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 26.2: And On The Nineteenth Day, She Rested

I'm feeling a bit better thanks to getting some chemistry homework out of the way and it just being quiet around the house for a change. I'm enjoying sitting around reading everyone's blogs and leaving comments, and just doing things that don't hurt. After a huge welt on my... back end... from the 47 minutes of biking last night, and sore knees from running 15 days in a row, it feels good to take a rest day. And surprisingly, as I rest my weight goes down instead of up! I was expecting the weight to come creeping back on if I didn't exercise. But I guess that's more of a long term thing, which is good.

I have gotten back on my antidepressant, which I'm not sure if it is making me feel better or worse. I have not been on it for two weeks now, and the scrip just came back up for refill (I lost almost a full bottle in Illinois somewhere while I was at my best friend's party. I tried to refill it and received a snarky message that my insurance carrier was not going to pay out for a lost bottle and they would not refill it for another 14 days. No bueno.) Either way, we will see if they turn me into a blabbering emotional wreck^200 again. This particular antidepressant has not caused any problems with my weight loss, in fact it makes my weight drop off twice as fast when I'm exercising regularly. Go figure. :-P

Tomorrow my fiancé is coming over, yay! We will watch a movie from home on Saturday and do our annual apple picking outing on Sunday after church. Either way, it will be very HOT. The Honeycrisps came out earlier because of the unseasonably mild weather for most of the winter, and so we are picking them in very early September instead of late September. We will also go back for the pumpkin picking in October, which is another of our traditions. I don't think we have ever eaten much of our fruit bounty except while we're out there picking. (Though I've never eaten a pumpkin whilst picking another pumpkin. That just sounds hard to do. And messy! :-D)

My birthday is in 16 days. I will be turning 29, one year away from the big 3-0. That kind of frightens me a little, and a little sad that I've wasted my twenties just sitting around being depressed and stuffing my face. That's no fun at all! Hopefully my 30s will treat me a little better. :-)

Well, I am going to work on some more chem homework and shower, but not while doing the chemistry homework, lol. Be blessed all and have a great labor day weekend! :)

Day 24.5: I'm an Overcomer!

My ankle is doing much better after a lot of walking today with my friend, which made me suspect it was not properly stretched or just cramped up from all the running. I went in the gym today and knocked out 8.57 miles on the bike between 80-88 RPM. I lowered the resistance level ever so slightly (from 6 to 5) but it didn't seem to make too huge of a difference. I feel amazing and look forward to my next cardio/strength day on Friday! :-)

I have realized today what a different person I am now. I tell people when they hurt my feelings or I feel they've overstepped their bounds and I am no longer shy about it. I am not necessarily mean, but whoever is bothering me knows that I am upset. It is so weird to finally be able to say that I am an assertive person. I have never been an assertive person, and I thought I would never be an assertive person. It just doesn't run in my family; my mom literally took a college credit course on how to be assertive and interact with people. I never did find out her grade though, lol. Either way, I am making new strides physically, emotionally, and spiritually and it feels great.

I am almost out of supplements after two months of using them. It's time to visit Jake at Supplement Superstores and restock. You may think I'm weird for my supplement obsession, but I honestly will not go anywhere else except S2 for them. Complete Nutrition always kind of scares me in the mall because every time I walk by there, the guys inside there give me creepy eyes!!! Either they think I'm hot or they think I'm a good candidate for a sale. I briefly considered going in there but the same dude was there with the creepy eyes and I was like, nooooo, moving along now. If you live anywhere near St Louis, visit Supplement Superstores ASAP. If for no other reason that they give you free samples, lol. :-D

I have become obsessed also with the Healthy Choice Café Steamers. They are portable and great after a long workout when a heavy meal is just too much. I love the pasta, but I am branching out and trying some meat entrees (bad former vegan Shelly!) because I love having a variety of food. Cause trust me, nothing will make you stall out faster than eating the same thing every night. I remember when I was a teenager trying a weird version of a diet and literally eating the same thing every day (at only about 800 calories a day, don't try this at home, kids!) and never lost a thing. In fact, I think I gained because my body was in starvation mode. Now I eat a variety of things at ~1700 calories a day. :-)

Anyhoo, I am full of talking today and I think it's time to get some food. Be blessed all and have a fantastic day!

