So, this was month two of my health challenge and not quite the bang that I had in January, but I'm still mostly satisfied.
Weight 1/31- 162
weight 2/29- 158.2 My goal stated last month was to be at 155 by today.
March goal: maintain approximately a pound a week loss and be 154 by 3/31.
If I hadn't added back the calories due to nursing I think I might have made it, so the goal is just readjusted, not failed, in my mind.
Goal- At the gym every work day.
Result- 18/21 days at the gym. Those other three morning were spent snuggling with Cutie on the couch. Worthwhile to me.
March goal- At the gym 21/21 days. It's still a good goal, don't want to cut myself too much slack.
Goal- Track at Sparkpeople 29/29 days. I was 16/16 and then completely stopped after last weekend. When I didn't immediately gain 10 pounds I figured I'm okay without the obsessive tracking. Future goal- track at least three days per week. Enough to keep me on track without being obsessed. It was a bit much for everyone with me running to the computer after every meal.
Goal- Run 3 miles at 6 mph.
Result- Resounding success with 3.1 miles at 6mph on 2/26 and then 3.1 miles at 6.2 and 6.1 on 2/28.
March goals- 4 miles at 6 mph and 3.1 miles under 29 minutes. Endurance and speed goals.
Goal- Strength train 8/8 days scheduled.
Result- Achieved 8 days of strength training, but not always on the scheduled days. This morning the Gravitron (assisted pull-up machine) was set at 60, and I lifted approximately 63% of my body weight in a pull-up. Once. Last month I couldn't even do one at 40%, so it's an improvement, even if it's only a small one.
March goal- Strength train two days a week with short cardio prior.
Overall- the pants are getting too big, I've even had some compliments on the weight loss, I've got more energy and I can REALLY feel the difference between eating well and not. Not that I always manage to eat well, but I'm doing better. I even passed up munckin donuts at a meeting yesterday. This is do-able.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Encore
Not sure why I was feeling ambitious this morning, but I finished my second treadmill 5k in three days. I started out at 9:40 pace and managed to hold that for 2.5 miles, the last 0.6 was at 9:49 pace for a grand total time of 30:03. I was pretty psyched. My heart rate about 30 seconds after I finished was still 180, does that mean it almost exploded? Well, it explains why I had to back off after 2.5 miles anyway. I'm practically still sweating here at my desk 45 minutes later, but I did it.
After all the sad happenings posts, I'm happy to bring you a post "lite"- here are the kids in a snapshot of our recent days. Enjoy.
Cutie was so proud when she mastered that whole sitting thing, now it's old hat.
I forgot how heavy that middle snowman ball can get. That's a workout! The one with the tomato buttons should have a larger belly, but I couldn't lift it up.
Keva planks are a great toy for the little engineer in Hot Wheels. Unfortunately between Superman, two dogs and three cats, keeping a structure intact is difficult.
Two hours in the cold at Target was worth it for some Wii boxing, what a blast! You can also see the progress on home transformation #2- the wall coming down between our kitchen and living room. SuperDad and grandpa will be busy this weekend. And next weekend. And the one after that....
The boys are into making up their own yoga poses. I believe this one was calling "sneaking alligator".
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
THREE POINT ONE
I just returned from the gym, thankfully an afternoon meeting was cancelled, and I ran 3.1 miles in 30:44. Go me!!! It was definitely the best I have ever felt while running. I'm really starting to see why people do this regularly. I made my February goal of running 3 miles with 3 days to spare. Maybe for March I'll target four miles, we'll see. The gym every day and calorie tracking goals were not met, but I've already addressed a bit of that. So today I got to snuggle with Cutie at 4:30am and still got in a good workout- the best of both worlds.
On a sad note, there will be a memorial service tomorrow for a colleague of mine that lost his battle with cancer. It was incredibly fast, at Thanksgiving time he was still going to the gym five mornings a week with no idea that there was cancer in his brain and bones. Less than three months later his family is mourning his passing. He had two sons, I believe young teens, and he was one of the nicest people that you could ever hope to meet. I didn't know him well, but he will be missed around here.
My next post will include pictures, you haven't seen enough of my children recently.
