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 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 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 34: Exhausted My Witty Title Budget

Evening all, just a quick post before I go to bed.

My fiancé and I had a very packed day after running around like crazy people. We went lasertagging out in Belleville, and I placed fifteenth and Bryan placed fifth, but my team won. We had a very competitive team, I had two kids curse at me using kiddie curses because they had taken hits while invisible. Well, yeeeeah... invincible and invisible are not the same thing, kiddos. There is a certain amount of mortality involved in the latter. ;-) We then went home to get something to eat but my parents were keen on yelling at the fiancé and I because we had come home while they were cleaning. In my stuff, without asking me anything. They just went down there and started going through my stuff and throwing out what they didn't like. They also threw out my good pumpkin soap, so now I have no soap. :-( So the fiancé and I went to the galleria, and I walked around with my purse up around my chest because in addition to getting into all my stuff, they had started getting into my.... personal effects... and I couldn't find any of my bras. (TMI, I know.) I kept telling the fiancé that this was like the nightmare I have had where I'm walking around trying to find clothes.

Anyhoo, we went home and found that my parents had taken their leave after making a mess of the downstairs, so we watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I was determined I would make it through the end of the movie without covering my eyes and shaking at the very end of the movie (and those who have seen the end of any Indiana Jones movie know what I'm talking about!), and of course it was an epic fail. And Mom chewed me out for being scared and saying "OMG," so yeah, another night in my house. :-)

Tomorrow I am going for another run. I need it after all this drama with the family. But Bry and I have been making some rudimentary wedding plans like for dresses and music and stuff. I'm very non-traditional in that I HATE traditional wedding music with a passion. I think its cheesy and annoying, and I can remember way too many Sundays where I have had to sit through bad organ music. Our wedding will be light and fun and very non-traditional, and I want to have kind of a big shindig at the end of the ceremony. And I'm getting "Living Dead Girl," in there somewhere, by goodness. (My favorite Rob Zombie song) Anyhoo, it was fun doing some rudimentary planning.

Well, I gotta go to bed for now. I hope everyone has a good night.

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 27: Adding Minutes To My Life

First of all, gotta show you my progress pics!

 



I can tell a huge difference even this month seeing the pics side by side like that. And look how much smaller my arms are compared to the previous picture! I can really tell a difference even in a slightly different position. One of these days I will take a pic where you can actually see my face, lol!

It's crazy how much weight I've lost just from amping up my workouts. I've literally dropped 8 lbs and almost 2 shirt sizes in just over two weeks! My entire weight loss for the month of August was 10.4 lbs, which was great since most of that loss was at the end of the month. :-)

I have also brought back another idea, which was the "Pounds Lost" jar. It was actually supposed to be a "Pounds to Lose... Pounds Lost" set but I have never found the other jar, lol. I may actually do some shopping around later in the week and see if I can't find another one that looks sort of the same. It was kind of an indication of the different type of person I was at the time, that I worked so hard on the first jar and then kind of gave up on the second one! I wish it was that easy to lose the actual pounds that the jar was supposed to have in it! lol. I also had a friend that I went to high school with suggest putting a set amount of change in the jar (e.g., quarters, dimes, nickels) so that when you lose the weight you have money towards something new! All I really keep around is pennies so I would have about $1.06 when I got done. :-D Yup, I've still got 84 pounds to go before goal but I am making progress!

Here is a picture of the jar:

 

It is much more full than before! When I started it I had 11 stones in the jar and now I have 22! I have doubled my weight loss from when I used it last. :-) I would love to do different color stones for each 10-11 lbs but we'll see how it goes. It would be cool to have a rainbow in there. :-)

 

I also did a nice light workout today, 5.4 miles on the bike. I will do a 15-20 minute run later on today and will do a bit of strength training tonight before the fiancé comes over. I did it this way for a few reasons: firstly, because I wanted to take it a little easier and not do two super hard workouts in a row. I'm basically doing two light workouts and one hard one in the middle. That way I won't be super exhausted and sweaty at the beginning AND end of the day. Secondly because I want to confuse my body a little bit! I have done the workouts pretty much the exact same way each time and my body will eventually get used to it. I don't want that to happen, especially after some major plateauing at the beginning. :-)

 

I hope everyone has a great day! I will hopefully be posting for a second time later on tonight (the fiancé understands my obsession with this blog, and I think he enjoys seeing the photos, :-D) and adding day 16 to the 50 Days of Running challenge! Be blessed all!

