hold. Every time my feet impacted the ground the roof of my mouth and the top teeth would kill, like someone was ripping them out. I couldn't run...  On top of that, the whole breathing thing wasn't working right, WAY too much mucus up there... (gross!)

However, since finishing the course of antibiotics, and getting some well needed rest, I am feeling much better and today decided to venture out to pick up where I left off with the program. Today was Week 2 day 2.

Considering I haven't trained in 3 weeks and coming off a pretty nasty infection, I didn't expect much, but I pushed myself to at least try. And you know what, it wasn't that bad... I did fairly ok. At the end, I was beat though, but so happy that I got back on. The old me, would have just given up. BIG NSV (non-scale victory)!!

With my first 5k in 3 weeks, I don't believe that I will be finished with the C25K training program, as of now, my plan is to walk/jog it as best as I can. I've only ever done a 5K at a walk before, and it was for breast cancer and I was with a bunch of friends, so we didn't really keep track of time or anything. I am going to try and track my time so that I have a baseline and something to work on.

I haven't "fallen in love" with running yet, but I want to give it a try. I love walking and hiking, so it just seemed very natural, but I'm going to keep at it. I do believe that the more weight I lose the easier running will come as I won't feel like I am doing damage to my legs with all that pressure on my joints.

I also haven't forgotten my mini goal of my looming 10%. I would still like to achieve my 10% goal (31 pounds) by the end of May. That gives me 2 weeks and roughly 5 pounds to go. Totally achievable.

I think this week on my days off, I want to at least walk the race course for my 5k, I am familiar with the area (it's probably 3 or 4 towns over from me) but I'd only even driven in the area, never walked.

101 in 1001 update

Since its been 3 months since I started my Day Zero Project of 101 things in a 1001 days; so I thought I would update the status of my list:

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days


The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no abiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Starting Date: Friday January 1st, 2010 Ending Date: Friday September 28th, 2012

1 Spend a rainy day watching films in my PJ's
2 Try two new cookie recipes this Christmas
3 Attend the midnight premiere of a movie
4 Get married
5 Go skydiving.
6 Learn to knit
7 Organize my closet
8 lose 15 pounds
9 Go on a cruise
10 Go whitewater rafting
11 buy a house
12 See a Broadway show.
13 spend a day at the spa
14 Lose 5 pounds
15 Own an iPhone
16 Try a new (and possibly frightening) food
17 Watch two movies at a cinema in the same day.
18 Influence a person to make a day zero list (Go Nick and Tricia!)
19 go fly a kite
20 Pay off my credit cards
21 Have a housewarming party
22 Floss every night for a month
23 Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
24 Go sledding
25 Lose 10 Pounds
26 start a family
27 help a stranger
28 Have a sleepover party
29 Have a friend choose a complete outfit for me
30 Play a new board game
31 Travel by train
32 Make homemade bread
33 Go to a casino
34 Take at least 5 photos a day for a month
35 Eliminate non-fitting clothing from my wardrobe
36 Save $5000
37 Read 100 books (0/100)
38 Compose a new list of 101 things to do in 1001 days
39 For every task I do not complete, donate $1 to charity
40 Put aside $5 for every completed task
41 Go to a Patriots game
42 Drink nothing but water for 2 weeks
43 Watch the sunrise at the beach
44 Host a giveaway on my blog
45 Organize photos and get and stay caught up with my scrapbooking
46 Climb Mount Washington
47 Attend a hot yoga class
48 Do 100 situps for a month (0/30)
49 Ask for someone else's advice and take it
50 Give a stranger a compliment
51 Write down something positive about myself for 30 days straight
52 Have “date night” one night of the week for 1 month (4/4)
53 Work out faithfully 3x a week for 2 months
54 Take a trip to Las Vegas
55 No swearing for a day x12 (0/12)
56 Play a game of 18-hole golf
57 Put change in someone’s expired parking meter
58 Take the Cat ferry to Canada
59 Have a weekend getaway for SO and I
60 Start our own Christmas tradition
61 Get my HAM radio licenese
62 Participate in a 5K (run/walk) - Scheduled for 6/6/10!! Excited!
63 Make my own candles
64 Climb Cadillac Mountain
65 Learn at least 50 ASL signs .
66 Go one weekend "Unplugged" no phone/internet
67 Send/Give 100 cards “just because.” (2/100)
68 Leave SO a love note/note of encouragement/surprise email 1x a week for 2 months
69 Complete 3 – 1500 piece or more jigsaw puzzles (0/3)
70 Visit 5 new states not previously in (driving through doesn't count)
71 Participate in a 10K (run/walk)
72 help a friend in need
73 take a class (work related)
74 Have one day off per week for 1 month
75 Make SO breakfast in bed
76 Bring coffee in for the boys at work
77 hang pictures/art on walls
78 Buy flowers/edible arraingments for someone.
79 Be able to buy clothing in the regular women's section
80 Invest my money better
81 borrow books from the library; instead of buying them
82 get a makeover to include makeup!
83 Try a new recipe once a week for 1 month
84 Call one cousin per week until all Bridle Cousins have been spoken to
85 Host a girls night at my house (coming up at the end of this month!)
86 Host a couple's night
87 Prepare my will
88 Take a poledancing class
89 Travel to Nantucket / Martha's Vineyard
90 Visit my grandmother at least once a month for a year (0/12)
91 plan a couples camping trip
92 Play Bingo with friends
93 Host a transit party.
94 See an old friend once per month for one year (1/12) - Kaylynn!!
95 See Rocky Horror at midnight showing
96 Go and shoot a gun at a firing range
97 To get a physical each year
98 To see a UNH/UMaine Hockey Game
99 To kiss the Cat at UNH
100 To go to a Red Sox / Yankees game
101 To complete this list in less than 1001 days

