What to do next week.....

I am not exactly sure what to do in terms of C25K next week. Week 5 is a pretty intense week in terms of not doing the same thing all three days and making pretty big leaps in how long you run. I've been wanting to try 2 different things with my training. Try at 1-2% incline as many people suggest to better prepare myself to run outside. And also try running faster than 4.5 mph. I don't want to try both at once. I think I am more inclined (no pun intended) to try running faster and repeating Week 4 before trying out Week 5. I did allow myself 1-2 weeks of repeats prior to my Turkey Trot and I think this is a good week to repeat.

Yesterday I bought a 3 month tracker at WW. This morning I pre-populated all the dates - anything to kind of give me incentive to track. The tracker will go through Wednesday December 21. So we've got 12 weeks until Christmas - wow!

I need to think a little about the clothing I am doing to wear outside running once I do get there. I only have hiking gear for cold weather, so not the right kind of pants. And I need to think about where I am going to put my iphone. I am also wondering if I want compression socks. I don't think you necessarily need them for a 5K if you are a thin runner, but since i am not and prone to shin splints, it is something I am considering.

I remain nervous to be doing WW while exercising (though I have yet to do my other 2 days of non-C25K cardio). I think I just need to prepare myself not to worry about the pounds so much, but worry about getting fit and loosing inches.

Weigh in day?

Eh, I'll put the number out there: 207.0, but it isn't a real number. TOM showed up first thing in the morning, a day early, and I ate a salty dinner.

I did put myself on the scale at WW today, even though I wasn't wearing my light clothes, and I had eaten breakfast which I don't usually do on WW day. Today was our registration day so it wasn't a real official weigh-in. We should have 15 payments by next week so we should continue on through the holidays. I threw out the idea to the group of doing our own type of Biggest Loser challenge. I need so incentive to get back on the losing track this fall.

Tomorrow I get up for W4D2. I can't wait!

We are having the kids pictures taken on Sunday. We haven't done professional pics of them in 18 months. It makes me a little sad because originally (like 18 months ago) I was thinking that this fall we would hire a real photographer and do outside pictures with the whole family. We are not doing that for one of 3 reasons. Well, really 2 reasons- 1) We don't have the money and 2) I don't want to pay for it until I feel good about myself and with a 20 lb gain since March 1, obviously I don't feel good. At all. But I tell myself it is probably good anyways because I don't think the fall here is going to be very good. Is is almost October 1st and we have yet to make it out of our summer clothes for more than 1 day. And I am talking the kids wearing shorts the whole month. So without cold weather, the foliage just isn't brilliant - I can already tell it won't be spectacular.

So next year. Who knows what the next year will bring, but hopefully it will be better than the last year!

Loving Week 4

My son came into our room at 4:45. I was so tempted to turn off the alarm, but I was so excited to try Week 4 of C25K. I can't remember the last time I ran for 5 minutes straight, or 16 minutes during a 31 minute period of time. I need to find better things to think about though. All I can think about is running in Junior high in cleats on pavement, which helped contribute to the stress fractures and shin splints I was diagnosed with when I was 15 and there ended my running "career".

Do I think I have a future as a runner? No. I don't particularly love it. I do love that I can sweat fairly quickly.  But hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, skiing are the things I love that get my body moving. But they aren't readily available. Running is easy, but not easy on the body. My STEP video and my spinning video do both - get my whole body moving and make me sweat. But I am enjoying this challenge of training for a 5K. I haven't trained for anything in 9 years. But do I see myself doing a half marathon? No. A 10K? Maybe. But right now I don't have time to work out for more than 30-45 minutes and a 10K would require more than that. So for now, my focus will be on the next 8 weeks until Thanksgiving.

Bring on Week 4

I didn't work out on Saturday. I woke up at 3 am and was out of bed at 4:30. The kids woke me up but then I couldn't fall back asleep. I have a cold and it is working into my lungs and so does my hubby. Plus I had this long to-do list I needed to get done so I was up. Our plans kept getting switched around because the weather was being so fickle.