Day 22.5: Ticker Tape Parade!

I love the Newsboys! I stole that phrase from "Million Pieces," which has to be my favorite song. I remember seeing the Peter Furler-led Newsboys in 2005 and they shot confetti everywhere when they sang that song. Good times. :-)

Kind of the way I feel today.

I had my every-other-day cardio/strength combo today. If you've never heard of this particular brand of madness, I have my running every morning and then I go back every other evening for cardio/strength combo. I do my strength training first, doing different muscle groups each time. On the first day I do arms/shoulders/back/abs; and on the second day I do butt/chest/legs/thighs. I usually do free weights at the end of every workout for 3-4 minutes. Then I bike for 25-30 minutes. The total damage is usually 30-40 minutes and very sore whatever I'm working out. It's especially true on the second day when I'm running, working my legs, and biking! I usually can't walk comfortably for several hours afterward. :-)

I hope you like my tickers on the side! The bottom one is the 50 days of running challenge. My friend initiated this whole thing and I think it is absolutely brilliant. I have made it through 11 days thus far and I admit there are some days where I don't want to do it, but I always feel so good afterward that I continue. The second is the Onederland by Halloween. For those of you who don't know, Onederland means that you are out of the 200s, usually 199 when its being measured. By October 31st, I would like to be to 199. It's not too lofty of a goal, it's about 16 lbs from where I am now, but it would be super cool to see a 1 before the last two numbers! I haven't been 199 for about 3 years, and I would love to see that number again. So anyway, the two tickers measure the progress I have made each day. I host my tickers at LilySlim which is has a number of tickers, not just for weight loss and exercise. Go check them out and add them to your FaceBook or blog!

I am keeping it simple this evening, since I have some chemistry homework to take care of. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening!

Day 19.5: Bye-bye Vegan365 and Hello New Site

Sad news, folks. Vegan365 is now officially closed after 1 year of keeping it up. I hope you all won't be too disappointed, I rarely eat meat and generally if I do its seafood or chicken, but I need protein for my long runs and bike riding. If I don't eat some form of protein after working out, I feel horrible the rest of the day. So, all that to say Vegan365 is on permanent hiatus. But please consider following this site as well! We'll have a good time and enjoy ourselves. :-)

Speaking of, my fiancé dropped by unexpectedly and we watched a movie together. We actually watched the new Muppet movie, which was pretty good. None of the original folks were on board, Jim Henson passed away ages ago and Frank Oz wasn't in it, so I was disappointed in that. I couldn't figure out why Fozzie Bear sounded so... unlike himself, lol. I found out they have a whole new crew of people doing the voices. They had some of the oldies but goodies in there like "Rainbow Connection" and the theme song from the show. Yes, the fiancé and I love kids movies, what it do? We were so excited to see Planes cause we were such big fans of Cars and Cars 2. 29 going on 4. :-D

I managed to drag my butt to the gym after being sore this morning and managed to pump out 5.61 miles on the stationary bike, obliterating my previous record. I burned about 182 calories (not that I was counting ;-) ) and walked out on wobbly legs. That's why I'm always so grateful for my protein bars after a workout. I keep hoping I'll have enough money to go to S2 and stock up, but I will have to wait til next week I think, until the last paycheck from my previous job comes in. :-) I have seen this fruit loop protein powder, and it looks wicked awesome. 1st Phorm even put out a recipe to make the fruit loop protein powder into frozen yogurt! I will have to try that sometime.

Well, it's about time for me to get ready for bed, I hope everyone has a fantastic evening.

Day 18: Kickin Butt And Taking Names

Day Five of the running streak! I have gone 10-10, 3, 6, 10, and today I ran for 12 minutes. It's not exactly doubling my time but I reckon that as I clock more and more minutes I will have to add a few minutes at a time. I am still trying to hit that elusive goal of 20 minutes of running and trying to add more time every day.