Now looking at this over all, I think that I have a great positive energy with this list, and its really motivated me to look at all areas/aspects of my life and try to improve and be a better person. I love the concept of making these lists. A) I am a list type of girl and I get a thrill from crossing something off my list and B) I love that you can have items that take awhile to complete or can take just a moment.
 
Reflecting on the tasks I have completed. I love playing bingo with my friends. In fact Ben and I went last night, just by ourselves. We may be older now, but we still know how to have a good time on a Friday night! I was thrilled that I hit my mini weight loss goal of an iPhone. Since starting this list, I have only hit the 5 pound loss, but I am close to the 10 pounds. I have heard from both my brother (Nick) and one of my bestest friends (Tricia) that they have either completed or will start their own list. It is a great feeling to motivate someone else to create a list.
 
The date nights and new recipe challenges were tough! My schedule is wonky (those of you that know me, understand) so it makes it tough to plan date nights. But I am pleased to report that the task was happily completed. New recipes were tough, since I don't cook. But I am learning and can enjoy new tastes and new foods. Trying to make food at home to be healthier really does motivate me as well



I am really looking forward to my upcoming 5K race in June. I was lovingly convinced by Liz from Goddess in Progress to consider using the Couch to 5K training method (c25k) and I started Week 1 this week. Results: I am really not a runner... but I completed the first session, wasn't pretty by any stretch. But I am hoping to improve.
 
So I've completed 8 tasks which translates to $40 into my "Day Zero" savings account in order to comply with list item #40. Which I will do by the end of next week.
 

Guess what I did...

I signed up for my first 5K ever...

It's part of my 101 things in a 1001 days list. Really there is no time like the present. I mean it's about 3.1 miles. I can do that. I found this great article about your first 5K. I am quite familiar with the race route, and really its faily easy. There is one hill right at the beginning that will probably be the worst for me, but at least its right at the beginning.

So once the rain clears (another 4-6 inches of rain) I will start training. I don't know if I will follow the couch to 5K program. But I will be more focused on training walks/slogs. I sigined up to walk the 5K, but I am hoping to jog most of it. Not going to be for time, that's for sure, but a personal victory when I cross that finish line. And I can cross one more thing off my list. I will be so happy when my fat ass crosses that finish line.

I never in a million years thought ever I would pay to run... heck, even pay to walk. But I want this to count, and I want to be able to keep this memory forever, so for me, its worth the price of admission!

And really, running for beer.. what could be better. Just hopin' for good weather that day!

So can anyone offer me some tips/tricks/clothing options/iPod playlists suggestions?