It is time

Evening everyone... it's been awhile. I am starting my new years resolution early, as we are not around family, and really have no Christmas goodies to eat up, and will probably have a very low key new years, so I am not going to be too tempted with treats. I am in great need of losing 17 pounds. My ultimate goal is to lose 27 pounds, which is my dream, yet attainable weight. But I only need to lose 17 to get to my pre-pregnancy weight.

What am I doing to get the pounds off you ask? Weight watchers (trying for the first time), running, and pilates. I am very pumped to start in on my new regime. Today I started with about 40 minutes of pilates, and then followed it with a nice 4 mile run (during which I encountered my first dog attack... ok, so it wasn't really that dramatic, as he had a metal muzzle on, but he would have bit me if he didn't have it on... he was running straight at me, and slammed the muzzle into my back. It was a little scary, but not too bad). It was my first run in a few weeks, so it was a good work out.

My goal is to have the weight off by May, so I will keep you posted with my feelings and progress.

To start off... like I said, I am new to weight watchers, so I am still learning how it works and all that. But after my first day, I have been surprised at how much the little things add up, like pretzels and olive oil. But I didn't do too bad, and only had to use 1.5 of my weekly allowance points, thanks to my activity points.

Until next time...

no sweets for me!

Project "no sweets" is well underway, and going fabulously. I have actually been doing so great. I try to just take it one day at a time. I actually don't even have a specific date in mind as to when I will start eating then again, so technically, I could eat sweets tomorrow, which I won't, but it helps me to know that I can. Everyday, I just say: "I am not going to eat sweets today", and it is much less overwhelming, than saying I am not going to eat sweets for the rest of the summer, or whatever. It has only been a week and a half though, so I will let you know how things continue!

Week 1...

I had a great first week of workouts. I got up early 2 out of the 4 days, and the other 2 days ended up being pretty low key for the fam, so it wasn't a problem to go a little later. I finished off my week with an awesome 5 miler. I know that sounds wimpy, but this was my first post baby 5 miler, and it went really well. The perfect mixture of comfortable and hard, with some good hills throughout. When it got hard, I tried really hard to concentrate on my breathing, and soon enough, things felt good again. I was even able to speed up a little toward the end and still finish really strong. So, I would say my first week was a success... I am happy to be running, as it really is my "me time", and I love the feeling of getting back in shape. 

When I came home, Nate took Asher to the store with him, so I was able to stretch, shower, and clean up a little, so when they came home and Asher had a little "moment", I was able to be calm and turn it into a happy moment! I have found that when I don't have to do everything by myself with the kids, I am a much happier, and all around better mom!

Project Mama's Coach

I am so PuMpED!!!!

My new "personal trainer", just sent me my first week of workouts for next week, and I am so excited!

My friend Keenan, sent me an email telling me about her cousin who is starting a business, Project Mama's coach, making training schedules for mamas who want to get back into shape with running, and train for a race. I was so excited that I was one that she chose to work with for FREE! I didn't realize this, but she is a serious runner. She came in second place, women's overall, in the Carlsbad marathon before she had her baby. Wow! She sent me a questionare about my running and what my goals were, what races I was planning on doing, etc. From that, she has made a training program just for little ol' me. I feel like this will really help me to reach the goals I have set for myself, as well as be accountable. I know that Kayla is putting a lot of time and thought into my program, and so I feel that I need to uphold my end of the bargain, and actually put the program to the test, so she can see the results. My training starts on Monday, June 2nd, and starting then, I am going to wake up at 6:00 am to run. This will be a huge challenge for me, as I still wake up once during the night with Sayer, but feel like he is close to sleeping through the night, and if I go to bed at a decent hour, I should be fine. Plus, I feel this is necessary in order to actually get the running done. 

The month of June will be focusing primarily on building a base for my training, and increasing my mileage to prepare to do some speed work. I know this is going to be good for me, as I have been hesitant to start building my miles for some reason, but know that I can do it!

