Apologies, Excuses, and Awesomeness

Alrighty Folks, hunker down. This is gonna be a long one...

First of all, Good Morning! Happy glorious Blackhawktastic Tuesday to you!

I'm not really sure where to start since it's been about a month between posts. I am terribly sorry for my lack of updating. Every time I would think, "Hey I should blog" something would catch my attention (admittedly it was usually old episodes of Bones or Castle...I blame TNT) and I would wander away from my computer all distracted-like.

"Hey Girl, you don't need to blog right now."

This whole month of June has been packed full of activities and long days at work. As I mentioned earlier I started 14 hour shifts but they have led to many wonderful days off so I am hesitant to complain for fear that the god of ungrateful complainers will come and smite my ass.

I just HATE sitting down for that long. I know it's a horrible thing to complain about and people spend long hours working on their feet everyday (doing manual labor and what not - like my Dad) and I am by no means saying I have it worse at all, but sitting is so terrible for you! I try to get up a few times every hour and take a lap around the floor. I also try to put away charts after I do the orders so that they don't pile up and I have to get up more often. Truly sometimes I'm just straight up lazy and tired because 14 hours is just a really long time to do anything. Yep, I'm complaining about how sitting a lot makes me tired...smite me ohh mighty smiter!

Working the long hours has made my training a bit difficult. When you work 7a-9p on the weekends and it's a swim day and the gym is only open 8a-8p the universe kind of works against you. It's been hard and sometimes I let my schedule get away from me. I have been a little inconsistent with my workouts and because of this I've been restarting the C25k program about every 2 weeks. After I have 2 or 3 days in a row of not running I start back at Week 1 Day 1 because I just assume I've lost all the progress I've made.

Allow me to let you in on the awesomeness portion of the post... this morning I was restarting the C25k program again and after jogging for the minute I was like screw this I can totally jog longer than a minute. Well let me tell you what, after warming up with a 5 minute walk, I jogged 5 minutes, then I walked 5, then I jogged another 5 minutes, then I walked 5 more, then I jogged another 5 minutes, walked 2 more and then jogged for the last 2 minutes - stopping when I hit 2miles. I think it's because of my sweet new kicks...

Yes, they are obnoxious and pink and I love them <3

DID YOU HEAR ME READER? I JOGGED 17 WHOLE MINUTES TODAY!! I did 2 miles in 34 minutes. Which is a not super impressive 17 minute mile and while it's not my fastest minute/mile by far, it was my most consistent jog/walk ever. Before today I never did more than like 4 minutes of jogging at a time and that was only once during a 30 minute workout. Basically I feel awesome. I also recently got in the pool and I am already swimming the length of the tri distance during my training swims. The bike has never been a problem for me so I am feeling pretty confident with 7 weeks left to go. I'm going to try and work my swim up and really get a solid start so I can be less freaked out about the 5k waiting for me at the end.

Now let's cover the weigh ins. I haven't weighed in since my last update. I've had a lot of busy Saturdays this month. Two weddings, a trip to Six Flags, and a long day at work have prevented me from getting to my meetings. I really don't want to change meeting days but I won't be able to make it the next two Saturdays either because I'm working 7a-9p the next two weekends. I can tell you from hopping on my home scale, not much has changed. I've had some days of being really good and some days of being not so good. Like yesterday is an example of no so goodness, I had a Corona-rita and some tasty spinach artichoke dip while watching the Blackhawks kick butt.

Hawks Win!

But I think that's okay because it was awesome and delicious and so much fun. Really, I've just been enjoying my summer because come September it's super serious go time. School and work will be my life for 2 years. I don't mean that to sound like a bad thing either. I'm really excited for my cohort to start and graduation will be here before I know it.

My scale hasn't really changed but I feel like maybe my body has. I used to have to get 2XL shirts. Always. No questions asked. Well, I started dabbling in the XL size when I got my Bike the Drive shirt and I haven't looked back. I bought some XL workout tanks from Old Navy, a sweet XL Blackhawks Patrick Sharp shirt, and my first pair of Yoga pants. Also, when I started shopping at Lane Bryant I was a very large, very sad size 22/24. I bought a lovely dress for wedding festivities at this same store and wore it Saturday and it was size 14/16! So I may not have solid weight loss for you but I have some really great Non-Scale Victories. Oh! And when I was at Six Flags I didn't have any problem fitting into anything and I can't wait to go back.


