The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The most wonderful time of the year!? Usually I would say that it is the most wonderful time of the year but not this year. As I speak the house in a crazy mess of boxes, totes, and vacuum bags. A crazy mess! I hate messes and being disorganized!!! HATE IT! We are moving in two and a half weeks and still have a lot of work to do. The hubby is working a lot which makes it hard to get stuff done around the house. I'm home with the 15 month old who is into everything. Seems like I get one thing done and I have to clean up five things she got out. Stressful! The C25k, is behind like two... okay, three workouts! I feel like I'm failing miserably. Plus nothing seems to be going smoothly, at least in my option.

I went to the orthodontist today for my final appointment. I have been concerned about my teeth forever, since I had fangs. I always hated my teeth and dreamed of getting braces. I even remember wearing a bent paper clip that looked like braces once because I wanted "perfect teeth" so bad. I have mentioned my husband that I'm not happy about the way they appeared. The finished look is not what I think it should be, especially for what I paid. But he assures me that they look good and it's just me picking faults with myself. Then I go to the appointment today and they are taking pictures. The lady tells me to bite down, I do. Then she's like bite down all the way... I AM. They don't line up the way they should! I have to be checked by the dentist, which I have never seen this guy the whole time I went there. He's like you have to wear the retainers every night and blah, blah. Okay... I have done what I was told to do. Then he looks at the screen for my file and says something about a year, then tells my that if you don't wear your retainers like you are supposed to then your teeth will go back and you will have to get braces again. DUH! That's way I wore they like I was supposed too! I wore the dumb positioner everyday like I was supposed to..... for the hours I was supposed to but my teeth don't look like the teeth on the positioner. When I had to wear that thing for 24 hours the first, four or five days (while my husband was gone and taking care of two kids) I thought this is going to be worth all the stress of not being able to talk to my kids for a few days and having to bite this thing for days. I'd wash it and look at the foam in the mold and think... my teeth are going to look so good. After wearing it for the 20 some hours for the first four or five days and then six+ day hours and sleeping after that. Even on the day my husband came home after being gone for three months or my daughter's first birthday. My teeth are still not the way they should be.. I'm sad but what do I do? I can't believe that this dentist is letting me leave with teeth that look like this, no referral from me!

I bought my hubby's plane ticket tonight. I emailed him and said I hoped to hear from him very soon, one minute he called. I ask him if he heard anything about his leave time. Nope but it looks like it's going to be approved. "Are you sure about the date you will be returning," I ask him. "Yep, that date shouldn't be changing." I'm getting ready to book the ticket, reading him all the rules.... you can't change the date, the time, the names on the tickets... you know the works. THEN his phone dies. GREAT! Should I buy the ticket? I remember my brother saying his friend might have some flier miles we could use. Okay, I call my brother and ask him about the flier miles. Nope that's not going to work. Should I still get it? I'll just use my card to pay. I pay for the ticket, comfimed purchase page on computer screen and the phone rings.... unlisted.....answer..... it's my hubby! "Hey, you can look for tickets for the next day. I just seen that my leave was approved and I have an extra day," "WHAT?!? I just bought the ticket, twenty seconds ago," I say as I'm trying not to scream. Maybe we can change the date? AH, no. It said NO changing dates! SO the day after Christmas we will be saying good-bye to my hubby for seven or eight months. NOT the most wonderful time of the year. It's making me depressed thinking about it.

At least I did manage to get a family pic for the Christmas cards...... now I just have to write them and mail them out.

Couch to 5k-W5D3

I have a problem with procrastination! I finally ran the W5D3 today, I was supposed to run it on Friday. Honestly I wasn't putting it off. On Friday I thought my husband was getting home early so I was waiting for him to get home from work so I could run with out pushing the stroller and I thought it would be nice if he ran with me. He didn't get home until 7:00. Since he came home late I thought I would run it on Saturday because he was supposed to have the weekend off. BUT he worked on Saturday and fixed the truck when he got home. We need groceries since I only walked to the store with the stoller, so grocery shopping. Then family pics for the Christmas card (which turned out horrible) Exhausted! Okay, the pictures were Sunday. The weekend was crazy and rainy.