I did do W3D3 this morning at 6:30 am. It felt really good, but i am so excited for Week 4. Only running for 9 minutes total during Week 3 wasn't very inspiring, though I can't remember the last time I ran for 3 minutes straight, so it definitely helped. Week 4 does seem a little intimidating with 16 minutes (2 sets of 5 and 2 sets of 3).

I haven't weighed myself much lately which is so hard!

I made the time...

Yesterday's weight was 204.2. Eh. I was far from good this week. Hopefully the next week will be better.

Last night I had another fail in terms of getting to bed in time to get up to do C25K. We were out at Parent's Night, then I had a lot of DVR stuff I wanted to watch. I should have gone to bed before watching Grey's Anatomy, but instead I stayed up until 11:30.

Since I work from home on Fridays, I was able to fit in W3D2 after the kids went to school and before I had to start my day.

I don't like Week 3 at all - there is too much walking! While I am nervous for Week 4, I am excited to see if I can run for 5 minutes.

As expected, no work out this morning....

A few of my co-workers have been sick lately and we all sit in a conference room together. I've been a little stuffy lately and yesterday I was having sneezing fits all day long. But mid-afternoon I started to feel run-down so made a conscious decision that I wasn't going to work out this morning.

Dinner was horrible in terms of portions.

I did stay up too late watching TV, including FF through the Biggest Loser. There is a 41 year old woman who was 277 pounds. She'll be the one I am rooting for :)

There are a lot of posts out there in blog-land this morning as there always are when a new season of BL starts. We all want to be inspired, but the show itself never seems to make a big impact on people. We all end up being where we are at the beginning of the season at the end of the season. We all watch the workouts and tell ourselves that we will move more. That our workouts will be more than just walking on the treadmill. And then before we know it, the season is over. Last year I saw quite a gain from the beginning of the season to the end (a gain that unfortunately has continued since the finale as well). So for me, I am going to just hope that I am less, not more, than I weigh today.

But I do hope that my Wednesday workouts will be really good ones. I'll do the Shred or some kind of bootcamp video and leave the biking until Saturdays.

Running with no music

I went to try to do W3D1 of C25K and my iphone app was freezing. First it wouldn't allow me to add music, then when I hit Start it would go for a bit then stop. I really hope I can get it going. I ended up doing the work out but it was all out of order. And continuously having to look down to see the time will be hard. And especially since the times aren't as simple as they were the first couple of weeks. Last spring I got a bad crook in my neck and I think it was partially due to looking down at the treadmill too much. Staring straight ahead and only looking down to change speed is so much easier. And don't get me started about trying to run without music - it would be so hard!

The ultimate test will be if I get up tomorrow to work out on a non-C25K day.

Me and my friend are definitely signing up for a Turkey Trot - she said she would hang with me no matter my speed. Yeah!

And it keeps going up and up....

207.2 this morning - wow. Seriously. Ugh.

I did get my 2 sessions of C25K on Friday and Sunday. But I didn't work out on Saturday. I am kind of mad at myself. I know C25K is not enough of a work out to be the only source of cardio so I really need to have 2 days of "real" cardio as well. I also need to figure out how and when to add in strength training. I originally thought I could do it after my C25K sessions, but I am eager to get into the shower and get to work. If one of my 2 "real" cardios is Jillian's 30-day Shred then I should be okay.

I am excited for Week 3 of C25K tomorrow - though a little nervous. Since I am doing it on the treadmill I am going to do it for time instead of trying to run for distance. My initial goal is to run for 30 minutes, however far that ends up being. Me and my friend want to do a Turkey Trot in November, but I am not really sure though. I don't know when I will get a chance to start running outside, especially with the weather and the darkness. I definitely want to do a 5K in the town we want to move to in May.

