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!

Day 54: Fun Day With My Bestie and More NSVs!

I had a much better day today. Yesterday I was feeling kind of bummed out for some reason, I didn't get to talk to my fiancé all day because I was out with my uncle having fun (and a fender bender, but we're both okay!). I take a ton of supplements and vitamins, plus two prescription meds, so I think I ended up missing one of them. Either way, I'm feeling much better today and ready to take on the world. :-)

I went out with my best friend today. She and I like to go shopping, and she works in retail so she gets discounts in one of my favorite stores! I keep hoping she'll buy me a cool peacoat once they arrive and I drop a few more pounds. I absolutely love this particular store's peacoats! I used to wear a long trenchcoat every year but then the buttons cracked! No bueno. Anyhoo, we went to a few different stores and I wanted to get some new clothes since all my clothes are falling off of me! We went to H&M first and I went for this crazy gorgeous sweater in a size L. I also went for another top in a size L. The top fit, but I'm still a bit self-conscious about my tummy and didn't feel comfortable wearing it just yet. But I tried on the sweater and it fit perfectly, it was actually a bit loose on me! I decided to purchase it. It looks super awesome and I will post pictures soon.

We went to another couple of stores, one of my favorite places for bras and other goodies. I was surprised to find out that a size 38DD bra fit me! I have been trying to get into that bra for ages, it's been there awhile and the last time I tried it on it was super tight and nearly snapped off! But today I tried it on and it was a perfect fit! No armpit bulge either. :-) I didn't buy it though since even on clearance it was $34. Maybe next time. :-)

I also had a good time running this morning. I decided that I was going to run for 25 consecutive minutes, as my C25K app indicated. I was having a ton of problems with my previous app randomly resetting as soon as I would open it and the screen blacked out. I decided to use RunDouble and Runtastic for my run and they worked a lot better. I still want one of those Polar or Garmin watches though! I ran a total of 2.3 miles, with 1.3 miles of those being ran miles. I usually walk an additional 2 miles after my run, but it was already 78 degrees outside when I ran and super hot! I was sweating like a maniac!

You can tell I was super sweaty!

 

My fiancé is spending the weekend with me. I am so excited! I always miss him when he's not here and now he will be coming. He is doing the last day of his externship and it will probably not end in a job offer. But he seems to have learned a lot, and is proactively searching for a job. I'm so proud of him! We are going to cook this weekend! We will probably go to the Farmer's Market after I go running and find some goodies to cook with. Nothing like fresh produce! It is the best. :-)

 

I hope you all have an awesome weekend. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

Day 53: Changes and Yes, More Progress Photos!

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

Day 51: Upping the Ante

I started off my workout this morning with the C25K W6D2. I was expecting all the workouts for the week to be the same, as they usually were for the past five weeks. Imagine my surprise when I look at the workouts and it says to do 2 10-minute blocks of running! I have never done that much running before, except on the treadmill some time ago. I suddenly got nervous and seriously considered doing the W6D1 again. I thought for sure that I would not make it. But I decided to try it anyway. To my surprise, I was able to do both 10-minute blocks without stopping, for a total of 20 minutes of running. I'm not going to lie, I was definitely out of breath and definitely considered stopping a few times. But then I would look at the clock and say, I'm halfway, I've got 3, 2, 1... minutes left, and so on and so forth. That has always gotten me through some difficult runs. Some folks think it's counterintuitive to look at the clock, that you should just enjoy the run. And I do! There are times when I look at the scenery and just love running. Other times I'm so out of breath that it's a struggle to get through it! I find that looking at the clock gives me a goal. :-)

I was definitely sweating after that workout.

 

I decided to up the ante and walk an additional mile for a grand total of 2.55 miles. It got easier as I went on, and I would have gone longer than that except it began to drizzle a little and I was concerned about my cell phone getting completely drenched or at the very least a little moody, so I packed up my gear and headed home. (Much to my dismay, it stopped raining as soon as I left! :-P)

 

I was a little sore after my workout, and I decided to take a little break. I drank my protein shake and did some homework, and texted my fiancé for a few hours. Then I got bored. Mind-numbingly bored. I am low on fuel and have to wait to fill up the tank again, so I've mostly been at home all day. I got the crazy idea to ride on my dad's stationary bike for a little while, since it is in the basement anyway and so am I, most of the time. I thought that I would do a short 10-minute ride and be done with it, but as usual I made bets with myself (as in, I bet I can go longer than 10 minutes!) and ended up doing 9.11 miles in 36 minutes. Not a bad deal, though I have to admit I'm still a bit sore. Sometimes I do two workouts on the bike for a total of 1 hour, but since I have been upping my run time I'm just going to stick with 36 minutes.

 

I hope everyone has a good day. Be blessed, and go outside! :-)