Old friends, new dress <3

So that's my month in a nutshell. I'll weigh in again on July 13th (it's my next Saturday morning off) and I'll keep running. I'll also keep swimming and make my favorite part of the tri my strongest. I look forward to enjoying my summer. I also can't wait for the day I fit into Large shirts (hold the X please) on the regular. I'm going to lunches and dinners with friends I love. I'm looking forward to Bunco on Friday. I'm doing 1000 piece puzzles with Kait and Sam. Kait and I have also taken up gardening. Basically we're little old ladies.

I'm just really happy right now.

Bike the Drive 2: The Sequel

This weekend was a mix of being super active and super lazy.

Saturday: Run or Dye (with the addition of pushing a wheelchair)

Sunday: Bike the Drive/ Binge watching season 4 of Arrested Development

It was a great weekend and since I'm off today I decided to blog about the Ride before I forgot the details. I didn't meticulously log my day like I did last year but I promise I wasn't any less excited. I'm actually grateful for my record keeping of  last year because I thought I got up at 10 to four last year not 10 to five. I checked and decided to wake up at 4:35(AM). I didn't prepack the car like last year so I gave myself some extra minutes to remember how to jam my bike in the car because trust me, every time is a struggle. So I got ready and made sure I had everything and made it to the train by 5:20ish.

The main difference between this year and last year? Holy shit was it BRISK out yesterday. I froze my buns off. I wore my tri shorts because the only pants I have a jeans or black dress pants and the chafe that the jeans would have produced on a 30 mile ride would have been outrageous. Ouch. So I wore a long sleeve shirt under my Bike the Drive tshirt and I was still pretty damn cold. I brought a thin hooded "sweater" in my bag as well and I put that on after the first 7 miles. The only good part about the first 7 miles was the duo of older dudes who apparently only bike ride together to bitch about their wives and such. They were lighthearted about it and it was funny to listen to. They also kept trying to block the other from the photographers. Silly guys.

I started out at 6:10 and decided that because of the crazy leg cramps I got last year, I would tackle the hills on the north side loop first. I'll be honest, the first 7 miles were pretty awful. I was cold and tired and the sun wasn't exactly shining. The hills, which were a glorious source of cool breeze last year, were awful blasts of freezing cold air this year. I was literally cringing on the big downhill rides. So after stopping at the turn around, I extra layered up and set out to retackle the hills.

I am proud to report that I did not have to get off my bike at all to walk up the hills. I barrelled through and felt great until the down hill ride started. The ride back to the start was a little better but I was still lacking the amazing feeling that I had starting out last year. I saw less bike jerseys this year (because everyone was layered up) but I did see a SPAM one and that was weird. Healthy long bike rides and exercise aren't exactly coupled with SPAM very often. It had a picture of a giant can of SPAM on it and the pocket that hangs over the guys butt said "Super Tasty"...I hope he meant the SPAM...

After 15 miles the sun started to warm me, a little bit, and the wind died down, a little bit, and the flat course made me happier. I was finally really enjoying myself and my pace was increasing. I made to the Museum of Science and Industry in no time (about 30 minutes). I think it might have been because of the intimidating EliptiGo gang. There were 6 people riding in a pack and they were on those mobile elipticals. They make a weird scrapey whooshing noise and it sorta sounds like you're being chased by a broken robot. When I got to the rest stop I filled up my water bottle and grabbed a cookie and braved the line for the bathroom. I was probably at the turn around for a good 15-20 minutes but I needed the time to walk around and wiggle my toes because some of them were a bit numb.

So I headed out to finish the last of my miles and I finally felt great. The sun was really coming out (of course it would come out as I'm finishing - jerk sun) and I got back to the festival and actually didn't feel exhausted. Funny thing is I must have been hungry when I signed up for the ride because when I got my packet I had a ticket for breakfast included in my paper work. Oh past me, you know better then present me because I was pretty hungry when I finished. I found a sturdy tree and locked up my bike and went in search of the breakfast tent.

