Christy

I have week 1 of my Virtual Team in Training under my belt! WOOT!

Miles run: 8.01

We started out with our team conference call on the 30th, where we heard from Coach Joe, Julie (from the LLS), and Shannon (our fundraising mentor). It was an awesome call! I was actually shopping at Walmart with my daughter when I took the call, and there were several times I had to pull my cart over so I could laugh, and I even shed a few tears. I wanted to shout out about how excited I was to be part of something so amazing, but I think people already thought I was a little nuts.

On Sunday (1/31), I began my training with my first official run of 3 miles. Lisa was here visiting, so we took turns watching the kids so we could run alone. That 1st run, without a doubt, was my best run ever. Not just from a physical standpoint, but from a mental standpoint as well. All I could think about was how amazing this journey would be. I thought about Allie, I though about my Paw Paw, who was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia 2 years ago. I thought about everyone diagnosed with blood cancers, and cancer in general, who have to fight and endure chemotherapy, radiation, and the terrible side effects that come with treatment. I thought about Team Shrinking Jeans, all 18 of us, and what we’re doing. It’s HUGE. I thought about all the amazing support we’re receiving from the Sisterhood, and before I knew it, my 3 miles were done, and I wanted to keep running so I could think some more.

Although the weather was bad this past week, with lots of rain, and some flooding, amazingly enough, the sun was shining on the days of my runs. Perfect. The tempo run was the hardest, because you alternate between running at an easy pace, with running all out for 2 minutes at a time. You have to run at a pace you can maintain for the full 2 minutes, and that day I was running with the jogging stroller and Mia, so it was a little tricky, but I did it and felt a huge sense of accomplishment afterwards. I was also very sweaty and gross!

This week I will continue to follow my training schedule, and will even stop by the gym in Kerrville (which is 70 miles away!) to look into buying a pass so I can visit once a week for some weight training. I also plan to finish up my fundraising letter and get it in the mail, because in addition to training, I have to raise $2900 and as a team, we will be raising $51,800 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

New iTunes downloads this week:

• Save the Last Dance – Michael Buble
• Empire State of Mind – Jay Z with Alicia Keys
• Lean on Me – Bill Withers

Songs that gave me what I needed this week:

• Lose Yourself – Eminem <–have you ever listened to the words? It’s a really, really powerful song and the beat keeps my feet moving.

WHOOOOOOOOOOO-WEEEEEEEE. What.a.week. Seriously. Thanksgiving is a tough, tough week. Especially when you are trying to shrink. I set out with big plans. BIG PLANS, y’all. I had my menu planned, and it was traditional. I cannot mess with old family recipes. There is no lightening them up. It was all going to be about self-control and being active.

On Thanksgiving morning, I got up, got dressed, and hit the road for a 5 mile run. I ran the entire thing, and it was amazing! I felt like my day and week were starting off great. I came home and cooked, we ate, I went for a walk, and I did my EA SPORTS Active workout. I was proud as pie.

The weekend was a blur of Christmas tree shopping, decorating, eating out, snacking, and leftovers. I didn’t have time to run, and Saturday and Sunday were my off days from EA SPORTS Active. When I stepped on the scales Sunday morning, I was devastated. I was up several pounds, and it was a huge slap in the face. I buckled down, started guzzling water and fired up More Workouts on my day off. I knew if I was going to undo the damage I’d have to be serious.

Flash forward to this morning. After a long and sleepless night (thanks to my son falling out of the bed, and my daughter removing her diaper and peeing all over her bed), I groggily stepped on the scale. Totally forgot to turn on the light, so I couldn’t see the number! Light on, scale read, and happy dance!

KA-POW (that’s me sucker punching the turkey)!!! I managed to LOSE weight over Thanksgiving week. I think this could be a historical moment for me. I should have prepared a speech.

Where would I be without the Sisterhood? Probably back in the 150s, out of shape, tired all the time, and unhappy. But now I’m just about to say BUH-BYE to the 140s forEVER.

Last week: 141.6
This week: 140.8
Change: -0.8 HOLLA!

Miles this week: 7
Total miles for the challenge: 31

Since the challenge started, I am down 1.2. My goal was to lose 5 pounds, so we’ll see if I can make it. Only 2 more weeks to go!

Be sure to check out my EA SPORTS Active for Life entries over here! Give me some love while you’re there, k?
You can also check out my Daily Mile page, where I keep track of my miles!!

Am I doing something wrong? I mean, today was supposed to be an upper body workout, but my knees are killing me. The side lunges and side-to-side jumps and inline skating are going to be the death of my knees.

Do you have any advice? Because seriously, I’ve never had a problem with either of my knees. Ever. They didn’t bother me when I did the 30-Day Shred, which was very intense and full of lunges and squats and those stupid plank jacks. What gives?

On another note, I was determined to workout today after missing not 2, not 3, but 4 days of working out. The shame. As soon as I got going, the phone rang. It was Lisa. I ignored her. Then it rang again. The machine got it and I could hear a friend leaving a message about a mother’s day out opening for Mia. Then it rang again. It was my mom. And then the dog started whining to go out. I ignored her and she puked on the floor. What gives?!!!

I think from now on, I’ll turn the ringer off and put my dog out before I work out.

Even with all the distractions, I still burned 175 calories. DAMN!!! I was proud and sweaty. Or sweaty and proud. Either way, I did it, and I intend on catching up on the days I missed. That is if my knees will cooperate.

On September 4, 2008, I weighed 166 pounds! Today I’m at 148 pounds and I hit my 10% weightloss goal on WW! I’m so excited. I didn’t even realize it when I posted this morning! So, WOOOHOOOOO for me! I’m down 18 pounds since restarting WW in 09.08!

Since starting the Sisterhood in November, I’m down 7.8!!

Yes, I’m home, and I’m so glad. Don’t get me wrong, I had a WONDERFUL time, but is it just me, or do you feel so unsure when you’re away from home? Unsure of whether you’ll be able to stick with your plan, unsure of whether you’ll be able to resist all the tempting food? Unsure of whether you even care to stick with the plan or resist? I feel in control when I’m at home and feel like I have the potential for out of control behavior when I’m away from home for long stretches. Maybe I just don’t fully trust myself yet? I don’t know. Do you feel that way? Ever?

Overall, I think I did great this weekend. I said no to many dessert opportunities, I chose lighter options at each restaurant and chose not to eat all of my meals. AND, we walked about 200 miles over 3 days. Okay, maybe not 200, but close. Trust me. I wore Mia (yeah, I’m a babywearer) the whole time, so I burned some extra calories thanks to my little bluebird. I can feel it, too. In my hips, thighs and butt. My scale was being a pain in the ass today, telling me I was up a couple of pounds, but I know that’s just because she’s mad at me for being gone for so long. I fully expect her to be nicer tomorrow morning and even more so on Wednesday!\

So how was your weekend? Did you soar or sink?

Do you realize this is the last week of our Looking Fine for Valentine’s Challenge? Do you know what that means? We’ll soon know who the biggest shrinker is, AND we’ll have a brand new challenge starting next week. This will be a mini-challenge. A shorter and sweeter challenge.