Day 73: Keeping it Amazing

It has been an awesome day. :-)

I found out today that my mom will continue to fund my education after way too many years in college. I've finally found my niche in Chemistry/Biology and enjoy every day that I'm there. I was shocked, because for awhile I thought she wasn't really that interested in my going to school, but my mom's and my relationship has been growing by leaps and bounds every day. I am continually amazed at my mom's positive attitude. She hasn't really had an easy time of it with my grandpa being ill, but she is there almost every weekend and takes care of him. :-) My mom is such an amazing, strong person and I feel blessed to know her. My dad too! He's funny and way smarter than me, lol. :-)

I went for a short run today. I intended to break records today, and I felt God telling me to put away the timer for the run. I was not keen on this at all, I have always run with a timer and it is super glued into my hand most of the run. I finally decided to heed the feeling and put the timer away, only to discover when I took it out a minute later that I had accidently deleted my running apps from my phone! What are the odds? I was even more frustrated and ticked, but I went with my instinct for how far to run and when to stop. And I still had a good run even without the timer. In fact, it felt so good I think I will be running "naked" from now on.

Not to worry, I won't be running without clothes on! To run "naked" means not to track time, calories, or any kind of distance. You simply run until you feel like stopping, and walk some, and run some. I liked the freedom of running without a timer, there was no sense of failure because I hadn't accomplished my 30 minute distance that has been eluding me for weeks. I enjoyed being outside, enjoyed the weather, and just relaxed. :-)

My fiancé is coming over Saturday to see me! I have missed him since he started work. He seems to be having a great time at his new job, but he still misses me a lot. I miss him too! I keep hoping for a job with relatively flexible hours so when we get married in a year that I will actually be able to see him. :-) I'm still keen on being a Beachbody coach, lol! Maybe someday. ;-)

I hope everyone has a fantastic evening! I will be buried in Chemistry homework land as usual. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Day 53: Changes and Yes, More Progress Photos!

As you can see, the blog looks different! I have been tweaking with the borders, background, and even have a new page header. Hope you like it. I'm a huge fan of Underdog and have been for several years. It's actually how I got the name for the blog. :-)

My uncle and I went out today to shop. What we didn't realize is that both malls were outside, and it was a very warm 80 degrees out! So we perused both malls, not really finding anything to our liking (though I did find some nice shorts in the Reebok shop, but the only XL was in neon yellow! Sorry, this badonkadonk's not going into anything neon yellow just yet, lol!). We went to Syberg's to eat, and my uncle can't understand my accent at the best of times (he's British, and I'm Southern by birth and talk very quickly!) and had no idea what I was talking about! Either way, we had a good time and he gave me 20 bucks to cover the gas mileage, which is going into the kitty (a fun British expression!) until I find something good to buy. We also got rear-ended by this high schooler not paying attention to the turn lane, but thankfully the car basically had a few chips on the bumper and everything else was okay! Honestly, I have a mean gash on the fender from the time when I got into a fight with a hitch (the hitch won, needless to say!) so a few chips on the bumper mean nothing at all to me. I told the guy not to worry about it, and we went on our way. :-) So far, no whiplash or anything like that. :-D

I got in a 1.5 mile run (26 consecutive minutes) before class today. I thought I was going to have a terrible time staying upright after such a long run and BOTH my run apps sharting out at the same time (that's what happens when you put the cell phone in your pants pocket!), but I actually had more energy after a shower and a brief rest! I felt invigorated and my hands didn't shake for the first time when I filled something with water! I had mild tardive dyskinesia as a result of some bad medication adventures as a teenager, and I was shocked to see my hands are a lot less jittery! :-) Maybe it's due to almost no caffeine in my system for over 2 months, but either way I'm thrilled. Yet another NSV.

Oh speaking of victories, check out this awesomeness! 30 lbs-ish lost today, and here is the before and afters:

 

I can definitely tell a difference between the two pictures. I look like a completely different person (that's the same shirt, by the way) and totally feel like a different person! I have to admit, sometimes I feel a little bummed out from time to time but for the most part I am very happy and love my life. :-) I am even ready to start looking for jobs I think, I am nervous after being seriously burned by my last two jobs, but I'm ready to put myself out there and start looking. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime, keep your fingers crossed! :-)

 

I hope everyone has a good day! I'm going to rest up after my close encounters of the car kind, and maybe find something for dinner soon. Be blessed and enjoy life!

Day 50: The Day After

Surprisingly, I am actually feeling quite fantastic after my 5k. I wasn't sore at all and my feet felt great in my favorite shoes. I am surprised but not entirely as I am getting used to running/walking more than 2 miles most days.

