Try, Try Again

The title of this post is so telling of my life lately. When my sister and I started this blog we wanted a space where we could be honest in our weight loss journey.

Over the last month, I have felt my motivation waning. There are any number of excuses, mainly that my family came down with a horrible case of the flu, and for the first time in her little life my 8 month old experienced the flu. It was horrible! I let this hold me back from going to the gym, or even exercising at home, and I slacked off (big time!) on my meal plan. Needless to day, the weight came back (darn!).

I am taking today to refocus myself. Tell myself I CAN do this. This is important to me; I want to feel good about myself, have my self esteem return, and be able to do and wear the things I want.

I started off today with an intense weight lifting class, and I feel strong and motivated. It's been a while since I have gone on a run (I also was on the receiving end of that silly flu bug), but I am going to run this week. My goal is to make all 4 runs scheduled, as my 10k is only 2 weeks away! I have my meals planned, and I am picking up the rest of the groceries today. No more excuses!

I think at times in our lives we all need to take a step back and realize that our lives are not perfect, we are not perfect, but these imperfections makes us human. How would we define success without setbacks? My personal definition of success is persevering in spite of setbacks.

I have to come to terms with the fact that I am not really any closer to my goal than when we started this journey, and I need to note those mistakes I have made, and really focus on not repeating them. I have to remind myself that this process takes time, and it is a complete lifestyle change, but if I keep at it, I will see the results I so desperately want to see.

Thank you for reading this (anyone out there?!) and following along this path, even though I may detour from time to time, I have to remind myself of what my goal is, and keep my eye on the prize.

Here's to starting the week off right!

And I'll leave you with an incredibly deep quote that really doesn't have anything to do with weight loss, but more with life in general. Martin Luther knew what he was talking about:

"We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road."

Also, I know my posts have been sucking without some pictures interspersed, so I'm working on that. Stay tuned!

-Ali

Change is hard

The last couple weeks have kinda sucked. Personally, I'm great. Happy husband, happy little girl, happy home. But I've been avoiding the scale like the plague. I was on a roll the first few week. I was running 3-5 times/week, I stared strength training in the morning. I was down 7 lbs! And then I got comfortable, maybe a little too comfortable. I stopped putting in as much effort. I all but stopped planning my meals, workouts, etc. And we all know that failing to plan is planning to fail. :( So 2 weeks ago when I hopped back on the scale I had gained half a pound. So what have I done these past two weeks? Did my .5lbs gain spur me into action? No! and that is what really pisses me off. Why is it that I can see plain as day what the problem is, what I need to do in order to fix it and I still don't? Well, I'm not going to hold me back anymore!

Its a new month and I am starting off with a bang. I started Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred video today (and I am going to finish it this time)! I forgot how hard this first day is. You would think that with the running I've been doing my legs would be stronger, but those squats and lunges KILL! I'll be updating my progress throughout the month. There will be actual...wait for it...pictures!! I know. I'm shocked too. I'll be doing this in addition to running. It seems like a lot right now, but I AM going to get through it and come out better for it. 

Today is a planning day. I'm making a list of go-to dinners so that my meal planning becomes a tad more simplified. I'm going to chart our my workouts for the month as well. And I'm thinking I need to put up a few reminders around the house. Maybe something on the fridge reminding me to think before I eat. Spring is just 19 days away! Its time to dig deep and push thru the slump.

I'll be back in a couple days with some updates but until then...

Minor Setbacks

Hey there! So I am behind in my blogging... I was supposed to blog Wednesday, but you know, my 8 month old decided to come down with her first cold and let's just say it ain't pretty. Poor little thing, her nose is all stuffed and she's coughing and unable to sleep. Luckily, I think we are though the worst of it.

Needless to say, this week hasn't been the best for me in terms of working out or nutrition. My husband also recently had the flu, so it's been chaos around here. So I didn't hit the gym until Thursday this week, but I was able to eek out 4.5 miles for my 10k training plan I actually really enjoyed this run, despite not having run in a whole week (yikes!). I did a 4x5 minutes fast interval workout that went like this:

Warm up 1 mile, slow
5 minutes fast pace
2 minutes recovery pace
Repeat 5min/2min split 4 times
Cool down 1 mile slow

I was able to complete the interval training in 47 minutes (10:37 pace) , which I was pretty happy with. Pre-baby I could easily run at a 10 min/mile or faster, and I can see myself slowly getting closer to those pace times. It's just going to take a little more practice :)

Today I was able to get to my 530 am spin class, although I wasn't able to show up until 6 (due to sick little bebe), I still got an hour spin in, and that's a great start to a weekend!