Day 24: Praise You While I'm Sore

My ankle is injured! No bueno. I don't exactly know what happened except that it is bruised, and does not respond well to walking. It does better when I run instead of walk (I guess cause I tend to land more on my heel when I walk and more on the ball of my foot when I run!) but I'm not going to be dumb and try to pound out a 24-minute run today. I ran for about 10 minutes, which is about half of what I'm used to running. I am going to do some cardio/strength combos tonight that don't directly involve my ankle so I'm going to do those at full strength. Today is legs/thighs/chest/butt day which really sucks when you're an active runner and biker! But I persist because I love the way my calves look! They are shapely and beautiful. :-)

I lost 2 lbs today, but the gym scale has been recalibrated to weight what my mom's scale does! It would normally weigh me at 210 because of the way it was calibrated yesterday but today it weighed me at the exact same weight! I was totally bummed out, but hopefully it will be at 20 lbs tomorrow. I am so ridiculously close it's crazy! I'm around 18-19 lbs lost, which is great but I can totally get past that! Because of my persistence I have shattered several plateaus and if I get down to 212.0 on my mom's scale I have completely obliterated the whole plateau and the 5-6 lb cycle I have been doing for weeks now. So I am hoping for another whoooooosh. :-)

I am so excited about how my life is going, despite the few minor setbacks I described above. I remember a few weeks ago pondering life as a Christian and wondering if Joyce Meyer was right, that God would give me a better life if I loved him. Looking back, saying YES to Jesus was one of the best decisions I have ever made! I am amazed at how my life continues to change for the positive.

I love being back at church and serving God in different ways. I'm going to help serve at a mission project which involves filling bags with rice, protein, and vegetables for those in need in Haiti. We are going to fill ~40,000 bags of rice mix and they will be shipped to Haiti! There is also this whole missions weekend and I am definitely going! Because of school and the way my schedule is set up it is very difficult for me to go overseas, but I hear there are some local projects that will be available. I love volunteer work of all sorts, so helping in this field sounds fantastic to me. I am also attending a class that the church is offering in September about the privileges of being a church member. I'm so excited about all of this.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day and knocks out some good exercise. If you're injured like me, be smart and take it easy. Never settle for getting hurt worse. Be blessed all!

Day 23: And It Was A VERY Good Day

Oh my goodness! I saw 212 on the scale this morning! It was on my gym scale that always measures me a little light, but I am so ridiculously excited! I screamed (quietly, as I was in a public place, lol) when I saw that number. Plateau has bitten the dust and 19 lbs along with it. I also ran 1.24 miles, 23 minutes, and burned 133 kCals. I'm so proud of my progress and I'm one pound away from 20!!! :-)

I was happy to see my first piece of motivational mail today. I heard from this wonderful person at a forum I have attended for over 5 years. She told me she had read my blog and that she was inspired by me and that I had motivated her to go work out. I almost cried, I was so happy to hear that. That has been my goal all along, to help inspire others and now I'm getting closer to doing that. Because it's great fun to go running and lose weight, it's so much more fun when you can take a few people along with you. :-)

I will get to see my little sis ride horses for the first time today. For those of you who don't know, my sister has a severe form of autism and although she is very even-tempered and easy to get along with (and one of my best friends!) she is completely nonverbal and is prone to depression because she can't communicate effectively. But from what I've heard from my mom, she feels very much in her element when she rides horses, she smiles and is excited and her depression lifts. That sounds great and I can't wait to see her ride! I will definitely take pics with my cell phone camera and play proud sis for a little while. Then my sister will ride home with me and we will hang out for a bit. I think she will take a snooze for a bit and I will work on my chemistry homework, but I love hanging out with her. :-)

Well, I have to get ready and throw some makeup on before I go to Wentzville. I wish you guys the best in your workouts and thank you to all my new patrons! So excited to see more traffic to the site. Have a fantastic day all!

Day 21: Lucky Treadmills and Blessed Sundays

I ran 21 minutes on what I have now figured out is my "unlucky" treadmill. I usually use the brand new treadmill that my gym has because it's my favorite. I can go 20 minutes plus at 3.2 mph. Today that treadmill was taken and there was an insane amount of people in the gym for it being a Sunday, so I decided to suck it up and go on the little-bitty treadmill adjacent to the door. It was a dinky thing and wouldn't have allowed me to stick my arms at my sides if I was any wider. And man... I couldn't even get above 3.0, was sweating profusely and grabbing the side bars some of the time (I hate doing that... it's wimpy running, lol!). Next time, I'm using my lucky treadmill and knocking out 22 minutes! :-)

