A Year of Gratitude #125, 126, 127, 128

 

A Year of Gratitude: #125, 126, 127 & 128

I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to get online to blog... my computer died for good and I had to get a new hard drive. I should be set for a while... hopefully. Since I have four days worth of gratitude, I'll do them all in one blog.

#125: Busy Bags

This past Friday, my MOMS Club hosted a Busy Bag Swap at my house. Each mom signed up for a different activity and then on Friday, we came together to share our crafts with one another. There were 13 kids, and each mom made a different craft. We ended up coming away with 13 different activities that can be used to keep a toddler busy. I made the above crafts-- Brown Bear, Brown Bear bags. Inside each bag was three different activities. A heads and tails matching game, a counting game, and a sizing game.

We had a great morning together and then we enjoyed a potluck lunch together. It was so wonderful and we had a great turn out! I think we're going to try and do another swap in the fall.

#126: Motor City Coney Island

There's a place in Stone Mountain that's called Motor City Coney Island. They make coney dogs just like you get in Detroit. I think coneys are the one thing that I miss most living in the south. You don't realize how awesome they are, until you can't get them anywhere.

We drove to Stone Mountain and enjoyed our coney dogs for lunch. Steve and I each had a dog and some fries and then we were even delighted to enjoy Faygo pop!

 

Yummmmm... cheese fries with fries just like in the D

 

DEEEEELICIOUS!!!

 

They didn't have Rock-n-Rye (my fav) but this is my second favorite!

 

LOVE that it says POP for soft drinks!

 

:-)

We will be going back. Steve wasn't as impressed as I was, but he isn't FROM Detroit and didn't grow up on Lafayette Coney Island like I did!! I even got a bag of Better Made BBQ to go!!! I was in heaven!!

#127: Losing .5 Pounds

As you can see from my meal above-- I didn't exactly "stick" to my plan this past week. I designated Thursday as a free day because of Taco Thursday, but I intended on walgging on Friday-- that didn't happen because of the rain, and then there was the pot luck on Friday. I just didn't know exact calories, and while I guessed, it wasn't as accurate as it needed to be. All that being said, I was thrilled to see that I lost 1/2 a pound on Sunday morning!!

#128:  Computer Problem Solved???

Do you remember a while back when I was having issues with my computer? I had a virus and my dad talked me through how to remove it? Well... I think that virus SERIOUSLY killed my hard drive. My computer crashed, yet again, on Friday and Steve decided to get me a new hard drive on Saturday. So far so good... and I am thankful to have my computer back up and running and it's great so far!

A Year of Gratitude #123

 

A Year of Gratitude #123: Will Power and Determination

 

Gus and the boys running on the greenway after our cool-down period

I wasn't sure what to expect from today's walk/jog/walk. I was sore yesterday, and mainly it was my abs that hurt more than anything else. I had decided that if I wasn't feeling up to it, I would just walk and not do any jogging.

I have to say... today was GREAT! Christy and the boys joined us and we had a great time walking and talking. My stroller has this speaker system that you can use, and for whatever reason, I wasn't able to hear much and so I kept trying to figure out why I wasn't hearing my iPhone with the voice commands. I think being distracted with that, actually helped.

Or... maybe mentally I knew what to expect and I wasn't as nervous. I don't know. Whatever the reason, today was not awful and I didn't say, "I hate this" or "This is effing hard" at all. Now, don't get me wrong, my shins still burned and my thighs were burning a bit too, but it wasn't a bad thing. I felt like I was really working parts of me that haven't been worked in quite some time, and as a result, I felt great.

Because of the sound issues, I did skip one jog cycle... and it was interesting to be walking and have a thought in my head of, "I'm ready to start jogging now... why is this walk taking so long?" Then I noticed that I had skipped the jog and it made sense. It was still so odd to have the thought in my head that I was ready to jog. That's so totally NOT the Cathy from two weeks ago.

I packed a banana to eat on the drive home and I shared it with Gus. I had a salad for lunch and I have been drinking a lot of water. I just feel better about my choices and there's no doubt in my mind that if I keep this up, I WILL be successful.

