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! 

Catching up from Thanksgiving: A Variety of Thoughts

Thanksgiving break caused me to accidentally take a break from blogging. I would love to say I did it on purpose because I was eating so terribly, but that's only a half truth. ;) I did do really well for the most part though, more on that later.

I weighed in Friday morning before I went out for breakfast. I made a point because I was at the exact one month mark from when I began being more intentional about what I eat. And in that month I lost 11 pounds! So crazy! And I can definitely tell too, I really just feel much better than before. It's hard to explain, but it is a really good feeling.

Traveling home, I was really good about what I ate. And it got downright painful because of an awful toothache that made me want something soft like a burger and milkshake instead of the Chickfila salad I stopped for and carrots to snack on. Not a good time to be me. But I packed my little box of fruits and veggies and just munched on that while I drove and drank water and some lightly sweetened iced coffee. Besides my mouth yelling at me, it was a very good experience. I think I will pack ahead for the remainder of my trips because I was less tempted to get a candy bar when there was perfectly good (and more nutritious) food waiting for me in the car. The only thing I would change would be to put the apples in a different container than the grapes and carrots. Everything tasted like apple. Poor grapes.

And then I got home. The whole gym situation was difficult because I did not want to pay for a day pass at the Y and it was cold out. Honestly, I was just making excuses for myself. I did my core workout for a few days during break, so that was pretty good. Christmas break will be different because I can buy a month membership to a gym close to home that I researched over this break.

And food. Again, only myself to blame. I went grocery shopping with my mom so I was there to pick food out. As a result of this toothache, I am on some fun antibiotics that mess with my stomach. So, it was suggested that I have yogurt to combat that. Which is how I discovered Greek yogurt. So good. And healthy. The beginning of the week was very healthy for me, smart choices for lunch by me and my parents have been attempting to eat healthy too so overall I didn't mess up at all.

The second part of the week was crazier. My whole fam traveled a couple hours north so it was fast food and then we were baking for Thanksgiving so there were some sundaes (My first ice cream in a long time!) and some pizza. Not a shining moment. Thanksgiving itself was good. I got smaller portions than I usually do for Thanksgiving dinner and only filled my plate once. It wasn't even that intentional, I just get full faster now. Of course, I did have a little of everything, it was so good! I still have not had soda, which was incredibly tempting over break. I think the most sugary drink I had was a cappuccino, otherwise it was water or coffee.

I did get some clothes shopping in on Saturday with my mom! We were waiting in Albany for a friend of mine to arrive, so I got to hit up the mall. I'm down to a size 5 in pants, which is incredible. I have never been smaller than a 7/8. So that was a really good moment for me, especially because I have been wearing these size 10 A&F jeans that are huge on me (originally I could not fit into them only a few months ago, so weird to think about now). And all the tops I got were a good deal smaller than normal too. I'm happy to have clothes that fit me now! And yes, that picture to the left is of me in the fitting room being excited that I'm finally a "5" haha.

I did go back to the gym today-no more excuses. I did continue on the path my routine was going which involved pushing myself a little harder. I hadn't run in a week and a half so I'm pretty sore tonight. But oh well, back on track for me!

Hopefully all of your breaks were well and you didn't hit too many troubles on the way home. That picture on the right was one my brother took in southern New York yesterday afternoon. My drive was kinda crazy as it was quiet and snowy for the first couple of hours, then full of traffic with much less snow for nearly the whole rest of the drive. It was pretty though!

Until next time-keep positive and take action! Don't use the excuse of "I'll get healthy after the holidays." Start now, you'll be surprised how much you can accomplish between now and Christmas.

Traveling

In a day and a half I will make the drive from Virginia back home to New York for the first time in over three months. This is the longest I have been from home since this time freshman year, so I’m pretty excited.

One thing I have been contemplating though is how to try to make healthy choices during such a long drive. I can normally do the whole drive as long as I have a cup of coffee in my hand. And something to snack on, like chips, usually helps too. So, I was nervous about how I’m going to eat right come Friday while I’m traveling. I was able to manage a few good ideas though and they’re very budget friendly too.

