Working Out

I have been working out more consistently. Extra motivation always helps. 

Terrific Tuesday

1. There are 26 days left of school. I can hardly believe that I have made it this far! Not that I didn't think I would, but it kind of went by really fast. I am so looking forward to summer.

2. Speaking of summer, There are about 44 days until I leave for my history trip. At the beginning of the school year I got involved in a grant where I get to read good history books and go to lectures on the Civil War. And during our trip, we get to visit history sties on the east coast. I am super duper excited for that.

3. And... then there is my goal of the summer. I want to lose 8 pounds by June 7. Charleah says it is possible, and she is basically a doctor. It is possible it I make some changes. Do you want to here about the changes? Maybe not, but I am going to post a weekly status update of my exercise and some eating habits. I have decided that I can give 15 minutes 5 days a week to running. And then do some strength training stuff.

4. Chris thinks I could be blogging about him, so here is is 15 seconds of fame. I think Chris is absolutely fantastic and I love him. And soon we will be celebrating 4 years of blissful marriage!

5. I am really going to miss my students at the end of the year. They have made me laugh and cry and pull my hair out. But they are my first year and I'll compare every class to them.

Until next time... then we'll be closer to summer!

I had to practice what preached last night.

As soon as published my post last night, I went upstairs to change and workout.

Chris stopped me and asked if I wanted to go to Rancho Grande and meet his parents and eat some soupapillas.

Two things.

#1 I am not eating sweets for another 6 days.
#2 It was already 7:30 and I knew if I didn't work out then, I wouldn't work out at all.

I told him I had just written a post about being committed and I was working out.

"Can't you do it afterwards?" he asked.

It was so hard to say no. I wanted to say yes, but didn't. Luckily I know that his parents wouldn't be upset at me not coming, because his stepmom is proud that I work out. Instead they asked him why he wasn't working out with me.

So, I practiced what I preached. No matter how hard it was. And I got Chris to go work out with me tonight!

Losing Weight

Since I have started working out, I have learned some things that I think anyone who wants to lose weight need to have/know.

1. You have to be motivated. Losing weight and exercising is 90% mental. I know there are lots of people who say I would do anything to be a size 6, but then just sit on the couch and eat ice cream. Obviously you wouldn't do anything. Because all you to do is work out and eat right.

My motivation came in October of 2008 when I saw a picture of myself. I was horrified. I couldn't believe that I really looked like that. (I would post it, but I am still too embarrassed.) The next day, I started exercising and I lost 17 pounds by Christmas. Something in my head clicked and I knew what I needed to do. That picture is my motivation picture now when I don't really want to workout.

Now I lost some motivation and would do good for a few weeks then "reward" myself with not doing good. But in January of this year I made the decision that there was no reason I couldn't take the time for myself. And since then I have worked out at least 3 times, mostly 5 times, a week.

2. You have to lie, or you have to be really committed. Because the majority of the world will not understand. I plan my workouts at least the day before and know that at 8am, I will be running. When someone calls and asks me to do something at 9am, I know I will not be done running. I can say, "sorry I have plans, but can we meet at 10 instead?" If I were to say, "I have to run first, can we meet later?" That person may try to talk me out of it. If you are like me, it doesn't take much to talk yourself out of running. Sometimes all it takes it someone saying, "you can workout tomorrow" and for me to say "you're right, I can."

I think these lies are justified. You should take time for yourself (MOM). You aren't being selfish. This is your life and your health.

3. You have to give up somethings. I am sure you have heard that it isn't a diet, it is a lifestyle change. And that is the truth. This isn't about giving up ice cream for 3 months and then you are done. You have to change your diet permanently. To me that doesn't mean giving up everything you love, it is about giving up some of it. Instead of having 4 servings of ice cream (which is only 2 cups) three times a week, you have 1 serving of ice cream once every two weeks. (Replace ice cream with your favorite vice: donuts, chips and dip(which was mine), soda, candy bars...) This is hard to accept. But take it one day at a time, don't think to far into the future or you might have a panic attack.

4. The hardest part is the easiest. The hardest part for me is getting into my work out clothes. I know that if I change, then I will have to work out. But it is the easiest task, so I take it one step at a time. I think to myself "I can change clothes right now. That's not too hard." And once I've done that, I'm in.

This is just my two cents. Take it or leave it if you want. I have lost 39 pounds, so I guess I am not completely just making stuff up.

50 miles

I decided last month that for the month of May I am going to run 50 miles. Yes, 50.

Me. The person who 2 years ago would say I could never become a runner. I hated it so much I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I still dislike it, but I like the way I feel when I am done.

So far for the month, I've done 13.5 miles. I am pretty sure I will hit 50 miles, maybe more.

I am still extremely slow, but at least I am doing it.

Freedom Run 5k

I did it. I wasn't sure if I would be able to. I woke up the morning of wondering what I had signed myself up for. But, I got up, ate some toast, drank a glass of OJ and ran.

I did better than I had ever done before. This was technically the first time that I had ran the full 3.1 miles.

When I compare it with other times, it might be embarrassing. But I am glad I am doing it. The next one will be September 5th.

Here are my stats.

5k

Chris and I decided that we were going to run a 5k. I haven’t run more than a mile at once my whole life, so this will be a new thing. I also haven’t run a full mile straight since high school. I always stop and walk a bit.

We have both started working out at least 3 times a week and our workouts include the treadmill. If I were to do a 5k today, I would finish it in about 45 minutes. More than double the amount of time I think it should take. I would like to get it down to 30 minutes by the time out first one would be.

I picked the Freedom Festival 5k on July 4th as our first 5k. So we have a little less than two months to prepare.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate running? I can hardly stand to do it. The only way I get through it now is on a treadmill watching The Office on our Ipod touch.

I would like to get to the point where I love running or can at least tolerate it. It is such an easy exercise- meaning that I wouldn’t need equipment to do it. Just my legs. So that is the main thing I hope to accomplish by the time we have to run the 5k.