Day 79: Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving

And true to form, it is very quiet and relaxing. My kitteh baby Frodo is asleep on top of the heating vent, and I am listening to the radio with my space heater on. :-) My fiancé is on the way home from work, and it is just a peaceful night.

I went to Whole Foods tonight and picked up my vegan roast and "giblet" gravy. I didn't realize there was so much to preparing a vegan roast, I thought you just stuck it in the oven and were done with it. But you actually have to baste the thing and prepare it in the oven and everything! That sounds super cool and I am definitely up for the challenge! Plus, I got all these fresh fruits and veggies, and I think I will make a cherry-banana green smoothie tomorrow. I bought some cherries off-season and they seriously cost me $10 for a small bag! Next time, I will get the frozen organic kind, lol!

I have also discovered that being a vegan is not necessarily and end-all-be-all to weight loss. Even if you're hard core vegan and eating healthily, you still have to work out and eat healthily. It seems like common knowledge, but I suppose this is something that you have to find out the hard way. So, needless to say, tomorrow I will be going walking/running and doing some sprints. I am sure it will be super cold tomorrow so I will wear some hard core layers, but since our Thanksgiving meal is not until dinner, I have plenty of time to chillax, do some running, and prepare my Thanksgiving roast. :-)

I'm in a picture-taking sort of mood tonight, so here's a photo of my Tofurky roast:

Tofurky roast and gravy! Nommy.

 

 

I have also been doing a little bit of shopping besides going for my Tofurky. I went to Hobby Lobby in a crafting sort of mood, but couldn't find anything to my liking. Pretty much all I need is wire and to find my crimping shears, but I decided to wait until I had some more money and time later. But... I DID go to Cafepress and look for a vegan Euro decal. My car is admittedly a bumper sticker mecca; I love them and basically exhaust all possible space without it looking too tacky. :-D I have this really cool one that I got from a vegan Meetup but I am afraid to put it on my car because it's pretty out there. But I will put it on there eventually. Anyhoo, this is the one I will be getting in mid-December:

 

Sorry it's so big! Lol.

 

 

I am soo excited! I saw some of these in the past and never got brave enough to buy them. But this time I decided I was going to go for it. :-)

 

Well, I am going to jet for now; I'm not sure if I will post on Thanksgiving but if I can I certainly will. Namaste all, and enjoy the journey! 

 

 

 

Day 77ish: Hey hey, it's okay...

Like my awesome made-up song title? I think I'm onto something there. :-)

In seriousness, my fiancé brought up something that I thought was super cool. I was bummed out because I had not done very well on my Chemistry test, I guess for whatever reason I just had a bad weekend and didn't want to do much of anything. He said to me, in essence, that doing badly on one chemistry test was okay, especially since I had average 90s on the other test and the lowest score would be dropped. He didn't sound the least bit disappointed, and said that some tests are just harder than others and I would have no trouble with the final. In that moment, he was giving me permission to fail. :-)

Maybe this sounds outrageous to some people, after all, if he gives you permission to fail, doesn't that mean that he wouldn't mind if you failed? Yes, and no. He may want me to succeed, but if I put out the effort and don't make it, I simply have to make a change in my actions and try again, with no guilt trips and repercussions from him. :-) That is a revolutionary and refreshing idea!

My parents, for all intents and purpose, simply didn't have the ability to give me that option. My dad has a doctorate and my mom has a master's, and I can remember ever since I have been in school, they were obsessed with my grades. They bribed me financially when I made A's and B's, they told me everyday that they "needed to see those A's," and just made me a nervous wreck about bringing home anything other than an A or a B. I remember forging signatures on a signed test when I was in the 7th grade because I was so embarrassed to tell them I made a D on a test. I have been at a number of GPA's, even joining the honor's society one semester with a 4.0 GPA and at one point getting an overall GPA below a 1.0.

I don't know how much is related to this, but it has caused me to hold myself to a ridiculous standard of perfection. I was crushed if I didn't bring home a 100, if I got a C on a test I would stop going because I knew I couldn't salvage it. I studied 30 hours or more a week, as well as going to school. It was just high pressure, all the time, and I couldn't handle it.