Today I ventured out and did C25K Week 6 Day 1, which was 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 8 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, and 5 minutes running, for a total of 34 minutes plus warm-up and cool-down. Since it was a longer distance, I decided to take my Sports Beans with me. They help keep the muscles in my legs from being too sore and give me energy for long runs. The first five minutes weren't that bad and the eight minutes subsequent were only difficult during the last few minutes. I explored some different parts of the trail, and enjoyed the scenery. I ran all the way from City Hall Park to my gym, which is at least 0.5 miles or more. I am still super slow, lol. :-) I decided to continue after 34 minutes and fartlek (I love that word!) for the next 20 minutes. Doing fartlek for the last part of the run keeps me running about 5k distance, and doesn't exhaust me to the point that I can't walk to my car afterward and have to be dragged. (In case I'm found unconscious, pause the Runtastic app!) Anyhoo, I did 2.26 miles in 53:17, not the best time but I can deal. I have done almost 30 miles this month, and the month is still going! :-)

 In my favorite Outdoors Inc shirt from Memphis!

Afterwards. Either my glasses are akimbo or I am, lol.

 

The fiancé and I have talked about making some homemade hummus and pita for our night together since we don't like to spend a ton of money on eating out or eating unhealthy. My influence is somewhat rubbing off on the fiancé (or maybe vice versa since he lost 25 pounds way before I did, lol) cause now he likes to run with me and cook and eat healthy. He is finishing up his externship this week and I couldn't be happier for him. With any luck, he'll get a job offer, but if not, he is very talented and will find somewhere that will enjoy having him. As for me, my job search is temporarily on hold while I concentrate on me and getting through my third semester of college, but once I feel ready to do so I will definitely entertain the possibility of working again. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a great day! I am going to my chemistry class in a little over 20 minutes, then will be putting some gas in my car on the way back. Nothing real Earth shattering, as long as the car doesn't run out before I get there, lol. Be blessed all and enjoy the weather! :-)

Day 49: Lemon Drop 5k and Race Results

Sorry about the delay in posting. I took care of my sister all day yesterday and the day before I was just in a foul mood and couldn't shake it. But today I'm in a great mood and can't wait to post more on my race today.

My fiancé and I went to Frontenac, MO this morning (about a 20 minute drive from my house in St Charles, MO) for the Lemon Drop 5k. We saw our guys at S2 there, and we decided to enter the drawing for a BMR Bliss Go Pack. Sadly, I didn't win even though I had my fingers, toes, and everything else crossed, lol. :-D We were the last to pace, since we run around 20 minute miles on a good day, but we were off. I ran some of the race (about 0.75 to 1 mile worth) and walked a lot of it. I wanted to pace myself so that I wouldn't tire in the middle of the race and have to not finish. The fiancé was ahead of me most of the time but I was okay with that... most of the time. I brought my Sports Beans and was popping them periodically throughout. They were a little sour but otherwise pretty awesome. :-) They definitely gave me the energy to get done with the race.

The final results were as follows:

Me- Time: 57:15 Pace: 18:26/mi Rank: 154
Bryan- Time: 56:45 Pace: 18:16/mi Rank: 33

I think we may have come in dead last in both our divisions but the fun thing was that we didn't finish last overall and we had an awesome time. We both missed our Phormula-1 shakes because they ran out but I may go hassle my supplement guy sometime this week and get some of that stuff. I would love something for a recovery shake. :-) But I digress. Bryan had some bread and oranges at the free food counter but I didn't, lol. :-D

Here is a photo of me from after the race. Not the most flattering of photos, but hey, I don't mind:

Yes, I'm wearing ACTUAL running clothes this time. :)

 

I am so glad I got to do this, and Bryan and I will be running a 5k later in December called the Hot Chocolate 5k. We are both totally looking forward to that one because there will be a chocolate expo and all kinds of goodies. And that one will be more crowded and a bit flatter. And cold, I'm sure, lol. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I will be doing some chemistry homework to catch up with the stuff I missed this weekend, and having an awesome protein shake for dinner since I missed mine this morning. (We went to Denny's, for shame! But at least I got the healthy egg white omelet.) Be blessed all and enjoy the nice weather!  

Day 44: Why I Am an Overcomer

Some days, God tests me.

The following is very spiritually involved, so if you're not interested in that sort of thing, I give you permission to overlook that bit. But still read on, you may learn something.

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I am a huge Joyce Meyer fan. I think she is hysterical, and preaches a good message most times she speaks. I admit there are times when I've turned off the program because I wasn't yet ready to hear what she had to say. But most of the time, she brings it on home.

God seems to like it when I watch Joyce on the internet and seems to give me "homework" after viewing one of her shows. As in, well you've learned the lesson mentally, so let's see if you can put it into practice.

One of my favorite lessons by her is not to become offended at oneself. To become determined that no matter what kind of things are thrown in your way, to not become derailed from the purpose that God has called you to. She advocates being active and articulating things aloud, and she mentions having a very determined sit-down with herself and saying that she is NOT going to be kept by the devil from enjoying her life. She said there was a shift in her attitude from that point on.