I also went to church for the first time in six months to a year. Before, I am ashamed to say I had ulterior motives for going to church, but now I go cause I like the people there and totally enjoy the church's minister. He shouts a lot and is very interesting to listen to. Today he spoke on joy, and how we have joy through having a relationship with Christ and how sometimes things may be rough but Christ wins in the end, citing extensive passages from Revelation. I always thought Revelation was super cool, with Christ riding in on a white horse to save the world. I don't know how literal Revelation is but I think it would be super cool to see Jesus ride in on a white horse and banish Satan to the Lake of Fire. God sure does know how to write an awesome epic. :-D

Tonight I'm going to a potluck supper at the church. I don't have any food for it, but I am looking forward to fellowshipping and getting to know some of the people at my church. I know some of the people in my Sunday School classes, I know the people I sit with on the right side of the church, and I know the associate pastor and music minister, but potlucks are fun because you get to know a variety of people. I just have to, as my 11th grade Geometry teacher often said when we left, make good choices! Eat less and fellowship more. Should be interesting to put my social and eating skills to the test, lol.

Well, I've got to get back to chemistry homework, which was what I got online to do to begin with! :-D I hope everyone has a blessed day and I will see you guys tomorrow! :-)

Day 20: 20th Day, 20 minutes!!

I'm so ridiculously psyched. I just ran for the "elusive" 20 minutes and for my first mile! Well, technically a mile and a tenth, but who's counting, right? :-D

My day started out kind of sucky. I have been doing things right but since I got off antidepressants I am ridiculously stuck at 217 again. I just think I will be at this weight for awhile, until my body gets used to being off antidepressants. Either way, to see the same number on the scale everyday is super frustrating! I reluctantly went running, still a bit upset from the scale number. I listen to Christian radio a lot of the time on the way to my run, and Third Day's "I Need a Miracle" came on. I said to God, kind of flippantly, "A miracle would be good." I was just being silly, but God gave me some amazing things to be thankful for. I'll share some with you:

1) I can see! (And just getting new specs, you really appreciate being able to see.)
2) I can hear moderately well.
3) I can walk.
4) I can run like nobody's business.
5) I have good things to eat.
6) I have clean water and will not get sick if I drink tons of it.
7) I am doing well at college.

And the list goes on... but my spirits were incredibly lifted. I felt energized and happy and I knocked out 20 minutes on the treadmill! God is good.

Oh, speaking of new specs, here is a photo of me with said new specs:

 

 

I totally love them! They make me look so stinkin' cute. And I had to wait 4 days to get them so I'm very grateful to have them. I'm also grateful because my original glasses broke 3 months ago and I wasn't able to replace them. I wore a pair that I wore when I was 15 and I couldn't see very well AT ALL. So now my scrip is the intended power and I can see just fine. (By the way, excuse the lack of makeup and the post-workout hair. I had just done a workout and when you sweat profusely, makeup is a bad idea!)

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I know I will. God bless!

Day 17: Girl on Fire

I can't believe it! I blasted through my plateau today and weighed in at 213.6. At my lowest I was around 214.8 so I am both shocked and pleased. Let me tell you though, I only weighed once! :-D

I also have been running like crazy for the past few days. I started out doing running and walking, about 10 minutes or so, then I did it for 3 consecutive minutes, then 6, and today I ran for 10 consecutive minutes (and 2 seconds). My goal is eventually to get to where I'm running 30-40 minutes at a time and am able to strength train along with it. Cause honestly, when I get done running I don't want to do anything else right away. That is why generally I run in the morning and strength train at night. :-)

I have been watching a lot of inspirational videos lately. Not my traditional Joyce Meyer obsession (she is an amazing speaker, the jury is still out as to whether I believe in God or not but I do enjoy learning about Christianity) but some weight loss videos on YouTube. My favorite is this one here which I believe has a website that you can access from the page. I have always enjoyed watching Before and After videos, and this chica is completely relatable. A lot of the folks on YouTube are older and have kids or grandkids and want to lose weight for them, so its nice to see someone younger on there as well. :-)

I am going in to see a career counselor on Tuesday to see if she can set me up with a job, preferably something that utilizes my Technical Writing degree. Yup, I have a BA in Technical Writing but as of yet have been unable to use it except for my occasional contributions to the Examiner and a brief contract job for a museum. I did insurance for a time but I have learned I don't like customer service. And cold calling is horrible! You get hung up on, sworn at, insulted, and all kinds of fun stuff. So, hopefully I can find something that suits me and uses my degree. Wish me luck! :-)

Well, that is all for now, gotta get ready for school. Have a great day all! :-)