My plan for this next week is to make it to the gym at least 5 times, and to really concentrate on my nutrition & food intake. I find when I log my meals and make a conscious effort to eat well, that I am more satisfied and sated.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Push it!

Tuesday was a good day in the PNW. The sun was out, it was a whopping 56 degrees and a co-worker joined me for my lunch run. It was nice to have someone to run with for a change. We ran through a park and wound through some really pretty neighborhoods. But the best thing was that I ran just a little bit further that I normally would. It was only an extra quarter mile, but I  needed the push. Normally on my lunch runs I do the same 2 mile loop. It's easy. I don't have to think about where I'll go (or where I'll end up), I don't have to wonder how far I've gone or if I'm going to make it back to work in time. I just go. It's safe and routine and in my book that's a good thing. But it also feels amazing when you push yourself and come out better for it. So get out there and push yourself. I promise you won;t regret it.

Reality Check

well crap! Looks like my avoiding the scale this past two weeks did not result in me becoming an SI swimsuit model...just the opposite. I'm up 0.4lbs. I know what happened. Two weeks ago I was in sight of my first mini-goal of 10lbs gone. And then I got comfortable and maybe a little complacent. I don't need to run 5 days this week (or the next). I've worked so hard, I deserve a bite of that maple bar (or crap, did I just eat the whole thing?)! Silly me! So at 5:15am when I weighted myself and had to come to grips with what I had done to myself I had a choice...I could go back to bed and snuggle up (good lord it's cold), or I could suck it up and get downstairs to my craft/exercise room and work on my arms. I chose the latter and I'm so glad I did. I think if i would have faced this situation 3 months ago, I would have crawled back in bed and chosen to ignore the truth. And for that, I am proud. Proud that I chose to get myself moving, proud that I didn't let a small setback turn into a road block.
After I finished workin my "guns" I headed back upstairs to prep my meals for the day. I'm a creature of habit, especially when it comes to food. Breakfast usually consists of oatmeal and a couple egg whites. Over the weekend I made a huge salad with carrots, celery, red onion, pears and a little goat cheese. I packed some of that, a few ounces of turkey breast, and some balsamic vinegar for lunch. And since I didn't get my run in on my lunch break, I'll be doing that when I get home this afternoon.

This will be ringing in my ears the nest time I have a face to face with a maple bar...



Make it a great Monday!

Training for a 10k

Good morning! I thought today I would cover how I am training for my first race post-baby. I had my daughter in June 2012, and I was really hesitant to get back into running.

In the two years before having her, I had really started to get into running; that is, I started to not hate it. Part of this was due to a class offered at my gym, called Trekking. It's a treadmill based class, where the instructor tells you exactly what you should be doing in terms of speed and incline. The class is all based on perceived exertion, so literally anyone can do it. Whether you're fast or not, you get a great workout in. Some weeks we would do hill repeats, and another week we would focus on speed work. I really saw my pace improve over the two years I took the class, and it even inspired me to run my first (and only, to date), half marathon.

I stopped running when I got pregnant, simply because, even before I had a baby bump, it just felt  weird. Then post-baby, I kept putting off getting back on the treadmill. Finally, I started taking trekking again, about six months after having my daughter. I was much slower, but it felt so good to be back. Just the other week, I ran 5 miles for the first time in over year!

I wanted to set a goal so I would keep on the running track, so I signed up for a race! I'll be doing the 10k of the Great Race of Agoura in March. When I trained for my half marathon, my Trekking instructor was so nice & made a training plan for me, but for this race, I searched the internet for a training plan that would allow me to build the minutes & miles slowly over time, so I didn't wimp out! I found a GREAT one in RunKeeper; they have three free online 10k training programs, and great app for my iphone, where I'm able to see my training calendar and mark off runs.

Source

Today I will tackle speed work, starting off with 1 mile at a slower pace, running 2 minutes fast, and recovering for 2 minutes. I'll repeat 8 times, and finish with 1 mile at a slow pace. Wish me luck! 

Hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day.

xo,

Ali

Saturday Sweat Session

Good Saturday morning! The weekend is off to a great start. I was able to get up and hit the gym solo this am (sans the baby in daycare, which incites a "get the workout over asap so she doesn't start crying for me"), and it felt so good to sweat.