I have been in college over a decade. I have wrapped my life so much in making my parents happy by getting good grades, I just hoped that if I could complete school the way they wanted me to, I would be happy, they would be happy, and everything would be hunky-dory.

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS WAY TO LIVE!!!!

My passion is writing, animal rights, and jewelry-making. I used to make jewelry everyday, and wore it, and I was super proud of my work. I got asked to do a jewelry show but was hell-bent on making a 4.0 GPA, so I turned it down. I think this was a HUGE mistake, and I could have gotten a huge self-esteem boost from it. I love to write and wanted desperately to become published. I never got to do any of this! I let myself go to the point of making everyone else happy. You know what, I want to have my own jewelry business, I want to write novels, and that's okay!! There is nothing wrong with any of that. I also love photography and want to take photography classes, and that's okay too! All of that is okay! I don't have to be in school my whole life or make everyone happy to be happy myself. I can live my own life and be okay with it. :)

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 72: Busy Bee and 199 LBS!!

I finally hit 199 lbs.

Granted, I hit 198 yesterday and went up a little bit today, but considering I haven't worked out in awhile I'd say that's pretty good. I got a little bit discouraged when I couldn't hit the 30 minute mark and decided to take a break from running for a little while. I am looking forward to getting back into it soon. Anyhoo, I hit 199 lbs and am excited to report I am still there today. I took some progress pics but am a little disappointed with how they looked. My hair was kind of all over the place and I wasn't wearing any makeup. So I will be sure to retake them tomorrow and post them on the blog.

I have been dealing with a lot of things outside of the blog and the Facebook page, none of them being particularly bad or good. I have decided to work within my original degree and try to find a technical writing job through Career Services at the community college. They have been very helpful thus far and have given me a few leads and suggestions for how to find more. I plan on getting some sort of degree while I'm working, but I'm not sure how that will pan out. I will keep up with my classes and do some job-searching while I'm not in school. It will be difficult but I am positive about the future. Plus, my fiancé is starting his first job out of college and the hours are a little bit wonky, all nights for now. I am not concerned about it but he is, he's worried he won't get to see me and everything, but I think it will all work out.

I have been dealing with a lot of family issues, which are positive for the most part. My parents and I are starting to reconcile our relationship after it being rocky for years. I don't think it's necessarily that either one of us are at fault, it's just that we are SO different in personality and because I am disabled (I have mild autism) I want to be independent from them and start my own life but I just tend to do things a lot slower than most people and sometimes that is frustrating. And I think I carried a lot of that frustration with me and just had a lot of anger about it. But I am glad I am starting to get some help for that through my church. I have an outlet and it feels a lot better.

Wow, this is a pretty deep post tonight. If you waded through it, I appreciate it and I hope you will continue to read subsequent posts. Trust me, it will be a lot lighter fare than tonight, lol! I will have my photos and hopefully some running news and it will be awesome.

Blessings to ya'll, enjoy the journey, and enjoy the beautiful fall weather!! xx

Day 70: A Long Time Coming

I had an interesting weekend. Over the past few days, Bryan and I went hiking at Cuivre River. Or at least attempted to. We went to this lakeside trail that looked interesting but it was overgrown and covered in bugs! We only made it around 0.2 miles before we gave up on the trail and went over to City Hall Park to play around. We had fun and even got to find a new trail there. My fiancé's friend decided to invite us to this hole-in-the-wall bar in Maryland Heights and we had a pretty good time. I can tell the BMR Bliss has sped up my metabolism because I had two Midori and sprites which would have made me crazy drunk before, but I was just fine. :-) I had a good time, even though I had more soda than I have had in a long time. :-)

Today I was mercifully free of caffeine withdrawal and all that jazz so I decided to go to church. It was the first time out of a handful of times that I have ever gone to church two Sundays in a row. I had fun and got to know some of the people from the church. I am starting to enjoy going to church, even though the church is huge. At first I was miffed because no one would talk to me, they were busy talking to their friends and I kind of got lost in the shuffle. Now I like the time to meditate and get close to God without everyone invading my personal space, lol!