I can't even being to say how much the love and support of family and friends means. My dad called at noon to see how my morning was and he wanted to know if I just walked (as I had said I would do in my blog post), or if I jogged. He was quite proud of me that I actually jogged. I asked him if he'd be willing to walk/jog/walk with me during the week that we're in MI. He said he would love to. Then my mom said she wants to walk with me too... so maybe on MWF I'll do my C25K with my dad and then T/TH I'll walk with my mom. I'm excited that I can stay on track while on vacation.

I just hope Steve stays supportive. His ex-wife was a crazy runner and COULDN'T do anything if she didn't have her run in. When I met Steve's dad for the first time, he said, "You're not a runner are you???" I jokingly said, "Look at me... do I look like a runner?? I don't run unless something is trying to eat me." 

All joking aside, I just want to feel better about myself. I want to look in the mirror and actually see the payoff for my hard work. I know it'll come... and after talking to Jessica yesterday, she said in a month I'll be amazed at how far I'll have come in the C25K training. 

So... Week 1 Day 2 is complete. We're meeting on Friday morning before the Busy Bag Swap that I'm hosting here at my house... and we're going to walk at the greenway that's closer to me. Hopefully I can get back here and be ready for the swap by 10:15/10:30 (it starts at 10:30).

I'm officially on the books for a MWF training cycle. Christy and Pilar said they're on board and hopefully Leslie can join us too. It's incredible how being accountable changes your views on things. Having people to do this with has made it all possible and I'm so thankful for the role that so many people have played in my motivation and determination.

I hope I'm not too sore tomorrow and that the section of the greenway that we're doing on Friday is as flat as the one we've been going to!! I HATE HILLS!!!

Does Walking Around Target Count???

I'm going to say that yes, walking around Target for about an hour, most definitely constitutes as exercise. :-) 

I was told not to stay home and do nothing today because it'd make it even worse tomorrow... and I needed to head to Target anyway, so I went. And I walked around the entire store for almost an hour (mostly on purpose).

There's only so much that an almost-two-year-old can handle... and it WAS lunch time, so I had to play my cards right. I also ran into a friend from AAM (Atlanta Area Mommies) and spent a few catching up with her... but other than that, we were moving the whole time.

I was able to get home and put Gus down for a nap and I was able to chat with my cousin Jessica about running and the Couch 2 5K program. I found out that my (TMI-- AGAIN SO SORRY) feelings of instantaneously needing to poop are normal. Apparently, my body will adjust to all the moving around that I'm doing when I'm jogging (and friends... there's a WHOLE lot moving around). I thought it was just me and my nerves... but it's normal (I guess) to feel the sudden need to go. Not sure what can be done about that... since I do my moving at the greenway and there's NO PLACE TO GO but the woods. HAHAHA.

I also came to the conclusion that I do not ever have to RUN an entire 5k. I am totally fine with my jog/walk combo routine. I hope to be able to jog longer as I get stronger and more endurance, but I don't HAVE to jog an entire 5k without stopping. In fact, I'm following another site (Run Injury Free with Jeff Galloway) and feel like his method is perfect for me. You run 30 second and walk 1.5 (which is what I did Monday)... it gradually increases. This is where the C25K differs-- in that program, you eventually just run (without walking) for the entire time. 

I was talking to my dad yesterday (he called to see how my first day went of training) and he suggested that I get a heart monitor watch. I found a Polar (I did some research on heart monitors) for a pretty good price and it even tells you how many calories you've burned. I thought I had ordered a Timex, but I was wrong... It was a Polar (there are so many brands of heart monitor watches... I got lost in all of them). It should be here next week and I'm looking forward to using the chest strap to see my heart rate. My dad said it would be a really good idea to know if I was in the right zone for optimal exercise. I don't want to over do it, but I don't want to under do it either.

So we'll see. I am meeting Pilar in the morning to walk again... round two. What's really odd to me is that my legs don't hurt like I thought they would... but my abdominals seriously hurt. I feel like someone has been beating on me. My arms hurt too... I'm guessing from pushing the stroller. Even my back muscles are a little sore, but my legs are totally fine. WEIRD.