Well, I experienced a more benign but similar episode today. For whatever reason, this nagging feeling inside me was that I was a loser and I was a horrible runner. I don't usually think that, normally I'm so excited to be running I can look past the fact that I'm slow. It nagged on and when I got to the hard part of my run,  I was fighting it and just so disappointed that I was, in my opinion, too slow. Eventually, it got intense and I just said to myself for about 5 minutes, "I'm an overcomer," like the Mandisa song. Sometimes I had to say it to myself more harshly than other times, sometimes I had to yell (to myself) at the devil that he was NOT going to take me down. About halfway through my cool down my insistence took, and I realized that yes, I was an overcomer, and yes, I was good at what I did. I decided to continue walking and put in an additional 35 second run at high speed. My total was 1.70 miles, 495 kcals, and 40:18, 9 minutes over the C25K time. :-) I also found out that I had beaten my original fast pace on the run at 2.7 mph instead of my usual 2.3.

After my run. Day 32/50 and 23.2 miles into the Lazy Girl Marathon! :-)

 

 

Mandisa has also put out a series of pictures on her website, and I have used one of those repeatedly on my page. This is the picture in question:

I can't even tell you how many times I've felt that way on the elliptical, lol. :-) But it just means that everyone who has been on a weight loss journey at some point has felt like that picture. But thank God that we are overcomers and have Someone who has overcome even the worst of circumstances. So, if you feel like giving up sometimes, remember that Christ has made us more than conquerors and we can overcome anything! :-)

I hope everyone has a terrific day. True to form, I'm going back to chem homework, lol. Be blessed everyone! :-)

Day 41: New Running Records

I did NOT want to run this morning. Do you ever have those mornings, where the body is somewhat willing and the spirit says forget it? That was me this morning. I made excuses, numerous ones that were somewhat satisfying to me, but none of them really fit the mood I was in.

Let me explain.

I can't get past 207. I have been trying to get past 207 for some time, and it goes up to 208 as soon as it gets there. No clue why, I am almost positive this time it was water weight after my lunch date with my best friend, but still, after a few days of consistent weight loss, it gets stuck at 207 again! I'm determined to push past that number, even if it takes a little tweaking of my diet.

Anyhoo, seeing that number ticked me off and I did NOT want to run. I just wanted to take a rest day and veg.  But like I said, none of them really fit the bill. I decided I would just quit my drama and lace up my shoes for my run.

I ran C25K W4D1, which was composed of a 3-minute jog followed by a 90-second break, then a 5-minute jog followed by a 2.5 minute walk, repeated twice. I'm not going to lie, that was a difficult run. There were times when I was panting so hard I thought people would think I was having an asthma attack. Still, I made it through, walked for an extra 5 minutes, and then ran back to my car, for a grand total of 37:45 or so. I burned 464 calories and walked/ran 1.55 miles.

That was a new record for me. :-) I have only run about 1.32-1.46 in the past, even with the shorter bursts of running when I was at a higher (much higher, lol) speed. I was excited for that, and even more so that I got out and broke records when I was in a horrible mood. Which goes to show you, even if it sucks sometimes, you can still get it done. :-)

Me after the run that almost wasn't. Ignore the lip funkiness, I get it every time I run.

 

I am sooo looking forward to the rest of my day as well! The fiancé is spending the night for my birthday and we will go out tonight and tomorrow. :-) I think we are going bowling and out to eat. And he apparently has an awesome present for me that he got through the mail that apparently has his name on it. :-D Either way, I'm totally looking forward to seeing him and getting some interesting presents. Today while I'm hanging out on my own (fiancé has to work til 4) I will probably goof around and do some chem homework. :-) I seem to be nice and ahead on my chem homework, and even got a 95 on my exam! I do need to do some makeup work on the lab though, cause I was a goof and totally forgot I had class! Way to go, Shelly. Either way, got some work to make up, lol. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic day! I know I will. Be blessed, and don't be stressed! xx

Day 40: Woohoo, Forty Days! :)

It's been 40 days since I started this journey (well, give-or-take, since the beginning of the blog is very infrequent posting). And it's been life-changing. I hit 207.8 yet again after catching a little flack from the scale in the past few weeks. I'm kind of weird like that, I go up and down, have huge weight losses then go up and down and finally back down again to another huge loss. Right now I'm kind of in the huge losses department and continually losing, maybe about a pound a day or so.

Today was a mild cheat day in that I actually ate out today. I had half a sandwich and some clam chowder in a fun-sized bowl, it was actually pretty good though I was disappointed they didn't have the tomato basil soup. That one is my absolute favorite. Anyhoo, I rarely eat out or really have much money to spend, and 99 percent of the time I don't need it.