Buy your snacks beforehand.

I think I’m going to be less tempted at convenience stores along the way if I already have my stuff packed up ahead of time. I have some leftover grapes and carrots from grocery shopping last week so I’m going to put a handful of those in a container as well as some cut up apples that I got from the dining hall these past couple of days as well. I have already paid for all of this food, so it will be a cheap snack that is better than digging into a bag of chips.

Avoid the soda by planning your drinks ahead of time.

Bring your water with you instead of buying it. That saves money and also it relieves the temptation of buying soda. For my caffeine fix, I’m actually bringing some Starbucks Via packets. Normally, I absolutely despise coffee but this is actually some really good stuff. It has three packets for around three dollars and it’s yummy iced coffee. It’s already pre-sweetened so I'm not adding a bunch of junk on it and the calories in it are very reasonable. Saving money and cutting calories. It’s all good.

So that’s my thoughts on snacking on the road. I’m still quite leery about lunch/dinner since it will definitely be fast food. Most fast food salads are full of sugar and lots of unnecessary stuff, but I may just have to bite the bullet.

Happy and safe travels this week!

Progress Update and Interval Workouts

       So I did my weigh in on Saturday and I was down another 3 pounds, which puts me on the other side of the halfway point of my weight loss goal! I know this last half is going to be harder than the first half, but I’m gonna stay positive and power through it.

        Today I want to share some good workouts and what I have benefited from up to this point. Starting out, I wasn’t really sure what to do. As a result, I kinda fumbled through my first few workouts until I really learned what was best in pursuing my goal. Hopefully my experience will save you some of that effort.

        I started off trying the Couch to 5K program. Several of my friends have used it and it’s worked well for them, plus I really want to become a longer distance runner. At the moment, my goal is to be in my first 5K during the spring semester. Here’s hoping!

     At the end of week 2 of the program, I was in bad shape. I’ve had really bad asthma since I could remember and I did have a few small attacks at the end of some of my workouts. So, I had to slow it down and repeat week one several times. I began increasing the speed and the incline on the treadmill as I was working out and eventually increased the length of the runs and length of the overall workout too. What I didn’t realize was that I was training myself using interval workouts. And once I read up on them, I became a strong believer. Here’s why:

       

         1. No asthma attacks! The break in between jogs gives my lungs a chance to catch up, so short bursts of intensity seem to be better for them than longer runs. Granted, over time it is getting better as I increase the length of my interval, but it has been better for my lungs to slowly become stronger in this way.

         

        2. They are so beneficial! I have read several studies that say that interval workouts burn 2-3 times more calories after the workout because of an “afterburn” effect that your body experiences. And I totally believe it because I am usually dripping with sweat by the end of interval 2 and I can normally feel some of the effects for a couple hours afterwards. It's intense.

Here’s a link to an interval workout, although I really just modify week 1 of the Couch to 5K program to an intensity that works for me. So modify and find out what works best for you! Especially if you're a beginner runner, start out slow and add intensity as you get better. I do this about 3 or 4 times a week and another couple of days are spent doing another modified interval workout on either a bicycle or elliptical. I like to keep workouts interesting so I do change it up quite a lot.

Also, I was pretty bad about toning as I lost weight. So, I buckled down these past couple weeks and began toning my stomach muscles so that I won’t look silly. I found this workout over the summer and I did it sporadically. Now I’m doing it about 3x/week and I’m noticing a difference! It isn't too difficult, really works my abs, and it doesn’t only target one area.

Hopefully these exercises will be helpful to you! Like I’ve said before- I really don’t spend much time at the gym because I can’t afford that much time out of my day. I only spend 25-40 minutes on cardio and the ab workout really only takes 15-20 minutes at the very most. All of this gives really good results as cardio is what is always suggested for weightloss, followed by some exercises to tone as well. As I start toning my legs, etc… I'll post workouts that I find beneficial.

