I missed you!!

Geez it's been awhile since I was here and I have a lot to say! Don't know if I'll try to get it all in one post or if I'll split it up some. That takes too much planning so I guess we'll just see how it goes. So lets see what's been happening.

I was losing weight and was exercising daily. I may have already posted about some of this stuff but please just try to stick with me. I started with 30 minutes a day but within like a week moved it up to ah hour a day walking on the treadmill. Then I started doing the C25K running program. And I hurt myself. I developed plantar fasciitis from doing too much too quickly. That totally screwed everything up! I went to the doctor and they gave me a round of anti-inflammatories and we started from there. I have at this point finished the medicine and also started doing some stretches for my foot and calf. It seems to have helped mostly. I still get some twinges and I still have some times when I first stand up where it hurts like hell and I end up walking like a zombie for a minute. I'm trying to decide if its enough to make me go back to the doctor or if I need to do the stretches more for a while first.

Because of the injury I was unable to do as much walking as before and ended up not being able to exercise at all for about 2 weeks. It was just much to painful. That was a big blow to me. I was getting to the point where I was enjoying the exercise. I was looking forward to it most days. I would even feel "wrong" on rest days. I just wanted to be doing something. And to have to go from that to doing nothing was terrible. It didn't take long to revert to my old ways of sitting around and not doing anything. And that of course took its toll.

Then we had Christmas. I work for the school system so I don't work when the kids are out of school. And that was nice!!! To not get up at 5:30 am was wonderful!! But it also meant I was sleeping late, staying up late, not getting out of the house every day, and had plenty of time for shopping and meeting friends and family for lunch. And I took advantage of all of it! We have our family Christmas party on Christmas Eve and this year it was at my house. It was good in that I didn't have to worry about driving anywhere but I had a lot of cleaning to do before and after the party. But it was fun and some family members that I haven't seen in many years came and it was great to see them!

Then the New Year was upon us. We stayed home with the kids and watched the ball drop on t.v. That was good fun and you just gotta love Dick Clark. Hubby missed it cause he was in the shower! But me and the boys watched together and made fun of daddy for missing it. And that was about it. We talked about resolutions and why people make them. My youngest totally didn't understand why people would wait until a new year to start doing something instead of just doing it. I told him it is a silly thing to do and I hope that he will carry that attitude throughout his life. There really is no point in waiting for something else to happen so that you can start or stop doing something! Children can see things so much more clearly than adults sometimes!

Run for your life!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, so it's been a minute since my last post but I'm still here. Just not feeling in the typing mood I guess. I've moved on to week 2 of the c25k program and pretty much feel like I'm going to die trying to do it! I did fine with week one but this week 2 is kicking my ass! The program this week is run for 90 seconds and walk for 2 minutes. On the first day I did fine for the first 2 running segments. Then utter failure happened! Ok maybe not quite that bad. I did manage to make my way through it kicking and screaming. On the first run I did ok. I could tell it was a little longer but nothing crazy. The second run I felt really good! During the first week I was feeling like my legs were kinda crampy because my stride is very short cause I'm very slow. So I lengthened my stride a little which meant I had to up the speed a bit but it felt great (on the second run). My legs didn't get the crampy feeling and I was better able to make sure I was landing with my forefoot. I was actually thinking "hey this is pretty cool! I can see how people get hooked on this!" Oh boy but all that changed!

During the third run I started noticing my breathing was......not good. I was having trouble getting enough air and even though I was trying to take slow deep breaths instead I was getting short gasps. I tried inhaling for 4 or 5 steps then exhaling for 2 which I read somewhere was good. What I ended up with was short breaths in and the exhale was just as short. I kept having to yawn (a sure sign my body wasn't getting enough oxygen) but I was trying to yawn so deeply that I couldn't get my mouth open wide enough to take in as much air as I needed! What an unpleasant feeling that was! Luckily the run segments would end and I caught my breath a bit on the walks. Not completely but enough to let me do the next run. The program is for 30 minutes and I usually walk for another 30 minutes to make sure I get an hour of exercise but I just couldn't do it. I did the program then got off the treadmill. I ended up with a headache and looked not so good according to hubby. It took a couple of hours to get my breathing back to normal. It wasn't as bad as when I was running or walking of course but I still had to keep yawning. It was not a good feeling.