See you tomorrow for an update on training day two. I pray that I can stay focused and just take it one step at a time.

Running Is Effing Hard!!

So today I started the Couch 2 5K program. I modified it and instead of jogging for a full minute, we did 30 seconds. It was more than enough for me. 

I was so nervous about starting today. I didn't sleep well last night because I kept thinking about today. Plus, Steve left this morning for NYC and I never sleep well before he leaves. 

So this morning I got up, showered and then went and got Gus. We had breakfast and then headed to the greenway to meet Pilar and Leslie. I did a few stretches before I left the house, but I think I need to do more on Wednesday.

We got to the entrance of the greenway and we started right away. The five minute warm-up took the entire walk to the main path... and then as soon as we got on the path, the jogging began. Pilar said to just do a quick walk... nothing too strenuous. The first 30 wasn't too bad. I tried to focus on my breathing... Leslie said she heard you're supposed to do two breaths in and two breaths out... I tried it but it didn't work for me.

Then I walked for 1.5 minutes and it was a brisk walk... I was still feeling good. I realized two things after my first jog (TMI here sorry): 1) I need to wear tighter undies when running. They were falling down as I ran... which made me very self-conscious about what the people behind me were seeing.  2) I need to wear tighter pants when jogging/running. My pants (and undies) were falling down as I was moving. I had to keep pulling them up... which was not fun.

As I moved through the cycles of walking and jogging... my shins were on fire. Seriously burning and aching. Each step I took was painful and I began to just think about getting to the parking lot. I just wanted to be done. 

I realized when I was about 1/2 way through... that running is hard. It's seriously hard work. I got mad at myself for letting myself get to this point. Had I been more aware and more focused before, it wouldn't have been AS hard as it was today. 

The good news is that I got to the bridge (the same place that Pilar and I stopped on Thursday) and realized that I was well past the 1/2 point of my training. I had 12 minutes left to go... 

I really can't picture myself running a 5K. I can't even picture myself running for five straight minutes. I guess it's all about building it... and hopefully it'll get easier with each day. I hope so anyway.

When my training was finished, we were still quite a bit out from the parking lot, so we got another 15 minutes of walking in, but it was much slower (which was nice). I let Gus out of the stroller and he and Riggs and Logan had fun running on the path. 

I'm sore tonight. My legs hurt and I feel like I weigh a million pounds. I took a two hour nap when Gus was napping and I woke up feeling a little better. With my exercise today, I burned over 600 calories... so I had a lot of extra added to my available for the day.

On the way home from playgroup (we went to Kathryn's for playgroup after the greenway), I stopped at Chick Fil A and got a chargrilled chicken salad. It was so delicious. It was like 200 calories and then the dressing was another 140 (Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette). I also had a fruit cup (100 calories) and a Dr. Pepper 10 (10 calories). So my entire lunch was less than 500 calories and I felt good. 

It's 10:35 and I have consumed 1,090 for the day. My dinner was filling (crock pot tacos) and I had an apple a little bit ago and a banana after my jog this morning. I like that I'm aware of what I'm eating and making better food choices. I probably should eat something again before bed... but I don't know what. I'm a little hungry so I'll probably have a piece of cheese.

 

My tacos (275 calories each) and I splurged with a Mt. Dew (it was soooooo good)

I'm grateful to have tomorrow off. I plan on sitting on my butt all day and stretching as much as I can. If I'm not feeling better on Wednesday, we'll just be walking. I am not going to give up... and staying focused is critical in the beginning stages of anything new. I figure I need to do this many many times before it's a habit and I get into "the zone" as Lacey calls it.

Again, I'm so glad to have the love and support of friends and family. It really means the world to me. And I'm most thankful for Pilar. She's such a good person and so patient with me. She uses her MWF with me as her "easy days" and does her running on T/TH. :-) At least she isn't being held back by my beginning abilities.

:-)

A Year of Gratitude #116

 

A Year of Gratitude #116: Staying on Track

I am so very proud of myself to staying on track with my walking and eating better. I've been using the app Lose It for keeping a food journal. I love this app because, not only is it free, but it has a built in scanner that lets me scan a barcode for nutritional information. Just like that, I add my food and I can select the amount and it's done.