That’s just some stuff I’ve learned and has helped so far, I’m sure my knowledge will increase on this stuff as I become more experienced, but this is a wonderful place for anyone to start in an effort for a healthier lifestyle. 

Freshman Year til Now

I decided before I get too far into this, that I should explain what I've done and how it has worked so far.

This is a picture of me about halfway thru my first semester at LU. Honestly, I did not gain the typical "freshman fifteen." . Of course, I wasn't the smallest then. I was probably somewhere around 150, and at 5'4" that's outside of the healthy weight category in most definitions. But I've always been okay with it and just wrote it off that I am just going to be who I am. I think I lost somewhere around five pounds first semester because I was walking all the time and I was going to a zumba class a couple days a week with some friends. I probably gained it all back second semester though as I became busier and things got really crazy. Sophomore year is about when I gained all the weight. And I don't mean that in an awful way, I just got super busy and there were many more takeout options available on campus that I took advantage of. I did go the gym, but it was more like once a week if I had time and I definitely did not push myself as hard as I should of. So I was eating all of this takeout food but not taking advantage of the gym we have on campus. Never a good idea. It was not a healthy and balanced life as it should be. I was stressing myself out, not sleeping as much, and eating terribly. It was not a good way to lead my life.
         I came to that realization this summer. I began attempting to diet. Unfortunately, I failed way more times than I succeeded. I would start a diet and swear to only have a salad for dinner (which was full of dressings that were doing more harm than good) but then someone would order pizza at work and of course I would have a slice or two. Or garlic knots. Or I would visit my friend on my way home at McDonalds and order a McFlurry because I knew she was closing. Just bad habits like that. Even exercising was scarce because I would not consistently leave time in my day to bike or do crunches or something to be active. Instead I would wake up, go to work, and then come home and go to bed. Again, full of bad choices for someone who was trying to lose weight. I probably lost a couple of pounds in the long run, but not as a result of consistency. The picture to the right is on my birthday this year. I probably weighed somewhere between 157 and 160 at this point. Not my proudest moment. Honestly, when I found this picture and compared it to freshman year I was wondering how the heck weight can just creep up on you like that. I didn't even notice it! But it's pretty obvious when I look at it now, my face was a lot rounder and my stomach is too a little. I'm not ashamed nor do I have a bad image of myself, I'm just saying I wish I would of taken the time to take care of myself in the midst of all that was going on with my life. It would of been the responsible thing to do. 
            So, this semester I woke up. First, it was going to the gym more consistently. I started going to the gym three times a week as a part of a competition at school. But it grew on me and became something I wanted to do instead of a part of a school-wide competition. Soon I learned I liked going to the gym, something I never thought possible. I was going 4-5 times a week. 3 days on the treadmill and 2 days on the bike (sometimes I would miss a day). After I lost about 3 or 4 pounds doing that, I realized how good I felt. So I started eating better about a month or so ago. I don't think of it as a diet, instead it is a lifestyle change. When I get to my goal, I will probably adjust a little bit while still staying quite healthy and balanced. Once I adjusted my diet the way really started just falling off. At the beginning of this semester I was between 160 and 162. I only weigh myself once a week and on Saturday morning I was somewhere around 146, which is much closer to the healthy weight range than I have been since probably the beginning of high school. Not too shabby for only a month or so of change!  And yes, that picture is from shopping over the weekend, my face is less round and my stomach has become much less noticeable. I'm all for that. I went out and bought my first ever pair of yoga pants this Saturday as a reward. I'm all about rewarding myself, but I don't feel too terrible about having cheat days either. If I slip up, it's not the end of the world. I just have to do better next time, and I do. I'm actually smaller than when I started college, which is pretty incredible for an accounting major that is constantly studying for the next test. 

I hope this post was of inspiration to people who have gone through a similar struggle as me! My next posts are going to include what I do at the gym and how I eat right on a campus meal plan. I know it's difficult for you to do, but it can be done! And of course, I'll keep posting about my progress as time goes on. 

Also: I know all three pics are mirror shots. For the first two, I did it for comparability. The third was just a coincidence.