Now, if you know me, you know I'm not really a breakfasty person. Unless it's Eggs Benedict (one of my absolute FAVORITE things ever) with some very crispy bacon, I usually opt for lunch. So I was happier than a normal person would have been to discover that they had hot dogs. Woo Hot dogs! Since this is Chicago, they had all the fixins to make a proper Chicago dog which was a nice touch. The festival was crazy packed and since I was alone it wasn't really that fun wandering around. Plus, there are a bunch of idiots that don't bike valet or bring a bike lock so they drag their bikes with them through the fest and you get scraped by pedals and tires and jerks run your feet over without saying sorry or anything. Stupid jerks.

Roughly, It took me about 2 hours and 40 minutes to finish biking 30 miles. If you consider me taking the two breaks (about 25 mins total) that breaks down to about 4.5 minutes a mile. Not too bad. Despite the cold I really did have a great time. I love biking and it's always lovely to do it somewhere beautiful and traffic free. I really should try to drag my butt down to the lakefront trail more often.

Now that I'm feeling better (for the most part), it's time for me to really get into the swing of training. 2 months is gonna fly by and it'll be time to start my second triathlon before I know it. Before that happens, I still have 4 more episodes left of Arrested Development to watch so laziness for another 2 hours it is!

A Colorful Time

Well, it turns out what I thought was allergies is most likely a crummy summer cold. I had big plans to get into a serious training rotation and ended up working out Monday and then spent the rest of the week trying feel better. I also was having some weird left knee pain...not exactly knee pain but like 'back of the left side of my knee' pain. On top of being unable to breathe, I figured giving the leg a rest would help and maybe prevent future injuries.

I wasted a few days this week taking Allegra and being miserable and doing absolutely nothing while I went through multiple Kleenex boxes. That's a lot of boogers and one unhappy Carrie. So after working Wednesday and being generally quite unpleasant and germy, I was instructed by my most trusted charge nurse Katie (with her extensive pharmaceutical knowledge) that I needed to take Mucinex. Since there are multiple kinds, I asked which one to get. She responded, "You need the D". Now if you are totally immature like myself, I hope you went into a fit a giggles like I did, because it was terribly funny.

So I got myself the D...Mucinex D and I feel a lot better. My Kleenex usage had drastically decreased and I was able to be active today without feeling like I was going to pass out. Yay!

Speaking of being active today, I did Run or Dye at Toyota Park today! It was a bunch of messy fun with some cool ladies. Mandee, Liz, Caitlin and I braved the semi cold weather and the gravel and had a good time. Mandee recently ruptured her Achilles so I pushed her for the three miles in a wheelchair while we got powdered dye tossed at us. After a few days of no exercise at all I was glad to get in 3miles and some upper body work - pushing a wheelchair over gravel is no picnic but it was worth it. We had a great time.

OH YEAH! I almost forgot! I got up a bit early today and went to Weight Watchers to weigh in. Even though I slacked on the exercise front I must have done something right this week because I lost 3.6 lbs!

May 25th Weigh In: -3.6 lbs.
Total Weight loss: 41.2 lbs
Weight: 243 lbs (told you I'd see that number again!)

I'll leave you with some pictures from our colorful day (stolen from one M. Delso)

Pre Dye Pic

The Dye is basically cornstarch...
not great for contacts



Me and Liz

All of us!

Don't Worry, It's a rental!

Good Morning

I hate being awake at this ungodly hour... now before you laugh at me calling 7am an ungodly hour you should probably know I've been up for about an hour already. Not that 6am is much...ungodlier (?) but I had minimal sleep due to the annoying allergies I seem to have developed in the last week or so. I am a unpleasantly sneezy, itchy eyed, and generally irritated. A great way to start my weekday weekend.

That's enough bitching. Can't help the weather and allergy inducing contents in the air.

Alrighty so I said last post I was going to maybe go back to posting weigh ins. In happy news, I lost 2.2lbs this week! Go me! I kept myself in check at Bunco on Friday and it really paid off.

