7 days without exercise makes one weak...

Or something like that.

I've completed one week of the p90 series. Sure, not like I haven't done this before, but I'm hoping if I treat every small milestone like a wild achievement, maybe I'll make it past day 15.

I'm still doing the lower impact arm/leg exercises from set 1, and holding back on the jumping jacks/run lunges in set 2. Plus, my "hops" in set 3 could be a little more enthusiatic. OH, AND THOSE AB EXERCISES. Whew! But like Tony says, it's just the beginning. Take it slow so you don't have to stop and take a break. Next week, I'll up the ante a little bit.

I've also been pretty good with my food tracking. Right now, I have my calories set to lose 1lb a week, and I'm not eating back exercise calories. I'm hoping that will help my loss be more like 1.5lbs per week. I did "cheat" yesterday because I went to a bridal show in Charlotte--too many food samples and no way to track what I put in my mouth. But I feel pretty sure that I burned a couple hundred calories just walking around all day. Not too worried about it :)

And you may be wondering why I didn't post a start weight/measurements or anything. That's because I'm not really sure what weight I was at, I just knew that my pants were too tight, and that something needed to be done. I think I was around 198 though. This time around, I'm not focusing on the scale--I'm focusing on the pants! And more long term, THE DRESS. I can't be gaining weight before my wedding, that's just absurd.

Anyways, I finally got my hands on some protein powder (have I mentioned how much I miss my grocery store in Denver?!?) so I'm off to make a smoothie for the first time in a while.

Happy Monday!

Okay, here goes 2013

2012 was like a big bully who not only picked on me at school, but then proceeded to follow me home and wait outside my window throwing stones. Sure, there were some good points like getting engaged and graduating with a Master's degree, but overall, I'm glad that year is over.

My stomach problems, while not completely resolved, have been managed enough to stop seeing a gastroenterologist. I moved away from Denver, my soul city, to live in the South where people talk funny, move slow, and make up words for things like "buggy" and "cheerwine" that don't make sense. Plus, the weather sucks and the bugs are everywhere.

I've gone through two, almost three, jobs since moving here. Teavana went from grand to shitty in a matter of weeks. And now I'm trying to find a way out of PetSmart before they make me clean a lizard cage. And still no sign of anything film related. Curse you Homeland!

I adopted a dog who quickly became my best friend and protector of the house while Robbie is gone. Unfortunately, our time together was short. I'm glad I could show him what a real home was like before he died, but I'm still struggling to move past him. It was a rough time.

Two people I know, one being a close friend and neighbor, were in serious accidents that put them in comas for a month or more. The website CaringBridge has become one of my most visited sites this past year, but luckily they both seem to be getting better.

Plus, I stopped eating healthy and working out, which obviously caught up with me eventually. I'm literally living out my documentary right now. I gained 15lbs in six months--gross! I am trying to get back on the wagon so that I can still wear my wedding dress nine months from now.

So here's to you, 2013. Let's both agree to treat each other well and make it to 2014 without any major scuffles. Oh, and if September 7th could be unseasonably cool and not rainy, that would be wonderful. :)

Power 90 Workout System

As you might have noticed, I haven't been updating about my running routine lately. I haven't gotten lazy; I just switched my focus to the p90 workout system instead. I have been doing p90 since last Wednesday, and I have to say that it is very different than I expected. I've heard a lot of people talk about it and how wonderful it is. I was shocked when I learned that it is only two workouts rotated every other day for a month. Plus, I thought it would kick my ass from here to California, but it really isn't that hard. Sure, I can't do all of the cardio without doing modified moves, and I certainly can't complete 10 sets of 10 ab exercises--but I don't stop to take a breather at any point. Maybe I was expecting Insanity...

Regardless, I've been doing it for a little over a week. I'm not sure I believe it will produce fantastic results like everyone claims, but I'm going to keep at it. I fear I will get bored of it before the month finished and I can switch to phase 3-4.... We'll see.

C25K: Day 5

So, I haven't run in several days, but I have been working out! I have been doing those Bikini Ready Makeover videos on Hulu. I did the Boot Camp Burn one a few days ago and really liked it. Thought it's really repetitive, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that workout twice in a row; I'd get annoyed. Plus, I've been doing 'mini-challenges' on MFP; 300 jumping jacks on Friday and 150 squats yesterday. Super fun!

I also got a job (no, not a career job with my hard-earned Master's degree, just a paying job) at Teavana in Charlotte. I'm really stoked about it because the people seem REALLY cool, and I pretty much love tea! Not sure how this is going to mess with my eating/workout schedule just yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'm just glad to have an income again. I love food and my dog, but I'm starting to mentally make a decision on what to cut back on first. Ha.

