30 Day Shred Results

So I've decided that I kind of suck at doing something EVERY DAY for 30 days. I ended up doing about 12 days out of the 30. But, hey, it's something, and I have results that I am proud of, so I'll take it. My results did make me want to do the challenge again, but I'm for sure going to wait until after my half on Monday to start. Maybe like a week after so my muscles have had time to heal and recuperate. Anyway, here are the results.

Starting Stats:               Ending Stats:

Arm: 12. 25                  Arm: 12.25

Chest: 38.25                 Chest: 37

Waist: 41.5                   Waist: 40

Thigh: 23.5                    Thigh: 22

Hips: 44                        Hips: 41.25

Calf: 16                         Calf: 15.25

Weight: 174.8                Weight: 169.0 

Like I said, overall, very happy with the results. A total of 7.75 inches gone and 5.8 pounds. I did keep up with my running - even if I didn't keep up with all the weight lifting. I've always loved running, but lifting weights is something I have to force myself to do. Anyway, here are the before and after pictures. I can't really tell a huge difference in the pictures, but my shirts feel much looser than they were before. I haven't really noticed much change in my pants (even though I lost a crazy amount of inches in my hips??), but can't wait to fit back into my GAP size 12's. They are hanging patiently in my closet. 

Before Front

Before Side

Before Back

After Side

After Back

After Front

Tapering starts NOW!

Today has been a great day so far. I finally was able to sleep through the night and felt fantastic this morning. I got up and did 9 miles in 1:49. I felt like I could have done 10 in 2 hours, but I had gotten to the gym late and the child care area was closing. 
Today's run was my last long run before my half marathon next Monday. I'm feeling really good about the half and can't wait to see how it turns out time-wise. Still hoping for a 2:45 half. But now its taper time :) welcome to my favorite part of racing: easy runs and cross training and not feeling the pressure to make a certain time. 
This morning I was still in the 160's too. See? Good day!  Now if only the air would clear up so I can breathe....

The good and the Bad

This week has just been so incredibly trying. Danny has been off of his normal sleep schedule and Derek has been working 10 - 13 hour days (and he had to work all weekend too). I am just exhausted and frustrated and ready for a break. And if it could go wrong this week, it did.

Before I vent about the "bad" things, let me get to the good things that happened this week: I freaking made it to the 160's!! Yesterday I weighed in at 169.2. Holy crap it took a whole heck of a lot of work (especially this crappy week), but I made it. Now my goal is to make it to 165 by the end of June. I seriously have just gotten so fed up with being heavy and with my million and one excuses as to why I didn't lose. I will admit, there were nights when I went to bed a little hungry - not starving mind you, just a little hungry. Normally, I would've just caved and eaten something, but I really, really wanted this to happen, so I made it happen.

The other good thing is that my little Miss Piper has decided she is interested in using the potty. Over the past two days, I've gotten her to go on the potty 3 times (all of which were successes). She is 22 months now and I had previously decided to wait until she was officially 2 before I started potty training her, but I figure a little practice now can't hurt, right? Plus, how nice will it be to not have to change any more diapers??? Oh, I can't wait! But at the same time, I get a little sad because my baby is growing up. I had always wanted three kids, but lately I've been feeling pretty content with the two that I have. And that just makes her growing up that much harder.

And in good/bad news, all the houses that we had planned to look at next week are now rented out. The rental market here in Dallas seems to be a fast-paced turnaround and I guess we waited too long. Hopefully there will be some more houses for us to look at next week, but we'll see. We are also scraping together all the money to put down for the first month's rent, deposit, pet deposits, etc for the move. I hate that moving is so expensive! I just feel like we are just barely going to be able to move, and that is scary and frustrating. Thank goodness we have awesome family who are willing to assist us if needed.

All the stress of Derek's car about to die, us having to move, trying desperately to lose weight, and a general lack of sleep have really taken a toll on me. I feel bitter and angry and a little depressed. It's so hard being a stay at home mom when your spouse has to work over time. I just need a few hours to myself to relax and not be around the kids. And nap. I seriously need a nap! And Derek working overtime has just made me feel like I don't matter. It's hard to explain, but he has had to go into work early, so I couldn't go on my 11 mile run and (maybe because I'm so tired) I took it personally. And I had a hair appointment yesterday (debacle that it was! Got stuck in traffic on I-30 because they are doing construction so I was 30 minutes late to my appointment; they cut my hair and then made me reschedule for my color appointment. So embarrassing and did not raise my morale at ALL) and my sister had to come babysit because Derek couldn't work from home  for the hours that I would be gone. Just inconvenient for everyone.

