Friday weigh in

2 more pounds for a total of 7 in June. That's seven less pounds I have to carry on the 10k. Now THAT makes me happy! I worked out hard 4 days in a row and believe it or not, ate a little more. After doing some tracking I realized I really wasn't eating enough for all the working out I do.

Speaking of the 10k it's going to be 105 this weekend and I'm running the course tomorrow - one more time before Wednesday. I'm going before dawn and there are water stops so I should be okay! The local weather guy said its supposed to cool off enough by the 4th to make the Peachtree "somewhat bearable". I won't have the luxury of an early start that day!

Have an awesome weekend everyone and thanks as always for the support!

*edited to add this awesome post from my trainers blog. She always makes so much sense and it's helping me out so much right now!

Spin Psychle

This morning waaaaaay before dawn, I did the number one most scary thing on my list of things to do....

I took a spin class.

This may not seem like a big deal to some but for whatever reason, I was terrified of it. I could never imagine my big butt lasting one hour on that teeny tiny seat.

I was prepared and had a gel seat cover but the instructor said not to use it if you don't have to and that you should try to get used to the saddle. Well lets just say his butt is nowhere near as large as mine and I begged for it 15 minutes in. It was a little better but still really painful. The rest of it? AWESOME. The music, the speed, the sweat literally dripping all over the bike.

I can see why people love it and I really want to keep doing it so it won't hurt as much. Apparently you DO get used to it!!

The moral of the story? Do something that scares you. Be brave! You won't regret it.

Tales from beyond the scale

Sometimes I just need to step away from the scale and evaluate what else is going on with me. This came up because I was complaining to the trainer that I only lost 5 lbs. in one month and she pointed out that it was 5 lbs. I wasn't carrying anymore. It's a GOOD point too because carrying less weight will really help me as I'm running down Peachtree in 100 degree heat.

After my training session on Monday, I came home and walked the dogs a mile before my husband got home. I was thinking how that mile used to be the extent of my exercise. I would be totally wiped out and out of breath. Now it seems like nothing - even after the trainer. Even when its 98 degrees.

Today I ran all the way around the golf course at sunrise. 3.2 miles. I still walk up one nasty hill but I remember a time where that distance was unfathomable. I even have a cute guy that works on the grounds of the golf course that waves to me every time. I've been really consistent and even my Nike + noticed.So the countdown to the race begins. The race I said I would never do. Never say never!

Not the Biggest Loser

Let me start by saying thank you so much for all the encouragement. I had myself convinced I wasn't going to do it until I saw all the comments!!

Saturday started at 5:30am. The night before my sister and I were laughing about how this was the one day of my life I'd ever get dressed trying to look as fat as possible :) Everything I had read about auditioning for the show suggested dressing as if it were a job interview. Myself and about 10 other people took that advice (including one woman who had on the same dress as me!) The rest were a hot mess. Literally.

Walking to the end of the line was weird. Everyone was staring at everyone walking by. I felt thin by comparison which was really new to me. I didn't bring a chair because I didn't want to be the one lazy fat person with a chair. HA!! EVERYONE had a chair - some even had huge shade structures. People were SMOKING! People were eating DUNKIN' DONUTS. People brought huge coolers FULL of food. I had an iPad and a bottle of water. I was beginning to wonder why I was there.


This was my view of the line behind me about 30 minutes after I arrived. It was hard to judge how many people were in line ahead of me. I met the people I was destined to spend the next 4 hours with. All of them super nice, I was the oldest and thinnest of the bunch - by 60 pounds. I know this because we all shared our weights. Most of my line-mates at one point told me I didn't need to be there but I weigh exactly as much as Olivia weighed when she started and she WON!

We had about an hour of shade until the sun was directly on us and that's when it got a little more challenging. My horror turned to sadness as people started heating up. There was kid who couldn't have been a day over 16 needing oxygen from the paramedics. There were people that couldn't stand or move to even get out of the sun. I grabbed the umbrellas I had in my car and handed them out to the ones that looked the worst - not caring if I ever got them back. After seeing some of these people struggle I thought If I did get on the show I might have to give my spot to someone who was really sick.