I did some Chemistry homework and then I decided to go for a run. Or rather, I tried to go for a run, realized halfway there that I had forgotten my timer, went back for my timer, went back to the park and then discovered that there were about three different meetups going on in the park. There were even people who were at a whip meetup and were learning to crack whips. There were sailboats on the lake and the place was packed. I like my space when I run so this kind of stressed me out. But I laced up and went anyway.

It started nondescriptly. I ran for seven minutes, and just ran out of steam. But I decided that I was not going to let it get me down. I walked for five minutes, then ran another fourteen minutes before my foot started going numb and almost gave out on me, and I decided to stop and let it get feeling back. Then I thought, why not do a slow interval run? I did an additional 15 minutes for a total of 36 minutes, 2 miles, and about 1.7 of walking. :-)

An unusually mellow-looking post-run picture, lol!

 

I finally got to the two-mile mark, even though it was kind of a roundabout way to get there. :-) Either way, I left it all on the track and am feeling much better.

 

Hope everyone has an awesome day! Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Day 63/64/65: Keeping it Real

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. :-) I get busy some days, and then remember I haven't blogged at all. I will try to be more on top of things henceforth.

I have been injured for the past few days! I had problems with one of my knees, and I decided to take a rest day and go hang out with my fiancé. Well, after several games of basketball, air hockey, and other active games, my other knee started hurting! That one has been a little slower to heal for some reason, so although I have been running I have decided to take more rest days until the knee heals up properly, and then hopefully go back to my 6-day running regiment. But in the meantime, I am having a good time spending time with my family and enjoying myself!

In case you don't follow my Facebook page, here is a recap of some of the things that have happened in the past three days:

**I went to church for the first time in probably 3-4 months. I liked my previous church, but I needed a change of scenery as I felt sometimes that people were a little too intrusive and sometimes overtly rude to me. I went to a larger church over by my school and so far I am very impressed. Everyone seems so much more relaxed, more comfortable with their faith, and pray boldly. The minister is very interesting to listen to, he preaches loooooooong sermons, but I was able to concentrate on his message and not be bored. I will be going there next Sunday and attending a class getting more information about their church.

**I went for a sprint run after being out of commission for 2-3 days after injury. I had no idea how much harder it is to sprint than to do a long, steady run. My intervals were anywhere from 11:00/mi to 8:34/mi, though I generally stayed around 10:00/mi the entire time. I'd say after 8 weeks of C25K that isn't bad at all! Today I will be going to work out on the dreadmill at my gym just because it's slightly easier on my knees than running on pavement. I will try for 28 minutes again but we will see. I'd say after being injured for so long that any running is doing well! :-)

**I am at 200.4 after wandering around between 201 and 203 for the longest time. I have this weird habit of eating more when I get closer to a milestone or a goal, maybe some weird form of self-sabotage, but I will make sure to do better this time. I am so close to being in the 190s for the first time in three years! With any luck, I will be there tomorrow. I looked at myself and realized how much thinner I actually look! With the running and various other forms of toning I have noticed that I actually look thinner at 200 than I did at 186! That's why it is very important to work out while you are losing weight. :-)

**I had a good lunch at the Peruvian restaurant yesterday afternoon, and decided after a fairly big food baby that I was not going to eat at the basketball game. Well, I was true to my word. I got a bottle of water and enjoyed that while my uncle and my dad ate some food. Even with the yummy smells of food everywhere, I wasn't particularly tempted. I just enjoyed myself and ate a few almonds when I got home. And I still lost weight! :-)

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Day 61/62: Back in the Saddle (Again)

It's been an interesting weekend. I have been without one of my supplements for some time, and it has been an unrequited disaster for me. I am normally very mellow, having a good day all the time, but today my mood has been all over the place, moody and temperamental and everything! It totally sucked. I went running this morning, and since my fiancé was in the "guest room" where I normally sleep, my phone charger was in there, and my phone had completely crapped out. I had no timer, and not having a timer is like kryptonite to me. I only made it for a little while and felt completely discouraged. The negative self-talk made a guest appearance, and I was just berating myself for not being able to make it as far. I know now that it was a lot warmer and more humid than I was used to running in, and that probably slowed me down. Plus, I have been down for several days due to injury, so the fact that I had a pretty good run was not bad! I just couldn't wrap my head around it that morning. Add it to perpetual problems with my perpetually dishonest bank and I just couldn't handle it. I was emotionally worn down and thought I wouldn't be able to even get my supplements.