I almost decided to go back and redo week one but figured that I did make it (barely) through the first day of week 2 so I would just go ahead and finish out the week. I did day 2 today and it was much better. I still got winded and had to really concentrate on my breathing but it was nothing like day 1! I will do day 3 Friday and then I think I'm going to redo week 2 instead of moving on to week 3. My body needs the time to adjust a little more and the last thing I want to do is set myself up for failure by pushing too hard.

I'm also having a little problem with my left foot. Walking and running and even just standing around doesn't bother it but when I first stand up from sitting or when getting out of bed it hurts like crazy on the bottom of my foot in the heel area. The first few steps I take are very painful and I look like a zombie but a after a few minutes it subsides. I have done some reading and I think it has something to do with calf muscles being too tight. I need to stretch them more and often! I started using a towel to stretch them while I'm still laying in bed before getting up in the morning and that seems to help a lot! At first I thought it was my old shoes I originally started walking in before I started the running thing. So I bought nice new running shoes but then when things didn't improve is when I started looking things up on the internet. Ahhhhh, the internet. How did I ever live without it!! Its kinda strange cause when I tough the bottom of my foot it doesn't hurt but if I grab the sides of my heel its like someone jabbing me with an ice pick!!

I'm going to look up some calf stretches and start really working on those and if it isn't showing signs of improvement in a week or so I'll have to bite the bullet and go see the doctor about it.


Thats it for me tonight! See you soon!

What the....

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! I have been soooooo hungry all day! I don't know what is going on! Is it tom? No there is like over a week before thats due. I don't know whats going on. It hasn't just been that I'm bored or just want to eat. I have really been hungry! My tummy was grumbly and it was just a gnawing hunger so I ate. A lot. Ok well not some great extraordinary amount but more than normal. So I figured maybe my body just needed extra food today and I ate. Ugh who knows why but I feel I did the right thing. I listened to my body and gave it what it was telling me it needed. I could have eaten better foods but I ate what I had available. On top of that I haven't felt well today. Around noon I started feeling sick and achy. I'm pretty sure its just allergies. I get them really bad and it feels like the freaking flu or something. So that started around noon and when I got home from work I wasn't sure I would be able to exercise today (its the last day of week 1 for the c25k program). I really felt like I couldn't walk, let alone run, that long!

I took some allergy medicine and watched a movie with the boys and hubby. After that I felt a little better so I decided I was just going to get on the treadmill and go for it either I would be able to do it or I would keel over and fall off! But I did it without dying!! I got W1D1 finished and did the extra 30 minutes for a total of 2.9 miles. Yes I am still slower than Christmas but I've gotten a little faster so any progress is good progress!
I'm glad I got the exercise done but even with those extra calories I'm still over my limit for the day and I'm ok with it. I thought I would be upset but I really feel that I needed it. I didn't eat for any emotional reason or because of stress or boredom. I ate because I needed it. Maybe I needed the extra fuel to help my immune system deal with whatever it was dealing with today.

I made it though the program today but the running time goes up next week-well, the amount of running doesn't go up but the interval times changes. Instead of running for 60 seconds it goes up to 90 seconds. Might not sound like a lot to someone else but it does to me! But I'm not going to sell myself out. I'm going to try it and see if I can make it through and deal with it as it comes. I have the next two days off from running but I'll still do my walking tomorrow. Then Monday we move onto week 2!!!

From a few days ago....

November 30, 2010
I started a walking program the end of October. Not really much of a program-just walking for at least 30 minutes, most days on the treadmill and some days me and the boys walked around the neighborhood. One day hubby and I took our dog for a walk for about an hour. And one day we spent about 3 hours on a hiking trail. After about a week or so I moved it up to walking an hour 5 days a week, 1.5 hours the 6th day and rest the 7th day. Also trying to get 8 glasses of water everyday and logging calories @myfitness.com. I've lost 10 pounds so far!!! Yaayyy me!