Eating has been less than stellar lately. We went to to a fair on Saturday and I got to have my first Funnel Cake ever. Dinners continue be large. I said I would start tracking. Next week? Life has been so hectic lately that tracking just isn't on my mind.

Our last week of the current WW session is on Thursday. I will confess I am hoping we don't renew for this session. Obviously it being there hasn't helped me (seeing that I have now "officially" gained 20 lbs in the last 7 months). I think it is time to do it on my own - The idea of trinkets and recoginition aren't enough of an incentive.

But I am not giving up. I hope to be below 200 again by the end of the year (okay, way before then) but I am not pressuring myself with timetables.

Weekly Weigh In

Last Week: 202.8
Today: 206.2
Change: +3.4

Last night my husband was away so it was just me and the kids and we kind of went crazy with salty foods, so I am confident most of this is water weight, though I think I would have still seen a gain :(

I continue to have a hard time with very large dinners. I think I really need to start tracking. I have no other choice.

Need to rearrange the work outs

Less than a week into working out, I already turned off the alarm Tuesday morning. Part of it was because my 2 year old had been up in the middle of the night. The other part was because I was scheduled to bike instead of do Day 1 of C25K. I was all excited to "run" and the thought of biking made me turn off the alarm and go back to bed. So I think next week I will do Day 1 on Tuesday and bike on Wednesday.

But today I did get up and did W2D1, even though my son paid me a visit at 4:45 am.

Eating, really dinner, continues to be a struggle. Even though I have a snack, I am so mentally beat when I get home from the hour commute and 2 pick-ups, that I eat way, way too much for dinner. I am not sure what I can do about it - I need to come up with a plan.

Workouts - good. Eating - not so good

We had the back-to-school picnic Friday night, but not before we heard that my 5 year old had fallen at school. Her arm was still in pain Friday afternoon so we rushed to the pediatrician and then the hospital for xrays. The bedlam resulted in grabbing a pizza to bring to the picnic (like lots of people did).

Saturday morning I did my old 1993 STEP video which is an awesome work out - I was definitely dragging by the end. After it we got the call that my daughter had indeed fractured her wrist, so the day was spent thinking of all the things that she may or may not be able to do (like we had to cancel her gymnastics for the next 6 weeks). The day turned hectic and we ended up out to dinner unexpectedly and my choices were not that great (soda instead of water, an appetizer, plus pasta with cream sauce, then one last trip to the ice cream stand before it closes for the season).

Sunday morning I did W1D3 of C25K - it was a little harder because I was tired from STEP the next day, but I did it. All day was spent in the kitchen making muffins to freeze. I didn't really eat real meals. Not the best day either.

Tomorrow is my "off day". Another week that was supposed to be normal, but now will have us getting used to my daughter in a cast.

Up at 5:30 again

All day yesterday I was looking forward to getting up this morning. I need to stop waking up at 3 am though! Despite it being dark out, I got up very easily and did W1D2 of C25K. Slow and steady I keep telling myself. I'll try to do the program, but I am not going to try to do a 5K in 30 minutes. Finishing one will be enough of an accomplishment.

Dinner last night was not great in the portion department. My husband made his yummy, garlic-filled chicken parm and I have several helpings :(

I no longer weigh myself the weekdays I work out, so I have no idea what the scale would have said today. It is going to take a while to get used to that.

Weekly Weigh In

Last Week: 204.2
This Week: 202.8
Change: -1.4
Total Weight Loss Since 3/5/2010: -13.2

I made it to my WW meeting. I tried to give her back my 10% key chain and 25 lb weight but she wouldn't take it, but said I would get new ones when I earned them.

I didn't work out this morning as Thursday is one of my 2 free days.