My fiancé was a perpetual blessing to me, calming me down and eventually paying for my supplements, which was a godsend. My mood is back to normal, and so is my appetite. Before I was ravenous and craving pretty much anything that was bad for me. Now I have only eaten a light meal this afternoon and have been fine. :-) I will have a protein shake for dinner since I missed it this morning.

I plan on picking up some hummus tomorrow and some veggies of some sort. I love my hummus and veggie combos, they really hit the spot when I'm having a bad day or just need something that tastes good. For those of you that don't know, my name is Shelly (AKA Girl on Fire) and I'm a hummus addict, lol! I had no good words to say to a certain retail chain that replaced the classic hummus and pretzel combos with the red pepper hummus. Thankfully my school stocks all three flavors of hummus and pretzels in the cafeteria, so there is always something yummy and healthy at school. :-) Plus, I notice a huge drop in my weight when I go to school, must be that brain food!

I have to admit, I never knew how much I needed the little buggers until I was unable to get them! I know people hate on supplements, and say you don't need a magic pill and all that, and I get that, but these have put me in a really good place emotionally as well. I have been able to get out and run everyday, I am always in a good mood, and I don't eat bad. Don't knock it til you try it. :-)

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Day 59/60: Time with the Fiance and Time to Myself

Geez, three blog entries in six days. Ah well, been a little bit busy!

Yesterday my fiancé and I decided to go out. I had hurt my knee and wasn't able to run for a few days, so I was eager to get out of the house instead of just chilling at home. We decided to eat homemade spaghetti at home, and then go out to Dave and Buster's to play games. :-) I have noticed that my choices of games has changed somewhat. Before, my only interest was games where you could stand or sit down. The fiancé and I are huge fans of Deal or No Deal, Ball Drop games, and Plink-o. I actually won 750 tickets out of the Plink-O machine once. But this time we added some active games like air hockey, a full size basketball game and a mini basketball game. The full size basketball game was much harder then the mini one! It worked me out hard core in the core (hehe) and the arms. :-) We ended up getting a ridiculous amount of tickets since the fiancé generally saves his tickets when he gets a ton of them, and I decided to get me a sweatshirt. I usually wear mediums in t-shirts but larges in hoodies, but I decided to get a medium hoodie since it was the only size they had. :-) I will fit into it, by goodness!

Speaking of the fiancé, he is now gainfully employed. I am so proud of him! It took him no time at all to find a job and he is even close to my house. Now it's my turn to follow suit. :-) I have an appointment with career services on the 11th and I think I will hold out for something using my previous English degree (yup, I have a bachelor's in English) or something where I am not necessarily doing retail. I've had it with retail, people are always complaining or just plain rude. I want a change of scenery. I have done a lot of medical data entry in the past, but a lot of that is now work-from-home now and full of scammers. Not really what I'm interested in! :-) Either way, I will try to work something out with career services next week and try to follow suit. I would love to be a Beachbody coach on the side, it just sounds like fun! I loved working with Primerica, and they seem to have similar setup, just in different business ventures. But since you have to make an investment beforehand, I will have to have a regular job first.

I have my second chemistry exam this Monday, on various and sundry things like nomenclature, Lewis dot structures, and all that jazz. I still haven't decided between biology and chemistry, I like them both and it's hard to choose between Microbio and Biochem! I will be sure to let you guys know when I've made up my mind, lol.

I also did my Biggest Loser workout today. I have been doing more strength training to make up for the deficit in running due to various injuries. I think I may do some interval running tonight though, on the dreadmill. Anyhoo, I did Level 1 of Strength Training on the Biggest Loser DVD, and I was nonplussed. I thought there had to be more to the workout, but it was short and kind of easy. I will do Level 2 tomorrow I think, it will be more challenging and not leave me nonplussed. Tonight I may do the Zumba DVD for a workout, I haven't done it in awhile, and I feel bad for losing half the DVDs over 2 years! :-) It was a gift from my fiancé at our first Christmas, and I never used it. But now I will be able to put it to good use.