So anyway, wish me luck, and look forward to a new post in a week, with my progress and feelings from my first week!

noooo!!!

seriously a sad day for me. my favorite go-to, healthy food was NOT at my local costco today. i LOVE this stuff. i eat it almost every day for lunch. really scrumptious. i found basically the same stuff at trader joe's last week, but it's more than twice as much... i could buy a package of six boxes at costco for eight bucks. ONE box at trader joe's is $2.79. yikes! at least i still have the option to enjoy it at all though, right?

what about you guys? what's your favorite easy, healthy food? i'm going to need some new ideas. :)

weigh in

my weigh in on tuesday night wasn't great, but i was expecting some sort of gain. i gained .8 of a pound. not the worst of tragedies, but still a set back. i went way over my point allowance for the week... something like 40 points. we were all over the place last week, eating out and having meals at other peoples' houses. oh, and my friend brought over a dozen of these AMAZING rolls because i taught her primary class for her last sunday and i ate 10 of those rolls within a 24 hour period. 10!!! what the freak is that? have i no control? sometimes. sometimes not.

but i did do really well with my goal of no sugar and i am really stoked about that. on saturday, i'll have gone three weeks without any sweets... i never knew i had it in me. and i think it HAS made a difference with my running... i haven't had as many stomach problems during my morning runs.

speaking of morning runs... training is going well. i think it will be a cinch to finish the half marathon in under two hours. well, maybe not a cinch, but my body is totally capable and rearing to go.

Rockin' it!

i'm not going to lie, i'm rockin' my goals. i haven't indulged (or even been tempted to indulge) in sugar or sweets for the last 11 days. i'm so proud of myself... i'm seriously a sugar-aholic, so this is a big accomplishment for me. they are serving chocolate at the finish line of the half-marathon i'm running on may 31, so that will be my treat for making it with no sweets until then.

i did go over my weight watchers point allowance this last week, but only by 4.5 points, so i'm not too boohoo over it. 4.5 points works out to be about 250 calories, so, again, not really that big of a deal. plus, i still lost 2 pounds since last week when i weighed myself last night at the gym after yoga class, so those extra 4.5 points must not have made a difference... maybe they even helped.

my running has been going pretty well... i've been getting up almost every morning to run and i've been getting more comfortable at a little bit of a faster pace. and, as always, i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going to yoga twice a week. if i had the time for it, i would go EVERY night. it's like a little bit of heaven after a long day of potty-training. :)

Chocolate chip cookies are the DeViL!!!

So I just finished the last, amazingly delicious, chocolate chip cookie from the batch I made this week. Don't worry that I ate pretty much all of them by myself! Why do they have to be so freakin' delicious?! I am such a bad sweets-aholic... seriously, BAD! Something has got to be did! I actually am quite surprised that I am not already a cow, considering the number of whole pans of brownies, and entire batches of cookies that I have eaten on my own. I'm sure that if I don't get this vice under control, it will all catch up to me in my later years. 

So, I have made myself some goals.  Not just for the sweets thing, but because I just had a baby, and am ready to start shedding some of that weight.  I have some long term goals, but I am just going to start with the short term ones so that I don't get too overwhelmed. I actually, am not that bad of an eater with normal foods. I don't eat a ton, and I eat relatively healthy (ie. whole wheat bread, oatmeal, salmon, chicken, fruits and veggies, not a lot of processed or fast food... some, but not a lot, etc). So right now, it is the sweets that I am going to tackle, as I really think that is the main problemo with my eating. Doing that, along with adding exercise into the mix, should produce some desirable results.

The following are my goals for the end of May...

