Results

Congratulations to Matt & Ali, Mary & Bonnie, Dennis & Marlene for winning the 100 Day Heart Challenge!! You all look TERRIFIC and are a wonderful inspiration to us all :-)

It would have been wonderful to win, but what I really wanted was to improve my health. As for my results, they were VERY discouraging and disheartening!!! I have worked SO HARD and sacrificed so much hoping this would be the answer to the struggle with my weight and I find myself in some ways, worse off than I was before this started!!! Of the 12 numbers I was given last night 5 of them went up, 6 of them went down a little, and one (my height) remained unchanged! How can that be??? I saw a little success on the scales and hoped that because of the smaller number I was building muscle and how discouraging to learn it was only 2% change. Really, that's it?!? With all my changes in my eating habits almost every area of my cholesterol is WORSE than before!! Now they will print our results in the paper and on the website and everyone will think I didn't work very hard!!

So, the question is, what do I do from here. Honestly, I have no idea!! I can't double my workouts every day. I think I will go on hiatus to try and figure things out.

Frustration

So, my performance in the 5K on Saturday was not very good. I know I can do it faster than I did, but I just didn't seem to have the energy. I think there was also some nerves due to the fact it was my first race. So, today I decided to get on the treadmill and do my own 5K and I did VERY WELL!! I ran for about 1.2 miles at a 5 mph speed! It felt so good to do that...but why, oh why couldn't I do that on Saturday. Oh well, I guess that means I need to sign up for another race. In fact, I'm looking at the Running With Angels 5K on Saturday, June 19th. Anyone want to do it with me? If not, no worries. I think I will do it anyway :)

Ready Or Not, Here I Come

Well, I have less that 10 hours before the start of my first race and I have to say, I'm excited!! I think tomorrow will be fun whether it is rain or shine and I'm going to try my hardest for a new personal best!!

Feel free to come watch: 8a.m. at Fox Field, just east of the UVRMC Life Flight landing pad. I will be the one in red...along with about 400 other people :)

Baggage

So, last week I was watching The Biggest Loser and they had an interesting challenge. They had a big bag they carried through a hilly course. In each of their bags they had smaller bags weighing the equivalent of what they had lost each week. When they reached a flag representing each week, they could leave the smaller bag with the corresponding amount of weight they lost. (I hope that makes sense). All of the players started with at least 100 pounds and one player had close to 200 pounds!! It was impressive watching them drag that weight around and it was exciting to watch them get rid of it. When they had gotten rid of all their small bags, they could cross the finish line and throw their big bag over the edge of steep hill to get rid of it. As one of the contestants, Daris, finished he had a very profound thought that in many ways represents my weight loss journey.

"There it is, a little bit of me gone right there. I didn't just get rid of a bag, maybe I got rid of a little baggage!"

It feels good to know I'm not the only one carrying around baggage with my weight!! I'm sure that many of us with weight issues also have some baggage that is weighing us down as well!! Now that I have the tools to deal with my weight physically, I need to deal with some of the baggage that has helped get me to where I am.

I heard a quote recently that sums up what I need to do to continue to be successful in my weight loss. I wish I could remember who said it!

"You can't find peace until you find all the pieces!"

Here is to all of us finding all the pieces in our lives in order to have peace with ourselves!!

The End is in Sight...

and I'm scared!! I think it is natural for change to make us all nervous and I am certainly feeling that right now. I don't want to slip back into my old habits!! I have worked too hard to go back to the way I was living. In order to ensure I keep going on my new way of life is to set new goals for the next 100 days!! This isn't over for me yet!!

As the Saturday 5K draws closer, I get more nervous about that. I know the race route, so I'm not concerned about getting lost. I'm not worried about finishing either...I have had some training sessions that could put the race route to shame :-) I just want to do my best and go as fast as I can. I'm sure it will be intimidating to be surrounded by runners and race enthusiasts, but I'm going to give my best all the same. Maybe I should set a 365 days goal of running the Race for Red next year!

To my fellow challenge participants, work your hearts out this week and lets give it our best on Saturday!!

Another Quote

"Happiness comes with the achievement of little goals. With little, tiny steps that you take every single day you'll have a little accomplishment that will teach you a different reality. I'm telling you right now that you have everything it takes to achieve anything you want and it will not be easy, but it will be worth it." Jillian Michaels

FYI

Here is a tidbit of info from trainer Jillian Michaels:

Holding onto the handrails of the treadmill can reduce your fat burn by 20-30%!! I had no idea it that much of an affect on your workout.