Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Happy Tuesday!

Howdy everyone. I hope your Tuesday is off to a good start. It's a rainy day here in Chicagoland, which made it difficult to get out of bed this morning. Sorry I haven't been updating like I should, I'm working on fixing that.

So Sunday was my weigh in day and I found myself down 5.8 lbs. The Sunday before I hit the 50 pounds loss mark! So that's two Sundays in a row of great news! But this Sunday I was shocked at the loss, but remembered that (this next part may be too much info for you guys out there) next week I get my monthly visitor. For whatever reason, I always have a big loss the week right before my period. So being that I'm supposed to get it in less than a week now, it all makes sense. But a loss is a loss, and I'll take it. So being down that 5.8 lbs brings my total weight loss thus far to 56 lbs, 29.8 lbs of it lost since 01/13/2013. Needless to say, I am thrilled with my progress.

So last week I didn't work out at all. I had been having some knee issues, so I gave my knees a rest. I probably could have done some arm workouts, but I didn't. So this week I had to get back into the swing of things. I realized last week that I am still too heavy to be jogging. While I LOVE it, it's too much impact on my knees at the moment. But anyways, my best friend is in Morocco until the 30th of April, so I went to Blackwell by myself to get in a good work out. It was such a beautiful day and I was feeling good.

When I got there, I expected to walk Mt. Hoy, walk the trails, get in some pushups, and then do some free weights. Yesterday it took me only 10 mins to go up Mt. Hoy, and down the trail. I only made two stops on the way up (usually I take 3 or 4), which is an accomplishment for me. For some of you, it might not be work, but when you're carrying around the weight I am, it is definitely a struggle. So, once I got to the end of the trail, I stopped and did 30 pushups (3 sets of 10) on the bike racks, then started heading back to my car. Once I got there, I found myself looking at Mt. Hoy again and the voice in my head told me "give it a shot, I bet you can do it again." At that point, I found my feet taking me back to the hill. I made my way up Mt. Hoy (making 3 stops on the way up), and I was shocked. If you would have told me two weeks ago that I would have been able to walk Mt. Hoy twice in one day, I would have laughed at you. But I did it, and I felt amazing afterwards. So, I walked down the trail, around the parking lot again, bringing my walking to 50 mins. Once I reached my car I did some free weights, and then headed home. All in all, I got in a great 60 minute workout and I felt great, though I am sore today. And, I did it all by myself. Usually I hit Mt. Hoy with my best friend, but I am glad I made myself go. Plus, it was nice to get out in the beautiful weather... though I wish it would have carried over into today.

With the rain today, and the dropping temperature for later, it's looking like Mt. Hoy won't be happening today. BUT, the rest of the week looks okay, so I think I'll head back out there hopefully tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. Looks like some rain is possible, and it will be cooler so I'll just have to bundle up and be prepared. I may go walk the mall tonight after work, so we'll see. Either way, I'm happy with what I've been accomplishing. I have the Color Me Rad 5k on July 20th, so I'm hoping to get my walking up to speed. And maybe by then I'll be able to do some jogging.

Other than that, I've just been taking things once day at a time. I'm still tracking my calories (I'm KittyCat613 on MyFitnessPal if any of you are on there), and eating right. Though the M&M's I had the other day beg to differ. BUT, I don't regret them one bit. They were within my calories, and made a nice little treat. :) So here's to be successful the rest of the week!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Happy Monday!

Hey everyone! Okay, so I have just a few things I wanted to update here. Sorry I haven't been around much, but rest assured I've been eating healthy and working out!

So last Saturday my best friend Michelle and I started working out at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville, IL. As I posted before, we did some jogging, climbed Mount Hoy, and did some trail walking. We had such a great workout in the great outdoors that we decided to hit Blackwell as many times as we could the following week.

Sooooo, this last week Michelle and I worked out and Blackwell on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday! Each workout we managed to throw in some new stuff. On Friday our friend Kristin came along with us, and helped us utilize some other places in the park for some workouts. When I tell you we utilized a good portion of the park, I mean it! Honestly, I think Michelle and I will make a video on how to make a park your own personal gym. :) But that day we did more jogging, climbed Mount Hoy, did some kickboxing moves at the top, walked the trails, did some push-ups & squats at the bikeracks, did some free weights, and then finished off with another round of jogging. It was a fantastic work out!

Honestly, it is amazing what you can do in the great outdoors. Since the weather is getting nicer, I want to be able to work out as much as I can outdoors. There is nothing better than getting in a great workout in the fresh air! So that really is my plan. To hit the park as many times as I can in a week and get my workout on!

As you all know, Sundays are my weigh in day. I weighed in and was down 1.2 lbs from last week, which brings my total to 49 lbs lost (22.7 lost since January 13, 2013). So this week I should be breaking the 50 lbs lost mark! I was expecting to lose a little more this week, but I know I have definitely lost some inches because my clothes are fitting better. Last week I wore a pair of jeans I've never been able to wear, and some underwear I haven't been able to wear in years. Haha! So I know I'm making progress, I just have to be patient. I also took my measurements today. It's something I wish I would have done at the beginning of the year, but at least I have them now as reference and plan to take my measurements once a month.

Another thing I have realized is that I miss working out on my "rest" days. My rest days right now are Sunday & Monday due to my work schedule on those days. Yesterday and today I have been chomping at the bit. I'm ready to get back out there tomorrow and workout. I have also come to the realization that I enjoy jogging. I know I have a long way to go before I'll be able to run, let alone run any great distance, but the time that I spend jogging I enjoy. Which brings me to my next topic...