I am also grateful for the support of friends and family. My mom told me how proud of me that she is, and it means a lot. I feel like I've been on the road to losing weight off and on so many times... and each time she tells me how proud of me she is. I feel like this time is different for some reason. 

It's different because this time, I feel like there's no other option. I simply cannot stay this way and something has to give. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to Gus and Steve. I want to be an active mom for Gus. I want to be able to do fun things with him as he's getting older, and I don't want to be embarassed of my weight, or be unable to participate. 

I have three big things that I'm doing this for. 1) I want to run the Color Run 5K in 2013. 2) I want to be able to take Gus to Disney in a few years and ride everything and walk around and not be exhausted because of carrying extra weight. 3) I want to lose weight so I can see if we can get pregnant. If my weight is what's holding us back... I want to know. If I truly am infertile... okay. But if I'm not, and it's just due to excess weight... I want to lose weight so we can have a baby.

We want to expand our family and as much as I'm 100% open to adoption, it IS expensive. It's RIDICULOUSLY expensive. If we are not able to conceive, we will adopt again. But why not and see if losing weight helps? There's no time like the present.

Lastly, I'm grateful that God has put particular people into my life. I've always been a firm believer that there's a reason for everything... and I think us moving here is the best thing that could have ever happened to us (we just need to sell the house in NC!!!). 

Tomorrow, Gus and I are going to Tanglewood Farm... it's the home of lots of miniature animals (horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, dogs, goats, and sheep). I'm super excited to go. We're going over to Kathryn's to pick her and Aubree up and then we're going to the farm together. 

I got an email from Pilar asking if I wanted to go walking with her before the farm. She's not going to the farm, but asked if I wanted to walk. It's like God sent her into my life to help me with this colossal task. I quickly agreed and we're going to meet at 9... walk for 45 minutes or so, and then I'm going to get Kathryn at 10. 

I hope I don't smell too awful when I pick up Kathryn. It's a good thing we're going to a farm... I can blend in with the animal smell.  :-)

A Year of Gratitude #114

 

A Year of Gratitude #114: The Patience of Others

This morning Gus and I headed to Newtown Park to meet Christy, Pilar, Leslie, and Kimberly for a walk before our playgroup playdate. We had planned on walking before the playdate and then staying at the park and having the kids play there. Kathryn hurt her ankle and was going to just come to the park to meet us.

I was so glad to see that the temperatures for this morning were in the upper 40s/low 50s. PERFECT walking/jogging/running weather if you ask me. I honestly do not know how I'm going to be able to get out and get moving when it's in the 90s. 

We met up and got started on our walk. The loop around the park is just over a mile and quite hilly. It wasn't too much uphill, but it wasn't flat. I felt a burn in my shins and calves that I had not felt in quite some time. When I mentioned to Christy that my shins were on fire she said, "That's a good thing!" Yes... I suppose she was right! If it's burning... you're exercising parts that haven't been exercised in a while!

We walked for about 45 minutes and while I didn't stop at all (I wanted to... believe me), I made it. We didn't run or jog, but we walked at a somewhat brisk pace. It was definitely faster than a casual stroll. At one point the stroller was a lot to push, so Christy offered to push it since Ryan (her son) was in the double stroller with Logan, and Pilar was pushing that.

It was much easier to just walk and not have to worry about the stroller, but it made me think about how it'll be when the time comes to start jogging. I can't even picture myself as a jogger/runner. I think it's because I'm so out of shape, all I can focus on now is picturing myself as active and moving. That's what counts.

I'm thankful that I had four wonderful friends to walk with this morning and that they were very patient with me. Pilar has run a marathon, and she, Christy and Leslie just ran a 5K this past Saturday. They're movers and I am so grateful that they were patient with my pace, and my need to walk instead of jogging or running. 

When we finished, Kimberly gave me a high-five and said, "We did it!" She also wants to start walking/jogging/running and was excited to get out and get moving this morning.

The weather couldn't have been nicer. It was a bit breezy, but I was working up a sweat as I was walking and it felt good to me. 