The good news, I finished week 5! A little later than I planned but it's done. I'm going to do W6D1 tomorrow and I'll be back on track. I still have a stuffy nose and mucus in my throat so I might be going to the doctor too! I will finish this program!

Stats for today: 20 minutes, 1.89 miles, Pace 10:55.

Couch to 5k-W5D1

Still have a slightly sore throat and now a runny nose. I finally decided to do the workout tonight. I was going to put it off until tomorrow because I was getting the house ready because my husband is coming home tonight after being gone for a month. However after dinner we will had a few hours to kill, let's do the workout to distract ourselves. So we went out and did the workout. When I workout I have been doing the five minute warm up and then half of the intervals and then turn around and finish rest. I'm not actually doing 5k, it's more like 2 miles. However since we were trying to keep busy we did the 5k. It was so dark and I still don't know if I like it. I don't feel completely safe out there in the dark. SO I may have to move all the workouts to the daytime unless my hubby will be workout with me.

Couch to 5k-W5D2

It seems that I am at a plateau.... 208! I want to get under 200 so badly but I need to figure out at way to accomplish it. What is going to help me reach that goal? I think the next step needs to be nutrition and eating. This is the step that always gets me! I can get into the workouts and keep them up but changing my foods I eat is SO hard. I'm an emotional eater and I know it. I try to be conscious of it but there comes a point when stress gets the best of me. Lately there has been a lot of stress... my husbands job, moving, and car repairs. Now the question becomes what should I do, there are so many choices. Weight Watchers (I have a lot of the stuff already), a diet book, Biggest Loser Program, just try to eat less and track food? I honestly don't know what the next step should be.....


Did the workout with my hubby and I can totally tell the difference of not pushing the stroller! The stroller is killing me, it's so heavy. I did an awesome job tonight and enjoyed spending time with the family. I can see us running more in the future.

Under The Weather

A sore throat... ouch! Last night I had a sore throat, this morning it was way worse! I guess I have a cold, my nose is runny and my throat is still sore. I'm running tomorrow and walking to get a few groceries. We will see how tonight goes. I think I need more rest and sleep. I have been waking up at least 10 times a night. A few times to feed the baby and a few just because. I can't wait to sleep the whole night and maybe get a day to sleep until 9:00. That would be nice.

Since I didn't feel well today I watched Hallmark Channel, countdown to Christmas all day. The girls were playing and look so cute I had to take a couple of pictures.

Staying on Track After Moving

In a month, month and a half we (girls & I) will be moving. We are moving back to Michigan, in December. brrrrr! I have enjoyed the workout and challenges of the C25k and would like to keep being active. I know if I have a goal in mind I'm more likely to stick with it. Enter a 5k! Yes, that is what I am planning to do. I looked up all the walk/runs in Michigan and there in a 5k in Holland. As of today I do not see a date listed but I know it's the Tulip Time Fun Run. Tulip time is always like the first week of May. There is my goal... 5k race! Now I really need to train and bring it up a notch...or two. I'm also working on my weight loss goal, trainning will help me achieve it.

Couch to 5k-W4D3

According to my scheduled routines I am a day behind on my workouts since I decided not to run on Wednesday. I ran Thursday but did I want to do back to back workouts to be back on track? No, I'll do it on Saturday morning. However with there being no school on Thursday or Friday this week I gained two extra "Saturdays." Normally I'm be happy about that but I'm wishing the weekend would hurry by so my hubby can be home. So the day is dragging on and at close to six o'clock I decide we are going to do the workout tonight and just get it out of the way. We will have a whole weekend to relax. We leave around six and it's so dark. Madison carries a tap light while we run, lol. We did a good job! No stopping, puking (or close to), and best... no complaining. I enjoy walking/jog with Maddie because it gives us a time to be together, close to alone. Delana's in the stroller but mostly of the time you won't notice she is there. (I notice since I'm pushing the heavy stroller she's sitting in..lol) Week 4- COMPLETE!

Couch to 5k-W4D2

There was no school today but Maddie had a sleepover with her cousins. Delana and I slept in until 6:30, a half an hour is good. We got up had breakfast and then time to run. Wow! The workout today kicked my butt, I didn't think I was going to finish the first five minute interval. I also almost puked, yuck. I managed to finish...... YES, I DID IT! I did it. The only thing keeping me from stopping is how amazing I feel after I accomplished my goal for the day. One day, one workout at a time.

