GOOAAALLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of making maintenance this morning, I'm making a before and after post!

before, 2009 (I was actually at a pretty good weight here for me)

after, 2012

before, 2011

after, 2012

before, new years eve 2009

2012!

 

 2010

 2011

Race picture progression! 34 min, 30 min, 29 min!

Finding bathing suit befores are quite impossible.

In the middle, and after...there is about a twelve pound difference here.

I can't believe I made it! When I started this in January 155 seemed so far away, and now I'm sitting at 149, 40 pounds lost! I want to walk around with a t-shirt that says "I lost 40 pounds! If I can do it, anyone can!" Because I was one lazy Pansy before I started the couch to 5K program. Now I work out 5 days a week, I'm training for a half marathon, I go to yoga classes and I bought pita chips, hummus and dried fruit for my road trip! Hahahaha, that's so weird.

I'm excited to continue on though! I know that I'm only going to get stronger and leaner, even if the number doesn't change. Hopefully I'll fit WW meetings into my schedule soon so I can get to lifetime, I'm tired of paying them!

 Weight Watchers, Couch to 5K, Team in Training, bananas, splenda (yeah I still use splenda, suck it), zucchini, Subway, I love you all! You changed my life. Forever! 

I would post a big happy smiley picture here but I just got home from a 4.5 mile run and I'm look rough! Thank you for all of your support :).

A Productive Monday? Weird.

This morning I got up at 7AM and headed to a yoga class... I really didn't think I was gonna make it based off of how much I didn't want to wake up early the night before, but I got there with time to spare! The class went well. I learned a lot today about where everything goes and all that. My first class was taught by someone different and I kinda just flew threw poses, but since then the classes have really taught me a lot.

After yoga I came home and made the "heart healthy" serving of some quick oats. Let me tell you how much oatmeal that is. IT'S A WHOLE LOT! I added a bit of lite maple syrup and my normal olive oil of course. Whew it was a lot, but I ate it all. It was a lot of points too, but I worked so hard today it didn't matter much. After breakfast I started on my room... my room is in real bad shape. It hasn't been cleaned in forever! I did about 4 loads of laundry through out the day and really just picked up in my room. I've still got some work to do.

For lunch I made an over-stuffed with veggies quesodilla. It was delicious! I don't think I mentioned it here but I've been on a no meat diet this past week. I'm just trying it out, but so far it's been really easy! I haven't had meat since Wednesday at lunch! I'm going to try it out till the end of my WW week (Wednesday) and then see what happens from there while I'm on vacation.

For my first dinner I had a protein meal replacement bar right before my workout. Strides and Strength went fabulous then I picked up my second dinner on the way home! I had veggies and rice with some tofu. The tofu was alright, nothing to brag about, but the veggies were delicious!

Tomorrow I have got to finish my TNT letters, finish packing, finish cleaning my room, run a few miles and hopefully have energy to go to yoga too.

How did I forget to tell you guys I surpassed the furthest distance I've ever run this weekend?! I ran 6.8 miles (my nike + app actually said 6.94, but I don't know about that accuracy...) and DANG it was hot. And I really regretted those fried pickles I had a few hours before I ran...but I did it! Now I just got to stay motivated while I'm camping.

Camping, camping, camping. I can't stop thinking about camping.

Motivation? Maitenence?

Where has my motivation gone?! My discipline? The past two weeks have been lacking in that department... seriously lacking! I can't seem to wake up early enough to run and I always have things to do at sun down so I can't seem to get out and run during the week. Eating wise I've been doing really well this week, but I have only gone to yoga once, and I've only run once! That's no good. 

In other news, I'm seriously lacking on the fundraising portion of my summer! I've got to get some letters and emails out. So don't be shy about clicking that link over in the corner :). Any amount is better than nothing!

Also! I'm going camping next week!! Every year a group of my friends and family meet in the same campground in the middle of the smoky mountains in Tennessee for 5 days and it's something I look forward to from the moment we pull out of that little campground. 

