With the new job, I have been so off in regards to my fitness. I still have been more conscious of it than in the past. But, I have done very little exercise and since exercise goes hand in hand with eating healthy, I've been bad on that aspect too.
However, the difference between now and then is that I know what I need to do and I know that I can do it. I also know that I have to do it now.
So, seeing as though I plan on starting to training on February 11, 2012 for my first half marathon, I decided to find a Base Training program to follow. This way I can build my distance back up and I can go ahead and get in the habit of following a training schedule.
I got a Base (Spring) Training schedule from Hal Higdon's website. I started today (ironically the first day is a rest day...LOL). Below is the schedule I'll be following for the next 12 weeks.
Spring Training: Novice
Week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Miles
1
Rest
1.5 m run
3 m run
1.5 m run
Rest
30 min walk
3 m run
9
2
Rest
1.5 m run
3 m run
1.5 m run
Rest
35 min walk
3.5 m run
9.5
3
Rest
1.5m run
3 m run
1.5 m run
Rest
40 min walk
3m run
9
4
Rest
2 m run
3 m run
1.5 m run
Rest
30 min walk
4 m run
10.5
5
Rest
2 m run
3 m run
2 m run
Rest
45 min walk
3 m run
10
6
Rest
2 m run
3 m run
2 m run
Rest
30 min walk
4.5m run
11.5
7
Rest
2 m run
3 m run
2 m run
Rest
50 min walk
3 m run
10
8
Rest
2.5 m run
3 m run
2 m run
Rest
30 min walk
5 m run
12.5
9
Rest
2.5 m run
3 m run
2.5 m run
Rest
55 min walk
3 m run
11
10
Rest
2.5 m run
3 m run
2.5 m run
Rest
30 min walk
5.5m run
13.5
11
Rest
3 m run
3 m run
3 m run
Rest
60 min walk
3 m run
12
12
Rest
3 m run
3 m run
3 m run
Rest
30 min walk
6 m run
15
Tomorrow morning I'm headed to the gym to get my first 1.5 to 2.0 mile run in. I'm very excited to get back into the gym....maybe it will relax me too for my work day.
I also logged everything I ate today on the Weight Watchers website. I used to be so good. It just goes to show, you really have to stay on top of it and not get complacent. I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't done anything in the past two months to be proud of health wise. But, I'm changing that now.
A year ago I was very discouraged about the things that I was hearing in the news about the epidemics of bullying and suicide. I made a decision that one day I wanted to do make a big difference in ending these two issues.
But first I had to take a look at myself and ask, "Am I someone that looks dedicated to anything? Am I someone that looks like someone people should believe in?"
I know that there are people in my life that will say I should have not thought that way...that I should have thought I was a beautiful person and known I was capable of anything. Well...the person I was back then isn't EVEN CLOSE to the person that I am today. I was happier than I was 4 years ago, but I had a lot of growth ahead of me.
I think it's important to love yourself. But that doesn't mean settling for the way things are now. It means loving yourself enough to say things aren't okay right now and make the change to a healthy lifestyle.
So, I decided first things first...I had to lose 100 pounds. I don't know of anyone that would say that losing 100 pounds wouldn't show dedication to something. I have never been so focused for so long as I was this past year.
At the start I named the year, "The Year of Accomplishments." The reason I named it was because I had started an album called Project Life. This actually is something that I lost focus on once I really got deep into fitness...but I did complete 50 days worth. It is just a compilation of either what was going on each day or the people around me.
Since I was in high school, I've been pretty good about knowing that you have to set goals. What I haven't been so good at is the follow through.
My goals changed quite a bit throughout the year, but some of what I can say I accomplished:
Fitness/Weight Loss/Sole Sisters
Although I did not reach the 100 mark, I did reach 50. A lot of peole would say that's even better. I took the slow and steady approach with losing it, developing habits that I will be able to maintain throughout the rest of my life. Did I stop eating all junk food. No. When I decided that I wanted to lose weight, I didn't decide that I was going to hate all the food that I've always loved. Knowing myself, that just wasn't realistic and I didn't feel that was a habit I would always maintain.
Instead I took on the philosophy of Weight Watchers: I can eat anything I want on Weight Watchers. I just chose not to eat it with a shovel any longer.
I know there are some that would disagree with this philosophy. To that I'd say, "Maybe it's the wrong attitude. But I HAVE lost 50 pounds."
Instead of being overly concerned in WHAT I ate, I became concerned with how much I hate in relation to the activity I was doing. I fell in love with Turbo. I fought it when Isaura wanted me to try it. I was SCARED!
But I did it and I loved it! I still to this day say there is no workout like a Turbo workout.
Love it!!!!