Monday the 29th I started the c25k running program. I made it through all the intervals of the day one. I'm slower than molasses in January but I'm doing it. My new running shoes (Brooks) seem really nice so far but at some point I'l like to try the Vibramms 5 Fingers or something similar. The daily run/walk for c25k lasts about 30 minutes so after that time is up I just keep walking to finish out an hour. My oldest son was nice enough to let me download an app on his iTouch that lets me pick the music to listen to and it just gives verbal cues over the music. Thats very nice cause my taste in music is....eclectic.

I'm really happy I went ahead and started this program. I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. My next run day is Tuesday and I'm excited. I've been reading and watching some videos on posture and forefoot striking so I'm trying to remain conscience of those things while running-ha! Me! Running!?!!

I can't believe I waited so long to do this. I first saw the program a couple of years ago and kept saying "when I get below 200 I'll try it." What a moron. I even found the thread on Active.com for the 200+ pound people that were doing it but that still didn't get me going. Oh well, I've heard the saying "there will be no wine before its time" and I guess it just wasn't my time. But it is now! And I'm taking by the horns...nope-screw that horn crap. I AM THE BULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel...

Well pretty icky actually. Not sure whats up but my tummy feels a little weird kinda like, well, like theres a hole in it or something. I know that sounds strange but thats the best way i have to describe it. I think I'm drinking too much coffee. I like my coffee with a little coffee and a lot of sugar and creamer and the past few days (ok about a week) I've been having two or three cups a day. This from a person who usually just drinks water so I'm thinking that is my problem.
On a lighter note i did manage to lose one pound this week so yayy! I have been walking on the treadmill five or six times a week for an hour each day and I joined a push up challenge and have been doing that everyday. I feel proud that I have been exercising regularly that tends to be something i have a hard time doing but I'm just going to keep going. I have failed many times in the past but I'm not looking backward any more! For me its forward march! The other day i totally had a case of the lazies! I did not want to exercise even though i was mad at myself for NOT exercising! So finally i got off my lazy ass and got on the treadmill. Nevermind that it was 10 at night. And i did 90 minutes instead of just 60! I was proud...and tired. I think thats the first time i made myself do it instead of just saying oh I'll do it tomorrow.
Ok thats all for now. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!

God Is A Man....

This I know for this simple reason: if God were a woman men would have TOM and have to give birth!! If God were an asexual non-gender being then maybe men and women would have to share these-blessings, curses-whatever you want to call them. Maybe men would have TOM and women would give birth or vice versa who knows. But what I'm telling you is that God is definitely a MAN!!

On the exercise and eating front things are going well. I was over my calories a couple of times but by less than like 40 calories each time. Last night we had spirit night for my youngest sons school (you have dinner at the specified restaurant and a portion of the money you spend there is donated to the school) at Moe's and I went a wee bit over on calories (by about 55). I've been over a couple of times in the past week and last night when we got home it just kept eating at me (no pun intended)! So I jumped back on the treadmill and did another 30 minutes. Hubby thought I had gone crazy and maybe I have. I just was not happy about going over so I did something about it. Was that the smartest thing to do? Should I have just left it a lone and maybe worked out a little longer/harder today? Well, I don't know but I did what I did and I felt good about it so I'm not going to second guess it!

What did I do?

Ugh. I stepped on the scale yesterday instead of waiting until my normal weigh in day. It was there, I was there, it just kind of happened. And then I wished it didn't happen. Isn't that the way it goes. It showed me being 3 pounds up but I know that can't be right, can it? I've been watching my calories and have been under all week AND I've been exercising. So I know that it is something else. Something like the whole muscle weight vs. fat weight thing (even though I've read that it isn't true) and I don't really think I have put on muscle. I've been doing push ups and walking not any weight lifting. I have not been great with my water intake and I am a salt fiend so I'm thinking its water retention. Thats what I'm going with for now anyway. and I guess we'll see how it goes when weigh-in day gets here.