I'm proud of myself for getting out there and getting 45 minutes of cardio in for the day. I had an apple for breakfast and drank a TON of water. I've been keeping a food journal by using an app that a friend suggested (Lose It). It has helped me stay focused. I entered how much I want to lose and how many pounds a week, and it said that I should be able to meet my goal by April of 2013. So... that's a year. A lot can happen in a year, but my goal is to be running my first 5K in a year... so why not run it at my current goal weight? 

BTW-- it's one year to reach the goal that I set for me at the weight that I am today. It's not the optimal weight for me to be... Once I reach the goal in April 2013, I will reset my goal again and keep striving to attain it. 

Maybe... just maybe... by losing weight, I will be able to get pregnant. Who knows... anything is possible. I just know that carrying additional weight is linked to infertility and maybe that's part of my problem.

Anyway- I'm grateful for the patience and support of my walking pals from today. I look forward to walking with them again!!

A Year of Gratitude #111

 

A Year of Gratitude #111: Perspective

My dad is the greatest. I've said it before, but I am so thankful to have such a solid, wonderful relationship with him. 

Anyway, he reads my blog religiously and sent me an email this morning after he had read my post yesterday. It was just what I needed to hear. Here's what he said:

Cathy

Did you know that if you only burned that extra 260 cal every day... and not eat extra food, and your normal food intake is 2500 cal that at the end of one year you will have burned and extra ~97000 cal. That is a lot but did you know that is like not eating for 37 days!!! Talk about a diet.

Keep up the work and think of the long run.

Dad

I'm so thankful to have him (and others) keep me going and for their advice, prayers, and thoughts. It's all about putting things into perspective, and as he said, I need to think of the long run and stay focused on my goals.

Thanks daddy-o! 

A Year of Gratitude #110

 

A Year of Gratitude #110: Effort

I did it. I got off my bum after Gus's nap and we took the stroller on its first voyage. LOL. I learned a few thing as I was out with Gus.

1. I am so incredibly out of shape. I had to stop numerous times on my mile walk. It's sad, but at least I'm doing something to combat it.
2. I must get the brake fixed on the stroller. I had initially said, "Why would you need a brake on a jogging stroller?" Then I started my first downhill descent and I had a difficult time controlling how fast the stroller was going. My toes were crammed into the tips of my shoes... not comfortable at all.
3. I need to update my iTunes playlists and sync my phone with these new playlists. My music selection today was not the greatest.
4. My app that calculates how many calories I burned forgot to take into consideration two things: a) I'm carrying a lot of additional weight on my body-- surely I burned more because I was carrying more weight... right???  b) I was pushing a stroller AND Gus in addition to my walking... AND had a dog thrown into the mix.
5. My neighborhood is VERY hilly. I didn't realize how steep the hills were until I was working my butt off today.

I didn't think my transition into becoming a jogger/runner would be easy, but after just walking today, I feel like it's a much bigger hill than I had expected. I can only go out and try again and not give up, but man oh man... I kicked my own butt, and all I did was walk.

I got to our driveway and it took all the strength that I could muster to get us up the driveway. I thought I was going to die pushing Gus up the drive!

I don't know if it's normal to finish exercising and be ready to sleep, but I was. I didn't get the "rush of energy" that I assume most people get. I just wanted to take a nap. Maybe that'll change as I get more active and my body adjusts to burning more calories.

All I know is that I gave it an great effort. It's going to be really hard and a long road, but as long as I get out there and try, something positive has to come from it. It's better than just sitting on my butt doing nothing.

I also found that after I finished, I was drinking water and plugging in my info on my phone, and it said I burned like 260 calories. I seriously had a "WTF???" moment. I couldn't believe all the effort it took to only burn 260 calories. Hmmmm...

Anyway. Not sure if walking/jogging/running with friends is a good idea at this early stage. I was so out of breath and had to stop so many time, I don't want to hold someone else up, or feel like I can't stop because of someone else. Maybe I'll get to the point where it's easier and I don't stop as much. Maybe today is as bad as it'll ever be because it was the first day???