My best friend bought me some soap and a cute little caddy to put it in, which honestly looks better than the blatantly obvious soap on the bathroom counter. :-D In fact, I have been at my parents' house so infrequently that that soap has lasted me over 2 years! I would have kept it even longer except that my parents thought it was empty when they came down and ransacked the downstairs. (Don't ask, you'll save yourself a lot of hassle.) It's the same brand of soap but a different "flavor."

Fall soapy goodness.

 

 

I also went to Loft and tried on some jeans. I tried on a size 14 and they were ridiculously close to fitting but they didn't want to zip up when I put them on. I figure if I can lose another few pounds then they will fit. I've fit into Old Navy's size 14 pants in the past so I may be able to go down a size. But Old Navy's stuff is ridiculously vanity-sized. They cut the pants bigger and put a smaller size on it so people will come back. I never entirely got that, and it struck me as being not too terribly honest. Imagine your disappointment when you go to another shop and the same size is airtight on you! lol

My size 16 skinny jeans. :-)

This weekend I am hanging out with my fiancé and we are celebrating the Friday the 13th (special fun anniversary for us because we met on Friday, May 13, 2011. And because we're weird that way we often celebrate Friday the 13th by going out to do something fun.) and my birthday. :-) It feels so weird to be kissing cousins with being 30 years old. I always thought I would have been more successful at this point in my life, but I dunno. I have a weird life that I won't get into extensively, for more information refer to the previous posts on the blog. Either way, I'm getting my life back on track. Hopefully there will be no more sabotaging from certain members of my family.

Well, I'm about to wrap it up. Going to eat dinner, do chem homework, and work out some, not necessarily in that order. :-) Hope everyone has a good day and I will be back later tonight, hopefully.

Day 39.5: A Day Out on the Town and More Supplementing Goodness

That may be the longest post title I've ever had, lol. It's reminiscent of "Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth With Money In My Hands." I can never remember who sang it, but they sampled BB King, which is always super cool in my book. :-)

Anyhoo, I went to the Big River Running Co shop out in O'Fallon, and realized I had totally passed it twice yesterday. It was a fun place to go, but I didn't see anything I wanted and everything was too expensive, so I went on to a few other places. I went to Sports Authority and got some Nuun tabs. They were not too bad, definitely an acquired taste though since I'm not really used to carbonated drink tabs. It was an early birthday present to myself. :-)

I also took some packages to the UPS shop for my mom, and in return got a fairly large chunk of change to spend. And where do I go? To S2, of course, because my paycheck is irresistibly drawn to the awesomeness. I decided to go all out, I got some protein powder in Chocolate Coconut, and some DHA to replace my almost empty bottle. I also got one of those shaker cups with the S2 logo on it. Thankfully, the guys were nice and decided to let me sample some of the powder, and it was super good! I have had so many issues with protein powder in the past, it made my stomach hurt like a mofo and just looked and tasted disgusting. I tried the Vega powder before and it was absolutely nasty, didn't mix well and made a gritty nasty mix in the bottom of the cup. Tried making a smoothie out of it and that just made it worse. :-( But I tried the ice cream sandwich one the other day and it was... okay, maybe a little too sweet for my liking. :-) But I tried this one and it was much better. Not as overkill sweet as the protein bars either, which I hear are not as good since the protein is denatured and doesn't really work then.

My awesome shaker thingie. Now you know what S2 means.

I also got out my old 5-HTP bottle, since I brought it up with the other guy (I think his name may be Bart, but I'm not sure) and he was saying how it made him in a better mood. I took one and I actually feel quite nice, and relaxed since DHA/EPA always makes me a little bit more relaxed. I think with all the goodness, I have finally found a very comfortable combination of supplements. And needless to say, all my non-WL supplements when the B12 runs out will come from there! :-) They are a lot less expensive than Whole Foods.

I also also (hehe) went to Gold's Gym for my second round of workouts. I figure that if you have a 3-day pass to the place you might as well use it as much as you can. :-) I did a few calf raises and leg extensions (cause apparently today was leg day, lol) and I tried the rower machine. I had never used one before and it felt really good to try one out. I made it to around 22:30 on the rower, which was not bad for a first time, and I burned around 132 calories. It's a pretty good workout and low intensity as well, so its good if you have knee or back problems (or in my case just completed a leg day workout, lol) and want a workout.

I have had so much fun today, and I even ordered some goodies from the Sweat Pink catalog, so if anyone wants some awesome-sauce pink shoelaces, I will give them to you for the price I paid for them ($0). I will probably order the tank top eventually for running, but for now I want to make sure that Bryan and I have enough money to go bowling, lol. :-) I am so geeked out about seeing him this weekend and my best friend on Friday, it will be a super awesome birthday weekend. :-)

I hope everyone has a most excellent day! Me, I will chill and type some chemistry notes, since I need to catch up a bit on the class I missed. (Yes, I totally FORGOT about class. I have never done that before! I was at the gym and I was like, something's missing from my day, I'm not sure what...) Be blessed all, and sleep well! :-)

Day 38: Running On Fumes

Well, not really, I just thought it was funny. :-)

After going to put gas in the car, I went outside to run. I normally don't go outside to run when it's hot out but it was probably 77-78 degrees and I thought I could swing that. I did C25K W3D2, which is composed of a 90 sec run-90 sec walk, 3 min run-3 min walk; repeated twice. It was sort of easy on the treadmill, but it was definitely harder on the pavement.