On a sad note, there will be a memorial service tomorrow for a colleague of mine that lost his battle with cancer. It was incredibly fast, at Thanksgiving time he was still going to the gym five mornings a week with no idea that there was cancer in his brain and bones. Less than three months later his family is mourning his passing. He had two sons, I believe young teens, and he was one of the nicest people that you could ever hope to meet. I didn't know him well, but he will be missed around here.
My next post will include pictures, you haven't seen enough of my children recently.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Priorities and ramblings
So much going on lately. Thanks for the sympathy posts for the loss of my friend. I found out last Monday that her brother was named guardian of her son. He's only four years old and last Tuesday he flew to California to live with his uncle. My friend has lived the confirmed bachelor lifestyle for a while, so the adjustment to raising a four year old that just lost both his parents will likely be tough on everyone for a while. But he's a great guy and I think the two of them will be fine.
Thursday was the two year anniversary of the death of my friend Cathy from breast cancer. It was largely her passing away that lead me to start training for my first triathlon, it was sort of an active way to honor her. While she didn't die of leukemia, I wore her name on one of my ribbons during the race with Team In Training. She was a great friend and am blessed to have known her.
This month hasn't exactly lived up to my expectations set out at the beginning of the month. I realized that while my calorie plan was working well for weight loss, it caused my supply of milk for Cutie to pretty much tank. I added back about 300-500 calories a day and the supply bounced right back. However, the weight loss also slowed. Considerably. However, it's my most important job to supply food for her, so if it means weight loss takes a back seat for a while, that's what it means. No big deal in the big picture but it did sort of ding my motivation. The other thing is that I've now missed two gym workouts in the past six work days because Cutie has taken to waking up at 4:30am and going back to sleep some time between 6 and 7am. I decided that my other priority right now is spending that quiet time with my sweet little baby. She's perfectly content to sit with me, in the dark, and just snuggle. I won't get this opportunity again in life, while the treadmills aren't going anywhere. On two other days I made it into the gym later in the day, but those workouts were abbreviated and not as good as I would have liked. Again, that's life. If I don't run my 5k under 30 minutes, what will happen? Nothing. But if I skip the time with her just to get to the gym, I'll be missing some good stuff. She's such a snuggler, I haven't had that in a baby before, it's nice.
Yesterday we beat up our children. Seriously, three rounds of beatings. I got up in the morning, bundled up and headed off to Target where I waited in line to buy a Wii. It's a silly thing, I wanted one, and now we have it. Yesterday afternoon we boxed with the boys and all beat each other up. It was fun. And actually a bit of a workout. I'm looking forward to the Wii fit coming out, we won't buy many games for it but we're enjoying the boxing and bowling.
That's about it from here. Another week, no real goals, I'm just taking whatever comes and going with it. We've got snow to play in, it's all good.
Thursday was the two year anniversary of the death of my friend Cathy from breast cancer. It was largely her passing away that lead me to start training for my first triathlon, it was sort of an active way to honor her. While she didn't die of leukemia, I wore her name on one of my ribbons during the race with Team In Training. She was a great friend and am blessed to have known her.
This month hasn't exactly lived up to my expectations set out at the beginning of the month. I realized that while my calorie plan was working well for weight loss, it caused my supply of milk for Cutie to pretty much tank. I added back about 300-500 calories a day and the supply bounced right back. However, the weight loss also slowed. Considerably. However, it's my most important job to supply food for her, so if it means weight loss takes a back seat for a while, that's what it means. No big deal in the big picture but it did sort of ding my motivation. The other thing is that I've now missed two gym workouts in the past six work days because Cutie has taken to waking up at 4:30am and going back to sleep some time between 6 and 7am. I decided that my other priority right now is spending that quiet time with my sweet little baby. She's perfectly content to sit with me, in the dark, and just snuggle. I won't get this opportunity again in life, while the treadmills aren't going anywhere. On two other days I made it into the gym later in the day, but those workouts were abbreviated and not as good as I would have liked. Again, that's life. If I don't run my 5k under 30 minutes, what will happen? Nothing. But if I skip the time with her just to get to the gym, I'll be missing some good stuff. She's such a snuggler, I haven't had that in a baby before, it's nice.
