5K Training - week 8/8

This was the last week that I was training for my first 5K of the year. I love my new HRM and knowing how many calories I burned doing an activity! It kind of makes me want to work out more!


1/21 Monday - 1 hour of Roller Derby bootcamp - 503 calories burned!

1/22 Tuesday - OFF

1/23 Wednesday - treadmill 5K - 43:50 (14:06 pace) - ran 1.75 miles straight! (and forgot my HRM but burned around 400 calories)

1/24 Thursday - 1 hour of Zumba - 556 calories burned!

1/25 Friday - OFF

1/26 Saturday - 1 hour of Yoga - 258 calories burned!

1/27 Sunday - Ran my 5K - 39:22 (12:40 pace!) - 467 calories burned!

Calories burned this week with exercise - around 2184

Now that my January 5K is over, I decided that I am going to keep doing weekly training reports because I enjoy keeping track of them!

Until later, happy
Jamie

USA Fit 5K

Today was my 6th race in 6 months and I couldn't be happier with my result!

My last race was on Dec. 1st and I decided that I would dedicate the next 8 weeks to train for this race. Originally I wanted to be able to run the whole thing straight, but as time went on I realized that I wasn't able to increase my mileage fast enough and it honestly became less and less important. I decided to focus on just doing it as fast as I could. I hadn't done much running outside and my best treadmill 5K was 40:33. I didn't have a time goal but I was hoping to maybe get around 41 minutes.

My time was 39:22...a sub 40 minute race and a 12:40 average pace! Wow!!! My friend Rachel decided to do the race with me and she finished in 38:13 (12:18 pace). We go to the gym together so I knew she would probably beat me because she is a beast in the gym and has been running like crazy where I have done more cross training. If it wasn't for her though I could not have run as fast as I did! We started out together and I stayed with her for about the first 3/4 mile...we were running at like a 11:20 pace which was ridiculously fast! Not that I couldn't have done this pace myself, but it was unlikely that I WOULD have pushed myself at this pace for 3/4 of a mile. That is what makes Rachel a great person to workout with! :)

At that point I told her I would meet her at the finish line because I couldn't keep that pace, so I kept doing running and walking intervals. Since I have been trying to do all my walking at the gym at 4.0, I tried my best to stick to that. Run Keeper tells me my pace every 5 minutes so I was getting really excited when I got to mile 2 and was at 25 minutes...I knew I could get under 40 minutes!

Rachel and I were super proud of ourselves!

Here are a few pictures from my first two races:

The only thing bad about this race was that we had to walk a mile (literally) from a park that they advised us to park at (this race was part of a marathon and half marathon as well) so we 5K-ers could get out. After the race it seemed like a really long mile to get back to the car! At least the weather was awesome...sunny and in the upper 60s.

In 176 days since my first race, my 5K time has decreased from 45:46 to 39:22...I'm over 6 whole minutes faster and shaved 2 minutes off my average mile pace! I'm also down around 20 pounds since then. I'd call that success!

My February race is a 7K but I'm not going to kill myself on that one, it is more for fun...I want to focus on my March 5K in 6 weeks.

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

Weigh Day Friday: Week 4 of 52

So I did decide to move from WW to My Fitness Pal and have been counting calories since last weekend. I am still going to have my weekly weigh in but I am going to do them on Fridays now instead of Tuesdays. I have been tracking my weight for quite a while on MFP already so I already had the data for the past 3 weeks so I'll put it up here too.

Highest weight: 265
Goal weight: 150-160

Week #4 (1/25) - 242.0
Week #3 (1/18) - 241.8
Week #2 (1/11) - 242.2
Week #1 (1/4) - 241

Total loss = 23 pounds

I weigh myself every morning just to try to pay attention to my fluctuations. It works for me, but I know it drives other people crazy. I was "up" today, but the last two mornings I was 240.8 or so...I think the difference might have been some water I drank when I got up at 4 AM. Anyway, I'm not really concerned about that...I'm sure it will be back down in a day or two.