Day 5: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 90 seconds of jogging/2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 2; Total time - 26:20 minutes

Weigh In: 8-23-12

I finally did it. I tracked my calories and stayed under my goal for the day yesterday--it only took me a week and a half to get my shit together. It's true when they say that eating junk makes you crave junk. Luckily, most of the cookies/chips/dips are out of the house now, so it's easier to NOT eat them. I think it helped that I had a lot of exercise calories, too, so I was eating close to 2000. Anyways, we're back on track!

I learned the hard way that you can set deadlines for weigh loss, but your body will lose the fat when (and where) it wants to, how it wants to, so I'm loosely stating that I want to be under 180lbs by Thanksgiving. I left Denver at ~183lbs but have worked my way back up to ~190lbs, so that's ~10lbs in a little less than 10 weeks. Definitely doable, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll just do my best and see where I am in 10 weeks!

Weight: 190.2 lbs
BMI: 28.08 (Overweight)
Body Fat: 27.09% (Acceptable)

Waist: 35 inches
Hip: 42 inches
Thighs: 27.5 inches (left) / 27 inches (right)
Arms: 12.5 inches (left) / 13 inches (right)
Calves: 16 inches (left) / 16.5 inches (right)

C25K: Day 4

First day of the second week which means upping the running/walking intervals. (Un)fortunately, Robbie is back at work and wasn't there to run with me today. I say that because it's both good and bad--good because I can run a slower-faster pace consistently every run interval, and bad because he wasn't there to push me past my own comfort zone. Oh well, have to learn to motivate myself.

I thought things were getting better with the crazy white dog on Wilson, but he charged after me again today. I've called animal control twice to have his owners put him in a fence or on a leash, but they seem to ignore that warning. I feel bad because I don't want something to happen to the dog, but I would like to be able to run or walk my dog around MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD without being chased by that dog. I don't even think his owners are home during the day; they just leave him outside all day to do as he pleases. C'mon people, take responsibility for your animals! I'll give it another week, then I'm calling again.

Day 4: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 90 seconds of jogging/2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 2.06; Total time - 26:39 minutes

C25K: Day 3

Well, it took me two weeks to complete "week 1" of C25K, but it is done. This weekend was hectic, what with filming all day Friday and Saturday, so I didn't get any workout in besides holding a boom pole for 16 hours. But this morning, we went out and conquered the last of the 60 second / 90 second intervals.

One comment about running with someone faster than you: it's great that they can set a faster pace for you to follow, but they can also kill you with speed. Day 2's run was pretty good, running at a significantly faster pace than I could  set myself...but today was a mixture of extreme speed, medium speeds, and slow speeds. Because of this combination of paces, we finished the normal 1.91 mile route in less than the 25 minutes allotted for the workout; we made it back to the house in 24 minutes. Whoa. I'm pretty sure I was hauling ass at a 7min/mile for the first two runs...

Anyways, to compensate for the fast return, we added another .25 mile (3:30 minutes) to the workout at the end, just walking.

Oh, and I'm really restarting the calorie counting thing again this week. Really.

Day 3: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 2.06; Total time - 27:35 minutes

C25K: Day 2

Today, Robbie went running with me, which meant that I was running even faster than my fast pace. Ugh. He typically runs about an 8 minute mile, which is far faster than I ever even dreamed of running. Of course, we didn't quite run his pace, but I definitely was pushing harder than I usually do when I'm running alone. If I was doing a 10-11 minute pace by myself, I was probably achieving about a 9-10 minute pace today. I'm POOPED.

Day 2: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 1.91; Total time - 25:46 minutes

Two pictures today--

This is what I imagine Robbie & I look like running together, except maybe if one pug looked extremely pained that would be me.

Truth. I powered through all 9 intervals of running. And a little future inspiration for the longer runs :)

Let's start again

Well, I was traveling this past week, and even though I packed my running shoes, I never got the chance to run. It was go, go, go every day I was there. Therefore, I'm restarting my restart. I only got one day in last week anyways, and now I can start on a Monday.

Day 1 of C25K: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 1.91; Total time - 27:30 minutes

I also decided to start counting calories again. After being in Ohio for the wedding, I ate nothing but crap. I know I've probably put on a few pounds since moving, but I was trying to reset my metabolism in order to bust a plateau. Hopefully I've accomplished this and can start losing weight again. I should probably officially weigh-in, but I'll worry about that later. I'm more concerned with my stomach problems--not that they've gone away completely, but they have definitely gotten better since I moved. Now, whether that's because my stress level went down, I started taking the probiotic, or I changed my food habits, I have no idea. It worries me that if I start eating more raw fruits and veggies again that the issues may come back. I guess we'll see! It's a new week my friends: No excuses!