Yesterday we beat up our children. Seriously, three rounds of beatings. I got up in the morning, bundled up and headed off to Target where I waited in line to buy a Wii. It's a silly thing, I wanted one, and now we have it. Yesterday afternoon we boxed with the boys and all beat each other up. It was fun. And actually a bit of a workout. I'm looking forward to the Wii fit coming out, we won't buy many games for it but we're enjoying the boxing and bowling.
That's about it from here. Another week, no real goals, I'm just taking whatever comes and going with it. We've got snow to play in, it's all good.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Interruption
I was going to post about my Penguin Plunge and some other random stuff but I found out last night about the tragic loss of a friend. I had only seen Michelle once in the past 10 years or so, unfortunately at the funeral of her father last summer. She had an infectious smile and a wonderful joy for life. She was killed last week by her estranged boyfriend, the father of her young son, before he killed himself. What an awful tragedy for her family and most especially her son who will not have the time with his wonderful mother that he deserves. Just another reminder that life is precious, I'm going to kiss my kids goodnight.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Have Tutu, will plunge
Today our tutus were delivered for Sunday's Penguin Plunge, mine is a lovely majenta and black, the tiaras will be there Sunday. The weather is predicted to be an overcast and slightly chilly 36 degrees with a water temperature of approximately 42 degrees. We're not nearly as hearty as some of those mid-western or Canadian plungers with colder water temperatures, but it will do. I'm looking forward to it- the first of my fun events for the year! Along the lines of wearing my bathing suit, I have officially lost 10.8 pounds according to the scale at the gym. We weighed in for a gym program on December 12th and two months later I'm 10.8 pounds lighter. I'm pretty happy with that. If I could lose five pounds a month for the next four months, I'd be thrilled. I'm going to work towards that goal- I'll be one smokin' matron of honor!
I ran 2.5 miles this morning at 6 mph on the treadmill. I think I could have run 3, I was just running a little late for work after a late night/early morning with Cutie and Hot Wheels. I think next week I'll go for the full 3 miles, or maybe 3.1 to simulate the upcoming 5K. Once I've gone the distance I'll try to increase my speed a little before the event. Still two months to go, I think I'll make that 30 minute time goal. Yesterday morning was a great strength training session, I increased my weight and/or sets on almost every exercise. Except lateral raises, I hate lateral raises. If I ever get above 8 pounds for lateral raises, I'll be impressed with myself.
Sunday afternoon we took the kids out for a walk. Cutie and Superman rode in the double stroller and Hot Wheels rode his bike all around the neighborhood. He's clearly too big for that bike, planning to get a new one for his birthday in April. It's amazing the difference between the fall and now with his riding, he's so much smoother and more confident. A couple times he even let go of the handle bars and I mentioned he probably doesn't want to do that once the training wheels are off. He'll learn, quickly. After the walk the boys and I played tag and chase in the backyard. I'm not really sure the difference between tag and chase, but they are, so we played them both. Then Hot Wheels and I ran some laps around the house. I was carrying Superman for quite a few laps- good workout. It's amazing that I can really feel the difference in being just 10 pounds lighter. I can't imagine how good I'll feel at 20 pounds lighter still, and I'm looking forward to it. The boys are getting big enough that when they're running flat out, I really have to run to keep up. In the fall I was starting to suck wind after a few rounds of tag, Sunday I felt great the whole time. Fun times.
I ran 2.5 miles this morning at 6 mph on the treadmill. I think I could have run 3, I was just running a little late for work after a late night/early morning with Cutie and Hot Wheels. I think next week I'll go for the full 3 miles, or maybe 3.1 to simulate the upcoming 5K. Once I've gone the distance I'll try to increase my speed a little before the event. Still two months to go, I think I'll make that 30 minute time goal. Yesterday morning was a great strength training session, I increased my weight and/or sets on almost every exercise. Except lateral raises, I hate lateral raises. If I ever get above 8 pounds for lateral raises, I'll be impressed with myself.
