Catching up

It's been awhile! Between difficult classes, work, and normal day-to-day stuff, this semester has really gotten away from me. I hit the halfway point a couple of weeks ago and I can't even believe that the year is almost over. But, I do intend to be more intentional about updating this little corner of my world. 

Not too much has changed. I love love love my new job at the Career Center. I get to talk to people all day, which is pretty awesome. This includes talking to students that are just as confused about what direction to go in their life as I was when I changed majors a year and a half ago. Plus I work with some pretty fun people. I also got to work at my job back home during Spring Break. Boy did I miss everyone! 

And of course there's the insane amount of schoolwork I feel like I'm always doing and time set aside for friends. It's been really fun, but I have definitely missed blogging and keeping ya'll in the loop on life.


I have kept up with my running, working more on speed than distance as I prepare for my first 5K (!!!) two weeks from this weekend. I'm really excited about it! I wanted to wait until it was a little warmer out because of how my lungs reacted at the last race. So, April 6 I will be running the Point of Honor 5K. It's all about raising awareness for organ donation and that is something I really believe in because it has affected multiple generations of my family. My friend Deana has been training with the Couch to 5K program and is going to run the race as well! It's all super exciting stuff and I can't wait!

At my dad's surprise party over break

Spring Break was definitely a test on eating balanced at home. Aside from various surprise parties, it was mostly how normal day-to-day life will be this summer so I wanted to try to eat how I would eat then. Of course I ate way more junk than I was planning on (namely, donuts) but that's okay. It's a learning process. I made smoothies for breakfast like I do here, experimented with muffin recipes, put spinach on my pizza (not half bad!) and was intentional about picking a lower calorie meal that tastes good and will fill me up when eating out. When I weighed myself in after break, I was about the same as before so I am feeling more confident in how this summer will play out.  

And that brings me to maintenance mode. I can proudly say I have maintained the same weight (aside from some normal fluctuations here and there) since January 23rd! Almost 2 months! I have a "healthy range" for maintenance but honestly I haven't even had to depend on that because for whatever reason I can eat as much or little as I want and not gain/lose anything. I'm not complaining though! Sure I haven't made it to "goal" but I'm only a couple of pounds off, so I am content. And so incredibly proud. I see some of my friends making changes because of me and at the end of the day, that's what makes me the happiest: helping others realize their goals as well. 

30!

Well, yesterday morning was weigh-in and I was sooo nervous. Last Wednesday I weighed and I was up 1 pound and while that's not a huge deal, it was slightly devastating in my meladramatic mind. I do think I was holding on to a lot of water weight and that gain was probably because I hadn't run in a week or so and muscle stores water when you start a new workout routine (or something like that).

So, I decided to not weigh myself again until yesterday (even though my normal weigh-in day was Saturday morning). It was awful to resist, but I did it. I was nervous though because I ate like crap a good 50% of the week. I had cookies, chocolate, lots of Chinese food, and a donut from Dunkin' on Tuesday afternoon. I sucked it up and did it anyways and I lost 3.7 pounds! SAYYY what?! Of course some of it was losing that water weight, but it was still very exciting to see! I'm officially at 30 pounds lost and less than 2.5 from goal! It feels so good.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to run a 5K distance on the treadmill for the first time ever. I can run 2.75 miles at a steady pace and a 5K is 3.1 so it'll be just a few extra minutes of running. I'm due for an increase in distance anyways. The reason why I picked the last day of my "workout week" to increase distance (usually that's done at the beginning) is because this blogger I follow, Katie at Runs For Cookies, (check out her blog, she's super inspirational) is hosting a "Virtual 5K" for her birthday. It's pretty awesome that it fell right in time with me being near hitting a 5K distance so I decided to do it! 

This will be my "unofficial" first 5K (hopefully my real first one will be soon!), which is awesome because it's still way too cold out for me to participate in an outdoors race and not get super sick again thanks to my sweet lungs. Am I crazy? Probably. Am I excited? You know it!

What's next after I hit the goal I've been set on since October? I'm not sure yet. Originally, I was just running and eating better so I could hit this goal but I'm finding that I like it a lot better than being lazy and the way I feel after I eat a lot of junk. Maybe I'll just modify it to be at more of a "maintenance" level. I am going to attempt to run further/faster (first I'm focused on further though!). Also, I want to try toning a little better. I am terrified of using weights (not for any rational reason, I just don't like going into weight rooms) so I'm going to attempt some non-weight stuff for the time being then maybe buy some small ones or get over my fear. Who knows. 