Since I like jogging so much, and I have my very first 5k coming up in July (July 20th), I've been reading up on the Couch to 5k info and I'm seriously considering doing it. It's a 9 week program that prepares you to be able to run a 5k. I know it will take me longer than 9 weeks to be able to do that, and I know I may have to repeat some weeks a couple of times, but I feel like the structure of the program will help me a lot. And it will help me lose some more weight. So I think I may start giving that a try sometime this next week, we'll see. Either way, jogging will help me get back into shape so when I play basketball again, I'm not killing myself on the court. But, I did come across this article that I like, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=running_while_chunky_a_guide

Other than that, not too much is up in my world. It's supposed to rain a lot this week, but I'm hoping some of it will hold off enough to be able to get my workouts in at Blackwell. Otherwise, it'll be plan B. :) Hope you all have a wonderful week, and I will check in again with you all soon!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Getting my workout on!

As I have started to get into the swing of things with working out & eating healthy, I am feeling great. I've already noticed a change in my body and my limitations. I'm doing things that I never thought I would be able to do.

As I shared on my FaceBook page yesterday, I started some HIIT training with my best friend Michelle, which she learned from her trainer Christopher Sasha. On Saturday my best friend Michelle and I hit Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville, IL and conquered Mount Hoy. It was such an accomplishment for us, and I don't think we realized the scope of what we accomplished until we were leaving the forest preserve and could really see the hill.

Sunday and Monday we didn't walk (different work schedules), but Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday we did. Tuesday we did our walk, but we added more in Wednesday and Thursday. For the first time in over 10 years I jogged on Wednesday. So we jogged a bit, then hit the hill for our walk. Today we did the same, and added in some kickboxing moves once we reached the top of the hill.

This is me pre-workout :)

Michelle showing me some wall kicks she learned from her kickboxing trainer Carrie :)
Me getting ready to throw some punches. 
Usually I would be embarrassed to post the photo right above (the one of me getting ready to throw some punches), but honestly.. I can feel and see a change in my body already. I'm approaching the 50 lbs lost mark (21 since January 13th, 2013), and I can tell in the way that my clothes fit me that I've dropped weight and inches. For example, I wore a pair of jeans to work today that I have NEVER been able to wear. So that was a victory ALL in itself.

Michelle has been kicking ass too. She has honestly been showing me a lot of new things to do. She was the one who suggested we do some jogging, and I'm glad she did. When she first suggested it, my initial thought was "no way, I can't do this." But, I DID do it and I felt amazing. There really is no way to describe how awesome it feels to do something you thought you couldn't. I hadn't jogged in well over 10 years, so that accomplishment was amazing. 

Another awesome thing that happened today was the biker training for a 100 mile race. As we were working out on top of Mount Hoy, this gentleman riding his bike up and down the hill came up and headed down the hill. He saw us working out, but left us alone. Sometimes it embarrassing when people bust in on your work outs, mainly because I have a lot to work on with my confidence. As we worked out and made out way down the train, he lapped us a couple times on his bike. As we reached the bottom of the trail he had already lapped us and was heading to ride up the hill again (this guy was a BEAST!). When he saw us at the end of the trail, he turned around and came over to us. He was honestly the sweetest man. He said the following: 

 "I'm not sure how often you ladies do this, but I just wanted to come over and say hi and show my support and encourage you to continue doing what you're doing. All the hard work will be so worth it in the end. Good luck to the both of you." 

He congratulated us on our effort and really just wanted to motivate us to keep up our plans, and encourage us. Honestly, it was just really awesome for a complete stranger to feel moved to give us some encouragement. I tell ya, God sometimes sends people your way to show you you're on the right path. We got the message loud and clear. I hope we run into him again so we can hear how his training is going. He is truly inspirational.

So, I can't wait for weigh in day. I can't wait to see my progress for this week. Weigh in day is Sunday and I'm really hoping to hit the 50 mark (I'm at 48 right now), and I will be SUPER stoked. Also, I have the Color Me Rad 5K on July 20th that I'm starting to train for. I know I won't be able to run the whole thing, but if I keep up the way I'm going I should be able to do a pretty decent amount of jogging. I'm super excited about that!

The plan for tomorrow (Friday) is to get up early and get my walk/jog on with Michelle at Blackwell. Our friend Kristin is joining us, so I am super excited about that! After that I'm doing a photoshoot with Michelle. For those of you who don't already know, I'm a photographer. :) If you want to see some of my work, let me know and I'll post the info. Then, later that night I'm hitting the gym with my friend Katie! I'm SUPER excited and I've been feeling SO accomplished.

Honestly though, I couldn't do it without all of you. I don't think anyone realizes just how much support from those around you means. It's hard when you're trying to do things on your own. You could have all the willpower in the world, but knowing that you have an army of support behind you makes life easier. It makes you want to succeed not only for yourself, but for the people who are supporting you. Knowing you have people behind you who WANT to see you succeed makes all the difference. I couldn't imagine doing this without all of your support. So THANK YOU all SOOOOOOOOOO much! I can't say thank you enough!

And I wanted to leave you all with a quote from Tony Robbins that my friend Jenni tagged me in recently. This quote has been on my mind a lot lately. So here it is.

"You're in the midst of a war: a battle between the limits of a crowd seeking the surrender of your dreams, and the power of your true vision to create and contribute. It is a fight between those who will tell you what you cannot do, and that part of you that knows / and has always known / that we are more than our environment; and that a dream, backed by an unrelenting will to attain it, is truly a reality with an imminent arrival." -- Tony Robbins