The day we said our good-byes, our first deployment together. The first deployment for me, when I decided to change my life. May 2008- when it clicked!

I was asked today how much I have lost. I have lost 10 pounds since starting the C25k program. Since I had Delana I've lost 37 pounds... from the very beginning of my weight lose journey 42 pounds. There were 5 pounds difference from my all time highest weight to what I weighed when I had Delana. I'm slightly disappointed in myself because I know I was at my pregnancy weight at 7 weeks post pregnancy but I gained back every pound and had to lose it again. I think I could be farther along in my journey, closer to my goal weight. The good news is I took action to change it and I'm a work in progress.

My husband will be deploying again in January 2011 and my goal is to be at my goal weight when he comes back home. He may get to leave the ship before the end of the deployment if we get orders, but we will just say he'll be gone 7ish months.

Cowgirl Maddie & the Felicity Giveaway

My American Girl is my little Maddie. Okay, she is growing up to be quit the little lady. Everyday she reminds me of how special she is and shows off her caring spirit. Maddie knows that's I am working out so that I can have more energy, become healthier, and it helps me to relax. Over the weekend while we were walking she said "I'm going to be your "coach". Now breathe in and out, relax your mind." I tried not to laugh seeing as I'm hearing this form a 7 year old. I posted this on Facebook and my husband reminded me out how she "helps" him by giving him tips on being romantic, while I'm sitting there. Very often she will lean over and whisper in her dad's ear, you should give mom a back rub or something similar. That brings me another thought, she also loves giving me advice on how to take care of her little sister. I guess she forgot I raised her.

Maddie's is a very special girl and I decided to enter her into a drawing at Our Ordinary Life to win a American Girl doll -Felicity. Visit the site they have lots of other giveaways too!

Maddie with Catalina, her our generation doll.

W4D1 C25k

Delana doesn't understand the time change and therefore I don't need an alarm clock. She has be outta bed by 6:00. This morning we got up and were in a hurry because I didn't want Maddie to be late because she had a field trip. We finally got ready and walked out the door about a minutes later I looked at my watch.... 6:58. Could it be? It's only 7:00! I asked a lady passing by if she had the time. I messed around a lot with my fancy watch yesterday, maybe I messed the time up. The lady replied 6:59, schoo doesn't start until 8:15. I told Maddie we could go but in the house and leave a little later, "no" she sad "I want to got now." I told her there wouldn't be anyone there. So we walked to school watching all the teenagers walking to school. When we arrived at the school there were maybe ten cars. They weren't even serving breakfast and it was 7:15. What to do, walk back home? It was a little chilly, for So Cal that is! An idea: we were close to the park which has a jogging path, we could walk there and do my workout and then I would be done and school would be starting. Maddie agreed to workout with me... after all she is my "coach." We did our 20 minute workout at the school and headed to the school. I can't believe I messed up the time, dang time change!
After getting back home I decided to walk down and get a chai from Starbucks. AND a tasty blueberry muffin, yum. Stopped at Goodwill and got a couple of books and head back home. I started reading one of the books as I was rocking/nursing Delana for her nap. Layers by Sandi Patty. In the book she has that if we are going through life thinking we are fat, ugly, dumb, and unlovable we sending that message to others when they meet us. We need to follow the advice of Proverbs 23:7 What we think, we become!
I am loved, beautiful, and special. In God's eyes I am perfect.

Week 3 C25k

What a crazy week! I didn't have time to blog but I made this program a priorty in my everyday life. I didn't follow it to a tee, I followed the C25k program but didn't do the pilates. I'm really finding it hard to get work done around the house with hubby gone. I'm busy from the time my feet hit the floor until bed time. I'm always doing something! I might be watching tv for a few minutes while I'm nursing the baby but that's as close as I get to a break.

The workouts for the week. The first workout I was thinking it woud be a lot harder than the previous week... it seemed easier. The second day I was going to finish after walking Maddie to school but she was runnung late and I had to drive her so she would make it in time. BUT because she messed up my plan for working out I dragged her with me to jog that night. We did the required then walked at leat 2 miles more. I told her, if you mess up my workout than you will have to do it with me. The next morning she got ready without me having to tell her. Third workout, the next day I was SORE.