Sunday afternoon we took the kids out for a walk. Cutie and Superman rode in the double stroller and Hot Wheels rode his bike all around the neighborhood. He's clearly too big for that bike, planning to get a new one for his birthday in April. It's amazing the difference between the fall and now with his riding, he's so much smoother and more confident. A couple times he even let go of the handle bars and I mentioned he probably doesn't want to do that once the training wheels are off. He'll learn, quickly. After the walk the boys and I played tag and chase in the backyard. I'm not really sure the difference between tag and chase, but they are, so we played them both. Then Hot Wheels and I ran some laps around the house. I was carrying Superman for quite a few laps- good workout. It's amazing that I can really feel the difference in being just 10 pounds lighter. I can't imagine how good I'll feel at 20 pounds lighter still, and I'm looking forward to it. The boys are getting big enough that when they're running flat out, I really have to run to keep up. In the fall I was starting to suck wind after a few rounds of tag, Sunday I felt great the whole time. Fun times.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
It's the day after the day after
Friday morning I got to the gym and found out that a substitute trainer would be running class at 6am. Ben's not actually a substitute, there are two trainers assigned to the class, he just rarely teaches. He's a hard core body builder, I'm pretty sure he's won some large competitions. He has a little contempt for our cardio-based classes and he's just not as into coddling as most of the other trainers. We're a corporate fitness center full of a bunch of scientist geeks and the like, trying to get ourselves into some sort of shape. We have a few real athletes- a marathoner that runs sub 3-hour marathons, some people that have been pretty successful in the fitness competition arena, but most of us are not destined to be high caliber athletes. We're just people trying to get in some exercise before work and maybe gain a little fitness. We like our trainers to be overly-enthusiastic and tell us often how great we're doing. And they do that. Except Ben. He ran class Friday morning and yesterday I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck. This morning I woke and felt like someone backed the truck up and parked on me. We did multiple sets of push-ups, lunges and something incredibly challenging called "the Wheel". It was quite a workout. I only hope I'll be able to lift the weights tomorrow morning.
Despite a less than great workout week, the scale was rewarding this week. I'm now down below my pre-pregnancy weight by half a pound. The scale read 157.5 this morning, I was pretty happy with that. At this rate I could reasonably be down to 140 by July, I'm still thinking that 135 might be a little lower than I can get to, I'll have to evaluate again when I get closer. I know it's when, not if- I'll get there.
Despite a less than great workout week, the scale was rewarding this week. I'm now down below my pre-pregnancy weight by half a pound. The scale read 157.5 this morning, I was pretty happy with that. At this rate I could reasonably be down to 140 by July, I'm still thinking that 135 might be a little lower than I can get to, I'll have to evaluate again when I get closer. I know it's when, not if- I'll get there.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Back row treadmill, please
This morning at the gym (I made it- on time!) I warmed up with some hill work and then a mile before trying..... the backwards run. If I'm going to do a whole mile backwards in six weeks I figured I should give it a shot. I set the speed at 2.5mph at first and that was a little too slow, I did a WHOLE tenth of a mile at 3 mph. They've set approximately 20 minutes as the race time so I'm going to try to go that pace. The tenth of a mile wasn't tough at all, I think I could have done more, but it definitely uses different muscles and with circuit class tomorrow I decided to keep it short and sweet for this morning. The balls of my feet got hot, though, since I didn't really put my heels down at all, and I think my calves will likely get sore very quickly. They may even be sore after just today.
Fresh start. It's all good. Oh, and I don't want to show preferential treatment to Cutie, here's the rest of the family. They just make my life the best!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Closed for adorable
My Dearest Cutie:
You are incredibly adorable at your five and a half months old stage. We would like to encourage all the cuteness you can muster between 5am (although 7am is preferred) and 8pm. However, we are unable to encourage or even condone adorable behavior between the hours of 8pm and 5am, specifically the 2am hour that you have chosen on recent nights. During normal cuteness hours, your own version of peek-a-boo, looking down at your crib mattress and then popping your head up and giggling, would be highly praised and returned. At 2am it will be ignored and met with only the non-interactive back rubbing intended to get you back to sleep, even though it has recently been failing miserably. Please consider going back to the sleep from 8pm to 5am that you tried out once last week, that was an excellent plan. We thank you for your cooperation,
"the management" a.k.a. really tired mom and dad.