I ran very slowly. I was worried about running too hard at the beginning and then petering out right before I stopped running. And trust me, it got tough. I was running at a 22 minute pace, breathing hard and about to stop in the middle of it. But I decided to keep on going, cause I was like, I've only got 2 minutes left, 1 minute left, and so on and so forth. I have to admit that I'm guilty of looking at the clock, especially when I have no pockets to put my phone in. Plus, if I have no guidance for how much time I have left it is much easier to give up! But still, I put in around 1.32 miles, which isn't bad at all. :-) I have done 26/50 of the 50 day challenge and am over halfway through the Lazy Girl Marathon at 14 miles ran this month! :-)

After pounding the pavement in City Hall Park.

 

 



Me and Frodo's butt. He decided he was going to get in the fun too!

My 5K is in 11 days! I am not super nervous, but I know I will not be running the whole time. If I'm lucky I will get to week 6 or 7 (I run each segment of C25K for three days in a row, then amp up the intensity. It's pretty tough, but I make it.) of C25K and at least get a fairly major part of the 5K where I actually run! I'm trying to beat my last time of 58:23 (but I was walking it, so that's not bad!) so hopefully I will be able to do that. My fiancé will be running with me so that will be good at least. He definitely encourages me when it gets hard. :-)

Well, I gotta go study for my Chem exam, but I will definitely check in this evening. I will be biking 9.11 miles in honor of 9/11 victims tonight, so hopefully it will let me record it without there being a glare on the screen. :-) We'll see, my dad's bike isn't very photogenic when it comes to recording times, lol. :-) I hope everyone has a fantastic day and is blessed! :-)

Day 37: Revenge of the Nerds

I hope everyone is enjoying their day. I have a day off from school, as I only go to school 3 days a week, so I've been hanging around the house studying for my exam on Wednesday. I am really enjoying my chemistry class thus far and I'm hoping for a decent grade on the test.

I have been thinking about what I want to do with my degree. Since the fiancé and I are getting married in a little over a year, we've been making rudimentary plans about what we will be doing after we get married, namely how my schooling will look. Bryan graduates in November, but I have been looking at various aspects of biology and chemistry and I have switched from Microbiology to Biochemistry to Marine Biology and so on and so forth. It's been really hard to narrow it down to one field because I'm such a geek about all kinds of different types of science. I have narrowed it down to Biochemistry and Microbiology at the moment with a leaning toward the biochemistry side. There are not a lot of straight biochem jobs in the StL area but there are a lot that will take a biochem degree. So, my schooling will probably be that I finish up either a biology or chemistry AA degree at SCC, I haven't really decided which yet. I will go to UMSL for my Chem/Biochem BS and Mizzou in Columbia, MO for my biochem PhD. The whole program will take me around 8 years to finish from this point.

It will be nice to get these basic courses out of the way. I went to an advisor in the Biology department at another school and explained to her my situation, that I was coming from Memphis as an English major. She basically said that I was wasting my time trying to earn a science degree if I had come from the humanities department, and why didn't I try something simpler? Ooh man, the quickest way to light a fire under my butt is to tell me I can't do something. I didn't pass the first time, because I was basically told to go straight from an English degree to General Bio I, with no refresher courses in chemistry or math! I never would have listened to anyone who told me to do that now. I hadn't taken any Algebra or Geometry courses since the 11th grade, and I hadn't taken Chemistry in 7 years either. So, if you're doing a Biology/Chemistry degree, get the basic courses out of the way first!! You'll thank me later. :-) And now I'm aceing chemistry and would have aced Biology if I wouldn't have had all the problems at the end of the semester. Who's laughing now, Biology advisor? :-)

Anyhoo, vicarious vengeance aside, I am excited that I will get the opportunity to do that again. It would be weird to finish a degree with no drama at all involved in the getting thereof. Because of severe reactions to various meds I had been put on (more about that in previous entries, if you want to know), I missed a lot of school and had to retake several courses because of it. Hopefully now though the worst of it is behind me and I'll actually be able to graduate with honors and get my life back on track.

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I apologize for a completely off-topic post, but I will update you on some fitness-related stuff as well. I did C25K Week 3 Day 1 (I usually run every day and spend 3 days on a "week") and I did fairly well. I have to say I was a bit nervous about that one because I hadn't run over 3.0 mph doing 3 consecutive minutes in a long time. I got in there and did it anyway, and it was tough! I was sweating fairly profusely and although it wasn't unbearable by any means, it was definitely more than what I was used to. It should be super fun though when the weather cools down to get back out on the track, I miss running outside! (However, I'm not sure I miss almost falling over from the heat, lol.)