I hope everyone has a good day! I have Lil Sis for the evening, so I'll be staying home. Be blessed and enjoy the journey. :-)

Day 57/58: Last Day of September and First Day of October

I seem to be getting into the habit of posting every other day. Nothing personal, just had other things come up and blogging kind of took a backseat. Still, I'm going to be updating whenever I can.

I walked/ran a total of 8.1 miles in the past two days. Yesterday I ran 1.68 miles and walked 2.74, and today I walked 3.7 miles. I got injured this morning though, a dull pain in my right knee when I straighten it all the way, so I've decided to take a few days off running and just work on my upper body. Today, however, will be a full rest day. Just chilling, putting a bag of frozen green beans on my knee for a little while (isn't that what we all do? I'm too cheap to buy a fancy ice packet, lol) and watching some good videos on YouTube.

Later this week, I am going to Career Services and looking into some job placement type of things, either using my previous degree or not. Either way, it would be a step in the right direction. I had some really bad experiences with jobs in the past and I needed some time to recover emotionally and mentally from that. I won't reiterate all the gruesome details, but it really sucked. I finally feel comfortable enough to be selective. I remember having similar issues with my relationships, just dating whomever came along first, until I got into a horrible relationship and realized that I could be selective. Two and a half years ago, I had my choice of three different guys. Two of them were D-bags, and one of them was super nice, and one of the most fun guys to be around. I decided to be selective, and two and a half years later, we're a year into being engaged and happy as can be. I chose my fiancé because he was the best choice. Now I will do the same for my job situation. Find the same equivalent and not choose a job because they were the first to offer. :-) It should guide me towards something amazing.

I am also considering going back to church, although a different one this time. It was nothing personal against my old church, I just didn't see eye-to-eye with them on a lot of different things, I thought it was a little too politically charged and a little too legalistic. But there were some great people there and I really liked them. However, it just wasn't the church for me. I have been listening to some sermons online from the church that I am considering going to, and I really like the minister who delivers them. Granted, I don't want to base the church solely on the minister or fancy lights or anything. I'm a little too cynical for that. I just want somewhere where people won't judge me or my disabilities, and just where I can grow as a Christian. That seems like a good place to start. :-)

I hope everyone has a good day. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Days 55/56: A Fun Weekend and Back to Running

I had a fantastic weekend with my fiancé. We decided that we were going to go to Taste of St Louis and to the Soulard Farmer's Market. I have been meaning to go to the Farmer's Market for some time now and haven't gotten to. We started at Taste of St Louis, which I looked at very carefully, ever eager to monitor my calorie count. I did fine there, eating a chicken kabob with all kinds of veggies.

The fiancé and I with the sous chef of Taste of StL. :-)

 

My fiancé's culinary school was there making food (yes, my fiancé is a chef, don't you love that? :-D) but we didn't get to try any of their food. He is trained primarily in French cuisine but has tried a number of different things and he makes a lot of good food. I was hoping to find the folks from LCB but we couldn't find them! It was too bad, too. We got to go to a lot of different places there, including some of the best foods in StL. Local Harvest Café, which is a favorite of ours, was at the festival as well, and they had $2 vegan chili! Sadly, I stuck to my chicken kebab, which was really good.

 

Afterward we went to the farmer's market and it was totally crowded! I have never seen that many people there. It was kind of hot and I was getting tired, so I also noshed on a polish sausage. I kind of wished I hadn't afterward, cause it was sort of okay but I ended up getting sleepy and crashed on the couch for like 3 hours. (Could be why I gained weight, lol.)

 

But the next day was much better. I decided that I was going to go for a run. I went to my usual park only to discover there was a HUGE 5k and triathlon being held at the park! I was insanely jealous, but still packed up my gear and went to my second choice, which was mercifully free of events and had good parking. Since it was around 65 degrees, everyone and their mom was there, lol. I decided to go a different way that time and walk the opposite perimeter of the park. I started running and realized that I was starting off at a 14 minute/mile pace, which was 2 minutes faster than my usual pace. I continued between 14-16 minute miles, until the very end when I got down to 17:01 minute miles, still a good 2 minutes faster than my last run. I even passed someone, which was a huge NSV for me because I am usually too slow to pass someone. :-)

 