My biggest annoyance is the trend this month. I have been bobbling around the same 2 pound range all month. I have been AMAZING with eating and exercising this whole month...like seriously amazing...I couldn't have done a better job.  I know the scale says I didn't lose weight but I see that my clothes are fitting better, so I must have gained some muscle and lost fat from somewhere (I know I should measure but I haven't really taken the time to do that yet). Actually, the last 2 weeks I've had a ton of people come up to me and tell me that I look great. That definitely helps! I also feel myself getting stronger and accomplishing more physically which makes me feel awesome too!

Therefore, I'm going to take those NSVs and not going to worry about what the scale says, but I am definitely anxious to see the 230s! I set my daily calorie goal around 1650 but eat between 1600-1800 calories a day depending on how much I work out. I am weary of setting my calorie goal too low and I have been trying to pay attention to my body's signals so I eat only when I am legitimately hungry. I'll see how that works out in a few weeks and adjust it if I need to.

I have to point out that for my WW weigh-ins I just put my net change per week but here I am actually writing my real weight down. The prospect of publishing my weight was scary at first, mainly because I was afraid that I would quit. But, once I published my comparison photo below at the beginning of this month, I felt kind of free. So there you go, that's my weight!

In conversation with some of my friends who are also trying to lose weight, I have also said my number out loud. The most common response was "Really?" I think because I am kind of tall (5'8") that I tend to look 20 pounds less than I actually am. That's good, I guess, but I still want to see the 230s.


Until later, happy living!
Jamie

5K Training - Week 7/8

Happy 3rd week of 2013!

My new gadget this week is a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor! My mom bought it for me for my upcoming birthday. I didn't really need anything, but I really wanted this! And it is perfect timing too since I am going back to counting calories, so now I can see how many calories I am burning for my workouts too.

1/14 Monday - 1 hour of Roller Derby bootcamp

1/15 Tuesday - OFF

1/16 Wednesday - Treadmill 2 miles - 26:24 (13:12 pace)

1/17 Thursday - 1 hour of Zumba

1/18 Friday - Treadmill 2.25 miles - 30 mins (13:20 pace) - ran 1 mile straight at 5.0 mph.

1/19 Saturday - Weight training session with Anna (384 cal). 8 mile bike ride - 45 mins (339 cal), 723 calories burned!

1/20 Sunday - OFF

This week I definitely rocked the cross training! I did skating, running, and biking! I can't wait to see how many calories roller derby and zumba burned! I can definitely feel myself getting stronger. 1 more week until my 5K race! 

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

Moving from WW to Counting Calories

I've been rocking my food tracker but I've become increasingly dissatisfied with WW. I started in October and it was the right thing for me at the time because I was not on a solid foundation with my eating and exercise at that point, but the good new is that now I am!

So I've decided to save my $40 a month and go back to tracking calories. I love having the support here online because there are so many people that I can identify with...unlike WW. I used to use MFP (I still use it to keep track of my weight) and liked it, but honestly I love writing things down on paper now...so I'll figure out in the next few days which way I am going to go - electronic or old school.

I'm pretty excited about the switch. I have to figure out how many calories I have been eating and then decide what my target goal will be for the week. I am also moving toward eating cleaner but I'm not quite there yet. I don't want to live with too much restriction right now and I want to continue my healthy way of life. I definitely don't want to start feeling like I am on a diet because I'm not. 

Until later, happy living!
Jamie

WW Week 13 Weigh-in

Well, last week I went up even though I did everything right. This week I was hoping it would come off but it didn't....yet. I have really been working hard the last few days and know eventually it will come off. Trying to be patient! :)

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (5 pound star!)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (10 pound star!)
(12/24) Week 9: -0.2 (yay, kept that flu weight off!)
(12/31) Week 10: -3.4 (5% award!)
(1/8) Week 11: +1.6 (OK because I know I didn't really gain!)
(1/15) Week 12: +0.2 (Still doing everything right!)