About 9:00 we got numbered applications. I was number 167 in line. Not bad considering the line had grown to at least 1,000. It had similar questions to the online application which I think everyone should fill out. It asks some really tough questions and requires a lot of deep thinking. You can download it here if you're interested.

Finally they let the first 200 in the building. The whole process was very organized and they were trying to get everyone inside and out of the heat as quickly as possible. The crew were a lot like when I went to see Oprah. Trying very hard to rev up the crowd and keep everyone excited about it. I was just happy I got a chance to pee and fix my makeup! My hair was flat and un-fixable by now but because of the 2 years of hot yoga, I wasn't as affected by the heat as much. Score!

After 4 hours it comes down to one group of 10 and one casting director. You leave your application, one photo and have about 30 seconds to answer one question. The question was "who do you want to inspire?" My answer was you. My faithful readers. I told the casting director that for over three years, I've been keeping a weight loss blog that almost 600 people read and haven't really ever lost any weight yet people say I inspire them.

She was trying to be all cheerleader-y with everyone saying things like "this is the first step - you're here today" blah blah blah. It's really not true. It's not a step at all unless you're chosen or happen to be inspired by the shear amount of sick people around you.

That was it. I was kind of hoping it would be more than just the decision of one person. They said you would hear by midnight if you had a call back but I wasn't expecting the phone to ring. I had as much chance of getting called back as I did of winning the lottery. I just let it go. And had a shot of Patron and a beer.

But I was sad. More sad than I thought I would be. Sad for the people who weren't going to do anything to help themselves if they didn't get on the show. Sad for myself that at the end of the day, I still have a hundred pounds to lose (again).

With sadness can come inspiration and I do feel inspired. I'm not too far gone to ever come back. I'm running 6.2 miles a week from Wednesday. I'm going to do some food journaling to help me figure out why all this exercise isn't helping me shed any pounds. The last month I've barely had a carb and only lost 5 lbs. I suppose it's better than nothing but I'm tired of hauling around this other person on my runs. I might as well have my 90 pound friend on my back. 90 pound friend once told me she didn't weigh 90 pounds so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and call her my 95 pound friend. :) She's also my biggest fan and I couldn't do this without her.

Wow this was a long post but it was very therapeutic. I'm training really hard this week so stay tuned...all leading up to the worlds biggest (and hottest) 10k.

Doin' it

After a few sleepless nights and (probably way too much) discussion with friends and family, I've made the decision. I'm doin' it. I'm auditioning for the Biggest Loser season 14 on Saturday.

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of work required for this. I'm giving up an official training run WITH water stops which I will still have to do on Sunday instead. Unofficially. Without water. I feel like I would always wonder if I didn't do it.

The application is probably something every one of us should fill out - even if you aren't applying for the show. It asks a lot of thought-provoking questions I'm not sure I've ever asked myself like "what do you think would be the best thing about being fit?" or "what is the hardest thing about being overweight?" This goes on for 9 pages. I kind of feel like I need to dive into this with a bottle of red wine and a box of kleenex.

I would never give up a precious Saturday if I didn't feel like I had half a chance. I have the personality for it, I'm just not sure they've ever had someone who already works out a lot. I do have a "sob story" to share but I don't use it as an excuse for being fat. It's the reason I work hard every single day. My father dropped dead at 49 after trying to lose weight his whole adult life. He literally died trying. I'm only 6 and a half years away from 49 and I'm following in his footsteps. I never stop working and it's not getting me anywhere. Not sure if that's TV material or not.