And then there is running. Can't believe that I do it. One of my goals was to run a 5K and by March (remember that my year starts in November, not January) I really hadn't done much about it. Then my friend Naomi sent me an invite to Building Steam and I decided if it was going to happen, it had to happen this way.
Building Steam was awesome. Steamboat was even better. I bawled from the moment that I arrived until about the first half mile in. And then several times throughout. I just couldn't believe that I was doing it! 4 miles. That's MORE THAN A 5K!
And then came the Sole Sisters. A wonderful group of women that entered my life in June and have been a amazing force ever since. I have met such fabulous people through the Sole Sisters, I can't even tell you!
Something else that I acheived that I didn't even mean too....the motivation of others. I put myself out here on my blog and Facebook in order to make some accountability for myself; never did I think that I would get the response from people that I have. It is amazing that weekly I get private messages from people who tell me what an inspiration I am and how I helped motivate them to get off the couch and into the gym or on the road. People write me....ME....asking for fitness advise. I'm in awe. I don't tell you this in order to toot my own horn. I tell you this because it is a huge reason that I have kept going. Every week I learn that there are more and more people watching; people who I see as people I would let down if I give up. Talk about a rush.
Reconnected
I reconnected with a lot of friends in the past year. But probably the most powerful reconnection is the fresh friendship that I have found in Jenn Morgan. Our friendship didn't start based on anything even close to fitness, in fact almost the furthest thing from it. While I think there was probably something in each other that we both thought could make us good friends, there was too much bad around us to support a friendship. We tried several times, but it didn't stick.
But through Turbo, running, and the Sole Sisters, my friendship with Jenn has grown to be huge.
While I love all of my Sole Sisters and friends in fitness very much and can't imagine a life without them, I don't know that anyone knows and understands me like Jenn. Jenn knows secrets and has seen a part of me at the worst part of my emotional low. I am forever greatful to fitness for bringing the Jenns with two N's back together stronger than ever! Go Morgan Stanley!
Social
A year ago it was very difficult for friends or family to get me out of my house. I knew that once I got out of the house I would enjoy myself. But I just didn't have the motivation or courage to do it. I do like my peronal time anyway and have other hobbies that are kind of loner hobbies: crafts and reading. And so I could totally support myself staying home by having projects to do or books to read.
And I still enjoy my alone time. But there is a lot less hesitation when someone wants to do something. I have been out of my house at times that are truely amazing if you really know me. Like getting up and out of bed early to go watch races that I'm not even running in, just to see and support my Sole Sisters. I love the time that I am spending out of the house.
So, to list them more specifically...from 34 to 35 I acheived:
Became a Turbo Addict
My first race - 4 miles in the Steamboat Classic
Firecracker 5000
The Cupcake Classic
The Screaming Pumpkin
Lost 50 pounds
Met some fabulous people
Became closer to my family
Became more social
Organized several successful fitness challenges
Made my way back into a career where I get to use my business and coaching skills and feel like I'm making a difference
Became a Beachbody Coach
And so now the question is, "What are going to be the initial goals that start the baseline for 35 to 36?" I word it that way because we never know what life is going to throw at us and when we will need to realign our goals. There is nothing wrong with sitting down and saying this goal that I set 6 months ago no longer is feasible or applies to my life. What's wrong is not being able to do that because you never sat down to make the original list.
So for right now, the goals are:
Run a half marathon
Run a full marathon
Become certified in Turbo Kick, Hip Hop Hustle, and Personal Training
Remodel my bathroom
Save $XXX.XX a paycheck
Make $XXXX.XX in my Beachbody business between December 1, 2011 and November 23, 2012
Lose the other 50 pounds
Be 90% done with my (private) proposal
Continue to be engaged with my family
Continue to be the best friend to Josh and all those dear to me that I can be.
It has been sooooo long since I've blogged! Oh how I've missed it!
Tonight Josh and I tried a new Hungry Girl recipe. Well, a Hungry Girl idea; I didn't use the actual Hungry Girl recipe. And I did two versions: one for me and one for Josh. And that's actually something that I really liked about this recipe. It was easy enough to do the healthier recipe for me and then one more fitted to Josh's eating style without much fuss.
Ingredients:
Wonton wraps
Shredded lettuce
Bacon (chopped into pieces)
Cherry tomatoes
Shredded cheese
Ranch dressing
Pam cooking spray
Cupcake pan
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Spray your cupcake pan with Pam cooking spray. Line each cup in the pan with a wonton wrap. Spray the wraps with Pam cooking spray once they are all in the pan.
Bake the wonton wraps for 8 minutes, or until crispy. Cups will slide right out of the pan.
In a bowl, mix your shredded lettuce, bacon pieces, tomatoes, cheese, and ranch.
Fill the wonton cups with your BLT salad.