Nice and sweaty after my run! :-)

 

I ran 1.47 miles, walked 2.03, for a total of 3.50 miles. I burned 919 calories and 3.5 miles took me 1:14:09. :-) I'm totally getting into running for more than a hour, though sometimes I wonder if I do anything else in the morning besides run, lol! I totally love logging long distances though, and as long as I can do it I will be doing it. And hopefully getting faster each time. I'm in my second-to-last week of C25K this week, so I'm hoping I can pull off a 2-mile run by the end! That would make me super excited. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I'm going to finish reading my new running magazines (I have 3 now, it's seriously awesome!) and hopefully put a dent in some chem homework. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Day 46: Why I am Doing Awesome

I'm missing all you guys on my blog! Please, feel free to visit anytime.

I am doing awesome today, because I decided to take a rest day. I have a Chemistry lab that meets on Thursday mornings and it often makes it very difficult to run if it's hot out. Plus, my parents are taking me out for a belated birthday dinner and it will be a bit difficult to work out in the evening. (I will be just a touch full, lol.) So I decided today would be a work-on-homework-and-run errands day, AKA a rest day. :-) Normally, I don't feel comfortable doing rest days. I am always on the move and sitting down and relaxing is a bit of a foreign concept to me. Despite all that, when I do sit down and rest, I always feel infinitely better for it. So, I'm enjoying my rest day and will especially enjoy getting out on the running track bright and early Friday morning. :-)

I got my race packet from Lululemon this morning and got my fiancé's too. We have decided not to run this entire 5k but walk part of the way and run the last leg. I was expecting a T-shirt but there was a misprint on Big River's website, and there is no t-shirt. It looks to be a pretty nondescript run, which is what you get when it's free, I suppose. Maybe there will be a little prize when we get to the finish but I have my doubts. There is also a post-run yoga session, but I have my doubts that my fiancé will go into a yoga class. It's not really his thing, plus he feels awkward going to a yoga class where he will be in the minority with regards to gender. :-D We were super bummed out that we didn't get to do a repeat Glow Run this year, but they are changing the lineup and making it very much a meander around, get drunk, and not really race type of run. But we are doing the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k in December, so we will have an official, fun type of run later in the year. Then I'm doing a 10k in March at the college, so that will be fun. :-)

While I'm at it, here's a "sweat pic" from today's rest day:

Not really me, obviously, but it's so stinkin' cute I just couldn't resist sharing it.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I've got more homework before I go out, lol. Be blessed all! :-)

Day 42: Happy Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to me.

I celebrated my 29th birthday with not a lot of pomp and circumstance. My fiancé and I went running this morning, clocking 1.6 miles. Bryan is a super fast runner and I was impressed. He ran the first leg of C25K and didn't even break a sweat. We went to the mall, where he got my gift: pearl earrings with a small diamond that he got from the same place we got my engagement ring. We ate at Charley's subs, where we got some small subs and happily noshed away. :-)

A snack at the mall.

 

We then went mini-golfing at Swing Around Fun Town, the St Charles location, where we got a nice 18 holes in, barely beating the rain as we got into the car. It was a lot of fun and it became quite obvious that I hadn't played in awhile. We ended up hitting the ball too hard and too soft and got our butts handed to us by the kids in front of us. Still, we had fun and plan on doing it again sometime soon. :-)

 

I strike the golf ball sort of in the right direction.

My gorgeous fiancé poses in front of a waterfall.



I don't look half bad myself.

 

 

We then went bowling as our last stop. It was actually quite amusing because we were next to seven kids about 9 or 10 years old, all boys, and two grown-ups. They were hurling the balls across the lane and they were coming down with a resounding CRASH each time. One kid got the idea and threw the ball so hard it went over the bumpers and got stuck in the gutter. I have never laughed so hard in my life, and Bryan was having a hard time keeping a straight face as well. Eventually a well-meaning employee suggested he use a 7-lb bowling ball if he was going to chuck it across the line, and so they made a beeline for the pink bowling ball I was using. I didn't know whether to snatch it back or just laugh that 7 boys were using a pink ball that belonged to a girl. :-D I decided it would be less drama just to laugh it off, and then the dad (or the chaperone) returned with a second pink ball.