 BUT if all goes accordingly this week I should be going into maintenance mode next week! Talk about jumping head first into maintenance for sure. I'm not sure what to expect but with Weight Watchers we have a 2lb leeway so I think I should manage. 

Are any of you out there in maintenance? Tips?

Being Bendy

Let's talk about yoga.

I've never been flexible, at least not when it comes to my body. Seriously, touching my toes has never been possible for me. But then... I lost 40 pounds. Things that were hard or impossible or uncomfortable for me then, are now a different story! I conquered running (or I'm working on it) and I conquered weight loss, so now what? When I started to think of what I wanted to conquer next the first thing that came to mind was core strength. I played softball for ten years so my arm strength seemed to bounce back once I started working on it, and my legs have been becoming stronger from running, but what about my core? It was being left out! I tried doing sit ups and planks and push ups. It just wasn't working. 

In comes yoga, something I always wanted to try, but always scared to make that leap and join a class. I looked around at a lot of studios and DVDs but it was all expensive or intimidating. Then a few of my friends suggested Savannah Power Yoga, ok they didn't just suggest, they raved about it. I decided to check it out. I was... pretty nervous, but that all went away after the first class. I told my friends that I don't think I could have done it before I started losing weight. Is that true for everyone? No, I don't think so. It's all mental! But I didn't just lose 40lbs, I lost all that inhibition that was stopping me from running and working out for fear of being inferior. And like I said before, things that were hard for me then, aren't now. I mean... crossing my legs! That was uncomfortable.

The best part of the few classes I've been to is that it's just an hour of doing yoga. You focus on nothing but the practice. An hour (or an hour and a half) of being present and not worrying about any of the other BS things floating around in your mind. An hour of me time! So for all you people that don't think you can do yoga, give it a try! You might be surprised at what you can do! And I say all this after only 3 classes, who knows what's going to happen in 3 months.

July Already?!?

I can't believe another month has gone by. That means it's time for me to recap June... and well, I'm a little ashamed at myself! Although I haven't been very bad when it comes to eating healthy and exercising I really didn't do anything I wanted to last month. 

June goals:

1. Lose 5 pounds (I've already lost 3 this month). I sort of did this one. I've lost 5.8lbs since May 30th, as of this morning but it's technically July, not June.
2. Join a fitness class (Yoga, Bootcamp, or Zumba). Nope.
   
3. Work on posture and core strength.
4. Do sprints. Did this once...
   
5. Drink my weight in water every day by ounces (literally, 150+ ounces of water a day). Not even close. Although I have been a little better by doing at leas 64 ounces the past week or so.

Now for measurements. I like to do my measurements once a month but now that I'm so close to maintenance I'm not expecting to see those drastic numbers I did when I first started. I lost an inch and a half off each thigh in the first month! But I have heard other girls lose up to two sizes after reaching maintenance. I feel like the last 10 pounds have made such a huge visual difference, but on top of that I feel like a much better runner.

Waist: -.5 in

Hips: -.5 in

Bust: -.5 in

Arms: 0.0

Thighs: -.5 in

So weird! I had the same amount of loss all over (with the exception of my arms). I'm definitely happy with it!

So now for July goals!

1. Reach maintenance!
2. Go to Yoga. 
3. Drink more water! It's so hot outside.
4. Run my furthest distance (over 5 miles).
5. Finish my TNT letters and emails.
6. Start going to WW meetings so I can get lifetime.
7. Core strength, core strength, core strength.

I'm looking forward to this month! Camping comes in a few weeks, I should reach maintenance soon, I'm going to my first yoga class today, I'm running better than ever and TNT looks to have an amazing month! Remember to donate! I need to get a lot more money by August. Just for some motivation one of the girls in our group mentioned this at our group training session this weekend: 

Every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer, so while we're out there running for 45 minutes 11 people have their lives changed.