Now, lets recap a bit since it's been a while since weights were posted. (yay. honest accountability.)

My lowest weight on record is the 2/16/13 weigh in : 238.8 (-45.5lbs)

I'd like to pretend I didn't gain exactly 10lbs back but I did, in fact, do that. On 5/11/13 I went back to weigh in after much awful terribleness and found my weight to be 248.8. How nice of my body to really stick it to me by gaining exactly 10lbs. On the bright side, I only gained 10lbs. I'd obviously prefer not to gain at all but at least it wasn't anything crazy like all the weight I lost or something horrific like that.

So here's the new stats:
May 18th Weigh In: -2.2 lbs.
Total Weight loss: 37.6 lbs
Weight: 246.6 lbs

I just want to say that my home scale is annoyingly and optimistically inaccurate and when I pre-weighed myself before heading to my meeting (yes I do that, don't judge me - I don't want any surprises) my scale said 243. I much prefer that number but I'll be back to it soon so I'm not worried.

That's enough with numbers and weights for now. Let's talk about the important stuff like fitness and training. I'm starting my multi sport rotation training today. I've included some strength training because I am terribly weak, especially upper body wise. Seriously, you should watch me try to do a push up, it's pathetic. I'm excited to get back in the pool and I always love hopping on my bike so I just have to muddle through the run and I'll be fine come August.

I'm also not taking any summer classes because I decided to (once and for all) switch schools. I'll be starting at Trinity in September for the Dual Special/Regular Education program. I'm super nervous and really excited. I'm also taking a couple classes at Moraine so I decided I'd give myself the summer before I get sucked into accelerated schooling for 2 solid years. The best part of the summer, is the fact that we are switching to twelve hour shifts at work to cover someone on leave. It's wonderful because I'm getting a few more hours a pay period and working less days. I am literally working 12 days in June.

Best. Summer. Ever. (Hopefully).

Now I really want to go back to bed because I am finally tired and ungunky in my sinuses but what kind of in-training behavior would that be? Time to strap into my armor-like sports bra and start pumping iron! It's arms day!

Hey There 2013

Well Hello There.

It's sure been a while since I've blogged. It's be a long Spring semester and now that it's over and I have the summer to myself I decided I would try to blog about the road to my second triathlon.

YES! I am doing another! Honestly, I've talked about being able to call myself a triathlete before and even though I have completed one, I don't feel like a "triathlete". So perhaps if I make this a yearly thing I'll feel comfortable telling folks I'm a triathlete. Until then, it's training time!

As you may remember, I have a nemesis and it's name is THE RUN. I've been making strides (haha) in that department though I'm still terrified. This year the run is a complete 5k, 3.1 miles. That's 1.1 miles more than last year. (AHHHH!) I should also remind you that I walked most of the 2 miles last year. In March I started the Couch to 5k program up again and got 4 weeks in. At that point I was jogging almost 5 minutes at a time. I even got close to getting a 13 minute mile. Unfortunately, I got real lazy for a week or two around my birthday and lost all the ground I had gained. I also made all the progress on the treadmill which is convenient but not practical for road race purposes. Evergreen HS has a nice track that's open to the public and I have been jogging there. I like that it is gentle on my knees and I can keep track of my mileage. I also have spent some time at Yukich Field. They have a .5 mile loop that is good for distance tracking purposes. I also enjoy lapping the old ladies who faithfully truck along, it gives me a sense of accomplishment when I pass them a few times in my travels. Woo Hoo! I'm faster than old ladies!

I started training officially when I signed up for the Tri back in April. I've been focusing on the run and the bike and I haven't actually been in the pool yet. The swim was my strongest sport in August but, of course, I need to practice. So starting next week I'm hopping back in the pool and creating a good multisport rotation for training. That extra 1/2 mile isn't gonna swim itself.

As I said, I started training in April but I didn't get serious until this month. In May, I decided that it would be NO SODA, NO CANDY, NO FRENCH FRIES month. It has been insanely hard. I also decided it was WORK OUT EVERYDAY month. At the halfway mark, I think I've been mostly successful. I only took one day off of working out. I did have sprite accidentally in a small limeade (which I wasn't aware of until I noticed the carbonation- isn't limeade supposed to not have soda in it?) and had a two mint melt aways on Mothers Day. BUT! I haven't had a single french fry and more importantly I only been to McDonald's twice and that was on the day of my finals and Mothers Day for the new Egg White McMuffin which is pretty good and not so terrible for you WW points wise.