I will have nothing but time while I'm in line so I will be blogging about it so stay tuned. Would I be me if I wasn't on some kind of crazy adventure? (you don't have to answer that question Shelley) : )

Would you ever....

audition for the Biggest Loser? It's happening here on Saturday and I'm kind of tempted. I have the personality for it but would they take someone who could already run a 5k? Has anyone ever done it? I'm ending with a question. Sorry Shelley :)

Monday Mix Tape

Is it really Monday again already? The weekend was a relatively successful. I drank and ate a little more than planned and ran a little less than planned but all in all, it wasn't bad.

For my Saturday long run, I was a little disappointed in myself for having "only done 4 miles" then I realized how ridiculous that sounded. I decided to stay in the neighborhood instead of doing the course - mostly because of the lack of water stations this week. The next 2 weekends will have water every mile or so and I will be out there practicing with a ton of other people. I got once around the golf course. My big victory was running without stopping up 2 giant hills I've never done before. It was so hard but I read somewhere to just focus on running from telephone pole to telephone pole and that really helped. I pushed myself to my absolute limit and it felt awesome.

My Monday morning attitude was surprising. There was work to do before work so I wasn't going to go but I finished it pretty quick and threw on my shoes. I knew how good that post-run shower was going to feel and I didn't want to feel disappointed in myself all day. I have my trainer this afternoon so I could have justified it but I need my cardio and it's the only way. The only problem with having "raised the bar" and ran those 2 hills Saturday was that I had to do the same this morning. It was a shorter run but I knew I was never going to be able to walk those hills again. No going backwards. Only forwards!
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Although it was a busy weekend, I still managed to shop for and prep great food for the week ahead which for me is THE KEY to staying on track. We've been eating really low carb which can be really difficult to keep interesting. I made broccoli slaw, lite ranch dressing made with greek yogurt and 13 bean soup. I washed, cut and stored about 20 pounds of vegetables. That is a ton of work but it's done and I'm so happy knowing my fridge is packed full of goodness.
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I also had to make Oreo truffles for a wedding shower. Oreos are my Kryptonite. Instead of having any while I was cooking, I put 3 away to REALLY enjoy later in the evening. There have been many times where my husband and I have eaten the entire package in one night so I'm considering that a huge victory. It replaced my weekly cupcake and I'm okay with that trade. I ate absolutely nothing at the shower which was another huge victory.
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Blogging regularly again has made me realize just how much hard work this all is. The huge pile of laundry from double workouts, working 3 different jobs, shopping, cooking, cleaning, exercising. No wonder the time flies but it's so worth this feeling of pride in myself that's slowly developing again.

Have an awesome, healthy week everyone.

Friday weigh in

Don't get too excited because it was only half a pound.

The good news is I feel awesome and I'm not going to let no stupid scale get me down. This week was full of victories.

I can't believe it's been a week since my longest run ever and tomorrow, I'm doing it all over again. This week I got a "did I see you running down Peachtree???" message. Yes people you did see me running down Peachtree and it's going to happen a few more times before the 4th of July. There should be a few more water stops this week which is great since I'm going to try to that last mile I've been avoiding. I'm actually excited about it which is much more significant progress than any old weight loss :)

And if you weren't already amazed at how bad-ass I am, I went to my trainers class last night after running a 5k in the morning. This afternoon is yoga which I'm hoping will ease some soreness from all of that craziness.

Have a great weekend!

I'm a real runner

Ever since my huge victory over the weekend, my attitude towards running has completely changed. I don't feel like a fat girl trying to run anymore but more like a runner trying REALLY hard to lose some weight. I used to scowl at the people I saw running in the morning as I drove by them on my way to work but now that I'm one of them, I smile. I smile because I'm already done :)

This week has been a little challenging. I ran 2 miles Monday morning and then nothing on Tuesday or Wednesday. I used my "one night a week drinking and eating out treat" on Tuesday. It was a hard decision but it was all my neighbors who are all our best friends and it's so rare we ALL get together. We had Mexican which is all I really need to say about that...

SO, after having skipped yoga, I was too hungover to run Wednesday morning and promised myself I'd do it in the afternoon. I even wore my running clothes to work. We had a group lunch at a pizza place and every single person at the table had pizza. I had a spinach salad with bbq chicken and it was delicious! I don't need no stinkin' pizza. Crazy deadlines all afternoon meant no running. Not even a dog walk.