Total WW loss: -12.2 pounds

Next week I should see a loss! I'm just going to keep eating right and working hard. Today was my 30th day straight tracking my food! Definitely an accomplishment!

Until later, happy living!
Jamie

5K Training - week 6/8

Happy 2nd week of 2013!

After being off work for two weeks, going back this week was exhausting! I can say it wasn't my most solid week at the gym but at least I went!

1/7 Monday - Elliptical 30 minutes (2.15 miles).

1/8 Tuesday - OFF

1/9 Wednesday - Elliptical 15 minutes - 1.05 miles (exhausted today!)

1/10 Thursday - 70 minute walk/run - 4.26 miles outside - 1 loop walking with dogs, one loop walk/run with Jen B.

1/11 Friday - Treadmill 1 mile (15 mins), elliptical 25 minutes (1.08 miles).

1/12 Saturday - 15 minutes on the elliptical , then weight training session with Anna.

1/13 Sunday - OFF

I'm excited to have a little more energy this next week!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

WW Week #11 Weigh-in

Today I was hoping I would be down at least a pound but I was actually UP. I think this can be attributed to two things 1) switching back to evening meetings and 2) retaining water and feeling bloated. But for once I'm OK with being up because being up on the scale doesn't mean that I actually gained weight! I know I didn't! I did everything right - tracked every day (23 straight days in a row!) and I worked out (earned 31 activity points!), so there is no mathematical way those 1.6 pounds are real. So I'll just wait until next week to see my real progress from last week.


WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (5 pound star!)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (10 pound star!)
(12/24) Week 9: -0.2 (yay, kept that flu weight off!)
(12/31) Week 10: -3.4 (5% award!)
(1/8) Week 11: +1.6 (OK because I know I didn't really gain!)

Total WW loss: -12.4 pounds


I'm going to keep working hard like I have been and it will come off, at the rate my body wants to take it off. Sure I wanted to see a loss today but sometimes the results don't come exactly when you are looking for them.


Until later, happy living!
Jamie

Progress Photos - January 2012 to January 2013

I already posted this on FB the other day but I thought I would post it here too. It is similar to the one I posted the other day but I managed to find a (small) picture of me this time last year. I don't have many recent before photos because I have tried to stay away from the camera! And the biggest thing is that I wrote down my weight for the first time online...eek! That was scary but a little liberating!

I'm really excited about my progress and think I will post another comparison photo in a couple months. It has been awesome to get such positive feedback from everyone!

Until later, happy running!

Healthy Crock Pot Hawaiian Pork

I love my Crock Pot but I don't utilize it as much as I should, so I'm going to try to use it more and share some easy and healthy recipes here. I have a pretty big size pot and the feature I love most is the programmable timer so I can set it and forget it! When it is done it turns to warm! I'm afraid with the manual timers I will burn the house down if I leave it too long! LOL...

Anyway, Friday when I went to HEB they had some lean looking pork tenderloins on sale and I was really excited...$5 for a 1.75lb pork loin...sweet!

When I cook, I like to use simple and fresh ingredients. I also don't like recipes that are crazy complex with a ton of things in them. I believe healthy cooking should be easy, otherwise we won't do it! I also try to do as much low sodium, low sugar, low preservative cooking when I can.

I named this Hawaiian Pork because it of the pineapple and because it has a little bit of a pacific Asian flair, despite using BBQ instead of soy sauce. The BBQ sauce is meant to add flavor and shouldn't drown the pork and is the only added sodium and sugar in this dish.

Healthy Crock Pot Hawaiian Pork

• 1.5-2lb pork tenderloin
• 1/2 c. honey flavored BBQ sauce
• You can sub a low carb BBQ sauce or a homemade sauce too!
• 1 whole fresh pineapple cut up
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• A few dashes of crushed red pepper

And that's all you need!