I took yesterday off by accident; my alarm either didn't go off at 445 am (yuck, I know) or I hit it off, but either way I didn't make it to my 90 minute spin class on Friday. Normally, I would take Saturdays off but since I rested yesterday, I laced up my shoes and headed for a spin class. I was pleasantly surprised this morning when my favorite spin instructor was actually subbing for the normal instructor. it made the class fly by! By the time the hour was over I was drenched, as in "I look as if I just took a shower in my clothes", but man, did it feel great.

Excited to take on the weekend! Hope you all have a pleasant Saturday.

I'll leave you with the following picture; it always helps to motivate me when I feel like slacking off:

Source

Hope you get your sweat on this weekend!

-Ali

Welcome!

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by by! My name is Ali, and I'm Megan's sister and also her partner on this weight loss journey we've decided to take on together. If you haven't yet, you can read Megan's first entry here

Now it's my turn to share my story, so here it goes....

Growing up I was pretty active and enjoyed playing sports, even playing on my high school tennis I'm a married twenty something, a new mom, and a "sometimes" runner. I enjoy working out, but I also enjoy eating and cooking, and dessert, and chocolate, and just about everything else.

Before giving birth I hadn't really looked hard at the reasons why I was unable to shed the 25 lbs I had put on since I started college in 2003. The weight slowly piled on over the years, and I never took the time to address the issue. After having my daughter I knew it was time to do something, because I wanted to be healthy for her, and I wanted to feel great in my own skin again.

Megan and I decided to take on this weight loss task together, and this blog will be our way of documenting our journey, and keeping ourselves accountable. I won't claim to broadcast everything I eat or every minute I exercise, but it's my hope that this online journal will help us to achieve our goals.

We each have our personal weight loss goals, but for now, our goal is "shorts by summer", as in Summer 2013. Accompany us on our journey as we try to accomplish this goal.

Happy reading!

Ali

Intro part 1

Well hello there. I'm new to this wonderful and overwhelming world of blogging. I've been tossing around the  idea for over a year, but just didn't know what I wanted to write about (food, family, DIY, food, travel, food...did I mention food?). Well that seems to be a problem for me. FOOD! I love it. I love to shop for it, I love to prepare it and I really love to eat it! So, when the new year rolled around and I once again got to thinking about resolutions of course I thought about losing weight. I mean what woman doesn't put that at the top of her New Year's Resolutions (if you say you don't, i say you're lying)?!?! I don't know what it was about this year and not the past 8 that finally made me decide that this was the year, the time is now and if I want to once and for all lose the weight that I've been packing on over the years, I needed to get moving.

Nearly 6 weeks ago I decided I would start the Couch to 5k program...again. Not gonna lie, I've started and stopped that program multiple times over the past few years. I've even run a couple 5k's, but I never stuck with it. Around the same time, my younger sister, Ali, was chatting with me about needing to get in shape as well (She will be sharing her story in a few days). We decided that we would be accountability partners. We decided we would commit to getting our fitness on and reign in our unhealthy eating habits. She even made a spreadsheet so we could track everything and maybe in the process learn for each other.  A few days later, Ali surprised me by sending me a scale. I'm sure most people would think that is like the rudest gift ever, but I looked at is as an amazing and thoughtful gift. Ali knew I needed a way to measure my results. Two days later at 5am I hoped on that scale for the first time since having my daughter. Ummmmm...not pretty. Although I weighed slightly more at 9 months preggo, I was now 39 months post baby. Talk about a wake up call.

I pulled up my old SparkPeople page and went straight to the meal plans. I decided that each week I would pick 2 options for breakfasts and 2 options for lunch. For dinners I use a lot of Cooking Light recipes. The biggest difference was the fact that I was now weighing out my food. I clearly had no idea of a "normal" portion of anything. Surprisingly enough, I've not been hungry. Seems that by eating the right things and cutting out the junk has reduced my appetite.

My exercise consists of running 4-5 days a week along with following a strength training program on SparkPeople. Most days I run on my lunch break. The hard part has been getting up at 5am consistently to get in my strength training. But each week I am feeling like I'm getting a little better, a little more consistent.

It's been nearly 5 weeks and I'm down a little more than 8 lbs. I still have about 40lbs to go, but I'm moving in the right direction and that feels good.