This morning, I turned it ALL around and destroyed my 5K personal best on the treadmill. By a full 2 minutes. 

This is proof to me that this once a week treat thing is working for my brain. I know I'm done for the week. It's going to be a long weekend but I made my choice. I still have my weekly cupcake to look forward to :)

Weigh in is tomorrow. I'm not expecting anything but you never know!

Monday Mix Tape - Longest Run Ever Edition

Are you dying to find out about my run on Saturday??? My longest EVER??? Well, I totally rocked it. So much so, I'm still high as a kite from it!

I got up at 6:15 with absolutely no problem. I never even tried to talk myself out of it. I was not running with the group so I was calm. More on that later.

I parked my car at the closest train station to what will be the finish line on the 4th. As the train sped northbound to the starting point, I was watching all those miles fly by and I got a little scared. I was leaving my car and had nothing but a debit card, a Marta card and an iPod. Somehow I was going to have to make it back!

My panicky breathing started as I was leaving the train station and walking up the hill to the starting point but I got it under control and set out. The first few blocks were awful. All the sidewalks were torn up for construction and I under-estimated how hard that would be to navigate. I'm a klutz and had to be really slow and really careful. Once I crossed the 1st major intersection, the sidewalks were clear, the breeze was blowing and I was in my groove. I had in my head all the little landmarks I was going to get to before stopping to walk but I never needed to stop. I just kept going and going and going. A guy passed me literally sprinting down the street and gave me a thumbs up (which I totally deserved!)

By the time I got to Cardiac Hill I was about a mile from my car and it was all uphill from there. This hill is famous in this race and it's a killer. I walked it as fast as I could knowing the water stop was halfway up but by the time I was at the top, there was to be no more running for me. My legs were Jello and I really didn't want to break a leg 1/4 mile from my car. I just walked the rest of the way to the car and immediately changed my shirt and drank some water. I was a little nauseous but forced a banana down but otherwise, I felt pretty darn good.

All in all it was 5 miles and my time was 1 hour and 40 minutes. 4 of those were miles running and I'm so proud of myself for that. I have a little over 3 weeks to get ready for the race and to push myself beyond the train station, to the actual finish line, which is still another mile to go.  I would LOVE to finish in under 2 hours - especially as the only friend I know who got in the race will be done in an hour. That's okay he's tall and has a starting time up there with the Nigerians.

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I've still been eating really well and I think what has been working is allowing myself one treat meal followed by one cupcake per week (we just got a cupcake bakery in the 'hood). Treat night is usually Friday and this week, I thoroughly enjoyed my half pimento cheeseburger (see I stopped at half!), three beers AND one cupcake. Somehow it works in my head this way because the rest of the weekend, I knew I already had my treat and had to earn the next weeks. I can think about what I want it to be ALL week if I want to :)

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The hardest thing about this run on Saturday was having to do it again today even though I treated myself to new running shoes. :)  I took Sunday off but vowed I would run every other day until the 4th so I was at it again this morning. The rain made me move it indoors to the gym so it a wonderfully bouncy, EASY 2 miles. I probably would have done a little more but there just wasn't enough time.

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To go along with the longest run ever, this was the longest post ever. If you made it through, thanks and have a great week!!

Weekly weigh-in

I lost 3 pounds this week!!!!! Here's how...

That's 5 pounds in 2 weeks. Every single one earned the hard way.

Tomorrow morning at dawn, I'm ditching my running group to run the course of my upcoming 10k. All this month, the Atlanta Track Club has a water station for people training and I think I will feel a lot less anxious once I've done it once. I'm going to run as much as I can and walk up "cardiac hill". The hospital where my husband works is at the top which is part of the reason for the nickname. I can always just go straight to the ER at the top of the hill :)

Have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for all the love.