Using a large crockpot, put the pork in first, then the other solid ingredients, then crushed red pepper, and then spread out the BBQ sauce on top. Cook on low for 5 hours, or around 2-3 hours on high. If you are around while it is cooking, rotate the pork loin and pineapple through the cooking process. When the pork shreds easily with a fork, pull it apart and mix everything up so the juices can soak into the meat. Serve over brown rice or even on tortillas. Enjoy!

If you are on Weight Watchers, lean pork tenderloin is only 1 PointPlus per serving! To count my PP, I weigh the meat and add a point for any sauce (just for good measure), then I scoop out the pineapple and add it to the dish. 

Guess what I'm eating for lunch tomorrow? That's right, leftovers!

Until later, happy healthy eating!
Jamie

5K Training - week 5/8

Happy 1st week of 2013!

After being away from the gym all last week, I was definitely glad to be back!

12/31 Monday - 5K run/walk on the treadmill - 40:33 (13:03). Did a few 5.0 and bunch of 5.5 sprints, even one 6.0 sprint! My fastest treadmill 5K yet!

1/1 Tuesday - OFF

1/2 Wednesday - Treadmill 26 mins - 2 miles (13:24). Also did 30 minutes on the elliptical (2.04 miles).

1/3 Thursday - OFF

1/4 Friday - Treadmill 5K - 42:30 (13:41), did a bunch of 5.0 (2 min) and a bunch of 5.5 sprints.

1/5 Saturday - 1 hour on the elliptical - 4.26 miles after my weight training session with my awesome trainer Anna.

1/6 Sunday - 3.19 miles (17:39)...I actually ended up having a nice walk instead of a run.

I enjoyed my couple days of being lazy and I'm pretty happy overall with my activity this week! I earned 36 activity points this week!

Back to work tomorrow!


Until later, happy running!
Jamie

Welcome 2013...Forward We Go!

I can't believe it's 2013...it feels like 2012 just flew by!

My last post was kind of negative, but I'm generally a positive person, so I bounced back pretty fast. I woke up the last two days in a better mood and had a good day at the gym yesterday. I'm ready to start the new year right!

Looking back, 2012 was a pretty good year for me! My best friend Jen threw me a surprise birthday party, I went on an awesome camping trip to Big Bend National Park with Bob and Amy, my friend Erica and I won a grant to go to Italy and Portugal for 3 weeks, I got into photography and took a picture a day for almost 8 months straight, I rocked as a presenter at two education conferences and a 4 hour professional development at my school, I opened my Etsy store, I started running again and committed to a healthier lifestyle, I completed three 5Ks and two 10Ks, and I lost 22 pounds! Whew!

Lisbon was my favorite place I went this summer! And since we won a grant the whole trip was free, which makes it even better!

The other day, I wrote about my word of the year - NOW. It took me until August to really get serious about getting healthy, but I'm glad that I finally did! This year I wanted to keep it simple again so I chose the word FORWARD as my theme for 2013.

I have a healthy momentum going, so I need to just keep moving FORWARD!

Forward with my dreams, forward with my goals, and forward with feeling more awesome everyday!

Source: tumblr.com via Kristen on Pinterest

I'm not really sure that you can really see the difference in 15 pounds, but here I was in my first race of 2012 (August) and yesterday in the same outfit.

Of course in the race picture I look kind of weird because I was running toward the finish line...my neck looks huge! It took me 5 months to lose those 15 pounds! That was probably the most frustrating part, but I think I lost more inches and gained muscle in that time than I lost weight. I went down a size in jeans though and fit back into pants I haven't worn in 3 years! Thankfully I think my body has adjusted and I'm starting to lose more actual weight.

So what's on the agenda for 2013? Other than being active and healthy, who knows! Right now I don't have anything big or any trips planned...and I kind of like it that way. I'll just take the year as it comes!