I also gave up caffeine, entirely by accident. :-) I have been drinking flavored water for about 2 or 3 weeks, and I realized yesterday that I had drank no soda at all, just drank water and was fine with it. So I thought, what the hey, I'll just stop drinking soda. So I have and have my cup with a V on it (it originally stood for Vegan to promote my blog, but since I am no longer updating the blog I just carry it around for fun) filled with lots of water. It's a 24 oz Tervis water bottle and I am totally geeked out about it.

I made this really great little fruit salad today. My mom was serving eggs with way too much fat added to it in the form of sausage and LOTS of cheese (yuck), and I wasn't really interested in that after a 12-minute run. So I threw together a can of mandarin oranges, a handful of blueberries and slivered almonds, and some Greek yogurt. It was delicious and more nutritious than my mom's eggs and sausage. :-D I will post a picture of it the next time I make it and give a more detailed recipe.

Well, this is a short entry since I have class in a few minutes. Have a great day all and I'll catch you later today. :-)

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!

Day 14: One, Two, Skip A Few...

Hey guys!

I skipped a day or two since I have been busy! My fiancé and I spent the entire weekend together, we went to Castlewood and walked the mile trail. I got some angry spots on my feet and sand in my shoes but we had an awesome time. The next day we went out to eat and watched Courageous at home since my feet were still sore. By today my feet had healed up so we walked along the riverfront at Festival of the Little Hills. We had a great time and hung out at Picasso's as well, which is my favorite place to hang out on Main St besides Jake's on Main (AKA the Life is Good shop). We went there as well.

So, needless to say, the weekend has been very busy. And tomorrow I start school at college taking my very first class towards my Biology degree. I haven't decided if I want to go into Marine Biology or Microbiology yet, but either one sounds great to me. If I got a Microbiology degree I could work at Monsanto or a biopharmaceutical company, and if I was a Marine Biologist I could work at an aquarium or go sailing on the ocean. That sounds a lot more exciting than dealing with people, lol. I am by nature a researcher and not into customer service, so a type of degree where interaction with people would be minimal sounds utterly fantastic to me. :-D

Speaking of school, I'm not sure how it will go with food. I love the food at my college, which is mostly unhealthy stuff. They also have lots of events at the college with free food and drink (served in Frisbees, no less) and food trucks from time to time. So I will have to keep a tight reign on what goes into my mouth. Thankfully the BMR Bliss helps with the really wonky cravings (I don't usually eat sweets or really salty food) and keeps my appetite to a minimum.

I hope everyone has a great night! I will be nervous about school but I know all will be well.

Day Four: My Worky-Work

I started my new job today. Came in to sign some paperwork and earned $17. I hope this will be a fantastic job. Everyone seems really nice though.

I'm sorry for not posting for awhile. I had an anonymous person somewhat insult my other blog, Vegan365, because I pay for my own products to review. They said because of that it was a fake blog and they weren't going to sponsor my reviews. So as soon as I get my paycheck from my first two weeks of work, I will continue to pay for my review products. I don't really mind doing that, I just think of myself as a guinea pig of sorts and enjoy putting money into a habit I feel passionate about.

My weight loss has been going fairly well, at least going down steadily. Due to family issues I haven't been able to work out for the past few days, and even thought I would have to move out of state for awhile. Thankfully, things seem to be going alright with the family for a change. So I can concentrate on continually losing weight.

My nutrition counselor at S2 said to consider using protein powder and consider doing weight training. I can dig both really, I have wanted to try some vegan protein powders and use them with some coconut milk and ice and make some smoothies. It seems pretty cool to me. I also used to weight train when I was really gung-ho about working out every day.  I am still using BMR Bliss Go Pack which is BMR Bliss, Thyro-Drive, and Downtime PM. I still get hungry and eat more sometimes but it is considerably less frequent. It's not like every meal is a banquet but having a nice meal from time to time is good.

I hope to keep this blog updated regularly as long as I'm not working. I work 8-hour shifts so I may not be available every single day to update the blog. But I definitely will check in at least once a week to let you know how things are going.