Anyway, I'm trying today to not be a crabby mommy and to engage the kids so that they are not under-stimulated which results in them acting out. I'm hoping it works because I am DONE with whiny, unhappy children who fight with each other. I'm hoping that a good night's sleep and a 9 mile run tomorrow will help my mood considerably.

Perfect Day and an Early Morning

Yesterday was just one of those perfect days. I got up, went to the gym and ran 6.5 miles on the treadmill. The run felt awesome - I was just in the zone. Then the childcare area at the gym closed so I had to pick up Thing 1 and Thing 2 and head home. I felt like I could've done 4 or 5 more miles, so was a little bummed but got over it quickly because I discovered my new favorite meal: a salad with two slices of crumbled bacon, sliced grapes, tomato, onion, green bell pepper and the most amazing ingredient of all - Feta Cheese. Holy Cow! Feta cheese rocks!! It totally made my salad super delicious. I actually bought Feta by accident when I was trying to buy blue cheese. It turned out to be a very happy accident :)

After lunch, I put the P down for a nap (after she fell asleep on the couch) and did 3 hours of work. I'm working on some grants for work, and I made some good progress, which felt really nice. As soon as P woke up from her nap (she seriously napped for 3 hours!), I packed up the kids and we headed to Springfield Park. This is by far one of my new favorite spots in Rowlett. There is a walking/jogging trail around a little lake with ducks, various bugs, and lots of fish I'm guessing by the number of fishermen/women who were out yesterday. There is also a playground that the kids seem to really like. We walked two miles and then hit up the playground. It was warm outside but not ridiculously hot. Oh, and as an added bonus, just as I was getting the kids in the stroller for our walk, and ice cream truck rolled into the park and I picked up to popscicles for the kids to eat as I walked. They were coated in sticky red melted popsicle, but they really enjoyed their treat and I enjoyed being able to walk in peace.

My sweet girl was so tired!

Post walk and playground running around, we made a pit stop at Wal-Mart for milk and bread and then headed home. Danny fell asleep literally as I was pulling into the driveway. I pulled him out of the carseat and he mumbled something about going to play in the backyard and fell back asleep. I put him to bed then - at 6:45 pm - knowing the I would regret that later. I made some yummy grilled chicken and had a nice night hanging out with my little girl. We ate supper, read some books, played in her toy kitchen, and then watched an episode of Bubble Guppies. I love spending one on one time with her! She went to bed and I caught up on Grey's Anatomy and Once Upon a Time episodes after cleaning up the kitchen. Just a really good day :)

As I predicted, Danny woke up this morning at 3am. So, I'm a little tired - and I'm sure he is too. I weighed in at 171.6 this morning (so freaking close to those 160's!!). I am planning on going to the gym for some cross  training today and then I'm meeting my running group for the first time tonight for a 4 mile run/walk. I'm taking the kids in the stroller (and praying that they last 4 miles!) and planning on walking. My sister is coming too, so I'll have someone to walk with if everyone else runs.

Oh, and we are officially looking for a new rental house! Our realtor has sent us a few different listings and we are going to look at them next Thursday. We are planning to move to Allen or Plano and I just can't wait to be closer to the cities where we do most of our living/shopping. Being out here in the 'country' in Rowlett has been nice, but I'm ready to not have to drive 25 - 35 minutes every time we plan to do something or want to see my sister. The only downside is that I have to switch gyms. I go to a women's only gym in Rockwall, and have an 18 month contract (with about 12 months left on it). According to their policy, I have to continue going to one of their gyms when I move - even though the closest one will be about 15 miles away. Kind of bummed about that, but I'm sure it'll turn out good! I just wish there was one closer so that I wouldn't have to drive so far to work out.