Here are a few of my SMART goals for 2013: (SMART=Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Bound) 

• Lose 80 pounds. That would get me back in the healthy BMI range. I know it is going to be tough, but I'm up for the challenge! Ideally, I'd love to get to my goal weight which is somewhere around 150-160, (between 84-94 pounds from now), but I'll settle for getting to a good BMI.

• Complete 12 races in 12 months! I've been doing one a month since August and I've loved every bit of it! I can't wait to repeat my races this year and see how I've improved!

• Run a 5K in 34 minutes and a 10K in 1:15.

• Complete the running bridge series in my area - Kemah Toughest 10K, Galveston Toughest 10K, and La Porte Half Marathon. This year I did the Kemah race and did better than I anticipated...4 passes over that bridge was tough! I was signed up for Galveston last year but I had a horrible sinus infection so I had to skip it. 

• Do at least one adventure-type race. I'm an outdoor girl and don't mind getting dirty! I did the Beach Dash this year and it was super fun!

• Gain some upper body strength. I'd like to be able to do 20 real push ups and maybe even a few pull-ups!

• Start practicing yoga consistently, at least one time a week.

• Join one of the running clubs in my area.

• Take a pole fitness class. I'm pretty sure I can rope some of the girls into that one.

• Go skydiving!

Source: myfitnessgoal.tumblr.com via Melody on Pinterest

There you go...my goals for the year! Anyone else have any super fun goals?


Until later, happy living!
Jamie

Getting Past Limbo

I don't know why every year I want so badly to have a great NYE, but I do. I can only count a few good ones I've had in my adult life and last night definitely wasn't one. It's not that it was BAD, but it just left me feeling crappy and reminding me how long of a way I still have to go. I wanted so badly yesterday to celebrate my accomplishments this past year - losing 22 pounds, starting running again, completing a race a month since August, and generally feeling better about life. In fact, I left the house at 9pm to meet my friends with a positive attitude.

But for one reason or another, I let a pity party creep into my head when I was out and found myself sad at home at 12:30, thinking about all the things I don't have that I desperately want. The worst is I've convinced myself that some of those things I want, like having a happy relationship, aren't possible at this weight so I don't even try for them. I have almost 90 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight, so I kind of feel like my life is on hold right now, in limbo, until I get most of that weight off.

I know that's not a healthy mentality and it's not how I really want to feel, but it's so hard to snap out of that feeling! And by the way of course this happened which fueled the fire:

Needless to say, I promptly untagged myself. What sucks is that (when thinner) I am super photogenic and love taking pictures. As I have put on weight over the years, I have taken fewer and fewer pictures of myself. OR, really I only post certain pictures that I take because I know how to take them myself and pose to look thinner. Sometimes it definitely makes you feel left out of life. I have traveled extensively over the last 5 years and don't even have pictures of myself in some of those awesome places! That's sad...

When I woke up this morning, thankfully, some of those feelings had subsided, BUT some of them were still there and that scares me. I have dealt with depression for a long time and I know feelings like that have the power to push you forward or derail you and throw you back into your little black hole. But I know that I don't want to go backwards. I'm so glad that I have had 5 solid months of commitment under my belt to this new healthy lifestyle and that I'm not one of those people scrambling because it's January 1st. Being where I am now allows me to better brush off that crappy feeling I had last night and move forward. The one positive think I did was didn't waste any calories last night on alcohol and comfort food!

So I'm trying to move onward and upward this year, to get out of my limbo, to have a better body and a better body image, but it is still hard and it is a struggle everyday. All I can do is surround myself with positive people and keep working hard. Eventually I will get where I want to be through determination and dedication, and on the next January 1st I know I will have more to be proud about.

So if you are one of those January 1st people, have the confidence to know that you can do it. I have mine, even if it doesn't shine so brightly all the time.

I wish everyone a happy new year and a most excellent 2013!

Until later, happy living!

Jamie