 

The pink ball in question.

Photobombed! Bryan takes it in stride.

 



I had a fun birthday but I am definitely glad we are only having a few celebrations. I believe last year we went out at least 6 times and by the end of it we were all feeling kind of bloated and gross, lol. :-) Next Saturday I am going out with my future mom-in-law and on Sunday Bryan and I are running the 5k. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. Me, I'm going back to chemistry land and enjoying the view. Be blessed all!

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 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! :-)

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!

Day 28: Good Morning Good Morning To You

First off, I hate it that McDonald's is using this song now. Singin' in the Rain is a classic and has nothing whatsoever to do with fast food. :-) I remember the first time I saw that commercial line I was SO mad.

Anyhoo, all that business aside, it is a beautiful quiet morning and my fiancé is still asleep downstairs. I have a guest bedroom that he stays in when he and I are going to be doing something on Saturday and Sunday. The reason we do that is simply because we can't sleep in the same bed when it's a Queen-sized bed because usually I am all over the bed and putting my foot up his side and waking him up. Or so he tells me. Ironically, we went to Chicago about a year ago and stayed at this really fancy hotel in Schaumberg (thanks Dad and Hotwire!) and we were able to share a king-sized bed without even bothering each other. So I guess we just need a bigger bed. :-D

I also have some good news: my fiancé is going to be the first Sunday transformation on the Girl on Fire Facebook page and blog! For those of you who don't know, my fiancé has lost around 25 lbs and has kept it off for 2 years! I'm so proud of him and I have gotten his permission to share his story and take a similar after photo of him at the apple picking today. (A similar picture taken 2 years ago was what inspired him to lose weight.) I'm so geeked out and proud of my crazy fiancé! If you have a transformation story you would like to share please let me know. :-) I will be writing the piece up so if you're not really a writer, no worries, the English major is here to help! If you like to write, by all means send me something good! :)

I am going to get in my run today as well, and since the gym opens at 10 I will get to go on my own and then go apple picking! I am aiming for 30 minutes run/walk (or about 32 since it generally increases in 5 minute intervals). I think once I hit about 40-45 minutes run/walk I will start increasing the intensity a bit, because 40-45 minutes is about what I want to run the 5K in. :-) (Less would be good, too!) I'll get back to you later this afternoon with Transformation Sunday (like Reformation Sunday, only fewer casseroles) and a new blog post!

I am also doing a challenge suggested by one of the people I follow on Facebook called Race Addict. They have posted a 30-Day Arm Challenge to get rid of the bat wings! I have been nervous about my arms not being toned after I lose weight so I am more than happy to sign up to get rid of them. If anyone else is interested in the challenge, here is a pic, which will link to my site for a larger view:

 

I apologize for it being so small! For some reason it's not cooperating with me. Day One of the Arm Challenge is:

 

5 Push Ups

5 Dips

10 Bicep Curls

10 seconds of Punches

 

And I will post each day what I'm doing so you can follow along with me! :-)

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic day! It's breakfast time for me, lol. :-) Be blessed!

 

 

 

Day 27.5: Encouraging News!

I have discovered the run/walk combo, and it was good.

I originally started out adding a consecutive minute each day to my run, until I got to 22 minutes and was so exhausted when I got done I could barely walk. After 16 days of doing this, my knees were burning and literally everything on my body hurt. This was even when I wasn't running!

I have a friend from high school who is totally rocking it and is about to start a running program. She is doing C25K, and is off to a very good start. :-) But she was running/walking it, and I have to admit that it was on my mind. I started off on the run intending to tough it out for 15 minutes. But instead, I decided to run 3-4 minutes, and walk 2 minutes. Sometimes I walked less than that, but I was getting so out of breath I decided to keep it at 2 minutes. And keeping that pace, I ran/walked for 27 minutes! I only walked about ~8:30 of that too, so my total running time was about 18:30, which was a 2:30 boost from yesterday's run! I was super excited.