Those are the goals I want to focus on 2.3 pounds from now. It's good to have short-term realistic goals because they keep you motivated.

What are your goals?

Inspired by Others

When I take time to stop and think about it I realize how crazy it is that as the self-proclaimed "least athletic person" I am now running 5x/week. Honestly, it's pretty insane how I started out just exercising more to accompany eating right and now I'm pretty much addicting to running. It's kind of funny actually.

 What's awesome though is the number of friends of mine that have started becoming more active and even starting the Couch to 5K program because of little old me! Four of my friends have told me in past weeks that they have started as a result of my efforts and that just blows me away. Two of them will be running this intense race with me over the summer. :) And of course my family got gym memberships while I was home and I went to the gym with my parents a few times a week! The hard work of others is definitely motivating me to keep moving as well.

Yes, my cereal bowl does include a drinking straw

Anyways, I've become a big supporter of breakfast. I've always known breakfast was important but I'd just kind of eat it because it's bad to have coffee on an empty stomach (duh). But it's SO important to have breakfast or else your body goes into this crazy fat-storing starvation mode and nobody wants that.

My breakfast is becoming predictable though. 80% of the time I'll have oatmeal mixed with fruit and a very little bit of peanut butter. YUM. And the other 20% of the time I have Greek yogurt (It would be more if it wasn't so darn expensive!) or a fried egg on toast. Or both. All that is just to say that breakfast can be splendid and it really starts your day (and your metabolism!) off on the right foot.

The condition this treadmill was in made me miss the YMCA

Today I continued my interval running and I'm actually starting to notice a difference. When I started running for distance, I cut off all interval runs. That was okay, but it seemed to take a while to improve my distance without feeling like death. I've noticed a difference since adding intervals though and that was just last week! Yesterday's distance run went so much better than even shorter ones that I have done before. Also, I had to push the incline during today's run to get to the right level of nasty gross nobody-dare-look-at-me mess that I just love. All this to say, intervals really do help. Now only for it to get warm enough to do the non-interval runs outside! UGH.

On a completely random note: today I discovered Cold Turkey and I'm thinking it'll help cut my procrastinating back this semester...maybe? Time to go put it to use!

Determined to Succeed

I have been back at school since Saturday afternoon and I didn't realize how much I missed it here until I was back. But I'm going to be completely honest, I pushed off this blog post because I was ashamed in myself. And it's silly. I know most people won't get the way that I think but those who know me well for the most part understand. I am my worst critic and that is something I have been struggling with as far as I can remember. I automatically stress when I don't go above and beyond, it can be such a roadblock in my life. 

Anyways, that brings me to this week. I get back to school and I have met most of my goals. SO awesome. The only goal that I didn't meet was going to the gym 3 times/week because I was sick the last week I was home and it got to the point it was affecting my asthma. When I started running I made the commitment that I was not going to put my health on the line, so I rested until I could sit on the couch without wheezing and feeling like there was no air in my lungs. Real sweet feeling. 

I met all of my other goals. I should be happy, right? Not the case. I spent the beginning of this week beating myself up over so many things. Looking back I feel foolish but it's just my mentality. I hate my asthma and I was freaking out about how hard it has been for me to add distance. In perspective, many asthmatic people don't even attempt to run, so it should be something to be proud of. But I was just having such a hard time with that. Also, I'm five pounds from goal, which means I lost 3-4 pounds in the month I was home. That's fantastic for the time of year where most people are worried about putting on weight. But I was bummed that I didn't lose more and bummed because I feel like these last five pounds are going to take forever. How dumb is that? I've already lost close to 30 pounds but I'm beating myself up over 5??! In all honesty though, that's just the way my mind works. Putting it into perspective, I feel much better. 

All that to say--today I ran 2.5 miles straight! And to think a month ago I had never ran more than a mile straight! That was definitely the confidence boost I needed and put me right back on track. I've got this. Soon I'll hit 5K length then maybe I'll add more distance. I've also been working on speed again this week by adding in interval workouts, so fingers crossed that those help a little bit. I'm going to be realistic with speed because of my asthma, but it would be nice to be able to do a 5K in under 30 minutes. 

Yesterday's interval run! I didn't get a pic of today's 2.5, ugh!

Hopefully I'll have some exciting news soon! And to those of you that began school this week like me--happy first week back! 

Running in the Snow

Well yesterday I started doing something that I have been terrified to do since Day 1 of this whole working-towards-a-race thing: I ran OUTSIDE! And it felt so dang good!

