Progress...

So things have been going well so far. Running has been great, and I am loving getting back into my training. I love when you get in the groove in the middle of a run, and it just feels so good. I have decided that I love running in cold weather. If there were never snow on the ground, it would be great all the time. My first week of weight watchers was great. I am now in Spokane for my brother in law's wedding, so I am not counting points for the next week and a half, but am trying to be wise in my food choices. I am doing ok with the sweets, although I have had some, but am not going crazy AT ALL like I would normally do, which I am proud of. There is so much snow and ice on the ground here, so running hasn't been possible. I have some pilates videos that I need to get out and do... I have so far just been revelling in vacation life, but I am thinking today. I feel kind of gross and lazy, like I need to be active. I am hoping to use my sister in laws gym pass to do some running, even though I seriously hate running on treadmills. Oh well.

Probably the best thing about my trip so far was stepping on the scale for the first time in a few months. I just assumed that I was at the same weight I was the last time I stepped on. But I was NOT... I was 5.5 lbs LESS. It was such great news to find out that I only have 11.5 lbs to lose to get to pre-pregnancy weight, instead of 17. I'm not sure if any of that was weight loss from last week, but I assume if it was, it was just a pound or two. So anyway... good news. Now I just have to make sure that I don't gain all that back from this week and a half with family.

Wish me luck with my exercise... it's always hard to tear myself away from everyone, especially when it is snowy.

Day 4

Just checking in... I have decided after only 4 days, that I love weight watchers. Those who know me, know that I love my sweets. Well, the good news is that I don't have to cut them out. As long as I stay within my points allowance, I am good to go. I think this will make it so that I can stay on this longer. I love that you can really eat whatever, just maybe not as much as normal. Like tonight for dinner, I had a hotdog with the rest of the fam, which you would think I shouldn't be able to have, but as long as I stay within my points... you get the picture. I even had 2 brownies for dessert last night and one tonight. I am not saying this is easy... it is amazing how much mindless munching I do, so I have really cut back on that and focused on having 3 meals and usually some sort of snack. The snacking is really the hardest part. When I get in the mood for munchies, I want salty chips or pretzels, or buttery popcorn. Instead, I usually turn to pickles or baby carrots, which are both filling and zero points. If anyone who has done WW before knows of any low points snacks, meals, and/or desserts, send them my way.

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!