In other news I have been positively drunk three days this month without taking a single drink. Food drunkenness and it was ugly. I had a plan that I would only exceed my calorie range three days this month. Yesterday was the fifth of the month and the third day over my calories. Sunday it was potato chips, yesterday it was french toast sticks. We try to feed the kids well, but there are a few convenience foods that we allow for those rushed mornings when a fast and portable breakfast is a necessity. Last night for dessert, Hot Wheels wanted a couple french toast sticks so we opened the bag. I proceeded to eat EIGHT over the course of the evening. They are my kryptonite (along with apple and key lime pie), I like them frozen or warm, any way I can get them. That's over 800 calories in pure crap. I felt it, too. The food induced insomnia coupled with Cutie night time fun meant I didn't even make it to the gym this morning. The past two mornings have been nothing workouts, too. I've gotten in late, thanks again to Cutie and the boys not sleeping, and put in a really half-assed effort when I was there. Won't be seeing 159.5 on the scale this week, I'm just hoping it won't be up TOO much for Sunday weigh-in.
Alright, enough whining, tomorrow's another day and I WILL be at the gym at 5:30am and get in a good workout. Twenty-three days left in the month to make it a good one.
You are incredibly adorable at your five and a half months old stage. We would like to encourage all the cuteness you can muster between 5am (although 7am is preferred) and 8pm. However, we are unable to encourage or even condone adorable behavior between the hours of 8pm and 5am, specifically the 2am hour that you have chosen on recent nights. During normal cuteness hours, your own version of peek-a-boo, looking down at your crib mattress and then popping your head up and giggling, would be highly praised and returned. At 2am it will be ignored and met with only the non-interactive back rubbing intended to get you back to sleep, even though it has recently been failing miserably. Please consider going back to the sleep from 8pm to 5am that you tried out once last week, that was an excellent plan. We thank you for your cooperation,
"the management" a.k.a. really tired mom and dad.
In other news I have been positively drunk three days this month without taking a single drink. Food drunkenness and it was ugly. I had a plan that I would only exceed my calorie range three days this month. Yesterday was the fifth of the month and the third day over my calories. Sunday it was potato chips, yesterday it was french toast sticks. We try to feed the kids well, but there are a few convenience foods that we allow for those rushed mornings when a fast and portable breakfast is a necessity. Last night for dessert, Hot Wheels wanted a couple french toast sticks so we opened the bag. I proceeded to eat EIGHT over the course of the evening. They are my kryptonite (along with apple and key lime pie), I like them frozen or warm, any way I can get them. That's over 800 calories in pure crap. I felt it, too. The food induced insomnia coupled with Cutie night time fun meant I didn't even make it to the gym this morning. The past two mornings have been nothing workouts, too. I've gotten in late, thanks again to Cutie and the boys not sleeping, and put in a really half-assed effort when I was there. Won't be seeing 159.5 on the scale this week, I'm just hoping it won't be up TOO much for Sunday weigh-in.
Alright, enough whining, tomorrow's another day and I WILL be at the gym at 5:30am and get in a good workout. Twenty-three days left in the month to make it a good one.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
I see a FIVE. Now pass the chips.
This morning's weigh-in result; 159.5. Finally a 15_ rather than a 16_ (or the pre-holiday 17_). I was happy to see that and now with SuperBowl day I'm trying to plan out the snacks I will enjoy. I think two servings of chips, with some horseradish sour cream dip, a Quiznos sub- small, and a small slice of Carvel Snickers ice cream cake- DELICIOUS. That should be sufficient for celebration without being too calorie intensive.
Friday morning I ran 9 minutes at 9:11 pace and finished up with one more minute at 8:30 pace. It felt great and then I headed off to circuit class for a 40 minute butt kicking. Tomorrow I'm planning for 2.2 miles at 6 mph. That's 10% more time/distance than last time.
Here's the latest picture of Cutie. Not that you asked, but you know you want to see her.
Friday morning I ran 9 minutes at 9:11 pace and finished up with one more minute at 8:30 pace. It felt great and then I headed off to circuit class for a 40 minute butt kicking. Tomorrow I'm planning for 2.2 miles at 6 mph. That's 10% more time/distance than last time.
Here's the latest picture of Cutie. Not that you asked, but you know you want to see her.
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