Wake Up

Woke up this morning to a sweet little voice saying, "Wake Up Mommy!" - with clapping for emphasis. I love my little Piper girl and her wake up calls. I guess I didn't wake up fast enough though because by the time I made it to the living room, Danny was up and playing with the Ipad and Piper had totally wreaked havoc on our TV/Receiver. Currently, the only channel I'm getting is PBS (wonder how she managed THAT one??). Hoping the hubs wakes up soon to fix the problem, or else I'm stuck watching Curious George all day haha

I also woke up to 171.4 on the scale - woo-hoo! Under two pounds to go until I'm in the 160's. I can do this! Last night I spent a considerable amount of time on weight watchers' website looking up recipes and tips. Right now, I'm not 'officially' doing weight watchers (read: I don't pay or go to meetings), but as soon as I'm back to 161, I'll be back to my lifetime weight watchers weight and will be able to attend for free again. So only ten pounds to go until I can go back to meetings! I reached lifetime status back in 2004 when I lost 60 pounds. I kept the weight off for about 2 years, then I started grad school and the weight started creeping back on. Two babies, a big cross-country move, and too many cheeseburgers later, I am now in the 'overweight' category. I can't wait to be in a healthy weight range again and to fit back into my clothes. I had gotten down to the 150's last May and bought new clothes - which now just don't fit quite right. Can't wait to get back into them (especially since a lot of them are summery clothes!).

Today, I'm hoping to do an 8 mile run and then I have to come home and do some work. Today is almost my last "free" day to put in a lot of hours at my work-from-home job. Tomorrow I start a whirlwind meetup extravaganza. Wednesday - Saturday, I'll be driving into "town" for meetups with different groups - two of those meetups will be with my running group, which I can't wait to try out. Hopefully it won't be too hot; it's supposed to be in the high 80's. Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Cookies

Cookie attack! After begging me all morning, I caved to my son wanting to make cookies. So we busted out the mixing bowls, butter, chocolate chips, and sugar and got to baking. We made 30 chocolate chip cookies. I ate four, but am trying not to beat myself up about it because they were REALLY, REALLY good and hit the spot. I'd been hungry since lunch and had tried to make a healthy snack of lunch meat and reduced fat cheese, but it just wasn't filling me up and wasn't filling the 'void' in my stomach/heart/brain that I needed it to fill. The cookies were just the right mix of yummy deliciousness to make me un-hungry. Sometimes you have to give in to a craving in order to not eat a whole bunch of crap that you don't really want but is "healthy." In other words, a bunch of healthy stuff can have just as many calories as a little bit of unhealthy stuff. I'm glad I ate them - even if that means that I am going to have a big plain salad tonight instead of the taco salad I had planned.

Update on the Reset

I am so proud of myself! While I haven't hit the 160's yet, they are RIGHT around the corner. This morning I weighed in at 172.0 - which is huge because it was the Monday after a holiday weekend and a Mom visit. Family visits (which we have a lot of here recently) and holidays are super hard for me to lose/maintain weight. There are just so many treats around and so much going out to eat. But all this weekend, I just told myself that if I really want to see the 160's then I have to realize that family visits and holidays are going to happen and that I can't let them stand in my way. So I didn't. We even ate out and I stayed right on track. Go me!

I've also been drinking water like crazy. Like 90 - 120 ounces a day. I had been drinking about 40 ounces of water a day and about 48 - 60 ounces a day of pop. It was diet pop, but still, not all that great for you. I'm hoping the increase in water is helping me flush all the junk out of my body and filling me up so I'm not just mindlessly snacking.

I kept pretty busy this weekend too. I ran 10 miles on Saturday (in 2hours, 10 minutes!) and then did the Run Like a Mother 5k on Sunday with my Mom (race recap coming soon). It felt good to run so much and keep my legs moving. Today, I'm taking a rest day - which is good because I have a major headache. These weather changes we are having here in Texas are killing my sinuses!

I joined a running group this weekend too. It's a meetup group that meets on Saturday mornings in Plano and does their long runs together. I'm going to my first one this Saturday and I'm hoping that they can help motivate me to run a faster pace. I really want to run my marathon in 5 hours or less. That just means I have a lot of work to do between now and December. My last half marathon was done in 2:53 minutes - and my half in two weeks (from today - eek!) I'm hoping to do closer to 2:45. I'm contemplating signing up for the Hottest Half in August - but I'll probably take that one slow because of the heat. It will definitely be a challenging run!