Ahh yes, Weight Watchers. Well after a few month long absence I returned towards the end of March and discovered that I had gained back some of the pounds I had tried so hard to lose. Then I was stupid and didn't go back for a while because I was upset about gaining. The school stress certainly played into my gain but I can't make excuses, I just need to move on and fix my behaviors and eating habits. So with my Tri training I decided that I definitely need to go to meetings to make sure I don't gain back all the weight I've lost. I went back to my regular Saturday meeting last week and I have every intention to go back this Saturday. I'll start posting weigh in results next week... maybe.

There you have it. For the most part I've tried to keep my fitness level up and my weight down. I've had some set backs but I'm not gonna let it get me down. I am trying really hard to build up my run endurance and feel confident by the time August rolls around. So stay tuned because this year I am going to kick ass and take names on August 11th when I complete the Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon.

Good News Everyone!

I really hope you read the title like Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth from Futurama...



Good News!

If not, that's okay. The news is still good. I weighed in Saturday (last weigh in of the year) and I knew I had lost a bit. I didn't weigh in on the 22nd (I had to work 12hrs) so I had certain hopes for the 29th.
December 29nd Weigh In: -9.2 lbs
Total Weight loss: 38 lbs
Weight: 246.2 lbs

Yes. You read that right. In two weeks I lost 9.2 pounds! Suck it! Be gone stupid plateau!! Haha!

Sorry, I'm very elated. I know its not the solid 40lbs I was hoping for but I'm pretty confident I'll smash that goal on my Jan. 5th weigh in. I'm really happy with the progress I've made this year. I know it's not some crazy number, but damn it, it's my number and it's a good one for me. I can tell you about all the weeks I was lazy and ate terribly but that won't change anything. It's also not constructive. My loss hasn't been lightning fast and I've had some slip ups and some discouraging plateau action, but in 9 months I have lost 38 pounds. That's roughly 4 pounds a month and I'm pretty proud of myself. Oh, I also biked 30 miles in one day and completed a freaking triathlon...no big deal.

I was talking to a friend about my blog the other day and they told me that they don't like to read it because I'm negative and basically I'm not very nice to myself. I understand that a lot of my writing is not exactly positive and it got me thinking. As the year comes to an end and most people are declaring weight loss as their new year's resolution, I think mine will be simple and too the point:

Be Kind.

I need to be kinder. To myself (and to others).

I am hard on myself. I think everyone is hardest on themselves, ya know that whole "your own worst critic" thing. I think that being hard on myself sometimes is the only thing that gets my ass out the door and to the gym some days but it's also a source of unnecessary guilt when I don't exactly follow the plan I made for the day.

So I will be kind to myself. I will accept that my weight loss journey is different from anyone else's and I can't compare my results. I will understand that even though I may be giving 100%, my week's won't always give me amazing results. I am human. I am going to struggle but I am also going to have great successes. I am 12 pounds away from losing 50! How awesome is that? I've never lost that much, ever. I already blasted past the 24lbs I have lost previously. I am waiting (impatiently) for sign up to open for the Danskin Tri 2013, and I will being completing the regular Sprint this year, three miles of jogging and all. I also am terrifiedly looking forward to venturing to Swallow Cliff for the first time. I can't wait to do Bike the Drive in May again and actually running the Firefly Run with Kait in September.

I can't wait to see what I am able to accomplish in 2013.

So here's the deal. I'm going to start training for August...tomorrow. I'm going to go to the gym in the morning and then everyday thereafter. I'm not going to beat myself if I miss a day. I'm just going to press on and go the next day. I'm going to stick with weight watchers because it works for me. I'm going to make good food choices, but I'm also going to enjoy the hell out of cheat meals.

It's been a long, stressful, crazy, awesome year and as 2013 begins, I'm going to try to love myself enough to accept that I am doing everything to the best of my ability and that one day I'll hit my goals.