1. can only eat treats ONCE a week. (I know that I don't have the will power/desire right now to cut them out completely, so I am allotting myself once a week so that I won't have to fail)

2. prepare meals more regularly (for breakfast, lunch and dinner). When I do this, I am more likely to eat balanced meals, instead of snacking and grazing, which results in eating more than I realize

3. yoga at least once a week

4. running at least 3 times a week

5. start doing some biking and swimming here and there, to start gearing up for my triathlon training

6. go on a leisurely walk with the boys at least twice a week (if the weather is nice)

7. be able to run 5 miles comfortably and at a good pace by the end of May

8. start adding tempo runs to my workouts by the end of May

** I don't have any specific weight loss goals right now, as I am nursing, and tend not to lose all my weight until I stop.  So, for the end of May, I would like to be able to fit into my American Eagle pink and white pinstriped shorts!!  That's all I ask.

Ok, so there are my goals. For the last 2 weeks I have been going to yoga and running consistently, so I just need to keep it up! I'll try to keep you posted with some of my progress. Wish me luck!

new motivation, new goals, new success!

after almost 2 months of eating quite poorly, i've finally realized that i just cannot bring sugar into my house or i will devour it all in a split second. i bought waaaaay too much candy for easter and then we had family come and visit and then we went on a few trips to visit family... a recipe for disaster in my weight loss quest. all in the past though...

i've turned over a new leaf and made some new goals. i'm pumped and i know i'm going to do it this time! i'm running a half marathon on may 31, which is the time frame for my new goals. after my half marathon, i will reevaluate where i'm at and make some new goals if i need to.

here they are:

1) finish the half marathon in under 2 hours

2) each week stay under my weight watchers point allowance

3) no sugar or sweets until after i finish the half marathon (i really want to refrain from sugar as an experiment to see if eating no sugar will positively affect my running, and also just to see if i can actually go without sugar for 5 weeks :)

4) fit into my favorite pair of too tight jeans

5) fit into my favorite too tight dress

my last 2 goals were spurred on by glam's "too tight ____ (insert favorite item of clothing that doesn't currently fit here) challenge."

i'm still going to weigh myself every week just because it's the only way i have to measure whether i'm moving in the right direction or not, but i'm not going to post my weight anymore... just whether i lost or gained. the real test will be if i can fit into the aforementioned clothes by may 31.

let's rock!

Gus-Gus

This morning I went on my second post-baby 3 miler. It was awesome. I felt like I did really well, even if I am still a little slow. However, I wore the tank top that I wore when I ran the Ogden marathon, and I felt a little like Gus the mouse from Cinderella ( I love that movie, by the way). You know how when Cinderella first puts his little shirt on and it rolls up because his hips and bum are too big? Yup, that was me, the whole run... pulling down my shirt because it kept creeping up, because my love handles are too big. So sad! But, it helped me get a little more motivated. I am blessed to gain my baby weight very proportionally, so every one keeps telling I look so great and blah blah blah, because my tummy isn't really big, but my whole body is all just a little bit thicker. So it's times like this morning, and this evening at yoga, being forced to look at my chub in the mirror for an hour, that I gain the perspective that I need to help get my rear in gear. I am actually way pumped to be active again and get back in shape. I just need to stop thinking about where I need to be, because it seems so far away. I would rather just enjoy the process of working out and reaching my many small goals, one by one. So here's to getting back in shape, one day, and one workout at a time!!

salt lake city marathon

for a full update on my fabulous salt lake city marathon experience, click here. hope everyone's weight loss success is going better than mine... i'm having some motivation issues right now, but i hope to be back on board asap!