Gains vs. Losses

What an AMAZING morning I have had. Full of energy AND creativity (which is handy when you're a creative professional)!

Yesterday was pretty sucky. I had to go out to the store to buy the stuff to treat a girly issue which is worse than the actual girlie issue itself. Because of said issue, I was cranky. And I wanted FOOD! I fought with myself before going to the store, on the way to the store, at the store, and after the store.

Before the store, I knew I needed to eat or there would be damage done. Of course we have nothing but healthy food so I chose the least healthy of the healthy food - that being the last veggie corn dog in the house. Victory number one.

On the way to the store I'm full from that so I felt I could at least make it to the store safely. There is no Chick-Fil-A in the 'hood which is the only "fast" food I ever eat. There is however a Sonic which I've been known to frequent.Victory number two.

At the store (the most ghetto Walmart of all time) anxiety kicks in to full gear. I honestly don't know why I go there other than dog food is half the price. I think sanity is worth a few extra bucks and will be going to Target from now on. The temptation is EVERYWHERE but I avoid it all and GTFO. There is nothing in my cart but girlie medicine, dog food and a new workout tank. Victory number 3.

Of course the idiot cashier won't take my coupon because some © symbol is missing?!?!!? but I'm not getting the manager to save $3 on the girlie medicine. Now I'm pissed. I storm out, throw everything in my car and am determined I'm going to eat something delicious. Then it hits me. Am I going to destroy my good week because some idiot cashier pissed me off? I get pissed of at someone just about every day I'm letting them WIN! Humongous, GIGANTIC victory number four.

I did not work out yesterday but I was determined to turn that around. This morning, I got up at 6 instead of laying laying in bed moaning about my girlie parts, and I ran and ran and ran some more until I was absolutely dripping wet. Almost 3 miles. The weather was great, I felt great. It's been a while.

Imagine my surprise when I synced my iPod to upload it to the Nike+ site

I've been doing nothing but complaining about not losing weight but look at this progress??? I have shaved 2 minutes of my mile. That's like one minute per foot of my two foot long legs! :)

Weigh in tomorrow so stay tuned!!!!

Food Rut

I've been blogging long enough to know that this seems to happen to all of us so I thought I'd reach out and get some new ideas.

Breakfast:
My Fage breakfast has been making me feel ill - either I'm sick of it or developing a dairy intolerance. Either way, I need a new breakfast. I'm making some egg beaters breakfast muffins later today but eating the same thing every day is dangerous for me. I need to mix it up. On yoga days I stick to a spinach smoothie but on my heavier workout days I need a bigger breakfast.

Lunch:
This has become my most difficult meal since I work 9-2. Either I need to bring need my lunch or bring snacks to tide me over until lunch when I get home. Bringing lunch requires preparation and inspiration. I have not been prepared nor inspired.

Dinner:
This meal is a little easier especially when planned for the week. Lately we're doing no carbs for dinner. Just protein and veggies which is never exciting to me. It helps that it's summer and veggies are plentiful - some even home grown! Beans are nice and filling so I look for ways to work them in.

What are y'all eating that's interesting?

Finally, a little progress!

The scale FINALLY moved in the right direction. I lost 2 pounds this week which is exactly what I was hoping for. I didn't even suffer! I cut back on my carbs but still had pizza - just half the amount I normally would. I even ran again yesterday though it was a bad one. I was out of breath and slow even though I was on a treadmill in a nice, cool gym but that's what happens when you skip days. I realized I was being a little hard on myself because it was almost 2 miles and that's a pretty decent distance for a busy Thursday.

I'm blogging about my weight loss today in the hopes it will carry me through the weekend and keep me honest with my eating. I can easily put that back on over the weekend but I'm challenging myself to keep it off and start a new, healthy week 2 pounds lighter. I have 4:30 Bikram this afternoon which is always a great start to the weekend. I can also keep myself busy with some exercise, some gardening and lots of food prep for the week ahead.

Happy Friday everyone!