I've been terrified for multiple reasons:
1. My asthma--this time of year the cold really quirks with my lungs and it's been super cold.
2. Dogs---I've read lots of stories about people being bit by dogs while running so I was a little terrified. 
3. Pavement---Okay I'm not really scared of pavement, but I've read how bad it is on your knees. I have researched some trails but I don't want to venture too far from home right away.

Right now I am planning on running my first race this spring and the weather was supposed to hit the 30's this week (SO warm compared to the negative numbers last week!) so I figured why the heck not.

Of course, yesterday's run was my worst nightmare as far as a first run goes though. I was antsy to go for a run before work but didn't have enough time to drive all the way to the gym and back and shower before I had to leave again for work.

Issue #1: My Nike+iPod app sucks. Seriously. I was planning on running around my neighborhood since it is a quiet loop and figured it was a quarter of a mile. I did a warm up walk once around and the app kept saying to walk around to activate my sensor. After the warm up lap it hadn't activated so I turned it off and put on my music to run with instead. So annoying.

Since I figured out each lap was about a quarter of a mile, I figured 4 laps would be one and I would see how I was feeling after that. I ended up doing 5 or 6 then decided to run on this other quiet road next to my loop to finish off the run. 

Issue #2: Big Dog. I was halfway down the road when this massive dog starts running down the road after me. AWESOME. So I screamed like a thirteen year old and kept going. 

Issue #3: Busy roads. I didn't want my first run to be on a busy road at all. I hit the end of the road and the road next to it is significantly busier. But there was no way around the dog. So I sprinted down that road, turned and sprinted on the next busy-ish road and was back into my development. What a workout!

If my app had been running, I'm almost convinced it would of read 3 miles especially after I learned how long my loop really is today. 

I downloaded this app: MapMyRun and it was perfect! Today was significantly colder but I decided to give the app a try and see how far I could go. I was able to set it to do half mile splits. After each mile a voice would come over my phone telling me I had run a mile, how much time had passed, and what my pace was. Since it was via GPS I trust what the distance was and it told me that each lap around the block was .35 miles! So I definitely had to of run 3 miles yesterday, woohoo!

Today's run was so much better than yesterday's! I ran 2.25 miles despite the cold and definitely could of done 3 if I wanted to push it. But I didn't, not yet at least. 

So yeah, there's a long boring post about running outside. I hope everyone's break is going well! I'm starting to get pumped to leave for school this weekend.

Christmas Time is Here

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I'm spending time with family these next few days- so much fun!

I have been super busy the past week and a half which is why it's been really hard for me to take time to blog. I pretty much worked full time last week which was necessary for my bank account but also enjoyable because I work with such fun people!

Anyways, I have also been stalling because I didn't want to jinx some of my goals, but here we go ;)

So far (*knock on wood*) I have gone to the gym three times/week. Actually, a little more. My family got a membership to the Y in town and it is right on my way home from work. It's perfect because I leave work at 3, go to the gym for a while, then go pick everyone else up from work, school, etc... 

I have yet to step on a scale, I'm waiting until after New Year's so that I don't freak myself out. I've been eating well but also treating myself since I did just survive a stressful semester after all. 

Running outside--- hoping to tackle that goal within the next few days! There was one day this week that would of been perfect but I chickened out. I just need to grow up and do it already. Ugh. 

And finally, the one I have been putting off announcing: I ran for two miles straight! Actually, I have done it like 3 or 4 times now. I'm so dang happy about this! The first time at the Y I ran for a mile/walk for half mile/half mile then ran for a mile/walk for 5 mins/ran until I hit 30 minutes (when the treadmill turns off). After this, I decided to be determined to do the whole two miles and I did. It's the furthest I think I have ever run, as sad as that is. Officially, Week 5 of the Couch to 5K has been tackled and it's time to up the ante. I will start Week 6 later this week to work on the distance as well as adding in some shorter interval runs to work on my speed.
Hopefully all goes well and I'll keep you posted!

Time to go do some prep work for tomorrow's dinner. Enjoy the time with family, Merry Christmas!

Setting Goals

As a direct result of Sunday's fiasco, I decided to take this week a little slower and I repeated Day One yesterday. Today (Tuesday) I was feeling much more confident so I moved onto Day Two and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting! I still felt like a gooey mess after, but it's progress. Day 3 is supposed to be running 2 miles straight. I don't know if I will do that or do 1.5 miles for a couple of days, then 2. I'm just not a fan of it suddenly going from 2 different 3/4 mile intervals to nearly doubling. We'll see though because I'm definitely going to repeat Day Two another time or two first.