The usual shot, day 25/50. Halfway done!

 

You know you love my shirt. C'mon, admit it! Lol

 

 

I guess I will get going, I gotta head to Wally World and find a new pair of running shorts that aren't bright pink, lol. :-D I hope everyone has a fantastic day, and I hope you'll be blessed! :-)



Day 33: New Scales and Old Demons

It's been an interesting, up-and-down day. I won't get into all the particulars, but let's just say it's been interesting and leave it at that. All kinds of things went wrong and all kinds of things went right.

Anyhoo, I went running for day 22/50 over at the gym. I will probably be running in the gym for the next few days just because it is supposed to be ridiculously hot and I don't really want to miss my run but don't want to die doing it either. :-) I ran about a mile and a half on the treadmill, which is not bad considering I've only run about 1.46 miles while out on the track including both the warm-up and cool down. I did more like 1.51 today on the treadmill and had a top speed of 4.1 mph. I think it's safe to say I no longer walk and run at the same speed. Cause honestly, I have to slow the treadmill down when I get close to ending my interval because the thing's going so fast that if I try to walk on it, it'll take me out with the garbage, lol! :-D So that's a major accomplishment right there.

Speaking of major accomplishments, I went out to Wal-Mart today and bought a scale. It's not a fancy scale, but it at least reads better than my mom's evil thing that'll give you a 5-7 lb deviation depending on where you stand on it. I tried my new scale out and then went back for a second weigh-in, and it gave me the same measure: 212.2. I guess that's not bad considering it's a new scale, but I would have liked to see a lower weight. Ah well, that is the whole reason why I don't use the scale to begin with. I start obsessing over the weight and wondering why it keeps staying higher than I like, without realizing I've put on about 3 lbs of muscle just by running every day. It sucks! So I have the scale but I'm not touching it for another few days. Next Wednesday I'll be able to see a bit of differential and see if I need to make adjustments in my schedule or add some different types of workouts in. :-)

My awesome scale. I wish this was my weight on the side! :-)

 

I seem to be getting better at balancing the schoolwork/real life/exercise aspects of things much better. I always tended to lean towards one thing or another, no real balancing act involved. But if I have learned anything on my journey to weight loss it's leading a more balanced lifestyle. My diet was definitely the first part of that, because I eat a balanced diet. A lot of protein, decent amount of carbs, and lots of fruits of and veggies. The way I sometimes talk about my diet, a lot of folks assume it's a low-carb, low-fat diet. And to a certain degree that is definitely true. But the important thing is finding balance. I've also (mostly) stopped the five-hour studying binges. I know it sounds weird to call studying a binge but I have seriously spent all day studying for a class when there isn't even an exam coming up! Now, I try to study when I get some time to do so and yes, I still type notes from the book. :-D

 

The exercise balance... well, I'm learning. The interval training has been my best friend because my natural inclination is to run/bike and keep adding time until I get so exhausted I just quit doing it altogether. I was actually very close to quitting training until I discovered C25K and interval training on the bike. So I am definitely not leaving the gym crying anymore because I can't seem to maintain a 22-minute running time seven days into the process! I run/walk for 30-35 minutes and that seems to work for me a lot better. I have been trying to pace myself on the bike after a rather lengthy and heated discussion with my better (much better) half about why I knew what I was doing and didn't need his advice. And what do I do? I listen to him and pace myself and everything's fine again.

 

Real life balance is always a challenge for me because let's face it, I had a lot of imbalance most of my life. I have been fighting the residual demons of PTSD and childhood sexual abuse for a lot of my life, and trying to reestablish my equilibrium even to this point has taken me almost 20 years! That's why there is a great pleasure for me in treating my body well and making sure that I give it some TLC as well. Most of my life I have been punishing myself I guess, for ending up in the situations I did and in a way saddling a lot of the blame that I really didn't need to. It isn't so much about learning to love myself in a balanced way as it is to love myself at all. But I am getting there, slowly but surely. :-)

 

Wow, deep stuff today, lol! :-) I hope everyone was able to wade through that emotional baggage. I will be back later on in the day, I suppose, hopefully with a little less seriousness. Have a great day all!



Day 32: Yes, I Supplement!

Good morning, just with a mini bowl of pretzels and hummus. It is surprisingly enough a very good combination.

I lost my first few page likes today. Yesterday I posed with a bottle of Thyro-Drive and I lost a few likes. I'm not sure if it's due to that or just a coincidence. But I wanted to make some things clear from the get-go: Yes, I supplement for weight loss. No, I'm not ashamed of it.