Today is actually Monday of Week 4, should be day 1 of week four. It was raining this morning and the brakes are bad on the truck so I'm waiting to have them fixed. I had to walk Maddie to school in the rain, so I did get so exercise. (School and back home is 1.86 miles.) I got home nursed the baby and was so tired that we took a nap. An hour and a half later..... I was still exhausted. I keep thinking that I'm not giving myself the rest it needs and I'm going to get pneumonia again. I remember I got it when I was pushing myself exercising and majorly stressing. I'm repeating that again now. I'm going to keep up with the C25k because if feels good to walk/jog. Tomorrow W4D1, so I need to sleep since it is twenty to midnight.

Note: Sunday we walked to church and home, about two miles. Then later same day took two or three mile walk. The picture are from our wal after church.

Couch to 5k-W2D3

Halloween Weekend.... the parties start today. I feel like I am losing my mind. I knew I was going to the orthodontist today and I knew that Friday would be school parties but it didn't click until last night. I brought my daughter to school, my friend kept the baby while I went to my appointment, and I still made it back to watch the schools parade. Yay! Of course while this was going on I should have been running. I'm really try to run the same time everyday, one I like routine and two it gets warm too fast here. YES, even in the fall. I can home got the baby down for her nap and changed into my work out clothes. I ran- 1.897 miles. Time: 32:00 Pace: 16:52 Week 2 C25k=COMPLETE

I have a feeling that next week might be too much. I might do week 2 twice but I'm going to give it my all on Monday! I'm not going to quit, I feel really good!

Couch to 5k-W2D2

I was motivated this morning. I brought my daughter to school, came home got a bottle of water and put the baby in the stroller. I made it a little farther distance wise today, not much but a few hundred yards. It's still progress! (Don't despise small beginnings.) I did the warm up plus 10 minutes of intervals and the turn around and head back. The biggest challange for me is the last 10 minutes heading home. I'm arguing with myself about quitting, there's no way you are going to finish 9 weeks of this. Then I praying for God to help me make it, just finish TODAY. When I pull up in front of my house I feel relief and accomplishment, I just completed another day. YES! I feel stronger, I am stronger! I WILL do this, I WILL reach my goal!

I almost forgot, I weighed in this morning 210.5! Heck yeah..... half a pound off from my first goal. Reward?!

Scheduled Workouts

Tip: schedule your workouts!

Since I am folowing a program I have a schedule for my workouts. I decided I need to get out my planner and schedule all my workouts for the coplete program. I started with day one, week one. I know I already completed a few workouts but I want to see them written down knowing they are completed. Now I have all my workouts wrote down in my planner, all 9 weeks of the C25k. On each day I wrote the intervals, toworrow looks like this: warm up for 5 minutes followed by 90 seconds jog by 2 mins walk for 20 minutes. When I wrote the last workout down..... 30 minutes~3 miles~NO WALKING. WOW!! On December 17th I will have completed my training, I will be running! I'm excited to get there and know there will be a lot of work to complete in the next 8.5 weeks.

Exercise:

I walked to pick my daughter up from school. 1.86 miles

Pilates

My Goals

I was reading that having small goals can help you achieve your goal. Here's my goals, my first one is getting closer and closer.

*210
*200
*190
*180
*170
*160
*150
*140
*130
My ultimate goal is to be somewhere between 145-130. Only 3 pounds to my first goal. REWARD for the first goal? Hair cut!?!

Couch to 5k-W2D1

Rain, rain, go away! Okay I have been very fortunate to not have to run in the rain yet since it has rained the whole time I have been doing this program. However today it's rainning and it doesn't look like it will be stopping for me to run. I waited a little while to see if it would stop but I don't want to put it off too long because then I will end up not running at all. I decided I was just going to run in the rain after waiting an hour and a half. I went and ran in the rain! I hated it! At first I was fine but then I got so mad at myself. "You know you wouldn't need to run if you took better care of yourself." Then I was thinking about the situation with my husbands orders. I started crying because I was so mad. Exercise is something I can control, my husbands career- that's God's department! Needless to say I finished todays run soaking wet.

It's an hour since I finished my run. The rain has stopped and the sun is trying to poke through. Go figure! I'm just thinking, if I try to talk myself into quitting I will remind myself of the day I had to run in the rain. Do you really want to quit after all of that? NO!