Tomorrow I leave for Christmas Break! Woohoo! I'm a little excited that the semester is over. I really think being as active as I have been helped me endure finals week. Sitting still for hours on end builds up so much energy that I use to get distracted on the computer. Taking a break to run relieved some of that. Fantastic. 

My advice for getting through break without falling off the horse is to set some goals. Write them down and put them where you can see them every day, like your mirror. And tell others about the goals you are setting too, that way you are less likely to avoid them. It's just another way of keeping yourself accountable. :)

If you don't like running outdoors then researching a gym back home might be a good idea as well. I found some back home that I'm interested in that have student discounts and memberships that you only need to get for a month. It's perfect for my situation and I plan on becoming a member by Friday. Boom, goal.

So here are my goals between now and January 13:

1. Go to the gym at least 3 times/week
Since I will be paying for a gym membership (something I'm not used to) I don't think it will be difficult to at least guilt myself  into going, I'm pretty frugal. It will be nice to stick to a routine though, which is the whole purpose of this goal, keeping to a form of routine. 

2. Be within 5 pounds of goal weight
Right now, I'm about 8 or so pounds from goal weight. I originally had to lose 5 pounds over break. That would be awesome but I'm just not so sure about that happening. Being within five pounds would make me very happy though because then I could (hopefully) hit goal next semester! It would be a great way to start 2013.  

3. Run OUTSIDE
I'm terrified of running outside, especially if it is cold out. I just think I look so dumb which is why I don't want to be running around others as much as possible. But it's something I need to get over and my neighborhood is quiet and has a nice loop to run around. So, I want to pick a nice day to run around the neighborhood. If I do get comfortable with that then I can save some money this summer on another gym membership! (fingers crossed!)

4. Run for 2 miles straight
I am so close to accomplishing this goal! Being able to run for 2 miles would not only be the furthest that I have run (as far as I'm aware at least) but it would mean that I'm towards the end of this Couch to 5K business and can start working on speed! I'm a little excited because having to slow down during my workouts (as a result of adding distance) has really bummed me out because I feel so S-L-O-W compared to how I was running with intervals. 

5. Indulge in some treats, but have a plan of attack
All this basically means is that I am going to be a-okay with enjoying myself at parties and get-togethers with some yummy food. But, I want to keep it under control and not just eat because there is food in front of me. If I go into a social situation while keeping in mind that I am trying not to be excessive, then I will enjoy the party more and not go home with regrets later on. This really might be my hardest goal because I love sweets so much which is why I'm going to indulge a little.

6. Enjoy time with family and friends
That's what the whole point of being home is for! I am so excited to see everyone for a whole month and I am going to really treasure this time and relax. 

So those are my goals! I will definitely share about them as I keep going. I will definitely post as much as I can over break. Safe travels everyone.

Week 5

Finals week really got the best of me, which is why I haven't posted in a good five days. But I'm on the other end of that madness now, just one last assignment to do for an online class. Thank goodness!

I had this really well put together post planned out for this evening, but I just got back from the gym a while ago and since I am trying to be as real with you guys as possible, I thought maybe I'd write about that and maybe cover that topic tomorrow or something. 

Tonight I began "Day 1" of Week 5 on the Couch to 5K program. I had read on another blog that Week 4 was the worst one and I really didn't have too many issues with that last week. So, I was super confident going in to tonight's run. Let me tell you, they lied. I completely died on that treadmill tonight, no joke. Towards the end of my run tonight, I was breathing the hardest I have in months. I felt like I was for real going to have an asthma attack and of course tonight was also the first time I have ever forgotten my inhaler. Sweet deal. But there was no asthma attack, I'll just have to take Week 5 a little slower than planned. Needless to say, I came home and took a long shower and did a facial and just relaxed. I feel like tonight's run was some sort of accomplishment and I really am proud that I stuck with it and just kept going. That's not something I would normally say about exercise so it was a big moment.

Over the weekend, I had my first "real" soda in a good 2-3 months (besides the gingerale I had when I was sick). For me, one soda is normally a trigger to have about 2 more so I have been avoiding them all together. I couldn't even finish the whole one the other night and I haven't felt tempted to get another. That was some definite progress. 

By the end of this week I am supposed to be able to run 2 miles straight, the longest I have ever run. I am very excited, even if I will have to go pretty slow at first!