Getting Workouts for Free (ish)

Since I no longer have access to a gym through school and am currently unemployed, workouts have been consisting of running outside, biking outside, and a YouTube workout series called "BeFit in 90." It's been rough since I'm so used to switching up my workouts. And unfortunately, Netflix has stopped streaming any workout videos online so I'm hard up for new routines to do.

Luckily, Hulu is there for me. Sure, it's a little annoying that every five minutes you have to stop your workout for a commercial, but whatever. If you're interested in finding workouts on Hulu, you should try the Bikini Body Makeover series. Today I did the "Tank Top Arms" as my cross-training for C25K. It was 20 minutes of pure strength training for arms and abs, but they also have ones for cardio, legs, calorie burning, etc... There's also the Self: Bikini Ready, Fast! workout which I loved, but Hulu no longer streams. (I need consistency, people!)

Just some helpful sites for those of us unable to pay for workouts or a gym :)

Running From Colorado to North Carolina

Okay, so maybe I haven't been running across the country since the last time I posted. Really, I just haven't been running. Every once and a while, I would hit the roads around my new neighborhood, but it was never more than 1.5 miles. I need to step up my game again. I don't think I could run a whole 5K at this point even if you dangled a muffin in front of me. (I also need to start back on my diet, but that's a whole 'nother story!)

So what's my plan? Why am I turning back to my running blog? Because I'm restarting C25K, that's why! Yes, I could technically jump into the program more than halfway through it, but I'm also going to try and quicken my pace. I figure if I restart the program and run faster from the get-go, then I will have a faster pace when I get to longer runs. That sounds like good logic, right? Let's hope.

Today's run: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Off to run in the rain!

Epic Trotter

That's what I refer to my running style as: epic trotting. Lo and behold, the photographers did manage to capture me crossing the finish line...or maybe starting the race. I'm not sure. (I'm the one in the light blue long sleeve shirt and the black shorts, behind the two people in white long sleeves.)

Last CO 5K: Cherry Creek Sneak

Well, it has come and gone--my last 5K before I move to North Carolina. I still remember the first one I ran in Erie near Halloween with Kirsten and her friend Chris. It wasn't even a whole 5K, and I was DYING about 10 minutes in. (Of course it was higher elevation and there was a fire nearby so the air quality was poor, but still, I was in no shape to run a mile, let alone 3 miles.)

My time wasn't spectacular at this race, but it was a really great course! I loved running through Cherry Creek and all the people standing around holding signs. I could have done with a few less young children running around me; I'm pretty sure I almost plowed into a few.

Overall my time for the 5K was 42 minutes and 10 seconds. (At one point, I thought I was being passed by people who ran the 10 miler, but I was wrong. That was a depressing few moments...) I placed 2358/3523 overall, 1359/2163 females and 81/101 in my division. [x] On average, my pace was a 13:36 mile, which is slow but I ran the whole thing so that's all I ask! Sadly, out of the 15,000 pictures taken at the event, none captured my epic trot. Oh well. Three complete 5Ks down, many more to go! :)

Stomach Update!

Today I had my follow-up appointment with my GI specialist. Since everything from my EGD from clean, it's kind of ruled out a few things having to do with my stomach. He decided to have me get blood-work done to check for weird enzymes or low counts, as well as an ultrasound of my gallbladder. Hopefully this will all get done before graduation even thought that only gives us a month or so. Luckily, the blood-work can get done at Lab Corp, so I scheduled that for Thursday. The ultrasound can't get scheduled until my insurance approves it.

He also said that if everything comes back normal from the blood count and the ultrasound, he would start treating me for IBS, which is basically a pill before I eat. After we finished talking he said that "if he had to guess," he would guess it was IBS...even though the doctor I saw before him said that my symptoms didn't sound like IBS, or at the most MILD IBS. *sigh* I just hope this gets figured out before I move because I really don't want to have to explain my symptoms to another doctor again--though at least this time there would be lab work to back me up from other doctors.

We also laughed at how my mother keeps sending me different diseases she reads about that "fit my symptoms." Yeah, that can stop, too.

COME ON STOMACH, LET US FIX YOU!

April Goals

I recently joined a group on MyFitnessPal that requested we list our goals for April. I decided to list them here as well because writing goals down sometimes makes them more attainable.

(1) Start running again to train for my 5K on the 29th.
(2) Get below 180 (Even though this was supposed to be met in March, I WILL meet it this month.)
(3) Keep switching up my exercise routines and stay on track with my new zig zag calorie plan.

Come on, April. Bring it on.