Clutter Be Gone- Post 1

My house is full of clutter and more clutter. I have been wanting to clear out the clutter for sometime now but I haven't gotten around to it until about a week ago. Due to my husbands career situation it looks like we will be moving. I decided that I really need to go through every room, tote, nook and cranky; eliminate the clutter. I know that all this extra stuff is zapping my energy and making it harder for me to do the cleaning and everyday things I need to do. Today my oldest daughter and I went through ALL of her clothes. She tired everything on, we donated, organized and threw stuff out. It all ended with three trash bags of clothes and an organized dresser. The closet still needs work since more than just clothes.

Exercise: walking as family~one mile

Couch to 5k-W1D3

Isn't it said it never rains in Southern California? Well it has rained for the whole week!! I have been lucky to have missed the rain on all of my runs which is good. Especially since my running buddy is my 14 month old daughter. I really don't want to have to drag her out in the rain. Today run was 1.86 miles. The good news is I have completed Week 1 of the C25k. I didn't know if I could do it and it "DID IT!" Monday I'll start week two which will really be a challange since I struggled a little this week. I'm going to stick with this.... I will complete the full program NO MATTER WHAT!

Leisurely Walk

I met up today with my sister in law and niece to walk. We walked 3.1 mile (5k). I was going to track the time so I knew what it was but I didn't, I forget. Are you surprised? It was a nice to walk with someone and to talk. Talking always makes time go by faster.

Thursday, pilates! Yep, I still did the pilates too. I really like doing pilates, it's so relaxing. Unless you have a 14 month little girl trying to crawl all over you while you do it. lol

Couch to 5k-W1D2

Ran 1.88 miles today. I was good until the last 10 minutes and I felt like I would die the last ten seconds of every jogging interval. Another workout complete. ;)

Strength Training

Tuesday is my strenght training day. I have decided to do Pilates. Is it as good as going to the gym to do strength training with weight machines? I don't know. What I do know is that I enjoy doing it. I also know that I already own a couple Pilates videos, so they are free. I dropped my daughter off at school this morning and came home to exercise. Popped in the disc, laid down and was attached by a thirteen month old. This should be interesting. I can do this... I will NOT quit! Pilates video.... complete. I was actually sore this morning from running yesterday and doing the pilates actually helped.

Tomorrow in my second day of running the C25k. It's been raining ALL DAY. It's supposed to rain tomorrow too. I'm trying to decide if I should put the baby in the the jogging stroller and put the rain cover on or skip it. I'm a little frustrated because I started this program awhile ago and it started raining too. I know I should run. I'm asking myself do I want to get soaked? Will the baby get sick? I know that if I don't run I will be disappointed in myself. I think I need to do what needs to get done... run. Run and suck it up!

C25k Day One

DONE!! I completed day one. There were a few minutes/seconds I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish. I kept saying "you can do it!" I did it. Tomorrow: Pilates!
Pictures from October 5,2010

A Journey Begins With a Single Step

Step One: Do something.
My plan: Couch 2 5k trainning program
After being over weight for most of my life. I have decided it's time for change. My time to change me! I'm doing this to live life to the fullest.... To enjoy each day I am given and stop wasting them by thinking about all this extra weight hanging around. My approch will be baby steps. However once I get the hang of it I'll be off.

I realize that if I'm going to be sucessful I'm going to have to track my progress. I will be using a few sites I have come across.
Running/walking: www.active.com
-Tracking each workout. I love that you can map your route and save it to your profile. Oh yes, you can enter in your time and it will display your pace.
Nutrition: sparkpeople.com
-Track food, they will even give you a menu. I choose to fill in myself. You can choose an evercise program. You can also choose your goal and find out how long it will take to achieve it.
Running: www.coolrunning.com
-I haven't looked over the whole site but it's why I found the Couch 2 5K Running Plan.

Testing.... Okay, today was supposed to be day one but I remembered the times wrong. The workout; walk five minutes briskly, 60 second run, 2 minutes walk... repeat walk and running intervals for 30 minutes. I was a little disappointed that I messed it up but Monday I will begin with Day One.
My workout schedule: walk/run on Mondays, Wednesday & Fridays. Pilates on Tuesdays and Thursdays.