I would probably be one of the first people to discredit the supplements I take had I not experienced it myself. I heard it on the radio. Yes, they advertise on the radio and they do it on practically every radio station in St Louis. I was naturally cynical of anything I heard on the radio, just like Smilin Bob and everything else they put on the radio these days. My trip to S2 had nothing at all to do with supplements but to grab a bumper sticker offered by my absolute favorite radio show to listen to in the morning. I went to the Chesterfield location of Supplement Superstores first and was absolutely surprised at how nice and friendly everyone was. I was almost 30 lbs heavier at that point, and had gotten severely snarked at the last time I went into one of those type of shops. They offered me a free water and sent me home with some samples.

I would have never taken them if I hadn't had a review blog at the time. Still kind of depressed at the time, I said, "Well, if they don't work at least they'll finish the job." Not the best attitude to have, but hey, sometimes you just feel that way. I decided to take them, and it totally... well, it totally did nothing at first.

"But Shelly," you say, "It's a diet pill!" Hold your horses. It's a diet supplement, and it doesn't work if you're not willing to put the work in. You can't just take a pill and have all your worries and weight troubles go away. It's not realistic. It simply puts you in the right frame of mind so if you want to work out, than you can.

Along with the rest of my supplements and one prescribed med, this was very helpful in curing a mild chemical imbalance. Yes, I said cured, in that as long as I take all as prescribed I have no more symptoms. I was able to drop all my meds except one, which I take because it's just a pain to get off of. It didn't do anything for my weight loss and I didn't mind at first.

But one day I just decided that enough was enough. After seeing some things and experiencing some things, I got in the gym and worked my butt off. I'm paying my way through college and plan on getting a personal trainer certification in a few months. I just did a lot of stuff that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

So yes, I supplement. Yes, I'm proud of it and all I've accomplished. Yes, it is controversial. But no, I'm not going to stop and let my life go to pot just cause someone gets upset. It works for me, and I'm going to keep doing it. And it may just help you too. So don't judge. You're just jealous of my awesomeness. ;-)

One of the reasons I never settled.

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In other news, going to the Organization Expo at the college today. I want to get hooked up with the running club and learn about some more running clubs in the area. I'm think of going back to True Runner as well because they have some fun runs and things that don't look like they'd kill me if I did em. :-) I love the running community and enjoy all the cheerfulness and good-naturedness that seems to be a part of it.

Well, it's class time, we're doing density in the lab. No worries, I am plenty dense about chemistry so I'll fit right in. Have a wonderful day all!

Day 31: Former Fattie???

I went for an interview at Lululemon today. I have to admit I was very, very nervous. As in, can barely concentrate on my classes or anything else because I'm so nervous. I have been on dozens of interviews dozens of times, so something like this shouldn't phase me by now. But I have to admit it was ridiculously out of my comfort zone. I've got at least 50-60 pounds on everyone there, but I persevered through.

We did a lot of working out, myself included. I added the bits from my arm workout in, expecting I'd be the only one who did a fitness routine. Turns out, I was one of four. The other folks did harder routines and I found myself doing my first spider pushup. It was super hard at first cause I wasn't exactly sure how to do it, but then I was like, on the floor, hardcore spider pushups where two weeks ago I wasn't even able to plank because it hurt my knees so bad. I told my "Never Settle" story and I got a few wows and you're an inspiration to mes, which was super cool. Even the interviewers didn't seem to expect it from me.

That's what gets me there.

I realize at this point I have lost 25 lbs, I can do spider push-ups at ~206 lbs, I should be proud of myself. But I have to admit, running with the big dogs kind of freaks me out a little bit.

I realized today that none of my clothes fit anymore. Like, literally none. Two pairs of jeans and several medium and large t-shirts and maybe one or two bras. I have to borrow clothes from the closet that I don't think have seen the light of day since 2003, when I was at about the same weight. I have running shorts I bought two weeks ago that are now super loose on me. I will have to get a new pair soon cause I don't think anyone really wants to see me run around City Hall Park with my shorts around my ankles (though I have to admit, seeing their reactions would be funny as hell). And today, I finally went to INTERVIEW AT a store I wouldn't even think of going into 30 lbs heavier because I thought everyone would laugh at me and wonder what I was doing there.

I, ladies and gents, am now a former fattie.

Don't freak out, folks. I just realized today that I am losing weight and not acting the part. I am way underdressed, first of all. I looked in the mirror today and for the life of me could not figure out why I looked so dumpy and huge. When I went to change for my interview, I realized the shirt I had worn out shopping today was a 1XL and my pants were a 24, and my bra was a band size too big. It was another one of those "Never Settle" type of moments where I'm like, whaaaaaa? I went out in a 24??? That's 4 sizes too big for me, first of all. Not to mention I thought I looked kind of okay in it. :-P I'm amazed that I let it get this bad for so long and even more so, that I kept wearing these clothes even after they didn't fit!