Josh does not like lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, or ranch dressing....so, we made him Bacon and Meatball Wonton Cups with BBQ sauce. He really liked them. When I asked if it would be okay if I made them again he said that he thought it would be a great idea. His grade for the recipe: A
This is also a very affordable meal too. I only used half a package of wonton wraps. And you can really put just about anything in them. I will be doing a lot of experimenting. We thought that sloppy joes or pulled pork would be good ideas. I will also try a breakfast mixture. Very excited about the options.
If you try a version of the recipe, be sure to let me know how it turns out!
Want to first start by apologizing again to the ladies who started the challenge recently! I'm glad that it looks like you are getting a good amount of support from the page. Love It!
Speaking of LOVE....Last night at Sole Sisters I told a group that earlier in the day I was tempted to post on the group pages how much I love the groups and everyone in them, but then decided that everyone was going to think I was a little bit crazy as much as I say it. But it's soooooo true! With all the ups and downs of life, it sure is good to have a great set of friends to balance it all out.
Ironically....just after writing the paragraph above, I switched over to facebook for a moment and found that a friend had posted this video. It's by one of my favorite motivational speakers who seems to look at life the same way that I do....
Love it! This is so true. I have commented before that before my own change, my facebook newsfeed was so full of such negativity...since my change, I rarely see posts that make me want to tear my hair out. And this happened naturally. I didn't have to do a lot of deleting to make it that way....I just found all of you.
Since there was no update last week, the weekly subtotal is going to include the activity from Week 7 and the pictures from Week 6 and Week 7. No one had points deleted for not submitting pictures. The sub-total includes the activity from Week 6 (as well as all previous weeks).
Sisters in Sweat
Punk Little Sole Girls
Mother & Daughter Weight Warriors
Triple F:Fabulously Fit Friends
Week Seven
W/R/B - 5 Miles
0
25
0
30
W/R/B - 10 Miles
0
0
0
0
W/R/B - 15 (+) Miles
0
0
0
30
Races
6
6
0
6
OE - Group w/ W/R/B
0
0
0
10
OE - Non Group w/ W/R/B
0
14
0
49
Pictures - None
Pictures - First
2
4
8
Pictures - Additional
8
4
0
8
Pictures - Sweat
3
0
0
7
Pictures - Deck of Cards Exercise
1
1
0
2
Weekly Sub Total
20
54
0
150
Challenge Sub Total
552
520
345
1483
The LaLa's
The Tush Pushers
The Jedi Kitties
Dashing Divas
Week Seven
W/R/B - 5 Miles
0
26
8
20
W/R/B - 10 Miles
0
0
50
0
W/R/B - 15 (+) Miles
20
0
0
0
Races
9
6
3
3
OE - Group w/ W/R/B
5
5
0
0
OE - Non Group w/ W/R/B
28
0
14
0
Pictures - None
Pictures - First
1
7
7
Pictures - Additional
8
8
0
8
Pictures - Sweat
1
1
0
3
Pictures - Deck of Cards Exercise
0
1
0
0
Weekly Sub Total
72
54
75
41
Challenge Sub Total
538
649
760
495
Elmwood Hotties
Badunkadunk Busters
The Sexy Mother Runners
Eighties Lossketeers
Week Seven
W/R/B - 5 Miles
26
40
66
0
W/R/B - 10 Miles
0
0
0
0
W/R/B - 15 (+) Miles
0
0
0
30
Races
0
0
6
3
OE - Group w/ W/R/B
0
30
0
5
OE - Non Group w/ W/R/B
0
14
7
0
Pictures - None
Pictures - First
1
7
1
Pictures - Additional
0
4
8
8
Pictures - Sweat
0
2
5
3
Pictures - Deck of Cards Exercise
0
0
2
0
Weekly Sub Total
26
91
101
50
Challenge Sub Total
437
478
1241
577
Cash Money
Waist Management
Hardy Party
Laura Youngman
Week Seven
W/R/B - 5 Miles
0
50
6
0
W/R/B - 10 Miles
0
0
0
0
W/R/B - 15 (+) Miles
0
30
0
30
Races
0
0
0
0
OE - Group w/ W/R/B
0
50
0
0
OE - Non Group w/ W/R/B
0
105
0
77
Pictures - None
Pictures - First
4
3
Pictures - Additional
0
8
4
0
Pictures - Sweat
0
3
3
0
Pictures - Deck of Cards Exercise
0
3
1
0
Weekly Sub Total
0
253
17
107
Challenge Sub Total
185
502
110
107
Starting November 11, 2011, I am going to be participating in an additional challenge that while fitness is an aspect of it, the main point behind it is balancing all the aspects of your life and using your values and priorities to achieve the goals that mean the most to you.
I hope you join me. An aspect of the challenge is developing an accountablity group (which we already have started) to help you work together with others, making a more organized life. Wow are wonderful things going on! ;o)