I learned something important today as well. There's no shame whatsoever in treating your body kindly when you exercise. If you have to run/walk instead of pound out a 22 minute run, that's okay! Especially since I've really only been running for about 19 days. I am learning that pacing myself doesn't make me a weakling, or settling, or whatnot. It makes me smart! I'm honoring my body and taking care of it, and not putting it under so much stress it gives out on me and knocks me out of commission for weeks. You're not running to punish your body or punish yourself for being out of shape. You're running because it makes you feel good, it makes you feel alive! Running is good and healthy no matter what form it takes. I'd say a 27 minute run/walk combo is very good.

So, all that to say... be smart. Take care of your body, even when you're trying to work it out hard. God only gave you one, and you don't get to trade it in for a newer model! And trust me, a 27:00 minute run/walk, even when it's 101 degrees outside and about 70 degrees in will make you sweat profusely! Just for proof, here's a picture I took after my run:

I am definitely red faced and sweaty and proud of it. Own your sweat, to quote Definition Transformation. You got out there and did it, and that's something to be proud of! :-)

Well, I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I'm about to get some more water and get dressed up to spend some QT with the fiancé (and yes, I took a shower already, cause that would be some serious stinkage otherwise! :-D) Be blessed all! :-)

Day 22: Broke a Plateau and Made It Cry

I finally got past this horrible weight gain I have had since getting off antidepressants. It went up all the way to 219.6 yesterday and I was really discouraged. I have been drinking tons of water (wouldn't drink anything else!) and it has been getting rid of some of the water weight. Well, today I weighed myself and it was down to 215.4! I was so excited because I've been getting stuck between 217-219 for a long time now and I finally got what they call a 'whoosh'. I literally dropped 4 pounds in one day. :-) So, I'm excited about the weight loss.

Guess whose birthday is in less than 3 weeks? Yup, it will be my birthday on the 15th of September. I will be turning 29! It's crazy cause I remember how excited I was about graduating high school what seems like a minute ago and coming up soon is my 10-year reunion. I'm hoping I will get to go and see some of my old high school buddies. I'm a totally different person than I was in high school, I've suddenly become outgoing and energetic and I'm sure half my class will be wondering if I've gone nuts or something, lol!

Also, the fiancé and I are going for our annual tradition of apple picking at Eckert's. It's so funny because we started doing that 2 years ago as well as going for the pumpkin picking in October, and its great to see the dramatic changes that have happened in both our lives. My fiancé has lost 30 pounds and kept it off for 2 years. He's about to graduate and he may have a job in the works. I won't reiterate all the changes I've been through but man, what a difference 2 years makes. And who knows what a difference 2 more years (actually, a year and 9 months til we get married) will make. :-)

I guess this will be a short entry, but you better bet I will be back after strength training (it's arms, shoulders, and abs day! Next one will be butt, chest, and legs day, which is always super hard after a long run.) and my evening bike ride to let you know how I did. I hope all of you have an awesome day!

P.S. I ran 22 minutes and 1.20 miles today! 22 on 22!

Day 16: School Daze

Morning everyone!

Survived my first day of school yesterday. It was actually quite a bit less traumatic than I thought it would be, both psychologically and food-wise. I thought it was going to be a huge adjustment since I hadn't even thought about school for three or four months, but I seemed to fit right in and was able to take notes. I was also okay for eating, I only ate a little and got full fast.

I seem to be plateaued at 216 again. I really do need to step up my game a bit because I had a busy weekend and I think I tend to gain weight over the weekends. My fiancé and I are becoming more active though which is a great thing. We do a lot of walking and such and we will be doing a 5K later on in September. :-) It will be the second of that run that I have done, and my fiancé's first of this one, though we did the Race for the Cure last July. It is an untimed race but I hope to beat my PR this next year and even run it.

I also hope to run for five minutes continually soon. That is my next goal. I ran for about 3 minutes the other day and got a bit tired after that. I want to eventually get to the point where I'm running all 20 minutes. And then I will add more! I want to be able to run a 5K, and eventually a 10K. I have a very awesome friend that regularly runs marathons and did a few ultramarathons recently; I would love to do that. My ultimate goal is to do a full triathlon. My fantasy and not-very-realistic goal is to be able to do an Ironman tri someday, but I don't know if that will actually happen. But first, to do the 5-minute run, lol. :-)

Welp, it's to the gym with me, and then to hang out with my best friend. Have a great day all and enjoy the weather!