I got this.

Damage Control

December 8th Weigh In: -0.4 lbs.
Total Weight loss: 35.2 lbs
Weight: 249.0 lbs

I've been at this plateau for some time now. I would say that I've stayed at the same weight for almost two whole months...until now...

December 15th Weigh In: +6.4 lbs.
Total Weight loss: 28.8 lbs
Weight: 255.4 lbs

Yes. You read that correctly. I gained almost 10 pounds in one week.

I have plenty of excuses: It was that time of the month. I had McDonald's (large fries included) twice that week. I went to an awesome cookie party. I made a lot of cookies for this party and sampled many of them. I went to the Christmas party for work at Bourbon and drank many sugary pineapple and Malibu's as well as roughly 3 shots/bombs. (If we are facebook friends there is a nice photo of me carrying a drink in an unorthodox place, check it out) I think a lot of the gain is water/bloating weight because I had way too much salt that week.

I kept telling myself this is the last day. I'll eat like shit and then hop right back on the wagon. Then I'd made another bad choice and say the same thing, I'll only be bad today, and it kept happening each day. So instead of just letting a bad day be one day and moving on, I let a bad day become a bad week. I know I haven't posted since Nov. 28th but before last week I was at least maintaining my losses.

I think a big problems is that lately I've just been powerless to the deliciously stick in your teeth wonderfulness that is Milk Duds. Hot damn do I love me some Milk Duds.

I wish this picture wasn't eerily similar to the amount I have actually consumed

So thanks to some tough love (my sister reminding me, daily and not so subtly, that I haven't been to the gym in quite some time) I realized that I can not let this slip up ruin the progress I've made so far.

I've let a lot of things that shouldn't matter change my point of view. I thought that if I changed programs I would find faster and better results. I saw a co worker lose a lot in a small amount of time and it was discouraging. In a month they lost what it has taken me 8 months to lose. It wasn't fair and the plateau wasn't helping my state of mind. So I stopped working my plan. I stopped going to meetings, stopped tracking, continued to not go to the gym, and spent time researching what worked for them. I gradually started to eat like I used to, before April, before Tri training, and kept telling myself that it didn't matter because when I start this new awesome plan it won't matter because the weight will just melt off.

Well, the plan was a bit too hard for me to follow. I didn't even start it actually. I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain the plan anyway, not realistically.

I like to have the flexibility that Weight Watchers offers and if I'm totally honest after a few weeks of plateauing my discouragement turned into me not really following the plan 100% and tracking faithfully.

So here's the deal: I would really like to be at -40lbs by year's end. I know -50lbs is just plain impossible. Really, -40lbs might be unrealistic too, but it's a goal nonetheless. Ah hell, I'd be happy just to end the year making up the 6.4 gain I've had. Regardless of goals and numbers I've made a bit of progress that I'm really happy about, slip up and all...

-I went down a size in jeans (I'm trying to be okay with it only being one size for a 30 pound loss)

-In Old Navy sizes I am officially no longer a XXL. I actually put a pair of XL pj pants on OVER my jeans.

-I bought and wore a smoking hot Red Dress from Old Navy (Size:XL) to the Xmas party at work. I think wearing that dress was the first time I ever looked at myself and thought, 'Wow this actually looks pretty great on me'. I got a lot of very flattering comments on it. If anyone wants to take me out, I'm looking for any reason to wear it again!

 

 

-I have gotten back into the gym and it feels great. I don't know why I stopped going. I really need to get over my chronic laziness.

I really have a great support system of friends and family and I'm going to utilize them more for the rest of this year and for the rest of my weight loss journey. I'm also going to try to blog more and not let my laziness/ashamed of gainsness keep me from updating. I've had a lot of restarts and "new plans" so I'm just gonna start real basic and work my way up. No crazy plans that involve multiple workouts per day or weird food plans. Just me, following my WW plan/tracking, and being active for at least 35 minutes a day and working my way up to bigger and better things.

I can do this and in August I will be doing the Sprint Triathlon and I will be jogging the whole 3 miles and I will be kicking ass and taking names.

For now, I'm just doing a bit of damage control.