Dear Stomach, STFU

I have to just get this off my chest. No one wants to hear me whine about it in person or over the phone, but it's driving me crazy so I have to get it out somehow. I know that most of you know that I had that EGD last week, and the results came in. There were no physical problems that they saw, and the biopsy of my small intestines came back clean. That may sounds good, but that means that they still don't know what's wrong with me.

It's been almost four months since this started. Do you know how much it sucks when every time you start to eat, your stomach freaks out and threatens to make you puke it back up? To feel nauseous after every meal? To not be able to eat in public, not be able to go out with friends anymore, not be able to drink wine or coffee or eat cheese or yogurt? To have NO IDEA what the fuck is wrong with you and just want someone to tell you what it is, even if it's AWFUL, just so you know that it can go away and get better? 

It's gotten to the point where I'm scared to leave my house too soon after eating in case I get sick. I'm scared to be in a car after eating. I've cut out so many of the foods I love to no avail. I just want to be normal again. Where is Dr. House when you need him?

And to top it all off, my "follow up" appointment with the GI specialist is in more than a month. So I have to wait until April 24th to even meet with him again to discuss further possible problems. This is bullshit. At this rate, I'm not going to be able to attend my own wedding because I won't be able to eat all day and I'll pass out or I will eat and then vomit all over the wedding party.

Fuck this bullshit. AND NOW I'M MAD.

Lenten Update

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since the beginning of Lent, and I've successfully kept up my resolutions. I haven't stepped on the scale ONCE since before Ash Wednesday, and I've exercised at least 30 minutes everyday (minus my procedure day). It's actually really nice to not stress about the number I'm going to see on the scale every Thursday morning. Even after Lent, I might change my routine to weighing only once a month; it's so nice to just focus on my eating and exercise goals and feel better about myself.

I did set a goal of weighing under 180 lbs by the end of Winter Quarter so I will step on the scale once during Lent just to see if I met that goal. I'll probably do that either this Thursday or Sunday, only because Spring Break is the following week and my fiance is coming. I'm sure I won't be keeping track of calories, but I will keep up my 30 minutes everyday! The weather has been so nice lately that I'm sure we will be doing lots of hiking and walking around while he's here (assuming it stays this way).

Just wanted to write something since it's been a while. Cheers!

Hello Spring!

Okay, that title may be a little preemptive, but it is SO GORGEOUS outside today that I knew Spring has to be just around the corner. It's 60s and sunny, with a nice breeze. I'll take it! Because it was so nice outside, I couldn't fathom working out in the gym. I tried to figure out where to run, whether to drive to Wash Park or just run around campus or drive to a new park. Instead of wasting time, I just set off down Asbury Ave. I kept a slow pace so I could run the whole 30 minutes without stopping (minus stoplights) and ended up running all the way to Clarkson. Then, I turned around and headed back.

In total, I ran 2.23 miles in 29 minutes and 45 seconds. It felt great! I'm trying to get in some good workouts before Tuesday since I have to take a rest day after my procedure and might have to take it easy on Wednesday as well. We'll see...

NOW STOP READING THIS BLOG AND GO OUTSIDE! Geez :)

You win stomach, you win.

I've been doing pretty well on my Lenten resolutions. Haven't looked at the scale since Wednesday, and even though I visited Robbie in North Carolina over the weekend, I kept fairly active. Besides running through the airports with a 30 lbs bag on my shoulder, we went hiking on Sunday and painted on Friday and select other vigorous activities that I'm sure I got my 30 minutes in each day.

I didn't log calories or pay attention to what I ate while I was there, and maybe last night was punishment for that, but my stomach problems came back in a whirlwind last night. Sometimes I think it's dairy. Sometimes I think it's acidic foods. Sometimes I think it's gluten. So all in all, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS CAUSING MY PROBLEM. After last night, I decided to call the GI specialist this morning and set up an appointment. While I'm scared to go and I don't want to pay for it, I'm really hoping they will just be able to run some tests and tell me what the issue is. I would like things to go back to normal.

Hopefully after Thursday, I'll either have an answer or have an appointment to find the answer. Wish me luck!

LENTEN RESOLUTION

Since today is Ash Wednesday, I needed to figure out what I was doing for Lent. I've never been a fan of giving something up. Does it really improve life when you give up chocolate for 40 days and then go back to eating it on Easter? I prefer taking up something, which was a little harder this year since I have changed my lifestyle quite a bit and already include lots of healthy activities. But I finally decided on my resolutions!

1. Exercise for at least 30 minutes everyday.

2. Don't look at the scale, AT ALL.

The first one will be kind of hard since sometimes, especially when I run or do a workout DVD, I only hit 20-25 minutes, but I'll just add in some walking to get the time up. The second one, however, might drive me insane. I think I'll just have to hide the scale in the closet, take out the batteries and duct tape it closed. Ha.

Happy Lent everyone!