Back on

Greetings again! I am pleased to say that I am back on the band wagon to a life of better health and fitness! My Doctor said that I was good to exercise as soon as I felt up to it. Well, to be honest, I have felt great since about 2 weeks after I gave birth, but it wasn't until just after 4 weeks, that I finally got things together and did my first run! It was only 2 miles, but it was great! Not only did I do pretty darn good for not having run for 10 months or so, but it was the perfect night for my first run. Cool but not cold, just before sunset, around dinner time, so I could smell all the BBQing and cooking, etc. It smelled like the campground at New Brighton Beach, which is such a great nostalgic smell... I LOVED it! It really was just great all around. I am sore today, which again, feels great... it means things are happening. Can't wait to see how tomorrow's run will go, and can't wait to get in shape and feel great again.

minus 1.4

woohoo, i'm truckin'! hopefully i can keep it up. i'm sure my progress will slow down sooner or later, but for now, i better enjoy it. by the way, i seriously LOVE weightwatchers. after i had my second kiddo, i was trying to lose weight on the sonoma diet and train for a marathon at the same time and i was ALWAYS tired. no energy. but i think it was because i wasn't eating enough calories. while the sonoma diet was fabulous for helping me to eat better (it taught me the importance of whole foods and veggies and it gave me lots of yummy recipes), i could never figure out a good balance of how much to eat. i'd either eat not enough which equaled no energy or i ended up eating too much and didn't lose any weight. with weightwatchers you have a daily points target to aim for, but when you exercise you earn extra points. i ALMOST ALWAYS use up my activity points that i earn from exercising, which, i think, has been the key for me to having enough energy for my marathon training and to keep losing weight at the same time. okay, i'm done with my shameless plug now.

minus 3.0

not too shabby. that sounds like a lot my friends, but it was over three weeks. haha. i've had a crazy couple of weeks, with my kids getting sick and going to disneyland with my family, so blogging took the back seat. i guess a pound a week is okay (slow and steady wins the race, right?)... i just get so impatient. i just need to think of it as a lifestyle change and not a diet, because if i keep eating the way i am now, i will just gradually drop the weight. and it's not like i'm deprived... last night i had a bowl of that dreyer's slow-churned cookie dough ice cream. man, that stuff is to die for. you'd never know it has less fat and calories in it. if any of you dieters out there are in need of a little treat, go and try any of those slow-churned flavors... you can't go wrong.

i decided that i'm going to make a mini-goal of losing at least 1 pound by next week. hopefully that will help keep me motivated to just keep going with the weight loss instead of always feeling like it's too hard and too hopeless and i have so far to go. how about you people? what do you do to stay motivated?

countin' some points

so, i started weightwatchers today. after i had worked so hard last summer, and got down to 132 pounds, i gained it all back... and a little more. at the end of august, we moved out of our apartment in utah and stayed with family for almost two months. then we moved to california, stayed with more family for a couple weeks, and then hit the holiday season where we stayed with even more family off and on for several weeks... i just couldn't establish a routine for my eating habits and my exercising went down the tubes. after the new year, i started exercising again and training for another marathon with my husband, which helped me feel a little better and get some tone back, but i just couldn't motivate myself to stick to a food plan long enough to lose any weight, so i decided to try something new. i'm doing the online plan because i don't really have the time to go to meetings right now, which means... i need a little support from whoever tunes in to this here little blog. i'll post my stats every week after i weigh in on tuesday nights after my yoga class.

starting weight: 143 pounds

first goal weight: 130 pounds

ultimate goal weight: 125 pounds

so here i go...

pregnancy goals...

Wow, it's been awhile since we've posted on this thing. Seeing as how I am pregnant, I don't have any current weight loss goals, but I do have some fitness goals, as I feel that I am becoming a whale much too early on in this pregnancy, and I want to help my labor be nice and easy by doing a little exercise. So...

Goals for the remainder of my pregnancy...

Do something active for 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week

ie. go for a walk with Asher, (maybe even add a little speed walking, so long as it doesn't feel like the little guy will fall out of me!), prenatal yoga dvd, go for a walk around the mall, stretches, etc.

This is a very small goal, and you would think it would be easy, but so far it is not, and so I turn to the blog to help me be accountable. I am going to try to talk about my pregnancy workouts a little and how I feel during and after, etc, etc. It should be a thrilling ride, and I could definitely use all the encouragement and tips I can get. 

Wish me luck!