I keep getting new revelations about how far I had let myself go in the past, and today was one of those days. I just couldn't believe it, and what I had been doing to myself. I am worth so much more than to dress myself in clothes that are 4 sizes too big. I should be owning my body and dressing it in a way that looks good. But it's just so hard to see the person in the mirror being the same chick I feel like inside. But I know that I can keep owning this title and doing better things. It's just wow, it hit me hard.

Anyhoo, I have more to say, but I seem to be lacking a bit of eloquence tonight so I'll deal with it the only way I know how: to get into beastmode. :-) Be blessed all and have a great day.

Day 30: New Records and a Month of Blogging! :)

I decided to go for another run this morning, because I'm awesome that way. I didn't really want to go running around my neighborhood, since it's basically lots of houses and big dogs. Not very exciting to run in. :-) So I packed up my car and headed over to City Hall Park in St Peters. There is a backstory behind why I love this park. My fiancé and I had our first date at India Palace and then we came to City Hall Park before going to see a movie. We were sitting around and I asked him to be my boyfriend, being the blunt person that I can be at times. He said yes, and you know how the story has ended thus far. Anyhoo, we go to City Hall Park every half-year and year anniversaries and geek out about how much we love each other. So, what better place to go than City Hall Park to go run?

Getting my run on! Sorry about the pile of clothes. ;-)

 

 

It was an absolutely beautiful day for running. Sunny, cool, and low humidity. I got my run on and completed the C25K app for the day. Here are my stats according to Accutrainer:

 

Mileage: 2.04 miles

Steps: 3,870

Calories Burnt: 202.2

Total Time: 26:34

 

It's about average time for what I run, but much better mileage! I think I was getting up to 4.0-5.0 mph or more, which relieves me to know I actually do run faster than I walk. :-) I broke two records today: mileage and Calories. I have never burnt above 133 calories on the dreadmill nor have I gone above 1.50 miles. This is the first time I have broken the 1-mile and the 100s-calories barriers and I couldn't be happier about it. And the scenery was so beautiful, (small) waterfalls, creeks, bridges, animals (I saw several squirrels and a rabbit), and a pond. I really enjoyed running here and I think it may be a place for me to run for the next few days. I plan on getting my mileage up a bit and then going to Creve Coeur Park, which is a 4-mile trail around a lake. It is one of the prettiest (and longest!) trails I've ever been on, and I can't wait to take it on.

 



Nice and sweaty after a 2-mile run/walk. :-)

 

My fiancé and I have designed a team shirt for our run in the Lemon Drop 5k and Hot Chocolate 5k in December. We are Team Fire and we have two shirts, one in navy and one in pink. I can't wait to order mine later on this week, when and if my paycheck ever shows up.

 

Speaking of which, I have an interview with Lululemon tomorrow. I am geeked out because I absolutely love their clothes and just the company culture. It is very laid-back and more my style. For my group interview, I am supposed to teach the group how to do something that relates to me. Since I love to strength train and work out in general, I am going to teach them how to do an abbreviated form of the workout that I'm doing to strengthen my arms. I can't wait to do that, it will be so much fun. I don't know what I'm more geeked out about, getting an interview there or teaching people how to work out. :-D I will let you know how it goes. :-)

 

Speaking of the Arm Challenge, here are my stats for today:

 

10 push-ups

10 dips

20 bicep curls

20-second punches

 

The workouts are definitely getting more challenging, especially doing push-ups. I am no longer doing girl push-ups but full on push-ups, so adding more is definitely challenging! Nevertheless, I'm doing pretty good at it and keeping it up. Tomorrow will be a rest day on the arm challenge (except for when I do it at Lululemon tomorrow) so I will not be posting stats. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a good day! My day looks to hold... well, not very much really, just keeping busy around the house. It's always a bit limiting when you don't have much gas in the tank, lol. Be blessed all!

Our FIRST Transformation Sunday: Bryan F.

 

 

Our first transformation is my fiancé, Bryan F. He was active in high school, playing tennis for four years in high school. The weight piled on a bit during college and his time at work, but he topped the scale at around 171 at 5'7" tall. For a small-framed person like my fiancé, this weight was somewhat bothersome but not enough to do much about it. Then the top picture showed up on my Facebook page.

 

"I guess it was seeing that picture and being made fun of for it that made me want to lose weight," said Bryan. He decided to get going on his weight loss. He began walking regularly every night, and began doing 5K's with me. He and I went to the gym every time we got together, going swimming, strength training, and working out on the bike. He also began limiting his portions, carefully considering each days eating choices. Eventually, the pounds began falling off. 

Bryan went down as far as 145 lbs, and then stabilized around 148-150 and has kept it off for 2 years. What's his secret? "I eat less," he says simply. Works for me. :-) Bryan has also made his way through culinary school and is set to graduate in November. He has a very prestigious internship with a nice restaurant in the suburbs.

Be sure to send in your stories here or to my Facebook wall. I would be super happy to read them. I hope everyone enjoys your Sunday, and remember that someday this could be you!