I ate too much dinner last night. I need to have my husband put all my vegetables on my plate (actually, I need to start making my own plate again). When I went to get more green beans I got more of everything else too :(

I tried on all the clothes I had bought. The second pair of pants had to be returned because while it was labeled 16W on the outside it was a 20W! No wonder it was so huge. The black pants I already had did not fit so I exchanged the 20W pants for 2 pairs of black pants. The cute black dress I bought was labeled a M when I needed an XL. I tried on the XL today in the store and didn't like how it hung on me. I returned a shirt with horizontal stripes - what was I thinking?! So now I have 2 new pairs of black pants and I am all set for the cooler weather (of course it is going to be 80 tomorrow!)

If I really, really try I bet I could break 200 this week. I am not going to kill myself over it, but I am dieing to see the 100's again!

An ashamed trip to the clothing store....

I  never thought I would be a size 18 again. I was even about to get rid of my 16W because my size 16 pants were fitting nicely (almost too big) when I was at 185. Now at 204 things are not fitting well. I have worn the same 2 pairs of capris all summer. I have been scared to try on my favorite pair of 16W khakis and black pants. Last night I broke down and tried on the khakis. They were uncomfortably snug. They aren't stretch pants at all, unlike my capris. I didn't even bother trying on my black pants. I wouldn't dare wear these khaki's because I would be afraid that they would rip.

Since I've felt pretty silly wearing capris the last 2 days when it has been 60 and pouring, I decided to head to Kohl's during lunch. I did not want to buy size 18W pants but I think I am a good 10 lbs away from the 16W fitting comfortably and knowing me, that could be Christmas before I reach that.

I found a few pairs of Lee pants with stretch material, so I grabbed 16W and 18W in a couple of pairs. I tried on the 16W first and decided I could get away with them (not sure if I want to put them in the dryer though!) I didn't even bother trying on the 18W.

I also grabbed XL and L in a few different shirts. I forced myself to buy size L - they are a little tight in the chest area, but the XL I have on today is really swimming on me. Again, not sure if I will put them in the dryer :)

Tonight I need to go through my entire fall wardrobe (it doesn't consist of much since I want to be losing weight). I think I might have bought a few too many items today ;) Plus I am not sure whether I have black pants - I seem to recall the black pants I had last winter had stretch in them, so they may fit.

Up and at 'em at 5:30 am

My plan for Couch to 5K is Wednesday Day 1, Friday Day 2, Sunday Day 3. Do more intense cardio on Tuesday and Saturday and take Monday and Thursdays off.

Despite the darkness and rain, I got up this morning. I had downloaded an app from active.com so I no longer had to look at the treadmill to know when to switch. When I tried C25K last spring, prior to my husband's surgery, I was having neck pain and I think it was from staring at the screen.

I had bought Nike sneakers over the weekend and they felt great. I bought a wide because I think my feet have changed shape since having my kids.

The "run" this morning was okay. I did 1.75 miles in 30:12. I walked at 3.3 and jogged at 4.3.

In an ideal world I would do our local Turkey Trot. Thanksgiving is 11 weeks from tomorrow so that doesn't leave a lot of time, but I could at least try it and walk some if I need to.

I had a smaller snack after my work out. I know C25K isn't meant to be used to lose weight, but in the past I've probably eaten too much after a work out. So I just had a fruit cup and a string cheese at 6:30, then my normal breakfast at 8:30.

On the eve of a new era....

Last week was my daughter's first day of kindergarten, but that was last Wednesday, with only 1/2 of the class. Tuesday is what I call her real first day of school, and thus I really become a parent of a school-aged child.

It has been a busy last week. As expected my eating was all over the place - we were just too busy, so out of our routine and comfort zone to do anything normal. Throw in 36 hours away which was mainly spent at a country fair and TOM and I stand still at 204.

But I also spent an extraordinary amount of time organizing, purging, cleaning so I feel good going into tomorrow.

I also picked up a new pair of running shoes - my first in a long, long time. I plan on starting C25K on Wednesday.

I am not making any elaborate plans or resolutions or hopes. Just going to take it one day at a time, be more accountable (in a variety of ways) and see what happens.

I am very excited!